I am home for the weekend, so now I can do this!

Adventure Comics #1:

I liked this. Kon making his little list is so cute, as well as the liedtoSupermanangst! at the end. It definitely looks interesting, and there was Bart! Wanting to smash his memorial statue and getting all hyperactive about it! And wearing boots to bed! (Which reminded me of Luna saying the same thing in the HBP movie. Bart and Luna Lovegood, soulmates Y/Y?) Oh, Bart, I love you. And I love Krypto stealing Kon's thunder in the cute-girl-saving area. Manapul's art is excellent, I love it, it's so pretty.

But it looks like Superman's buying into DC's current line of "PEOPLE ARE BORN EVIL!!!!111" Seriously, Kal? Lex was born evil? Lovely thing to say in front of Kon, and complete bullshit as well. What a stupid thing to have Superman say. I thought he was friends with Lex as a kid! (Though I guess Johns could be changing that. Sigh.)

I didn't really understand the backup, but Starman's bowling is funny. Though schizophrenia does not work that way, really. I'm surprised Johns would play an actual life-destroying mental disorder for laughs actually.

That said, I'm not sure how long I'll be getting this. I love Kon, but I am a poor college student and I have no interest in the Legion Backup. So unless it really grabs me...

but for now, it gets a solid 4/5.

Booster Gold/Blue Beetle #23

Booster was better than it has been this week. Micheal's little speil about "I'm the greatest hero ever in the future!" and him trying to hit on 80's!Raven amused me (as well as her reaction- which was the flowery, melodramatic equivilant of "WTF". ) And post apocolyptic scenarios and Trigon is always fun.

Blue Beetle was great as usual. Paco makes everything funny, and it was nice to see Brenda admit her vulnerability and try to reach out to the robot girl- but Paco's reaction- "I can't tell Jaime about our problems but you can tell random robots?" made it. Though Sturges messed up a little- Brenda's dad is supposed to be DEAD, not in prison. And of course, by the end, Brenda and Paco are bickering again. Oh, those two. And Jaime is wonderful as usual, snarkily hoping lessons are learned. Overall, this was a very strong installment and a nice thing to read on one's birthday. I love these characters, and always will.

Booster: 3/5
Blue Beetle: 5/5

And onto the next week (Wednesday Comics will be reviewed in a clump):

Batgirl #1: See here. In the future, Batgirl may or may not always get a post to itself. It will depend on how my fancy strikes me, I suppose, but it is a comic starring Steph, so chances are I will get pretty wordy.

Supergirl #44: Maybe it's because I'm not a huge fan of this crossover (other than the WoNK issue that began it) but this issue seemed a bit weaker than the others. It was just...crossover-y.

Lois is very mad at Kara, which is understandable, but I hope this particular plot thread doesn't drag on too long, because it could get old after a while. Kara is very mad at Flamebird for getting her father killed by not being a good cheif of security. I guess I'm a little confused on that part. I mean, is it Thara's job to check everyone who comes into New Krypton? You'd think that would be down to the lower staff, one person can't do all that. And how do you keep people off a PLANET, anyway? Besides, in Kara's view, Thara is crazy, so she's not really culpable for any bad decisions she may have made. So she's being really unfair to her friend. But I suppose grief does make you unfair. I wonder if Gates intended the irony of Kara blaming a friend unfairly for the death of her father, while she's upset that Lois is doing the same thing to her over her sister.

Anyway, Kara is captured by Mirabai, and Gates does a good job of making it seem like "OMG big things are happening this climax is gonna be big guys!"

(Well, I looked over the Superman issue in the comic shop...and it really isn't. Earth has decided Superman is bad for no reason, Mirabai punches Mon-el but they don't kill him for some reason, Earth REALLY must hate Supergirl, Nightwing and Flamebird now...and that's it. Also, Superman meets Genral Lane, but it's really anti-climatic. But that's not Gates fault.)

A decent issue, and Jamal Igle shines as always. I particularly liked the page with Thara punching the bus.

3.5/5

Power Girl #4:

I got this a week late- I just really liked the scans I saw on sd. I'm glad I did- it was a transistional issue, between arcs and as such was really easily accessible. I love the hilarious movie trailers, Terra and Karen's adorable relationship, Karen scaring poor lewd guys with her tallness but making sure to give them advice on how to be more respectful of women in the future...Karen's love of horror movies (and the adorable semi-psychotic look on her face when she talked about it- Amanda Conner rules) and how newbie Terra didn't know you should wear your costume under EVERYTHING- "well, except cocktail dresses and bikinis"- and decided just fighting crime in her undies would be an acceptable substitute!

I also like how Karen actually got the Well Intentioned Extremist villian a talking to and a job that would fit her talents instead of sending her to jail- more superheroes should do it, and it showed how smart and proactive Karen is.

And then we have Amanda Connor's adorable expressions and backgrounds and Karen's evil cat being awesome- it was a very fun issue.

I wish I had enough money to keep getting this series, honest, this issue was such a joy. Who knows, if next months scans prove to entice me again, I may drop another series in favor of this one.

5/5


And now for this week:

Detective Comics #856:

I'm on the fence about whether I should drop this after the first arc is over. The art is breathtaking, though Maggie Sawyer has a hell of a creepy smile. I really like the relationship between Kate and her father. The story is pretty interesting. But it's not the level of fantastic that gets me to pay for 3.99 comic. I don't understand a lot of the Crime Bible stuff (I need to reread 52, but it's hard to find all the trades in bookstores...and then read the Crime Bible series) and I'm just not really hooked. On the other hand, I'm interested in Kate's origin, which is the next arc. Maybe I should just read/get this in trade.

Renee's backup was really bleh. She escapes from a car, she beats up a guy. The story doesn't have any meat to it that I can see.

4/5

Flash: Rebirth #4

Yes, I got this. You know why? One word: MAX. Oh my god, Max. I knew it was coming, because Bart really clunkily forshadowed it by not being able to go five seconds without mentioning Max, but I was not prepared for how much joy I would feel when it happened. Max is BACK! And he came back for Bart. And he came back and saved Bart. And Barry's whole speech about him being a father to Bart- it was so adorable and true! I fangasmed.

Also Bart's pure :DDDDD face when Max came back in all his hairy chested glory. Even in the last splash page when they were all preparing to kick ass he was looking over at Max all gleeful.

The rest of the issue wasn't bad either! I loved Bart's moments with Thawne. Calling him a jerk and punching him and being like "Hey, we're only half related. *shrug*" Oh, Bart.

And Wally's kids are cute and bratty, and Wally got to be a badass. And now the whole Flash family is fighting together! I love it. Awesome. It even makes me want to get the next issue. Well, mayyybe. If there's a lot of Bart and Max in it.

I can't wait for Bart's series. There better be a lot of Bart and Max hijinks in it!

5/5 JUST BECAUSE MAX.

Wonder Woman #35:

Oh, Dinah, I love you. I also love seeing Diana and Dinah kick ass.

I liked the mention of Myndi Mayer too. I liked Myndi.

And that's an interesting plot development with Zeus's lightning. I wonder what it means? I like how Diana said "Great He-" and then had to cut herself off. She used Hera's name later on after the lightning though. I wonder if it means something or it's just a slip.

Diana makes a promise to Pele. That can't be good. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

As for Diana and Nemesis- aw, poor Tom. I look forward to whatever explanation Diana offers Tom, hopefully that'll come about next issue.

4.5/5

And now...Wednesday Comics:

Batman: The "Batman threatening thug" scene last week was really inspired- it's rare to see Bats torture his foes so creatively- usually he just dangles them off buildings. But he got all wacky with the "slipping bit of glass" and lit cigarrette above the eye. And the art did amazingly well with it. But it goes back to bleh and confusing this week. I have no idea what's going on, and don't particularly care.

Kamandi: I KNEW little human girl was a secret badass! I KNEW she had to be awesome! Maybe it was just that I liked her dress and her pretty hair- but I've liked her from the start, so it was a nice birthday present to see her finally reveal that she was a grade-A asskicker two weeks ago. And we find out her name was Orora the week after that- as well as confirm that Kamandi is an adorable little dork, "You are very beautiful!" I want to ruffle his hair. Meanwhile, poor Tiger army- but they've got the Lions on their side now! Ha, the talking animals amuse me.

Superman: Finally stops angsting and starts fighting, a little. Still not that interesting.

Deadman: Boston is old school and gets to mack dead girls. Nothing special, but entertaing enough.

Green Lantern: Hal got fired from the space station for being a stupid jerk. Why am I not surprised? Now he's trying to save his friend. Pretty standard.

Metamorpho: EW, Saph's dad is flirting with Urania. He's WAY too old for her. Java amused me, and I like how creative Gaiman gets with the strip.

Teen Titans: The Blue Beetle strip was super painful- because of the REALLY HORRIBLE spanglish (seriously, Jaime saying something in Spanish EVERY OTHER WORD what the hell, Jaime may use the occasional spanish phrase in his own title but he is NOT a painful stereotype, Berganza!), the confusing fight, and Trident being the son of Dr. Light- seriously, you wanted to bring a character who is now forever connected with the word rape, Berganza? Oh God, now I'm thinking about HOW Trident is probably the son of Dr. Light AGHHH. And the next strip? Takes in FC continuity- Dr. Light burned by Spectre- "It was deserved". So yeah, I'm guessing this IS rapist Dr. Light. WHY do we need rape in Wednesday comics? Also, Tim is pretty whiney. I guess he just can't escape that characterization.

Adam Strange: Two other Adam Strange strips not about Alanna- but hey, this weeks was! I like Alanna. And I like this strip now, even though I didn't so much at first.

Supergirl: How ditzy IS Kara to think Aquaman can talk to things that are not fish? I mean, any newbie superhero should know that- as he points out, it's IN HIS NAME. I do get the impression she's a newb- crying at Aquaman's little blow up makes her seem pretty young. I do like how she's super stressed and concerned about her pets- I can relate. And her being bored with the TV and not able to find anything to eat in Mid-Nite's fridge was funny. As always, Conner makes everything adorable.

Metal Men: Aw, Tin gets hurt! I like Tin, I hope he's okay (which he will be, I'm sure). Platinum sure gets pissed at this, I like her showing some characterization besides "wants to sex Dr. Morrow" and also being a little badass.

Wonder Woman: You know what else I got for my birthday? ETTA CANDY! The best birthday present of all. Love her in this, she's just big and fun and totally into being a sidekick. The strip is really getting awesome with Di knowing now the dreams are real and fighting Cheetah and the talking skulls and lasso of truth and the pages being less cluttered (though the layout of this weeks was a little confusing)

Sgt. Rock: At least it's not just the Sgt getting constantly beating up anymore- but it's still really boring.

Flash: Things are getting freaky with the multiple Flashes and Barry's nose bleeding and him freaking out and the world quaking. Exciting!

Demon/Catwoman: FINALLY Catwoman is human again, but the strip is still pretty dull. And the first strip of this showed so much promise! A shame.

Hawkman: Okay, so this strip has grown on me. Hawkman being all protective of the little girl with huge glasses is adorable, and there's dinosaurs! Also, this week, we got to see Hawkwoman and she's busy "mopping up the alien invasion, honey". JLU has rubbed off me, and so it just makes me happy whenever Hawkwoman/girl shows up. Poor Hawkman is stuck with only Aquaman as possible help (man, Aquaman's showin' up everywhere). That has to be a bummer. But Hawkman takes it in stride, saying "he couldn't hurt!" Well, hopefully...

 

Whew! That's three weeks of comics reviewed! Now I really need to go to bed!

Nice day at the comic shop today, I got to see my friend Angel and chat with her.

As for the comics:

Wonder Woman #34:

OMG, Dinah, I missed you! SO MUCH! You are such an endless cascade of dirty jokes and pep and badassery! Stay here forever please!

Meanwhile, Diana cuddles polar bears, and apparently still has her secret identity (boo!) though at least she admits she's terrible at it. Also, Amazons inspired the American flag. I don't REALLY think George Perez's origin for the costume needs to be retconned, but I'll admit, the sheer cracky awesomeness of the AMAZONS inspiring the American flag instead of the other way around is the best retcon I could hope for. I even suggested this myself on a Superfriends post bluefall made a few days back. Superfriends is canon now!

Also, there was a gay joke that flew over my head since I am dense and naive, and the Amazons are upset at Achilles for being Achilles-ish. Hopefully they will revolt, led by Hippolyta (she didn't really say anything this issue, just stood there looking vaguely stunned. Perhaps she is PLOTTING. Or things are moving too fast for her. "Wha- Zeus in a space suit? My daughter gone? I AM SO CONFUSED!") I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this whole thing yet, but we'll see.

And last page reveal... some woman is challenging Diana! I'm not sure who it is. My first thought was Nu'bia but I have no idea...bluefall, do you know? Should be interesting, anyway.

4/5

Detective Comics #855

This art. It is so damn pretty.

Alice is an interesting villian, and I like that she took the time to decorate her razor blade. We see a little more about Kate's past, her tragedy apparently involved losing her Mom. Her detachable wig demonstrates it's use. Her dad is protective. AND MONSTERS! Certainly interesting, and I'd buy it just for the art.

Rene makes lots of puns about school in the backup, and is generally cool. But she gets TAZED! OH NO! The plot really hasn't gotten into full swing beyond "generic bad guy" yet, but hopefully it will get better.

4/5

Wednesday Comics #4

Batman: Man, Bruce and Luna (I thought of Luna Lovegood and my mind was like "No...just no...) sure have some confusing dialogue in the second panels. Bruce is all "You know what they say about looks" and Luna answers: "Beauty is the eye of the beholder" and I'm like "What? No. It's "looks can be decieving". Wrong cliche! Clearly Luna is not the sharpest crayon. Then Bruce is all "Or skin deep" and Luna is all "Mine runs thick". And then they talk about imagination or something and I am LOST. They need to work on their banter. It sucks. Maybe that's why Luna decides to skip straight to the sex. I mean, the conversation ain't that great.

Kamandi: Kamandi is so cute. I want to pat him on the head. But his dog friend is in trouble. Oh no, Dr. Canus!

Superman: Ma Kent agrees with me and thinks Superman should shut up angsting.

Deadman: Boston continues to be old school and fun.

Green Lantern: Hal is cockier than a cocker spaniel.

Metamorpho: Thankfully not another splash page. And we get to see Element girl. And my god, Saphire is an intolerable ditz. Some shadowy figure talks to Rex. Things are picking up!

Teen Titans: Oh, shut up Trident. Shut up, random strawman medic. Nobody cares. And somehow Blue Beetle explodes the boat? Huh.

Strange Adventures: Okay, I was not sold on Adam Strange before, but his girlfriend being a complete badass may have done the trick. Especially since it involved a blue furry thing talking about how boring hairless girls are.

Supergirl: Haha! Streaky and the plane is so adorable. StreakyVision! I love Amanda Conner so.

Metal Men: Mercury is a cranky one. "Shut up and enjoy being saved." Meanwhile, bomb man! The art is clear and pretty, the writing continues to be just average.

Wonder Woman: I don't care what anyone says, I like how much story Caldwell fits into his pages, and I like the ghostly blue theme this one had. Wondy fights another mythical monster, and I found it easier to follow thn usual (I didn't even need a re-read, which I did the last few) so it was very enjoyable.

Sgt. Rock: A woman soldier! Otherwise, bland as usual.

Flash: Ah. Well if Barry can't even be bothered to slow down enough to listen to her or talk things out, I can understand why Iris is leaving. I renege my earlier complaints about her characterization. Meanwhile, time travel shenanigans! I'm enjoying this.

The Demon/Catwoman: What's the point of having them together if Selina can't talk? Etrigan is boring on his own, so Selina better get better soon.

Hawkman: Look! Hawkgirl! Otherwise, bleh.

This issue sure had a lot of girl power in it. I remember reading the first issue, that a lot of the female characters seemed to be in stereotyped, passive roles like vindictive harpy or ditzy girlfriend.(other than the women who had their own features, and Selina) but decided to let a few issues go on before I passed judgement. Now I'm glad I did, because this issue above all proved me wrong. Iris is well aware Barry's the flash and is leaving him because he's a dick, not because she doesn't understand the demands of being a superhero. Element Girl shows up in Metamorpho as a counterpoint to Sapphire's ditziness. A girl shows up in Kamandi and seems reasonably competent (she was well ahead of the apes before Kamandi crashed in) Starfire is take-charge in Teen Titans, Alanna is a badass, and we get a glimpse of Hawkgirl! And of course, Wondy and Supergirl are lovely. Selina has stepped down a peg to being a sabertoothed cat, but hopefully she'll be back soon.

5/5

It was a great week, really!


 

First of all, I am super excited by the DC July solicits. Wednesday comics looking AWESOME! Black Canary and Wonder Woman team up by Gail Simone! Artemis in Secret Six! Spoiler (hopefully not horribly mangled...ohhh, I'm so trying to be optimistic...)!

The bad news, is Kriesberg is still writing both the Black Canary and Green Arrow parts of Green Arrow.



I'm tired of seeing Dinah being misused by that hack! And Ollie, I guess. No, I pretty much only care about Dinah.

Onto the comics I got this week (I managed to finally flip through Oracle and Flash Rebirth, and got to see the horror of the Catwoman pistol whipping in BotC for myself. Confirmed that none of them were worth buying. Though no one pointed out to be Dinah was wearing HEELS randomly in BotC. Wtfffffff....)

But I did get...

Supergirl #40

My experience reading this comic:

Me: Good as usual. Doodoodoo...Kara is tackled by Reactron, oh dear, he steals her powers but she WAS TRAINED BY BATMAN. Eee. Kara getting nifty training from ALL of the Trinity still stinks of slightly Sue-ish to me but it's good to see her using her skillz. Now, let's see her flashback to Batman....

WTF SUPERTORSO?

*blinks*

What is Supertorso doing in this Jamal Igle drawn comic?

Seriously, check her out:

( Supertorso! )


She's got the napkin sized skirt and everything! And she's normal in the rest of the comic! I had to stare for a few seconds until I came up with two explanations

a). KryptonitePoisoning!Kara CANONCALLY dressed like....well, she dressed questionably....thanks to her horrible disease! It's not just artistic interpretation, Napkinskirt!Supertorso was a direct result of Kara's poisoning.

b) Considering Igle has been thanked by women at comic conventions for getting rid of Supertorso, this is his little joke.

Either way, I am amused.

The rest of the issue was good, Kara got to show off her non powered skillz, and be smart and forceful. And there was an "aww, sad" moment.

And we find out the TRUE IDENTITY OF SUPERWOMAN! I won't spoil it, but...it is seven shades of WTF. I don't know how the heck it's possible, and I can't wait for next issue to see if the explanation for it makes sense.

4/5

Detective Comics #853

A decent end to the two parter. This certainly no "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" but fairly enjoyable. My complaints are Batman explaining what is already freaking obvious...He does a lot of telling vs showing. Also, I can't make sense of Superman's eulogy, no matter how I try. Loved the Good Night Moon thing though.

I'll post a review on BSR later.

4/5

S'all! Off to post my WFA links!
 

Judging from DC's Titans preview on their blog, Donna's going to be leading the Titans. And Cassie's leading the Teen Titans. Now we just need Diana to lead the JLA and the Wonder Family can TAKE OVER THE DC UNIVERSE! How awesome would that be?

Which reminds me I forgot to go to the comic store. Will it still be open, I wonder?

Another thing I found on the blog (besides Superman being a sweetheart on New Krypton...I'm liking that series

Computer’s on, the day begins… 45 emails overnight, argh. Start with the easy ones first. No, wait—Executive Editor Dan DiDio is pulling the Bat Group down into his office for an urgent meeting. Topic: BATGIRL.

So I guess the series is still going...on the other hand, the delay, along with an urgent meeting? Maybe this means they changed their minds and put someone besides Babs in the cowl. At least, that is my naive hope.

Also:

plot discussions, more plot discussions, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Misfit…

I fangasmed at those three being mentioned in the same sentence. Can you imagine if they formed their own team? No, you can't, because it's so awesome it BLEW YOUR MIND!!! *crosses fingers for good things for those three*

Here's the link to the entry by Bat-editor Mike Marts: dcublog.dccomics.com/2009/04/03/a-day-in-the-life-of-the-batman-group-editor/ Other stuff in the blogs worth checking out as well, like a badass picture of Ravager by the artist of her backup which almost makes me think I might actually enjoy it, price increase and all.

What I forgot to talk about yesterday was the Black Canary being relegated to a backup in her own title. As demeaning as that seems, it might mean Ollie and her break up, which would please me. Also, she's basically a secondary character in the book now anyway, so there's really no difference. If a writer who really GETS her is assigned to the backup? I will be estactic (GAILPLEASE) and actually have to buy Green Arrow.

That's all for now.

Edit: Also, Mom randomly bought me the Watchmen motion comic DVD. Yay!  I wonder if it will be good.

Woo! I just went to see Coraline. It was really good, just a good as the book. It stayed true to the spirit of the book but does it's own thing and it's spectacular. Like a kickass modern-day fairy tale.

I found a graphic novel of Coraline at Books a Million, and the art is super pretty so I wanted to get it, but I left it there and they moved it. I shall find it though!

In other news, I've been co-anchoring the school news and some random teacher cornered me in the hallway and told me my expressions on the news "look rude". Our school news is kind of crazy. The teleprompter will malfunction, I'm under hot lights and the co anchor who filled in for the day was Oliver, who is super annoying. He's constantly freaking out over everything not being perfect, and always plays music or Youtube videos really loud when we're working on the computers and has NO SOCIAL SKILLS AT ALL. I don't think he's malicious, but I cannot stand him. Anyway, he stole my line, and the camera stayed on me too long, so I looked all confused at him. Sometimes I look incredulous when my other co anchor (who is Jackie, she's nice) says something weird.

Apparently I'm not supposed to show any emotion at all. The teacher was all "I just wanted you to be aware of your expressions, one of my homeroom students thought you were rude." I think his homeroom students need to get a life, and clearly have been super sheltered. "Rude?" Are they cynical high school students or ARE THEY? I bet it was a freshman. This damn "Freshmen Experience" has ruined the Freshmen. They get this special "experience" or whatever so they think they're special and aren't ready for the real world. I'm glad I came a year before that started, otherwise I'd be ruined too. (Well, the Freshmen when I was a Sophomore were cool, because they knew the Experience thing was new and stupid. Freshmen year in high school is aBOUT being horribly confused and hating yourself. It toughens you up! You shouldn't have your hand held! It nearly drove me to suicide but I came out a better person! Now these kids will just have problems later in life, like being whiny little bitches who get offended at "rude people")

Where was I? Well, it was weird, since the teacher just cornered me. He was really nice about it (or pretending to be) saying he just thought I should know and I did a good job otherwise. But I think he was lying because he would NOT stop talking to me until I was like "Okay, I understand" (which led to us talking a long time, since I kept trying to defend myself and convey to him subtly his students were stupid little whiners). It was just WEIRD because I'd never MET him before and he just cornered me.

Anyway, we're switching off anchors on Monday, so it does not matter.

By the way, John did call me back the day after Valentines and was all "I can't have the stress of a girlfriend now and I just want to be friends, can we still be friends?" So that's that. He wants to hang out this weekend, so I'll call him tomorrow.

Anyway on to comic reviews

Robin #183

Meh. Shiva jobs to Tim. Somehow she doesn't check her food for poison despite being a master assassin. I'm surprised she managed to live past twenty. Also, I don't see her as a chocolate type, being super devoted to martial arts and all. I'd think she wouldn't eat sweets that much. Didn't she send Black Canary a special diet when she was training her? That forbade sweets? I imagine she's adhere to that diet herself as well, wouldn't you?

I'm really annoyed at Fabian for what he did to Steph because now she has like a dozen more haters on scans_daily and I have to defend her honor, but it's so HARD because what she did WAS stupid and horrible. (though no one seems to realize this is ALL BATMAN'S FAULT since he PUT her in that position she clearly wasn't suited for) I think Fabian's trying to win our war by making me stop loving Steph. Well IT WON'T WORK FABIAN OKAY I WILL ALWAYS LOVE STEPH YOU CANNOT CHANGE THAT YOU WILL NOT BREAK ME!

She better kick so much ass in Gotham Gazette, I swear to GOD. It had better be worth it!

Anyway, the moment with Jason was okay, and I like that Dick was nice enough to tell Tim they're gonna be okay. Awww. And I like that Steph snubbed Tim and kept her Spoiler costume out. She is clearly not going to listen to him. Fight the emo, Steph!

TotallyhardcoreminiBruce!Tim reaaaallly isn't doing it for me though.

I liked the backup though. Tim's mother being acknowledged! The Obea man bought to justice! Super excellent colors too! It was a neat little back up, and I like that Fabian chose Tim finally capturing his mothers killer as the cap to the series.

RIP Robin. Miss ya.

3/5

Birds of Prey #127

There is no meh "meh" enough to cover this issue. Just boring and contrived. Way to dump your charge on Huntress, Oracle! Super responsible! I don't blame Tony Bedard though. After all, there is no NON contrived way for Oracle to abandon the BoP.

The backup was worse and does not engender high hopes for the mini. As bluefall eloquently pointed out on s_d, NO version of Babs became Batgirl because she idolized Batman. She was always self made. And the emo about her wheelchair- GA! Stop beating us over the head with your inane plan to make Babs Batgirl again! It will never happen! *buries head deep in sand*

Also, Cass was supposed to be in this. Laaaaame.

Oh well, at least no one died.

1.5/5

Supergirl #38

Damn, this title is so awesome. We now know Superwoman is not a Kryptonian and the mystery deepens! Also, the Origins and Omens actually furthered the arc! Lana is sick! Intriguing! And awesome hints to the future. Only Origin and Omens look to the future that's really excited me. I wonder who Kara's kissing? And the dialogue and characterization were spot on as always with Sterling Gates.

And the art is great on the regular story AND backup! I will never stop adoring the fact Kara's wearing shorts.

5/5

Well, must run! But first, a Casstoon. Inspired by this little statue from the ami-comi line-

img24.imageshack.us/img24/5528/batgirlstatueyf8.jpg

Yeeeeahhh. As far as I can see, the purpose of the ami-comi line is to make superheroines look even more fetishy. I started thinking of what they would do to Spoiler. Her costume is just entirely practical and non fetishy (One of the reasons I love her), they wouldn't have anything to grab on to, not even like Cass's stitches! But I was sure they would find a way. And I doodled a bit and the idea took hold and turned into this little Casstoon making fun of stuff:

( C'mon Cass, they wouldn't do that to us! )

'bout time I got to reviews. Reviews, reviews, what the news!

The beginning of Christmas break may have made me unneccesarily hyper.

Since this is bound to be the longest, we'll start with...

DCU Holiday special!

After seeing the Huntress storyline on scans_daily, I knew I had to get this. And Oh my God, it was so worth it. It reminded me of why I love comics (something I desperately need these days) all the awesome characters.

The Huntress storyline was about Helena being socially aware and a good teacher and was drawn by Rafeal Albequerque, so naturally it was made of win. Sometimes it seemed a little after school special-y, but it was too well done to give it that overwhelming feeling it could have. I especially like that Hel pointed out how damaging the use of the word "retarded" is as an insult. I haven't used the word that way for years, and I reprimand people who use it that way. Same for "gay" as an insult, which generally means I'm reprimanding my fellow high school students ten times a day, but they'll thank me someday. Or not. Who cares?

A really cute Karl Kershel pin up with Kara playing Santa, then two stories featuring Aquaman and...super...Santa? That I found pretty "meh" so I won't comment on them. Then there was a rather beautifully illustrated short by Paul Dini to the tune of "Good King Wincelas". It was neat, because I played the song in my head while I looked at the art.

There was a story about no crime in Gotham during Xmas that was really sweet, even if it all turned out to be Oracle manipulating stuff.

And then there was Captain Boomerang and Tim both breaking into the balcony of "It's a Wonderful Life" (Apparently they can't bring themselves to watch the movie in civvies) cuz there dads like the movie and Nightwing delivering Tim a present. I totally love irony, and I totally love Nightwing and Robin's brotherly relationship. so I liked this, even if Owen didn't know his dad so it's innacurate. Maybe he's talking about his stepdad.

I liked the Blue Beetle one because it has Jaime being cute and nice (KAPOW!) and Ted saying "one punch!" even if the art made Jaime look fugly. I like heroic legacies.

Then there was the Teen Titans one, which I really REALLY liked, to my surprise. No, LOVED. First of all, the art was gorgeous (though it made Tim look hilariously emo) It reminded me of why I liked all these characters once (Well, I still like Jaime and Tim- despite the fact he's pretty batshit in his own book even right now...and of course Traci) Despite Tim's appearance (mostly in one panel he looked emo. Like, the style of clothes even) this story was like the anti emo.

Two characters started acting a little emo- Kid Devil (Jaime left him! All alone! How could you Jaime!) but in a funny way, then M'gann shows up to cheer him up (and it was completely adorable) and it turns out Jaime and Traci just abandoned him so they could buy him a ridiculous amount of video games for Christmas. (<3 Jaime and Traci. So much) Then Tim's all "The holdays remind me of all the people I've lost! Bart! (yay, he mentioned Bart. Bart is the new Steph in the DCU as far as being ignored by the ones supposedly mourning him) Conner! Dad! Ste-no, wait..."  Okay, he didn't say that last bit. But it wouldn't it have been hilarious if he did? Where was I...right, Tim just has to make the holidays depressing, and he's telling this to Cassie, who was just as close the Bart and Conner as he was, THANKS FOR REMINDING HER TIM. But then Tim's all like "Actually I'm grateful I'm still alive and able to do good, so I can like, honor their memories. That's really how the holidays make me feel."

Which IS SO ADORABLE. Cassie then hugs him, like I totally would.

Cassie is awesome in this by the way. She's all comforting to Tim, she digs apple sider, and she backhands a crook casually, going "Oh, SORRY, did that HURT?" I'm hoping this is a good sign, that her redemption will stick.

And the funny part is how Tim and Cass are all "Our team really sucks right now, doesn't it? "Yes it sure does." "Well, we seem to be sucking less right now." The story ends on a happy note, with Cassie and Tim more convinced the team will evolve into something better.

Teen Titans should be like this! This guy, Rex Cole, he should write Teen Titans.

Then we have a super cute and funny JLA story penciled by Kevin Maguire. It's great.

Then a Dr, Light (Kimiyo) story, which is really cool, with more amazingly beautiful art. I've always liked Kimiyo and she did a good show in this story. I especially like her explanation with taking on Dr. Light's name, that she wants to redeem it and show people that light can be beautiful.

Lovely, lovely special. So many warm fuzzies.

6/5!

Robin #181:

A good issue. Spoiler had a pretty good show, so I am pleased.

A couple things I'm annoyed with: Dick just leaving Tim all alone to handle a beserk Gotham WHILE HE IS SERIOUSLY INJURED. Way to go, Dick. I know there's like, Two Face in New York, but this is your little brother, who is clearly going batshit insane with stress (WE HAVE TO MANIPULATE THEM DICK ZOMG!!!) and has the WHOLE BACK OF HIS HEAD BURNT UP (seriously, Tim needs surgery or something. How will his hair grow back? At least the sideburns are gone. I'm no doctor, but burns like that don't magically heal on their own. Skin grafts, Tim. Lots of them.) IRRESPONSIBLE.

Of course, there's the logical argument Cass should be able to help, but she's busy getting harrassed by Dick. Maybe that's where he sped off to in such a hurry. "Look, I'd really love to help, Tim, but I have to go harrass Cassandra."

"Oh, okay. Tell her Steph said hi!"

Anyway, it feels like Steph's somewhat redeemed from the whole deception thing by this issue, since she further enforces it's Batman's crazy idea, and says she'll make it right. And then kicks people in the face. Steph kicking people always make me a happy clam.

And The General annoys the heck out of me. He's imitating Anarky AND Red Robin! Get a life! Fortunately, I think he's supposed to sort of suck. Still, I wanna kill him SLOWLY.

And now Tim get's his dramatic batlike showdown...wearing the Red Robin cowl. Fortunately, Fabian says the fashion choice is temporary. I HOPE it is.

4/5

Supergirl #36

Another good issue. I absolutely adore the cover. And Ingle's art in the interior.

Alura is a horrible person, but that's probably Kryptonite poisoning, and it's good conflict. Kara is a good person, and makes friends with the new Superwoman. What a twist! A good one, too.

4.5/5

Birds of Prey #125

No, Babs. Noooonoononononono...do not de-wheelchair and be Batgirl again. Do not! Bad Babs! Also, you didn't defeat the Joker because you forgot to turn on the security system, not because you're in a wheelchair.

Some nice Dinah and Babs interaction, and McDaniel's art is an improvement over O' Hares. The story was neat.

And I like the acknowledgement of how Babs has gotten sloppy lately, and at least some starting attempt to explain it.

3.5/5

Terra #4

<3 Amanda Conner. Lovely, cute art. The story...well, I kind of like the blood of the Astrogod myth. It's neat. The WIRness only gets worse, though it appears they are going to try to bring whatsername back to life...if cloning counts as back to life. But are they seriously going to erase Geoforce's memory of his time underground? WHY? I'll just pretend the panel never happened.

And I thought the interaction between PG and Terra was cute, if somewhat forced at times.


And I think it's always great to have a postive new heroine with a cool look, so glad I got the mini.

3.5/5

*Whew!* That's all!

Comic reviews, Oh comic reviews!

BoP #124

As kickass as the cover is (excepting the handles) the fight inside left me slightly dissapointed.

I sort of summed it up on Superdickery:

That's what disappointed me about the fight. Wouldn't it have been awesome if Oracle had used her mad skillz to set all these security traps, and the Joker has to go through all of them to get to her, and though he does what pretty much anyone else would fail at getting through them, but by the time he gets to her he's beat the fuck up and she kicks his ass? But he manages to get some shots in because of his special Jokah powahs?

That would have shown respect for both the characters, and we wouldn't have had to see the Joker throw the person he made paraplegic down the stairs, which, I'm sorry, I don't need to see.

I dunno, it's just Oracle's not just a martial artist anymore. It would have been nice to see her use all of her skills against the guy who shot her. And use weapons besides the escrima sticks, ranged ones.

I feel a fight between Babs and the Joker could have been pretty epic and pulled up a lot of good emotional stuff, but Tony Bedard was not the right writer to handle it. For one thing, he doesn't write a very good Joker. It would have needed to last a bit longer too.

And I do think Oracle should have had time to set up her security system. How would the Joker fight a ton of lasers? It would have been interesting. And when he gets there, then the physichal fighting starts. Just the Joker escaping would have dented the victory for Babs, she didn't need to be thrown down some stairs too.

However, I do think it was cool when she totally decimated his mouth. Stealing his smile and all. Sure, he's had many teeth knocked out over the years, but she bashed in ALL of them. That's definitely a cause for the Joker to freak out.

All I know is it's a good (or bad) thing Misfit found the Joker and not Dinah, because you know what she said she'd said she'd do to the Joker if she was ever in a room alone with him (Gail's run)
( BoP reaction comic by me )
( Little BoP reaction toon. )

I'm looking forward to next issue though. I'm cravin' some Dinah and Babs bonding time!

My Dad actually picked the comic up and read it while cleaning my room (I don't ASK him to do it, he's neurotic) because the cover was so cool. He thinks the fight between the Joker and Babs was the coolest thing ever.

Dad: "She smashed in his face and stole his SMILE! I loved her Arnis sticks!"
Me: "She calls them escrima sticks".
Dad: "It's the same thing, it depends which part of the Philipines you are from."

I am constantly boggled by how much he knows about every conceivable form of martial arts ever. He should be in the Batfamily.

Which leaves me to wonder if the Internet has lead me to be cynical and course. Why can't I enjoy the comic for the awesome parts like Dad does?

3.5/5

Wonder Woman # 26

A good issue. I'm not sure it was spectacular enough that fans jumping on because of the event will stay, which worries me. Genocide is monstrous, and her design doesn't bother me as much as it seems to others. I'm very curious about what's up with the gods. And Diana's lasso got stolen! Whoa. I wonder if Dr. Minerva still has the jones for that thing, or Genocide just took it for laffs.

I'm very interested in getting more into Genocide's powers and...personality? Dunno. Right now, I'm not quite convinced she's the worst threat evar, but I'm sure I will be.

And Tom fought hard to keep the nectarine pit, which was endearing. I'm still not sure he's good enough for Diana.

Looking forward to more.

4.5/5

Blue Beetle #33

I feel like crying, because this was great issue. Sturges best yet. The Teen Titans were funny and likable (and the world stopped spinning...) and Tim was cracking jokes like a cutie! Oh, Timmy. I missed your sense of humor. And Peacemaker's eternal search for a drinking buddy...Brenda and Paco smackdown complete with Paco's Twu Confessions...

WHY MUST THE GOODNESS END?

The only thing I'm confused on is why the Scarab isn't exhibiting a personality. Maybe there will be a reason for this.

I now demand Matt Sturges write Teen Titans. I WILL PAY DC TO DO IT. And Rafeal Albequerque draw it. He draws Cassie like a human being! I love her wavy hair. And adorable Tiny Tim.

Oh dreams. You make me sad.

5/5

Superman #66oh like I keep track

I want to have Renato Guede's art's babies.

Oh, there was writing too. An okay story, though apparently Kara has fucked up again. Understandably, because these are her parents long thought dead she's listening to, so I'll let it go. And the Kryptonian madness comes home to roost...Mon El being surrounded by villians made me giggle. It prolly shouldn't have, but there ya go.

4/5
 

Read scans of TT by the way, and they were interesting. Hopefully Cassie not being emo anymore is for real. Her new costume...I agree with scans_daily about the lack of bracers and awkward armoring. Someone on Comic Bloc came up with a better alternative. (Eliseu Gouveia was the name given.)

( Cassie with bracelets. )
Comic Bloc is growin' on me, btw. The intelligence level seems to have gotten higher of late, and they're all so nice. I may even consider rejoining.

I'm glad Cassie is unemo in time for next ish, which I will be forced to pick up because Spoiler.  Here's hoping it sticks, unlike her Wonder Girl mini un-emoness.

Woo. Lotsa stuff happenin'. I got into a stupid internet fight. I visited my brand new comic store again with my friend John, and got lotsa free stuff (A couple JLA bits- This JLA vs. The Crime Syndicate thing and and thise thingamajig right before IC (judging from the Omacs) where Batman was a huge dick and so was Green Arrow, but Black Canary was cool and there was this whiny Faith girl with a dead husband. Also, Elektra: The hand mini 3-5 which I haven't read yet) John took all the free stuff that was offered super seriously and got a giant box full (He doesn't have much money, his mom and him are on food stamps. I always pay for everything because of this, which I am happy to do). I'm thinking of getting John to be my boyfriend. He's perfect. But I have no idea how to seduce a man. Whenever I want to make a move, I freeze up. I'll think of something though, I know I must hurry before he's taken.

News from Fabian:

>>Saw the new solicit for Robin 183. It's cool Lady Shiva's going to guest star. Will there be any mention of her relationship with Cass?

No.

>>Also, will Steph be in the final issue? Will she have a home in any other title now that Robin is canceled? Will the issue set up a direction for her?

She will be in the final issue briefly. Her future direction is for future writers of Tim to determine.

>>And you know that if we asked questions about the issue on Wednesday you'd just say wait and see! But I'll give it a shot: Will the Red Robin/Tim and Stephanie/Scarab fights be happening seperately and concurrently, or will there just be a general melee between those four?

Wait and see.
Actually, the opening fight is very brief.

-- fabian

*droops at second question* Oh Steph, I am worried about you.

Hey, wouldn't it be great if the replaced Robin with a Batman family book? It could focus on the Tim, Cass and Steph and occasionally others and be brilliant! DC I WILL WRITE THIS CALL ME.

Cass is gonna be in the final issue of BoP which is good, but it's the final issue of BoP which is bad. *droops*

Also, she's not in BatO (Sorry, "The Outsiders") anymore it seems. *double droops*

Soooo, reviews! Including comics I don't normally get.

Booster Gold #14

A resounding "meh." Nothing of interest happened here. And where did Michelle go?

2/5

Action comicss #somethingorother

Pete Woods! EEEE! *cuddles his art* A decent issue. The General Lane plot is interesting, and Doomsday dude was dispatched with minimum annoyance.

3/5

Detective Comics #850

I got this when I saw thru Scans_daily the Alfred awesomeness at the beginning, and the Selina awesomeness at the end. It was a very good issue, and basically a parade of goodness. Alfred kicking ass, the T-Rex kicking ass (it was a robot, who knew? Not I.), Tim!Banter, Batman invoking the Edna Mode rule and Selina's REVVVVVEEENGE! Eeee, I love Catwoman so much. I also loved how she got Harley and Ivy and Oracle involved. Revenge of the kickass women! That's what you get for calling people gutter sluts, Hush!

I also liked the moment with Selina and Zatanna, it was very cute and I loved the art. Also, the moment with Bruce and Selina. I ship Bat/Cat, I'll admit. Selina being around somehow makes Bruce more tolerable, and it's sweet how he opens up (a little) for her.

So, yes, very glad I got it.

5/5

Nightwing #150

Got it for the Babs, and because it's #150. A nice issue, I really liked seeing Babs in a batbook again, the stuff between Dick and Two Face, and the pretty art. Also, Dick was awesome.

4/5

And, lastly, is this not adorable?



From http://vespertila.livejournal.com/119161.html

Hasta la vista for now!

I suspected this would happen, but my Dad managed to keep his vow not to give me ANY MORE MARTIAL ARTS LESSONS because I DIDN'T APPRECIATE HIM exactly...one week.

Today we had the usual exercise, and I put a lot of enthusiasm into it so I wouldn't get the giant rant.

It was cool, because I'd just read Birds of Prey: Sensei and Student to him, so he taught me how to do the Haymaker punch Black Canary used on Cheshire.

I picked it up pretty quickly. Dinah would have been proud.

Anyway, I'm procrastinating on a whole bunch of stuff, and with no sign of stopping.

I'm glad to be getting lessons again, I was worried if I didn't do it for a year I'd be out of practice when I picked it up again in college (I plan to find an instructor).

I thought I might have found a way to get a mood theme, despite not paying and failed.(Anyone who wants to get on me about that, IT WAS A JOKE) But it really is an awesome Steph mood theme!

By poisonivory: http://community.livejournal.com/nerd_herd_icons/31227.html

See, if I had a mood theme, my mood would be: disappointed, because I can't have it.


SO DISAPOINTEEEED!

Anyway, I am also gloomy because school will start soon.

I should start applications now goddamn it.

I am so lazy.

Okay, I'll stop that.

Onto comic book reviews

Wonder Woman #24

Amazing as usual. Wonder Woman KILLED THE DEVIL. She is so hardcore. And I liked the gorillas pickin' lice and Donna actually calling Nemesis Mr. Guy-with-a-rifle.

I guess Sergeant Shield Sargent Steel is crazy now or something. I wonder why.

Y'know, WW's enjoyable, but I'm always left wanting more and it makes me feel kind of empty.

That made no sense at all, I'm sure, but whatever.

Like, what is Tom's deal? I want to KNOW RIGHT NOW. Gail keeps hinting at something, but I find no reason to sympathize with him right now and it is annoying.

But geez, the art is gorgeous. I like seeing Donna drawn with out her boobs falling out of her shirt, FOR ONCE. And acting somewhat intelligent too! FOR ONCE.

I miss the Amazon's so much. Just finished reading the first two trades of Perez WW, so that's why.

Anyway, fun, cool and a bit cracky, as all comics should be, so

5/5

Booster Gold #13

Heh. "I get to be Batman? Cool." Babs didn't get a role other than messing up, which is strange since I get the impression that Chuck loves Babs to the zillionth power, so I expected to see her be cool. Eh, maybe next issue. Also, Booster dressing as Killer Moth is HILARIOUS. And one punching Batman.

Then Alfred defends the Batcave! Shoot first, ask questions later! Though I think those were rubber rounds or something, since I saw no blood coming from Rip.

Booster sure is a little cranky this issue. It's like he just lost his best friend!

Oh.

Well, anyway.

4/5

That's all, for now. Except the first episode of the BoP TV show shifted between hilariously bad and almost-good, like ten times. Major whiplash. But enjoyable in a weird way, so I guess it was worth the purchase.

BUT WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THE REAL BLACK CANARY?

AND WHY DOES HELENA HAVE SUPERPOWERS?

I find it hilarious that Batman abandoned Gotham just because Catwoman died. "I'm sad, screw Gotham! Babs, I know you just got shot because of me and all, but could you take care of Gotham for me?"

"Uh, I guess..."

"Great, bye!"

Also, it is my canon that they named it "New Gotham" just because Batman left. The sign in the front of the city "A Gotham without Batman...shiny and new!"

Show is definitely a bit SoBadIt'sGood so far. I just wish I could forget the comics so I could enjoy that, so I could stop going "AGH HELENA DINAH WHY WAIT HOW IS THAT HARLEY SHE ACTS NOTHING LIKE HER."

And I've just watched the first episode and have these feelings.

Gotham Girls remains just as awesome in rewatching though, so there's that.

Edit: AGH MY PRINTER IS BUSTED SO I CANNOT PRINT MY LETTER TO JANN JONES.

First, I have forgotten to mention I am the proud owner of two new superhero T-shirts...one with Pre Crisis Batgirl, Supergirl and Wonder Woman on them that says "Girl Power!" (It is inexplicably see through, but if I wear an undershirt, it's fine. Or I don't have too, because the picture isn't see through and it covers up my boobs...but I am uncomfortable when people can see my navel through my shirt. I think DC's evil plan is to rope every girl it can into dressing as provacatively as most of their superheroines) and the other with a huge spread of superheroes on it...it included Huntress, Black Canary and Jaime (albeit he was at the very edge) so I had to get it, even though I think the picture is from Countdown...a T shirt with Jaime on it! How often am I going to find one of those...well, probably if they make t-shirts of the Brave and Bold cartoon, but that's not the point. Anyway, it is larger and not see through.

Just two more pictures of Steph. I did these during my trip to Chicago a while ago. I still have about three more pictures I did during my trips to scan and color.

So I have to review like 50 comics or something.

Or maybe just...*counts* ...seven. Okay, that's not so bad.