Rapid Reviews - 30 Oct 2002

Wowsers. I actually read the whole lot. I can hardly credit it myself. I thought it would take me several days to get through this mess, but the first-read is done already. I guess I was just in a reading mood.

Ok, I guess I didn't finish it all. I haven't gotten through Previews yet, and I didn't read Lone Wolf and Cub Vol 26. I usually save LWaC to savor slowly anyway. Well, at least as slowly as a fast reader like myself can savor anything. The way for me to savor things is to re-read them, and more than one of the following will get a re-read.

Anyway, here's the scoop:

Avengers #59: Bleah. Avengers lost it's appeal for me some time ago, and it just hasn't picked up since. I found myself mildly intrigued in Black Panther's story, but that didn't support the book. When I find the LEGO ad more compelling than the surprise revealed on the story page right before it, I think it's safe to say I've lost interest. 2 starfish.

Gotham Girls #3 (of 5): This one focuses on Harley, and I'm afraid it doesn't really cover any new ground. The back-and-forth fights were fun, but it's the steady detective work of Montoya makes me want to read the rest of the mini-series. Pretty good, might be better on the second read. 3 starfish.

Batman: Gotham Adventures #55: Pretty easy to see where this one was going, but the storytelling needed work in the middle. In trying to preserve the surprise that wasn't a surprise, things got a little confusing. Not too confusing, but a little. Overall, decent. 3 starfish.

Titans #46: Massively disappointed in this issue. It seemed promising, but then it petered out. Nothing new on the Tempest/Dolphin front except that Tempest is apparently angry. This one qualifies as a miss. 2 starfish.

Ruse #13: A new plot, a new mystery to solve, and some nice twists. Plus a double-cliffhanger. Yeah, this one is good. 3 1/2 starfish.

Snapdragons #2: Ah, Halloween. And it came out just in time, even! If this had arrived next week, it wouldn't have been quite as funny. I like the characters, I like the short story format, and I like the extras in the back (although I've just never been able to get into the art of Patty Cake, sorry). This book rocks, and I hope everyone picks it up. 4 starfish.

Usagi Yojimbo #61: Has there ever been a bad issue of this title? My educated guess is: NEVER. That said, Jotaro is sure an annoying little brat, isn't he? But then, like father, like son. In every young Usagi story we've seen, Usagi came across much the same way. Compared to most Usagi stories, this one was a little tame. Compared to the other comic books, this was still the best of the week. 4 starfish.

JLA Sticker Book: This goes with the Ultimate Guide, and it's fun but not so fun that I would have bought it if I'd known what it contained. Oh well, live and learn. At least there is one Aquaman sticker in it... 2 starfish.

JLA The Ultimate Guide: This is cool. It's written by Scott Beatty, who is also the writer on Ruse that coincidentally came out this week. Of the two, I like this better because it has Aquaman in it (oh c'mon, you knew I'd say that!). It's a little light on Tempest info, and that's not so good because it does cover some of the Titans much better (ok, a paragraph better), but since Aquaman and his Atlantis gets a two-page spread I'll forgive them this time. This covers the current JLA title from the beginning up until the Obsidian Age arc going on right now, and has a bit about previous Justice Leagues just to keep things complete. A 14 page JLA Timeline starts with Brave and the Bold and goes up to JLA #72 (late Sep 2002). This is a must-have for JLA fans, especially fans of the current JLA. 4 starfish, and an extra 4 starfish for the "map" of Atlantis.

Next weeks tentative list: Thieves & Kings, Powers, Green Arrow, Amazing Spider-Man, Hawkman, Justice League Adventures, Young Justice, and Way of the Rat.

Speaking of next week, I peeked in the DC Preview Pack at my local store (Thank You Paige!) and checked out the Aquaman sneak peek that will be in several of next week's books (including Young Justice and Hawkman). I was severely disappointed.

See, the press release for the preview said this: "Each preview will include a cover and five story pages in full color on glossy paper and will be featured for one week during November. These eight-pages inserts will be bound into the center of all participating books."

I read that as 6 pages of art, and either two ad pages, or a single ad page and some kind of text promotional feature. Sounds reasonable, right?

Well, the previews are *4* pages of ads. That's right four. Half the insert is ads. To fit the story pages and cover in, they shrink them down to half size. The cover is a bit larger and gets it's own page, but the five story pages are tiny and printed sideways. The last one has a little bit of promotional text next to it to fill out the page.

To be honest, I would not have minded this format if the promotion hadn't made it sound like we were getting more than we are. But to have half the thing turn out to be ads... yuck.

I guess I better just count my lucky stars that they are promoting Aquaman at all, but still, it's disappointing.