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Batman: One Bad Day: Ra’s Al Ghul 1

Tom Taylor with a decent take on Ra’s Al Ghul, whom I’ve always been meh on as a Batman villain.  I nothing him.  Here though, he has a plan I can get behind: Kill the evil heads of corporations and put leaders in place who will affect environmentally friendly changes.  

What’s more, he succeeds.  On top of that, he kills Batman(!), resurrecting him only after his plans have been carried out.  This leads to another bare-chested sword fight between the two antagonists a la Neal Adams.

I’m not sad to have bought this, but I probably wouldn’t do it again.      

Einstein

Borrowed from the library, this is Jim Ottaviani’s latest.  As always, I love the effort, but I started zoning out by the end of the book.  Concept > execution.

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Nightwing 101

Sigh.  I care so little about the mystical side of the DC universe, so making Neron and some guy named the Grinning Man the next big bads doesn’t make for an auspicious start to this next arc.

DCeased: War of the Undead Gods 6

Not even Tom Taylor can make the Spectre or New Gods interesting to me.  (Only Tom King’s managed that feat.)  And Alfred as the Spectre is as stupid as it sounds.

Human Target 12

Speaking of Tom King, this is so freaking good.  The art by Greg Smallwood, the epilogue nature of the story, each perfectly assembled scene…I need to read this over again.

Superman 1

I only picked this up because of a positive iFanboy review.  I’m glad I did, this is a great “start of a new era” issue.  Joshua Williamson has had his name on a lot of DC stories lately, but this is the first time I’ve read his work.  Jamal Campbell I know, of course, for his wonderful work on Naomi.  This could be the beginning of something awesome, looking forward to the next issue.

Batman: One Bad Day: Clayface 1

This is such a good single issue story.  Clayface goes to Hollywood and tries to make it as an actor.  He does his best to play it straight for a while, but eventually succumbs to his baser instincts.  It’s a wonderful character study for an underdeveloped villain.  Kudos to Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Xermanico.

Do a Powerbomb 1-7

Daniel Warren Johnson’s followup to Beta Ray Bill.  It’s well suited to his dynamic, visceral approach to action sequences, and there are just enough character moments to give it the necessary depth to elevate it above the usual fare.  

And, of course, there are scenes like this:

So good.

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That Texas Blood 7-12

Joe Bob recounts a case from his past, involving a kidnapped girl, her murdered brother, and the Mayan death cult responsible for it all.  It’s certainly an amazingly well executed comic book by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips, but it’s just not the kind of thing I’m in the market for.  This is more of a “borrow from the library to read once” title.  

Batman: One Bad Day: Mr Freeze

A nice take on the Mr Freeze origin story from Gerry Duggan and Matteo Scalera, but the real, unexpected star of this one-shot is Dick Grayson.  Duggan gives him all of the best moments, bringing a welcome exuberance to a tragic character.

Very spooky.

That grin is priceless.

Batmobile with winter treads is AWESOME.

Dream crushed.

Dream fulfilled.

Echo, New comics

New comics!

Fables 154

So much filler.  On the one hand, I probably wouldn’t buy this again.  But the completionist in me can’t bring myself to stop.

Dark Knights of Steel: Tales from the Three Kingdoms 1

Yet another anthology that’s a waste of time and money.  I was skeptical about buying this, I should have listened to my gut.  

Variants 3

This continues to be a solid story.  It’s a brilliant move by Gail Simone to make one of the variants a more innocent Jessica who never encountered Killgrave.  Talk about a Sliding Doors moment.

Public Domain 3

I’m still enjoying this intriguing battle between creator and company over an IP.  It’s just a very well told story.

New Champion of Shazam 2

Great art by Doc Shaner, but the story by Josie Campbell isn’t quite as charming in this second issue.

Great lightning.

Batman: One Bad Day - Riddler

I did not expect to read something this good today, even with Tom King and Mitch Gerads’ names on the cover.  This is basically Killing Joke for the Riddler, complete with origin story, showdown in the rain, and leveling up the villain to another tier of evil.  This is really good, as instant of a classic as I can recall in recent memory.  It’s definitely the best Riddler story I’ve ever read.

Then there’s the ending.  Did Batman kill Edward Nygma?  The panel layout, mimicking the opening murder in the book, certainly seems to suggest that.  Which would make this an Elseworlds.  That would be a shame, this certainly deserves to be in canon.

Echo 1-30

As good as Strangers in Paradise is, I was never all that interested in reading any of Terry Moore’s followup works.  (And it’s not like I made it through SiP the first time around.)  But I certainly wasn’t going to turn down the complete collection for ten bucks, a 75% discount, at my LCS.  That was four years ago, and I finally got around to reading it today.  

Moore is an amazing comic book creator.  His art and writing are so strong.  I couldn’t put this down, reading the whole thing in a little over two hours.  

Absolutely lovely narration

Hahaha

Was this meant to be sweet?  Because it's creepy as fuck.

I’m dubious about the whole “end of the world” thing, it’s super melodramatic and really doesn’t fit with the tone of the story.  (In case you’re wondering, the science fiction of the suit works for me.  Global apocalypse does not.  Nor does the appearance of Cain.  That Cain.)  It’s probably why the whole Five Years thing didn’t do much for me.   

But I am still interested in picking up Rachel Rising and Motor Girl at some point.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good