But I got to give it to Fraction. Iron Man #500 was seamlessly brilliant. It's a little clumsy in the beginning with how all these threads work, but it's almost meant to be that way. It starts off like this Iron Man issue but elaborates itself and stretches itself further and further, connecting motifs and maintaining a wonderful structure to it and yeah we were given a lot of these pieces in previews, but how these pieces really work is what you're seeing in this issue.
This was a strange issue, but a damn exciting one. I can't say I'm honestly 100% sure what went on here, but I do know that it's definitely blown open my expectations for the last six issues in a big way. One storyarc seems to come to an end - possibly permanently - and another character's takes a dramatic turn. We get quick glimpses of Deathstorm as he presents the White Lantern to his mysterious master, and of Mera as she recruits Aquagirl for the upcoming war, but otherwise this issue is all Hawks and Deadman. We start with Hawkman and Hawkgirl going up against Hawkgirl's evil mom. They manage to exorcise the Predator from her, causing the bones of their past selves to come to life and drag her down to the underworld with them. This accomplished, the White Lantern declares their mission accomplished and returns their life to them. Meanwhile, Deadman's ring suddenly starts charging up, and when it reaches 100%, he's spirited away from his grandfather and appears, in full costume, in front of Hawkman and Hawkgirl as they celebrate their victory over the curse by canoodling. Deadman is essentially held hostage by the White Lantern, used as a puppet as it issues a strange ultimatum to the Hawks, telling them they must part ways to survive. They refuse, saying they would rather die than live apart - and the White Lantern obliges them, blasting them and apparently turning them into dust! What the fuck! With only six issues left, I have to say I'm at a loss as to the nature of this power...but it seems safe to say that it may not be nearly as benevolent as it looked on first glance.
Green Lantern Corps #56 - ***
This was kind of a lackluster issue, and while the Weaponer story is pretty interesting, I can't help but feel like it's dragging on a bit too long. There were a few good moments, such as Sinestro's speech to the Corps as he sends them on a mission to Qward to destroy the planet for him. Overall, though, too much of the issue was spent with the Lanterns on the defensive. See, the Sinestro Corps want to wipe out the planet, but the GLs can't fight back because raising a ring against a Sinestro Corps member would break the truth. So they're left playing defense as the Sinestro Corps attack Qward. The Weaponer himself is a bit too over the top to really make a good villain, talking like a reject from Thor at times. Things pick up a lot when Sinestro shows up in person to kill the Weaponer, and owns him in pretty much epic fashion. Although I have to say, the Weaponer doesn't really seem all that evil. He kidnapped someone and yelled a lot. The end of the issue has John finding a loophole to fight the Sinestro Corps, arming themselves with the Weaponers weapons to avoid using the rings. Let's hope for a good finale.
Supergirl #60 - ***1/2
This was a strange issue to review, because it's not often that a run starts with a co-written issue. It's hard to know where Nick Spencer ends and James Peaty picks up, so there's no way of knowing what the title will look like next issue. What is clear is that this is a great introduction for a new villain, but not so much a great Supergirl comic. It takes a while for the villain, Alex, to really reveal his plan, but when he does, it's a good one. The character is essentially "What if Mark Zuckerberg became a supervillain?". He's built a social network of hero sightings for supervillains to use to hunt down heroes, because he believes that heroes are keeping us from being conquered by alien civilizations that could better our society. Long story short, he thinks they're holding us back. He's part futurist, part sociopath, and all creepy. And he's blackmailing his friends into helping him, apparently. Meanwhile, Lois is talking with a Cadmus whistleblower named Catherine Devereaux, who exposes one of their twisted experiments, which seemingly ties back to Alex. Catherine also has a young, sick son who meets a terrible fate at Alex's hands in retaliation. As for Supergirl, she's only in half the issue and not even all of those pages. She's taken over looking after Metropolis while Clark gumps around America, and there's a few amusing scenes about stalkers throwing themselves off roofs for her. Then she's attacked and beaten up by a group of villains (Metallo, Kryptonite Man, Parasite, and Silver Banshee) who used Alex's site to find her. That's about it. I'm interested to see how this develops when Peaty takes over full-time and gives Kara his own voice.
Batman #706 - **1/2
Daniel had a couple of fun issues in the last few months, but this one didn't really impress me. Way too many characters floating around, and the plot didn't really come together into a coherent whole. We open with Lucius Fox and his daughter Tam being kidnapped by the Sensei and interrogated. Then we cut to Dick being beaten up by Riddler and Enigma until he calls Damian in for backup. There's some amusing snarking on Damian's part, but Riddler's role really doesn't go anywhere, and we don't really know anything more about Enigma than we did before. From there, Dick visits the Reaper, wounded and doped out of his mind, in Arkham and tries to get some information out of him. Then he teams up with Catgirl, who's annoying but in an amusing sort of way, like Misfit, as they try to track down where Peacock's brother has been taken. Then he sends Catgirl home and jumps into battle alongside I-Ching to take on the Sensei. See what I mean? This is all in 20 pages. I give Daniel credit for not slowing down and packing a lot of action into one issue, but it's a little too much. There's elements I really like here, and in the future I hope to see them explored in a less fast-paced way.
Batman: The Streets of Gotham #19 - **1/2
It's hard to believe that there's only two issues left after this, because it really doesn't feel like this arc is heading towards any sort of conclusive finish. A lot of this issue is devoted to Hush's new merry gang of thugs, as they interrogate Dr. Death and get a charming childhood anecdote from the youngest thug, about the first time he met the Joker. Seems his uncle was kidnapped by Joker, and the little boy got to see him slowly eaten to death by hyenas. Because that's what Joker does. While it was certainly a chilling segment, it felt a bit wasted since it's unlikely we'll ever see any of these characters again once Dini wraps up his run. As usual, the flashback segments were by far the best part of the issue, and I really liked Thomas Wayne and Giovanni Zatara's interactions. But the rest of the issue didn't live up to it, and I don't feel like Hush's master plan advanced too much. The issue ended with Batman and Catwoman reconnecting with a kiss - only to cut to the creepy new villain "Bedbug" watching from the rooftops, in probably the most amusing mood-killer I've seen in some time. Weird issue.
Justice League of America #53 - *
It says a lot that this issue was all essentially one elaborate feint to fool the villains, and yet I found every fake action that the characters took entirely believable. That's how little I expect out of this book at this point. Essentially, the first half of the issue is devoted to Dark Supergirl and the Crime Syndicate betraying the League, and Batman acting like a sniveling coward while Jade berates him. Then they reveal it was all a fake-out and ambush the villains, freeing everyone. I had a number of problems with this. One - to the end, the Omega Man is a fucking Power Rangers villain. This is a guy with no motivation, no personality, and a slightly cool look. That's all. Even worse, they kept the only cool moment of the issue (Tangent Green Lantern using her power to bring back ALEX LUTHOR!!!) for a flashback segment revealed after the fact. Three - so if Dark Supergirl isn't evil, what's the point of the character? She's Supergirl with a new costume? Then Starman and Congorilla show up to join the team again, right off their other, much better adventure. Also, Donna Troy curses a lot. The team is a mess of D-listers, some cool, most not, and Batman. And it reads like it.
Legion of Super-Heroes #9 - ***1/2
This was a pretty interesting issue, as Brainiac 5 and Chameleon travel to Durla to confront the masterminds of the Durlan infiltration and attempt to get them to call off their quest for revenge for Brande's death. And speaking of Brande, while they're off on their mission, Tyroc and Timber Wolf are guarding the United Planets assembly when who should show up to address them but Brande himself! It's clearly an impostor, who seems to want to make a speech before the Legionnaires confront him, causing "Brande" to turn into a horrific dragon-like monster. Meanwhile, Cham's attempts to negotiate with the crazed, superstitious, lovecraftian elders of his world is pretty fun to read, especially with Brainiac 5 making misstep after misstep and nearly getting them kicked out. I'm not sure if this is the first time we've seen Durla, but it's definitely an interesting world to visit. The ending reveals the identity of the Durlan assassin - and it's someone with close ties to both Cham and Brande. This is easily the better of the two Legion books right now, and it's great to see Levitz get the chance to revitalize the franchise he made his name on.
Power girl #20 - ****
Wow! What happened here? I was not a fan of Winick's run on Power Girl at all up until now, but suddenly he seems to have recaptured a lot of the fun and energy that characterized the Palmiotti/Grey/Conner run. For starters, Karen is on an island filled with giant monsters, so you know that's going to be fun. Dr. Ivo seems mostly like a henpecked pet owner as he tries to keep her from riling them up, but it's no use as they all get loose. Karen winds up being attacked by a giant muscle-clone of Krypto, who...licks her? It's actually pretty cute and funny, as this giant dog monster acts exactly like Krypto and helps to stop the other monsters. Meanwhile, Karen's lawyer desperately tries to keep his absent boss' company from going up on the chopping block. Things don't stay lighthearted forever, of course, as Max Lord shows up and puts the psychic whammy on Power Girl, sending her off to take out the JLI like he did in last week's issue of Generation Lost. I'm not sure how I feel about the tie-ins, but it's cool how the issues fit nearly in between event issues. And the rest of the issue was the best this title's been in a while.
Bonus Reviews:
Young Justice #0 - ****
This was a good start, feeling amazingly like the actual cartoon and taking place neatly in between scenes at the end of the premiere. Hopps/Weisman and Norton make a great team, capturing every character's voice down pat. I was a little disappointed that we didn't see more of Miss Martian this issue - I would have liked to see how she decided to join YJ, and some of her interaction with J'onn, but this just focuses on the four boys. Robin mostly gets interaction with Alfred, as he awaits Bruce's decision, and Aqualad gets one really good scene with Aquaman (who is written really well here). The stars are Superboy and Kid Flash, who are crashing at KF's folks' place, and proceed to annoy his mother, go shopping at the mall, and run into a pair of supervillains known as the Terror Twins. Still technically forbidden from fighting crime solo, they don really crappy disguises to fight them off. It's a bit slight, and doesn't really break any new ground, but the KF/Superboy friendship is a lot of fun, and I have very high hopes for this comic.
Tiny Titans #36 - ***
This was a pretty funny issue, although a bit too random for my tastes. Terra takes the fire kids (Hot Spot and Kid Devil) and Beast Boy on a tour of the center of the Earth, with wackiness ensuing. Beast Boy being scared of everything was pretty hilarious, and Trigon appearances are always good, but I'm not sure how Etrigan fits into this - he's from hell, not the center of the earth - and dinosaurs randomly showing up was weird. The highlight was the strange little romance between Terra and Beast Boy that blossomed this issue - well as much as romance can blossom in the TT world.
Superman/Batman #80 - **1/2
I like Roberson, and I like Merino, but Epoch is a fucking terrible villain. He rants a lot and hops around time trying to take over the world. This wasn't a bad issue per-se, mainly because there were a lot of interesting glimpses at the Supermen and Batmen of the future, including what I'm pretty sure are Damian Wayne and Conner Kent. But overall, the fight scenes were just way too reliant on pseudoscience and technical jargon, and dragged on a bit too long. The "time loop" business with the 853rd century heroes was pretty good, though. Next up on this title - Cullen Bunn, so I have high hopes.
The Spirit #10 - ***1/2
This was an interesting, creepy issue focusing on a random skell who shoots a crooked old woman, only to be warned by her that the Spirit will avenge her. This is interspliced with creepy flashbacks to his abusive childhood and his fear of cockroaches, which plays in heavily. Slowly, he becomes consumed by fear, starting to see the Spirit everywhere, until it becomes too much to take and he destroys himself. This is a done-in-one in a way that feels much more like a Jonah Hex issue than the title up until this point.
Think Andrew might get a kick out of this latest "Where the Hell Am I" column
You know what, I may start picking up his Wolverine book even though I'm not a Wolvie fan. In fact I think I'm going to check out and buy anything he does from now on.
For weeks now the man has shared valuable and personal information about what it's like to be a comic pro, how to refine your work, how to write an effective pitch, etc. He's shared personal feelings and behind the scenes info about how he felt the move to 2.99 and 20 pages affects the creators (which a lot of people didn't take into account). He got the Alan Moore thing off his chest and now with this he pretty much puts into a column what many many people have been saying for years (as they abandon the Big Two). Stop pretending this industry is Hollywood Lite.
Good for Jason Aaron. I'm going to back track and get everything the man writes.
"A wonderful anthology full of exciting new talents. BUY THIS BOOK!"- GAIL SIMONE
You know what, I may start picking up his Wolverine book even though I'm not a Wolvie fan. In fact I think I'm going to check out and buy anything he does from now on.
For weeks now the man has shared valuable and personal information about what it's like to be a comic pro, how to refine your work, how to write an effective pitch, etc. He's shared personal feelings and behind the scenes info about how he felt the move to 2.99 and 20 pages affects the creators (which a lot of people didn't take into account). He got the Alan Moore thing off his chest and now with this he pretty much puts into a column what many many people have been saying for years (as they abandon the Big Two). Stop pretending this industry is Hollywood Lite.
Good for Jason Aaron. I'm going to back track and get everything the man writes.
Somewhere, Jason Aaron has just had a mindblowing orgasm and can't figure out why.
This was a strange issue, but a damn exciting one. I can't say I'm honestly 100% sure what went on here, but I do know that it's definitely blown open my expectations for the last six issues in a big way. One storyarc seems to come to an end - possibly permanently - and another character's takes a dramatic turn. We get quick glimpses of Deathstorm as he presents the White Lantern to his mysterious master, and of Mera as she recruits Aquagirl for the upcoming war, but otherwise this issue is all Hawks and Deadman. We start with Hawkman and Hawkgirl going up against Hawkgirl's evil mom. They manage to exorcise the Predator from her, causing the bones of their past selves to come to life and drag her down to the underworld with them. This accomplished, the White Lantern declares their mission accomplished and returns their life to them. Meanwhile, Deadman's ring suddenly starts charging up, and when it reaches 100%, he's spirited away from his grandfather and appears, in full costume, in front of Hawkman and Hawkgirl as they celebrate their victory over the curse by canoodling. Deadman is essentially held hostage by the White Lantern, used as a puppet as it issues a strange ultimatum to the Hawks, telling them they must part ways to survive. They refuse, saying they would rather die than live apart - and the White Lantern obliges them, blasting them and apparently turning them into dust! What the fuck! With only six issues left, I have to say I'm at a loss as to the nature of this power...but it seems safe to say that it may not be nearly as benevolent as it looked on first glance.
Green Lantern Corps #56 - ***
This was kind of a lackluster issue, and while the Weaponer story is pretty interesting, I can't help but feel like it's dragging on a bit too long. There were a few good moments, such as Sinestro's speech to the Corps as he sends them on a mission to Qward to destroy the planet for him. Overall, though, too much of the issue was spent with the Lanterns on the defensive. See, the Sinestro Corps want to wipe out the planet, but the GLs can't fight back because raising a ring against a Sinestro Corps member would break the truth. So they're left playing defense as the Sinestro Corps attack Qward. The Weaponer himself is a bit too over the top to really make a good villain, talking like a reject from Thor at times. Things pick up a lot when Sinestro shows up in person to kill the Weaponer, and owns him in pretty much epic fashion. Although I have to say, the Weaponer doesn't really seem all that evil. He kidnapped someone and yelled a lot. The end of the issue has John finding a loophole to fight the Sinestro Corps, arming themselves with the Weaponers weapons to avoid using the rings. Let's hope for a good finale.
Supergirl #60 - ***1/2
This was a strange issue to review, because it's not often that a run starts with a co-written issue. It's hard to know where Nick Spencer ends and James Peaty picks up, so there's no way of knowing what the title will look like next issue. What is clear is that this is a great introduction for a new villain, but not so much a great Supergirl comic. It takes a while for the villain, Alex, to really reveal his plan, but when he does, it's a good one. The character is essentially "What if Mark Zuckerberg became a supervillain?". He's built a social network of hero sightings for supervillains to use to hunt down heroes, because he believes that heroes are keeping us from being conquered by alien civilizations that could better our society. Long story short, he thinks they're holding us back. He's part futurist, part sociopath, and all creepy. And he's blackmailing his friends into helping him, apparently. Meanwhile, Lois is talking with a Cadmus whistleblower named Catherine Devereaux, who exposes one of their twisted experiments, which seemingly ties back to Alex. Catherine also has a young, sick son who meets a terrible fate at Alex's hands in retaliation. As for Supergirl, she's only in half the issue and not even all of those pages. She's taken over looking after Metropolis while Clark gumps around America, and there's a few amusing scenes about stalkers throwing themselves off roofs for her. Then she's attacked and beaten up by a group of villains (Metallo, Kryptonite Man, Parasite, and Silver Banshee) who used Alex's site to find her. That's about it. I'm interested to see how this develops when Peaty takes over full-time and gives Kara his own voice.
Batman #706 - **1/2
Daniel had a couple of fun issues in the last few months, but this one didn't really impress me. Way too many characters floating around, and the plot didn't really come together into a coherent whole. We open with Lucius Fox and his daughter Tam being kidnapped by the Sensei and interrogated. Then we cut to Dick being beaten up by Riddler and Enigma until he calls Damian in for backup. There's some amusing snarking on Damian's part, but Riddler's role really doesn't go anywhere, and we don't really know anything more about Enigma than we did before. From there, Dick visits the Reaper, wounded and doped out of his mind, in Arkham and tries to get some information out of him. Then he teams up with Catgirl, who's annoying but in an amusing sort of way, like Misfit, as they try to track down where Peacock's brother has been taken. Then he sends Catgirl home and jumps into battle alongside I-Ching to take on the Sensei. See what I mean? This is all in 20 pages. I give Daniel credit for not slowing down and packing a lot of action into one issue, but it's a little too much. There's elements I really like here, and in the future I hope to see them explored in a less fast-paced way.
Batman: The Streets of Gotham #19 - **1/2
It's hard to believe that there's only two issues left after this, because it really doesn't feel like this arc is heading towards any sort of conclusive finish. A lot of this issue is devoted to Hush's new merry gang of thugs, as they interrogate Dr. Death and get a charming childhood anecdote from the youngest thug, about the first time he met the Joker. Seems his uncle was kidnapped by Joker, and the little boy got to see him slowly eaten to death by hyenas. Because that's what Joker does. While it was certainly a chilling segment, it felt a bit wasted since it's unlikely we'll ever see any of these characters again once Dini wraps up his run. As usual, the flashback segments were by far the best part of the issue, and I really liked Thomas Wayne and Giovanni Zatara's interactions. But the rest of the issue didn't live up to it, and I don't feel like Hush's master plan advanced too much. The issue ended with Batman and Catwoman reconnecting with a kiss - only to cut to the creepy new villain "Bedbug" watching from the rooftops, in probably the most amusing mood-killer I've seen in some time. Weird issue.
Justice League of America #53 - *
It says a lot that this issue was all essentially one elaborate feint to fool the villains, and yet I found every fake action that the characters took entirely believable. That's how little I expect out of this book at this point. Essentially, the first half of the issue is devoted to Dark Supergirl and the Crime Syndicate betraying the League, and Batman acting like a sniveling coward while Jade berates him. Then they reveal it was all a fake-out and ambush the villains, freeing everyone. I had a number of problems with this. One - to the end, the Omega Man is a fucking Power Rangers villain. This is a guy with no motivation, no personality, and a slightly cool look. That's all. Even worse, they kept the only cool moment of the issue (Tangent Green Lantern using her power to bring back ALEX LUTHOR!!!) for a flashback segment revealed after the fact. Three - so if Dark Supergirl isn't evil, what's the point of the character? She's Supergirl with a new costume? Then Starman and Congorilla show up to join the team again, right off their other, much better adventure. Also, Donna Troy curses a lot. The team is a mess of D-listers, some cool, most not, and Batman. And it reads like it.
Legion of Super-Heroes #9 - ***1/2
This was a pretty interesting issue, as Brainiac 5 and Chameleon travel to Durla to confront the masterminds of the Durlan infiltration and attempt to get them to call off their quest for revenge for Brande's death. And speaking of Brande, while they're off on their mission, Tyroc and Timber Wolf are guarding the United Planets assembly when who should show up to address them but Brande himself! It's clearly an impostor, who seems to want to make a speech before the Legionnaires confront him, causing "Brande" to turn into a horrific dragon-like monster. Meanwhile, Cham's attempts to negotiate with the crazed, superstitious, lovecraftian elders of his world is pretty fun to read, especially with Brainiac 5 making misstep after misstep and nearly getting them kicked out. I'm not sure if this is the first time we've seen Durla, but it's definitely an interesting world to visit. The ending reveals the identity of the Durlan assassin - and it's someone with close ties to both Cham and Brande. This is easily the better of the two Legion books right now, and it's great to see Levitz get the chance to revitalize the franchise he made his name on.
Power girl #20 - ****
Wow! What happened here? I was not a fan of Winick's run on Power Girl at all up until now, but suddenly he seems to have recaptured a lot of the fun and energy that characterized the Palmiotti/Grey/Conner run. For starters, Karen is on an island filled with giant monsters, so you know that's going to be fun. Dr. Ivo seems mostly like a henpecked pet owner as he tries to keep her from riling them up, but it's no use as they all get loose. Karen winds up being attacked by a giant muscle-clone of Krypto, who...licks her? It's actually pretty cute and funny, as this giant dog monster acts exactly like Krypto and helps to stop the other monsters. Meanwhile, Karen's lawyer desperately tries to keep his absent boss' company from going up on the chopping block. Things don't stay lighthearted forever, of course, as Max Lord shows up and puts the psychic whammy on Power Girl, sending her off to take out the JLI like he did in last week's issue of Generation Lost. I'm not sure how I feel about the tie-ins, but it's cool how the issues fit nearly in between event issues. And the rest of the issue was the best this title's been in a while.
Bonus Reviews:
Young Justice #0 - ****
This was a good start, feeling amazingly like the actual cartoon and taking place neatly in between scenes at the end of the premiere. Hopps/Weisman and Norton make a great team, capturing every character's voice down pat. I was a little disappointed that we didn't see more of Miss Martian this issue - I would have liked to see how she decided to join YJ, and some of her interaction with J'onn, but this just focuses on the four boys. Robin mostly gets interaction with Alfred, as he awaits Bruce's decision, and Aqualad gets one really good scene with Aquaman (who is written really well here). The stars are Superboy and Kid Flash, who are crashing at KF's folks' place, and proceed to annoy his mother, go shopping at the mall, and run into a pair of supervillains known as the Terror Twins. Still technically forbidden from fighting crime solo, they don really crappy disguises to fight them off. It's a bit slight, and doesn't really break any new ground, but the KF/Superboy friendship is a lot of fun, and I have very high hopes for this comic.
Tiny Titans #36 - ***
This was a pretty funny issue, although a bit too random for my tastes. Terra takes the fire kids (Hot Spot and Kid Devil) and Beast Boy on a tour of the center of the Earth, with wackiness ensuing. Beast Boy being scared of everything was pretty hilarious, and Trigon appearances are always good, but I'm not sure how Etrigan fits into this - he's from hell, not the center of the earth - and dinosaurs randomly showing up was weird. The highlight was the strange little romance between Terra and Beast Boy that blossomed this issue - well as much as romance can blossom in the TT world.
Superman/Batman #80 - **1/2
I like Roberson, and I like Merino, but Epoch is a fucking terrible villain. He rants a lot and hops around time trying to take over the world. This wasn't a bad issue per-se, mainly because there were a lot of interesting glimpses at the Supermen and Batmen of the future, including what I'm pretty sure are Damian Wayne and Conner Kent. But overall, the fight scenes were just way too reliant on pseudoscience and technical jargon, and dragged on a bit too long. The "time loop" business with the 853rd century heroes was pretty good, though. Next up on this title - Cullen Bunn, so I have high hopes.
The Spirit #10 - ***1/2
This was an interesting, creepy issue focusing on a random skell who shoots a crooked old woman, only to be warned by her that the Spirit will avenge her. This is interspliced with creepy flashbacks to his abusive childhood and his fear of cockroaches, which plays in heavily. Slowly, he becomes consumed by fear, starting to see the Spirit everywhere, until it becomes too much to take and he destroys himself. This is a done-in-one in a way that feels much more like a Jonah Hex issue than the title up until this point.
Always enjoyable reviews, Ray. Why is Superman/Batman a bonus review and not with the DCU books though?
"A wonderful anthology full of exciting new talents. BUY THIS BOOK!"- GAIL SIMONE
DCU Megathread Justice League
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