Rapid Reviews - 20 July 2005

Action #829: "End of Identity": Ok. More beating up, more mind-control stuff. At least we get to see who he beat up at the end of the story.

Incredible Hulk #84: "Terra Incognita Part 2": More House of M, more of a story I'm just not at all interested in. And I just don't get this whole Hulk vs Banner thing, either. Perhaps if I'd read more of the book, it would make more sense, but it seems a little forced and irritating to me.

Wonder Woman #218: "The Calm": This one has a bunch of members of the supporting cast that I don't know, including Lyta, who is apparently the daughter of Ares and Circe... that's quite a pair. While I could follow it, mostly, I was confused by the continuity. Is this what it's like to dip into a superhero book that you haven't been reading for ages? If so, no wonder readership is dropping. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it makes no sense to a new reader.
As an aside, I have LONG thought that comic books would be very well served by having "update" websites available. For instance: the Wonder Woman update page would have a cast list (who is Jonah? Who is Ferdinand? Who are the other folks there when Diana returns? Who is Lyta? What are the names of the Amazons we see?) and a couple of paragraphs covering the current general storyline. It would be updated the week a new issue comes out with information from the previous issue. The thing is, fans could do this, but if DC wants to get readers interested, they should have something like that available themselves on their website, so everyone would know where to look for it. Maybe as part of the on-line DC Who's Who that I think they should make. Anything that makes their titles easier for a new reader to get into ought to be something they embrace, which naturally means it will never happen.

Detective Comics #808: "City of Crime": So Robin is left to guard somebody while Batman is deep undercover? Speaking of trouble with continuity... *sigh* I don't know what's going on, and I'm not really very fond of the artwork, either. The back-up story is mildly ok. Nothing in this one really impresses me.

Conan #18: "Helm": A nice standalone tale about a helmet, possibly Conan's helmet in fact. This is not as pretty as other issues, but has its own charm. The back-up story is hilarious. All-in-all, another strong issue of a great book.

Wildguard: Fools' Gold #2: I really like Lily in this one. I think we're supposed to. It's a nicely complicated story with lots of characters that have a huge continuity... but not any that we've seen. The "reality TV" format allows Nauck to fill the reader in without breaking stride, and it's fun as well. Very solid, and it left some mysteries for later issues/minis to clear up.

Teen Titans #26: "Soul Searching": This is the wrap-up to the Lex/Superboy storyline, and a nice calm little issue featuring a trip into Superboy's mind courtesy of Raven. Not a lot there, really, but it was ok.

Plastic Man #17: "The Edwina Crisis" Prologue Part Three: This issue is a little better than the last couple of episodes, but that just isn't saying much.

JSA Classified #1: "Power Trip": Someone or something is trying to show Power Girl what she really is, and she's not the least bit interested in finding out. I wonder if this will clear up the oddities with her continuity or if we'll be left guessing at the end of it. In any case, it's certainly a worthy topic fof the first JSA Classified arc.

Day of Vengeance #4: "Monkey Business": We get the potted history of Detective Chimp, which is great, by the way. The fight between Captain Marvel and The Spectre is very interesting... with the monkey narrating the entire book improves. Now I'm just curious to find out what the power of the newcomer is. I'm actually interested in this book again!

Birds of Prey #84: "Knock-Out": I love that opening page. I've been wondering for a few issues what would happen when the truth came out. And, without skipping a beat, we're into the next story... what's going on with Oracle. But everything gets tied up in this issue, which really should have been the last issue if it weren't for the annoying crossover. Well, maybe not tied up, but certainly it all came together. I think the story went on a couple of issues too long, but the pay off was almost worth it. Now I'm curious as to what will happen with Oracle. Good cliffhanger at the end. If we could only get rid of Huntress, this book would be perfect.

Lullaby: Wisdom Seeker #4: End of the first mini, and we aren't even close to Oz yet, though we do finally meet an Oz character up close and named. The book is still moving too slowly for my tastes, but at least it's moving.