Convergence week 8 (the final one!)

Man, I cannot believe I've managed to write about every single issue in this event.  I know some reviews have simply been 'I can't be arsed to write about this', but they are still words, about each and every comic.  Woo, go me, ect, ect.

Now to do the final week's batch.

Convergence: World's Finest 2
Not bad. The cartooning journalist is a high point, again.  Sir Justin is alright, but I prefer Sir Ystin from Paul Cornell's Demon Knights.  At least these guys are all heroes, acting heroically.  There's a couple of panels with Telos' giant hands too, which makes for a fun read,  Probably not a keeper though.
The We are Robin preview was dull.

Convergence: Justice Society of America 2
Also not bad.  The JSA are young again with all their powers, and easily defeat the enemy.  Then they lose their powers and get old again, giving us this panel:

This is not good art, because although the guys look marginally different (if you really look) you cannot tell who is who.

It's a shame, because the comic also has this crowd scene, which is a marvellous piece of comic art:

It was nice to see the old guys up and at it again, but I'm not sure whether this issue is worth keeping/  I def preferred Hawkman in the Convergence: Hawkman issues.

The preview is for Superman/Wonder Woman and it is violent and dull.  Supes looks rather like pre 52 Conner Kent and tells Diana he doesn't love her anymore.  I'm still not interested in this Truth storyline, despite Anj's praises for the first Greg Pak penned issue.  Sorry Anj, I'm just a cynic! Wondy has nice armour though.

Convergence: Action Comics 2
This was good, with a great Amanda Conner cover:

Seriously, how great is that?  Doesn't Peej look angry?  I love it.  Especially the stars around their feet. It's just really, really nicely designed.

The issue itself is also very strong.  Earth 2 (?) Peej (Kara) and Superman are fighting the Red Son universe Wonder Woman.  Lex Luthor is still bitter.  The characterisation for the Red Son characters are accurate and the two worlds are slotted together really nicely.  I really, really enjoyed this.  Keeper, obvs.

The back up preview is for Sinestro.  I flicked through it but didn't read it properly.

Convergence: Infinity Inc 2
The characters and setting for this comic feel so dated, yet I found myself enjoying it.  I'm not sure why, looking at the cover I can't quite recall what happened in it.  On reopening it I enjoy the sense of familiarity at the characters used, but it doesn't fill me with excitement.  Probably not a keeper then.

The backup is for Batgirl, which I'm already getting.  I didn't like the video game conceit of this preview, tho the art and plotting is good enough.

Convergence: Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters 2
I'm still not understanding why Plas is with the Freedom Fighters.  But it reminds me that I did see this great Plastic Lady cosplay online today.
The Freedom Fighters look ridiculous, but that's not really what this comic is about.  It's about Plas stepping up and being a hero.  That makes this worth keeping, I think.

The backup preview is Harley Quinn.  Every month I enjoy the Harley comic, but I feel no affinity to it and no desire to keep it.  I pass it  on to a friend.  I cannot quite understand why it's so popular.

Convergence: Detective Comics 2
Earth 2 Huntress and Robin are up against Red Son Superman.  Supes doesn't want to fight but Huntress is all fists first, talk later.  Red Son Batman comes to their aid.  Like Action Comics, the characterisation of the Red Son Characters are spot on.  The art (and cover) is partly by Bill Sinkiewicz and it's wonderful. Def a keeper.

The preview is for the Flash, drawn by Brett Booth and it is ugly to look at.

Convergence: Booster Gold 2
I've lost track of which Booster this is.  Nevertheless, it's a fun issue until Booster turns into Waverider, which to my mind makes him far more serious with more gravitas than Booster should ever be given.  And the character design is stupid.  I'm going to keep the issue though.  The back up is for Earth 2: Society, with this terrible piece of Peej art:

I tweeted the picture and Escher Girls picked it up and will post it.  It's awful, in all sorts of ways.

Convergence: Crime Syndicate 2
I liked issue 1 far more than this.  This is mostly fights, coloured in a washed out palette that I can't decide if I like or not.  The Crime Syndicate are fighting Justice League Alpha, a future league from the 853rd century.  The character designs of Alpha WW and Alpha Aquaman are nice.  Alpha WW is the only left standing at the end of the issue.  I don't really care for this, it's uninspired, there's not passion.

The preview is for Cyborg and it's very new 52 ish.  Dull.

Convergence: Shazam 2
This comic is great.  It's homely.  It's like a bit warm hug, with thrills.  If you like Captain Marvel you should read it.

The preview is for Constantine, and although I don't know a lot about Constantine, I don't think the creators got his characters right.  I shan't be picking this up.

Convergence: Blue Beetle 2
I'm still baffled as to why Beetle is teaming up with Cap'n Shinypants and the Question.  They are fighting the Legion and there's misunderstandings galore and it looks like it's all going to pot, until Beetle and a Legionnaire hatch a plan and fool Telos into thinking one side has won.  Unlike the Crime Syndicate issue, this comic, full of costumed folk fighting, had soul in it.  Really good and definitely a keeper.

The preview was for Black Canary with art by Annie Wu.  It looks very nice, but it doesn't feel like 'my' Canary.  I've ordered issue 1 anyway.  I think this series won't last that long and if I don't get it I'll regret it.

Convergence 8
I did have a a lot of thoughts on this, mostly around the what the hell is happening variety, but it's been about 2 weeks since I read it and now I don't think I care.  I do like the choice of characters on the cover - Hal, pre Crisis Kara, Barry Allen, pre 52 Supes, Lois and son.  I think what has happened is that the first crisis may not have panned out the way we knew, Barry and Kara may still be alive, Clark, Lois and son are certainly alive somewhere, and Hal maybe didn't die.  All the earths referenced in Convergence and Multiversity are still around, or most of them anyway, and have continued to exist from when their relative timelines were last referenced in Convergence or Multiversity.  DC have said Convergence opens the doors for any and all stories to be told, continuity be hanged.  I don't think I'm really fussed about what happened. This is a dull story told with very little affection or love, but it did give us some cracking 2 issue minis.

Comic reviews: Convergence week 4 and lots others

So many comics to write about.  I'll try to keep each review brief.

Justice League 40
I bought this one for the boy band cover and obviously now want to watch Magic Mike, the film it is apparently from.  I did rather like the story too.  Metron is about and meets the anti monitor and all the crises are referenced.  At the end the Amazonian birthed anti-God turns up, which feels less stupid than it did in the WW FCBD story.

Multiversity 2
I think this reestablished the pre 52 Multiversity, with new universes, and established a group of protectors for it, including lady Aquaman.  It also has a panel of Vampire Wondy and Vampire Bats craving coffee.  Which is fun.

Superman 40
This is a very strange comic,  The JL are being written like they are all aged about 18 or 19, or younger.  The plot kind of works, but the way in which it's delivered is weird.  John Romita JR writes and pencils, and the pencils are bloody awful.

X-Men 26
The Krakoa storyline ended.  All but Rachel seem a bit bloodthirsty.  It's a reasonable ending, I suppose.

Bitch Planet 4
I adore this comic and the editorials.  Y'all should read it.

Princeless the Pirate Princess 4
Fecking wonderful, as ever, and Raven is confirmed queer. Love this,

FCBD offering from the CBLDF
This is a bit too much issue focused for me to really enjoy it. I'll pass it on.

FCBD offering: DC's Divergence
Ridiculous.  Commissioner Gordon is the new Batman in the Batsuit that looks like a Blue Beetle suit.  Lois has told the word Clark's secret.  An Amazonian fucked Darkseid and the child is the anti-God.  What a load of crap.

FCBD offering from Dark Horse
The Fight Club story was quite good.  I haven't bothered reading the other two.

FCBD offering from Boom studios
I've flicked through this and it looks good, but I haven't had the headspace to read it in totality.

Convergence 4
I can't be bothered to flick through this and re-acquaint myself.

Convergence: Shazam 1
One of the best Convergence books so far.  It has that innocence the Marvel family used to have, when they were unashamed at being written for kids.  It's got Sivana and Tawky Tawny but isn't written as a nostalgia trip - it's a genuinely good story and a good addition to Marvel canon.

Convergence: Blue Beetle 1
This is about Captain Shinypants, the Question and Blue Beetle, with a guest appearance by Booster.  Pretty Good, even with Shinypants in it.

Convergence: Crime Syndicate 1
Somehow I liked this.  I normally find the Crime Syndicate really really dull, but this was enjoyable.   Nice art too.

Convergence: Booster Gold 1
Pre 52 Booster meets New 52 Booster and if you like traditional Booster you'll like this issue.  the Legion of Superheroes turn up.  Fights ensue.  This was one of the highlights of this week's comics.

Convergence: Detective Comics 1
Helena Wayne and Dick Grayson from the earth where they are proper adult legacy heroes.  I liked their squabbling an the clear characterisation of all involved.

Convergence: Infinity Inc 1
I'm not clear on the background or history for this, but I quite enjoyed it.

Convergence: Plastic Man 1
I get the Freedom Fighters existing in a world where the Nazis won the war, I don't understand what Plastic Man is doing there.  Was he ever part of that world?  I did enjoy the comic and the Freedom Fighters as a team, so that's a job well done by the creators.

Convergence: World's Finest 1
This I did really enjoy.  It feels like a decent standalone story in it's own right.

Convergence: Action Comics 1
Another good one.  Like World's Finest, it simply works as a story by itself.

Convergence: Justice Society of America 1
This week turned out a bunch of corkers.  This feels like it was created by people with real respect for the JSA era and the main guys in the team.  Good work.

JLA Paradise Lost 1
I got this from the comic shop in Brugges in March, but forgot I'd bought it.  It was pretty good.  It has Zauriel in it trying to stop a fellow angel take over Heaven.

JLA Incarnations 6
Also from the Brugges comic shop.  This is the JLI at it's finest and it much better than the Convergence JLI issue.  The first story is led by Booster and Beetle, and proves why they shouldn't be allowed to roam around unsupervised.  The second story is led by Captain Shinypants when he's on Extreme Justice and just proves that team is rather incompetent.  Worth reading for the JLI story.

Superman Krypton Chronicles 1 and 2
These are really good fun, and a bit batshit.  Plot holes a aplenty but as they aren't meant to be serious, who cares?  Clark is asked by the Daily Planet boss to put together an article on Krypton's history, so Clark has to travel to Kandor with Supergirl, now on the planet Rokyn, to meet with Supergirls parents and learn about Kryptonian history.  It's all a bit unhinged, but it allows the writers to have fun, and so the reader has fun too.  The reasoning for getting Kryptonian's history seems a bit bandwagon jumping though:

Superman Confidential issues

These are a great set of issues, and it's a great run.  Superman stories where he's being heroic from different stages of his life.  It's only 14 issues long and the ones I picked up were written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, who nearly always turn out reliably solid work, with the later issues pencilled by Phil Hester, who I adore.

Superman issues, pre 52 ones

One is a Christmas issue which I recall liking a lot, one is a one year later one that I already had, but forgot about and because it had Supergirl on the cover I bought it again.  She's barely in it.

The Adventures of Superman Annual 1997

I'm always disappointed by these pulp heroes annuals that don't have a pulp themed story.  Upon reading this it occurred to me that perhaps it's just that I don't know what it meant by 'pulp'.  The letters section was intriguing as everyone was complaining about the blue and red Superman.  It reminded me of all our kvetching about Supes' new solar flare power.  Oops.  Perhaps we should just roll with it...

Blackest Night: JSA #3

Spoilers ahead.
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Well this was a whole lot better than I expected!  A fine end to the mini.

The art was off - I wish artists would understand how boobs and boob windows worked.  For example, look here.  The lady's breasts are big.  The window is big, but it is high, not wide, or low.  Boob windows that are as low as those seen in this comic will not hold boobs in.  They will spill out, even if you have Kryptonian super boobs.  Especially if you have Kryptonian super boobs that are somehow pushed up, possibly by an invisible super bra.  Push up bras are not very good at keeping you in one place.  At leats mine aren't, and I have pretty large boobs.  Gaah.

And her costume mysteriously changes to her old non windowed one for one panel.

Aside from that, the colours are nice and the story is good.  We open with BL Superman giving us a run down on his life.  Then we cut to the present moment and Mr Terrific is building a thunderbolt bomb that will wipe out the Black Lanterns in the area and it's up to the rest of the JSA to delay BL Supes.  Unfortunately thsi Kal -L is trying to thrash Power Girl.  When she's collapsed, he's ripping through the rest of the JSA like flies.  Jesse Quick is running with her father, enjoying having him back, but knowing that it's not really real.

What I loved about this is how the heroes are not fooled anymore.  Karen knows that this Supes is not real and she's doing her damndest to stop him.  And stop him she does.  The rest of the group are all clued up, even Jesse and they all work together to destroy them.

I don't have any scans of this comic, but I did find some scans of the latest Wonder Woman issue, which show just how awesome Power Girl is.  She and Wondy are fighting, in America:

 

 

Flying Death Toys. Perfect.

Spoilers ahead for: Teen Titans #79, Blackest Night: JSA #2, The Atom and Hawkman: Blackest Night # 46 (resurrected title), Green Lantern: Blackest Night #50, Gotham City Sirens #8, World's Finest #4, Cry for Justice #6 and Supergirl #49
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Teen Titans #79
Really crap art.  Half the time Static looks female.  The dialogue and pacing was weird - sometimes it felt like we were misisng a scene or two.  Rose's back up story was ok, but I've read better.  On the other hand, it may just be that i was disillusioned due to the mains tory.
I really hope this improves, I love the Teen Titans and don't want to drop the title but so far Henderson's issues have been somewhat underwhelming.

Blackest Night: JSA #2
This isn't one of the better minis.  Regarding the art, the faces are good but the bodies are weird and I don't want to think about what they've done to poor Peej's breasts to make them stay in that top.  Oh, my world for a scanner.

I think my main problem with this mini is I have no feelings towards most of the characters, and this is a book for people who care about the characters.  It's not something for new readers to jump in on.  Which is what I am, at least in terms of the JSA.  Still, DC are getting my (completist, nerdy) money so I don't really have cause to complain!



The Atom and Hawkman: Blackest Night # 46 (resurrected title)
Love the cover.  Love Ray's new costume.  I'm really interested in a Corps centred around Compassion and I've been wanting to learn more about them, and I loved the panel of Ray riding a frog (anyone put this up online or seen it anywhere?).  We are promised such a lot by the end of the issue, I am, again, left wanting more.

Green Lantern: Blackest Night #50
Oooh, svenes of violence and carnage!  Wonder Woman is still in that fucking ridiculous costume, but at least she's muscled.  Can't believe I'm reduced to saying that.  Mera is simply wonderful as a Red Lantern.  In fact, we get to see all the new Corps deputies and oh are they ever so suited to the roles!

And THEN!  It's Hal vs the Spectre.  The Spectre tries to eat 2 Guardians.
So THEN! Hal Hammers half the Spectre's face off!
And THEN!  Hal merges wiuth Parallax!  And we get a lovely 2 page spread of Parallax, all delivered in yellow, of course.
And NOW! It's Parallax vs the Spectre!  Woo hoo!


Gotham City Sirens #8
This had a lot in common with the Ivy tale in the Batman 80 Page Giant.  I have a lot of sympathy for Ivy.  Her motives are of value but unfortunately her methods are, to put it mildly, flawed.

A good issue.  Well paced, well told and with good art.


World's Finest #4
Last issue was a bit rubbish, this is now sorted out.  We still have Steph and kara, and Kara had a heart tingling scene (to me, anyway) where she yelled at Damian telling him why he shouldn't call people fat.  This is because he'd called Steph fat earlier.  This makes Kara a), a good friend, and b) a good person.  Anyway, if I didn't already have a blog banner, that panel would be it.

Much like Gotham City Sirens, this is well paced, well told and an enjoyable read with some stellar moments - Kara's fat talk and Batman's  encounter with 'flying death toys', to be specific.  We end with a nice lead in to this year's Krypton crossover.  Most of which I won't be buying.  The main title I will purchase, but I've just cancelled Action and Adventure Comics, and won't be buying this 3 parter that's coming out shortly.  Although I'll probably get the main maxi series.

Because I don't want to end on a down note, I shall talk about Cry for Justice #6 next.
There was a change of artist in this issue, but one who has a very similar style to the regular guy.  he draws a very captivating Kara and a ridiculous Zatanna (stockings? please.)

Kara is bright enough to figure out who the villain is, then gets dispatched really easily, much like the rest of the heroes.  Donna gets cruxified to the wall by Prometheus, then rips herself off the wall, takes an arrow in the leg, drags herself to Prometheus and proceeds to be the only one who can beat him down and defeat him.

Seeing Donna, a woman, an Amazon and a second leaguer, save the day in such a manner gave me a little (big) thrill.

At the end of the book Robinson acknowledges that his characters have cried Justice! a lot but stops short of an apology.  He also claims he has done something new within this mini.  I disagree.  Reading this issue in particular gave me a sense of deja vu, and reading the series as a whole has reminded me of Justice League Elite.

Supergirl #49

I bloody knew it!  Lana is the new Insect Queen!  I feel triumphant.  In other news, Kara's defeat of the Banshee was handled well and gave her a chance to shine.  Overall, this issue flowed better than # 48, and felt, again, like a Kara centric issue.  Next issue is #50, and Cliff Chiang is providing pencils for one story!  Hurrah!

Christmas comics!

Not ones that I received for Christmas, for I received none this year, but instead the ones I bought on Christmas eve.  There was some comic gift giving in my home this year - I bought the boyfriend a copy of Greg Rucka's Whiteout.  I haven't read it but from reviews I'm hoping he'll like it.

I also bought Secret Six - six degrees of devastation.  I think I will review that for the New readers.. blog as it is pretty damn good.  My only worry is how accessible it is.  What do you all think?

Anyway, for this post please be warned of spoilers regarding World's Finest #3, Buffy one shot: Willow, Gotham City Sirens #7, Teen Titans: Blackest Night #78, Green Lantern: Blackest Night #45, Blackest Night: JSA #1.
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World's Finest #3
I fully intended to get the Kara cover but ended up with the Steph one instead.  I'll be buggered if I can find an image of the Steph cover online though.  At any rate, it's pretty and laid out in a similar fashion.
In this issue, Steph and Kara team up, which you'd think would be enough to make me happy, yet this issue left me a little cold.  I think it's the art.  I'm just not keen.  Kara is muscly but something seems a bit off and I don't know what.  I expect this issue will read better when read with the other issues in one go.

Buffy one shot: Willow
Oooh OOO ooh.  Sexy cover.  Beautifully drawn.  It's go bugger all to do with the story, except that both characters are involved, but they don't embrace within the pages.  Instead, Willow goes on a magical mystery wicca quest to discover her true power.
She drops her guard and we see what is under the surface, i.e. she;s not so innocent, sweet and naeive as she appears.  Sh can be cold, calculating and she has a damn sharp mind.  I think that sometimes the writers forget that Willow was one of the most intelligent people in her school.

The letters column is a whole different kettle of fish.  So much so, there will be another post taking it apart.

Gotham City Sirens #7
A Christmas issue.  Selina raises a glass with Dick, Ivy visit the rainforests and Harley visit her family.  Beautiful art and humourous storytelling that caters to the heroines strengths and associations.


Teen Titans: Blackest Night #78
Ravager, Jericho and Deathstroke fight the Black Lanterns.  Jericho discovers that they can be killed, if another Black Lantern rips out their hearts.  We're actually getting quite a number of ways these revenants can be killed, I wonder if they will all be pulled together for the final Blackest Night main issue?  Jericho's life story gets more complicated and the Wilson family dynamic is changed once more.

Mostly this issue made me question where Jericho's body goes when he jumps into someone else.  You'd think an empty husk woudl be left, but apparently not.  I'd like to read some comic box science explaining how he works.

Green Lantern: Blackest Night # 49
John Stewart faces off against the undead hordes of Xanshi.  He proves very difficult to rile, resulting in realisation of the gameplan and Black Lanterns becoming increasingly frustrated.  He then goes off planet to discover that Xanshi has sped through space and is bearing down on earth.  As SallyP has mentioned, you'd think this would affect Earth's gravity and suchlike.  Mind you, I think Mogo woulId have this affect on Oa, but maybe I don't understand how Oa works.

There's a wee backup feature focusing on Ray, Mera and Black Lantern Jean Loring (wearing a quite frankly ridiculous outfit), in a Black Lantern ring.  There we learn how Nekron came to be and see that Deadman is about to enter the fray (again).


Blackest Night: JSA #1
This would have made more sense had I known more about the history of the JSA.  As it stands, I only know Power Girl.  Peej calls Earth 2 Kal-L her cousin and her uncle, unless I'm misunderstanding of course, and Earth 2 Lois arrive looking her husband.

I'm guessing that by the end of the mini I'll like this.

Poll results!

8 votes received and thanks to all who took part!
The question was Which team should Supergirl join? and the results were:
1 for the Teen Titans
1 for the JSA
3 for the Birds of Prey
3 for her to stay solo

I think the Teen Titans are the obvious choice for her, and I would love to see Kara interact with Bombshell and Aquagirl.  Bombshell doesn't take kindly to anyone much, and I think she'd view Kara as a peppy cheerleader type and hate her on sight.  Plus Kara and Cassie are friends so that would probably set them apart before they'd even met.
As for Aquagirl, I just don't think she'd like Kara.  I think she'd view her as immature, inexperienced and a liability for the team.  We all know that Kara has moved on a lot since her stroppy days, but I don't think Aquagirl would acknowledge her newfoudn (semi) maturity, at least not at first.

I don't read the JSA, but I'm guessing that the person voting for this team was going for the mentoring young heroes aspects of it.  If I'm wrong, tell me in the comments.  I'm not convinced this is the right team for Kara, but as I said I don't read the title.  I wonder how Kara gets on with Power Girl now?  I reckon if Kara met Terra Kara would be very surprised by Terra's naeivty and would gently tease her and wind her up.  Peej probably wouldn't approve of this.


As for the BoP choice, well Kara would be ace in the Birds of Prey!  With Babs leading, Dinah as second in command, Helena, Zinda, Misfit, Steph and Kara all working together, we'd be for a fabulous book.  If anyone important at DC is reading this, (which I highly doubt, but if you are, Hi! Stay awhile!), please reform the Birds and put Kara in with them....pretty please.

As for the none choice, you're all spoilsports :p  Seriously, I think Kara would be good on a team.  She'd be fun to write and interact with.

I'm glad no one said JLA (I'm guessing this is partly to do with the new JLA team and the Cry for Justice fiasco), and the Outsiders (bunch of boring D listers).

Kara *could* work well on the Titans - it would reflect her powerhouse status and give her more respect and status than being on the Teen Titans (young people who still have a lot to learn) team.

And compeletly off topic from this, London's Reclaim the Night march happened on Saturday and a female marcher was sexually assaulted whilst on the march.  How full of hate do you have to be to do that?  I went on last year's march and nothing like that happened, but then again it was the first march in a reaally long time.  I guess this time around more foks were prepared for it.

In betetr news, you can view pictures of the march and a short write up here.

My Pull List

Hardcopy:
DC Week 1: Animal Man, Green Arrow (electronic)
DC Week 2: Superboy, Demon Knights (electronic)
DC Week 3: Birds of Prey, Supergirl, Wonder Woman
DC Week 4: Teen Titans 

Weeklies - Ame-Comi Girls and Smallville

My Marvel pull! Ultimate Comics Spider-man

My other pulls! Danger Club, Princless

It’s been a while but I’ve been busy

So here’s two weeks of comics reviews. Spoilers ahead for:
Buffy #19
Teen Titans #65
Superman & Batman vs Vampires and Werewolves (try typing that with a bad W key)
Superman # 682
Terror Titans #3
Terra #3
Superman/Supergirl Maelstrom #3
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer #19
Evil future Willow has set up Buffy and Faith to fight each other. Also features Fray’s cop sister.
This has lots of Fray future speak, which I like, and can’t quite see why Buffy had such a problem with when she first arrived. It’s perfectly understandable to me. Willow has been lying to Fray, Fray’s brother and Buffy about what will happen when Buffy both arrives in future land and when she leaves for our present day. This turns out to be a long winded ploy to get Buffy to kill Willow. And she does. She murders her best friend, and she does it easily and swiftly because she knows it is what is needed. It’s a clear cut decision. This doesn’t mean she isn’t sorry about it, she is, but she’s a warrior and she’s tough as nails and she does what needs to be done.
This reminds me of Wonder Woman killing Max Lord. Same reasons, carried out in a similar fashion.
Poor Buffy.

Teen Titans #65
Cassie kicks back and beats her crazy nephew (Lycus). I’m not quite sure how she did this. We saw crazy nephew choking her and then her eyes went starry, next thing we know, she’s got a new costume, she’s awake, she’s found her own power and she’s winning. I hope how this happened will be explored satisfactorily later. Her new costume looks pretty darn good, and mature, except….the gold W looks like it’s made of metal, so how’s she moving her arms? They should be clamped to her side..
Bombshell blows up the dog from inside him! Way to go. Violent, icky and messy but she keeps her cool and is hard as. Loving her. But I hope they are not gonna try and make her a Rose substitute, what with the snarking at Cassie. There’s room for two tough as hardcore morally wobbly super powered teenage women on the Teen Titans.
(And despite the previous sentence they aren't clones of each other, but they do have similarities)

Superman & Batman vs Vampires and Werewolves # 4
It’s got Ollie in it. J I like this issue. Far better than the last one. We see a kid turned vampire who hasn’t descended to drinking blood yet and we learn where the Vampires & Werewolves came from. Then Etrigan is summoned and starts rhyming, in a non annoying way. The art is lovely and murky too.
So far so good.

Superman #682
Ok so I do like this New Krypton cover.
Bizzarro mourns Pa Kent. Kryptonians are idiots, and as some other astute blogger observed, (who exactly I can’t remember, if anyone knows please tell me and I’ll credit them) if they are going to go to the trouble of locking up Supe’s enemies, they really should have put Lex out of action first.
I’m surprised Kara went along with her folks requests. I thought she had more mind than that. Renato Guedes draws an awesome Silver Banshee.
That page is just so colourful, so sunny and bright, (and Kara's wearing pants!)

Superman/Supergirl Maelstrom #3
God Superman is a dick. I am completely with Kara here. He is acting like her father, and a very short tempered dictatorial father at that. They’re cousins, she should be treated as an equal human being, not as someone of lower status who should be deferential to the mighty Kal.
Teaching her not to be reliant on her powers is a good thing, but taking them to a hostile planet with a red sun where they could be killed by all the aggressive attacking wildlife is not a good thing. It’s a stupid stupid thing. And arrogant. What if they were to die? What would their loved ones back home do? What would it do to Lois if they were to die off planet where (presumably) no one knows where they are?
And Kara's origin? Rocketed from Krypton as it exploded? I thought her last issue fixed it so she rocketed from a bubblised Argo City after a rampaging Brainiac was set on destroying it? And I got the impression this was Argo City after it had separated from Krypton and Krypton had exploded? Did I misunderstand?

The cover is beautiful though, especially Kara.

Terror Titans # 3
Well Rose won her match against Aquagirl, and I’m sure she’ll win against Static. Whoever the hell he is. I’m still appreciating the art (women with muscles!). Terry (a bad guy whose code name I’ve forgotten) fused his Dad into a wall. You can see the horror and the anger.

Terra #3
Still good fun. I’m loving the under earth civilisations. It seems that Terra, or Atlea, is not a simple clone of the previous Terra and I think it works. No Peej in this issue, sadly. The art is still looking gorgeous though, and Terra’s outfit is brilliant.

JSA: Ghost Stories
Trade paperback, incorporating ‘Ghost in the House’ and then the first 5 issues from 1 year later. I did enjoy this - the Gentleman Ghost flashback sequences are beautifully rendered. The rest of the art, pencilled by George Perez, Rags Morales and Jerry Ordway, I did not like. The story was fun, but I think may have bored me if I’d read it as a floppy monthly title.
Finding out Wildcat comes from English nobility tickled me. I was cringing through the fight sequences in London, at Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and possibly Westminster Cathedral, cringing because I was thinking you can’t fight there, you’ll destroy our national treasures!
That’ll be the first patriotic thought I’ve ever had.

Comics frenzy!

Yup. It's been a comics frenzy. God I've read so much recently.

Spoilers ahoy.

JLElite mini - re-read this after I finished Batgirl. Really really good. I got a lot more out of it now I know more backstory etc.

Trinity - still reading it, but am no longer offended. I don't really care either way to be honest so I can probably drop it soon.

Joker's asylum - Scarecrow and Two Face - Ooh yeah, I really really enjoyed both of these! I didn't know much about the character's before but now I'm really intrigued.

Two Face year 1 - issue 1. I also really enjoyed this. Bought it from a shop in Romford with a very chatty sales guy, who gave me a discount and also pointed out his sexy corner!*

Huntress number 6 - Wonderful. :) Although the last panel was corny. I shall enjoy the whole mini in sequence soon.

Manhunter 33 - I don't like the art on this. I can see why people like it, but I like my art glossy, and this isn't. The plot and everything else is good though, so I shall keep getting it.

Supergirl 32 - Oh Kara, you've matured! Love the older her costumer. And poise. She makes the right decision, she felt like her own person, finally. Not like a supporting cast member. And Empress is in the next issue! I like Empress, a lot, I still think her powers etc are a bit dubious, but she is great.

Buffy 17 - Not as exciting as I had hoped :/ And I'm quite frankly shocked to see Willow turn to the dark side again. I'd assumed it was Drusilla leading the way. Nice of them not to put a Buffy upskirt shot on the cover.
I'm on Buffy season 3 at the mo, and by god the main cast's attitude towards Faith is irritating. So she has sex, she dresses like a 'bad girl', get over it! I realise this is a fairly accurate portrayal of some teenagers attitudes, but it's so hypocritical. You just know that Willow is the same between the sheets (As evidence I submit to you Evil vampire Willow and her later more open relationship with Tara) and Buffy has a wild streak in her (Spike sex), yet they pretend to be so bloody puritan and innocent. Grrr. I've never understood people like that. It's ok to say you like sex! It's not a character failing! *Gnashes teeth*

Robin 176 - I only bought this cos it's Spoiler. I cannot start buying all the bat titles, I don't have the room or the money. Must. Not. Buy.

Superman/Batman 50 - Aww I love this title! So far I've been buying the trades but decided to sue this issue as a jumping on point. It's great! I love seeing the two of them interact, light and dark and all that. :) And the fathers meeting retcon pleases me too, I like the concept of fate in my books.

Final Crisis 1-3. I wasn't gonna buy in. I wasn't'. I'd bought Rogues Revenge but that's because I'd just finished the Flash and I'm narked that they killed Bart off. But then I saw that gorgeous Supergirl cover. And remembered it was written by Grant Morrison. So i caved. And it's pretty darn good! I'll need to re read it to get it all to sink in - I was a bit stressed on first reading - but yeah I'm impressed. Here's that Supergirl cover:

Isn't it beautiful?

And finally I'm reading JSA 16, annual and 17. For this I blame Heidi Meeley! And the Alex Ross cover. And the Power Girl theme. I didn't like the inside art that much - it felt very static, and some was just poorly done, but the story of a God coming to earth, healing everyones pains, that's the kind of thing I'm a sucker for. And as Heidi says, it is all going to go to hell in a handbasket. The other reason why I like these sorts of stories.

And I still haven't talked about Babs giving Cassandra that teeny weeny bikini in Batgirl yet. Really it's more a piece of string than a bikini. Babs would never do that to a vulnerable girl like Cass. Babs knows she isn't ready or used to male attention and she knows exactly what will happen. In short, Babs doesn't need Cass to look hawt. Babs also understands you can look hawt while wearing more than two very tiny circles and some string. The same plot point could have been demonstrated with Cass wearing a swimsuit.

*gnashes teeth*

*Where the Grimms Fairy Tales and Witchblade stuff was! get your mind out the gutter!

Monster Comic buying session part 1

I got my Nightwing figure! It's very cool :D Although the slots at the back where her wings fit in and not level :( Oh well, it's still pretty awesome :)

I've bought a ridiculous amount of comics recently. Orbital comics in London has loads of 50p back issue comics, (it's also where I got my figure from), and Forbidden Planet does a grab bag of 5 back issues for a quid. You can only see what two of them are and the second time round I did end up with duplicates but it's still a bargain. I may now attempt a super short collection of thoughts of each comic. I won't say review. Team ups first, then individual books, then Infinte Crisis tie ins. Then non DC books.

Justice Society of America \2: Nice. Features Kingdom Come Superman. I'm thinking of picking up the title on a regular basis now. Previously I haven't gone near it cos all the JSA heroes except Power Girl have bored me senseless. I am ready to concede I may be wrong.
JSA Strange Adventures \5: I remember enjoying this. And the cover art is great. And it's got Hawkgirl. Thumbs up.

Justice League New Frontier special \1: Lovely art. Didn't really like Superman in this. Liked Black Canary and Wonder Woman in the strip club, even if Diana did come across a bit mental. Dinah's reactions to her and the situation were great though.

JLA \67: I do have a soft spot for this run.

Teen Titans\57: An issue devoted to Rose, my favourite of the titans, hurrah! I must get the 5 or 6 issues I've missed of this.
Teen Titans Year 1 \1 to 3: Oh poor aqualad, he's rather pathetic isn't he? I like this mini. A lot.
Titans \1: Yes so it's Michael Churchill's art and it's pornface all over, and Supergirl and Wonder girl are clones of each other, but the story is good. What's everyone's beef ??

Green Arrow/Black Canary \6 and 7: Oh hell yeah. I love these two. And I like Judd Winick's writing. Oh Ollie, you're such a twat, you didn’t' check the aliens. *shakes head*
Green Arrow \48: Dire.

Brave and the Bold \10: Oh Robin and Wally, you’re so mean to Aqualad.

Wonder Girl \1: Oh I'm definitely getting the trade of this. Oh yes.

Black Adam \2: The end of 52 promised a better book than this. And the cover is lame. But hey, Black Adam's back!

Batman Legends vol 2 \2: A British reprint of stories from ASBAR, (Ninja) Man Bats of London and Superman/Batman Public Enemies. Hey, it's the goddamn Batman, what can I say, I love it!

Robin Annual \7: Shiny. The bat family has always interested me more than batman himself, and this was an enjoyable read. The festival of the hungry ghosts story was the best even though I know fuck all about Damian. Maybe that's why?

Superman \661: Tagline on the cover reads - (Khyrana) 'No one can stop Khyrana, Superman--no one!' (Wonder Woman) 'OH?'. The boyfriend finds this funny in an American comics are really utter dross way (he's a manga snob). I find it funny in a cheesy overly dramatic way. Lois was acting rather jealous in this though. Is that a normal part of her characterisation recently?
All Star Superman \10: Definitely not as awesome as I'd been led to believe. I will not be rushing to pick the hardback of this anymore.
Superman \185: Gorgeous cover. Really enjoyable read, although Superman getting snarky with villains does always seem a bit contrived. Like the writers are trying to move away from the gentle boy scout image, it's not always handled very well and this issue is an example of that I think.
Superman \207: Can't remember a thing about this..
Action Comics \10: Yay! I especially liked the terrible editing job. In the Criminals of Krypton we find out why the ugly silent one - Non - of the Zod + Ursa group is so grunty. Turn the page and Superman's Top 10 Most Wanted reads Non’s fall from grace and current condition remains a mystery. Err, no it doesn't!
Superman The Man of Tomorrow \ 13 and 26: Mulletman. Rubbish.
Superman The Day the Earth Died \658: The start of the Camelot Falls saga. Oh I want to read it all.

Supergirl \28 : we’ve finally had a run of several decent issues! And good art, thank god!

Nightwing \137: Not good as an intro to the Nightwing books.

Plastic Man \9: New, refreshing funny. I'm amazed I like a Plastic Man title.

Aquaman \48: Oh my god this was brilliant. Have they put this into trades? Must get all back issues. And the art is simply lovely.

Booster Gold \1: 52 pick up. Great! Booster's a brilliant character, a bit of an arrogant cocky jerk but he generally does the right thing. I'm now gonna be getting this one regularly. \8 also followed on pretty well.

Countdown to Mystery \2: Well it's nice and shiny and flicking through it I can see it features the Spectre and a guilty Plastic Man but for the life of me I can't remember any details.

Countdown to Adventure \3: Oh I like this. Go Starfire. I liked how the 3 way relationship between Starfire, Animal Man and his wife was handled.

Infinite Crisis aftermath The Spectre \2: and Tales of the Unexpected featuring The Spectre \1-4: I think I've got the individual stories of these mixed up. I wasn't aware of this new incarnation of the Spectre and it has piqued my curiosity. the Dr 13 stories at the back of tales of the unexpected were far superior though. Mad and very very funny.

Checkmate \15: Did I even read this?

Showcase \1: Cyborg, Blue Devil, Catwoman: I did not care for Catwoman. I think they may have wanted to make her more edgy and mean and 90s. The Blue Devil story was entertaining, the Cyborg one was a good opener but without the follow on issues I've lost interest. Overall, rather forgettable.
Blue Devil \22: From 1986. Funny, a keeper.

Midnighter \14: Do not care for. I picked it up cos I thought Midnighter was a gay superhero and I'd heard interesting things about it. But it didn't grab me. Maybe it will on a future re-read.

Serenity Better Days \2: Of course I like, how could I not?

Buffy \13: Not as good as last issue. Loved the Xander/Dracula dialogue though.

Wolverine \58: Wolverine is one of the few Marvel characters I care for. This was ok; I’m a sucker for random religious/spiritual experiences so this drew me right in. And of course it’s got Doctor Strange in it, who rules. However, do they really think that their audience needs the word anagram explained?

X-Man \49: Fucking shite. oh Marvel you suck.

And then there's the Impulse run as well. And more 52 spin offs. And 5 of a kind books. And Empowered. And Superman 3,2,1 action. And probably even more. *Sigh*