Angel: After the Fall #5
I'm liking it more and more, and not just because of the flaming sword and dragon vs dinosaur, though of course those did the opposite of hurting. You have to get used to Lynch's dialogue style -- it's different from Whedon's, in a lot of ways -- but once you do, it actually comes out quite naturally. And he's taking these characters into very good places with a lot of flair and fun. Especially Angel as a human, which was a cool idea from the start and now this issue is proving how cool of an idea it is.
The appearance of Fred from Illyria seems like a big moment, and it
was a big moment, but the downside is that...I'm pretty sure every fan in the universe has come up with this idea already. And not just because Joss had already gone on and publicly
talked about the idea. I kid you not, I seriously kid you not, I've read fanfics about this idea. I've
written some. So that's the downside: a surprising idea being almost too predictable. The upside is that it was a
great reveal, a great way to cap off this arc and leave us cliffhangin' for more.
(8.8 out of 10)
Checkmate #24
The book that JLA wants to be. Come to think of it, it's probably the book that a lot of books want to be.
It's been said already, and I'll say it again, why is Wonder Woman featured prominently on the cover and even in the solicits if I recall correctly if she's really just background fodder? It wouldn't normally be a large deal, but man way to get my hopes up for a Rucka-written Wonder Woman
Continuing on the stream of epic awesome that has been Checkmate and particularly this storyline, this issue delivers on everything that made this book great for the past two years. Espionage. Action. Epic danger. Flawless writing. The most natural mix of the superhero and nonsuperhero world. And then you mix it all in with snake babies and awesome characters.
In the Rooks we have a WWII hero, a western hero, a magic hero, and a freaking robot. Two baseline humans, two metas. It's so gloriously ingenius and yet it does it without attracting any attention to its glory, my gods it just makes me want to **** all over the place. I can't wait to see them in action.
And the next issue is the last issue. It's so...frustratingly sad.
No, shhh, shut up. Bruce Jones is not continuing this book. It's
ending. Shut up.
(9.8 out of 10)
Thor #7
It's funny. I mentioned in
my first review of this series' first issue that JMS -- for all his merits -- repeats himself a lot, trying to pass off his old ideas as new ones. We see it here, as well, with the Schrödinger's cat experiment he brings up. It's passed off as this interesting, cool idea that he's introducing in this comic...except that he already introduced it back in the Spider-Man issue where Pete sees two completely possible states of his life at once. It's an entirely valid observation in both circumstances and if you only read one and never the other, you'd never know that this same writer is applying his old observations to his new issues. It's just that, well, I
have read both circumstances, and therefore I
do know.
But in spite of his repetitions, never let it be said that JMS doesn't make good observations. His observation about the father issues of gods, for instance; seriously, it's all there, across a plethora of pantheons. Ask Zeus about his own father issues some day, or the ones his children have with
him. And incorporating it to this Thor, at this time, is such a great way to breathe mythology into not only this run, but all of Marvel Thor's history across all runs.
So yeah this was a great issue, about a great idea and had some great dialogue and interaction.
(8.9 out of 10)
Justice League of America #19
So what...what exactly in the name of Buffy was the point of all this?
"The JLA is here to fix things!...oops, wrong place. Oh well, time to go home."
I mean...things
happen, technically, and then...and then it's all pointless. 'Caaaauuuse hey, they tried, right? Not their problem anymore.
Man alive.
(5 out of 10 for the issue)
(3.5 out of 10 for the entire arc)
Captain America #26
A pretty standard issue of this series, which is to say that it was pretty great. Continuing intrigue and Bucky's n00bness make themselves known. I'm not sure how I feel about the Clone Steve...Cleve?...portion that this story is going in. It feels like the most obvious and natural direction that this story would go towards, and yet sometimes that's just another way of saying generic and stereotypical. Is it going to be that way this time? Dunno...time will tell.
(8.3 out of 10)
The Flash #238
I have to admit: I lol'd.
It's not exactly the greatest thing ever, but it is charming. I like this family and I like the kids, what can I say?
What I find pretty ******ed is the villain here and the whole general mini-arc with money they got going on here. It's just...any way you look at it, it's sorta stupid. It's kinda bordering on OMD Spidey stupid, and that's pretty stupid. Isn't Wally a mechanic? Shouldn't he be looking for jobs having to do with mechanics as opposed to...letter stuffing or whatever? Or, alternatively, wasn't Linda a reporter? Can't she...report? Or is there a rule where she has to be the one to watch the kids?
And didn't Bruce Wayne give the kids a scholarship to college anyway? Or is that some other baby that I'm thinking of?
I can see myself liking this run, but just not this current arc. We'll see what happens.
Oh yeah and the art is still bad. Seriously on the yuck now with Linda looking more and more like a child than her children do.
(7 out of 10)
Superman/Batman Annual #2
Why is Joe Kelly not writing this main series? Was there ever a reason given for why he's writing these awesome annuals, and yet isn't the regular writer on the series? I'm not minding Greene's run, but...come on. There's that, and then there's what we get here. A deeper exploration of not just Superman and not just Batman, but of "Superman and Batman" than what almost any other writer could be capable of. At first I thought, okay no way in hell would Bruce ever let Clark out of the cave dressed as ridonkulously as that Supernova costume, but then I remembered Robin's costume.
Also, Clark is a sexy sexy farmer. There I said it, I'm not taking it back, SHUT UP so there SHUT UP.
(9 out of 10)
t:
