This Week's Comics Buffy, Robin, Detective

[sdelmonte]

I should be writng longer reviews. But nothing I've read demands them. By and large, the comics I'm reading fall into two groups, entertaining but not very novel, and lightweight and forgettable.

Buffy and Robin fall into the first category. Buffy is lots of fun, with a lot of Fray, some other interesting developments, and a great script. Joss doesn't reinvent the wheel, but sometimes he doesn't need to. Robin - both the week's issue and the one that came out two weeks ago - looks at the Batman RIP story from the Boy Wonder's POV, with him worried about Batman and getting help from Spoiler. New writer Fabian Nicizea, whose work I don't know well but has a good reputation among the fannish community, does a very good job capturing Tim and Steph's voices, and writes a story that is actually better than the main Batman tale has been. This bodes well for this series, even though I still miss Chuck Dixon.

Detective is in the seeond category. PAul Dini gives us more about Hush's life story, and there is a good scene with Zatanna and Catwoman, but otherwise not much happens. Hush remains a bland adverary, and Dini was much better off writing one and two part stories. Still, I plan to read all five parts on the assumption that Dini will do something intereting sooner or later.

Comments

[varadia]

I think the reason I've wanted to poke the last issue or two of Detective with a stick is because Hush bores me. Like, I read his original arc, and that interesting. But this again? I'm sort of like . . . . okay. I do like where Robin seems to be going, even though yeah, I'm sad to lose Dixon. *pokes DC with a fork*

I'm actually kind of liking Trinity, so far as weekly books go, even though I have no idea where it's going, and don't really care. Question, if I'm looking to pick up stuff with the other weekly books, which I totally missed out on, should I invest in either Countdown or 52, or would I be better served to skim the collections in a bookstore?

(Also, is it just me, or does the Mel in the Buffy comic seem to be a lot more heavily-laden with slang than she was in the original mini? It kind of threw me while I was reading, esp in regard to Erin. Go figure.)

[sdelmonte]

I lost patience with Trinity after four weeks, but that is partly because it's getting to the point that if I only sorta like something, I will be glad to wait a few months or a year and find it in the library system for free. From what I've heard since I stopped reading, odds are I will like it as a whole, though.

I loved 52, as did Batya. There were a few slow patches, but it really worked on a week to week basis, with multiple exciting story arcs, great art, and fun characters. Countdown, however, was a train wreck, where nothing really seemed to happen for weeks on end, and then there was a lot of chaos that led nowhere.

And I think you are right about the slang, but that's mainly so Joss can use it comedic effect. Buffy's reaction to it is priceless.

[varadia]

Obtain 52, check, skip Countdown, also check. Thanks! I could not remember which one of those was good. Chaos that leads nowhere is the feel I'm getting from Final Crisis, too. It's sad. I mean--if I can feel like something is terrible compared to Marvel's crappy Skrull Invasion, something is horribly wrong. *wry*

Okay, I'll give you Buffy's reaction. I was also wondering if maybe that was because there was the addition of Buffy as outsider-POV, meaning that Haddyn English had to be more incomprehensible in order to be authentic. Also Buffy's puzzled-face. The art for that was pretty good, too. The end revelation, however--I am mildly skeptical of it, I will admit. Largely because that arc in the original series kind of garnered my disinterest. It's weird.