Warm Fuzzies

I haven't been reading Grayson for some reason or another.  I do like Damian for some strange reason...the little brat has really grown on me.  But I really liked he and Dick together, when Bruce was supposedly dead. Now Dick was supposedly dead, and in this month's issue, he apparently lets the rest of the Bat family know that he's alive and kicking.

This...is a good thing.









Awwww!

Small Reviews

Well, that was a tiny week.  They seem to be getting smaller and smaller, which is good for my pocketbook, but bad for my comic thirst.

Anyhoo.

Batgirl #44

Well, the Tigers have been misappropriated by someone called the Velvet Tiger, who has a bit of a temper and a giant felling of entitlement.  In other words, a supervillain with a gimic. 

There is naturally a lot of fighting, and Babs once again punches a tiger.  Then she is saved by her motorcycle, which does make her pause for a moment, since she was unaware that her motorcycle had saving powers. And then she smooches with Luke Fox. 

It's all nice, and not terrible.  Not quiet up to the standard of the first arc, but enjoyable.

Boy, I'm getting jaded or something in my old age.


Batman '66, #27

Now THIS book is a great read! We have Bane as a Luchador wrestler, Batgirl showing up, and Commissioner Gordon going undercover in Mexico, by wearing a sombrero and a serape.  There is tag-team wrestling by the dynamic duo plus one, and the Riddler to boot.  It is all quite insane, and hilarious and fabulous, and why oh why are they ending this book? 

All the books I like are getting cancelled!  Argggggghhhh!!  So read this while you can, because it is the just the bee's knees.

Harley Quinn and Power Girl #4

To be perfectly frank with you, Harley is not one of my favorite characters. Peej IS however, and I also adore Vartox.  He's finally freed from his ensorcelment, although Peej still seems to be suffering from what ever memory problems she has.

Plus there is naked Vartox, and that's always a good thing.

Fun, and silly, but still worth a read.  Of course, since it is fun, they'll probably be cancelling it any day now.
Maybe they'll cut off Harley's arm and make her all dark and angsty or something.


Sinestro #15

This...was not one of my favorite issues.  Lobo shows up, and it's the new Lobo, and frankly, I can't stand him.  Then Sinestro starts picking on poor St. Walker. And of course, he wants to rule the Universe, but that's just Sinestro's thing. I did find it mildly interesting that a yellow ring keeps showing up on Lobo's finger, and he keeps cutting his finger off and telling Sinestro to shove it. 

This just didn't sing for me this month.



So...not a particularly great week.  Except for Batman'66. That was fabulous.

The Beginning of the End for Hal

So...Hal is off doing his own thing with a stolen Green Lantern thingie, and he's grown his hair, and HE'S A REBEL NOW!  But before all of this, he was just sulking.



Actually, Guy and Barry came by to cheer him up, drink a few beers and play pool. You know...manly bonding stuff like that.  But Hal was too busy enjoying his snit.  Plus, I am sure he was incredibly jealous of Guy's hair. 

His mustache too, but it takes a certain amount of sangfroid to grow a 'stache like that...and Hal just doesn't have it. 

Oh Hal.

Bad News For Green Lanterns

Well poop.

As lackluster as the most recent issue of Green Lantern: Lost Army was, apparently part of the abrupt change of pace and motivation came from the news that it is on the chopping block. This upsets me, because at the moment it is book is the ONLY place that I can get my Guy Gardner fix... but also because, for all its flaws, this book is still a hundred times better than the Green Lantern book featuring Hal!

I don't know what the heck is going on at DC, but they just seem to be flailing all over the place, without any real kind of direction or real purpose as to what they want to do.  They have this enormous cache of wonderful characters in their toybox that they can't seem to figure out how to use. The ones that they are using have lost whatever sense of continuity and characterization that made them popular and beloved in the first place. You can't just strip a hero of his supporting cast, history, and definition, and expect fans to continue to embrace what has essentially become an entirely different person... naming no names...(cough, Superman, cough).

You want to modernize characters? Fine.  But do it in an orderly and organic fashion instead of just arbitrarily throwing out everything and starting over. New Coke ring any bells?

So, for the first time in... well, practically forever, I won't be buying... or even be able to buy... any Green Lantern books.  And that is a sad thing indeed.

Thursday's Reviews

Not a whole lot to talk about this week.  A small week.  My weeks seem to getting smaller by the minute actually.  That's not a good thing.


Green Lantern: Lost Army #4

So it has finally dawned on our doughty group, that they aren't in their own universe at all, but somehow were thrown back into Relic's universe.  This has opened a whole new can of worms of course.  Arisia, you will be glad to hear, is not dead.  I didn't think that she would be. But the Light Pirates are doing a bang up job of sucking out the power from all the Green Lanterns, and they are taken captive with laughable ease, while Relic and Krona bug out, like the cowards they are.

Oh, and Salaak shows up!  Huzzah!  I love Salaak.  Apparently all the other Green Lanterns have already been taken captive, while the Light Pirates suck out the every last drop of their powers or something. It's a bit vague.  Meanwhile John agonizes for a while over compassion and duty, while Kilowog and Guy fight some guys and snark at each other.

I have a few problems with this, because one of John's characteristics was always his pragmatism.  He didn't whine and second guess himself very much.  Actually this is more of the way that I think Kyle would act, but supposedly Kyle is dead or something...not that anyone seems to give a rat's ass.

Kilowog and Guy are best friends, and yet, there has been absolutely no interaction between them since Guy came back from the Red Lanterns, and yet here they are snipping at each other.  You would at least expect to get a..."good to see you, buddy" from both of them, but hey, all past characterization and plot developments are apparently out the door. 

It's okay.  Better than Hal's book.  But considering Green Lantern has been my favorite franchise for YEARS...I am severely...underwhelmed.  It's not bad.  But it's not great either.

Robin: Son of Batman #4

Now this is my favorite Bat Book at the moment, although Gotham Academy is up there too.  Pat Gleason is doing amazing things. The art is dynamic and fluid and a helluva a lot of fun.  Damian and Nobody are seeking to restore a cavern's magic, while for some reason Deathstroke shows up and is utterly pwned by Damian.  I enjoy this because I simply CANNOT STAND DEATHSTOKE!  Also Damian just ends up paying him off to leave them alone, which is actually pretty clever of him.  Deathstroke IS supposed to be a mercenary.

And they discover a Lazarus Pit. This is probably not going to be a good thing.

But fun.


Sensation Comics: Wonder Woman #14

Unfortunately this book is one of the ones being cancelled by DC, when CLEARLY it is the superior Wonder Woman book, certainly in comparison with the crap being put out by the Finches.  Man, I dropped that book like a hot potato. 

Unfortunately, for a uniformly stellar output, this issue is not one of my favorites.  It is awfully hard to follow for one thing, and jumps all over the place, and half the time I don't know who is narrating, and what the hell is going on. Two adjoining nations hate each others guts, but Diana wants to bring them to the bargaining table, but Strife shows up and messes things up. I actually like Strife, but here, she is split into Strife/Eris, and is fighting with...herself?  I think?  And there is a lot of blather, and it's a bit on the messy side. 

Still not completely sure what happened, but Diana leaves Strife in a lurch, which will probably only come back to haunt her. 

Meh.


Hawkeye #5

Well, the kids that the Hawks rescued are super-powered of course, and beat up a bunch of Hydra agents. Then there are the usual flashbacks, which quite frankly I am finding to be a little bit annoying at this point.  And Clint and Kate yell at each other, and she slugs him, which makes both he and Pizza Dog unhappy, and then the super-powered kids are all ready to split him in two. 

And for some reason they give the kids...back? 

It's okay, but not quite up to the standards of the previous Hawkeye book.

So...all in all, a rather dull week.  Or maybe I'm just feeling cranky or something.

Oh What the Heck

I don't have a whole lot to talk about lately it seems.  Not much that I am getting at the Comic Book Store, and I am more or less fed up with comics lately. So...I am just going to put up pictures. Every one loves pictures...right?



I think that this is still Hal's problem.  Instead of wandering around aimlessly in space with a homicidal female robot ship, a space pirate and a space prince, and growing his hair because Guy did it, and Hal has to outdo Guy in EVERYTHING...maybe he should just give up this whole foolishness and go bond with Barry and Ollie for a little while. 

Reviews

Boy Howdy, have I been lazy!  In my defense it was a horribly hot and muggy week.  Thank goodness it has finally started to cool down and we even got some much needed rain.  And, it wasn't a terrible week for comics either.


Batman #44

I had dropped this book because I really don't care all that much about reading about James Gordon as Batman.  But hey, there was Bruce on the cover...and...and Hal!  Normal Hal, not Space Gambit Hal! 

It all turns out to be more or less a flashback story, but it is a decent one, and it's nice to see Bruce as Bats again.  No Hal at all however, which was a bummer, but then I remembered that it is Green Lantern's 75th anniversary, (also it has a 75th Anniversary logo on the cover) and that explained that.

It is a mystery to me, that DC is busy celebrating all of these extremely fabulous anniversaries...but are busy trying to delete as much of that fabulous history from their annals as is humanly possible.  You really can't boast about your history while you are simultaneously dumping that history...it's just peculiar.

Gotham Academy #10

Well, we have Shakespeare at the school, with Mr. Trent trying to stage the Scottish Play, but terrible things keep happening to all his actors.  A young girl who I don't remember seeing before keeps trying to get into the play, but keeps getting upstaged by all the other kids, including Olive and her group. Naturally, they Put On A Show!  And it's great!  Of course terrible things also keep happening.

It turns out the girl behind all this is Katharine, who is Olive's roomie.  And incidentally Clayface's daughter, and Clayface shows up  and he and Mr. Trent start quoting from the Bard which is a hoot. 

It's all a lot of fun of course.

Fables: The Wolf Among Us #9

The plot thickens...very slowly. So very slowly.  We learned in the last issue that Ichabod Crane is the one behind all the murders, but they decide to pursue another line, with Bluebeard destroying evidence, and the sub plot with the young lady and the guy in the mirror.  It all gets a little creepy.



A-Force #4

These side issues to Secret Wars and Battleworld  all seem to come out so slowly, that it is hard sometimes to remember what happened in the last one.  There is a traitor in Arcadia, and of course, it turns out to be Loki, who gets beaten up and defeated, and then lets in the zombies.

As much as I enjoy Loki, I do find all this Battleworld stuff to be getting pretty...tedious.  It just won't end!

Little Marvel #4

This is the kid versions of the Avengers and the X-Men, fighting over who gets to claim the new twins who just moved into town, by Skottie Young, and it is just adorable. They have added the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Inhumans to the mix, and it just gets better and better.  Of course the final group is the best.

Oh, the final group is definitely the best.


Ms Marvel #18

Well, Kamala's big brother Aamir has been give  super powers by the evil Kamran, except that they aren't the actual Terrigen mists that gave Kamala her powers at all. Kamran really is kind've dumb. Plus Aamir is rather awesome in that he was perfectly happy the way that he was, doesn't want super powers, and doesn't want to join Kamran's motley crew, and beats the crap out of him.

They all get back to the High School, and Kamala wants Carol to stay, and doesn't really understand that she can't and that it isn't just a crisis, it IS the end of the world.  It's sweet that Carol ends up really liking Kamala, and seriously, who doesn't?

Then her parents show up looking for Aamir, who has woken up and started dumping on his sister, who by now is feeling pretty cranky, especially when the parents start ragging on her too.  Kamala is feeling pretty down, but then realizes that the World is ending and perhaps she shouldn't spend the time left being mad, so she confesses to her mother that she is Ms. Marvel...and is absolutely gobsmacked when her mother says that she's known all along.

God I love this book.

1602: Witch Hunter Angela #3

Well, still looking for Faustians, Angela and Sera discover Rogue, being held in a castle, under an enchantment of course.  And more Shakespeare!  And Othello and Desdemona turn out to be Cloak and Dagger!

It's really weird...but in a good way.

Extremely Quick Reviews

Just about to fly out the door to go to Limerock Park for the Historic... my favorite race of the year!  All the antique race and sports cars from the '30's and '40's and so on... and they drive so carefully because nobody wants body damage for God's sake. sir Sterling Moss is coming over from Old Blighty because he had such a good time last year that he decided to do it again and he is bringing his collection of antique Mercedes with him.

It is going to be glorious.

But onto comics!  Not a huge week for me.


Harley Quinn and Power Girl #3

I think this is actually from last week, but it is a hoot as usual. The girls are doing their best to rescue Vartox, and there is a whole lot of trippiness along the way. Too bad that Vartox has mind control going and is evil now! As opposed to just being smarmy.

It's all good silly fun, and lord knows there hasn't been much of that lately at DC. This is my only DC book for the week. Passed on Green Lantern, which gave me a slight pang, but oh my... it has been so incredibly... Boring!


Daredevil #18

he last issue of Mark Said and Chris Samnee's run... and oh what an incredible run it has been! They don't disappoint either. Matt was left in a really bad situation, with no possible way to triumph. But then he does rather excel in doing the impossible, and manages to turn the tables and not only rescues Kirsten and Foggy, but delivers a takedown of the Kingpin that is simply... epic.

They wrap things up neatly and make itossible for the next team to take over without having to go through tortured rectors. I do like it when the writers put their toys away neatly... its just good manners. I think that this book and the Loki: Agent of Asgard books really stand out as how to write an epic story, and provide real change to the characters while still making that change be completely believable... nay, even inevitable.

But I am really going to miss this book.  Ten thumbs up!

Groot  #4

This is just fun. Rocket is still kidnapped, and his kidnapper is getting a bit impatient because Grout hasn't shown up yet. Rocket explains that he will get there in his own time and fashion. Meanwhile, Groot has managed to pick up a trio of inept but rather amusing Skrulls, the Munition, a robot with aspirations and a nice cosmic being with adequacy issues.

It all is just so... terribly cute. And fun. I really do enjoy this book.

And finally...

Thor #3

On Battleworld, the police force which consists of all Thor (and Storm) are investigating the murder of Beta Ray Bill and all the Jane Fosters and Donald Blake. Naturally they pick up hobo Loki and try to grill him.

That goes over about as well as you would expect it to. Except that Loki apparently isn't the killer, he is actually an informant. Of course nobody ever said that the Thor are bright. Ultimate Thor follows the clues that Loki gives him and finds the mass grave of James and Donald in \zombie land, and in turn gets beaten almost to death by Asshole Thor, or "Raney". I honestly am not sure who Asshole Thor is supposed to be, but boy is he a jerk! Then our Thor...Mjolnir-less Thor shows up.

While I will be glad when this whole crossover is finally over, this is not a bad diversion.

So...a small week.  But not a bad week.

Have a lovely Labor Day Holiday!