These will likely be three sentence reviews as I'm really behind and have to start cooking dinner in half an hour.. I will talk about:
Justice League America 7, Animal Man Annual, X-Men 3, Fearless Defenders 7, Princeless Tales of Girls Who Rock, Adventures of Superman 3, Resurrection Man 17, Supergirl Annual 2 (1997), Legion of Superheroes (5 years later), Demon Knights 23, Thor 11 and Fearless Defenders 8.
I'll never get these all written in half an hour...
Justice League America 7
This is part 4 of Trinity War. I am enjoying the heck out of this. I'd like to call it old fashioned, but that's lazy. What I really mean is it reads as if there is care put into the story, care to make it interesting and fun. It's a standard action-superhero plot with fights and jokes and powers and costumes. It's not an outstanding story, it's a bit of fluff, but it's enjoyable fluff. It not boring. I don't find myself missing the old 52 when I read it.
Animal Man Annual 2
This is focused on Buddy's memories of Cliff, and an early adventure when Buddy met a woman-spider thing called Anansa. This didn't really do it for me. I'll see what issue 23 is like and then I might consider dropping this title, at least until the grieving for Cliff is over. If I'm not ruthless I'll end up with shelves of comics I don't want to keep and have no room to store!
X-Men 3
I don't recall much about this, other than that I enjoyed it. I'm very glad that Psylocke has a decent costume. I'm looking forward to issue 4 which has Jubilee and Wolverine on the cover.
Fearless Defenders 7
I love this title soooooooooooooo much. In this issue Valkyrie goes to Valhalla to rescue Annabelle, who is not settling into heaven well. Val agrees to a sacrifice and they both return to Midgard, sharing one body. This series is told with flair and joy. It's a group of superheroes kicking back, having fun and having fights. Folk get angry, some get injured, but they've got years of history and trust to rely on. It's told in a way that assures you that it's the creators making the storytelling decisions, not the editors and the management. That's all I want. Honest, transparent, good stories.
Princeless Tales of Girls Who Rock
This has stories of an elf girl, a would be quester and a werewolf. The art in the elf girl story is great. As ever, this is highly, highly, recommended.
Resurrection Man 17
I've been buying Linda Danvers era Supergirl comics from ebay. This isn't a Supergirl title but has the same feel as the Supergirl issues. It was good to read about how a previous Supergirl interacted with Resurrection Man as previously I had only read Kara meeting him when she was trying to cure Thomas' cancer. I don't think he referenced meeting Matrix/Linda then. Anyway, this is a fine addition to my collection.
Supergirl Annual 2 (1997)
A Pulp Heroes themed annual! Brainy falls for Linda/Matrix as they try to foil a magic user. The second story is about a fella who's in love with Supergirl and is ignoring the everyday woman who's fallen for him. I'm really glad I got this issue, it's great, although it does mean I've been reading a lot of Legion stories lately.
Speaking of which..
Legion of Superheroes (5 years later)
50odd of these issues were in the boxes of free comics I got. I started reading them with utter trepidation, and much to my chagrin I was actually enjoying them. Then other comics I picked up seemed to have the Legion in them.. and now, now I think I'm a fan of the Legion. Erm, yay me? The stories are driven by the characters and the dialogue, not by action. They are wordy and most resolutely not about individual powers or costumes. I'm on issue 22 now and I still havent' quite a got a handle on who is who and what is going on, but I am enjoying it. Issues 9 (I think) gave the backstory of the Supergirl analogue. That was great.
The only thing that grates a bit is the use of 9 panels per page. Some issues are all told in 9 panel format, some switch between that and a more standard 3/5/8 panel format. Because the plot is dialogue driven, those issues which are all 9 panels per page can feel as if they drag a bit.
I talked about these issues in more depth on episode 23 of RadioBamf.
Demon Knights 23
A bit of a sad ending this was. Not because of story events, but because it felt a bit rushed and a bit too neatly wrapped up. Horsewoman and Sir Ystin were healed by the grail which means Ystin is no longer turning into a vampire and Horsewoman can now walk. The politics felt a bit dodgy. Like the writer thinks of wheelchair users as crippled and thinks that you are less if you're body isn't working perfectly. I'm sure he doesn't mean it in a bad way, but it does feel a bit icky. I talked about this, and the following 2 comics on episode 24 of RadioBamf.
Thor 11
This is wonderfully myffic and epic and filled with gorgeous art. I am pleased that the Gorr story is now over and we return to Midgard in the next issue.
Fearless Defenders 8
I love this series soooooooooooooooooo much. I love the cover, I love Val's new costume, I love the interaction between her and Annabelle. I love that Elsa Blood is in it. I loooove it.
Justice League America 7, Animal Man Annual, X-Men 3, Fearless Defenders 7, Princeless Tales of Girls Who Rock, Adventures of Superman 3, Resurrection Man 17, Supergirl Annual 2 (1997), Legion of Superheroes (5 years later), Demon Knights 23, Thor 11 and Fearless Defenders 8.
I'll never get these all written in half an hour...
Justice League America 7
This is part 4 of Trinity War. I am enjoying the heck out of this. I'd like to call it old fashioned, but that's lazy. What I really mean is it reads as if there is care put into the story, care to make it interesting and fun. It's a standard action-superhero plot with fights and jokes and powers and costumes. It's not an outstanding story, it's a bit of fluff, but it's enjoyable fluff. It not boring. I don't find myself missing the old 52 when I read it.
Animal Man Annual 2
This is focused on Buddy's memories of Cliff, and an early adventure when Buddy met a woman-spider thing called Anansa. This didn't really do it for me. I'll see what issue 23 is like and then I might consider dropping this title, at least until the grieving for Cliff is over. If I'm not ruthless I'll end up with shelves of comics I don't want to keep and have no room to store!
X-Men 3
I don't recall much about this, other than that I enjoyed it. I'm very glad that Psylocke has a decent costume. I'm looking forward to issue 4 which has Jubilee and Wolverine on the cover.
Fearless Defenders 7
I love this title soooooooooooooo much. In this issue Valkyrie goes to Valhalla to rescue Annabelle, who is not settling into heaven well. Val agrees to a sacrifice and they both return to Midgard, sharing one body. This series is told with flair and joy. It's a group of superheroes kicking back, having fun and having fights. Folk get angry, some get injured, but they've got years of history and trust to rely on. It's told in a way that assures you that it's the creators making the storytelling decisions, not the editors and the management. That's all I want. Honest, transparent, good stories.
Princeless Tales of Girls Who Rock
This has stories of an elf girl, a would be quester and a werewolf. The art in the elf girl story is great. As ever, this is highly, highly, recommended.
Resurrection Man 17
I've been buying Linda Danvers era Supergirl comics from ebay. This isn't a Supergirl title but has the same feel as the Supergirl issues. It was good to read about how a previous Supergirl interacted with Resurrection Man as previously I had only read Kara meeting him when she was trying to cure Thomas' cancer. I don't think he referenced meeting Matrix/Linda then. Anyway, this is a fine addition to my collection.
Supergirl Annual 2 (1997)
A Pulp Heroes themed annual! Brainy falls for Linda/Matrix as they try to foil a magic user. The second story is about a fella who's in love with Supergirl and is ignoring the everyday woman who's fallen for him. I'm really glad I got this issue, it's great, although it does mean I've been reading a lot of Legion stories lately.
Speaking of which..
Legion of Superheroes (5 years later)
50odd of these issues were in the boxes of free comics I got. I started reading them with utter trepidation, and much to my chagrin I was actually enjoying them. Then other comics I picked up seemed to have the Legion in them.. and now, now I think I'm a fan of the Legion. Erm, yay me? The stories are driven by the characters and the dialogue, not by action. They are wordy and most resolutely not about individual powers or costumes. I'm on issue 22 now and I still havent' quite a got a handle on who is who and what is going on, but I am enjoying it. Issues 9 (I think) gave the backstory of the Supergirl analogue. That was great.
The only thing that grates a bit is the use of 9 panels per page. Some issues are all told in 9 panel format, some switch between that and a more standard 3/5/8 panel format. Because the plot is dialogue driven, those issues which are all 9 panels per page can feel as if they drag a bit.
I talked about these issues in more depth on episode 23 of RadioBamf.
Demon Knights 23
A bit of a sad ending this was. Not because of story events, but because it felt a bit rushed and a bit too neatly wrapped up. Horsewoman and Sir Ystin were healed by the grail which means Ystin is no longer turning into a vampire and Horsewoman can now walk. The politics felt a bit dodgy. Like the writer thinks of wheelchair users as crippled and thinks that you are less if you're body isn't working perfectly. I'm sure he doesn't mean it in a bad way, but it does feel a bit icky. I talked about this, and the following 2 comics on episode 24 of RadioBamf.
Thor 11
This is wonderfully myffic and epic and filled with gorgeous art. I am pleased that the Gorr story is now over and we return to Midgard in the next issue.
Fearless Defenders 8
I love this series soooooooooooooooooo much. I love the cover, I love Val's new costume, I love the interaction between her and Annabelle. I love that Elsa Blood is in it. I loooove it.
Some excellent books here. I rather miss Resurrection Man. And Thor has been quite gorgeous AND a good read!
ReplyDeleteThe cancellation of Demon Knights caught me by surprise, as I have been enjoying it. And yes, the ending is a bit contrived...but sometimes I just get so desperate for a bit of happiness in my comics, that I grasp at anything.
Happiness certainly makes for a change doesn't it. Are you reading Larfleeze? Now that book is fun!
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