Scout Attacks! week 14: To Grandmother's House I Go

I'm thinking my favorite comic of the week will be as much of a surprise to you as it was to me. It really had no right to be as good as it was.

Countdown #48: This issue wasn't as good as last week's, but it's held my attention for at least another week. I really want to see what's going to happen with Mary Marvel and Black Adam, since he's still got my interest held over from 52. Also, Jimmy Olsen had superspeed this week, so I really want to know what the deal is with his spontaneously appearing powers. Finally, something shadowy and mysterious killed a New God named Lightray. Superman got very melodramatic about it, finishing his sentences in big red letters. They're setting up a lot of potentially interesting things here, it's just not nearly as accessible as 52 was and far less character driven, which was the real strength of that series. All that is making it a bit difficult to get really invested in this series, especially since so much of it is interwoven with what is going on in the rest of the DCU.

Action Comics #850: Renato Guedes is back! I love him. Seriously. I want to marry this art and have its babies. OK. That's an exaggeration. I want to marry John Cassaday's art and have its babies. This art can be my starter marriage. Anyway, this anniversary issue was a nice look at Superman continuity as it stands now in the One Year Later DCU, without giving everything a way so there's still plenty to reveal in the year(s) to come, which is why it makes sense that this issue was written by the three main Superman writers. Also, we got to see Krypto, which was cool (but also a dirty tease since we are still waiting on Busiek's Krypto story), and the look at all the different versions of Superman was a lot of fun. This issue gets bonus points for making fun of his 1990s hair style. I love stories that touch on Superman's isolation. The way the story jumped around, it was hard to get a really capitalize on the emotion of that, but they did a good job of capturing what his life is like in a few key moments. I thought the scene where Flash asked for his autograph, showing that even the other superheroes see him as something other, and his dinner with Lois were especially poignant. What this story did an excellent job of showing was how Supergirl came to understand her cousin better and how much it must mean to him to have her in his life now. I'm sure it's not to everyone's liking, but I find the interaction between them to be pretty realistically familial.

Amazons Attack #2: I think this issue made it pretty clear that there's something wrong with Hippolyta, since even the other Amazons are questioning her judgment now. I'm guessing she's either not really Hippolyta or Circe brought her back from the dead wrong somehow. If this was Marvel, I would say she was a zombie. I liked the first issue of this series, but now it just seems superfluous. What exactly is being provided here that's necessary to the story that we are not getting in Wonder Woman? I suppose we're getting to see what the other superheroes are doing, but since they're really not doing much, it doesn't seem like we needed to see more of them than we did in the last issue of Wonder Woman. We did get the obligatory scene where Batman questioned Wonder Woman's loyalty. Just once I would love to see the inevitable moment of silence while Batman decides whether or not he believes the other person to end with him saying "I'm just messin' with ya. Pretending to be the old un-trusting asshole I used to be. Bad joke. Sorry. My old Bat-dick days are way behind me." It's never going to happen though. The big cliffhanger is Superman rushing off to Kansas to save his parents. Whatever. They're not going to die. They're going to survive so that later in the year Jonathan Kent can die of a heart attack.

Justice Society of America #6: This was a weird issue because a ton of stuff happened, but also nothing at all happened. And the only thing I know about the Legion of Superheroes is what I have learned from the Saturday morning cartoon (I'll miss you Ferro Lad. *sniffle*), so all that stuff was really confusing to me. What I did learn this issue is that Liberty Belle is one of those obnoxious newly married people who want to marry off everyone else. I did like the reference to Kingdom Come (Earth 22) and he fact that the Multiverse is what messed up Starman's head. I do think something fairly intriguing is being set up here between this crossover and Countdown with regard to all that and I just think it sucks that it's going to take all year to get to the bottom of it. There's also a really cool fight with a robot tentacle monster, who I think the reader is expected to recognize as someone, but I don't. It still looks great though. I kind of love Eaglesham's art. He's draws really pretty men too. I'm just saying. His Karate Kid could totally land a starring role on a CW show.

New Avengers Illuminati: This issue had a huge retcon with regard to the Beyonder, and frankly, my memory isn't good enough to say whether it worked or not. Being free of the burdens of continuity as I am, this was a pretty enjoyable issue. Not as good as the first two, but interesting. (It's also possible that I would enjoy anything with Jim Cheung's art, since I'm still in Young Avengers withdrawal after all this time.) I really liked Black Bolt here with his struggle to remember, and also Namor's understanding of how to deal with the Beyonder because he was the only one who understood how a king relates to his subject, and vice versa. That was a nice touch. I am curious on one point though. Am I missing a crucial part of Dr. Strange's backstory with regard to his love interests or is his greatest desire simply to have a threesome? That seems a little unambitious, considering Namor wants to take over the surface world. Finally, while I'm enjoying this series, I'm concerned about where exactly it is heading. With the gems from the Infinity Gauntlet divided between the members of the Illuminati, all of whom are about to get their asses kicked by the Hulk, and the Beyonder running around somewhere on Earth, it seems like the pieces are being put into place for Marvel to pull their own version of Superboy Prime punching time.

Spider-Man Fairy Tales #1: I fully admit to being a complete sucker for Spidey. I've gotten better over the years. I don't feel the need to pick up every single comic with him in it. I've gotten so good that I am currently only reading one of his monthly titles (though the urge to pick up the other 2 main Marvel universe titles is strong), but when something new comes out I am physically compelled to at least give it a try. What I am saying is, I didn't want to buy this comic book. I had to buy this comic book, and I am so glad I did. It was by far the most enjoyable thing I read this week, and it was a fairly decent week. Anyway, I loved it. It was adorable. I want this to officially replace the actual Little Red Riding Hood story as the one that is commonly known. People should be reading this to their children at night. You might ask why I think that, and I will tell you. First of all, it is Spider-Man, which makes everything better. Second of all, Mary Jane is all about her independence and not being a damsel in distress. She's a much better role model than the average fairy tale character. Peter too is great as a boy who believes he's meant for something a little bit more than just being your average wood cutter. In the end they learn that it's all about working together and being equals. Also, kudos to C.B Cebulski for distilling several years of the Peter/MJ marital life into one little fable. As great a job as I think J. M. Strazynski has done with that relationship, Cebulski managed to get the same point across in one comic. My one disappointment with this story was that I expected the Big Bad Wolf to turn out to be recognizable as one of the regular Spidey villains. I suppose it could have been Venom, or at least the symbiote, but it just looked like a big, black, shadowy wolf.

Spider-Man Fairy Tales also raised another question with me about the Marvel ratings system. It seemed perfectly suitable for "All Ages," but it was rated "A." I'm further confused by the fact that Illuminati is rated "T+," which I would have thought would be for slightly younger readers than "A." However, the "A" rated Spider-Man Fairy Tales was all perfectly innocent, while the "T+" rated Illuminati had two panels of Dr. Strange in bed with two obviously naked women. This is going to require further investigation.