Just a
couple of news items this month:
Here's
some more information on the impending return of Keith Giffen to
Legion
of Super-Heroes:
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/keith-giffen-legion-of-superheroes-revamp.html.
A “revamp on the run”? “No one is safe.” This could be
good. This could be bad. I have a definite sense of unease....
(Nothing like rabid fans of Karate Kid have, I'm sure!)
“Holy
Boomerang, Batman!” – Well, it seems that Gail Simone's
banishment from Batgirl
was short-lived – pretty much just long enough for me to take
notice of it and stick it in my previous “monthly round-up” post,
then it was undone –
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/12/21/dc-comics-put-gail-simone-back-on-batgirl/
. I would love to know the behind-the-scenes here. Was there really
such a hue and cry that DC backpedaled? Or was there more at work
here than we'll ever know? I suspect the latter. But, as I
commented to a colleague, it probably stood Simone in good stead that
she did not take the opportunity to start airing DC's dirty laundry
in the midst of the fanboy virtual uprising that followed her first
announcements. To my knowledge, her own statement in that first
announcement that she herself would have more to say on the subject
was never followed through on, for whatever reason. In any case, I'm
pleased with the outcome.
As
part of the spate of end-of-year retrospectives and assessments, of
interest to me because I do seem to be buying more and more digital
comics, mainly (by which I mean almost exclusively) through
Comixology, Comic Book Resources offers this rather hopeful analysis
of how digital sales are faring and might even, to paraphrase, be
tapping into that Holy Grail of the pool of “new readers”:
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2012/12/digital-primed-for-greater-influx-of-new-readers-in-2013/
.
And
now, on to the comics, beginning of course with the “real” comics
for the month....
“End
Times.”
Well,
it appears that Khan's name is spelled correctly now, and that he is
indeed a Sikh. There is indeed reference to Khan “[fighting]
parademons and terrornauts armed only
with [his] father's kirpan” – a kirpan
is “a ceremonial four-inch curved dagger that Sikh men and women
are obliged to wear at all times” (source).
(There is also immediately subsequent an interesting exchange
between Terry Sloan and Khan: Sloan continues, “But then, he
wasn't
your father … not year real
father, was he? 'Khan.'” To which Khan replies, “The ice is
thin where you're treading, Sloan.” I'm sure we'll find out more
in the future – but not now.)
As Khan argues fruitlessly with Sloan and
the World Army regarding the nukes descending on Washington, DC, and
the disembodied Alan Scott manages to break the Grey's emotional hold
on him, the others (Kendra Saunders, Jay Garrick, and Al Pratt) fight
a holding action. They are losing until Alan comes back to his body
ad flies Grundy into space, ultimately to the moon where there is no
life force for the Grey to suck away. But, once victory is won, Alan
proclaims himself as Green Lantern the most able to handle the coming
threat, leaving Hawkgirl and Flash, who then manage to get away from
the Atom.
So much for the beginning of a Justice
Society here. Nothing to see here, people, move along. Of course,
I'll be back next month.... What can I say? Robinson, Scott, and
Scott are producing a book more interesting to me in and of itself
than most of the rest of the New 52 put together.
Commentary
and Annotations:
http://atthehallofjustice.blogspot.com/2013/01/earth-2-6.html
“Family
Matters”
As often, there are two stories
converging at the end. Huntress gets caught by Robin in the act of
stealing from Wayne Enterprises. They fight – but in studying each
others' moves they recognize their similarities, as if they were both
trained by Batman. Meanwhile, Power Girl mounts an
Apokoliptian-Energy Detector to a satellite, gives some cosmonauts a
show, and in returning to Earth almost runs into Supergirl. A burst
of super-speed to avoid an awkward meeting burns off another of her
seemingly endless supply of disposable suits, and she scandalises
techs in Starr Industries' control center by showing up clad only in
a bathrobe. Then she gets an alert that Huntress is fighting Robin.
She gets there in time to drop kick him out of a dumpster where he
seems to have gotten the better of Huntress, her appearance ending
the fight long enough for a dialogue to commence. It turns out that
this is only the second time Helena has “borrowed” from Wayne in
the five years they've been on this Earth; whoever's been stealing
millions every week is some other player. The issue ends with Helena
on the verge of telling Damien the truth – and from Kara's
expression in that last panel, she ain't too pleased with that turn
of events … or maybe it's the dumpster debris she's picking out of
Helena's hair.... There's also a one-page cutaway near the end where
a Boom Tube briefly appears in near Earth orbit, from whence a burst
of energy burns the Apokoliptian-Energy Detector off that satellite.
This time Kevin Maguire handled the
Huntress sequence, while George Perez illustrated Power Girl.
Maguire is rapidly becoming one of my favorite artists. There is a
smooth elegance to his line that works so well. As increasingly of
late, there have been criticisms of the Power Girl story, especially
the penchant for blowing out a boob-window every issue – or more,
as last time and this. I find it mainly just a bit annoying, a trope
that can easily be over-used.
“Superman's
Mission to Mars”
Superman
saves Mars Base from Metalek, the alien invader that previously
appeared in issue #11,
robotic refugees fleeing the advancing Multitude, which appears here
as an angelic three-dimensional “shadow” image from a
higher-dimension. Through some purely Morrisonian scientific
mumbo-jumbo, Superman manages to duplicate how his father apparently
drove the Multitude away from Krypton – then discovers that the
real threat is Vyndktvx.
“Star
Light, Star Bright...”
As he does regularly, “every 382
days,
like clockwork” (apparently the orbital period of his homeworld),
Superman goes to Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural
History in New York City to witness “a glimpse of home,”
a planet orbiting the star LHS 2520, which he calls Rao.
A star that is 27 light-years from Earth. And this
night is roughly 27 years after the explosion of Krypton. “Those
are the images that are just reaching Earth now. // The planet
Krypton has been gone for years. // But as far as Superman is
concerned – // – tonight
is the night Krypton died.” Using the data from a network of
telescopes from around the world, all processed through his
super-brain, Superman is able to witness that event on a wonderfully
somber final page. Luckily it doesn't have the same effect on him as
it did during the previous revamp, as told in Action
Comics
#600 (May 1988) and Superman
#18 (June 1988) – a lethal wave-front of Kryptonite radiation
poisoning him!
This
story is mainly narrated, by the device of a senior scientist
explaining to a younger colleague the significance of this night, by
real-world astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson, and upon publication made
a bit of a stir in the real-world news media, e.g. “Neil deGrasse Tyson locates Superman's home planet.”
Reviews:
http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2012/11/review-action-comics-14.html
and .. . -back-up-feature.html
“Death
of the Family: Unnatural Selection”
The cliffhanger from last issue, Bruce
Wayne being attacked by Penguin's hired assassins, is resolved
quickly – with Penguin seizing the opportunity to appear to be the
hero of the day as the savior of Bruce Wayne!
This
main story has Batman going against Poison Ivy in a chemical plant
owned by the Penguin – in what turns out to be a trap for them
both. Ivy is taken away by Ogilvey, who proclaims that Penguin wants
her
dead. Batman gets a pass for some reason that Ogilvey leaves
unexplained, although he says to Batman's unconscious form that if it
were up to him it would be otherwise. But that just leaves Batman
unexplectedly in the hands of a monstrous creature wondering where
his wife,
Ivy,
is – ?!
This
story, which is told in another of those annoying non-sequential
narratives, occurs after Batman
#13 and Birds of
Prey
#12. Batman seems a bit conflicted about Ivy, at one point referring
to the events of the latter issue as Ivy “show[ing] her true
colors.”
Damian quips (more Dick Graysonish than Damienish, if you ask me),
“Green?,” to which Bruce replies, “Criminal.”
But within a page, his inner'logue states, “Damian doesn't
understand. Ivy isn't evil. Just misguided. // And more often than
not lately, we've found ourselves on the same side. Against Bane.
Against the Court
of Owls.”
And he ends up kissing her by the end of that page … of course,
that's just her pheromones … sort of. He's developed a new way to
resist her lures, a means of periodically shocking his brain into a
quick reset.
“Seeds
& Dirt”
The
back-up takes place “before all that other stuff,” i.e., the main
story. Poison Ivy breaks into Arkham Asylum to bust Clayface out –
to be her helper now that things have “go[ne] south with the
Birds.” She needs “somebody strong. Somebody stupid. //
Somebody obedient.” So, she proclaims to Clayface, “I'm busting
you out
of here. // We're getting hitched.”
“The
Nightmares Never Stop”
Doing a more literal expansion of the
notes I make as I'm reading: “Well, the vigilante Dawn is
obviously not the policewoman as I thought last issue. My second
guess is Rachel from the current flashback sequences to David's
orphanage. Ah, I'm right.” But, she was not around long ….
Batwing continues his fight against the
cult leader Father Lost, who comes across as another Brother Blood or
Kobra or any of the DC Universe's run-of-the-mill death-worshipping
baddies. This has not been my favorite story of the series, and with
Judd Wynick leaving I've decided to drop back to buying this title
digitally. If at all.
“The
Rise of the Demon”
This
issue is basically a long fight against the risen Demon Etrigan,
punctuated with exposition about his history. The relationship
between Stormwatch and their progenitor Demon Knights seems obscure,
or even one of enmity? – or is that the ultimate end of Demon
Knights?
The Engineer continues to act less and
less human, and by the end of this issue has mandated no
relationships between Stormwatch agents, basically just to spite
Midnighter and Apollo. Midnighter proposes just keeping their
relationship secret, but Apollo refuses – he won't go back in the
closet. He proposes that they leave Stormwatch, together – but
Midnighter has found something that he needs in being part of that
group.
“H'El
on Earth: The Face of H'El”
This
issue takes place after the Ravagers/Legion
Lost
cross-over (citing Legion
Lost
#14-16). Superboy is having a tough time dealing with the fallout
from Harvest seizing control of him, which seems only to confirm that
he is nothing more than a “killing machine.” He storms off from
Jocelyn Lure, back to his “home,” where Bunker tries to cheer him
up. H'El makes his appearance, but is appalled when he realizes what
Superboy is – a clone. He's nonetheless intrigued by the dual
nature of this clone, both Kryptonian and human. Despite the
appearance of the Teen Titans (sans
Red Robin, who's on a “mission” to Gotham City), H'el overwhelms
Superboy and takes him away.
Throughout
this issue, Superboy continues to be distrustful of everyone around
him, not least Lure. The hot landlady seems now fearful of him as
well. When Bunker presses him for a name to call him, besides
“Superboy,” he says, “Call me Kon. / Short for Kon-El.
// It's an insult that crazy Supergirl
once called me.” – Bunker's wide-eyed question, “An insult? /
What exactly does it mean?” is actually answered by H'el: “An
abomination
in the House of El!”
– except for some reason only Superboy can hear it, and see H'El.
There
is a markedly different appearance to the art. The effect is more
like Kenneth Rocafort's on Superman.
Is that intentional? And, near the end, is it an effect of the art
or do they mean to be depicting that H'El has already started to flay
Superboy?
We
also get another example of editorial incompetence in this
issue – in his inner'logue, Superboy refers to Bunker as “the
closet thing I have to a real friend.” It's unintentionally
hilarious, actually, since Bunker is homosexual. If it's an
intentional pun, it's stupid because it does not in any way fit the
character of Superboy, and it's sophomoric to write it into his thoughts if
it's not meant to be his
thought. I'm pretty sure it's just lax proofreading.
“Death
of the Family: Funny Bones”
Wow!
That first panel is so
reminiscent of Scott McDaniel's art from about a decade ago! Batman
escapes the Joker's trap only to return to Wayne Manor to find Alfred
has been taken. And we then witness rare images of Bruce Wayne in
anguish as he hears Alfred being tortured. He barely holds it
together in the scene with Nightwing, exploding when Nightwing
berates him for dealing with his pain in the only way he knows how,
to internalize it, in a wonderful testament to how much he loves the
man who “raised
me,” who's “been a father
to me for as long as I can remember. This is some great writing!
His attempt to get Jim Gordon into protective custody having proven
too late – the Joker had already poisoned him with a massive
anticoagulant that causes him to start hemorrhaging – Batman thinks
he's worked out the Joker's current m.o. – but the Joker outwits
him and traps Batman on a bridge, seemingly blowing Nightwing up at
another location while he subjects the entire Bat-family to a rant,
claiming to know who they all really are, and promising to kill them
all in 72 hours.
“Men
of Worship”
Basically, the Joker and the Penguin meet
in a church, “outside the city limits, far from prying eyes and
costumed idiots,” and after the Joker's usual carnage the two come
to some kind of understanding that I'm sure has Penguin messing in
his pants.
“Devoured”
Well,
I'm as confused as Damian. This issue is not listed as Death
of the Family,
but the Joker is ultimately behind the “zombie mini-pocalypse,”
which I suspected from the moment Batman got back a quick analysis of
the toxin that created the “zombies” – the code for the
compound it most closely matched began with a J.
Actually, the zombies are a cult devoted to acquiring eternal life
through eating.... Batman discovers that while Robin is a voluntary
captive being taken straight to the cult leader's lair, Bruce all the
while demanding that Damian answer the comm – which he can't, of
course, without giving himself away. Eventually father and son link
up and fight the cult together, apparently defeating it. Then fake
chattering teeth convey the Joker's cryptic message for the dynamic
duo – to Damian's astonishment because he'd seen no indication of
the Joker's involvement.
As
soon as they're back in the Cave, there's another epic confrontation
between Batman and Robin, including an exchange that gives some
insight into Bruce's motivation in keeping the shrine to Jason Todd
Robin – since Todd is of course back as the Red Hood: “What do
you think this glass case is for, hmm?”
– “To honor him.”
– “No.
/ It's here for me
– in a spot that I
can't ignore – to remind me never
again...”
Bruce wonders if this is going to work, that Damian ultimately cares
about nobody but himself. Which catalyzes the real pay-off of the
past couple of issues, revealing what Damian was sneaking off into
the sewers for in the first place. He wordlessly deposites a single
weathered pearl, which Bruce picks up. “... My mother's pearl...”
Frankly,
the zombie plot of this issue and the last was at best so-so –
confusing, although it did provide the quote of the issue, where the
cult leader reassures his followers when Damian bursts into action to
save his fellow prisoners: “No worries... / mmm.
// … It's always more interesting when your food fights back.”
Of course, the real strength of this title has always been the
character development between father and son.
“Death
of the Family: A Courtship of Razors”
Direct
pick-up (pardon the pun) from last issue, Barbara on the phone as her
mother is taken – she knows by the Joker. And then she gets her
own phone call – distorted, tormenting her as the Joker's clown
minions come against her, leading her on ultimately to a face-to- …
well … -face with the Joker holding her mother. Along the way,
Barbara, half-crazed, cuts her ties to Alesha, going almost for
broke, driven by rage. But the voice on the line was not the Joker –
it was James Jr. Is he working with the Joker or as an independent
player? Anyway, the Joker lays out his motivation – to take away
all that is “holding Batman back,” I read it as “keeping him
sane.” Then, with a positively chilling full-on face view provided
by artist Ed Benes, the Joker proposes marriage to Batgirl,
presenting her with her mother's ring … and finger.
And
DC fired
Gail Simone?
Junior
knows that his sister is Batgirl. Does the Joker? – sure, he said
he did in Batman,
but he's the Joker....
“In:
Occupy Hell”
All
of the various parties' manipulations come to a head as the Demon
Knights are tricked into opening a gateway into Avalon, where they
find themselves threatened from before by its defenders, the
unstoppable Silent Knights, and from behind by Lucifer's legions of
Hell and
Morgana and Mordru's horde.
It's choppy, hard to follow, and I'm
losing interest and just playing out my preorders. I'm not sure I'm
even going to keep getting it digitally....
The
big reveal this issue was that the Demon Knights' Shining Knight
“Sir” Justyn is a hermaphrodite – although that's not fully
explicit, it's pretty clear, and still set the Internet mildly astir
when the issue came out.
“The
Black Diamond Probability – Mission 1.2: Lockdown”
Vreeeeeeeeeewww...!
This is the sound of Team
7
falling off my radar. I pre-ordered it out a couple months, had
already decided to go digital after that, but may not keep reading at
all. It's not really doing anything for me. Part of the problem is
an impression of incomprehensible busy-ness exemplified by the cover
… and last issue's as well. It would really help with new and
obscure characters like most of these to have a guide on the first
page – a head shot, name, and a short blurb. And I don't mean the
little scattered captions like often appear in Legion
… but we don't even get those
here. Which means I'm at a loss who most of these characters are,
and even if I know their names and appearance, what they're there for
is still a mystery. Which does not foster interest when the story
itself is pretty lackluster.
I
mean, the story is fighting a head wind to begin with, since it
concerns Eclipso, a villain I've never warmed to. Anyway, the team
battles the Eclipsoed meta criminals in the hijacked flying prison,
created by a modified century-old “Jekyll serum” from Arkham
Asylum (and there's a reference to current issues of All-Star
Western
– which I'm not getting, although I bought and thoroughly enjoyed
the first trade … which reminds me I never blogged it …),
eventually defeating them just in time to discover that the
perpetrator was a minion of Eclipso himself, who is imprisoned at the
current destination of the flying prison. Yay. More Eclipso.
“Desperate
Times”
You
know, it's not just that I won't miss this title. I'm actually glad
it's going. It's pretty much crap, and for me to say that about the
Legion
– in any form – says something.
This
issue is one long fight against Daggor at the behest of 31st-century
Science Policeman Captain Nathaniel Adym (– huh? – wha-?),
punctuated by the appearances first of Harvest and crew, with whom
the Legionnaires ultimately conclude an uneasy alliance against
Daggor and the coming Conqueror, then
Jocelyn Lure (one of Adym's officers, by the way) dragging Superboy
with Caitlyn Fairchild and Ridge tagging along. Whereupon Harvest
triggers some kind of killing rage in Superboy. Then something else
happens that causes Gates to panic. Really, it's all a confusing
mess ….
“The
Secret of the Cheetah, Chapter Two”
The Justice League manages to take
Cheetah alive by maneuvering her into the water where Aquaman can
best her. Superman is saved from the Cheetah infection by a tribal
witch doctor who tells them the story of the Cheetah god, the knife
Godslayer, and so forth – which confirms that it is really Barbara
Minerva who is evil, not the Cheetah god. Batman confirms this by
tracing Minerva's former criminal identities. Wonder Woman suffers a
crisis of confidence given how badly she was deceived. Superman
takes her to Smallville, and in the context of a malt shop we are
treated to a long soliloquy on why he is Superman, and they kiss …
all the while under surveillance by Batman.
Despite the fact that I don't like the
Superman-Wonder Woman hook-up, I've probably enjoyed this short
two-issue story arc more than either that preceded it. Oddly, even
though those former stories were supposedly separated by five years
of time, Superman refers to them as if nothing much happened in
between … which is another example of how the whole idea of
starting the New 52 with supposedly five years of pre-existing
history just doesn't work. Even the creators think of these as being
fundamentally new versions of the characters with short histories, no
matter how they try to write otherwise.
Doesn't
this sojourn in Smallville actually contradict the Action
Comics
back-up from a few months ago which showed Clark selling the farm?
Here, he's renting it out.
“Shazam!
Chapter 7”
Black Adam takes up his old mission of
striking down “oppressive Pharaohs and freeing slaves” – by
killing a Bernie Madoff figure in front of horrified protesters.
Their reaction helps to convince him that the world has been
corrupted because the Wizard hid away magic, and he determines to
free it. The problem is, only the Champion can enter the Rock of
Eternity. So he sets about recruiting the incarnate Deadly Sins,
starting with Sloth.
Meanwhile, Billy and Freddy are spending
their new money. It's clear that Billy doesn't know he can change
back to his teen-age form. I figure he will discover this at a very
bad time when he inadvertently says the word....
Annotations and Commentary: http://atthehallofjustice.blogspot.com/2013/01/justice-league-14_23.html
“H'El
on Earth: Last Son of Krypton”
It
occurs to me that all this refusing to believe the evidence of her
own eyes is somewhat reminiscent of the pre-Flashpoint
Kara during her sojourn in the 31st
century – Supergirl
and the Legion of Super-Heroes
#16-36 (2006-8), back during the “One Year Later” period that
followed Infinite
Crisis.
It's not strictly parallel, but.... I hope this arc resolves that
plot and finishes with her committed to her adopted planet Earth.
The solicits aren't terribly hopeful in that area, but from the
beginning the Supergirl
solicits have been much more negative than what the creators actually
produced. This being part of a cross-over with the other
Super-books,
however, we'll have to see.
We
definitely are not there yet. Kara's current bout of doubt that her
cousin is being truthful to her – if he's really her cousin at all
– sets up the appearance of H'El to tempt her. He tells her the
story that he was an assistant to Jor-El, sworn to the House of El,
consigned by him to space to preserve something of the Kryptonian
heritage. After long years wandering he discovered living
Kryptonians on Earth. He displays powers beyond those of Superman
and Supergirl (could this be what they will eventually develop?),
including teleportation. He tries to prove his bona
fides
to Kara by volunteering to destroy the captive “abomination”
Superboy, but Supergirl exhibits compassion and holds him back. H'El
says he believes that Kal-El has forgotten his heritage, and he wants
Kara to intercede with the son of Jor-El, so he teleports her (and in
so doing somehow gifts her with English, so something good is
coming up all this!) into an awkward situation with Lois and Clark …
awkward since she has no idea about the concept of a “secret
identity.” To her, he's just “Kal.”
I should have asked it already, but now's
as good a time as any: Why does H'El look sort of like a Bizarro? –
or another quasi-zombie?
“World's
Finest – III: Heart of Stone”
Okay,
so that is
Pegasus – even though he doesn't look like a winged horse. The
lack of wings is definitely explained here. He refers to having been
“clipped” by Falchion as part of the latter's brutal torture
before our heroines showed up. Pegasus being a son of Medusa,
Falchion (a non-canonical son of Medusa) is thus his brother.
Anyway, Batwoman and Wonder Woman confer with Pegasus, who just wants
to be put out of his eternal misery, because immortal though he might
be, he will never heal. He tells them Medusa is in Gotham, a nexus
of all evil. Wonder Woman fulfills his wish, killing him, which
Batwoman has some trouble with, although she knows she is dealing
with matters beyond her ken.
In Gotham City, Maggie Sawyer and Harvey
Bullock are fighting Medusa and her supernatural minions (we also get
flashes of Nightwing and Catwoman) when Batwoman and Wonder Woman
literally drop in....
“Death
of the Family: To Skin a Cat”
This
issue is such a mess that more than once I thought it must be a dream
or a hallucination. Apparently it's not. The Joker is tormenting
Catwoman in various ways, basically arguing that she weakens Batman,
until finally she reaches the insight that the Joker is actually the
one one who's in love with Batman. It's very hard to follow the
narrative because of disjointed story and art. I couldn't tell what
was happening in many of the panels, for instance the middle of p.
16. This is the third issue by Ann Nocenti, and I'm frankly not
impressed. This is definitely a totally unnecessary side show to the
main Death of the
Family
story; the next issue blurb looks to be more connected to the
upcoming Justice
League of America
in which Catwoman will play a part.
“Up,
Up and Away … My Beautiful, My Beautiful Balloon!”
This
is only the second issue of this title I've ever bought, I was so put
off by the first issue.
But #14 has two connections that drew me in. First and most obvious
is Superman, because he's on the cover; there's also the Batman
group's Death
of the Family
crossover, for which I've also got the next couple of issues of this
title pre-ordered. So I was really hoping not to feel the visceral
rejection I did for that first issue when I picked this one up.
Thankfully,
I don't. The writer is still Scott Lobdell, and I'm not sure I would
have any interest in keeping this as an ongoing, but this issue is
not bad. I particularly like that Starfire is now covered up and
doesn't seem like a sex-bimbo. She actually acts a bit more like her
“old” pre-Flashpoint
self as I remember her.
There
are two parts to the issue, matching the two connections mentioned
above. In the first, Superman meets the group in space as they are
returning from some adventure on Tamaran. This seems like a first
meeting, and it's not that cordial. That seems to be the New 52 view
of Superman, the world regarding him with distrust, and I don't like
it, but at least it's consistent. Superman does get the information
he's looking for, that yes indeed Starfire was visited by scouts for
Helspont like he himself was in Superman
Annual
#1. Then, after the ship drops Red Hood and his girl friend (I have
no idea who she is or why she's with them) off at her apartment, he
returns from showering to find her overdosed, with a TV message
playing from the Joker as the police burst in. I'm sure they're here
to help Jason.
Birds
of Prey #14
“Three
Hours of the Condor”
@1:17 Sherman Hemsley as Steel Condor
in Disney Channel Movie, Up, Up, and Away
“Con-dorrrrr! Con-dorrrr! Con-dorrrrrrrrrr!”
In a world with Red Robin, to say nothing
of Hawkman and so forth, why is Black Canary scoffing at a guy in a
bird suit? – who can fly? – ?
The Birds track down Condor, fight him,
then he takes them to the sword. He's shocked when Katana announces
her intent to destroy the Daggers. Who of course attack in mass
right then. Another fight leaves the Birds scattered, and Katana
once more a captive of the Daggers. Black Canary is separated from
her friends with Condor – who sucker-punches her with telekinesis
and trudges away. All this happens as the inset clock that our
heroines don't even know about ticks away from just under eight hours
to just under six hours. So I guess it was just “two hours of the
Condor” ….
It is a bit interesting that the
inner'logue this issue is not from one of our main characters, but
rather from the Condor. It's also funny that in the midst of the
fight Starling puts in a call to Amanda Waller – and gets put on
hold! We still get no clarification on what the Daggers' aims are –
other than torturing Katana to death.
“Die
for Me”
This
happens after Detective
#14. I like the way they're presenting Penguin now, as a dangerous
crime lord who nonetheless has a veneer of respectability, and also
his own little supporting cast. It turns out he's orchestrating
these events. He hired Lady Shiva to delay the beginning of an SEC
meeting in Gotham City to protect his own criminal enterprises. He
figured that if Nightwing captures Shiva, it would save him money.
If Shiva kills Nightwing, that too would be a win. Neither happens –
but Penguin still gets the SEC meeting delay. We also get more on
Dick's Amusement Mile project, and his intriguing relationship with
Sonia Branch. And the return of the Joker looms over it all,
especially in Ogilvy asking Penguin what his plans are for that –
and the end of the issue where the Joker appears in Raya's Blackgate
Prison cell. That can't bode well for Dick.
“Overwhelmed”
Not
to keep “hating on” Steve Lightle, whose work I remember fondly
from the 1980s Levitz Legion,
but last month Cosmic Boy looked like a Pez dispenser, and this month
Element Lad looks like he's going through heroin withdrawal.
Chemical Kid and Element Lad track down
and confront the raiders who injured Cosmic Boy, and eventually best
them right before a relief force consisting of Night Girl, Light
Lass, and Shadow Lass arrives. On the last page, Light Lass
articulates the lesson: “Trust the planetary adapted types [such
as Braalians, who all have magnetic powers like Cos'] to think
they're so tough when they go offworld [where no one else shares
their powers] … But they can't ever handle a unique … / …
especially a Legionnaire.”
Also, Brainiac 5 discovers via a deep
brain scan of Comet Queen that her programmed compulsion was not
directed against the Legion per se, but against Brainiac 5
specifically. Sun Boy and Phantom Girl discover that the Persuader's
atomic axe is not in its place. Levitz continues juggling his
multiple plots tracking in parallel, but looming over all is the
threat of the Fatal Five returning.
“Throne
of Atlantis: Prologue”
Still no individual chapter names, of
course. Lazy.
The prelude is set two centuries ago,
hinting at a story told later in the issue about an Atlantean king
and queen killed by sailors. Aquaman and his brother, the current
king of Atlantis, meet to discuss recent events in this book –
those of the last six or seven issues happened within the past two
weeks, incidentally). The brother, Orm, denies having anything to do
with them. This meeting is altogether too amicable, given that we
“know” this to be one of Aquaman's two major enemies (the other
being Black Manta, of course). Although Orm is shown only in
silhouette inside, he receives a full frontal shot on the cover, as
the Ocean Master. There is, of course, an effort to develop his
personality beyond the simple hatred of his brother born of jealousy,
and remember that the New 52 revamp has him as the son of Atlanna
rather than the son of Thomas Curry, something I recalled only
halfway through. Hey, he's been Aquaman's paternal half-brother,
fully human, pretty much all my life. Anyway, the issue ends with
someone – Orm? – releasing the denizens of the Trench.
There's also a sequence where the newly
imprisoned Black Manta refuses to join Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad,
in which among other things we have it confirmed that Manta cannot
breath water, as well as one where an Atlantean soldier washes up
literally on Vulko's Norwegian doorstep.
The
art by Pete Woods and Pere Perez is very much in the style of Ivan
Reis. Reis, of course, is debuting as the artist on Justice
League,
and that's where this story continues directly.
“H'El
on Earth: Build a Parachute On Your Way Down”
Two
of my favorite reviewers' had diametrically opposite reactions to
this issue: Martin Gray at Too Dangerous for a Girl
and Anj at Supergirl
Comic Box Commentary
(cited below). I fall in between them, a bit closer to Martin's more
positive take this time. I don't think the characterization is as
radically different in story context, and Kara's attitude could at
least partially be seen as her putting on a bit of teen-age
obstinacy, beside the fact that she is expressly deceived by H'El.
But Anj is dead on in his criticism that the overlapping scenes at
the end of Supergirl
and at the beginning of Superman
is a sign of bad editing. If they're going to do this kind of
multiple perspective story-telling, the editors ought to be able to
oversee the basic congruence of the parallel scenes. I don't think
they are going for the only justifiable explanation that we are
seeing the events from two subjectively
different perspectives, where the two observers would basically see
and hear
things differently. But hey, I guess that's too much to ask when
DC's editors these days can't even catch basic grammatical and
typographical errors.
On
another note, I am rapidly taking a liking to Kenneth Rocafort's art.
In this I am helped a bit by my discovery a few weeks back of the
neopulp sci-fi series he did with Paul Dini, Madame
Mirage.
But what's with the wonky panel arrangement on pp. 2-3 that
essentially only uses three-quarters of the page space?
Nevertheless, that is one hot Lois Lane on p. 1.
The
story begins with Kal's perspective on the scene ending Supergirl
#14, his combination of frustration with her and amazement that she
can suddenly speak English. He's sceptical of H'El's claims, and
protective of Superboy – whom he's not sought out even though he
knows of him in a failure of story-telling logic if you ask me. Of
course, that all leads to a knock-down drag-out confrontation that
H'El wins by the use of all kinds of supra-Kryptonian powers –
telekinesis, teleportation, and now the power of illusion when he
beats down Supergirl while
under the appearance of Superman
in order to deepen the wedge between the cousins, because somehow his
plan depends on her. But in his exchange with Superman he refers to
untold stories of the untold past of the DCnU, when aliens
masqueraded as Kryptonians as well as the day Superman failed Suicide
Squad – exactly three years ago this day.
Oh,
and there's some scientific nonsense about the heavy gravity of
Krypton rendering unmanned
space flight an impossibility. Come again? Adding a man makes it
possible?
“First
Strike”
Calvin Rose penetrates the Court of Owls'
Treasury, ostensibly to swipe files on himself and the woman and
daughter he went rogue to protect, but really to slag the treasury.
Rose and his associate Sebastian Clark are working different agendas,
and this puts them at odds. Anyway, Rose confronts an undead Talon
who is the son of a Grandmaster, and whose story further paints the
Court as truly monstrous. The Court's reaction to these events is to
resurrect the 1860s Gotham Butcher.
One of the best things about this book is
the atmospheric art. It fits perfectly. But I'm getting the feeling
they're really overplaying the monstrosity of the Court. They're
almost caricaturish.
“Asylum”
This
issue expands on Bruce's bombshell dropped on Damian last issue, via
an imagined future – whether it's Bruce's or Damian's I'm not sure.
We're back to Grant Morrison's trench coated Damian as Batman-future
from Batman
#666 and 700, I believe, at the very least. Things don't go well:
From Batman's monologue at the end of the issue: “I don't know
exactly how
it happens. / But I know what
happens. // I know how it ends. /// …. I had a dream of a future
Batman who sold his soul to the Devil
and destroyed Gotham. // Your mother is manipulating events to mold
you
into that Batman, her agent.
/ We changed this
much
at least – Your intervention here tonight didn't get one of us
killed,
which is what I'd feared. /// But you can't be Robin. / You can
never
be Batman. // Right now I can think of only one
solution, Damian.” Damian looks back at him pathetically: “Nobody
knows the future, Father. / Why would you do
this to me?,” and quieter, “Don't make me go back to her. // I
want to stay with you.” One can feel the pain of many children in
many broken marriages on those pages, in which the background (after
a nuclear holocaust destroys Gotham) shatters like a broken mirror –
or a child's heart.
Of
course, it may be
that Batman did
see a version of the future play out that way as he bounced around in
time after being hit by Darkseid's Omega Effect in Final
Crisis
– if that happened, and as far as I'm concerned, for Grant
Morrison's story it did.
But
that was not the final end of the issue, which played out on one more
page, from which one might infer that the Batwing
series will be ending if events played out as they seem.
Unfortunately, Knight and Squire, two of Morrison's recreations for
his last few years' Batman
saga with whom I was really taken, also look to be blown up along
with other Batman, Incorporated, operatives.
It
finally hit me with this issue. Chris Burnham's art reminds me a
whole lot of Frank Miller's Dark
Knight Returns,
just smoother.
This
issue was like a brick wall for my Batman-reading
colleague. It is obviously hard to follow. For one thing, it's
Morrison mind-trippy-ness. But I also have to keep reminding him
that he really ought to read the entire six-year Morrison Batman
to appreciate what's going on, or even hope to follow it. Frankly, I
find myself floundering at times and wishing for the luxury of time
to go back and reread it all from the beginning with Batman
and Son.
On the other hand, only picking it all up a few issues into the
first incarnation of Batman,
Incorporated,
this was his
first Damian-as-future-Batman story. No wonder he was totally
bewildered.
“The
Twilight Kingdom”
Were
I not such an OCD completist I would have dropped this book by now.
It is nothing but over-the-top grotesquerie very reminiscent of Tony
Daniels' early issues of New 52 Detective.
By the end of the issue Scarecrow is giving Gotham City a big old
Christmas present in the form of a fear toxin apocalypse. I don't
feel like giving this any more effort, so moving on....
Justice
League Dark #14
“Enter
the House of Mystery”
There's a different artist here, which immediately hit me with a pang of disappointment, but bear in mind that Mikel Janin has done several issues in succession plus the annual, and doubtless needed a break to catch up. And frankly I'd rather have Janin back for another run rested rather than burned out. Finally, the fill-in artist captures his style to a degree so the difference is not too jarring.
There
are two parallel stories here. In the one that starts on the first
page, Steve Trevor, John Constantine, Deadman, and Madame Xanadu call
in Dr Peril for his experience with paranormal science to figure out
where Zatanna and Tim Hunter were taken. The Books of Magic are not
in themselves magic at all, but high science triggered by Tim's
magic. They end up calling on the recently incarcerated Dr Mist to
try to reproduce Tim's magical aura and trigger them into activity
again. Meanwhile, Black Orchid, Amethyst, and a reluctant
Frankenstein go exploring in the House of Mystery, experience a
series of weird encounters, most notably Black Orchid discovered
Constantine's office with its cork board covered with questions very
much like Rip Hunter's old chalk board in the Booster
Gold
series and elsewhere. Note that Constantine must not be up to date
on Batman, Incorporated, because one of the notes questions, “BATMAN:
Gothamite. Has wealthy backer. Who?”
Overall, there is the feeling that we've got a couple of filler
issues – both narratives end unresolved on a cliffhanger. But the
questions on Constantine's board doubtless give plenty of obscure
hints to future story lines, not just in this book.
“The
Origin of Wonder Girl”
Several
things go on in this issue. We have the resolution of the
Cassie-Diesel story with her taking on the silent armor once again to
save him from himself – although what actually happens to him is
not revealed. Is he absorbed into her … er, so to speak? Bart and
Miguel are feeling bored while they are recuperating. Kiran
(Solstice) is being visited by an apparition that tempts her with an
offer to make her human again. With the return of Red Robin,
Superboy, and Wonder Girl, the Titans set up in Red Robin's penthouse
– all except Superboy who goes home and apparently disappears.
Then the apparition appears again, Kiran wants to talk to Red Robin,
but he's called away on “family business.” When the Titans find
a Jokerized effigy of him, they know there's trouble.
Meh.
This issue began with a bad taste in my mouth when, on the first
page, Red Robin spouts a bunch of nonsense about the demonic big bad
of the DCU Trigon being the inspiration for various religions',
including Christianity's, concept of a Trinity. I find that
assertion gratuitously offensive. But getting past that, this issue
seemed very scattered. Who is that apparition plaguing Kiran? A
note references “current issues of Birds
of Prey,”
but that doesn't help.
Another
double-sized little anthology of stuff either by or chosen by Kubert.
The first is part one of his own “Redeemer”: As a story, it's
okay. I'm a bit put off by the overt perversion of the Christ mythos
– especially after just having my faith impugned by Teen
Titans.
We'll have to see how it resolves before I can really assess it. I
am a bit curious as to the origin of the stories in this series,
exactly how they came about. Is this something Kubert had “on the
shelf,” so to speak, or did he come up with it for this series?
Next is Kubert's commentary on Sam Glanzman, complete with early
examples of his sketches based on life in the navy, leading into
another U.S.S.
Stevens
story, which actually relates the tale of another ship, the U.S.S.
“Neversink”
and it's landside Captain “Squish Squash.” Finally, a
continuation of the “Angel and the Ape” story from last issue, a
bit of lighthearted slapstick fun. Again, I wonder what the origin
of this is? Obviously Kubert has a very high regard for Glanzman as
an old colleague doing DC war comics. I don't know anything about
Brian Buniak.
Wouldn't
it be great – rights issues preclude it, of course – if this
series could have at least one Kubert Tarzan
story?
Digital
“Winterlong”
This book is going to the dogs. Well, not really, but Andrew discovers that he can make vampire dogs! A vampire's best friend, and all that. Mary, John, and new girl Deborah Dancer get away from Andrew, Tig, and Fido (that's not his name but I forget what it was) and start trying to find Andrew's sire to reverse his vampirism. Maybe I've just not read closely enough, but I don't get how that works. Anyway, Andrew and Tig to to the Oblivion Bar and start recruiting commanders for his new army.
Smallville
Season 11
#25-27
“Haunted,
Parts 1-3”
Bart Allen (the Flash) returns to "catch up," but he's also dealing (secretly) with his own demon, something calling out to him when he pushes his speed. We are introduced to the Smallville version of Psimon as well as Mallah and the Brain. I'm still loving this. We also get a treat, the beginning of a monthly off-week "backup." My understanding is that it will be non-Superman side stories. This time: Martian Manhunter and Batman vs. a White Martian. What is the significance of the graffiti on the sewer wall? What exactly is the relationship between Bruce and Barbara (Nightwing) here?
Review:
To be added.
Phantom
Lady
#4 of 4
“Out
of the Shadows and Into the Light”
The
cover is a bit misleading because Funerella comes to a grisly end
without ever facing Jennifer again, as Bender applies the lesson of
what had happened to her in that battle in a bit more horrific
fashion. There's more good banter between Jen and Dane – whom I
really like in and of himself – as they decide on a less direct
approach against Bender because they've found out super-heroing is
just too dangerous. They witness Funerella's end via surveillance
cameras. But Bender manages to track them down and attack. Phantom
Lady unleashes the full potential of her shadow field on him –
leaving him a mindless husk … just in time for Uncle Sam and the
Ray to burst in with an offer they can't refuse.
I
really liked this series. Sure, it's a total re-imagining of the
Phantom Lady from her old Quality Comics self, but it's pure gold by
Gray and Palmiotti – with nice art by Cat Staggs – and it's good
on its own merits. And it's being followed directly by a similar
revival of the Human Bomb, so their New 52-ization of the Freedom
Fighters continues. It's a pity that these DC mini-series seem to be
languishing in the low-selling range and that may not be sustainable
as an ongoing. Of course, that's based on the only “hard” sales
data I'm aware of, Diamond's sales to comic shops, which I'm not even
contributing to since I'm buying them digitally. How much do the
digital sales figure into DC's business decisions? One really hopes
they're tracking that closely and consider them as well.
I
do not agree with the following reviewers' assessments. But to each
his own.
Cheers!
– and Thanks for reading!
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