Rapid Reviews - 19 May 2004 - Part II

Batman Adventures #14: Nice tie-in of Batman Adventure characters. I like the Gray Ghost, and I like the two different views we get of kids watching his show in this issue. The villain made sense, too. Although, it's almost too much to call him a villain in this one. He's more misguided, but I guess kidnapping is villainous enough.

Birds of Prey #67: I need a scorecard. I'm still not entirely sure what happened in the last few issues. It's clear I'm going to have to pull the issues together and re-read to figure it out. I did like seeing a bunch of DC heroines all working together. I just didn't really understand the storylines.

Time to delve into the AIT/Planet Lar box, and keep me reading so I won't do anything stupid again. The book that came up when I dug down this time was Couscous Express.

Couscous Express by Brian Wood and Brett Weldele. This is going to come as a surprise to people familiar with my tastes. Heck, it's a surprise to me. I really quite liked this one. After my experience with The Couriers 02, I expected to dislike this one. Especially once I figured out that, yes, it had some characters in common. But the narrative, which starts with Olive (who hates her life, her parents and her job), then moves to Moustafa (who explains that Olive is spoiled and has no idea how lucky she is), works to highlight Olive's rapid maturing during a time of crisis. I particularly like Moustafa's willingness to break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience during the set-up of the book. Unlike Couriers 02, which was a violence-filled story without much of a point, this book has a strong plot, and the characters grow and develop. Where Couriers 02 was a romp, this is a ride. It actually takes you somewhere. Yeah, I'm surprised, but I enjoyed it.

Still to review: Amazing Spider-Man, JLA: Another Nail, and Powerpuff Girls.