Rapid Reviews

I'm almost caught up. Only... um... two more weeks of comic books to read and write something about, and a couple of review copies (as mentioned in my last review post). Of course, tomorrow is new comics day, and I'll be getting another stack of books to read, then I'll be behind again... Ah... I do love this hobby. Its relentless march into the future, even when it has nothing to say.

I've actually had a bit of fun reading all the comics at once and reviewing them in chunks like this. I wouldn't mind always waiting a month to read my comics and write up reviews. With some of these, it was much easier to remember what happened in the last issue because I'd read it only a couple of days before, instead of a month before. I guess there are advantages to procrastination. Not that I mean to get so far behind in my reading again... but I did promise myself that if I stopped enjoying reviewing comics I would stop reviewing comics. I got very close to that spot a couple of months ago. I'm glad the fun is back.

29 March 2006

Blue Beetle #1: "Blue Monday": I'm totally confused. I think that's part of the point, that we, the audience, is as confused as Jaime about what's happened to him. That's not always a positive approach to a story, but it works ok here. I think it would work better if Infinite Crisis were done. I guess I'll have to wait and see what the next issue holds.

Green Lantern #10: "Revenge of the Green Lanterns": Hal Jordan is one year later, and something happened in that time that wasn't at all pleasant. I'm still not warming up to this book, but I like a lot of the individual elements. It's been a trademark of Hal that he doesn't wear the ring when test flying. And it's nice to see Ollie hanging with Hal as well. I'm lukewarm on this book, but other folks will like it.

Warlord #2: I'm sure I read the first issue of this, but I'm not sure what happened in it. I like the way Travis is playing the game here. But when you put it all together, it doesn't feel like enough of a story to keep my interest.

JLA: Classified #19: "The Hypothetical Woman" Part Four: The good guys turned bad guys by the general are a new super-team, and they are an impressive little bunch. I like their introductions, and I like seeing them in action. Soldat's certainty that something is wrong just adds to their appeal. The Justice League really is in a tight spot. I hope the solution is as good as the story so far.

Action Comics #837: "Mild-Mannered Reporter": Again, I didn't intend to get this... but Kurt's name on the cover coupled with the mystery set up in the first part led me to buy it. I want to know what happened to Clark, and how he will (inevitably) get his powers back. This issue makes a good start on that, with the cliffhanger being rather nifty. I like Clark as a human, as well. It makes for good reading.

Fallen Angel #4: Lee threatens her son, and in flashbacks we learn yet more of the reason why Lee is a fallen angel and not still a guardian. All the while, her son tries to make sense of where he is now and why. I don't know. I just have no idea why I find this book so compelling.

Banana Sunday: Just get this. You don't even have to really know what it's about. It's a fun tale of three talking monkeys and a girl who has to keep them out of trouble. And Go-Go got the muffins in trouble. Us women, we just can't resist the strong silent types. Oh, just go read it already. Then you'll know what I'm talking about.

Usagi Yojimbo #92: "The Thief and the Lotus Scroll": I'm not a big fan of Kitsune, but she does make things very interesting when she shows up. The addition of her little sister makes her appearances even more chaotic. While I'm not sure I like the way this one ends, the story fits together tightly (as always), and the art is fantastic. Even the worst Usagi story tends to be significantly better than most other comics on the stands. And this is far from the worst.

5 April 2006

Infinite Crisis #6: "Touchdown": I'm not even going to pretend to understand what happened in this one. There was a death, yeah, and apparently the Earths all merged again... but I'm not sure. I'm going to smile and shrug and hope it all comes together in the final issue.

Justice League Unlimited #20: "Just Us Girls": I love seeing other, minor, members of the League, whether they are walking around the headquarters or in action. This issue had lots of action with lots of different characters in the backgrounds, so if the story didn't impress you much (and it didn't do a lot for me, to be honest), you at least could hero-watch. The Commissary scenes in particular were good. The story itself was a little thin. Not atypical of this book, but still thin. I enjoyed it despite the minor flaws.

Detective Comics #818: "Face the Face part 3": The cover of this one makes me think I know who the villain is. The title of the storyline certainly makes it fit. I hope I'm not right. That's just a bit too obvious. Lots of good bits in this, including the identity of Robin and a tiny bit more about what happened in the last year. I think anyone who read this before reading Infinite Crisis #6 might be annoyed, though. This issue has spoilers.

JSA #84: "When the Dead Call": Ok, I've decided that I really like this version of the Gentleman Ghost. In short, he rocks. I'm not sure exactly what he's up to, but he's certainly sinister and interesting. The bit of Jakeem's personal history that he never knew about was interesting to see. I don't like Jakeem's new look, but his history always seems to be intriguing. And of course, we get to see more of Ma Hunkel. Ma's not your normal grandmother, so I would've expected her to react a little more strongly to being threatened by GG, but she did ok, all things considered. I'm liking this book more now than I ever have.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #41: "Over His Head": Let's see... the new Arthur Curry's great-uncle runs a lighthouse up on the Maine coast... could his great uncle be any relation to the Arthur Curry who (in the modern age origin) found a kid in the surf and taught him English? Aquaman's "father", Arthur Curry? Ok... I'm confusing some people, I know. Go read up on the Post-Crisis Aquaman, if you are curious.

Let me try to make this a little clearer: In the current era, there are three guys named "Arthur Curry" who lived in the DC Universe. The first was a lighthouse keeper. The second was the guy from Atlantis who was also named Orin, who got the Curry name from the lighthouse keeper. The third is our boy in the current run, who has a completely different origin but possibly some relation to the original Arthur. We may even get to find out how the whole thing links together sometime.

Right, going back to the issue itself... this is a tightly woven plot. King Shark stays until he's repaid his debt to Arthur. Makes sense. The Dweller accepts Arthur's determination to find his father. Also makes sense. And Arthur, for his part, is confused and irritated. And there's a lot more to him than is obvious from his actions. I'm looking forward to seeing what that "more" is.

Nodwick #32: You know, for a really funny book, there are often some very touching moments in this title. This one was nicely odd. I like the way they figured out that they weren't supposed to follow the plan they were given. Good stuff all around. And I want to know what happens with the cliffhanger. Seems that Williams is killing off good characters left and right these days...

Thieves & Kings #48: I could always tell when Mark Oakley was fully engaged in his story, because the story moved along crisply and the tale was thrilling and made you think. But he's lost interest, and if you read the introduction (two pages long) he explains what happened and what he's going to do about it. On the one hand, I can't say I'm exactly happy about it. I want to read the read of Rubel's story. On the other hand, he's going to keep putting bits of the story in the book, but we'll be seeing other works by him. This was never a normal book to begin with... so I guess I'll live with it. I enjoyed the Tom Sunsmith story in this one, for what it's worth, although I was much more interested in seeing what happened with Rubel's feet.

Paradox #2: What this book really needs is another draft or two and an editor willing to use the pen to make it better. It reads like a first draft. The artwork is pretty good, and the story is way cool (two worlds, one where all technology is based on magic, one where tech is science-based, and a handful of people who can travel from world to world), but it needs some editing. There were typos and there were points in the story where it just jumps without reason. It needs polish, then it would be a great book, instead of a good book. As it is, because the ideas are so neat I'm rating it higher than I normally would. I seem to recall that the last Arcana book I read also had the same problem. Excellent ideas, but the book needed a few more drafts before it was published.

Lions, Tigers and Bears Vol 2 #1: Joey by himself is slightly annoying, but add in Courtney, who has a destiny in front of her, and the story gets to be really fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how the pair battle the darkness and save the day this time.