Power Girl’s Luthor

Power Girl (Volume 2) #22
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Sami Basri

 

I wonder if Winick is setting up Ophelia Day as Power Girl’s “Lex Luthor” in the way that Veronica Cale is Wonder Woman’s “Lex Luthor.” I found it kind of funny that Superman was telling Power Girl that it was too easy to figure out that Karen Starr and Power Girl are one and the same as if Clark Kent and Superman isn’t but this is the DC Universe so whatever. Good issue and it will be interesting to see where things go here post-Generation Lost.

Super Speed

Superman #709
Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Roberson
Art by Eddy Barrows and Allan Goldman

 

This was a cute little meet up with the Flash that allows Roberson to explore super speed and further the plot about the strange things that have arrived on earth from New Krypton. I enjoyed it. Although the whole thing makes me miss the days when Wally was the default Flash instead of Barry.

Still A Little Too Much Hal

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #63
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ed Benes and Ardian Syaf

 

Well I got to hand it to Johns, I did not see that coming. So apparently Krona was behind the manhunters’ slaughter of the Lost Sector and his motivation makes sense for what the character was trying to prove. Benes and Sayaf don’t do a half-bad job here either. Overall quite a good comic and great prologue to the next GL event but there was a little too much Hal Jordan in this.

Magical World’s Finest

Superman/Batman #81
Written by Cullen Bunn 
Art by ChrisCross

 

A magic-based Batman and Superman show up in this issue and I thought it was that alternate earth that was magical but instead it is actually from some possible future. That sucks cause I was hoping that it was the Superman and Batman of Earth-13 but oh well this was still a pretty cool issue and it guest starts the Shadowpact! A team of heroes I miss a lot and they need to show up more! Especially good old Detective Chimp.

Batman Is The Best

Green Lantern (Volume 4) #62
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke

Hahahahahahahahaha I love Batman’s comments about Hal Jordan – he hates him just as much as I do and that is why Bruce Wayne Batman is my favorite Superhero (Besides Cassandra Cain of course). I worry what that vision was that Hal had – one of the Lanterns of Sector 2814 is going to die? It better not be Kyle. Anyways Krona gets the best of Hal in this and Hal acts like an idiot as usual.

Gathering Shadow

Justice League of America #54
Written by James Robinson
Art by Brett Booth

 

This was a fantastic issue as Eclipso gathers shadow-based characters for some kind of plan. It even goes back and looks at the history of Eclipso which even I needed some refreshing on. Once again Robinson really makes the DC Universe seem like a vast wonderland as he pulls characters from its history – both obscure and famous. There were some more shadow villains I could think of – such as Shadow-of-War but hey he picked the ones he did for a reason I am sure. Booth’s art is going to take some getting used to as some parts of this issue seemed too much like Ed Benes (That is not a good thing) and the beginning two pages make no sense in terms of who was in the League at the same time I mean why are Vibe and Red Arrow shown to be in the team together at the same time!

The Fortress of Solidarity

Superman #708
Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Roberson
Art by Eddy Barrows

 

Yup…Chris Roberson is now one of my favorite writers at DC! In two issue he has improved upon JMS’s Grounded tremendously. This issue features the Superman Squad and their Fortress of Solidarity – I love the idea of Superstar – an entire Superhero universe hahaha awesome! And Wonder Woman guest stars (I like how Superman thinks she seems so familiar) and gets inspired to be a hero while watching him. Great stuff!

Superman Batman 79 and 80

Superman/Batman #79
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Jesus Merino

 

Roberson introduce (or re-introduces for some) to the DC Universe of the 853rd Century and I am one of the few who have never read DC One Million and therefore I am fascinated by this Justice Legion with its many worlds and I can’t wait to see more next issue. Epoch Lord of Time doesn’t seem like a new character but I could be wrong but he was a great way to frame the story and allow for the past and the future to collide.

Superman/Batman #80
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Jesus Merino

Epoch is stopped by the Bronze Age World’s Finest and travels through time being defeated by each era’s Batman and Superman – Brilliant! I am looking forward to seeing more of Roberson’s run on the main Super-book after reading this awesomeness.

Who Are The Superman Squad?

Superman #707
Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Roberson
Art by Allan Goldman

 

Superman arrives in Iowa just as some factory goes up in flames. He saves the day but then Lois reveals that this particular factory is believed to be environmentally unsafe. Clark decides to watch over the factory but not reveal its dangers because so many would lose their jobs. He is certainly being affected by the mysterious woman because he sure acts like a dick to Lois and just unsupermanlike here. There are other jobs. Judging from the surprise end, Roberson is going to be a great addition to this book because that actually got me excited. Who are the Superman Squad?

This Arc

Justice League of America #52
Written by James Robinson
Art by Mark Bagley

 

At this point I can probably say that I like this arc a lot less then the previous epic one as I really don’t care for Dark Supergirl or the Crime Syndicate all that much. It’s not a bad issue at all though and it is certainly much better then anything this book had pre-Robinson.

Outsiders 34 and 35

Outsiders (Volume 4) #34
Written by Dan Didio and Keith Giffen
Art by Giffen

I like the idea of The Olympian getting involved with the Outsiders – but I don’t know how I feel about him actually calling his men Manazons. That is just dumb. I think we know why that Wonder Woman arc was called Rise of the Olympian despite its focus being on Genocide – Didio. He loves this character I guess. It is great to see Giffen joining the book as artist and co-plotter as it will probably gain some quality.

Outsiders (Volume 4) #35
Written by Dan Didio and Phillip Tan
Art by Tan

Ahh and Tan comes back for one more issue! He is not such a bad artist but he never draws backgrounds and I never know what the hell is going on when he draws this comic. Not to mention the dialogue is pathetically bad once again. Ugh at least Giffen is coming back next issue. Oh and since when does Black Lightning contain Black Lantern energy??

New Media

Superman #706
Written by G. Willow Wilson
Art by Amilcar Pinna

 

Despite I am sure being told to write these fill-ins quickly and close to deadlines, I am sure, Wilson has managed to hammer out some nice little interludes for Superman’s walk and this issue was no different as Perry White must deal with a blog damaging the Daily Planet’s representation. I took a New Media class in school and it’s no secret that print journalists are afraid of bloggers and the New media so I think this was a great concept to explore for the Daily Planet and the ending was quite good. I don’t know why Wilson didn’t use Jimmy Olsen instead of this new Sandeep character but oh well it works. And you would think someone would have seen Lois and Superman in a compromising postion by now and thought she was cheating on Clark right? Why didn’t anyone think of that before?

Christmas With Supergirl

Supergirl (Volume 5) #59
Written by Sterling Gates
Art by Jamal Igle

Gates and Igle end their critically praised run on this title with this issue and I think they ended it all quite nicely by kind’ve stopping that Cat Grant hating Supergirl thing after Cat is saved by Supergirl from Dollmaker (who is an incredibly creepy little guy) and showing a nice Christmas with the Superman family of characters at the end. Kara has come along way since Gates took over and I think history will look back on his run very fondly.

Feeling Guilty For Not Killing A Baby

Justice Society of America #45
Written by Marc Guggenheim
Art by Scott Kolins

 

We find out the terrorist who destroyed Monument Point was a baby that Jay and Alan let live during WW2 even though they were told to kill him. So Jay feels ultra guilty about all this and decides to stay and help rebuild the city. Makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is where the hell Obsidian and Mr. America are? There is no mention of where the hell these two members are…did they leave the team? That just annoys me. I also still think Guggenheim should have usex another of the billion unused DC fictional cities that already existed instead of creating this new one. Oh well….at least the concept is interesting and I look forward to see where it goes.

Abuse In My Backyard

Superman #705
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Wellington Dias and Eddy Barrows

 

This is JMS’s last issue on this series as he ditched his duties on this book and Wonder Woman in a completely unprofessional manner. But anyways, I liked the story of the abused kid and all. Most of the issue takes place in Mount Prospect, IL. I grew up in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago and my parents actually live in Mount Prospect now so this was kinda cool…although it’s sad that the abused kid has to come from there. There was nothing Mount Prospecty about the art though as Barrows drew it like any suburb but still…cool to see the town mentioned.

The Rebirth of Dark Supergirl

Justice League of America #51
Written by James Robinson
Art by Mark Bagley

Robinson once again shows how much he understands and loves the DC Universe with the beginning of this issue. Instead of a random assortment of heroes trying to save Washington DC, we actually get an explanation for why each of the persons’ powers can help the situation. That is a rare feat in comics and I like the attention to detail! Meanwhile, the League is dealing with the threat of Omega Man – who is a bastard yet we don’t even know who he is yet and he has brought back Dark Supergirl. I miss Starman but this this is getting just as epic as the last arc! Great stuff!

Trained By The Bat

Green Lantern Corps (Volume 2) #54
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Tyler Kirkham

 

You know what made me cheer in this issue…when Sinestro asks Kyle who trained him to fight, and Kyle hits him hard and says Batman!!! Hells to the ya. Another reason why Kyle Rayner is better then Hal Jordan, Batman likes him better!  Anyways, Kirkham’s art really impressed me in this issue as he can draw scenery wonderfully. Just look at his Oa! He is a great guy to draw a book mostly set in Alien Landscapes. The moments between Soranik and the Weaponer were really great as it kinda sorta humanized the villain and showed how caring and compassionate Soranik can be. Great issue.