Woohoo!

Well, my internet/telephone/television problems have been solved and in a surprisingly timely manner.  They came right out and started doing...stuff.  Had to replace the cable from the house to the pole apparently, but things are back up and running and I am joyful. 

And a little bit chastened to realize how reliant I was on all that stuff.

But on to reviews.

Batman #37

Let me just first state my love of all the Darwyn Cooke covers, because they are...Awesome!

In this issue, things are going from bad to worse, as they are wont to do when the Joker is involved.  Half of Gotham has been exposed to his latest version of Joker Gas, and it is a particularly nasty version, all of Batman's antidotes are useless against it...much to his chagrin. 

James Gordon is holed up in his apartment communicating with Batman, and doing his best to keep free of the toxin.  He is also looking up information on his computer about Willowwood Children's Hospital, a place listed as one of the most haunted in the country with a long and horrible history of tragedy.  And in each of the pictures, a mysterious figure shows up in the background.  Gordon is getting seriously creeped out, and who can blame him. 

Batman runs into Joe Chill of all people, re-enacting his own formative moment in Crime Alley, and Gordon is attacked seemingly by the Joker, and it is all getting scary as all get out.

Scary...and good.

Batman and Robin #37

It's Batman against Darkseid, with the usual spectacular artwork from Pat Gleason.  I mean really really spectacular!  He has quite the way with Kirby characters.  The Bat crew and Cyborg are holding off the hordes, Batman is struggling for Damian's body, and Darkseid lets loose with his Omega beam...which is apparently what Batman had been hoping for, he uses a Chaos Shard to suck in the power of the beam, and somehow manages to get everyone out of there with a Boom Tube.

This is a good thing, except that the Shard is also a bomb and is about to blow up, and it's a tense few minutes, I can tell you!  He stabs the shard into Damian's body, and ...holy crap! 

His baby boy is back!

Then Batman keels over.

Wow!

Just...wow.


Fables #147

So, Rose Red, is back at her old home, the cottage in the woods where she grew up with her mother and Snow White, and she has the choice of either staying there, and being pretty damn powerful, but not knowing why...or learning about the magic in her family, and why she is destined to kill her sister.  She of course opts for the knowledge, and we get a bit of information about her mother.

Also, Sir Lancelot fights Prince Brandish, which is actually rather amusing, when he cuts his head off, and it takes a few hours for his body to find it and put it back on.  I really do hope that Brandish gets his...reward when the book ends.

Everything is winding down, as most of the Fables are heading back to the Homelands, and the story ends in a few more issues, with the big showdown between Rose and Snow, but this is a good issue as usual.

Justice League #37

Well, Lex is sorry that he made the Amazo virus which is loose and deadly, and all of the Justice Leagers are infected except Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, and Batman's air mask gets cracked when they fight the original infectee, who has mutated, so now he's exposed too.  Superman is mad at Lex, and really, who can blame him? 

It's a perfectly servicable story, but oh my, the Darwyn Cooke cover just thrills me to no end.  I really wish that I could be reading about that Justice League.

Sandman: Overture #4

Gorgeous of course.  And deep.  And interesting.  Morpheus visits with dear old Dad, which was quite the reveal, I never knew that the Endless even HAD parents!  And he is allowed into Star City, by the Stars, and talks with the crazy Star, and as usual, things will be getting worse before they get better, but oh...it is so lovely.

So very lovely.

Thunderworld Adventure/Multiversity

Shazaam!  Captain Marvel!  Marvel's vs Sivana's!

There were some really pretty spectacular books out this week, and I think that this was my favorite one of all. Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, has figured out how to connect with all of the other Sivanas throughout the Multiversity and has created an 8th day of the week, in order to infiltrate the Rock of Eternity, capture Shazaam the Wizard, and duplicate Captain Marvel's powers, by using his own children as guinea pigs. 

Of course, they are more than happy to be used, and immediately go to Fawcett City, where strange things are happening indeed.  Billy even runs into himself, a future version of himself with a dire warning.  And of course, he turns into Captain Marvel, and the fight is...On! 

He's one against three, so naturally, Mary and Junior show up, but the City is attacked by the Monster Society, so they get reinforcements from the Lieutenant Marvels!  With Tawky Tawny!  With lasers and jet packs!

Captain Marvel leaves all of the mayhem in the hands of his trusted allies, as he heads to the Rock of Eternity to fight Sivana, who uses the power to make himself into Black Sivana!  Cap turns back into Billy, but finds the Time shards, crystalized like radio Quartz, which he uses to warn himself in th past, and...and...

...well, Sivana's extra day didn't last a whole day after all, but only  8 hours, so naturally, Captain Marvel saves the day, the Monsters are defeated, and they see that the whole thing was caused by that comic book...which was...cancelled.

Grant Morrison writes it, Cameron Stewart draws it, and it is an absolute joy from beginning to end. 

So...much...joy.

Sensation Comics/ Wonder Womn #5

I've dropped the regular Wonder Woman book like a hot potato, but this book continues to make me happy.  It is a one story issue, and it is Wonder Woman vs Darkseid!

Hippolyta has sent two Amazons to Apokolips and neither have returned, so she sends Diana to look for them, and naturally, it doesn't go well.  Luftan, their contact is totally untrustworthy...of course, and she is attacked by the Female Furies.  She's actually whupping them pretty well, till she gets thrown into a fire pit.  She ends up being rescued by some scavengers, who scrounge around the fire pits, looking for stuff to sell or reuse.  She asks for their help, but they are reluctant...and frightened and who can blame them?

Darkseid in the meantime is pissy because she was "killed" and he wanted to do it himself, so he decides to execute her two Amazon sisters. Naturally, she show up and rescues them ,and they all end up getting chased, and it's all quite lovely.  And violent.  But mainly lovely. 

The twist comes, when it turns out that the two Amazons had planned to blow up Apokilips using a bomb from Lex Corp.  Diana isn't thrilled with Apokolips, but she is appalled that her sisters would sacrifice a world, and flatly refuses.  But they are attacked, and the Amazons throw the bomb down towards the core while Diana is captured and brought before Darkseid.  He's skeptical, but finally agrees to let her go down into the fire pit and try and stop it, figuring he has nothing to lose.

Naturally, she gets the bomb, but then Darkseid goes ahead and executes her Amazons anyway, which makes her mad.  But the little scavengers that helped her are safe, and not quite so afraid anymore, so it is a happy ending?

Beautiful, and a great Wonder Woman story.

Man, it was a pretty great week!