It’s time for me to make a big apology to you, my faithful readers.
By this time in the Merry Month of June, I should be in the process of putting up my reviews on DC’s Month 30 PLUS a bunch of the ALL NEW MARVEL NOW reviews that I have had planned, based on at least the first issues of a bunch of their titles. At the same time, I should be about halfway in my WRITING of the reviews for Month 31.
Unfortunately, the last thing published here was Month 29. Heck: I’m two weeks behind in picking up my books, never mind reading them!
What’s up with that? Well, I’ll tell you. And before I hear the incessant Fanboy whine of “Excuses, excuses” I will say that you are right: they will be excuses. But, in my world, they are damned good ones.
So, my last official posting was on May 13th. As I write this today, it is June 12th. What has gone on in the last almost 30 days? Well, let me start with my daily grind: get up each morning, wake up, pull myself out of bed, do the household chores like cleaning and laundry and work on home schooling my daughter. Right: didn’t see that coming, did ya? Due to my current medical condition, I have been home since January 19th of this year and, frankly, I don’t know when I will be going back to work. This actually had worked out well because my oldest daughter, my partner in crime and my teenage terror, has been home since last September for a similar medical issue. So, she is being home schooled.
Now, if you think that’s easy. Try it yourself. That means, I spend part of my day, every day, reading AHEAD of where we will be working on the next day-just like a school teacher. It also means I am reading literature that she is reading, so I can take copious notes and help her get the most out of those readings so, when test time comes, she can pass the course. It’s a full course load of seven subjects that would normally have been covered over a school year but, due to a variety of circumstances, we didn’t begin until January. It truly has been cram time. With the help of my 84-year-old former school teaching dad, we went through entire years’ worth of World History in 10 weeks. We carved out Literature in 3, including reading five novels PLUS some Shakespeare. Add in a years’ worth of Physical Science, English Vocabulary and Grammar, Composition and Modern Algebra and it has been a hectic, busy, stressful six months.
But the end is in sight as I am currently burning through ink and printing out ALL of her work and collating it. Two science experiments to finish and grade, one research paper to finish bibliographies for and she’s done. High School here she comes!
In the last year, my wife has lost both of her parents and her brother has been struck down with a condition that he still battles with today. That has taken a lot of time and energy out of her life, not to mention teaching school five days a week and working on school work, both her students’ and my daughters’, at night. So, you just have to share the load and sometimes, that means I’m making more meals in the week than normal, plus dishes and watching my littlest one. Suffice it to say, there has been precious little time to even climb onto the Xbox and shoot a few zombies.
So that’s the day to day, where I crash and burn every night while trying to watch Netflix on the Ipad until my eyes start to droop and I forget what just happened. Then I get up and start all over again. Let’s also factor in that it is Spring turning to Summer and that means sports. My littlest one is just doing her first year of Instructional Softball, or Pony League, as they call it. My oldest is on a town league and the town TRAVEL TEAM. So it’s practices, games and long days on the field, both for her AND the family. Me-I do what I love to do: shoot pictures. Her first tournament, I shot close to 1,000 images over three days and got quite the sunburn on my face. From there, it was transfer, edit and eventually upload to my Facebook page (no-haven’t even STARTED to move them to my Facebook page for my business). There is another tournament next weekend.
Sorry: had to stop for a moment to put the wash in the dryer and sort a few more items. Also, the printer ran out of paper as I was printing files off the laptop. Had to fix that too.
Where was I? Oh yeah: softball. So, there’s a 3 day tournament next week and a FOUR day affair the week after. If I am lucky, I can get some down time after the games in the hotel room and do some writing then. Also, I keep trying to get ahead on my yard work, but it seems the rain and other things keep getting in my way. Maybe tomorrow. I have a garden to finish prepping and some Perennials my oldest and I bought last week that need to go into the ground and there’s a firepit I got as a gift for 35 years of service at work that I need to build.
Did I mention that I spent part of Memorial Day Weekend at a concert by one of my favorite area bands, FOREVER YOUNG? Did I mention that I shot over 700 pictures that night and am still editing those images? Well, I did and I am.
That was also the weekend that my wife sprung the fact that we were going to go look at a four week old puppy we were adopting. SURPRISE!!! And, while I fell in love with her on sight, it meant having to get the house ready for a new child, albeit a furry one, and the home inspection that came with it by the organization. The pup is one of six from a dog that was facing euthanasia. The fine folks we worked with rescue dogs and find them homes. Mattie Fluff was the last of the pups to not be claimed and we stepped in. But the organization does a home study, just like would happen for a human adoption. That meant cleaning, picking up the toys and making the home a safe environment for our new baby.
That reminds me: I’m about 200 miles overdue for an oil change. I tried to get that done the other night at my regular place and was informed that there was one mechanic to finish three jobs. Okay: that WOULD have been convenient!
Speaking of pictures, last weekend was a full one where my oldest and I spent the entire weekend working as volunteers for the First Annual TerrorCon Convention. Two days of taking pictures, helping guests and working with celebrities. That meant two LONG DAYS on CONCRETE FLOORS. Both our knees are shot, causing her to miss two games already this week for her league softball and for me to find myself having difficulty like I haven’t had since the OTHER KNEE got operated on in 2005.
So…yeah: celebrities. Just because I feel the need to brag, here’s the list of cool people we hung out with, talked with, got autographs from and had our pictures taken with (the latter two at a price, of course). Deep breath…here we go: Russell Hornsby(GRIMM), Linda Blair(reall-do I have to go over her filmography), WWE superstars Kane, Papa Shango, The Godfather, Scotty 2 Hottie, Ariel and The Boogeyman, Dee Snyder(Twiosted Sister), Stephen Pearcy(Ratt), Richie Scarlett(“The Emperor of Rock and Roll”), Lita Ford and Cherie Currie(The Runaways), Michael Jai-White (SPAWN), John Altamura(TOXIC AVENGER II and III), Nicholas Brendan(BUFFY), Eugene Clark(LAND OF THE DEAD), Naomi Grossman(AMERICAN HORROR STORY), Kane Hodder(many FRIDAY THE 13TH movies), Roger Jackson(the voice of Mojo JoJo), Dee Wallace(E.T.), Fred “The Hammer” Williamson(BLACK CAESAR and many many more!), Tony Moran(the ORIGINAL Michael Myers), Irone Singleton, Lew temple and Vincent Ward(THE WALKING DEAD), Roy Wooley, Derek Garcia and Eric garcia(FACEOFF), Butch Patrick and Pat Priest(THE MUNSTERS), Felix Silla and Lisa Loring(THE ADDAMS FAMILY), Erin Murphy(BEWITCHED), Carel Struycken(TWIN PEAKS), Bobby Campo(THE FINAL DESTINATION) and a whole host of Cosplayers and other cool people.
So two long but awesome days! And you can check out my pictures along with those of the other talented volunteers by going to the Facebook page for Terrorcon and commenting on the great work you see there. Most of us have already decided to do this again for the Rhode Island ComicCon in November.
And then two days later, it was time to pick up Mattie Fluff. In addition, we so fell in love with her, we adopted her sister Leia Fluff the following day!
Yeah-been busy. But I hope to get back on track as soon as the schooling is done next week and actually have a photo break until…oh yeah: WWE live show next Friday. That’ll be my little one’s first show and means I’m probably good for another 700 pictures.
I will get back to comics soon. I promise. Until then, just bear with me. Hey-summer’s coming. Time to relax and enjoy!
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
NEW 52 Month 29, Part 2
THE MOVEMENT #10: As the team is taking pictures of a captured Batgirl and preparing to unmask her, she wakes, flashes back to the incident with The Joker that crippled her and then proceeds to take down all members of The Movement and makes her escape. A meeting is set up between Virtue and Batgirl and they come to terms. At the same time, Katharsis finds Horizon and they have sex on a rooftop. Believing that he only killed in self-defense, she promises to protect him. Meanwhile, Tremor tells Mouse their relationship could never work because she is asexual. Batgirl meets up with Katharis and promises that there will be no trouble as long as he goes peacefully. She also reveals that he killed two cops a few hours before, causing Kartharsis to feel betrayed by Horizon. He claims he would rather die than go to Arkham and she draws her sword to kill him, but is halted by Batgirl, who promises to look after Horizon while he is incarcerated..
Ten down and two more to go for this series. Gail Simone and Freddie Williams II tie up some of the dangling plots and prepare for the end two months from now. Unfortunately, this title just didn’t catch on with readers. And I can understand that. Gail Simone introduced an entire team of teen superheroes that not only took several months for readers to understand, not to mention multiple plots running through a DC Universe title that seemed far removed from the DC Universe until recently. Factor in Williams’ artwork, which tended to be a wonderful distraction with his quirky style, and this book was doomed from the start. I will miss it. Of the two titles that were introduced simultaneously, the other being THE GREEN TEAM, this was by far the one better deserving of a chance at success.
NIGHTWING #29: As we recall, a little girl named Jen, whose parents were just murdered, has decided to go out on her own to seek their killer- Victor Zsasz. She arrives at Zsasz apartment and tries to attack him with the Eskrima sticks that she had stolen from Dick, to no avail. Nightwing arrives just in time to knock the murderer unconscious, tasking Jen to the roof and explaining his life story to her. He touches on all aspects of his life from his parents’ death to the Court of Owls and the recent issues with the Amusement Mile debacle and the hunt for Tony Zucco. He gives her the bracelet he had bought for his mother on the day she died. He says that this should remind her that there is always light and hope. As she leaves to return back to the house, preparing to leave to go to her Aunt’s, Dick texts Sonia Branch and invites her to dinner when he returns to Gotham.
And thus, Nightwing wraps up his career and his title and rides off to Gotham City where he found himself captured by the Crime Syndicate, tortured and possibly killed. Of course, we don’t KNOW THIS because FOREVER EVIL is running late. Kyle Higgins and Russell Dauterman spend very little time resolving the whole Jen knows who Dick is and the revenge for her parents’ deaths. This issue serves as a coda to the career of Dick Grayson by bringing us moments of his past and preparing him for the future…as a secret agent? Well, that’s the rumor.
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #29: A ship of alien mercenaries heads to Earth to claim Starfire. While she and Jason relax after their recent storyline, Roy finds himself trapped in Starfire's old ship, which has begun to move on its’ own. Actually, those mercenaries have hijacked it, one of whom is taken out by a stray smart bomb Roy was tinkering with. The aliens are planning to sell Earth in the war between the Green Lantern Corps and the Khunds. As the ship takes off without them, a drunk alien attacks Jason and Starfire. Defeated and tortured, the alien tells all. But without a ship, his information is useless…unless Jason can hijack his own ship from S.H.A.D.E.
Well, this is taking the title into a new direction, I see! In an effort to tie in this book, the remaining (or soon to be) title in the collection of “Young Justice” oriented titles, with a slowly declining readership of the Lantern titles, a minor cross-over is engaged. Will Pfeifer and Rafael Sandoval provide the action and intrigue as the strangest love triangle in comics (?) heads off on a new adventure. I’m not sure how I feel about this issue, especially after the last few with Jason learning about his past and all. This issue seems a bit weak on actual story, so we’ll see where the next part goes next month.
RED LANTERNS #29: Kara tries to fit in with the rest of the Lanterns, as they test her abilities and then end up drinking in “the bar” together. Eventually, the team heads to Earth to talk to Superman, which results in a major fight between Kal and Kara, especially after she learns that she is stuck as a Red lantern forever. When he finally calms her down, she accepts who she has become and Kal wishes her luck. Returning to their home planet, the Lanterns find a badly wounded Bleez on the surface and learn that Rankorr is missing and that Atrocitus is back.
Charles Soule and Alessandro Vitti continue to pave new ground on this title, which is filled with interesting characters and twists. On the previous run, you were pretty much looking at Rankorr, Atrocitus and Bleez being the prime players. With those characters out of the picture, or pushed to the background, this allows Skallox and Zox to shine, providing some of the best dialogue in this title. And not that Guy hasn’t always been a hero with a mouth that can’t be contained. I’m loving this book!
SUICIDE SQUAD #29: Amanda Waller is hard at work trying to remove The Thinker from O.M.A.C.'s body. But she has a time table: if Kevin Cho can’t get the Thinker out in the next 20 minutes, all three will die when Amanda transports them to a place called "The Toilet". It’s a trip to nowhere and is where the government sends meta humans it can’t imprison. Elsewhere, Deadshot and Harley Quinn shoot the Unknown Soldier with one of Amanda’s magic bullets that increases strength and agility. As the team battles O.M.A.C. and starts to suffer losses, Power Girl and Steel arrive. O.M.A.C. and the team drop through the floor, landing close to the Toilet. King Shark attacks O.M.A.C. and both drop into the toilet. Kevin gains control again, but Captain Boomerang kicks O.M.A.C. back into into the Toilet. Deciding not to destroy The Toilet, Amanda locks it down and informs the team, that was prepared to disband after this mission, that the "magic bullets" contained nano bombs. This means the team again belongs to the government.
And thus ends what I thought was one of the best, craziest series in the NEW 52. Matt Kindt and Jim Fern have done a great job on what they knew months ago was a slowly sinking ship. This book had all the adventure and silliness you want in a comic, from bizarre plot threads to the greatest pairing of oddball characters that you can imagine. Throw in a slimmed down Amanda Waller and James Gordon Jr. and you have a wild ride that, in my opinion, is ending too soon.
SUICIDE SQUAD: AMANDA WALLER #1: Set in the past, Amanda Waller meets with Dr. Algot Issen concerning his use of genetic testing to control supers. The jet they are in takes a hit and they crash into an ice-capped mountain range. What makes this unusual is that it is in New Mexico in July. She helps get out the living and the wounded and arranges a plan to move Northwest. That is when a second blast comes in their direction. A man, who Issen refers to as Kriger-3, appears and demands the survivor hand over Issen. Fleeing the area, Issen explains Kriger-3 was a failed genetic experiment who has the ability to absorb and emits heat energy. Krige-3 catches up with them and explains that the “volunteers” were actually kidnapped by Issen for his experiments. Amanda, Colonel Woodrow, Issen and his assistant Sheryl try to get away, with Woodrow dying in the process. As they continue to flee, Kriger-3 arrives and Amanda, wounds Issen so he cannot run away. She grabs a briefcase filled with grenades, pulls the pins, and knocks him over a cliff. The explosion is absorbed by him and the force knocks him unconscious. Wrestling with her own morals, she shoots Kriger through the head. Leaving Issen with the body of Kriger-3, she calls Belle Reve for an extraction team.
A somewhat wasted coda to the SUICIDE SQUAD series that only manages to show that deep within her rough exterior, Amanda Waller truly does have a heart. This was a five dollar “special” that looks like it may have been planned as an Annual at some point but, with the series getting the axe, they put it out as a One Shot. It was an okay read from Jim Zub and Andre Coelho, but would liked to have spent my five bucks somewhere with more substance.
SUPERMAN #29: Starfire and Superman battles, as she wants to kill a captured criminal that she believes is a threat to the planet. The criminal mutates into a monster and Starfire kills him, revealing he was a Daemonites hiding in human form. Then the pair fly to another part of the precinct where weapons are being used to inject Daemonite DNA. Superman freezes them until he can find a cure. At S.T.A.R. Labs, they examine the creatures and confirm they are infected with Daemonite DNA. But they also have no cure, as they don’t understand how the transformation worked. As they track a signal in the weapons to an old abandoned fairground, Starfire recounts her origin story to him. A small child meets them and asks for their help, but soon turns into a Daemonite and commits suicide. Up in space, Blackfire learns of the Daemonites' attacks and relates the information to her master: Helspont. Meanwhile, Cat informs Morgan Edge that her website is not for sale.
Well, this was a bit of a jumbled mess. So, we have a Daemonite invasion and Blackfire and Helspont are involved. I pretty much washed my hands of the Daemonites when GRIFTER went belly up. But, since he is appearing in the FUTURE’S END mega-series, maybe it’s time to bring them back into the forefront. Either way, the pacing was sloppy, I didn’t need a life history recap of Starfire’s tortured life and the dialogue was flat. Scott Lobdell and Ed Benes tried to keep me amused, but failed. How many issues until the new creative team? Oh…that’s a GOOD THING!
SUPERMAN: LOIS LANE #1: Our story begins with Lois and Lucy Lane playing in their home in Germany, where they observe a helicopter crash not too far from them. Reprimanded by their father, the girls continue to play, using a made-up language only they understand. Their mother Ella told her husband the girls were tougher than they looked. His concerned was about his wife, who was suffering from an unidentified illness. Over time, Ella grew weaker and Lois had to act as the mother figure in the family-something that didn’t sit well with Lucy. In the present day, Lois finds her sister standing in her living room, babbling their made-up language before collapsing. When she awakens, Lucy explains how her roommate had come down with an allegedly contagious illness for which she was given a prescription. The girl recovered but was transformed in some way. An hour ago, men from a group called The Cartel took Amanda away and were now after Lucy. Lois promises her sister to find Amanda on her own and NOT get Superman involved. Despite spending a day digging, Lois comes up virtually empty handed. So she gets a special hidden camera from James Olsen and goes undercover. It seems The Cartel isn't giving out the drugs, but following them. She attempts to make a drug deal and it is interrupted by The Cartel, who kidnaps her. The organization, really a government organization, has been trying to get rid of all traces of this alien fungus that contaminates the host that it is exposed to it and, in some cases, turns the host into a monster. Lois breaks free of her bonds, but the mutated victims attack the agents, leaving only one survivor. Together with Lois, they break out the other captives Lois and Amanda mount a flying mutant, which Amanda says is her cat, and head back to Metropolis. Amanda begs Lois not to break the story, as it will cause more harm than good to the mutants. Arriving back home, she sends Superman to investigate. She also receives a phone call from the last surviving agent, who explains the mutants have been detoxed and warms her not to publish her story or grave consequences will result for her and her family. When she checks in on Lucy, she only finds Simon the cat. And she realizes that the cat was actually Lucy, who had been using and abusing the drug that had been prescribed to Amanda. She asks for Lois’ help in getting clean.
This is probably the LONGEST synopsis I have written for a NEW 52 title to date. And, in the end, I could have shortened it to this: Lois’ sister Lucy is a drug addict and Lois needs to help her detox. But, we had to go through the entire Cartel, government conspiracy, alien agenda, flying cat story to discover that Lucy lane had a habit. Wow! With all of that having been said, this was an entertaining, extra large One Shot from Marguerite Bennett with art by Emanuela Lupacchino, Meghan Hetrick, Ig Guara and Diogenes Neves
SWAMP THING #29: The Sureen have arrived and their leader, Brother Jonah, explains how they can be of great help. As the Sureens perform a ritual that gives their members hallucinogenic illusions, Alec realizes that Wolf and Lady Weeds are missing. In fact, they have headed to New Orleans and are learning that the world has changed. The pair find a lawyer and convince him to work for them on spec. While they are out, Lady Weeds gets her first tattoo. Alec sends Capucine and Jonah to find the missing former Avatars. That night, Alec learns of the sacred ritual known as the Locum. In that ritual, Avatars can temporarily be put into the body of a member of the Sureen. If he agrees, one of the Sureen will allow Alec’s consciousness inside while the others protect his own body with their lives. The ritual commences and, when finished, Knot, the Sureen who has conducted the ritual, removes his false beard and tells the others they have little time to waste. As Alec awakens in the body of the Sureen known as Pistil, he realizes he has been poisoned and the others are burning down his house.
Well, this is a twist I did not see coming. Alec is trapped in another man’s body (Pistil? REALLY! A flower reference?), dying and watching his house burn down. And there is no one here to help him as he has sent off Capucine and Jonah, like HE is one to trust, to find Wolf and Weeds, who are doing a bang-up job of whooping it up in New Orleans. Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz give us another fun and totally unpredictable issue of our favorite plant man. And I cannot wait to see how he paints them out of this corner.
TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA #9: Previously reviewed as part of the FOREVER EVIL: THE BLIGHT review.
TRINITY OF SIN THE PHANTOM STRANGER #17: Previously reviewed as part of the FOREVER EVIL: THE BLIGHT review.
WONDER WOMAN #29: While dining at Dionysus', a ball of pure energy heads towards an unsuspecting Hera while Artemis continues to search for Zola and Zeke. She sees a bright explosion in the sky and, realizing that Apollo is in trouble, asks Hermes to send her to Mount Olympus. The explosion is because Cassandra’s ship has crashed on Mount Olympus. The First Born arrives, claiming that Olympus now belongs to him and that Apollo committed suicide. Artemis battles with him and is wounded in the process. Wonder Woman steps in to battle and she too falls to the First Born, until a blast of lightning from Hera frees her. The ball of energy that came towards her at the beginning of the book was Apollo’s final gift and it was to restore her powers to her, making her Queen of Olympus once more. She sends Diana and her allies to Paradise Island to find an army to assist her. Finding Zola and Zeke safe, Diana addresses her sisters and asks them to help her fight to reclaim Mount Olympus. And she declares herself the Goddess of War.
Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang race towards the end of their run on this amazing title some time this summer, they continue to fill this book with plenty of plot twists and great looking art! This book still manages to divide fans. Die-hard fans want to burn Azzarello at the stake for messing with the legend of Olympus while others are claiming they plan to bail from this book when the creative team does. And now that Diana has claimed the mantle of Goddess of War, can her relationship with Superman remain? After all, he may appear like a God among men on this planet, but she is truly a God. In the end, this is just a book that you never expect to go where you expected it to go.
WORLDS' FINEST #21: FIRST CONTACT PART 4. Kaizen Gamorra has opened a portal back home to Earth 2. Power Girl realizes that this is not the same Ken she loved back on Earth 2, that she was certain died before the end of the war with Darkseid. He tries to toss The Huntress in, but Superman makes the save with Power Girl throwing Kaizen in instead. The girls make the decision to leave for home, just as a transformed Gamorra reappears through the portal with Earth 2”s Superman in tow. The evil Superman begs Kara to come home and, although tempted, she refuses, giving The Huntress enough time to blast the gateway and seal it forever. The girls find themselves trapped on our Earth while Gamorra suffers the wrath of Superman on Earth 2.
This was all a little confusing here, as timing is truly everything. Issues #19, #20 and #21 had the Prelude, Part 2 and Part 4 while BATMAN/SUPERMAN #8 and #9 had Part 1 and Part 3. And if you didn’t read those books, you were a bit lost. And if you DID read them, you were a bit pissed off as PART THREE came out AFTER PART FOUR. So, here’s what we do know: this planet’s version of Superman and Batman met their other world’s counterparts and Power Girl found out that love hurts. Paul Levitz, along with R. B. Silva, bring this arc to a close and does so with a small cliffhanger that I am sure will be worked out over the next few issues: how DO the girl’s get back home.
Ten down and two more to go for this series. Gail Simone and Freddie Williams II tie up some of the dangling plots and prepare for the end two months from now. Unfortunately, this title just didn’t catch on with readers. And I can understand that. Gail Simone introduced an entire team of teen superheroes that not only took several months for readers to understand, not to mention multiple plots running through a DC Universe title that seemed far removed from the DC Universe until recently. Factor in Williams’ artwork, which tended to be a wonderful distraction with his quirky style, and this book was doomed from the start. I will miss it. Of the two titles that were introduced simultaneously, the other being THE GREEN TEAM, this was by far the one better deserving of a chance at success.
NIGHTWING #29: As we recall, a little girl named Jen, whose parents were just murdered, has decided to go out on her own to seek their killer- Victor Zsasz. She arrives at Zsasz apartment and tries to attack him with the Eskrima sticks that she had stolen from Dick, to no avail. Nightwing arrives just in time to knock the murderer unconscious, tasking Jen to the roof and explaining his life story to her. He touches on all aspects of his life from his parents’ death to the Court of Owls and the recent issues with the Amusement Mile debacle and the hunt for Tony Zucco. He gives her the bracelet he had bought for his mother on the day she died. He says that this should remind her that there is always light and hope. As she leaves to return back to the house, preparing to leave to go to her Aunt’s, Dick texts Sonia Branch and invites her to dinner when he returns to Gotham.
And thus, Nightwing wraps up his career and his title and rides off to Gotham City where he found himself captured by the Crime Syndicate, tortured and possibly killed. Of course, we don’t KNOW THIS because FOREVER EVIL is running late. Kyle Higgins and Russell Dauterman spend very little time resolving the whole Jen knows who Dick is and the revenge for her parents’ deaths. This issue serves as a coda to the career of Dick Grayson by bringing us moments of his past and preparing him for the future…as a secret agent? Well, that’s the rumor.
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #29: A ship of alien mercenaries heads to Earth to claim Starfire. While she and Jason relax after their recent storyline, Roy finds himself trapped in Starfire's old ship, which has begun to move on its’ own. Actually, those mercenaries have hijacked it, one of whom is taken out by a stray smart bomb Roy was tinkering with. The aliens are planning to sell Earth in the war between the Green Lantern Corps and the Khunds. As the ship takes off without them, a drunk alien attacks Jason and Starfire. Defeated and tortured, the alien tells all. But without a ship, his information is useless…unless Jason can hijack his own ship from S.H.A.D.E.
Well, this is taking the title into a new direction, I see! In an effort to tie in this book, the remaining (or soon to be) title in the collection of “Young Justice” oriented titles, with a slowly declining readership of the Lantern titles, a minor cross-over is engaged. Will Pfeifer and Rafael Sandoval provide the action and intrigue as the strangest love triangle in comics (?) heads off on a new adventure. I’m not sure how I feel about this issue, especially after the last few with Jason learning about his past and all. This issue seems a bit weak on actual story, so we’ll see where the next part goes next month.
RED LANTERNS #29: Kara tries to fit in with the rest of the Lanterns, as they test her abilities and then end up drinking in “the bar” together. Eventually, the team heads to Earth to talk to Superman, which results in a major fight between Kal and Kara, especially after she learns that she is stuck as a Red lantern forever. When he finally calms her down, she accepts who she has become and Kal wishes her luck. Returning to their home planet, the Lanterns find a badly wounded Bleez on the surface and learn that Rankorr is missing and that Atrocitus is back.
Charles Soule and Alessandro Vitti continue to pave new ground on this title, which is filled with interesting characters and twists. On the previous run, you were pretty much looking at Rankorr, Atrocitus and Bleez being the prime players. With those characters out of the picture, or pushed to the background, this allows Skallox and Zox to shine, providing some of the best dialogue in this title. And not that Guy hasn’t always been a hero with a mouth that can’t be contained. I’m loving this book!
SUICIDE SQUAD #29: Amanda Waller is hard at work trying to remove The Thinker from O.M.A.C.'s body. But she has a time table: if Kevin Cho can’t get the Thinker out in the next 20 minutes, all three will die when Amanda transports them to a place called "The Toilet". It’s a trip to nowhere and is where the government sends meta humans it can’t imprison. Elsewhere, Deadshot and Harley Quinn shoot the Unknown Soldier with one of Amanda’s magic bullets that increases strength and agility. As the team battles O.M.A.C. and starts to suffer losses, Power Girl and Steel arrive. O.M.A.C. and the team drop through the floor, landing close to the Toilet. King Shark attacks O.M.A.C. and both drop into the toilet. Kevin gains control again, but Captain Boomerang kicks O.M.A.C. back into into the Toilet. Deciding not to destroy The Toilet, Amanda locks it down and informs the team, that was prepared to disband after this mission, that the "magic bullets" contained nano bombs. This means the team again belongs to the government.
And thus ends what I thought was one of the best, craziest series in the NEW 52. Matt Kindt and Jim Fern have done a great job on what they knew months ago was a slowly sinking ship. This book had all the adventure and silliness you want in a comic, from bizarre plot threads to the greatest pairing of oddball characters that you can imagine. Throw in a slimmed down Amanda Waller and James Gordon Jr. and you have a wild ride that, in my opinion, is ending too soon.
SUICIDE SQUAD: AMANDA WALLER #1: Set in the past, Amanda Waller meets with Dr. Algot Issen concerning his use of genetic testing to control supers. The jet they are in takes a hit and they crash into an ice-capped mountain range. What makes this unusual is that it is in New Mexico in July. She helps get out the living and the wounded and arranges a plan to move Northwest. That is when a second blast comes in their direction. A man, who Issen refers to as Kriger-3, appears and demands the survivor hand over Issen. Fleeing the area, Issen explains Kriger-3 was a failed genetic experiment who has the ability to absorb and emits heat energy. Krige-3 catches up with them and explains that the “volunteers” were actually kidnapped by Issen for his experiments. Amanda, Colonel Woodrow, Issen and his assistant Sheryl try to get away, with Woodrow dying in the process. As they continue to flee, Kriger-3 arrives and Amanda, wounds Issen so he cannot run away. She grabs a briefcase filled with grenades, pulls the pins, and knocks him over a cliff. The explosion is absorbed by him and the force knocks him unconscious. Wrestling with her own morals, she shoots Kriger through the head. Leaving Issen with the body of Kriger-3, she calls Belle Reve for an extraction team.
A somewhat wasted coda to the SUICIDE SQUAD series that only manages to show that deep within her rough exterior, Amanda Waller truly does have a heart. This was a five dollar “special” that looks like it may have been planned as an Annual at some point but, with the series getting the axe, they put it out as a One Shot. It was an okay read from Jim Zub and Andre Coelho, but would liked to have spent my five bucks somewhere with more substance.
SUPERMAN #29: Starfire and Superman battles, as she wants to kill a captured criminal that she believes is a threat to the planet. The criminal mutates into a monster and Starfire kills him, revealing he was a Daemonites hiding in human form. Then the pair fly to another part of the precinct where weapons are being used to inject Daemonite DNA. Superman freezes them until he can find a cure. At S.T.A.R. Labs, they examine the creatures and confirm they are infected with Daemonite DNA. But they also have no cure, as they don’t understand how the transformation worked. As they track a signal in the weapons to an old abandoned fairground, Starfire recounts her origin story to him. A small child meets them and asks for their help, but soon turns into a Daemonite and commits suicide. Up in space, Blackfire learns of the Daemonites' attacks and relates the information to her master: Helspont. Meanwhile, Cat informs Morgan Edge that her website is not for sale.
Well, this was a bit of a jumbled mess. So, we have a Daemonite invasion and Blackfire and Helspont are involved. I pretty much washed my hands of the Daemonites when GRIFTER went belly up. But, since he is appearing in the FUTURE’S END mega-series, maybe it’s time to bring them back into the forefront. Either way, the pacing was sloppy, I didn’t need a life history recap of Starfire’s tortured life and the dialogue was flat. Scott Lobdell and Ed Benes tried to keep me amused, but failed. How many issues until the new creative team? Oh…that’s a GOOD THING!
SUPERMAN: LOIS LANE #1: Our story begins with Lois and Lucy Lane playing in their home in Germany, where they observe a helicopter crash not too far from them. Reprimanded by their father, the girls continue to play, using a made-up language only they understand. Their mother Ella told her husband the girls were tougher than they looked. His concerned was about his wife, who was suffering from an unidentified illness. Over time, Ella grew weaker and Lois had to act as the mother figure in the family-something that didn’t sit well with Lucy. In the present day, Lois finds her sister standing in her living room, babbling their made-up language before collapsing. When she awakens, Lucy explains how her roommate had come down with an allegedly contagious illness for which she was given a prescription. The girl recovered but was transformed in some way. An hour ago, men from a group called The Cartel took Amanda away and were now after Lucy. Lois promises her sister to find Amanda on her own and NOT get Superman involved. Despite spending a day digging, Lois comes up virtually empty handed. So she gets a special hidden camera from James Olsen and goes undercover. It seems The Cartel isn't giving out the drugs, but following them. She attempts to make a drug deal and it is interrupted by The Cartel, who kidnaps her. The organization, really a government organization, has been trying to get rid of all traces of this alien fungus that contaminates the host that it is exposed to it and, in some cases, turns the host into a monster. Lois breaks free of her bonds, but the mutated victims attack the agents, leaving only one survivor. Together with Lois, they break out the other captives Lois and Amanda mount a flying mutant, which Amanda says is her cat, and head back to Metropolis. Amanda begs Lois not to break the story, as it will cause more harm than good to the mutants. Arriving back home, she sends Superman to investigate. She also receives a phone call from the last surviving agent, who explains the mutants have been detoxed and warms her not to publish her story or grave consequences will result for her and her family. When she checks in on Lucy, she only finds Simon the cat. And she realizes that the cat was actually Lucy, who had been using and abusing the drug that had been prescribed to Amanda. She asks for Lois’ help in getting clean.
This is probably the LONGEST synopsis I have written for a NEW 52 title to date. And, in the end, I could have shortened it to this: Lois’ sister Lucy is a drug addict and Lois needs to help her detox. But, we had to go through the entire Cartel, government conspiracy, alien agenda, flying cat story to discover that Lucy lane had a habit. Wow! With all of that having been said, this was an entertaining, extra large One Shot from Marguerite Bennett with art by Emanuela Lupacchino, Meghan Hetrick, Ig Guara and Diogenes Neves
SWAMP THING #29: The Sureen have arrived and their leader, Brother Jonah, explains how they can be of great help. As the Sureens perform a ritual that gives their members hallucinogenic illusions, Alec realizes that Wolf and Lady Weeds are missing. In fact, they have headed to New Orleans and are learning that the world has changed. The pair find a lawyer and convince him to work for them on spec. While they are out, Lady Weeds gets her first tattoo. Alec sends Capucine and Jonah to find the missing former Avatars. That night, Alec learns of the sacred ritual known as the Locum. In that ritual, Avatars can temporarily be put into the body of a member of the Sureen. If he agrees, one of the Sureen will allow Alec’s consciousness inside while the others protect his own body with their lives. The ritual commences and, when finished, Knot, the Sureen who has conducted the ritual, removes his false beard and tells the others they have little time to waste. As Alec awakens in the body of the Sureen known as Pistil, he realizes he has been poisoned and the others are burning down his house.
Well, this is a twist I did not see coming. Alec is trapped in another man’s body (Pistil? REALLY! A flower reference?), dying and watching his house burn down. And there is no one here to help him as he has sent off Capucine and Jonah, like HE is one to trust, to find Wolf and Weeds, who are doing a bang-up job of whooping it up in New Orleans. Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz give us another fun and totally unpredictable issue of our favorite plant man. And I cannot wait to see how he paints them out of this corner.
TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA #9: Previously reviewed as part of the FOREVER EVIL: THE BLIGHT review.
TRINITY OF SIN THE PHANTOM STRANGER #17: Previously reviewed as part of the FOREVER EVIL: THE BLIGHT review.
WONDER WOMAN #29: While dining at Dionysus', a ball of pure energy heads towards an unsuspecting Hera while Artemis continues to search for Zola and Zeke. She sees a bright explosion in the sky and, realizing that Apollo is in trouble, asks Hermes to send her to Mount Olympus. The explosion is because Cassandra’s ship has crashed on Mount Olympus. The First Born arrives, claiming that Olympus now belongs to him and that Apollo committed suicide. Artemis battles with him and is wounded in the process. Wonder Woman steps in to battle and she too falls to the First Born, until a blast of lightning from Hera frees her. The ball of energy that came towards her at the beginning of the book was Apollo’s final gift and it was to restore her powers to her, making her Queen of Olympus once more. She sends Diana and her allies to Paradise Island to find an army to assist her. Finding Zola and Zeke safe, Diana addresses her sisters and asks them to help her fight to reclaim Mount Olympus. And she declares herself the Goddess of War.
Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang race towards the end of their run on this amazing title some time this summer, they continue to fill this book with plenty of plot twists and great looking art! This book still manages to divide fans. Die-hard fans want to burn Azzarello at the stake for messing with the legend of Olympus while others are claiming they plan to bail from this book when the creative team does. And now that Diana has claimed the mantle of Goddess of War, can her relationship with Superman remain? After all, he may appear like a God among men on this planet, but she is truly a God. In the end, this is just a book that you never expect to go where you expected it to go.
WORLDS' FINEST #21: FIRST CONTACT PART 4. Kaizen Gamorra has opened a portal back home to Earth 2. Power Girl realizes that this is not the same Ken she loved back on Earth 2, that she was certain died before the end of the war with Darkseid. He tries to toss The Huntress in, but Superman makes the save with Power Girl throwing Kaizen in instead. The girls make the decision to leave for home, just as a transformed Gamorra reappears through the portal with Earth 2”s Superman in tow. The evil Superman begs Kara to come home and, although tempted, she refuses, giving The Huntress enough time to blast the gateway and seal it forever. The girls find themselves trapped on our Earth while Gamorra suffers the wrath of Superman on Earth 2.
This was all a little confusing here, as timing is truly everything. Issues #19, #20 and #21 had the Prelude, Part 2 and Part 4 while BATMAN/SUPERMAN #8 and #9 had Part 1 and Part 3. And if you didn’t read those books, you were a bit lost. And if you DID read them, you were a bit pissed off as PART THREE came out AFTER PART FOUR. So, here’s what we do know: this planet’s version of Superman and Batman met their other world’s counterparts and Power Girl found out that love hurts. Paul Levitz, along with R. B. Silva, bring this arc to a close and does so with a small cliffhanger that I am sure will be worked out over the next few issues: how DO the girl’s get back home.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
DC's NEW 52 Month 29, Part 1
ACTION COMICS #29: Superman is again stabbed by Ghost Soldier because he dared to the aliens who live in Imperial Subterranea to the surface. Despite his injury, he knows he must protect Lana and find out why the sun transforms the creatures. Ghost Soldier carves the creatures up, disgusting Lana. Superman uses his Arctic Breath to freeze the Ghost Soldier and accidentally freezes the insect and animals. Superman rips the Soldier’s mask off, realizing there are other Soldiers and it angers him. Ukur arrives, informs Superman that Baka cannot stay as unmarked military bombers arrive. Fearing his safety, he sends Baka away to return to below, learning the alien child is a prince. Despite hearing Baka’s cries, Superman seals off the cavern and destroys the bombers. Superman grabs Ghost Soldier and brings him to Tower Control, where he is prepared to meet Harrow.
Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder conclude this storyline, but leave a taste of what is ahead at the end, as the Tower continues to play a role in the Superman mythos. Pak’s story is like all Greg Pak stories: full of dialogue and some nice plot points. And Aarron Kuder made be churning out, in a good way, some of the best art of his career. This book is truly at the height it should have been from Day One. This is absolutely one of the most improved books of the year.
ALL-STAR WESTERN #29: Jonah and Gina are back in the past and surrounded by Apaches. Jonah, being Jonah, kills them all. Unfortunately, Gina takes a bullet in the leg in the process. Despite the numbing pain, Gina gets through the ordeal of having the bullet removed. Unable to sleep because of the pain, Jonah tells the story of a man whose family was burned to death by Indians. Jonah also relates how the story was a lie and was trying to bring him in for killing Native Americans. The man’s son arrives and the two of them hold Jonah at bay. After they have made Jonah dig his own grave, they smoke Jonah’s tobacco, which he says is a special Hopi blend that apparently causes psychedelic illusions. The Apaches arrive and take their revenge on the pair. Three days go by with Jonah and Gina riding with no food or water. They end up coming upon a Dine hut and ask for shelter, food and water. But they may be too late as Gina falls dead.
Once again, we start off with another killer cover from the always amazing Dwayne Cooke. Once inside, we get the finish up to last issue’s cliffhanger and a new wrinkle: Gina’s bullet wound. After a rather long and, to be quite honest, uninteresting story by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, we finally get the payoff with Gina dying. Now that is a cliffhanger that might take Booster Gold to show up and fix the time stream or something similar. By the way, I miss Moritat’s artwork but I am getting used to Cliff Richards’ work, which has a tendency to be very much in the mold of Russ heath…only not as clean as Heath. But I’m good with that for now.
ANIMAL MAN #29: Buddy suggests that the world of The Red make Shepherd and Socks the new Totems. They agree provided there is an avatar for the red, which Buddy agrees to be. Socks tells him that he needs to be a father first, then Animal Man, then the Red. Once they get home, he explains the deal to Ellen but, at the same time, he is concerned about the promise he made to the Bridgewalker. He goes to check on Maxine and she tells him a bed time story. She tells a fairy tale about a prince and princess that mirrors the Bakers’ story. Even with the death of the prince, they realized they would all die one day and meet with the prince again. Moved to tears, Buddy puts Maxine to bed and then notices a spider on the carpet. He picks it up, places it on the grass outside, and then says goodnight to it. In actuality, it is his son Cliff in a better life.
And so, Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman bring the story of Buddy baker and his family to a close. It seems all the storylines have been resolved EXCEPT for the whole Bridgewalker piece. I was under the assumption that Buddy had to be the new Bridgewalker. So…when exactly IS that going to happen? Now, later…at the time of his death? That left me a little confused. What I did find a beautiful touch to wrap this whole thing up was Lemire writing AND illustrating the fairy tale. Now, if you liked his work on SWEET TOOTH, you were thrilled. If you didn’t like his quirky art style, then you probably were turned off. Anyway: goodbye Baker Family. See you soon, somewhere else.
AQUAMAN #29: Aquaman discovers his trident missing and learns that it may be at an archaeological dig in the Azores. Unfortunately, that trident has been used to open a gateway that unleashes a hoard of ghastly creatures from the gate to Atlantis. It seems they channeled their will so the tablet would read “gate” instead of “Hell”. Aquaman arrives and battles the creatures. Finally, one fierce humanoid comes forth and joins the battle seeking revenge against the Atlanteans who imprisoned him in hell. This is the Earth born Olympian known at Hercules. Meanwhile, the plant life in Atlantis has been affected by events from #27SWAMP THING #27 and #28.
Jeff Parker continues to try to fill the shoes of Geoff Johns and continues to do an admirable job. His plot is intriguing and the story is fun. But seriously: Hercules? Shouldn’t he be hanging out in WONDER WOMAN with the rest of the crazy Olympians? Anyway, it’s a nice twist and I’m curious to see how it all plays out. As usual, we get great artwork from Paul Pelletier with inks by Sean Parsons-except for the final page, which is inked by Norm Rapmund.
BATGIRL #29: The police are attempting to hold Batgirl, Strix(in non superhero garb), Silver and Miss Targa at bay. The Silver pulls out a razor and slits his own throat and manages to get Ms. Targa to help into into a car and away from the scene. Barbara and Strix also flee the scene and Barbara is forced to again call on Charise Carnes for information. At Silver's mansion, Ms. Targa bandages Silver’s throat as he declares that Cissy Chastain is a demon lord and a vampire. He tells of how his mother had been killed by a vampire. Batgirl and Strix enter the house and they battle Silver, insisting he gives up Cissy. Strix follows a fleeing Silver and Batgirl knocks her out, convinced that Strix wants to kill the man. We learn that Silver’s mother DIDN’T die by vampire, but committed suicide in a bathtub. Cissy appears and asks to go home and then, unexpectedly, leaps at Silver with her sharpened teeth ready to drain him. Cissy Chastain IS a vampire. As they pin her to the floor, Andrew Bennett arrives to take her away. Unfortunately, he can’t because Silver drinks nothing but Holy Water and that causes the vampire girl to burst into flames. Bennett leave, as do Silver and Ms. Targa. Batgirl states that she will never fight with the undead again.
Okay…so tell me that you truly saw that coming. Silver’s mother wasn’t killed by a vampire, but committed suicide. The kid that Batgirl and Strix are searching for IS a vampire. And it all comes to a head when Andrew Bennett, who we haven’t seen since his book got cancelled, shows up to resolve the whole story. This was a fun two issue story by Gail Simone and Fernano Pasarin that took us from GOTHTOPIA to wherever Babs goes next, which I would assume is going to involve her belief that Dick Grayson has died during FOREVER EVIL. Of course if she had a crystal ball, she would know he will soon have his own series again…
BATMAN #29: We begin with a young Bruce Wayne sitting in GCPD Headquarters. The young boy had snuck off to see a Zorro film and ended up being picked up in the Park Row section of Gotham. Thomas and Martha decide that, once he is finished being processed, they should go back and see the movie as a family. That was then. Now, the storm in Gotham is getting worse and the GCPD are desperately trying to evacuate parts of Gotham. Batman contacts Jim Gordan and tells him that when the power is turned back on, The Riddler will gain control of a hub which will give him control of the entire city. Batman maneuvers his blimp (Bat Blimp?) towards the weather balloon so he can use his specially designed jammer to thwart The Riddler. Unfortunately, Doctor Death is waiting for him on his arrival. During their fight, the jammer is knocked from Batman’s hand and it falls to the ground below. Helfern tells Batman that he lost his son when he had been placed on a dangerous assignment to find Bruce Wayne. Batman sets off an explosion and Helfern, begging that his son’s story be told, is choked by his own bones. Meanwhile, Gordon runs into The Riddler in Philip Kane's old office, where the Lieutenant barely escapes being crushed by a five ton boulder. Corrigan turns on the grid and chaos erupts. The Riddler sets off explosions destroying the retaining walls and allowing the floodwaters into the city. He also causes every police blimp to explode. And Batman realizes that his city is going to die just as his parents did.
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo race towards the conclusion of ZERO YEAR in next month’s issue. Most of this extended storyline has been great but unfortunately, this issue was just a rambling mess. The comparison between Bruce Wayne’s parent’s death and the apparent death of Gotham City is nice, but a little over the top. We get the comparison and the analogy-don’t hit us over the head with it. And Capullo’s art looks tired, as if these extra length issues are taking a toll on him. It will be interesting to see how this all wraps next issue, but we can be sure that it will serve as the conclusion to the New 52 origin of the Dark Knight.
BATMAN AND ROBIN #29: Batman finds himself in the Bat-Sub search for the island where Damian was trained and is visited by Aquaman. Batman explains he is trying to find the bodies of Damian and Talia, which had been taken from Bruce’s backyard by Ra’s al Ghul’s minions. The two heroes attack the island only to discover Ra’s is creating genetically altered super-humans inside of whales. As Ra’s heads off the island, Batman finds himself battling The Heretics. Aquaman is able to communicate telepathically with them and a whale swallows them. Batman gets onto Ra's escape aircraft where he sees Talia and Damian's bodies stored within. Ra’s turns the plane enough to throw him off the plane and into the sea below, where Aquaman rescues him. In the end, Batman visits Wonder Woman and asks her to bring him to Ra’s destination: Paradise Island.
Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason continue to craft what is fast becoming a book at good as Scott Snyder’s BATMAN. The artwork is awesome, Tomasi’s writing is sharp and crisp and I love where this is going, even without Robin in the mix. We all know that will change come July when Robin rejoins the team. Who is Robin? Well, we’ll have to wait until July to find that out.
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #29: We begin with Batman falling to his death thanks to Abraham Langstrom and unable to reach the Batplane. He fires a pair of grappling ropes at two opposing buildings and saves his life, although he is in great pain from his injuries. After being treated by Alfred, he heads to a meeting with Jim Gordon, who explains he has no evidence against Abraham Langstrom. Batman breaks into Langstrom's home and questions him about the murders of the homeless. Leaving his home, Batman visits Kirk Langstrom and begs him to create a way to administer the antidote through the bat’s skin. That night, Abraham heads for a homeless shelter but is injects himself with his serum, and flies toward Gotham City and the homeless shelter, where Batman is waiting dressed as a homeless man. He allows Langstrom to bite through his armor, as he had injected himself with the serum. Although he is bleeding out, Batman is able to tie up the transformed Langstrom and leave him for the GCPD. Once in court, Langstrom is found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
And so this series comes to an end. Greg Hurwitz and Jorge Lucas do a nice job of wrapping up this story and leaving the villain at large for a future story sometime in the NEW 52. Of course, that is not to say that either Kirk or Francine won’t take the serum again and turn into Man bats again. This was a series that was very uneven throughout and, by removing this fro the schedule, it makes room for the new BATMAN title, BATMAN ETERNAL. Of course, that book ships WEEKLY.
BATWOMAN #29: The issue begins with an incident in 1929 where the artist Eisenstadt observed something disturbing in the safe of Mr. Granthan. In present day, Kate is visiting a therapist and quickly decides that she doesn’t need him and leaves his office. That night, Kate visits Maggie, who tells her lover that she felt that Kate needed to approach her mental health issues and get them treated. Meanwhile, Wolf Spider is making plans for his next two heists: at Arkham Asylum and somewhere on the Kane Estate. Making his way into Arkham’s library, he finds the painting in Batwoman’s hands. Attempting to flee, he unlocks all the cells in the wing he is in and some of Arkham’s worst now stand between Batwoman and Wolf Spider.
As much as I love these characters, I am getting a bit tired with this particular story. I understand that Marc Andreyko has had to do some serious filling in considering the previous creators up and left after DC Editorial shot down the wedding of Kate and Maggie. But the whole Wolf Spider thing is getting annoying. What is the secret of the four paintings? Personally, I’m betting it’s a map. To what, you ask? Probably to whatever the shocking thing was that was once in Grantham’s safe, which is why he has hired Wolf Spider to get it back. If it’s anything less, I would be highly disappointed. Nice art from Jason Masters but it just cannot make me care about where this tale is heading. Let’s go back to having a bit more romance in this title. After all: the NEW 52 was BUILT on diversity, right?
BIRDS OF PREY #29: We find Condor bumming over the fact that Kurt Lance's resurrection has thrown a monkey wrench into the romance between he and Black Canary. She is devastated by the news that Kurt is going to be a vegetable and remains on life support. She considers using fluid from the Lazarus Pits which had been given to her by Ra’s al Ghul in exchange for her betrayal of Mother Eve. She puts the fluid into Kurt’s Intra-Venous which beings him to consciousness. Soon Ra's and his men begin their attack on the barge Meanwhile, Uplink has informed Condor that it appears that Strix has gone to Gotham City in search of Batgirl and he also leaves. In Gotham, he is approached by one of Ra's drone, trying to convince Condor to become a turncoat, telling him he will make certain that his men kill Kurt Lance. Condor asks that Kurt dies first and that Dinah be spared and the head of the League of Assassins agrees. He orders Nightlord to kill Lance as soon as he boards the barge. With Batgirl back on the barge, Mother Eve orders her and Black Canary to accompany her to her safe room. She explains that her unique form of regeneration comes from within her and Ra’s wants to know how to use that power himself, which is something she refuses to allow to happen. She orders Batgirl out, as the room is specifically designed for Dinah. As Batgirl leaves, she wonders if she can truly trust Black Canary.
Christy Marx and Robson Rocha brings us what I believe will be the penultimate chapter of the Mother Eve/R’as al Ghul saga. There is a whole lot of action going on and an equal amount of plot points too. In fact, maybe there is too much plot. Who is the true traitor here, Condor or Black Canary? Both have motives and they revolve around the same man. But where Dinah wants to bring his husband BACK to life, Condor wants to make sure he’s dead. Doesn’t he realize that if he dies, you’ll be dealing with a grieving widow who probably won’t be completely interested in you for some time. We’ll find out next issue what happens with this wacky love triangle.
CATWOMAN #29: Selina is at a party at Taylor Pharmaceuticals. She sneaks out and changes into Catwoman, so she can steal a new drug called MR-40 that they have developed that could be worth upwards of thirty-million dollars. From here on out, it’s a snatch and run caper as she gets her hands on the drug while avoiding lasers, henchmen and a host of other traps. She leaps out the window in time to meet Batman and throws him the sample, explaining that she destroyed the other sample. It seems the drug was an offshoot of Venom and the whole theft had nothing to do with stealing a chemotherapy drug. She also realizes that he was responsible for tripping the alarm that sent security after her and swears that one day he will have to repay his debt to her.
Well, this was a waste of what John Byrne used to refer to as 20 minutes of bathroom reading time. Sholly Fisch, the king of the back-up story, along with Pat Oliffe deliver what is known in the industry as a fill-in story. This does nothing to propel the regular plot forward and is 18 pages longer than it should have bee. Maybe even 20 pages longer than it should have been. This was a complete and total waste of my time and my money and should have been reserved for the back-up in an annual. Or better yet, not written at all..
CONSTANTINE #12: Previously reviewed as part of the FOREVER EVIL: THE BLIGHT review.
DETECTIVE COMICS #29: The conclusion of GOTHTOPIA. Batman has taken an antidote to Scarecrow’s Fear Toxin, but needs to appear under Crane’s control so he can find out how the toxin is being released throughout Gotham City. Batman accompanies Professor Pyg and Merry-Maker to as they visit residents and give them toxin. The Dark Knight deduces that continued exposure to the toxin creates a chemical that can be used to create further toxins. Unseen, Batman puts an antidote into the toxin that will reverse the effects. The antidote causes the blimps carrying the toxin to explode and distributes the antidote throughout the city. Members of the Bat Family help take down Scarecrow, who is loaded in a van to be taken back to Arkham. But he reaches out and uses his claws to shred Batman’s chest, before saying “Gotham is (his)”. It seems Crane is actually in a cell at Arkham under the influence of a contentment serum. Later, Batman and Catwoman meet and discuss their relationship during the time that Gothtopia existed. He tells her that what happened was because they were under the influence and nothing more.
John Layman and Aaron Lopresti bring us the awesome conclusion to this mini, multi title epic. While it did nothing to define the character, it was a fun little ride in an imaginary Gotham with imaginary super heroes. In the end, it was just a matter of Scarecrow being Scarecrow. Of course, this all happens prior to FOREVER EVIL beginning and Scarecrows battle during the Arkham War. All in all, this was a nice swan song for this creative team as Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato take over with issue #30 as the new creative team.
EARTH 2 #21: In Moscow, Atom is battling Superman and the Man of Steel removes Atom’s arm with his heat vision and then knocks him out with it. In the Batcave, Batman begins to pass out assignments to the team members and is informed that the remaining World Army members are in Amazonia, which is magically hidden from the rest of the world. Khan learns that Project Beyond is going active and that means those who can afford a trip on the Space Ark get to leave the planet and find a new home. Riots and panic ensues and those left in the launch chamber when the ship lifts off are immediately immolated. But they get away easy as Superman and Beguiler arrive and open up the spacecraft, allowing all inhabitants to fall to their fiery deaths. Batman sets up a conference video call between himself, Khan and Aquawoman, where they all agree they need to work together to get through this crisis. Lastly, Bedlam is at work on a Boom Tube project with Mister Terrific, Terry Sloan and Mister Miracle. Then he taps into Terry Sloan’s mind and discovers that our heroes have their own Kryptonian.
Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott continue to create a killer story here that has more twists and turns than I can imagine. Who is this Superman, or at least who is within his body? What can Batman’s team do to rise up from what looks like utter defeat? Will the new Kryptonian be able to defeat the old. And how does Atom get to have his arm attached, if they can? And if they can’t, will he have to stay enlarged forever? This book has made a major turn around since Taylor took over and I love the direction. This is a highly recommended title.
GREEN ARROW #29: Four years ago, Emiko was told how her mother, Shado, had been murdered by Robert Queen. Simon also told her that he had murdered Robert to protect her and that Oliver Queen needed to die to stop him from coming for her. The at was then. Today, Simon has killed Golgotha and has decided to take over the Outsiders. He says that Green Arrow has killed Kodiak and he is coming, with Shado. Emiko overhears it all. In actuality, Oliver has left the island but left both Shado and his father behind. Currently, he is in Prague where he finds himself bettling members of the Spear Clan. One of the Clam members, under duress, says that Komodo is hiding at the Cathedral. He also finds a shipment of deadly Sarin Gas. As Green Arrow approaches the Cathedral, Emiko tells her father she wants to kill him, even if her mother is still alive. Oliver tells Emiko that Komodo has lied to her and she insists that he and Robert have corrupted her mother. Oliver reveals that he is Emiko's brother and she decides she cannot kill him. Komodo fires an arrow, which enters Oliver’s head. Meanwhile, in Seattle, Naomi Singh and John Diggle continue their plotting against Richard Dragon by bringing in a new ally in the form of Billy Tockman.
Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino continue to do an awesome job with this title. If you have read me over the months since this team took over, then you know how high I am on this title. It looks great, the plot rocks and I just love it. Just go buy it!
GREEN LANTERN #29: Hal returns to Coast City long enough to see his family and say goodbye. Simon Baz arrives and Hal explains that the Red Lanterns are in charge now and tells Simon he is now the ONLY Green Lantern allowed on Earth. He also asks Simon to watch over Hal’s family. Mogo leaves Sector Zero as Hal asks his closest Lantern confidants to help him in the war with the Durlans. A team of Lanterns head to the planet Gwottle to stop the manufacture of Anti-Light Devices. Meanwhile, the Durlan who impersonated Hal no longer has the shape changing ability and realizes his safety is in great jeopardy.
Ho hum. Sorry: I think I said before that this version of Hal Jordan is about as whiny as I ever want to see. And with every issue, Robert Venditti makes him seem whinier (is that even a word?). Billy Tan shares art chores this issue with Martin Coccolo and it looks okay. What bugs me too, as if I don’t have enough to bitch about, is that we have this great cover of Saint Walker in turmoil. And that scene takes up all of two pages in the book. Really? Couldn’t you give us a battle sequence that represents the main plot instead? Either that or make the issue about Saint Walker. DC Editorial: C’MON!
HARLEY QUINN #4: Harley is headed off to work and spends the morning covering her skin with makeup to make her look…normal. As she leaves, Big Tony shows her his designs for his dog-poop removal machine in exchange for four months rent-free. Harley hears a tale of neglect from one of her patients and decides to pay a visit to the woman’s daughter, who is having a vibrator party. Harley bursts through the house with a bulldozer, breaks the woman’s son’s video game, and stomps on the husband’s model railroad. She throws the three into the trunk of her car and heads back home. On the way, she stops for lunch and kills a would-be assassin with a fork. Harley rushes to her first roller-derby game but arrives so late that the game is over and her team has lost. As the winning team leaves, Harley runs them over with the Rubensteins' car-an act that turn’s on her team’s captain. She finally releases the Rubenstein Family from her trunk and learns that Ida has Alzheimer's and, in actuality, they HAVE visited her three times a week. That night, Harley returns to the nursing home where she meets a resident who was once a a Russian government agent known as Syborg-partly because is name is Sy Borgman and partly because he is part bionic. He tells his therapist that he knows who she REALLY is and wants to hire her to help him defeat the enemies who injured him so long ago. Harley agrees.
Oh my God: how in the world is Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti getting away with this book? Vibrator sales people. Insane roller derby action. Implied lesbianism. Mayhem and murder. This is the funniest book on the shelves today. Unfortunately, the art team gets hit with the deadline issue and Stephane Roux does the fill in job. Not a bad job, but not the big gun contest winning talent we were all sold on. Not that it matters to me. This book is such a hoot to read I could take it as a text novel and be devoid of all illustrations. I look forward to this each month. Keep up the good work, you two!
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 #4: The Sheriff tells the Trinity that they will soon be meeting their long lost children, which leaves our heroes puzzled. Meanwhile, the Wonder Twins debate about the possibility of creating another Barry Allen to replace the one that Locus killed. Ariel meets her “children” and they learn that they are not clones. Rather, they are human hosts that had the League’s DNA bonded to them, effectively killing the hosts. Soon the Sheriff reveals himself as The Convert and he has managed to trap them. Green Lantern gets his cloak back, breaks free, and battles with Locus. Unfortunately, even after a savage poking of her eyes, she tears the cloak to pieces and it appears Hal is going to die in the vacuum of space. Meanwhile, the Twins resurrect Barry Allen and…Firestorm?
Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis and Howard Porter are totally making this book either one you totally love or totally hate. Personally, I LOVE it! It is going in places you just do not expect. These heroes are not cloned. They are humans who, according to Ariel, have been murdered by slapping some DNA onto them. And that would explain why they no longer have the attributes of their predecessors. It seems that, even though they have had their DNA rewritten, some of their initial traits must remain. This book is a roller coaster ride that just throws you every time it makes another turn. Go out and check this one out. It’s Giffen and DeMatteis throwing monkey wrenches all over the place!
JUSTICE LEAGUE #29: Will Magnus has rebuilt the Metal Men and Cyborg explains to them about the Crime Syndicate’s attack. They head to Happy Harbour where Grid and Cyborg face off, allowing the Metal Men to attack. Grid fights back, tearing the Responsometer out of Mercury's body, effectively eliminating him from the fight. That is when the Secret Society arrives to join the fight, leaving Grid to face Cyborg one on one in the digital universe. Victor admits he now knows how to control the digital side of his persona and traps Grid inside it forever. With that, all the electronics that were offline come back up. Steve Trevor and Killer Frost show up, but so do more members of the Secret Society. With the Metal Men continuing that fight, Cyborg leaves with the Lasso of Truth to go save the Justice League.
Now, I should be reporting on the final installment of this saga. However, FOREVER EVIL #7 won’t ship until the end of May, leaving fans who have already starting reading NEW 52 Month 30 titles in a bit of a quandary, as these titles features tales from AFTER FOREVER EVIL ends! Really? You folks at DC couldn’t have figured out a way to have the concluding chapter out before the following chapters began. And honestly, this issue was extremely late in shipping and is one of the reasons my reviews are so late, as I felt it important to include it with the rest of month #29. That having been said, Geoff Johns continues to wind this saga down and Doug Mahnke finds his normally crisp art softened by the inking skills of Keith Champagne and Christian Alamy. Not the best issue in recent memory, but certainly not the worst. By the way: give us a METAL MEN title, okay?
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #29: Previously reviewed as part of the FOREVER EVIL: THE BLIGHT review.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #13: Despero has destroyed Stargirl’s childhood home, bringing back bad memories for her of a brother she could not save several years ago. She then sees a younger version of the late Martian Manhunter as he was heading off on a rite of passage. She temporarily fights off Despero, allowing her to continue to pursue the plane that is carrying Firestorm. She makes her way into Firestorm’s subconscious where Ronnie and Jason are debating how to stop the Matrix from exploding. She uses J'onn's telepathy to reach the Justice League trapped in the Matrix and tells them of the prison and how they need to fight Despero to be free. But Courtney suddenly realizes that she has never left her prison. The good news is that J'onn is still alive and he has been able to speak to Steve Trevor who thinks he can free them with the Lasso of Truth.
I know that FOREVER EVIL is this big epic and, for the most part, it has been pretty awesome. But this story is getting ridiculous. It is just going on forever and IS truly evil! I mean, I can only take so many turns of Stargirl and J’onn J’onz trying to save the world and either dying, not dying or coming back to life from death. Sorry, I like Matt Kindt’s writing as a rule and love Eddy Barrows’ artwork. But this tale is going on too long. Time to wrap it up, finish the series and bring on JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED.
Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder conclude this storyline, but leave a taste of what is ahead at the end, as the Tower continues to play a role in the Superman mythos. Pak’s story is like all Greg Pak stories: full of dialogue and some nice plot points. And Aarron Kuder made be churning out, in a good way, some of the best art of his career. This book is truly at the height it should have been from Day One. This is absolutely one of the most improved books of the year.
ALL-STAR WESTERN #29: Jonah and Gina are back in the past and surrounded by Apaches. Jonah, being Jonah, kills them all. Unfortunately, Gina takes a bullet in the leg in the process. Despite the numbing pain, Gina gets through the ordeal of having the bullet removed. Unable to sleep because of the pain, Jonah tells the story of a man whose family was burned to death by Indians. Jonah also relates how the story was a lie and was trying to bring him in for killing Native Americans. The man’s son arrives and the two of them hold Jonah at bay. After they have made Jonah dig his own grave, they smoke Jonah’s tobacco, which he says is a special Hopi blend that apparently causes psychedelic illusions. The Apaches arrive and take their revenge on the pair. Three days go by with Jonah and Gina riding with no food or water. They end up coming upon a Dine hut and ask for shelter, food and water. But they may be too late as Gina falls dead.
Once again, we start off with another killer cover from the always amazing Dwayne Cooke. Once inside, we get the finish up to last issue’s cliffhanger and a new wrinkle: Gina’s bullet wound. After a rather long and, to be quite honest, uninteresting story by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, we finally get the payoff with Gina dying. Now that is a cliffhanger that might take Booster Gold to show up and fix the time stream or something similar. By the way, I miss Moritat’s artwork but I am getting used to Cliff Richards’ work, which has a tendency to be very much in the mold of Russ heath…only not as clean as Heath. But I’m good with that for now.
ANIMAL MAN #29: Buddy suggests that the world of The Red make Shepherd and Socks the new Totems. They agree provided there is an avatar for the red, which Buddy agrees to be. Socks tells him that he needs to be a father first, then Animal Man, then the Red. Once they get home, he explains the deal to Ellen but, at the same time, he is concerned about the promise he made to the Bridgewalker. He goes to check on Maxine and she tells him a bed time story. She tells a fairy tale about a prince and princess that mirrors the Bakers’ story. Even with the death of the prince, they realized they would all die one day and meet with the prince again. Moved to tears, Buddy puts Maxine to bed and then notices a spider on the carpet. He picks it up, places it on the grass outside, and then says goodnight to it. In actuality, it is his son Cliff in a better life.
And so, Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman bring the story of Buddy baker and his family to a close. It seems all the storylines have been resolved EXCEPT for the whole Bridgewalker piece. I was under the assumption that Buddy had to be the new Bridgewalker. So…when exactly IS that going to happen? Now, later…at the time of his death? That left me a little confused. What I did find a beautiful touch to wrap this whole thing up was Lemire writing AND illustrating the fairy tale. Now, if you liked his work on SWEET TOOTH, you were thrilled. If you didn’t like his quirky art style, then you probably were turned off. Anyway: goodbye Baker Family. See you soon, somewhere else.
AQUAMAN #29: Aquaman discovers his trident missing and learns that it may be at an archaeological dig in the Azores. Unfortunately, that trident has been used to open a gateway that unleashes a hoard of ghastly creatures from the gate to Atlantis. It seems they channeled their will so the tablet would read “gate” instead of “Hell”. Aquaman arrives and battles the creatures. Finally, one fierce humanoid comes forth and joins the battle seeking revenge against the Atlanteans who imprisoned him in hell. This is the Earth born Olympian known at Hercules. Meanwhile, the plant life in Atlantis has been affected by events from #27SWAMP THING #27 and #28.
Jeff Parker continues to try to fill the shoes of Geoff Johns and continues to do an admirable job. His plot is intriguing and the story is fun. But seriously: Hercules? Shouldn’t he be hanging out in WONDER WOMAN with the rest of the crazy Olympians? Anyway, it’s a nice twist and I’m curious to see how it all plays out. As usual, we get great artwork from Paul Pelletier with inks by Sean Parsons-except for the final page, which is inked by Norm Rapmund.
BATGIRL #29: The police are attempting to hold Batgirl, Strix(in non superhero garb), Silver and Miss Targa at bay. The Silver pulls out a razor and slits his own throat and manages to get Ms. Targa to help into into a car and away from the scene. Barbara and Strix also flee the scene and Barbara is forced to again call on Charise Carnes for information. At Silver's mansion, Ms. Targa bandages Silver’s throat as he declares that Cissy Chastain is a demon lord and a vampire. He tells of how his mother had been killed by a vampire. Batgirl and Strix enter the house and they battle Silver, insisting he gives up Cissy. Strix follows a fleeing Silver and Batgirl knocks her out, convinced that Strix wants to kill the man. We learn that Silver’s mother DIDN’T die by vampire, but committed suicide in a bathtub. Cissy appears and asks to go home and then, unexpectedly, leaps at Silver with her sharpened teeth ready to drain him. Cissy Chastain IS a vampire. As they pin her to the floor, Andrew Bennett arrives to take her away. Unfortunately, he can’t because Silver drinks nothing but Holy Water and that causes the vampire girl to burst into flames. Bennett leave, as do Silver and Ms. Targa. Batgirl states that she will never fight with the undead again.
Okay…so tell me that you truly saw that coming. Silver’s mother wasn’t killed by a vampire, but committed suicide. The kid that Batgirl and Strix are searching for IS a vampire. And it all comes to a head when Andrew Bennett, who we haven’t seen since his book got cancelled, shows up to resolve the whole story. This was a fun two issue story by Gail Simone and Fernano Pasarin that took us from GOTHTOPIA to wherever Babs goes next, which I would assume is going to involve her belief that Dick Grayson has died during FOREVER EVIL. Of course if she had a crystal ball, she would know he will soon have his own series again…
BATMAN #29: We begin with a young Bruce Wayne sitting in GCPD Headquarters. The young boy had snuck off to see a Zorro film and ended up being picked up in the Park Row section of Gotham. Thomas and Martha decide that, once he is finished being processed, they should go back and see the movie as a family. That was then. Now, the storm in Gotham is getting worse and the GCPD are desperately trying to evacuate parts of Gotham. Batman contacts Jim Gordan and tells him that when the power is turned back on, The Riddler will gain control of a hub which will give him control of the entire city. Batman maneuvers his blimp (Bat Blimp?) towards the weather balloon so he can use his specially designed jammer to thwart The Riddler. Unfortunately, Doctor Death is waiting for him on his arrival. During their fight, the jammer is knocked from Batman’s hand and it falls to the ground below. Helfern tells Batman that he lost his son when he had been placed on a dangerous assignment to find Bruce Wayne. Batman sets off an explosion and Helfern, begging that his son’s story be told, is choked by his own bones. Meanwhile, Gordon runs into The Riddler in Philip Kane's old office, where the Lieutenant barely escapes being crushed by a five ton boulder. Corrigan turns on the grid and chaos erupts. The Riddler sets off explosions destroying the retaining walls and allowing the floodwaters into the city. He also causes every police blimp to explode. And Batman realizes that his city is going to die just as his parents did.
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo race towards the conclusion of ZERO YEAR in next month’s issue. Most of this extended storyline has been great but unfortunately, this issue was just a rambling mess. The comparison between Bruce Wayne’s parent’s death and the apparent death of Gotham City is nice, but a little over the top. We get the comparison and the analogy-don’t hit us over the head with it. And Capullo’s art looks tired, as if these extra length issues are taking a toll on him. It will be interesting to see how this all wraps next issue, but we can be sure that it will serve as the conclusion to the New 52 origin of the Dark Knight.
BATMAN AND ROBIN #29: Batman finds himself in the Bat-Sub search for the island where Damian was trained and is visited by Aquaman. Batman explains he is trying to find the bodies of Damian and Talia, which had been taken from Bruce’s backyard by Ra’s al Ghul’s minions. The two heroes attack the island only to discover Ra’s is creating genetically altered super-humans inside of whales. As Ra’s heads off the island, Batman finds himself battling The Heretics. Aquaman is able to communicate telepathically with them and a whale swallows them. Batman gets onto Ra's escape aircraft where he sees Talia and Damian's bodies stored within. Ra’s turns the plane enough to throw him off the plane and into the sea below, where Aquaman rescues him. In the end, Batman visits Wonder Woman and asks her to bring him to Ra’s destination: Paradise Island.
Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason continue to craft what is fast becoming a book at good as Scott Snyder’s BATMAN. The artwork is awesome, Tomasi’s writing is sharp and crisp and I love where this is going, even without Robin in the mix. We all know that will change come July when Robin rejoins the team. Who is Robin? Well, we’ll have to wait until July to find that out.
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #29: We begin with Batman falling to his death thanks to Abraham Langstrom and unable to reach the Batplane. He fires a pair of grappling ropes at two opposing buildings and saves his life, although he is in great pain from his injuries. After being treated by Alfred, he heads to a meeting with Jim Gordon, who explains he has no evidence against Abraham Langstrom. Batman breaks into Langstrom's home and questions him about the murders of the homeless. Leaving his home, Batman visits Kirk Langstrom and begs him to create a way to administer the antidote through the bat’s skin. That night, Abraham heads for a homeless shelter but is injects himself with his serum, and flies toward Gotham City and the homeless shelter, where Batman is waiting dressed as a homeless man. He allows Langstrom to bite through his armor, as he had injected himself with the serum. Although he is bleeding out, Batman is able to tie up the transformed Langstrom and leave him for the GCPD. Once in court, Langstrom is found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
And so this series comes to an end. Greg Hurwitz and Jorge Lucas do a nice job of wrapping up this story and leaving the villain at large for a future story sometime in the NEW 52. Of course, that is not to say that either Kirk or Francine won’t take the serum again and turn into Man bats again. This was a series that was very uneven throughout and, by removing this fro the schedule, it makes room for the new BATMAN title, BATMAN ETERNAL. Of course, that book ships WEEKLY.
BATWOMAN #29: The issue begins with an incident in 1929 where the artist Eisenstadt observed something disturbing in the safe of Mr. Granthan. In present day, Kate is visiting a therapist and quickly decides that she doesn’t need him and leaves his office. That night, Kate visits Maggie, who tells her lover that she felt that Kate needed to approach her mental health issues and get them treated. Meanwhile, Wolf Spider is making plans for his next two heists: at Arkham Asylum and somewhere on the Kane Estate. Making his way into Arkham’s library, he finds the painting in Batwoman’s hands. Attempting to flee, he unlocks all the cells in the wing he is in and some of Arkham’s worst now stand between Batwoman and Wolf Spider.
As much as I love these characters, I am getting a bit tired with this particular story. I understand that Marc Andreyko has had to do some serious filling in considering the previous creators up and left after DC Editorial shot down the wedding of Kate and Maggie. But the whole Wolf Spider thing is getting annoying. What is the secret of the four paintings? Personally, I’m betting it’s a map. To what, you ask? Probably to whatever the shocking thing was that was once in Grantham’s safe, which is why he has hired Wolf Spider to get it back. If it’s anything less, I would be highly disappointed. Nice art from Jason Masters but it just cannot make me care about where this tale is heading. Let’s go back to having a bit more romance in this title. After all: the NEW 52 was BUILT on diversity, right?
BIRDS OF PREY #29: We find Condor bumming over the fact that Kurt Lance's resurrection has thrown a monkey wrench into the romance between he and Black Canary. She is devastated by the news that Kurt is going to be a vegetable and remains on life support. She considers using fluid from the Lazarus Pits which had been given to her by Ra’s al Ghul in exchange for her betrayal of Mother Eve. She puts the fluid into Kurt’s Intra-Venous which beings him to consciousness. Soon Ra's and his men begin their attack on the barge Meanwhile, Uplink has informed Condor that it appears that Strix has gone to Gotham City in search of Batgirl and he also leaves. In Gotham, he is approached by one of Ra's drone, trying to convince Condor to become a turncoat, telling him he will make certain that his men kill Kurt Lance. Condor asks that Kurt dies first and that Dinah be spared and the head of the League of Assassins agrees. He orders Nightlord to kill Lance as soon as he boards the barge. With Batgirl back on the barge, Mother Eve orders her and Black Canary to accompany her to her safe room. She explains that her unique form of regeneration comes from within her and Ra’s wants to know how to use that power himself, which is something she refuses to allow to happen. She orders Batgirl out, as the room is specifically designed for Dinah. As Batgirl leaves, she wonders if she can truly trust Black Canary.
Christy Marx and Robson Rocha brings us what I believe will be the penultimate chapter of the Mother Eve/R’as al Ghul saga. There is a whole lot of action going on and an equal amount of plot points too. In fact, maybe there is too much plot. Who is the true traitor here, Condor or Black Canary? Both have motives and they revolve around the same man. But where Dinah wants to bring his husband BACK to life, Condor wants to make sure he’s dead. Doesn’t he realize that if he dies, you’ll be dealing with a grieving widow who probably won’t be completely interested in you for some time. We’ll find out next issue what happens with this wacky love triangle.
CATWOMAN #29: Selina is at a party at Taylor Pharmaceuticals. She sneaks out and changes into Catwoman, so she can steal a new drug called MR-40 that they have developed that could be worth upwards of thirty-million dollars. From here on out, it’s a snatch and run caper as she gets her hands on the drug while avoiding lasers, henchmen and a host of other traps. She leaps out the window in time to meet Batman and throws him the sample, explaining that she destroyed the other sample. It seems the drug was an offshoot of Venom and the whole theft had nothing to do with stealing a chemotherapy drug. She also realizes that he was responsible for tripping the alarm that sent security after her and swears that one day he will have to repay his debt to her.
Well, this was a waste of what John Byrne used to refer to as 20 minutes of bathroom reading time. Sholly Fisch, the king of the back-up story, along with Pat Oliffe deliver what is known in the industry as a fill-in story. This does nothing to propel the regular plot forward and is 18 pages longer than it should have bee. Maybe even 20 pages longer than it should have been. This was a complete and total waste of my time and my money and should have been reserved for the back-up in an annual. Or better yet, not written at all..
CONSTANTINE #12: Previously reviewed as part of the FOREVER EVIL: THE BLIGHT review.
DETECTIVE COMICS #29: The conclusion of GOTHTOPIA. Batman has taken an antidote to Scarecrow’s Fear Toxin, but needs to appear under Crane’s control so he can find out how the toxin is being released throughout Gotham City. Batman accompanies Professor Pyg and Merry-Maker to as they visit residents and give them toxin. The Dark Knight deduces that continued exposure to the toxin creates a chemical that can be used to create further toxins. Unseen, Batman puts an antidote into the toxin that will reverse the effects. The antidote causes the blimps carrying the toxin to explode and distributes the antidote throughout the city. Members of the Bat Family help take down Scarecrow, who is loaded in a van to be taken back to Arkham. But he reaches out and uses his claws to shred Batman’s chest, before saying “Gotham is (his)”. It seems Crane is actually in a cell at Arkham under the influence of a contentment serum. Later, Batman and Catwoman meet and discuss their relationship during the time that Gothtopia existed. He tells her that what happened was because they were under the influence and nothing more.
John Layman and Aaron Lopresti bring us the awesome conclusion to this mini, multi title epic. While it did nothing to define the character, it was a fun little ride in an imaginary Gotham with imaginary super heroes. In the end, it was just a matter of Scarecrow being Scarecrow. Of course, this all happens prior to FOREVER EVIL beginning and Scarecrows battle during the Arkham War. All in all, this was a nice swan song for this creative team as Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato take over with issue #30 as the new creative team.
EARTH 2 #21: In Moscow, Atom is battling Superman and the Man of Steel removes Atom’s arm with his heat vision and then knocks him out with it. In the Batcave, Batman begins to pass out assignments to the team members and is informed that the remaining World Army members are in Amazonia, which is magically hidden from the rest of the world. Khan learns that Project Beyond is going active and that means those who can afford a trip on the Space Ark get to leave the planet and find a new home. Riots and panic ensues and those left in the launch chamber when the ship lifts off are immediately immolated. But they get away easy as Superman and Beguiler arrive and open up the spacecraft, allowing all inhabitants to fall to their fiery deaths. Batman sets up a conference video call between himself, Khan and Aquawoman, where they all agree they need to work together to get through this crisis. Lastly, Bedlam is at work on a Boom Tube project with Mister Terrific, Terry Sloan and Mister Miracle. Then he taps into Terry Sloan’s mind and discovers that our heroes have their own Kryptonian.
Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott continue to create a killer story here that has more twists and turns than I can imagine. Who is this Superman, or at least who is within his body? What can Batman’s team do to rise up from what looks like utter defeat? Will the new Kryptonian be able to defeat the old. And how does Atom get to have his arm attached, if they can? And if they can’t, will he have to stay enlarged forever? This book has made a major turn around since Taylor took over and I love the direction. This is a highly recommended title.
GREEN ARROW #29: Four years ago, Emiko was told how her mother, Shado, had been murdered by Robert Queen. Simon also told her that he had murdered Robert to protect her and that Oliver Queen needed to die to stop him from coming for her. The at was then. Today, Simon has killed Golgotha and has decided to take over the Outsiders. He says that Green Arrow has killed Kodiak and he is coming, with Shado. Emiko overhears it all. In actuality, Oliver has left the island but left both Shado and his father behind. Currently, he is in Prague where he finds himself bettling members of the Spear Clan. One of the Clam members, under duress, says that Komodo is hiding at the Cathedral. He also finds a shipment of deadly Sarin Gas. As Green Arrow approaches the Cathedral, Emiko tells her father she wants to kill him, even if her mother is still alive. Oliver tells Emiko that Komodo has lied to her and she insists that he and Robert have corrupted her mother. Oliver reveals that he is Emiko's brother and she decides she cannot kill him. Komodo fires an arrow, which enters Oliver’s head. Meanwhile, in Seattle, Naomi Singh and John Diggle continue their plotting against Richard Dragon by bringing in a new ally in the form of Billy Tockman.
Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino continue to do an awesome job with this title. If you have read me over the months since this team took over, then you know how high I am on this title. It looks great, the plot rocks and I just love it. Just go buy it!
GREEN LANTERN #29: Hal returns to Coast City long enough to see his family and say goodbye. Simon Baz arrives and Hal explains that the Red Lanterns are in charge now and tells Simon he is now the ONLY Green Lantern allowed on Earth. He also asks Simon to watch over Hal’s family. Mogo leaves Sector Zero as Hal asks his closest Lantern confidants to help him in the war with the Durlans. A team of Lanterns head to the planet Gwottle to stop the manufacture of Anti-Light Devices. Meanwhile, the Durlan who impersonated Hal no longer has the shape changing ability and realizes his safety is in great jeopardy.
Ho hum. Sorry: I think I said before that this version of Hal Jordan is about as whiny as I ever want to see. And with every issue, Robert Venditti makes him seem whinier (is that even a word?). Billy Tan shares art chores this issue with Martin Coccolo and it looks okay. What bugs me too, as if I don’t have enough to bitch about, is that we have this great cover of Saint Walker in turmoil. And that scene takes up all of two pages in the book. Really? Couldn’t you give us a battle sequence that represents the main plot instead? Either that or make the issue about Saint Walker. DC Editorial: C’MON!
HARLEY QUINN #4: Harley is headed off to work and spends the morning covering her skin with makeup to make her look…normal. As she leaves, Big Tony shows her his designs for his dog-poop removal machine in exchange for four months rent-free. Harley hears a tale of neglect from one of her patients and decides to pay a visit to the woman’s daughter, who is having a vibrator party. Harley bursts through the house with a bulldozer, breaks the woman’s son’s video game, and stomps on the husband’s model railroad. She throws the three into the trunk of her car and heads back home. On the way, she stops for lunch and kills a would-be assassin with a fork. Harley rushes to her first roller-derby game but arrives so late that the game is over and her team has lost. As the winning team leaves, Harley runs them over with the Rubensteins' car-an act that turn’s on her team’s captain. She finally releases the Rubenstein Family from her trunk and learns that Ida has Alzheimer's and, in actuality, they HAVE visited her three times a week. That night, Harley returns to the nursing home where she meets a resident who was once a a Russian government agent known as Syborg-partly because is name is Sy Borgman and partly because he is part bionic. He tells his therapist that he knows who she REALLY is and wants to hire her to help him defeat the enemies who injured him so long ago. Harley agrees.
Oh my God: how in the world is Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti getting away with this book? Vibrator sales people. Insane roller derby action. Implied lesbianism. Mayhem and murder. This is the funniest book on the shelves today. Unfortunately, the art team gets hit with the deadline issue and Stephane Roux does the fill in job. Not a bad job, but not the big gun contest winning talent we were all sold on. Not that it matters to me. This book is such a hoot to read I could take it as a text novel and be devoid of all illustrations. I look forward to this each month. Keep up the good work, you two!
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 #4: The Sheriff tells the Trinity that they will soon be meeting their long lost children, which leaves our heroes puzzled. Meanwhile, the Wonder Twins debate about the possibility of creating another Barry Allen to replace the one that Locus killed. Ariel meets her “children” and they learn that they are not clones. Rather, they are human hosts that had the League’s DNA bonded to them, effectively killing the hosts. Soon the Sheriff reveals himself as The Convert and he has managed to trap them. Green Lantern gets his cloak back, breaks free, and battles with Locus. Unfortunately, even after a savage poking of her eyes, she tears the cloak to pieces and it appears Hal is going to die in the vacuum of space. Meanwhile, the Twins resurrect Barry Allen and…Firestorm?
Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis and Howard Porter are totally making this book either one you totally love or totally hate. Personally, I LOVE it! It is going in places you just do not expect. These heroes are not cloned. They are humans who, according to Ariel, have been murdered by slapping some DNA onto them. And that would explain why they no longer have the attributes of their predecessors. It seems that, even though they have had their DNA rewritten, some of their initial traits must remain. This book is a roller coaster ride that just throws you every time it makes another turn. Go out and check this one out. It’s Giffen and DeMatteis throwing monkey wrenches all over the place!
JUSTICE LEAGUE #29: Will Magnus has rebuilt the Metal Men and Cyborg explains to them about the Crime Syndicate’s attack. They head to Happy Harbour where Grid and Cyborg face off, allowing the Metal Men to attack. Grid fights back, tearing the Responsometer out of Mercury's body, effectively eliminating him from the fight. That is when the Secret Society arrives to join the fight, leaving Grid to face Cyborg one on one in the digital universe. Victor admits he now knows how to control the digital side of his persona and traps Grid inside it forever. With that, all the electronics that were offline come back up. Steve Trevor and Killer Frost show up, but so do more members of the Secret Society. With the Metal Men continuing that fight, Cyborg leaves with the Lasso of Truth to go save the Justice League.
Now, I should be reporting on the final installment of this saga. However, FOREVER EVIL #7 won’t ship until the end of May, leaving fans who have already starting reading NEW 52 Month 30 titles in a bit of a quandary, as these titles features tales from AFTER FOREVER EVIL ends! Really? You folks at DC couldn’t have figured out a way to have the concluding chapter out before the following chapters began. And honestly, this issue was extremely late in shipping and is one of the reasons my reviews are so late, as I felt it important to include it with the rest of month #29. That having been said, Geoff Johns continues to wind this saga down and Doug Mahnke finds his normally crisp art softened by the inking skills of Keith Champagne and Christian Alamy. Not the best issue in recent memory, but certainly not the worst. By the way: give us a METAL MEN title, okay?
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #29: Previously reviewed as part of the FOREVER EVIL: THE BLIGHT review.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #13: Despero has destroyed Stargirl’s childhood home, bringing back bad memories for her of a brother she could not save several years ago. She then sees a younger version of the late Martian Manhunter as he was heading off on a rite of passage. She temporarily fights off Despero, allowing her to continue to pursue the plane that is carrying Firestorm. She makes her way into Firestorm’s subconscious where Ronnie and Jason are debating how to stop the Matrix from exploding. She uses J'onn's telepathy to reach the Justice League trapped in the Matrix and tells them of the prison and how they need to fight Despero to be free. But Courtney suddenly realizes that she has never left her prison. The good news is that J'onn is still alive and he has been able to speak to Steve Trevor who thinks he can free them with the Lasso of Truth.
I know that FOREVER EVIL is this big epic and, for the most part, it has been pretty awesome. But this story is getting ridiculous. It is just going on forever and IS truly evil! I mean, I can only take so many turns of Stargirl and J’onn J’onz trying to save the world and either dying, not dying or coming back to life from death. Sorry, I like Matt Kindt’s writing as a rule and love Eddy Barrows’ artwork. But this tale is going on too long. Time to wrap it up, finish the series and bring on JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED.
Friday, May 2, 2014
ALL NEW MARVEL NOW SHE-HULK
The first issue finds our green-skinned lawyer languishing in her office at the firm of Paine & Luckberg, LLP, waiting for her annual review. Unfortunately, her bosses are upset that, although she brought in millions of dollars in income for the firm, she didn’t bring in any high profile, superhero type clients. Before they get the opportunity to be fired, she quits and breaks their huge table made in Madripoor. Out of work and drinking in a lawyer bar, the widow of Dr. Jonas Harrow, the villain known as The Hood, approaches her. Apparently he had tech that was used by Stark Tenchnology and his widow is looking for a taste of what should have been his. Jen gets stonewalled by Stark’s Legal person and ends up in court, where the team of Stark lawyers get a continuance.
Digging through a Harrow’s garage in Queens, Jen finds an audio tape protected by a death robot. That tape has the incriminating evidence she has been looking for and again she heads to Stark, finally getting to see Tony himself. He admits that he should do the right thing and makes a hefty payment to the widow Harrow, who eventually gives Jen a check for 150K. With that, she rents space in a Brooklyn apartment and begins to search for paralegal, which she finds in the person of Angie Huang and her monkey named Hei Hei. Clients are sort of sparse and she finds out that her previous employer has told the rest of the legal community that Jen is crazy.
She decides to down her sorrows and meets up with her old friend Patsy (Hellcat) Walker. Before the night is over, Patsy decides they should check into a building in the Bronx that Patsy had heard was housing some A.I.M. lab. Of course, to say that Patsy is a little drunk is an understatement. Before all is done, the pair has defeated the bad guys and Jen has agreed to hire Patsy as her investigator. Returning to her office, she finds her first “true” client: Kristoff Vernard-the son of Doctor Doom. And how does one jolly green lawyer manage to convince the legal system to allow him to stay here and what happens when his dad arrives to take him home?
I LOVE this book, as much as I was expecting to hate it. I am a huge fan of Charles Soule’s writing, based on his work on such titles as SWAMP THING, RED LANTERNS, SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN and THUNDERBOLTS, along with the upcoming DEATH OF WOLVERINE storyline. While not trying to copy the style of John Byrne that he used while writing SHE-HULK, this title is probably the funniest version of She-Hulk SINCE Byrne. There are some great one-liners, some fun bits of dialogue, a tremendous supporting cast and a visual look from Javier Pulido that just makes it all work. Pulido has had his work in many places over the years including HELLBLAZER and HUMAN TARGET and I have never been a real fan of his style, as it seems that everyone these days are trying to be the next David Mazzucchelli, David Aja or even Jim Steranko. His style is quirky and, for this book, it just works fine.
If you are a fan of the old Byrne version of this character, do yourself a favor and pick this up. This is a hoot of a ride and I hope it survives this second round of Marvel Now titles. It is truly worth three dollars from your comic budget.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Some history and some griping
So, even though it’s the end of April and I still have to finish working on DC NEW 52 Month 29, I need to make a side-step for a quick moment or ten. Bear with me.
See, I decided that I would sample some of the ALL NEW MARVEL NOW titles and actually attempt to give them an honest and fair review. Heck, maybe I would even like them. However, before I can do that, I need to give a bit of back-story; especially since I have spent the last two and a half years weaning off most Marvel Comics. And there is a story to that too.
I have been collecting comics since I was about five years old. The first comic I can truly remember reading, or having read to me, was X-MEN #17(back BEFORE it was called UNCANNY X-MEN). Classic Lee and Kirby with a killer closing full page shot of Magneto that was seared into my head. My collection was scattered between DC and Marvel, with a heavy concentration on Marvels. I remember having some SUPERMAN titles and some BATMAN books and the occasional WONDER WOMAN. Most of the DC’s I owned were the oddball non-superhero titles like their war books, SEA DEVILS and RIP HUNTER TIME MASTER and CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN. Two of my favorites were short lived: SECRET SIX and THE INFERIOR FIVE. And I had a large collection and interest in CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED.
But I have to admit: I was a Marvel Zombie. And my collection was a wonderful place, filled with many key books of the Silver Age. Want a list? Well, here’s a partial list of the MINT CONDITION BOOKS(many back issues, some cover-less, were bought at a little hole in the wall used book store in Warren, Rhode Island): AMAZING SPIDER MAN from issue #55 to #110; FANTASTIC FOUR from issue #48 through #105; X-MEN from issue #35 until #67; CONAN THE BARBARIAN from issue #1 through #24; numerous copies of IRON MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, SUB MARINER, DAREDEVIL, and a host too numerous to list here.
Unfortunately, peer pressure came knocking at my door, both from my friends and my family, and I found myself trading in my love of comics for the allure of Warren Publications. FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, CREEPY, EERIE, and VAMPIRELLA took their places and became my monthly fix and numerous back issues were acquired(after all: the shop didn’t give me CASH for my comics-I got some $150.00 in store credit. Think about that: all those comics for $150.00 in STORE CREDIT…in 1973 dollars!).
But I couldn’t stay away from my Four Color friends for long. By 1975, I was back in the game and went back to the title Marvel title I loved the best. My first buy back into the game was GIANT SIZE X-MEN #1. Not long after, I found myself going back to the same place I had sold my comics and buying them back, along with filling in spots with recently released comics. My first five grabs were INCREDIBLE HULK #180 and #181 and AMAZING SPIDER MAN #121, 122 and 129(two copies actually, as I had forgotten I had previously bought one). At least once a week, my dad would drive me to the same place I had sold my books two years before, now under a new owner, and I would spend my credit and eventually my money, rebuilidng my collection. I soon discovered that this was a near impossibility as some of those books I had parted with for mere pennies only two years before were now hanging on the wall at prices I could never afford (I believe the CONAN #1 was priced at $65 dollars-in 1975 dollars!)
Soon I was back buying comics the way it should be: on a weekly basis. But the days of haunting the spinner racks of the local variety store, Lussier’s Variety in Fall River, Mass., were gone and so was Lussier’s. And the Adam’s Drugs in downtown Fall River, always a last chance stop to find missing books, especially CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED’s, had shrunk it’s comics section to that of a postage stamp with about 25 titles on the shelf at a given time. In their places, a veritable magazine “superstore”, Dwyer’s News Service, popped up in a strip mall in North Dartmouth, Mass. And it was there, every Thursday night, that my dad and I would travel, pick up the current issue of BILLBOARD MAGAZINE, the current issue of CIRCUS MAGAZINE (yes, the teenage had finally discovered rock and roll) and whatever new titles were on the shelf. This was in the beginning days of what became known as the Direct Market and also represented a time where the Overstreet Price Guide was becoming the industry Bible for collecting comics.
Anyway, I digress way off topic.
Since 1975, I have been an avid collector. I have lived through the collector’s boom where everything had a collectible gimmick, be it glow-in-the-dark, die-cut, or foil-stamped books with multiple covers that EVERYONE NEEDED TO OWN. It was a time when every person collecting saw their buying habits as future investments to guide them trough retirement, no matter WHAT the comic may have been. And I too jumped on that bandwagon, collecting old favorites like BATMAN and SUPERMAN but also titles like ROM THE SPACEKNIGHT and DAZZLER: the first book specifically GEARED at the Direct Market. We counted out pennies and waited to get rich. Companies came and went: Valiant, Eclipse, Malibu, Pacific, Americomics, Atlas, Blackthorne, Image. The rise of the Independent Comic, spearheaded, whether he liked to admit it or not, by Dave Sim’s CEREBUS, looked to give readers what they wanted with non-traditional superheroes and slice of life comics. By the early 1990’s, print runs of comics were in the hundreds of thousands. Life was good for comic dealers, comic publishers, and comic buyers.
But that all came to an end with the publication of SUPERMAN Vol. 2 #75. Published in late 1992, it presented the death of Superman: an event that rocked the industry and fans to the core. This was MAJOR NEWS, not just among comic fans but among the MEDIA in general. You could not turn on a new program and NOT hear about the impending death of the Man of Steel. And when it hit, that Wednesday of release, it was like a battleground with fans and speculators alike lining up to get their copies. How would you like that: newsstand edition, black bagged edition or the super rare PLATINUM EDITION? Fans wept, non fans opened their safety deposit boxes and retailers and rubbed their hands with glee as the cash cow had just rolled it and brought with it people who had never even SEEN the inside of a comic shop before. This meant revenue for the business and new collectors to feed their need for something new.
And then a villain by the name of Bane arrived and broke Batman’s back in a little epic called KNIGHTFALL. This meant a NEW BATMAN and, we were told, this was a PERMANENT CHANGE. Again, fans and non-fans flocked to stores to scoop up this rare commodity.
And when Bruce Wayne again donned the mantle of the Bat, and Superman came back to life, people realized that this is the world of the “Funny Book” and, unlike in real life, dead doesn’t always mean dead forever and change can always be reverse. And the boom became a bust. News fans turned their backs and tried to sell their new found collections, only to find they would be offered a fraction of what they paid or what they were worth (retailers DO need to make money. So it may say “X” in Overstreet or WIZARD but that usually meant 20% of “X”-AT BEST!). And longtime fans, the die-hards who had been here from the start of it all, found themselves feeling mighty jaded and many of them threw up their hands in disgust and walked away from the hobby.
To show how far things had fallen, at a CBLDF Auction I helped run in 1996, a PLATINUM SUPERMAN #75 went for $10.00(and I nearly got laughed off the podium when I presented it for auction!). Reports that nearly 66% of the comic shops in America went bankrupt during this time-period are reliable. Marvel filed for bankruptcy, their stock went down the drain, and rival Diamond Distribution and the single distributor days arrived by swallowing up Capital City, one of the Big Two comic distributors. Many of the remaining comic shops branched out, selling everything from MAGIC cards (tournaments became common in an effort to draw in business) to videotapes and games.
But those that survived did so because of a loyal fan base, a shrewd business model and the consumer’s need to be entertained. And having a slew of comic related movies like the SPIDER MAN, X-MEN and DARK KNIGHT series, and flat out blockbusters like THE AVENGERS, among others, certainly helped reel in business and maintain a core base.
Now where is all this leading to, you may ask? Well, in May of 2011, DC published FLASHPOINT: a five issue mini-series that promised to change everything in a flash. And it did. With a host of crossover titles and mini-series running around it, the conclusion resulted in a completely retooled DC Universe which jettisoned most existing continuity and christened itself as The New 52. Every DC Comic was cancelled and in their place, 52 BRAND NEW NUMBER ONES. DC’s longest running title, ACTION COMICS, ended with issue #904 and was replaced by a brand new ACTION COMICS #1 in September of 2011. Right behind it, DETECTIVE COMICS ended it’s run before it could reach issue #900.
As was expected, it became a jumping on point for some fans and a jumping off point for others. It became and still IS a topic of conversation, both pro and con. “How dare they throw away 75 years of continuity!” “But change is good and some of those characters needed to be spruced up!” And the debate rages on. I was one of those fans who sat on the fence and actually had considering completely cutting myself off from DC when the initial project was announced. I too found myself upset that the 75-year-old baby was going away with the bath water and had decided that I was done with the whole mess. But the more I thought about it, the more curiosity got to me and I dove in, to at least check out the first issues of all 52 titles and see what they were going to do. Some I liked, and some I could not stand.
And then, a little over a year after the first NEW 52 title dropped, just when it seemed that the world was going to be nice and normal, DC’s primary competition, Marvel Comics, decided that they were in need of a freshening up of their titles. And suddenly MARVEL NOW was born in October of 2012. In the process, nearly every Marvel Comic found itself renumbered from issue #1(except for some titles like DAREDEVIL, which had already reset it’s numbering when Volume 3 was introduced in 2011. Even long time titles like the FANTASTIC FOUR(611 issues) and AMAZING SPIDER MAN(700 issues) found themselves renumbered or changed(Spider Man became the SUPERIOR SPIDER MAN and Doctor Octopus became Peter Parker!). And this was the point that I said: “enough is enough!” and slashed my Marvel Comics purchases to the bone. To the bone meant less than ten titles per month.
While I didn’t completely agree with DC’s tactics of starting from the ground up and renumbering all their titles(and have major issues with a lot of their editorial decisions), I was MORE OFFENDED by Marvel doing the same thing. But, in most of the Marvel titles, a renumbering just meant a changing of a creative team, not a complete reboot. This was their way, in my opinion, of creating speculator interest by having a host of Number One issues on the stands. What I was doing was totally being done out of protest first and financial need second (not to mention the now almost 40 year old collection is getting hard to handle and store properly). So I have cruised along quite contentedly since then, reading a lot of DC’s (although Marvel still controls the market share of titles-something I am constantly reminded of with some notable glee by my shop owner) and enjoying myself. Heck-I’m enjoying myself enough to Blog about them monthly! And Marvel: well, they’re just there, with the few titles I buy being the bright spots in a cluttered landscape of far too many Mutant titles, Avengers titles and Ultimate books (how many folks feel cheated there? We’re destroying the Ultimate Universe…not really!).
And yes, I do read some of the “Indy” books out there, if you can consider Image (WALKING DEAD and STRAY BULLETS-is there anything else?) and Abstract Indys (well-I’ll give terry Moore his due and credit him for hanging in and creating great product!). So don’t get the idea that I have become the flag waving Poster Child for all things DC and no one else. I pick my battles and pick my favorites.
But with the All Singing, All Dancing, All New Marvel Now (hold up your hand if you are old enough to catch that reference) rearing it’s ugly head, I felt it was only fair to at least give them a shot: if only for one issue. And while I expect to like some, hate some and feel indifferent about some, I am again OFFENDED at the idea of RENUMBERING BOOKS YET AGAIN. While I will be reviewing many of these in the upcoming weeks and months, here is part of my gripe:
ALL NEW X-FACTOR: Did we NOT just END that book. Oh wait: new numbers, more value to the collector.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: Wait: we killed a title that was 700 issues old so we could make changes to the character and now that we have changed that character (SPOILERS!), we’re resurrecting the OLD TITLE!? Could we not have had SUPERIOR CONTINUE the numbering from AMAZING? It’s not like THUNDERBOLTS didn’t go from THUNDERBOLTS to DARK AVENGERS and back again without messing with the numbering. Oh…that’s right: THUNDERBOLTS DIDN’T have a MOVIE coming out!
CAPTAIN MARVEL: See my comments on X-FACTOR. Marvel just ended a series, also written by Kelly Sue DeConnick. I wasn’t impressed with it. We’ll see if that changes for me.
DAREDEVIL: This title just ended a tremendous run that solved many mysteries and left some others unanswered. What we DO KNOW(SPOILERS!) is that Matt Murdock has OUTED himself and moved to San Francisco(No...not that kind of outing!). So, this is a reason to renumber AGAIN(Volume 4?).
FANTASTIC FOUR: Wow! AGAIN-DID WE NOT JUST FINISH A RUN OF THIS BOOK? So, the cornerstone of the Marvel Universe now moves to Volume 3? That’s just plain ridiculous!
HULK: I can’t even count what volume THIS IS!
SECRET AVENGERS, WOLVERINE, WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN and X-FORCE: All titles which just finished runs. Just because there is a new creative team is NOT AN EXCUSE to do this!
So, as you can guess, I WILL have my pencil sharpened in the next few weeks as I dissect what’s ALL NEW with MARVEL NOW. Better wear a raincoat or an apron: it might get REAL MESSY!
Until then: keep watching for my NEW 52 reviews. They may not always be at scathing, but they will be pointed!
Thanks for listening!
See, I decided that I would sample some of the ALL NEW MARVEL NOW titles and actually attempt to give them an honest and fair review. Heck, maybe I would even like them. However, before I can do that, I need to give a bit of back-story; especially since I have spent the last two and a half years weaning off most Marvel Comics. And there is a story to that too.
I have been collecting comics since I was about five years old. The first comic I can truly remember reading, or having read to me, was X-MEN #17(back BEFORE it was called UNCANNY X-MEN). Classic Lee and Kirby with a killer closing full page shot of Magneto that was seared into my head. My collection was scattered between DC and Marvel, with a heavy concentration on Marvels. I remember having some SUPERMAN titles and some BATMAN books and the occasional WONDER WOMAN. Most of the DC’s I owned were the oddball non-superhero titles like their war books, SEA DEVILS and RIP HUNTER TIME MASTER and CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN. Two of my favorites were short lived: SECRET SIX and THE INFERIOR FIVE. And I had a large collection and interest in CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED.
But I have to admit: I was a Marvel Zombie. And my collection was a wonderful place, filled with many key books of the Silver Age. Want a list? Well, here’s a partial list of the MINT CONDITION BOOKS(many back issues, some cover-less, were bought at a little hole in the wall used book store in Warren, Rhode Island): AMAZING SPIDER MAN from issue #55 to #110; FANTASTIC FOUR from issue #48 through #105; X-MEN from issue #35 until #67; CONAN THE BARBARIAN from issue #1 through #24; numerous copies of IRON MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, SUB MARINER, DAREDEVIL, and a host too numerous to list here.
Unfortunately, peer pressure came knocking at my door, both from my friends and my family, and I found myself trading in my love of comics for the allure of Warren Publications. FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, CREEPY, EERIE, and VAMPIRELLA took their places and became my monthly fix and numerous back issues were acquired(after all: the shop didn’t give me CASH for my comics-I got some $150.00 in store credit. Think about that: all those comics for $150.00 in STORE CREDIT…in 1973 dollars!).
But I couldn’t stay away from my Four Color friends for long. By 1975, I was back in the game and went back to the title Marvel title I loved the best. My first buy back into the game was GIANT SIZE X-MEN #1. Not long after, I found myself going back to the same place I had sold my comics and buying them back, along with filling in spots with recently released comics. My first five grabs were INCREDIBLE HULK #180 and #181 and AMAZING SPIDER MAN #121, 122 and 129(two copies actually, as I had forgotten I had previously bought one). At least once a week, my dad would drive me to the same place I had sold my books two years before, now under a new owner, and I would spend my credit and eventually my money, rebuilidng my collection. I soon discovered that this was a near impossibility as some of those books I had parted with for mere pennies only two years before were now hanging on the wall at prices I could never afford (I believe the CONAN #1 was priced at $65 dollars-in 1975 dollars!)
Soon I was back buying comics the way it should be: on a weekly basis. But the days of haunting the spinner racks of the local variety store, Lussier’s Variety in Fall River, Mass., were gone and so was Lussier’s. And the Adam’s Drugs in downtown Fall River, always a last chance stop to find missing books, especially CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED’s, had shrunk it’s comics section to that of a postage stamp with about 25 titles on the shelf at a given time. In their places, a veritable magazine “superstore”, Dwyer’s News Service, popped up in a strip mall in North Dartmouth, Mass. And it was there, every Thursday night, that my dad and I would travel, pick up the current issue of BILLBOARD MAGAZINE, the current issue of CIRCUS MAGAZINE (yes, the teenage had finally discovered rock and roll) and whatever new titles were on the shelf. This was in the beginning days of what became known as the Direct Market and also represented a time where the Overstreet Price Guide was becoming the industry Bible for collecting comics.
Anyway, I digress way off topic.
Since 1975, I have been an avid collector. I have lived through the collector’s boom where everything had a collectible gimmick, be it glow-in-the-dark, die-cut, or foil-stamped books with multiple covers that EVERYONE NEEDED TO OWN. It was a time when every person collecting saw their buying habits as future investments to guide them trough retirement, no matter WHAT the comic may have been. And I too jumped on that bandwagon, collecting old favorites like BATMAN and SUPERMAN but also titles like ROM THE SPACEKNIGHT and DAZZLER: the first book specifically GEARED at the Direct Market. We counted out pennies and waited to get rich. Companies came and went: Valiant, Eclipse, Malibu, Pacific, Americomics, Atlas, Blackthorne, Image. The rise of the Independent Comic, spearheaded, whether he liked to admit it or not, by Dave Sim’s CEREBUS, looked to give readers what they wanted with non-traditional superheroes and slice of life comics. By the early 1990’s, print runs of comics were in the hundreds of thousands. Life was good for comic dealers, comic publishers, and comic buyers.
But that all came to an end with the publication of SUPERMAN Vol. 2 #75. Published in late 1992, it presented the death of Superman: an event that rocked the industry and fans to the core. This was MAJOR NEWS, not just among comic fans but among the MEDIA in general. You could not turn on a new program and NOT hear about the impending death of the Man of Steel. And when it hit, that Wednesday of release, it was like a battleground with fans and speculators alike lining up to get their copies. How would you like that: newsstand edition, black bagged edition or the super rare PLATINUM EDITION? Fans wept, non fans opened their safety deposit boxes and retailers and rubbed their hands with glee as the cash cow had just rolled it and brought with it people who had never even SEEN the inside of a comic shop before. This meant revenue for the business and new collectors to feed their need for something new.
And then a villain by the name of Bane arrived and broke Batman’s back in a little epic called KNIGHTFALL. This meant a NEW BATMAN and, we were told, this was a PERMANENT CHANGE. Again, fans and non-fans flocked to stores to scoop up this rare commodity.
And when Bruce Wayne again donned the mantle of the Bat, and Superman came back to life, people realized that this is the world of the “Funny Book” and, unlike in real life, dead doesn’t always mean dead forever and change can always be reverse. And the boom became a bust. News fans turned their backs and tried to sell their new found collections, only to find they would be offered a fraction of what they paid or what they were worth (retailers DO need to make money. So it may say “X” in Overstreet or WIZARD but that usually meant 20% of “X”-AT BEST!). And longtime fans, the die-hards who had been here from the start of it all, found themselves feeling mighty jaded and many of them threw up their hands in disgust and walked away from the hobby.
To show how far things had fallen, at a CBLDF Auction I helped run in 1996, a PLATINUM SUPERMAN #75 went for $10.00(and I nearly got laughed off the podium when I presented it for auction!). Reports that nearly 66% of the comic shops in America went bankrupt during this time-period are reliable. Marvel filed for bankruptcy, their stock went down the drain, and rival Diamond Distribution and the single distributor days arrived by swallowing up Capital City, one of the Big Two comic distributors. Many of the remaining comic shops branched out, selling everything from MAGIC cards (tournaments became common in an effort to draw in business) to videotapes and games.
But those that survived did so because of a loyal fan base, a shrewd business model and the consumer’s need to be entertained. And having a slew of comic related movies like the SPIDER MAN, X-MEN and DARK KNIGHT series, and flat out blockbusters like THE AVENGERS, among others, certainly helped reel in business and maintain a core base.
Now where is all this leading to, you may ask? Well, in May of 2011, DC published FLASHPOINT: a five issue mini-series that promised to change everything in a flash. And it did. With a host of crossover titles and mini-series running around it, the conclusion resulted in a completely retooled DC Universe which jettisoned most existing continuity and christened itself as The New 52. Every DC Comic was cancelled and in their place, 52 BRAND NEW NUMBER ONES. DC’s longest running title, ACTION COMICS, ended with issue #904 and was replaced by a brand new ACTION COMICS #1 in September of 2011. Right behind it, DETECTIVE COMICS ended it’s run before it could reach issue #900.
As was expected, it became a jumping on point for some fans and a jumping off point for others. It became and still IS a topic of conversation, both pro and con. “How dare they throw away 75 years of continuity!” “But change is good and some of those characters needed to be spruced up!” And the debate rages on. I was one of those fans who sat on the fence and actually had considering completely cutting myself off from DC when the initial project was announced. I too found myself upset that the 75-year-old baby was going away with the bath water and had decided that I was done with the whole mess. But the more I thought about it, the more curiosity got to me and I dove in, to at least check out the first issues of all 52 titles and see what they were going to do. Some I liked, and some I could not stand.
And then, a little over a year after the first NEW 52 title dropped, just when it seemed that the world was going to be nice and normal, DC’s primary competition, Marvel Comics, decided that they were in need of a freshening up of their titles. And suddenly MARVEL NOW was born in October of 2012. In the process, nearly every Marvel Comic found itself renumbered from issue #1(except for some titles like DAREDEVIL, which had already reset it’s numbering when Volume 3 was introduced in 2011. Even long time titles like the FANTASTIC FOUR(611 issues) and AMAZING SPIDER MAN(700 issues) found themselves renumbered or changed(Spider Man became the SUPERIOR SPIDER MAN and Doctor Octopus became Peter Parker!). And this was the point that I said: “enough is enough!” and slashed my Marvel Comics purchases to the bone. To the bone meant less than ten titles per month.
While I didn’t completely agree with DC’s tactics of starting from the ground up and renumbering all their titles(and have major issues with a lot of their editorial decisions), I was MORE OFFENDED by Marvel doing the same thing. But, in most of the Marvel titles, a renumbering just meant a changing of a creative team, not a complete reboot. This was their way, in my opinion, of creating speculator interest by having a host of Number One issues on the stands. What I was doing was totally being done out of protest first and financial need second (not to mention the now almost 40 year old collection is getting hard to handle and store properly). So I have cruised along quite contentedly since then, reading a lot of DC’s (although Marvel still controls the market share of titles-something I am constantly reminded of with some notable glee by my shop owner) and enjoying myself. Heck-I’m enjoying myself enough to Blog about them monthly! And Marvel: well, they’re just there, with the few titles I buy being the bright spots in a cluttered landscape of far too many Mutant titles, Avengers titles and Ultimate books (how many folks feel cheated there? We’re destroying the Ultimate Universe…not really!).
And yes, I do read some of the “Indy” books out there, if you can consider Image (WALKING DEAD and STRAY BULLETS-is there anything else?) and Abstract Indys (well-I’ll give terry Moore his due and credit him for hanging in and creating great product!). So don’t get the idea that I have become the flag waving Poster Child for all things DC and no one else. I pick my battles and pick my favorites.
But with the All Singing, All Dancing, All New Marvel Now (hold up your hand if you are old enough to catch that reference) rearing it’s ugly head, I felt it was only fair to at least give them a shot: if only for one issue. And while I expect to like some, hate some and feel indifferent about some, I am again OFFENDED at the idea of RENUMBERING BOOKS YET AGAIN. While I will be reviewing many of these in the upcoming weeks and months, here is part of my gripe:
ALL NEW X-FACTOR: Did we NOT just END that book. Oh wait: new numbers, more value to the collector.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: Wait: we killed a title that was 700 issues old so we could make changes to the character and now that we have changed that character (SPOILERS!), we’re resurrecting the OLD TITLE!? Could we not have had SUPERIOR CONTINUE the numbering from AMAZING? It’s not like THUNDERBOLTS didn’t go from THUNDERBOLTS to DARK AVENGERS and back again without messing with the numbering. Oh…that’s right: THUNDERBOLTS DIDN’T have a MOVIE coming out!
CAPTAIN MARVEL: See my comments on X-FACTOR. Marvel just ended a series, also written by Kelly Sue DeConnick. I wasn’t impressed with it. We’ll see if that changes for me.
DAREDEVIL: This title just ended a tremendous run that solved many mysteries and left some others unanswered. What we DO KNOW(SPOILERS!) is that Matt Murdock has OUTED himself and moved to San Francisco(No...not that kind of outing!). So, this is a reason to renumber AGAIN(Volume 4?).
FANTASTIC FOUR: Wow! AGAIN-DID WE NOT JUST FINISH A RUN OF THIS BOOK? So, the cornerstone of the Marvel Universe now moves to Volume 3? That’s just plain ridiculous!
HULK: I can’t even count what volume THIS IS!
SECRET AVENGERS, WOLVERINE, WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN and X-FORCE: All titles which just finished runs. Just because there is a new creative team is NOT AN EXCUSE to do this!
So, as you can guess, I WILL have my pencil sharpened in the next few weeks as I dissect what’s ALL NEW with MARVEL NOW. Better wear a raincoat or an apron: it might get REAL MESSY!
Until then: keep watching for my NEW 52 reviews. They may not always be at scathing, but they will be pointed!
Thanks for listening!
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
The concluding chapters of DC's FOREVER EVIL THE BLIGHT
TRINITY OF SIN: THE PHANTOM STRANGER #17: Part 15 of FOREVER EVIL THE BLIGHT. In a continuation from the confrontation at the end of last issue between The Spectre, The Phantom Stranger, and Cassandra Craft, Chris and the embodiment of God gives them the gift of seeing how their past and future are connected. Pandora arrives and the three of them are transported to Las Vegas to meet with Trigon’s sons. Arriving within the presence of Belial, Suge and Ruskoff, The Stranger asks for their help in defeating Felix Faust. They demand payment in the form of either Cassandra or Stranger’s necklace. When he refuses and they prepare to leave, Suge and Ruskoff attempt to stop them and are beheaded by Pandora. After a lengthy battle, The Stranger agrees to let Belial have the necklace, which he only wears for the briefest of moments and then removes it, saying he has never known a “hell like the one (he) live(s) every second of every minute of every day”. With that, the six head over to TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA #9: where their part of the story continues.
This book continues to be a total hit or miss title, as it pretty much has since it’s positively horrible first issue. J. M. DeMatteis does a wonderful job of filling the Phantom Stranger character with a ton of angst and we get to see a lot of the pain he feels. But, at the same time, a big part of me doesn’t care. Okay: we know he is Judas and he betrayed Jesus and he must endure that pain forever. How about we get on to the point where he must do good deeds to rid himself of the 30 pieces of silver (or however many are left-I have lost count!). And what is with the “gift” Chris gives to The Stranger and Cassandra? How ARE they bonded together in the last and future? What IRKS me most of all is having one of the three brothers represented on the cover pulling the wings off of Zauriel. HELLO! NOT IN THIS ISSUE! In fact, not only does the SCENE not appear in this issue, he doesn’t appear in this issue either. Granted, it is a great Guillem March cover but again, DC Editorial presents us with a misleading first image. Speaking of images, we get the usual nice work from Fernando Blanco. Honestly guys-let’s get away from this rambling story and get back to business as usual.
CONSTANTINE #12: Part 16 of FOREVER EVIL THE BLIGHT. Nick Necro finds himself being chastised by Felix Faust for spending too much time dealing with John Constantine. Faust reminds him that he was responsible for getting Necro out of hell at the cost of his youth. Flashing back six years ago, we see Nick instructing his students John and Zatanna in the ways of magic and explaining that all magic has a cost. But they created a magical bond with their kisses that would tie them together for all time. In the present day, Constantine has managed to get out of the Thaumaton wheel by using Zatara's escape spell. But Necro has managed to place a spell on the rest of Justice League Dark that allows him to control them like puppets. He also tells Constantine that the only way Zatanna will survive is if one of the two of them dies. The pair battle and it causes John to end up in the middle of a magic circle where a demon from Hell grabs him. Before he can be dragged below, he conjures up a magical blade and buries it into Necro’s chest. As Constantine falls into Hell, he hears the Swamp Thing going mad and realizes there is nothing he can do to stop it.
Ray Fawkes and Beni Lobel bring us this next chapter in this eighteen-part saga and it’s a doozy! Besides having varying degrees of epic magic battles, we have a threesome in the weirdest of ways! Seriously, this is a nice issue that ties up a bunch of loose ends and creates a nice lead into Chapter 17 in TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA #9. My only question is where does our cigarette smoking, trench coat wearing sorcerer go from here when this is all done. Me thinks it will not be a good place…
TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA #9: Part 17 of FOREVER EVIL THE BLIGHT. Pandora and company have made their way to Nanda Parbat when she senses that Necro is dying and John is in equally bad danger as he finds himself falling toward Hell. But Zauriel saves the day by killing the demon who was eagerly waiting for the man in the trench coat. Meanwhile, Felix Faust is finding his plans going completely astray and, despite Pandora offering him a chance to surrender, he unleashes his most powerful spell yet and cuts through Swamp Thing. While Pandora and Faust battle, The Phantom Stranger works at rescuing the rest of the magical beings strapped into the Thaumaton wheel. Faust claims their efforts are fruitless as a threat greater than the Crime Syndicate has arrived and without this weapon, no one can stop it. He also reveals that Pandora is not human or from this universe and that he plans on rebuilding the machine wiping out the planet and starting anew. Unfortunately for him, John Constantine has other plans.
Ray Fawkes and Francis Portela bring us the penultimate chapter in THE BLIGHT saga. So Constantine gets his tail saved by an angel and then decides he can make the world a better place. Why does that whole concept concern me? This IS JOHN CONSTANTINE we are talking about, right? This guy has pulled more shady deals with more shady people than most politicians. And the magical heroes of the New 52 are going to let him do that? Why do I think that this is a bad idea all the way around. Anyway, a nicely written issue that brings up the question of who is Pandora really? And will this book stick around long enough for readers to find out.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #29: Part 18 of FOREVER EVIL THE BLIGHT. It seems that the John Constantine who has decided to save the world isn’t really the true John Constantine at all, as we learn that he has just been released from the Thaumaton Wheel. Zatanna uses her power to blast her way through the magical barrier that protects him. The imposter reminds her that while they were in The Between, he had told her that he would be willing to sacrifice the world to save her. Now he will do the opposite as he can channel all of Faust’s power into the people on the wheel, saving them and killing him in the process. And he does, dying in the process but leaving the “real” John Constantine alive. Pandora explains that both men are the real John Constantine and that the one who sacrificed himself is just one of the many “materialized pyschisms” from within his unconscious. With Faust defeated, the Sons of Trigon decide they can make points with their father by destroying these mystic warriors. But Zatanna leads the Justice League Dark against them and sees Constantine for the person he truly is as opposed to the person she wanted him to be. Suddenly the spirits of Nanda Parbat arrive and prepare to move the compound into another dimension. Zatanna teleports everyone to safety she feels a presence and The Stranger warns that this spell will have repercussions on all. Back at the House of Mystery, Constantine discovers that the House has rejected him and that Zatanna has been chosen as the new owner. As he leaves, he declares that he no longer needs the House, the League or her anymore.
So, we come to the end of this 18 issue, epic crossover and what have we learned. First: I don’t understand how this whole thing was called THE BLIGHT when that storyline pretty much ended when Chris died, was resurrected and is now at the right hand of the Dog. Anyway, we have learned that the evil that followed the Crime Syndicate here (or as I like to think of him, the reverse Captain Marvel/Shazam/whatever we call him this year) cannot be stopped my normal means. In fact, it may not be able to be stopped at all because the Thaumaton Wheel has been destroyed. He found out that that John Constantine is a jerk (yeah-we knew that anyway). We learned that Pandora is NOT from this Earth of this universe (she must be from one of Grant Morrison’s upcoming Earth’s). We learned that The Phantom Stranger that bears a burden greater than most of us can ever know. And we learned that the Sons of Trigon know how to party, even after they have been beheaded. In other words, J.M. DeMatteis, Vicente Cifuentes, and Tom Derenick thankfully finish this thing off about six issues too late. It was long, filled with angst and really didn’t have a whole lot to do with FOREVER EVIL until the last issue. Next time, DC: just keep it simple, short and don’t try to tie it into an “epic” unless it TRULY ties into the “epic”.
This book continues to be a total hit or miss title, as it pretty much has since it’s positively horrible first issue. J. M. DeMatteis does a wonderful job of filling the Phantom Stranger character with a ton of angst and we get to see a lot of the pain he feels. But, at the same time, a big part of me doesn’t care. Okay: we know he is Judas and he betrayed Jesus and he must endure that pain forever. How about we get on to the point where he must do good deeds to rid himself of the 30 pieces of silver (or however many are left-I have lost count!). And what is with the “gift” Chris gives to The Stranger and Cassandra? How ARE they bonded together in the last and future? What IRKS me most of all is having one of the three brothers represented on the cover pulling the wings off of Zauriel. HELLO! NOT IN THIS ISSUE! In fact, not only does the SCENE not appear in this issue, he doesn’t appear in this issue either. Granted, it is a great Guillem March cover but again, DC Editorial presents us with a misleading first image. Speaking of images, we get the usual nice work from Fernando Blanco. Honestly guys-let’s get away from this rambling story and get back to business as usual.
CONSTANTINE #12: Part 16 of FOREVER EVIL THE BLIGHT. Nick Necro finds himself being chastised by Felix Faust for spending too much time dealing with John Constantine. Faust reminds him that he was responsible for getting Necro out of hell at the cost of his youth. Flashing back six years ago, we see Nick instructing his students John and Zatanna in the ways of magic and explaining that all magic has a cost. But they created a magical bond with their kisses that would tie them together for all time. In the present day, Constantine has managed to get out of the Thaumaton wheel by using Zatara's escape spell. But Necro has managed to place a spell on the rest of Justice League Dark that allows him to control them like puppets. He also tells Constantine that the only way Zatanna will survive is if one of the two of them dies. The pair battle and it causes John to end up in the middle of a magic circle where a demon from Hell grabs him. Before he can be dragged below, he conjures up a magical blade and buries it into Necro’s chest. As Constantine falls into Hell, he hears the Swamp Thing going mad and realizes there is nothing he can do to stop it.
Ray Fawkes and Beni Lobel bring us this next chapter in this eighteen-part saga and it’s a doozy! Besides having varying degrees of epic magic battles, we have a threesome in the weirdest of ways! Seriously, this is a nice issue that ties up a bunch of loose ends and creates a nice lead into Chapter 17 in TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA #9. My only question is where does our cigarette smoking, trench coat wearing sorcerer go from here when this is all done. Me thinks it will not be a good place…
TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA #9: Part 17 of FOREVER EVIL THE BLIGHT. Pandora and company have made their way to Nanda Parbat when she senses that Necro is dying and John is in equally bad danger as he finds himself falling toward Hell. But Zauriel saves the day by killing the demon who was eagerly waiting for the man in the trench coat. Meanwhile, Felix Faust is finding his plans going completely astray and, despite Pandora offering him a chance to surrender, he unleashes his most powerful spell yet and cuts through Swamp Thing. While Pandora and Faust battle, The Phantom Stranger works at rescuing the rest of the magical beings strapped into the Thaumaton wheel. Faust claims their efforts are fruitless as a threat greater than the Crime Syndicate has arrived and without this weapon, no one can stop it. He also reveals that Pandora is not human or from this universe and that he plans on rebuilding the machine wiping out the planet and starting anew. Unfortunately for him, John Constantine has other plans.
Ray Fawkes and Francis Portela bring us the penultimate chapter in THE BLIGHT saga. So Constantine gets his tail saved by an angel and then decides he can make the world a better place. Why does that whole concept concern me? This IS JOHN CONSTANTINE we are talking about, right? This guy has pulled more shady deals with more shady people than most politicians. And the magical heroes of the New 52 are going to let him do that? Why do I think that this is a bad idea all the way around. Anyway, a nicely written issue that brings up the question of who is Pandora really? And will this book stick around long enough for readers to find out.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #29: Part 18 of FOREVER EVIL THE BLIGHT. It seems that the John Constantine who has decided to save the world isn’t really the true John Constantine at all, as we learn that he has just been released from the Thaumaton Wheel. Zatanna uses her power to blast her way through the magical barrier that protects him. The imposter reminds her that while they were in The Between, he had told her that he would be willing to sacrifice the world to save her. Now he will do the opposite as he can channel all of Faust’s power into the people on the wheel, saving them and killing him in the process. And he does, dying in the process but leaving the “real” John Constantine alive. Pandora explains that both men are the real John Constantine and that the one who sacrificed himself is just one of the many “materialized pyschisms” from within his unconscious. With Faust defeated, the Sons of Trigon decide they can make points with their father by destroying these mystic warriors. But Zatanna leads the Justice League Dark against them and sees Constantine for the person he truly is as opposed to the person she wanted him to be. Suddenly the spirits of Nanda Parbat arrive and prepare to move the compound into another dimension. Zatanna teleports everyone to safety she feels a presence and The Stranger warns that this spell will have repercussions on all. Back at the House of Mystery, Constantine discovers that the House has rejected him and that Zatanna has been chosen as the new owner. As he leaves, he declares that he no longer needs the House, the League or her anymore.
So, we come to the end of this 18 issue, epic crossover and what have we learned. First: I don’t understand how this whole thing was called THE BLIGHT when that storyline pretty much ended when Chris died, was resurrected and is now at the right hand of the Dog. Anyway, we have learned that the evil that followed the Crime Syndicate here (or as I like to think of him, the reverse Captain Marvel/Shazam/whatever we call him this year) cannot be stopped my normal means. In fact, it may not be able to be stopped at all because the Thaumaton Wheel has been destroyed. He found out that that John Constantine is a jerk (yeah-we knew that anyway). We learned that Pandora is NOT from this Earth of this universe (she must be from one of Grant Morrison’s upcoming Earth’s). We learned that The Phantom Stranger that bears a burden greater than most of us can ever know. And we learned that the Sons of Trigon know how to party, even after they have been beheaded. In other words, J.M. DeMatteis, Vicente Cifuentes, and Tom Derenick thankfully finish this thing off about six issues too late. It was long, filled with angst and really didn’t have a whole lot to do with FOREVER EVIL until the last issue. Next time, DC: just keep it simple, short and don’t try to tie it into an “epic” unless it TRULY ties into the “epic”.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
DC's FOREVER EVIL: Month Six(almost the end!)
FOREVER EVIL #7: THE BOOK IS LATE, SO IT WON’T GET REVIEWED POSSIBLY UNTIL AFTER THE MAY TITLES GET RELEASED.
FOREVER EVIL A.R.G.U.S. #6: We begin in the Green Room where the mysterious Green Man explains to Etta Candy and the President that A.R.G.U.S. has been around for hundreds of years before the dawn of the Superhero. Under the name of “Armed Revolutionaries Governing Under Secrecy, they began in the 1700’s and were involved in virtually every event in United States history. In the 1800s, they were the “Anonymous Ranger Group of the United States”. In the 1900s, a religious group led by followers known as the Crimson Men tried to bring on the apocalypse. Needing someone to be in charge, Etta Candy is asked to become the Keeper of the Keys. Meanwhile, Steve Trevor finds himself naked and mentally battling the Weird Sisters of Moirai, as he is actually frozen in ice in Central Park while Killer Frost battles Dr. Light. Trevor gets free and now he and Frost must battle light and his light constructs of the Crime Syndicate. Using Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth on Doctor Light, Steve shows him he is truly dead and he leaves the battle while Steve and Frost head off the help save the various Leagues. Finally, we see the Green Man donning a Crimson Men mask and goes next door to the Crimson Room. It seems that The Crimson are about to attempt to make A.R.G.U.S. and those who serve in it into a group that will fight THEIR agenda for them.
Yeah, I’m sure NO ONE saw that coming-the good guy turning out to be the bad guy. Wow! Plot twist of the year! Actually, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents really being Agents of HYDRA(TV show reference for you all!) was more of a shocker! This was the weakest of the three mini-series within a mini-series and this issue shows off all the wrong things about it. From ridiculous dialogue during fight sequences that spring from the pen of Sterling Gates to some questionable art by Neil Edwards that makes you wonder what character is who. And where is Dr. Light headed? One would have to assume he is off to battle the Crime Syndicate for having a part in his cruel origin. To be concluded in JUSTICE LEAGUE #30 and FOREVER EVIL #7.
FOREVER EVIL: ARKHAM WAR #6: We begin with Bane cauterizes his wounds and prepares for the next stage of the war. William Cobb determines that the Talons they got their hands on are slowly healing. The plan is that when the Talons are fully regenerated, Bane can use them to take over more than just Gotham City. Those who came from Arkham, who have Venom running through their veins, are trying take back Gotham back from Bane. Apparently Scarecrow gained the Venom from a blood sample that got taken. Man bat picks up bane and drops him at the gates of Arkham, where he battles the Arkhamites until their Venom runs dry. The Penguin asks to strike a deal with Bane. He wants the Arkhamites and offers Bane his logistical services. Bane offers all of them up, except for one. Having won the war, Bane decides to stay in Gotham with his prize: a Scarecrow to torture.
Peter J. Tomasi and Scot Eaton brings the best of the three books connected to FOREVER EVIL to a close and…where the heck do we go from here? Gotham is trashed, Bane rules and Scarecrow is about to be facing some of the worst moments of his life. This series was awesome and makes me yearn for a BANE series. Why not? Marvel had THE PUNISHER and Bane has always towed that line between villain and anti-hero. Bring it on! This story will EVENTUALLY be resolved in BATMAN VS. BANE #1, which was SUPPOSED TO BE OUT IN APRIL but it seems like the deadline crunch IS slowing this title down too.
FOREVER EVIL ROGUES REBELLION #6: Pied Piper is watching over Lisa Snart while the rest of the Rogues fight Grodd and the Secret Society. He decides it’s more important to help his friends and also his lover, David Singh, and leaves her. He uses his flute to control Parasite’s mind and has him attack Grodd. Getting surrounded by the Secret Society, it looks as though the Rogues are doomed when the tendrils of the Glider arrive with her. Seems that the sound of Piper's flute woke her from her coma and now she is reunited with Sam. He puts a mirror in place and Weather Wizard sends the Society into the Mirror World, allowing Trickster to smash the glass and trap the villains there. The people of Central City begin to appear and thank the Rogues. It doesn’t feel like a victory because they are missing Heatwave and Captain Cold. In the end, the Rogues are a family.
Brian Buccellato and Scott Hepburn continue to make me want a Rogues title so bad that I can taste it. I mean, I would rather have that than another war title that will likely fail( even if it IS STAR -SPANGLED WAR STORIES and it IS by Palmiotti and Gray). The Rogues are such fun characters to work with: the anti-heroes who try to do bad, end up doing good and make me laugh along the way. Anyway, the series was fun, even if we have two members missing from the group by series’ end, and, with a new creative team jumping onto THE FLASH, maybe it’s time to shine a big spotlight here. C’mon Dan Didio: do the right thing!
FOREVER EVIL A.R.G.U.S. #6: We begin in the Green Room where the mysterious Green Man explains to Etta Candy and the President that A.R.G.U.S. has been around for hundreds of years before the dawn of the Superhero. Under the name of “Armed Revolutionaries Governing Under Secrecy, they began in the 1700’s and were involved in virtually every event in United States history. In the 1800s, they were the “Anonymous Ranger Group of the United States”. In the 1900s, a religious group led by followers known as the Crimson Men tried to bring on the apocalypse. Needing someone to be in charge, Etta Candy is asked to become the Keeper of the Keys. Meanwhile, Steve Trevor finds himself naked and mentally battling the Weird Sisters of Moirai, as he is actually frozen in ice in Central Park while Killer Frost battles Dr. Light. Trevor gets free and now he and Frost must battle light and his light constructs of the Crime Syndicate. Using Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth on Doctor Light, Steve shows him he is truly dead and he leaves the battle while Steve and Frost head off the help save the various Leagues. Finally, we see the Green Man donning a Crimson Men mask and goes next door to the Crimson Room. It seems that The Crimson are about to attempt to make A.R.G.U.S. and those who serve in it into a group that will fight THEIR agenda for them.
Yeah, I’m sure NO ONE saw that coming-the good guy turning out to be the bad guy. Wow! Plot twist of the year! Actually, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents really being Agents of HYDRA(TV show reference for you all!) was more of a shocker! This was the weakest of the three mini-series within a mini-series and this issue shows off all the wrong things about it. From ridiculous dialogue during fight sequences that spring from the pen of Sterling Gates to some questionable art by Neil Edwards that makes you wonder what character is who. And where is Dr. Light headed? One would have to assume he is off to battle the Crime Syndicate for having a part in his cruel origin. To be concluded in JUSTICE LEAGUE #30 and FOREVER EVIL #7.
FOREVER EVIL: ARKHAM WAR #6: We begin with Bane cauterizes his wounds and prepares for the next stage of the war. William Cobb determines that the Talons they got their hands on are slowly healing. The plan is that when the Talons are fully regenerated, Bane can use them to take over more than just Gotham City. Those who came from Arkham, who have Venom running through their veins, are trying take back Gotham back from Bane. Apparently Scarecrow gained the Venom from a blood sample that got taken. Man bat picks up bane and drops him at the gates of Arkham, where he battles the Arkhamites until their Venom runs dry. The Penguin asks to strike a deal with Bane. He wants the Arkhamites and offers Bane his logistical services. Bane offers all of them up, except for one. Having won the war, Bane decides to stay in Gotham with his prize: a Scarecrow to torture.
Peter J. Tomasi and Scot Eaton brings the best of the three books connected to FOREVER EVIL to a close and…where the heck do we go from here? Gotham is trashed, Bane rules and Scarecrow is about to be facing some of the worst moments of his life. This series was awesome and makes me yearn for a BANE series. Why not? Marvel had THE PUNISHER and Bane has always towed that line between villain and anti-hero. Bring it on! This story will EVENTUALLY be resolved in BATMAN VS. BANE #1, which was SUPPOSED TO BE OUT IN APRIL but it seems like the deadline crunch IS slowing this title down too.
FOREVER EVIL ROGUES REBELLION #6: Pied Piper is watching over Lisa Snart while the rest of the Rogues fight Grodd and the Secret Society. He decides it’s more important to help his friends and also his lover, David Singh, and leaves her. He uses his flute to control Parasite’s mind and has him attack Grodd. Getting surrounded by the Secret Society, it looks as though the Rogues are doomed when the tendrils of the Glider arrive with her. Seems that the sound of Piper's flute woke her from her coma and now she is reunited with Sam. He puts a mirror in place and Weather Wizard sends the Society into the Mirror World, allowing Trickster to smash the glass and trap the villains there. The people of Central City begin to appear and thank the Rogues. It doesn’t feel like a victory because they are missing Heatwave and Captain Cold. In the end, the Rogues are a family.
Brian Buccellato and Scott Hepburn continue to make me want a Rogues title so bad that I can taste it. I mean, I would rather have that than another war title that will likely fail( even if it IS STAR -SPANGLED WAR STORIES and it IS by Palmiotti and Gray). The Rogues are such fun characters to work with: the anti-heroes who try to do bad, end up doing good and make me laugh along the way. Anyway, the series was fun, even if we have two members missing from the group by series’ end, and, with a new creative team jumping onto THE FLASH, maybe it’s time to shine a big spotlight here. C’mon Dan Didio: do the right thing!
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