Wonder Woman #40

This one has the quiet cool. Blissfully removed from the dregs of Blackest Night, Diana takes a timeout to clean up the homestead. Quetzlotl, serpent son of god Quetzalcoatl, uncharacteristically swallows a city subway train without having the courtesy to first excuse the commuters. Wonder Woman does damage control & sends off the apologetic serpent with a slap on the wrist, and also heeds Q's parting warning of impending slaughter.

Elsewhere, a respected local lawyer uncharacteristically sets ablaze a synagogue. And the parishioners within. Someone should probably pay closer attention to the ethnically diverse prep school squad with ominous orange glowing eyes who really harsh the mellow at both disaster scenes. Meanwhile, Diana visits friend Bette in the hospital. Simone writes some delightful dialogue here, nice balance to Wonder Woman's witty banter & brash fighting persona. Then Power Girl & Wonder Woman beat the fuck out of each other! Yay.

Captain America: Reborn #6

"Oh man...That is a really big Red Skull..." Awesome. Almost as awesome as giantized Red Skull's battle cry: "You'll all die beneath my feet!" Let me get out of the way the fact that I don't care for Hitch's art. It's often chaotic and sometimes okay and always inconsistent. What's with the thick white bars as panel borders? But Paul Mounts rocks the colors.

And back to the writing we go. Brubaker has the kind of command over Captain America that Geoff Johns (most of the time) has over Green Lantern. But Brubaker is way more fun. I mean, this shit is balls out ridiculous. Not any more ridiculous than any other action superhero saga. Brubaker sets his apart with tone. There's nothing self-righteous about his work on Cap. Johns can be too dramatic, and he tends to beat a once-great concept into repetitive ruin. Brubaker's enthusiasm is infectious, though, and it feels like he has as much fun writing his words as I have reading them.

So I don't care about the publishing fuck-up on this issue, didn't affect my reading. Steve dominates Red Skull on the psychological battlefield & then shit gets physical on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. And the "It's him...It's Captain America!" splash? To hell with cynicism. It moved.

Batman and Robin #7

Well you can't blame this month's issue on the absence of Frank Quitely. Cameron Stewart's art is totally serviceable - I know that doesn't sound like a compliment, but Quitely set the bar way high, and Grant Morrison gives Stewart next to nothing to work with after the opening act. Cool cover though. The only reason you need to care about this comic is the potential in Bruce's post-mortem visit to the Lazarus Pit Spa.

Detective Comics #861

Jock takes over for J.H. Williams III on art this month - I haven't been paying attention so I don't know if this is a permanent change or not. Williams III has been just about deified for his work on Detective, but Jock does right by me. Don't get me wrong, Williams III is righteous (and nails the cover). I'm most impressed by his design sense, his unequaled ability to layout unique pages. But is it terrible to prefer Jock's take on the Bat characters? I prefer Jock's take on the Bat characters. I like the more scratchy, edgy, angular line work. I love the rainy city colors by David Baron. A few pages stand out. Batman perched on the prow. Kate & Captain Sawyer in the woods. The Batman/Batwoman split page. All cool.

I will say the book feels less feminine this month, and I don't know if that's good or bad. At first, I wasn't at all interested in Kate at the helm of Detective. Then Rucka picked up the writing, and I cared some more. Now Kate shares the spotlight with Dick. It totally works & I'm always game for more Batman, but I was also really beginning to appreciate that butch red-headed angel. We'll see where this goes.

Rucka seems really comfortable here. He kind of coasted those first few issues, but this is right on. Pretty straightforward. Dick is out for Vanessa Hansen, kidnapped heiress to the family fortune, and Kate is after the Cutter, who does to Gotham University girls exactly what his name implies. The character-building moments work best - Dick & Jim Gordon, Kate & maybe soon-to-be-victimized cousin Bette. To tell you the truth, Kate with a bit of Dick (I kill me) works well - I could do without the Question Second Feature if we could trade it in for more Bats.

Fantastic Four #575

Weeee! I love everything about this book. I mean that about Hickman & Eaglesham's run as a whole. Totally my favorite monthly. Although I use that descriptor on a bunch of books, so maybe that takes away from 'favorite.' Fantastic Four is at least the comic I look forward to most. So I guess it is my favorite. Or it's up there. I'm not saying it should be your favorite, too, but Fantastic Four is everything I'm looking for in the medium. Concise writing that can be both playful and serious. Classic-looking art with contemporary style that can be as explosive as it is subtle. Big moments. Little moments. And behind it all, an overwhelming sense of fun & possibility. As much as it could rightfully wear the old "World's Greatest Comic Magazine" slogan, I love how each issue now bears a quote from the script - "There is chaos in the underworld..." sits up high this month.

I never liked FF when I was younger. It was always so fucking wordy! Hickman is as good with the words as anyone writing superhero comics today, and his pacing is perfect. Several panels without text, let Eaglesham tell the story. Clever & swift dialogue that doesn't waste panel space & doesn't lack depth (I love the Thing/Mole Man exchange, fuck if I care that Ben is sappy: "Nobody should have to be a monster that don't want to be"). Writer & artist just seem to operate in perfect synchronicity, and Hickman sets up Eaglesham with some delightful splashes here - Mole Man arrives! Galactus dies! A city rises! Wouldn't be fair to ignore the rest of the crew. Classic cover by Davis, Farmer, and Rodriguez. Wooton shines - I particularly like the Ascension-Engine-Thing font (is the letterer responsible for the speech bubble shapes, too? Whoever is, I like the wavey ones!). Mounts is perfect for Eaglesham - if you didn't appreciate it the first time, go back to the coloring in the cavern scene, or Mole Man's initial entrance, or Galactus' burial site. I love the I-can't-fucking-wait-to-see-what-comes-next page turn anticipation.

The plot! Subterranea is in peril! Way back when, the High Evolutionary plays Island of Dr. Moreau in the underworld with his Ascension Engine, but when evolution backfires, H.E. jumps ship. Everyone's favorite Moloids later stumble upon the still-functioning Engine & enjoy a jaunt on the super-intelligence treadmill - as they devolve in appearance to resemble fugly humans, they evolve in smarts to challenge Mole Man. And of course, the more human-looking anything becomes, so too the more insidious! Moloids want raise city! Mole Man angry, Moloids subservient! Thing clobber! I repeat: weeee!

Superman: Secret Origin #4

I guess I'm just missing the point of Secret Origin. I mean, I get the intended point, but not what's actually coming out in print each month. If I were more well versed in the minutia of Superman's history, I might notice the retcons and 'secrets' that Johns must be throwing in here. But I'm not. So I don't. This just reads like the standard Superman origin story to me, the kind I remember reading every couple of years in typical ongoing titles to catch up new readers. For that matter, Secret Origin is basically just a bloated version of the few lines of character encapsulation that run at the beginning of most monthlies. Maybe I shouldn't blame Johns for this - it's not his fault I'm not picking up on the new tidbits - but unless there's a pretty dramatic payoff in the final two issues, this affair has been a waste of time.

Honestly, I wouldn't even mind if this were just another origin retelling with some added flare. I love superhero origin stories, and it's usually interesting to see how different/new/contemporary writers interpret the standard story. But there's nothing here to really enjoy. I'm not blown away by shocking retcons, and I'm not rejoicing in the well-worn yet eminently glorious birth of Superman.

To be fair, this issue does have some merit. Gary Frank, whose art I normally find static & ho-hum, draws a pretty disgusting Parasite, and Brad Anderson's coloring is awesome. The pages of putrid pink metamorphisis & ensuing fight with Superman are great, and the bit with Jimmy Olsen at the end is cute. I would totally buy a poster of the toothy sphincter-mouthed Parasite splash page.

Justice League of America #41

I'm generally not a fan of Bagley's work. To me, it's the art equivalent of bubblegum pop music. I guess it has a sort of generic mass appeal, but it's flat & lacks personality. The script is unfortunately a perfect partner here. There has to be a better way to introduce a new team lineup than having the welcome wagon flit around soap-boxing & brandishing stylized letters.

I've enjoyed Robinson's writing on the Superman books so far - it's certainly not going to go down in the annals of history as one of the great Superman runs, but it's entertaining & different enough to keep me reading - but his JLA is killing me. Despite the promise of a more classic lineup, my excitement has pretty much bottomed out. I'm a sucker, so I'll probably stick around for another issue or two just to see what Robinson does with the book once the team is actually together, but beyond the weak promise of a brighter future, there's nothing but flaccidity in what should be DC's flagship title.

Catwoman #83

I did not expect to like this comic so much. I mean it stars a girl character, and I'm terribly misogynistic in my superhero preferences. But it's one of the Blackest Night one-issue revivals, and I'm buying all the others, so why not. Turns out, it's kind of delightful. Tony Bedard's script offers everything I found lacking in Johns' writing on Blackest Night: Flash #2. The guy doesn't take this shit too seriously! Several references to Black Mask torturing Catwoman's brother-in-law & then forcing the wife, Catwoman's sister, to eat hubby's eyeballs! Still fun!

Couple things don't totally work for me. I don't care for the font used on Catwoman's internal monologue & I prefer bold text for emphasis rather than the underlining used here. That's just me being picky. Not a huge fan of the art - looks a little too digital for my taste - but it's okay. The first few pages of Selina fighting Black Lantern Black Mask are cool, I like the panel layouts & coloring. The eyeball-scalpel scenes are tasty. The "animal crackers" Harley Quinn panel is righteous. Solid Hughes cover.

Straightforward plot - a few references to older stories I haven't read, but Bedard provides all the necessary details. Black Mask is now a born-again Black Lantern & gunning for Catwoman, who put the bullet in his head. Mask goes after Selina's sister, who's been institutionalized after the aforementioned eyeball incident. Selina gets by with a little help from her Gotham City Sirens friends, Poison Ivy & Harley Quinn. It's Bedard's tone that carries the book, though. The Blackest Night concept is pretty straight camp to begin with, and Bedard doesn't shy away from it. This isn't a must-buy or anything close, but for my money, it's a solid 7/10. I laughed a little. The zombie thing works best with an edge of ridiculous comedy. This one has a scalpel.

p.s. The DC website shows entirely different creative credits for this issue: "Written by Fabian Nicieza; Art by Julian Lopez and Bit; cover by Guillem March." I went with the credits listed inside the comic.

Blackest Night: The Flash #2

Scott Kolins draws his balls off, but Geoff Johns writes this issue into the ground. I hold near and dear Johns' originial Flash run from the first half of this decade - Kolins was in there, too - but I feel like he's lost his way since coming back to the character. Rebirth is pretty forgettable. I miss Wally West. There are way too many Flashes running around. Too much whiny self-reflection. Too much scientificky explanation attempting to make sense of the Speed Force. Too much fucking Speed Force! The Flash is a dude that runs really fucking fast - that's your story! It's plenty good, just keep it working!

You know who I really miss? Tom Peyer and Freddie Williams II. Favorite Flash run ever. Lasted for about three seconds. Wally, wife, kids, crime-fighting fun. That creative crew made the married-with-children superhero work. Peyer managed a nice balance between Wally the concerned family man and Wally the fast guy, and he did it without the overly serious melodramatics that I think Johns has been offering recently.

So the story. The alive Rogues fight the Black Lantern Rogues in Iron Heights. Blue Lantern Barry fights Black Lanterns in a cemetery. I'm trying to make this sound boring & yet it's already more entertaining than the actual comic.

But like I said, Kolins is awesome here. I want to say his stuff reminds me of Geof Darrow a little bit - detailed linework, packed panels, stylized & cartoony - maybe some Jack Kirby, too. And EC horror comics. I dunno. Fucking cool though. Also not a great match for Johns' writing. There's a disconnect here. Johns is playing this one too straight, and Kolins is balls out zany exuberance. Considering Flash's rogues gallery, I think Kolins nails it - when you're drawing guys like Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Trickster, Captain Boomerang, you need to have a sense of humor. Johns lost his. The Golden Glider slices up Captain Cold's chest with a frozen ice skate for fuck's sake, but Kolins is the only one having any fun.

Starman #81

Sienkiewicz's finishes are righteous. Thick, gnarled, scratchy inks over layouts by Dagnino. Reminds me why I buy Green Arrow/Black Canary every month. And as nasty as his action scenes are, I actually favor the closeups - it sounds counterintuitive to say that Sienkiewicz's line work is simultaneously chaotic and yet refined & subtle, but check out his faces. Also his action scenes are nasty. And Robinson writes good!

You don't need to know anything about Starman to appreciate this book (I don't and I do). I gather the Starman moniker has passed through the Knight family with a few hiccups. Father Ted is dead. Son Jack moved away. Other son David is dead. David is the one who comes back a Black Lantern here. He ravages the Starman Museum in Opal City and tears out a heart or ten. Meanwhile, the apparently formerly villainous and currently immortal Shade is carousing with Hope O'Dare when the sky turns black. Shade takes a bone break to battle David, and actually turns out to be a pretty cool character - seems like a cross between the Phantom Stranger's powers & wardrobe and Deadman's winning personality. And he shouts "Begone, husk!" Awesome.

Robinson's script is accessible & brisk, and I particularly like his dialogue (those two cops are so cute! I mean until someone rips out their hearts). Makes me want to go back and read me some Starman.

So I think I'm liking these Blackest Night one-issue revivals better than anything in the main event arcs. And I like the main event arcs. I also think I like Robinson's writing here better than anything in the Superman titles. And I like the Superman titles. Wee.