Comic book reviews
As usual, nobody asked for this, so here it is. Spoilers ahead.
Adventures of Superman #643:
I was really, really looking forward to this. I really like the Sacrifice arc of The OMAC Project, even if I did have mixed emotions regarding Wonder Woman's murder (justifiable homicide?) of Maxwell Lord. OMAC #4 was all about Sasha, pretty much, and since I wanted to find see what would happen between Superman and Wonder Woman, it was a very disappointing issue. (Side note: I like the idea of what Sasha used to be--Bruce Wayne's bodyguard and all the frustration that kind of job entails--I just didn't like the execution. She's former Secret Service, and her physical training is too inadequate to run with Batman's little Bat clan? Riiight.)
The first ten pages were recapping what we had already seen. The first ten pages. Of a twenty-two page comic book. Yeah, we're getting it from Superman's side, but so what? WE ALREADY KNOW THAT INFORMATION. How many more times to we have to hear "I thought Lois was dead, I thought Ruin had killed her, and I went into a berserker rage"?
Secondly, we NEVER have a confrontation about what Diana has done. We HEAR about it, but we don't see it. I realize that this is Superman's title, but this isn't a title told from the first person; it would have been reasonable to see Wonder Woman and Batman talk. We don't even get a reaction from Batman about what Diana told him! Now, I do passive-aggressive just as well as the next person, but c'mon. Not even a "she crossed the line"? I really hope Wonder Woman #220 follows up on or shows Bruce and Diana's little chat.
Karl Kerschel's not my favorite artist, but I thought he nailed the last page. Lois' reaction to Superman's story was spot-on. But the rest of the issue just wasn't effective. It was too repetitive and told when it should have simply shown.
The OMAC Project #5:
So Sasha's not the new Blue Beetle. (Yet.) She is some kind of one-of-a-kind autonomous OMAC, and for the life of me I can't figure out why either Maxwell Lord or Brother I would WANT such a thing. The whole thing just seems kind of...Mary Sueish. Sasha's OMG SPECIAL, a love interest of Batman's, and she's going to be integral to the whole saving the world from a bajillion OMACs. I'm not seeing the appeal of her character.
So that you know that I am aware of my faults and freely acknowledge them: It's possible that I'm missing the entire point of this miniseries by not liking Sasha.
I got that out of the way because the good stuff of the issues was the former JLI/Super Buddies. Someone on the DC message boards pointed out that Mary Marvel can't be detransformed by lightning, so there's a big error there. Fire might be dead. Dmitri's dead, but damn did he go out like a hero. I'll miss him. Guy was temporarily blinded, which means I really don't understand Green Lanterns and their rings and such. Couldn't he have thrown up a force field? And people are still calling Booster "Michael," which...no. Unless you're Wonder Woman, no.
I just...is there any reason to kill these characters? Any reason at all? We spent four comic books establishing why Max had to die. Blue Beetle got 79 pages to endear himself to us before he was killed. But Fire and Rocket Red? Red was apparently a threat to the OMACs, but I don't remember seeing anything that explained why. Fire was piecing Ted's finances together, but that's hardly a reason to kill her. I think the reason I'm so bothered by the bloodshed in this issue is that the main storyline (the OMACs) is boring, and it seems wrong to off people during a boring story.
Rucka's batting oh-for-two this week. And that's damn disappointing.
Teen Titans #27:
And that's how this title became my favorite read of the week. Yes, yes, I know. Liefeld's art (Teen Titans examples: one, two, three, four) makes me want to go all Hulked out and SMASH EVERYTHING!!! (Wikipedia, of course, has a more nuanced and balanced look at his career.) But this title not only had a guest "artist" but a guest writer as well.
Gail Simone. Her name alone makes me want to get on my knees and does a Wayne's World-esque "We're not worthy!" chant. I only know Simone from her Birds of Prey stuff (FABULOUS, FABULOUS stuff), and she's great. [ETA: Villains United too. *smacks self* Duh.] Really, really great. She's one of my favorite comic book writers and, lemme tell ya, it's a damn short list.
So even though I was wincing every page, I was also feeling the respect and affection between Robin and Cyborg. I could laugh at Raven's attempts to bowl. I was interested and engaged, and it pains me to say it, because I want people to show DC that Liefeld's name on a cover doesn't mean automatic sales. But I just can't bring myself to dislike this issue. (Granted, I'd probably like it better if the issue had just been Simone's script, but sometimes life is both blueberries and spiders.)
Gail Simone's writing trumped Liefeld's art. That ALONE would make her a great writer.
Adventures of Superman #643:
I was really, really looking forward to this. I really like the Sacrifice arc of The OMAC Project, even if I did have mixed emotions regarding Wonder Woman's murder (justifiable homicide?) of Maxwell Lord. OMAC #4 was all about Sasha, pretty much, and since I wanted to find see what would happen between Superman and Wonder Woman, it was a very disappointing issue. (Side note: I like the idea of what Sasha used to be--Bruce Wayne's bodyguard and all the frustration that kind of job entails--I just didn't like the execution. She's former Secret Service, and her physical training is too inadequate to run with Batman's little Bat clan? Riiight.)
The first ten pages were recapping what we had already seen. The first ten pages. Of a twenty-two page comic book. Yeah, we're getting it from Superman's side, but so what? WE ALREADY KNOW THAT INFORMATION. How many more times to we have to hear "I thought Lois was dead, I thought Ruin had killed her, and I went into a berserker rage"?
Secondly, we NEVER have a confrontation about what Diana has done. We HEAR about it, but we don't see it. I realize that this is Superman's title, but this isn't a title told from the first person; it would have been reasonable to see Wonder Woman and Batman talk. We don't even get a reaction from Batman about what Diana told him! Now, I do passive-aggressive just as well as the next person, but c'mon. Not even a "she crossed the line"? I really hope Wonder Woman #220 follows up on or shows Bruce and Diana's little chat.
Karl Kerschel's not my favorite artist, but I thought he nailed the last page. Lois' reaction to Superman's story was spot-on. But the rest of the issue just wasn't effective. It was too repetitive and told when it should have simply shown.
The OMAC Project #5:
So Sasha's not the new Blue Beetle. (Yet.) She is some kind of one-of-a-kind autonomous OMAC, and for the life of me I can't figure out why either Maxwell Lord or Brother I would WANT such a thing. The whole thing just seems kind of...Mary Sueish. Sasha's OMG SPECIAL, a love interest of Batman's, and she's going to be integral to the whole saving the world from a bajillion OMACs. I'm not seeing the appeal of her character.
So that you know that I am aware of my faults and freely acknowledge them: It's possible that I'm missing the entire point of this miniseries by not liking Sasha.
I got that out of the way because the good stuff of the issues was the former JLI/Super Buddies. Someone on the DC message boards pointed out that Mary Marvel can't be detransformed by lightning, so there's a big error there. Fire might be dead. Dmitri's dead, but damn did he go out like a hero. I'll miss him. Guy was temporarily blinded, which means I really don't understand Green Lanterns and their rings and such. Couldn't he have thrown up a force field? And people are still calling Booster "Michael," which...no. Unless you're Wonder Woman, no.
I just...is there any reason to kill these characters? Any reason at all? We spent four comic books establishing why Max had to die. Blue Beetle got 79 pages to endear himself to us before he was killed. But Fire and Rocket Red? Red was apparently a threat to the OMACs, but I don't remember seeing anything that explained why. Fire was piecing Ted's finances together, but that's hardly a reason to kill her. I think the reason I'm so bothered by the bloodshed in this issue is that the main storyline (the OMACs) is boring, and it seems wrong to off people during a boring story.
Rucka's batting oh-for-two this week. And that's damn disappointing.
Teen Titans #27:
And that's how this title became my favorite read of the week. Yes, yes, I know. Liefeld's art (Teen Titans examples: one, two, three, four) makes me want to go all Hulked out and SMASH EVERYTHING!!! (Wikipedia, of course, has a more nuanced and balanced look at his career.) But this title not only had a guest "artist" but a guest writer as well.
Gail Simone. Her name alone makes me want to get on my knees and does a Wayne's World-esque "We're not worthy!" chant. I only know Simone from her Birds of Prey stuff (FABULOUS, FABULOUS stuff), and she's great. [ETA: Villains United too. *smacks self* Duh.] Really, really great. She's one of my favorite comic book writers and, lemme tell ya, it's a damn short list.
So even though I was wincing every page, I was also feeling the respect and affection between Robin and Cyborg. I could laugh at Raven's attempts to bowl. I was interested and engaged, and it pains me to say it, because I want people to show DC that Liefeld's name on a cover doesn't mean automatic sales. But I just can't bring myself to dislike this issue. (Granted, I'd probably like it better if the issue had just been Simone's script, but sometimes life is both blueberries and spiders.)
Gail Simone's writing trumped Liefeld's art. That ALONE would make her a great writer.