Countdown #37
Again, almost picked this up...but managed to stop myself just in time. Not a bad issue, comparatively. The art is pure abhorrent sht, but hey, I've read the Super-Skrull mini; I can take it.
I did like Zatanna here and her rockin' crib
. Piper and Trickster with Poison Ivy was actually pretty funny if you look past the fact that it makes no sense at all (Ivy is mad that they...ate her fruits? But...but fruits are supposed to be eaten, that's how the trees reproduce...am I supposed to just chalk this up as "she's crazy" or something?). And oh yeah, kthxbye for spending most of the last two issues getting Karate Kid and Una to talk with Oracle and then spending half of this issue telling us that it served absolutely no point whatsoever since, oddly enough, a woman from a millenium ago
doesn't know about the future virus plaguing K. Kid. Huh. Imagine that.
...okay I guess it actually
was that bad. Something does actually happen what with that ending where Jimmy tries to rape Clark, though, which is...something.
(5.3 out of 10)
Quasar #2
Man, everyone's got issues.
It's surprising to me that Phyla and Heather are very obviously in love and yet never seemed to have confided a lot of significant details of their past to each other. The whole cosmic awareness thing and the Dragon of the Moon thing...I would've thought these things would be common knowledge in the MU, too, something most people are at least a little aware of. But I guess they just don't get wikipedia or Marvel Handbooks in outer space. I really like this book and I really like these people. More, thanks.
(8.6 out of 10)
Justice League of America #12
I am going to miss Meltzer. He had some good stuff, some good ideas -- it's completely unfair that he got burdened with the Lightning Saga which, in retrospect, was a giant waste of time for everyone involved -- and I feel like he's leaving us with a whole slew of unfinished stories just as he was getting started. I'm really interested in Geo-Force's story, and I don't feel like McDuffie will be following up on that at all. Stuff with Roy and Kendra, with Mari, with Jeff...if anything, this issue just showed us how much good stuff was not being resolved by Meltzer and will likely never be resolved. And on that note, I cannot possibly see how Jeff is not being a complete ****** right here, what with him pretending to have an in with Luthor to have an in with villains. That's just ******ed on levels there are not even words for.
It's interesting what Meltzer points out about Hal...that he's the only "true" original on the team right now, aka an original both in the sense of the silver age and in terms of post-Crisis Year One. I love the beginning and ending, really tying things together. Meltzer does great nostalgia, at the least. And I'm really glad about Aquaman returning here. As I said otherwhere, I much rather prefer he return in this series than in the current Aquaman title which sucks. And it was a genuinely nice surprise to see him with J'onn. Both characters have really been shafted by DC lately and it's nice to see these two old friends still hanging on together.
(7.3 out of 10)
(6.4 out of 10 for the entire run, largely unthanks to Lightning Saga)
Booster Gold #1
"Don't worry about Countdown -- focus elsewhere"
"It's residual damage from Mr. Mind's feast on time and space and super-brat's whining."
Oh Christ...I laughed so hard.
This is the book for DC fans who hate DC right now. This is where the continuity happens. This is where the fun is. This is where you'll find WORM ON MAN ACTION. Well, someday.
The gimmick of Booster never getting to receive credit for his good deeds sounds amazing and ingenius and all that, but...it's also something that I'll probably get really tired of really quickly. "Wow, who was the mysterious stranger who saved our time?" "Certainly not me! No, the man you want to thank is...over there, by the bushes! And his name is most certainly
not Booster Gold!" We'll see how Johns works it.
That ending and those preview images...whoa. Nice.
Points are taken off, however, for Grandma Carter being an investigative reporter. Seriously? We haven't had
enough red-hot female investigative reporters in the DCU yet?
(8.9 out of 10)
Flash #231
Love it. Pretty much completely love it.
I'm sure there are people out there who simply cannot stand reading about anyone under the age of seventeen or something, but I've never had that problem, and I love these kids. Yes, I said that I loved them. As in
. That's right.
I am a bit unsure about Linda all of a sudden being a megascientist -- wasn't she a reporter the last time we saw her? -- but she's not nearly a character that I'm so involved with so ultimately it's no big deal. And she's Asian so, y'know, it's obviously in her genes or something
. But seriously, folks.
I do love the way she and Wally are together. An actual nuclear family (heheh) that doesn't have issues (yet)? Let's see how long DC takes before this all gets screwed up!
Next up, tentacle rape. Well, maybe it won't take
that long.
(9.4 out of 10)
Black Canary #4
FYI, Bedard...Connor was
eighteen when Ollie reunited with him, not twenty
.
Okay, I think I like it, but I think I hate it. I'm annoyed that Sin has now basically been
put on a bus, which is preferable than killing her off, certainly, but also certainly less preferable than *
gasp* actually attempting to write interesting stories with her in the picture. She was a fascinating progression in Dinah's character and now she's just...gone. Not gone like dead, but gone like gone. Basically this entire story is that Dinah tried to make life work for herself with a foster daughter and she tried to make life work for Sin...but she failed miserably. Yeah, not the most uplifting arc.
On the other hand, I can't really find fault with the story and writing itself; both were solid. A lot of people have apparently gotten pissed that Dinah agreed to marry Ollie even though he manipulated and hurt her "for her own good"...or, rather,
because he did so. I think that's really overexaggerating things. It was a cold dick move, but the basic logic behind the plan was pretty reasonable. It's not like the Sin's gone from her forever, anyway; it worst the situation is comparable to a boarding school. She's going to Hogwarts! Dinah immediately going "Oh, okay" about it is a bit unrealistic, but what's she going to be angry for? The fact that Ollie just guaranteed Sin's safety for the foreseeable future? He didn't do it for himself, or for Dinah even; he did it for Sin. Dinah would understand and respect that. Maybe not immediately, which is something that threw me, but sooner or later.
Up next is the wedding. Ooooboy. Brace for impact? Yeah, brace for impact.
(6.8 out of 10)
(8 out of 10 for the whole series)
Amazons Attack #5
...What? I mean...what?
So...is Grace a Bana or isn't she? Was it a lie or something? Do the Banas actually hate the Themyscirans or was it a ploy? The entire point of this series has been "Strange things are happening, nothing makes sense, you don't know why, and we're not telling you. Keep reading!"
Y'know my favorite part? "You might be fast enough so stop me, Superman...BUT ARE YOU SURE????" Btch, plz, Superman could melt your weapon, freeze your face, give you a wedgie, piss in your hair,
and write a blog entry in less time than it takes a single electrical impulse to go from your meager brain to your meager neurons. He just doesn't in this comic because everyone's been turned into ******s, see.
(2.9 out of 10)
Brave and the Bold #6
Heh, I love the fact that there's an ad in this book for Superman and Wonder Woman...MONTHLY! YES THAT'S RIGHT! We're actually printing out these books ON TIME now! Except that Simone's Wonder Woman has already been delayed a month. But seriously folks.
This is essentially organized chaos, and good organized chaos. Not only that, but it's good organized chaos that's readable. Perez's art can be a chore to go through, but the action and the story is breezy enough that it won't matter. Characterization is pretty on, and there are some nice surprises and moments throughout. All in all, a good book; nothing
great, but pretty damn good all the same. And, hey, if you absolutely need to see Supergirl get penetrated this week, this would be the place.
Next up: Perez draws Wonder Woman, which sucks me onboard like sperm onto ovaries.
(7.9 out of 10)
