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:

• Dec 21st
• Aquaman #13 - Huh. So the Justice League tries to help but it's politics that kill the chance. I'm still seeing no real solution to this, but it's really nice to see that the league is on Arthur's side and not assuming he's gone rogue. But then, he made that point to Superman earlier in the series, didn't he? I do wonder how bringing Tula along helped at all with the Justice League. As for Mera - who's to say that doing nothing isn't the reason the prophecy comes true? The ancient Greeks had many tales of how futile it is to try to avoid fate. Just go out and do what you were going to do anyway, because otherwise you are falling into a trap.
• Justice League #11 - I just can't get past the ridiculous premise of this book to enjoy the annoying fight scenes. In short, nothing about it impresses me. The solution - a child hacking into Amazo, makes even less sense than the rest. If this is what the Justice League is going to be like, I don't know if I want to read it any more.
• Justice League vs Suicide Squad #1 - I find it hard to believe that Batman wasn't aware of the Suicide Squad a long time ago. I also find it a little surprising that the Justice Leagues' reaction to the team is to confront the team, and not Amanda Waller. Sure, they don't know how the criminals are being controlled, but it's evident they ARE being controlled, so confronting the Suicide Squad directly seems to be bad tactics. Then we've got the third team in this, and the once upon a good guy leading them. I sense conflict and massive fight scenes coming up.
• Green Lanterns #13 - The history of Volthoom and Rami, the new GLs overcoming their fears, and Jessica once again showing compassion that could save the day... followed by a cliffhanger splash page of a phantom ring barf? I feel like 90% of the book is padding.
• Teen Titans Go #19 - Sometimes I'm reminded that I'm not in the target audience for this book. This was an ok issue, but I didn't like it all that much. Ok, Robin getting stuck in a plane seat between two very large men got me cringing - not laughing - along with him, but other than that, I could take or leave it.
• Star Trek/Green Lantern V2 #1 - We start with a new status quo from the last crossover - the lanterns are stuck in the Star Trek universe and are adjusting to new lives. It's not a bad premise, especially when one of their biggest problems is the lack of any way to recharge their rings. So this series immediately goes off to the races, and I'm actually interested in it for the moment.
• Back To The Future #15 - This is turning out to be a complicated plot against Marty, who still hasn't figured out how to deal with memories of a timeline that doesn't exist. He's attacked by several other versions of himself - but where did they come from? There's a bit of introspection on Marty's part as he monologues to the pair, while Doc Brown is busy fighting a third one. This could have been a much shorter issue, but eh... it wasn't horrible.
• Doctor Strange #15 - Another day, another villain, another death threat? Until all the baddies meet up and now we have to figure out who is going to kill and who is going to die. This one was actually kind of fun.
• Doctor Who 9th #8 - Rose is arrested, which allows the Doctor to put his plan into action. Of course, Rose doesn't just sit around once she's imprisoned and with her help the plot by a for-profit defense company is turned around. After thinking about how many pieces the Doctor had to move around to get the situation he desired - well, this is the Doctor, using people sometimes unthinkingly. But hey, bonus at the end with a potential new travelling companion.
• Doctor Who 10th #2.17 - Once again, the Doctor is ready to make a big sacrifice, but someone else has a solution he avoided looking at even as a possibility. This was a long and strange arc, and I hope it's over for good, but it was fun along the way. I wonder if we'll get new companions soon, since the story implies this pair are ready to stop travelling?
• Torchwood #4 - My hopes that the plot of this would become clearer as the story moves along were not quite met. While some parts are becoming a little more understandable, most of the book still makes little to no sense at all.
• Usagi Yojimbo #160 - A lovely done-in-one story with a backup feature, along with some bad news. The main story was a great little murder mystery featuring our favorite new fish-monger (did Usagi ever get his meal?) and Inspector Ishida. I love the fact that both Usagi and Toto-san recognize the knifework on the fish as a big clue. The backup, with a chibi Usagi, was very silly. And the bad news is that we won't get issue #161 until September! However, in the meantime, there will be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo crossover in July.
• Dec 28th
• Titans #6 - Manhattan? Surely that doesn't mean - nah. Ok, this was a pretty straightforward tale of fighting off the baddie and Wally finding his way back home through an anchor of love. It's all fairly neat and squared off. But that word at the end, and that whole final page... interesting stuff.
• Batman Beyond #3 - You know, I sort of doubted that was actually the Joker, but I really didn't expect the actual identity of the person there. As for the rest, nice levels of tension building up.
• Justice League vs Suicide Squad #2 - Yup. Bad tactics on the part of the Justice League. Taking out the pawns, even super-powered pawns, is only going to give you more grief. Now, how does Batman get the league out of this mess he's created? And what kind of idiot is Waller to take the league captive?
• Super Powers #2 - This book is awfully abrupt. I'm so used to padded storytelling that jumps like Wonder Woman suddenly appearing and rescuing Superman seem strange. I'm not sure what to make of that thought. Still, it's cute.
• Future Quest #8 - Wow, the art is really different in this issue. I like Olivetti's art, but it's a big change from what came before. The plot is moving along nicely, with more allies finding each other and figuring out the danger. Those poor cops... shows what happens when you don't listen to superheroes.
• Scooby-Doo Team-Up #21 - Harley Quinn. Harley. Teaming up with Scooby-Doo and friends. And giving them all new nicknames. And solving the mystery easily, because, hey, it's Harley. This was really amusing from start to finish. I particularly like Velma's logic at the end on why the Joker came after Harley. Cute.
• Love Is Love - I'll confess. I haven't finished reading this. It's going to take me a long time to finish. The anthology is filled with one or two page stories, each one a tribute to love and acceptance. The inside front cover lists the names of the 49 people who died at the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando. Many of the stories are raw emotion, which is why it's going to take me a lot longer to finish reading this. The introduction is by Patty Jenkins, who directed Wonder Woman. The writers and artists involved are literally a who's who of the comics industry. The money from the book benefits the survivors. If you haven't got a copy, you should go get one. If you have one, keep it handy and reread it every once in awhile. We all need a reminder of love.

And that's the end of 2016's comic books! I have finally caught up to this year, just as it's halfway through... *sigh*