Weekly Comic Review for 8/15/12
It’s another week and quite a mix of books. And yes, it’s another issue of Avengers Academy. I’m not sure why this title has been running twice monthly but it’s been getting to be a bit much. With the comic being cancelled with issue 39, it almost feels like they are rushing to get the title out of the way. I’ve enjoyed the title but I guess the sales haven’t been good enough. I’m betting having 2 issues a month wasn’t helping given the cost of comics nowadays, especially for a book about younger characters.
Avengers Academy – “Final Exam” part 2 of 4. Half the team is down with X-23 being poisoned by her adamantium and White Tiger going through withdrawal from her talisman. Meanwhile, Striker, Mettle, Hazmat, and Veil see what Jeremy’s up to and a few of them get cured leading to another battle with the Young Masters next issue. The characterization in this book is always interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing what goes on over the final few issues.
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 of 4 – We get to see Rorschach do some hunting down and get beaten up. That’s about it. I was really expecting something more interesting. We do get to see him without the mask and that’s probably the most interesting part of the whole thing. The stories not bad (There has been worse BW issues.) but it’s pretty uneventful for a first issue.
Bloodshot #2 – Bloodshot escapes (without pants — oops!) and tries to get some distance while he figured out what’s going on. Meanwhile, we get some behind the scenes info on what’s going on with the program that created him which leads to a mysterious girl who is being kept chained up in a hidden area. The mysteries keep up for now. At the end, we get a preview of an upcoming issue of X-O Manowar that will reintroduce Ninjak.
Green Lantern #12 – It’s Hal and Sinestro vs Black Hand and the zombies. It seems there’s a twist with the Book of Black too as it tells Black Hand that Hal is not his enemy and that Hal will also be the greatest Black Lantern. Overall, not a too eventful comic.
Green Lantern Corps #12 – It’s the end of the war with the Alpha Lanterns as well as the end of the Alpha Lanterns themselves. Not a big surprise but it’s also the death of some interesting characters. It would have been nice to see characters like Boodika back as regular Green Lanterns but after what was done to them, there wasn’t much turning back. Now, the Guardians are one step closer to whatever their plan is which will be revealed more in Green Lantern Annual #1 in a couple weeks.
Harbinger #3 – Peter arrives at the Harbinger Foundation. There he finds out he’s more or less back in school and at the lowest tier while also being someone special which puts him in the spotlight. This is going to make his time there a little tougher. We get a look into Peter’s history and into his mind when he goes through a psych exam. We also get introduced to Faith (whom I’m assuming is the overweight flying girl from the original series). The story is progressing nicely so far.
Legion of Super-Heroes #12 – The Legion finally comes to the rescue of the members who were captured by the Dominators. It’s pretty much an all out battle between the Legion and the Dominators (and their new hybrids) this issue. We still don’t know what was up with Comet Queen though the fact that Brainiac 5 is the one who wants her kept quiet makes me think he really was the one behind her “betrayal”.
Nightwing #12 – It’s Nightwing vs Paragon as the pieces of the puzzle come together. We also see more of Nightwing’s relationship with Detective Nie and Dick’s relationship with Zucco’s daughter grow. I’m liking the way the cast is building up in this book.
Shade #11 of 12 – The main storyline comes to an end as Shade discoveres the secrets of the “Egyptian gods” and finds a way to send them home. Characters and references that seemed to be fluff earlier in the mini-series come together in this conclusion which makes the lead up a lot more rewarding. With one issue left, it seems the last issue will be fitting in with the #0 issues next month as we get a Times Past story and learn the Shade’s origin finally. I’m looking forward to that.
There were a few decent books this week. There were a couple that were a bit bland (like Rorschach, Green Lantern, and the Legion), but they are the minority. Of the 6 remaining, the 3 that rose to the top for me were Avengers Academy, Bloodshot, and Harbinger. It’s funny that they are a cancelled title and 2 independents. I guess that says a lot about Marvel and DC right now.
