Well, the Last Rites issue of Batman this week pretty much cleared up my lingering questions about RIP and Final Crisis.
This was a light week for me. I’ve got nuttin’ except to say that the pacing in Trinity is slower and more boring than ever. Argh!
Really? I’m solidly digging Trinity.
You have seen how several posters have complained about its ponderous pace, right?
Count me in the “Good LORD, let’s get the story MOVING again, dammit!” camp with Trinity. This stopover on Earth-Trinity has gone on for more than half the book so far and A) if they’re trying to do a “It’s a Wonderful Life” bit showing how horrible things are without the Supes/Bats/Wondy*, Busiek has failed utterly–Earth-Trinity isn’t all that bad**. B) The book is supposed to be about Supes/Bats/Wondy–shouldn’t they be IN the issues?
For me, the other problem is that having two half-stories doesn’t feel satisfying. It’s like having HALF a Chinese food dinner–you’re hungry 30 minutes later. It’s not that one issue of two half-stories can’t be good–Strange Tales with a short Dr. Strange and a S.H.I.E.L.D story per issue was fantastic. But this just isn’t working for me.
I still don’t get what’s going on in BATMAN. Was the whole “Dr. Hurt” thing a mind game of Mokkari and Symian? Or did it happen? Or what?
more later
*Byrne sez it’s disrespectful to use nicknames for characters. So it’s imperative we all do.–for laffs, be sure to read the follow-up comments where Byrne demonstrates the respect he shows for his fans
**But then, I’m ok with Zatanna lobotomizing criminals or the government sending all the bad-guys to Deathworld, etc (on Earth-DC! The real world is another story–we don’t have the kind of literal revolving door prisons that Earth-DC does–remember Arkham only holds the Joker as long as he feels like being held–and he’s killed upwards of 3000 people) so the idea that the JSI is a little bit tougher on bad-guys? Not a prob. for me.
By the way, Willingham (yay) and Sturges (boo!) are taking over JSA.
What’s this thing where good writers are teaming up with mediocre ones? Willingham/Sturges, Busiek/Nicezia…?
Hah! My reaction was exactly the opposite. Every superhero thing Willingham touches turns to shit, whereas Sturges had a decent little fill-in on Blue Beetle.
Batman RIP :
All the stuff in Batman happened, Batman didn’t die, then he got called in to deal with Orion’s murder.
I keep missing the Final Crisis tie-ins! First The Kingdom, now Rage of the Red Lanterns. grrr.
God, yes, Trinity needs to get moving. With it split into two stories per issue, it has fallen into recapping for several pages, then a little bit of plot development padded out by random events elsewhere, followed by a “shocking reveal” on the last page – one that usually has been foreshadowed for several issues already.
I’m really liking the portrayal of Kara in Maelstrom, somewhat more than in New Krypton. Although the latter is an improvement over what had come before in her own title, of course.