More Tales Of Daring-Do, Bad And Good Luck Tales

Walt Disney's Donald Duck: "Christmas On Bear Mountain" by Carl Barks hardcover
Fantagraphics Books
Carl Barks, writer and artist

If money holds out, I guess I will keep buying these Disney Duck collections; I'm five-for-five so far on the collections featuring Donald as the headliner, and they've all been great reads, featuring a combination of one-page gags and longer stories about Donald and his nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie. This particular volume has a much heavier concentration of the longer narratives, including only a small handful of one-pagers. Still very good, though.

The first duck tale in this latest volume, the title story, has the distinction of being the very first appearance of Uncle Scrooge McDuck. The character in this 1947 story bears little resemblance to the globe-trotting miser from future stories, however. The physical appearance of Scrooge in this tale is close, but the crotchety uncle of Donald Duck is pretty mean-spirited and has difficulty moving around unassisted. His dim view of others prompts him to tempt Donald and the nephews with the promise of a resplendent holiday full of food and gifts if they will only spend the night in his hunting cabin on Bear Mountain. Then he plots to scare them away as unworthy cowards. But Scrooge's plot is foiled by the unwitting intervention of some real bears.

Other yarns in this collection have Donald and the boys planting flower gardens competitively; learning about dancing, music and magic; tracking down the whereabouts of a "lost" mine; and traveling to such far-off locales as Australia, the West Indies, and the fictional Volcano Valley.

In another Christmas-themed story, Huey, Dewey and Louie decide that they have been pretty bad all year and need to work hard in the last days before Christmas to earn the possibility of presents. Unfortunately, most of their genuinely good deeds and favors for Donald end up having disastrous results for their poor uncle. But more often than not, it is Donald's attempts to teach the boys a lesson that end up backfiring, resulting in Donald himself getting into trouble.

The Worst Of Messes Often DO Become Successes

Walt Disney's Donald Duck: "A Christmas For Shacktown" by Carl Barks hardcover
Fantagraphics Books

This is the second collection of Carl Barks' Disney Ducks tales featuring Donald. In many of the animated shorts starring Donald Duck, the character is known for his quick temper and his often self-defeating mannerisms. The same can be said for many of the one-page gag strips included in this collection. But Donald's personality is more malleable in the longer "book-length" adventures, depending on other characters and the needs of the story. Yet Barks is still able to make this Donald seem just as genuine as the often agitated video version.

The title story in this volume, as many of the stories included herein, centers around the season of Christmas. Huey, Dewey and Louie take a shortcut home from school through the poor neighborhoods of Duckburg and begin to feel sorry for the young inhabitants of Shacktown who have never known the joys of Christmas. The three younger ducks enlist the aid of their Junior Woodchucks friends, as well as Daisy, Donald and even miserly Uncle Scrooge, to help bring presents to the children of Shacktown. Other stories in this volume include the first-ever appearance of Scrooge McDuck's famous Money Bin; several tales centering on the unerring good fortunes of Donald's lucky cousin, Gladstone Gander; Donald trying to teach his young nephews a lesson, often ending up more the pupil than Huey, Dewey and Louie are; and a race to find a golden viking helmet which will leave the bearer wealthy and powerful. All of this and much more can be found in this second Donald Duck treasury.

Find a copy and enjoy it!

" ... And If You're Not Careful, You Might Learn Something Before It's Done"

Walt Disney's Donald Duck: "Lost in the Andes" (The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library) hardcover
Fantagraphic Books
Carl Barks, writer/artist

This is a nice book featuring a number of Donald Duck stories of varying lengths and boundless imagination. The title story, "Lost in the Andes," takes Donald and his three nephews -- Huey, Duey and Louie -- to South America in search of the source of square eggs. Subsequent stories pit the Disney Ducks against a Christmas-hating wicked witch, running from a genuine Voodoo zombie named Bombie, and racing against Donald's cousin, the ever-lucky Gladstone Gander, to be the first to find a ship-wrecked Uncle Scrooge McDuck. And those are just the novel-length stories included.

More than just a collection of funny stories appropriate for all ages, however, this tome includes a brief history of Carl Barks' career, before, during and after his time with Walt Disney Studios. It also lists the original publication information for each of the stories included, as well as background information on the times and trends in which the stories were written. That can be useful knowledge considering most of these stories were written in the early 1950s and much has changed in America since that time.

I don't know if I will spend the money on each of these volumes as I would likely never have a full set anyway. The reasons behind that are twofold: First, I would be much more likely to buy the Donald Duck collections than the Uncle Scrooge collections. Nothing against Scrooge McDuck. I have some collections already of stories featuring him, most of them by Barks. I just prefer Donald. And second, Barks has such an enormous amount of Duck stories to his credit, that I doubt I could ever afford to own all of them anyway. He crafted so many tales -- some single-page gags, some 10-page stories and many more book-length adventures -- that his career with the Disney Ducks spans almost a quarter-century and countless narratives.

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.

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.

Give It A Try (Reprise)

I’ve already given my thoughts on trying new things — and not all that long ago — so I won’t rehash the entire thing again. Suffice to say, I think it’s good to try new stuff from time to time. You find some duds along the way, but the gems you uncover make the hobby worth it.

My latest “trial” yielded some quality moments in a rather odd-looking trade paperback, the collection of an initial four-issue series which is very soon to be followed up with another limited series. Based on this trade, the new series is going on my “pull list.”

The Perhapanauts: First Blood tpb (Dark Horse Comics) — Writer Todd Dezago and artists Craig Rousseau and Rico Renzi brought about this somewhat disjointed tale about a group of paranormal investigators working for the Bureau of Extra-Dimensional Liabilities and Management (BEDLAM). The organization tracks down unexplained phenomena, figures out why they/it/whatever is/are here and sends them/it/whatever back. There are two teams, red and blue, but our focus is primarily the five-member blue team which consists of a psychic, a mystery guy, a ghost, a mentally-enhanced sasquatch and a comic-relief Chupacabra. The characters are immediately likable, and they seem to be an accomplished, if slightly less than perfect, team. The story combines humor, drama, mystery and suspense in just the right measures to keep the reader entertained and wanting more.

The story begins with blue team taking on a chimera, then an aswang, along the way providing glimpses of the members of red team and the history of BEDLAM. As I said, the story is a tad disjointed at times, at least in the trade. Maybe the individual issues were presented somewhat differently. And the story presented in the trade really doesn’t end. But it is good enough — and fun enough — a story to make me anxious for the next limited series and willing to seek out more of this team.

Outsiders 40 (DC Comics) — Not a bad issue, but I’m still puzzling over why and how the team went “underground,” and especially how the Nightwing in this book fits in with his actions in his own title. Winick needs to delve into that territory soon as, from what I hear, this title is beginning to lose its readers. Most of the team was captured last issue by Mallah and the Brain. In this issue, Katana and a “piece” of Metamorpho help free them by setting loose a bad clone of Superman — bad as in poorly done, not evil, but then calling him good or evil is ascribing too much brain power to this behemoth. In the end, the Outsiders learn that Mallah and Brain are in cahoots with Dr. Sivanna.

Boneyard 22 (NBM) — The latest story line for this black & white Richard Moore comic involves a gathering of all the various nether-creatures on earth. Representing the graveyard, Abbey and Michael arrive in the hopes of staying on the good side of their host, the Illuminary. First they find Nessie and Ralph in attendance after Abbey specifically told them to stay home. Next they spy a couple more less-than-welcome guests, one of whom manages to spike the normally reserved Abbey’s drink causing her to act quite drunken and embarrassingly. Things do not look good. Oh, and back home at the cemetery, Glump has unleashed yet another death machine now out of his control — but what else is new. This is just a fun comic. If you aren’t reading it, you should be.

Justice League Unlimited 25 (DC Comics) — Another fine issue, this time focusing on Blue Devil.

52 Weeks 19-21 (DC Comics) — The first issue here raises the ideas of a new Booster Gold and Supernova being Superboy. And Lobo’s found religion?!? Then we see Steel acting the part of the hero once again in the next issue; that’s a welcome relief from his whining in previous appearances. That scene also leads to the beginnings of Steel uncovering Luthor’s agenda behind the Everyman Project. Supernova is seen rummaging through the Batcave, and the space stars are on the run again. The third issue here reveals more of Luthor’s hidden control over, as well as the death of, one of the Everyman heroes. The issue focuses mostly on those Everyman heroes, now called the new Infinity Inc. and a run-in with the current Titans roster, just before most of them quit. This title is just good stuff.

Martian Manhunter 2 (DC Comics) — J’Onn raids the secret government base from which the dead Martian escaped only to find several more captives being held and tortured. Many of the base’s personnel escape while J’Onn helps at least four refugees to freedom. I go back and forth on this series, but I am curious, so I’ll hang around a bit longer.

Captain America 21 (Marvel Comics) — This is the conclusion to the Twenty-First Century Blitz story line, and, in a way, a bit of a resolution to the entire series, so far. Cap and Bucky are reunited, albeit briefly; the stage is set for Bucky to “come in from the cold;” the Red Skull is “back;” and the other villain of the last few arcs, Lukin, has been cleared of suspicions. Ed Brubaker has been weaving some fantastic stories in this title, and Steve Epting’s art is gorgeous.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis 44 (DC Comics) — Our band of heroes moves in to rescue the captive Atlanteans and learns that the ultimate villain behind their enslavement is Ocean Master. I don’t dislike the new Aquaman, although I have several burning questions about his origin and ties to the original, but I still long to have the “real” Aquaman back. This issue’s confrontation between Ocean Master and young Arthur seems to have set the stage for old Arthur to regain his memory and lose the Dweller in the Depths moniker. I hope that’s the case.

Fables 53 (DC Vertigo) — Sons of Empire part 2 shows us the Adversary’s war council and reveals the plans the Snow Queen ultimately has for the mundy world — our world. They are truly chilling. This is another great title everyone should be reading.

Green Arrow 66 (DC Comics) — This issue begins to fill in the missing year and the new training Oliver and his companions went through. I’m interested in seeing this story, but from every indication, Winick isn’t going to answer all the questions I really have. His One Year Later story line has made it clear that Oliver, Conner and Mia went away to retrain and better themselves in much the way that Batman, Nightwing and Robin did. Winick’s story so far makes it obvious that part of that early time also involved Green Arrow healing from the life-threatening wounds he received just before OYL began. It doesn’t explain his healthy appearance in the final issues of Infinite Crisis unless the destruction of Star City came later, and also doesn’t address his appearance alongside other heroes at the attempted resurrection of Superboy in the pages of 52. He seemed pretty healthy then, too. What gives?

Superman 656 (DC Comics) — I like the methodology of Superman in this issue by Kurt Busiek. He has seen so many threats, it is unfortunately natural that he would begin to see a monstrous appearance as the only important indicators of a rampaging beast. Solution: stop it first and ask questions later. Then, once the Man of Steel learns that his adversary can reason and think, he immediately tries to reason. That makes sense to me. Superman is not without compassion, but he’s seen so many threats, he jumped the gun. Unfortunately, the damage has been done, and there is no reasoning with his sparring partner by the time Superman realizes that might have worked. In fact, the only thing I don’t like about this story line is the inclusion of Arion. I admit, I don’t know much about the character and have never followed his adventures before. But man, he’s a sanctimonious jackass in this tale.

Birds of Prey 98 (DC Comics) — OK, I admit it. I thought the new Batgirl was gonna be Barbara, just like Black Canary did. OK, obviously that was wrong, but she obviously does know Canary and Huntress, but I don’t know her. We’ve seen her face now, but who is she? Should we know at this point? I’m still confused. But at least I’m regaining my interest in this title again.

Checkmate 6 (DC Comics) — The Suicide Squad is back. The Society is obviously not happy about it. What I don’t understand is, are they back at Waller’s behest, in spite of Waller, some combination of both I haven’t worked out yet? But, whatever the motivations and who knows what, I am betting I’m supposed to be confused at this point, because that seems to be the style for this book.

Civil War 4 (Marvel Comics) — OK, as everyone probably already knows, Thor is NOT really back, but Reed and Tony cloned him. And the clone messed up in battle, killing Goliath. Some of Cap’s rebels are seeing this as a reason to get out before they are killed. Some of Iron Man’s troops are questioning how far they are willing to support him. Again, I like this series, and I don’t see how the Marvel Universe can be the same afterwards unless they Wanda (I doubt I coined a new term here; somebody’s used that before, right?) this whole thing away at the end. Too many heroes are acting unheroic right now.

Donald Duck and Friends 344 (Gemstone) — Curiously, the “and Friends” is gone from the title on the cover this issue, but it still appears in the Reader Services box, so I guess they aren’t changing the name. This issue features a new version of the Carl Barks classic Pawns of the Loup Garou.” Donald and a werewolf. How can you go wrong?

And I think we’ll call it an entry for today.

We’re Absolutely Flying Through August

Hey, Kiddie Cops, it’s time for some more comic book reviews from the month of August. We’re already halfway through the month, and I’ve been reading at a better than normal pace, so we’re almost through the entire month already.

Martian Manhunter 1 (DC Comics) — Another limited series, this one with some strikes against it right off the bat. First off, I don’t much care for the new costume design. From what we’ve seen of the character in the past, the costume doesn’t make much sense, so there better be a darn good in-story reason for it. Second, I didn’t much care for the creative team of Lieberman and Barrionuevo on Gotham Knights; actually, the art was fine,but the story rang off for me. However, I’m curious about where this discovery of other green martians on earth is going.

52 Weeks Fifteen and Sixteen (DC Comics) — Still liking this series, especially the arcs involving Black Adam and Isis and Montoya and the Question. It was nice to see a glimpse of the stranded space heroes again, too. No sign of Ralph Dibny, though, so apparently they’re going to make us sweat his fate out a bit.

Manhunter 25 (DC Comics) — I’ve mentioned that the last arc of this book was a little disappointing. This new story seems to be starting off nicely, but I wonder how this story is going to mesh with what is happening in the relaunched Wonder Woman title. Speaking of which ...

Wonder Woman 2 (DC Comics) — Very interested in where this story is going, but what is up with Wonder Girl? Cassie was devastated by Conner’s death and Diana disappearing, but what is up with her joining a resurrection cult, blowing off the other Titans and being a complete jerk when Diana resurfaces. She was hurt, sure, but endangering Donna and other civilians to get back at Diana? What’s up with that.

Checkmate 5 (DC Comics) — I’m glad I waited this title out. It’s getting better and better.

Nightwing 123 (DC Comics) — This first One Year Later arc wasn’t bad, but I find myself just waiting for Marv Wolfman’s run to begin.

Donald Duck and Friends 343 (Gemstone) — I like Donald. I just do. But there’s no escaping the fact that the best stories in these books are the reprinted classic Carl Barks stories.

JSA Classified 14-16 (DC Comics) — This story arc was a sequel to the most recent JLA Classified arc with the Royal Flush Gangs. But this story just didn’t seem as good to me for some reason. I like most of the characters, but the tale just left me saying “So?” I’m not exactly sure why.

Daredevil 88 (Marvel Comics) — I shouldn’t have doubted Ed Brubaker. The stories he’s churning out in this title and Captain America are incredible. But when I learned Foggy was still alive, I feared the explanation would fall flat. I should’ve known better. He’s written another ace that keeps the characters in question completely in character.

That’s it for today. Check back next time for the rest of the August release comics, or at least the ones I received for the month. And quite probably, there’ll also be some more retro-reviews.

Busy Weekend of Reading

HHere’s some more thoughts on comics I read this weekend, and there’s a lot of them so here we go:

Civil War Front Line 1 (Marvel Comics) — OK, I don’t know who this Sally journalist is but I’m guessing she’s been in some previous stories from the conversation she has here with Spider-Man, but I do know who Ben Urich is; this comic holds promise. This first issue doesn’t start out slow either.

Wonder Woman (2006) 1 (DC Comics) — The Amazing Amazon is re-launched with Founding Teen Titan Donna Troy in the title role, or is she? Steve Trevor certainly wasn’t who he appeared to be. And Diana does show up in the final scene, so there’s more to this title than meets the eye in the first issue.

52 Week Six (DC Comics) — This was a good issue. It was especially nice to see Ralph go off on somebody, venting his grief, and I can’t think of anybody more deserving of some anger directed their way than Booster Gold.

The Battle for Bludhaven 5 (DC Comics) — Again, I’m not real sure about this miniseries. It seems a little disjointed and some of the more familiar characters don’t necessarily act like themselves. Green Lantern Hal Jordan shows up in this issue; he can’t save it.

Superman 653 (DC Comics) — “Up, Up and Away!” continues; it started so promisingly, but now that Superman’s powers are back, I dunno. Maybe I’m just losing interest, but I’m just not feeling the excitement I was in the first few chapters.

Checkmate 3 (DC Comics) — Still not sure about this title, but I’m warming up to it. Alan Scott, Sasha Bordeaux and Fire seem more in character to me. I’ve also decided to give the first Checkmate series a try. Worked out a trade over the weekend swapping some of the comics from the Web site for all 33 issues from that series. Hopefully they’ll be arriving soon.

Green Arrow 63 (DC Comics) — Ollie is one of my favorite characters, but I’m just not sure what writer Judd Winick is up to. I’m losing interest in what is going on, and while I’ve liked his art in the past, Scott McDaniel’s art in this title is just rubbing me wrong.

Fables 50 (DC Comics) — WOW! I love Bigby and I’m happy to see he and Snow finally together. I just hope their seeming bliss at the end of this fantastic anniversary tale doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing them again. Great espionage tale winding up several plot threads from the first 50 issues.

Civil War 2 (Marvel Comics) — Obviously this is the main series Front Line spins out of. It’s getting a lot of great buzz online, and Cap’s great escape from S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first issue was great. This one, not so much except for the big shocker on the last page, which, of course, was ruined for me online since I get my books after everyone else. Oh, and I’m a little shocked at the side of the CW Ben Grimm is on. I figured he’d be more on Cap’s side.

Squadron Supreme (2006) 4 (Marvel Comics) — I still like this title, but it seems to have lost some of its kick with the move from Marvel max to the mainstream Marvel U titles.

Nightwing 121 (DC Comics) — This Bruce Jones guy is just writing my absolute favorite hero stranger and stranger.

Donald Duck and Friends 341 (Gemstone) — Love me some Donald Duck. Not much to say about this specific issue, but these are fun to read.

52 Week Seven (DC Comics) — Oops! Read so many comics this weekend, I forgot. This is the issue where Ralph goes off on Booster. We also get our first glimpse of the new Kathy Kane, the soon-to-be all-new Batwoman.

JSA Classified 13 (DC Comics) — The final installment of this travesty. I’m not the biggest fan of Vandal Savage anyway, but I just didn’t care for this arc.

Toldja it was a lotta readin'.