War of the Supermen #1 and 3, JLA #45 (again), Superman/Batman #72, Brightest Day, GA preview (again). Spoilers ahead!
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War of the Supermen #1 and 3
Hmm, looking at these covers I would be led to believe that each one is meant to mirror the other.
So, #1. Zod wants to obliterate earth. Haven't we seen something similar in Kingdom Come and other future stories? Haven't we seen how this completey destroys Superman? You'd think Zod would have more brains. Anyway, I think this issue reinforces how Supes should have go a blue ring in Blackest Night.
Kara is very grown up in this issue, taking responsibility for Reactorn (without prompting), and understanding the politics of everything. Give it a few more years and she could really be the icon that Superman is. I say a few years because I don't quite want her rushed into that godlike status yet. I'm enoying reading about the impetuousness and I want to see how she evolves into someone better.
The scenes where Reactron reveals the masterplan and New Krytpon is blown up are very powerful. I think I will scan and post them at a later date, as an example of how sequential art can work really well.
After this we switch to Jimmy and Lois telling other Superman related heroes what's been going on. And Krypto is there! I cannot express how much this makes me smile.
The art isn't perfect in this, it;s not delicate or the work of a masterpiece but it works really well nontheless. It conveys the information that we need, and the scenes in space are really effective.
#3 opens with the Kryptonians in space, suffocating under a red sun. Thara'Flamebird sacrifces herself to change the sun back to a yellow one. Out of all possibe ways to save the Kryptonians I did not see that one coming. It made me very sad. It seems that there is an awful lot of wasted potential in this series.
JLA #45 (again)
You know one of the worst things about this cover? Kara and Karen aren't even looking at each other. Instead, it appears that their eye gaze is positioend downwards, maybe in an attempt to steady themselves for the unnatural poses they are fighting in. Yes yes I know this is probably happening in mid air, it doesn't make it any less stupid.
And once you get inside and start reading the darn ugly thing, you realise there are too many characters featured. Gods this comic was crap.
Superman/Batman #72
This was a kind of compare and contrast story. Supes is off saving distant planets whislt Lois gets attacked on earth. The art is bizzare - it looks like someone is experimenting with a photo relastic style. The overall effect is odd.
Kudos to the penciller who drew alien women without making them sexy seductresses. Yah boo sucks to the penciller who then decided it made sense for Lois's shirt to be pulled aside to reveal a pink bra, whilst she's being burnt at the stake. Earlier on she was being all kick ass and fighting her attackers off. So what, did the penciller decide she had to be demeaned and shown her place? Because that's how the narrative reads.
In fact, the whole imagery of burnings at the stake thing is pretty misogynist. It was mostly women who got burned as witches, accused of witchcraft for being differnet, or old, or practising herbology without the consent of the church, or having sex outside marriage, or pissing off the wrong people. Now you putting Lois in that position and revealing her breasts? The cult that has her isn't remotely conerned with sex! This has damn well better be corrected and dealt with in the next issue.
Brightest Day 2
I miss Kendra. Arthur was the subject of this rather lovely cover but sadly didn't appear within the pages much. Ronnie and Jason aren't getting on and then their face explodes. Hmmmm.
I have a theory and a somewhat basic understanding about this new Firestorm duo. It goes, Jason, the black guy, is the disembodied head, that only the white guy, Ronnie, can hear. So, nominally Jason is an important character but in reality his character and personality is silenced. Cos that's never happened in real life..
I can see how this may have played out at DC. They wanted to bring the old Firestorm back (nostalgia of the all white silver age!) bu they want to remain modenr and edgy, so they combine Firestorm 1 and 2. They kill Gen (cos killing women is tragic, innit), and they don't give a thought to the active portrayal of silencing one of the few black characters they have. There's no reason for Jason to be the invisible one - both him and Gen were clever and both brought something to the Firestorm pairing. Jason could be the visible one here with Ronie being a disembodied floating head, but oh no. I sense a bit of white privelege being exercised here. This stuff doesn't offend or effect powers that be at DC, so they don;t think how it could effect their readership. They probably think they're being progressive by keeping the black guy around. Well, I don't to scrabble for crumbs and i'm pretty sure the non white comics readers don't want the scraps either.
This could all be turned around and improved. It's a year long series, lets hope some of this stuff is dealt with.
GA preview (again)
I'm now thoroughly sick of this preview. I was going to buy it, but now I'm so bloody tired of being confronted with yet more bloody rape scenes I don't think I can stomach the actual issue. If you want to see what I'm talking about, go here. I'd be happy for a return to Mike Grell esque days, I like the comparisons with Robin Hood, but this isn't the way to do it. (Nearly) Every time I come to the last page of a comic and I'm faced with that fecking women make men work for it scene. Ugh.
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