Let's write up some comics

This week I bought and read this lot:

Black Canary 1
Much more interesting than I thought it would be from the preview.  It doesn't really feel like my Dinah though, but I guess I'm looking for a Dinah in her 30s ready to settle down with Ollie (who to be fair would never be a rock star).  So this version not feeling like her isn't a criticism.  It is a good comic.  The only thing that pulled me out of it was that I don't buy her wearing her Canary outfit  on stage.  If they'd given her shorts or a skirt it would work much better.

Harley/Peej 1
This was a lot more fun than I expected.  I've been underwhelmed by Harley's main series but this was far better.  The two of them work well together. Unfortunately the cover is not Amanda Conner's finest hour.  The inks are rather heavy and it just doesn't flow very well.

Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman 11
Another bad cover,  Yeeuch.  Badly composed, badly pencilled, badly inked and badly coloured.  Inside is Jamal Igle's pencils which are much better but the inks are a bit too heavy handed.  The colours are OK.  Overall, this lacks the finesse of the Gates/Igle Supergirl work, but that's not Igle's fault.  In the issue Di goes to Africa to try to get two sides of a warring nation to reconcile.  It sounds a bit white saviour-ish doesn't it.  I don't think it comes across that way but I'm willing to listen to other opinions.

Princeless book 4 issue 1
The story is good but I hate the art.  The composition of the panels is good, the actions (and interaction) of the characters are good, but the style of faces, the inks and the colours are horrible.  It won't stop me buying this series, but if you do pick it up please be aware that this art is not indicative of the rest of the series' art!  And on the plus side, we do have killer squirrels:

Battleworld: Thors 1
I think I bought this for horse Thor.  It's OK.  I suspect it's more for Marvel aficionados than me.  It seems like a bit of an industry vanity project, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Battleworld: Runaways 1
The only actual Runaway in this is Molly Hayes.  The rest are mutants, Cloak and Dagger and some other randoms who I expect regular Marvel readers will know.  They are all attending a school to train them as Doom lackeys, or some such.  I tell you what, I do like the premise for Battleworld.  It works far better than Convergence, at least for these two titles.  This was a fun enough comic.  It also queered up Jubilee and Pixie, which was good to see:

Are they gay in the regular 616 universe?

Ms Marvel: Crushed (trade)
This is volume 3 of the current Ms Marvel run.  I really liked it, it's a good young adult comic about teenage crushes and the pitfalls that come with it, with added superpowers.  The only thing I didn't like was the thinly veiled lesson about consent.  It just seemed a bit too obvious to me, but maybe that's because I've been seeing this sort of stuff discussed for years and given where I am at the moment, I really could do with not having these conversations.  Quite frankly, I don't care.  That sounds awful doesn't it.  But I don't.  I'm concentrating on my pregnancy and everything else that requires energy, or passion can piss off.  So, I'm wondering who the teenage audience this is aimed at would take this lesson. If they don't find it too much, then I guess it's a good thing.

Batman: The Ring, The Arrow and The Bat
I've been meaning to get this for about 2 years.  Despite the name, it's a Green Arrow trade, not a Batman book.  The first story is Hal and Ollie meeting for the first time.  Hal is working for the government and doesn't realise he's being used, and Ollie is out for a good vigilante time, until he realises the wrongs being done, and then he gets all angry about it.  It's quite a quick change.  Hal and Ollie argue but end up friends.  Art is by Greg Land, before his porn tracing days.  If you like these two, and you like these trades, then you'll like this story.

The second story is Green Arrow and Batman meeting and working together for the first time.  There is lots of snark and one liners.  The villains in the story are stereotypical/generic Asian bad guys, which makes me wince, and plot development is a bit obvious, but apart from that, it's good fun.

I've also been watching Arrow season 1, and while I'm kinda enjoying it, it's a bit bloody miserable isn't it?  Oliver Queen enjoys life, but Ollie in Arrow doesn't.  Granted, he has just come back from the island and is traumatised, but by all accounts he doesn't get any happier over the seasons.  Le sigh.  I like the flashbacks to the island the best.  He looks and acts more like 'my' Ollie there.

Convergence week 7 (and a Sensation Comics)

On to the last two weeks of Convergence comics.  Reviews will be split into two posts.  Spoilers ahead.

Convergence 7
So we finally have some familiar and likeable heroes, boshing the bad guys.  There's a giant rocky triangle shaped thing with a face, disembodied arms and two curved extensions coming up by the side of his head.  I have no idea who he is.  Deimos is still around, causing trouble.  Apparently Demios is an existing character, not invented for this series.  He looks like Dr Strange,  I assume Telos was invented for this series.  I don't care about either,

I wonder what this main Convergence title would read like if read in one chunk.  From week to week, it's felt dull and by the numbers.  It's editorially driven and it doesn't feel like the creators care about the story, which is a shame because comics always read better when the creative team care about what they are doing.

Anyway, Deimos is destroyed, the chronal energy he was containing is released, triangular rock dude breaks apart and tells new 52 Supergirl and Superman that all of reality is breaking apart,  Nothing in this story has made me feel like this is a momentous occasion.  It just feels uninteresting.  I reviewed Zero Hour for New readers...start here recently, and even with all it's faults, that story felt like it existed on a grand scale and deserved my awe.  Convergence doesn't.  Flashpoint didn't either.

Convergence: The Adventures of Superman 2
Kal and Kara are in the Phantom Zone, fighting the Kryptonian criminals imprisoned there,  Kara knows she has to get Kal out so that he can fulfill his destiny in the first crisis, but he doesn't know about this and boots her out.    Kara thinks for a few seconds and contrives a way to pull Kal out, leaving the criminals behind.

Meanwhile Kamandi and his mates are trying to work out how to stop the ape army wanting to take over 'Greenwitch' - I guess this refers to an American Greenwich, not the London one. The Super cousins join in the fight and the apes actually think they can beat them. Ha.  The absolute certainty of the cousins and their skills is nice to read.  No second guessing, no tactics to hurt them, juts the knowledge and certainty that they will win, because why wouldn't they? Who could beat a pre crisis Kryptonian?  No one, that's who.  I loved this issue.  It's a keeper,

The preview is for Martian Manhunter.  I didn't like it and I don't think it does J'onn justice.  the story has a suspicious, dark tone and that's not what I'm keen on reading.

Convergence: Wonder Woman 2
Also a keeper.  Lovely, lovely art by Aaron Lopresti, Matt Banning, Tanya and Richard Horie and Tim Napolitano.  The character designs for the vampires are lovely too.  Diana is perfectly in character, heroic and a warrior,  She takes the time to talk to Athena to figure out her plan.  She's not fazed by the vampires.  She doesn't revel in her victory over them.  I want to be that sort of person.

The preview is for Secret Six but it's a different Secret Six to the pre 52 version.  I'm not interested in it.

Convergence: Hawkman 2
The Hawkguys are fighting giant bats and giant rats. Then they (Katar and Shay) get strapped to a giant rocket and Shayera frees them.  They work with the other Thanagarians to defeat the giant rodents and get a peak into the future - the first crisis.  Then they fly off into the light declaring their love for each other,
Possibly a keeper.

Convergence: Batman and the Outsiders 2
I don't care about this or the Batman Beyond preview in it.  To be got rid of.

Convergence: Swamp Thing 2
I realllly don't like how Swamp Thing speaks.  Pauses in sentences irritates me.  Swampy joins up with vampire Batman, and it turns out that this is a Batman I am interested in.  So clearly he dies at the end.  Interesting introduction to Swamp Thing, but not a keeper.

The preview is for Catwoman, I'm not interested.

Convergence: the New Teen Titans 2
These aren't my Titans and I've never cared for this era.  I can see why people like these issues, but they aren't for me.  The preview is for Robin Son of Batman.  It's an OK preview, but I won't be buying it.

Convergence: Flash 2
I am so bored of Barry Allen and this is a love letter to him.  The preview is for Suicide Squad, the new 52 more badass Squad.  I do not care.

Convergence: Superboy and the Legion of Super-heroes 2
This has Atomic Knights riding giant dalmations.  I know a winning idea when I see one.  Having said that, I think I preferred issue 1 to this.  I def preferred the art in issue 1.  Superboy does the heroic thing and the Knights don't fight the Legion.  I'll probably keep these issues, now I have discovered a fondness for the Legion.
The preview is for Teen Titans, which like most of the rest of DC's line, just doesn't interest me.

Convergence: Green Lantern Corps 2
This is not as much fun as issue 1, but still enjoyable.  Hal is being a bit stupid and using old fashioned ring constructs (hands etc) which is what I like to see.  John is John like and Guys is Guy like.  He steals Hercules' armour and then gets his ring recharged.  Good fun for Green Lantern fans.
The Gotham Academy preview shows what is probably a solid book, marketed at teens and reminds me of Gunnerkrigg Court webcomic.  As I've read Gunnerkrigg court I'm not interested in reading this.

Convergence: Justice League of America 2
Good fun for fans of this JLA team.  I guess it's nice to see Vibe, Vixen, Steel and Gypsy get credit for saving the day, even if it's Zee, J'onn and Arthur that really finished everything.
The Batman/Superman preview makes me want to cancel my standing order.

Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman 10
My head was full of Convergence when I read this so I don't think I appreciated it enough. I think this book is aimed at readers who want to see Diana in explicitly feminist stories, so I think it will turn a lot of people off.  For me though, it's great.  Especially with the backup story being mythological.  It's these books that make me want to cancel my in continuity titles and just get the standalones.  They are so much better,

Convergence week 2

Convergence week 2!  Princeless the Pirate Princess, Danger Club, and Sensation Comics! Spoilers ahead.

Princeless the Pirate Princess 3
This is good.  I'm now convinced Raven is gay.  She has a supremely confident attitude and her body language and style just makes me read her as gay.  I know that's not a very technical or specific description, but I just think she's gay.  I wonder if straight readers also get this vibe off her?  Let me know.

Danger Club 8
This is the alternate ending.  I have lots of thoughts about this, and I shall write them up in a new readers review.

Sensation Comics 9
Mike Maihack draws the main story  and Ben Caldwell does the cover.  I really wish DC would hire these guys properly.  The first story is about sisterhood and sibling rivalry, it's an all ages comic.  the second is Diana and Lois meeting fairly on in their careers.  Lois has been asked to do a fluff piece on Diana, and neither of them are impressed by the questions she's been given, so they rile each other up.  Diana is drawn with really good posture.  Then there's an alien attack and they end up working together.  Standard plot of heros meet, fight then realise they are both on the same side, but done with words, in character and with motivation, and executed really really well.

Convergence 2
Let's see, Dick Grayson has a son and they've lost Barbara outside the dome, and Dick's son gets killed for dramatic effect.  Not cool guys.  The Earth 2 heroes are around and Dick somehow meets with them, there are fights with the guys from a video game based world (Injustice?) and Earth 2 Thomas Wayne Batman meets post Flashpoint Bruce Wayne Batman.  And Alfred proves his worth via his understanding of everyone's favourite types of tea.  I liked this issue but I couldn't remember the details from it.  This might make a reasonable mini series.

I see now that week's 1 tie ins were set in Gotham.  Week 2's are set in Metropolis.  I wonder where week 3 and 4 will be set.

Convergence Aquaman 1
Hook handed Aquaman! My favourite.  If you like Aquaman you should buy this issue.  It's great.

Convergence Supergirl 1
OK, so this was a fun comic, but it is not Matrix Supergirl.  I'm not sure exactly when in her timeline she is meant to be from, but she is with a Lex who is treating her like dirt, and she has no problem with this.  This Lex is rude and belittling and awful.  I know I haven't read many Matrix comics but I don't recall the Lex that Matrix was with ever being this awful to her.
Mae fights Lady Quark and her husband, and the writer, Giffen, tries to tell us that Quark and husband are gay, but in denial.  It doesn't really work, it's quite odd.  The Ambush Bug turns up.  I didn't know they knew each other.
If you read this as an alternate Supergirl it works, but it's not Matrix Supergirl.

I like the art a lot.  The colourist has made everybody shiny like they are plastic, which I usually don't like, but the colours are bright, the pencils are cartoony and the inks provide definition without being harsh.  Having said that, I can't forgive this opening splash page:

Convergence Green Arrow 1
Another one that I can't figure out where is from in the timeline.  Connor Hawke is in Metropolis hunting down his Dad, Oliver Queen.  I don't think the writer had ever read a Connor Hawke comic, because this is not Connor.  He does not dress like that, nor talk like that.  Nonetheless, I like it as an alternate version of the Arrows.  My alternate theory is backed up by the appearance of Dinah and a teenaged blonde Canary who is Ollie;s daughter, apparently.

Convergence Catwoman 1
This was in line with the Catwoman of it's time, right down to the 'sexy' art (my 2010 post about which remains one of my most popular of all time).  Selina is protecting the downtrodden under the dome, which isn't something I recall her doing at this point in her career but nevermind, and is given Kingdom Come Batman to fight.  If KC Bats isn't trying to avoid a fight in the next issue I'll be... not pissed off, but rolling my eyes at editorial incompetence.

Convergence Steel 1
I like Steel and so I quite looked forward to this issue.  I have no idea what he's up to in the New 52 but I think I probably won't like that version of him.

This version is the Steel I know and like, and it has Natasha (hooray!) and a nephew who I'm not familiar with.  There are quite a few plot holes in this issue, see Anj's review here for more detail on that.  But I mostly enjoyed it. The organic spiky metal cat is very much of the era this weeks books are channeling, and that I'm not too keen on, just for aesthetic reasons.  It's a damn ugly cat.  My main problem with this is Natasha and brother seem to think that they are unrecognisable in their armour.  Their armour is moulded to their face, even to their dreadlocks for fucks sake, and we are supposed to believe that people can't recognise them, when in armour their faces are exactly the same but silver?  No.

Convergence Shadow of the Bat 1
I do not like the art in this.  It's very computerised and gritty.  The cover has classic angry Batman on it though, always entertaining.

So the book is about BruceBatman and Jean Paul (Azrael).  They team up undercover to take down criminals, then team up in costume.  Bruce does a shocking job of keeping people safe as folk die while he's involved with these criminals.

Convergence Green Lantern/Parallax 2
This I liked a lot!  The Lanterns are Kyle Rayner and Hal Jordan, but as Hal is depowered he understands what he did as Parallax and has voluntarily put himself in gaol as punishment for his sins.  Then the dome goes down and Kyle and Hal get their powers back, and Hal gets uppity and decides to destroy Electropolis.  There's a panel showing images from this weeks' Supergirl issue and her skirt is coloured blue, not red.  Now that pissed me off.  Apart from that I very much enjoyed this issue.  Get it if you are a 90s GL fan.

Convergence Justice League International 1
Another slightly odd execution.  Ted Kord is the leader of this JLI, which I do not understand, not when J'onn J'onzz and Cap'n Shinypants are around.  The Kord of that era was not leader material and I don't think the dome would have changed that.  I'm also a bit mystified as to how and he and Beatriz got together.

Having said that, it was really nice to see this gang back together and if you ignore those continuity errors it's a fun read, with reasonable art.

They end up ready to fight the Kingdom Come folks.  Ted's declaration of being ready to fight seemed a bit at odds with what he'd just gone through.  I don't really understand why the Kingdom Come lot are so ready to fight and kill alternate universe heroes.  I mean, they are still heroes, and I don't think the KC world changed them *that* much.  At this point I'd like to see more heroes refusing to fight, like last weeks' Superman was refusing to fight.

Convergence Superboy 1
This was the best of them all!  Superboy as he was written in the 90s, as the Metropolis Kid with his fantastic costume:

No content spoilers from me.  If you like the Super family this issue and last week's Superman are the ones to get.

Convergence Suicide Squad 1
If you like the Ostrander Suicide Squad run you should get this.  Waller is the Wall again and it's got the added bonus of Oracle and Carol Ferris.  I don't want to spoil it, so I'll just say you get this.

Now, I was under the impression that each of these issues would be characters from a different universe, but it seems that the Metropolis' are from the same post crisis 90s, universe.  Is that right? Is each week's story set in the same dome but focusing on different characters?  In which case, why aren't the heroes in contact with each other?  A year isn't enough time for them to all give up and drift away. And why are there so many villains being sent to dome?  I thought it was 1 champion per dome.  Help me out here guys.