Comic mini-reviews
It's been forever since I posted anything resembling a comic book review, so here are a few comments on recent releases:
Action Comics #863 Geoff Johns wraps up his tale of Superman working with what appears to be the pre-Zero Hour / pre-Crisis Legion of Superheroes. This whole story has been eight kinds of awesome, and the finale does not disappoint. There's a panel near the end that, while effective, I feel deserved an all-out double-page spread, but not only does this Legion feel real (although I also love the threeboot Legion), the deepth and significance of Kal-El's relationship with them really shines through. I can't wait to see what Johns does with the upcoming Final Crisis tie-in Legion of Three Worlds.
Trials of Shazam #12 As disappointing as the rest of the series. The finale is heavy on exposition and light on real drama and character development for Freddy. He's gone from being an interesting twist in the Marvel Family (probably the least white-bread despite his former "Junior" tag) to being a generic defender of magic. And Billy Batson is completely lost in the Marvel character (or whatever we're supposed to be calling him). 12 issues over two years to say nothing much of importance and damage two characters of major historical importance by making them less distinctive.
Blue Beetle #25 As always, one of the very best books out there. From the references to Ted Kord's history as Blue Beetle II (including the awesome Giffen-era League reunion) to touches like how watching the superheroes fight really brings home to Jaime's mother what it means that her son is one of them, this book is excellent in every way. This concludes the overarching plot that's worked it's way through the first 25 issues of the series, and Blue Beetle now has a fully developed backstory, position in the DC universe and supporting cast. Plus, Oracle compared Dani Garrett to Misfit. Even the throwaway lines are awesome in this book.
The Twelve #4 We're still exploring the difficulties our WWII-era heroes are having adapting to the modern world, but their personalities are all becoming fairly well established. So far, the Phantom Reporter (our narrator), Fiery Mask and the Black Widow are my favorites, but almost all of them are interesting and more important, distinct from each other. I just acquired a copy of Mystic Comics #5 which has the second Black Widow story in it, theoretically by her original creators. I'm looking forward to reading that- I also have U.S.A. Comics #5 which has her 3rd story, but the artist is different. Fiery Mask's origin story is in the newly released Daring Mystery Masterworks collection, and it is at least as far-fetched in the original as it was when he told it in #3. I'm really looking forward to finding out what more they do with him.
Young X-Men #1 This isn't as bad as I thought. The characterization of Santo is spot-on, and Blindfold's involvement is handled well. I'm still annoyed they are dragging in random new characters when there are so many excellent characters from the cancelled New X-Men that could be used instead, but I'm willing to see where it goes. I hope they give a good explanation for why Cyclops is recruiting this team instead of using more experienced X-Men, though. And I hope they have a good explanation for the proposed villain, but it's an interesting enough concept that I'm willing to give them some time to work through it. Plus, it picks up on a dangling plot thread from a few years back, which is nice.
Action Comics #863 Geoff Johns wraps up his tale of Superman working with what appears to be the pre-Zero Hour / pre-Crisis Legion of Superheroes. This whole story has been eight kinds of awesome, and the finale does not disappoint. There's a panel near the end that, while effective, I feel deserved an all-out double-page spread, but not only does this Legion feel real (although I also love the threeboot Legion), the deepth and significance of Kal-El's relationship with them really shines through. I can't wait to see what Johns does with the upcoming Final Crisis tie-in Legion of Three Worlds.
Trials of Shazam #12 As disappointing as the rest of the series. The finale is heavy on exposition and light on real drama and character development for Freddy. He's gone from being an interesting twist in the Marvel Family (probably the least white-bread despite his former "Junior" tag) to being a generic defender of magic. And Billy Batson is completely lost in the Marvel character (or whatever we're supposed to be calling him). 12 issues over two years to say nothing much of importance and damage two characters of major historical importance by making them less distinctive.
Blue Beetle #25 As always, one of the very best books out there. From the references to Ted Kord's history as Blue Beetle II (including the awesome Giffen-era League reunion) to touches like how watching the superheroes fight really brings home to Jaime's mother what it means that her son is one of them, this book is excellent in every way. This concludes the overarching plot that's worked it's way through the first 25 issues of the series, and Blue Beetle now has a fully developed backstory, position in the DC universe and supporting cast. Plus, Oracle compared Dani Garrett to Misfit. Even the throwaway lines are awesome in this book.
The Twelve #4 We're still exploring the difficulties our WWII-era heroes are having adapting to the modern world, but their personalities are all becoming fairly well established. So far, the Phantom Reporter (our narrator), Fiery Mask and the Black Widow are my favorites, but almost all of them are interesting and more important, distinct from each other. I just acquired a copy of Mystic Comics #5 which has the second Black Widow story in it, theoretically by her original creators. I'm looking forward to reading that- I also have U.S.A. Comics #5 which has her 3rd story, but the artist is different. Fiery Mask's origin story is in the newly released Daring Mystery Masterworks collection, and it is at least as far-fetched in the original as it was when he told it in #3. I'm really looking forward to finding out what more they do with him.
Young X-Men #1 This isn't as bad as I thought. The characterization of Santo is spot-on, and Blindfold's involvement is handled well. I'm still annoyed they are dragging in random new characters when there are so many excellent characters from the cancelled New X-Men that could be used instead, but I'm willing to see where it goes. I hope they give a good explanation for why Cyclops is recruiting this team instead of using more experienced X-Men, though. And I hope they have a good explanation for the proposed villain, but it's an interesting enough concept that I'm willing to give them some time to work through it. Plus, it picks up on a dangling plot thread from a few years back, which is nice.