Rapid Reviews - 30 November 2005

Wonder Woman #223: "Marathon Part One": Diana breaking her oath in order to save her people. About right. Sums it up. I wasn't all that interested in the fighting in this issue, and there just wasn't much more, so it qualifies as ok, nothing more.

Batman #647: "Franchise Part 2: The Away Team": Ok, I'm beginning to understand. The Black Mask wants the Red Hood dead, and Batman can't help but try to help Red Hood because Red Hood is an ex-partner. And they work well as a team. But if you were to jump right in, like I did, it takes too many issues to figure out.

JLA: Classified #14: "New Maps of Hell Part Five": Ok, this book suddenly has more significance to me because the art is by Jackson "Butch" Guice who is the new Aquaman artist. Fortunately for me, then that there are a couple of good "water" moments in this issue, including Wonder Woman in a liquid universe and a scene looking up out of water from Green Lantern's point of view. The story, which involves the JLA fighting nightmares, doesn't do much for me. But the art is good.

Legion of Super-Heroes #12: Not a bad issue. One character makes an unforgettable entrance, and some serious fighting happens. The backup story was good, too. Not bad. About superhero average.

Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere #5: "Chapter Five": Again, I like this one, and again, I'm glad I haven't read the story it's based on yet. I'm sure I wouldn't like it nearly as much if I was comparing it to me own mental image of the story. I'm definitely enjoying this book.

Usagi Yojimbo #89: "The Treasure of the Mother of Mountains: Chapter Seven": Tomoe's worries become remarkably vivid, and I really liked how the story worked through it all. A fine ending to a good tale.

Wonderful Wizard of Oz: I was expecting something interesting from Richard Maurizio, a new graphic interpretation of the book. But this is just a reprint of the book, right down to Baum's intro, with a handful of coloring-book style pages in the center. Those pictures alone might have made the book worth it, but they are all extremely derivative and very simplistic. There's nothing new here. If you want a copy of the book to give to somebody, you might consider this. But if you want a new version of the book with new images... find something else.