Thursday's Reviews

What a lovely lovely week. 

Batman '66 #5

God, I do love this book.  Of course I loved the series too, which I watched as a child.  Yes...I'm old.  We have the dynamic duo trying to find a missing Chief O'Hara, while dealing with the sonnambulic shenanigans of the Sandman!  And not the Vertigo Sandman!  There is also that nice Cat Fight at the Gotham Museum between Eartha Kitt and Batgirl. 

So...much...joy.

Batman and Two-Face #25

So apparently the evil Irish lass who killed Harvey Dent's wife and scarred him is an old schoolmate of...Bruce Wayne?  I will say this for the Waynes, they certainly knew some interesting people.  Dent of course wants some revenge and who can blame him?  Certainly Bruce has been having a melt-down over the death of Damian, so I don't see where he is in any position to be casting stones. 

This isn't bad.  It's not my favorite, but that is probably because I don't know all that much Bat-History. Two-Face makes for a tragic villain, and Erin is really nasty, and Bruce takes a nice smack to the head.

Batwoman #25

I was of two minds whether or not to get this book.  I loved the OLD book, and I am still outraged at the completely classless way that DC dumped two of its best creators.  You really have to wonder what the heck is going on over there.  On the other hand, I very much like Mark Andreyko, who isn't to blame for the mess, and I like supporting a woman's book.  So I bought it.

In a rather smart move, they tie this back to Zero Year, which is going on with Scott Snyder over in Batman.  This gives Andryeko a fresh start, although we, the readers are certainly left hanging over what was originally going on.  But at least Andreyko gets a chance to do his own thing. 

This ties Kate much closer to Bruce, and has them meeting at Stately Wayne Manor for the funeral of Uncle Philip.  Bette is there, being bratty.  Kate is there, being cranky.  The storm is approaching, and she decides to go out and help people, and ends up saving a young boy who is trapped alone in what appeared to be an apartment that had been evacuated.  Some rather nasty thieves decided now was the perfect time to rob the place, and one of them doesn't mind a little bit of violence to go along with it.

Kate fights them off, but then ends up getting arrested along with them when the cops do finally show up.  Dad comes and bails her out and there are a few meaningful glances between Kate and Maggie.

Not a bad showing at all actually.  Now if I could just get that bitter taste out of my mouth over DC Editorial.



Daredevil #33

Gosh I do love this book too!   Matt had rather unwittingly been helping a posse of monsters against the equally monstrous inhabitants of a small town in his quest for the Darkhold. He ends up getting shot, but the nice Monsters are doing their best to save him with some ancient mummy wrappings and a little magic.  Of course when they find out what he is there for, they aren't particularly happy, since they are also after the book.   Fortunately before any mayhem, a few explanations ensue.  What, no fighting amongst the heroes?  What a concept!

The nasty fellow who has the book, has used all sorts of spells that even this bunch can't pierce, and anyone who tries to go in the other way, goes mad.  Daredevil, without his sight, gives it a try, and even he is horrified by what is going on, but at least he survives it.  And then at the end he realizes that it wasn't torture...it was a test, to see if the person was suitable to be a member of the Sons of the Serpent.  Which makes him mad.

Like Hulk sort of mad.  There is a simply gorgeous full page of Daredevil bursting in on the evil mage, all in red, with the flames rising around him as he burns all the magical books.  Just beautiful.  This of course makes the protections go away and the monsters are able to get in.  Matt tosses the body of the bad guy, and is berated by Satanna for burning all those nice magical books, but he's in no mood for any crap, and stomps off...with the missing pages of the Darkhold in his holster.

Just fabulous.

Why are then ending this book again?  Are they smoking the same stuff as DC?

Fables #135

I just found out that Bill Willingham is going to be ending Fables and Fairest some time as well.  *sigh*  There isn't going to be a lot left for me to read, it seems.

All of the various aspirants to the new Round Table all show up at the Fables Farm.  Waylon brings a larger table.  Brandish is digging the latrine pits, which seems like a suitable chore for him.  Snow White is still angry that Rose Red is using Brandish, and tells the cubs to stay away from her for a while at least.  They have reassembled all of Bigby's crystal body, with the exception of one piece, which I am sure is significant.

Good as always.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #25

Kyle just can't keep a secret, can he?

Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion #2

I really don't like the whole Forever Evil stuff, but I do like the Rogues, so I got this.  It is essentially so close to the first issue, that for a moment I thought I had picked up the same book, which is a mistake that I do make upon occasion.  So the same sequence of events, but from the point of view of the other Rogues, instead of Captain Cold. 

Really?  They are going to need six issues to do this? 

It's...Ok.  Not terrible...but quite a bit of padding for something that should be fairly straightforward.  I expect we will be getting an entire issue of the point of view of a random bystander next.

Wonder Woman #25

Ares is dead, Wonder Woman is the new War, and Strife isn't happy about it.  Diana is still giving Hermes the cold shoulder for his seeming betrayal, as Hermes lurks nearby, even though they know perfectly well that he is there.  Then Orion shows up and tries to beat up Hermes, which doesn't work out particularly well.  I simply adore this version of Guy...er...Orion. 

Then Strife shows up bearing gifts, and you know what they say about that.  She gives Hera her Peacock cloak back, and gives Diana War's helm, and a new blankie for baby Zeke.

Meanwhile for a rather strange reason, but hey, Greek Gods...Dionysius is carving off pieces of the First Born, and cooking them with garlic and fava beans for Apollo.  Apparently he's delicious.  Cassandra is busy doing terrible things to the missing Milan, so of course, everyone flies off to help, leaving Zola, Zeke and Strife alone together.  This probably won't end well.

Fabulous.

Young Avengers #12

This is going to be ending soon as well, so I guess I had better enjoy the hell out of it, before it does.

Tommy is finally convinced that he has to do the whole Demi-urge things, in order to finally defeat Mother, and get Billy back.  All of Noh-Varr's exes are out for blood, and so is Leah, but at least she actually has a real grudge.  Hot Teen-aged Loki is scheming.  The rest of them are kicking butt, including all of the other teen heroes. 

Incredibly wonderful.  So wonderful.

So...a pretty darned good week!