Looks like folks are still away for the holidays so I’ll get things started.
Detective Comics #827: Wonderful. When the Ventriloquist got knocked off in Robinson’s OYL debut, I was commiserating on the loss of my favorite minor baddie on another board with another poster I eventually noted that it was easy enough to bring Scarface back, he’s the attraction after all, not Wesker. I even said that I’d have the new Ventriloquist be better at it, and drop the G’s for B’s, which I’ve always found annoying. The other person suggested making the new one a woman. Looks like we both got our wish. Anyway, I’m loving it. Scarface is a favorite, but the only time I’ve seen him taken at all seriously is in the Animated Series. Makes sense then that Dini would be the one to bring him back and make him proud. I especially love the twisted dynamic of this relationship.
Astonishing X-Men #19: I’m of the opinion that when the X-Men deal with aliens and the like, they fall away from the core concepts that make the team work. That said, the plotting and character work here is very strong.
52 Week Thirty-Four: Still going strong. I like that Waller is stealing a play directly from Brother Eye (although Brother I never meant for WW to kill anyone), and Luthor’s increasing bitterness. Even without Superman to kick him around, he’s still a miserable SOB.
The Flash the Fastest Man Alive #7: Oh ick. And it was going so strongly too. LA? Kadabra as a petty crook? Come on guys.
**Blue Beetle #10: ** This is just good fun. Killer monkeys, misunderstandings leading to fights between heroes, Jaime using the armor creatively instead of having it do all the work. Good stuff.
Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #25: Wait, Ultra-Boy is among the Legionnaires most likely to play along? Really? I did like Brainy’s insane scheme for shutting down the shields.
Batman #661: All filler, plus Grotesk turns out to be the most obvious suspect anyway. Not great.
Superman/Batman #31: Ick. Just, ick. There’s reaching back into the past of the characters for ideas to mine, and then there’s just wanking to the stuff only the most hardcore fans would even recognize. When Zook and Ultra the Multi-Alien appear as anything other than a background character, it’s the latter. Really guys, Zook?
Justice #9: Oh, now I get it. This is a toy commercial. They’re going to try and sell me those armors in action figures, aren’t they?
Justice League of America #5: It’s so full of good ideas, but so poorly executed. I like everything in here, but the pacing is so awful. There’s also a really poor bit of logic here: A superhero’s wife was killed by another superhero’s ex-wife using super-weapons. Solution: give all the wives super-weapons. Not that a ridiculously powered blaster would have saved Sue anyway, given her mode of death. But it’s forgivable, since I’ve seen many people IRL try to use this or similar reasoning.
What’s happening in the latest?