Going Out On A High Note

The Avengers No. 56 (2002)
Marvel Comics
Kurt Busiek, writer
Yanick Paquette and Ray Snyder, artists

Back in 1996, most of the Avengers, along with the Fantastic Four, were apparently killed off by the villainous Onslaught. The Avengers, the F.F., Captain America and Iron Man all had their respective titles relaunched with new No. 1s under the banner "Heroes Reborn" and their various continuities were all rebooted. That lasted for one year before it was revealed to both the readers and the characters that instead of being killed by Onslaught, they had been shunted off to a pocket universe. Naturally, upon learning this, the heroes combined forces to return to their proper reality, and in 1997, the four titles again relaunched with new No. 1s under the banner "Heroes Return."

The 1997 Avengers relaunch was led by writer Kurt Busiek and artist George Perez, both very much fan favorites, to say the least. Perez left the title with issue No. 34, but Busiek remained until mid-2002, turning this stand-alone issue in as the finale for his run.

Similar to Busiek's creator-owned title, Astro City, this issue focuses a bit more on the aftermath and consequences of superheroics on regular people's lives — specifically, who is liable for damage done when heroes and villains clash in populated areas.

In addition to providing the Avengers with their mansion home base, Tony Stark (the team's own armored Avenger, Iron Man) has created the Maria Stark Foundation, a nonprofit organization that handles all those niggling details after a dust-up. However, in a real-world twist, the Stark Foundation must answer to the government on expenditures in order to maintain its nonprofit, tax-exempt status. Also, they don't want to pay for fraudulent damage claims, just as a responsible course of doing business. Therefore, at least periodically, Avengers missions and the consequences must be audited.

This issue has a number of Avengers gathered together to meet with these Stark Foundation auditors to relate, and sometimes justify, their actions in a recent mission pitting the team against the Elements of Doom, several non-sentient entities scientifically created to wreak havoc. The issue is presented very tongue-in-cheek and mixes a great deal of humor with the expected level of superhero mayhem.

I haven't read Busiek's entire run from this incarnation of The Avengers, but I've enjoyed most of what I have read of the title. This issue is by far one of the best of that run.

More Quickie Reviews

I still haven’t made it quite all of the way through the December-release comics in my stack, and I’ve already received the January releases. Needless to say, I’m running a little behind where we usually are at this time of the month, so here are some more short and sweet reviews as I try to catch up just a bit.

Checkmate 9 (DC Comics) — Sarge Steel and Sasha Bordeaux verbally spar in this issue over who can best take down the terrorist organization Cobra, and over who most screwed things up last issue. I’ve heard rumors that this book may not have much longer to live, which would be sad, but so far, it hasn’t really lived up to its potential.

Teen Titans 42 (DC Comics) — This issue is a nice recap of the history of Kid Devil. I knew most of Blue Devil’s story, but not Eddie’s, so this was nice.

Civil War Front Line 9 (Marvel Comics) — Sally slaps down Captain America during an exclusive interview as she points out that both sides of the war see themselves as right and will stoop to any low in order to bring down the other side. Morally, I’m on Cap’s side, but as we’ll see in a bit, Cap has a parallel with Iron Man’s side using bad guys.

Civil War: War Crimes (Marvel Comics) — Captain America’s rogue heroes make a deal with the Kingpin in an effort to doublecross Iron Man’s band of zealots. I think I would have liked this better if Captain America himself had not made the decision to work with Kingpin. Other heores can make an occasional mistake: Spidey was on the wrong side of things for a bit, then wised up, for example. But Cap should be above reproach in his actions.

The Lone Ranger 3 (Dynamite Entertainment) — A few more changes to the story I’m familiar with, but nothing that really detracts or lessens the overall origin of the masked man. This is a good comic.

Fables 56 (DC Vertigo) — Very nicely done Christmas tale introducing us to holiday-themed Fables while also providing hints of things yet to come involving not only Snow, Bigby and the cubs, but also Flycatcher.

Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War (Marvel Comics) — The two heroes meet on neutral ground in an effort to talk things through. Captain America states that such a thing would’ve been much easier before the Thor clone killed Goliath, which is true, but no less tragic. These two heroes have fought before, but will this be the last time?

New Avengers: Illuminati 1 (Marvel Comics) — This series is starting off to be a little disappointing for me. This first issue takes us back to the time of the Kree-Skrull war and shows exactly how the six members of this secret cabal tried to persuade the Skrulls to leave earth alone rather than retaliate. The plan is disastrous at first, but the newly formed group manages to succeed in the end. If each issue of this limited series is going to look at a specific event from Marvel history, then this series is nothing more than an expanded version of the Illuminati one-shot from a few months ago.

Athena Voltaire: The Collected Web Comics (Ape Entertainment) — This trade collects the first two story arcs introducing 1930s aviatrix Athena Voltaire as she takes on Nazi plots, mysterious yetis and vampiric descendants of Dracula. The stories in this collection are a little more raw than the current miniseries starring the same heroine, but they depict the origins of the character and her creators.

52 Week 34 (DC Comics) — This was a sad installment of the weekly comic as we see not only the death of the Question, but also the betrayal of the Black Marvel family, some of the best characters in this series. And Luthor decides to literally pull the plug on his Everyman project.

Batman 661 (DC Comics) — I am seriously losing interest in the Grotesk story line. Why couldn’t this tale have been done in two issue instead of four? John Ostrander can be an exceptional writer, but this is a case where writing for the trades truly hurts the medium. As a fill-in story, this arc wouldn’t fit into a trade collection with either the Grant Morrison story before it or the one after, so it has to be long enough to support its own trade collection, but the story feels artificially padded by being four issues.

Detective Comics 827 (DC Comics) — This Batman tale, on the other hand, kept me guessing. Paul Dini brings back Scarface, but who is in control and who is pulling the strings, the dummy or the brand-new Ventriloquist?

Justice League of America 5 (DC Comics) — Finally, this story is starting to make a shred of sense and flow in a somewhat linear fashion. All of the various players have been brought together more by chance than by Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman’s selection process. But they’ve all agreed to work with Solomon Grundy in an effort to stop the latest incarnation of Amazo in Red Tornado’s body. I’m hoping things continue to get better to the point where this all makes sense at some point.

Lastly, here’s another book from that stack of out-of-continuity trades and graphic novels I read from occasionally. This time out, we have Neal Adams’ Monsters (Vanguard Productions) — This beautifully illustrated graphic novel presents an original tale featuring the three most popular movie monsters — Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and the werewolf — together in one story. In addition, the book offers notes and sketches from Adams, a truly revolutionary comic artist and story-teller.

That’s it for today, Kiddie Cops. Next time we’ll hopefully finish up the last holdouts from December and move into January. Until then, happy collecting.

Hitting Some November Highlights

Hello again, Kiddie Cops. Sorry for the delay between posts. Work craziness abounds this month. So, without further ado, here are some quick thoughts on a number of the November releases — I haven’t read everything yet, but most of it.

Werewolves: Call of the Wild 1-3 (Moonstone) — This three-issue series is written by Mike Oliveri and illustrated by Joe Bucco. It’s a werewolf tale, a murder mystery and darn fine comics all rolled up in one package. A few of the plot twists seem predictable, but the greatest strength of this series is its treatment of the werewolves as regular people — some good, some bad, some honorable and decent, some not-so-much. It’s a moody little series that I highly recommend, and feels as if it could be part of a larger story. If it is, I’ll be seeking out other chapters, to be sure.

52 Weeks 26-28 (DC Comics) — We’ve reached the halfway point in this series and so far, I have to say, I’m mildly curious about where the story lines with Ralph, the mad scientists and the space heroes are going; Steel just seems wasted in the series, and the break-out stars are the Question and Renee Montoya and the totally awesome Black Marvel family.

Justice League of America 3 (DC Comics) — I thought Brad Meltzer did an incredible writing job on Identity Crisis and his previous Archer’s Quest arc in Green Arrow, but so far, he’s just disappointing me in this book. The big three are sitting and talking, not fighting; the time frame is jumbled; and the repetition shows that even Meltzer is confused about what is going on.

Nightwing 126 (DC Comics) — More greatness from Marv Wolfman and Dan Jurgens. This is the second part of what, at the time, was going to be only a four-issue arc. Yet Wolfman has introduced several interesting supporting characters, adding a richness that should have always been a part of this title.

Batman 658 (DC Comics) — Grant Morrison’s four-part Batman & Son concludes in this issue. It’s a nice story, one I’ll likely keep in my collection, but it suffers from the ongoing nature of comics. Iconic characters like Batman must stay somewhat static and recognizable, therefore, real, lasting change cannot occur. So when Talia drops off their son with his father, you know the boy cannot remain in Batman’s world indefinitely. Sure enough, the story ends with him maybe dead, but with enough doubt planted to allow the boy to return at some point. So, the story changes nothing.

Teen Titans 40 (DC Comics) — So Bombshell is the latest Titans traitor — a character we’ve never seen before this arc. That always negates any emotional impact from the story, even if the characters know each other for years. The reader doesn’t.

Fables 55 (DC Vertigo) — I love how Willingham introduces this chilling plan to wipe out the exiled Fables and the rest of our world, only to provide a simple, logical reason, in story, why it can’t happen and makes the whole thing WORK.

New Avengers 25 (Marvel Comics) — Tony Stark’s perspective on the events of Civil War, but it’s really not. This issue was a little disappointing because I was expecting more of Stark’s insights.

Birds of Prey 100 (DC Comics) — Nice jumping on point for a consistently good, well-written and illustrated comic showcasing strong female leads. Nice.

Checkmate 8 (DC Comics) — This arc looks to be what I want from this title. Checkmate operates in a world filled with metahumans, that can’t be escaped nor should it be overlooked, but while acknowledging that fact, this should be primarily a spy story filled with espionage. I hope it continues.

Civil War 5 (Marvel Comics) — Spider-Man takes a major pounding as he decides to leave Iron Man’s side and Cap considers help from the Punisher. I like the ideas in this series, but I’m still worried about the direction of the Marvel Universe after it's over.

Those are the books I’ve read so far this month that evoked the strongest reactions. Check back next time for more.

Happy collecting.

Lightning Round

Hey, kiddie cops. I know it’s been over a week since I had a chance to post something. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading. In fact, since last time, I’ve finished the rest of the books received in my last shipment. So, without further ado, let’s dive right in and catch up a bit.

52 Weeks 24 and 25 (DC Comics) — I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again. Individual issues are not always great, but the overall story line this series was designed to tell is interesting. I’m curious where Ralph is headed. I like the story line with Montoya, Question and the Black Marvel family. The Steel/Luthor story seems to be old news, but is maybe going somewhere interesting. Green Arrow’s cameo was nice. Super Chief didn’t last long, did he?

Action Comics 844 (DC Comics) — This wasn’t a bad beginning, but it almost seems more a sequel to the Donner films so far more than a continuing story of the comic book Superman. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but is this story gonna “fit” in continuity? I mean, Jimmy isn’t an inexperienced photographer anymore.

Birds of Prey 99 (DC Comics) — Black Canary’s departure. I agree with scribe Simone that it feels right for Dinah to leave now, even though I’ll miss her. As far back as Longbow Hunters we’ve seen that Dinah wants children but wrestled with the issue of raising one while adventuring. Now she has one. It makes sense for her to step back now.

Captain America 23 (Marvel Comics) — A nice interlude with Winter Soldier/Bucky and Nick Fury in the middle of the Civil War tie-in. It updates us on the ongoing story line with Bucky, but doesn’t interupt the flow of the Cap Civil War events. Very nice.

Checkmate 7 (DC Comics) — I wanna like this title, but it just doesn’t seem to be as good as it should be. I know the Suicide Squad has its fans, but I can take it or leave it. I think this title should include some superheroes on the periphery, but for the most part, avoid overt superhero action and costumes.

Civil War: Front Line 7 (Marvel Comics) — Typical stuff here. The first two stories following the reporters and the former Speedball are excellent storytelling, while the Sleeper Cell bit does little for me, and the final bit just seems pretentious. I think one of the reasons Sleeper Cell is uninteresting to me is there is no tie-in to the Civil War. I assume this Atlantean faction is merely trying to take advantage of the strife above for their own ends, but that is just a guess on my part, not something we’ve been told.

Criminal 1 (Marvel Icon) — Not sure if this is a mini or an ongoing. Not even sure if I like it yet or not. But it was an OK beginning from I writer I really like, so I’ll hang around.

Daredevil 90 (Marvel Comics) — This issue seemed to slip just a bit. Matt is trying to track down who had Foggy killed because he doesn’t know Foggy isn’t really dead. Forget that Matt would be very hard to fool on that point, but I don’t like how easily he’s gotten sidetracked by this woman, even if she does have a power that explains why.

Donald Duck & Friends 345 (Gemstone Publishing) — Just good Disney fun. I’ve always liked Donald, and the mix of classic and newer tales is great. Plus, there’s always one story featuring someone else, this titme a great Goofy tale. Shouldn’t we all laugh more?

Fables 54 (DC Vertigo) — Sons of Empire continues. I didn’t think things could get much creepier than the Snow Queen’s plan for destroying both Mundies and Fables. I was wrong. Hansel is so far beyond creepy that he belongs in his own Mundie slasher series.

Jack of Fables 4 (DC Vertigo) — The promos for next issue seem to indicate this won’t happen, but wouldn’t it be too funny if after all this planning and helping all of the other escapees, Jack himself doesn’t make it out?

JSA Classified 18 (DC Comics) — The back half of a two-parter featuring Hourman, both the modern version and the Golden Age one. A solid tale from Tony Bedard, as usual. And besides, it isn’t necessarily that hard, but its always fun to watch someone out-think Bane.

The Lone Ranger 2 (Dynamite Entertainment) — I stand corrected from my criticism of last issue. Black Bart is an enforcer, not the criminal mastermind. This issue hints that the individual who pulls Bart’s vicious strings is none other than Butch Cavendish, the villain from Ranger lore. Brett Matthews, you have my apologies for doubting you. Carry on.

Martian Manhunter 3 (DC Comics) — Enter the Justice League, which was good to see. After all the divisiveness stemming from Identity Crisis and leading into Infinite Crisis, it’s nice to see these heroes acting like colleagues and friends once again. Oh, wait. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman don’t seem to want to listen to J’Onn about what is going on. Right now, I’m willing to assume that maybe this wasn’t really the three heroes it appeared to be. So much subterfuge has been going on in this story dealing with shape-shifting Martians, that’s what I’m hoping anyway. Otherwise, this story might’ve worked better before IC.

New Avengers 24 (Marvel Comics) — This Civil War tie-in is the Sentry entry, but seems to be more about fallout from the House of M and the Inhumans than Civil War. It’s sad that the interaction between books that I love from DC is one of the things I don’t like about Marvel because I buy fewer of those books and am less interested in the intermingling there.

Omega Men 1 (DC Comics) — My knowledge of this team is limited to their interaction with the Titans in the “olden” days, but I liked their recent cameos in Adam Strange and Infinite Crisis, so I decided to give this a try. Andersen Gabrych’s usually great writing didn’t hurt either. But I have no clue what is going on in this title right now. That’s not good.

The Perhapanauts: Second Chances 1 (Dark Horse) — OK, this mini DOES seem to pick up right after the trade I just read, as I assumed it should. But the letters column has a bunch of people commenting on issue #104. Now, I could just assume the first mini was numbered funky and move on, but the letters also mention a story titled “The 28th Anomaly.” There’s no story with that name in the trade. Am I missing something here?

Secret Six 5 (DC Comics) — Did they really just kill the Mad Hatter?!?

Stan Lee Meets the Thing 1 (Marvel Comics) — Much better than the Spidey one-shot, the only other one of these I read. It’s been long enough now that Ben has come to grips with his appearance. Heck, most New Yorkers have, too. He’s a celebrity, not a monster now. Good to see that reflected here.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes 23 (DC Comics) — Cosmic Boy decides the Legion needs to deal with the superpowered delusional in their midst. So, does that mean Supergirl is going to be going away soon? Dunno if I trust these “Kryptonians.”

Superman/Batman annual 1 (DC Comics) — This is a totally bizarre story, but it’s a fun one. Accept it for that and it works. Look for more and it falls apart.

Tales of the Unexpected 1 (DC Comics) — I’ve heard this mini isn’t getting much interest online. Truthfully, it wasn’t great. But it was intriguing, and I liked Crispus when he was alive, so I’m intrested enough to hang with this one a bit longer. The Dr. 13 story left me cold, but then I’m not as familiar with the character.

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters 4 (DC Comics) — I thought this might be the exception to the mostly so-so minis DC is spitting out right now, but I’m starting to lose interest in this one big time, too. This is supposed to be an alien suddenly sitting in the White House and part of a shady government operation spitting out new metahumans like they’re no big deal, and no other teams notice? No Titans, no JSA, no Superman, no GLs. Just doesn’t ring true.

Whew! That was a bunch, but that’s all of the October releases I have. See ya next time.

Bidding Adieu To August So That We Might Better Reorganize The Past

Just a few books left from my shipment of August-release comics, so let’s jump right into what remains.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes 21 (DC Comics) — So they did manage to bring back Dream Girl, or did they? Maybe Brainy’s just crazy with heartbreak like Ralph Dibny over in the pages of 52. Still can’t make up my mind on this book. Subsequent issues haven’t been as good as the first arc, in my mind, nor as good as the work this team did on Empire a few years ago, but it’s just good enough to keep me hoping it’ll get better.

New Avengers 23 (Marvel Comics) — This Civil War tie-in examines how Jessica “Spider-Woman” Drew reacts to the registration act. The previous two issues focused on Captain America and Luke Cage; they were great. This issue, not so much. In fact, I was initially happy to see Brian Michael Bendis bring Spider-Woman back in New Avengers, but I’m just not sure I care for the convoluted mess they made of her origin in the recent Spider-Woman: Origin, and I didn’t much care for this book, either. Is she helping the good guys? Is she helping the bad guys? Is she making it look like she’s helping the bad guys to better help the good guys? Do the bad guys know this and use that against her, so she really is helping the bad guys? Know what? I don’t care anymore.

Jack of Fables 2 (DC Vertigo) — Another solid issue from Bill Willingham. This series is off to a good start, just like its parent title.

Justice League of America #1 (DC Comics) — The story moved along rather slowly in this book, but then Meltzer likes his set-ups. I like the focus on Red Tornado and Arsenal joining instead of Green Arrow. Some of the other focus characters make this seem like an interesting group. And while I’m really OK with the fact that Nightwing won’t be in the JLA, what does Wonder Woman have against him? For that matter, based on what is happening in her own title, why is Diana Wonder Woman here?

And that’s the last of my most recent shipment of new comics, which brings us back to the past of 1985 for some ...

Retro-Reviews
Crisis On Infinite Earths 8-9 (DC Comics, 1985) — Not only is the Barry Allen Flash killed off, but we find out why villains have been disappearing — they’re up to something. Brainiac and Luthor — both Earth-1 flavor — organize all the villains in a bid to take over the five remaining earths and succeed in ensnaring three of them before their plans are shut down. We also spend some time with various members of the New Teen Titans, which brings us to ...

The New Teen Titans 14 (DC Comics, 1985) — The Tamaranean ship we’ve seen heading for earth in the past couple issues arrives to take Starfire home. Nightwing and Jericho go along for the ride, thinking the Crisis is over and suspecting something sinister among the Tamaraneans. And Mento gives the rest of the team some trouble as the helmet drives wearer Steve Dayton insane. Oh yeah, and Arella is still looking for her daughter, Raven. This is an important issue of this book in that it helps set up several major storylines to come, but is also kind of a placeholder-type story as the events in Crisis are still ongoing and we don’t want to give away the ending.

Crisis On Infinite Earths 10-12 (DC Comics 1986) — The Spectre shows up and warns the assembled heroes of five earths that the Crisis is NOT over. Instead, the Anti-Monitor has merely fled to the dawn of time in an attempt to quash all life before it begins. The heroes follow and the Anti-Monitor and the Spectre battle it out, drawing power from the others.

The plan works and it doesn’t work. Life is allowed to develop, but instead of a multiverse, only one universe is created. Most of the heroes from the previous battle wake up to find themselves home and things seemingly normal again. But as they investigate, they learn that this new single earth combines elements from the histories of each of the previous ones while eliminating others. Some heroes and lives are seemingly unchanged, other heroes exist, but noone remembers them because their histories have been “erased.” It is also learned that while weakened, the Anti-Monitor still lives, and yet another assault is launched. More heroes are lost, including Kole, the Earth-2 Robin and Huntress and the Earth-1 Wonder Woman. When the villain is finally dispatched, few lives are left unchanged.

Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special 1 (DC Comics, 1986) — Even though this book came out almost a full year after the final issue of Crisis On Infinite Earths, it is written to be a follow-up to the Crisis. The older heroes of the Justice Society did not fare well in the Crisis. Noone remembers the elder Superman or Wonder Woman. Wildcat was crippled. Robin and Huntress were killed. This story was created to give the surviving members a heroes send-off while still moving them out of the way of newer, younger namesakes, some of whom — such as Wildcat, Dr. Mid-Nite and Hourman — debuted in the Crisis itself.

Those remaining heroes learn that the Spectre is left unconscious after his battle with the Anti-Monitor at the dawn of time. Unchecked, his powers combine with those of the Spear of Destiny, allowing Adolf Hitler to change history at the end of World War II, slaying the Justice Society members and destroying the world. This was achieved when Adolf used the power to bring about the Twilight of the Gods, or Ragnarok, from Norse mythology. The only way to preserve the normal time stream is for the JSA heroes to merge with their counterparts from Valhalla and eternally wage that final battle, over and over again. I just re-read this book, and even though the events herein told are later reversed, this is a worthwhile tale, largely because it is lovingly written by that great re-creator of the golden age, Roy Thomas. He gets these older heroes and allows them to shine in a fight they cannot win.

History of the DC Universe 1-2 (DC Comics, 1986) — This two-volume, prestige format book reveals the Monitor tapes and the recording of the altered history recorded by his assistant, Harbinger. It gives a broad overview of how some of DC Comics’ historical characters fit together in this new single earth, as well as providing some hints of what was to come in the coming months. It is also the point where my filing system goes the most nuts.

The recent Infinite Crisis explains continuity errors as Superboy-Prime punching against the barrier that separates him and his companions from the sole remaining earth after the events of Crisis On infinite Earths. I plan to use that excuse offered by DC Comics itself. However, shortly after the end of Crisis On Infinite Earths, several heroes’ origins were revamped. The trend continued for 10 or 15 years, at least to the 1995 annuals which all had a “Year One” theme. No matter when these things were released, the bulk of them have been placed at this point in my comic book collection filing system. The history of the new earth was different from what it had been. What better place to “make” such changes and explore them, in “chronological order,” as we catch back up to the titles I was collecting in 1986?

So, while retro-reviews before the Crisis were focusing on The New Teen Titans and The Warlord from DC, The Thing from Marvel, and Jon Sable, Freelance from First, it will be a little bit before we catch back up to those stories where we left off. I think it’ll be an interesting bit of jumping around when we pick up next time.

Closing Out July On The Heels Of August

Today we have reviews for the last of the comics which came out in July, as well as a few older comics I managed to read before the August shipment arrived at my door this weekend. I’ll get those books ready to read so the next batch of reviews should be of August books, which is good since August is almost over.

Daredevil 87 (Marvel Comics) — So DD is out of prison now. He managed to escape while salvaging his secret identity thanks to some help from others, and he can start getting to the bottom of who’s setting him up. So really, this entire last arc didn’t really advance the overall plot at all, but damn, it was sure some good reading.

Birds of Prey 96 (DC Comics) — This title seems to be floundering somewhat since Infinite Crisis. Don’t get me wrong; Gail Simone has a great writer’s voice for these characters, but I just don’t care so much for some of the storylines, particularly this one about Black Alice. I just don’t care about her much, I guess.

Civil War: Front Line 4 (Marvel Comics) — More of the same from this title: I really enjoy the insights offered in the Embedded storyline about the reporters covering the events in the Marvel Universe, and I am loving reading about Speedball’s persecution in The Accused, but I’m not so sure about the Sleeper Cell storyline, and don’t much care for the pretensious parallel story that always ends the book. I get the similarities between the Civil War storyline and real world events such as the Patriot Act and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, etc. I don’t need to be beat over the head with it or made to feel like these stories are more emotional than they are.

Action Comics 841 (DC Comics) — Not sure about this arc yet, but decided to give it a try since it seems to guest-star Nightwing and the Titans. Seems people outside of Metropolis are concerned about whether or not the newly-returned Superman is the real deal or just another pretender. Nice tie-in to previous events. After what happened when Superman died, I can see why people might be suspicious.

New Avengers 22 (Marvel Comics) — Another good Civil War tie-in. Last issue showed us Captain America’s views on the registration act. This issue focuses on Power Man Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and their newborn daughter. Nicely done.

Batman 655 (DC Comics) — This is the opening arc of Batman and Son, the follow-up to an earlier Batman graphic novel in which Bruce and Talia have a son, a boy whom Bruce believes was stillborn. This story has a great deal of potential for emotional conflict considering Bruce’s feelings on family responsibilities. Not too many impressions so far, although this version of Talia seems somewhat darker and colder than usual.

JLA Classified 22-25 (DC Comics) — I’ve never been a big fan of the Detroit-era Justice League, surprising in that I have always liked Aquaman, and he was in charge of that incarnation of the team. But I didn’t know the other main new characters. However, I have always been rather fond of the various incarnations of the Royal Flush Gang. I don’t know why, they always seem kind of lame, power-wise. But I’ve just always liked them. This story ties together a couple different incarnations of the Gang, retroactively adding some sense and cohesion to the two teams, while also making me care a little bit about the Detroit Leaguers. It was a fun read, and is making me look forward to the sorta sequel in JSA Classified 14-16.

Jack of Fables 1 (DC Vertigo) — I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t much care for Bill Willingham writing superhero comics. His run on Robin was mostly bizarre and seemed to take the character back to being a novice, ignoring about 10 years’ worth of stories in the process, not to mention current continuity. But the man can write these Fables characters. I have been hooked on the original title since it began, and decided to give this new spin-off a try. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it or not, but I WANT to see issue #2 right away after reading #1. That doesn’t happen very often anymore. I’ve read enough comic books that good stories leaving me wanting to read the rest and see what happens, but not really anxious about it. I’m anxious to read this book next month.
Retro-Reviews

Crisis On Infinite Earths 5-7 (DC Comics 1985) — These books comprise the heart of the series. The first four issues are a lot of set-up. Issue 5 comes along with the revelation of the Anti-Monitor as the villain. Issue 6 brings the final five remaining earths together and introduces the coming villains coup. And issue 7 gives us origin and back story details for the new characters created for this series as well as the intensely dramatic death of Supergirl. Heroes and villains have died before this point, but Supergirl’s death lets everyone know that anyone could be next. For those still not convinced, check out issue 8 for the death of ... but we’re not there yet. (Like somebody out there hasn’t read this series yet.)

DC Comics Presents 87 (DC Comics 1985) — This story is one of the better Crisis tie-ins taking place right after Supergirl’s death. Superman is mysteriously taken to Earth-Prime, the earth that is supposed to be the one we readers live on. While there, he witnesses the dawning of powers on Superboy Prime, a character who will play a role in this Crisis, as well as in the later Infinite Crisis. A good book to have if for no other reason than that.

Well, that’s it for today. See ya next time.

Still Playing Catch-Up

Civil War Front Line 2 (Marvel Comics) — The second issue of this Civil War spin-off was good. I’m enjoying following these reporters as they watch and react to events unfolding — must be the journalist in me. But in this second issue, the backup story following Speedball is overshadowing the main one. I’ve never really followed Speedball or much cared one way or the other for the character before, but in light of the registration act, he is the perfect focus character for this story.

Daredevil 86 (Marvel Comics) — I haven’t made up my mind for sure on this title. I’ve followed Daredevil from time to time in the past. Brubaker is a great writer. But this whole Daredevil in prison thing needs to start moving to some kind of resolution as I am starting to loose interest. This issue seems to be moving DD toward an escape, so maybe change is coming.

New Avengers 21 (Marvel Comics) — This Civil War tie-in issue felt like a fill-in. It was nice to see Captain America between his dramatic escape from S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in Civil War #1 and leading the group of resistance fighters in Civil War #2, but there really isn’t much going on in this issue besides filling in those gaps, which most readers probably assumed happened anyway. The only information revealed in this issue — which side the Falcon and Ant-Man/Giant-Man Hank Pym are on — could be deduced from the pages of Civil War itself.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes 19 (DC Comics) — This latest incarnation of the Legion is my third attempt at following the group’s adventures. I always seem to loose interest after a while. This latest approach by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson seem to be quite novel, but with the introduction of Supergirl and her ascent to the lead spot in the title seems to have thrown the rest of the book off its focus. This particular issue doesn’t even have much to do with Supergirl, per se. It is more a solo spotlight for Chameleon. And it’s not a bad story, it just didn’t grab my interest like earlier issues did. This book is also in danger of being dropped like a few others discussed last time.

Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre 2 (DC Comics) — I have high hopes for this series, and so far it hasn’t let me down, unlike its companion title, Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Bludhaven. I really liked Gotham City police detective Crispus Allen when he was alive. I like what writer Will Pfeifer is doing by offering Allen the chance to join with the Spectre and using Allen’s perspective to help us explore the astral avenger. I hope this pairing moves beyond the scheduled miniseries.

Brave New World (DC Comics) — This preview comic offers advance glimpses of several upcoming series and miniseries — at least in theory. The problem is, when a person has to order his comic books several months in advance, he (or she) has to decide which of these books to follow before ever reading the preview. I’ve never cared much for the Creeper so I opted to pass on that series, and nothing in this book changed my mind. Other advanced online information convinced me to give the Shazam, Martian Manhunter and Atom series a try; this book leaves me hopeful that they will be worth the trial. I was curious about Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, and still am after reading this comic. And I wasn’t sure about the OMAC series, but figured I’d give it a try based on their role in Infinite Crisis. This preview story looks promising.

Solo 11 Sergio Aragones (DC Comics) — This has been an uneven title as most anthologies are. That’s probably why it has been canceled. I think the concept is sound, the company sponsoring such a project just has to accept and expect uneven sales. Aragones is a funny guy. This issue shows why. I especially liked his true tale of Marty Feldman and the Batman story. The rest was so-so.

Marvel Milestones: Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid (Marvel Comics) — This book is exactly what I expected the Outlaw Files to be: reprints of the first stories to feature Johnny “Rawhide Kid” Bart and Matt “Two-Gun Kid” Hawk. Great classic western fun.

And that was the last of my June new comic purchases. Moving on, we resume reading from the mid-1980s:

The Thing 26 (Marvel Comics) — Recapping, in the aftermath of the Marvel Super-Heroes Secret War, Ben Grimm opted to stay on the Beyonder’s world for a while. When he returned to earth, he found his one-time girlfriend Alicia masters had become involved with the Human Torch. Feeling betrayed, Grimm left Manhattan and the Fantastic Four. This issue finds him wandering the country and stumbling across a sinister circus run by — no, not the Ringmaster, but the Taskmaster. “runaways” isn’t a bad story, but it’s not a remarkable story, either.

Superman annual (1985) 11 (DC Comics) — This is one of the greats. “For the Man Who Has Everything” was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. It’s Superman’s birthday. Batman, new Robin Jason Todd and Wonder Woman arrive at the arctic Fortress of Solitude to give Superman birthday gifts and discover the Man of Steel under the thrall of a parasitic organism given to him by the alien conqueror Mongul. This story is so iconic it was adapted into an episode of Justice League Unlimited on Cartoon Network. If you’ve never read it, I highly recommend it. If you can’t find the original issue, it was recently reprinted in trade paperback form by DC in a collection of Alan Moore DC Universe stories.

The Warlord 97 (DC Comics) — Travis Morgan is leading his band of rebels in an attack to retake the besieged city of Shamballah. But the bad guys know about the “secret” attack plan in advance. Not only is the attack repelled, but the oppressors follow the rebels back to their camp and counter-attack there. All this disaster and the beginnings of the Crisis on Infinite Earths begins to be felt in the inner world of Skartaris.

Wow, if that’s not enough comics for you, come back next time for more.

Comic Book Revew Whirlwind

OK, I’m back again today, and as promised, we have a lot of comic book ground to cover, so let’s get started.

Manhunter 23 (DC Comics) — I really like this series. Apparently sales weren’t too good, as DC announced the title would be canceled after issue #25. Well, this issue promises a reprieve through #30 because so many fans protested the cancellation. This issue continues to explore Kate Spencer’s family history. The previous arc, just before One Year Later began, revealed Kate’s super-hero grandfather and the villainous madman her father was. This issue reunites Kate with her equally heroic grandmother. I won’t reveal who the heroine is for anyone who hasn’t yet read this book, but I must say one of the reasons I love DC Comics so much is their acknowledgment of the heroes who have gone before, familial ties to the heroes of today and the sense of legacy this creates within their line of books.

The New Avengers 20 (Marvel Comics) — This is the final installment of The Collective story arc, which picks up plot threads from the House of M event from last summer. I didn’t follow that series, and I don’t follow most of Marvel’s ‘X’ books on any kind of regular basis. I like some of the mutant characters, but X-Men just doesn’t hold my interest on a monthly basis. Maybe that’s why, but this story just didn’t hold my interest very well.

Captain America 19 (Marvel Comics) — I’ve always liked Cap, but these stories by Ed Brubaker are truly dynamic. It’s a little hard to place these issues in time along with the events of Civil War also running through most Marvel titles right now; Cap’s opposition to the hero registration act has led to S.H.I.E.L.D. declaring him a criminal, yet in his own title, he is clearly working with the spy organization, particularly Agent 13, Sharon Carter. But the whole Winter Soldier storyline and the events that have led directly from that arc are some incredible storytelling, keeping me coming back each issue to see what happens next.

Birds of Prey 95 (DC Comics) — I’m not sure how I feel about the most recent arc of this title. Chuck Dixon did an excellent job when he created this book. His departure meant the book floundered a bit until Gail Simone took over the writing chores. I don’t agree that only a woman can write the book since the main characters are all heroines — obviously, Dixon did it — but Simone was a great fit nonetheless. Most of the changes introduced as part of One Year Later, however, have also been undone as of the conclusion of this arc, or at least seem to be. So is everything just back to status quo? That seems to be somewhat of a letdown from such a good writer.

Fallen Angel 6 (IDW Publishing) — The relaunch of this title continues to explore the origins of the title character. The first arc moved the overall storyline ahead almost 20 years, but also gave us a glimpse of why Lee was cast out of Heaven. This arc continues to explore the origins of the character by picking up immediately after Lee was stripped of her divine abilities and landed on earth. It also reveals a bit more about her relationship and attitudes about God as her first “good deed” among humans does not go “unpunished.”

Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files (Marvel Comics) — I was disappointed in this book, but I think that has more to do with my misunderstanding of what it was intended to be. Essentially, this is a Marvel Handbook edition featuring the Western characters from Marvel’s past and present. I would much rather read some of the classic stories featuring these western characters than just text pieces, and somewhere along the way, I thought that was what this book was going to be. I was wrong.

Flash (2006) 1 (DC Comics) — This wasn’t a bad story. I bought it mainly to satisfy my curiosity about who would be the Flash in the wake of Infinite Crisis. I don’t know that I will continue with the title beyond knowing this detail. It’s not that I don’t care about the character; I’ve followed some of his solo adventures and some of the team books on which he was a member and enjoyed them quite a bit. I’m just not sure I care that much about the direction this book seems to be headed, and I’ve been needing to make some cuts in the number of titles I buy each month. This one may be cut, again, not because it isn’t good, but just because I don’t care as much about it.

Superman/Batman 27 (DC Comics) — This was a fun comic. I’m pretty sure it was a stand-alone issue. I simply can’t talk about this one without some spoilers; it’s been out long enough, I assume that’s OK; if not, you’ve been warned. OK, taking Superman and Batman and putting them into women’s bodies has a certain adolescent charm. The male heroes having to function as women isn’t a new concept, but it’s not what sets this issue off so nicely. It’s the fact that the Superman and Batman team in this issue are the heroes from Earth 2 and the Huntress in this issue is Batman’s daughter, not Helena Bertinelli. It’s nice to see these Golden Age heroes in action again, probably for the last time as the Earth 2 Superman was killed in Infinite Crisis.

Young Avengers 12 (Marvel Comics) — This is another title that may be going bye-bye from my buying list. Writer Allan Heinberg has made me care about these young heroes and their adventures over the past year, but again, something’s gotta give and this is an easy target that doesn’t affect other books I collect. This issue is also a good jumping off point as it wraps up the Family Matters arc and the first year’s worth of formative stories.

52 Week Eight (DC Comics) — I’m still along for the ride, but this series is raising way more questions than answers right now. Biggest question right now is: What’s up with Green Arrow? This is only eight weeks; how is Ollie not in a hospital or dead from the multiple stab/arrow wounds he received in the last issue of his own book before One Year Later? Next biggest question: Who is this new hero they haven’t revealed to us yet? Third biggest question: I don’t care how mad she is, what is Natasha irons thinking going to Lex Luthor for help?

Batman 654 (DC Comics) — The conclusion of Face the Face, the first Bat story One Year Later. James Robinson did a solid job on this tale re-introducing not only Batman and Robin to the DC Universe after their one year away, but also nailed the characterization on returning supporting cast members Two-Face and Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon. This arc is well worth the bucks.

Action Comics 840 (DC Comics) — As great as Face the Face was, that’s how great this storyline started out. Up, Up and Away! reintroduced Superman to the DCU One Year Later. It started wonderfully, showing us a non-powered Clark Kent confident and at the top of his game following Infinite Crisis. But as the story progressed and Clark’s powers began to slowly return, the story seemed to lose focus. Luthor’s plan seemed desperate and not well-thought out. Superman managed to defeat him, but mostly through luck and brute force, not the clever cunning he displayed when Clark kent was all he was. This story started well but ended leaving me feeling cheated somehow.

That’s enough for today. I’ve got more books in the stack that have been read but not reviewed, but I don’t want this post to grow too large. So, more to come.