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:

• Oct 24th
• Titans #28 - A Drowned Earth tie-in, with Garth as a main character. The Heroes in Crisis storyline feeds into this one as well, since Titans apparently died in that (hard for me to take any superhero death seriously, sorry). It took me WAY too long to figure out who Steel was, otherwise it was a mostly ok story with some good moments. It showed Garth's powers and referenced the Titans as they were, so I thought it was decent.
• Batman Beyond #25 - This is a perfect jump-on issue, with lots of backstory and explanation of what has been happening in this version of the DCU to get to this tale. A little bit of classic Batman along with the new, and lots of references to the past. A good one to pick up if you just want to know what Batman Beyond is about.
• Scooby-Doo Team-Up #43 - Thanks to watching the Doom Patrol show, I knew what was happening when the Mystery Machine ended up on Danny the Street. It also gave me a good idea of what was happening throughout the rest of the book. I'm not sure if this is the strangest team-up these guys have done, but it's definitely odd.
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 #2 - Um. Wow. Ok. That was remarkably confusing and a whole lotta fun. I'm not entirely sure what I was reading there, but by the end I was just enjoying the ride and ignoring the plot, such as it is. I suspect fans of MST3K would enjoy this, as would fans of old comic books.
• Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men #3 - Oh, I had a feeling about that dog. I didn't have the advantage the Wise Dogs had, though, of being able to smell him as well. Still, I had a distinct feeling, no doubt based on subtle clues the artist and writer provided, that they were walking into a trap. And it turns out they knew it, too. So how is this going to play out? I can hardly wait for the next issue.
• Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #7 - And Sakai nails the landing. This final issue was mostly one big battle over a book, but OH what a battle. And what an outcome! I never suspected, not even for a moment, that final revelation. Of course, if anyone could have pulled it off, it would have been Ishida. Wow. Fantastic. Get this series.


• Oct 31st
• Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth #1 - I want to like this. It's a crossover featuring Mera! But, it's really not that great. The art is weak and the plot is depressing. There's just not a lot here for me to enjoy beyond Aquaman and Mera. There's even a timing conflict with Titans. I'm tired of stories that are about world-threatening horrors. I just want GOOD stories.
• Heroes in Crisis #2 - Yeah, so when I read the first issue I didn't register who had died. And I'm still not sure who was supposed to have perished. And some big part of me rejects this entire storyline, because the heroes/villains supposedly killed off will no doubt be back soon enough. So I'm just not sure how to react to this thing. I just find myself sighing and hoping it leads to some interesting story, because so far I'm not impressed. Um, is it mean of me to say Lagoon Boy's death is no big loss to the DCU?
• Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound Special #1 - I really don't know what kind of story I was expecting with a crossover like this, but it was NOT this story. This was excellent. Huckleberry Hound was less a character than a sounding board, but it made for a good story anyway. I don't really know that much about John Stewart's Green Lantern, so I don't know how much of this is canon in the current DCU, but it worked as a story and it worked for the character. Good stuff. I did not read the back-up story.
• Archie Meets Batman '66 #4 - This is a stark contrast to the dreary Archie 1941 that I'm also reading. But then, anything involving Batman '66 has always been great, particularly when Jeff Parker is writing it. This issue gets Batman/Bruce Wayne into Riverdale and also shows off how resilient Jughead, of all people, actually is. And no, that's not the Bat-signal. I never thought I'd see a Jughead signal.
• Stranger Things #2 - Oh man. When I watched the first season, I wondered how Will had survived there. This comic series gives some answers, and shows how it looked from Will's side. It's terrifying. I really need to go watch the second and third seasons some time, too.
• Edgar Allan Poe's Snifter of Terror #1 - I am not a big horror fan - at least not of gory or gross horror. Thus, the first story in this book really does absolutely nothing for me. The second story made me squee, though, using certain iconic characters the way it did. Now, full disclosure, I planned to only order The Wrong Earth and Captain Ginger from Ahoy Comics, because they were the two that appealed to me. This book got added to my list only because they accepted a story from me, and it was due to be printed in an issue of this title. So I figured I had better read the whole series. Despite not really enjoying the, um, atmosphere of the first story, I'm glad I got it. It may not be completely my cuppa, but it's certainly not bad.

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:

• Sep 26th
• Heroes in Crisis #1 - Interesting way to tell the story. I was getting annoyed at it, then Harley said a few words, and suddenly I had to go back and reread. Which one is the villain? Ok, I'm not thrilled with it, but I am intrigued.
• Batman Beyond #24 - There is quite a large cast in this book now, with all the years of the show and the comic. So I forgot who Mel was until she showed up in costume. Interestingly, Jack isn't wrong about Batman. A satisfactory end to this story.
• Archie Meets Batman '66 #3 - This is incredibly fun, and actually shows Jughead using some initiative. Admittedly, he had some serious motive, but still, I don't generally see him taking action. I enjoyed the abbreviated Batman tale, too. Amusing way to avoid having to write all those literary clues. This is still very good.
• Scooby-Doo Team-Up #42 - The writers were really monkeying around in this issue. It was rather disjointed, but still managed to be more fun than a barrel of gorillas. I had the solution figured out early, but only because I've read a few Congo Bill stories and had a suspicion. Totally goofy fun.
• Fantastic Four #1 - A nice introduction, showing two members of the FF trying to get on with life after the rest of the team has vanished. I don't know how or when they vanished, but everything was given enough context to work despite my lack of Marvel lore. I actually kind of got chills on the final splash page of the main story. The back-up story was a bit Doom-y, and ended too abruptly. Funny one-pager in the back. Not a bad issue.
• Stranger Things #1 - This story tells what Will went through on his side of the universe during the first season, and it actually is a really good start. The cliffhanger is particularly strong.
• Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men #2 - Wow, a human who can communicate with them! The only one we'd seen wasn't exactly able to pass as normal. Thrilling stuff. A bit gross, but still thrilling.


• Oct 3rd
• Justice League #9 - A slightly interesting bit with Wonder Woman and Aquaman, but overall, still more blah.
• Green Lanterns #56 - Really? Two guys without their rings, one up from his deathbed? This is just awful.
• Fantastic Four #2 - It's like the Bat-signal, only a teleporter across the multiverse. I'm not entirely sure what this group of teenagers is, although the book makes it clear what they've been up to. As for defeating their enemy - I'm not sure that's possible if she really is what she claims to be. Fun stuff.
• Doctor Strange #6 - Well, that mystery got solved quickly and kind of boringly. Still, the story has moved on to another level, and it has possibilities. And as long as the ghost dog is around, the book is improved by an order of magnitude.
• Ripley's Believe It or Not! #1 - This is basically the cartoon with much longer stories told in a nice narrative. Being a Fortean, I was already familiar with all the tales in this book, but the presentation was nice enough that I didn't mind at all. It's a good package for a single issue, and probably would make an excellent gift for a child with a yearning for the bizarre. I wish I'd had it as a child.