LOBO #9: Lobo is almost under the complete control of the Countesses’ spiderbot as she forces him to have sex with her. Later, she shows him her production room when his new friend from last issue arrives to help, but it only gets him injured in the process. He sets off an EMP that frees Lobo from his spiderbot and then introduces himself as Wyvern from the Citadel. Lobo only wants revenge right now on the Countess. Later, Wyvern attempts to hire Lobo to go after the Omega Men, but gets turned down. Instead, he gets hired by The Void to take on Sinestro. Meanwhile, Countess grows herself back and claims she has the pieces in place to build Czarnian flesh.
Cullen Bunn and Frank Barbiere are making this book totally more interesting than before. It’s just a shame that this issue came out AFTER the LOBO ANNUAL where the Sinestro storyline was resolved. That notwithstanding, the issue was fun and I love Szymon Kudranski’s art. And this Lobo, while still not MY LOBO (yes, I am still bitching about that), is getting better.
MARTIAN MANHUNTER #3: The White Martians are in a bit of a panic as they try and figure out what to do now that their weapon has killed himself. Ma'alefa'ak arrives and betrays his Martian brothers by turning the four into one big monster he calls the Martian Man-Eater. Meanwhile, Agent Wessel is in the hospital with the murderous kid who claims he killed his mother because she was a Martian. The ghost of Martian Manhunter appears and tells Wessel that his fellow agents are actually White Martians who are coming to kill him. After finding out that the kid was telling the truth, Wessel kidnaps him and runs head on into the Martian Man-Eater. Luckily Mr. Biscuits arrives and fights off the creature, then reveals himself as Martian Manhunter.
WOW! Thank you Rob Williams and Edy Barrows for just tearing it up on this title. This is truly one of the bright spots of the new DC YOU regular titles. The story keeps you guessing, the art is mind blowing and this is just so, SO good! I can’t wait for the next issue and that’s going some because I NEVER thought I would see the day where a MARTIAN MANHUNTER book would go to the TOP of my reading pile! Can we get Williams to pull a Gerry Duggan and write MOST of the DC YOU books?
MIDNIGHTER #3: Midnighter visits a mother whose daughter has been kidnapped and that means Midnighter to the rescue, which takes us to where the last issue ended. Of course, he saves her in ultra violent fashion. Then he goes to spend time with his new boyfriend and we get a glimpse of how his relationship with Apollo ended. The issue ends with Midnighter paying a visit to his old friend Agent 37-Grayson.
Steve Orlando: what have you done? The first issue was great and the second was okay but this one was just awful! The dialogue was so clunky and even the break-up with Apollo felt…weird! Aco’s art continues to shiner and that is about the only thing making me keep this book in the pile. We know that the psycho has a softer side, but to turn a quarter of the book into his latest flame and past love just doesn’t work for me. And to be honest, it wouldn’t work if it was a straight relationship either. It’s Midnighter: let’s get some blood and guts and move on.
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #11: The League, along with Deadshot and Manta, is off to take out the Lazaraus Pit factories. Of course, they are missing Boomerang, who betrayed the League and is probably going to pay for his treachery. Waller and Sage get the word that the factories are going to be attacked and, since a British company owns it, that’s a bad thing. Sage insists they pull out, but Waller knows that means blowing the mission. So that means Plan C: have Parasite, Harley and Reverse Flash get involved to stop the League. As the battle rages, Parasite gets frozen, Harley is taken out, Reverse Flash gets blown out of the fight and Manta seems to have gone to the other side as he eliminates the leader of the team defending the facility. In the end, the team has been torn apart and the facility has been left in flames.
We get another great, action filled issue from Sean Ryan and Philippe Briones. The story rocks, even if the makeup of this team is not my favorite. I see where the concept of story over continuity plays in as we have Reverse Flash being involved here while he is making The Flash’ life hell in his own title. Plus, we have the Parasite involved in this battle while he also appears in this month’s SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN. I love the action and you know that DC isn’t going to let this book sink with the movie due soon.
OMEGA MEN #3: The Princess Kalista of Euphorix is killing off natives of the planet as part of her daily sword practice. Tigorr shows up, kills her assistant Talim and attempts to kidnap her. But she uses her sword play to take him out fairly quickly, Scrapps arrives next and both players take each other out. Primus and Broot show up and they finally succeed in kidnapping the Princess, along with picking up the wounded. Back at the Omega Men’s home base, the Princess is put in a cell with Kyle Rayner, who is drawing a sketch of Carol Ferris. Apparently both of them have now had bombs installed within them and they are linked to each other. Soon, Tigorr comes and takes her to see Primus and that leads to them kissing. Kalista is the REAL leader of the Omega Men!
Wow! I didn’t see that coming! Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda through a curveball with this one! This book continues to impress and amaze with the writing and the art and goes into some totally cool places! Again, I was a fan of the original series and had high hopes for this book. I am totally thrilled that it did not and continues to impress. Let’s hope that, despite wherever this falls regarding sales figures, that DC will stand behind this book.
PREZ #3: We begin with Beth's Grandma watching television and finding out that her granddaughter has been elected President. Over at Esposito Enterprises, Manny is packaging Sexy Frog statues before having to take a much needed bathroom break. Later, he gets to be part of a rah-rah meeting featuring the head of the Smiley Corporation. Even later, his boss fires him for taking too much time in the bathroom. An adventure capitalist arrives at Beth’ house and try to convince her to take out an expensive life insurance policy on herself. Her next order of business is selecting her cabinet, beginning with Franklin Holyfield as her science adviser, a Mr. Wycheck as her Secretary of State, leading her to fire her current ambassador. Two senators go on television to debate a law that protects pigs from sexual abuse. On Inauguration Day, there is an assassination attempt that gets prevented by a defense robot that has been hacked into by guys in Guy Fawkes masks. In the end, a Sexy Frog appears on Beth’s desk.
With all the craziness going on as election season gets into gear, this is the perfect book to read as a mental soundtrack to it all. Mark Russell and Ben Caldwell nail it on the head with this issue, as they have with every one so far. It’s all fun and games and mind-bending stuff that totally skewers the political arena. Own this book! It’s a hoot!
RED HOOD/ARSENAL #3: Although Jason and Roy have earned a bunch of money from their last job, Roy has spent it all on ads for their new business Rent-A-Bat. The leads to their being fired by Tara Battleworth. So now they need to rely on someone to call them at (555) R-E-D - A-R-S-E. They head to Detroit to meet with a client who makes them guess what super-villain he works for. Come to find out that villain is someone called Underbelly. Arriving at his hideout, it turns out that Underbelly is a horrible creature who kills his assistant in front of the boys. Jason shoots him up, but the creature puts himself back together, explaining that he can’t be killed. Roy seemingly finishes him off by detonating an exploding arrow in his ass, leading the boys to think that their new calling is to use their business to take on the scum of the earth. So the boys head back to Gotham and run right into the middle…of the NEW Batman.
RED ARSE? C’mon Scott Lobdell: can’t you do better than that? Denis Medri turns in some nice looking art, but this whole thing feels like and Abbott and Costello movie. Honestly: these two got silly and Starfire, in her own book, got stupid. Not exactly a nice way to treat these heroes. Heck, it’s enough to have Speedy go back on the smack!
ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #3: Damian, Nobody and Goliath are trying to escape from Iceland without getting killed and the only way to do that is for Damian to drop their special gem. Being that they don’t like each other, Nobody and Damian mix it up and she knocks out one of his baby teeth. Realizing they need to work together, even if they don’t like each other, she shows off her stealth ship and explains that she plans on fulfilling her father's contracts. But, in the end, she decides to quite, which doesn’t make Deathstroke happy. Oh yeah: Talia’s back too!
Patrick Gleason does the near impossible and elevates this book to BATMAN AND ROBIN levels! The story is intriguing, the art is great and I just totally love the characterizations of Damian and Nobody. This is one book that I thought could go either way and I am thrilled to see that it went in the RIGHT direction! Keep up the GREAT WORK!
SECRET SIX #5: Big Shot hosts a cookout for all the team members, except for Alice, who seems to be in her room troubled by nightmares involving wizards and “this swamp guy”. Blake spies a photo of Big Shot’s widow and recognizes her as the woman who tried to kill him. Racing downstairs, he and Big Shot get into a brawl while the rest eat the wieners. Black Alice separates them and Big Shot explains his story. He confesses that Mockingbird is The Riddler who, at the moment, is dealing with the team that attacked the Six and failed. Big Shot confesses that he is not Damon Wells but really is a Detective named Ralph Dibny who, with his wife Susan, was working to retrieve the India Star, which was in the possession of The Riddler. Blake had been hired as security, as had Strix.In fact, all of them were there that night. Riddler unveiled the Star, proposed to Susan Dibney and then the lights went out, the star was stolen and the ship suffered an explosion that led people scurrying to lifeboats Dibney reached for his wife but a second explosion took her away from him. The team unloads at the docks, allegedly where Mockingbird hides out, only to find Sue Dibny alive and to be ambushed by The Riddler and his gang. It appears the Dibneys ARE in cohoots with Mockingbird after all.
Like a giddy child, I have to admit that THIS is the first title I grab out of my stack on the week it comes out. While some are calling Gail Simone’s work on SWORDS OF SORROW some of her worst, this run may feature some of her best! The characterizations are killer, filled with enough old school references to make long time readers smile. Dale Eaglesham and Tom Derenick are a true Dynamic Duo, turning out some amazing looking art that just draws you into the book. Heck, they opening splash page of Wells/Dibney’s distorted face screaming “RED HOT WIENERS FOR EVERYBODY!” is an image I want to own as a poster, since I could never afford the original artwork. You’ve got the true return of the Elongated Man and his wife who, when last we knew, were still dead after the events in IDENTITY CRISIS. And, best of all, we have The Riddler as The Mockingbird and still don’t know what the full ramifications of that are. In other words: BUY THIS BOOK!
SINESTRO #14: Sinestro recruits Nax of the Naidroth Collective as a new Yellow Lantern, along with the former Manhunters that have already been inducted into the ranks. He takes Nax to Soranik for further indoctrination and Nax performs psychic vivisection so they can try to figure out how The Paling is affecting the Lanterns. In the end, we see that Sinestro’s recruitment drive is all a part of him preparing for war.
Cullen Bunn gives us an above average issue with a lot of exposition and a who ton of dialogue, which actually did a great job of fleshing out these characters more than he has in the first 13 issues. But the real beauty of this book remains in Robson Rocha’s art. This book has wavered between being really awful and being really good, with this being one of the better issues. Sinestro’s true colors are being revealed which means our boy has a plan that is going to cause all sorts of problems for the DC Universe!
STARFIRE #3: We start with a cruise ship picking up a shipwrecked man named Soren Hook who goes on to use his mind powers to kill the crew. Off on Smather’s Beach, a clawed creature comes up from beneath the sane and causes some havoc. Meanwhile, is helping Stella and Sol put their house back together, including pulling the world’s largest supply of lawn gnomes out of their pool. Stella has agreed to let Kori stay here in the guest house until she can find a new home to replaced her destroyed trailer. She eats some baking soda and realizes this is not a good thing, so she ends up at the local market where she gets treated like royalty, even though she can’t figure out how to eat watermelon. Eventually, she ends up involved with the cruise ship murders, the sand creature (that comes in and busts up a bar) and a waitress named Atlee who has super powers and claims she is responsible for the creature. The book ends with Kori and Atlee giving chase.
Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti continue to write Starfire life she is Chrissy from THREE’S COMPANY. When did this stranger in a strange land become a bimbo in a strange land? If they’re trying to play it for laughs, it isn’t working. If they are truly trying to make her an innocent alien, THAT ain’t working either. The only thing that is great I this book is the art of Emanuela Lupacchino. Without that, this book would be totally unreadable and, to be honest, it’s pretty darned close to that now!
SUPERMAN #43: Clark wakes up in Lois’ apartment: naked and powered down after the incident involving the Hordr. Saying he is the person that she almost fell in love with, she promises not to reveal his secret to the world. Meanwhile, Jimmy gets sick and vomits out a robot that activates Clark's phone, revealing Hordr_Root on the screen. Clark is given coordinates to where is to meet Hordr_Root and Lois goes along for the ride. Once inside, Lois discovers a dead body and Clark is strapped into a chair so Hordr_Root can make him fire off his solar flares so his creatures can suck up his energy. To save him and those people that are being held hostage, Lois reveals his identity to the world, so that Hordr_Root no longer has anything on him. He breaks out and immediately proceeds to chastise Lois for revealing his identity, especially once General Lane shows up with a helicopter filled with Kryptonite filled armaments.
Gene Luen Yang continues to contribute to the shaking up of the status quo of the Big Blue Boy Scout. Along with John Romita Jr., and inks by the legendary Klaus Janson and Scott Hanna, this title continues to go off in a strange direction. The book has energy once again and, even though I am not a fan of the concept of stripping away everything that we have known and loved and doing the “Peter Parker reveal”, I love what the creative team is trying to do with it: making it as popular as BATMAN is.
SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #20: Superman is in the Oval Office where he finds himself meeting with Steve Trevor and NOT the President. He explains that they reason he had a secret identity was both to protect his family and his friends, but also to lead the life of a regular person. We also learn that the government, while rebuilding the Kent farm and putting their remains back where they belong, have captured people in Clark’s life including Lois, Lana, Perry, Jimmy, John Henry Irons, Cat Grant, a resident of Smallville, and his grade school teacher. Wonder Woman finds that facility and busts them out. Meanwhile, the President arrives and he and Superman go for a walk, when they are attacked by the Parasite. Superman handles him as best he can until the Secret Service call the Parasite off, as it was their fault they released him as back-up. Trevor gives Superman the longitude and latitude of the captives and off he flies.
Peter J. Tomasi has taken the amazing writing he did on BATMAN AND ROBIN and turned those talents loose here. Throw in Doug Mahnke’s amazing art and you have a winner. And, the nice thing about this book now, especially since the beginning of the DARK TRUTH storyline, we have not concentrated on the Superman/Wonder Woman relationship…even though THAT is what the book is supposed to be about. This issue feels cool, the mystery of the abducted friends has yet to be addressed, and I’m sure that will be looked at next issue. But that alone is enough to make me come back for more.
TEEN TITANS #11: Manchester Black is taunting Red Robin and Raven, so Tim decides the only way of escape is to do a window dive, spread his wings and fly away. Black seems unfazed by it, as his plan is coming together. Two days later, the team meets and agree that they need to breaking into prison to clear Kon's name. Inside, Raven tells them that they need to see Despero, even as Gar delivers a computer worm that opens all of the prison cells. Eventually, after a huge battle with the escaped prisoners, Superboy arrives.
So I can’t beat up Scott Lobdell for writing the worst dialogue in comics as Will Pfeifer has managed to pretty much take the cake with this issue. It feels dumb and the whole plot is just out there: let’s break into a Super Max prison to clear Superboy’s name and visit with Despero while we’re at it. And we get a fill in artist in the form of someone named Ricken. This issue is just awful and the fact that Superboy arrives on the last page for what I assume will be a blow out involving Superboy and Despero really doesn’t help its’ cause. I can’t waited for the limited TITANS HUNT series coming in November. At least THAT’S a team I can get behind!
WE ARE ROBIN #3: The team is trying to get a cell phone signal so they can received instructions on how to disarm a bomb on the tracks. Above ground, hobos are attacking the citizens of Gotham and street Robins. Finally getting instructions, they team is forced to split up, as they learn of a second bomb in the electrical room. They manage to successfully disarm the second bomb, while the new batman arrives to contain the panic in the street. The Nest instructs the group to leave the bomb in the subway, but Troy insist and staying. As the train leaves the station, they see the bomb explode and it’s obvious we’re now a Robin down. We learn that Alfred is The Nest, he is troubled by Jason Todd’s costume, and decides The Nest needs to be brought to them.
I would love to see Lee Bermejo draw this book besides writing it, but I will settle for the quirky art of Jorge Corona. While finally learning that Alfred was The Nest was kind of a letdown, as I expected that right along, the loss of one of the characters this early on was a BIG SURPRISE. Twists and turns are nice, but there are way too many characters in this book, as obvious during the fight in Gotham and we have a boatload of Robins here too. It needs some work, but it is managing to hold my interest.
WONDER WOMAN #43: Donna Troy has managed an escape thanks to Strife, who shows up and taunt Wonder Woman about it. She goes off to see her brother Milan and asks him to use his sight beyond sight to find Donna. He catches some images but can’t find her. Meanwhile, Donna has made her way to London and tracked down the Three Fates, who explain that her destiny hasn’t been written as they have not sewn her destiny, as she was created from clay. As she leaves, someone enters. Diana arrives to discover the Fates have been murdered. Aegeus arrives and shoots her with an arrow, causing her eyes to bleed and then she collapses to the ground.
So, it didn’t take long for David Finch to exit, if only briefly, giving way to Ian Churchill, whose art is surprisingly fitting for this title. This is probably Meredith Finch’ best issue to date as we have a mystery on top of a murder on top of another mystery. And, like everyone else, I am not a fan of Wonder Woman’s new outfit, but…just be glad it’s not a white pant suit.
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