GREEN ARROW AND BLACK CANARY #10
It’s still awesome. Batman’s awesome. Green Arrow’s awesome. Black Canary’s awesome. Even Plastic Man’s awesome. The whole thing’s basically one long fight scene, Team Arrow vs. “The League of Assassins”, but it’s a good fight that does what really good comic fights do: it advances plot and shows off the characters involved. This isn’t just people knocking heads; it’s people knocking heads in ways that show you who they are, including Batman using a number of sneaky moves and planning, and Canary showing that she’s more than capable of being a threat.
Good stuff.
SECRET INVASION #4
I’m still diggin’ this. Sure, it’s not as high-brow as Final Crisis is (trying to be), but it’s got enough twists and turns so that it’s keeping my interest and not just dealing out brawls for the sake of brawls.
This issue follows four basic plotlines:
1) Nick Fury and his Howlin’ Commandos
2) The Skrull armada (and Agent Brand floating outside), who’ve got Reed Richards stretched out like a bedsheet
3) our heroes in the Savage Land pulling themselves back together
4) The return of… well, that would be telling, right?
Fury’s a real battlefield general, making the hard decisions and making his new Commandos into a real threat, and I’m dying to see what he’s got planned next.
Oh, and the two heroes making their entrance into the fray at the end? I can hardly wait.
ETERNALS #2
To be honest, I mostly buy this for the art. I like Daniel Acuña’s art. Which is funny, given that I bought the previous series for the exact opposite reason. Surprisingly, I like the writing in this one better than Gaiman’s. This one just feels more streamlined.
Anyway, it continues from the first issue, with the Eternals and the bad Eternals racing to find the protoform Transformers… I mean Eternals, in order to recruit them to their side. We also get more backstory about what the whole Eternal/Deviant thing is about, most of which kinda went over my head, but I think is related to Annihilation.
I like it well enough to keep reading.
JSA #17
This book is still better than JLA’s been, and there’s no “action” in the entire thing! Gog’s making good on his promises, and the JLA comes to check in with the JSA. All in all, this is really just more setup for whatever inevitable twist is to come, but it’s an effective setup, because I’m kind of interested in just seeing what miracles Gog can accomplish, even if I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a dark turn to come.
I think this is just about my favourite DC book right now. The characters are interesting and have little quirks about them that the JLA seems to lack. Even the Golden Agers seem more interesting than their modern counterparts have been written lately. It’s good to see substance winning out over flash. (Not THE Flash.)
My only complaint about this book is that I noticed a typo and a case of aural homonymism. (At one point, Starman mentions someone’s “repetoire” with someone else; the word should’ve been rapport. And, no, it wasn’t due to his craziness.)
Oh well. Just more proof that even the best writers need good editors!
DETECTIVE COMICS #846
I already like this more than the actual Grant Morrison RIP. Dini builds a character portrait of Hush that is somehow believable, despite the fact that he’s constantly mutilating himself just to sharpen his focus. He also introduces a character that recites Aesop’s fables and has him act as counterpoint to Hush.
I’m not sure why this is all listed as an RIP tie-in, as the events of that book are only mentioned in passing and Batman is clearly not in the super-retarded Zur Enh Arrr place he is in Morrison’s book. If anything, this seems to take place before the events of RIP really started up. Bruce and Jez Jet (I still hate that name) are an item, but she’s not around and Bruce isn’t drugged up and crazy.
That’s probably why I like it.
