A top notch issue from Jeff Lemire and Mikel Janin. If you didn’t know it from his Vertigo history, John Constantine proves he is only in it for himself. And we finally get the House of Mystery in the NEW 52. Can Cain and Abel be far behind? I hope not.
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #10: Still reeling from the destruction of the team and their battle last issue with O.M.A.C., the team spends a good part fo the issue regrouping. Guy visits Ice, Booster and Godiva visit Fire and share an awkward moment. Batwing visits Vixen. August General In Iron and O.M.A.C. bond. Soon Lightweavrer, Breakdown and the rest of the villains responsible for JLI’s recent failures mix it up wiyth our heroes. And the good guys go down to defeat…AGAIN!
Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti turn out what I believe is the better of the two Justice League titles. Unfortunately, the buying public doesn’t quite agree as the numbers on this title have always been low. Thus DC has announced they will be canceling this series with issue #12. That’s a shame because the team of Jurgens and Lopresti have worked real hard at making this a killer book which I will truly miss.
NIGHTWING #10: Nightwing is investigating a murder scene that he finds out he is the prime suspect in.Gotham’s finest show up and it’s fight or flight for the former Boy Wonder. Of course, a lot of this rests on the shoulders of Detective Nie who has a major axe to grind against the agents of Batman. At one point, Nie had been accused of planting evidence against Batman. And Deputy Mayor Kavanaugh is determined to prove the innocence of the guy who saved his life during the Night of the Owls.. Meanwhile, Dick and Sonia Zucco may end up in business together as he wants to stabilize the circus and reopen Amusement Mile. Nightwing proceeds to go to a tattoo parlor and quiz the owner about the symbol that was found at the murder scene. Apparently, Nie has been here too asking questions. Next thing you know, there’s an attack on the parlor, and it’s orchestrated by a villain named Paragon.
Kyle Higgins, Eddy Barrows and Geraldo Borges turn in a nice story here. The biggest twist has nothing to do with Paragon and who he/she may be. The twist comes in the form of Dick Grayson having to do a business deal with the daughter of Boss Zucco, who we all know is responsible for the deaths of the Flying Graysons. It should be fun to see in what direction that all moves. And, on top of that, WHO IS PARAGON?
THE RAVAGERS #2: What is left of the team finds themselves sitting on an ice flow and getting ready to sink into the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, somewhere in Mongolia, Rose and Warblade reveal to Keeper that they have captured Bright Eyes and Windshear(at least we got his name this issue!) and he reveals that he’s ready to send out Shadow Walker, who apparently has the freaky ability to drain life force. Finally off the ice flow, the team of four regroup even while the brother and sister team of Thunder and Lightning get into it with Shadow Walker. To save themselves, they sell out their partners to the bad guy. but it’s actually just a swerve(yeah…saw that coming a mile away) to defeat him and finish getting this nasty tracking devices off themselves. Gar and Terra are off somewhere else and just when you thought it was safe for them, Gar dreams of the upcoming bad guy-Brother Blood.
You know: just when I’m ready to give this book the proper Viking Funeral it deserves, they drop this teaser for Brother Blood onto the last page. C’mon-I REALLY hate this book. Well, hate IS a bit strong. How about severely feel insulted by it…yeah: much better. Another lackluster art job from Ian Churchill and, even with a dialogue assist from Tom DeFalco, Howard Mackie finds himself steeped in clichés that just aren’t fun to read. but Brother Blood: that’s a game changer for me. So, DC manages to keep me hanging on for another month.
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #10: Orn shows up while Jason is trying to make a date with some girl named Isabel. Orn has arrived to take Starfire back to her starship and when he does, everyone is in tow…including Isabel. She is informed by her second in command about “an intergalactic scourge” known as The Blight. She climbs into the chair and prepares to wreak havoc upon her enemies. Did I mention that the rest of the “heroes” (and Isabel) are on that ship too? In the back-up story, Essence does battle with some over-sized bad guy and his henchmen who murder a police officer, in order to hold the Life Hammer. Whoever he is, he has something to do with the whole storyline that ran through the first seven issues.
Chalk this one up in the “Knocked out of the Park” column for Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort. I love the fact that Kori and Roy are lovers and Jason is off trying to pick someone up, someone who knows nothing of his past or his present(except for what he has told her) and here comes this space alien to take the princess home. And drag all the “humans” with them. I also like the fact that the Dominators, once the chief bad guys during the INVASION mini-series(which had some future Image guy involved with it), show up as members of Starfire’s crew. Interesting…I don’t recall them being aligned with her during the OLD DCU. Either way, I really like this book a whole lot.
RED LANTERN #10: Stormwatch has captured Skallox and Atrocitus, searching for Abysmus, feels a strange attraction. Thinking the signal is coming from the original Red Lantern, that leads to a book length, knock-down, drag-out, smackdown between the team and Abysmus. Before it’s all done, he finds Skallox, now missing a hand(which still has a Red Lantern ring on it). The Engineer let the pair go as both sides promise vengeance. In the end, Stromwatch has garnered much needed information about the Green Lanterns; information they are sure to use to their advantage.
Another so-so issue for me. I never expected Peter Milligan to wallow in non-stop action, but that’s what we get. The absolute best line in the book comes after Midnighter takes out Dex Starr, the feline Red Lantern. “Midnighter to Stormwatch…I’ve just punched a cat.” Nice to see Miguel Sepulveda back in the artist’s chair.
RESURRECTION MAN #10: Mitch and Kim break into a facility they think is The Lab but looks to be Daryl’s lab. But the captured former super villain has a tracking device and they can find The Lab. but before that can happen, it’s a war between Heaven and hell as both sides try to capture Mitch. he agrees to let one of them have him, provided they give him a week to find The Lab and get things taken care of. Okay: a deal with the devil AND the deep blue sea.
This is probably the WORST issue of the series and maybe the creators knew that DC was canning this book with issue # 12 because this issue is awful. First off: we have Mitch on a table at The Lab being tortured by our favorite hidden bad guy. THIS SCENE DOESN’T EVEN APPEAR IN THE BOOK. Hell, he doesn’t even get to the Lab! The entire issue is this big set up for Mitch to make a deal and move on. Absolutely awful stuff from two of my favorite writers and one of my favorite NEW 52 books! If this is where we’re headed for the next two issues, I’ll be glad to see it end. This is not the quality book I have come to expect.
STORMWATCH #10: The Engineer sends Stormwatch to try and police the superheroes of Earth. But who polices Stormwatch? Apparently no one, as an artifact is found and we learn the history of the team, especially when things went really bad in 1762.-the French and Indian War. Apollo and Midnighter share a quiet moment and Harry Tanner returns, so you know that could be a problem for the team.
Another interesting issue from Peter Milligan and Ignacio Calero. So now Stormwatch is watching the Justice League. This could prove interesting in future issues. What I find interesting about thjis title is that DC is trying so hard to integrate this into the mainstream DC Universe that they are throwing in DC characters just because they can. The beauty of the old STORMWATCH was that it had enough charisma to stand on its’ own. There were crossovers with other Wildstorm characters but those were infrequent. I mean, we’re ten issues in and we’re had them show up in DEMON KNIGHTS, fight the Red Lanterns and now putting the spyglass on members of the DC Trinity. That’s all well and good, but maybe we should focus on the beauty of these characters.
SUICIDE SQUAD #10: It’s a new mission for the team as they go off to foil a hostage situation by a Basilisk operative. Harley is back on the team and they are loaded for bear, as they take a line from the movie SPEED and SHOOT ALL THE HOSTAGES! Black Spider reveals this operative is the private guard for Regulus(the Basilisk leader). And apparently, Regulus is one bad mother. The team smells a diversion and they’re right. They do manage to find the true source of the problem and recover some downloaded files. But their prisoner has been killed by someone on the team. So who is the traitor? And Yo-Yo meets with Amanda Waller and learns he is immortal.
Adam Glass is back on track again, not that he ever left it. A great issue filled with twists, turns and stomach churning action. Shark eats a perp to gain the memory stick he swallowed? Deadshot caps the hostages? Yeah, this book pulls no punches and continues to move in totally unpredictable directions. Great art from Fernando Dagnino too! Still loving this book ten issues on! Keep it up guys!
SUPERBOY #10: When last we saw the Boy fo Steel, he was busting out of the battle with N.O.W.H.E.R.E. along with the Teen Titans and Legion Lost. Well, he’s on an island with Cassie Sandsmark(DON’T CALL HER WONDER GIRL!). And it’s an island shaped like a big question mark. And there’s dinosaurs on it. Well, at least one. They fight the dino, defeat it and them bathe and eat. Well, once she convinces Kon-El that food is good. They even have an almost romantic moment. But Cassie recalls how he almost tried to kill her and the Titans and that puts a cold shower on that. Then they realize that the T. Rex is gone and they discover a trap door that leads them to an upside down spot. What IS going on here?
Scott Lobdell continues to write some of the best teen dialogue in the business. This book is so much fun! Sebastian Fiumara handles the art chores this issue and I’m okay with that. It’s more of a lightly painted style and given that out characters our on a mysterious island, it fits. I somehow think I would have an issue with his art handling an all out action issue. The quiet moments, the (I assume) skinny dipping (it’s implied!), the almost kiss are really nice. But the story doesn’t end here. You have to go to TEEN TITANS #10 to finish it. The BIGGEST GRIPE I find myself having about the NEW 52: too many stinking crossovers.
SUPERGIRL #10: Kara finds herself being tormented by her memories while trapped inside the Black banshee. She proceeds to meet Siobhan’s brother Tom, who has been trapped inside his father for an undetermined amount of time, but we know that the last time he saw his sister she could barely walk. They fight their way out and into our world, where Silver Banshee proceeds to absorb her father. The trio flee the police who arrive on the scene a little late. Lastly, some villain in a camouflage costume (literally) prepares to take down Supergirl.
And thus this becomes a good place to give up this book. Michael Green and Mike Johnson’s story just doesn’t to anything to justify my $3.00 a month going here. As I stated for the last two months: I figure to finish the storyline and cut this loose. And that’s what I’m doing. Maybe, if the title continues, it will pick up in intensity or will become a great find in the cheap back issue pile somewhere down the road.
SUPERMAN #10: Superman continues his battle with Anguish, even as the world begins to think that Spence Becker is really the Man of Steel. During the battle, the locket she stole gets broken and she loses it. Claiming to want to take something he cares about from him, Anguish heads off. As expected, she heads right to the home of Becker’s family where there is already a good sized crowd of reporters including Vic Barnes who “outed” Superman. Anguish arrives on the scene but, before too much damage can be done, Superman arrives, takes her out and shows how he has repaired the cherished locket. She heads off, Becker punches out Barnes and everything ends happily. Meanwhile, the submarine has unloaded it’s cargo and it’s deadly…really deadly.
This is a nice conclusion to the tale that started last issue. Dan Jurgens can still write a great story after all these years and Jesus Merino, over Jurgens pencils, does a great job of drawing like George Perez. These last two issues do no more than illustrate that the citizens of metropolis, and especially Lois Lane, have a killer curiosity about who Superman really is. And that’s okay…for now. Give me some killer bad guys and let the Kryptonian loose!
SWAMP THING #10: Abigail takes the newly revived Swamp Thing back to her old house and puts his injured body into the swamp. While he begins to rejuvenate, Abigail gets attacked by the Un-Men and their leader, Anton Arcane. Guess what…Daddy’s home!
Kudos to Scott Snyder for bringing this whole thing full circle by resurrecting Swamp Thing AND Arcane. The swamp creature’s ultimate villain is back and I’m thrilled. And, he’s bringing Un-Men and a creepy origin story for Abby with him. Francesco Francavilla turns in a nice art job which looks a lot like Cliff Chaing’s style. My big gripe: getting stuck with a hype piece for a new AMERICAN VAMPIRE series. Yeah…I like Scott Snyder too but lose the additional pages which has NOTHING to do with the story. If I wanted to know about this new book, I’d go search the Internet.
TEEN TITANS #10: Kid Flash is stuck on Mystery Island
and is trying to tie up a dinosaur. Meanwhile Superboy and Wonder Girl pop up
out of the hatch on the ground and have a reunion with Bunker and Robin and
they all proceed to unwind on this island. Then they find non-psionic, real
bricks and realize that they belong to Danny The Street. The team puts him back
together and he gets them off the island, but dies in the process. In his memory,
they have a moment of silence in Danny the Alley. Meanwhile, Amanda Waller
attends an autopsy of a super-powered young girls and is apparently troubled by
the Metas she has sent to their death. And who is The Gardener?
This is an interesting issue that serves more as a character driven issue
than a plot based one. The biggest bit of information is the death of Danny the
Street who was introduced the new NEW 52 Universe in issue #3 and was severely
under utilized. We certainly didn’t get the feeling that he was the
transvestite who made such an impact in the old DOOM PATROL series. My biggest
complaint about this issue, which features the usual crisp writing by Scott
Lobdell and equally sharp art of Brett Booth, is that the plot points of the
first nine issues get dropped. guys: let’s resolve some of this stuff before we
move on to something new. And where IS Skitter?
WONDER WOMAN #10: Hades makes Wonder Woman put on the Lasso of Truth. She says she does and escapes at the same time, saying she will never marry him. So now the forces of Hell get unleashed and he threatens to kill Zola. Diana’s companions arrive and Strife saves Wonder Woman. Hades, previously a monster who threatened to eat Diana, returns in his original form. Diana claims she does love him just as she loves everyone. He sends them away and Diana, as they ride down the River Styx, fires a bullet from one of Eros' pistols. It hits Hades in the heart. Finally, he has someone to love.
This is a great conclusion to this amazing story by Brian Azzarello. Kano and Tony Akins provide the art for this issue and, while they do a good job of aping Cliff Chaing, they are NOT Cliff Chaing. And the whole idea you are left with that maybe someone was responsible for this whole affair JUST SO Hades could learn to love is a twist I hadn’t expected. I so LOVE this title, despite what many of the various naysayers out there think about it. It’s a clever look at a character that has had her stagnant issues over the years.
WORLDS’ FINEST #2: When last we saw the female Dynamic Duo, Hakkou was putting the hurt on Power Girl. And that continues here until Huntress puts an arrow in his head piece and he flies out of Starr Industries in obvious pain. the girls try to figure his origin and the source of his powers. Then we get a flashback to five years ago and learn that the money has been coming because of Helena’s ability to hack systems and has been purloining money that way. Jump forward to a few weeks ago and we see Karen deep sea diving for rare minerals to further fuel her empire. That’s when she receives a call to help a friend in Italy (this would tie into THE HUNTRESS #6). Back in the present day, the battle with Hakkou is engaged again and it doesn’t go well. And, if that wasn’t enough, some astute banker MAY have discovered the secret of the money trail.
Another intriguing issue from Paul Levitz, George Perez and Kevin Maguire. The art looks great and the story by Levitz continues to keep me guessing about the gaps from five years ago. I do have to admit that the current day story is just okay while the back story is the highlight. It sounds cruel, but maybe we should spend some more time in the past to help pave the way to today’s tale. All in all, it’s still a good read.
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