This Week's Comics: 52, Batman, S&LSH, Runaways, Gargoyles

[sdelmonte]

Lots going on in this week's haul, most of it quite interesting, so spoilers abounds.

52, Week Eight - Steel gets the spotlight as we once agian learn you can't trust Lex Luthor. At all. Meanwhile, Ralph visits Green Arrow, and we get our first glimpse of a new hero in Metropolis. The pace is slower, and there is definitely padding, but the stories are beginning to form in a way that they didn't during Infintie Crisis and its related books. After two months of 52, I'm happy. Oh, and while the History of the DCU continues to be a muddle, there is a brief mention of Spoiler's death that seems to say the killer was Black Mask after all. I hope this is true.

Batman 654 - Two-Face strikes, Batman confronts the person who framed Harvey, and Bruce makes an offer to Tim. Who framed Harvey? Remember Warren White from Dan Slott's Arkham Asylum miniseries? Well, it turns out he's become the new crime boss of Gotham from within Arkham's walls. This revelation is a bit abrupt, but it's a nice addition to the status quo.

And Bruce's offer? He wants to take Tim in as he did Dick Grayson. Only in today's world, he can't make Tim his ward. So Bruce offers to adopt Tim as his son. Tim accepts. And breaks our hearts. For that scene alone, this comic was worth reading. The post-OYL Gotham is now set, and while I think this could have been done in six issues, and with less Two-Face, things are in good shape for the real new writers, Paul Dini and Grant Morrison.

Supergirl and The Legion of Super-Heroes 19 - A perp has been murdered at Science Police HQ. And only Chamleon, undercover as an SP officer, can solve the case. For the first time, we get an issue of this series that focuses almost entirely on one LSHer, and it works. More or less. The noirish narration is almost a parody, and I'm not sure how much it added. But the plot and the resolution of this mystery - and the links it has to the Robot Rebellion brewing = are done well. Still, we learn very little about Chameleon other than that he is good at detective work. It would be nice to know more of these heroes better than we do.

Runaways 17 - Karolina and her Skrull consort return, and just in time to help the rest of the team calm down and then try to find Molly. Only Geoffrey Wilder is one step ahead of them, and as teh issue ends, Nico has jsut been shot. We have promised that one of the team will die next issue. Nico makes as much sense as anyone else. Anyway, a stronger isuse than the previous two, but the pacing is still too slow. Guess they need to stretch it out for the TPB.

Gargoyles 1 - Ten years ago, Disney's Gargoyles cartoon ruled the TV animation universe, until a Hollowood's executive's spell sent the show into suspended animation. Now, in comic book form, it lives again! Took me a week to find this - my regular shop really doesn't carry much that isn't be a larger company - but here is it, with script by Gargoyles creator Greg Weisman. This is literally nothing long-time fans haven't seen before, being a slight reworking of the third season premiere (the last thing Greg did on the show, and thus the end of the canon according to him and to most fans). But it serves to introduce the characters again and to let Greg get the voices flowing. The art is not perfect, but it fits these stylized characters. Either way, it's good to have them back, with totally new stories coming soon.

Comments

[camwyn]

Gargoyles! Eeeeeeee!

.... yes, I am easily pleased.

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

the real new writers, Paul Dini and Grant Morrison.

I know this, but EVERY TIME I READ IT I go "YES!"

Spoiler, um, spoiler

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

According to this, your hopes may well be true.

That storyline with Leslie was a travesty, imho.

Re: Spoiler, um, spoiler

[sdelmonte]

Of all the missteps DC had in the past five eyars with Bats, this one was the worst. I suspect that Dini, who did such good work with Leslie on the cartoon, pushed for this.