New comics

New comics!

Wonder Woman 32

Tom King returns to the parallel intertwined storytelling device that he employs so often.  Usually it works, but this time around it felt forced and unnecessary.  Sometimes I just want a straightforward story, is that so wrong?

Batwoman 2

Nope.  So done with this.  An unmitigated, uncharacteristic fail by Greg Rucka.

Battle Beast 8

Battle Beast returns to the fray, and it doesn’t disappoint.  The fight sequence with the regenerating sword is pretty sweet.  Like I said last time, this series needs Battle Beast fights to stay interesting.

Flash 32

Not bad, but I’m looking for a little more from Ryan North.  Hopefully he picks it up after he gets his feet wet with this first arc.

Detective Comics 1108

Is a Tom Taylor title worth buying if it’s perfectly fine?  I cut the cord with his Superman run, I wonder if I have the strength to do it with this.  It’s on my watch list.

Harley & Ivy 5

Erica Henderson is Pulling.  It.  Off. 

Absolute Batman 19

Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta introduce a bunch of new, exciting things: Absolute Scarecrow, Absolute Robins, and Jim Gordon dies!  After a less-than-stellar run w/ Absolute Poison Ivy, happy days look to be back again.  (As happy as things can be in Absolute Gotham.)

Powers 25 8

We get Kutter’s origin, and it’s not nearly as interesting as her partner’s.  Still not turning down Bendis/Oeming, though.  

Absolute Wonder Woman 19

Diana and Zatanna free Zatara and fight Giganta.  And before she can catch her breath, Diana jumps back into the fray against something called the Iron Maiden.  Speaking of breath, this Diana takes mine away.  

Spider-Man/Superman 1

Just about every single one of these stories would have been better if they showed the greatness of these icons instead of speechifying about what makes them so.  It gets really old really fast.  It’s a waste of some truly phenomenal creative teams.

Fine Print TPB 3

Stjepan Sejic is one of the best comic creators out there right now, yadda yadda yadda.  I will buy anything this dude puts out.  He doesn’t disappoint with this.  Can’t wait for whatever comes next.  (I think it’s more Sunstone.)

New comics

New comics!

Powers 25 7

More build up.  Not as good as previous issues, but Bendis keeps it interesting.

Batwoman 1

I had to see what Greg Rucka would bring in his return to Kathy Kane.  Unfortunately, he also brought her mad sister Alice, who I’ve never been a fan of.  She’s like an evil manic pixie dream girl, or a dark Delirium from Sandman.  Not a fun read.  The art by Dani isn’t appealing either.  However, Rucka does turn the tide with an epic final page, which buys him another issue.  But he’s on a super short leash with me.

Planet She-Hulk 5

One of the few times where a title getting cancelled means I’ll actually stick around.  With only one issue to go, I might as well see how Stephanie Phillips finishes up this truncated series.

Wonder Woman 31

The Matriarch, Tom King’s attempt at a new Wonder Woman nemesis, finally takes center stage.  It’s typical King with flashbacks, narrating from the future, and plenty of unresolved mysteries.  Not the worst start.

Battle Beast 7

The title returns from hiatus, and it reveals the problem with this series: Battle Beast is sidelined w/ injury for most of the issue, and none of the other characters can carry the story.  No one’s likeable or entertaining enough, and that led to an empty reading experience.  (Heck, Battle Beast has barely zero personality himself, but at least his fights are fun to look at.)  Maybe this title doesn’t have the staying power I thought it did.

Batwoman, Batman: Black and White

Detective Comics 854-860

Batwoman 1-6

JH Williams III. That’s all there is to say about these issues.  His art is just gorgeously spectacular.  As with his work on Promethea, the writing is almost incidental.  That’s how amazing it is.

Look at how Batwoman is painted, compared to everything else.

Stunning mix of sex and violence.

Storywise, Greg Rucka almost keeps up with Williams.  I love Kathy Kane’s backstory with her sister, the Army, the shitty way she got bounced out, the relationship with her father, her budding romance w/ Maggie Sawyer, how her dilettante cover backfires on her in ways that never seem to affect Bruce Wayne.  

Not an example of our military at its finest.

I'd be proud too.

Cameron Chase is such a cold monster.

And just when I thought she couldn't get any colder.

If only there weren’t so many supernatural elements.  Between the werepeople and water spirits, I can really do without all the mystical baddies.  It doesn’t work for me at all.

Past me stopped buying once Amy Reeder took over on art.  (Doing a very poor woman’s imitation of Williams.)  I didn’t know Williams would return later on in the run.  Eh, looking at the blurbs, it’s more werewolves and spooky ghosts.  Pass.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good (Fine for Batwoman 6)

Batman: Black and White 1-4

Batman: Black and White II 1

There are a lot more misses in this anthology series than I remember.  But the hits are pretty darn good.  Highlights:

Look at the cover artists they got: Jim Lee, Frank Miller, Barry Windsor Smith, and Alex Toth.  That’s insane!

Bruce Timm does a wonderful Two-Face story, where he’s rehabilitated before getting screwed over by a twin.

Howard Chaykin’s “Civic Virtue” short, where the bad guy kills people who do those annoying little things that piss just about everyone off.  As with the observers in the story, it’s hard to fault him…

Comic book characters as actors in Simon Bisley and Neil Gaiman’s absurd but hilarious story.

I chuckled with delight when I saw the first page of Matt Wagner’s piece with all the zipatone.

So many dots!

The Bill Seinkiewicz story pissed me off in all the right ways.  Such evocative writing and art.

Batman as Santa is sweet.

Turns out Bruce is a gearhead.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine (The good and the bad average out)