Wednesday, November 16, 2011

comics review 11/16/11

This is a quick pellet review of superhero comics released world wide today. The review is from the top of my head and written on the train ride to work after reading them before.

Batman #3 - This book should be titled Detective Comics, Batman is in pure detective mode throughout as both he and we discover more and more about the Order of the Owl and its ties to both Gotham and the Wayne family. I can't discuss too much more without breaking down the mystery itself which is well done and building so perfectly. There is little action to the book and I could care less honestly. The artwork is strong and goes from being the right kind of moody to showing the light of Bruce Wayne perfectly. 4/5

Justice League #3 - Now this was a fun and entertaining comic. While Green Lantern keeps acting like a tool with Batman, Superman, and the Flash kicking ass and acting professional during their fight with the Parademons, the bulk of the issue focuses on Wonder Woman and the creation of Cyborg. The Wonder Woman stuff is great and shows off both her compassion and bad assness which is very welcome. When Wonder Woman joins the fight there is some good interactions with the characters which makes up a lot for the decompression feel of the story. The character who appears on the final page, and how they proclaim they should be leader made me smile and want to read the next issue. The art is well, it is Jim Lee, it is well done and dynamic, exactly the quality you expect. 5/5

Nightwing #3 - we continue to dig deeper into Dick's past with the circus while dealing with the death of the owner and apparent life long protector of Dick. Dick seems to be one to run from his past a bit or so is accused as such by former friends. It is a very interesting look at the most under explored side of his life, the circus life outside of just his family. While Nightwing's fight in the middle of an issue with a former circus friend now turned hitman/hitman liaison, was pretty well thought out and artfully done it left me a bit baffled. I take it the guy knew it was Dick in the suit, I mean he grew up with the guy and it isn't hard to tell otherwise with that mask if you know Dick Grayson, but why did they fight? Just because he didn't want to admit he didn't know who it was who killed the circus owner? Seems forced for the sake of needing a fight scene and introduce a (throw away?) character who has ties to the main character's past to add some "depth". The character interactions are what makes this issue worth while, the people of the circus feel like fleshed out characters and the flashbacks work well to strengthen that. The reveal of who hired the killer is a bit out of a procedural cop show, but still works for the purposes of the story. The artwork is well done and capably shows Nightwing flying and fighting while also working well for all the character work being done. 4/5

Red Hood and the Outlaws #3 - This book continues to read as fan fiction gone wrong. We are without random Starfire sleeping with people or her being more scantily clad, but it still is far from a good or compelling issue. Apparently Arsenal has been suicidal for years now, and once tried to use Killer Croc as a means of suicide, what!?!? This kind of stuff made me not care for the character in the first place, so not happy it continues. Also confused how he was Green Arrow's sidekick when it seems like GA is still new to the game in his own book. Really the only thing that was enjoyable in the issue were the last few pages featuring a young Jason Todd as Robin being too sick to go out on patrol, it is heartwarming and the opposite of what I would ever expect from this book. 1.75/5

X-23 #17 - when did this book become so much fun? X-23 (or Laura) is hanging out with Gambit who is back to being a charming and dangerous Cajun once again, she has an odd but flirtatious relationship with Hellion who doesn't come off as a complete tool while still keeping some of his assholish qualities, and she now baby sits for the Future Foundation! The story is pretty simple, discussion of the previous adventure and other issues of the past are discussed, Hellion and Laura have an aggresive and odd flirtatious fight/discussion, Gambit acts all suave and bad ass, and then Laura meets with the Invisible Woman and starts baby sitting for Franklin and Val Richards who just want to use a small nuclear explosive to go back in time to pet a dinosaur. What follows is traditional Adventures in Baby Sitting fair, a boy (Hellion) wants to come over, the kids get into trouble (something big and scaley arrives via Val's messing around with technology) and the parents are currently none the wiser. The cover even is an homage to the movie Adventures in Baby Sitting which is what made me pick up the issue in the first place. Speaking of the art, it is great. The painted style works so well for the book and the characters are crisp and the facial expressions are spot on making the dialogue superfluous at times to read the book. The pure fun and the interesting interactions in the book make me want to read more which is saying a lot of a book about the female clone of Wolverine. 5/5

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