The Return Of The Vigilante

Nightwing #133
Written by Marv Wolfman
Art by Jamal Igle

Now that is a good cover. I can’t wait to get it as a poster. Inside this issue, it was just as exciting as Wolfman mixes action with drama perfectly. Nightwing faces a strange gang who has kidnapped Liu, a girl he knew from the missing year between when he left Batman and when he joined the New Teen Titans. In the end Vigilante shows up. I’m not sure which Vigilante it is but I have a feeling it is not the one from the Bruce Jones Mini-Series and it sure isn’t Adrian Chase - the only superhero I know have that comitted sucide and not for some noble reason. (Just thought I would throw that little tidbit of DC history in there.) I like the supporting cast being built around Nightwing since he lost most of his after Bludhaven was destroyed. Oh how I miss Bludhaven. This was a good issue.

Too Much Cheeze Whiz

All-New Atom #12 Written by Gail Simone
Art by Mike Norton

Ugh…this book is always enjoyable. But for the first time I think I was just bored with this issue. Nothing seemed to happen, it was all set up for the search for Ray Palmer arc and I think I was looking forward to that so much I expected the search to start with this issue but it really didn’t. We get som cryptic messages from that funny Ivy Town cab drivers. Apparently, Ivy Town is now advertising itself as a weird town which is just hilarious. Also, some old Atom Villains I am not familiar with show up. I will have to look them up (and unlike most bloggers, I actually like when I have to look something up from a comic. It’s fun! People should enjoy their hobby more. End of Rant). But it still felt like this was all set up and set up is good but I just felt this was boring set up. Not much else to say. It is still a great book though, don’t get me wrong. Oh and Head passing out from eating too much Cheese Whiz was awesome!

Jason Todd Gets Kicked In The Balls!

Teen Titans (Volume 3) #47
Written by Adam Beechen
Art by Chris Batista

Adam Beechen begins what will be a very short-run on Teen Titans with this issue. Initially, I didn’t like it. I am not sure why now, maybe it was because of the art change. I am not sure. But on the second read, I did enjoy it and felt that it was good for what it was. We get a fight with Match and the investigation of the Joker’s Daughter’s murder from Countdown. I don’t think you have to read Countdown to understand this but it would be good if you did. I liked the ending, it got me excited for the next issue. I even liked that Wonder Girl chose to go to Supergirl to talk her problems out as we have seen them become friends over in Supergirl’s own book. My favorite moment must be Robin kicking Jason Todd in the balls. That was hilarious and a great moment. I laughed out loud. We all know Jason deserves it more than anybody.

Tough Cat

JSA Classified #26
Written by Frank Tieri
Art and cover by Matt Haley

Frank Tieri is a writer I am not familiar with but suddenly I wish he would write more DC books. He really gets Wildcat. Wildcat is that tough guy with a heart of gold. I love how he is portrayed perfectly in this issue. The concept of Gambling on Superhero fights is interesting, I just wonder how some of these fights are being taped? At first, I thought this would be another superheros are kidnapped and forced to fight eachother thing again, the most over-used plot in the DC Universe. Tieri manages to avoid that tired old plot. I also liked Sportsmaster, that is a lame but cool gimick he is got. I wish he appeared more often. The flashbacks back to Wildcat’s past were really cool and I liked the opening one where the flashback is paraleling the modern scene and the panels are right next to each other. That was a nice touch.

Foul-Mouthed Metal Men

Superman/Batman #36
Written by Mark Verheiden and Marc Guggenheim
Art and Cover by Pat Lee

This concludes the Metal Men arc of Superman/Batman and I think actually conclude Verheiden’s run on this title. While I can’t say the same of Verheiden’s entire run, I did like this issue. The art was fantastic, a lot better than last issue and I like Bruce’s explanation about why he has kept the OMAC prototype around. In the end, he is being safe. He is not being an asshole. Bruce is a logical man and he is right, the whole thing was necessary. Fans may see it as stupid for him to keep it around but I like the paranoid Batman because in a lot of ways he is not really paranoid, he is just smart. It was funny to see the Metal Men swearing at Brainiac. Brainiac seemed pretty easily defeated though. But I hate when fights go on forever so I didn’t mind that at all.

STAR Labs: Your Friendly Neighborhood Research Facility

Blue Beetle (Volume 6) #15
Written by J. Torres
Art by Freddie Williams II

This was a great little fill-in issue of Blue Beetle where Jaime visits Star Labs in Austin and runs into Superman and Livewire. It was a really nice meeting between the Blue Beetle and Superman. I liked that Torres avoided the standard two heroes meet and fight thing by having Blue Beetle fight Livewire instead. The art was beautiful and I wish Williams was the regular on this title because it is better than the other guy. Torres is a good writer and I look forward to his upcoming Wonder Girl Mini-Series. What those kids in the Beetle cave said was right, Star Labs really is the best place for a Metahuman to go to figure him or herself out. I mean now that I think of it they have never been portrayed in a negative light, not even once that I can think of. They are aways helpful.

Eggs And EMPs

Outsiders (Volume 3) #48
Written by Judd Winick and Greg Rucka
Art and Cover by Matthew Clark

This is part four of the Checkmate/Outsiders crossover that began here and continued here and here. This was probably my favorite part of this crossover to date. I have a feeling that Rucka had more to do with the writing of this issue than Winick and that is probably why. The cliffhanger ending was so exciting, especially for any fan of 52. I was wondering when they were going to bring in those familiar faces (Or really just one big giant yellow egg-face) and I am glad they did. Both teams work together really well this issue ignoring the fact that Nightwing, Sasha, and Boomerang get captured. I like that finally Sasha’s status as partially OMAC is finally mentioned. I don’t remember it being brought up in any issue of Checkmate to date. The whole EMP thing with Nightwing was pretty cool. I really enjoyed this.

Fun Break

Justice Society of America #6
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Dale Eaglesham

This is is the fourth part of the JLA/JSA crossover that began here and continued here and here. This wasn’t as good as the first part of the crossover in this book but it was still pretty good. I enjoy seeing all the characters and particularly love the touch of the character’s name logos appearing when they first appear. Yes, it would probably be confusing for new readers but who gives a shit, this is for the fans! The art was fantastic as expected by Dale Eaglesham (the most underrated artist at DC). The ending was a little bit confusing. So was there a real robot-thing or not? And what exactly are the legion up to? I suppose that those questions will be answered and more in the next part. I am looking forward to seeing this book settle back into its normal routine though, but this was a fun break these last two issues.

The Sad Sad Story of Almost Blue

The Spirit #6
Written by Darwyn Cooke
Art by Cooke

This was a fantastic issue. I think The Spirit is a lot like the Sandman was, in the sense it is not so much about the title character as it is about the people and characters around him. And I love that because Cooke writes some wonderful character. The sad story of Almost Blue was great, you really feel for him as you read it. I loved how this issue ended it exactly where it began, there was something magical about that. I wonder if this is the last we will see of Almost Blue? It is really seen if he and Rico are really dead or not and in comics, if you don’t see the body, they are probably alive. The cover has a little too much going on but the interior of this book was great.

Evil Pharmaceuticals

Robin #162
Written by Adam Beechen
Art by Freddie Williams II

Okay DC make up your mind on Cassandra Cain, what the hell is she doing. First, she is drugged by Deathstroke and now even after she has left Deathstroke she is still killing! (Unless this takes place after that). Anyways, ignoring the Batgirl stuff, this was a really solid issue. Williams is a great artist but the way the Lords of Avenue died was sooo gross. I guess it really shows how evil Strader Pharmaceuticals was. Beechen knows how to draw me into these cases. It is almost like you feel what Robin is going through, I love it. It’s sad that Beechen is leaving this title because it seems to be his best fit. Teen Titans (although he is leaving that too) is definitely not as good now as this series.