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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 7

Juan Ferreyra’s art is so good.  I want to see him on something more high profile.  On the story-side, Jason Aaron has been spending way too much time on the turtles being mad at each other.  They should have reconciled by now, this thing has dragged on past its shelf life. 

DC vs Vampires: World War V 8

I’ve previously written about how impressed I was by Matthew Rosenberg’s ability to juggle multiple engaging plotlines.  With this issue, the pendulum’s swung to the other side.  Nothing’s given enough time to breathe and develop, and it’s hard for me to enjoy any of it.  Also, it’s usually not a good sign when the New Gods show up.  

Absolute Flash 2

Not much happens this issue; Wally tries to run away from the Absolue Rogues’ Gallery with no real development, and I was hoping for much more.  This is the weakest of the Absolute titles, and I don’t see myself sticking around for much longer.

Wonder Woman 20

Diana enlists Batman’s assistance in solving a murder mystery on Olympus.  Tom King utilizes a strict 9-panel grid.  Guillem March is on pencilling duty.  

Detective Comics 1096

Things end in a rather unsatisfactory manner.  Batman prevents Joe Chill’s murder.  Tom Taylor’s addition to Thomas and Martha Wayne’s past doesn’t make things any more interesting.  Mikel Janin is still an amazing artist.  

Absolute Batman 7

A wonderfully creepy take on Mr. Freeze.  A completely unnecessary, gross death that I did not need to see.  Marcos Martin is too good of an artist for his own good, in this rare case. 

New comics

New comics!

Batgirl 6

So the first arc ends, and it turns out what I thought was a miniseries is now an ongoing.  I’m not sure if I’m going to stick around; As with Kelly Thompson’s Birds of Prey, I want to like this more than I actually do.  The pieces are there, but it’s just not clicking.  Maybe one more issue.

Absolute Superman 6

We find out how the Kents fit into the Absolute universe.  And in a haunting, harrowing twist, Kal-El was essentially in solitary confinement for seventeen months on the journey from Krypton to Earth.  No cryosleep.  He just about went crazy from the isolation.

Absolute Green Lantern 1

As with the rest of Absolute Wave 2, not as strong as the first batch.  But I’ll stick around for at least a little longer.

Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell 1

Charles Soule and Steve McNiven do their Dark Knight Returns spin on Matt Murdock.  McNiven channels Kaare Andrews circa Iron Fist: Living Weapon, which is just fine by me.  

Battle Action 4-5

Nothing new to say about these.  Serviceable, I’ll keep supporting Garth Ennis doing war comics.

Big Burn 3

I can’t remember the last time a comic brought such a broad smile to my face;  The final scene is absolutely pitch perfect, I loved it so much.  Joe Henderson and Lee Garbett continue to be one of the top creative teams out there.

New comics

Batgirl 5

Cassandra Cain fights more of the blue ninja.  Entertaining enough, and my daughter is getting a kick out of this title.  

Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween 6

I’m not familiar with Enrico Marini, but he’s got a mega Matt Wagner vibe going, which I’m never going to complain about.  I stopped caring about the plot months ago.

Batman 158

I suspect it’s going to be the same for this Jeph Loeb-plotted story as well.  I wasn’t impressed with the original arc, and I certainly wasn’t clamoring for a sequel.  I’m only getting this for the Jim Lee art, and even that doesn’t have the same luster that it used to.  Hard to say if I’m going to make it through this whole story.

Wonder Woman 19

Tom King wraps up this storyline and starts the next one, foreshadowing the death of Diana and the rest of the Wonder Women.  It’s not the strongest of issues, but it’s still a good effort from King and Daniel Sampere.

Black Canary: Best of the Best 5

More of the same, which is pretty underwhelming.  Ryan Sook isn’t a bad artist by any stretch, but I think this title would have been so much better if drawn by someone capable of more dynamic action sequences.  This fight between Black Canary and Lady Shiva should be way more engaging.  Also, for two of the world’s top martial artists, there are way too many moves straight out of the WWE.  It really detracts from the supposed high stakes of the bout.

Absolute Martian Manhunter 1

I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Deniz Camp.  The jury’s still out on this title, it’s one of those mindfuck “man’s world is falling apart around him as he starts to question the reality he’s living in” kind of things.  Javier Rodriguez is perfectly suited for this, I just hope that the story lives up to the artwork. 

Ultimate Spider-Man 15

Absolute Sandman shows up.  Not much else happens, but it’s still a lot of fun.

 

New comics

New comics!

Free for All

I picked this up because I recognized Patrick Horvath’s name from Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees.  This one-shot has an intriguing concept: randomly selected billionaires, chosen by lottery, must either donate half their money to the public or fight to the death to retain it.  A wonderful basis for a story, but the execution is just a touch lacking.  Still entertaining, but it focuses on the combat, while I would have liked to see more about the society in which this policy exists.

Absolute Wonder Woman 6

Mattia de Iulis is the guest artist for this two issue arc, and he’s an excellent stand in.  This continues Kelly Thompson’s streak of awesome issues in this title, digging into the origin of Diana’s arsenal of weapons.

Absolute Flash 1

Wave 2 of the Absolute line begins here.  Jeff Lemire doesn’t immediately grab my attention the way Thompson and Scott Snyder did, but things are still interesting enough for me to stick around for at least a little longer.

One World Under Doom 2

Doom continues to outmaneuver the good guys, and turns Ben Grimm back into a human.  

Fantastic Four 30

Those ramifications are handled here.  In a nice twist, Ryan North writes Ben as someone who’s gotten used to, and indeed loves, being the Thing.  After spending so many years wanting to return to normal, he’s completely turned around on the issue, understandably so.  It’s a nice character study by North.

Detective Comics 1095

A filler issue by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin where not much happens, but at least it looks beautiful.  

Absolute Batman 6

Big, burly Bruce Wayne resolves the Black Mask situation.  This’ll be fun to re-read all at once.  I’m definitely around for more of this.