Weekly Comic Review
Another week of books down so here we go…
Archie #617 – OK. Yeah, this one definitely seems out of place with my normal pulls but when I saw it on the rack with the Obama vs. Palin cover, I had to pick it up. All in all, it’s an Archie comic so nothing much to say about it.
Brightest Day #19 – “Aquawar” This issue starts off with a little bit about Deadman and the deaths (again!) of Hawkman and Hawkgirl. They better not keep our fuzzy chested winged wonder out of the air for very long. I’ve always liked him. The issue quickly moves on to Aquaman and the new Aqualad which takes up the rest of the issue. It’s a lot of chatting between the two to make a connection, I guess, before the begin another fight with Mera’s people. The issue ends with a scene that leaves you thinking “Again?” and a tag line that the next issue is “The Fate of Aquaman”. I guess we’ll see what happens. Personally, I think the Aquaman part could have been shorter and used more to pick up on someone like Firestorm or Hawk that haven’t been dealt with much.
Batman Beyond #2 – I enjoyed the cartoon and though I didn’t pick up the mini-series (didn’t like the art), I thought I’d pick up a couple issues of the comic series. One benefit was the appearance of the JLA of Terry’s time. We have the obvious hero vs hero fight allowing for a little extra about the characters for those who didn’t see the 2 cartoon episodes they were in. Then we have the team-up. Don’t think it’ll be a keeper but it’s not bad. You can only afford to follow so many comics though.
DC Universe Online Legends #1 – Another book that I just figured I’d check out the first issue of, this fills in a little bit of what went on between scenes in the introduction of the DC Universe Online game. The beginning will be no surprise for DC readers as the first few pages had been printed in ever one of their comics in the past month. After that, it’s a gathering of a bunch of random characters to team up against Brainiac in the next issue. I don’t see myself picking it up though. It’s out of continuity and not overly strong.
Freedom Fighters #6 – This book is continuing the storyline that’s been going on with the Freedom Fighters collecting a group of artifacts to save the Vice President. I’m not sure what draws me to this group. Maybe it’s the connection to the old time characters (the same reasons I like the JSA). It’s been interesting to watch them connect. Miss America has been acting more and more odd in the last few issues so I’m waiting to see what’s going on with her. I’m also waiting to see Uncle Sam return. I have a feeling his return and Miss America’s secret will come out together and I can’t wait to see it.
JSA All Stars #15 – I’m not sure why they decided to do two JSA books. To me, it seems like they filled up the book with a lot of extra characters just so they could split and form a second group. There are a few good people on the team — Hourman, Sandman, Stargirl, Atom Smasher. A lot of the new ones I can do without though – Citizen Steel, King Chimera, Judomaster, and their AI Roxy. (A lot of these characters even seem to annoy each other.) I’m not sure what to make of Anna, the teams Dr. Fate wannabe, yet. Only time will tell though. This story continues the storyline of Puzzlemen and Arthur Pemberton with still a lot of questions to be answered. If I’m reading the last page right, it may be a big change for one of the characters too.
Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #1 -You don’t see as many annuals as you used to so I was surprised to see this come out. I was hoping it was going to lead to something interesting but it really didn’t seem too strong. The art reminds me of the post-Magic War series. Sadly, I hated that artwork. The story revolved around a new Emerald Empress and mostly starred Lightning Lass and Shrinking Violet with some of Sun Boy, Sensor Girl, and Gates too. If there was any question about Lightning Lass and Shrinking Violet being gay in the prior series for this group, it’s made pretty clear in this annual and they refer to each other as “love” and “sweetie”. Overall, the story is nothing spectacular. The best part of the issue though was the 4 page Legion timeline/board game at the end of the book with art by talented Brian Douglas Ahern.
Secret Six #30 – This issue guest stars the Doom Patrol including Ambush Bug. It’s your normal super-group battle as the Secret Six tries to take over the Doom Patrol’s battle. Part of the greatness of this book is the character’s interactions and that comes out in the short bit of trying to take Bane out on a blind (double) date. When two of DC’s quirkiest super-groups meet, it can only be interesting at the least. This story continues on into the Doom Patrol’s next issue.
Superboy #4 – Picking up with the appearance of Psionic Lad, the hero from the future, Superboy brings his new friend into his home. Superboy’s connections with his new cast members Lori and Simon continue to evolve as a revelation about Psionic Lad concludes the issue. This new series has some potential. We’ll see how things go this time around.
Not a bad week overall. My top 3 choices this week are Freedom Fighters, Secret Six, and Superboy.
