Babbling About My Books

Holy Pastafazool!  That was indeed, as I pointed out yesturday, one HELL of a haul for a Wednesday!  I had me a fine old afternoon, I can tell you that.

Action Comics #17

All kinds of things are going on with Grant Morrison, who seems to be trying to wind things up.  We still have that pesky little...er...pest from the fifth dimension, pulling all KINDS of shenanigans, and he's apparently been doing for quite some time...Clark just never noticed until now.  He's fighting "Doomsday", and there are all sorts of weird time jogs going on, and some of the Legion are trying to change the past, and Clark has a nice talk with Pa Kent.

There are several artists, all of whose styles vary, but they are nevertheless quite nice.  It's a very good read indeed.


Batwoman #17

I've heard rumors that J.D. Williams isn't going to be doing the art soon, which makes me sad.  But this was one heckuva swan song, if that is the case.  The major...and I mean MAJOR storyline that has been going on for so long, finally reaches its conclusion, and it is a doozy.  I have to say that I would never have thought to pair up Kate with Wonder Woman, but I'll be darned...it works! 

Flamebird is back, but she's Hawkbird now.  Medusa has succeeded in raising Ceto, the Mother of all Monsters, and everything and I do mean everything is going to hell in a handbasket.  Fortunately, our heroine manages to remember how to handle a gorgon.  And Ceto isn't really all that bad anyway. 

Lovely.  It's just lovely.


Birds of Prey #17

Dinah is having one nasty time of it with her sonic scream going kaflooey again.  The Talon isn't too impressed with her, but Barbara manages to talk her down.  Starling is actually working for Amanda Waller, which I suppose makes a certain amount of sense.  I have to admit that I rather like the new Condor...he seems a bit bemused by all that is going on around him, but is handling it with a fair amount of aplomb.    The art is nice, and it is a fairly decent story, so not bad. 

Not bad at all. 


Fables #126

While Bigby is off looking for his missing cubs, poor Snow White is stuck dealing with her former fiancee...who seems to have a really inflated opinion of himself, and none at all of Snow White or Bigby.  His arrogance just seems to be dripping and pooling on the floor...and that's a lot of arrogance. 

King Cole isn't happy, Sleeping Beauty isn't happy, and the former Mrs. Spratt probably isn't too happy either.  I will be very happy to see where this is all going to end. 


Green Lantern #17
Green Lantern Corps #17
Green Lantern: New Guardians #17

Egad!  All my bestest, most favorite books...ALL IN ONE WEEK!  More on these anon.


Justice League #17

This is the finale of the Aquaman/Justice League crossover, and I do have to say that things do end with a bang.  Those Atlanteans are a tough bunch, and throwing in the creatures from the Trench is just adding to the problem.  It turns out, from the big reveal last month, that none other than Vulko...Arthur's old buddy, is the one who arranged for the attack on Atlantis, and set up the whole kerfuffle.  His motives are apparently altruistic...he feels that Arthur would make the best King of Atlantis, but while his motives may be pure,his methods are just as awful as can be.  Arthur himself is fit to be tied. 

I have to feel a little bit of sympathy for Orm.  He loves his brother, but he doesn' t have the foggiest idea of what is going on, and is completely out of his depth.  Heh.  After a big fight with Arthur, he is beaten, and yields the throne to his big brother.  At this point the Justice League actually gets their act together as well, as the second stringers, but this is still mostly Arthur's story. 

At last, Vulko reveals what he did, Arthur gets the other trident, and finally manages to mind meld with the Trench and sends them all back home.  The Atlanteans go home too, and Orm is probably looking forward to slipping into a nice cold bath, when it is revealed, that he's no longer a King, and has no diplomatic immunity, and is now  just some run-of-the-mill terrorist, so off to Belle Reve he goes. 

This seems like a pretty terrible thing to do to your own brother.  Orm himself can't believe it, and I find it a bit hard to believe that something couldn't be done. But Amanda Waller is delighted.  Arthur has to go and be a King now, and Mera is upset, since she's not particularly welcome in Atlantis.  You would think that as King, Arthur could bring her with him, but that is probably a problem for another day. 

This...was pretty damned good!  It was nice to have things happen!  The Justice League doesn' t  actually DO a whole lot, but it does establish Arthur as King of the Seas again, and that can't be a bad thing.


Justice League America #1

Well, this is where the second stringers from the Justice League/Aquaman brouhaha come in.  We begin with some guy running through a forest for his life, and what appears to be another universe's version of Batman and Wonder Woman.  Oh, that wacky Multi-verse!

Then we have Steve Trevor argue about ethics and stuff with Amanda Waller. He will of course, never win that argument.  I STILL miss the REAL Amanda Waller, but this one, although younger and thinner, does seem to have some of that old machiavellian flair.  She's doing everything that she can, to convince Steve to head up a second team of heroes...ones that could, if necessary take down the original team.  The original Justice League is apparently just a tad too independent for her tastes.  She does dig up Hawkman, Katanna, Vibe, Stargirl, Catwoman and Martian Manhunter of all people.

I have to admit it.  This is an...interesting bunch.   And I cannot fully express my joy in seeing J'onn again.  Oh, and that guy running for his life?  Turns out to be none other than Green Arrow. 

Geoff Johns does a decent job setting things up here.  He's probably happy to be writing Courtney again.  Simon Baz will probably be showing up from the Green Lanterns, so it won't be a complete break for him.  I will be interested to see where he is going to be going with all of this.


Vibe #1

I wasn"t too sure about this at first, but then I figured that Scipio would WANT me to read this.  Not bad at all!  It's in Detroit!  Dale Gunn is in it!  Gypsy shows up!  Amanda Waller is skulking around! 

Vibe himself has rather different powers than he used to.  He didn't break dance even once.  But he was caught in an interdimensional rift or something back when Darkseid first invaded, and although he was rescued by his older brother, that brother was in fact the first person who was killed in the invasion.  This gives him a certain amount of motive when he's approached by Argus, and recruited. 

He can't be photographed or filmed, as he's always just a little bit out of synch.  It also looks rather interesting.  I'm wondering if  his powers will come into play when we finally get back to the OLD continuity"?  In the meantime...my attention has been caught.


Wonder Woman #17

Damn it I love this book. 

Diana, Lennox and Orion go back to her place, and find that Hera and Zola have flown the coop.  AFter a certain amount of sibling bickering, they figure out where they are.  In fact, something of a grand family reunion is going on at that bar!  Strife shows up, Ares is there, and Dionysus is floating around the outskirts.

Diana is a bit flummoxed when confronted with Ares, they didn't part on the best of terms, but I get the feeling that they still like each other.  Meanwhile, the First Born is still making his moves, and after dealing with Hades, now has a run-in with Posidon, that probably won't end particularly well.

Ares takes Diana upstairs, and pulls a sage plant out of a pot, and lo and behold, it shows a hidden passage that leads straight to Demeter and Zola's baby!  Diana is properly impressed by all of this, but Ares just shows his disdain for the magic in the world...it is all pretty much old hat to him afterall.   So off the two of them go...only to run into Hermes.

Wonderful! 


Saga #10

Gosh, this is a fabulous book! 

We get a bit more on when Marko met Alanna, and their rather peculiar...courtship.  Marko is still trying to find his babysitter, the planet is about to give birth, and his ex girlfriend is out for revenge, and oh crap...not Lying Cat! 

Fabulous!

Thor, God of Thunder #5

Old Thor finally meets up with present-day Thor...and he's not impressed, as they go after the God Killer.  We get some more history as to why he's going around murdering deities, and a lot more blood and guts, and dang it...this is beautiful to look at and  a great read. 

Whew!