ACTION COMICS #27: We begin in the past where a young Clark was beginning to develop his hearing and vision powers and overheard his adoptive parents say he wasn't human. Later, Jonathan and Martha gave him the red cape he had been wrapped in. In modern day, Clark has become friends with Baka: the beast child he rescued last issue. He gets a call from Lana, who sends him pictures of an underground structure she found. She enters a large chamber and finds herself surrounded by monsters. Luckily Superman and Baka arrive to fight them. Ukur, their leader arrives and Baka transforms into beast form. Ukur speak to Baka in his own language and then tells Superman that he and his creatures are protecting the surface. Elsewhere, in the underground world Ukur calls Imperial Subterranea, a woman calling herself queen receives news that will allow her to go into the surface world.
Okay, once again Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder take this comic to new heights. The writing is lively, the story is interesting without being preachy, and the art by Kuder is his best to date. It's nice to see this book going back to the heights it once had back in the day. ACTION COMICS was the first title to feature Superman and should be the flagship title in the Kryptonian corner of the NEW 52. It's nice to see it reaching towards those heights again.
ALL-STAR WESTERN #27: Last issue, Superman arrived on the scene, much to the dismay of our time-displaced bounty hunter. Superman flies him off and demonstrates his power, while explaining that he is not a God to the people. Hex reminds him that the last person who said we could save ourselves got hung on a cross. After delivering him back to Gina, she takes Hex to the Metropolis Museum, where he has to give up all his weapons at the metal detector. Eventually, they end up in the Jonah Hex Exhibition Room where all manner of artifacts are displayed including Amadeus Arkham's original copy of FACE FULL OF VIOLENCE. Eventually, he sees his stuffed corpse on display. He flees the exhibit and leaves Gina behind, ending up drinking in a bar until he is tossed out. He climbs back on his motorcycle and, unfortunately runs into a tractor-trailer...literally.
It's nice to see some things remain unchanged from the OLD DC Universe. In the Fall of 1978, Michael Fleisher and Russ Heath collaborated on the story "The Last Bounty Hunter". Jonah is gunned down and while sitting playing cards. Jonah took off his glasses to clean them and George Barrow, whose gang the sixty-plus year old bounty hunter had captured, shot Jonah in the chest. His wife attempted to give him a proper Native American burial, but his corpse was stolen by L.B. Farnham to be put in his Wild West Revue. Hex was stuffed and put on display, eventually ending up at a Westworld theme park. THANK YOU for bringing us that story in a condensed version. And thanks for telling us the stuffed Jonah was on loan from the private collection of someone named DeZuniga (from Tony DeZuniga who was Jonah's artist for almost 100 issues of WEIRD WESTERN TALES). Kudos all the way around to the usual crew: Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Moritat.
ANIMAL MAN #27: While Mrs. Baker battles the paparazzi who think Buddy's disappearing act is all an act (and ends up incarcerated for her troubles), Animal Man makes his way to The Red to battle Brother Blood, who has killed all the Totems. Buddy draws upon one of the space creatures he encountered during his time with the Bridgewalker to defeat Blood's Tokens while The Warriors of the Red make their last stand against Brother Blood and his army in order to protect Maxine and Socks. Brother Blood kills Shepherd when he's distracted and then grabs Maxine around the neck and tells her that it is over.Well, almost.
This is the penultimate issue of this title and Jeff Lemire is doing his best to bring it to a natural closure. I love this book and loved it back in its' Grant Morrison heyday. But this particular run has been like RESURRECTION MAN was: just never able to find a true die-hard audience. And the art has been iffy from issue to issue. I am not a huge fan of Rafael Albuquerque's work, but it's too late in the game to complain now. Come back next month for Buddy baker's last stand.
AQUAMAN #27: Aquaman battles this strange crab-like monster in Iceland that seems to have been revived by a group known as Triton-a group which has a certain Dr. Shin. Remembering time he spent with his father at the lighthouse, Aquaman battles this ancient creature, finally dispatching it by cracking open it's shell and exposing it's brain, killing it. Mera, Neol and the rest arrive as does a team from Triton, that gathers up a brain sample from the creature. Meanwhile, back at Triton base, a diver tries to make repairs, but cuts himself on a piece of exposed metal and attracts a school of sharks in the process.
Another "okay" issue as Jeff Parker's tenure on the title continues. The only reason I say "okay" is that he has not quite picked up steam from his predecessor's epic run. The story is interesting but, coming after such epics as we have had in the last two years, it's a little hard to be thrilled over a giant sea creature tale. I am sure that will change. On the art side of the ledger, it's another outstanding issue from Paul Pelletier.
BATGIRL #27: In this issue, Barbara Gordon enters GOTHTOPIA. Angela Ramirez works for JOKER BRAND Ice cream. Barbara Gordon lives at home with her father, who makes her breakfast before he goes to work and she goes out on the prowl as...Bluebelle. Her best friend and fellow crime fighter is Clarissa Carnes, whose alter ego is Daybreak. Joker Brand sends a new ice cream flavor to the streets and it's a real killer-literally! People start dying from the poisoned dairy product and it seems that Ms. Ramirez is responsible. She has knocked out the radios in all the ice cream truck and, toting a gun and wearing a Joker inspired mask, has taken a group of students on a tour of the factory hostage. She adopts the new name Mother Mercy and tells the children she is taking revenge for her husband and son being murdered by something that left smiles on their faces. While Lieutenant Bullock, on orders from Mayor Cobblepot, gets a sniper in position, Barbara leaps into action and breaks into the hostage scene. She sees the Joker on the company logo and has a flashback to Joker atrocities in her past. Suddenly a shot rings out and Mother Mercy dies and finds peace at last.
Gail Simone and Robert Gill bring us the next chapter in the multi title GOTHTOPIA storyline and it's a winner from the opening page. Nice to see Barbara getting flashes of memory during the fight scene and how much fun is it to see Clarissa Carnes as a superhero? And did we all catch the twist? She is now DAYBREAK when she was known as...KNIGHTFALL! Very, VERY COOL! On top of a great story with killer art, you get an unbelievably photo-realistic cover from Alex Garner. This was a blast to read and actually re-read. One of the best issues of the run, and that's saying a whole lot!
BATMAN #27: Our story begins in a nightclub in Tokyo in 1946 and then rapidly shifts to Gotham City six years ago where Batman is fleeing from the Gotham City Police. Jim Gordon takes him into a police boat and tells our hero to remove the mask that is eating away into his flesh. Gordon removes his glasses so he can't see and Batman agrees, as Gordon relates the tale about trying to break up an illegal dog fighting ring involving his fellow cops and how it almost cost him his life. What it DID cost him was being around to stop the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Partway through the story, Batman bails out and heads back to the cave. Batman has a hunch he knows where Helfern's hideout is located, so he heads to the Catacombs, a historic Gotham City tourist attraction, and finds a lab. There he discovers Helfern's plan is actually Edward Nygma's plan for a doomsday device that could kill thousands. The Riddler floods the lab and believes that The Batman has drowned. However, on the last page, a gloved hand belonging to our hero emerges.
After a confusing start, which I still have NO IDEA what that means to the story, we get back into a grove and get more of Jim Gordon's back story and how it relates to Bruce Wayne's origin's. The art is typical of Greg Capullo and Danny Miki, although I do take issue with the cover which, as you have all heard me rant before about, has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY. Batman does NOT become a bone creature! Batman DOES remove his mask in front of Jim Gordon without revealing his identity. Batman DOES end up being lectured by Alfred. Batman DOES get blindsided by The Riddler. Another fast paced, exploratory kind of issue from Scott Snyder and company.
BATMAN AND ROBIN #27: We ended last issue with Batman trapped in a grave under a marble statue with no conceivable way out. Two-Face and drags Erin to Gilda's grave and then tosses the coin to see how she will die. Before he can carry out his plan, Batman fires a dart off of his glove and it not only pierces Dent's should, but also shatters the acid bottle burning Erin. Batman fires a grappling rope up from the grace and, grabbing Erin in the process, flies to safety, leaving the assassins her cousin Kieron brought to kill her befuddled. Among a series of flashbacks involving Robin and members of the Batman Family from recent months, Batman, Erin and Two-Face escape through some old abandoned aqueduct tunnels under the McKillen burial plots. As they escape, we get a flashback to a time when Jim Gordon and his family had a hit pout on them by the McKillen girls. Harvey Dent being their attorney, he could not turn them into the police. But, if he were to become District Attorney-that's a different case. So Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon throw their support to Harvey Dent and he does become D.A.. Back in the present, we see that Erin and Batman have escape, but discover that Two-face has been captured and is about to be executed on live television.
You have got to love the work of Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason who manage to make this team-up title WITHOUT Robin continue to work. The artwork, with a major assist I am sure from inker Mick Gray, pops off the page. The industry loves to rave about Jim Lee and , don't get me wrong, he is a great artist. But Gleason is totally underrated in my opinion. I like where this story is going, especially when you get to what will eventually be the origin of Two Face as he changes from crusading attorney Harvey Dent into the conflicted villain we know and love. This is just a really, REALLY good book.
BATMAN AND ROBIN ANNUAL #2: Batman, after doing some digging in his ceiling, calls Dick Grayson to Wayne Manor and shows him a box, left for him by Damian. The story then flashes back to Dick's first day as Robin. He begins by trying on a non-Batman-approved outfit that resembles the Kandorian Nightwing outfit. Once Batman gets hi into the approved costume, he is forced to stay in the Batmobile and observe. But he does get out and actually saves batman during the battle. Since he disobeyed, he is fired. The next night, despite Batman's orders, Robin goes out hunting Tusk and is captured by him. Batman arrives and he too is captured. Before it's done, the former acrobat gets free and manages to break off one of the villain's tusks in the process. Over the years, they kept chasing him and he kept getting away until one day, he was never heard of again. When Bruce opens the box, the second tusk is there with a note from Damian asking if Old Robin needs any more help taking down his bad guys. Even from the grave, he makes Bruce and Dick smile.
I really think that Grant Morrison robbed us of such a rich character when he killed off Damian Wayne. But Peter J. Tomasi insists on showing so much love for that character that he does whatever he can to make all of his characters miss his presence, along with us. As a bonus, as much as I love Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray's art, we get Doug Mahnke' art and, well...it is Doug Mahnke. This is a great, fun story and is worth the Five dollar cover price.
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #27: Picking up from last month's silent issue, free himself and, using his detective skills, deduces that the immigrants are being held in the Holiday Cheer Inc. building. He frees the captive and shows one girl a picture. Obviously, she recognizes the woman and Batman takes her away, leaving Gordon on GPCD to clean up. Penguin gets the news and is none to happy while the child and woman are reunited in the Wayne Children's Wing of the hospital. Soon after, Penguin and his men are defeated and jailed. The woman and her daughter get their citizenship, thanks to Bruce Wayne and, while it seems that Penguin will be out of prison VERY SOON. The issue ends with Batman arriving on what we presume is Christmas Eve and he waves to the little girl. On top of the family tree is a very special Bat Angel tree top.
Like the last issue, I have little to say about this. Gregg Hurwitz' silent story is probably Eisner Award material and Alberto Ponticelli's moody artwork compliments it so perfectly. It's a beautiful two part tale on one that makes this series so great, as it tends to focus on the human side of heroes and villains
BATWOMAN #27: When we last saw Batwoman, she was falling to her death. She still is, but is hallucinates from the poison she was injected with as she does. She crashes into water and finds herself at her sister's tea party. She hallucinates about her mother and sister dying. She dreams of her father rejecting her sexuality and watches him father stab her sister. Flamebird appears and blames her for not being able to save her. Images of Chase, Bones and Bane appear before she finally snaps out of it, grabs a flag and swings into the side of the building. Meanwhile, Wolf Spider arrives at home of the elderly man he is stealing the paintings for, discovering he still has two more paintings to steal. Kate barely makes it home and, bleeding all the way to the bathroom, after discarding her costume in the hallway. Maggie's daughter wanders in to meet her for the first time and gets the shock of her life: mom's fiance is really Batwoman.
Marc Andreyko continues to try and carve new grounds following the departure of the original creative team over DC's Editorial decisions. And he is doing a descent job, considering the uproar and mess he had been left with. The same goes for Jeremy Haun and Francis Manapul who step into some big shoes in the art department and turn the first half of the issues into this marvelous psychedelic pastiche of stuff. And some really great looking stuff at that too! This was one of my favorite titles before and continues to be among my first reads. But Andreyko has a long way to go to achieve the heights this book began with, so I wish him luck on this uphill road.
BIRDS OF PREY #27: With comatose Kurt Lance in tow, the team flies to an an offshore floating base in Gotham Harbor. Apparently the woman who runs the ship is Ettie, who Dinah met back in issue #19. Apparently she is know to many as "Mother Eve" and is practically immortal. She is asking for protection from Ra's Al Ghul, who has been spying on her until she jams his listening devices. It seems that Uplink, whose preferred name is Claudine, is a plant from this organization and has been from Day One. Then there is Basilisk's origin. Turns out he was a NSA agent who developed abilities and tried to commit suicide. He was saved by Tsiklon and recruited by Basilisk. The two became lovers and fought together. Then he began to see how evil Regulus was and started to free prisoners from the group. He was caught, beaten and left for dead by Tsiklon. Eventually, one of the prisoners he saved helped him mater his abilities and he became Condor. While Kurt Lance remains brain dead with doctors working on him, the team receives notice that something strange is happening in Gotham. So they head off to Gothtopia. All by Dinah Lance, who has just quit the team to stay with her brain dead husband.
By far, this may be the BEST issue of the series that Christy Marx has been able to deliver. There wasn't a whole lot of dumb action, but a ton of character exposition came through. And, except for Condor doing his puppy dog love sick speech over Black canary, the writing flowed nicely and wasn't too cornball. Under a spectacular Jorge Molina cover, this book is truly the best issue thus far, as we see the machinations of the mysterious Mother Eve and Ra's Al Ghul, who seems to be more than just a Batman villain in this Universe. And even the interior art has been amped up as Jonathan Glapion is on board to ink Daniel Sampere. I can't help but gush: this is the way this book should have looked and felt since day 1.
CATWOMAN #27: For anyone that doesn't know, read my synopsis and review of DETECTIVE COMICS #27, which appears BEFORE these reviews. In it, the GOTHTOPIA story is set up. Without that knowledge, you're lost. In Gothtopia, Catwoman is known as Catbird and has become Batman's newest partner. They kiss, make dinner plans, and catch some criminals. We learn that crime is down in Gotham but suicides are way up. Selina Kyle's day job at the Gotham Police Department is as a therapist of some sorts, as she is seen counseling folks who recently attempted suicide. In the middle of these interrogations, she receives a phone call from someone who is sharpening a knife and saying he's worried about his friend who thinks he doesn't fit into this world anymore. From there, we move a few days into the future as Catbird and Bluebelle are having Batman admitted to the Health and Wellness Center (the Crane Rehabilitation Wing) because Batman thinks the world is a violent place even though it isn't anymore. Back at home, Selina sees her old Catwoman suit and tosses it in the trash. That night, she has a nightmare where catbird and Catwoman battle for mental control. Catwoman forces her to remember being a teenage cat burglar and an incident one Christmas. When she wakes, she finds her place trashed and goes back on patrol at Catbird. She promptly runs into the second best cat burglar in Gotham in the form of Steeljacket and he called Selina Kyle earlier. She beats him up and then he forces her to see that Gotham is not a shining city, but a place riddled with the crime and the homeless.
First off: someone tell Ann Nocenti that she needs to read the playbook on this storyline. Bluebelle is spelled Bluebelle NOT BLUEBELL as she spells it here. Okay-maybe something got missed in Editorial, so maybe it is not TOTALLY her fault. But the lame script, with Selina acting like a bad profiler is. Crime is down 99% but the crime of suicide is up. Suicide is a crime? And how do you prosecute a suicide victim anyway? Maybe ATTEMPTED SUICIDE IS, but not SUICIDE. So the crime of ATTEMPTED SUICIDE IS UP? I'm really confused and so is this script. And who the heck is Steeljacket and why have we never heard of him in the last 26 issues of this title? Pat Oliffe and Cliff Richards(not that Cliff Richards) provide the art(although Richards gets no on cover credit) and it really helps to push past the awful writing. Highlight of the book is absolutely the killer cover by Terry and Rachel Dodson.
CONSTANTINE #10: This has been reviewed previously as it is Part 8 of FOREVER EVIL: THE BLIGHT. Go into a previous blog and find it now...
DETECTIVE COMICS #27: This has been reviewed previously as it has the opening chapter to GOTHTOPIA in it. Go into a previous blog and find it now...
EARTH 2 #19: The issue begins with Superman flying off with his three captives while Beguile attacks with an army of Parademons. Below Arkham, Marella, Queen of Atlantis joins up with Jimmy, Lois, Major Soto and Batman to open a Top Secret door and reveal an African American named Val. He also is a Kryptonian who has never seen the outside world. That doesn't last long as Hawkgirl arrives and flies them all out of the underground as Parademons massacre those around them. Meanwhile, Superman arrives in Washington and uses the Washington Monument to destroy the White House. Then he declares that Earth is being readied to become the New Apokolips.
I am a big fan of James Robinson's work, but I find the Tom Taylor run on this title to be totally invigorating and is an unexpected early read each month for me. It usually hits the top of the pile. Taylor is running circles around Robinson's final few issues and it's fun to read again. Nicola Scott and Robson Rocha handle the pencils with Trevor Scott and Oclair Albert doing the inking. This thing looks great from cover to cover. No matter what you feel about history being rewritten, I highly recommend this title!
EARTH 2 ANNUAL #2: We begin in 1979 as Joe Chill murders Thomas and Martha Wayne. Flash forward to 1994, when Batman finds Chill in the Gotham Morgue, with his head caved in by someone's bare hands. He is also the fourth victim with ties to the Falcone Family. He tracks down Frankie Falcone and injects him with his own version of truth serum. He reveals the connection between all of them is the man who saved his life in 1971: Thomas Wayne. Wayne ends up in the world of Frankie Falcone and ends up meeting his future wife at a party held I his honor. He began getting Laudanum from Gotham Hospital and they all partied together. In 1973, Bruce was born and Tommy tried to get out of the organization that led to a confrontation. It also led to interference from Tommy's bodyguard, Jarvis Pennyworth. An armed masked man invades the Falcone home and Batman throws a tracer on him. Following to his home, he learns the man is really his long dead father, Thomas Wayne. He survived the attack and had friends, like Dr. Leslie Thompkins, make sure the world thought he was dead. He is addicted to Miraclo: a strength enhancer developed by Rex Mason. Bruce left and never looked back. Thomas went and finished the job on Falcone. Flash to today and we have a sixty-five year old Thomas Wayne admitting to wearing the suit to honor his son.
Tom Taylor delivers the origin of the NEW BATMAN and I love it. Okay, this has some pieces from FLASHPOINT, in that Thomas Wayne was Batman in that series. But that's pretty much where the similarities end. In this tale, Thomas Wayne was a party animal who hid the fact the he was alive so his son could become the hero he did. And when Bruce died, he took over the battle. So, that means someday, his grand daughter MIGHT get to team up with her grandfather. The story is totally cool and the art from series regular Robson Rocha is equally as good. And the Rags Morales cover is a knockout too. This is a recommended FIVE DOLLAR book!
GREEN ARROW #27: We begin with a flashback to Oliver on the island, being tortured to reveal why he is there. We move to the present where Oliver and Shado find themselves in the Tomb of the Arrow Clan. Then the Shield Clan arrives and all out war begins. Shado and Oliver take them out, thanks in part to Arrow's trick arrows. Then Kodiak arrives, and they flee through the jungle, bringing back memories of his capture and the first kill he needed to do. They arrive at the shack where Oliver had been tortured and the mysterious man in the mask, who led the torturing, appears. He takes off his mask to reveal that he is Oliver's long "dead" father. Meanwhile in Japantown, San Francisco, Katana is visited by Magus to convince her to come with him and tell her all the secrets she needs to know, based on recent events in her now defunct comic series.
This must be the month where all these dead fathers appear in the living flesh again. First, it's Thomas Wayne and now Robert Queen. You can keep a good superhero daddy down, I guess. Anyway, this is one of the better NEW 52 titles and has literally pulled itself up out of what it was thanks to Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino who have done a tremendous job of reinventing the Emerald Archer. Always one of my favorites and one I read LAST...because I want to savor it.
GREEN LANTERN #27: Hal Jordan watches over Saint Walker who is devastated because every single member of his order except himself died during the recent conflict. He then meets with Kilowog to discuss finding and capturing the Sinestro Corps. Meanwhile, PB Anj's captured henchmen, the Braidsmen, arrive on Mogo and some get free thanks to the help of a traitorous Durlan chef. So they end up in the medical lab and Soranik gives the cease fire order so Saint Walker doesn't get injured worse than he is. The Braidsmen capture Hal Jordan and the Durlan becomes him. Then he broadcasts a message throughout the universe that Hal Jordan and the Green Lanterns are a threat because their rings drain the Emotional Spectrum. This unleashes a war against the Lanterns throughout the universe that is continued in both GREEN LANTERN CORPS #27 and GREEN LANTERN #28.
I do not know what is going on here in the G.L. Universe, but this whole new world where using the power of the rings can result in destroying the universe is getting to be a complete and total drag. Now, I only read this title and RED LANTERNS, as you know if you have read my reviews. But if this is the focus of what goes on in the other two titles, I'm GLAD I only have to deal with it here. On the plus side, Robert Venditti's writing is really good, even if the storyline really isn't. And Dale Eaglesham art is amazing, and I'm sure a lot of that is due to Jason Wright's coloring. The wonders of what you can do with a digital paint set these days.
GREEN TEAM #8: The green team battles Riot and Bellachek. Eventually, after an issue worth of action, Commordore brings down a building on his father, effectively ending him. Then the team heads to teen Titans H.Q. and offers to buy the team.
And thus ends another NEW 52 series. This one never really got off the ground and was so confusing at times that only the die hards could understand it. I was one of them, but never quite got where it was going. I was always a big fan of Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani, but their best work is still doing things like TINY TITANS and SUPERMAN FAMILY ADVENTURES. Ig Guara's art was also kind of shaky throughout. But that's okay because the team is going to buy the Teen titans, who ALSO have been cancelled.
HARLEY QUINN #2: We find Harley in her Puddin's embrace-actually she is humping a Joker Wax Figure in Madame Macabre's House of Wax and Murder. She goes out to buy a refrigerator and comes across protest at a Pet Adoption Agency that also euthanizes unwanted animals. When she tries to adopt all of them, the woman in charge tears up her application and leaves Harley trying to figure how she is going to get around those rules. Poison Ivy drops by and Harley shows her good friend her beaver. Then they go to the Pet Adoption Agency and free all the animals. Unfortunately, most of them flee. That's about the time that Harley gets attacked by the newest in a long line of would be assassins. She beats him up and ties him up with sausage links, taking him back to her apartment. She arrives and sees dogs trying to eat her beaver but they quickly go from beaver to hit man. The next morning, Harley finds that Ivy has turned the third floor into a garden and dog park. Meanwhile, a voyeur across the street watches her while he eats his Green Jell-O and plans.
Yeah, I SO LOVE HARLEY QUINN! I mean: who doesn't? She's dumb and fun and looks hot! Plus, you get Amanda Palmer and that crazy man in her life Jimmy Palmiotti writing some of the funniest, provocative dialogue that you can get away with in a T RATED comic. Seriously, I am a big fan of the NAKED GUN movies and how many beaver jokes can you stuff into a comic book? Okay, so it's really toilet humor jokes, but we need that in the NEW 52. Plus, you get some killer artwork from Chad Hardin and Stephane Roux. Face it: how many comics START with the star of the book humping a figure of the Joker. And I'm not just saying "humping" because I can. Madame Macabre actually says "would you mind not humping the display". Great stuff!
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 #2: The team ends up on Skorch 4 because Terry and Teri want to hide them from The Five. After much debate by the Wonder Twins, the team is sent to Flatmas 12 to take out some garrisons there. Unfortunately, it seems a reality bending nineteen-year-old named Locas is drowning her sorrows. She arrives, takes a liking to Green Lantern and then proceeds to trash the rest of the team, including tearing The Flash into a "moist" mess and eating Green Lantern. By the way, seems Coeval set the team up: the garrisons were decommissioned three years ago.
Well, with issue #2 under my belt, I am not 100% sold on this title, but I'm working on it. Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis have taken the crux of the classic superheroes and turned them completely upside down. Superman hates being called Clark and thinks he can still fly, when he can't. He and Batman absolutely hate each other and Wonder Woman is a blood-thirsty Amazon. The Flash gets sick every time he transports and Green lantern is the semi-sensible one who no longer has a ring for power. And the Wonder Twins, as they are known, are about as dysfunctional as most teens. Only these Cadmus kids are trying to deal with reborn superheroes who don't have all their properties in place. So, two issues in and I am still interested. We shall see what issue #3 has in store.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #27: This issue begins in Denver Colorado where Johnny Quick and Atomica quickly and efficiently kill the NEW 52 version of The Doom Patrol. Elsewhere, what we have to assume is Niles Caulder remarks that he will have to start over. Back in The Red Room, Victor Stone insists that his father must rebuild him and begs to be taken to the REAL Red Room. Once constructed from obviously alien technology, the new and improved Cyborg heads off to find Dr. Will Magnus and Platinum of the Metal Men. He finds Doctor Magnus who proclaims that the Metal Men were a failure.
Geoff Johns introduces both The Doom Patrol and The Metal Men in one issue. And proceeds to kill the Doom Patrol, at least this version of it, and reveals that The Metal Men project was a failure. Gee, Geoff: would have been nice to see ONE of them makes it into the NEW 52 unscathed. Well, I am sure that will happen, now that the very names have been mentioned. We have another killer story from Johns and equally rocking art from Ivan Reis. This book, that started out so weak with the first few issues, has finally developed into title worth of being part of the cornerstone of the NEW 52.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #11: The issue begins with Martian Manhunter and Clayface fighting and Stargirl has to come save him from “Crap Man”. Defeating him, they leave Gotham and head towards Los Angeles. On the way, they land in Denver where Stargirl battles a monster robot. Just when it seems he is defeated, Despero arrives and sends them both to the bottom of the sea. And things look very bad for Courtney, as Despero chokes the life out of her before fleeing.
As much as I like Matt Kindt’s writing, this is the worst book of the JUSTICE LEAGUE family of books. I understand that Stargirl and Martian Manhunter have fought to get free and are on a road trip to and all, but there is a world to still save and spending a quiet afternoon in Denver isn’t it. Eddy Barrows and Tom Derenick share the pencilling duties and that’s fine, but even their dynamic art can’t save this stinker. And, just because we can, we drop Despero into the last few pages of the book, which will lead to a big fight next issue, for certain. By the way, there are only three issues left as this title ends with issue #14 and becomes JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED.
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