Thursday's Reviews

I do like the end of the month, when it comes to comics.  There is a veritable plethora...a PLETHORA of good books coming in. 

I really like the word plethora for some reason.

Anyhoo.

Adventures of Superman #11

I came a little late to this book, which is actually pretty typical for me, but I am enjoying it.  It is so nice to be able to read about the REAL Superman!  Wearing his real costume, and being an actual Hero, and all around Nice Guy for a change. 

In this latest issue, we have the guilt-ridden Green Lantern who was in charge of the Sector that included Krypton.  He's been drowning his sorrows and trying to kill himself with his ring for years.  Apparently it never occured to him to just take it off and jump off a cliff or something.  He finally realizes, due to some outside machinations...that there is a sole survivor of the destruction, and immediately flies off to Earth, to beg Superman to kill him.

Well, Superman just doesn't go around killing people, and keeps patiently trying to tell the poor GL that little fact.  Then of course, the guy to sent him on his quest, shows up and naturally, turns out to be none other than...Braniac!  Oh, that wag!    There is a lot of monologuing, innocents are placed in jeopardy, the Green Lantern keeps trying to die, and Superman steadfastly refuses to kill anyone.  It eventually occurs to the Green Lantern that after Braniac stabs him with some Kryptonite, that he IS going to die..and he's going to take Braniac with him! 

It's lovely.  Just good old-fashioned comic book fun, and I loved it.



Aquaman #29

After the hi-jinks of Arthur's High School Reunion last issue, we see that he really should have locked up his trident, after some idiot of an archeologist/scientist, whatever, decides to steal it, and open a door that REALLY should have stayed closed..  When are people going to learn?  Naturally some very very nasty people come swarming through the portal, that a previous King of Atlantis had locked away, and naturally, they are bent on mayhem.

There is also an odd red algae bloom going on, that stops as abruptly as it started, which has the Atlantis scientists rather confused.  I assume that is going to be a clue for the crossover with Swamp Thing. 

Arthur battles the mythic baddies, and also has to deal with none other than...Hercules!  Turns out he was helping that long-ago Atlantean king to fight the baddies, and ended up being locked up with them.  And now he's free, and totally not happy. 

Decent art, and a decent story, so what isn't to like?


Fables #139

After all the build-up to the new Camelot, we go off on a tangent with some different characters, such as the remains of Blue Boy's band, which for some reason includes Sleeping Beauty.  Danny Boy has travelled from his home to find his brother and take him back to fight the Bad Guys, or in this case Bad Girl, and everyone decides, what the heck, they area going to tag along. 

We have Baby Joe Shepherd, Peter Piper, Seamus McGuire, Briar Rose, who can't sing, but is sure trying, and of course...Puss in Boots. It is a bit of a ragtag bunch, but it's mostly fun. 


Flash #29

So the evil ghost that has been possessing people, trying to get his revenge by wiping out all the descendants of his original murderer is still jumping around committing mayhem.  Barry is horrified to learn that Captain Frye, who was  his mentor, and who practically raised him after his mother died, is using himself as bait for the creature.  Turns out that Frye was in love with Barry's mother, and it is hinted that he might actually BE Barry's father. 

Well, he's not, but it does turn out that Barry is himself, a descendant of the Fletchers, and that therefore,  the ghost of Sutter is just dying to possess him once and for all. 

Captain Frye is waiting to be possessed by Sutter, whom he plans to blow up with handgrenades, also incidentally committing suicide.  Barry of course, shows up in time to thwart this plan, and gets possessed.  Oh No!  But it turns out that he can vibrate at a different frequency or something, and ejects the ghost.  This incidentally explains how he was able to boot out Deadman, who is also tagging along.  The evil ghost ends up trapped in the House of Mystery, which Deadman just happens to be hauling around with him. 

And there is a happy ending!  Sort of.  Frye goes and visits Barry's dad in prison, and they decide that they will never ever tell what actually happened, and who murdered his mom. 

Sheesh!


Jonah Hex #29

Well, Jonah and Gina were dumped back into the old West again, by Booster Gold last issue, which is nice for them, except that they end up right in the middle of a bunch of very angry Apache.  Naturally, talking doesn't work, so Jonah does what Jonah does best.  Unfortunately, poor Gina gets shot in the thigh, and is beginning to regret her decision to join Jonah in the past. 

He manges to get the bullet out, but they are stuck in the open, with no food and practically no water, and she's tired and hurting, and wants a story.  So they tell each other tales, whic is nice, and we learn that Jonah was hunting a murderer, who told him a sad tale of revenge in order to get the drop on him.  He and his son order Jonah to dig his own grave, and then make the mistake of bumming some tobacco off of Jonah in the meantime. I can only assume that it is peyote or something, because it makes the bad guys go bonkers, and that is that.  It's a nice story.

A few days later, he and Gina ride into the home of some Navaho, and ask for some help, since Gina is in a bad way.  And she apparently falls over dead, which is quite unfortunate for her.  I am pretty sure that there is more to this than meets the eye, but it is fun to have Jonah back where he belongs, and now Gina is the one who is a fish out of water.


Red Lantern #29

Oh, just a blast!


Rogues Rebellion #6

This is the only "Forever Evil"  tie-in that I am reading, because frankly, I am so bored by "Forever Evil" that I could plotz.   And I like the Rogues...I always have. 

Things are pretty bad, Gorilla Grodd shows up, and all the baddies sent by the Syndicate are beating the crap out of our boys, and things don't look good at all.  Piper, had been babysitting poor Glider, but decides that if he doesn't go help the rest of the Rogues, there won't be a world left for her to wake up to, and all sorts of mayhem ensues.  And Glider wakes up, and from then on, they just beat the crap out of the Bad Guys, and it is lovely. 

The Rogues win!  The inhabitants of Central City are grateful, and they all miss Captain Cold, but agree, that they are Rogues Forever, and will help him out if he needs them, and it was warm and fuzzy and I enjoyed it.

Man, I do like the Rogues.


Sandman: Overture #2

It frankly has been so long since the first issue came out, that I am a wee bit confused about what is going on.  We have Morpheus meeting all of the other aspects of himself, and everyone is a bit confused as well.  We have Daniel visiting Mad Hettie, and retrieving some weird sort of watch,  and there is a lot of discussion about existance, and destruction, and the end of the Universe, and a Vortex,  and Morpheus and Cat Morpheus go off to visit their Dad.

It's gorgeous of course.  And Deep.  Very Deep.  I assume that it will all eventually all make sense.


Hawkeye #18

So, you know that nice guy in the Quickie Mart, who looked like Elliot Gould?  He's a writer, and he's trying to get the heck out of Los Angeles, and gives Kate his evil Cat, but he can't leave, because of a spell or something weird going on with Nefaria and his evil daughter, who is probably Madame Masque, and Kate tries to help him, and realizes that there is a helluva lot more going on, than she is prepared for. 

And she gets caught at the end by Madame Masque, who has been trying to kill her for quite some time, and it is all tied into the Russians who are trying to kill Clint.

Or something. 

It's all a little weird, quite frankly, but what the heck...it IS quite enjoyable at the same time.

So...not a bad week at all!  A slightly confusing week perhaps, but I am sure that it will all make sense soon.