Thursday's Reviews

As usual with the end of the month, this was a comparitively small  week for me.  But certainly an interesting week.

Aquaman #0

Well, I guess this is sort of an origin for Arthur.  It has his Dear Old Dad expiring, as young Arthur sits at his bedside, while outside, the media ghouls congregate,  since Shin spilled the beans about him being from Atlantis.  Naturally, inquiring minds Want To Know.  Arthur however is feeling cranky, so he rips off his shirt in front of the various reporters...which must have been quite the scoop...and jumps off of a cliff into the ocean below.

Then he swims for a while, and hang out with some very attractive fish, until an extremely large shark shows up, and does what sharks tend to do.  But for the first time, and probably completely by accident, Arthur uses his mind/meld mojo thingie, complete with the Vuu Vuu Vuu sound!  Cool!  And the shark decides he doesn't want to eat him after all.

Then he swims up to the surface and rescues a boat with an extremely attractive young lady and her father, who are just about to crash on some rocks.  He does this, basically by picking the boat up off of the rocks, which you have to admit is pretty impressive.  And shirtless too!  Certainly the young lady, who's name appears to be Jayne is impressed.  After some questioning, Arthur admits that he's looking for Atlantis, and lo and behold the Father is able to give him some possibly useful information.  So Arthur takes himself off to Norway to find some guy named Vulko.

So...Arthur shows up at Vulko's door, and Vulko just falls to his knees in joy, because the New King of Atlantis just stumbled into his living room.  And he proceeds to tell young Arthur all about his Mother, and his half brother, and various other interesting tidbits of information, and then the two of them go off to find Atlantis for REAL!

The art is of course exquisite, by Ivan Reis.  The story is interesting enough, giving us some information on Arthur's new origin, which I don't think is outrageously different from his old origin, although I may be mistaken on that point.  What I do mind a bit, is that I think Geoff Johns is going a little overboard *heh* on making Arthur such a BadAss character.  Granted, Aquaman was the butt of a lot of jokes, but in going to the other extreme, he's coming off as a bit unlikeable.  Not to mention arrogant and petulant.  I've always liked Aquaman, but this version of Arthur is a bit of a jerk.


The Flash #0

Well this was pretty good.  The art is lovely...again as usual.  We see a bit of Barry's childhood, and his relationship with his parents, who seemed to be on the outs.  When his mother ends up murdered, and his father is taken into custody for it, Barry is wholeheartedly on his father's side, and even becomes a forensic scientist mainly so that he can find the evidence to exonerate him.

Then he gets thrown for a loop, when his father admits that he was guilty and to stop wasting time on him.  There are flashbacks of course, and we see Barry in the hospital after the accident that turned him into the Flash, and he learns some stuff about himself, and it was all in all a nice story.


Jonah Hex #0

Oh Jonah...you must have the most horrible father in the history of the DC Universe.  For once, they didn't really change it all too much...and seriously why WOULD they?  Jonah has a fabulous origin story!  Oh, there were a few tweaks here and there, but it was a good issue.  At the end we also see some more scenes devoted to the whole Jekyll and Hyde plot, and I swear to God, that was Mei Ling on the last page, although I could be mistaken.  But wouldn't THAT be a hoot?

Pretty darned good.


Justice League Dark #0

I have been liking this book pretty well, but really, DC, WHY do you feel the urge to give John Constantine a new origin?  And tie it up with Zatanna of all people?  No more Newcastle, and all of those early issues that I have tenderly boxed and bagged are apparently out of continuity too.

Damn.

I have nothing against Zatanna, I actually rather like her, but John is one of my favorite Bastards, and he's just not nearly as twisted, and sardonic and conflicted in this.

I guess it makes sense for the new DC, but seriously....just...damn.


Which brings us to my favorite book of the week.

Journey Into Mystery #644

Holy Crap!

This entire "Everything Burns" storyline has just been fabulous.  It's a crossover between the Mighty Thor and Journey into Mystery, but without having to drag every other character in the Marvel Universe into things, nor is it 12 issues long.  But it has been beautifully drawn, and equally beautifully told.  It's also funny as all heck in some spots.

Loki is in trouble up to his ears.  Surtur is burning everything...and I do mean EVERYTHING!  Loki has been hanging out with Surtur, trying to cozy up and find out what is going on....he managed to get a hold of the shadow of his sword in the last issue, and he betrayed Thor into drowning in the pool in Muspelheim, and he set Volstagg and Hogun and Fandral against each other.  Thor is convinced that he's been betrayed, and the fact that he loves Loki makes it all the harder for him to bear.

But dang it, my favorite God of Mischief is actually trying to save everyone...albeit in his own...unique...fashion.  He's running from Surtur and the Hel Wolf who is tracking him. and then his own Hel Puppy offers to save him.  Too bad that Thori brings his Dad right to Loki, who is shocked...SHOCKED to be betrayed himself.

 

I have to admit that this part is hilarious, especially when Garm shows up and she and the Hel Wolf start throwing insults at each other.  The Disir have been dispatched by Hela to grab Loki, who as usual is trying to talk his way out of mess.  Fortunately for him, he's brought right to Hela, who offers to send him back in time to rewrite the story that he wrote with Leah the FIRST time.

This is a bit convoluted if you haven't been reading the books up to now, but trust me...it all make sense in the end.  Because he ends up back in front o Surtur again, not to mention the form of Leah that he had written into the tale the FIRST time, and it turns out that he did all of this...for her.  To save her, and he had to let the other nine worlds burn in order to help her.

It...its so sweet.

Oh, and Thor dies again, and washes up in Hel, and Hela, who has been in cahoots with Loki about this, now offers him warriors...who cannot burn, that have been trained by Bill and Kelda.  It's all so perfect that I may just swoon.

God, I do love this book, and if they do away with Loki when this is all through...well I'll be VERY pissed.