JLA Classified 38 - 54

JLA Classified #39
Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Carlos D’Anda

Um… so is Kid Amazo’s girlfriend like the biggest bitch in the world or what. Give me a break, she just dumps him because she finds out he is a robot. Who does that?! Okay issue.

JLA Classified #40
Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Carlos D’Anda

I might have to agree with Flash here, Wonder Woman prolly did not have the right to tell Kid Amazo’s girlfriend anything but I could be wrong. I liked this issue, especially the idea that Batman has technology that responds to his individual psychological make up. But I still am not a fan of the art.

JLA Classified #41
Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Carlos D’Anda

You know, this story should have been published in graphic novel format (with better art) as was originally planned. The ending works great as a precurser to the break up of the Justice League during Infinite Crisis and the relationship between Kid Amazo and Ivo’s daughter is really interesting this issue. Too bad it was published in serial where a lot of probably didn’t wait till the end.

JLA Classified #42
Written by Justin Gray
Art by Rick Leonardi

In case you did not know, JLA: Year One is one of my all time favorite stories. Post-infinite Crisis, that story has at least been slightly retconned, which pissed me off, so this story which flashbacks to Martian Manhunters first meeting with Superman and the JLA kinda pisses me off but I am dealing with it. I do like the characterization of Martian Manhunter though.

JLA Classified #43
Written by Justin Gray
Art by Rick Leonardi

Okay this is retarted, the JLA came together to face the Appalexian invasion, not Starro. Way to pay attention to continuity, and this is even confirmed post-infinte Crisis continuity. I am not even going to bother saying anything else. Extremem laziness on the part of Justin Gray. The rest of this storyline isn’t worth reviewing cause it just pisses me off too much.

JLA Classified #44
Written by Justin Gray
Art by Rick Leonardi

Not worth it…….

JLA Classified #45
Written by Justin Gray
Art by Rick Leonardi
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JLA Classified #46
Written by Justin Gray
Art by Rick Leonardi

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JLA Classified #47
Written by Mike W. Barr
Art by Randy Green

This was a nice start for this story which seems like it would happen to the Silver Age Justice League. Unlike the last story arc, there weren’t any continuity breaches - in fact Green Arrow is shown in the right costumer here as well. I wish the cover art was what was inside the book though.

JLA Classified #48
Written by Mike W. Barr
Art by Randy Green

Eh that was a cute little story but nothing to write home about. It was fun. That’s all. I really don‘t have much to say, except, at first I was little turned off by the betrayal of Wonder Woman as being so, I dunno, stupid. But I realize this was one of her earlier appearances chronologically so she should be a bit naive.

JLA Classified #49
Written by Andrew Kreisberg
Art by Paulo Siqueira

Um….this was really good….until the ending which made no sense. By the time that roster of the Justice League was together, Lois was very aware of Superman’s identity…she was married to him! The art was good and Kreisberg seems to be a pretty good writer here but he needs to pay attention to continuity. WTF this series is full of continuity errors.


JLA Classified #50
Written by Roger Stern
Art by John Byrne

Byrne’s art is as good as ususal and the writing here makes a pretty good Justice League story. I am anxious to see when the League fought this monster before. Wally’s hair is yellow in this, that’s definitely a coloring problem.

JLA Classified #51
Written by Roger Stern
Art by John Byrne

The idea of a self-procalimed “God” coming to earth and challenging the Gods of the religions of the world is really interesting and I am suprised no one has thought of it before. This story is really good so far.

JLA Classified #52
Written by Roger Stern
Art by John Byrne

Okay now this is how the Justice League is supposed to work. Teamwork and great characterization and great fighting…awesome work Roger Stern. Maybe this guy should be the regular JLA writer. Byrne’s art was fantastic as well. In the last story arc of this series, there is a finally quality writing and art….wow.

JLA Classified #53
Written by Roger Stern
Art by John Byrne

Stern really gets each of the JL characters here, especially when he writes them as possible Gods, he shows that he understands what makes them tick as he shows that Titus understand it. I am really enjoying this a lot.

JLA Classified #54
Written by Roger Stern
Art by John Byrne

Well I am happy to say that JLA Classified ended on a high note thanks to Roger Stern and John Byrne. Stern wrote a team of good heroes who had flaws but ultimately triumphed. This is the way the Justice League should be. The ending was inspirational. I wish more of the story arcs in this series were like this. Unfortunately, they were not and I imagine that is why the book has been canceled. Anyways, if this storyline gets collected, I will definitely be picking it up!

Green Arrow/Black Canary 1 - 4

Green Arrow And Black Canary #1
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Cliff Chiang

Wow! That was awesome! What an improvement from Winick’s previous Green Arrow series. Adding Black Canary to the mix may just be what Winick needed to jump start his Green Arrow run. Oh and not to mention the awesome artwork of Chiang. I loved it! I am not surprised that Ollie is still alive and that it was Everyman that Dinah killed in the Wedding Special but it doesn’t matter the dialogue and action in this issue was top notch. I loved how Black Canary kicked major ass and how Batman was the only one who believed her (Batman is always right people, and he is always more right than Hal Jordan)

Green Arrow And Black Canary #2
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Cliff Chiang

Winick proves that he will continue to make this run better than his last on Green Arrow with this issue. It lived up to the first issue with great dialogue and action and the art was still fantastic. It makes sense that Athena would chose Dinah to train the new amazons too. She is one of the strongest females (not literally but mentally and emotionally) in the DC Universe.Green Arrow And Black Canary #3
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Cliff Chiang

Holy shit! They better not kill Connor Hawke. Winick has been killing too many characters lately (the Titans East special pissed me off) and Connor better not be one of them. Besides that shocking ending, this was another great issue. I loved how Everyman screwed up the plans just because he could not perform sexually with Black Canary (Hilarious) and I loved the ending when Ollie is telling them all how much he loves them. The Arrow Family is definitely one of the best superhero families in the DC Universe. As Long as Connor survives…..

Green Arrow And Black Canary #4
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Cliff Chiang

Well, you know, I really could have hated this issue but it was done really well. The idea of Connor being in a coma is a good idea. It keeps Winick from writing two Green Arrows at once but at the same time keeping Connor alive for future writers to use if they so wish. I also found the ending to be really sweet where Ollie admits he’s known all along that Connor was his son and him telling Connor that “Daddy is here” made me very sad. It was great to see the League come to support Ollie, especially Batman who knows what it feels like to lose a “son”.

Birds of Prey 108 and 109

Birds of Prey #108
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Nicola Scott

Gail Simone’s final issue on this title is a tear jerker. You really feel that the writer is saying goodbye to her characters this issue. I don’t even know how to explain how good this issue is. Just read it. Characters from Simone’s entire run come back to defend Oracle against Spy Smasher. The “core team” cries together as they say their goodbyes and we find out who Misfit really is. It was amazing. Gail, thanks for making Birds of Prey a great read through your entire run.

Birds of Prey #109
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Nicola Scott

Bedard begins his fill-in run with this issue. This was a very enjoyable read that I believe lives up to what Simone has done with this book. Oracle and Black Canary discuss the Green Arrow-Black Canary relationship and I like how Oracle basically says she shouldn’t marry him. It was a nice way of looking back at each character’s histories. There were some major continuity error though, the use of the Ventriloquist when Batgirl was around (he didn’t come about until after she was crippled) and the mention that Connor’s mother was Shado. Shado was not Connor’s mother. Other than those errors, this was a great issue. My personal favorite about it must have been Big Barda playing with Pokemon Cards! Oh and this tied into Countdown perfectly.

Hippolyta And Athena: Mega Bitches

Wonder Woman (Volume 3) #11
Written by J. Torres
Art by Paco Diaz

Ya so it looks like everyone who used to be Diana’s friend from her mythical life has become a bitch. Whether it is her mother or Athena herself. Its strange, I have a feeling Circe and maybe someone else is behind all this. Circe is certainly not dead by any means. I mean she can’t be. There is no way. Amazons Attack is turning out to be a pretty cool event, I just hope that it is explained in the end why Hippolyta and Athena are a couple of bitches now. Mind-control? Posession? Doppelgangers? It can’t really be them, it just can’t be. I have to hand it to the artist, Diaz created some great art for this issue, espcaially with so many characters, landscapes, and such; he probably had fun doing it.

The Best With Just One Issue

Booster Gold (Volume 2) #1
Written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz
Art and Cover by Dan Jurgens

Who would’ve thought that a series starring Booster Gold would be my favorite series that DC is putting out. I know that is a bold statement to make after just one issue, but I think it is a justified statement. This was good….and I mean real good. Anyone who is fan of the DCU, who is a continuity buff, who loves the interconnectedness of this fictional universe, will love this series. It felt like 52 again reading this, it even had 52’s time stamps. There were a lot of moments that made me smile in this issue. The background flashbacks to points in DCU history, Booster’s rejection of Justice League membership, the last page spread, Rip Hunter’s new blackboard giving away future DCU secrets in code, all of it was very exciting and promising. I can’t wait for the next issue.

Justice League 11 and 12

Justice League of America #11
Written by Brad Meltzer
Art by Gene Ha

Um…ya. Well, this wasn’t really a Justice League Story. It was more of a story featuring two Justice League members but um..ya. Weird. But anyways, it was okay. You do get a very caustophobic experience reading this, you almost feel like you are right there with Red Arrow and Vixen, but that is more because of Gene Ha’s amazing art and not Meltzer’s writing. We learn that Vixen has lost her powers and is now using other metahuman’s powers for her own. But ya, not a Justice League story.

Justice League of America #12
Written by Brad Meltzer
Art by Ed Benes

Thank God! This is Meltzer’s final Justice League issue. After the wonderful Identity Crisis, I expected this run to be amazing. But it has been consistently slow, bland, and full of annoying narraration boxes where you are not sure who is speaking. Not to mention that no one in the League calls eachother by their code names. Now, this issue had all of those problems but there was some light in the darkness. I liked the whole day-in-the-life monitor duty thing and the art was good. I was also happy to see Martian Manhunter and Aquaman making their cameo roles but damn am I glad to see Meltzer leaving. Dwayne McDuffie will be much better than this (Let’s hope). Oh and is Geo-Force a League member or not! And was Black Canary a founder or not!

Welcome Back Wally

Justice League of America #10
Written by Brad Meltzer
Art by Ed Benes

This was the conclusion of the JLA/JSA crossover that began here and continued here , here, and here. And what an exciting conclusion it was, I mean if you aren’t versed in continuity you might be confused by this but it was a lot of fun for me because Wally West is back! I will miss Bart but it is time for Wally to be back and I was as thrilled as Roy Harper to see him alive and kicking again. The Legion brought him back but it looks like they meant to bring back Barry. I sure am glad it was Wally and not Barry. I was disappointed to see Batman dissapointed. It makes Wally look bad, like he is a worse Flash. Even if Batman thought Barry was coming back, he should still be happy that Wally is back. I mean Wally and Bruce served as Team members for years. I don’t get that at all and I blame Meltzer (:. But all of the mystery wasn’t solved but it doesn’t matter because I think the seeds are being sown here for the DC Universe’s future and it will all be played out around the Universe. That excites me a lot!

Sorry Jodi

Wonder Woman (Volume 3) #10
Written by Jodi Picoult
Art by Paco Diaz

This is Jodi Picoult’s final issue on Wonder Woman and I think I have to say that her 5-issue run was a failure. She doesn’t really seem to get the character. It’s not that I did not enjoy it, it just didn’t feel like a full-story. I mean it was like she was brought on just to do some crossover work with Amazons Attack. They did not let Picoult come up with her own story and that is sad. Maybe Picoult would have done better if she was given free reign and did not have to cross over with Amazons Attack? That is not to say that I am not enjoying Amazons Attack because I am a lot. All I can say is I just can not wait for Gail Simone to take over. It is time that Diana gets the Simone treatment.

Will She Say Yes Or No?

Green Arrow (Volume 3) #75
Written by Judd Winick
Art and Cover by Scott McDaniel

This is it, the final issue of Green Arrow Volume 3. It began with Kevin Smith and then Brad Meltzer, but the majority of this volume has been written by Judd Winick. In the end, I would have to say Winick’s run was lackluster. Unfortunately, when the book launches as Green Arrow/Black Canary, Winick will still be writing. Hopefully he can up his game a bit then. I am excited for the Black Canary/Green Arrow wedding and after so many years of on-and-off again I am hoping that the wedding will go smoothly. These two really belong together. This issue was actually quite boring until the very end and the Justice League’s appearence was a bit pointless. Please DC, don’t put McDaniel on the new series. I can not stand his art.

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.