JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #8: The Rise of the Vampires crossover with I, VAMPIRE moves on to Part 3. Deadman and Constantine end up in-between Heaven and Hell and have a little chat with Andrew Bennett. Shade and the rest of the team are trying to keep things together when they end up in the Area of Madness with Shade’s imaginary girlfriend Kathy and they walk off into the sunset together. Just when things deteriorate, Andrew Bennett arrives resurrected to, hopefully, save the day.
God, how much do I absolutely love Peter Milligan’s writing and am glad he’s back? A whole bunch. His writing is a sharp as ever, harkening back to some of his great work like EGYPT, SHADE and THE MINX, not to mention his awesome run on X-FORCE/X-STATIX with Mike Allred. And Daniel Sampere’s art is so beautiful and a radical departure from what has come before that it just pushes the book that much further. Great book!
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #8: Batwing saves the day as Booster Gold battle Lightweaver. And Roland Norcutt apparently has no eyes and can drain life energy and is a villain known as Breakdown. And it seems Norcutt was at the U.N. before the blast. O.M.A.C. shows up and trashes the team. And did I mention that the U.N. has FIRED THEM?.
Another nice issue from Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti. It’s a cool mixture of action, soap opera and high drama. And O.M.A.C. too! Will the One Man Army Corps end up part of the team? Hope so! This is not the BEST Justice League title but it certainly isn’t the worst and it hearkens back to the fun of the classic JLI series, without the benefit of J. M. DeMatteis, and Keith Giffen’s humorous stamp. It’s a fun read and worthy of your comic dollars.
NIGHTWING #8: We begin in Gotham City back in 1910 where the “Elite of Gotham” was Burton Crowne, Edward Elliot, Frederic Cobblepot and Alan Wayne. We get the back story behind a certain member of the Court of the The Owls. Before the issue’s end, Nightwing has battle with a Talon who is murdering the politicians of Gotham and defeats him/her. Either way, it all ends bad as our narrator, William Cobb, attempts to murder Dick Grayson.
Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows weave this first part of NIGHTWING’s NIGHT OF THE OWLS arc and do so beautifully. We get some great back-story on William Cobb who, if you have been paying attention, is related to Dick Grayson. We get some pretty grisly action mid-0way through the issue and get a totally surprising ending to a cliffhanger. Nice work guys. Can’t wait for the next issue.
O.M.A.C #8: O.M.A.C. battles everything that Max Lord, Mokkari and the Checkmate crew can throw at him. He ends up dropping out of Checkmate’s lair(in Mount Roushmore?) and Sarge Steel loses his hand. Kevin transforms back to his old self, sees his girlfriend and gets tranformed again. Brother Eye gets silenced and tranfers kevin’s consciousness into O.,M.A.C.’s body. The girl professes her love, but she is told that Kevin is dead…all that remains is O.M.A.C.
And thus ends the short run of O.M.A.C.. If you have read my blogs over the last eight months, you know how huge a fan I have been of this book. I give major props to Dan Didio, Keith Giffen and Scott Koblish for turning up the tribute jets under this book and I think Jack Kirby would be proud. I will totally miss this book and look forward to him appearing elsewhere throughout the NEW 52.
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #8: Apparently Suzie Su didn’t die in her first appearance in this title and she’s back, along with her back story told from Jason’s perspective. But it looks like she’s out for good this time as Jason pulls the trigger on her point blank in her big old head. Then we get a tie-in to the whole Owls storyline by way of Alfred’s message sent to all of Batman’s agents. We end up with Jason having a meeting with Tim Drake and then it’s called investigating a “person of interest”: Victor Fries. Does this lead to the first appearance of Mr. Freeze in the NEW 52?
Interesting issue this time around which, like most of the Batman influenced issue #8’s this month serves mostly as a lead-in to the NIGHT OF THE OWLS story next month. I find myself still liking Scott Lobdell’s characterization of DC’s teen characters and Kenneth Rocafort’s quirky art is just the right fit. I really like this book a whole lot.
RED LANTERN #8: Last issue, Abysmus mortally wounded Atrocitus. This issue begins with the aftermath as Abysmus lays siege to the power battery. New Lantern Rankorr tries to attend to the dying Lantern, but Atrocitus ain’t going down that easily and pulls the bone spear out of his body. The other Lanterns begin to attack Rankorr but something big and nasty comes out of him that scares the rest of his attackers. Guy Gardner tries to figure how how Rankoor came to be and Atrocitus learns that the power battery has been destroyed.
Peter Milligan, Andres Guinaldo and Jorge Jimenez blow the roof off the strange side of the Lantern mythos with this book. This is a great, bloody take with some killer characters. Buy the book and thank me later.
RESURRECTION MAN #8: Kim Rebecki is a detective who has a special “touch” called Psychometry. The Butcher is a serial killer dealing in Necromancy. They both end up crossing paths with Mitch Shelley. Mitch dies in combat with The Butcher but manages to turn the tables on the madman and takes his life back. Of course, that was before The Suicide Squad shows up and takes him out with a Deadshot headshot.
Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning continue to blow me away with every issue. These are two of the best writers in the business and this, the hero they created, is one of their finest hours if NOT their finest hour. Throw in Fernando Dagnino’s stellar art and this book is a major sleeper title that you should be reading.
STORMWATCH #8: Jack Hawksmoor, The Engineer, and Martian Manhunter go off to battle the Gravity Miners. At one point, as revealed by Martian Manhunter, the Chrszy-rr, almost destroyed the entire Daemonite empire. Midnighter, Jenny Quantum and the Engineer get Charlie, the Daemonite in the ship, to tell how they defeated the Gravity Miners. Jenny and Midnighter rescue Apollo and Jenny sets a bomb to blow the thing up. Midnighter decides to leave her there because he has deemed her too dangerous. But when he gets back to the ship, guess who’s there ahead of him? She tells him she has done something to him, but won’t say what. Jenny tells him she has made a decision about him but won't tell him what.
Paul Jenkins does a nice job finishing his story arc and making way for Pete Milligan. We all know that Jenny is powerful, as anyone who read the previous series knows this. It will be nice to see where the twisted writing of Milligan is going to take this series. Next issue: a little Green Lantern action. Still one of my favorite reads. And, even though Marvel got all the press about Northstar’s relationship in ASTONISHING X-MEN, Midnighter and Apollo were a couple first!
SUICIDE SQUAD #8: When last we saw Harley Quinn, Deadshot had taken her out. Back at Belle Reve, Waller berates Harley before she gets shot with a special drug which brings her out of her coma. She then proceeds to torture Shark and tell him he is not going to get lucky enough to be getting out soon, especially after eating Yo-Yo. We also learn that someone has been planted onto the team that’s a traitor serving Basilisk. The plan is to assassinate Amanda Waller and expose the Squad. So who is the Suicide Assassin?
Yeah, this series continues to get wilder and wilder as Adam Glass and Federico Dallocchio, filling in for Clayton Henry, take this book into some really cool places. And the wild ride that began last issue continues on. Holy Smokes, Batman. The origin story gets updated, Lime loses her head and she swaps spit with Joker’s face attached to Deadshot’s head! Adam Glass and Clayton Henry push the envelope big time on this issue.
SUPERBOY #8: Superboy meets Grunge and he may look like the old Gen13 character, but looks can be deceiving. Grunge is a Revenger and he’s tough. How tough? He breaks Superboy’s forearms. He gets his tail handed to him throughout this entire issue. But, as a battle rages on at N.O.W.H.E.R.E., he finally gets an upper hand by using his T.K. to pull out Grunge’s implants. But Harvest is ready for The Culling and all of this will lead to…? Who knows? All we do know is that the end of the storyline will result in a new NEW 52 title, THE RAVAGERS.
Seeing the Boy of Steel get his arms snapped like twigs is an amazing sight in an equally amazing issue of SUPERBOY. Scott Lobdell and Tom DeFalco bring us one step closer to THE CULLING. And you add truly dynamic art by the team of Iban Coello and R. B. Silva and you get what is truly one of my favorite titles out there. This is nowhere near the book I expected it to be. If you told me eight months ago I would still be reading this title and looking forward to it each month, I would have called you crazy. Well, crazy or not, I read it, love it and cannot wait for the next issue!
SUPERGIRL #8: Supergirl meets Siobhan Smythe and strikes up a friendship with her. Siobhan is a singer/songwriter and Kara accompanies her to a gig. While at the gig, Siobhan’s father arrives. He’s the Black Banshee and he’s looking to take some souls. Kara tries to stop him, but she is told it’s a fight she can’t win. Siobhan is The Silver Banshee and this cannot be a good development.
Eight months into this title and I still haven’t decided what to think about this title. Last month was a boring issue. This time around, George Perez and Bob Wiacek, two legendary artists, step in to provide the art for Michael green and Mike Johnson’s story. While it is nice to see The Silver Banshee, such a key character in the old DCU Supergirl continuity, make her debut in the New 52, the story was just okay. There is just something about the overly innocent Kara that does not capture my interest. Sure, I get the whole stranger in a strange land concept, but she is just a boring character. I figure to finish the storyline and cut this loose. I just cannot buy dropping three dollars for an indecisive, ineffective character.
SUPERMAN#8: Superman is being hunted by the police and Clark is having a bad day. Then we learn that it is all an illusion planted in his head by Helspont. After spending an entire issue getting his butt whipped, Superman fights back and drives the creature off…for now.
Another nice issue from Dan Jurgens and Keith Giffen. All in all, the last two issues just served to further place the old Wildstorm Universe in mainstream continuity and introduce Lois’ sister. I still want Lori Lemaris back!
SWAMP THING #8: While the rot continues to spread itself across our world. Alec Holland is again reborn as Swamp Thing: a Swamp Thing quite different than one we have seen in the past, looking more like a Guardian Angel than a denizen of the swamp. Ultimately, it looks like Alec is going to have to face a drastically changed Abby and deal with the monster she has become.
Another truly amazing issue from Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette. The return of Alec Holland as a radically altered Swamp Thing is what this book is all about. The book IS CALLED SWAMP THING not The Adventures of Alec Holland in the Rot. Buy the damned book and grab ANIMAL MAN while you are at it. They go together like bacon and eggs.
TEEN TITANS #8: This is the Prelude tale leading into THE CULLING. Members of N.O.W.H.E.R.E.’s metahumans attack the Teen Titans, capturing most of them and mentally torturing them. Harvest does his thing and they are transported away, allegedly as The NEW Ravagers.
Scott Lobdell finishes laying in the final bricks the lead to THE CULLING while Ig Guara does the art chores this issue. Not as exciting visually as I would get from Brett Booth but it will suffice. Many plot pieces dropped in all leading to the crossover. Like most of this month’s issue #8s, it is more of an issue setting up a payoff. Let’s hope the payoff is worth the wait.
WONDER WOMAN #8: Wonder Woman and Hermes head to Hell to rescue Zola. Unfortunately, they run into the troubled souls of Hell as they make their appearance from out of statues. Of course, they are only souls, which means they are skinless creatures. Defeating the creatures, they end up at Zola’s farm in Hell. Hades arrives and Diana makes a deal: she gives him Eros’ pistols for Zola’s release. Unfortunately, Hades shoots her and decides to keep her as his bride.
Brian Azzarello continues to take WONDER WOMAN’s legendary mythology and turn it upside down. And I love it! This is the kind of kick in the pants this title, that fought for so long with hackneyed storylines and writers who struggled between Modern Day Heroics and Ancient History. Add in the amazing Cliff Chiang who just keeps getting better with every issue he draws. BUY THIS BOOK!
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