Wednesday's Booty

I do hope that everyone had a suitably gluttonous Holiday.  I can still hardly move...but God, it was worth it.  I am also NOT out shopping, although I did take today off from work.  I'm doing really exciting things like laundry, and penning these immortal words.

Anyway, to the reviews.

Batwoman #14

Holy cow, but this is getting intense!  Great art, great story, Medusa makes for a suitable terrifying villainess, not to mention poor Pegasus predicament, and Diana's compassion.  You get the feeling that Kate is over her head, KNOWS that she is over her head, but wouldn't back out for the world.  

Very good.

Birds of Prey #14

This was okay..  Katanna's sword has been pilfered by the usual bunch of ninja clan types, and she wants it back.  Condor shows up, but it isn't the same one who used to hang out in Opal City.  Black Canary yells a lot, and stuff happens.  The art isn't terrible, but for some reason, this just isn't grabbing me.  I was so spoiled by Gail Simone, with the interaction among the various Birds...I just don't get that feeling from this particular incarnation.  Not terrible...but okay.

Fables # 123

This was nice.  It was a bit of a relief to finally be done with Therese's story, which got a bit draggy.  I always enjoy stories about Bigby anyway.  He manages to change his destiny, the tortoise was charming, and there seems to be an interesting twist at the end. 

Green Lantern: New Guardians #14

More of Kyle trying to find himself, and checking out his mettle using all of the rings, while simultaneously showcasing each individual wielder of those same rings.  In this issue we have Arkillo, whom I am sneakingly rather fond of.  He's struggling with his feelings of betrayal at the hands of Sinestro...and seriously, haven't we ALL experienced those feelings at the hands of Sinestro?  Kyle's not quite sure that he can fully trust Carol's motives, and he still wants to save Ganthet

My problem with this book is that there doesn't really seem to be much of KYLE in it.  Oh, he shows up, and manages after a bit of flailing around to figure out how to use each of the various rings.  But there isn't much of a surprise, it's been following the same formula for several issues now, and it is all more or less the same.  Kyle himself seems fairly emotionless about the whole thing, which is odd when you come to think about it.  It's as though he's not really THERE all that much.  His pesonality seems subdued and his...Kyleness is lacking. 

Which is a darn shame, because I really love Kyle.  We need to get him back with Guy where he belongs.  I know that all of this is prelude to the final throw-down with the evil Guardians, but I just want to GET to the throw-down with the evil Guardians already.  We seem to be spinning our wheels just a tad here.

Justice League #14

Well, the League fights with Cheetah, learns that SHE corrupted the spirit of the Cheetah,not the other way around, and that the woman that Diana thought was her friend is actually a serial criminal.  This makes Diana feel stupid.  So Superman takes her out on a date, and in costume they go and eat pancakes at a diner in Smallville. 

Where of course absolutely NO ONE recognizes Clark Kent.  Then they go look at the old Kent Farm, and Superman drones on a bit about hometown morals and such.  They start smooching, and it turns out that Batman is watching the whole thing on the satellite at the Watchtower, because his soaps were probably preempted, and what the heck. 

There is one actually rather cool splash page, where Aquaman catches Cheetah in a river, and they are surrounded by piranhas.  Best page in the whole book. 

I...am not loving this.  And yet, there is a certain train-wreck quality to the whole thing, that is fairly irresistable...you just can't wait to see what new horrendous idea they are going to bring forth to destroy the last 70 years of DC history. 

Incidentally, they do seem to have shrugged off the whole thing with Simon Baz rather easily.  You would think that they might be concerned about Hal and what is happening, but it doesn't seem to have even crossed their minds.  Short attention spans probably.

Wonder Woman #14

Dammit, I love this book.  It has nothing...NOTHING to do with the real Wonder Woman, but I frankly don't care, because Azzarello has come up with such a bizarre and fabulous story with all of the various Greek Gods, and her new relationship, not to mention all of her new relatives, that is quite quite fascinating. 

We have her winning over Scirroca, another one of Zeus's offspring, whose mother was murdered by Hera, not to mention herself, although she was found and turned into the Wind, by Zeus.  Diana tells her that Hera did the same crap to her own mother, and fellow Amazons, and after fighting for a while, they decide to be sisters, which is rather sweet.  They are still looking for Zoe's baby of course.

Then there is the problem of Zeus and Hera's first born son,who has finally shown up again, and isn't particularly happy. Oh those zany Greek Gods!  Meanwhile Apollo seems to be having a bit of trouble keeping the rest of his pantheon in line.

Oh, and Orion and All-Father show up at the end.  Yes, the New Gods aren't dead!  Scott and Barda must be around somewhere as well!  Woohoo! 

Dang it, this is a fun book.


Hawkeye #4

I cannot begin to tell you how much I am enjoying this book.  It is NOT a typical super-hero story, in fact I have hardly seen a costume yet in  it, although you know that they are out there, lurking in the shadows.  No, this is mostly about Clint himself, in this particular case, trying to go to Madripoor to retrieve an incriminating tape of him assassinating someone for SHIELD.  It's going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, and natually all the low-lifes around are after it, and SHIELD wants it, so they won't be embarrassed.  SHIELD sometimes does the dumbest things.  The bit where Hawkeye is kidnapped off of the roof of his apartment during a neighborhood barbecue is a hoot. 

The whole book is a hoot.  Buy it!


Journey Into Mystery #646

I haven't quite gotten over my tears over the end of Loki, so I was a bit hesitant about picking this book up, but it is well worth the effort.  Written by Kathryn Immonen, wtih Valerio Schiti as the artist, it is a very good looking and well written story.  And hey, I like Sif.


Sif seems to be at lose ends after the end of the whole Surtur and Everything Burns business.  She's beginnign to suspect that there is a certain futility to their efforts at rebuilding Asgard, having it destroyed, and starting all over again, and who can blame her?  There is a lovely sequence with her hanging out at Volstagg's house, with his wife and kids

Then she decides to go off and consult a cranky old dragon, and sees a witch, and gets a boon, and goes a little berserk. 

Literally.  This is going to be interesting.