Rapid Reviews - 3 November 2004 - Part III

JLA: Classified #1: So Aquaman is on the cover, but nowhere inside the book. I can live with the disappointment, though it would have been easier if this had been a better first issue. It deals with the Ultramarines, a group I have no interest whatsoever in, and Batman. The book didn't get good until the end, with Batman and "Beryl" chatting. I particularly liked "No, I'm goldfish man." Ok, so I'm sort of looking forward to the next issue. Mildly recommended.

Fallen Angel #17: I don't get Lee. Is she a good guy, or not? Are we even supposed to know? And does she not get the nature of the place she's in? Wonderful cliff-hanger. I felt that one.

Justice League Unlimited #3: A trio of strong stories. I liked the Power Girl one the most, but it was a close thing. All three were very good. And it's so nice to see other members of the League. I'm looking forward to seeing an Aquaman story in this one sometime. In any case, this one is the best issue of this book so far, and better than its predecessor book, too.

Rising Stars #22: Wow, it's been awhile. I have a review of Rising Stars #21 from December 18th, 2002. And here's the next issue, only two years later. The good thing is that the first two pages have a very nice issue-by-issue summary of what has already happened... so nice that it even cleared up a few things I didn't really understand. A bit disturbing is the subject matter of this one, being about a presidential election. The timing wasn't the best, in my opinion. Still, it's a good issue with a lot of optimism. Worth a look.

Firebirds: I loved it. Jay Faerber's universe is a fun one, and this was a neat coming of age story. I like both main characters, and I love the artwork. If there was any problem with it, I would say that it didn't have any major surprises. Even with that lack of spice, it was a very strong story, and recommended.

Smallville [4-07]: Jinx: I fully expected to dislike this episode after learning who the villain was. Yeah, yeah, I'm letting my preconceived notions get to me. But I couldn't see how Mxy would fit in the Smallville universe, so I didn't want to see him. But, as usual, the crew pulled off the unexpected and it worked very nicely. I really enjoyed it. The performances were pretty good, and Mxy wasn't nearly as lame as I was afraid he would be. I love his origin, very in keeping with Smallville. Ok, so that's two in a row I was sure I wouldn't like, but did... the next one doesn't look very good to me either. Is that a good sign?

Shipping next week: Smallville, Bloodhound, Identity Crisis, JSA, Plastic Man, Batman Strikes, Avengers Finale, and Colonia.