Archetypical Bullet

Batman #702
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Tony Daniel

 

This concludes the lost chapter of R.I.P and I have to say I quite enjoyed this issue. One wonders why this wasn’t told back then but oh well we got a lot more information here about how Bruce was sent back in time by the Omega Sanction. I love how Morrison describes the God-Bullet as the archetypical bullet – the bullet of all bullets – therefore truly Batman’s ultimate enemy. Great writing and really cool stuff to think about. I am not sure where and how Batman recorded the message for Superman though. I will probably have to go back and reread.

Creepy Fuseli

Zatanna (Volume 2) #2
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Stephane Roux

 

It’s Zatanna versus the nightmare Imp Fuseli – who is actually from a real painting called Fuseli’s Nightmare. I like this creepy character and Roux duplicates the painting very well. Brother Night is creepy as ever and seems to have the soul of Zatanna’s Dad under his control. This book has been really good so far and I love what Dini is doing with the character. This storyline takes place back when Zatanna was member of the JLA during McDuffie’s run it seems – that makes sense since it was announced around that time.

Artifacts

Booster Gold (Volume 2) #33
Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. Demateis
Art by Chris Batista

 

Haha this was a fun romp! Booster travels to the past to the JLI days to gain evidence of Maxwell Lord’s existence. Brilliant idea but it doesn’t quite work because the artifact – a videotape- doesn’t come back with him for some reason. I am not sure that I understand why but Rip says it is something to do with a chain. Anyways, a lot of interesting stuff was shown besides how great it was to see the JLI and everythig – apparently Maxwell Lord was not always evil and that Martian Manhunter scanned his mind and found him to have a good heart. What happened to him? Will this be revealed in Generation Lost? I wonder if Lord will be redeemed by the end of all this? I love the character of Rani and I hope she stick around. This run has been kick ass so far.

Robinson Actually Made Me Excited For the Justice League Again!

Justice League of America #41
Written by James Robinson
Art by Mark Bagley

 

Wow! I didn’t expect this to be this good! It took Meltzer seven issues to put a team together, Robinson does it in just one and makes it more exciting then all seven of those issue put together. Sure Congorilla isn’t in the issue but he’s the only one who hasn’t joined up yet. I felt very much like Robinson was giving the middle finger to Meltzer with this issue and I loved it. I mean he even has Donna refuse to call Doctor Light by anything but her codename where as Meltzer had the heroes always call each other by real names. It was great. I can’t believe it I am actually excited for the Justice League again!

Justice League 39 and 40

Justice League of America #39
Written by James Robinson
Art by Mark Bagley

Why did Kimiyo just call Doctor Light Curry at the end of this comic like he was Aquaman? That is some bad editing and the kind’ve sloppy editing and mix ups that have plagued this title since it began. Not really forgivable. All-in-all this was a rather forgettable issue where neither of the creators showed how good they could be.

Justice League of America #40
Written by James Robinson
Art by Mark Bagley

I have to say that this was an intense issue of Justice League where the heroes are emotionally and physically taken to their breaking points by the Black Lanterns. It dealt with race and rape. And it was very uncomfortable to read and almost mean-spirited in the way that Robinson’s Cry for Justice has been. I can’t say that I object to the subject matter but just in the way it was handled, I really felt like Kimiyo Hoshi was being raped in this issue as I was reading this. If not physically, at least on an emotional level and why the hell did Bagley have to draw her running around naked? That was unnecessary and disturbing. I don’t mind the subject matter but I felt like the entire story had no light – it was completely cruel.

This Was Actually Good

Justice League of America #38
Written by James Robinson
Art by Mark Bagley

Holy shit! This must be the most underrated comic of the fucking year. After reading all of the horrible reviews and the abysmal so far Cry for Justice mini, I actually enjoyed this a lot. That’s a good thing – because this book has been bad for a really long time. Bagley can certainly draw better then any artist this book has had and Robinson’s dialogue is much better then it has been over in Cry for Justice. I liked it. Sure, Blue Jay dying was stupid and we don’t need another superhero dying but forget that, I liked the moments in the cave and all of the talking about its history and even Young Justice. It’s too bad Plas is going to stay on the team because he is always fun. The fight with Despero was even exciting because Bagley is an artist who makes it easy to see what is going on. Forget what you have heard, I think this is a good start to the Robinson – Bagley run.

Powers

Justice League of America #37
Written by Len Wein
Art by Tom Derenick

This issue concludes Len Wein’s fill-in arc and I must say that it was a sucess. Wein utilized each of the powers of the team members in unique ways and gave them all equal screen time. That is much better then McDuffie or Meltzer ever did on this book. I wonder where this story is going to continue? Under Robinson’s pen? I don’t know because there was definitely a cliffhanger about the Key and a possible murder of Professor Fortune. But anyways, this was a good arc and Wein should be proud of it.

It Is Good To Have Plas Back

Justice League of America #36
Written by Len Wein
Art by Tom Derenick

Okay it took them thirty-six issues, but I think finally we have a Justice League issue where the characters are given equal screen time, have unique voices, and well…it just feels like the League. I think I was too easy on McDuffie, sure he was always being overly managed by DC editorial, but he really wasn’t good at writing this book. This was just a sigh of relief. I love having Plastic Man back. I really missed him. I liked how they actually showed Vixen asking Starfire to join the league. Heck I even liked the origin of the Royal Flush Gang that they recapped. When Robinson comes on this book, this book better stay this good.

League Of Executives

Batman: Streets of Gotham #3
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Marc Andreyko
Art by Georges Jeanty

Now this was a good issue. I liked how Dick and Damian solved the Hush problem, bring in the Justice League and the Outsiders and make them board of exectives that Hush has to listen to as Bruce Wayne! It is brilliant yet a little too easy. I liked it. But I don’t think Dick should turn to the League everytime he has a problem, I just think it worked this time. And damn can Dini write villains, he is really making Zsasz interesting, and I didn’t think he was at all before. I like how he keeps imagining how he will murder people. Nguyen’s art was inconsistent, but never horrible. Oh and you gotta love Damian saying that “Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot” is the stupidest thing he has ever heard. That shows how different he is from his father. The Manhunter Co-Feature still featured the incredibly creepy Jane Doe but was a really quick read that basically consisted of a fight and Huntress saving the day. It was just a little too quick for my tastes. But this was a good issue overall.

A Promotion For Starfire?

Titans (Volume 2) #16
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by by Angel Unzueta

Wow! I did not expect this issue to be about Stafire joining the Justice League…or…at least being asked to join the league. Yost writes a very deep psychological story about the mind of Kory and a therapy session she has with Claire Foster – a character I haven’t seen in a whole. He follows up on things like whatever happened to the justifier helmets during Final Crisis and Dick and Kory’s lost love. I really enjoyed this. These one-shot creative team issues have been much better then anything Winick did on this book.  I can’t believe we are got  two issues in a row of good storytelling in this series.

You Don’t Need The A-Listers To Write A Good Story

Justice League of America #35
Written by Len Wein
Art by Tom Derenick and Pow Rodrix

What Professor Fortune said in the last line of this book about playing with the cards you are dealt – in other words you don’t need the big three, just create good stories about the characters you have – it could have been said to McDuffie. Heck, Wein makes Red Tornado more interesting with the two lines the character had her then anything Meltzer or McDuffie did with the character. This was a decent issue, I mean it wasn’t great but it had Plastic Man in it, so that elevates it quite a bit in my head. I love how Plas brought up how he was with the team through all those great storylines – that was a great use of continuity while at the same time commenting on how ridiculous that he has been out of the League for so long. Sure we don’t have the A-list big leaguers, but this fill-in arc is going to be a decent read none-the-less.

Imposters And Skin Suits

Batman: Streets of Gotham #2
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Marc Andreyko
Art by Georges Jeanty

Okay I did not expect the main story with Hush to go the way it did – but I liked it! I am very interested in seeing how this plays out with Hush posing as Bruce and Dick not being able to do anything about it (I assume). it was also cool to see the League’s reaction to Bruce’s  fake return. We still don’t know who the new Black Mask is and I hope we find out soon enough. I also wonder who this mysterious new vigilante guy is? I hope it’s some guy from the past and not some random new duded. Nguyen’s art kindve annoyed me because it was said that Gordon was there – but I did not see Gordon. Did he read the script? But I really enjoyed this issue. The Manhunter Co-Feature was kick ass and I liked it even better then the last issue. Jane Doe is one scary villain! Art-wise it seemed like Kate was drawn like a little girl sometimes and I didn’t like that at all but story-wise it was great.

McDuffie’s Actual Last Issue

Justice League of America #34
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Art by Ardian Sayaf and Eddy Barrows

Okay for some reason DC’s solicitations were wrong on their website and this is McDuffie’s last issue on this book. Well at least he gets to finish his story arc. I actually liked this conclusion. Sure the art is still not great for a book like Justice League, but it was competent. I enjoyed the explanation for how the Milestone Universe and DC Universe merged. I think it was really the easiest way to explain it. Although I was under the impression they were not going to explain it, I am glad they did (Although it doesn’t make sense that Superman would be wearing his Superman outfit on New Krypton). I hope when the new creative team takes over they won’t get rid of Firestorm, I think it is great to see him on this team and I am hoping Icon will still be joining even though McDuffie is not on the book anymore.

Sad Way To Go

Justice League of America #33
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Art by Rags Morales

Um…what? I am really not sure what this was about. This whole storyline has been convoluted and confusing even without Ed Benes’s art. This isn’t even a conclusion and I am pretty sure this is McDuffie’s last issue. A lot could be said about DC’s mishandling of McDuffie on this title but really…even if you take into account the editorial interference the guy hasn’t written a very good story for this team. Ever. That may not be his fault. I did like last issue but this, this had too many characters and too many plot points I just did not enjoy it. What a sad way for McDuffie to leave this title.

Sight For Sore Eyes

Justice League of America #32
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Art by Rags Morales

After Ed Benes’s shitty art it’s a sight for sore eyes to see Rags Morales draw the League. I don’t have much to say about this issue. It was good, and I like the current team make up. Despite what people think, the Justice League can work without the trinity and these are a powerful group of characters. Firestorm gets some much needed screen time in this issue and some moments that showed both his comedic side and how much he kicks ass. Starbreaker is a formidable JLA villain and I am interested in seeing where this is going.

Final Crisis Reductions

Justice League of America #31
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Art by Shane Davis

Okay this was definitely the best issue of this series in a long time. McDuffie really shines when Benes isn’t on the art and when he writes the quieter moments. The team is reduced to John Stewart, Black Canary, Vixen, Zatanna, and Dr. Light and they are a little upset about it. Hawkgirl and Hawkman are alive after all, DC disreguarded another one of Morrison’s ideas sadly. For some reason Zatanna calls Wonder Woman Dinah in this issue, and I get the feeling that this was an art mistake. Actually a mistake that someone should get fired for but I digress. This was a good issue and I am looking forward to see wear the League goes from here. I think it is about time for a new direction.

Praying For A New Artist

Justice League of America #30
Written by Dwayne McDuffie and Len Wein
Art by Jose Luis and Marco Rudy

I am very confused as to how the Shadow Cabinet and Icon betray the League here? Icon seems pretty upset that they betrayed them but how? Did they take Dr. Light’s body? I don’t get it. Anyways, this book gets a fill-in artist and he draws just like Ed Benes! Total shit. What the hell! Why, oh why? Please DC put some good art on this series so people can understand what is going on in it and characters look like actual different people from one another. The origins and omens backup revealed what looks like the post-Final Crisis line up; Black Canary, Vixen, Firestorm, Green Lantern, Doctor Light, and Icon. That should be interesting. Maybe there will be a new artist. Let’s pray for it.