Thursday's Reviews

Not a bad week at all.  Of course, I say that practically EVERY week.  Because even the worst week in comics still brings me a little bit of joy. 

I am such a sap.

Aquaman #1

Well this had some interesting stuff.  Arthur is adjusting to life as the King of Atlantis, and the Atlanteans are adjusting to life with Arthur as King.  As could be deduced not everyone is particularly happy to see him there instead of Orm.  And can you blame them?

And then there is Tula...Orm's sister. 

Meanwhile, Mera is having some problems with the law, but is talked out of assault and battery by a sympathetic policewoman.  But in the meantime, poor Salty the Sea Dog still needs to be fed!

And a VERY cranky old guy shows up.  He seems to be able to manipulate snow.  This has piqued my interest.  Not bad at all.


Batman: The Dark Knight #18

Let me just state for the record, that I am getting this solely because I adore Ethan Van Sciver's artwork, which is...sumptuous.  Plus ol' Jervis is one craaaaazy villain. 

Also Catwoman shows up and steals one of the Batmobile's hubcaps.

This is a pretty dark story.  The Mad Hatter is completely off of his rocker, and is trying to restage his high school days, and his long lost crush, but it isn't going particularly well...especially when he actually MEETS his long lost crush.  Lots and lots of gratuitous deaths, which I find rather disgusting. It is as though every Bat villain has to be in competition with the Joker over body counts. 

But man, that art is gorgeous.

Batman Incorporated #9

*sniff*

Along with Batman and Robin, this is a book that really does merit the "Requiem" tag on the cover.  We have Damian's funeral, we have poor Dick angsting, we have poor Bruce angsting, and poor Alfred is riddled with guilt.

Squire takes on Knight's title, for some reason Gotham is ready to run Batman out of town, because of Leviathan, which seems like  a mean sort of thing to do...and Bruce bonds with the Bat Cow.

Boy, I hope that Talia gets hers...and hard.

Very nice.

The Flash #18

Barry is back from the dead, which he always was, but now Central City knows it.  He's moonlighting at the Villain's bar, while he waits to get his regular job back, because they have to have him declared UN-dead.  You would think that this would be no big deal in the DC Universe, but hey...bureaucracy, am I right?

Meanwhile, the Trickster is accused of murder and mayhem, and surprisingly, Barry is on his side.  The Rogues may be villains, but they are villains with a code of honor, bless their twisted little hearts.  And the other two guys who came out of the Speed force apparently have powers, and are very clumsily, trying to use them, much to Barry's dismay.  Iris doesn't seem to have any powers, but who knows? 

And then, Barry runs into a wall...literally, as his speed disappears.  What could this possibly be?


The Flash is always fun, and light and airy and not too dismal.  A good book and fun to read.


All Star Western #18

Well, Doctor Arkham and Jonah have been sent into the cordoned off section of Gotham city, in order to find the kidmapped wife of Alan Wayne.  The cholera is raging, and according to Mayor Cobblepot, it is the fault of the poor people.  Vandal Savage is the one who has kidnapped the fair Catherine, and wants all of her husband's wealth, in return for her safe return.  Oh, like THAT would happen. 

Naturally they are found by Jonah, and naturally, Savage taunts him a lot.  Jonah tries to shoot him, and Savage uses his sword to block the bullets.  But he just can't keep his big fat mouth shut, and Jonah finds a BIGGER gun, and blows him up.  They rescue the fair Catherine, and get the heck back to safety, while the apparently lifeless body of Vandal Savage is thrown in the pit with the rest of the Cholera victims...except you know that he gets out that. 

Finally, Arkham is all set to go off on another wild and crazy adventure with Jonah, when he discovers from his mother, that Jonah has had enough of Gotham, and is going home.  Arkham just can't believe that his bestest buddy would run out on him like that, and tracks him down to the railroad station, buys and ticket and goes to Jonah's compartment, baggage in hand, and ready for adventure.  Too bad Jonah boots him off of the train. 

Thank goodness he's getting out of Gotham and back to his usual haunts!  It's been fun, but I've missed owl-hoots and such.  This was amusing on several levels, mainly Arkhams distress at Jonah's behavior, but it was a good issue, and I love good issues.


Justice League Dark #18

Well, things have well and truly hit the fan, and young Tim is leading his magical allies in a revolt.  But things are getting a bit TOO out of hand, and Zatanna is trying to save the innocent citizens caught in the middle.  Tim is trying to stop things, but nobody is listening to him, and everything is about to crash and burn, when Tim's dad shows up..and he's got powers too!  Or maybe he is Tim as well.  I'm not too sure, but together they take care of the crazy magic, and everyone gets back in one piece, and the Hunters stay to try and fix things in the other dimension, and now John can lie again, and Black Orchid and Xanadu are back to normal, and John also gives the Books back to Argus and tells them to stuff it.

The art is lovely, and it is a satisfying conclusion to their adventure, and darn it, I like this book.



Journey Into Mystery #650

I was a bit leery of this when teen Loki left for Young Adventures, because I adore teen Loki.  But Immonen has done an excellent job with Sif, and her berserkers, and her adventures.  Turns out that she wasn't really crazy, she just managed to fool herself into thinking that she was, with a little help.  Poor Sif just wanted to lash out for a change. 

Her buddies that she brought back to Asgardia with her, are decent fellows, with the exception of  Svip, who is one seriously twisted dude.  But she does introduce them all to the wonders of pizza.  Except that Svip isn't content to just loll around and eat pizza, and goes out and tries to conquer Broxton, till Sif shows him what is for. 

Great stuff.  Great, I say!

I hope that you all enjoyed YOUR comics too!