Stuff I Bought

An...interesting week, to be sure.

Batman @ Batgirl #21

And so, we continue with the aftermath of Damian's death, and the way that Batman is dealing with it.  It seems to depend a great deal on who is writing the story, whether Batman is doing a decent job of coping, or losing his marbles completely.  This falls into the lost marbles category. 

This takes place just before Batgirl decides to kill her own brother, who TOTALLY deserved it, and who isn't dead at all...but anyway, Barbara is still dealing with her own problems, not the least of which is the whole deal with the Joker in the Batcave.  So, she has apparently removed the Bat insignia from her costumer.  She shows up to fight crime, and both times, Batman shows up too, and wipes the floor with the badguys before disappearing before Barbara can have a heart-to-heart talk.  So she follows him to the Bat Cave.

Oddly enough, he seems the most upset that she has removed her little bat insignia.  Bruce is obviously having...issues.  She tries to reach out, she even offers to wear the Robin suit herself, which would have been rather interesting, but naturally, Batman just shuts her out and tells her to get lost.  So she does.

I thought that Peter Tomasi did the absolute best story of Damian's death...but these more recent crossovers, between Batman and everyone else, have been decent, but are starting to get on my nerves a little.  I understand that in Comic Book Time, not all that much time has passed...but in our Time, it has been months.  Just bring him back already, or have Bruce get a grip!  Sheesh!

Batwoman #21

This was rather fabulous actually.  A story told from the point of view of Killer Croc, and darned if I don't have the tiniest smidgeon of sympathy for him.  The underground group of mutants or whatever, who rescued him, want him to be their king, and he's got a nice girlfiriend, but doesn't really think he's cut out for the whole leader thing...especially since offing Bat People, could bring a whole world of hurt down on his head. 

Very nicely done indeed.

Birds of Prey #21

Strix is fighting the other Talon guy.  I haven't been reading Talon, so I don't know what his schtick is, but these two are the GOOD Talons.  It's not bad actually.  Canary is still beating herself up over having been so mistaken about Starling, and Condor is consoling her.  I actually don't mind Canary and Condor getting together.  Batgirl in the meantime, is trying to rescue Strix.  Some other stuff happens. 

Also not bad at all.

Fables #130

This rather took me out of my comfort zone. I was all set for the sequel to Bigby's death, and how Snow White deals with it, and Teresa coming back, and we get sidetracked into a story about the two former wood puppets of Gepetto's who became human and had a kid.  The Fables are moving back into the castle, and she goes exploring and gets threatened by some giant rats. 

I guess that's scary, because nobody believes her...but man...that kid was ANNOYING! 

Just some filler.  Not terrible, but not all that great either.

Green Lanterns: New Guardians 321

Well...that was different.


Wonder Woman #21

God, I love this artwork by Cliff Chiang.  He could draw all of my books and I'd be as happy as a clam.

So, the evil First Born shows up, and Hera is taken aback, because he's being so mean to her, and she was the one who loved him and saved his life.  He isn't in the least bit grateful, and is trying to kill off Zola, her baby and everyone else.  He really IS a complete jackass.  Diana shows up, and they start beating the crap out of each other. 

Zola is being chased by Cassandra who isn't very nice either.  Then Lennox shows up and does his best to help Diana, but it isn't enough, until Orion shows up and starts whaling away too.  I am madly in love with Orion, because he looks and acts so totally like Guy Gardner in this book, that it isn't funny.   He grabs everyone, and gets Mother Box to make him a boomtube, except that First Born is holding the tube open at one end, which will cause it to explode...which is bad.  Lennox sacrifices himself to save them, and they all end up on New Genesis, which should be interesting.

Interesting indeed.  I cannot say how much I prefer THIS version of Wonder Woman to the one who shows up in Justice League, and is busy sucking face with Clark.  This Diana is fabulous.  That Diana...isn't. 

Vibe #5

I may be the only person other than Scipio who is buying this, but it really isn't bad.  He reminds me just the tiniest bit of the first version of Jaime Reyes, aka Blue Beetle, in that he is young, unsure of himself, and trying to do the best that he can without really knowing what is going on. 

He has rescued Gypsy and is tryiing to help her, but is being attacked by the Suicide Squad and his own side, because Waller says so.  I know that Amanda is supposed to be ruthless and pragmatic, but THIS version of Waller is a nutcase. 

It's ok, and they capture them both, and I want to see how he gets out of this.  So, not terrible really.



But man, more and more each day, I find myself missing the REAL DC Universe.