Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime
Heh, I actually liked this. Just for the quirky morbidity of it all.
Okay, yes, there's a huge problem with this book in terms of story logic; if Prime was starved for yellow sunlight, then why in the name of Buffy does he land on the half of Earth where it's freaking
nighttime? He's such a stupid boy.
Apparently some people are ticked about Prime ripping off Risk's other arm but oh I loved it. It was teh bestest thing evar. This really the book to read if you wanna see whiney brats get beat on. And Risk had become hella annoying, no buts about it; "I might not be in good standing with you guys anymore..." Uh, y'know, that might be because you went crazy and conspired with Deathstroke to kill them all.
Anyway, I feel like Johns really does know what he's doing with this Superboy. He's not just injecting as much emowangst as he can into a character and seeing what happens; Prime really does have a defined personality that's all his own. Oh sure, he's still emo and wangsty as all hell, but you know exactly why he is. There's a method to this madness. I really hate the excuse that writers (and readers) often come up with when we get ongoing protagonists that are written like ******s, completely unlikeable, and devoid of any redeeming traits whatsoever: "But you're not
supposed to like them!" Ugh. That's such horse pucky (Thanks, Detective Chimp!). Why in the 'verse would I want to read and pay for stories about characters that I'm not supposed to like? The only thing I would want to see is the character get beat on. Surprisingly, that is not the case here, with
this character. Oh sure I still want to see people beat on him, but it's balanced quite well with a kind of grim fascination and even
enjoyment of the character.
He's...he's basically Cartman. Superboy-Prime is basically Cartman. He's the biggest dick in the universe, pretty much
comedically so, and you wouldn't want him to be any other way 'cause this way you get to laugh and point when other people beat him to the point of tears.
And c'mon, that Krypto scene was pretty badass. It was nice seeing Superman with his...family...delivering that beatdown. They have more cohesiveness and chemistry here than I would have thought. When I say that I always expect a lot from Johns, this is what I'm talking about.
I gotta say, though, that cover? Dude. Van Sciver. Ease up on the scary tranny botox.
(7.2 out of 10)
Green Lantern Corps #17
Not
quite as epic as previous issues, and in fact feels a bit rushed in terms of both story and art. By no means is this a bad issue, of course; even admist all this chaos and tomfckery, we still get a very good sense of the threat and action and characters. Especially the characters. Everyone gets a moment to establish themselves and contribute their personalities into the mix, and that's a really tall order in a cast of nearly two dozen protagonists. Gibbons could probably have an easier time of it if he only chose to focus on two or three main characters, and he'd be perfectly entitled to it, but he has consistently chosen to focus on the Corps as
the Corps, which basically means he is writing a distinct personality for a miniature army. And we wouldn't want it any other way.
My
thoughts on Doggystyle Yat still
stands, but I do appreciate that we're beginning to see a semblance of what might be a character arc here. Sure, said arc is basically comprised of him getting too big for his britches and being knocked down a few pegs, but
any character is good for him at the moment. I just can't get into a character that is completely perfect and flawless and is all those things for seemingly no reason whatsoever -- basically, a character that is no character at all -- and without quick intervention that's all that InTheAss Yat is going to remain. Making him a literal Ass might not be the nicest way to fix it...but it is a fix, of sorts.
Heh, ass.
(7.5 out of 10)
Blue Beetle #20
Oh hell no don't tell me Peacemaker is dead. Oh hell no.
The fact that apparently none of you are buying this comic is a consistent testament to, really, how much you all suck ass. Yeah, that's right. Ass. Sucking it. This here's tough love and I'm giving it to you. ASS! Go buy this comic.
Rogers is apparently not a big fan of cliffhangers; all recent stories are completely contained shorts in and of themselves; that is, a threat appears, Jaime deals with it, the threat is gone. Very
not decompressed, which is great. It's sometimes easy to forget, with this style, that this title has been keeping
very tight continuity and longterm character arcs from pretty much the very first issue. And with this issue, one of those arcs more or less comes to a close, and satisfyingly so. I would
hate it if this were the last of Peacemaker, but you can't deny that Rogers did the character a lot of justice and built an incredibly well-rounded arc around him spanning all this time. It really helped to ground the series and the main character, Jaime, as a result.
(8.4 out of 10)
The Flash #233
Wally: "

"
Batman: "

"
Cold.
Burn. I wish stuff like this would happen
more often; a lot of heroes (mostly Batman) can be such filthyass hypocrites (Batman) sometimes, and it's nice to hear them (Batman) being hella called out on it.
But oh god this art. Hey, the issue itself was really good, but OH GOD THIS ART. On the bright side, the ongoing dramarama of the West family continues to amuse me in spite of THIS ART. And thank goodness this didn't turn into yet another misunderstanding fight because damn are those outplayed. It's interesting that Black Canary wasn't one of the Leaguers who showed up questioning the kids' situation...she's the one who actually
has had a kid taken from her. But maybe that in itself explains her absence.
But what I really liked was actually the Jay Garrick short at the end. First of all, hey, I guess
this is where all the artistic talent for this book went. But secondly, it was just charming as fck. Just what is it about John Rogers' work that brings makes me smile whenever I read it, bar none? Jay's got major charisma here and it's such a cool little tale. Really looking forward to the next installments.
(8.5 out of 10)
Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #2
I'm not quite sure what exactly I expected this series to be like, but I'm pretty sure I didn't expect this.
That's not a bad thing. It's a
jarring thing, but not necessarily a bad thing. In a lot of ways, it's a very interesting way to approach these heroes, in very topical situations; last time was Red Bee, and this time it's Phantom Lady's turn for psychoanalysis. I'm totally onboard for now.
There's pretty much no way that Mr. Mustache Aide here -- Robbins? -- isn't meant to be a Tony Stark analogue. I mean, come on there's
no way. Again, not a bad thing. Tony Stark, the spin doctor politician? The allegories write themselves!
(7.7 out of 10)