The seventh book I read this week was Green Lantern Corp #24 chapter 2 of Lights Out. Although I would really like to see a few one up stories, this story arc has been extremely satisfying. In the first issue of this story line Relic has attacked Oa and destroyed the green lantern’s power supply, which in turn is killing the planet. In this issue John Stewart and Hal Jordan deal with this news and start working on a way to combat Relic. I only have one gripe about this issue. In most panels the artwork and coloring is done in dark green hues. In others the hues are bright and sometimes they clash. Other than that this is a nearly perfect chapter.
Book #8 this week is Batman #24 Zero year. This was a great comic. A few months ago I read that Scott Snyder was going to be doing a story arc that would be a reboot of Batman by re-imagining his origin story. Because I had never read any of The Batman books, this gave me an excuse to start. The story focuses on Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham after a long absence( people believed he was dead). He is still dealing with the death of his parents. When he returns, the Red Hood Gang is causing all sorts of problems and Bruce Wayne decides to take them on as The Bat( Batman). In this issue we learn a lot. We learn who the Red Hood leader is, we see the birth of a villain and the beginnings of another. I have read two books that were written by Scott Snyder( this and The Wake) and both books are great movie script quality books. I really like the art in this book when the panels are drawn in darker hues. I’m not sure the lighter hued panels are as good. Great Book. A.
Book #9 Superman Wonder Woman #1. This book is about the secret relationship between Superman and Wonder Woman and how one wants to keep it secret and the other wants it to be public. It’s also about a incident that causes Wonder Woman to believe that her boyfriend needs to learn how to fight. Also, a major villain, that has had some luck with beating the living crap out of Superman, returns. This is a really good book. The art is not as spectacular as Superman Unchained but it is amazing still. A.
Book #10 is Forever Evil Arkham War #1. Rather than attempt to reiterate what has happened in Forever Evil so far, I’m just going to state that in some of the villain books last month we learned that when the Justice League died, The Penguin set himself up as a crime boss and is allowing other villains to control quadrants of Gotham City. There are two insane asylums in Gotham( Blackgate and Arkham). Bane wants to control the crime syndicate in Gotham and is making strides to do that. This book starts the story in a very dark and creepy way. The visuals in this book are disturbing but the story is compelling. B+.
I have to admit that I’m at a severe loss with rating this book. Having never read this book in the past, I can’t give a definitive answer as to whether or not this was a great book. The book is Suicide Squad #24. I picked it up because it’s a chapter in the Forever Evil saga. Near as I can tell this book is about about Amanda Waller, an employee of A.R.G.U.S., who employs patients at Belle Reve, an institution for Supervillains, to do deadly missions for her, and in order to keep them in line, she implants their brains with bombs. The only problem she’s having is that her original team has decided to work for the crime syndicate and now she needs to find a new team before her old friends cause more problems. The book does an alright job of introducing the premise of Suicide Squad and sets up a story within the Forever Evil storyline but there are questions I have that seem like plot holes for me. For instance, is Amanda a villain too? If so, why is she fine and her old team members not exploding for betraying her? B- it was ok but the intrigue didn’t keep me bolted to what was happening
The second to last book I read is Coffin Hill #1. Every once and a while a new book comes a long that I choose to check out and then leave behind. This is one of those books. Not because it deals with witchcraft and dark evil but also because it confused the hell out of me. As far as I can tell this book is about a young woman who comes from a long line of witches that came from Salem who is also a cop who was injured hunting a serial killer who also likes to do blood sacrifices in the woods. The writing is scattered, uneven and overblown. C-
The last book I read this week was Image Comics Three #1. This is an interesting book although very violent and at times difficult to read. The premise is to examine Grecian society from the view point of the slaves. It’ll be interesting to see where this series goes. The first issue is setting up the conflict and it does a good job but the slave that dies in the book isn’t that likable. I’m anxious to read issue 2 B.
martysmeanderings 