Rapid Reviews - 8 December 2004 - Part I

Ah heck. As long as I'm in a groove, here's yet more reviews...

Captain America & The Falcon #10: "The Killers Club": I still can't quite figure out what's going on. So there are two "Captain America"s, and one falcon, and some Modok thing running around. Only Captain America isn't wearing his uniform, is he? Ah well. Maybe I'll catch up with it next issue.

New Avengers #1: "Breakout!" Part 1: Apparently this is the start of a new organization of the Avengers. I'm not overwhelmed. I'm not even particularly impressed. I'll have to see if it's good enough to keep getting.

Noble Causes #4: Oh! Nice triple-cliffhanger, Jay! I'm glad I ended up getting this the same day as the next issue, so I can read what happens next. The cliffhanger was in the right order, too, with the least intense one first. The entire book is three different plotlines progressing... and all progressing nicely. Recommended.

Batman Strikes! #4: "Without A Chance": Batman versus Bane in a story that attempts to present the idea that Batman doesn't need all his fancy gadgets to defeat the bad guys. I'm not sure it really succeeds, but it's not horrible. Just ok.

JSA #68: "Making History": Out of pure coincidence, I recently read a flashback story from 1979 that recounted the events that are central to the beginning of this tale. And the tale itself... well, I couldn't tell you how long threads from this story have been popping up in previous issues, but I have to admit I was thinking "It's about time!" (no pun intented) when this finally pulled together. Now I find myself actually interested in JSA for the first time in a long time.

Rising Stars #23: "Phoenix in Ascension" 2 of 3: I expected this to happen in the next issue! Now what will happen? Nothing left now but the explanations. This book is so much better with a great artist.

Still to review: Bloodhound, JLA, Aquaman, Samurai: Heaven & Earth, Demo, Powers, Noble Causes, PS238, and a few more. Also coming are my TV reviews and Flipping Through Previews.