This Week's Comics - Detective, Supernatural, All Star Superman, Runaways, Nightwing

[sdelmonte]

A mixed bag this week, with nothing really hitting a home run and one not doing much at all.

Note if you will that two comics I had bought previously are off the list. Dark Tower was such a bore last month that we dropped it with two months to go. I might consider buying a future DT story if it actually covers new ground, but there is little left to recommend in the current retelling of Wizard and Glass. And Countdown was going nowhere fast. It's a bust and a lousy successor to 52. I have better comics to spend my money on. Sometimes.

Detective Comics 834 - The second half of Bats and Zee vs. the Joker, with good art, a perfect Joker, and some good character bits involving our heroes, but the end of the story was by the book and also a bit harsh for these good guys. I'm pleased that Bats and Zee have reconciled, though. This was a lot of fun, but after the first half, it promised to be much more. Guess I'll take what I can get.

Supernatural: Origins 3 - John is initiated into the world of the hunters, and makes his first trip to the roadhouse. For diehard fans, this trip back in time is a lot of fun, and seeing John make his descent into the darkness that only hunters know is gripping. But there's still some spark missing when the Winchesters are only words and pictures. There have been many TV spinoff comics that were a lot worse, so I'm not complaining too loudly. But Jeffrey Dean Morgan's voice is missed.

All Star Superman 8 - It's Supes on the Bizarro World! And it's Grant Morrison. Weird doesn't begin to cover it. Alas, while there are a few good moments, the Bizarro World remains one of those Silver Age concepts that I never called for, and that seems as dopey in new comics as in old. Also, the story is to be continued, again. It's not doing any fans a service when you have a comic that published this sporadically and then leaves you hanging too long to recall what happened last time.

Runaways 27 - The team is in 1907, changes history, meets other young super-powered kids in that era, and wonders about that guys with the wings that they met in the present. This issue was a mess, with good dialogue and some interesting moments, but also Joss hitting us over the head with How Bad It Was Back Then, and with too many things happening at once. It's as if he's in rush to tell us everything, and also to impart Wisdom to naive young heroes. I miss BKV.

Nightwing 134 - We get more of the flashback to a heretofore unknown "lost year," and some rather underwhelming stuff in the present. Wolfman seems to have run out of ideas for what to do with Dick while we wait to see what happens to him in Countdown. As much as I wish otherwise, I am going to drop this book, again. Maybe with some luck Andreyko will be the next writer, but right now this just getting dull.

Comments

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

The thing about Countdown for me is that it's obviously leading into another Crisis. I can't drop it for that reason.

And did you by chance see Tales of the Sinestro Corps? There's an old character who has returned, of major importance.

What I find fascinating is that DC is trying to plot a tight continuity, by marking the weekly books with the Countdown number. But it makes no sense to put that number with a book like Jonah Hex, that seems to have little connection to what's going on in the superhero books of the 21st century.

[sdelmonte]

I missed Sinestro Corps as I didn't go looking for it til it had sold out virtually everywhere. I suspect I will track it down eventually, though, as everyone seems to love it (when not smoldering about Parallax).

I am not happy that Countdown is just another, er, countdown. Or that DC is leaping to the next Crisis. Or that the Sinestro Corps and Amazons Attack stories sound like Crises in their own right. It gets to be only so much noise after a while. The thing about Countdown, though, is that there are at least four good critics online who will keep me caught up for nothing (all of whom are not loving it either but are commmitted to reviewing it).

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

The thing about Countdown, though, is that there are at least four good critics online who will keep me caught up for nothing

And the links to those critics are...?

[sdelmonte]

Here's Jim Beard's review of this week's issue at Silver Buller Comic Books. The same site runs a second review on the weekends most weeks.

Look here at Newsarama for a plethora of reviews, but specfically for anything by Ye Olde Iowan or BatWolverine (whose real name is Bruce Logan, I believe). Often a review thread has reviews by both included. Ye Olde also does a weekly rundown of what he read, to give you a sense of how much you and he will agree on a given comic and on comics in general.

[the_croupier]

Must be the week for it. I finally gave up on the whole Wildstorm reboot, as well as Wonder Woman (Picault finally broke me) and Teen Titans (proof that even Johns is fallible and now it doesn't even have him).

I'm very close to adding Countdown and Supergirl to that list. And Flash too if DC hadn't axed it first (where's Waid already?).

Worse, the new Black Canary was a serious yawn. And Outsiders managed to strike out on what should have been a guaranteed grand slam ending for the Checkmate crossover.

So, yeah, thank the gods for the Sinestro Corps.

[dotsomething.livejournal.com]

It's nice that Nightwing isn't awful right now, but unfortunately it's so boring it puts me to sleep. That ship has sailed.

SPN Origins -- some intriguing things in that one. We can discuss is more spoilerific detail later.