What The??!!?? More Thoughts:
All-Star Superman #7: Each time I pick up a new issue of All-Star Superman, I'm more and more impressed. With this book coming out every two months, Morrison does a great job of condensing down his story into single issue (or in this case, two-issue) stories. (Case in point, Alex Ross' Justice is a great comic; but, issue #1 came out in 2005, and for a 12-part story, that's a lot of patience on my behalf...and, I simply don't have that great of a memory when I'm reading easily over 100 comics a month to remember what happened 2 months prior.) Plus, he has taken, with this issue, a character I really can't stand, Bizarro, and made him updated and fresh. After all, many of Superman's old foes were kind of neat when I was a kid in the 70's; but, the really border on silly nowadays. (That's what makes Batman the better comic. Such old characters, like Joker and Two-Face, still hold up because they are so deadly and dark.) On top of this, Frank Quitely's art is like the frosting on the cake. Needless to say, I loved it. 10/10
Tales of the Unexpected #7: Wow! Part of me was getting really, really tired of the dragging of the Spectre story...it really didn't deserve 8 issues for The Spectre to find justice from the death of the landlord waaay back in issue #1....but, this issue really makes the case for why that actually worked well in telling Crispus Allen's story. (And, that's the main point: This story is about Crispus Allen, not who he has become, The Spectre.) The writer, David Lapham, was setting up the reader to how helpless he was in being the Spectre, being unable to help the innocent issue after issue; thus, when you get to the final five pages of this issue's story, the reader is so drawn in to Nathan's suicide attempt, those final pages blow you away. This not only changes Nathan, but Crispus, also; and, it sets the reader up for the conclusion next issue.
Now, while The Spectre story is your normal type of story you'd expect to find in a DC comic, the second story, Dr. 13, always amazes me. When I read the first part in issue #1, I thought it was utter horsecrap. But, it really does have great humor and is trying to say something about the comic industry in a Nextwave sort of way. (Although, I think Nextwave did a terrible, terrible job, and this is soooo much better.) I loved The Architects in this issue; especially when they are deciding which characters to keep. "We'll admit, a talking Nazi gorilla took us unaware. We debated if there was room in the universe for one... But when yea became a talking Nazi Vampyre Gorilla? You're a villian we can sink our teeth into."
Here's the thing with both stories. It's almost sad that we sometimes judge a comic on a single issue, without waiting or seeing what the full end result is. (Again, I think of Morisson's All-Star Superman and how he is smart to tell a story in one or two issues, unlike All-Star Batman which might never have Batman and Robin get out of the Batmobile and Batcave.) I couldn't stand Dr. 13 in the first two issues; but, now, I've come to understand the writer's concept of the character and his humor has really grown on me. I was getting bored with Spectre's long telling of the death of the Landlord; but, with this issue, I realized why the writer needed to show us Crispus' angst in dealing with the various situations that he's experiencing through being The Spectre. With Marvel, readers got so hung up on the delays with Kevin Smith's Spider-Man/Black Cat, they failed to realize it was still a very good story in the end. Or, Civil War had a lot of great moments; but, we tend to remember the last thing we read, thus making Civil War a disappointment for many. In the end, I guess a comic really shouldn't be judged by a single issue...heck, maybe All-Star Batman and Robin would be judged less harshly by me if I ever got to see how that first storyline was suppose to finish and if I got to read it in its entirety. 8/10
Supergirl #16: This comic just gets more and more weird with each passing issue. Ever since OYL, I've been wondering, "What the hell is going on??!!??" The book seemed to come back the last few issues, although it wasn't anything to rant about. But, we seem to have returned to that original weird story, and it's just been made more strange. After reading this, I'm now wondering if Supergirl's father was a raging lunatic or if he really saw Phantom Zone phantoms in the people he killed. And, it seems like now Supergirl is seeing them in the people around her, as it showed her kill her own mother. Simply put, this comic is pretty much destroying the character of Supergirl after Superman/Batman made her so unbelievably popular. Basically, this is one demented comic book. 5/10
Green Lantern Corps #11: This is one of those comics that almost have to be reserved judgement on; because, you're not sure what's really going on within the story. Basically, something is making some of the Lanterns to go nuts, it seems, and kill other Lanterns. Within all this, we have six different stories that are going to unite into one story. It does lead to a lot of confusion; but, it's peeked my curiousity and I can't wait to see how it's going to end. 7/10
Justice League #7: It's kind of maddening to realize it took seven issues for Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman to come up with their selection for who's to be in the Justice League; but, this comic still worked on all levels. I enjoyed reading it, even though not much really happened. (Plus, it wasn't hard to figure out after reading issues #1-6 who was going to be in the new Justice League.) Hopefully, this break from action will bring a great story beginning with issue #8. 9/10
Yah! I'm done reading my DC comics. Now, I have to try and read the 15 Marvel comics I still haven't gotten to this week.
-- but still a good time. The Bizarros weren't...quite...as innovative as I thought they'd be; even though it was interesting, it sorta just played out like Night of the Living Dead pt 935743 what with the rambling and the mass chaos and possessing and the whatnot, practically like Ultimate Bizarro and, well, that Ultimate nonsense is just beneath Morrison
. Hopefully it's a lot more wackiness ensuing with the next issue which delves how Bizarro World really works.
I agree, and I apologize for helping in the derailing of the thread.
It makes me feel better thinking about it, actually...
