They did a good job of making it look like a DIFFERENT (though related) character was coming for a couple pages, too. (I think I’d have preferred who I thought it was, but this is pretty cool, too.)
Infinite Crisis and Seven Soldiers have nothing to do with one another, except for being the center of a lot of initial confusion as to the order in which they happen. I think the late Infinite Crisis issues settled this with cameos by some of the Seven Soldiers.
Spirit - Love this book. So much. The format of this issue was fun. And the art…the ART. Although Spirit/Denny’s bit of narration was kind of unintentionally funny…when he said he spent his spare time with ‘[his] girlfriend’s father’, I imagined Ellen complaining about how her father was stealing her boyfriend.
Aquaman - Sword of Atlantis - I love the new take on the Fisherman. Not so keen on the art here, but it was serviceable.
Perhapanauts - This is from last week, but I never mentioned it, then. Nice finish to Second Chances, interesting set up for the next series. I do wish they’d dealt more with the Big/Molly stuff they touched on earlier, but, hey. Something for next time.
Catwoman - Girl’s got skills. Lex’s toybox is fun. I wonder if Selina will somehow get word to the people who should know (Lana, Superman, the MPD) that he still has access to it. Really odd way of sealing it up, though.
Shadowpact - Flipper boy is beginning to annoy me. I love Blue Devil dealing with the rhyming. The new characters seem interesting. I love Midnight Rider’s look.
A few thoughts on Dibny and 52:
[spoiler]Darn. Darn, darn, darn. There goes one of my favorite underrated characters.
Having said that, I do understand why DC decided to dispose of the Elongated Man. Without Sue, there just wasn’t so much left that made him unique. Mind you, I think there was still plenty of potential left, and that with the right twist, a gifted writer could have still squeezed a lot of great stories out of the remaining Dibny. This would have been a challenge, though.
It doesn’t help that Plastic Man is easier to write about, and that his abilities are more versatile. In addition, since Batman’s uber-detective bat-skills have been played up over the past twenty years or so. This makes Dibny’s membership in the Justice League a bit redundant.
Frankly, I’d rather see Ralph in the League than Eel O’Brien. I think he’s a more interesting character, and I don’t see why the League can’t have two master detectives complementing each other. I do recognize, however, that some writers would have difficulty working with this concept.
At least they gave him a respectful, glorious exit. Goodbye, Ralph. Will the world ever learn about your last moment of heroism? Will they ever learn about your sacrifice?[/spoiler]
Others things this week -
Robin : I like what Beechen’s done with Robin so far, and am looking forward to his tenure on Teen Titans.
Shadowpact : Really odd abbreviated use of the Stranger; not a bad issue.
Checkmate : The crap’s about to hit the fan, I think.
Birds of Prey : I wonder how long the new twist on the new direction will last, but I’m onboard for the duration.
Superman : This was a very charming little story. I like.
Wonder Woman : Very neat so far - shame about the horrific delays and the fact they’re going to skip along to another arc before coming back to part five of this. I was hoping that Hercules was going to stick around as a good guy, though.
:eek: They ARE? Where did you get that info? The “next issue” blurb says “The truth is revealed - as is the identity of the one, true Wonder Woman.” Sounds like the conclusion of this story to me.
Not doubting you, just wondering.
I hope Ralph’s prank in 52 #42 has some effect when Kid Devil turns 20. Which is when he is due to be Neron’s protege.
So the girl at the register asks, “Find everything you need this week?”
I said, “Yeah, I guess so, thanks… Actually, I did have one question, if you happen to know the answer offhand. I noticed last month that the next issue of Superman was supposed to focus on Krypto the Superdog. And this month’s issue doesn’t seem to feature Krypto at all. What’s going on there?”
She said, “Oh, well… sometimes they rearrange the order in which the issues are released. I’m sure they’ll get to the story about Krypto in the next month or so.”
“Ah, okay. Thanks for the information… I was just wondering.”
“No problem,” she said. “Don’t worry, you’re not the first person this week who was interested in finding out what’s happened to Krypto.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that I was ‘interested,’ so much as ‘curious’…” I replied hastily. “I just remembered that there was supposed to be a Krypto issue this month. I’m not saying that I’m hugely disappointed, or anything.”
“Oh, of course not,” she said placatingly. “I know what you mean. Honestly, it’s fine… lots of people like Krypto. I’m a big fan of Krypto myself, actually.”
Look: Just because I happen to ask a question about Krypto, that doesn’t mean I’m a ‘huge Krypto fan,’ okay? It was merely an idle query in passing, with no deeper significance to it. I happen to appreciate the mythology of the character on a conceptual level, is all. I don’t go around buying stuff just because it has Krypto on it. I’m not some freak with an unhealthy Krypto fixation. I have other things in my life besides Krypto.
Streaky? Comet? Beppo? 
DC ANNOUNCES CONTENT CHANGE FOR WONDER WOMAN #5
Current speculation is that because #5 is a fill-in and #6-10 is Piccoult’s arc, that Heinberg will get bumped to #11. I personally think that they’ll try to get it out as soon as possible, though.
By the way? Manhunter was un-cancelled. You should all start reading it now.
I read the first 8 or 10 issues, something like that. I quit in the middle of the trial of…was it Dr. Psycho? The storyline was boring, dragged on interminably, and didn’t seem to be going anywhere.
Also, where were all the gadgets I was promised? I thought a major premise of the character was that she used the weapons of convicted super-villains, but I don’t remember her using anything but that staff thingie. Almost a year in, and she was still pretty much a one-trick pony.
Sorry, I wanted to like it, but it just wasn’t compelling enough.
Wait, *Manhunter * was uncancelled again? I’m thrilled, because I love that book, but I hadn’t heard that. Yay!
… No, it’s not a major premise that she uses confiscated equipment, but one of the more interesting issues detailed the origin of her suit, staff, and gauntlets.
NO!!!
…Besides, Streaky and Comet aren’t even from Krypton anyway.
Yep. Didio announced it at NYCC. Apparently they added the TPB and single sales so that they came up to a level they could justify keeping the title around.
Brave and the Bold : Yes, yes, yes. This is what I want.
52 was excellent, of course.
Outer Orbit continues to amuse.
Powers is solid.