52 Week 50: First of all, let me engage in a bit of self-congratulation. I managed to have enough willpower to not buy the World War III tie-ins. Go me! Even after reading some positive reviews for those tie-ins, I'm not sorry. This issue was pretty self-explanatory, and it dealt with what happened to Black Adam, which is all I really cared about. I'm sure the tie-ins explained a whole lot of stuff about the DCU One Year Later, but I don't read any of that stuff. There's some great art in this issue. The splash page where everyone is charging at Adam and he's just standing there, waiting for them, defiant, is awesome. I still feel really sorry for Adam, despite everything he's done. When he's wandering the streets of what I assume is Khandaq, powerless, muttering magic words hoping to stumble across the right one, finally reaching "Osiris. Isis. Batson. Eternity." it seems so tragic. Captain Marvel swears he will never think of the new magic word. I'm sure he will eventually, but I am really curious as to what it is. There's only two issues left. It was really nice of the characters to just wait their turn to do anything so that everyone could have a week to themselves to resolve their plots. Animal Man was so desperate to get home, but he's kindly stood aside so that Renee Montoya and Black Adam could do their thing first. He's a class act.
All Star Superman #7: Another comic that I forgot to buy the week it came out. Thankfully my comic shop didn't sell out. It occurs to me that this comic book could not have a more inappropriate acronym. I really don't like Quitely's art, but Morrison writes Silver Age crack so well, that it's easy enough to over look. And Lois didn't look disturbingly similar to Kristin Kreuk in this issue, so bonus points for that. This issue focuses on Bizarro World, and features all that crazy stuff one would expect. I don't really know what to say excpet that it's a really good, fun story and I can't wait to see what happens next. The Zibarro reveal at the end was awesome. Also, I had pretty much forgotten the plot point set up way back in issue #1 that Superman is dying. I think it's a nice touch to see him preparing for this by doing things like writing the formula for Bizarro repelant in Lois' Christmas card. I wonder if he included helpful little notes like that for everyone.
Birds of Prey #105: This issue starts off with a little lesson in Russian history, which I totally dug. That's probably just me though, because i don't know how many comic book readers are Russian history buffs, specifically into that whole period right before the Revolution. Surely I'm not the only one though. Anyway, everything seems to get out of control this issue, and it's fun to see all the reveals and reversals. Gail Simone does a great job of building up the tension and there's a pretty cool fight between Hawkgirl and Scandal. Also, Harley Quinn makes an appearance as the newest member of the Secret Six, and you know how I love her (though I am not sure this doesn't undermine her recent, and superior, appearance in Detective Comics a bit). Anyway, all this is just set up for the big Birds of Prey versus Secret Six showdown in the next issue. I predict that it will be crazy good.
The Brave and the Bold #3: This issue is about Batman and Blue Beetle. I absolutely loved their interaction. I could stand to read a whole series where Blue Beetle just goes fanboy on different superheroes, but something tells me that it could never be as amusing as the following exchange:
Batman: For future reference, if you know the answers, it's not really detective work.
Blue Beetle: I didn't mean to take the fun out of it. Sir.
Still, Jaimie is adorable and I am seriously thinking of picking up the Blue Beetle series. I am loving the storytelling device of getting in the head of one of the characters to get a look at his reactions to the other character, the added bonus of which is that it comes with thought bubbles, continuing their triumphant comeback tour. It's good to know I'm not the only one who's a little freaked out by Batman acting so nice. Also, I have to thank Mark Waid for the usage of the Lord of Time. His sense of theatricality lead to him feeling the need to give big introductions to each member of the Fatal Five, whom I would have not known otherwise. You have gotta respect a pompous and overly dramatic villain. This issue also sets up the next team up of Supergirl and Lobo, which I expect to be hilarious and provide a lot of inappropriate humor. Still, I don't know which I am looking forward to more, that or the following issue, which will undoubtedly deal with the last page's reveal. That was just badass.
Batman: For future reference, if you know the answers, it's not really detective work.
Blue Beetle: I didn't mean to take the fun out of it. Sir.
Still, Jaimie is adorable and I am seriously thinking of picking up the Blue Beetle series. I am loving the storytelling device of getting in the head of one of the characters to get a look at his reactions to the other character, the added bonus of which is that it comes with thought bubbles, continuing their triumphant comeback tour. It's good to know I'm not the only one who's a little freaked out by Batman acting so nice. Also, I have to thank Mark Waid for the usage of the Lord of Time. His sense of theatricality lead to him feeling the need to give big introductions to each member of the Fatal Five, whom I would have not known otherwise. You have gotta respect a pompous and overly dramatic villain. This issue also sets up the next team up of Supergirl and Lobo, which I expect to be hilarious and provide a lot of inappropriate humor. Still, I don't know which I am looking forward to more, that or the following issue, which will undoubtedly deal with the last page's reveal. That was just badass.
Justice League #8: I'm sure a lot of people are going to complain about this issue. Their going to complain that nothing happens. They're going to complain that the fight between Batman and Karate Kid (not being familiar with the Legion of Superheroes, I know that name will be making me giggle throughout this storyline) happened almost entirely off panel. And I am sure that people will complain that the chit chatting between the heroes on the final splash page completely throws off any sense of urgency that the problem they are facing is supposed to have. I've decided just to ignore all that. It's clear to me that Melter's run isn't going to be about stuff happening. It's about superheroes being chummy and having a good time and throwing out a lot of references to Justice League of America history. I think I'm OK with that. It's kind of fun. I don't know who most of these characters are anyway, so nothing they say or do can really bother me one way or the other. I'm just annoyed that I am going to have to be buying issues of JSA too.
Finally, I have happy news. Behold the wonder of Phil Jimenez's Spider-Man. Marvel at seeing Peter Parker drawn on model. No photo-referencing here kids. I can't be the only one who finds looking at those pages refreshing. It's not that Garney isn't good (and yes, I know he doesn't use photo-referencing), it's just that this looks more like Peter Parker to me. I'm pretty sure it's the hair. Peter's just got to have those two curls in the front. Also, I think that's the most attractive Betty Brant I have ever seen. There's also this, but I don't know if it's happy or just disturbing. Frankly, I think I'm a little bit scared.
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