By Kenny Cooper

Comics are, by its nature, a visual medium. The big difference between it and the other popular media of the day (film, TV, literature, audio, etc.) is the use of the sequential static image. In the 90’s, the artist became such a large figure that the writer became superseded by the artist, leading to a dark period in comics where every story was all style and no substance. Later in the 2000’s, the writer reemerged as the primary focus of it all. In actuality, to separate the two as unrelated forces in the medium is a mistake. A good comic writer serves the strengths of his artist while the artist serves the needs of the writer’s script. It is a conjoining of writer and artist that creates literary magic in graphic form. For a layman, good comic writing is a bit easier to identify than a truly good artist. When starting comics, what looks “cool” like the art of Michael Turner or Greg Land tends rule over all else with seemingly outdated or simplistically designed art like that of Darwyn Cooke or Jack Kirby tend to be pushed aside. Once one reads comics for awhile, subtle techniques and practices show up to confirm an artist’s quality. I hope to show a few examples, both good and bad, in hopes that it will illuminate your palate as potential comic readers. All the examples just so happen to be superhero comics, mostly because they tend to be the genre where good and bad art stand out (which might be a factor on why they dominate the medium.)

FLOW/PACING– The truest sign of a great artist is his ability to tell the story through the art. This is often helped by flow and pace. A good comic book, even in action pieces, shouldn’t just be a string of action poses taped together but cogs in a machine of movement. Clarity of movement is key; if the reader can’t connect the dots between how panel A led to panel B, it’s a problem.

GOOD EXAMPLE– BATMAN & ROBIN #2 BY FRANK QUITELY

This double page spread (seen at full size here) has become for me a very apt example of great flow and pace. Everything you need to know about this fight is right there on the page. He flies over the table, lands, 1-2 punch, block, jump kick, and it’s over. Note in particular the top tier of the page. It’s almost as if Batman is just flowing through each panel on his own rather a bunch of static images. The way Quitely uses the cape to direct dynamic images, from expanding to contracting to expanding again, is beautiful in both detail and simplicity. The panels themselves are shifted in a way to point Batman’s movement the entire time. Every piece of this page is there out of necessity, not one extraneous panel is present. It all forms a large flowing fight scene brimming with energy and movement. It’s possibly the most masterfully created comic page of the last year.

BAD EXAMPLE– BATMAN & ROBIN #5 BY PHILIP TAN

After Quitely’s story arc wrapped, he was replaced by Philip Tan who is unfortunately not as skilled as Quitely. This action piece (seen in full here) is a bit of a mess. The scene is that lethal vigilantes Red Hood and Scarlet are attempting to kill a criminal in the hospital when Batman and Robin break in to fight them. The beginning is fine if a little cluttered but the storytelling begins to break down between the panels. It’s somewhat unclear what exactly is going on in that second panel. Presumably, Robin is raining blows down on Scarlet by indication of those little “explosions” but it takes a bit to realize what’s happening. In that time the reader is taking to figure out the action, pace is breaking down and pulling the reader out of the story. It’s also confusing to trace the continuity between the third and fourth panels. How did Scarlet go from getting kicked across the room then back to her as she tases Robin in the neck? In contrast to the Quitely scene, this one gets bogged down in confusing flow and unclear action and the last thing you want in your action scene is to get bogged down.

PERSPECTIVE AND WEIGHT– Knowing how to use perspective is a lot of like great cinematography; it’ll bring energy to your story, making an okay story, good and a good one, great. This also ties into giving your characters weight and force so people feel what you putting on the page in a dynamic way. On the other hand, if you can’t figure perspective, you’ll be laughed and shunned out of the business.

GOOD EXAMPLE–IRON MAN: ENTER THE MANDARIN #2 BY ERIC CANETE

This series (and this image) is probably the best example of this I can find. Eric Canete’s art pretty much validates the entirety of this series, which is very retro and reminiscent of the 60’s. Canete rarely uses a straightforward shot on the two, opting for skewered angles whenever he can to denote intensity. The way he foreshortens Iron Man’s body to such a degree on that wind-up is amazing, as if the character is about to punch the reader. His use of the characters’ weight is probably his greatest weapon. How the Mandarin reacts both to Iron Man’s chest beam and punch is so effective that you can tell this isn’t some mere slap fight; it’s an epic battle for the ages.

BAD EXAMPLE– PROMOTIONAL ART FOR HEROES REBORN: CAPTAIN AMERICA BY ROB LIEFELD

If you can’t figure out perspective correctly, this is what will happen. I give you Rob Liefeld, comics’ version of Uwe Boll and Heroes Reborn: Captain America, comics’ version of Alone in the Dark. If you can’t take the time to make perspective work for you on even a basic level, you’ll end up a comic book pariah. It won’t matter that you co-founded the third biggest comic company ever and helped strike a blow for creators’ rights in the mainstream. You’ll just be known for giving Captain America man boobs.

FACIAL RANGE– Even the most skilled of artist can fall into the problem of character monotony. It’s important that you have enough range in your character’s faces and bodies that it doesn’t become a guessing game of who’s who outside the masks. Also, if your characters’ only emotion tends to be “restrained constipation,” your book is going to have trouble.

GOOD EXAMPLE– NEW TEEN TITANS #39 BY GEORGE PEREZ

George Perez was and continues to be a master of the comic book craft with some of his best occurring in his run on Teen Titans. During his run, he broke out of the problem of drawing every character as basically the same. The problem is especially apparent when artists draw women; usually drawing the same character with different clothes and hair color. Perez manages to make all of his women their own form. Wonder Girl became very tone and athletic as would be expected from an Amazon. Raven would become very slender and almost sunken in to signify her internal conflict (she was the daughter of a demon that eventually took over her mind). Starfire became very shapely and round to symbolize her very passionate nature. Terra was very slim and under grown to state her very youthful nature. The men underwent changes too, Cyborg being very burly with Beast Boy being very small and impish. His use of faces were incredible as well, seen here as ranging from surprise to concern to outright sadness. Under a master like Perez, a book could doubly convey the emotion of a scene and draw the reader right in. It’s how Perez still manages to grab jobs on top books like Infinite Crisis nearly thirty years later.

BAD EXAMPLE– JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7 BY ED BENES

Ed Benes fits into a school of artwork shared by Jim Lee, the late Michael Turner, Marc Silvestri, and Whice Portacio that tends to favor poses and muscles over range and storytelling. Benes, who draws the foreground here, tends to be the biggest offender these days. Note how every male and female each are pretty the same character with different costumes. Every male is a standard body builder with the same nose, mouth, and everything. Black Canary and Wonder Woman are the same person with wigs and costumes to tell them apart. This becomes especially a problem when he’d later draw characters like the wheelchair bound middle aged Niles Caulder who absolutely has no right to look like Batman with a Hemingway beard.

LAYOUTS– Layouts are a good way to experiment with the medium given they don’t really exist in any other medium. A layout is admittedly hard to screw up; the most basic and simplistic of them all, a 3×3 panel grid, works just fine in classic stories (Fell, Watchmen, etc). However, if a good artist decides to play around a little bit with the form, the results can be very exciting and awe-inspiring. It can also go horribly awry.

GOOD EXAMPLE– DETECTIVE COMICS #857 BY J.H. WILLIAMS

J.H. Williams might very well be the best comic book artist out today. His recent run on Detective Comics has been heralded across board and a page like this. Note how the layout of the page also transforms the page itself. It’s no longer a bunch of panels on a flat surface. It’s become a window into another world with tiny other windows hanging in different areas of space throughout. I don’t even think Alan Moore had the idea of “Hey, let’s stagger the pages out to give a sense of three dimensions. If Williams doesn’t get an Eisner for this, I don’t know who will.

BAD EXAMPLE– WEDNESDAY COMICS #10 BY BEN CALDWELL

Wednesday Comics was a fantastic experiment by DC, a series of weekly comic strips that ran for 12 weeks. While most of the strips were a smashing success, one in particular tended to be maligned: Ben Caldwell’s Wonder Woman strip. It wasn’t that Caldwell’s actual art was per se. It was just that the layouts were just so overly complicated and crammed that readers couldn’t get interested. The direction of the panels become too confusing to follow and story coherence begins to fall apart.

This concludes my little spiel on comic book art. I hope you were entertained and maybe learned a little something as well. Maybe next time you’re with friends, you can wow them by pointing out all your new-fangled knowledge of the funny books. Or they might laugh at you and call you a nerd. It’s really a coin toss.

Sources:

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Quite a week for the folks at DC.  Following their already announced “Earth One” original graphic novels, DC is now preparing to launch not one, but two, bi-weekly series.  Justice League: Generation Lost by Justice League international scribe Keith Giffen and (cough) cohort Judd Winnick.  For the record, I have not enjoyed a single book that Winnick has written for Marvel’s Distinguished Competition.  Still, a return to the JLI by one of its primary creators seems reason enough to at least check this book out.

The second series, entitled Brightest Day, appears to be a continuity heavy book set to help define DC’s new post “Final Crisis: The Blackest Night” Universe.  Other new projects appear to be coming out en masse under the “Brightest Day” umbrella.  These include Gail Simone returning to her beloved comic icon, Birds of Prey, alongside former art partner Ed Benes.  This will make the second or third book Gail will pen, depending on what rumors you believe.  Currently, Gail’s other main art squeeze, Nicola Scott, is taking a break from the pairs landmark Secret Six series to handle art chores on a sagging Wonder Woman book.  However, the grist of the rumor-mill is that DC may be handing the reins of the Amazon princess to Grant Morrison following Grant’s work on the “Return of Bruce Wayne” project.  I’m not sure how to feel about that one as I have barely enjoyed Grant on Batman and thought his Final Crisis was the headstone of THE SINGLE WORST COMIC RUN in history, capping as it did the God awful Countdown to Final Crisis, followed by the eulogy series entitled Final Crisis: Aftermath. 

With luck, Gail and Nicola will still be on Secret 6 when the smoke clears.

Also under the Brightest Day umbrella appears to a new revamped “Titans” book headlined by Deathstroke the Terminator.  The series, already referred to as some as “Suicide Squad 2″ and “Villains for Hire” is not high on my list of the week’s announcements.

Geoff John’s Flash relaunch with Francis Manupal is another Brightest Day book and there still seems to be wiggle room that the Flash franchise will be getting a second book  à la “Green Lantern Corps” that will feature characters like Bart Allen, Wally West, Jay Garrick and Jesse Quick, among others.

On Thursday, DC released news that in addition to his writing Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics, veteran LOSH scribe Paul Levitz will be helming an all new Legion of Super-heroes #1.  Although the artist’s name is largely unknown to me, preliminary sketches are quite good.  What the future will hold for Adventure will be a topic of some interest.  WIll Tales of the Legion still be in the book following the new series launch?  Will Superboy return to his headlining status, along with his renewed membership in the Teen Titans?  Or will Adventure return to its classic roots as an anthology series, possibly featuring beloved oldies but goodies like Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, or Firestorm?  Stay tuned.

Marvel on Wednesday announced their latest “classy” marketing strategy, asking retailers who purchased the DC “power ring” tie-in books (which have sold old in most places) to send in the covers of those books.  In order to qualify for this offer you have to send in 50 covers to get an exclusive “Deadpool variant” to a future issue of Siege.  As a comic book retailer, I can say that if you have 50 issues of these books lying around, you might want to brush up on your salesmanship.  First prints are rare and the coverless books will useless for anything other than being fodder for the .25 or .50 cent bin.  Something I believe Marvel is hoping for.

Additionally, Marvel is relaunching its kid friendly “Marvel Adventure” line with over-sized first issues at the less-than-kid-friendly price of $3.99.   There’s even a variant cover to Marvel Super-heroes starring Iron Man #1.  Likely meaning retailers would need to buy at least ten copies of the book for every variant they want.  What a lesson in how to open the market up for young readers, Marvel.  A BIG thumbs down.

Are you reading Oni Press’ “Stumptown” or Terry Moore’s “Echo” by Abstract Press?  If not, do yourselves a favor and give them a try.  Stumptown is a four-issue hard-boiled Detective series by acclaimed comic writer Greg Rucka (Gotham Central, the Question).  Comparable to such cult favorites as “Scalped” and “Criminal” it features gritty but alluring art and a deep style of story-telling.

Deep story telling is also the order of the day on Echo, last heard to be a 30 issue series, which means it just passed the halfway point.  With characters every bit as lovable and deep as those in his classic “Strangers in Paradise”, “Echo” is also a thinking person’s comic and has a certain appeal for those who love science fiction and the occasional costume adventurer.  The first 15 issues are already out in 3 easy to order trade paperbacks, so ask your local retailer about them if you want to experience some true comic goodness.

     As the epic Blackest Night continues to ravage the DC Universe, the War of Light goes on in the pages of Green Lantern.  During the fighting between the Sinestro Corps and the Star Sapphires on Zamaron,  Sinestro’s lost love is revealed to be Arin Sur, Abin Sur’s sister.  Across the cosmos, at Ysmault where the lost Lanterns attempt to retrieve Laira’s body, on Odym, where the Blue Lantern Corps and Agent Orange’s constructs do battle, and on Okaara, where Orange watches the battle, Black Lanterns arise to take their revenge.  Indigo-1 brings Hal Jordan to Zamaron, and they support Sinestro and Carol Ferris.  The two lovers who power the Star Sapphire battery are revealed to be Khufu and Chay-Ara, and they are revived as Black Lanterns as well.  For the sake of defeating the Black Lantern Corps, Sinestro, Carol Ferris, Indigo-1, and Hal make an uneasy alliance, and they travel to Korugar, where Sinestro defeats Mongul and retakes his corps.  Abin and Arin Sur arise as Black Lanterns as Atrocitus’ former comrades from the Empire of Tears tear out his heart.  However, the Red Lantern Corps’ hearts are replaced by their rings, so he survives and continues fighting.  Abin and Arin Sur are defeated, and the multi-colored corps group recruits Saint Walker as Larfleeze finds himself in dire straits.  As his former Orange Lanterns arise to kill him, Atrocitus arrives to steal his lantern.  The Lantern leaders rescue both Atrocitus and Larfleeze and manage to recruit them as well.  Atrocitus reveals that his family and his whole life was destroyed by the Manhunters, and that is why he feels rage, and Indigo-1 states that Abin Sur was once her savior.  Sayd states that she will be Larfleeze’s Guardian to secure his allegience, thus forming the New Guardians, composed of the banner-carriers of the seven corps, Ganthet, and Sayd.  On Xanshi, John Stewart faces all its residents, all of whom are angry with him for causing their deaths.  He also faces Katma Tui as a Black Lantern, who reveals John’s past, when he lost his close friend in the army and killed the scavengers who tried to loot his corpse.  John rallies himself and escapes the planet, but he notices that Xanshi is moving and almost at Earth.  Then, inside one of the Black Lanterns’ rings, Jean Loring reveals to Mera and Atom (Ray Palmer) that Nekron, the leader of the Black Lantern Corps, is trying to revert things to the way they used to be, without life or the light of life, and bring the world peace once more.

     Whew!  Crazy, huh?  This is the culmination of Geoff Johns’ plots ever since he revitalized Green Lantern with Green Lantern: Rebirth, and it’s quite amazing.  Each of the members of the New Guardians faces some of their problems in these issues, especially Sinestro and Atrocitus, and both of their trials really help flesh them out as characters.  The dimension of Sinestro having loved Abin Sur’s sister is particularly interesting, and Atrocitus’ story helps make him seem far like less of a raving monster of a villain.  Of course, now he has no heart, which is more monstrous, but that’s not important.  John Stewart’s little developments are also good, since he’s had the least character development of the four major human Green Lanterns in recent years.  It really helps contrast his personality with the other three as well.  I really like the idea of Nekron trying to return the universe to what he believes is its natural state, a state of a lack of life, as it’s giving a driving motivation to the concept of death.  Although some people complain that giving him this is like giving him emotions (and therefore creating a contradiction with the idea of the light of life contrasted with death), I think it makes him more interesting as a fundamental force of the universe.  I see it as more of the fundamental duty of death rather than his emotions/personal feelings.  Doug Mahnke’s art is absolutely superb in these issues, and he’s particularly good with characters who look more crazy, like all the Black Lanterns and Atrocitus.  I also really like his take on Mongul, which makes him even more massive and menacing than Patrick Gleason did.  Ed Benes’ art in the John Stewart issue is good, but it seems a lot more static than Doug Mahnke’s work, like every panel is supposed to be a poster or something.  Marcos Marz’s little section for John’s past is fine, but rather unnecessary, as Benes or someone else could have easily done it.  And Jerry Ordway’s art is… well, the same as ever.  Everyone has a tendency to look a bit older than they are.  At any rate, I love Blackest Night, and I’m loving these tie-ins.  These stories really remind us that a massive dimension of this whole plot is in the Green Lantern books, and it reminds me why Geoff Johns is probably my favorite comic book writer ever.

Plot: 9.5      Art: 9.3      Dialogue: 9.5      Overall: 9.4

The Source announced today Black Canary will get her old team back in 2010. Birds of Prey will be relaunched as part of DC’s Brightest Day “event.” This book not only brings Black Canary, Oracle, Huntress, and Lady Blackhawk back together but it also reunites writer Gail Simone with artist Ed Benes. Plus this book frequently  guest started JSA related characters like Wildcat, Manhunter and even the first appearance of the new Judomaster. By the way, does anyone know if Gail created that character of if it is attributed to Geoff Johns and Alex Ross?

This is exciting news. Though recently I really haven’t been a fan of Ed Benes work I always enjoyed him on Birds. He just seems to fit there. Plus Gail Simone’s original run of Birds of Prey was lengthy and tremendously enjoyable. She goes into more detail about her return here.

In other Black Canary news it looks like she will be playing a decently large role in the upcoming Green Arrow/Arsenal event. You can read more about that even with writer J.T. Krul here.

Great, great, great news.

I’ve missed the book a great deal following Gail’s departure (and it’s subsequent cancellation) and thought that Gail accomplished some of her best work, alongside the Secret Six, on Birds of Prey. Collectively, this group contains my favorite DC heroines (from Dinah, to Babs, to Helena and Zinda) and I loved reading it each month with Simone and Benes at the helm as much as I did with the great Chuck Dixon writing it.

So, yea, I’m more than on board and congratulate Gail and Ed on the opportunity to return to BoP!

Okay, so over the holidays I fell behind on my Blackest Night reviews. I’m sorry. I’m so… so sorry. Please forgive me.

Sniff.

Okay, now that that’s done, let’s talk about some comics! First, as promised, let me link you to my Comixtreme.com review of Superman/Batman #67. (I’m not going to duplicate full reviews from there over here, but I will point you in that direction.) Then, I’ll go through the rest of the tie-ins to the event of the year in the order in which they came out. There’s a lot of ‘em here, so let’s get started!

Outsiders #25: Terra confronts her brother, begging him for help. She begs him to kill her, ending her existence as a Black Lantern… but is she being genuine, or is this just another example of Black Lanterns pulling the emotional strings of the living? Katana, meanwhile, faces her late husband, while Creeper does the surprise team-up thing with captive Killer Croc. As I’ve come to expect, Tomasi does a really good job nailing the emotions of each character. He sells us on each of them, working in great stuff for the Outsiders who are forced to face a dead love one, and having fun with those who don’t. Halo gets some very nice moments in this issue, and the Creeper/Croc team-up is a blast. I almost wish Croc was joining the cast of the book. We also get a feel for how the original members are somewhat divorced from the “newcomers” (namely Creeper and Owlman). The dynamic is interesting. Fernando Pasarin and Derec Donovan are the artists this month, and while both of them are good artists, their styles are really quite different. If you’re going to shift artists in one story, you need to get two artists whose styles mesh, and that’s not the case here. I’m sorry to see Tomasi leaving this book, but he had a good run.

Rating: 7/10

Justice League of America #40: In part two of “Reunion,” we watch as the remnants of the Detroit-era Justice League do battle with their less-fortunate teammates, and Gypsy and Vixen find no love lost with the dead Steel and Vibe. Zatanna continues her battle with her dead father, Red Tornado is out and Plastic Man can barely hold it together. James Robinson has a nice feel for these different characters, and even though most of them aren’t going to carry over to his regular JLA team, he makes them feel like significant, important characters, and that this is a story worth telling. The highlight of this issue, however, is the battle between Dr. Light and her late villain counterpart. Between this book and Superman, Robinson is doing really interesting stuff with Dr. Light, stuff I haven’t seen before. This is some of the best screen time the character has ever gotten, and I’m really glad she’s made the cut on the regular team. Mark Bagley has always been a fan favorite artist, but I must admit, all of his characters seem to look really young. Not a problem during his days on New Warriors or Ultimate Spider-Man, but it’s been noticable in stuff like Trinity. Fortunately, most of the new team is going to be relatively young, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Really good issue.

Rating: 8/10

Green Lantern Corps #43: After the staggering events of last issue, I have to admit, this one was a bit of a letdown. (If you haven’t read issue #42 yet be warned, spoilers follow.) Last month we watched as Kyle Rayner sacrificed his life to save the main power battery on Oa from an invading army of Black Lanterns. This month, his lover Soranik Natu struggles desperately to bring him back. As Soranik — a doctor as well as a Green Lantern — works on Kyle, his partner Guy Gardner allows himself to succumb to his rage… Guy Gardner is now a Red Lantern. The Guy stuff here is handled really well. Peter Tomasi has done a nice job of selling Kyle and Guy as buddies, and I’ve got no problem at all seeing Guy go red with anger at Kyle’s death. My only real beef here comes in the bits with Soranik Natu. (I’m going to try very hard not to spoil this particular issue, but that won’t be easy.) Soranik’s efforts have an interesting result. Nothing happens here that I didn’t expect, but I didn’t expect it to happen quite so quickly, and I feel like there was a missed opportunity to tell an interesting story or two in the meantime. There, I think that did it. I still liked this issue, but not as much as I expected to.

Rating: 7/10

Blackest Night: JSA #1: The last Blackest Night spin-off miniseries starts here with the creative team of Blackest Night: Superman picking up the story they began there. The Justice Society is caught off-guard when several of its Golden Age members — the original Sandman, Dr. Mid-Nite and Mr. Terrific among others — rise from the dead and attack. Superman and Superboy, meanwhile, have brought the defeated Black Lantern Superman (of Earth-2) and Psycho-Pirate to the current Mr. Terrific to study and — hopefully — find a weakness. This issue takes place on the heels of Blackest Night #5, and it’s a nice way to shine a spotlight on these heroes in the midst of those events. While most of the zombie comparisons to these titles have been derisive, this is one of the few stories I’ve yet seen where the comparison is apt. Watching the still-living JSA members holed up in their headquarters, trying to stave off the swarm of Black Lanterns, has a definite Night of the Living Dead vibe to it, and I mean that as a compliment. James Robinson nails the mood of this piece, giving us a fantastic stand-off between the living and the dead. The plot threads carried over from Blackest Night: Superman are also solid. I don’t know if DC has really considered how these miniseries will be packaged in the inevitable trade paperback releases, but the two miniseries by Robinson and Eddy Barrows really should be collected together.

Rating: 8/10

Teen Titans #78: Why in the world has J.T. Krul not been given one of the Titans family books to write on an ongoing basis? I don’t even care which one. Between this two-parter and the previous Blackest Night: Titans miniseries, he’s shown a better grasp of these characters than any writer since Geoff Johns left. In fact, I’ll say this is one of the beast Deathstroke stories I have ever read. Ravager, last issue, hunted down her father with the intention of killing him. Instead, the two of them found themselves in an uneasy alliance, fighting for their lives against the Black Lanterns of their shared past. And just when things looked their worst, an unexpected ally arrived — Ravager’s brother and Deathstroke’s son, Jericho, who is looking in much better shape than he did the last time we saw him. The richness of the characters here is wonderful. Krul absolutely sells us on a genuine relationship between the father and children that makes sense and works perfectly in the context of the story. And while Deathstroke is still undeniably a bad guy (as he should be), this issue also manages to paint him as a father too, something that hasn’t been done very well since the days of Wolfman and Perez. There are a few things in this issue that make me believe there are plans in the works for Deathstroke, and in fact he’s supposedly joining the regular cast of the Titans series soon, but without Krul at the wheel, it’ll be hard to get me on board. He’s one of DC’s rising stars, and I’ll be anxiously watching where he goes next.

Rating: 9/10

Green Lantern #49: Since this event began, Geoff Johns has used the main Green Lantern title to basically tell the stories in-between issues of Blackest Night. This issue is no exception. While Hal Jordan has been assembling the “new Guardians” and Kyle and Guy are facing the dead of Oa, what’s been up with John Stewart? The fourth Green Lantern of Earth takes the spotlight this issue, as he has to face the dead of the planet Xanshi, a world he failed to save from destruction years ago. If that wasn’t bad enough, his dead wife Katma Tui is part of the assault. John is, in many ways, the Neglected Lantern these days. He had a bit more of a spotlight when he was on Justice League Unlimited, but he’s taken a back seat to Hal in the title they ostensibly share. This is a really good spotlight on John, and it comes not a moment too soon. What makes this issue more interesting, however, is the back-up story. In a “Tales From the Corps” story, we follow the Atom and Mera, who shrank down between the molecules of a Black Lantern ring. With the Black Lantern Jean Loring as their guide, the delve into the origins of Nekron himself, and find a valuable ally in the process — Deadman. This look back into the history of the Black Lanterns is pretty good, and even better is the fact that the always-welcome Jerry Ordway does the art. And when it’s over, it’s time to jump right into Blackest Night #6. So let’s shall we?

Rating: 8/10

Blackest Night #6: The only book that came out on December 30 is likely the book that would have been the best in any given week. Last issue, Nekron revealed that he’s been allowing people to “return” from the dead for years, setting them up as foot soldiers for this invasion. Now he’s turned the likes of Superman, Green Arrow, Superboy, Wonder Woman, and more into Black Lanterns, and the grand prize will be taking Hal Jordan and Barry Allen. As the two of them race for their lives — literally — Ganthet decides a little more firepower is needed for this battle to turn, and he begins a really interesting recruiting drive. The fanboy in me turned as giddy as a child on Christmas when I realized where this was going, and the final two-page spread had me as excited as I’ve been for a comic in a very long time. Beyond just the action figure potential of these pages, we’re seeing something that’s a hell of a lot of fun playing out against an intense backdrop. We’re seeing the restructuring of the Green Lantern Corps and DC’s cosmic side as a whole, we’re seeing characters like Ray Palmer and Mera (freaking Mera) raised to A-list status, and we’re getting it all under the prism of just beautiful art by Ivan Reis. Have I said I love this book? Because I’ll say it again. I. Love. This. Book.

Rating: 9/10

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2: Set between the pages of Blackest Night #6, this issue features Wonder Woman as a Black Lantern. As we’ve come to suspect, we see that the real person and the Black Lantern are separate entities, with one controlling the other. As Black Lantern Wonder Woman battles Wonder Girl and Mera, the “real” Wonder Woman, riding shotgun, struggles for freedom. The book also expands greatly upon the last few pages of Blackest Night #6, showing what happens to Wonder Woman there from a different perspective. In and of itself, the issue is fine. Greg Rucka is a good writer and knows Wonder Woman well. The art, by Nicola Scott and Eduardo Pansica, is very nice. Scott is one of DC’s greatest artistic assets right now, and they’d be insane not to try to get more high-profile work out of her. The issue here is that, unlike the other Blackest Night miniseries, this one doesn’t seem to be telling a solid story of its own. Instead, it seems to exist only to slip between the pages of the main event. That’s not quite enough for me. It’s not bad when it happens in a spin-off issue of an ongoing, especially one as tightly tied to the main book as Green Lantern is, but it seems a bit superfluous to create a miniseries expressly for that purpose. It will also make it a less satisfying read in collected edition later.

Rating: 6/10

Suicide Squad #67: There will be no issue of Blackest Night in January, which is very very sad, but that doesn’t mean the tie-ins will stop. In fact, DC is doing something pretty cool this month to come up with unique tie-ins. They’ve taken eight old series, books that have been canceled for years (or, in some cases, decades) and they’ve brought them back for one more issue. If the characters can come back from the dead, why not the titles, right? First up is Suicide Squad #67, written by Gail Simone and original series writer John Ostrander, with art by Jim Calafiore. As Simone is using former Squad member Deadshot to great effect in her Secret Six series, it only makes sense that this one-shot would tie in to that one. The Six and the Squad find themselves at odds when the Six are hired to break out a convicted drug dealer from the prison where the Squad is based. As the two teams face each other, the dead of the past begin to rise. This isn’t a bad issue, and it’s great as part of a crossover between the two teams, but the Blackest Night connection is actually pretty tenuous. It begins with one character rising from the dead, it ends with several more rising, but otherwise there’s no real connection. The story continues in next week’s Secret Six #17, so there’s more to come, but I can’t help but wish there was more here.

Rating: 7/10

Weird Western Tales #71: The next book brought back this month (and the last in this review-a-thon) is one of DC’s old-school western titles. The light-based hero called The Ray has managed to snare one of the Black Lantern rings, and he brings it to a facility in the west, near the mass graves of a slew of cowboys, soldiers, and Indians slain during the wild and wooly days of the DC Universe. The likes of Scalphunter, Super-Chief, Bat Lash, and the king of DC’s western tales himself, Jonah Hex, all rise to reclaim the ring. Honestly, I didn’t really have high expectations for this book — it seemed a bit more of a stunt than some of the other “dead” titles brought back here — but I was pleasantly surprised. DC’s executive editor, Dan Didio, has put together a story that is suitably creepy — in fact, this too has the hopeless horror movie feel of a great zombie flick — but he also managed to capture the flavor of a western in the process. That sort of combination isn’t easy. Renato Arlem’s artwork fits in nicely, and the result is a book that’s actually better than it should be.

Rating: 7/10

So that’s it, friends. I’m all caught up, and actually, I kind of like this format. I have no intention of letting another month go by with no reviews, but from now on, I may do a single weekly review post instead of separate ones for each title. Seems more efficient that way, doesn’t it?

By Geoff Johns (writer), Ed Benes & Marcos Marz (artists), Ed Benes & Luciana Del Negro (inkers

The Story: John Stewart guest stars in Hal’s book this month to single handedly take on the Black Lantern planet Xanshi.

The Good: Wow. I love, love, love it when a comic can get me to re-examine characters I thought I knew. It’s not that I never liked John Stewart, but I will admit it was always hard to view him as being anything other than Hal’s wingman. With this issue, my respect for Stewart and his abilities has gone through the roof, and if DC ever wises up and gives Stewart his own monthly series, I’ll be the first in line to pick it up, this issue was that damn good. Under Johns’ guidance, Stewart is the eternal soldier: stoic, taciturn, and utterly dedicated to achieving the mission at hand. When that mission turns out to be taking on an entire Black Lantern planet, conventional wisdom would tell most people to wait for some back up. But not John Stewart, oh no. In the greatest and best-drawn moment of the comic, Stewart…well, let’s just say he calls on a different Corps to help him kick ass and take names. I was initially disappointed when I saw that Doug Mahnke wouldn’t be drawing this issue, but after reading it I have to say Benes was the perfect choice to bring Stewart’s tale to life.

The Not So Good: Despite being a great stand alone issue that expands Stewart’s character, the plot amounted to little more than filler that does next to nothing to advance the “Blackest Night” storyline, so don’t go into this one expecting startling revelations or anything. Also, I thought the flashback sequence of Stewart’s time in Somalia was unnecessary. Not bad, mind you, but I would have preferred to see more of Stewart using his ring to take on the undead inhabitants of Xanshi.

Conclusion: Ladies and gentlemen, if you thought you knew John Stewart up until now, think again, because Green Lantern #49 will prove once and for all why Stewart is a bad ass and one of the greatest Green Lanterns ever. I was quite impressed with this issue.

Totally Random Sidenote: Has anybody been buying the Blackest Night action figures? If so, drop me a line and let me know if they really look as cool as they do in the advertisements. I keep thinking about starting a collection of the various Lantern Corps, but I’m not quite sold on them yet, so let me know what you think!

Grade: B+

-Tony Rakittke

Cuarto mes de esta saga en el que, quizás, se haya frenado un poquito… Demasiadas muertes y resurrecciones, ¿no?

• Blackest Night 4: y los enemigos muertos de la JLA han resucitado y se han aliado con los JLAers muertos e incluso los villanos vivos, con muchos muertos a sus espaldas, empiezan a preocuparse… Y la Linterna Negra ha llegado hasta la Tierra una vez que ha alcanzado al 100% y su dueño, Nekron, se ha despertado (o resucitado, lo que sea). En la Tierra las cosas se están poniendo muy chungas, pero… ¿y lo bien que le sienta a la historia?

• Green Lantern 47: y en el espacio no está yendo mucho mejor. El grupo formado por Hal, Carol, Sinestro e Indigo 1 (la pava del palo) se enfrentan en Korugar a Abin Sur y su hermana… el poder combinado de los cuatro consigue volver a matarles (o desconectarles de sus anillos); en Ysmault los Lanterns perdidos se enfrentan a Atrocitus y a los Black Lanterns hasta que “resucitan” los cuatro miembros muertos de las Cinco Inversiones y le arrancan el corazón a su antiguo compañero… Pero eso no impide que este siga viviendo y les destroce, parece que lo que hace moverse a los Red Lanterns no es su corazón, es su anillo; en la reconstruida Xanshi, John Stewart encuentra una batería de los Green Lanterns abandonada mientras una (o un, ¿por qué habré escrito una? XD) Lantern con un anillo verde y uno negro le observa; el grupo de Hal llega a Odym para reclutar a Saint Walker justo a tiempo para ver desaparecer los constructos del Agente Naranja; y en Okaara el Agente Naranja es salvado por Atrocitus de los Black Lanterns… para conseguir su batería…

• Green Lantern Corps 41: en Oa los Green Lantern Corps no lo están pasando mejor… Iolande y Soranik envían a los Lanterns heridos junto a Mogo y escapa a duras penas de los Black Lanterns; Guy se deshace temporalmente del “resucitado” Ke’haan y parte en ayuda de sus compañeros; Soranik ayuda a Kyle contra Jade; Arisia vence a sus familiares resucitados; Kilowog se enfrenta a su “resucitado” maestro en los Green Lanterns, Ermey; y Vath e Isamot, a punto de morir a manos de los Black Lanterns, reciben la ayuda de Indigo 2…

• Blackest Night Batman 3: Dick y Tim, el nuevo Batman y Red Robin, contra sus padres mientras Deadman va en busca de una ayuda muy particular, Jason Blood y el demonio Etrigan… Primera pista contra los Black Lanterns, la ausencia de emociones hace que no detecten a los vivos. Dos cosillas tontas: 1. ¿qué ha pasado con Alfred? Y 2. ahora que caigo, ¿por qué Deadman no se ha visto afectado por los anillos negros y sí El Espectro?

• Blackest Night Superman 3: igual me equivoco, pero tengo la sensación de que esta miniserie puede ser importante para las colecciones regulares de Superman. Si lo he entendido bien, Kandor ha quedado aislado… ¿permanentemente? Creo que no, pero… Otra pista sobre los Black Lanterns si sienten… “mueren”. Por cierto, ¿qué ha pasado con Lois?

• Blackest Night Titans 3: otra pista… Paloma, el agente del orden – y del equilibrio si no recuerdo mal – en la Tierra, puede cargarse ella sola a un tocho de Black Lanterns… Lo que me lleva a otra pregunta, ¿por qué han “sobrevivido” esos tres Black Lanterns en concreto? ¿Van a resucitar Hank – ojalá -, Tara – ¿para qué? – y Garth – batiendo el record de la muerte y resurrección más rápidas que se hayan visto en los cómics -?

Y… bueno, he tenido la oportunidad de leerlos un par de veces y la primera lectura, bastante rápida, me dio la sensación de que pasaban muchas cosas pero que la historia no avanzaba demasiado… La segunda lectura, más pausada, me hizo ver que la aventura no avanzaba demasiado pero que pasaban muchas cosas en la historia, hasta aquí igual, y se avanzaban muchos datos posiblemente importantes para el futuro de la misma…
La mayor pega que puedo poner hasta el momento es que tanto Guy Gardner como John Stewart están pasando sin pena ni gloria por la historia, aunque lo del segundo tiene pinta de ir a cambiar muy pronto… También tengo la sensación de que al final de la historia los guionistas van a aprovechar para hacer resurrecciones masivas de personajes fallecidos que les apetece utilizar y tengo una duda… ¿dónde se verá antes el nuevo traje de Wally? ¿aquí o en Flash Rebirth?
Otra pega es el descontrol de personajes resucitados de unas series a otras… y es que lo de los Black Lanterns duplicados que aparecen en distintas series, supuestamente al mismo tiempo, clama al cielo. ¿Tan difícil es controlar esas cosas? Con un buen editor no debería serlo. ¿Tendrá DC buenos editores?
La historia está bastante interesante y el dibujo en las tres series principales es muy bueno, así que, por ahora, bastante bien.

“When Doves Cry”

Written by: J. J. Krul
Art: Ed Benes
Inks: Scott Williams & Ed Benes
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Letters: Rob Clark Jr.
Assoc. Editor: Adam Schlagman
Asst. Editor: Rex Ogle
Editors: Eddie Berganza & Brian Cunningham
Cover: Benes, Rob Hunter, & Rod Reis (variant by George Perez)
Publisher: DC Comics

In a way, when you get right down to it, there isn’t a whole lot to describe for this issue. The various Titans continue to deal with their respective Black Lanterns, who are dredging up some very specific and painful emotional reactions from the living heroes. However, as we see the Black Lantern Hawks accosting Dove, we witness an interesting reaction that is likely to play a key role in upcoming chapters of the Blackest Night event.

As a mini-series–as with the Batman and Superman ones that also ended this month–this doesn’t have a very satisfying conclusion, as we’re basically left with a lead-in to these characters joining the bigger party of the event now that their “foundation” and “connection” to the overall story has been established. While the incursion of the Black Lanterns was saved for the actual kickoff of the event with Blackest Night #1, this first wave of minis seem like they would have been better-served as either prologues, or triple-sized one-shots, to launch the respective characters into the event as a whole.

Despite that, as a reader not steeped in Titans knowledge nor invested in the ongoing series, it’s great to have a series that is reasonably accessible to chronicle the characters’ involvement in the event without having to have ongoing plots in the main book competing with the story elements of the event I’m following.

Donna Troy is forced to face her dead husband and child, and must overcome what her eyes tell her to act based on actual knowledge. Beast Boy faces the same challenge with his lost love, and has some self-realization in handling things. Dove (who seems to be the same character I recall being killed in Armageddon 2001 almost 20 years ago) is in a similar predicament as then, but doubled.

The visuals are very well-done, and really accentuate the story itself. The “big moment” of the issue with Dove is something that would not come off the same way with bad visual work. There’s also a bit at the end of the issue that really illustrates the way story and visuals work together in a comic in a way that isn’t possible with the same subtlety in a prose work.

As the final issue of a 3-issue arc, I don’t recommend this issue unless you can snag the first two; but taken with those first two and as its own story tied to Blackest Night, this is well worth your while. I suspect the older Titans fans more familiar with the characters and their history will appreciate things more; but for me, this has exposed me to characters I haven’t had much exposure to in awhile–if at all, and has put down groundwork for me to care about their involvement if they continue to play much of a role in Blackest Night.

Story: 7.5/10
Art: 8.5/10
Whole: 8/10

Continuing to surprise me with its unexpected levels of awesometude, Blackest Night: Titans #3 wraps up J.T. Krul and Ed Benes’s exploration of what the rising dead mean for DC’s not-ready-for-prime-time superheroes. With two dead Hawks leading the charge of the Black Lantern Titans against the living variety, our heroes are facing some hard choices. Donna Troy, wounded by the undead form of her infant son, fears what the infection will do to her if left unchecked. Beast Boy is forced to face the truth of his greatest loss, and Dove may somehow hold the key to salvation.

Donna, Garth and Dawn really tale the spotlight this issue, with each of them making terrible, gut-wrenching choices that do more for their characterization as true heroes than any other comics of the past three years. Krul puts them each through seven kinds of Hell, but the fact that they can rise the way they do is nothing short of remarkable. Dove’s importance to the overall Black Lantern story seems to mark this book as a more direct tie to the main series than some of the others, but other threads promise to lead into the upcoming two-part crossovers in Teen Titans and Outsiders as well. While all three of the spin-off miniseries thus far have been wonderful reads, this surprises by potentially being the most significant.

Rating: 9/10

by JT Krul (writer), Ed Benes (art), Rex Ogle (assistant editor), Brian Cunningham and Eddie Berganza (editors)

The Story: The Titans are trapped in a massive slugfest with the dead.

What’s Good: Krul did a great job of tying a lot of the feeling of Blackest Night together. Blackest Night is about making every hero in the DCU feel loss, regret, horror and despair, as much as humanly possible, and then seeing how they react. Donna Troy turns out to be a serious badass. You can tell that Krul got James Robinson’s memo that Donna Troy is going to be a major heavy in his new JLA in January, because she’s a major heavy in this one. She’s a great hero. She feels pain, regret and sorrow, but she does what she has to do to lead her friends out of the darkness. It’s a great show. Krul also worked with Gar, the perennial loser at love, who regrets and yet still loves, even though he feels stupid about who he still loves. Krul has caught something important about love here. You don’t get to pick who. Love doesn’t make sense, but you still have to deal with it. Gar’s arc in this book is great to watch. On the writing and story, I finally have to say that I love that they found a new weapon to use against the Black Lanterns. They found two in Blackest Night: Superman, one here, and one in the main Blackest Night series, so I’m feeling a bit of hope.

On the art, I know some people don’t like Benes’ stuff. He likes to draw beautiful people. But even if Donna Troy’s neckline seemed to plunge especially low in this issue, every panel told the story clearly and cleanly. At no time did I have to ask myself what was going on. Everyone, hero and zombie, had a distinctive look, even if half the cast was colored with gray tones. And Benes delivered a few great visions. Garfield, as a bear or a dinosaur, turns out to be pretty effective at kicking zombie tail. Donna Troy’s hands turn out to be WMDs against these villains, even if the villains come back two minutes later.

What’s Not So Good: Okay, I’ll take a shot at the necklines. Donna Troy’s almost reaches her navel and Starfire’s costume looks like it got left in the drier too long. I know that companies have to push up (pun intended) sales to pubescent boys, but when heroines are over-sexualized for reasons that have nothing to do with the story (there are many examples in many comics), it takes away from the story. That’s the definition of gratuitous, plain and simple.

Conclusion: Krul and Benes delivered a very fine conclusion to this miniseries. Gar and Donna went through some heart-rending experiences that will change them as people. If you are fans of those characters, then this miniseries matters to you. And if you are not, you will be by the end of this book. Recommended.

Grade: B+

-DS Arsenault

Everything must go!

I know – this isn’t very professional – but nobody pays me to do this, so I’m going to do it anyway!  I’m moving house very shortly, and that means I have a lot of possessions I need to off-load.  Sadly, that includes a massive pile of comic books.  Naturally, I’m selling them on eBay, and now I’m flogging them off to you, Dear Reader.  Oh, and there’s also a Super Mario Galaxy Strategy Guide if you need as well…Here’s a list:

		SALVATION RUN #1-7 Incl. Neal Adams Joker Variant Cover Postage cost: AU $4.99	1	0	AU $14.99	9d 20h	Sell similar
		Super Mario Galaxy Collector’s Edition Strategy Guide Postage cost: AU $6.99	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 16h	Sell similar
		BATMAN: Streets of Gotham #1 & 3 Comics by PAUL DINI Postage cost: AU $3.25	0	0	AU $1.99	9d 16h	Sell similar
		BATMAN UNSEEN #1 Comic by DOUG MOENCH & KELLEY JONES Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 17h	Sell similar
		BLACKEST NIGHT: TITANS #1 Comic FIRST ISSUE (Ed Benes) Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 17h	Sell similar
		COUNTDOWN to FINAL CRISIS #51 – 32 Comics (20 Issues) Postage cost: AU $4.99	0	0	AU $23.99	9d 17h	Sell similar
		ROBIN #169 Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul Part 5 Batman Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 18h	Sell similar
		ROBIN #173 & 174 Comics by CHUCK DIXON Spoiler Returns! Postage cost: AU $3.25	0	0	AU $1.99	9d 18h	Sell similar
		SUPERGIRL #37 Faces of Evil: SUPERWOMAN New Krypton Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 18h	Sell similar
		THE MIGHTY #1 & 2 Comics by Peter J. Tomasi (GLC) Postage cost: AU $3.25	0	0	AU $1.99	9d 18h	Sell similar
		BOOSTER GOLD #13 Comic (DC Comics) Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 19h	Sell similar
		52: The Four Horsemen #1-6 Batman Superman Wonder Woman Postage cost: AU $4.99	0	0	AU $6.99	9d 19h	Sell similar
		The Death of the New Gods #1-4 Comics by Jim Starlin Postage cost: AU $4.99	0	0	AU $5.99	9d 20h	Sell similar
		The Death of the New Gods #6 & 7 Comics by Jim Starlin Postage cost: AU $3.25	0	0	AU $2.99	9d 20h	Sell similar
		COUNTDOWN to MYSTERY #8 Comic by Mark Waid, Gail Simone Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $1.99	9d 20h	Sell similar
		COUNTDOWN to MYSTERY #5 Doctor Fate & Eclipso Comic DC Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $1.99	9d 21h	Sell similar
		Brave & the Bold #17 SUPERGIRL & RAVEN by Marv Wolfman Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $1.20	9d 21h	Sell similar
		SUPERGIRL #30 Comic by Will Pfeifer (Catwoman) Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 21h	Sell similar
		SHADOWPACT #17 Comic by Matt Sturges & Doug Braithwaite Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 21h	Sell similar
		TITANS #1 & 2 Comics – Nightwing, The Flash, Starfire Postage cost: AU $3.25	0	0	AU $2.99	9d 21h	Sell similar
		Birds of Prey #119 – Oracle Black Canary Huntress Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 21h	Sell similar
		SUPERMAN: EMPEROR JOKER Trade Paperback by Jeph Loeb Postage cost: AU $4.99 High bidder: ertansteph ( 117)	0	1	AU $8.99	9d 22h	Sell similar
		COUNTDOWN: Search for Ray Palmer RED RAIN KELLEY JONES Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 22h	Sell similar
		COUNTDOWN to FINAL CRISIS #14 – 11 Comics (4 Issues) Postage cost: AU $4.99	0	0	AU $4.50	9d 22h	Sell similar
		TRINITY #1 by Kurt Busiek Batman Superman Wonder Woman Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 23h	Sell similar

		Rann-Thanagar Holy War – Starfire, Hawkman, Animal Man Postage cost: AU $4.99	0	0	AU $3.50	9d 23h	Sell similar
		GOTHAM UNDERGROUND #1-3 Batman Two-Face Riddler Postage cost: AU $4.99	0	0	AU $3.60	9d 23h	Sell similar
		BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS #1; #3-7 (6 Issues) Chuck Dixon Postage cost: AU $4.99	0	0	AU $6.99	9d 23h	Sell similar
		Outsiders Five of a Kind Thunder & Martian Manhunter #1 Postage cost: AU $2.50	0	0	AU $0.99	9d 23h	Sell similar

Just click the links if you’re interested!  And even if you’re not, have a bid anyway – consider it a small donation if you’ve been enjoying the site thus far.

Llegamos al tercer mes de esta saga… que no tiene mucho fondo pero está resultando muy divertida.

• Blackest Night 3: la Dead JLA sigue su ataque sobre Hal Jorda y Barry Allen quienes precisan la ayuda de Atom y dos miembros de la Indigo Tribe – a los que hasta ahora no se les entendía porque no les había hecho falta – para escapar de ellos. Los huidos se refugian en el cuartel general de la JLA donde también se encuentra el Firestorm actual (formado por Jason y su novia Gen) y Mera, la mujer de Aquaman que ha escapado del resucitado Aquaman y cía. En medio del ataque de la Dead JLA los dos Indigo se marchan llevándose a Hal con ellos abandonado al resto. El más afectado por esto es el nuevo Firestorm al que el viejo, que ha resucitado, obliga a dividirse y después de absorber a Jason en su interior utiliza sus poderes para matar a Gen transformándola en sal y utilizando su corazón para formar nuevos anillos negros. Después de esto, los villanos que se encuentran enterrados en el cuartel resucitan… Bueno, es un gran dibujo acompañado de un buen guión. No tengo muy claro cómo Johns logrará que la victoria de los buenos resulte creíble, pero… ¿y lo bien que me lo estoy pasando?

• Green Lantern 46: en el planeta Zamaron sigue la lucha entre los Black Lanterns, los Sinestro Corps y las Star Sapphires… hasta allí llegan Hal Jordan y los dos miembros de la Indigo Tribe para llevarse con ellos a Sinestro y a Carol Ferris para… ¿qué? En fin, el ataque de los Black Lanterns consigue resucitar los cuerpos de los amantes que eran el núcleo de poder de la batería de las Star Sapphire – que no eran otros que Khufu y Chay-ara, los cuerpos originales de Hawkman y Hawkgirl – y ya de paso liberan al avatar del amor atrapado en la batería, el Predator. La Indigo – 01, el Indigo – 02 se ha teleportado para informar a los Green Lanterns Corps de lo que está sucediendo, transporta a Jordan, a Carol y a Sinestro a Korugar para que este último luche con Mongul por el control de los Sinestro Corps… Sinestro gana el combate porque… no iba a darle a alguien un arma creada por él mismo y que le pudiera afectar, ¿no? Antes de que los líderes de los cuatro Cuerpos se marchen, aparecen Abin Sur y su hermana Arin, el antiguo amor de Sinestro… Nuevamente un gran dibujo acompañado de un buen guión. ¿Luz blanca? ¿White Lanterns? ¡Hala Madrid! XD

• Green Lantern Corps 40: Arisia regresa a Oa después de la guerra en Daxam para encontrarse con el ataque de los Black Lanterns… sus padres y su abuelo salen a su encuentro. Kyle Rayner no lo está pasando mucho mejor, Jade ha resucitado y él no sabe qué hacer. Kryb y Miri (una Sinestro Corp y una Star Sapphire) han forjado una alianza para encontrar a los “hijos” de la primera que han desaparecido. En Oa, cuando los Alpha Lanterns intentan hacerse con el mando de los Green Lantern Corps debido a la desaparición de los Guardianes, Salaak les enseña las órdenes que dejaron los Guardianes que le nombran a él mismo y a la Guardia de Honor, formada actualmente por Kyle y Guy, como “jefes en funciones” de los Corps, las primeras órdenes que da son: ordena a los Alpha Lantern que utilicen todas sus capacidades para defender Oa de los Black Lanterns que les están atacando y ordena que los anillos de los Green Lantern que fallezcan sean enviados a Mogo y permanezcan allí mientras siga la guerra ya que lo único para lo que serviría el reclutamiento es para que los novatos muriesen. Mientras Kyle se enfrenta a Jade, el resto de los Green Lantern Corps deben enfrentarse a sus antiguos compañeros resucitados… Muy bien ambos autores, tanto Gleason como Tomasi, siguen uniendo la saga principal al avance de su propia serie. Una gozada.

• Blackest Night – Batman 2: acción a saco con Batman, Robin, Red Robin, Deadman, el Comisario Gordon y Bárbara Gordon intentando sobrevivir al ataque de los villanos resucitados. Un sacacuartos, ni siquiera están aprovechando las múltiples posibilidades que se les presentaban. Lástima.

• Blackest Night – Superman 2: ¡Kal-El, Conner y Ma Kent vs. Kal-L, el Psicopirata y la Lois de Tierra-2! ¡Supergirl vs. Jor-El! Y la verdad es que no sé qué pensar sobre esta miniserie. Tiene un buen dibujo pero no me acaba de convencer el guión. Demasiadas dudas.

• Blackest Night – Titans 2: y una serie que podía dar tanto, pero tanto de sí, se queda en un sacacuartos con un buen dibujo pero con una historia bastante floja, mira que había posibilidades con tantos Titanes muertos… Una pena.

Y con estos me pongo al día hasta el próximo paquete del Previews…

Y los que forman parte de este mes son los siguientes:

• Tales of the Corps – 3: seguimos con los orígenes de los miembros de los diferentes Cuerpos. En este empezamos por Kilowog – explicando cómo se convirtió en el duro instructor de los Green Lanterns que todo el mundo adora -; y Arisia – que pertenecía a una familia del planeta Graxos Iu cuyos miembros acababan convirtiéndose en Green Lanterns -. El número se completa con el “comentario del director”  de Geoff Johns, Adam Schlogman y Eddie Berganza al Blackest Night 0.

• Blackest Night – 2: los Hawks se han convertido en Black Lanterns e invitan a un deprimido Atom a que pase por su casa; Hal Jordan cae inconsciente encima de la Batseñal delante de Jim y Bárbara Gordon; un Black Lanternizado Aquaman ataca a su mujer, Mera, a su “hijo”, Garth y a los soldados que les acompañan para recuperar su cadáver para enterrarle en Atlantis, con el van Dolphin – la fallecida mujer de Aqualad – y Tula – la fallecida ex-novia de Aqualad -, Mera consigue huir pero Garth muere y resucita como un Black Lantern; Deadman ve como su cuerpo resucita ante sus ojos; Don “Paloma” Hall no responde a la llamada del anillo negro pero sí lo hace su hermano, Hank “Halcón” Hall; El Espectro, Blue Devil, The Phantom Stranger y Zatanna reciben la visita de un Black Lanternizado Pariah – recordemos que sólo aparecía cuando iba a haber un gran desastre – mientras investigan la desaparición del cadáver de Boston “Deadman” Brand… un anillo negro resucita a Crispus Allen y encierra al Espectro en su interior sin que este pueda hacer nada para evitarlo… y quiere a Hal Jordan. Cuando Hal se recupera regresa a la lucha que él y Flash están manteniendo con J’onn J’onzz, a pesar de que le lanzan fuego, J’onn sobrevive y reaparece con la Black Lantern Justice League… Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Ralph y Sue Dibny y Firestorm.

• Blackest Night – Batman 1: Deadman acude al único hombre que cree que puede ayudarle a recuperar su cadáver, pero descubre que Bruce Wayne ha muerto y no se lo toma demasiado bien… Imaginaos lo malo que podría ser que resucitasen todos los enemigos muertos de Batman pero… ¿y si también resucitasen los padres de Dick Grayson y los de Tim Drake? Tremendo.

• Blackest Night – Superman 1: ehmm, tengo un problema básico con este número. No me cuadra. ¿Por qué el Black Lanternizado Kal-L (el Superman original, tengamos esto presente) utiliza una pala para desenterrar a Jonathan Kent? Aparte de eso… ¿dónde están todos los habitantes de Smallville? ¿No será que ni James Robinson ni Geoff Johns se atreven a mostrar algo negativo en Kal-L? Si hay algún personaje que pueda superar sin más la influencia de los anillos negros… ¿no sería él? Igual después me llevo un chasco, pero… no sé, no sé. Estoy esperando algo así.

• Blackest Night – Titans 1: Caray, como se pongan a resucitar Titanes muertos podemos estar aquí varios años… De buenas a primeras ya vemos a Terra, a Lilith, a Hank Hall – que va a saco a por las sustitutas de él, y se la carga de buenas a primeras, y de su hermano – y… ¿al hijo de Donna? Ahí se han pasado tres o cuatro pueblos. Lo más interesante será descubrir por qué el anillo negro no puede leer las emociones de Paloma… ¿será por ser un agente del Orden o tendrá relación con que Don Hall tampoco reaccione ante el anillo?

• Green Lantern Corps – 39: aquí seguimos con cosas de esta serie mezcladas con la Blackest Night, al menos al principio. Mientras Guy y Kyle regresan a Oa, el segundo le dice al primero que le ha mentido a Natu sobre que había sido a ella a quien había visto en la imagen que les había mostrado Miri (la Star Sapphire), en realidad había visto a Jade… Después de encontrarse a Natu y a Iolande son superados por un grupo de anillos negros que les atacan; en Daxam, Arisia es expulsada del planeta por el senador Yat – el padre de Sodam – que utiliza sus poderes recién adquiridos… Arisia se marcha después de despedirse de Sodam Yat que sigue en el centro del sol; Korugar ha sido el planeta elegido por Mongul para convertirse en la nueva base de operaciones de su Cuerpo a los que ha decidido cambiar el nombre a Mongul Corps… todo esto después de que los Korugarianos se rindiesen ante ellos; en Oa los anillos negros han resucitado a todos los Green Lanterns muertos y los han convertido en Black Lanterns… Acojonante esa última página con Jade atacando a Kyle.

• Green Lantern – 45: y Xanshi, el planeta de los desvelos de John Stewart se ha reconstruido y en su superficie aparece un símbolo de los Black Lanterns; en Zamaron, los dos puntales en la vida de Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris y Sinestro se enfrentan cara a cara por él – Carol negándose a ser controlada por la Star Sapphire, y por fin alguien explica qué era el Depredador aquel en el que se transformaba allá por las Crisis y Sinestro recordando a un viejo amor, ¿y madre de su hija?, la hermana de Arin Sur que falleció en sus brazos – mientras las Star Sapphire y los Sinestro Corps se enfrentan para evitar que los segundos liberen a sus compañeras apresadas. La lucha se ve interrumpida por la aparición de los Sinestro Corps fallecidos convertidos en Black Lanterns…; en Ysmault lso Green Lanterns perdidos han ido en la búsqueda del cadáver de su compañera Laira y Boodika ha entrado en modo asesino y se dedica a matar Red Lanterns, allí llegan los anillos negros para reclamar a los muertos; y en Odym sigue la lucha entre los Blue Lanterns y los constructos del Agente Naranja, como nadie ha muerto en Odym los anillos negros se mantienen a la espera en órbita… En Okaara, Larfleeze pone cara de acojone – grandioso el dibujo, os lo aseguro, hasta lo he puesto como fondo de pantalla – cuando los cadáveres de sus constructos se convierten en Black Lanterns y le rodean…

Y otro gran mes repleto de páginas brutales. El apartado gráfico está siendo francamente espectacular, tanto Ivan Reis como Doug Mahnke como Patrick Gleason – aunque un poco menos – están en un nivel altísimo; la historia está bastante bien pero es que hay algunas cosillas que no son del todo… consistentes (ver siguiente párrafo para más datos); y es que las posibilidades son infinitas si eligen bien quién resucita y quién no… puede ser espectacular. También debo decir que, hasta el momento, me está gustando mucho la historia ideada por Geoff Johns pero Peter Tomasi está dejando ya cosas para el futuro de la serie… a menos claro, que lo de Daxam o la mentira de Kyle sobre a quién vió en la visión provocada por Miri lo utilicen para esta Blackest Night.

Lo que pasa es que empieza a haber unas cuantas inconsistencias que, sin llegar a ser errores enormes que estropean todo el conjutno sí que llaman la atención… A ver, ¿por qué Jade resucita en Oa y no en la Tierra? No es por fastidiar, pero el anillo aparece delante de su tumba terrestre y no en la de Oa… Otra más, ¿cómo puede ser que en Blackest Night la primera vez que Guy y Kyle ven los anillos negros estén en Oa y que en la serie de los Green Lantern Corps se los encuentren en el espacio y lleguen a Oa persiguiéndolos?

Red Tornado # 1

Generalmente, cuando una de las dos grandes empresas de comics busca darle un mayor impulso a alguno de sus personajes, toma la historia de su origen y le añade una serie de elementos dramáticos que, al final, lo hacen parecer una ópera wagneriana, y que sólo logra complicar el asunto y hacer más débil al caracter en cuestión. Este es el caso de la Mini-serie de Red Tornado, en donde de pronto se intruduce a toda una familia, algo difícil de explicar cuando tu personaje es un androide, y que gira alrededor de un origen sobrenatural. Si bien el personaje realmente merecía un poco más de atención, quizá esta historia lo perjudique más de lo que realmente podría ayudarlo.

Bite the Hand That Feeds

Written by: J. J. Krul
Pencils: Ed Benes
Inks: Scott Williams & Ed Benes
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Letters: Rob Clark Jr.
Assoc. Editor: Adam Schlagman
Asst. Editor: Rex Ogle
Editors: Eddie Berganza & Brian Cunningham
Cover: Benes, Hunter, & Pete Pantazis (variant by Brian Haberlin)
Publisher: DC Comics

There’s a fair amount going on in this issue. Donna deals with the Black Lantern versions of her late husband and child, battling the emotions brought to the surface seeing them back. Dove deals with Black Lantern Hawk who has just killed her sister, a newer Hawk…and of course the implications of a recently-deceased individual in proximity to black rings. Beast Boy deals with the deception presented him, and the whole team winds up facing the imminent attack from old enemies newly risen as Black Lanterns.

This was a pretty good issue, though I didn’t “get” everything that was going on, not being overly familiar with many of the characters…even less familiar with their specific current status quo. However, that doesn’t detract much from the story, I don’t think–just that I’d get more out of it being more familiar with recent stuff. There’s plenty of forward movement story-wise (really, for the middle chapter of a 3-parter, that’s part of what’ll make or break the series). Everything introduced in the first issue that I can recall is followed up on, and we’re left with enough that it’s hard to believe there can be a complete story here with only 3 issues TO the mini.

The art by Benes is top-notch; really no complaint there. The characters are all recognizeable, and even in the yuckiness of the Black Lanterns, this is some of the best I’ve seen these characters…a state of affairs I’ve gotten rather used to in the case of Benes-pencilled works. I wonder just a bit at Williams not inking the entire issue…curious if it’s a timing issue or some such. Despite wondering, I didn’t even notice that UNTIL I specifically looked at the credits for this review, which is saying something (positive) about it in MY book.

This is a bit of a niche book; probably best suited for those familiar with the Titans side of the DCU and seeing how they’re affected by Blackest Night. But if you’re simply following Blackest Night itself, this issue (and the series it’s a part of) seems to serve as a good instroduction to key characters in the Titans family of books.

This is another high-quality issue, well worth getting in context of the above-referenced conditions.

Story: 7.5/10
Art: 8.5/10
Whole: 8/10

I picked up the most recent issue of Titans, having been impressed with the Blackest Night prelude in issue #15 and this mini-series. DC really should have just run the three Blackest Night issues in the regular book, because this is way better than that stuff.

The Titans’ beloved dead are attacking both teams of Titans, but the older squad is getting the brunt of it. Dove has to watch as her sister, the new Hawk, is transformed into a Black Lantern by her former partner, the original Hawk. The two Black Lanterns have a dandy ol’ team-up, but there’s still something mysterious going on with Dove, something that’s protecting her from the power of the Black Lanterns in a way that most people in the DC are not. You think she’s got it bad, though, think about Beast Boy. He’s throwing down with Terra, the girl he loved even after discovering she was a traitor to the team. And his friends are facing Omen, who is using their own hopes and desires against them. But Donna Troy, inarguably, has it the worst, facing the corpses both of her dead husband, and her infant son.

Yeah, the cover of this issue is literal.

This miniseries is really hitting. J.T. Krul makes me feel for the characters in a way that no one else has in quite a while. Donna’s loss is tragic, and made only more so here. Beast Boy is much more than the caricature he’s become in other comics, and the appearance of the Teens works very well. Plus, this book seems poised to answer the eternal (well… since May) question: what happens if a Black Lantern bites you?

Ed Benes‘ artwork is as good as ever — clean, exciting, and he draws nifty Black Lanterns. I’m really enjoying this miniseries. If this was the creative team on the ongoing, I’d pick it up.

Rating: 8/10

By J.T. Krul (writer), Ed Benes (artist), Scott Williams and Ed Benes (inkers)

The Story: Donna Troy’s dead husband and baby come after her as Black Lanterns. Black Lantern Terra and a few other old friends from the post-living move to smash Gar, Kid Flash, Cyborg and Starfire. Hawk and Dove fight Black Lantern Hawk before Terra plays with the foundations of the Titans Tower. Then things get really messy, zombie-apocalypse style…

What’s Good: The art is fantastic. I’ve always liked Benes, even though I know his art doesn’t fit everyone’s taste. I think a case can and should be made for him, on the basis of well-rendered figures, muscles, emotions and action that carry right through the book.

On the writing side, Krul delivered a solid Act Two. In a three-act series, the situation for the heroes gets worse and worse throughout Act Two, until the last straw is thrown on. The menace is there and it is scary (zombie baby – just picture it). Our heroes get in some great shots, though. Gar gets a wrestling smash in on Black Lantern Terra, Cyborg’s white sound seems to hurt them while Starfire leaves a smoking black lantern ring on a crispy, re-dead finger. Any bets on how long that finger stays crispy? Finally, in terms on villainous power, now I have slightly more respect for Terra.

What’s Not So Good: Not much to complain about. I’m not completely up on all my Titans mythos, so the identities of some of the villains were question marks for me without much more than clues to go on. The colors didn’t blow me away: competent, but not stellar. The grays and blacks and browns eventually became a bit overpowering. Even the spectrum of emotion colors didn’t look like more that a blurry patchwork. But these are smallish point in an otherwise pretty solid book. And if Krul left me with one dominant emotion, it was relief…that I don’t live in the DC universe.

Conclusion: If you’re following Blackest Night, even if you’re not a huge Titans fan, I recommend picking up this book (the first issue is probably still on some stands too). It’s a great story of fear and the undead hitting the DC universe, with fantastic art and an overwhelming menace.

Grade: B

-DS Arsenault

I’ve been doing these for a little while now and they always seem to be popular.  So until people stop reading them, I’ll probably keep doing them.  For those who are new, here’s what you can expect.  I go through the latest DC solicits and add my (sometimes snarky) commentary.

I actually skipped the November solicits because Blackest Night took over the majority of the DC books.  One of my problems with Blackest Night (and I have many) is that the story is already getting repetitive.  We’ve seen the same couple of scenes repeated ad infinitum.  When you go through the solicits and every book has the same basic premise (Hero A comes into contact with Dead Person B!) it gets boring.  I couldn’t stand the thought of writing up all of those Blackest Night tie-ins, so I took a month off.

December is really no different.  So I’m going to be more selective about which books I include in this write-up.  And some books will no boubt be lumped together.  That way, I don’t bore you with the same entry 15 times.  (I’ll only bore you with it once – ba dum dum.)

Now that I’ve set the comedic bar at a level I can reach, let’s look at what DC will be offering in December:

Blackest Night Books

BLACKEST NIGHT #6
Written by Geoff Johns
Art and cover by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert

    The secrets of Nekron are revealed as darkness consumes the DC Universe.
    Everything else: TOP SECRET.

GREEN LANTERN #49
Written by Geoff Johns
Art and cover by Ed Benes

    BLACKEST NIGHT continues! John Stewart comes face to face with his greatest failures, the planet Xanshi and his wife and fellow Green Lantern, Katma Tui. Plus, what does Fatality truly want with John?

These solicits are a little light on details.  But that’s a good thing in my book.  My concern is that from the details that are included in the solicits, it sure doesn’t sound like a whole lot has happened from Blackest Night 0 up to Blackest Night 6.  Doesn’t it sound like we’re in pretty much the same place we’ve been in from the start of this thing?

Also, did you see that Ed Benes is drawing GL 49.  You know what that means?  Fatality butt floss on every page!  Plus, zombie cleavage I would think.

Review: Blackest Night #3

Rant: Blackest Night #3

Review: Green Lantern #45

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #43

Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art and cover by Pat Gleason & Rebecca Buchman

    Red rain falls! As the Black Lanterns continue their reign of terror and chaos on Oa, things go from bad to worse when a horrible loss for the Green Lantern Corps results in Guy Gardner becoming so enraged that he becomes a Red Lantern! And hell breaks loose as the Central Power Battery faces an attack from the newly arrived Black Lantern Corphans!

I split this one out from the other BN books for a couple of reasons:

1. Something happens!
2. An angry Guy Gardner is a good thing.

Yes, it kinda sucks that they went and spoiled this development a full 3 months before it happens.  But at this point I’m pretty glad to see any sign of forward plot movement from Blackest Night.  So I’ll take what I can get.

Also, I’ve seen a lot of Guy fans complaining about this already.  Come on, guys!  You know this isn’t going to last any longer than when Kyle got possessed by Parallax.  And that was the single coolest thing to happen in the Sinestro Crops War storyline.  So you should just be grateful that Guy is getting a spotlight.

Turing into a Red Lantern sure beats the one-panel “death” Jeph Loeb gave Guy in “Our Wolrds at War”.  It pretty much guarantees Guy’s going to be around at the end of Blackest Night.  But those close to Guy (whose deaths might push Guy into a rage) better watch their backs.

Review: Green Lantern Corps #39

Blackest Night Mini-Series

BLACKEST NIGHT: THE FLASH #1
Written by Geoff Johns
Art and cover by Scott Kolins

    The Flashes of Two Cities – Barry Allen and Wally West – battle the undead Rogues. Will the legendary speedsters be able to handle the Black Lantern Rogues’ revenge? Plus, witness the resurrection of Barry’s greatest enemy, the Reverse Flash in this hyper-speed miniseries event reuniting the fan-favorite FLASH creative team of Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins!

BLACKEST NIGHT: JSA #1
Written by James Robinson
Art by Eddy Barrows & Ruy José

    The mystery men of yesterday are back and they seek the hearts of their new counterparts! It’s Mr. Terrific vs. Mr. Terrific, Dr. Midnite vs. Dr. Midnite, Sand vs Wesley Dodds! Can the new generation of heroes survive the rise of the Black Lantern JSA? Find out in this all-new miniseries from original JSA co-writer James Robinson and rising star artist Eddy Barrows (BLACKEST NIGHT: SUPERMAN)!

BLACKEST NIGHT: WONDER WOMAN #1
Written by Greg Rucka
Art by Nicola Scott

    Fan-favorite writer Greg Rucka returns to chronicle the adventures of the Amazing Amazon in the DC Universe’s darkest hour! Black Lantern Maxwell Lord has risen and he seeks revenge and retribution for his murder at the hands of Diana. Look for unexpected changes to await Wonder Woman in the course of this series as she plays a major role in the War of Light against the Blackest Night.

I had pretty low expectations of the first batch of BN tie-in mini-series.  And so far, they have met or exceeded by expectations.  BN: Superman actually had a pretty strong first issue.  But it seems like you can skip all three and not miss anything.  And Tales of the Corps was an embarrassing money grab.  DC should be ashamed of that one.

This crop of tie-ins seems a little more promising to me.  I was a fan of the Johns/Kollins run on Flash and I liked the first 2/3 of their “Rogues Revenge” mini-series.  So while “Rebirth” isn’t to my liking, I expect I’ll like BN: Flash okay as long as Johns can keep the retcons to a minimum. 

The stand-out to me promises to be BN: Wonder Woman.  I know Rucka was upset he never got to deal with the fallout from the death of Max Lord.  Now, it looks like he’ll get that chance even if it years a few years late.  Plus, you’ve got Nicola Scott.  Nicola Scott + Wonder Woman is worth my $3 every time.

Review: Blackest Night: Superman #2

ADVENTURE COMICS #5

Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Jerry Ordway; co-feature art by Francis Manapul

     Concluding the 2-part BLACKEST NIGHT tale of Superboy-Prime! The Black Lanterns have forced Prime to face his deepest and darkest fears, but what – and who – are they? And how will Superboy-Prime strike back after this devastating attack?
    Plus, Conner Kent faces off with Superman’s greatest enemy in an exciting co-feature by Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul. That’s right: Superboy confronts Lex Luthor!

I’m truly torn on this one.  On the one hand, I’ve been enjoying Adventure Comics so far.  On the other, I’m really sick of Johns’ take on Superboy-Prime.  The end of Legion of Three Worlds totally crossed a line for me and I was hoping not to see the character again for a while.  But Johns just can’t seem to stay away from him.  On the upside, I’m looking forward to the Conner/Lex confrontation.

Review: Adventure Comics #2

BOOSTER GOLD #27

Written by Dan Jurgens
Art and cover by Dan Jurgens& Norm Rapmund
    Black Lantern Ted Kord is out for blood in this BLACKEST NIGHT tie-in issue! Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes joins forces with Booster Gold in an attempt to take down Black Lantern Ted Kord once and for all. But the battle will have consequences for the Blue and the Gold, and Booster and Beetle’s lives will be forever changed!

This is another tough one.  This issue definitely fits into the “Hero A comes into contact with Dead Person B” formula I talked about earlier.  And there’s no way I won’t be sick of that by the end of the year.  And DC has already gone to the Ted Kord well at least one time too many since killing him off in Countdown.  But still, I really like Booster Gold.  I feel like Jurgens does a great job with the book and I’d like to see it get some attention.  Hopefully Jurgens can rise above the formula and deliver one of the better tie-ins to this event.

TEEN TITANS #78

Written by J.T. Krul
Art and cover by Joe Bennett & Jack Jadson
    An unexpected BLACKEST NIGHT team-up! Ravager has sworn to kill her father Deathstroke. But what happens when they’re forced to fight side-by-side against their dead friends and relatives? Will they kill each other before the Black Lanterns do?

Remember when Titans was the goose that laid the golden eggs?  Well, DC totally killed that goose.  (I think that goose may even be a Black Lantern!)  This franchise is in a tail spin and DC doesn’t seem to know what to do to pull out of it.  I’ll give you a hint, DC, a Deathstroke/Ravager issue is NOT the answer.

On the upside, I don’t see Sean McKeever’s name anywhere on this comic book.  Therefore, I will buy it on principle.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #40

Written by James Robinson
Art and cover by Mark Bagley & Rob Hunter
    The JLA can’t escape the BLACKEST NIGHT! Faced with the continuing threat of the Black Lanterns, Zatanna, Vixen and the rest of the team confront their pasts when fallen friends and foes return for blood!

I can’t be the only one who finds Bagley’s cover to be hideous, right?

I recently posted an article about the new JLA line-up.  Interesting to see Vixen and Zatanna featured so prominently after not being included in the official line-up.  I guess the rumors that Robinson’s team will be super-sized are true.

As I said in my article, I really can’t muster up any excitement for Robinson’s JLA after 3 issues of Cry for Justice.

JLA: the New Line-Up

BATMAN #694

Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Tony Daniel & Sandu Florea

    While Black Mask and his Ministry of Death struggle to maintain control of Gotham City, The Dark Knight sets his sights on Kittyhawk – a young thief pivotal to the outcome of Black Mask’s gang war. But will a powerful adversary thought long dead spoil all of Batman’s plans? Guest-starring Oracle and the Penguin!

Not too much to say here.  I’m having some trouble keeping up my enthusiasm for Batman with the back-and-forth writing from Winick and Daniel.  I mean, these are two of my least favorite writers in comics these days.  Black Mask and Penquin both feel over-used these days.  And I’m enjoying them more in Dini’s Streets of Gotham.

*shrug*

DETECTIVE COMICS #860

Written by Greg Rucka
Art by JH Williams III; co-feature art by Cully Hamner

    Batwoman’s origin story concludes here! In “Go!” part 3, Kate Kane becomes Batwoman and goes after a terrorist cell in Gotham, but all does not go according to plan. Plus, in the present, Kate confronts her father about her supposedly dead sister!
    In the co-feature, the Huntress joins The Question in her quest to track down the leaders of the human trafficking ring. But finding them – and bring them to justice – will be harder and more dangerous than either hero thought!

Confession time: I’m a behind on this title.  But I love the art on the book.  Rucka’s writing hasn’t completely won me over to Batwoman yet.  But maybe I’ll feel differently once I catch up.  I am looking forward to seeing the Huntress and the Question though!

Review: Detective Comics #857

BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #7

Written by Paul Dini; co-feature written by Marc Andreyko
Art by Dustin Nguyen & Derek Fridolfs; co-feature art by Jeremy Haun

    Paul Dini returns to STREETS OF GOTHAM as Batman and Robin uncover a sinister plot involving dozens of Gotham City’s young runaways. Is Arkham Asylum escapee Humpty Dumpty at the center of the scheme – or is he just the tip of an even more dangerous iceberg? Guest-starring Abuse and Zsasz!
    And in the Manhunter co-feature, now that Kate has finally tracked down Two-Face, she’s ready to confront him for the hit he ordered on Gotham’s former D.A. But their confrontation is not going to go the way she planned!

I haven’t gotten around to writing up a review for Streets of Gotham, but I have been keeping up with the book and mostly enjoying it.  I wasn’t thrilled with the 60’s-TV show-worthy bad guy, The Broker.  But if you’re going to do the character, last issue was about as good of a story as you could possibly tell.  I am enjoying watching Dini re-invent Mr. Zsasz.  And I am enjoying the build-up in the Manhunter back-up to the inevitable showdown beteen the former DA of Gotham and the new sheriff in town.

Review: Batman: Streets of Gotham #1

BATGIRL #5

Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Lee Garbett & Trevor Scott
Cover by Phil Noto
    It’s Bat vs. Bat in “Core Requirements” part 1! As Gotham City burns, the new Batgirl comes face-to-face with Batman and Robin, who are anything but happy about her running around with a bat-symbol on her costume. Batman confronts Oracle as Damian confronts Stephanie in the ultimate Bat-family feud.

My favorite thing about this series so far is the Phil Noto covers.  And I think this is Noto’s best cover yet.  But the first two issues were pretty mediocre.  And it’s not promising that the solicit for this issue reads an awful lot like the one for the first issue.

In all honesty, if the next issue is a marked improvement over the first two I am unlikely to be here for issue 5.

Review: Batgirl #2

Review: Batgirl #1

GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #7

Written by Paul Dini
Art and cover by Guillem March
    Catwoman takes charge as the other Sirens fall victim to their most dangerous challenge yet!

Does the text for this solicit even matter?

Hey, I like Catwoman’s boobs as much as the next guy.  Depending on who the next guy is, I may like them more.  I’ve got a healthy collection of Jim Balent’s boobtastic run on Catwoman to prove it.  But even I got sick of this bad girl retread after the first couple of issues.

Can this book really be written by the same guy who is writing Streets of Gotham?  Maybe there are two Paul Dini’s.  One of them worked in animation and wrote Detective Comics and Streets of Gotham.  The other guy wrote Countdown and this.

It’s the best explanation I can come up with.

Review: Gotham City Sirens #1

SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #4

Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Gary Frank & Jon Sibal

    While everyone wants something from Metropolis’ first Super Hero, Superman must fight his first Super-Villain – someone who wants everything – the Parasite! Meanwhile, Lex Luthor turns his attention toward The Man of Steel…
    Geoff Johns and Gary Frank continue their bold reinterpretation of the origin of The Man of Steel for the 21st Century!

Geoff Johns can hand in a blank script for all I care.  I’m on board this mini-series for Gary Frank’s art.  As I said in my review of the first issue, the art pushes all my Superman fanboy buttons.

Review: Superman: Secret Origin #1

ACTION COMICS #884

Written by Greg Rucka; co-feature written by James Robinson & Greg Rucka
Art by Pere Pérez; co-feature art by CAFU

    When Lois tries to run the story that will clear Flamebird and Nightwing once and for all, she finds herself blocked at every turn. With the world’s anti-Kryptonian sentiment escalating to a near-frenzy, not even being General Lane’s daughter will keep her safe!
    Plus, to the shock and horror of Flamebird, the problems with Nightwing’s uncontrolled aging reach a critical juncture! and in part 6 of the new co-feature, Captain Atom squares off against his old adversary Major Force just as some troubling memories start to resurface – one word: Monarch!

I’m not loving the Anti-Krypton story that seems to be taking hold of the Superman books post Codename: Patriot.  It just feels like watered-down X-Men.  Are you really going to cover any new territory here?  I don’t think so.

As I mentioned in my review of the latest issue, the Captain Atom back-up is just getting tiresome.  The word “Monarch” does nothing to improve my outlook on that subject.

Review: Action Comics #881

SUPERMAN #695

Written by James Robinson
Art by Fernando Dagnino & Raúl Fernandez

    Part 2 of Man of Valor! Metropolis gets a chance to see the new Mon-El in action. But now the stakes are raised even higher and the action escalates as Mon finally goes mano-a-mano against the Parasite! This is a battle that’s been brewing since Mon’s emergence on Earth and now it explodes into the streets and skies of the city.
    Plus, with Mon-El’s secret identity publicly known, how will the Science Police react to him now that they know he’s been living among them all this time? All this plus the return of Natasha Irons and the fate of Steel!

I’ve actually enjoyed most of Robinson’s run on Superman.  But even I have to admit that the pace has been somewhat slow.  Some issues have felt like padding.  But this issue looks like it will finally advance some long-dangling plot threads.  And that’s good – as long as they aren’t tied up as sloppily as the Codename: Patriot finale.  That was a stinker.

Review: Superman #691

SUPERMAN: WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #10

Written by Greg Rucka & James Robinson
Art by Pete Woods

    New Krypton is a planet so fresh, it’s experiencing countless things for the first time. Its first spring. Its first blooms. Its first birth of a child. And now its first homicide. When an important figure in Kandor is murdered, the suspect seems obvious to everyone but Superman. But can he make Zod or the Council believe this is more than an open-and-shut case? And can he uncover the real killer in time to save the life of the accused? It’s a dark mystery, but R.E.B.E.L.S. star Adam Strange arrives in time to help find answers…even though the truth may blow apart the civilized trappings of Kandorian society in the process.
    This action-packed arc leads all the way to the series’ final issue, which itself sets the stage for huge happenings in the DC Universe next summer!

The other Superman books have their charms.  But I can certainly understand why fans would be disappointed in them some times.  World of New Krypton, on the other hand, always delivers.  Next to Secret Six, it is the book I look forward to the most from month to month.  I’ll be sad when it’s over!

Review: Superman: World of New Krypton #7

SUPERGIRL #48

Written by Sterling Gates
Art by Matt Camp

    Uh-oh! The Silver Banshee is back in Metropolis! This time she’s after an artifact that could finally break her family’s eternal curse. When Inspector Mike Henderson gets involved, Supergirl is pulled into the conflict! Meanwhile, Lana Lang’s mysterious condition takes a turn for the worse. Will the Girl of Steel be able to save her only two human friends? Join fan-favorite writer Sterling Gates and guest artist Matt Camp (SUPERMAN: SECRET FILES 2009, Zero Killer) to find out!

I hate to say it, but the usually reliable Gates/Igle team has hit a bit of a speed bump with the last couple of issues.  Crossovers into Codename: Patriot and Hunt for Reactron have pushed the book slightly off track.  Hopefully, now that those crossovers are in the past, the team can get back to delivering very good (maybe even great) Supergirl stories.

Hey!  Where’s Igle?

Review: Supergirl #44

WORLD’S FINEST #3

Written by Sterling Gates
Art by Jamal Igle

    The Toyman has crafted the ultimate killing machine to protect himself from the Kryptonian menace, and Oracle has sent Supergirl and Batgirl to stop it. But when Supergirl faces off against the Kryptonite Man while the new Batgirl takes on Catwoman, they both find themselves in over their heads.This looks like a job for…

Oh, here he is.

This solicit sounds good enough to me.  So, I’ll use this space to address something that has been bugging me.  With no Birds of Prey book, I’m not sure what Oracle’s role is in the DCU.  She just seems to be all over the place.  Is she running The Network, mentoring Batgirl, or just setting up random operations like this one?  I don’t know.  But I’d really like to see her concentrate on setting up a regular group of operatives like what she had in Birds of Prey.

I really miss that book!

GREEN ARROW & BLACK CANARY #27

Written by Andrew Kreisberg
Art by Renato Guedes & Jose Wilson Magalhaes and Mike Norton & Bill Sienkiewicz

    First up: “Five Stages” part 3! Cupid and Green Arrow team up against Black Canary and Green Arrow (?!) just as the mysterious soldiers of Cobalt make Star City their own battlefield!
    And then in the co-feature: Just where did this mysterious second Green Arrow come from? And how is Cobalt connected to his recent past?

Every month, when the solicits come out, Green Arrow/Black Canary is one of the first things I look at.  It’s not because I am anxiously awaiting hints of what is to come on the book.  It’s because I desperately hope that DC will replace Andrew Kreisberg.

Every month, I am disappointed.

And then I see Cupid on the cover and I can barely contain my fanboy rage.  Please, DC, do something about this book!

Review: Green Arrow & Black Canary #21

JSA Books

Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Travis Moore & Dan GreenJSA ALL-STARS #1
Written by Matthew Sturges
Art and cover by Freddie Williams II

    The Justice Society struggles to pick up the pieces after the team’s devastating break up! Regrouping at a new, temporary home base, the smaller team reflects on the recent infiltration of their ranks and how they can protect themselves from another such attack in the future! And why is the new Dr. Fate acting so weird?

    An all-new ongoing series! The Justice Society spin off group struggles to pull itself toward some semblance of order after the JSA’s devastating split! New home base, new training methods, new villains – all bringing the JSA All-Stars face-to-“face” with one of their greatest villains again – for the first time! Join writer Matthew Sturges (JUSTICE SOCIETY, JACK OF FABLES) and artist Freddie Williams II (ROBIN) for a new chapter in the JSA legacy.

Well, the cast is definitely big enough to support two books.  So, this seems like a no-brainer to split the team.  I don’t know if I’ll follow both books or not. 

Review: Justice Society of America #29

POWER GIRL #7

Written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Art and cover by Amanda Conner
    A blast from the past! The alien Vartox has come to Earth to claim a wife—and her name is Power Girl! PG may have wanted a boyfriend, but not quite like this! The fan-favorite team of Palmiotti, Gray and Conner craft another winner!

I’m a big fan of Amanda Conner’s art.  And I feel she is the perfect artist for Power Girl.  But the writing team of Palmiotti and Gray always leaves me feeling underwhelmed.  This book is a great book to thumb through at the comic shop for the art.  But reading it sometimes feels like a chore.

I appreciate the light tone and the art.  I just wish the writing were a little more interesting.

SECRET SIX #16

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Peter Nguyen & Doug Hazlewood

    The supremely powerful and infinitely dangerous Black Alice returns and she’s decided she wants to be a member of the Six – even if someone has to die to make room!

Of all the books coming out in December, this is the one I’l looking forward to the most!

And yay Black Alice!

Boo no Nicola Scott!

Review: Secret Six #13

WONDER WOMAN #39

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Aaron Lopresti & Matt Ryan

    This is it! The secret behind Wonder Woman’s new power and the true meaning of the Olympian are revealed right here!
It’s an all-out action issue as Diana faces an old foe with a hideous new face!

I’m still hoping Gail Simone can make me love her Wonder Woman as much as I love Secret Six.  This issue sure sounds like a winner.  You know I’ll be there.

(But odds are Seventh Soldier will beat me to the punch when it comes time to write a review.)

Review: Wonder Woman #34

TITANS #20

Written by Mike Johnson
Art by Angel Unzueta & Wayne Faucher

    Spotlight on Donna Troy! What happens when a young twenty-something woman feels like she grew up too fast and deprived herself of a twenty-something kind of life? As Donna ponders this, the Fearsome Five continue their Titans revenge streak. They picked the wrong time to do it…

Seriously, if you’re not going to do anything with this book, just cancel it and spare us all the trouble.

read/RANT

Hace unos días encontré unas imágenes en mi disco duro de algunas excelentes ilustraciones de los grandes Adam Hughes, Frank Cho, Gabrielle Dell Otto, Alex Ross, Cris De Lara, Ed Benes y otros artistas vistos en Deviantart que lamentablemente no recuerdo sus nombres, inmediatamente me puse manos a la obra y convertí mis favoritas a formato pequeño para ponerlas en el celular, se que no es nada nuevo pero si disfrutan de mujeres bellas y personajes superheroicos ilustrados por gente muy, muy talentosa no está demás tenerlas en el teléfono, así que las comparto, son 76 imágenes en un .rar de poco mas de 3 megas descargable mediante mediafire. Cualquier problema o duda comenten no más y creo que está demás hablar del tema del copyright, reconocimientos etc. Saludos.

DESCARGA TODAS

More evidence that DC Comics is dangerously close to sliding down some time anomaly or portal that will bring them back to 1995.

Check out Red Tornado #1, out this week, another mii-series about DC’s resident tortured android. All it’s missing is some sort of fucking holographic foil limited edition cover and it’d look fine gleaming vapidly on the shelves next to the latest books from Marvel or Image of that time period. Which is not a compliment, in case you were wondering.

Yes, I hate Ed Benes that much. And of course, the only thing worse than Ed Benes is a guy with the uncanny ability to draw exactly like Ed Benes. Looking at the artwork for the issue I felt like I did seeing all those imitators of that style come out of the woodwork and crank out so much worthless shit in the mid-nineties.

And don’t forget, I Love Red Tornado. Maybe with not as much nostalgia as I do The Vision, but he was always a favorite.

You don’t want to be seen like that, do you DC? Get rid of guys who draw like Ed Benes and find more who draw like J.H. Williams lll and you won’t be.

Otherwise, bust out the foil.

Lasso of Truth is your weekly guide to what’s hot and what’s not in the DC Universe.  Each week, the Red Baron goes through his comics haul to tell you what’s worth buying and what’s best left alone.

Here’s the key:

Must have – there’s no question, you should buy this great book.
Buy it – a high-quality read that won’t disappoint.
Check it out – pick it up if you have some extra cash.  May be an acquired taste.
Avoid – a disappointing read.  Save your money and steer clear.

Day-glo never looked so dark.

Batman and Robin #3
Author: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
60s camp with a chilling, modern twist, as only Morrison can deliver.
Verdict: Must have.

Batman: The Widening Gyre #1
Author: Kevin Smith
Artist: Walter Flanagan
Here’s the thing with Kevin Smith: when he fails to capture a character’s voice, he replaces it with his own voice.  It’s like a Tarantino film – the actors are really just delivering a conversation Tarantino’s had in his own head.  But for all its character flaws, Widening Gyre remains an entertaining read.  Thankfully he does manage to capture at least one voice: the voice of the rhyming demon Etrigan.
Verdict: Check it out.

Blackest Night: Titans #1
Author: J.T. Krul
Artist: Ed Benes
Amounts to little more than a history lesson about characters I don’t care about.  Benes’ artwork is sexy enough – perhaps a little too sexy.  The first truly disappointing Blackest Night title.
Verdict: Avoid.

Detective Comics #856
Author: Greg Rucka
Artist: J.H. Williams III
Rucka’s new Bat-villain Alice chews up the scenery in Batwoman’s psychedelic nightmare.  J.H. Williams once again pushes the boundaries of the medium.
Verdict: Must have.

Green Lantern #45
Author: Geoff Johns
Artist: Doug Mahnke
Plenty of great moments in this War of Light, but it sacrifices cohesiveness in an effort to cover everything.
Verdict: Buy it.

Superman #691
Author: James Robinson
Artist: Renato Guedes
What is essentially the culmination of months of storyboarding comes off as contrived and confusing.
Verdict: Avoid.

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen Special #2
Author: James Robinson
Artist: Bernard Chang
Jimmy Olsen investigates the same uninteresting shadowy government conspiracy he’s been investigating for months.  The exorbitant cover price makes it that much more unforgivable.
Verdict: Avoid.

Wednesday Comics #8
Authors: Various
Artists: Various
Everybody lifts their game this week to produce what is effectively the best dose of Wednesday Comics yet.
Verdict: Buy it.

Wonder Woman #35
Author: Gail Simone
Artist: Aaron Lopresti
Wonder Woman returns to form spectacularly, cagefighting in the underground with Black Canary(!).
Verdict: Buy it.

     With Blackest Night in full swing, Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi treat us to the stories of some of the major figures in the various Lantern Corps with Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps.  There’s at least one story for every corps, minus the Black Lantern Corps, with Bleez from the Red Lantern Corps, Blume from the Orange Lantern Corps, Mongul from the Sinestro Corps, Killowog and Arisia from the Green Lantern Corps, Saint Walker from the Blue Lantern Corps, Indigo from the Indigo Tribe, and Carol Ferris from the Star Sapphires/Violet Lantern Corps.  Bleez and Blume’s stories tell their stories while showing how they ended up as a part of their respective corps, and Mongul’s story tells a tale of living in his father’s shadow.  Killowog’s story tells where the term “poozer” came from, and Arisia’s story shows her family’s long history with the Green Lantern Corps.  Saint Walker’s story provides his origin as a member of the Blue Lantern Corps, Indigo-1’s shows her and her tribe’s encounter with a Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps member, and Carol Ferris’ story explains what happened when a violet ring came to make her a Star Sapphire once more.

     Now, I personally loved these stories.  Each and every one of them was painstakingly crafted by the two architects of the current Green Lantern mythos.  My personal favorites were Bleez’s (even though she’s not an important member of the Red Lantern Corps), Mongul’s, and Saint Walker’s.  Saint Walker in particular is a new character who hasn’t had much page time for himself, so this was very welcome.  I am not a religious person in the least, but this was a great story.  Indigo-1’s was highly cryptic, as I believe Johns intended it to be.  My guess is that it will make a lot more sense later on, once we know who she is.  Killowog and Arisia’s were sad but cute, and Carol Ferris’ was just spot-on for how Johns has interpreted her character.  The most forgettable was Blume’s, since, really, he’s just a big floating head.  I was very disappointed with the last issue only because of the fact that we were supposed to get Vice’s story, and instead, we got a boring, uninformative “creator commentary” on Blackest Night #0.  Aside from that, this was a great miniseries that really sheds light on some of the more interesting personalities in this epic story.  And it has a ton of great art, with Ed Benes on the covers, Chris Samnee on Mongul and Killowog, Rags Morales on Indigo, Eddy Barrows on Bleez, and Mike Mayhew on Arisia.  Jerry Ordway’s work on Saint Walker was okay, if not inspiring, and Gene Ha’s work on Carol Ferris was a tad disappointing, since it isn’t his best work.  As for Tom Mandrake’s work on Blume, it was as forgettable as the story itself.  At any rate, this was a fun anthology and a must-read for anyone who’s reading Blackest Night.  And if I learned anything from it, I learned that Killowog actually has a heart of gold.  Okay, I already knew that.  But that story was SO cute!

Plot: 8.8      Art: 8.8      Dialogue: 8.8      Overall: 8.8

For anyone who hasn’t read one of these before, here’s the deal: I rundown the lastest DC solicits and give my thoughts.  Hilarity ensues.

Blackest Night books:

I’m just going to cover all of the Blackest Night books in one entry this month.  Otherwise, I’ll run the risk of repeating myself.  Last week’s review of Blackest Night #1 proved quite polarizing.  Most of the fan community seemed to think the book was a masterpiece.  To say the least, I disagreed.

I have read a 6-page preview of this week’s issue of Green Lantern and I am happy to say I liked it better than anything in Blackest Night #1.  The pages I read featured a conversation among Barry Allen, Hal Jordan and Martian Manhunter as a Black Lantern.  What I liked about what I saw was that J’onn was not an “Evil Dead”-style demon like Ralph and Sue Dibny in BN1.

(For all I know, he vowed to swallow Hal’s soul on page 7, but 6-pages without an “I smell a mystery” was a big improvement in my book.)

One of my big problems with BN 1 and last month’s issue of Green Lantern was all of the recapping.  A few people have assured me that all of this recapping was necessary.  And while I’m not necessarily sure it was, hopefully we’re all past it and the story can get started.

I still have some reservationsabout the premise of this story.  And BN #1 kind of confirmed some of my worst fears about what Blackest Night would entail.  But the vast majority seem to be eating this up, so what do I know?

Well, I do know this.  Tales from the Corps #1 was a big, fat waste of money.  I never got around to writing up a proper review.  But save your $4.  DC had the sheer audacity to reprint the various corps pages from Blackest Night 0 – which was, you know, free!

Based on this, I have really low expectations of the tie-ins.  For my money, these tie-ins just look horrible.  And DC has a really lousy track record with tie-ins.  So, buyer beware.

GREEN LANTERN #47

Written by Geoff Johns
Art and cover by Doug Mahnke & Christian Alamy

    BLACKEST NIGHT continues! The war between the Blue Lanterns and Agent Orange implodes as the universe darkens! But a strange turn will send this epic battle in an unexpected direction when Larfleeze has something he desperately hordes taken away from him!

The war between Larfleeze and the Blue Lanterns is STILL going to be going on in October?  I kind of expected that to be a one-pager since the Blue Lanterns are pretty much helpless without a nearby Green Lantern.  This had better be good stuff if it’s going to hold my interest until October.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #41

 
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art and cover by Patrick Gleason & Rebecca Buchman

    The intense and horrific battle between the Green Lantern Corps and the Black Lanterns on Oa takes a turn for the worse! The Corps realizes that the abominable, ultimate goal of the Black Lanterns is not only to feed off the Corps’ emotions, but to consume and decimate the main power battery and destroy Oa forever!

Someone remembered John Stewart.  I think I may pass out!

Final Crisis Aftermath Books:

I haven’t been following these books (see earlier comment about DC’s track record with tie-ins) so I’m just going to lump them all together.

Seventh Soldier is still posting reviews for Ink and Dance.  Check them out if you are so inclined.

I wouldn’t mention these books at all except that they all end in October!  Any bets as to whether or not they end before Legion of Three Worlds?

BATMAN AND ROBIN #5

Written by Grant Morrison
Art and variant cover by Philip Tan & Jonathan Glapion

    Are two Dynamic Duos too much for one city? Batman and Robin find themselves at cross-purposes with Red Hood and Scarlet. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? And who will end up being the chosen protectors of Gotham City?

Check out our round table on B&R #1.  And here’s Bruce Castle’s review of B&R #2.

I have pretty mixed feelings about Morrison’s run on Batman.  To be sure, there was some crazy, brilliant stuff in there.  But I often found individual issues to be frustrating.  I’ve gone back and read his issues several times since Batman RIP and they definitely read better this way.

But I love the freshness of Batman and Robin.  This book just feels like a great super hero comic.  It’s still got the crazy Morrison touches.  But it’s totally accessible.  And there are Easter eggs for those of us who read Morrison’s earlier Batman tales.

BATMAN ANNUAL #27

Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by J. Calafiore & Mark McKenna

    A murdered priest. A desecrated grave marker. A kidnapped child. A secret key. A mystery whose solution could upset the world order. For Batman and Robin to stop the rampage of a zealot named Amon, the Sixth Sinner, they first have to halt a deadlier foe intent on making sure Amon succeeds. To end the killer’s mad scheme, Batman faces Azrael, Death’s Dark Knight! “The Eighth Deadly Sin” continues in DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL #11 and sets the stage for this month’s premiere issue of the AZRAEL ongoing series!

DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL #11

Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Tom Mandrake

    Picking up where BATMAN ANNUAL #27 left off! A lock without a key. A murder mystery whose solutions could lead to countless deaths. An answer in search of – the Question! Renee Montoya must help Batman save Robin from Amon, the Sixth Sinner, while keeping the fanatic killer from uncovering a 2,000-year-old religious secret. But is Azrael willing to risk Robin’s life in order to see this secret revealed? “The Eighth Deadly Sin” sets the stage for this month’s premiere issue of the AZRAEL ongoing series!

AZRAEL #1

Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Ramon Bachs

    Following the events of “The Eighth Deadly Sin” in BATMAN ANNUAL #27 and DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL #11, the new monthly series starring Death’s Dark Knight begins! Michael Lane is a man in search of redemption, but does serving the Order of Purity as God’s Angel of Justice bring him closer to achieving his goal – or simply send him further down a road paved with good intentions? When a hired killer comes to Gotham City seeking revenge for crimes committed decades in the past, Azrael faces an impossible conflict: What if God’s justice forces the hero to claim one of God’s servants? From writer Fabian Nicieza (SUPERMAN, TRINITY) and artist Ramon Bachs (RED ROBIN)!

I lumped these three books together.  Unless you are really interested in Azreal, those two annuals are going to be massively skippable.  I read a lot of the original Azreal series.  I guess that makes me an Azreal fan.  I’ll pick up #1 and give it a look.  But I doubt I’ll pick up those annuals.  And shame on DC if they are required reading to enjoy Azreal #1.

ARKHAM REBORN #1

Written by David Hine
!Haun and artist Jeremy Hine ASYLUM creative team of writer David ARKHAM illness, the building soon mutates into a torture house, and the inmates find themselves trapped in a living hell. And when Jeremiah starts hearing a voice from beyond the grave, it becomes painfully clear that the lunatics really have taken over the Asylum! Beginning a 3-issue miniseries from the BATTLE FOR THE COWL: al has rebuilt the Asylum following the design of his mad Uncle Amadeus. Intended as a model for enlightened treatment of mentArkham Asylum in BATTLE FOR THE COWL, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham    Following the Black Mask’s destruction of

HaunArt and variant cover by Jeremy

I didn’t read most of the Battle for the Cowl tie-ins (see earlier comments about DC’s track record with tie-ins) so maybe I missed the boat on Arkham Asylum.  But the solicit for this issue just sounds unpleasant.  This sure isn’t something I want to read!

BATMAN: THE UNSEEN #1-2

Written by Doug Moench
Art and cover by Kelley Jones
    The fan-favorite Bat-team of Doug Moench and Kelley Jones reunite to introduce the newest member of Batman’s rogues gallery in this twice-monthly, 5-issue miniseries! Horrible and unexplained murders have Gotham City held captive. Bizarre deaths have been occurring throughout the city, but the perpetrator is unknown. Even when the crimes have been committed in view of witnesses, all that is seen is a glimpse of a weird, skinless “meat-man” who seems to fade away after the crimes. Gotham’s only hope is their Dark Knight Detective, but how can Batman find and fight an Invisible Man?

Lots of Bat-books this month!  I’m skipping over that Kevin Smith book because really, I don’t care.  This mini-series seems equally skippable.  But I am more intrigued by a Doug Moench and Kelley Jones reuninion than I am a Kevin Smith bat-book.  So, maybe I’ll give it a try.

BATMAN #691

Written by Judd Winick
Art by Mark Bagley & Rob Hunter

    BATMAN double-ships this month as Two-Face and the new Batman throw down in the Batcave. And the fight is a vicious one, but just as Two-Face begins to get the upper hand…Batman shows up? The final chapter of Dick Grayson’s first adventure as Batman is a can’t-miss!

I didn’t expect to like Winick’s return to Batman.  Winick has been seriously disappointing me for the last year or so.  But his first two issues of Batman were surprisingly readable.  Even good!  So, I’m looking forward to more.

One of the best things about Winick’s Batman so far is that it more less makes Battle for the Cowl irrelevant.  Which brings me to:

BATMAN #692

Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Tony Daniel & Sandu Florea

    BATMAN double-ships this month with Tony Daniel returning to the series as the new writer and artist after his best-selling BATTLE FOR THE COWL miniseries! With Batman pounding the pavement in search of Black Mask, Penguin on the run, and the completion of the new Arkham Asylum looming close, Gotham City has reached a boiling point! Guest-starring Catwoman and the Huntress and featuring the return of Gotham City’s most notorious crime family!

I never thought I’d say this, but thank god Winick’s coming back!  Who knows, maybe Daniel will surprise me.  I never thought I’d be enjoying Winick’s Batman, so I guess anything is possible.

But, what’s up with the revolving door on this book?  Batman is one of DC’s best selling titles.  We’ve had three artists and two writers since the revamp of the line.  There has to be a better way to handle one of your flagship books!

DETECTIVE COMICS #858

Written by Greg Rucka
Art by JH Williams III; co-feature art by Cully Hamner

    The shocking and tragic origin story of Batwoman begins here! In “Go” part 1, young Kate Kane and her family are kidnapped by terrorists, and Kate’s life – and the lives of her family – will never be the same! Plus, the mystery behind the villainous Alice is at last revealed!
    Then, in The Question co-feature, Renee’s search for a missing girl comes to a bittersweet end, leaving Renee with more questions and an even bigger mystery for her to solve. As long as she can survive the night, that is…

I’ve only got one issueof Detective to go by so far, but it was a good one.  Since we really don’t know much about Batwoman at this point, this story sounds like a good one.  Hopefully, it will fill in the gaps the same way Rucka’s Action Comics Annual did for that book.  Although it’s a shame that story was stuck in an Annual instead of folded into the main book the way this one is.

BATGIRL #3

Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Lee Garbett & Trevor Scott
Cover by Phil Noto
    It’s a new look and a new costume for the all-new Batgirl! As crime in Gotham City continues to rise, the newest member of the Bat-family vows to wear the mantle of the Bat and fight alongside Batman and Robin in their war on crime. There’s just one problem: She hasn’t told Batman and Robin yet!

Love the Noto cover!  DC sure is being secretive about who will wear the Batgirl costume.  If the book is good, I won’t care who’s wearing the costume.  Having said that, if it’s Barabara Gordon that’s going to be somewhat anti-climactic, donchathink?

BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #5

Written by Chris Yost; co-feature written by Marc Andreyko
to hunt him down!Manhunter co-feature, Jane Doe is in custody and claiming that Two-Face asked her to kill the former D.A. Since Kate Spencer can’t find the bipolar baddie, it’s up to Manhunter    Meanwhile, in the

    The 2-part “Leviathan” story begins from guest writer Chris Yost (RED ROBIN) as the Huntress finds herself in an unusual position – the responsible one! Because when Huntress hunts down a violent new criminal, she finds herself stuck with a violent, loose cannon of a partner on the case – the Man-Bat.
Haun; co-feature art by Jeremy FridolfsArt by Dustin Nguyen & Derek

Since the Batbooks relaunched, three titles have really stood out; Batman and Robin, Detective Comics and Streets of Gotham.  So, I’m a little disappointed to see a fill-in writer already.  I’m ready to see the Huntress get the spotlight, but a team-up with Man-Bat makes that prospect a lot less appealing.

RED ROBIN #5

Written by Chris Yost
Art by Ramon Bachs

    “Council of Spiders,” Part 1 of 4! Ra’s al Ghul goes from hunter to hunted! What is the Council of Spiders, why have they been killing assassins, and who is the Wanderer? After the death of Red Robin last issue, the League of Assassins now must – wait, WHAT? Everything shifts into insane overdrive as the daughter of Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox completes her quest to find Red Robin, only to get caught up in one of the deadliest games on the face of the planet.

Red Robin #1 was a surprisingly good read.  Issue 2 hit a lot of the same story beats.  So, issue three had better be pretty good or I won’t be around for issue 5.  Robin + the League of Assassins is usually not a good mix.  The League has not been used to good effect in recent years.  So, my expectations are pretty low for this series.  But not as low as they are for…

GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #5

Written by Paul Dini
Art and cover by Guillem March
    Harley Quinn takes center stage this issue as the girls deal with the after effects of Hush’s deadly manipulations over the last few months. Plus, don’t miss a surprise guest-star!

Issue onesure blew.  Read Seventh Soldier’s review for the gruesome details.  All I’ll say is that this book reminds me of Dini’s work on Countdown…

OUTSIDERS #23

Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Fernando Pasarin & Jay Leisten

    “The Hunting” continues as Halo, Katana and The Creeper attempt to capture Killer Croc and return him to Gotham City before more dead bodies surface in the Louisiana swamps. But when Man-Bat joins the fight, will he side with the monster or the monster-hunters?

I’ve been planning to give this book a try for a long time now, but every time I think about picking the book up it is in the middle of a massive story arc.  So far, no one has recommended this book to me.  Maybe I’m not missing anything.

WORLD’S FINEST #1

Written by Sterling Gates
Art by Julian Lopez

    After tracking down a threat to The Man of Steel – and all of Metropolis – Red Robin must team up with the new Kryptonian Nightwing to end this mysterious threat and rescue Flamebird. But is all this just a red herring to distract the heroes from an even bigger threat to Gotham City and New Krypton? Be here to find out in this 4-issue miniseries from rising star writer Sterling Gates (SUPERGIRL) and artist Julian Lopez.

I’m looking forward to seeing the new Batman and Superman families interact.  I’m a fan of Sterling Gates’ work on Supergirl.  Looks good!

SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #2

Written by Geoff Johns
!Luthor Lex and see how meeting the Legion of Super-Heroes shapes the Superman he will one day become! Plus, more on the beginnings of the young Superboy century as th journey into the late 30alof all time continues! In this second issue, readers will witness young Clark Kent’s initi

    Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s exploration of the origin of the greatest Super Hero
SibalArt by Gary Frank & Jon

I’ve been accused of hating on Geoff Johns a lot lately based on the fact I haven’t been drinking the Blackest Night Kool Aid.  But I have been a huge fan of his work on Superman.  This series is bound to be chock-a-block with Geoff Johns retcons.  But they will be drawn be Gary Frank.  And odds are there won’t be any superheroes revived as Evil Dead-style zombies. 

Geoff Johns, if you’re out there, more like this please.

ACTION COMICS #882

Written by Greg Rucka & Sterling Gates; co-feature written by James Robinson & Greg Rucka
Art by Julian Lopez; co-feature art by CAFU

    “The Hunt for Reactron” part 3! Supergirl and Flamebird continue their slugfest, with poor Nightwing caught in the middle! Wait, isn’t that man standing over there the same Reactron who murdered Supergirl’s dad and Flamebird’s surrogate father? Get him! Continued in SUPERGIRL #46…
    And in the new Captain Atom co-feature, the mystery of where (and when) Captain Atom is heats up when someone with a connection to Metropolis arrives on the scene. But are they friend or foe?

I didn’t get around to writing up a review of the last issue of Action Comics which featured the debut of the Captain Atom back-up feature.  So, let me just say right here: WTF?  I had read that Rucka and Robinson knew the first installment would leave people scratching their heads.  But that was so not cool.  You’ve got 10 pages.  At least give us something!

Of the Superman books, Action has been the weakest.  Which is not to say it’s bad.  It’s better than a lot of the Bat-books.  But it’s not living up to the high standards of Robinson’s Superman, World of New Krypton or Supergirl.  I’ve even considered dropping the book.  But since I’m reading Supergirl, I’ll stick around through the Reactron storyline.

Hopefully the Captain Atom co-feature will make sense by then.

ADVENTURE COMICS #3

Written by Geoff Johns; co-feature written by Geoff Johns & Michael Shoemaker
Art by Francis Manapul, co-feature art by Clayton Henry

    Superboy is back and hunting for Lex Luthor! He can’t find Luthor on his own, and he needs help from his best friend Tim Drake, a.k.a. Robin. But Tim’s now traveling the globe under the alias of Red Robin! The boys’ reunion isn’t all smiles and hugs, as Conner discovers that Tim has been hiding a great many secrets from the newly returned Boy of Steel. And they’re secrets that could destroy their friendship!
    Plus, in the Legion of Super-Heroes co-feature, the intergalactic odd couple known as Sun Boy and Polar Boy team up to figure out what’s up with the menace trying to destroy the universe.

To date, I still have no idea how Conner came back (although rumor has it Legion of 3 Worlds comes out today.  Maybe that will finally explain it.  Honestly, I don’t care.  I’m just glad to have him back.  And I’m glad to finally see these Titan reunions.  I hope this book lives up to my expectations.

SUPERMAN #693

Written by James Robinson
Art by Fernando Dagnino & Raúl Fernandez
    It’s a special issue set entirely within General Lane’s Project 7734 headquarters! Learn more about the mysterious Mirabai, Codename: Assassin and Atlas, and witness Lane ply information out of his latest…acquisition. All this plus revelations about Lex Luthor and Brainiac!

I think we can all agree that Cry for Justice was a joke, right?  (If you liked it, please write me a 1,000 word essay on why you like crappy comics.)  But Robinson’s Superman has been a really under-rated gem.  And this looks like a pivotal issue.  Can’t wait!

SUPERMAN: WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #8

Written by James Robinson & Greg Rucka
Art by Pete Woods

    On a mission in space, Superman and his fellow Kryptonians encounter the might of the Thanagarian Army. Can Superman keep things peaceful between the two races – or will The Man of Steel discover that Hawkman’s legendary temper is shared by all his people?

I’m on the record as loving this book.  Kryptonians vs. Thanagarians?  Yes please.  But please don’t pull another Green Lantern issue.  I think it was issue 3 where the cover depicted Kal vs. Hal.  But the actual issue had them shaking hands and slapping each other on the back.  Not a punch was thrown.  I may be mistaken, but I think they had tea and scones. 

Anyway, since there’s no fight on the cover maybe we can expect one within the pages of the book!

SUPERGIRL #46

Written by Sterling Gates & Greg Rucka
Art by Jamal Igle & Jon Sibal

    Continuing from ACTION COMICS #882, “The Hunt for Reactron” concludes! It’s the final showdown between Flamebird, Supergirl and the man who killed their father. And for the Daughters of Zor-El, that means it’s payback time. Will Reactron make it out alive? Or is Nightwing the only one who can save
them all?

Hold on!  Did we know previously that Flamebird was Supergirl’s sister?!?  I think not.  Ooops.

THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #28

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art and cover by Jesus Saiz
    J. Michael Straczynski (Amazing Spider-Man) and Jesus Saiz (OMAC PROJECT) continue their series of unlikely pairings with a match that spans the decades! When an experiment meant to alter the speed of light goes awry, Barry Allen finds himself face-to-face with some surprising allies – World War II’s legendary Blackhawks! But Barry isn’t the Flash they know, and he’s not even the kind of hero they need to help fight history’s most grueling war! What must Barry sacrifice to serve his country – and his world?

Another odd pairing from JMS.  Barry + Blackhawks really isn’t doing it for me.  JMS is going to have to really deliver the goods to win me over with these kinds of team-ups.

BOOSTER GOLD #25

Written by Dan Jurgens; co-feature written by Matthew Sturges
Art and cover by Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund; co-feature art by Mike Norton
    “Day of Dead” concludes as Booster Gold battles Black Beetle in the past and jumps through time to team up with the new Batman and Robin in the future. But how are these events connected – and what is the Black Beetle really after?
    Then, in Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes must stop the Blue Beetle scarab from trying to kill him…and everyone else on the
planet Earth!

If you left Booster Gold when Geoff Johns left (as I did) it’s time to come back.  The book is just as much fun now as it was then.  In fact, the addition of the Blue Beetle back-up feature has made it a party.  You like parties, don’t you?

DCU HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2009 #1

Written by Joe Harris, Billy Tucci, Jake Black, Franco, Adam Schlagman, Mandy McMurray and others
Art by Rags Morales, Joe Prado and others

    Darkness falls across the land as the DC Universe faces its greatest horror in this Halloween special filled with all-new stories! Watch as Guy Gardner continues his quest to share Halloween with the cosmos and his fellow alien Green Lantern Corps members. In another tale, Red Robin finds the true, deadly meaning of the sinister holiday while overseas on his quest to find Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile, Bizarro receives neither trick nor treat in his own backwards celebration of the spookiest night of the year on his home world. Plus, 10 other ghoulish tales to fill you with fright this Halloween!

By now, I think everyone knows these holiday specials are pointless.  Seriously, who’s buying them?  Save your $6!

DOOM PATROL #3

Written by Keith Giffen; co-feature written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
Art by Matthew Clark & Livesay;co-feature art by Kevin Maguire

    Remember Mento? Yeah, that guy – goofy helmet, lightning bolt on his chest. After reading this issue, it’s a sure bet you won’t forget him again any time soon. Oh yeah, and the resolution of that whole “black hole” thing from last issue adds a kinda-sorta new member to the Doom Patrol roster. As for everyone’s favorite Metal Men, it’s the dynamic debut of Douglas, Robot Hunter! We’re too good to you.

I’ve never been a fan of Doom Patrol or the Metal Men.  But the creative team on this book pretty much guarantees I give it three issues to win me over.

GREEN ARROW & BLACK CANARY #25

Written by Andrew Kreisberg
Art by Renato Guedes, Mike Norton, José Wilson Magalhães & Bill Sienkiewicz

    The main story this month focuses on the sudden and strange return of Green Arrow! Of course, we’re talking about the Green Arrow that Black Canary stabbed on her wedding night!
    And in this issue’s co-feature, Black Canary is stunned to find that Cupid can’t tell the difference between the two Green Arrows – which could lead to one of the deadliest Super-Villain teams of all time!

I have to admit my heart sank a little when I saw Kreisberg was still writing this book.  Every month, I check the solicit to see if he’s been replaced yet.  No such luck.  This solicit suggests that Green Arrow/Black Canary is going to continue to suck well into the fall.

Sigh.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #32

Written by Matthew Sturges & Bill Willingham
Art and cover by Jesus Merino
    The seismic rift among the members of the Justice Society deepens due to the strange actions of several new team members as well as some long-seeded conflicts! It all leaves them dangerously weakened as their home base faces assault from an army of bounty hunters who plan on collecting the price on the head of each and every member of the Society!

I remain cautiously optimistic about the new creative team on JSA.  They have some big shoes to fill!

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #38

Written by James Robinson
Art and cover by Mark Bagley

    A new era begins for the World’s Greatest Heroes as superstars James Robinson (STARMAN, SUPERMAN) and Mark Bagley (TRINITY, Ultimate Spider-Man) take over! It all begins as a one-time member of the JLA falls before he can warn the team of looming peril while what’s left of the JLA journeys to the heart of their past to decide if the team has any future at all.
    Of course, that means this is the best time for a savage villain from the team’s past to attack the demoralized heroes! The team will have to muster enough will to win not only today, but in the harrowing months to come. It’s the start of a spanking new odyssey for the JLA that will lead in the coming months to a fresh line-up for DC’s flagship team. Get onboard now for the next epic chapter of the Justice League’s legacy!

I’ve been waiting for DC to make JLA relevant again.  And ordinarily, Robinson and Bagley would be cause to celebrate.  But Cry for Justice #1 was really, really bad.  You know it was.  Stop fooling yourself just because Mauro Cascioli painted Wonder Woman in a thong that would make a porn star blush.

Hopefully, the Robinson of Superman will show up instead whoever it was that wrote Cry for Justice #1.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE #4

Written by James Robinson
Art and cover by Mauro Cascioli
    How far would you go for justice? The heroes have found themselves turning to darker tactics in their search for retribution. Starman and Congorilla have captured the killers who took down some of their friends, but now what do they do with them? Meanwhile, Green Lantern and company wrestle with the idea of torturing villains for information in order to save lives.

It burns!  It burns!

MAGOG #2

Written by Keith Giffen
Art by Howard Porter & John Dell

    Magog’s got a problem: How does he use the Justice Society and their vast resources and abilities without their knowing he’s going against their standard operating procedure? And that doesn’t even compare to his more immediate problem: coming face-to-face with the putrid villain known as Miasma beneath New York City! Continuing the all-new series from writer Keith Giffen (JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL) and reuniting the best-selling JLA art team of penciller Howard Porter and inker John Dell!

This is officially 1 issue longer than I thought a Magog on-going series would last!  (I tease!)

Gotta say, the Porter/Dell art doesn’t exactly excite me.  The Morrison era JLA was one of my favorites.  But that was in spite of the art, not because of it.

POWER GIRL #6

Written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Art and cover by Amanda Conner

    “Space Girls Gone Wild!” part 3 of 3! The trio of sexy alien marauders continues their rampage across Earth, and Power Girl makes her last stand against these seemingly unstoppable foes. But even Power Girl has her limits…

I’m here for the Amanda Conner art.  I’ll probably stick around as long as she does and not an issue longer.  The book is just enough fun to justify my $3 purchase. 

RED TORNADO #2

Written by Kevin VanHook
Art by Jose Luisí & J.P. Mayer
    He thought he was alone, but Red Tornado’s on track to meet the family he never knew he had! And in issue #2 of the 6-issue miniseries, Red Tornado discovers the next member: Red Torpedo! Hold on to your hats as this exciting new series from writer Kevin VanHook and artist Jose Luisí whips up a zephyr of excitement!

DC, why do you keep trying to make Red Tornado happen?  He’s so not fetch!

THE SHIELD #2

Written by Eric Trautmann; co-feature written by Brandon Jerwa
Art by Marco Rudy & Mick Gray; co-feature art by Greg Scott

    The Shield’s mission deepens as he struggles to free himself from the mind-washed hordes. Unfortunately, someone else is on the same mission despite no official sanction. Can The Shield control the situation – or will he be forced to scrub out, thanks to Magog?
    Plus, Inferno takes on Black Canary on her own turf! Will she catch him before he’s even started to run?

THE WEB #2

Written by Angela Robinson; co-feature written by John Rozum
Art Roger Robinson & Hilary Barta; co-feature art by Tom Derenick & Bill Sienkiewicz
Cover by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau
    The Web finds himself in over his head as he plunges deeper into the criminal underworld looking for the elusive villain Dr. Archer. With his calls of duty piling up, The Web gets caught in a terrible death trap and in his civilian I.D., he’s found himself rolling with made men. Has the new hero overplayed his hand already?
    Plus, the Hangman begins tightening the noose on San Francisco’s organized crime, but he finds resistance in the form of the Ugly Man!

Not much to say on these Red Circle books at this point.  I hope they are good.

I had really expected DC to do more with the Milestone characters than they did.  I hope the way they screwed over Dwayne McDuffie didn’t screw that deal up to.

SECRET SIX #14

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Nicola Scott and Doug Hazlewood

    The shattering conclusion to “The Depths” is here! The Six find themselves pitted against Artemis, Wonder Woman and the hideous secret being from deep within the new Devil’s Island!

This book is pure awesome.  And “The Depths” promises to be one of the best arcs yet.

I know you’re not reading this book.  It doesn’t have Superman or Batman in it.  It’s not written by Geoff Johns and there are rarely any zombies.  That’s no excuse!

Secret Six is the essence of awesomeness!  Buy two copies of each issue and read them both!

TITANS #18

Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Angel Unzueta and Wayne Faucher

    With the Titans team slowly dissolving as members drift their own way, only the empath Raven recognizes the mounting disconnection. With her only friends drifting apart, Raven makes a surprising life choice that will affect the course of her strained relationship with Beast Boy.

Titans has slowly grown from a train wreck into a mediocre book spotlighting 1 Titan per issue.  The last two issues have both been readable.  But you had to really like the character who was receiving the spotlight.  This issue looks about the same.  Still, it beats the train wreck Titans used to be.

TEEN TITANS #76

Written by Felicia D. Henderson; co-feature written by Sean McKeever
Art by Joe Bennett & Jack Jadson; co-feature art by Yildiray Cinar & Júlio Ferreira

    Guest-starring Beast Boy and Raven! With the Teen Titans unraveling at the seams, two former members must return to Titans Tower to help Wonder Girl right the sinking ship! If only it were that easy…
    And in the Ravager second feature, Rose uncovers a horrific
black market. And she deals with it the only way she knows how: with blood.

Teen Titans has also gotten better since the exit of Sean McKeever.  Now if only we could get him off the co-feature!  I look forward to seeing what Felicia Henderson brings to the table.  I hear she’s a Gossip Girl writer.  That sounds like a pretty good fit for the Titans…

WONDER WOMAN #37

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Bernard Chang

    It’s a civil war – and the world hangs in the balance! Zeus has made Achilles ruler of the Amazons, and Diana finds herself in battle against the people she loves most! And what is the secret behind the sudden rash of pregnancies on Paradise Island?

It looks like Rise of the Olympian was only the beginning!  I can’t wait to see what Gail has in store for us next.