Best Books of the Week

Hands down my favorite pull this week was the Blackest Night: The Question tie-in. This was the book I'd been looking forward to when DC announced that they were going to use this month to resurrect (heh heh) dead titles, with original authors, and tie them into the storyline. I was pretty much guaranteed to like the writing, since I haven't met a Greg Rucka story I don't like (I hate to sound like a fangirl, but I am) but the chance to read a Denny O'Neill Question story! With Vic! Awesome.

And I wasn't disappointed. It was a good story, that managed to be one of the least annoying resurrection stories of the entire saga. Also, and here's some more fangirling, I like that Renee is strong-willed enough to become invisible to the Black Lanterns. That's pretty bad ass. (So is her fighting Lady Shiva.)

I also loved the art. I'm not sure when I became a fan of "non-traditional" art in comics. This isn't to say I don't like the more traditional styles. My second favorite book of the week, Red Robin, was very classic looking, action-style, bright-colored superhero fare and was equally as enjoyable. I guess for me, it's about matching the art with the tone. Sometimes hard lines and bright colors work for the Question (I enjoy Cully Hammer's work, even if it's not my favorite) and sometimes distressed, textured watercolory looks work.

And this week's Red Robin, speaking of, was just really great. This is where I wanted Tim to be: still the Red Robin, questioning his own decision to live this type of vigilante life, but relieved by the knowledge that he was right. He's able to be more sarcastic and lighthearted now, and to notice that Tam is hot. Though Tim and Tam... really. Really. Also, his interaction with Conner was amazing and it let me know that Bart survives Blackest Night.

Whew.

Also, I really really like Tim in the Red Robin costume. I like the costume, I like the Tim, I want him to stick around this way.

And I want the new Titans to be Superboy, Red Robin, Kid (blech) Flash, Speedy (if she's, you know, not dead), and Wonder Girl. Can someone get on that? I would also be okay with Bat-Girl being on the team. There are some really awesome young adult superheroes running around right now, someone ought to get them on all on a team together so we're not stuck with the less awesome ones. No offense to, um. Any of the Teen Titans. They can stick around. Let these ex-Teen Titans be Titan Titans. Or have a new name. Or something. Just put 'em on a team and let me read that book, because it will be great.

"Real" Men Can Wear Indigo (AND Violet!)

I'm sitting in Logan Airport, which has no outlets in its international terminal, waiting to board my Virgin Atlantic flight, which has no outlets in its economy cabin, so I thought it'd be a good time for a long-needed blog update. When without the ability to recharge your laptop prior to a 7 1/2 hour flight, clearly you need to write about comics.

Clearly!

So you know what was cool this week? The Deputy Lanterns over in Blackest Night #6. This almost made up for the Black Lanternization of Bart, Ollie, and Kon. And, yeah, Superman. My friend pointed out that Ollie has to come back to suffer the post-Roy-becomes-Dark Knight-Ollie storyline from Cry for Justice, so he's going to be okay. And Superman is Superman. But I worry about my former Young Justice people.

Anyway, BN #6 was accompanied by Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2, which was yet another ridiculously awesome Greg Rucka book. This was a slam bang issue, man. I loved the overlap of Diana's thoughts with those of the Black Ring. And it was a totally emotional ride through her life. I had no idea it was fake until her mom showed up. Then I was a bit suspicious. Then Batman (can someone tell me why Bruce is Diana's symbol of love?), then Aphrodite.

Let me say, as an aside, that every time I think of Aphrodite I picture her like so:

Yeah, I'm a Xenite. I don't apologize. (Please enjoy Gabrielle's expression in that picture. For serious.)

Right, so the Deputy Lanterns. I'm not mega familiar with GL mythology. Has this happened before? I know the rings choose the right people, but I dig the emergency, planet-specific deputization. And I like the people they chose. One of the things I do like about the GL stuff is that there are good guys and bad guys in the good corps and bad corps. I mean, Mera's in red, right? Cool.

I guess there's been some kerfluffle about Diana's uniform. Yeah. It's a bit showy. So is her normal uniform. Now it's showier. Yeah. How about the blood running down Mera's face? Not an issue?

Okay.

I'll let other people go into that. Personally, I don't get why men can't be loving enough to be part of the Star Sapphires. If women can be angry enough to be part of the Red Lantern Corps, against the stereotype of meek and non-angry women, I don't get why a man couldn't have been chosen by the violet ring. I'm going to be honest, I'd probably have given the ring to Kal-El. But okay, give it to Diana. It's not like I'm a writer at DC or a Violet Ring. You know. And I did like how over in Action Comics he was a blend of all the colors. Or good colors, I guess. Green, blue, whatever.

Something I like about Doctor Who is that it makes Earth out to be this really special place. There's a reason the Doctor likes it so much. The people here are terrible and wonderful and they change the course of time itself. I sort of wish that attitude could be found in other genres. Maybe Earth could be the place of the first male Star Sapphire. What about planets with no genders or more-than-two genders? What do Star Sapphires do there? Just skip over that sector?

I liked this issue. Now let's fix Bart (I have a sad sad feeling that now that Irey is Impulse, Bart's not as necessary to the DCU) and finish up this Black Lantern stuff (I know, I know, April). It's been interesting, but there's only so much of the undead I can take.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to London. Cheers!

Wednesday Haul. Sigh. More Zombies. (But also Batwoman!)

Not that I'm on a strict timetable, but I meant to get this in yesterday and the day just sort of got the better of me. So here we go. Same idea as last week, bottom to top.

Necrosha (one shot) - Yeah, zombies. Yawn. I don't care if DC or Marvel came up with this first, DC got it out first, so Marvel is late to the game. The art in this issue is really nice. There are three separate set-up stories. The plot of the first one is okay, but mostly exposition from Selene (it seems) and... big reveals of zombies I just don't care about. I'm sure you're wondering why I bothered, considering my general disdain with Marvel's universe at the moment. Well, Necrosha is a big cross over with New Mutants, and NM is one of the two titles I regularly read from Marvel (though I may add a third). I know about Emma and the Hellions, so that was neat, but the rest... eh. Whatever. Good luck with the zombies, X-Force. I think the Cypher story was interesting but, again, I'm really only here for the New Mutants anyway. So naturally. And then, of course, they throw Destiny into the third one and I get all interested in X-Men Legacy just to find out WTF she said to Ruth, and who Ruth is (who's Ruth) and was she looking for Rogue?

Zombies are so complicated, man.

New Mutants #6 - The first Necrosha tie-in for New Mutants. Cypher's back and all evilish. Are zombies really evil? I mean, I realize that the Blackest Night and Necrosha zombies aren't really zombies. They certainly seem to have some choices in what they're doing. The Necrosha ones more than the BN ones even. I enjoy reading Cypher's thoughts, and I enjoy how he breaks down even body language and understands it. The scene with the Professor (he's walking?) and the newly graduated New Mutants is priceless. And thank heavens we don't have that terrible art style from last time. I enjoyed it enough this time, but I'm so tired of the dead coming back and punishing the living that I really can't get behind it 100% yet.

Blackest Night: Titans (3 of 3) - This resolution was much more satisfying than the resolution from the Superman tie in. I don't know why. The mystery of why Dove is a weapon against the zombies is interesting (I have theories), and it's cool to see Bart and Cassie step up and be part of the Titans now. For BN anyway. Also Bart had the best comedic line of the book (the fact that I could laugh in a zombie book is nice), and there was some real intensity with Gar and Dead!Terra and Donna and dead!Baby that not only rung true but was very powerful. I was pleasantly surprised by this. I've always pictured Donna as Debra Winger (I know, I know), but this sort of finally separated me from that image of her.

Now I want to know how they're going to bring Garth back from the dead, because... seriously. Once this is all over, I want some of these dead heroes back, guys.

Blackest Night (4 of 8) - "We need to run in, take charge and kick ass like we were born to. And Ray? Mera? We were born to." Damn. For the first time ever, I see why Barry Allen is such a big deal. So here we are, power levels 100% (finally), and Nekron rises and wants Barry Allen (and I'm going to assume Oliver Queen, Clark Kent, Bart Allen, and anyone else who's come back from the dead). There were some fine moments in this, but it's dead in the middle of the series, and I'm pretty sure January is a month off for BN (hey, maybe they can finish Rebirth) so I just feel frustrated and stuck. But these zombies still pack more of a punch to me than the Marvel ones, because these are characters I know and love rising and being tormented. Middle of the road.

Gotham City Sirens #5 - Wow, this title is like... full of super lesbian subtext. Jenna Duffy, The Carpenter? Hah! I love the way Paul Dini writes these characters, it's really fantastic. And a freakishly adorable reveal of the actual bad guy, Joker's old sidekick who doesn't like "Harley Come Lately" (seriously, gay subtext abounds). Great stuff. This is another one of those titles that I feel I should be annoyed at, but mostly just enjoy. The team of Harley, Ivy, and Selina is fantastic and I have a lot of fun with them.

World's Finest (1 of 4) - I like this idea of the young superheroes that stand in on a world without Superman or Batman (I'm assuming this is pre-Blackest Night?). Especially because I really like most of the young superheroes. And they started out with two of my favorites: Red Robin and Nightwing. I love Chris Kent. I love the idea of Chris Kent, I love how Chris Kent came to be, and I love what he's doing now. So I was happy with this.

It was just a small little story for the two of them, but it had a lot of good character development in it, which is nice to see in what is ostensibly a one-off for the characters. The contrast between Nightwing's blue and Red Robin's red is really pretty. Yes, I use technical words like pretty. I'm a professional, people.

Ms. Marvel #46 - This was my first issue of Ms. Marvel. Ever. And it's second on my list, so that's saying something. My interest in Ms. Marvel was piqued by Fantastic Fangirls' Anika, and when I saw the "Battle of the Marvels" cover, I knew I had to pick it up. I wasn't disappointed. Sure, I only had a slight idea of wtf was going on, but Carol/Catherine's voice and her character were so enjoyable that it didn't matter. The way she dealt with Moonstone was really... heroic. Like a woman who's made mistakes allowing someone else to reform, just like she is. I'm not sure if I'll continue on with the title. Maybe. But I know that I enjoyed this issue for what it was and what it did for a character that I've come to enjoy vicariously through a big fan.

Detective Comics #858 - The beginning of the next arc for Kate and the end of the first arc for Renee. And of course it had to be at the top. I go in not wanting to like this title (seriously, twins?) but then I can't help it. Between the great writing from Rucka and the amazing art from JHW3, I don't have a choice. Also, just keep drawing Maggie Sawyer in a tux. Seriously. Hot. I think they're setting her up as the Gordon to Kate's Batwoman, and that's fine by me. Except with more subtext and potential making out. Also fine by me (sometimes I'm easy).

One of the things that really stuck out to me (in a good way) was the difference between The Past and The Present. Artistically. The past had less detail, as if it really was just a memory that is fuzzy around the edges. I mean, I have no artistic talent whatsoever, but if I'm reincarnated as an artist, I'd like to be JHW4. His stuff is so amazing, and even though I still wish the Kanes could have some skin pigmentation (they used to have it! what happened?) that is seriously my only nitpick with the art. The part where Kate comes back into her HQ and sheds her gear before slumping in the chair... really great stuff. It's a two-page splash, so instead of scanning it poorly, I'll just say: go buy the issue and see it for yourself.

As for the story: again, I was okay with the reveal that Alice was Kate's sister, since that makes sense within the whole Alice in Wonderland archetype thing. The whole twin thing... less into that, but I suppose it makes the loss of Beth all the more painful to Kate, as they were able to literally be one another. Let's see where this goes, because I want to see why she becomes Batwoman in the first place (and... you know... Renee).

And then the end of Renee's story was fine. The solicits said "bittersweet," but it didn't seem that way to me. It seemed just fine. I continue to love Renee and enjoy Cully Hamner's art (I got his autograph!) and I'm excited for the next arc to start. I'd like to delve a little more into Renee's character rather than just have it be a mystery she solves, but as long as I get Renee kicking butt and being snarky, I'm unlikely to complain.

Wednesday Haul! Lots of girls, a few zombies, and a woman.

So just like everyone else in the Comicverse (I blame Joss Whedon for everything being a 'verse now), here's the first of my official weekly haul responses.

Bad first, because I want to end on high notes.

Justice League #38. It wasn't really bad, it was just... there. I picked it up because of the new writing team, and because I like the idea of the Justice League, and I've got a soft spot in my heart for them, but... Vixen? Really? I didn't even know who half these people were (someone died in the first few pages, and he looked like a cross between Captain Falcon and Hawkman, and I'm sure I would have been upset if, you know, I knew him). At least Red Tornado was there. And then Zee showed up. And then it was all just a PRELUDE to Darkest Night: JLA. Ugh and blah. The art wasn't anything spectacular, so really this book felt like a waste of my money.

Supergirl #46 is apparently the conclusion of the Hunt for Reactron, but I really don't care so it doesn't really matter. I haven't read any of these Reactron tie-ins, even though I really should because I like Supergirl. Why do I buy them? I don't know. Maybe in some small way, I feel like my money will make a difference. Not that it did for Exiles. Jerks.

Azrael #1. Okay. The art is sort of weird-but-good and I sort of am interested enough in the story and the character (I never liked Azrael the first time around, but I like the idea of Azrael), so I'll stick it in the middle.

Blackest Night: Superman#3. Ah, the conclusion. Where Krypto and Kon both manage to kill some Black Lanterns and we get to... wait until the next issue of Blackest Night to see anything else. Sigh. I love the three main Supers (Man, Boy, and Girl) so I was happy to see Kon using his TTK and dealing with Clark issues and such, but... Kara's trapped on Krypton and... we have to wait for BN for any furtherance of plot. Sigh!

Streets of Gotham #5. This is something I picked up from the Manhunter co-feature. We've apparently moved on in the story, because now Huntress is the main character of the main feature. And even though Batman is on the cover, he's not in the story at all (woo). I like the Huntress. She's sort of cool. Like the Red Robin of the ladies. I dig it. And the weird homicidal priest guy is interesting. SoG is at its best when it's showcasing Gotham, and I think that this issue did that. And then there was the Manhunter, and I love her something fierce (more on that Friday) so all in all I was really happy with this issue, and it's reinterested me in the main feature. Also I really like the art of both the main feature and the co-feature. I've added Dustin Nguyen to my "favorite artists" list.

Power Girl #6. Man, do I hate myself for loving this title. But I do love it. There are breast jokes aplenty. There are more-than-half-naked women running around getting taken advantage of and then being brutally violent. And then... Terra is adorable. And Kara's awesome with her cat. And the bright colors and heavy lines really work (Amanda Conner is definitely on my list). And every issue is just fun. I'm glad this Space Girls Gone Wild (sigh) arc is over with, even if the ending seemed a bit too cut-and-dry for me. I'm sure those women and their "handler" will be back.

Ahem. Anyway, how adorable was the page of Terra and PG shopping for furniture? Super adorable! And on the rooftop? I mean, seriously. Seriously! Also, I'm really enjoying the movie parodies that are "real movies" in the comic world. Hilarity. Fat Guy and the Hot Chick. Too true! How does Power Girl manage to be both horribly offensive and totally spot on in its feminist/pop-culture critique all in the same issue? I don't know, but when it comes down to it, it's just fun. In a sea of waking-dead zombies killing everyone and torturing everyone else, it's nice to have a title that is just light and superheroy and enjoyable. So thanks, Gray, Palmiotti and Conner. You made Wednesday brighter!

And then my number one buy this week, which is completely unexpected because it's Marvel: Spider-Woman #2. Man. Man man man.

Erm, excuse me. Woman.

There is nothing I don't like about this book. From Jessica Drew's inner monologue to the noir-with-color style art which reflects the gritty darkness of the plot, to the fact that I don't really need to know any of the random junk happening in the Marvelverse (damn you, Whedon!) to follow along. This is a fantastic book. I'm actually tempted to spend some money on the motion comics just to see the different stuff in that format.

It's funny, because Spider-Man is probably my least favorite mainstream/well-known superhero ever. Ever. I just don't like him, never have, and probably never will. You'd think I would, because he's the geek-turned-superhero wise cracking guy that gets to fly around the city. Maybe it's the spider thing (I hate insects... and arachnids), but I like Blue Beetle just fine, so probably not. There's just something about the type of stories he has that I dislike.

But Spider-Woman is nothing like that, and is nothing like what I expected. After I read issue one I was surprised, and now to see it continue into issue two, I'm totally sold. I hope this creative team stays together for a long long time (Bendis said in an interview that he's got tons of stories to tell, and I totally agree with hi that Maleev is doing some might fine artwork), because this book is absolutely in my top three right now.

There we go. Wednesday done. Comment! (If you, cough, want. I like feedback! And discussion!)

Girls, Girls, Girls. And Manhunter.

It was like Girl Power day today at the comic shop. Remember Girl Power? From back in the 90s? You know, Spice Girls and Xena and Ally McBeal and a female captain on a Trek show? Before LiLo and Britney broke down, and before Katy Perry fake-kissed girls, because Jill Sobule was busy real-kissing them. Hey, wikipedia has an entry on girl power. Now I don't have to explain it.

I wasn't actually expecting that sort of girl power from this week's haul. It's just what came to mind when I looked at the new release list and saw Power Girl, Supergirl, and Batgirl. Wahoo! (Except for the whole "girl" thing, which I've complained about before.) I figured it'd be same old same old, especialy since PG is just starting her "Girl's Gone Wild" arc, so we can cross that one off the girl power list, right?

Well, sort of.

The scenes of Karen and Terra at the movies were sort of adorable. Sure, there was the requisite breast-joke (har har, the sleazy guy is at nipple level), but their interactions to one another and reactions to the movie were really sort of nice. I know nothing about Terra. She's a teenager? Is it wrong of me to ship them? I'll assume yes.

Of course we fit in another breast joke, a teenager in her underwear, and a few panels about Karen's total lack of business acumen (her cat seems cool), before the real start of "Space Girls Gone Wild", which we'll get to.... next month.

Sigh.

So this was an interim issue. It was actually fine as one. I liked what it did (even the weird WoW/DoD-mocking villain) with the characters. Some nice downtime/development prior to the beginning of the next story arc. And I really like Karen Starr and I really like Power Girl and the way she's written and the way she talks. I think this is, despite the amount of breasts jokes (seriously, guys, at least one an issue?) and the "something's not quite right" with this feeling I get about the way Karen Starr is portrayed (oh, the dumb blonde that knows nothing about science or business) going to be a title I stick with.

Let's see, Supergirl next. I didn't actually read it. It's part 3 of Codename: Patriot, and I don't have 1 or 2. This is the tie-in I complained about before, swore to myself I wouldn't buy, then got confused and bought anyway. Go team me. But since we're talking Super, I did get Blackest Night: Superman, which... I don't know why. It was fine, really. I liked the part where Superman was basically every color of the lanterns. Damn straight. I'm sort of fascinated by all the BN stuff happening. Another promise I made to myself was to not buy all the tie-ins to BN, but I've been doing it anyway.

The continuity of all the comics I'm reading hurts my head. So BN takes place after pretty much every title that's currently running, yes? And Batgirl is after Red Robin, but both are before BN and after Streets of - nevermind.

I really want to write about Manhunter in her own thing, because this is an awesome character that I just discovered, but here's what I'll say: I am seriously buying Streets of Gotham only for the Manhunter co-feature. I am no longer engaged in whatever's going on with the back-up villains of Gotham. I only care about Kate Spencer kicking ass and making snarky remarks. Also her Hellraiser-reject villain was sort of gross in a good way. Ick. Yeah, no kidding.

Okay, I saved the best for last. Na na na na na na na na BATGIRL.
[SPOILERS. Um.]

I'm glad they didn't string out the reveal for too long. Also sorry about the pun with the Spoiler thing. Yeah. I couldn't apologize for the pun without spoiling the spoilers. Gah!

I'm glad it's Steph! I like Steph. Granted, I like the duo of Steph and Cass Cain, so I hope Cass comes back at some point, but I'm glad if we're getting a new, non-Cass BG that it's Steph. And I'm glad Babs will somehow be involved (but for the love of snap, I hope she stays in that wheelchair), and I'm glad that Steph hasn't lost her cool voice (I... have a thing for snarkers) and that there was some great deference given to the symbol of the Bat. It's one thing to be the Spoiler, but it's another to wear a Bat on your chest. And Steph gets (and doesn't get) that in just the right amounts. I'm optimistic for the future of this title.

So that was Girl Power week.

I was thinking about Girl Power, while I was writing my generally-happy reactions to the stories, and I remember learning about third wave feminism and discussing Girl Power in my class, and the positives and negatives. You had shows with strong (Xena) or complex (Ally McBeal) female leads, but they were wearing short short skirts (and some of them could have used a sandwich, ahem). You had the Spice Girls saying friends come first (in a way more empowering way than bros before hos, yo) but most of their popular songs were still about finding love or something. I think. I can't actually admit in public to listening to the Spice Girls. You know.

Anyway, the thing with Girl Power is that it's not Women Power. It's cutesy. It's cheery. It sugar coats feminism to sell it to the masses. I don't know if that's good or bad. Do the means justify the ends? Were there any ends for those original Girl Power People besides making money? How many people really want to change the world through pop culture?

Well, besides me. But I've just got a blog and a pechant for waxing dramatic.

What it came down to for me this week was that it was nice to buy a bunch of comics that are led by female superheroes, who are super with or without their male counterparts, but don't exist in a vacuum of femaleness or solely for the gaze of the male reader. They're there to kick some ass and be super.

Cool.

This ain't your older sister's crisis.

Okay, admission: I don't have an older sister. But my parents didn't read comics (that I know of), and did the DCU have Crises back in the day, when old people like my parents were reading them? I don't know.

Anyway, I appreciate that Blackest Night isn't being called a Crisis, even though it very obviously is the sort of imprint-changing, cross-title event that seems to get slapped with that title every few years. Which also makes me wonder why I'm not just waiting for the trade paperback, but I'm not. I'm also only buying the main title... and maybe GL Corps. And, okay, I bought Titans #15 today, too, but that was for Aqualad. Erm. Tempest.

Aw, come on, who doesn't like Garth? And his tragic story. That is clearly being brought up again (years later, people) just so his loved ones can come back from the dead and they can duke it out. But that's okay, because I got two things from this issue: Garth and Dick not being a dick. Har har, see what I did there? The transformation when he took off the cowl was literally the best moment of the comic. The second best moment was the rest of the conversation between Dick and Garth. That right there was some good Titans stuff.

Okay, onto the main event: I really liked Blackest Night 1. Now, this is said as someone who's been in and out of the DCU for 15 years. So this caught me up to speed nicely on everyone who's died that I may not have known about (I just read Identity Crisis, but I didn't know Ralph died also.). I've never been a superfan of the GL titles, despite liking individual GL characters, but I liked following Hal through this day of rememberance. The destruction of Coast City is actually one of my earliest, strongest comic memories, so it was a good way to draw me in.

I have also read zero (0) Hawk-whatever titles, and yet in about 5 pages Geoff Johns made me love this incarnation of Hawkman and Hawkwoman. Right in time for them to get killed and resurrected, so that sort of sucks (which is a feat: I had absolutely no emotional connection to these characters and was totally saddened by their deaths). But I'm sure it'll... probably... maybe... come out... I don't know.

Which is cool. I like not knowing. And I like that this crisis (erm) is bringing everyone back from that dead (that hasn't already been brought back, sigh) in a good way. Well, not good. Bad. But that's the good part. They're evil, rotting corpse monsters of death that know our heroes intimately. Creepy!

Given what the Black Lantern said to Hal and Barry (and wtf, isn't Barry himself the Black Flash? CONTINUITY!) I wonder how he's going to deal with Kon and Bart. Probably ignore Bart entirely, because god forbid we treat Bart like an actual character in the DCU (sorry, I'm bitter) unless he's comic relief. But he got a panel, so maybe. There was a lot to do in the issue, so I forgive them.

Overall, I'm really enjoying this story. I like the concept. I like how it feels pretty epic, and how, continuity with Flash Rebirth aside, it feels like this effects the entire DCU in ways that will probably be resonating for awhile. I like how it feels like a Crisis without being a crisis.

Though I wish that Black Lantern guy would stop making out with skulls. It's sort of gross.