A solid DC week for me - counting Vertigo as DC, I didn’t buy a thing from any other company.
Final Crisis : Superman Beyond - It’s Superman meets the Invisibles? Uhh… okay, Grant.
DC Universe : Last Will and Testament - skipped it. Meltzer’s a hack.
Final Crisis : Rogues Revenge - I love what they’re doing here.
Legion - Still loving what Shooter’s doing.
I don’t like Meltzer either, but I actually liked this one. That opinion might change on subsequent readings, I’ll admit.
So does GF live?
I don’t see anything from Invisibles in this. Plenty of Animal Man - and JLA: Earth-2 - though.
Rogues’ Revenge was brutal fun. I kind of wish they hadn’t killed Chill…I liked his design, though the rest of the New Rogues kind of suck, but it worked here. The Rogues seriously rock.
JSA - I can see how Sandman’s peaceful sleep can backfire…I’m having a hard time figuring out how Damage’s face getting fixed can turn out to be a mixed blessing. Not that I think Gog is doing this deliberately - he’s clearly good intentioned but clueless.
More:
Family Dynamic - I’m so happy to see this…I was looking forward to it when Torres first announced he was doing it, then…forgot about it when it never showed up. It was as much fun as expected. Just too bad it’s not in the DCU…we need more Canadian superheroes. And the Family Dynamic are cool, even if they’re an awful lot like the Incredibles or Fantastic Four.
Last Will and Testament - That wasn’t how I expected the Geo-Force vs Slade showdown to go. Pretty awesome, though. The rest of the story doesn’t hang together as well - one panel, everyone seems to be ‘we’re all dead, no point doing anything else’, the next they’re talking about fighting…whatever’s happening. Some nice character moments with Grace and Clark, though.
Blue Beetle - Pure. Love. Paco’s family is awesome, just like Jaime’s. And the Scarab’s explanations of the various options of dealing with the baddies were brilliant - Theological Implications, indeed - though Jaime’s plan once he discarded the Scarab’s ideas was awesome too.
Runaways - My first Runaways issue, ever, so I’m not entirely sure who all these people are, though wikipedia helped. But I’m lost on 2 notes - none of the relevant articles note why these aliens are after Karolina - is this something that carried over from the last series, or are existing readers as lost.
Reign in Hell - Still great. It’s funny, though, how everybody seems to love using the Shadowpact, but never actually want to stick to their continuity - everything from their title after Nightmaster left has been ignored…not that I’m too upset to see Blue Devil as he is, though. For the Dr Occult backup story…since when is Yellow Peri in hell? She was last seen - alive - in 52 (and Giffen should know that, since he laid out the scene!), and, if that’s going to be ignored, she should be in Limbo in Superman Beyond, if anything.
Yes. He slits his own throat, but he lives. So does Slade, despite Brion skewering him with his own sword.
:smack: OK, I just realized I forgot my SECOND lost point…
Klara’s article suggests she’s not fond of Xavin - both the fact that Xavin’s female form is in a lesbian relationship with Karolina, and that his/her human forms are black…here, she seems to really like Xavin - was she shown getting used to him/her, or is this a sudden shift?
And a book I forgot to mention in my last post…
Legion - It’s Legion, so I’m invested, but, damn, I have yet to see a single issue of any non-anthology book that was nearly as uneven.
Brainy’s characterization? Perfect. The main story with him saving the day? Majorly awesome.
M’rissey? Pretty fun, actually.
The Jo/Imra thing…conceptually just fine - DnA did it well in Legion Lost, and it harkens back to the brief pre-ZH relationship between Saturn Girl and Timber Wolf. But it’s part of where the things fall apart…
Imra’s characterization when he’s hitting on her? Inexplicable. Since when does she think she’s ‘dumpy’?
Worse is Atom Girl’s characterization…she goes from the perfectly in-character smacking the hell out of something to get her frustrations out, then collapses into Gim’s arms and sobs. SOBS. Atom Girl does not sob - Shrinking Violet, I could see, especially the post-ZH version, or pre-Gap, but Atom Girl? No way. Then shrinking off in a snit like that? Worse, still.,
And Projectra’s existing snobbiness has been increased to contemptible levels.
Ambush Bug #2 - last ish wasn’t so much a problem, but this one? is a hot mess. it read like a bunch of Ambush Bug vignettes with almost no connectivity.
Trinity #13 - finally, Superman acts like every fanboy thinks he should. and it is pretty good, actually. also, nice to see Ryan Choi; hopefully this is a hint that the disastrous end of the All-New Atom may end up retconned. (if not: let me dream). however, Hawkman’s “Hawk, SMASH!” routine is getting very very old.
Last Will & Testament - occasional good bits (e.g., Rocky the confessor), occasional bad art (e.g., Starfire), but as Geo-Force interests me not at all the whole thing fell kind of flat for me.
Superman Beyond 3D - I forgot this was Morrison… until a few pages in, which I had a “d’oh!” moment. but the 3D crap was just annoying.
Superman #679 - like that he’s bringing in Clark’s supporting cast – Kara and Krypto – but the characterization of Lois and Jimmy is just annoying, and Atlas here is comparing poorly with the one that showed up in All-Star.
Blue Beetle #30 - fun and clever, and the Scarab itself is one of the better supporting cast now (and this book has a great supporting cast).
Legion of Super Heroes #45 - not as meh as the last ish, but still meh. at least they are moving the story on, but M’rissy is still annoying (Braniac 5 is standing right there, and he couldn’t’ve thought of that?!?). the characterization of everyone else is all over the map, though. Garth is back to being oblivious-competent, but Irma, Atom Girl, and Projectra are still off, and Brainy is now throwing petulant tantrums blaming his teammates.
Legion of Three Worlds - this, on the other hand, was enjoyable, and managed to convey continuity as to characterizations, even when the characters were only in a few panels. also, kind of happy to see some of the other LSH characters in the two splash panels… even though they probably won’t show up in successive issues.
JSA #18 - I’m actually liking the pace this is moving at, although I’d’ve liked more PG storyline. Gog’s gifts are starting to unravel, as anticipated, and nice to see some of the add-on characters getting some focus. the Judomaster stretching buttshot was not really needed, though. and there’s plenty of “Hawk, SMASH!” here, too.
Two points.
One, M’rissey has intelligence at manipulating people and playing the system - Brainy can do it, but his detachment from emotion means it’s not as easy for him. Social genius vs. academic genius.
Two, Brainy does display social genius… in the scene you’re complaining about. He didn’t throw a petulant tantrum - he staged one. Check out the smirk as he’s putting the helmet back on.