MARTIAN MANHUNTER #8: Martian Manhunter has been reborn and so has Mars. Now it’s on a collision course with Earth. Alicia, who has lived on Mars for the past twenty years, has locked up Agent Wessel. She was consumed by the Martian Man-Eater and transported there along with everyone who was on Wessel’s plane. We learn that Alicia has grown up fighting Ma'alefa'ak, and that J'onn J'onzz was created by the Martian Elders to be a great Martian weapon. Ma'alefa'ak launches an attack on the Martian Manhunter with a giant robot, leading to Alicia and her forces bringing in a entering the battle with their own giant robot.
This is not the easiest book to understand but it is worth it! Rob Williams has written an amazing story with all sorts of confusing elements. How did Mars and Earth exist in a parallel space during the last twenty years? Why did it take Martian Manhunter so long to get himself together? Eddy Barrows is back on art and the book just pops! Again, it’s a puzzling tale that Williams is giving us, but possibly one of the best reads in the DC line.
MIDNIGHTER #8: Midnighter is being interviewed for a documentary when Asset 1907 informs him of an incident in downtown Rochester involving a giant leopard/elephant creature. He transports there to subdue the creature when Dominic Mndawe, the Freedom Beast, joins him and splits the two creatures apart. He explains that the Sportsman’s Ambition is responsible, which leads the two of them to team up. They take down the hunters and the head guy gets merged with a mosquito and meets his end in the mouth of a bat. In the end, Marina gets out of jail and Midnighter joins Spyral to help retrieve the Perdition Pistol. That means our boy is off to track down the Suicide Squad.
And WHY does this issue work? Because Steve Orlando and guest artist David Messina only spent three pages dealing with Midnighter’s “off the clock” persona. The rest of the issue is action, action and action, even if the merging of man and mosquito was straight out of THE FLY. THIS is what this title needs: kicking ass and taking names!
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #16: Bonnie is looking for Vic Sage and finds him meeting with the recently freed Black Manta. Unfortunately, that means Sage needs to handle this and executes her. Waller, the team and the FBI show up and come inside, even though Sage has released all of the prisoners in Belle Reve. As the FBI and Belle Reve’s guards take on the prisoners, the Squad fights Manta while Waller battles Sage. Manta takes down the Squad and goes after Waller, but Deadshot, even badly injured, takes him out. In the end, the bad guys are taken away and Waller has the Squad locked back up, even though she promised to free them.
Sean Ryan and Philippe Briones bid goodbye to this title to make way for the new team of Tim Seeley and Juan Ferreyra. Ryan’s story does a great job oif wrapping up months of plotslines while Briones art shines. I have loved what this team has accomplished and look forward to what the new team brings to the table. My hope is that they stick to their guns and NOT cater to the upcoming movie.
OMEGA MEN #8: While Kyle Rayner brings the Omega Men to Voorl where he is shown the genocide that was committed by the Citadel. Scrapps was a young child when the Citadel attacked and over 7 billion inhabitants died here. Calista says that they kidnapped Kyle so he can murder the Citadel’s Prime Minister with a Lantern bomb. In the end, Kyle doesn’t know if he can do it, even despite Calista’s pleading.
Wow! This is one of those books that will go down as a classic cult title. Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda continue to weave a story of terrorism. Now it seems like the terrorists are the Citadel. There is a great back-story regarding Scrapps and how she was rescued after surviving the genocide. I have repeatedly said that this is not your father’s OMEGA MEN. It’s better.
POSION IVY CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH #1: Dr. Pamela Isley is in Lower Angola, where she and Dr. Nepolo are looking for a plant known as “the Living Fossil”. Finding it, she gets permission from the two-thousand years old plant to relocate it. Local bad guys show up to stop them, but the plant kills them at Ivy’s bidding. Two days later, she is at work at the Gotham Botanical Gardens, when a field trip from Gotham Academy arrives. Then Dr. Quinzel shows up, leading to she and Ivy going to Bobby’s Biker Bar where they discuss their ongoing relationship before beating up the bikers. After Ivy insults Harley, she splits leaving her to herself. The next day, she discovers that the Living Fossil samples she had there have grown greatly. She rushes downtown to tell Dr. Cruz about it, but she’s dead.
This was far better than I expected it to be thanks to the writing of Amy Chu and the incredible art of Clay Mann. Actually, I think that should be a team effort getting credit as Seth Mann’s inks are there but subtle enough to not be over the top. And Ulises Arreola’s colors are beautiful, giving this book the appearance of being colored with colored pencils. The story is compelling enough to have me coming back again…willingly!
RED HOOD/ARSENAL #8: Back in 1923, Gotham flooded the Nethers to eliminate the less-than-desirable residents there. Today, Jason finds a secret entrance to the Gotham Underground and is attacked by the residents living there. Elsewhere in the Underground, Arsenal is being tortured for information about why Roy is partnered with Joker’s Daughter. She has had her false face removed and is tied up in front of Charon and his lava monsters. Jason convinces the mob to help him find Roy and Duella. But Iron Rule is here and they mean business, although Jason lets them know that he's their worst nightmare.
So we have another fun issue here from Scott Lobdell and Javier Fernandez, although I am confused why we got this great story about the Nethers only to use it as a means to get Jason in the Underground. Personally, I would like to see more of the ancient history of Gotham…hint, hint, hint. I have become used to having Duella as part of the team, although Jason is not keen about it. If the book gets renamed as part of the June REBIRTH, maybe we can just give Jason his own book and let this be the Roy and Duella show.
ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #8: In this flashback issue, Damian tells Alfred how he and Maya returned the Spear of Bing Lei to it’s proper owners.
This was, quite simply, a fill-in issue by Ray Fawkes and Ramon Bachs that does a nice job of filling in the details of a past mission. Nothing to write home about, but a nice issue none the less.
SECRET SIX #10: The Secret Six are at the point where they are ready to grab the last two alabaster pillars when Superman shows up to stop them. Meanwhile, Black Alice tells Scandal Savage to kill her to save the universe and Savage does. Unfortunately, Alice isn’t Alice anymore. In fact, Alice was never Alice, as Lori died in the car crash that killed her parents. At the time of death, she prayed to pagan gods and demons and they answered her. Alice heads off to the Secret Six and thanks Ralph Dibney for saving her and keeping her from destroying magic. With this crisis ended, the Children of Arion rejoice as the Elder Gods return, led by Thrumm. But Thrumm is hungry and likes to eat the Children of Arion.
I found this issue a little disappointing for a book that I have been raving about since the beginning. On the plus side, Dale Eaglesham’s art looks as fantastic as ever. On the downside, Gail Simone’s ending fell flat. We have this big build-up with the introduction of the Children of Arion and Thrumm and then the Children of Arion get eaten in one panel on the last page of the book. Where it should be a big deal, it comes off as more of a throw off…an afterthought. In addition, we waste the first four pages of the book with Superman fighting a robot and talking to Zatanna about the impending magic problem. Again, I’m really disappointed by the way this storyline ended and hope next issue will be back to its normal top notch form.
SINESTRO #19: Sinestro’s Fear Lanterns now have new members in the form of Superman and Wonder Woman, who are in battle against The Paling. Sinestro directs the Manhunters to send out more Yellow rings to recruit even more Lanterns. Among those recipients are Deadman, Spectre, John Constantine, Black Manta, and Etrigan. Saint Walker shows up and boosts the energy levels of the Lanterns, allowing Black Adam to gain the upper hand in his fight. In the end, Sinestro uses an Indigo ring to bring the fight straight to the Pale Bishop.
The battle continues and this book, so long drifting in a lackluster storyline. But Cullen Bunn, with the artistic talents of Brad Walker and Neil Edwards, has lit a fire under this character and made him cool to be a heel who is also a good guy. And you throw in the possibility of all these other DC characters now wearing the Yellow Lantern rings and it just means this upcoming finale could be the coolest thing to hit this title to date…even better than the SINESTRO WARS, which is where the revitalization began.
STARFIRE #8: Dick Grayson and Starfire have gotten together and someone in a helicopter is trying to kill him, but a bright light causes the chopper to crash. That means Kori and Dick are forced to save the woman who was trying to shoot him. Meanwhile Sol and Rave get closer than Sol expected while Atlee is make an offer to have Sheriff Stella visit her world. Later, Kori and Dick go out on a day but get attacked by a trio that were hired to take back the trigger device that got destroyed last issue. Dick lets her know he needs to leave and take care of business. No sooner is he gone than Kori and Sol are sharing a kiss in the pool when this sparkling thing I the pool begins to transform.
Ugh-why must Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti write Starfire as a total ditz? From the moment that she and Dick went of their date, I could feel my I.Q. dropping. She is naive, not stupid. The plus about this book, as always, is the art of Emanuela Lupachino, who gets an assist this issue from Marco Pierfederici. Reading this book is like watching a car accident: you don’t want to look but you feel compelled to. I don’t WANT to keep reading it, but I feel compelled to hope that it is going to get better.
SUICIDE SQUAD MOST WANTED-DEADSHOT AND KATANA #1:Deadshot:Out of the Past. Deadshot is in South America hunting down drug lord Guillermo Lapaz. Later, Amanda Waller sends Deadshot and Will Evans to Gotham to kidnap Lapaz’ daughter. During a gun battle between Waller’s men and Falcone’s, Deadshot heads off to investigate some information Waller gave him earlier. Apparently his father is alive and Floyd wants him dead.
The second tale is Katana: Dawn of the Age of Chaos. Kobra is attempting to rule Markovia and Katana gets shot down as she travels through Markovian air space. She has come here to meet with Dr. Jace, who is an expert in astrophysics, in hopes she can help her release the souls in her sword. But the townspeople convince her to stay and help them fight against Kobra. During the battle, Kobra kidnaps Dr. Jace and their leader tells them if they continue to resist, they will all die.
This was an interesting first issue, but I’m not sure how well received a $4.99 mini-series. It will be interesting to see as there is a LEGENDS OF TOMORROW series coming that will be $7.99 a month! The DEADSHOT tale is written by: Brian Buccellato and illustrated by Viktor Bogdanovic. I have to admit it was a fun, bloody time that hopefully will have a nice payoff character wise at the end of the series. Comic legend Mike W. Barr teams with Diogenes Neves to bring us the KATANA tale. It looks great but I have to admit that, despite Barr’s skills, I have seen SEVEN SAMURAI and this tale of the sword wielding Katana coming to the rescue of the townspeople sure feels like the Kurosawa film.
SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #25: Superman is critically injured and Wonder Woman brings him to her Olympian family, begging them for help. Their answer is to engage the Man of Steel in a variety of tests. Artemis sends him out to hunt while Strife forces him to walk through the insults of the people who used to respect him. Hephaestus offers him the opportunity to climb into a rocket and leave Earth. Eros taunts him regarding Clark and Diana’s relationship. Having passed all the trials, Superman is healed. Unfortunately, he is now completely mortal.
Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke combine for an interesting issue that saves the life of the Man of Steel but renders him completely powerless. I love Tomasi’s writing and Mehnke’ art is equally impressive. What makes this work so well is the various vignettes, representing everything Supes has been going through over the last several months. We all know there are changes coming to the Big Blue Boy Scout at the end of this storyline, including what is believed to be getting repowered and possibly getting to wear his undies on the outside again. Personally, I can’t wait to see it. heck-maybe we can even get him hooked up with the woman who betrayed him again.
SUPERMAN #48: Coming out of SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #25, our completely mortal hero teams up with Steve Trevor to take down a political assassin named Kingslayer. Later, Steve agrees to let Superman expose himself to a deadly amount of Kryptonite to help him jump-start his powers. But that all goes bad as Hordr_Root's brother, The Puzzler, shows up at ARGUS. In the ending, it looks like Superman is dying of Kryptonite poisoning.
How is it the Vandal Savage always seems to know where the Man of Steel is heading? Are we REALLY supposed to believe that he knew Clark would be going to ARGUS to get his Kryptonite fix? Sorry Gene Luen Yang: that’s just WAY TOO MUCH DISBELIEF to have to suspend! Howard Porter and Ardian Syaf share the art chores and, unfortunately, you can see exactly where one leaves and the other takes over. Not the best issue in this recent series of events in this book, but it could be worse. Actually…it is worse!
SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK #4: In a flashback to several years ago, Clark and Lois are spending a day in Metropolis. Lois buys a Superman shirt for Jon, a blind street performer recognizes Clark’s voice and they almost run into Jimmy Olsen, who is off to Bibbo Bibbowski’s Ace O'Brews. As an anniversary present, Lois gives him his black costume. Back in the present, Lois and Jon go to visit her publisher, but she has been kidnapped, causing them to flee. In the process, they run into Bruno Mannheim. Meanwhile, Clark battles Blanque and Hank Henshaw and Blanque buries Clark under a mountain of snow. This leads to Blanque and Henshaw going to California. If that wasn’t enough, the Oblivion Stone is about to make a collision course with Earth.
I cannot sing the praises of this title enough! Dan Jurgens is writing a story that is so much fun, that it makes me want to forget this world’s Superman. This Clark is truly the Clark Kent we left behind when the New 52 was created. Lee Weeks and Marco Santucci handle the art and it’s awesome looking! We bring in characters from two worlds and hint at others. Again, I cannot rave enough about this title.
SWAMP THING #1: The Phantom Stranger visits Swamp Thing in his swamp, telling him that the Parliament of Trees is looking for him. Shortly thereafter, he saves Frank and Grace Wormwood, who almost drown in the swamp. They beg him to rescue their son Lazlo from the Crowley College of Evolving Arts. When Swamp Thing gets there, he finds that Lazlo’s friend accidentally turned him into a zombie and he looks to gain his revenge by killing them. When Swamp Thing tried to stop him, Lazlo tears him in half.
The good thing about this book: SWAMP THING co-creator Len Wein and Kelley Jones, the person whose art MOST looks like Bernie Wrightson’s, are the creative team behind this book. The worst thing is Swamp Thing’s dialogue that is a bit clunkier than we are used too. And I’m kind of okay with that, considering that it harkens back to the old days of the character. I am totally thrilled that this book will entertain like it did in the beginning. Don’t expect Alan Moore or Steve Bissette here. This is going to be like it was back in the Seventies!
TEEN TITANS #16: Red Robin returns to the team after the ROBIN WAR and they are immediately attacked by Durlans who have come to retrieve Chimera. In the end, she agrees to leave with her people and Kid Flash also has gone off to handle his problems. With the police closing in, the Titans leave and take up residency in Heaton, Pennsylvania.
All I can say is that the June relaunch of DC titles can’t happen soon enough as this book needs an enema! While Miguel Mendoca’s art shines, Will Pfeifer’s story is just silly and full of holes. Red Robin shows up to a reunion, we get a full issue fight, followed by characters beating feet and the whole team heading to Heaton, Pennsylvania. Sigh! This book really needs a revamp. It’s kind of sad when the BEST TITANS book on the market is the one that follows a little further down.
TELOS #4: Telos is battling drones that Brainiac created allow Computo to get back the the piece of Brainiac's old shell. At the same time, Techne, Captain Comet, Stealth, and K-Rot are also fighting drones along with Validus. When all seems lost for our hero, it turns out that Brainiac wasn’t really in partnership with Computo. He sends out a signal that disabled Validus and Telos tears Computo apart. Unfortunately, the data Techne downloaded about the location of Telos' family was corrupted and it may just have been Brainiac playing Telos. The Citadel Fleet is on their way to stop the rebel uprising that destroyed Computo, leading to Telos heading out to meet them.
Jeff King throws us a swerve with the whole “Brainiac is bad/Brainiac is good” storyline by eventually making him good…sort of. I’m so glad this is a six issue limited series as I don’t think I could handle a full dose of Telos and his version of Guardians of the Galaxy meets the Zoo Crew. Carlo Pagulayan and Igor Vitorino handle the art on this issue and I could take it or leave it.
TITANS HUNT #4: We begin with a weird flashback memory of an earlier time when a younger team hears Herald’s song. In the present day, Garth, Donna and Dick have all heard the sound and wonder who is behind it. Mal’s wife heads to the hospital to see how Mal is doing only to find out he isn’t there. The ambulance never arrived at the hospital and Mal is in the woods where he meets the ghostly Mister Twister. While Hawk and Dove continue to work on the Harvester, Dick changes into his Nightwing costume because the villain is looking for someone in a mask.
Dan Abnett and Stephen Segovia deliver another strong issue here as the team starts to come together and I get excited for a full-on reunion! This title is so much better than the TEEN TITANS book. The characters are engaging folks I grew up with. There was a point that we all thought CONVERGENCE was a big joke that meant NOTHING to the NEW 52 Universe. Seems we may have been wrong, what with the Titans arriving, along with Lois and Clark, and Parallax. Thank you Dan Abnett for caring enough about these characters to make them fun!
WE ARE ROBIN #8: We meet Johnny “Smiley” Bender, who we saw in the first issue beating up Duke Thomas. Johnny had something called Moebius Syndrome that affects the muscles in your face. So his parents had surgery performed but that left him looking like his idol The Joker. Once he gets out of lockup, he goes home to parents that have nothing good to say to him. He dresses up like The Joker and executes them. Meanwhile, Duke finds his parents at last. Dad doesn’t remember him and his mom’s facial paralysis is apparently permanent.
Let’s see where Lee Bermejo takes this next. He has resolved Duke’s search and introduced a new villain. I think. This was an interesting in-between issue as the previous ROBIN WAR story line has been put to bed and stray plot pieces from the first seven issues are touched upon. Jorge Corona, with breakdowns by Rob Haynes, provides the art and it looks okay. I am curious to see where Bermejo takes Johnny in the months to come.
WONDER WOMAN #48: Diana saves the President of the United States from an attack at the G8 Summit Meeting by Dr. Maru. But the good doctor unleashes a poisonous version of PCP that turns the citizens of London against Wonder Woman. When Maru tries to shoot Diana, she hits one of the affected, which snaps the others out of their trance. Diana captures Maru, but she breaks one of her poison gas teeth and escapes. Meanwhile, over in Olympus, Zola wakes Hera because something is wrong with Zeke.
This was a fast moving issue that gives us a new villain. We don’t have a ton of drama except that Dr. Maru is bad and Wonder Woman needs to stop her. This may be Meredith Finch’ best issue to date. And David Finch’ art is possibly his best since he climbed on-board. Overall, this was the best issue we have seen of the Amazon in some time.
No comments:
Post a Comment