What, no crying?

And so begins my catch up comic reviews.  To make this manegable I shall split them into 4 areas: Superman/Batman themed, back issues, Blackest Night issues and finally Wonder Woman trades (yep, I bought some Simone books).  And there'll be a post gushing about my super cool awesome new Ares action figure (complete with skull motifs!!)
Anyway, spoilers ahead for Cry for Justice #5, World's Finest #2, Superman: World of New Krypton #10 and Gotham City Sirens #6.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Cry for Justice #5
 No tears to be shed, none at all.  The shame.  The writing is somewhat improved from previous issues, however Batwoman's dialogue is oddly stiff.  I get the impression Robinson was going for a noirish feeling, but something is not quite right.  On the other hand, the art is far less static than in previous issues and it is a joy to watch Batwoman operate.
Speaking of the art, I found the bikini scenes gratuitous and uneccessary.  Zatanna's leotard is cut far too high to be comfortable and Kara's top should be riding up.  The only way it wouldn't ride up is if she never moved her upper body or if it was made baggier.  However Batwoman is drawn fairly sensibly and the men have knob bulges, which is a very unusual.  Why Red Tornado gets the biggest bulge when he's an android I have no idea.

Edit: On this subject, what bothers me about the art is he has a fairly realistic style, but this doesn't translate through to the women's clothes.  Alex Ross also goes for realism but I can believe that his Dinah is held in by the basque/leotard she wears.  I cannot believe that Vixen's breasts, as drawn in Cry for Justice, can stay in her top.

Back to the plot and Oliver Queen is treating Dinah like dirt - in an earlier issue where he and Hal Jordan were acting like frat boys it was amusing, but this is going further and he is being a vile person.  Then Red Arrow, Ollie's adopted son, arrives with his right arm torn off at the elbow.  Gruesome scene, but oh my, this artist can paint.  The last page shows Congorilla and Flash defeated on the floor, with Kara and Freddie facing off against each other.  Kara is mad as hell with glowing red eyes and looks utterly dangerous.

There is a good discussion of the various red herrings/art problems going on with this issue over at Supergirl Comic Box Commentary, so I won't delve into them here.

My final area of dissatisfaction with this issue concerns the cover.  Although beautiful, it is a lie.  Harrumph.



World's Finest #2
I was initially put off by the cartoony art, but as I read the issue I think that actually it fits the story rather well, mostly due to Damian.  I find Damian to be something of a comedy extra anyway, so buggy eyes and overlarge heads suit his character.  I also enjoyed the panel where Damian is leaping off a roof and gliding downwards - it very much reminded me of one of the Batman and Robin (new series) covers.

Sidenote - whilst (unsuccessfully) searching for that cover I came across this.  Pretty cute huh?  They'd probably make a terrible pairing but I do like the image.

The final page reveals the Toyman building a giant Superman/Batman robot.  Now, I like me a giant robot as much as the next fun lovin' sci fi fangirl, but we've seen this before in the Superman/Batman storyline.  In this book, a Japanese teenage boy genius built a ver-ry similar giant robot to deflect and destroy the big kryptonite asteroid hurtling towards earth.  The robot was then manned by Captain Atom (I believe), who purportedly died in the robot.  The asteroid contained our beloved Supergirl, mark 2.  With this in mind, I hope this mini addresses the similarities.  Preferably in the next issue, with Kara and Steph!Batgirl.

Overall this is a good fun issue.  I've completely forgotten how it ties in to issue 1, but when it's this fun, I don't care.
Ouch. That last sentence is very bad writing.  My apologies everyone.


Superman: World of New Krypton #10
This title is still coming up roses for me.  Adam is a very good choice of guest star as we can experience surprise and frustration through Adam's interactions with the Kryptonians, particulalry regarding their lack of knowledge about basic CSI techniques.
The art's great, the story is great, the plots are coming together and I'm really interested to see how it will all end.


Gotham City Sirens #6
Wow, that's a boobilicious cover.  Still, this book isn't meant to be high literature, it is fluff and is intended to partly focus on sex.

Harley gets to shine in this issue, outwitting the villain, Mr Gagsworthy, an old silver age character that was around in the Joker's early career.  More retconning takes place and we find out Gagsworthy used to work in the same circus as the Flying Graysons and was there when the elder Grayson were murdered.  The background was quite useful to me, as I'm not familiar with these old stories.

Selina and Ivy get a few panels to themselves and prove to be engaging characters with sharp wit.

Still a good book, still well worth buying.

PLUG: Reviews for Wonder Woman - the Hikieteia, Batman: the Bat and the Cat and Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade are now up at New readers...start here!