Rapid Reviews - 19 January 2005

Huh. Before I do this week's comics, I suppose I should review last week's. Here's the lot...

Outsiders #19: "Most Wanted Part 3": Enough to make you think, not so much to make it annoying. I can't say much more about this.

Samurai: Heaven & Earth #2: "Chapter 2: Slaves And Masters": Wonderful artwork. The story is also pretty good. I seem to have a soft spot for samurai stories.

Birds of Prey #78: "Hero Hunters Part Three: Moondance": This is quite a villain, if it's really a villain at all. And there's a bit of doubt about that at the end. A suprisingly engaging story. Recommended.

Plastic Man #14: Except for the twist at the end, pretty standard cartoony stuff. I'm just not impressed.

Spider-Man: India #3: I like the reinterpretation, and the way the villains had to change to make sense is particularly interesting. This is quite an interesting little series from a cultural perspective. It always fascinates me to see which parts make it through from the original when a book is translated to another culture. One thing that seems universal in the Spider-Man story is the idea of bullies. I'm still enjoying it quite a bit.

Powers v2 #8: A nicely convoluted story is forming up, and as usual I'm enjoying it. Nice bookending in this issue with the message boards. Goodness knows we can't avoid message boards in today's world. This issue focuses on the death of a power... sort of. It's quite a set-up. I'm looking forward to the rest of this arc.

Demo: The Twelve Original Scripts: As usual, AiT/Planet Lar comes through with an unexpected compliment to the series. Demo, as many of you know, stands alone quite well. In fact, pretty much each issue stands alone just fine. I didn't think this book could improve on the series at all. I'm happy to report that I was wrong. Just flipping through I noticed little differences in the way the scripts were written and what made it to the final page. Add in new character sketches, and we have yet another winner. If you enjoyed Demo and want to add another dimension to your reading of it, go get this.