Comics are Awesome III

A general discussion forum, plus hauls and silly games.
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andersonh1
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Dominic wrote:Which is better, "Detective Comics" or "Batman"? (I have yet to start either.) The idea for the current run of "Detective Comics" sounds good. And, with DC rebooting every so often, they can safely explore it (knowing they can make it go away inside of 10 years.)
I picked Detective over Batman when trying to decide which Batman books to add to my pull list. I think it's the better of the two books by far. I like the art better, I like the story better, and I like that it's a team book. It's good to see Tim Drake as Robin (or Red Robin, in this case) working with Batman again. And though this has nothing to do with story quality obviously, I enjoy that they took the book back to its original numbering. I get tired of the modern trend of restarting the issue numbering of a series every few years, so a book numbered in the 900s is a novel thing.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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In addition to the books reviewed below, I picked up Nightwing #1 and Batman '66 meets Steed and Ms. Peel #2

Aquaman #4
This series has become one of my favorite books from this relaunch, which surprises me. I've always liked the character, but DC doesn't always know just what to do with him, so the quality of any given Aquaman series has been variable. But this topical, political storyline suits Aquaman as head of state very well, and I continue to appreciate his determination and level-headedness. He hasn't been this well characterized in a long time. Writers tend to protray Aquaman as a hothead, something Geoff Johns was certainly guilty of. But he's much more calm and measured, and I enjoy that. I hope the level of quality is maintained.

There's a lot of fallout from the Atlantean terrorist attack on the United States ship and crew last issue. Aquaman is being detained, while Mera and the White House chief of staff show how thin the veneer of courtesy between underwater and surface dwellers really is. Mera thinks surface dwellers are barbarians, while the chief of staff turns around and accuses the Atlanteans of being medieval and not having a clue how the modern world works. The Atlanteans go to investigate the sunken ship and drowned crew, and even commander Murk, who is a pretty hardline anti-surface racist feels sympathy for all the dead crew. But then US special forces arrive and blame Murk and his crew, and it looks as if war is about to begin. That's certainly how Mera views it when she learns what has happened, so she decides to disregard Aquaman's order to allow him to be arrested, and she goes to break him out of detention. Sadly, they've got to get past a ton of armed troops and helicopters to reach the ocean, eight miles away. To be continued...

Superman #4
Superman is attacking the Eradicator, while Jon is furious over the apparent death of Krypto. Lois talks him down a bit from his anger, and points to the Superman symbol on his jacket, telling him that he has to choose who he will be and how he will act. Always listen to your mama, Jon.

There's an awesome shot of Superman and Jon just decking the Eradicator in the jaw and damaging it pretty badly, and here's where the plot takes an odd twist. The Eradicator still has the "souls" of Kryptonians stored within itself, and they are set loose, and things go a little crazy. And then the book shifts to Metropolis and we see Bibbo, a character I remember well from the triangle era. Superman and family appear in his bar, along with the ghosts of the Kryptonians, pursued by the Eradicator, and it appears that it's able to rebuild itself. And now it's a little unhappy, to say the least. Superman is able to get his family out of there, and then he puts them in a airtight deep sea diving bell for protection and takes them to ... the moon? I presume he has a plan and that he wants to get the fight away from Metropolis, but still.... at any rate, this book took a few twists and turns I didn't expect, so that's always good.

Justice League #2
If I end up cutting a book from my monthly reading, it'll probably be Justice League. It's a good book with good artwork, but at some point I'm going to decide that I want to cut back on my monthly comic spending, and economics will at least partially dictate my choices. The other half of the criteria is characters. I like the League in concept, but I'm only interested in half the roster: Superman, Batman, Aquaman and to some extent Wonder Woman. I prefer Wally or Jay to Barry as the Flash, and neither of the rookie Green Lanterns are all that interesting, and Cyborg is just out of place. So while I like the book, I can take it or leave it, and get the characters I'm interested in over in their own series.

The plot: Cyborg learns what caused the worldwide disasters last issue: machines of some sort buried deep beneath the Earth's crust. They caused the earthquakes, and they're cycling up for bigger ones. In addition, an alien ship filled with tiny flying drones crashed in Gotham, and another is approaching Earth. Realizing that things are too big for them to handle alone, Batman approaches the "new" Superman, a stranger to him, and asks him to take on the machines beneath the crust of the Earth. Meanwhile Aquaman has discovered something crucial under the ocean.

Solid story with huge stakes and plenty for all the characters to do. The character dynamics are sound as well, which is one of the appeals of the book. In thinking back to two other Justice League relaunches I read (New 52 and Morrison's JLA), this feels closer to the latter, though the characters are all more down to Earth than Morrison would have written them. He went for big and operatic, while Vaughn seems to go for huge threats and more human characters. Both of the approaches beat Geoff Johns' fratboys from his New 52 Justice League, so this is step up in quality of storytelling. But the book is missing something, and I can't quite figure out what.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Superman is attacking the Eradicator, while Jon is furious over the apparent death of Krypto. Lois talks him down a bit from his anger, and points to the Superman symbol on his jacket, telling him that he has to choose who he will be and how he will act. Always listen to your mama, Jon.
You kill my dog, you die screaming after watching your family get it. No question.

(That being said, Krypto needs to stay dead.)



Batman #4 shipped today. I will get to it. At some point after reading the last few issues.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Yeah, the main Superman series has been rough on pets, no doubt.

Nightwing #1
Like Justice League, this is another book with a character I like, but which I will probably not buy regularly just because I want to keep my comic book spending down, unless the book is really good. I didn't realize the first issue had already been published until I saw both it and the second issue on the shelf this week. Lest I fall too far behind the curve, I picked up the book to sample the art and storytelling in case it's a series worth reading.

Like Wally West, Dick Grayson started out as the kid sidekick before growing into a young adult and taking on his own identity. Wally stepped into the shoes of his then-dead mentor, while Dick took on a new identity, going from Robin to Nightwing (though he has filled in for Batman more than once), which puts him in the small group of "graduates", sidekicks who have grown up and moved out of the shadow of their mentor. This gives him a long and interesting history going all the way back to 1940. The book mentions his past as Batman's partner, and even has Dick muse about his "questionable fashion choices" as a kid sidekick. The one shot of the top of his Robin cape and mask in the trophy case of the Batcave looks like the old pre-Flashpoint version, interestingly. I've noted a similar thing over in Superman, where glimpses of the old classic Superman suit can be seen in photos in Bibbo's bar. The old universe peeks through from time to time, and it's not clear whether it's artist indulgence or part of the overall Rebirth storyline.

The storyline has Nightwing working under duress for an international branch of the Court of Owls. He plans to get the goods on them from the inside and take them down. They aren't happy with his performance as one of their agents. They want him to kill and steal, while he refuses to do more than push back against rival organizations and scare the Court's targets. They decide to pair him up with another operative more to their liking. This guy is the "Better than Batman" of the story's title, as he takes Nightwing down without breaking a sweat, and tells him that everything Batman taught him is wrong.

The book takes place both in the United States, and in Europe, so some of the international flavor of the Grayson series is retained. The art is decent, if not anything spectacular. This is the third Nightwing #1 I've read, counting the New 52 relaunch and the one from back in the mid-90s. I prefer the original by Chuck Dixon, with Nightwing moving to Bludhaven and building his own life away from Gotham, but this Rebirth issue is better than the New 52 Nightwing, and going back to the black and blue costume is a good choice as well. It's a series with some promise for the character, though I don't know where it will go once the Court of Owls storyline is resolved. I imagine that will take some time though.

Batman '66 meets Steed and Ms. Peel #2
I've never seen an episode of the 60s Avengers, so like the previous Man from UNCLE miniseries, I'm lost when it comes to references to that show. If I can't figure it out from context, I'm out of luck. The issue opens with Catwoman, in jail, being menaced by Cybernauts, mechanical men under the control of an unknown enemy. Batman, Robin, Steed and Ms. Peel are trying to get her out before the robots kill her, and they eventually succeed, disabling two of the robots in the process. They try to follow them but are stopped by a very thick artificial fog, created by Professor Ffog, another tv show villain. After some investigation, Batman takes Steed and Peel to the Batcave, but he's unaware that they've been tracked there, and dozens of Cybernauts converge on the hidden entrance as the issue closes.

Good art which captures the likenesses of the actors well and a writer that gets the voices of all the characters adds up to an authentic Batman '66 "episode". I've seen Patrick MacNee and Diana Rigg in plenty of movies over the years, so it's nice to see the characters on the page looking like their respective actors. I think the slightly fantastic nature of the Avengers series makes it a better fit for a crossover than the Man from UNCLE turned out to be.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Sparky, check out the preview for tomorrow's GL.
Spoiler
399 Lanterns still alive out of 7200.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic ... omics-2016
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Today's comics: Action Comics #961, Detective Comics # 938, HJ&TGLC #2 and Wonder Woman #3

Action Comics #961
Part 5 of "Path of Doom" needed to take the story in a different direction, because parts 2-4 have pretty much been Superman and Doomsday beating the tar out of each other. It's been lots of fighting mixed with some good character moments, but this would have felt very slow and drawn out if we were on a monthly schedule, because the plot has not advanced much at all. "Writing for the trade" strikes again. But this issue does take that hard left turn, though it happens on the last few pages. Prior to that, it's Wonder Woman and Superman slugging it out with Doomsday in some scenes very much like those from Batman v. Superman, particularly when Diana tries to use her lasso on Doomsday. He escapes from it and actually ties Superman up with it, immobilizing him, and once again, it's Jon's heat vision, used in a moment of anger, that actually seems to burn Doomsday and lets his dad get free.

At Superman's request, Diana takes Lois and Jon to the Justice League satellite, well out of harm's way. Superman tries to apply all the lessons he's learned fighting Doomsday to put the creature down and stay alive, but one massive one-two hit has him hurt and dizzy and wondering if history is about to repeat itself. And then that left turn in the story hits, and people working for the hooded Mr. Oz, who has observed everything all through this storyline, arrive and immobilize Doomsday to capture him. End of issue.

A group of people were trying to take Doomsday back in the first part of this story, and indeed the terrorist action that Luthor busted up was the distraction to allow them to do that. I need to check the issue and see if the uniforms are the same, but this could well be the same group making a second attempt. And I'll give credit for Jurgens making Doomsday the authentic, original, unkillable force that he was in "Death of Superman". I wonder if New 52 Superman could rip this version in half as he did New 52 Doomsday in "Doomed". I doubt it. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how things end next issue.


Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #2
The Green Lantern Corps is back in our universe, the few of them that survived. John Stewart is in command, and he determines that they have to find out where they are, and that someone has to go out and recon. Of course, Guy Gardner volunteers for that assignment.

Sinestro, dressed in the yellow version of the old Parallax costume that Hal wore, reveals how he manipulated his daughter, Soranik, into getting the universe to accept the Sinestro Corps in place of the vanished Green Lantern Corps. Now that he and his Corps have their foot in the door, they intend to stay and exert control and order on the universe. But the fly in the ointment is Hal, who talks tough and runs his mouth, but who also backs it up by easily taking care of the two Sinestro Corps members he ran into last issue. Sinestro is not pleased that he's still alive and acting as a Green Lantern again.

I think the idea behind this series, of putting the Corps at an extreme disadvantage and having them struggle to survive and reclaim their place in the universe, is a good basis to allow the characters to shine. There's a lot to resolve in this book, both from the two Green Lantern Corps miniseries and from the situation with Sinestro's Corps in such a powerful position. The art is good, and my only real complaint is that this was a very quick read. What happened was good, but not a lot really happened. With a cast as large as this book has, and with as many ongoing plotlines as Vendetti has to deal with, there should be no shortage of storylines to explore.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Wonder Woman #3
I'm a few weeks behind on this, and though I'm enjoying the story and art, this is liable to end up being dropped as I settle on what I want to read monthly. There are more books I'd like to read than I can honestly justify spending money on, so I'll set myself a limit and stick to it.

And though this book looks great, the story is the very definition of decompressed. Very little happens, plot-wise. It's Wonder Woman and Cheetah sparring physically and verbally as Diana tries to get her to help find Themyscira. They're chased through the strange jungle by the half man, half beast creatures from the first issue. Cheetah rants about what's been done to her, but being unfamiliar with WW history, I don't know how she got to be a half cheetah, half human individual. Meanwhile Steve Trevor and his military unit enter the same jungle hunting for someone and when they find him, they ask him to surrender.

As I said, great art, but the plot is moving at a glacial pace, and those types of book are easier to drop.

Superwoman #1
This book did a couple of unexpected things and as a consequence interested me enough in the story to buy it, for now. The first one I'll mention here, and the second I'll leave until the end, since it's the cliffhanger. There isn't just one Superwoman, there are two. Both New 52 Lois Lane and Lana Lang inherited powers when New 52 Superman died. At his death, his body discharged energy as it turned into sand, and while it's not clear where all the energy went, both Lois and Lana were hit, and as a consequence, both are powered now. Lois has the traditional Superman powerset, while Lana has the electrical powerset from 90s electric Superman. We learn that about halfway through when she has to help Lois with a crisis.

The main story takes place after Doomsday's rampage in Metropolis is over. Lois as Superwoman makes herself known and generally flies around being helpful and super, just like Superman. The book mentions how much both she and Lana are determined not to allow Lex Luthor to claim Superman's legacy, and they don't trust or like him any more than post-Crisis Superman. Lex has built a massive, heavily armed aircraft carrier to help in a time of crisis, and this is where the story's action comes in. Some unknown individuals attack the carrier, and Lois is kept busy saving lives and trying to keep the carrier from being pushed into a bridge. She gets Lana to help her out, since it's more than she can handle alone. It turns out that Lois went to Lana weeks ago for help in learning to use her new powers, and to confide in her since both were affected when New 52 Superman died. Lana is reluctant to do so, but she does agree.

There is a ton of action, dialogue and detail in this book. It's the opposite of the lean and quick Green Lantern issue. Phil Jimenez draws, and he always packs a ton into every panel. It's a comic that's worth the $2.99 cover price. Not only for the twist of two Superwomen, but also for the second: Lois Lane dies at the end of the issue, killed by some mysterious gray Bizarro like creature, and she dies the same way New 52 Superman did, by essentially turning into and venting energy, and ending up as sand or stone. Books don't usually kill off the title character in the first issue, so yeah, this cliffhanger has me hooked. But it makes sense... if there can't be two Supermen, there couldn't be two Lois Lanes either. The book does a great job setting up the status quo with Lois and Lana, giving them distinct voices and history and conflict and then an agreement to work together... only to kill Lois. Interesting.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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In addition to the two books below, I got Nightwing 2 and 3. I left Justice League #3 on the shelf while I tried out a few more issues of Nightwing to get a feel for the storyline. I'm keeping myself to 3-4 books a week, which is a lot for all these biweekly series. Like I told the girl at the comic shop today, DC went from having almost nothing that interested me to having too much, and she said most of their customers felt the same way. Rebirth has sold very well for them.

Aquaman #5
This issue is a lot of running in place with a few character moments. After some dense, development-filled issues up to this point, this is largely a running battle between Aquaman, Mera and the US military as they're given "shoot to kill" orders and Aquaman is labeled a terrorist. He doesn't want to kill anyone, Mera is fine with killing, and the two of them have a back and forth about goals and views and methods and marriage while trying to get to the ocean. It's good, it just feels very light after everything that's come before. Mera uses her water control powers on the tanks, removing the water and causing them to overheat, and both she and Aquaman leap around, shrugging off bullets, catching helicopters and ripping turrets off of tanks, all in a nice reminder of just how strong and durable these two are. The end of the issue is Superman showing up to talk to Aquaman after the President calls him in. Since Aquaman doesn't know this Superman, it should be an interesting conversation.

Superman #5
Superman takes his family to the moon, closely followed by the Eradicator. It turns out that Batman has a batcave on the moon, filled with his usual assortment of gear. Superman's idea was to get the Eradicator somewhere that allows him not to hold back. He's absorbed by the Eradicator, while Jon and Lois try to fight the machine off. Jon uses his powers, and otherwise tries to run and hide, as a kid would, and Lois appropriates Batman's armored suit and gets a few good punches in, before Clark breaks free, having made a deal with all the Kryptonian souls imprisoned inside the Eradicator so they'll help him and not the machine.

I love that the whole family is fighting together here. Even Lois finds a way to throw a few punches at an opponent in Superman's weight class. That's pretty awesome. Joy shows a lot of spirit while still being clearly out of his depth, as a 10 year old would be. Doug Mahnke is back on art this issue, so that aspect of the book remains strong.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #3
There's very little of the Corps and a lot of Hal this issue. The Corps are attempting to get a base of operations set up, and have lost touch with Guy Gardner, who went out to recon. Guy is in a fight with someone, and enjoying himself immensely. And the rest of the book is either Sinestro meeting with a religious order who believe in invoking fear, something that suits Sinestro's goals very well, or it's about Hal fighting twelve Sinestro Corps members and winning pretty handily, until their rings begin to be supercharged by all the fear that the Sinestro Corps is generating. What they lack in skill (something Hal mocks them for), they make up for in numbers and sheer power. In the end, Hal is overcome because he's trying to save innocents rather than fighting the Corps, and he's disabled and captured.

Hal's my favorite GL, so I don't mind him getting most of the action. The issue spotlights both his skill with the ring, enough to outfight a dozen opponents, and his determination to help protect innocent lives. All the people who are shocked that the Sinestro Corps has turned on them pretty much deserve what they're getting though.

Action Comics #962
"Path of Doom" wraps up, and while I've enjoyed it, I don't think we needed six issues to get to where this story took us. The men working for Mr. Oz, who were trying to capture Doomsday, all end up dead as he breaks free of their trap and slaughters them quickly and easily. Superman has the moment he needed to recover, and he puts into place the protocol he mentioned last issue, which amounts to luring/throwing Doomsday to his Fortress (not New 52 Superman's fortress, but the one he built as seen in the Lois and Clark series) and turning his Phantom Zone projector on the creature. The plan only works because Wonder Woman is persuaded by Lois to return to the fight, and she helps Superman buy the seconds he needs to activate the projector. This however is a second chance for Mr. Oz, who intercepts the beam and captures Doomsday, unknown to Superman.

The issue ends with Superman talking to Lex Luthor. The two of them have a civil chat, but Superman still doesn't trust him, and promises to continue watching. I like that we're back to the dynamic of having Superman know how bad Luthor is, while the rest of the world thinks he's a hero. And there's the added irritation of Luthor wearing New 52 Superman's cape and S-shield, and even being called "Superman" by some people. This was a decent opening arc, though I think it should have been four issues at most rather than six. It's not that nothing happened... quite a bit happened. But it's been a case of lots of action, not a lot of story progression. It's definitely the "summer action movie" storyline, heavy on effects and light on plot... though what plot there is was interesting, and I don't mind the occasional Superman/Doomsday rematch.

Titans #2
It's Abra Kadabra versus the Titans, and the way he pulls it off is by creating duplicates of the Titans as he remembers them. In his mind, Wally's still Kid Flash, Dick is still Robin, etc. The adult Titans take on their ersatz counterparts. Linda Park is there in her capacity as a journalist, and interestingly she knows who the Titans are (though she expects them to be older and have taken different names in some cases), while the crowd doesn't recognize them. Kadabra is surprised that Wally knows who Linda is, because "he shouldn't meet her for a few more years". As I thought, the Rebirth storyline will be playing out here with Wally West as a key player in the book. I do wonder how Nightwing can be in the States with the Titans, and overseas in his own book. I like the art, I like the characters, and I enjoy reading Wally West again on a monthly basis.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Nightwing #2, #3
The overarching plot of the series is that Nightwing is infiltrating the Court of Owls in order to destroy the organization. To that end, he's been assigned by the Court to work with Raptor, a freelance thief and killer, who isn't quite as untouchable as the first issue made him appear. The two of them move to free a freighter from Kobra's control, since Kobra is challenging the Court of Owls for control of this region of the world. Batgirl/Barbara Gordon gets involved when Dick misses a date with her, and she's not too happy with the whole situation. She goes along for Nightwing's second mission, which is to recover some blueprints from a man who lives deep in a labyrinthine, death trap of a house. The scenario feels very retro to me, and I can easily see Batman and Robin overcoming this type of obstacle in Golden or Silver Age stories. Raptor makes it appear as though he murdered the architect, causing the Court of Owls to rejoice in Nightwing's moral downfall in front of Batgirl, but it was all a trick by Raptor and the guy isn't dead at all.

Three issues in, and I really like this series, though I can't quite put my finger on just why. It feels like retro Batman in some ways, and Nightwing feels less confident, less experienced and younger than he has in a long time (and given the New 52 age regression, he probably is). Rather than pit him against common criminals, the story puts him in the company of a very dangerous free agent, and sets him overseas so he's really in the deep end without a lot of support, Batgirl excepted. And even she's not happy with him after issue 3.
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