Big Day

Well now, big, big day in the old mailbox. Not only did my monthly comics shipment come in, but some other things I'd ordered also found their way here. A few TPB's in particular, as well as the Countdown special. I'll have comments on all of those at some point. Suffice it to say, that this is probably more proof that my tastes don't run quite the same as most. I really liked Countdown... at least Ted had a good death.


Anyway, the first book I'd like to talk about is JSA #76. Now, I've read a fair amount of kvetching about this book since it came out, but I'm not nearly so negative with it as many. I can see where they were annoyed, especially with the OMAC appearance, but I can look past that. It certainly wasn't good, but it wasn't exactly mind-numbingly bad either. It was just sort of there.

I'm not sure where Booster finally found out about Beetle's death (I assume JLA, but I'm not sure), but that's a scene I don't mind in the least. While it's not "central" to the plotlone that JSA is pushing, it does bring out the humanity of Power Girl, and deals with her as a character. That works. One reason I like the "big" companies is the ability to have those sorts of interconnections. I realize that crossoveromania drives people beserk, and I appreciate it, and will even agree much of the time, but there are things, like the death of a character, that really should resonate across all the books.

The "main" storyline works for me until the very, very end. Atom-Smasher is a mess, and I think it is admirable that he's decided to take responsibility for his crimes (though I have no idea what he's doing in a US court, or a US prison...) One thing that's not been touched on in this storyline isn't simply that he killed people, but that metahumans had decided to take the law into their own hands and take over a country. Sure, the villians try that all the time, but it's something different when the heros do that. That's got to be an ongoing fear in the minds of many. What happens on the day that Clark decides he can run things better? Atom-Smasher taking responsiblity for being part of that is a very worthwhile thing.

What annoys me is that they really seem to be going back to the old Atom-Smasher/Stargirl romance that was hinted at way back when. The whole idea leaves me flat, but the last pages really push in that direction. Courtney says "I'll be waiting", and while that can be understood "as a friend," it's a bit of a stretch. Then Al is sitting there looking at the picture of the JSA, and he's focusing on Courtney.

What's my problem with this? Simply stated, there isn't really any chemistry between the two of them. Yeah, you can see signs that Courtney had a teenybopper crush on him early on. That's cool, no problem. Since then though? There's been very little established. Yeah, they were friends, perhaps closer than they were to anyone else on the team (though especially with Courtney that's arguable).

What's even worse, is when you contrast that with the Billy/Courtney thing that they teased us with. It's really wierd that they "broke up" that couple, using the age issue. The age thing was an illusion with Billy, but it's very, very real with Al.

However, the chemistry that was lacking with Al? It's there with Billy, in spades. From the moment that Billy's identity was revealed, you could see it. Billy's shyness, and Courtney actually being a bit more "aggressive," in pushing the relationship. It just felt natural, and "right." I also got Vol 9 of the JSA Trade books today, and there's more chemistry in the 3 page breakup scene then there has been in all the interaction between Al and Courtney. She even understands how badly Billy's being messed up by being Captain Marvel. She begs him to change back to being Billy. It works, it really, truly works. Is the door slammed on those two? I'm not sure, recent issues have rather "hinted" towards something coming up, but that's up in the air. It certainly works far, far better than Atom-Smasher, at least up to this point. Normally, I'm not a huge "shipper", but there will be times that certain things will reach out and grab me, and this is one of them.