A Sunday Comic Books Review

Here are reviews of the DCBS comic books that I've gotten around to reading and reviewing, sorted by the original shipping date:

• Nov 16th
• Aquaman #11 - I like the way this run has started to develop contacts for Aquaman, including FBI agents and now Joanna. The appearance of the Justice League was nicely done - with Arthur and Mera suspicious while the League is surprised it's gone that far. But the ending to this issue was the best bit, as the Deluge and N.E.M.O. make their move to stop Aquaman from keeping the peace. Lots of fun in this book.
• Justice League #9 - The story is based on a ridiculous premise - that only one person died in a recent disaster fought off by the Justice League - and this issue confirms my worst fears. The attack is coming from a character that shouldn't be able to do what he's doing and just *happens* to be the husband of that one person who died. Look, I read these for escapism and accept magic rings, guys who live underwater and the world's greatest detective happening to like dressing up as a giant bat - but some things are just too unbelievable even for me to accept even in this context. Thumbs down on this one.
• Green Lanterns #11 - Bwah-ha-ha-ha! Oh, that is by far the best possible cliffhanger for a character who can channel all the spectrums through his ring at once. I wonder if he'll be able to undo what he's just done to himself, and if some other lantern of that particular color might want to have words with him about it, seeing as only one lantern of that color ever exists at the same time.
• Doctor Strange #14 - That was one of the grossest issues of a comic book I've endured. This book continually lives up to the second half of its name.
• Doctor Who 12th #2.11 - Ooooh, a historical episode! And featuring a real-life character in a different timeline, even. I like the way this issue set up the mystery and introduced Julie, and I really liked the Doctor's string of insults about her singing. And the duel was fun, if oddly interrupted. She's clearly the perfect companion for the Doctor in many ways.
• Doctor Who Supremacy of the Cybermen #5 - And so the story pulls itself together by explaining that each of the other Doctors we see are the Doctor trying to fight the Cybermen in a different way. It works, mostly. It's still confusing as all get out, but it works. And the solution also works for me. Rassilon has never been a bad guy in my book, that's a recent development in the show, so seeing him work to save the universe isn't a surprise. Not as bad a mini as I'd feared it would be.
• Nov 23rd
• Titans #5 - There's never enough time. Wally is right, bad things happen when a Flash runs too fast. And so he knew exactly what was likely to happen but did it anyway to save his friends. So, how does this resolve? We had the set-up last issue, and the action this issue... but what's going to happen next?
• Batman Beyond #2 - Terry using the past to sneak into the future. Nice. I like seeing Max driving the Batplane and the clever explosion was cute. The story of how the Joker died was also an interesting bit of this issue - but in comics, no body = no death. And even if there IS a body, there's often not a death.
• Super Powers #1 - What on earth was this about? Very cute, as anything by Baltazar and Franco are, but I'm not entirely sure what to make of the plot.
• Future Quest #7 - I am liking how this story is shaping up. Each character gets a proper introduction, and each piece fits with one another. I love the cliffhanger - and I'm hoping to learn a lot more about some of these characters as we go along. Recommended!
• Scooby-Doo Team-Up #20 - Space Ghost! This was fun, and had repeated in-jokes and snide asides about the original episodes that made me giggle and even laugh aloud at one point. The Mystery Machine really made a great appearance. Fred's idea about hostages was wonderfully silly, and it's even funnier that it worked. Overall, an excellent issue. True, I like the grim and gritty Scooby Apocalypse, but I love my old-school Scooby, too.
• Doctor Who 9th #7 - Wow, Harry's living up to the name the Doctor called him that one time. And poor Benton, with yet another head injury. I'm very much enjoying this story, and can hardly wait to see what happens next. The situation with Dean is another strangely unresolved bit, as well. So much good in this.
• Doctor Who 10th #2.16 - Just what we need, more guilt on a companion. This one wasn't quite as good as the ninth Doctor story, in part because I'm not as interested in Sutekh as a baddie. There's nothing wrong with this, and I like the appearances of other baddies from Doctor Who history, both comics and not. But it's also not spectacular. I hope the ending of this tale will redeem it.
• Usagi Yojimbo #159 - Oh, I like Yuki. And Toto-San was great. It's nice to see a non-Samurai willing to fight to protect himself and those around him. I adore most Inspector Ishida stories, and this is a nice start, but there's clearly more to the tale... and I'm going to be impatiently waiting to find out what Usagi has discovered.
• Nov 30th
• Justice League of America #10 - That was sort of an abrupt ending. This whole story arc seemed doomed from the start, but at least it got to a stopping point eventually.
• Doctor Who 3rd #3 - Now THERE'S a villain I wouldn't have thought would show up in any form any where in the Whoniverse again. The Master is quite amusing when he's being helpful, although his tendency to wear masks is definitely getting old. I found Jo's weapon to be a nice touch, as well. But now I really want to see how this one ends up.
• Doctor Who 12th #2.12 - The Doctor's new companion is feisty, which is likely to get her killed rapidly. I wonder at the Doctor going to warn the King instead of going to the past to fix it. I suppose we'll get some resolution to that in time.
• Torchwood #3 - I have no idea what's happening, but it's happening in style.