Here 'tis.
Excellent JSA and JLA this week.
Incredible Hercules continues to be the best thing Marvel’s publishing.
Really liked Birds of Prey…
Not done much readin’ yet, but I had to comment on what I have:
Countdown to Mystery - The Spectre/Eclipso story wraps up tidily, but, the Dr Fate (RIP, Mr Gerber) entry is what’s interesting…
Beechen’s take - Getting all 3 of our protagonists involved was a nice touch, but…so very random. So very, very random. Kind of fits with the way Kent’s life’s been going - he’s let control go out of his hands, so, it’s sort of fitting he’d have only the vaguest part in saving his own life. On the other hand, it’s a touch unsatisfying by the same token.
Evanier and Waid’s takes - same general comments for both - the same obvious solution, executed slightly differently. Both fairly good, and address both Kent’s problems over the course of the series and Negal’s nature. It’s especially pleasing to see it acknowledged as not a done-deal quick fix for Kent’s issues, but still good enough to get him and the ladies free.
Simone’s take - On the one hand, I think this is my favourite - the sheer ridiculousness of the ultimate solution, combined with the fact it doesn’t completely betray the rest of the series is beautiful. On the other hand, it doesn’t really sit right with me that Negal would go for it. Interesting to note that it’s the only one of the four where Inza’s not fully restored in the end, but also the only one that Kent explicitly falls for her.
I’d like to see all 4 somehow become canon, despite the incompatibility of Beechen and Simone’s, just because…well, having a multiple choice history a) would piss Kent off and be fun to watch and b) fits with the fact that Fate is one of the universe’s top magic users - reality is his bitch.
JLA - Batman’s insubordination has finally been addressed! Hallelujah! Can’t say I much like his answer, or the fact that Clark and Diana let it go with only one slightly snide comment about his possibly lying about his motives, nor the fact that they didn’t address his press-ganging Firestorm, but…babysteps. Don’t really like the Lounge - as much as I hate to admit it, my problem was addressed by the Bat - it feels too much like the big three setting themselves up as a secret ruling council for the League. The main story, though, I liked. Especially the Flame mouthing off to Luthor. That was frickin’ priceless.
Superman’s Reign - The backup - specifically the mention of Nightwing’s Firestorm team - prompted me to dig out my copies of the original Tangent runs. And, whaddaya know…the FiSTs are wearing the s-shield shaped bit on their armour right from the start. Makes me wonder if this whole deal wasn’t planned from the start.
Also, I note the captions use ‘New Earth’ instead of ‘Earth-1’ (Also ‘Earth Tangent’ instead of ‘Earth-9’)…wonder if that wasn’t a result of someone pointing out that Earth-1 and New Earth being different worlds being established in 52.
And a final note, I am disappointed that, despite the cover, the Tangent Batman didn’t appear in the issue.
Avengers: The Initiative Man, I love this book for all the wrong reasons. When Prodigy said wifebeatercoughcough, I knew this book was going to be good. And to top it all off with a big “aww” moment at the end with Taskmaster, Constrictor and Butterball…priceless.
Batman RIP: Not bad, however, I now have to read 6 months of back story (the upcoming issues, I mean) to get to the first page? Ok, I’ll ride a long for a bit. The art is good. Should I try picking up the initial Morrison run on Batman? I have like the first two issues, then I went on a protracted business trip(s actually). I then had to choose (because of time and the apparent lack of cash that I had on me as I didn’t have my wallet) between Ra’s Returns and more Morrison issues, and I chose Ra’s (and as the old knight says, “He chose…poorly.”)
Teen Titans #2: Art was lacking. Trigon was odd. I know why he looked that way, but,…that’s not Trigon. I’m not liking this so far. I’ll give it the current arc, unless the next issue extremely pisses me off.
Birds of Prey - unlike the All-New Atom, this title has retained my interest since Simone left. seems a little early on, though, for one of what are apparently Morrison’s Fifth World New Gods to get gacked
JSA - looks like they’re going with Lance where everyone guessed they would. nice to see Obsidian and Sandman actually doing stuff, too. Johns is doing a really good job handling such a large team, too, which makes me hopeful for the upcoming LSH x 3 storyline out of Superman.
Countdown to Mystery - this has been almost the only Countdown-related book I’ve enjoyed (this, and half the space tie-in). the alternate endings were interesting enough that I’d’ve liked to have seen longer treatments of each; they were too rushed to their conclusions. none of 'em read with the same mood and themes that the storyline had, but they were nice tributes nonetheless.
Can someone explain what in the name of Jebus Wally and Linda West are thinking by letting their kids tag along when Wally is doing his thing as the Flash? They want their kids to experience all of life that they can? What kind of dim-witted, moronic, fer Christ sakes someone call CSD right now kind of parental decision is that? “Hey kids–lets go take on a supervillian who would like nothing more than to kill me–this ought to be a great experience for you”
Didn’t dealing with Zoom teach Wally anything? All Zoom wanted was to see Wally suffer as much as possible. I’m pretty sure that there are probably a few more members of the Rouge’s Gallery who could pick up on the same idea pretty fast. “Oh by the way, I’ve just killed your daughter, and your son doesen’t look too good after that little bath in liquid nitrogen and then the boxing lesson”
Do they really want their kids to see Wally get stomped or maybe even killed as part of their “life experience?”
Never mind if the kids have powers of their own, they havent been trained to deal with supervillians. I hope to god this is some kind of “what if” or Mind control run, because otherwise someone needs to tap into the speed force and get those kids put with someone who has some brains–pronto.
Okay it’s not new by any definition but I picked it up this week and I’ve got to comment:
I am completely baffled by the orbital mechanics of the Marvel earth’s moon as presented in Essential Werewolf By Night vol. 1. Even if we accept that there’s enough reflected light to trigger the werewolf change for three nights in a row it doesn’t explain how they have a solid week of full moons at one point in the series.
Ah! I hadn’t noticed that they’d fixed the captions in the Tangent mini. Excellent!
GM has said that one of the things he wanted to change about the New Gods is to portray them as actual GODS, the physical forms that interact with regular people (‘regular’, of course, being relative) being nothing but avatars. So, assuming, of course, that these are Fifth World Gods (rather than echoes of the Fourth - the fact that they first showed up before Infinite Crisis doesn’t really say anything on that note), Stompa didn’t buy it - she can’t be killed, properly, on the physical plane. A body was removed from play, but it’s trivial to bring Stompa in again, if the writer desires. Compare Boss Dark Side to the portrayal of Darkseid in the sketchbook for evidence.
Thos books is simply one of the best out there by Marvel, in my opinon. Every issue has been a joy. I keep telling myself to wait for trades, but I just can’t do it. 
New Checkmate was sadly disappointing. With Rucka gone, I don’t think I’ll be picking this up again for awhile, and this issue hardly had any of the characters in it at all. :rolleyes:
New Robin was good as usual. Dixon neatly solved a sore spot of Batman fans by explaining why there’s no memorial for Stephanie in the Batcave, mainly because she’s not dead.
Explaining why there’s Spoiler?
Dynamo 5. Big reveal from last week proves that, yes, Captain Dynamo was a player.
Dreamwar #2: Okaaay. DC Heroes killing Wildstorm. Yeaah. DC is totally out of character, it’s just the bodies, not the personalities.
Herc: Athena’s title is ‘Grey-Eyed Athena.’
Brave and the Bold: Awesome. Jay Garrick and Batman. And Jay is perfectly on character.
Someone on another community posited a theory that I’m :smack: I didn’t think of myself, which explains this, the title, and the other strangeness.
Spoilers for both issues of Dreamwar, so far.
[spoiler]They’re not real. This Chimera person that’s mentioned a few times is a Post-Human/Meta/SPB/take your pick of terms…point is, he’s super-powered. With the ability to summon up the subject of his dreams.
He’s also, apparently, a geek, and fond of DC comics - mostly older ones: that’s the Happy Harbour or Satellite Era League, the New Teen Titans, and the 60s Legion - and, clearly, not a fan of the local Post-Humans. Seems to have bought into the anti-Post-Human paranoia that shows in a few Wildstorm books, so he’s dreamt up his idea of good heroes - the DC heroes of the 60s through the early 80s - to bring them low.
On the other hand, I’m not sure the DC characters are going for lethality - although they aren’t really in character, either - only Brainiac 5 and Timber Wolf have said anything that suggested it, and it bothered Bouncing Boy. I think the only actual death, so far, is Ollie…which, again, argues for it not being real, since we know Ollie lives on beyond this.[/spoiler]
Oh, it’s certainly a dream and Chimera / Chimera Kid is clearly the cause of it all. But… meh. First issue was interesting. This one isn’t.
Well, no, why she’s alive when she was supposed to be a corpse.
I just wanted to butt in to say that this is the greatest thing I’ve read in weeks.
Why she’s Spoiler?