Comic Day at Last!

Congratulations web-reader-guy! Here's what you've won!

Brief reviews for some of this week's, last week's, and older comics. Once I'm only a steady "every Wednesday" reading schedule I won't feel as rushed to read 30 comics in a day and review them so quickly, meaning more pictures, and more in-depth looks and themes and storytelling, which are my favorite bits to look at.

Anyway:

DC Comics
Titans #16 -7/10
Booster Gold #23 -8/10
Green Arrow & Black Canary #23 -8/10
Batman #689 -7/10
Green Lantern Corps #39 -8/10
Blackest Night #2 -7/10

Marvel Comics
X-Factor #47 -8/10
Dark Reign: The Hood #4 -10/10
The Mighty Avengers #28 -7/10
Ultimate Avengers #1 -7.5/10

Indie/Minor Imprint
Parker: The Hunter -9/10
Sleeper -?/10

Titans And entirely Starfire based issue, and I love Starfire, came up just a hair short of what I'd like. The story involved her visit to a psychiatrist to discuss her deep-rooted issues with Blackfire, Dick Grayson, and the Justifier Helmets of Final Crisis. Starfire has always been quick to anger and quick to seetle down, which was written flawlessly, but the artist gave her and indignant, aggrivated look throughout the issue that didn't seem to follow what she was saying. Starfire's pains about being controlled via the Anti-Life Eqaution are pungent and I am glad that Yost took an issue to flesh them out a bit. The end also confused me a bit. There's no real-time dialogue, just the imagery of Starfire leaving Earth, but I wasn't sure whether she eventually accepted Vixen's offer to join the Justice League, or just left Earth altogether. If she joins the League, awesome. Starfire is way underrated and her unique character would bring some fun team dynamics to the group. If she left Earth, why? I know she's struggling with identity, but what is out there for her? The only good thing that could come of it is her becoming a Star Sapphire out of her love for Dick Grayson. The new Batman would be faced with his old girlfriend as a Violet Lantern, his old mentor's skull in the hands of a Black Lantern, and his parents as Black Lanterns. Could be sweet.

Booster Gold Always good. Always. Dan Jurgens is the man, and Blair Butler on the cover wasn't the only reason this issue was sold-out when I went to pick it up (pervs). The Black Beetle is a terrifying villain for his ability to appear anywhere and anywhen he likes. Booster, having failed to save Dick Grayson in the past, winds up stuck in another dismal future alongside Rip Hunter and Raven where Trigon rules over Earth and a resistance movement is led by Zatanna and Kyle Rayner. What's so awesome about Booster Gold as a title is that the book can have all the "epic" moments of a major event, but still be lighthearted and fun because everything can be undone via Rip and Booster's time travels. It's kind of like that XBOX Live game, "Braid;" if you had the power to undo your mistakes, shouldn't you be rewarded for the wisdom gained in making mistakes in the first place? Due to continuity and the nature of DC time travel, Booster is branded a failure eternally, but somehow he gets to fight alongside big leaguers like Rayner, Raven, and Zatanna against superstar villains like Trigon and Lex Luthor. Everything will turn out alright in the end. Or will it? (Also, Booster's sister, who ran away a few issues ago, has yet to come back, a potentially emotional reunion for him and the girl-who-should-be-dead)

Green Arrow and Black Canary The all-star couple continues to drift apart due to superhero ideology disagreements, psychopathic obsessed super-vixens, revenge-driven supervillains, and an unhealthy sex life. One of Green Arrows old foes had a son, and that son's father was killed by Cupid, the fanatic wannabe girlfriend of Green Arrow. I think the idea of Big Game's son gunning for the one who killed his father is a sort of weak story. It all fits together nicely, but I hope Kreisberg draws more out of it than just "you killed my father, prepare to die." The incorporation of Wildcat as Black Canary's longtime friend and mentor is awesome. He's such a fun guy in the JSA and the perfect personality foil to Black Canary's anger and guilt. The story's just getting started, but I really like how Cupid is so crazy. I feel for the girl, and her obsession with Green Arrow makes some bit of sense. Her dialogue is so funny and her logic so distorted it makes for really awkward, dangerous and potentially marriage-wrecking situations. Best villainess I've seen in a while.

Batman One of my favorite writers, Judd Winick. He stays with classic comic cool, no wild continuity-shattering events, no dimension/time hopping retcons, and no heavy-handed political agenda. Just clean action and concise, effective dialogue. The story is simple, Black Mask, Penguin and Two-Face all gunning for this "new Batman" in their own way, often stepping on each other's toes. Dick Grayson establishing himself as a unique and more media-friendly Batman has given Two-Face all the evidence he needs to know that Bruce Wayne is really dead. As the villains plan to spring their trap on Batman and either expose him or kill him, the reluctant Robin, Damian Wayne, has taken a little too much initiative in his caped crusading. Clayface and a new villain make a move on Batman with the help of Black Mask and Penguin, while Two-Face readies himself for an attack. The idea of Damian rushing to save Batman is not one I imagine is in his character. I still believe that Jason Todd's battle for the cowl is far from over. Winick doesn't seem to be interested in analyzing human behaviour or showing readers what wrong with the world, Batman is just entertaining for now and sometimes, entertainment is what I'm looking for. But who knows? With Alfred's flashback to Bruce's happy days, and Damian seeing the "Dark Knight" for who he really was, maybe there is room for some serious character-building and psychological observations. (note: The picture here is not from Batman but rather the aforementioned Titans issue. I love Dick Grayson and Koriand'r)

Green Lantern Corps Tomasi sure knows how to do a lot with alot. While Johns has entire issues to dedicate to Hal Jordan, Tomasi has to cram Kilowog, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, Sodam Yat, Soranik Natu, and Arisia all into each issue. Guy and Kyle have been very close since the end of the Sinestro Corps War, and their bonding culminates in reflecting on lovers past. Kilowog and the bulk of the GL Corps are assaulted at the crypts on Oa by a swarms of Black Lantern rings, reviving Jack Chance, Jade, Tomar Re, Abin Sur, and presumably Arisia's father and uncle. Sodam Yat, who I believe is not dead, is still casting yellow sunlight on the Daxamites who have squandered his gift and become even more isolationist. This is a powerful story because it truly shows how stubborn people are that even when you help them change and believe they have taken a step forward, they truly will never change in their hearts. Natu was not there to see Mongul bring his faction of the Sinestro Corps to Korugar and enslave the entire planet, and if that doesn't piss off Natu, it will piss of Sinestro. I smell a Yellow and Green team up coming very soon. Father and daughter united despite being estranged so violently. The emotional flood that will sure come from the GL Corps facing off against loved ones and friends who are now Black Lanterns will be something to watch. I look forward to seeing how strong their Will is going to be in the face of Death.

Blackest Night I may have finally put my finger on what erks me about Blackest Night. Corny color-based emotions? No, I like the rainbow Lantern Corps. The blindness of the Guardians in failing to realize how dangerous Scar was? No, that's classic storytelling in which the people with the power to make a difference are always the last to know. The way that all it takes to be "epic" in comic books is to use characters everyone knows and loves as bad guys? DING DING! Geoff Johns is an amazing storyteller and I love the mythos and the mystery of these worlds of emotions and powers that he's created. But the story that comes out of all of this is weak to me. Earth-2 Superman, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman make the story more "epic" by virtue of being characters with loads of history. That's cool I guess, but what's the core of the story? The dead coming to life to claim the hearts of the living to do what? Bring the Anti-Moniter back to life? Return Darkseid to this universe? End all life in existence? The goals of the Black Lanterns are varied, which is also okay, because like the Sinestro Corps, that internal conflict with be the weakness that the heroes expolit to win the day, but why are Supes, Manhunter and Aquaman interested in any of these goals? Revenge? I don't know, "black" isn't at the far end of the emotional spectrum like "red" and "violet" so mind control doesn't seem likely. Plus, Dove was unaffected by the Black Rings trying to revive him, why? Maybe this is all still too early in the event to be asking these questions, and if that's the case, I tip my hat to Geoff Johns for keeping it interesting, but if so, I learned nothing new about the Black Lanterns (or the Indigo Lanterns for that matter) in issue #2 of Blackest Night than I learned in issue #1. Right now it's all "BANG! POW! Did you see Supes and Manhunter? BOOM! They just KILLED Hawkman and Tempest! CRASH! Epic shit epic shit epic shit." These are the same sorts of issue I had with Secret Invasion. The Sinestro Corps War was paced beautifully and each issue had dramatic reveals and "epic shit" to keep me interested. I may have to read the Batman, Superman, and Titans tie-ins to get the meat and potatoes of the story that I'm looking for, but I'll wait for the trade paperbacks for those. I know I'm being harsh, and don't think I don't like Geoff Johns or Peter Tomasi, otherwise I wouldn't buy their books, I just want a little more from these all-star talents for my $3.99 than stuff that sounds like it was written be Brian Michael Bendis...yuck!

X-Factor The consistently good, un-X-pected X-Factor brings back the big reveals and the fun, witty character interaction that I know and love it for. The reason for the disappearance that Madrox was brought to the future to investigate for Layla and Cyclops seems to be Cortex and his murderous rampage in the past. Darwin, Siryn, Monet and Longshot fight for their lives against Cortex and a troop of future-tech Sentinels. Meanwhile, Guido, Rictor and Shatterstar leave "John Maddox's" (aka a dupe's) house continuing their search for Madrox. The senile Dr. Doom and his dialogue with Madrox and Layla is funny, if not a little sad. It gets you thinking... man, if Doom did get so old he couldn't be a supervillain anymore, what would he do? The big reveal is a little unclear to me just because the artist didn't include any real distinguishable feautures when his hood is pulled off. Perhaps Peter David could've added a "Gasp! It can't be! ****!" As far as I can tell, it's one of three men, Rictor, Madrox, or Monet's brother. Rictor because the guy looks like Rictor and mentions having seen Monet naked before (long story), Madrox because his mind controlling powers, although they seem tech-based, have a physical appearance component that looks like a purple Madrox symbol on his forhead, Monet's brother because as we know, she was tortured and fed on by her brother and he presumably would have similar psychic powers. It sucks, because I know I should know who it is and the dramatic reveal would be more dramatic, but relying solely on art without distinguishing features was a bad call. Otherwise, this was a great issue that answered one or two questions, had lots of funny moments and (albeit unclear) a nice cliffhanger at the end. (note: Madrox's grave reads "James E. Madrox" but his name is James Arthur Madrox. Mistake? Or clever hint?)

The Hood THE. BEST. SUPERVILLAIN. IN. COMICS. PERIOD. Parker Robbins continues to juggle his family, his new girlfriend Madame Masque, his mob of henchmen, his alcoholic cousin, and his seemingly unbreakable bond with Dormammu in this, the best Dark Reign tie-in around. His family life has never been better. With all the money he's been able to provide for his wife, daughter and mother handsomely. His henchmen plot against him while his cousin watches them and dives deeper into the bottle, growing ever tired of Parker's judging. Madame Masque is jealous because he has let Satanna into his gang so that she may secretly exorcise Dormammu from his body. And now, his greatest mistake has come to bite him in the ass, White Fang, the vigilante whose husband was accidentally killed by The Hood, has kidnapped his family and is fighting his gang single-handedly. Will Parker try to keep his balancing act together? Will he abandon his humanity and let Dormammu's power save his gang and his family? Will his gang still respect him if he loses the powers granted to him by Dormammu? This is a very dramatic and moving story about a man who only ever tried to make ends meet until he finally gained the power to do so, and now it's all about to implode on him. He succumbs to vices and temptation, but remains protective and responsible. The core of this story comes down to one simple question; how much of your life is truly under your control?

The Mighty Avengers A decent book thus far I suppose. The "Xerogen Crystals" and the "Unspoken king of Attilan?" I'm interested to see how these elements will play out. The Inhumans are one of my favorite parts of the Marvel Universe and Dan Slott is taking a huge gamble with me (though not necessary mainstream audiences I guess) in retconning their origins to include a king that came before Black Bolt, a mysterious Slave Engine, and Xerogenesis as opposed to the familiar Terrigenesis. I will be SO FUCKING ANGRY if this storyline butchers what I feel are the coolest quasi-cosmic characters Marvel has. But that said, the Pym Avengers are growing on me, and I like their personalities and how they interact with one another. Cho, Herc and Jocasta are fun. I like US Agent. I hate Slott's political one-liners more than heavy-handed political story arcs because at least stories explore the issue as opposed to a quick judgemental condemning of one side or the other. Maybe I should consider it an accurate portrayal of a character to do so, but I'm not so sure when it's the character speaking, or the author, you know what I mean? If I'm wrong, then it's just good characterization, but if I'm right, it's just tasteless. I'm glad someone finally noticed that Scarlet Witch is not back, but Loki is manipulating this bunch of tools that call themselves "Avengers" for God know what reason. I like Clint Barton and I like Quicksilver and I like the Young Avengers, so I can hope that all these elements will come together in a good story that won't ruin the Inhumans for me.

Ultimate Avengers Finally, Millar returns to right all the wrong of the Ultimate Marvel imprint. With a nice cliffhanger, keen characterization of the three core members of the Avengers (Iron Man, Hawkeye and Captain America) and new look at an old villain. I was a little unimpressed with the Nick Fury and Carol Danvers, mostly because it's basically a clean rip off of Nick Fury's relationship with Maria Hill in the 616 universe. Warren Ellis did a much better job with her character in the Ultimate Galactus or "Gah Lak Tus" Trilogy and Pluskommander Geheneris Halason Mahr Vehl (who I wish would get more screen time). Unless Carol Danvers gets some Kree powers from Mahr Vehl's lizard-like penis, I will have a hard time enjoying that aspect of the comic. Iron Man is as cocky and irresponsible as ever, the way Ultimate Iron Man was meant to be. The angles and images in the art give it a classic action movie feel with lots of hand-to-hand tussles and daredevil antics (think 90s Schwarzenegger movies a la "True Lies" or "Last Action Hero"). The real drama here, comes from the appearance of Red Skull. No longer some outdated Nazi bigot who somehow never died after Cap disappeared, but rather a cunning and powerful villain who...drumroll please...claims to be Captain America's son. Damn! Not too creative a twist, I'm sure there's a "What If?" about just that, but now we see it; what if the Red Skull was Cap's son? His motives and his goals are yet to be revealed, but the Ultimate Avengers are leaderless and short-handed. This promises to be an interesting story at the very least and a stellar revival of the Ultimate imprint if all goes well.

Parker: The Hunter A very good recommended read by Pat over at Velocity comics (good people, if you're a Richmond resident, check them out). The fast-paced story of betrayal, bloodshed and revenge starts "in media res" with Parker, a criminal presumed dead, searching for a girl and Mal. Throughout the story it is revealed that the girl was his wife and Mal was a one-time partner on a gun smuggling operation. Mal double-crossed Parker and tried to have him killed while his wife ran off with him. Some time later, and Parker is out for revenge on these people that ruined his life. It's a classic story (based on the Richard Stark novel series) brought brilliantly to life (or at least to printed image media) by Darwyn Cooke. Thematically speaking, the story is sort of hollow. It's like watching an action movie you've seen a hundred times, the message is blurry. It's very much a modern Count of Monte Cristo. That's not a bad thing at all. I love both of these stories just like I'm sure everyone else does. Everyone can relate to that all too human desire to deal out justice when you've been backstabbed. The difference here? Parker doesn't stop. He never quits even when most people would. When Edmund Dantes stopped, Parker kept going. It wasn't about his wife. It wasn't about Mal. It was about his cut of the loot from the job. All he cared about was putting the backstabbers in their graves and getting what he'd earned. No more and no less. It won't change your religion but Parker: The Hunter is a damn good read.

That's all for now. I also picked up Brubaker's Sleeper. I love Ed Brubaker's work and I wanted to sample the first volume of this one. I'll pop a review up when I'm done reading it but for now I bid you all get a life!