Saturday, December 23, 2006

Cleaning Out The Last Of The November Clutter

Let's jump right in:

52 Week 29 (DC Comics) — This issue encapsulates what is wrong with Luthor’s Everyman project and “instant powers” in general. Luthor bought the Infinity Inc. name, and apparently the rights to many of the currently unused code names, too. Do the newbies want to live up to the ideals of their predecessors? That’s the last thing on their minds, well behind instant fame, living in the moment, glory-hogging. With some guidance and training, some of these folks might make decent heroes someday. But the selfless, heroic ideal holds no value for them whatsoever. This issue’s characterization of the Everyman heroes is spot-on for today’s live-for-the-moment/what’s-in-it-for-me/if-you-don’t-agree-with-me-you’re-a-moron mentality.

Supergirl 11-12 (DC Comics) — The constant changes in creative talent aren’t doing this title any favors. There’s just no story flow, and the rest of the DCU seems to just ignore the character completely. For instance, in issue #11, Supergirl is working with the Outsiders; didn’t she already “try out” that team in her first stroy arc, along with the Titans? I bought this issue because the advance solicit info mentioned Nightwing, but the story is so disjointed, who cares? Is Kara dating Boomer now or just staying with him? Is she with the team? Doesn’t seem to be any mention of her in the Outsiders book. Then comes #12, which does not pick up after this issue. No, other than the presence of Boomer and a page-long talk between Nightwing and Boomer about Kara, this could be a completely different character. Again, I only bought this issue for the new Terra preview, but nothing here is making me want to pick this title up for the star character. I do wanna see more of this new Terra, though.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes 24 (DC Comics) — Now this title is Kara done right. This is still supposed to be the “new” Supergirl, but she’s a more recognizable Supergirl than the other one. No efforts have been made to explain exactly where she came from in the timeline, but the future/time travel element let’s Waid, Kitson and Gray get away with it. This is a fun read.

Donald Duck and Friends 346 (Gemstone) — Sadly, this is the last issue of this title for a while. Cost of paper is forcing Gemstone to limit their offerings in the immediate future. Another, kid-friendly title bites the dust.

JSA Classified 19 (DC Comics) — This looks like an interesting arc pitting a metahuman body parts stealing Ultra-Humanite against Dr. Mid-Nite. The concept is somewhat gruesome, but this first chapter by Scott Beatty, Rags Morales and Michael Bair is a solid, entertaining read.

Civil War: Choosing Sides (Marvel Comics) — For the most part, I was disappointed in this comic. The Iron Fist chapter doesn’t give readers any information not already available in Daredevil or the new Iron Fist book. I didn’t much care for the Venom, Ant-Man or USAgent installments; they just did nothing for me. Part of why I bought the issue was for the appearance of Howard the Duck. His brush with the registration act is humorous, but I didn’t care for Roger Langridge’s art. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t quite Howard, either. This issue also includes the Marvel Comics/Guiding Light crossover, a story that seems oddly placed as all of the New Avengers are shown working side-by-side, and did little for me.

That’s it for today. Depending on holiday activities, we’ll try for some Retro-Reviews next week before my December comics arrive. Happy collecting, and Happy Holidays, everybody.

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