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:

• Mar 1st
• Aquaman #18 - I love this. I love how Arthur uses both force when needed, and reason for the most part, to get through to the man who was perverted into a killing machine. The back-story of the new character was great. There's enough emotion there for anyone. I also liked how it tied into the signal sent by NEMO. There's just a great deal of good pieces put together nicely in this one. An excellent story, and I hope there will be repercussions along the line at some point - I'd like to see this character again. And speaking of return characters, the final splash was a good one as well. Honestly, this book has just gotten better and better. This is the Aquaman I want to read.
• Justice League #16 - Aquaman in pre-sinking Atlantis is often interesting... I'm curious exactly how that little storyline will play out. He clearly has the support of the folks around him. I also wonder who those twins are... I have my suspicions, but DCU history has changed enough that I'm almost certainly wrong. Oooh, I want to read more! This has been a good Aquaman week!
• Green Lanterns #18 - I'm far more interested in Jessica and Simon than I am in Volthoom, so this being basically the entire Volthoom origin story... I'm not impressed. Like previous issues in this series, the twice-a-month format has allowed further exploration into the backstory of villains, but I'm not really all that interested in those backstories. Oh well. Next issue will be better, I suppose.
• DC Comics Bombshells #23 - Some flashbacks to previous events and the way certain characters had to deal with them. I'm still finding the reading more confusing than I like, and I'm not sure if it's me or the work itself. But at least I get it - Wonder Woman has joined the fight and the bad gal says mechanicals are more reliable than zombies. Well, maybe? I wonder about these mechanicals.
• Super Powers #5 - I love that Mera features so prominently in this book. Just seeing Aquaman and Mera together fighting as part of a team is awesome. And when the rest is so cute and fun - bonus! I have to admit, that's the cutest Darkseid I have ever laid eyes on. I recognized most of the heroes - but who is Golden Pharoah? In any case - fun fun fun!
• Doctor Strange #18 - Not knowing about Thor's civilian identity proved to make this one a little more interesting, as I wondered about the surgeries. The final frantic surgery scene while Strange fought Mr. Misery was pretty good, all told. And I'm curious about the next issue and whether or not Wong can be saved. So a good issue overall.
• Spider-Man 2099 #21 - I couldn't for the life of me remember who Sonny Frisco was. If I'd just read the freaking infodump on the first page, I would have known. Still, despite the lack of certainty, it was a good issue full of action. And Miggy seems to be digging himself a deeper hole, as well. How much of his past can he change before something truly nasty happens?
• Doctor Who 9th #10 - Transitions in this issue were a little rough, making it hard to follow in spots. In the end, the whole thing seemed to turn out alright, but with those shades of gray that have become more common in the show. Rose is disillusioned, the new companion is disillusioned, and the last couple of pages hint at a rockier road to come. Decent.
• Doctor Who 11th #3.3 - I'm not even going to pretend to understand what is happening with earth in this story, because if I do I think my brain might break. All just read along and smile and nod like I know what's going on and maybe the thing will come together as a story before it's all over. *smile* *nod*
• Mar 8th
• Titans #9 - Yeah, sure they reformed. I'm both amused and apalled at Garth's "punch 'em" attitude. It's true he was a hothead in the original version of the Titans, so it's not off-character, but I expect a little more from my Atlantean. This is a nicely plotted issue with the villains knowing exactly what the heroes are likely to do and planning for it. But there is a wildcard in there - so next issue we find out if she tips the balance.
• Earth 2 Society #22 - I guess this is the final issue, and there's not really any plot, just a wrap up showing most of the new world and what's in it. I didn't see any Atlanteans, which makes me sad, but otherwise a nice upbeat ending.
• Astro City #42 - What a delight for an Aquaman fan! An aquatic villain who never reformed, but did spend a very long time alone. I like the Mermaid, and thought it was incredibly funny when Manta almost commented on how old she looked. Her response to seeing him again was hilarious as well. I almost felt sorry for him when he returned to his island and isolation - I thought it would have been nice for him to at least have Mermaid visit and reconcile with him - but his "practice talking" thought at the end made it clear he's fine with who he is. Lovely issue.
• Scooby Apocalypse #11 - With everything out in the open, I think the team can finally start to figure out what and who they are. I liked Fred's calm discussion with Daphne about Velma and why Velma left. Contrasted with Velma's nightmare in the last issue, it worked really well to show how Daphne has worked through her anger. And then there was the back-up story, showing one of Velma's brothers. Apparently the plague affected him in an entirely different way - perhaps because he was already a monster.
• Back To The Future: Biff to the Future #2 - Biff goes to Hollywood and meets Hollywood accounting. Ok, so he's a bit of an idiot. We already knew that. And has a thuggish way of getting back at people. We knew that too. And had a fling with Marilyn Monroe?!?? Um. Ok. On to the next book.
• Spongebob Comics #66 - The best thing about this issue for me is the back cover. It's an ad for the Mermaid Man action figure that appears in one of the stories, and has a number of other action figures. In short, I giggled a lot. The story featuring the creepy little action figure was also very fun for me... even Mermaid Man was scared of it. This is why I continue to buy the book - for the snarky Mermaid Man jokes.
• Planet of the Apes/Green Lanterns #2 - Guy is making too much sense in this issue. And Hal, trapped in a cage, still manages to outsmart folks. I love it.
• Torchwood #2.2 - Nope. Still can't quite tell what's going on. Oh, I get the gist of it, but it's all a bit confusing and strange. It's a very disjointed style of comic book. Perhaps I'll get used to it during one of these mini-series.