Batgirl #3 – I am not entirely sure
what's wrong with this book. Issue two was almost completely took
the series off the rails and, while issue three does its best to
bring it back on track, I am not sure it was enough. There might just
be too many competing pressures being applied to Gail Simone's
Batgirl. The balance of the series so far has focused on Barbara
Gordon reproving herself in the role of physical hero. At this point
that major thrust's successes and failures are lost in a melange of
overwriting and boring premise. Midway through issue 3, Batgirl
gives up on finding the masked murderer she's been following to flirt
with guest-star Nightwing. I love Babs and Dick's
will-they-or-wont-they relationship as much as the next person, but
it seemed like a tepid interlude in an already somewhat boring story.
Perhaps this first arc of Batgirl will read better in a collected
format—which, if that were the case, it would not be entirely
Batgirl, Babs, or Simone's fault necessarily. (The sentiment that a
overly decompressed story will somehow coalesce in a collection has
become the new prayer of modern comic readers and is a topic for
another time.) Ardian Syaf's art continues to be solid if not a bit underwhelming.
Batman and Robin #3 – This book
continues to be one of the biggest surprises coming out of the New 52
initiative. As I said before, I knew that titles like Animal Man and
Swamp Thing had the lineage and talent to portend success even to the
most amateur of prognosticators, but I think few would have foreseen
just how solid Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason's run on Batman and
Robin has been so far. Telling a heartfelt, engrossing,
pitch-perfect story with amazing art, this book might be the best
Batman book DC has to offer at the moment. (Scott Snyder's Batman #3
may have something to say about that next week, so keep in touch!)
The father/son dynamic of Bruce and Damian Wayne seems so natural.
(If you think about it, is pretty amazing considering one of the
dresses like a bat and fights crime at night while the other was
created in a one night mistake with the daughter of a super-villain
and trained by the greatest group of assassins in the world. I'll let
you figure out which one is which.) The villain is new and
refreshing, not just another crazed straightjacket-case who will end
up in Arkham at the end of the story.
Batwoman #3 – First of all, I am
happy to see J. H. Williams writing Cameron Chase again. His Chase
ongoing series was criminally underrated by many readers (including
me at age 14) and canceled before its time. Williams and co-writer
W. Haden Blackman are running Kate Kane through the ringer
emotionally. She's already pushed her father away and now she pushes
her cousin, Bette Kane the heroine Flamebird out of her life as well.
Since issue one, the two have been training together and now that
Bette is out on her own I cannot shake the sense of dread that
something bad is going to happen to her. But see, that is just it!
Williams' amazing art and composition lends itself so well to setting
the stage and creating a mood for the backdrop of the ongoing story.
When Kate breaks down in the middle of the issue you cannot help but
empathize, which is an achievement in this medium. With its
tendencies to focus on galactic dust-ups and strongman fist-fights,
real emotion and character development is often pushed to the side.
That has never been the case with Batwoman—from her days written by
Rucka to this current series. She's a well conceived character and
as real as a drawing on a page of a crime fighting vigilante can be.
Demon Knights #3 – Like StormWatch
last week, I can honestly say that Demon Knights is getting better.
Written by Paul Cornell, both books were plagued in the beginning
with taking on too much. They were tasked with the effort of
introducing new characters and old characters with new takes while
trying to tell a story and establish the basis for a team book. Now
that the introductions and re-introductions are finished and the
story itself can take the focus, the series is improving. Sadly, like
StormWatch and Batgirl, there is a real possibility that the book
will read best in a collection. The reality of the situation is that
Cornell has crafted a medieval Seven Samurai-style story that might
last longer than the original epic Kurosawa masterpiece. At the end
of issue three, the assault that is bringing the Demon Knights (I
still wish this book was called Shadowpact, so much!) together is
still going on! It's not uninteresting, and there is much to
praise but it just feels like everything is happening very slowly.
Demon Knights is a solid book, and it is helped immensely by Diogenes
Neves' art. However, if you have not already started buying it, wait
for the first collected volume—it will read much more enjoyable
that way.
Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #3 –
Describing this book can be a pretty difficult task.
The best word I can come up with is “romp.” It's a fun
romp...yeah, that feels right. I cannot shake the feeling that Jeff
Lemire is purposefully separating his two New 52 books in tone.
It seems that, Animal Man is his serious book and Frankenstein is his fun
book. That's not to say one is inherently better than the other. It
is just that, for all of its development of father/daughter and
superhero/family dynamics and the exploration of “The Red,”
Animal Man feels more like a Vertigo title. Meanwhile, Frankenstein
feels like...well, it feels like a book starring Frankenstein and a
group of monster-themed Creature Commandos fighting other monsters.
It's a lot of fun and the writing of the Commandos actually makes it
one of DC's better team books at the moment (I'm looking at you,
Brave and the Bo...I mean, Justice League.) Here's the deal though,
the team needs to kill gigantic monster-titans in world that is
growing closer to earth! If they fail, the government will nuke the
place...with the Commandos still on it! How is that not a recipe for
fun?!Green Lantern #3 – Talk about
decompressed storytelling. Three issues into the series and we
finally get to the reason newly reinstated Green Lantern Sinestro
tracked down newly discharged former Green Lantern Hal Jordan on
earth. Apparently, he wants Hal to help him free his home-world from
the Sinestro Corp that Sinestro himself created. (Look, I know that
sentence sucks, but you try writing it without ending up with the
word “Sinestro” repeated more than twice!) Hal agrees, mostly
cause he's Hal Jordan and is addicted to doing crazy, stupid stuff.
The biggest shocker for me was how kill-y Green Lantern is in this
book. I know that it was a big deal back in The Sinestro Corp War
that the Guardians allowed the use of deadly force, but Hal freaking
bazookas a dudes head off in this issue. It's not a deal-breaker for
me or anything, I guess I am just not used to seeing the DC
characters kill so cavalierly. It's a solid issue in a series that
has, so far, remained solid. Sadly, with the New 52 relaunch, I was
hoping for something more than solid. Of course, Johns has a
tendency to surprise me, so we'll see. One thing the series does have
going for it is Doug Mahnke's art, which continues to be stellar.
Star Trek/Legion #2 – Look, I'm not
going to say that this book is amazing. That's just not the kind of
thing you expect from silly crossovers like this. No, ST/Legion is
just fun. Chris Roberson makes the smart move of extricating both
the Legion and the crew of the Enterprise from their bright clean
futures and sticking them into a mirror universe where earth's
militaristic tendencies lead humanity to be a race of space
conquerors. Perhaps, the most fun element of the crossover is that
the dialogue between the crew of the Enterprise is pitch-perfect. It
is almost as if Roberson watched a ton of Star Trek: The Original
Series and channeled it onto the page. Sadly, the Legion's history
of multiple relaunches and reboots makes it difficult to pull off the
same trick with characters like Lightning Lad and Brainiac 13.
Regardless, ST/Legion is a fun read and the teaser image at the end
of issue two hints at a glimpse into Khund/Klingon relations—which
should be fun. The Moy Brother's art is perfect for the tenor of the
book, with the Legionnaires looking crisp and the Star Trek
characters immediately recognizable without being overly detailed.
Marvel Point One – For the most part,
Point One was filled with a forgettable stories. Sadly, the Ed
Brubaker-written framing story that set up the six previews was more
interesting than the most of the previews themselves. Chris Yost's
Scarlet Spider is an overwritten festival of interior monologue.
Jeph Loeb's Nova was completely forgettable. Fred Van Lente
introduces yet another pair of heroes that are fire and ice themed.
There were two other previews, I think. Honestly, I am bored even recapping them, so I am going to skip to the one interesting story from Point One.
Matt Fraction and the Dodsons' prelude to The Defenders was an
engrossing tale following Doctor Strange as he unravels the threads
that indicate a new version of the team is needed. Of the previews
its the only one I plan on picking up.
The Defenders Preview: Everything Else in Point One:
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