Superman/Wonder Woman #11 – Review

By: Charles Soule (story), Thony Silas (art), Tomev Morey & Ulises Arreola (colors)

The Story: Who says couples can’t save the world together?

The Review: When Bruce succeeded in removing the Kryptonite from Earth’s atmosphere, allowing Clark to repress the Doomsday inside once more, I breathed a sigh of relief that perhaps we were finally over and done with that horribly one-dimensional monster. I admit it: I was naïve and not a little bit stupid. After all, repressed or not, Doomsday was still inside Clark; it had to make one last appearance sometime, and unfortunately, that time is now.

And just when things were getting pretty good in Doomed. As Bruce observes during a particularly low moment for our heroes, the forces of good have been reduced to seven individuals, who must face against all of Brainiac’s collective forces. That’s an exciting scenario for them to be in—or it would be if the solution wasn’t still lurking within the recesses of Clark’s mind/body/soul. I can’t tell you how depressed I was to see SuperDoom unleashed again, bigger, spikier, craggier than ever. You can already feel the storyline becoming monotonously mindless once more.

Batman/Superman #11 – Review

By: Greg Pak (story), Karl Kerschl & Daniel Sampere (art), Tom Derenick (pencils), Vicente Cifuentes, Marc Deering, Wayne Faucher (inks), Hi-Fi (colors)

The Story: When you’ve got even the ghosts in a panic, things aren’t going well.

The Review: Unenthused as I am by Doomed, it was with some dismay when I saw that Batman/Superman would be also be participating in the crossover. It shouldn’t have surprised me, what with Pak being an architect of this storyline and all. And on the plus side, at least I’ll be mostly up to speed on everything going on Doomed, which, as my recent frustrations with the Batman/Superman–Worlds’ Finest crossover show, isn’t something that happens very often.

Interestingly enough, even though Doomed is a Superman-centric storyline, he features hardly at all in this issue. I approve. At this point, there’s really nothing left to do with Superman except to see him decline further, and there’ll be plenty of that later on. If Superman has a presence at all, it’s in spirit; his friends spend a lot of the issue considering what he’d do in their shoes: Batman putting his faith in others; Wonder Woman repressing her warriors’ instincts; Ghost Soldier exchanging loyalties to stand up for what’s right; Steel risking everything to save everyone. It’s a sweet testament to Superman’s impact on the world, and a reminder of what’s at stake if he’s lost.

Batman/Superman Annual #1 – Review

By: Greg Pak (story), Jae Lee & Kenneth Rocafort (art), June Chung & Nei Ruffino (colors)

The Story: Can anyone really bring peace to Warworld?

The Review: It’s a touch unusual, some might say arrogant, for a series to put out an annual before it actually reaches a year’s worth of issues, but then again, what does Batman/Superman have to worry about?  It’s a title starring Batman and Superman, for crying out loud.  I suspect it could be written and drawn by a grade-schooler and still sell more copies than, Swamp Thing, Astro City, or Fatale.  So what the heck—let’s have an annual four months early.

But you know, had Pak taken those four months (or had his DC superiors allowed him to), maybe he could have delivered a better crafted annual, because this one reads like it was pushed out the door four months prematurely.  Here’s the scenario: after Mongul’s imprisonment in the Phantom Zone, his son Jochi appears, with Warworld behind him, ready to challenge the men that defeat his father and demanding they bring two members of their family to assist.  The premise is fine; it’s everything that comes after that feels messy and not very well thought out.

Batman/Superman #7 – Review

By: Greg Pak (story), Brett Booth (pencils), Norm Rapmund (inks), Andrew Dalhouse (colors)

Thank God for the Law of Averages, because it sure helps explain away all the outrageously improbable disasters of life, e.g., Andy Roddick’s first-round defeat at the 2005 U.S. Open,* the mid-season cancellation of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and my personal favorite (because of its total unexpectedness, not for any sentiment of schadenfreude), Michelle Kwan landing on her butt at the Olympics.  As Dilbert says, “Shift happens.”

I’m afraid that’s the only logical explanation I can come up with for the weird, chaotic, and uncertain mess that is Pak’s second arc on Batman/Superman.  I really don’t know what to make of this thing.  In so many instances, the quality and flow of the writing diverges so much from what you know and expect of Pak that you can’t help wondering if the script is the work of an imposter.  You may even check the credits page a couple times just to make sure you’re not laboring under some terrible mistake.  Alas, you are not.

Batman/Superman #6 – Review

By: Greg Pak (story), Brett Booth (pencils), Norm Rapmund (inks), Andrew Dalhouse (colors)

The Story: Batman versus Superman.  Round one.  Fight!

The Review: A little aside, if you will, before we get down to business.  So I just lived through one of the most hideous final exams in my life, and I’ve taken some real doozies in my time.  It was one of those exams where the week or so studying for it was quite nearly as awful as taking the damn thing itself.  I was positive all along that the experience was going to be horrible, and it was, but not quite as much as I’d imagined.

Sadly enough, I can’t say the same for this latest installment of what has been a most bizarre story arc.  Not that the plot itself is all that complicated.  It’s easy enough to understand that through some highly advanced technological means, our dual heroes and the world around them has been transformed into one highly realistic video game.  The real question is: why?  I ask that not only of the story itself, but also of Pak’s intentions in writing it in the first place.

Batman/Superman #5 – Review

By: Greg Pak (story), Brett Booth (pencils), Norm Rapmund (inks), Andrew Dalhouse (colors)

The Story: What better way for super-buddies to bond than a night of gaming?

The Review: During the pre-relaunch days (which feels further away all the time—can you believe we’re now heading into year three?), I never cared much for this team-up title, even when the billing was reversed.  Though you got some fairly entertaining material out of it, there didn’t seem to be much direction or even a consistent tone to the various arcs, and none of it ever had much of an impact on continuity anyway.

I had hoped Batman/Superman would reverse that trend, but you really couldn’t tell until you got the second arc in your hands to see how well it ties into the first.  The answer, unfortunately, is “Not very.”  Pak makes a fairly significant time jump from his previous arc, as we open on a Superman who has long given up his T-shirt garb and now operates on a first-name basis with Batman even in costume (though against Batman’s will).  This seems like an odd storytelling choice.  If the point of this title is to expose the development of Clark and Bruce’s relationship, why would Pak choose to skip over a fairly big chunk of it?

Young Justice S02E15 – Review

By: Jon Weisman (story)

The Story: It stands to reason that a race which envisioned the Death Star wouldn’t fall for a massive planet-destroying spaceship.

The Review: For anyone experiencing early pangs of nostalgia and grief about the impending end of this show, the show doesn’t make it easier by continuing to stick to its high level of excellence despite the doom before it.  It especially doesn’t help when the show manages to deliver not only a respectable episode, but one of the best showings it’s ever made, one that puts all its sophistication, class, and appeal right in the forefront for everyone to see.

As much as I appreciate the show returning briefly to the “Wanted” Leaguers and their trial on Rimbor, the scene only serves as a catalyst for a much bigger and more important development for our heroes back on Earth.  The introduction of WarWorld, with its zooming dissolves and brisk exposition, feels truly epic, the stuff worthy of a blockbuster action-adventure film.  For anyone wondering, this is how you inform the audience of the episode’s premise without forcing them to slog through a long, excessively detailed briefing.

Green Lantern #46 – Review

By Geoff Johns (writer), Doug Mahnke (artist), Christian Alamy (inker), Randy Mayor & Gabe Eltaeb (colorists)

The Story: Hal and Indigo-1 begin their quest to unify the disparate factions of light by approaching Carol and the Star Sapphires even as the Black Lanterns attack Zamaron.  Meanwhile, Mongul and Sinestro discuss executive management opportunities within the Sinestro Corps.

The Good:  When it comes to truly epic storyteling, nothing quite satisfies like a Green Lantern story from Johns and Mahnke. Following the theoretically simple, yet rarely practiced, precept of delivering strong stories and dynamic art, they are constantly making Green Lantern a must read title for me. With this issue, I feel like “Blackest Night” has officially moved into its next phase of storytelling, as the emphasis seems to have shifted from revealing the magnitude of the threat posed by the Black Lanterns to uniting the various Lantern Corps against them. Johns is so incredibly successful at forging the Black Lantern Corps into a relentless, seemingly unstoppable danger that, as you read this issue, it’s hard to believe that Hal Jordan is going to make it out of this one alive. But that’s good!  That, my friends, is storytelling at its finest, and Johns has proven himself a Jedi Master in this particular department. But hell, I could just as easily say the same for Mahnke, whose art only gets better every month. Powerful, detailed, and at times deeply haunting, his art perfectly compliments both the superhero and supernatural qualities of this story.  In fact, Mahnke’s double splash page of Sinestro, uh, coming to a decision regarding Mongul’s promotion is easily worth the $3 I paid for this comic.  Just take a look at it and tell me that isn’t the coolest thing you’ve seen all month.  Moments like that remind me why comics are Great.

The Not So Good: I was surprised that Green Lantern was basically a guest star in his own comic.  Despite flying into scenes for brief exchanges with Carol, Sinestro, and Indigo-1, Hal’s presence was barely felt, whose was largely eclipsed by Sinestro. On the upside though, Sinestro stole every scene he was in and was a wicked delight to read. Oddly enough, and I can’t stress this enough, my biggest gripe was with Carol and whatever idiot at DC thought it was a good idea to make her look like a cheap Vegas whore.  I’m as much of a red-blooded, healthy young man as the next guy, but I was looking at Carol and her implants in utter disbelief that the Star Sapphires approved slut couture for their agents.  At least Johns had the common sense to poke some fun at the absurdity of her wardrobe.

Conclusion: Green Lantern is a fantastic comic gripped in the middle of the greatest storyline of the year. There might be better ways to spend your hard-earned Yanqui dollars, but crack is evil and prostitution is only legal in Vegas, so why not try this comic instead?

Grade:  B

-Tony Rakittke

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1 – Review

By Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi (writers), Jerry Ordway, Doug Mahnke, Chris Samnee, Rags Morales (artists), Tom Nguyen, Christian Alamy (inkers)

The Stories: This three-issue limited series contains three stories. The first is about the Blue Lantern Saint Walker, and his sad origin and the nature of hope. The second story is an interesting father and son tale about Mongul. The third story is about a new group, the mysterious Indigo Tribe, and its encounter with a Yellow Lantern and a Green Lantern.

We are also treated with some great splash pages of the Blue Lanterns, the Green Lantern Corps, the Sinestro Corps and the Indigo Tribe. This means that Johns and Tomasi don’t need to do a whole lot of exposition during the story to keep new readers on track.

What’s Good: Saint Walker’s story is an intriguing look at hope, faith and religion in the face of terrifying disaster (think trials of Job). Walker’s faith is well done, compelling and it makes me want to read more about him. I obviously knew that Walker was going to get a blue ring and I expected a cliché ending, but Johns misdirected and surprised me. As for the story of Mongul’s son and how he perceived his father was interesting, and it ended neatly enough. And for the Indigo Tribe, the story was meant to tease and it succeeded.

Art: All the art was well-done. Ordway iss a strong, experienced penciller who did some fine work with Saint Walker against Larfleeze. All the images were clear, despite the fact that many panels had a lot going on. I loved Ordway’s take on a sun getting younger – a spectacular image of blue and red. Mahnke, Samnee and Morales were also strong visual storytellers in this book.

What’s Not So Good: The concept of a montage book of stories is good, but given that these are origin stories and character study stories, there’s a lot less incentive to collect this book. In fact, throughout, I was wondering why this was part of Blackest Night, when pretty much everything in this book could have fit perfectly into the Blackest Night preludes. Also, while Saint Walker had a complete arc, the story of Mongul’s son was not only brief, but I didn’t feel that anything changed for anyone enough to justify the story being told.

Conclusion: Did anything super-important happen in this book? Not really, which was a bit of a disappointment given the advanced excitement Blackest Night has been getting. This is a collection of back-stories with one teaser for the future. Well-executed, but if you don’t buy it, it shouldn’t get in the way of your enjoyment of Blackest Night.

Grade: C

-DS Arsenault

Green Lantern Corps #32 – Review

By Peter Tomasi (writer), Patrick Gleason (artist), Rebecca Buchman (inker)

The Story:  As a part of the “Faces of Evil” event running through DC comics this month, this issue finds Kryb battling Kyle and Saranik Natu, so that she may rip Amnee Pree’s baby from the womb and protect it from the evil of the green.  If they hope to stand a chance against Kryb though, the Green Lanterns must put aside their differences with Star Sapphire Miri and fight together for the greater good.

The Good: Three words: Miri and Kryb.  The more I learn about these various, emerging Corps and their members, the more impressed I become with this incredible mythology the Green Lantern creative teams are weaving.  Miri is an interesting character, so similar to the Green Lanterns in bearing and methodology except for a slight twist: her ring communicates to her entirely in terms of love.  Whether the ring is tethering her to the heart of an individual in order to facilitate interstellar travel, or warning Miri of an impending disaster to eternal love, Tomasi does a great job of setting up little details like these make the Violet Lanterns as a force every bit as dedicated and powerful as their counterparts.  Also, I think Kryb is easily one of the most horrific and visually terrifying villains I’ve seen in a long time.  The cover to this issue alone is enough to induce nightmares. I especially loved how she dealt with KT-21, which was just memorably gruesome.

The Not So Good: I love Kryb as a villain, but I was disappointed by how quickly she was defeated.  Being a “Faces of Evil” issue, I was expecting Kryb to be more prominently featured here, or at the very least be more of a threat. Instead she was used as a punching bag by the Lanterns, seemingly so that Rayner and Miri could have more time to argue over who gets to imprison her.

Conclusion: Although this issue was a weak installment in the “Faces of Evil” event running this month, it is still a solid and completely satisfying story.

Grade:  C+

-Tony Rakittke