Comics Day!

Well, my monthly comics shipment showed up today. (The joys of living 150 miles from the nearest direct market store).

Overall, I find myself a tad... disappointed. Nothing really grabbed me as brilliant, and a few real stinkers.

The Good

JSA Classified 2
All right, this book doesn't get a total pass on my part. I find the artwork a bit distracting. For instance, Mr Terrific has a facial expression in one panel that would be more fitting for Spicolli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Much the same happens to Superman during the discussion at the end.)

That said, the story itself was quite interesting, and while I'm not hugely familiar with the Psycho Pirate, his presence does begin to make sense of all the wierdnesses that have been happening in Power Girl's life. However, it doesn't shake me from my conviction that Power Girl isn't getting out of Crisis alive.

Day of Vengance 5
I'd have liked to see a bit more Dectivtive Chimp, but overall, I liked the story, and they managed to make Black Alice's powers make sense. What's been best in this title has been the character interaction, and that's a bit weaker this time around. Still, a solid entry, and one that sets up the big finale fairly well.

Villains United 5
Well, just when you think this group is actually getting their act together, it falls to pieces. Nice plotting here. I'm not a big villain fan, so I'm not filled with sympathy for them, but it's been an enjoyable read. A touch surprised to see Captain Nazi back. I thought they'd blinded him good. My vote for Mockingbird... Vandal Savage.

Outsiders 28
I'm a sucker for these introspective books. If anything, the "old Outsiders" arc from 26-27 got in the way of this very necessary issue. The team took a gut shot,and they need to react and deal with it. Now, while I love Capt. Marvel and Mary Marvel, Freddie just plain gets on my nerves. Thus, I'm less impressed with the promise of him joining the team. Oh well.

The Bad

JSA 77

Yuck. Normally I like JSA, and I didn't have any real problem with the way OMAC popped up in the last book. However, this mess just derailed everything of any interest. Goodie, a character I could care less about is going nuts, so they have to drag in Hal. The book is more about Hal and Airwave than Alan, and Alan is the only real JSAer in the group. Yay. Let's put it this way, the highlight of the book was Dr. Fate and Fury.

The Ugly

Teen Titans 27

Okay, I remember back in the days where Liefield was one of the names that was supposed to propel Image to the top level. Trying to read this book, all I can wonder is why anyone ever thought he was that hot. I didn't like his artwork in the old New Mutants/X-Force run, and honestly if I were to dig up my trade book with the story where Cable joins the New Mutants, I'd see his art hasn't progressed at all. Indeed, there were some scenes and poses that strick me as exactly the sorts of things I'd seen back then. I kept expecting Shatterstar to show up, and that's not a good thing. The story was somewhat interesting, but not up the standards Gail has in BoP or VU.


I got a few other books, and I may comment on them in the next few days. (Robin is one that gives me very mixed feelings. It was enjoyable, but it also twigged my "stupid plot point" alert. Not to mention, this entire thing with the Veteran bugs me.)

Otherwise, I'll be out of town for about a week and a half, so I probably won't post much (will have some access).