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 1st
• Justice League #32 - More of the Bat-crossover, Metal. Aquaman is up against AquaBatWoman, and apparently a massively mutated and massive Mera. Other than that? A lot of set up for an impossible situation to be continued in another book that I no longer read. Bleh. I hate these kind of crossovers that all too often infect superhero comics.
• Green Lanterns #34 - On the one hand, people who believe strongly in religions don't often switch so quickly... on the other hand, they were witnessing their world falling apart. So I guess even though Jessica's speech was cheesy, it was something to cling to. Lots of setup for future issues in this one, as well.
• Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands #1 - Hubby and I are watching the television show, but this is the first version of the comic I've read. I've known about Black Lightning for many years. I was disgusted to learn why the Super Friends version was renamed, and I'm happy Tony Isabella is finally getting his due for this character. It's kind of hard for me to simply judge this comic out of the context of how I learned about the history of the character... which is why I've included all that information. With all that said, I really enjoyed this. It isn't completely perfect, but it's a strong set up and it makes me want to read more, so that's all good. I believe this is a mini-series, but I would like to see this character with an ongoing some time.
• Bombshells United #5 - So, in the end, in the Bombshells universe the internment of the Japanese did not happen because a handful of people stood against it, then convinced more to stand, and using magic convinced even more. It's a nice dream, but as Dawnstar notes, it's not the history of every universe.
• Usagi Yojimbo #163 - Foul murder and the frame up of a Robin Hood ninja. The usual mess of gang intrigue and no honor among thugs is combined with some possibly bigger problems. As usual, this is a great story with fun new characters and two solid favorites. I quite like Nezumi. He seems to be a sensible thief, all things considered. Another solid issue of the most dependable comic book on the market.
• Nov 8th
• Titans #17 - Wowsa. A lot of history packed in there. Donna, I'm sure, has no problem with "wasting" that amount of time. But I have to wonder what else happened to Troia beyond simply outliving her friends that turned her into that sort of monster. Fate is cruel, but Donna isn't that person. Wowsa. Lots to think about here. Could simply watching everyone you've ever known and loved die off while you persist turn you into a killer? Ok, so there's her nature already, not human, but still!
• Scooby Apocalypse #19 - Oh, now this is one that really hurts. Adults being what they are, they didn't listen when Cliffy told them the truth. And Daphne is a little too trigger-happy for my tastes. Cliffy is going to be a really interesting character should he survive much longer. No, this isn't my childhood Scooby-Doo, but I'm really loving this book.
• Spongebob Comics #74 - No Mermaid Man, and the Pirates really seem to have vacated the place. This issue was all about friendship - and took the usual SpongeBob approach to the subject. I'm not entirely sure how Squidward survived, to be honest. All-in-all, a fun little issue.
• Nov 15th
• Aquaman #30 - A nicely balanced issue, with just enough movement on all the storylines. The consequences of Mera's damaged necklace, the guilt of Tempest, the continued mish-mash of Atlantis' underworld, and of course the main story of the battle between Aquaman and Rath. My one quibble is that King Shark really seems to prefer surface life to living underwater, and I wasn't aware before that he got caught in the city. But if he happened to be in town when it all went down, it's reasonable that he would become an underworld leader. Up next appears to be the annual. Good stuff, and I'm looking forward to reading the next installment.
• Justice League #33 - More of the Metal crossover, which means I don't understand everything that's going on because I didn't purchase the crossover or the many tie-ins. From this sample, I don't regret my decision. There's an evil Joker/Batman thing, and the league were captured but Cyborg busts them loose. Sort of. Aquaman is there but doesn't do a lot. So I'm fairly meh about the whole thing.
• Green Lanterns #35 - Blustering idiot doesn't know how to contact Green Lanterns except by annoying them with threats and damage. Lovely. An ok issue, but I'm not sure Jessica is likely to still have a job after that incident.
• Bombshells United #6 - I'm not really sure what this one was all about. It seems to be mostly a lot of set-up for future stories, and the introduction of new characters to this universe. At least there was a one-panel appearance of Mera and Arthur.
• Wonder Woman/Conan #3 - Not good at following orders? Who would've thunk it. The crows are getting more excitement than they bargained for, which really ought to please them in the end. I mean, they're bored and just want something exciting, right?
• Doctor Strange #381 - Loki? Really? I mean, I'm not exactly a hater on Loki, but I was hoping for some stories about, you know, Doctor Strange. Hopefully this will be a short storyline.
• Nov 22nd
• Teen Titans #14 - Titans to the rescue! There to save Damian's worthless butt. I like Emiko, but man, somebody needs to smack Damian around a bit, mentally. I'm kind of hoping that final revelation is going to be the act of smacking.
• Batman Beyond #14 - Well, the Royal Flush Gang is back in action and as annoying as ever (in that good, goofy way). It's also nice to see Terry getting his life back in gear now that Dana is aware of why he's a lying liar. As an aside, I wonder if one of the reasons I like Aquaman is because he never really had a secret identity and thus never had to lie to everyone?
• Astro City #49 - Oh man, that's one of those intense little stories about family and superpowers that I wasn't expecting to hit quite as hard as it did. Once she realized there was no possibility of him being alive, I wanted to cry along with her. And still, he was there at every protest. Another sort of eternal life. Intense. I love this book.
• Scooby Doo Team Up #32 - Holy carp-on-a-stick! It wasn't until I was reading this that I remembered watching the show a lot as a child. I hadn't really recognized him on the cover. But the comic captured the character perfectly and I was sent back into childhood. Fun stuff.
• Saucer State #5 - Guh? There was some serious Fortean Philosophy in this one, and as much as I liked it, it was difficult to wrap my noggin around. At least we seem to be getting closer to a conclusion in this case.
• Nov 29th
• Aquaman Annual: Crownspire #1 - Black Mercy. That's an oddly appealing way to die. Tula said there were many bodies down there... the probability is that they died peacefully, thinking they were in their ideal world. Unless the plant/creature/alien/magic works differently than I think it does. I always tend to enjoy Black Mercy stories, since they are basically Elseworlds tales with a framing sequence. This one introduces us to yet another child of Mera and Arthur - so just in the last month of comics we've got a daughter and a son. At some point I need to gather up all the various children of Aquaman and figure out just how many different versions there have been. I kind of would like to see them have all of them - just a huge Aqua-family with lots of kids and grandkids running around. *ahem* I thought, wrongly, that this annual would actually be part of the ongoing storyline. Now that I know it isn't, I'm even more eager to get to December's books and start reading.