Convergence week 7 (and a Sensation Comics)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Super Silly Sunday

Perhaps this should be super slashy Saturday instead.
Can anyone tell me what issue this is from?

EDIT - Just found this (and others) in my draft posts folder.  Will be posting them over a period of a few weeks. They look to be about a year old.

Misc DC titles from LSCC

I honestly have no idea if these posts are interesting to anyone.

I have no idea why I bought the GL/GA issue - I have the trades.

Superboy 25 is well worth digging out as Knockout has a large part in it.  It was really nice to be reminded of her role in this series.  Not only do we get her origin story but the other Furies come looking for her and she wins the fight.  Hence the pileup on the cover.  There is something quite bizzare about this issue as there are 5 posters in the back.  One is Superboy about o get eaten by sharks, one is him with a rainbow dinosaur and a groupie, one shows him being carried by Krypto (by the collar).  The fourth is him and Impulse with two ladies and the final one is this:

I'm quite keen on the logos across the top of the page.

Impulse 19 is Bart's efforts to get to sleep and his dreams.  Poor sod.  It must be very boring when you're a speedster from the future forced to do everything in normal time.

Shazam 1
I'm sure I already have this too.  Mary and Billy are powerless as the Trials of Shazam have granted the magic to Freddie.  Mary at first appears bitter about this, but then we realise this si justa  ploy to brign Blaze into the open to Freddie can defeat her.  I forget Blaze's origin, but I do recall how I was pleased when she was woven into the Marvel stories.  This issue is a good one.

Starman/Congorilla 1
Despite thinking I already had this, I don't.  This is much better than I expected.  There is a lot going on but it doesn't get confusing as James Robinson plots it really well.  The art is lovely and the switch between timeframes is nicely done.
Starman and Congorilla are on the hunt for Malavar from Gorilla City as he can help them witha  Justice League crisis.  Tthe only problem is that Malavar has the bad guys after him and has some important business to carry out, so when our heroes do find him, they need to fight until business is concluded.  This works out rather well as it turns out that Malavar was resurrecting Tasmanian Devil in a Lazarus pit.  You may remember that he was killed and turned into a rug in Cry for Justice.  Thankfully, no one stays dead in comics.

Super Sexy Saturday

From Teen Titans V3 issue 92.

Comic reviews for w/c 30th Jan 2013

Reviews coming up for:

Superboy Annual, Superboy 16, Captain Marvel 9, FF 3, Fantastic Four 2, Hawkeye 7 and Wonder Woman 16.  These didn't all come out in the same week but I only got them yesterday.  I also bought some trades - Captain Marvel, Black Panther, pre new-52 Supergirl, Judd Winick Green Arrow and Judd Winick Outsiders.  As much as I enjoyed all of these I won't review them here.  If they need reviewing I'll do so on New readers.
Spoilers ahead.
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Superboy 16
This is awful.  The art is nice and it's a treat to see a muscular Diana and Batman in a fur lined cape, but the comic is terrible.  Sample dialogue:
Superboy: No-- No!  That thing is pulling him apart-- Superman is DEAD!
Cyborg - No, Superboy --There's still a chance!  He told me it was a teleporter -- thought where it would have sent him, it's impossible to even guess.

Unneccesary exposition and a terrible, predictable plot.  This comic is rubbish.

Superboy Annual
Also pretty terrible, in part because Superman is gruff and unlikeable.  That's Bruce's job dammit.  I thought I'd dropped Superboy, but I know the comic shop orders 2 months in advance so I'll have to chekc if future issues are cancelled because this is utter rot.

Captain Marvel 9
OK read but I am not interested enough to put it on my pull list.

FF 3
I did put this one on my pull list.  It's fun and lighthearted and the art makes it feel innovative.  However I think I may get bored in about 4 months time.

Fantastic Four 2
I think the comic shop got mixed up and put this in my order instead of FF2.   But it's by Matt Fraction, it runs alongside FF, and it's got Franklin Richards in it who I remember fondly from the 1980s Power Pack series.  So I didn't mind too much.

Hawkeye 7
Also by Fraction.  You'd think I'm obsessed with him.  Brilliant cover, good story, engaging art and it sort of fulfils the Green Arrow shaped hole in my heart.  I'm not sure how long I'll stay interested in this for, but for now It's OK.

Wonder Woman 16 
I really enjoyed this.  Since carrying out a major cull of my DC books I am feeling happier with what is left.  This is good shizzle.  I want to create a picture montage of all the Gods seen so far in this series.

I just realised I'm missing Supergirl  16.  I think the comic shop got rather confused this week.

Now I'm going to go read the Outsiders - Pay as you go.  Here is why I adore this series.

Weekly comics reviews.

Likely to be drunken reviews by the end of the post..

Spoilers ahoy!  For: DCU Presents Black Lightning and Blue Devil 15, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man 18, Danger Club 3, Wonder Woman 15, Princeless Short Stories for Warrior Women 2, Superboy 15, Supergirl 15, Birds of Prey 15.
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DCU Presents 15 : Black Lightning and Blue Devil
I finished this and I thought, eh, not as good as the first one.  Definitely a filler between the opening and closing issue.  Then I thought about it and thought NO.  This does expand their story, I did like it.  What I don't like are that Blue Devil is human 70% of the time and I don't like Lightning's new costume.  But that's superficial rubbish.  I do like the story.  If you exclude the silly physical and verbal posturing.  Blue Devil now becomes a blue devil by putting on an old devil skin (I know, yeuuch).  In this issue the devil in question want sit back.  But it doesn't want him.  Ooops.  And Jeff's Dad gets involved and kidnapped.
Yeah.  I'm looking forward to the concluding arc.   I picked this up off the shelf, it's not on my standing order list, and I def think that's the way forward.  Even though I'd recc pre new 52 Black Lightning Year 1 to folk who wanted to learn about the character. 

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man 18
Marvellous!  Much better!  Still part of the stupid crossover but so much better!  Mostly cause Miles is left alone and has to fight a giant woman in the desert.  And then Spider-Woman turns up and they get all honest with each other (up to a point).  And Miles' Dad has to face up to stuff he did in the military crisis.  But overall, yeah!  I do like Miles.

Danger Club 3
Finally got this in!  MY local comic shop had problems with this title, so I got 4 before 3.  Nevermind.
This may be about kids, but it's def one for the adults.  It's violent, and distressing and sad, and threatening,  It is nothing like Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, done by the same team, but it is still damn good.  I believe the schedule has slowed due to personal, family problems with the creators, but that makes it more special when it comes out.  If you're sick of DC or Marvel's offerings try this out.  It's set on a world where all the adult heroes have left the planet, disappeared, perhaps dies.  Just the kid sidekicks are left.  They have to face up to the few villains also left, deal with rifts amongst their community, and deal with missing their parents and mentors.  In this issue some of the kids get caught in a mindbending trap by a (presumably now dead) villain, another one finds out the president (himself an ex hero) killed all the adults, and another, the most grown up of them all (and probably analogous to a Robin), has to keep the Olympian sedated.  The Olympian is another teen, who in the first issue went power crazy and had to be put down by our Robin analogue.  The Olympian is still pretty destroyed in this issue.

Dammit this is good.

Wonder Woman 15
Better than I expected!  perhaps I'm in a better mood this week because it's the Christmas holidays?
Anyway, Wonder Woman herself is, as always, amazing.  She's diplomatic with Hera and Zola, she's a great fighter with Milan and Orion.

She got surprise swords after that battle cry too.

I adore the depiction of the Gods, and I'm dying to know more about Milan (blindfolded, sees through the eyes of flies).  And Orion is here!  Presumably heralding the rest of the new Gods.  So long as they don't make the Greek gods inferior to the New Gods I'll be happy.  If they do, you shall hear wailing and gnashing of teeth.

You know what though, I def preferred Cliff Chiang's art when he was doing Green Arrow/Black Canary.  it seems awfully stilted now.  Like there's lots of static shots and no flow.

Princeless Short Stories for Warrior Women 2
I HEART THIS TIMES A THOUSAND

Go buy it.  Either in your shops or in comixology.  It's a perfect antidote to the shit that Marvel and DC can put out.  It's funny.  You can give it to your kids to read.  It turns fairy tales on their head.  It's got a dragon and an elf and a hapless Prince (winning the Charm classes does not help you in daily life when your daily life is stuck in a dungeon and you have no castle to hand).  And we learn a bit more about our runaway action Princess, but mostly about her armourer (and her family).

I rabbitted on at length about Princeless over on New readers.. and I have since found out you can buy it on Comixology.  So go buy it. Now.  Treat yourself to a late Christmas present.

Superboy 15
Hooboy.  It's H'el on earth.  I expected this to be utterly dreary.  Instead, i got something fun.  And moody Superman!  T-shirted and Caped Superman!  Why hasn't he thrown that stupid outfit out yet? I was disappointed to discover that Martha Kent has HAD NO INPUT into his costume.  Way to go.  Martha making his duds was cute, and sweet and lovely.  Now he's got battle armour.  Battle armour.  On a  Kryptonian living in Earth's atmosphere.  That's ridiculous.

Nevermind.  I liked the issue. 

Supergirl 15
We see a bit of Kara at home, on Krypton, happy and smiley.  I want more of this Kara please.  I understand she's had a shit time, and man I want H'el to just be defeated and fuck off, but I also want positive, optimistic Kara back.  I want to see her positively adjusting to earth life.  Judging by what we've now seen of her in Argo City I reckon this art team can do it.

See, unlike other favourite heroes of mine, I can identify with Kara and want to emulate her.  At her snottiest previous incarnation I understood her rage and her need to go and shitfaced and ignore the world.  In her lighter days I admired her carefree attitude.  I've always wanted her powers, and I reckon she gets to have more fun than Superman does (definitely this current Superman who I don't care for at all).  I admire her silver age happiness, her good naturedness. Unlike my other favourite female heroes I feel closer to Kara.  Wonder Woman is someone I aim to be (but I will never be mature or wise enough to be).  Black Canary is someone I want to be friends with (and probably get drunk with) but Kara is someone who has been a mess, but has come through it and is a good sweet, kind person.  She sometimes strikes out in anger, don't we all, but on the whole she does her best.  And that makes her far more human than the others.  Lets face it, I will never have Black Canary's ninja skills and Wonder Woman is a goddess.  I can't match that.  But I can make mistakes like Kara does and I can try and fix them.  And try to be a decent person.

So for that reason, I want to see a different Kara in the pages of Supergirl.  I want her happy.  I want her content.  I hope that will come soon, after the H'eL on Earth storyline.

Birds of Prey 15
A-ha!  The one I do want to be drunk for.  I've worked out what I'm not happy about with this series.  they are too happy to kill people.
Starling has guns for gods sake.
Katana stabs people with her sword.  And guts them and kills them.
I don't want to read a comic with heroes where they kill people.  I want my heroes to be heroic.  I want them to save the day and the innocents without murdering people.

And then there's the really stupid artwork.  Katana and Condor are fighting lots of ninja nasties and they decide to destroy the cube shaped bomb which will otherwise destroy part of Japan.
The next 2 pictures are the top and bottom of the same page.

Let's look at Katana again shall we:

 it appears we have an escher girl in our BoP comic.
 Now for clarity, here is the panel afterwards where they look at the cut bomb:

After bitching about this to my boyfriend he drew this version:

I think it's better.
B/c it's blurry, top left corner says 'ZOMG!! A BOMS!!'.  Top right says 'FAST! SLICE ITS'
bottom left says 'SLICES' and bottom right says 'YAY! WORLD A SAFE'
Figures are stick men and the bomb looks like an egg on a block, lying on it's side.  He didn't use the comic for reference.

DC Comic reviews!

After having so much fun with my Thought Bubble comics I am thoroughly thoroughly fed up with most of DC's products.  I don't feel interested and excited to read most of my weekly haul, I feel antipathy.  Maybe that's because when I buy ongoing series I know what is going to happen.  When I buy the odd off the shelf Dc book I have no idea of the backstory or anything and I am just thrown into a (for me) one off issue.

With that rather negative start, let's begin reviewing the last few weeks worth of books.  Spoilers ahead.
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Blue Beetle 13
This was an off the shelf impulse buy.  And was fun.  Jaime is in space and fighting other scarabs, and then meets someone who admires his control over the scarab armour, but looks creepy, and then is narrowly not met by someone who wants to steal his armour back.
I have no idea how we got to this set of events and I don't care.  I enjoyed this issue, but not so much that I want to buy issue 14.
The Superman 13 sneak preview remains as pointless as ever,


Animal Man 14
It's still in crossover hell.  It started as a really strong horror comic, without obvious links to the rest of the DCU, but now that he's joined up with Black Orchid, Constantine, Gorilla Grodd, a red skinned Beast Boy etc, it's lost some of the special feeling.  It's like it's brought back down to Earth (one) and it's lost the power of the horror, because Buddy Baker is forced to interact with other heroes.  I'll still keep it on my pull list though, because I think once the crossover is finished, it will go back to being a scary horror comic.

Birds of Prey 14
Better than I expected.  It took me ages to work out what was happening on the cover, and I'm still confused as to what part the dude is, and how Starling and Black Canary work.  This is a true Escher Girl image.  Having said that, inside the comic story was actually quite good, if not in any way memorable  An improvement on the previous couple of issues at least.  I do wish Batgirl wasn't in the team though.  She just doesn't seem to fit.

DC Universe Presents 14 - Black Lightning and Blue Devil
Hell yeah this was good.  I am definitely getting the next issue.  These were a couple of my favourite b-list characters pre the new 52, and this issues keeps the attraction and the style, even while changing the origins a bit.

Superboy 14
It's crossover hell again.  And Kon just keeps doing the same things he's done in all other issues. get pissed off and hits things.  Hopefully this will improve, but I'm not holding my breath.

Supergirl 14
And here I get sad.  One of my favourite iconic characters has been rebooted.  The artist, Mahmud Asrar, and the writer, Mike Johnson, are doing a fine story, but I'm not sure it's the story I want to read.  Or rather, I am still sad we lost the previous incarnation of Kara.   But perhaps I shouldn't compare the two at all?  Perhaps that is unfair.  I think it is.  This Kara is brave and bright, and far more independent than the previous Kara's.  She is definitely her own woman and not reliant on Kal at all.  She is more like Kara from Smallville actually (without the destiny nonsense and with more confusion).  I really like that she's got her own life, and that her friend is the Silver banshee (and I loved how Asrar drew the banshee).  In fact, Asrar is now one of my favourite artists.

This series has such a different feeling to the previous series.  Less superhero-ey, less comedic, and less young, actually.  Both in terms of the characters and the style of story.  It's sadder and more mature.  I will keep buying it, and I am enjoying it.  But every time I read it I struggle to work out my feelings for it.  It probably doesn't help that this is also stuck in crossover hell.

The weekly comics review

I'm going to start it up again.  I think.  I must admit I'm a bit disillusioned by DC's recent output.  The new 52 has been a big disappointment.  There's too much to say about why this is at this point, so I'll start the reviews and elaborate as I go.

Spoilers ahead for:
Justice League 13, Superboy 13, Supergirl 13, Birds of Prey 13, Green Lantern Corps 13, Wonder Woman 13, Swamp Thing 13, Ultimate Spider-Man 16, Angel and Faith 14,  Justice League Dark 13, Teen Titans 13.
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Justice League 13
I am utterly disappointed in this title.  The first issue was fabulous.  Really good fun.  Energetic.  Exciting.  Cocky.  Brilliant.  The rest of the arc that #1 kickstarted was fun, but not as memorable as #1.  Now it's turned into utter rot.  I'm not even referring to the Wonder Woman/Superman romance.  As much as that is not to my taste it could still be a good story, if told well.  Unfortunately the dialogue and plotting is boring and the art is awful.  Where the art matches the characters and the plot, it's dull and by the numbers.  Where it's meant to be romantic it looks stilted and awkward.  The anatomy is sometimes bad and there is too much emphasis on showing Diana's arse and her sexiness.  The colouring, inking and the movement lines are nice.  But overall the art detracts from the story.

I was keeping this on my pull list because I enjoyed the Captain Marvel backup.  It frustrates me that we have lost the old innocent Batson family, but if I forget about them I did like the new Marvel.  However in this issue it is gone and replaced by On the Outs which looks like a link in to the Justice League America title, and is also utterly boring.  It doesn't help that Amanda Waller is now a skinny little thing.

Rubbish. I've now dropped this title. 

Superboy 13
Egads, all I can see on the cover is a pair of enormous metal boobs.  This is not a good start.  I'm also thinking about dropping this title.  The art is lovely, but I'm not invested in the characters.  It turns out that this Superboy just isn't doing it for me.

Supergirl 13
The art in this series has been absolutely gorgeous.  Unfortunately regular artist mahmud Asrar did not do thsi issue and the guest artist Sam Basri just cannot make Kara's skirtless/trouserless costume look right.  It's fine until you get to the bottom of the leotard and then it just looks stupid.

I have been enjoying this series but it doesn't really feel like Supergirl to me yet.  Kara should be more innocent, she should be happier, she should be trusting of her cousin.  I know that her reactions to date have been more realistic given her new history, but this still feels a little like someone else in the Supergirl costume.  Nevertheless I shall keep buying it and hope I get more attached later.


Birds of Prey 13
Another disappointment.  It started off so well.  Starling is great, so is Black Canary.  Katana I can take or leave (I have always been that way) and I really enjoyed Poison Ivy's inclusion.  The Batgirl came on the scene and my enthusiasm level dropped.  Then Ivy left in the most obvious-standard-ex-villain-betrays-the-team-storyline possible, and now I'm ceasing to care.  Black Canary no longer seems to have that essential goodness or mothering instinct to her character.  Add to that some occasionally exploitative art, Black Canary losing her legacy identity and the Penguin giving Dinah her superhero name, and I'm really narked.

Another one to possibly cancel.  3 out of 4 so far.  We're not doing too well are we?

Green Lantern Corps 13
This I just picked up off the shelf because it looked fun, and it actually caught my interest.  Guy has been promoted to Lantern Sentinel and then jeopardises it because of some ugly alien threat.  the Guardians appear to have let a super criminal out of his cage.  I enjoyed this but I don't think I'll necessarily be picking up the next issue.  We'll see.  I'm far more interested in what the Guardians are up to than I am in Guy's new job.  It was pretty obvious that he'd wreck it as soon as he'd been given it.

Wonder Woman 13
I love the depictions of the Gods in this.  It's my favourite thing about the new 52.  Diana is portrayed as a lot tougher than previous incarnations, which is a viewpoint I can get behind.  OK, so I find Zeus being Di's father dull and the Amazon's as man haters obnoxious, but the rest of the series is well executed.  It could do with a little more pizazz, but this one is a keeper.

Swamp Thing 13
Bought this one as it's a crossover with Animal Man, which I have been loving.  Unfortunately as a one off issue it's crap.  Well maybe it's not.  Maybe crossover issues are just not to my taste.  I prefer series that run by themselves, referencing the rest of the DCU but with little direct input.  A few pages of art are lush, but overall the inking is a little too heavy handed for my tastes:

Ultimate Spider-Man 16
I have been LOVING this series.  It is quite serious so if you prefer your comics lighter in tone, you should get hold of the Spider-men mini series.

Issue 16 is smack bang in the middle of the United We Stand crossover.  It starts off strongly with Miles deciding he should join the Avengers and assist the country in the throes of civil war.  Because Miles is 13 years old, Captain America says no way.  Then the military stronghold where they are gets attacked, and Miles helps out, and so the Cap'n changes his mind and lets Miles join the Avengers.  Rrrriggghhhttt. I sense editorial insisting that a Spider-mask is part of this event.  And then on the final page we find out the Captain is now President of America.

Sigh.  This is stupid.  The sooner this is out of the way and we can go back to Miles everyday life the better.


Angel and Faith 14
This was really good and made me regret selling my Buffy season 8 comics.  I may continue to pick this up on an ad hoc basis.


Justice League Dark 13
I've picked up the last 3 issues of this on an ad hoc basis and have really liked it.  I miss Zee's old costume and the pre 52 Black Orchid I was familiar with, but I do like the tone and plotting of this series.  This may get put onto a standing order.  Maybe.

Teen Titans 13
This is on my pull list.  It is a surprise success as the solicits looked awful, but it's actually great fun.  Ale Garza does the pencils, and I think I preferred his work from a few years ago, particularly the Supergirl issue he did.  This panel is particularly distasteful:

Cassie's new armour reminds me of Genocide.  But this issue shows us that her armour is linked to Trigon.  I'd really like to find out how Cass is linked to Wonder Woman now.  If at all.  I am not at all interested in Trigon.  But, the comic remains fun and the interplay between characters make sit worth the cover price.

On the plus side, while researching Genocide I found this handy wiki of Wonder Woman villains.

And that's my feeling on the last 2 weeks comics.  Not very optimistic is it?

It feels good to be doing reviews again :)

Gaymazing Tim/Con slash

By Colours07 on DeviantArt, here (might be worth clicking through to a larger version if this one isn't clear enough).

Love it.

Super Silly Sunday

Oh Kon.  Don't ever change.

(From Adventures of Superman 580)

Death of Supergirl homage art

So, about a year or so ago I had in mind a post where I would collect all the homages to the Death of Supergirl cover I could find.  This post has been sat in my draft page since December 2009.  I thought I'd do something about it and actually post the damn thing.

For clarity, here is the original image, from the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi series, issue #7:

Comic reviews!

Spoilers after the jump for Brightest Day #23 (but no mention will be made of the identity of the White Lantern), Secret Six #32, Young Justice #2.
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Sexual harassment, thy name is Superboy

From Adventures of Superman 501 and 502.

This is what's wrong with 90s comics.

Superman, he's a force for good right.  He believes in justice, truth, honesty and treating people right.  he does not believe in guns.  So how did this image get passed?

Ok, so he's just returned from the dead.  His powers aren't at full whack.  But Superman shouldn't be a gun toting musclebound meat head!  Yet in this picture that's what he is.  And what's worse is that Steel and Superboy are cheering him on. Ok, Superboy has just bene hatched/birthed/cloned/whatever, he's still young and doesn't have a full moral compass yet, but he's been programmed to have a personality.  No one wearing the S shield and purporting to be on the side of good should ever be this gun happy.
From Adventures of Superman #504.

Comic reviews!

Yup, it's catching up time again. 

Birds of Prey  #10
It's an absolute joy to read a book about a group of tough, competent women, who support and love each other, are intelligent and demand everyone's respect.  Such a different feel and context to other comics.  Or books, TV, films et al.  BoP is a book about women, where women are in the spotlight centre stage and given credibility.  Why aren't there more stories like this?

On a more frivolous note, Batman is wearing a riveted metal jockstrap in this issue.  Oh how I laughed. and laughed and laughed and laughed.

Batgirl #19
The art in this issue is wonderful.  It's cartoony and lively, not very detailed and a bit caricaturish.  It's great.  Steph has a devil may care attitude to crimefighting and so the art and writing really mesh well together.


Superboy #5
It's Bart vs Kon in a race!  Krypto wins.  Seriously.

In other Flash news, DC will make all Flashpoint issues available digitally 4 weeks after the real copies have been sold.  Ace beans.  I'll be getting in on the e-versions then.

More reviews coming tomorrow.

End of January Comic reviews

Spoilers ahead


Gotham City Sirens #19
Good cover.  Shame the story is all about the Siren's love lives.  Sigh.  I do not want my book about a group of women to be about their romantic entanglements.  Can we have more of the Birds of Prey style writing here please.


JLA #53
I'm coming in at the tail end of this story arc, and it surprises me how good it is.  It's a solid comic, well adapted to it's short 22 page format, but one that will, I suspect, read just as well in a trade.  Dark Supergirl isn't really too dark, just a bit snarky.  She's not all out for evil and doom, not like she was in her introductory trade.  It's refreshing.
Now, as soon as DC clarify where dark Supergirl fits into regular Supergirl continuity I'll be happy.

Superboy #4
I may be feeling a little out of sorts today, but I am not thrilled with this art.  There's not enough detail in the faces.  This blog post talks about how women's faces are drawn with less pencil lines than men's faces, therefore they are more difficult to draw.  It's not a stance I particularly agree with, especially as a lot of the motivation for not putting in detail seems to be that less detail = beauty, and women = beauty.
Anyway, reading this comic makes me think of this post, as there's fuck all pencil detail on Connor's and other character's faces.  Any nuance comes from the colourist.  It's not an approach I care for.

Other than the art, the issue is good.


Secret Six #30
I have no fucking clue what is going on here.  The Doom patrol turns up, a lazy disaffected 23 year old decides to become an old style king of crime, and the Six are on Oolong Island, where everything converges.

Oh and Bane is taken to a strip club and there he meets 3 twitterati.  No really!  Gail Simone gave a cameo to @pseudicide (Dee) @ceebee_eebee (Elyssa) and @harleyquinnaid (Elise).  I chat to pseudicide and ceebee_eebee quite a lot on twitter.  They are adorable.  So, the panels with them in kind of made this comic for me. :D

Brightest Day #19
Aquawar! AquaWar! AquaWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Oh hells yeah.   Bring on the Aqua goodness.  And oh look, Arthur's lost a hand. Again.  How careless of him. ;)

Here's an interesting thing

Apparently when I'm an overtired zombie I can't tell the difference between Secret Six and Birds of Prey.  Which is how I came out with Secret Six #27 today and now have the title on standing order.  I blame the dinosaur on the front.

It's a very cool looking dinosaur and it's being ridden by Bane.

Spoilers ahead.









So, the Six are in Skataris fighting another bunch of villains, except they're not really fighting them as Scandal is friendly with Jeanette (who turns into the Silver Banshee at one point) and Bane (whom she's stabbed thinking he was her father).  Ragdoll is fighting a giant shark who likes pale white meat and now has one eyeball hanging out, thanks to Ragdoll.  The Six are now forced to quit the fight as they are surrounded by armoured dinosaurs. Catman is turned into the symbol of the resistance and is given a very fetching and beefcakey outfit.  Meanwhile, Spy Smasher is trying to pull a fast on Amanda Waller.  This is not a good idea.

Fuck knows the background to this issue but I quite enjoyed it.


Superboy #1 was a solid opening issue.  We get a supporting cast, ruminations on his life so far, Krypto, the Phantom Stranger being all silver age-y and ominous (Connor is all modern and cut the bullshit-y), Parasite is on a revenge spree and then Poison Ivy turns up very unexpectedly.  Last of all we have a retro 'coming up' page - Ivy and Connor work together, Connor and Bart race, there's some new titans and Connor crosses the multiverse.  Looks like fun!

Brightest Day #13 continued the retcons that we've had so far - nor Geoff Johns is fleshing out the backstory of Chay-era's mother.  It struck me that I probably shouldn't be pissed off at this, because Rebirth was all retcon too and that worked out fine.  Surprisingly, Hath Set appears to have now been killed by Hawkwoman.  There's some fantastic splash pages of Hawkman, and some not so fantastic alpha male-ing of Batman.  I do not want Bruce to be the goddamn White Lantern (altho the Goddamn White Lantern might be fun).  Bruce Wayne is not the answer to fecking everything.

2 weeks worth of comics

Ooh look I got behind again.  Oh well, I have something to say now.  Onwards!  Spoilers ahead for Birds of Prey #5, Brightest Day #10, Superman/Batman # 76, Supergirl #56 and some old 90s Superboy issues.
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Birds of Prey #5
Reading this I was struck again by the lack of solid female friendships in DC's comics.  In this issue Dinah decides (fairly inexplicably to a new reader) to quit the Birds and bugger off to Bangkok with the White Canary.  Zinda and Helena are having none of this and follow her to Bangkok to tell her so.  Friends that won't let other friends do stupid things are good friends.  I can't think of any other book where this sort of thing would happen, and it's what made this issue special.


Brightest Day #10
The firestorm matrix bonding Ronnie and Jason together is revealed to be the spark the ignited the big bang.  This would have captured my interest far more if we hadn't had the Aqua story running alongside it.  Gods alive that was good!  There's all sorts of dramatic heroism all over the shop.  I had tears in my eyes reading this (I think I may be a bit emotional at the moment...).  Without a second thought, Jackson's Dad was going to sacrifice himself so his son could live, Jackson wasn't having this so he's saves his Dad and fights back against Black Manta.  Back on land Manta slings a fish hook at Jackson's father, which is caught at the last moment by Aquaman, leading to an awesomely dramatic full page splash.

I LOVE this sort of stuff.  My heart was all a flutter reading this.


Superman/Batman # 76
This made my heart go all a flutter and made me a bit weepy, until I thought about it more.  You see, this issue deals with Bruce's death & funeral, and Superman's emotional state after the death of his friend.  This is all good and it is great to see, except for Bruce's funeral.  Lois wasn't allowed as it was allegedly core Justice League members only, in civilian clothing,  and there was a secret identity issue.

Fine.  Lois must know near enough all the JLA members identities by now, but fine.  Then you see the funeral scene.  Attending is Clark, Dick, Alfred, Tim, Diana, Dinah and Ollie.

Ollie?  There's no Hal or Kyle, no Wally or Barry, Carter or Zatanna and you're trying to tell me Ollie gets to be the core of the League?  And no Selina or Barbara?  Nothing would stop those two attending Bruce's funeral.  Hell, Talia should also be there.

Ridiculous.

Supergirl #56
As with last issue, this was great.  Best issue of these 2 weeks without a doubt.  Jamal Igle's art is great, I think he's getting better every issue - it now seems he's not going to Birds of Prey and was never going to go to BoP, so let this be a lesson to us all.  I hope he stays on Supergirl, I really do.  He even drew Sterling Gates in this issue, proclaiming Kara 'sooo ugly!' (some Bizarros speak in opposites) complete with little hearts(!).

Sterling Gates has given Bizarrogirl a distinct personality.  I didn't think that was possible (with the Bizarros).  There's some nice homages to the pre-crisis Kara with Bizarrogirl crushing on BizarroLex.  Mostly, I am struck by the similarities between Bizarrogirl and that imposter Supergirl from issue 18.  There's some things in there about what a Supergirl 'should' be and Kara is considering if she is measuring up to the standard set by the S shield.  I know these last couple of issues have been a general reflection on Kara and recent events but the introduction of Bizarrogirl reads, to me, like a redone version of issue 18.  A far far improved version which is much less patronising to the readers.

Superboy Plus the Power of Shazam #1
Superboy meets Captain Marvel Junior and they are tested for strength and determination.  Cap'n Junior fails, Superboy passes.  It's an incredibly contrived issue set up to bring readers into a new Superboy plotline and vaguely advance the plot of Cap'n Junior.  Not really worth getting unless you're a completest.  The best bit about it is Knockout, who will never cease to rock.  the worst bit is Tana Moon suddenly becoming Caucasian.

Superboy Plus Slither 2
Another meh issue.  Better than the Shazam one but not great.  I'm also trying to track down the other Plus issues as I believe that Robin, Impulse and Catwoman also got involved.

Superboy annual 1997 - Pulp Heroes
Now this was fun.  Superboy and co take a journey to Dinosaur Island.  Superboy gets drunk, loses his memory, they meet cavemen and fight off dinosaurs.  Lots of pulpy B movie type fun.  All the cavewomen are hot, slim yet busty and in fur bikinis.  The cavemen are fat, ugly and in fur loincloths.  I love the pulp style, I appreciate the aesthetic and I'm a sucker for old monster B movies.  However reading this, I was considering what it means culturally and politically when the women are objects of desire and the men aren't.  I think it's particularly important to be aware of this in a comic aimed at teenage boys.  Guess my conclusions.


Superboy & Risk Double Shot (1998)
Another fun one.  Superboy goes undercover at a school to discover which student broke into Project Cadmus.  He adopts an incredibly nerdish persona - which is quite obviously poking fun at Clark's mild mannered identity - and proceeds to be bullied and discover nothing.

There were 3 other books released under the Double Shot title, one was Supergirl & Prysm, the other two are Robin & someone and Impulse & someone.  I am tracking them down on ebay.

Nicola Scott on Teen Titans

heartbart has a preview page up of Nicola Scott's artwork for Teen Titans.

Ahh I don't really care if the writing's crap, the art is gorgeous!  Such a lovely Bart, and such a square bodied Con!  Oh I am so looking forward to this.

And you can buy this page!!  Be still my swooning (skint) heart.