Checkmate #23
Why must the cosmos hate me so? Enough that Rucka's pretty much running screaming in the opposite direction from DC, enough that he's leaving Checkmate which is consistently the best book in the universe ever, enough that Trautmann isn't staying on to continue his work. And I don't even really care that much about Bruce Jones; I never read any of his work and don't really have an opinion about him either way, even though comments from others have gotten me a bit worried.
What truly bothers me is that this series is at its peak right now. This series is on a fcking roll, especially as this latest issue shows, and only seemed to be getting better. But now we're just...done. It's over. I mean, sure, it's not
technically over, but everyone knows that Rucka
is this series. Without him it's either nothing, or something else entirely. It just brings back very irritating, very unwelcome memories of everything
else that Rucka has..."left"...prematurely. Wonder Woman, Gotham Central, etc etc.
But if he's going out, apparently he's going to go out with a bang. This final story, "Castling," promises to deliver one of the most badass and memorable payoffs of a series ever. Already this first issue showcases all of Checkmate's strengths and rivetting writing, with epic espionage, intense action, incredible world-building, and great character moments. How bloody awesome was the use of Superman here? In-character, effective, to-the-point, and only served to up the stakes of the story instead of providing an easy, cheap way out. Which is frankly par for the course of this series...and it's all going to be over far too soon.
Witness my wangst.
(9.7 out of 10)
Justice League of America #18
Mm. Not bad, I suppose. I'm pretty freaking tired and annoyed at "fill-in arcs" at DC right now. But things do happen here and we see the League actually being proactive and flexing their muscles for once. If you're at all interested in Salvation Run, this is a reasonably decent tie-in. I'm not quite sure how I feel about Vixen hogging the spotlight of this series so much -- I don't mind Vixen, it's just that
no one should be hogging the spotlight in a JLA series -- but it's a logical extention of the character to play up some of her connections to the Squad, so...*
shrug*
Still, when did Red Tornado turn into an AI? Did I just completely sleep through that portion of this series?
(7 out of 10)
Superman/Batman #46
To get it out of the way: yes, Batman not only disliking but aggressively
disbelieving in magic is stupid, out of character, and pretty definitely cements the notion that Green either hasn't read a DC comic before in his life, or hasn't read any released after 1990.
But other than that, I actually really liked this issue. BECAUSE OF THIS.
I'm so sorry. I have a very low cuteness threshold. I just cannot look at it without laughing my ass off.
Superman high off of his mind? Gold pure gold. There is no universe where this isn't hilarious. RED TORNADO AS A TINY LEGO ROBOT.
And then there's some plot-related plot about taking a day off to escape or something, but I wasn't really paying attention.
(8 out of 10)
More thoughts later, after sleep. Yes, sleep. Don't ask.
