Sunday, May 21, 2017

A Sunday Comic Books Review

DCBS
Here are reviews of the DCBS comic books that I've gotten around to reading and reviewing, sorted by the original shipping date:
  • Oct 5th
  • Aquaman #8 - That opening splash page made me laugh out loud. Of course the trials Mera is going to be put through would involve snarky old widows. And when the Seneschal mentions that it takes months... I felt an unjust mirth. I wonder how Mera and Arthur are going to get out of this nonsense? Oh, and the rest of the issue... unstoppable foe, blah blah, fought the Justice League to a standstill, yeah... Interesting and obnoxious of Manta to pick that particular place as the target. Looking forward to the next issue.
  • Justice League #6 - I like that Jessica is the one who recovers first from a fear wave - it makes a lot of sense considering what she has to deal with just to get out the door every morning. The rest of the issue was set-up for whatever's coming next. I'm a little sad to see Barry and Jessica's date going so horribly wrong, but combined with Superman's comment, it's clear that there's a lot more to this than their default personalities. I wonder how Aquaman is being affected? Hopefully it's not something ridiculously stupid.
  • Green Lanterns #8 - Halloween events, just to remind me again how far behind I am in reviewing. Jessica and Simon really do make a good team. Two people learning about each other and dealing with a hostile world. I'm not sure what I think about this new Guardian or this Phantom Ring, but I guess we'll figure that out as more people and things come to try to get it. The Dominators were remarkably non-sinister for Dominators. The kids watching the fight were cute, but part of me was sure one of them was going to get a life-scarring injury.
  • DC Comics Bombshells #18 - I was really not expecting that solution, although I absolutely love it. Why can't Hila and Mera reconcile? And the concept - that it was Nereus who drove her around the bend, was perfect. I didn't get at first that the ancient armor was going to explode, but it worked as a motive to move Atlantis and thus be ready for the refugees. I loved seeing Mera at her full power, reigning with her sister's approval. I would like to see more of Hila/Siren in the future as well (and have I mentioned how much I like that someone actually went to the Silver Age books and found the true name of Mera's sister and put it in a modern book? THANK YOU!). I adore this comic book, and I adore these version of the great DC characters.
  • Batman '66 Meets Steed and Mrs Peel #4 - Off to jolly ol' England after first failing to stop the bad guys in the air... I like Robin's ability to improvise and come up with an EMP literally on the fly. I also thought Emma's figuring out Batman's secret identity is very much a Mrs. Peel kind of thing to do. She's just brilliant in every other way, so of course she'd figure that out. As soon as someone mentioned security upgrades at the tower I figured out what had happened, so the ending wasn't much of a surprise - although the whole anti-oil twist was funny.
  • Future Quest #5 - I'm not even sure where to start with this one. There are two stories in the book, and both of them are good. The first is a continuation of the regular book, with the introduction of Mi-Tor. The second... are these new characters or did they exist and I just missed them? (quick Google later - wow, I just really missed them). Ok, I'm learning more about old Hanna-Barbera cartoons than I even expected to know.
  • Doctor Strange #12 - Ok, the first villain I know, since I was reading the book when it was introduced in its current form, but I admit I know very little about Mordo except that he's a big bad. This issue is a little hard to follow - I'm beginning to realize the artwork isn't all that great at storytelling and needs a little more support from the writer. It's not a bad book, it's just not as good as it ought to be.
  • Spider-Man 2099 #16 - I like that Miguel sort of figures everything out... it didn't make a lot of sense until the Skrull revelation, and at that point - well, fun to get everything out in the open. I also liked the appearance of Deadpool 2099 at the end. Ha.
  • Doctor Who 9th #6 - Captain Jack and Sergeant Benton. I love it. The continuing joke about the timeline (aka "when did the UNIT stories take place?") is hilarious to me, although it should already be getting old. I like that this story takes place after the previous one with the Doctor and crew chasing down a gargoyle. The introduction of a new monster that interacts for a moment with the "old" monster is also nicely done. I'm enjoying this one.
  • Rough Riders #6 - Of all the things that I expected to happen in this book, that was not one of them. I suspect it's a mental fakeout of some kind, but beyond that I cannot tell what is going on. I'm curious to read more. Incidentally, just after reading this issue I read something else that referred to Roosevelt losing his wife and mother on the same day in the same house - synchronicity.
  • Oct 12th
  • Earth 2 Society #17 - So the world has been remade, perhaps? But the wonders are showing up in a phantom version of their old earth, and Lois the robot is hearing a strange countdown. I suspect they are in-between realities, but that's just my guess, because I'm not sure where the Sandmen are coming from if that's the case.
  • Teen Titans Go #18 - I'm not a huge fan of this book, finding it mildly amusing most of the time - but then, I'm not the target audience most of the time. This time, I feel like the book aimed itself right at me. The original Teen Titans animated series shout out had me giggling, especially at the too true language. The other versions of television Titans were also really fun, but obviously the appearance of classic Aqualad was a delight for me. Definitely an issue any fan of any version of the Titans ought to pick up.
  • Scooby Apocalypse #6 - And now we know. The life history of Velma is laid out for us, including why she's so anti-social. A ton of emotional abuse combined with a brilliant mind. It's a little cliche, but interesting that her brothers are the ones who end up taking advantage of her. And interesting that she realizes what she's done too late to fix it. I just feel sorry for Scooby, who clearly wanted to provide some support to her but doesn't know how to reach her. Meanwhile, in the backup tale, I just want that thing to go away. I think it shows in how much every single person in my generation hates Scrappy-Doo that he's become the main villain whenever he shows up anymore. At least in this version he makes a sort of annoying sense.
  • Dirk Gently: Salmon of Doubt #1 - So Dirk's having memories of things that didn't happen, which is definitely a problem, especially when his girl is apparently crossing dimensions and his cat has been captured by a troll. The cover to my copy shows the tv version alongside the comic book adult version and the comic book child version. Fascinating. Is this series going to somehow meld them all together?
  • Spongebob Comics #61 - Halloween in Bikini Bottom, and Patrick shows innate kindness that rewards him handsomely when our main characters cross a witch. A fun little issue with several fun stories, but needs some Mermaid Man.
  • Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #6 - Although Van Sciver is not drawing every issue, I've decided to completely drop this book from my reading list due to his involvement in it. I apologize to the other creators on the book, but I cannot support a man who tells a fan to kill himself.

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