Catwoman

Catwoman 1-4

Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke team up to tell a story that…isn’t as good as I remember.  Though to be honest, I didn’t remember anything about this arc except for the fact that Cooke drew it.  

Selina reboots her life, coming off of Selina’s Big Score, along with her costume (which is still in use today).  Holly re-enters Selina’s life.  The plot itself is uninspiring, with a Clayface clone killing prostitutes.  I’m only keeping this for Cooke’s art.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Catwoman 5-7

Brad Rader enters and Cooke leaves, taking with him any incentive I have to stay with this.  Past me agreed, quitting after three more issues.  Selina investigates a drug ring involving corrupt Gotham cops.  Brubaker doesn’t have it here, but it’s good to know that he massively elevates his game for the upcoming Gotham Central.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine (Cutting)

Catwoman 17-19

I have no idea what made me come back for these three issues, but I’m so happy that I did.  This is a remarkable arc, dealing with the emotional fallout of Slam Bradley hooking up with Selina.  It’s the classic “he loves her, she’s using him to feel something/anything.”  It’s obviously destined to end with shattered hearts all around, and it’s masterfully done.  This is probably the most relationship-heavy story Brubaker’s done, and it’s a great one.  Javier Pulido does a wonderful job on the art.

That's...depressingly familiar.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Superman: Year One, Catwoman: Selina's Big Score

Superman: Year One 1-3

This is such a Frank Miller story.  I said it all three years ago, and better than I would today.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Catwoman: Selina’s Big Score

This was Darwyn Cooke’s take on Richard Stark’s Parker books before he got permission to start doing them himself.  Heck, one of the main characters is named Stark, and he’s a flat out rip off of Parker.  

It’s a decently done heist, but takes a little too long to get to the action.  Cooke’s done better, but he’s also done worse.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Harleen, Criminal Sanity

New comics!

Gotham City: Year One 1

Slam Bradley gets into the middle of the kidnapping of the baby Helen Wayne during the 1960s.  It’s a straight up noir mystery.  As always, a good start by Tom King, this time with Phil Hester on art.

Batman: Beyond the White Knight 5

The whole alter ego switching places with the main personality thing was weird when it was the Joker in previous series.  It’s just as strange here with Jack Napier in Bruce Wayne’s head.  I think Sean Murphy’s firmly on the diminishing returns curve now with the White Knight series, but it’s still good enough for me to stay on, at least for the duration of this arc.  

Human Target 7 

It’s back after a short hiatus, yay!  This is still one of King’s best series, and he’s doing it all through mood.  He and Greg Smallwood have created something perfect here.  

That dress shirt look.  So hot.

Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity 1-8

A crime thriller reimagining of the Harley/Joker relationship, complete with creative serial killer murder scenes and psychological cat-and-mouse back and forths. 

I’m so happy that Kami Garcia didn’t go with the expected “Harley is seduced by Joker” ending.  Looking at my past reviews, it seems like that’s all I was really hoping for with every issue.  Mission accomplished, I guess.  

The part where Harley lets Joker go still makes no sense to me.  If she wanted to kill him, she should have just done it.  If she wanted to send him to jail, she should have told the cops.  If she wanted to catch him in the act, she was criminally inept at it.  It’s a really clumsy way of setting up a disappointing final confrontation.  

Still, I really liked the original take on the dynamic.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Harleen 1-3

Stjepan Sejic is a comic-creating god.  He’s got some of the loveliest art out there, and everything he writes is top notch.  The only problem is that he’s got so many ideas that he can’t stay with one for long, moving between them as inspiration dictates.  It’s frustrating in that I want to know what happens for all of them, but if this is how he stays fresh and keeps everything good, I’ll happily live with that trade off.  

Unlike Criminal Sanity, this is a flat out retelling of the Harley Quinn origin story.  But it’s so exquisitely done that I dare say it surpasses even the original Mad Love by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini.  Harley’s fall is slow, inevitable, and all the more tragic because Sejic really takes the time to make her a relatable, likable protagonist.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Superman: Space Age, Superman: Red and Blue, Superman: Son of Kal-El

I’m down to around 800 comics left to review, with only two short boxes remaining plus whatever’s still on my shelf.  (I’m down to one bookshelf of comics, everything else is in boxes.  *sob*  One day, my library will return…)  So things are going to be pretty haphazard from here on out, as I try to save the best stuff for last.  (It’s getting hard, it’s all pretty good at this point.)  

Plus there are the ongoing series that I’m still collecting, I probably won’t review those.  

Superman: Space Age 1

I bought this less than two months ago, and my thoughts haven’t changed.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Superman: Red & Blue 5

From a little over a year ago.  This is such a good comic book, every story (except for the Mark Buckingham one) tugging perfectly at my heartstrings.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Superman: Son of Kal-El 1-5

An average series, which makes it below average when it comes to Tom Taylor-written comics.  I gave it a fair shake, and quit at the right time.  My very first impression turned out to be correct.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Eagle

Eagle 1-5

This is the comic book version of West Wing; something I can always pull off of the shelf if I need something good to read.  It’s comfort food at its best.  

The comparison to West Wing is no mistake.  The presidential campaign of Kenneth Yamaoka, the first major Asian-American candidate, is startlingly similar to that of Matt Santos, the first major Latino-American candidate.  All fictional, of course, but both mirror President Obama’s run as well.  It’s wonderfully told, and if the re-read exposes some of the weaker storylines (the scandal with Rachel’s mother, the conspiracy with Yamaoka’s father-in-law), it also reaffirms Eagle as one of my top five manga.  (Sanctuary, Firefighter Daigo, Cross Game, and Dragonball Z are probably the others.)  

I would have loved to see Kaiji Kawaguchi take a stab at the actual Yamaoka administration.  Heck, I’d settle for reading some of his other works, but things like Silent Service haven’t been published in English.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Wonder Woman, Batman minis, New comics

New comics!

Tales of the Human Target 1

A lame fill-in where Fire, Booster Gold, and Guy Gardner tell their separate tales of how they ruined a Human Target case.  Superhero incompetence write large, rarely a fun thing to read about.

Captain Marvel 41

Carol returns to Earth, somewhat makes up with the Enchantress, and Binary takes to the stars to find herself.  Not bad, but the lack of anything standout is really making me question the continued purchase of this title.

Iron Cat 4

Same thing w/ Jed MacKay’s “ongoing.”  Fun, but not really memorable.  I’ll probably finish out this storyline, then reevaluate.

DCeased: War of the Undead Gods 2

At least Tom Taylor still has it together.  Green and Yellow Lanterns face off against Darkseid and the other New Gods.  Long story short, Sinestro dies and Darkseid has his yellow right now.  Ruh-roh.

Fables 155

It’s five issues in, and Bill Willingham is still doing setup.  It’s very Tom King, but not as effective.  Completionist me can’t bring myself to stop buying this, but I’m really not enjoying myself with this.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Future State: Wonder Woman 1-2

Joelle Jones’ art isn’t enough to save an unlikable character and a nothing story.  I’d cut this if there wasn’t a chance this could increase in value.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Stupid

Batman/Catwoman 1-12

Tom King shuffles Batman/Catwoman stories across four different timelines in an effort to hide the fact that he doesn’t have much of anything to share with the reader.

Plus, Liam Sharp fills in for three issues in the middle, a complete tonal shift that wrecks the fact that at least the series had Clay Mann’s art going for it.

WTF is Sharp doing with those lips?  This is poor Sienkiewicz or Janson.

Yes, those are Joker's body parts decorating the tree.

Back to Mann doing cool looking stuff.

I was all excited to see what King would do with the return of Andrea Beaumont (for the first time since Mask of the Phantasm?).  He wastes it with this muddle of a story involving her adopted son, the Joker, a faked suicide, and a happy ending that isn’t earned at all.

Also a complete fail is the wedding (at last!) of Bruce and Selina.  It’s tacked on to the end of the whole thing, coming out of nowhere and bringing things to an abrupt end.  After spending so much time on their romance, King completely bungles their happy ending.  He’s proven himself to be way more adept at handling their story, it’s a shame to see him end it on this note.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Didn’t suck

Batman/Catwoman Special 1

Case in point; this issue really gets to the heart of what makes the Bruce/Selina relationship sing.  Original review. 

It’s super sweet and sad.  Selina dying alone in an alley - eight months later and I still don’t know how I feel about it.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Batman: The Detective 1-6

The concept is cool; Someone’s out killing everyone who Batman’s saved over the years.  The following five issues don’t live up to the initial premise.  I can’t recall a single “Bruce Wayne training to become Batman” story that’s really worked for me, and this adventure w/ Henri Ducard continues that streak.  

Batman: Killing Time 1-6

I was so tempted to re-edit this so that I could read it chronologically from start to finish.  With its rigorous adherence to timestamps, it’s screaming to get reorganized like that.  Instead, as I read it through as Tom King intended, I realized that it wasn’t necessary.  The storytelling is clear and impeccably executed.  I guess I was negatively influenced by the mess that was Batman/Catwoman.  (Maybe that’s the one that needs re-editing…)  

So I’m of two minds about this story.  On the one hand, there’s stunning David Marquez art, excellent action, and a brilliant new villain in The Help.

Heh.

Very Inigo/Westley.

On the other, the whole thing revolves around a stupid MacGuffin.  Why anyone would believe that possessing this “Eye of God” will let them rule the world defies comprehension.  Certainly there’s no reason why the FBI would want it.  It doesn’t help that King rubs it in our faces, saying that absolutely none of it matters at all.  

It’s trying to be clever, but it comes off as insulting.  Still, it’s awfully well done.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Suicide Squad, New comics

New comics!

Public Domain 4

Can’t tell if this is the last issue or not.  Either way, I might be done with this.  None of the characters are likable, and the industry parts of the comic aren’t as interesting as I’d have hoped.

Love Everlasting 2

This doesn’t follow the formula of the first issue.  (Three similar stories where the protagonist gets more and more self-aware.)  This scenario takes the full issue, only getting weird in the final third.  Still no idea what’s going on, but Tom King and Elsa Charretier’s subversion of the old romance comic is excellent.  

Nightwing 96

Big fight between Nightwing and Blockbuster, ending the arc, but the highlight is the DTR conversation between Dick and Barbara.  

Love her hand on his butt.

Suicide Squad 1-11

This isn’t Suicide Squad so much as an excuse for Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo to create a new team of likable characters and put them through their paces alongside Harley Quinn and Deadshot.  I’m not complaining at all, this is a rollicking fun story with some real heart, hallmarks of a Taylor title.  I’d love to see the Revolutionaries in their own title.  (Apparently they’ve shown up in Superman: Son of Kal-El, but I’m not going back to that.)

I love Portal-type shenanigans.

Maybe.  But it'd be fun to see in action.

Taylor writes a funny Harley.

Batman can't be the butt of the jokes that often, but when it works...

Hee.

Ollie's gesticulations in the last panel.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good