Nothing substantive to contribute yet - snowfall kept me from my books. Will get them Saturday.
JSofA - I am in love with Tommy Bronson and Maxine Hunkel. Even if I didn’t love the JSA as a rule (I do) or all the returning characters in this incarnation (I do), I’d have to read the series, just for those two. Maxine is just too adorable, and Tommy…well…the bit on the last few pages, y’know? w00t! (They should totally hook up, just because it would give me joy.)
52 - I think Ralph’s completely losing it. And Fate’s helmet…isn’t Fate’s helmet. Someone, elsewhere, suggested it might be Felix Faust, which isn’t a bad idea, on the whole.
What we’ve seen of the Helmet of Fate does suggest that it spent year 52 wandering in space, rather than escorting Ralph around on his rather leisurely resurrection mission.
Hey, anyone heard anything about Countdown? It’s DC’s new weekly series that starts right after 52 ends (first issue is #51, get it?) and leads up to the next big event. I’ll give it a shot, but I’m wary. I still think it’s a minor miracle that 52 was readable at all, nevermind actually being good. And, except for Simone and Busiek, the 52 writers are the best DC’s got at the moment. But rumor has it that Simone is in fact involved, as is Paul Dini.
Astonishing X-Men #20: The bit with Wolverine and Armor? Solid gold.
Y the Last Man #54: I found the Fish & Bicycle troupe to be boring the first time they showed up. I get it Brian, a world without men isn’t necessarily as enlightened as some feminist might imagine it would be. We get it. It’s not like we haven’t had 54 issues to figure it out, for Christ’s sake! If we have to have some filler, why can’t we check in with Hero and Beth Sr? At least they’re moderately interesting. Oh, and “Soldiers who like to Fuck” looks horrible.
Green Lantern Corps #9: Huh. Never thought I’d come down on the same side of an argument over heroic ethics as Guy Gardner. The Corpse still doesn’t sit well with me (and can’t we come up with a better name than “The Corpse”? Pretty please?), but at least some of the heroes agree with me, which ameliorates it.
**52 Week Forty One: ** Now, I sided with Superman and Batman regarding Max Lord. But I’m also perfectly fine with the fact that Wonder Woman is perfectly fine with killing him. She’s an ancient Greek, and it was pretty well justified. She wasn’t exactly torn up here, but she still had a bit too much angst for me. I did appreciate Adam’s part here.
The Trials of Shazam #5: Very solid. My liking of Freddy grows, and I really appreciate being shown that Billy’s still Billy at heart.
Tales of the Unexpected #5: The Spectre story was meh. I liked the fact that the Spectre passed over the truly insane killer for the guy that drove him nuts, but didn’t appreciate how comically cuckoo the killer was. Dr. 13, on the other hand. SOLID GOLD. That’s Morrison-esque.
Speaking of Which…
Batman: I like my Joker just a little less scary and a little more funny. But i can’t argue with quality. And I don’t mind pure horror every now and again.
THAT’S who that was! I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me. >_<
This is good news. It has been so long since the last issue, I was afraid that the series got canned mid-run (like Ultimate Hulk versus Wolverine).
Do not, if you value your sanity, read Spider-Man: Reign.
It gives a whole new meaning to “Here comes that Spider-Man.”
Is he strong? Listen, chum… He’s got radioactive… oh, I can’t say it!
You and me both. I kept wondering why they thought I’d know who this chick was, and then after reading it on the Internet… d’oh! I blame the art; it really doesn’t look anything like Diana. The space arc continues to… not hold my interest. Maybe Mogo will liven things up.
JSA continues to be an enjoyable read. They’re really going to have a huge cast in this, aren’t they? It’ll be interesting to see how they can keep up with all of them. I also find myself hoping that some of Steel’s family can be saved (mom and brother, maybe).
You didn’t mention don’t read it if you value good comic books. God, what a horrible, horrible ripoff of the Dark Knight Returns…
Still, is it as bad as All-Star Batman and Robin?
A friend of mine pointed out you can see her bracelets in the last two panels, when she has her hand on Renee’s shoulder.
sigh Observant, I am not.
God knows, I haven’t read that.
Nope. Few things are that bad.
Thunderbolts #111 Good things have happened to this book now that Ellis and Deodato have signed on. Very good things.
NextWAVE is over. I am sad.
Exiles had fun use of Morph, but was overlaid with bad Claremontisms.
52 - Awesome.
GL Corps - I don’t know, I liked it just fine.
Trials of Shazam - Fun stuff. I think this might be one character revamp that actually works.
Tales of the Unexpected - Yes. The latter half of this book is the best comic on the market.
JSA - Nicely done, and a good villain to use for this reintroductory arc.
Batman - Horrible, godawful, mindnumbing crap. The format does not work. The art does not work. Messing with the foremost of batman’s villains and removing his ability to speak properly? If this issue proves to be indicative of a new direction in this title I will drop it like a hot potato.
JLA Classified - I am digging this arc.
Gen 13 - As much as I want to like it, it’s not quite up to Simone’s usual brilliance. Pretty good, though.
Martian Manhunter - ENNNND!
Manhunter - So good.
Y’know, as much as I’ve ragged on this title, I have to admit that this issue wasn’t half bad. Probably because it was all fights instead of boring and confusing attempts at a plot. I think that if this series had been done as a one-shot, it could have made an enjoyable, if completely disposable, story.
But at 8 issues, it just doesn’t work. Oh well, not like they did anything the next guy can’t ignore.