Mister Miracle, World of Tanks, Strangers in Paradise, Catwoman, Superman

New comics!

Strangers in Paradise XXV 5

Blech.  Terry Moore gets into the conspiracy/plot part of the comic, and I find myself not caring a bit about it.  I think it has something to do with Echo, one of his other comics.  (Shared universe and what not.)  Tambi sets up an ancient piece of papyrus covered with Cleopatra’s mathematical scrawlings as what I presume will be the MacGuffin for the rest of the run.  Blah blah fishcakes. Katchoo continues to ignore Francine, and it continues to infuriate me.

World of Tanks: Citadel 4

Really not Garth Ennis’ strong stuff.  It’s not as bad as his horrible work (all the latest Section Eight comics), but it’s completely forgettable.  Do I even buy the last issue? (Assuming there’s only one more.)

Catwoman 2

The Joelle Jones art continues to shine, but her writing isn’t grabbing my attention.  I really like the parts where she hints at her state of mind post-Bruce-engagement, but there aren’t enough of them.  Though...looking back at the issue, there’s actually a decent amount of inner-monologuing about this. Must be that I want even more.  

“My bed won’t feel so empty if my body is too tired to recognize it.  Perhaps it won’t notice that I’m sleeping alone again. I can fight this static buzzing in my brain and hope that the repeating melody of his name will disappear from my mind.”

When you just can't sleep...

Some nice imagery there.  Yeah, taking back what I said about the writing, it’s the plotting that’s not doing it for me.  Mrs. Creel is a visually arresting villain, but I’m not caring about her schemes right now.

Don't think I've ever seen this composition in a splash before.  Love it.

Superman 2

Nooooo, not more Rogol Zaar!!!  When did Barry Allen start acting like Impulse?  Was anyone clamoring for a Nuclear Man cameo? This is such a useless, filler issue, and things are worryingly starting to feel a lot more like Invincible Iron Man Bendis than Ultimate Spider-Man Bendis.  

At least I got the David Mack cover,

Mister Miracle 10

This issue saves the whole week.  Tom King’s mixture of the mundane with the fantastic always creates the tastiest of cocktails, and Mitch Gerads’ mastery of the nine-panel grid results in the most beautiful bits of storytelling.  Congratulations to both of them for their well-deserved Eisners at this year’s SDCC.

This shower breakdown is exquisite in its body language.

The absent-minded hair-stroking!