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.

Comic reviews

I bought this lot this week:

Quite a change from the piles of Convergence stuff I have been getting.

Starfire 1 was very good. I think I'll continue getting this.  I am surprised to see Kori so clueless about earth stuff, but no matter, it's a good issue, skillfully done.

Batman/Superman 21 made me wince.   I have not got any interest in a grim Supes with moody inner dialogue.  He's not even expressing undiluted angry, he's just draining and the anger is self absorbed. He's bitter and resentful.  Supes can be angry, of course he can, but there's a world of difference between this anger and the anger of the pre 52 Superman.  It's not a fun thing to read.  I'll be cancelling this.

Harley Quinn 17 was OK.  It passes the time but I'm not too fussed about it, I think I'll cancel it.

Comics review: Convergence week 6

I'm amazed I'm still managing to write these reviews.  I think I'm going to try and keep these short.

Convergence: Catwoman 2
This was pretty good, up until the point where Selina got shot and died.  Obviously Batman is still alive.  I guess if Bats had been the one who'd got shot and died it might have looked like the story was becoming about him.
The Gotham by Midnight preview is not really for me.

Convergence: Suicide Squad 2
Good. Strange Captain Boomerang twist, but good nonetheless.  I don't think Amanda Waller is really dead.  I think she'll show up to scorn the fancy statue.  Nice to see Babs in here.
The Aquaman preview was pretty good.  Nice new costume design, in line with the film design.  There will be some cultural laughs about Arthur yelling 'Your King is pissed'.  I'm not sure that's the sort  of vocabulary Arthur would use, let alone the varying meanings for pissed.  I'm not that impressed by Mera being a the bad guy, again.

Convergence: Shadow of the Bat 2
I really don't care about this or the Deathstroke preview.  I'm sick of reading about him fighting the Titans, in any incarnation.

Convergence: Green Arrow 2
The art on this is horrible.  The story is OK.  I like Livy.
The Green Lantern Corps: Lost Army preview is alright, but not good enough to make me want to buy it.

Convergence: Superboy 2
This is really good. The characterisation is spot on and the story is enjoyable.
I'm not interested in the Action Comics preview.

Convergence: Aquaman 2
This is just really, really great.  It's the sort of Aquaman (character wise) that I like to see.  Really good stuff.
The Doctor Fate preview was also good.  New art, very different from DC's New 52 house style.  The story felt more like an indie slice of life story than a superhero one.  I'd like to pick this series up.

Convergence: Supergirl Matrix 2
One day i'm going to have to find out the history of Ambush Bug because I just don't get him.  For a long time I thought he was meant to be Dan Didio putting himself in the comics, but now I think that's wrong.
This is a fun and silly issue, better than the first one, but is still not Mae Supergirl.  So if you want accuracy you won't like it.  If you want an entertaining ten minutes with an S shield that you've never met before, try it out.
The preview at the back of this is Bat-mite.  No I am still not interested in Bat-mite.

Convergence: Green Lantern Parallax 2
This comic is mostly about Kyle. Hal/Parallax features, but it's not really his story.
The preview is of new and improved SexyLobo.  Really sexy Lobo.  The first panel of him draws him looking like Mikail Starman.  Naked and bedding a woman.  I hope Lobo gets to bed some men.

Convergence: Justice League International 2
Terrible art, decent story, nice Booster moment at the end.
The preview is for Justice League 3001 and it entertained me, but not enough to buy the comic.

Convergence: Superman Man of Steel 2
It was OK, I guess.  The backup is for Bizarro and I still have no interest in him.

Convergence 6
I liked this issue because it had all the decent heroes siding against the bloodthirsty ones (like the Flahspoint one).

I'll keep all of these apart from Shadow of the Bat.

Comics review: Convergence week 5

Spoilers ahead (probably).

Convergence 5
I really cannot bring myself to care about this main title.  Skataris and dinosaurs are fun, but it's not necessary to read this to understand the tie-ins.  I suspect that I will be selling this mini.

Convergence: Justice League 2
There's some ridiculous bum and boob images in this.  Ignoring that, this isn't too bad,  It's pretty much a big fight between the League and Flashpoint Aquaman, with a bit of Vulko, ending with Mera killing Flashpoint Aquaman.  I can't imagine anyone not invested in pre 52 continuity enjoying this.  Fortunately, I like the pre 52 world a lot.  These 2 issues are keepers, really just for Supergirls' involvement in them.

Convergence: Superman 2
Just lovely.  Lois has been kidnapped by Flashpoint Kal, but he doesn't mean her harm, and he takes her to Flashpoint's Batman's cave.  Lois goes into labour and Flashpoint Batman (Thomas Wayne, a  doctor) says he can't handle delivering the baby so Clark does it.  Surprisingly, they show the labour as being quite drawn out, and not over in half an hour.  And at the end Lois and Clark and a baby boy.  It's delightful.  This is definitely a keeper.

Convergence: Batman and Robin 2
This appears to be one of the few tie-ins that lets it's heroes be heroes - i.e. not willing to go fight the opposing champion.  Of course it is, it's Batman.  Jason Todd and Damian are in this, and it turns into a father-sons piece.  The art is nice.  I couldn't care about the story.  I'll try and sell this.

Convergence: The Atom 2
I think I'd remember this more fondly if I hadn't watched Smallville's Booster episode last night (with the three Blue Beetles in it).  Which means that I'm getting my blue heroes muddled.  The comic was OK.  I find the Deathstroke vs the Atoms storyline strange, probably because I wasn't reading the pre 52 issues where Deathstroke killed Ryan Choi.  I do like that Ryan has been resurrected, that's a good thing about this event.  I am undecided as to whether I should keep this.

Convergence: The Question 2
This might be called the Question but really it's a Two-face/Renee story, with lots of support by Batwoman and Huntress.  Some of the storytelling through just art (no words) is pretty damn fine.  I highly highly recommend this.  Definitely a keeper.

Convergence: The Titans 2
Roy finds a way to save Lian and his friends, and Lian is the real Lian, and she remains alive at the end.  This resonated.  It's a keeper.

Convergence: Speed Force 2
This has a very flat, cartoony, style of art. It's not what I'm used to, but I can't tell if I think if it's bad, or if it's just different.  Reading it, I have trouble accepting this Flashpoint Wonder Woman.  She's too far away from the Diana I am used to.  Irey seems to have some sort of torso muscles, which is strange, given her age.  I think I thought this issue was nice enough, but it's not really got anything memorable in it.  I liked the first issue though, so I'll probably keep this.

Convergence: Harley Quinn 2
This was fun.  Harley tells Cap'n Carrot she has super fists, scorch vision, canary scream, awesome-portation and a magic hammer stolen from the Gods.  He believes her, because who lies about having super powers?  This plan backfires but it all turns out well in the end, and Harley is reunited with ivy and Selina.  But doesn't go back to her fella.

Convergence: Batgirl 2
Steph and Tim seemed out of character in this.  Tim says that he ignored her for the last year because she was no longer Batgirl. Now she is suited up again, he's interested again.  She gets annoyed at this, but then takes him back.  I prefer to think that Steph has more self respect than that, and that Tim isn't such a dick.  Possibly keeping for nostalgia reasons.

Convergence: Nightwing and Oracle: 2
This was good.  I really like the design of the Hawks, and Black Canary shows up.  The Hawks get defeated and are offered the chance to live in this Gotham, curating their culture.  That's how heroism works.  Then Babs and Dick get hitched and we see the second ever good comic book wedding dress.  The first was Canary's when she married Green Arrow, FYI.  These 2 issues are keepers.

One thing that I realised during this week's comics, is that the fights between champions aren't to the death.  I had assumed they were, but I don't think Telos ever stated that.  He just said one champion must be defeated.

I didn't read many of the divergent previews.  I doubt I'll be getting many of them.

Convergence week 3

This week's comic are pre Crisis.  I hadn't realised some of these eras were pre crisis, but fine.  Spoilers (probably) ahead.

Convergence 3
I'm quite bored of the bat centric nature of this main series.  There is a nice Skataris scene though, so maybe next issue will be more interesting.

Convergence: Justice League of America 1
It starts with Ralph and Sue being lovely and then explains how the dome has affected the other JLA members.  Aquaman is now unable to breathe underwater, which is at odds with other domed Aquamans where he can't survive without water.  Well, it's not directly incompatible but the insinuation is there.  The Martian Manhunter was trapped in human form without telepathy.  Steel's cyborg tech shut down and he was on life support.  Now the dome is lifted and everyone is back to normal and ready to fight.

I don't get why the dome affects some guys' technology and not others.  Other than the writers deciding this is so.  Ah well, this was an OK issue.

Convergence: Hawkman 1
Another really good one.  This is less about forced fights and more a showcase of why Katar and Shayera are great.  There are Thanagarian criminals.  I'm writing the review of this comic last and now I'm out of comments, sorry.  It's a darn good comic though.  I suggest you all read it.

Convergence: The Adventures of Superman 1
This isn't really a Superman book, it's all about Kara.  Kara and Clark are in Gotham, trapped under the dome and powerless.  They decide to exit the dome via the phantom zone and try to reemerge outside of the dome.  This is actually a pretty good idea.
As I said, the issue is all about Kara being heroic, getting acknowledged by Superman, and dealing with the sudden knowledge of her death in the crisis, but still deciding to soldier on.  This is why I like Supergirl.  She's strong (emotionally), she's brave, she's kind, she always does the right thing.  She's not supercilious, she's not arrogant, she's humble and puts others before herself without being a doormat.

There are continuity errors in this book, but the core of the characters is right and it's a delight to read.  Highly recommended.

Convergence: Batman and the Outsiders 1
My boyfriend just saw the cover to this and named it Batman and the Disco Avengers.

That is my review.

Convergence: Flash 1
I enjoyed this but can't really bring myself to review it as it's all about Barry, the dullest of the Flashes.

Convergence: Green Lantern Corps 1
Ooh yeah.  This has Guy, Hal and John.  Guy is back teaching kids and is also in therapy, which doesn't seem very Guy like.  On the other hand he's not as obnoxious as he was usually depicted, so perhaps this is just the effect being domed has on him.  I was pleased to see Guy reference Hal moving on his fiancee. I'd forgotten about that, but man, it goes to show that Hal is a jerk!  John Stewart was good.  Hal is acting exactly like Hal, but doesn't look like him.  The art is wrong.  At the end they all get their powers but as Hal has the power battery Guy can't power up, so he rides off on a motorbike, reminding me of Cliff Chiang's Black Canary/Green Arrow art.

This is good stuff for Green Lantern fans.

Convergence:  The New Teen Titans 1
I really enjoyed this,  I didn't think I was fussed about this era but it turns out it's fun!  Dick is wearing his stupid disco outfit.  He's married to Kory and they are having problems, because she is ruled by her emotions and really hates criminal thugs.  There is a crystal wielding girl who I never even noticed on the cover and Jericho, who pretty much just walks around moodily.  Donna is really missing her husband Terry (who I have always thought is a bit of a prick)t and others keep coming to her for relationship advice, which hurts her.  The Tangent universe Doom Patrol comes to fight them but this isn't a vicious-let's-murder-everyone fight.  The DP want tech to get back home.  One of them contacts Dick to talk.  This was a pretty solid issue,

Convergence:  Legion of Superheroes 1
I liked this so much I bought a copy for my friend's 15 year old daughter.  The art is unusual - people's eyes are really big and the colours are rather washed out, but on the whole the comic worked really well.  Not a lot happens.  M,ostly the LoSH are talking about what's going on and Superboy is rallying the city.  However this somehow makes for a very enjoyable comic.  And the cover is really nice.  It's simple but very pleasing to the eye.

Convergence: Swamp Thing 1
This started with a recap of Swamp Thing/Alec Holland's origins, which I really appreciated, as I haven't read any Swamp Thing before.  It left me wanting to read the Alan Moore run.  This particular issue reads like a mild horror comic more than anything.  I really liked it.  Worth buying,

Convergence: Wonder Woman 1
This is wonderful!  Diana is perfectly Diana and the issue is all about heroism.  I love this issue.  Def a keeper and def worth reading,

Comics review

It's been a while yeah?  I think review might be too formal a word for what I'm about to write.

Wonder Woman 40 and Aquaman 40 both have glorious movie style covers.  I actually rather enjoyed Wondy.  That's probably not a popular opinion, since it's got Donna Troy slaughtering the men on Themscyria.  But I liked it.  I don't care about how she was written pre 52.  I enjoyed this story.  Aquaman 40 was pretty cute, what with Atlanna accepting that Arthur is her son.

Batman/Superman annual 2 I liked, but I don't recall much of.  I think it was someone trying to kill Clark, and because he'd used his solar flare power (which Kara had first, incidentally), he couldn't defend himself with his Kryptonian powers.  I've read a few thoughts from others about how this is meant to be a celebration of Clark. I didn't get that feeling from it, but I did enjoy it.

Red Lanterns 40 was a good ending to the series.  A bit rushed, but what isn't at these times.  It was full of hope, which I'm down with.  Guy is still a Dad (which I love) and no longer a Red Lantern. Sadly losing his rage means he's also lost his facial hair and his shaggy haircut.  I'll admit that I hated his new look at first, and roundly mocked it, but I've grown quite fond of it.

I've just added Harley Quinn to my pull list and this issue (16) is more of the same.  It's fun, but not substantial.  I'm buying these and passing them on to a friend.

Multiversity: Ultra Comics was pretty good. very clever, in a full of itself way, but also a good story which is the important part.  I am really really liking this series.

Convergence 0 was also good and I loved seeing the red skies!  This Superman is a bit of a knob though - he's just not very likeable is he?

Today I picked up the first 11 Convergence titles and I am so excited for them!  All my pre 52 favourites are there!  Roy Harper and Lian, a lady Justice League, Steph and Cass Batgirl with Timmy, Gotham City Sirens, Nightwing and Oracle, Supes and Lois, and Renee Question.  :D

"Finally, comic book women get a real bodies make-over"

Title in quotation marks because redraws have been going on for years.

I am referring to this article which has been doing the rounds.  A facebook friend asked me what I thought of it so I thought I'd tidy up and post it here.

The motivations of the team behind this are explained as follows:
When the team at bulimia.com saw Buzzfeed's Disney princess makeovers, they decided they should take these super-human ladies and give them some super human bodies. Their hope is that when viewers see these realistic waistlines, they will be able to better relate to the characters. After all, being powerful doesn't have to correlate with being a double-D, size 2 cat lady,

I'll admit that I'm more inspired by men's physiques in comic books than I am by women's physiques.  I'm not sure if this is because I have a fairly relaxed attitude to gendered bodies or because men are shown as being more muscular than women, but if I think about who I most want to look like it's hook handed Aquaman, every time.  I know I'll never look exactly like him, I know his physique is caricatured, but when I think of visual motivation for working out and getting a six pack he's who I think of.

I don't lady comic characters unrelatable because they can be drawn ridiculously.  I think the world of Wonder Woman, even when she's drawn by Mike Deodato.  Relatable doesn't just mean 'looks like me'.

Having said that, I like the idea of re-drawing characters to look more normal.  It made me realise that some art which I consider realsistic really isn't - the thigh gaps for example.  I think that some of the redraws aren't quite right though - they aren't athletic enough.  There's a difference between tits an ass, normal realistic bodies and athletic.  I don't think there's a problem with making superheroes (and villains) look atheltic if their power set and skills demand it.  For example, the Flash should look like a runner.  Guy Gardner is an ex PE teacher, John Stewart is an ex marine.  I'd be surprised if they didn't keep fit, but they shouldn't look like triangular beefcakes.  Aquaman and Mera should look like swimmers.  Batman and Black Canary should look like martial arts experts.  Wondy should look like a gladitorial athelet.

Some of the redraws don't look right.  Black Widow doesn't look as fit as a physically active spy should be.  Her spying is a core part of her character, and if she doesn't look right I can't relate to her.  If she looks like she spends more time behind a desk than out in the field I'm not interested.  Catwoman, Ivy, Power Girl and Phoenix work for me.  Rogue doesn't.  Given the amount of time the X-Men spend training she shouldn't be as soft as that around the middle.  The same goes for Storm.

In making these characters look like normal everyday women that we can now supposedly relate to, they've taken away some of the power fantasy.  If I'm going to be inspired by a superhero I'll be inspired by their strength of character, their morals and what they can do with their bodies and how capabel their bodies are - but I'm someone interested in fitness and what exercise and training can do to the body.  Not everyone is.

To simplify, often lady superheroes are drawn to be fancied by men, and male heroes are drawn to be power fantasies for men.  Female characters should be power fantasies for women too, but to dot hat, you have to understand how bodies and exercise work.

Comics of the last week in November

Spoilers ahead for this lot:

Supergirl 36
It's the new creative arc and lo and behold I actually enjoyed it. This is a good writing team. Art was OK - the first panel was a boobs and butt pose which isn't great, obvs, but the rest was OK. Kara gets full armour and it looks better than the unitard.
The comic opens with Kara working in a coffee shop, frustrated with earth tech (till machines) and a bearded Clark turns up and lectures her. I liked Kara in these scenes. She felt real.

Then she gets whisked to space and introduction d to the crucible academy. This wasn't bad. Nice to see Maxima there. I hope we get to see her back on earth though.

Aquaman 36.
I dip in and out of this title. I bought this one for for the Lego cover (also got the Lego Supergirl cover). It's a strong issue. Good plotting, good writing and good art. I like Mera's catsuit.

Batgirl 35
This is the new creative team.  It's really, really good.  I will be putting this on my pull list.  Black Canary is in it (winner).  The art is kinda reminiscent of the art from Archie/Betty/Veronica type stories.  C'est triple good.

Batman/Superman 16
I got really edgy and grumpy while reading this.  It's a tense story with really touching moments.

Multiversity 3 (4)?
These are all numbered 1 on the cover, it's confusing.  (woe is me, ect ect).  This issue had watchmen, Midnighter and marvel references.  I preferred the previous issue, it made more sense.  Then again, this is Morrison and he's not interested in writing linear easy to understand stories.  I'm sure that as a whole it will all come together.

Sensation Comics 4
Ugh, just check out the boobs and butt pose on the cover it is horrible.  It would be nice if she wasn't twisted so much.  It looks like it's aping Adam Hughes, but for all his faults he doesn't usually create spine twisters.
Inside the comic is much better.  Gilbert Hernandez's Wondy, Supergirl and Mary Marvel art make for a very enjoyable alternative story.  I'm not sure I have a view on the plot or characterisation - it;s maybe rather stilted, but perhaps that's the point - but the art makes it worth reading.
The 50ft Wondy story is quite nice, with a bit of cheeky gender bending at the end.  The final story also has good art and fat Etta - always worthwhile.

Harley Quinn 12
Good fun. Harley has a red and black Peej outfit on.  I bet we'll start seeing that at cons soon.  Peej has named Harls her sidekick and they fight a giant pizza slice then visit Manos, bearer of the infinity rings.

Jonah Hex new 52 volume 2
I'm halfway through this and it's OK so far.  I'm not a big fan of Westerns hence why it's only OK.  I would quite like to read the issues when Jonah gets plumped forward to the present day.

Super Sexy Saturday

Bat/Wondy shipping is the best sort of shipping.

Anyone know where this is from?

Comic reviews - week of 23/04/2014

Reviews ahead for this lovely lot:

 

Spoilers ahead for Larfleeze, Secret Origins 0, Batman/Superman, Justice League United 0, Red Lanterns 30 and Supergirl 30.

Comic reviews for week of 16/04/2014

No spoilers in this review - it's short and sweet.

Ultimate Comics Spidey 200

I wasn’t fussed about this.  Too much blathering about Peter and not enough character moments or story.

Harley Quinn 5

Fun, but not outstanding.

X-Men

The start of a new arc that I am not feeling the love for.

Batman and Aquaman 29

This was good.  The art was spectacular and it had enough Arthur in it to push Bats out of the limelight, so I was happy.

Batman and Wonder Woman 30

Also pretty good. The art wasn’t so great but it’s always a pleasure to see Batman and Wondy together.

Wonder Woman 30

The Amazons are back but Hippolyta isn’t.  This didn’t have the thrill of last month’s issue but was solid enough.

I think I’m losing enthusiasm for some of my pull list because I know I’m going to have to cancel them soon.  We won’t have enough money for me to keep buying comics and we certainly don’t have the space.  Because I know I’m going to spend a few years out of the loop I don’t want to read monthly instalments, I want to get lost in big story arcs and hundreds of issues at a time.

For example, I’m reading Secret Invasion and all associated tie–ins (about 100 issues) at the moment.  I read Civil War and House of M recently as I’m trying to get a handle on the Marvel universe.  I’m not going to the dark side, I still prefer the DC universe, but I’m enjoying what I’m reading.  The most enjoyable issues so far are Secret Invasion itself,  New Avengers, Front Line, Runaways & Young Avengers and the Spidey tie-in.  Guardians of the Galaxy, the group that Black Bolt belongs to and Deadpool are not as bad as I thought they’d be, but I am not finding myself moved enough to really care about the characters.  I am very much enjoying the chaos of the secret invasion.

But back to my pull list.  I am currently getting:

Forever Evil, Supergirl (and the Red Lanterns with Kara in) Wonder Woman, Adventures of Superman, Larfleeze, Batman/Superman, Smallville (although I haven’t read it in, I get it on comixology so can catch up at any time), Hawkeye, X-Men, Danger Club, Princeless, Revival.

Of these, I’m going to cancel Larfleeze, X-Men and Revival immediately.  Forever Evil has just one issue to go so I may as well get that.  Hawkeye I will cancel after the June issue as that’s the ASL issue.  I don’t know what’s happening with Princeless or Danger Club but I expect to cancel those from the end of May.  Smallville I will continue to get as and when on comixology.  Wonder Woman I will stop getting once Azzarello and Chiang have left.

That leaves me with Supergirl, Red Lanterns, Adventures of Superman and Batman/Superman.  The latter two of which I love, the former two I buy out of a sense of misguided loyalty.  I have to decide whether to keep these on my pull list, cancel the whole pull list and just pop in to buy issues as time and money allows, or whether to go fully digital.  I’m very sad about having to reduce my reading, but money and the baby take precedence.  My problem is I really don’t have a clue how life will change once the baby arrives, other than being very busy and sleep deprived.  That's not really any sort of idea though, is it?

Comic reviews for the week of 26/02/2014

Spoilers ahead for Lois Lane One shot 1, Hawkeye 15, Batman/Superman 8, Larfleeze 8, Adventures of Superman 10, My Little Pony: Friends Forever 2.  Big spoilers.  Do not click through until you've read these comics, especially Hawkeye and Adventures of Superman.

Comics review for the week of 18/02/2014

This will cover Ms Marvel #1, She-Hulk #1, Batwoman #13 - 17, JLA's Vibe, Batman L'il Gotham #9-24, DC's Young Romance (2013), X-Men #11, Harley Quinn #3, Wonder Woman #28, Supergirl #28.  Clearly these will only be short reviews as I've read a lot.  Spoilers after the break.

This week's comics

This week I read Supergirl 24, Hawkeye 13, Batman/Superman 4, Animal Man 24, Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion 1, Wonder Woman 24.

I think the surprise winner this week was Forever Evil: Rogues Revenge.  I do like a good Rogues story.  Animal Man is leaving me a bit cold, even though Ellen has now made up with Buddy, which you'd think I'd enjoy.  Supergirl was OK, a fast resolution to the Zor-El/Kara sharing a body thing, which is fine, but the art in it was shockingly bad for the most part.

Hawkeye I enjoyed but it's been so long since the last issue I'd forgotten all the background.  Batman/Superman was pretty but I no longer have any idea what is going on.  Wonder Woman was fab - the ramifications to Di becoming God of War are starting.

What I have bought recently

So I mentioned I was going to lay off the comic reviews for a while, and that's true. instead you get pictures of my recent (ish) purchases!  Check them out:

Super Sexy Saturday

All hail Lord Bafleck.

Stuff that's been swimming around my brain for a while

I have come across tons of cool stuff lately so I'm going to dump them all in this blogpost.   Enjoy.

This video is my friend interpreting Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody into British Sign Language.  If you like, performances, Queen or BSL do yourself a favour and watch this.

Here's a story about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, which went into the Jaws movie.

Here's a graphic showing the sign language family tree.  It's not entirely up to date, Auslan (Australian  Sign Language isn't on there, for example) but it's a good start and probably useful for folk who don't know much about how sign languages develop.

Sci-fi women rock:

 

I'll end with a few turtle themed pictures:

Comic reviews for weeks 18/25th July

Spoilers ahead for Hawkeye annual, Supergirl 22, He-man 4, Wonder Woman 22,  Justice League Dark 21, Justice League Dark 22, Justice league America 6, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man 24 (I think), Wolverine 7 (I think), Thor (can't remember the number), Animal Man 22, Larfleeze 2, Revival 12, Batman/Superman 2.

Whew that's a lot. I'm behind again. Onwards.

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Hawkeye annual  - So we discussed this on Radio Bamf on Sunday, but technical problems meant that the recording didn’t go so well. Pox.  Anyway I wish I’d read this before the show because it turned out to be pretty good fun. It leads on from earlier issues – 4 and 5 I think, which I hadn’t read.  Which I think I’m happy about, otherwise the cover might have given the plot away, since it’s all about Madame Masque getting revenge on Kate Bishop.  As I didn’t know the context I found it delightfully slashy and i honestly thought they were going to jump into bed.  At least I did till it was revealed that Kate knew Masque wasn’t so sincere.  But hey, I have my dreams.

Supergirl 22 – Cyborg Superman shows up and has plans for Kara. Kara is not impressed.  Mahmud Asrar is no longer on interiors and his replacement is just not that great.  I didn’t particularly enjoy this.

He-man 4 – A friend who visited the shop with me bought me this.  She-ra is short haired, scarred in the face, and working for the bad guys.    She doesn’t know she is He-man’s sister.  He-man doens’t even know he has a sister.

It wasn’t bad, but I don’t quite understand why a property that was originally created for children, and is rather ridiculous in concept, has been revived and written for adults.*  Why not revive it as a children’s comic?  Why not come up with a brand new idea for adults?

 

*I do know why, it’s to cash in on the nostalgia market. Doesn’t mean I have to agree with it.

 

Wonder woman 22 – this has a wonderful soviet styled arty cover.  Inside it gets better. Wondy and her group are New Genesis, meeting the Highfather et al for the first time.  Highfather wants to take Zola’s child, Zeke, but Orion tricks him.  The best thing about this book is that Diana comes across as a leader.  It feels like she is the title character in the issue.  She makes the tough decisions, stands up to the Highfather and is generally reminiscent of the Wonder Woman from before the new 52.  This was a satisfying read.

 

Justice League Dark 21 – This was an impulse buy.  From what I recall, Xanadu is haunted by visions of the future, particularly a future romance with Deadman.  She tries to turn her back on all this.

 

Justice League Dark 22 and Justice League America 6 – I can't remember the details of these too well.  I know Green Arrow wasn't quite as Ollie-like as I'd wish, and Wonder Woman was far more Diana-like than I;d hoped for.  There was a lot of fighting and panic.  Hephaestus was in it and it made me think how talented the artist for Wonder Woman is, and how these new gods don't look right when someone else draws them.  Overall I enjoyed these two installments in the Trinity War story.

 

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man – Gwen complains about Miles not being Spider-Man to Aunt May. There’s more Cloak and Dagger stuff.  Spider-woman visits Miles and begs him to put the suit on again.  Spider-Woman reveals she is clone of Peter Parker.  This is stupid.

 

Wolverine – Logan no longer has a healing factor and now has to come to terms with the fact he’ll die.  Blimey :o  I did not see that coming.  Having just finished my epic X-Men run I feel that this is quite  a godo time for me to jump into a Wolvie title.. whether I will or not remains to be seen.  Anyway, good work Paul Cornell.

 

Thor – The three Thors and their granddaughters are still alive, hooray!  And they are fighting back, hooray!  Gorr kills his wife for calling him godlike, so Gorr’s son betrays him and sides with the Thors.  Cor.  This is still nice epic stuff, but I doubt it’s a long term keeper.  When the Gorr plotline is over (I assume it will finish soon) I’ll flog the issues on ebay.  They are well worth reading but not quite of high enough quality for me to keep them forever and ever.

 

Animal Man 22 – This was twee yet gross.  Maxine is in the Red and as she’s the new avatar (?) of the Red it responds to her consciousness and remolds itself around her thoughts.  So it’s all twee and full of baby and mother animals and it’s got rolling hills and it looks like a child’s story.  But the fundamental nature of the Red and it’s purpose can’t change so the organ fields are still there – these are literally fields where organs are grown. Brains and stomachs and lungs etc.  That’s the gross part. Maxine finds these and decides to grow her dead brother, Cliff.  The problem is, without a soul it’s just a simulacrum.  A fleshy, squishy, floppy, gross simulacrum.  Maxine realises this and gets rather upset.  She’s not given up on her plan to hunt for Cliff’s soul though.  She will get him back!

 

Larfleeze 2 – Fun. Larfleez eis always fun.  The voices of all the characters are fun.  The situation is fun. The fight scenes are fun.  This is just all fun. Fun fun fun fun fun fun.

 

Revival 12 – This wasn’t fun. It’s a great read and it’s entirely different to the other comics on my pull list, but it’s not fun.  It’s grim and thoughtful.  I liked it a lot.

 

Batman/Superman 2 - This is just fabulous.  The art is gorgeous.  It's all gothic sillouhettes and moody stuff.  It's a really mature read, not mature like for adults, for complex and thoughtful.  It feels like the creators are really into the story and really care about what they are doing.  I loved it.   One panel made me tear up.  You should all be buying this.  It's great.

Really out of date comic reviews

Here we go..  All these comics are at least 2 weeks old so yeah, spoiler alert, but I bet the content won't be news to many people.  Comics covered are:
Princeless Get Over Yourself Issue 4 and Tales of the Family Ashe, Justice League 22, Fearless Defenders 6, Demon Knights 22, Clockwork Watch: Breakaway, Batman/Superman 1, X-Men 2, Uncanny X-Men 7, Larfleeze 1, Hawkeye 11 and 12.

Thoughts will be short as I've got such a lot to cover.

Hawkeye 11 and 12
11 was told from the perspective of the dog.  It was rather cleverly done.  Lots of unintelligible words and symbols to convey dog thoughts and dog understanding. When I read it I had an awful virus and couldn't take a lot in, so parts confused me.  But I enjoyed it.  Even if I needed a nap afterwards.

12 is told from the perspective of Clint's (estranged?) brother.  the pages are broken up into a lot of different panels.  There's usually at least 10 on each page.  Colours are nice. Dialogue is nice.  Story is interesting.  Good stuff.

Larfleeze 1
This was great fun.  Like the DCU used to be.  This went straight onto my pull list.  It will be interesting to see how and why there are other Orange Lanterns, as I thought Larfleeze could be the only one.  I mean, the whole orange thing is about greed, so I bet he'll go mental when he meets the others.

Uncanny X-Men 7
I bought this by mistake, I intended to get another X comic, that was recc'd to me, but got confused in the shop.  It's got very pretty art and Cyclops did get knocked on the head by a flying rock, which is always nice to see.  Don't think I'll be buying any more though.

X-Men 2
Also great fun.  It's got Jubilee and Mohawked storm, and Shadowcat, Rogue, Psylocke and a redhead from the Summers family tree.  So apart from Psylocke and the Redhead, all my favourites.  This is great.

Batman/Superman 1
Another good offering from DC.  Like Larfleeze this went straight on my pull list.  The art is fantastic, changing to suit the scenes. It starts off in Gotham, and is all gothic, then moves to Kansas and the colour palette goes summery.  It's beautiful.  Even though it's the new 52 Superman and Batman I really enjoyed it.  I have high, high hopes for this title.

Clockwork Watch: Breakaway
This is the second issue in the Clockwork Watch series (issue 1 reviewed over on New readers...) and it moves the story along nicely.  The art is gorgeous and Janav has matured into quite the attractive young man.  Clockwork servants have become more and more advanced, with many resembling humans (apart from their eyes, which have little cogs for pupils).  Janav has been pushed into a sort of police force where he has to hunt down renegade Clocks.

The lettering and speech bubble lines are lovely.  When Janav is visiting his mother's grave his dialogue is written in the style of an Indian alphabet (I wish I knew exactly what).  When he's writing to his childhood friend in India the speech bubbles lines are rough, like that of old paper.  When the Clocks are speaking a little cog is incorporated into the speech bubble.  When Janav is angry the speech bubble drips with aggression.

The Clockwork Watch team is at SDCC this weekend and I think they are previewing the next issue.  I'm jealous because I want to read it!

You can buy copies of both issues here, in hardcopy and digitally.

Demon Knights 22
Oh blimey. The get the grail. The Horsewoman's injuries (?) are healed and she can walk again.  I'm so sad this series will be finishing soon.

Fearless Defenders 6
I cannot get over Valkyrie's ridiculous boob armour.  People complain about sexualisation in comics. They complain about Peej's boob window.  Have I missed all the complaints about Val's costume?  or is that not a thing?
Great issue, but Annabelle got killed. I'm sad.  But I'm sure she shall be back!

Justice League 22
This is the start of Trinity War and Gods help me I actually enjoyed it.  Superman appears to kill Dr Light.  Except he doesn't.  It's quite clear by other characters exposition that he doesn't.  I have little patience for people who took this as badly as they took Man of Steel.  I've put the Trinity War issues on my pull list.  We'll see how that goes.

Princeless Get Over Yourself Issue 4 and Tales of the Family Ashe
As usual, this is brilliant.  If you aren't getting it, go order it now.  The trades are out.  It's so much better than most Marvel or DC fare.  Go buy.

Super Sexy Saturday

Hommina hommina.

From here: http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?396497-Batman-panties-or-no-panties