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:

• Apr 19th
• Aquaman #21 - I have to wonder if Aquaman couldn't have nicely asked the alien to turn off its scary defense mechanism, thus protecting the people left at base. But that was my only nit with the issue. The reasoning behind Dead Water makes a bit of sense and the results of it are nicely terrifying. There's even a page of Atlantis with its usual problem - what to do when the monarch is off adventuring. I'm actually anxious to read the next issue. Lovely stuff.
• Justice League #19 - I know this book should be about earth-shattering disasters and such, but if I'm yawning and skimming ahead trying to find more interesting bits, isn't that a bad sign? I mean, I didn't hate it, but it could barely hold my interest. And I'm really annoyed that I didn't get to see how Aquaman used the mystical powers, nor was there any explanation for why the Justice League suddenly appears after they've been told they might be trapped in the past. I felt like the book was several pages too long but missing some plot.
• Green Lanterns #21 - I really expected that to work, and for the Green Lanterns to take him back into custody a little happier. So the story was enough of a shock. Add in the ending, which was part of the ongoing plot, and this worked out pretty good.
• Astro City #43 - That purple guy is back, trying to tell us something important, but is pulled off-track by a young Judy Garland lookalike who presents the origin of The Gentleman. And it's an excellent origin, I thought. Tragic and yet wonderful. And more than a little frightening - what if she hadn't had such a good dad? This book is consistently good, and I admit I'm getting more and more curious about the tale the purple guy is trying to get across.
• Star Trek/Green Lantern V2 #5 - Off to the center of the universe to fuel up the green rings and stop Sinestro - only... aren't there always complications? I was amused at the trust put into the Manhunters by the crew and the Green Lanterns. I was also amused that the threat to Starfleet basically followed the crew to Oa, making the fraught decision moot. Overall, a fun development - especially who got the ring. I mean, who else could it have been, really?
• Back To The Future #18 - Doc tells a ridiculous story about getting a wedding anniversary present in order to convince his newest friend not to keep a woman waiting. I'm not sure whether I'm finding this funny or frustrating. I do feel a bit tired of this particular storyline. Irving doesn't interest me.
• Doctor Strange #19 - And they all lived spookily ever after? Well, of course not. The refrigerator is deceased, for one thing. And I'm not sure exactly what Strange did, but it clearly didn't work completely. I do want to know, though, what is Wong's favorite food?
• Doctor Who 10th #3.4 - That's an ok ending to the story. The Doctor doing what he does best - talking the bad guys to death. I like that he anticipated the bad guy's moves and found a way to deal with it. As for the clones - the ending is a bit sad and happy all at once. It makes me wonder where this really is set.
• Forever War #3 - I remember more and more of the book as I read the comic. The past is a foreign country, but so is the future, and the veterans are tossed into one horrible future with only one escape route. It's a chilling story, really. Difficult to read with everything that's going on in the world right now.
• Apr 26th
• Teen Titans #7 - Jackson arrives just as the Titans are having issues with King Shark, and Robin is as obnoxious as it's possible to be. I am really enjoying the interplay between the characters. I've never really liked any of the Robins all that much, and seeing Jackson prove himself and basically humbling Robin was a nice touch. I hope Robin is intelligent enough to see his own flaws (giving his team a playbook and expecting them, a bunch of teenagers, to read it and understand it without practice and help? Sheesh) as well as those of his team.
• Batman Beyond #7 - Ug. He doesn't want to be Batman, but he wants to be Batman and the people who desperately need him can't get to him because he's busy not wanting to be Batman. Yeah, I'm not enjoying it.
• Teen Titans Go #21 - Two stories: The Teen Titans ruin their Tower and have to find another place to stay and a game suspiciously like Pokemon Go becomes a craze. Mostly fun stuff all around, keeping in mind that this book is aimed at a younger audience than me. I did enjoy the Titans being kicked out of Atlantis, even though it was only one panel.
• Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman '77 #4 - Oooh, so that's the end of a second era of this team-up. I wonder if the next issue will be set in 11 years, and how that will play out? I was a bit surprised that Batman was willing to unmask in front of Catwoman, but I wasn't surprised she wanted to stay for a bit. Overall, it was a nice solid story.
• Scooby-Doo Team-Up #25 - Um. Yeah. This was silly from point A to point Z, but funny as well. The whole "You have failed this city" made me laugh aloud. The hippies - oh man... is there anything more disturbing than aging hippies? And the Scooby Snacks replacement was also an excellent moment. If anyone can eat that stuff, it would be Shaggy and Scooby. All told, a fun issue.
• Dirk Gently: Salmon of Doubt #7 - This is a very confusing book, but I'm beginning to understand Dirk Gently stories: If you truly think you understand what's going on, you probably aren't reading it correctly. So I'm just going to say, "poor kitties!" and wait to read the next issue.
• Doctor Who 12th #3.2 - A break from the main storyline to see the Doctor help a little town that's experiencing a very odd situation. The smile in the sky was freaky in a 1970s sort of way, but in the end it made a bit of sense. I'm curious if we'll see these particular characters again, and if this plotline has anything at all to do with the sea monster tale involving Hattie.
• Doctor Who 9th #12 - Never mess with the Doctor's demons. As it turns out, this was one of those instances where the Doctor knew horrible things were going to happen and sacrificed not innocent lives to save innocents in the future. It's a really disturbing story, on par with "would you shoot Hitler" in some ways, although the story makes it clear that the Doctor arrived the way he did in order to find out more, not to end it outright. Still, chilling.