(no subject)
Batwoman #0 - Finally the return of Batwoman with JH WIlliams III on art (and Amy Hadley doing the Kate Kane pages). It's a 16 page teaser/intro to the series proper with Batman investigating Batwoman to see if she's up to par (and giving you the pertinent facts about her life). It's a little weird that it's all told through Batman (this being a Batwoman story), but I think it works as an introduction to the character. Some people thought it didn't let Batwoman have her own voice. It's a bit expensive at $3 for 16 pages of story, though, the rest of the comic being previews of other Bat-books.
Avengers & the Infinity Gauntlet #4 - The end of this series. I was a tad disappointing. It was as funny as the second and third issues and the fight with Thanos really could have been longer.
Batman: The Return #1 - Batman's returned, apparently (not really addressed in this issue) and talks about his plans to go global. There's a little team up with Damien and a nice part where Bruce tells him that Batman and Robin will be Dick and Damien. Still, it's a ton of setup and I'm not sure that it's worth the $5 (though it's the nicest monthly book I've held in a long time).
Batman, Inc. #1 - The proper start to Batman, Inc. and I like it so far. Bruce and Selina are in Tokyo trying to recruit the "Tokyo Batman". Some nice flirtation between the two and a mystery is setup for Batman to solve. On an unrelated note, I totally accidentally ripped out the middle set of pages. Oops.
Junk #1 - An art book from Stokkie Young. Cool drawings. Totally worth the $20 I paid; probably not worth the $40 you get it online for.
Never Learn Anything From History TPB - A neat little collection from the excellent Kate Beaton, but since a lot (well, all) of the jokes are history jokes, they mostly went over my head.
Starman Omnibus vol. 05 - I liked this volume where Starman goes to space (appropriately). He has some one-off adventures, including some cool time travel where you get glimpses of the Starman future for thousands of years and a story where Starman meets Superman's father and gives him the idea of Earth to which to send the unborn Kal-El. It all ends on a story arc where Starman finds his girlfriend's brother (the whole reason of going into space) and ending up participating in the overthrow of an alien government. The volume ends with Starman back in Opal City. It was a very focused volume, which is probably why I liked it so much. One thing I didn't like too much was the (necessary) lack of Opal City.
Daken 3 - Daken uses evil-possessed Wolverine to fake his own death (which was planned with Wolverine beforehand?). Kinda interesting. I think it will lead somewhere cool. I just don't understand how the Fantastic Four factor in at all.
Spider-Girl 1 - The start of Anya's new series, which is okay. She's a young teenaged Spider-Girl (with no powers?) who is going around the city saving people during one of the Fantastic Four's fights. Before that all goes down, Anya has a nice talk with Sue Richards (who doesn't seem to know that Anya's Spider-Girl), which is a bit of a mentor relationship that isn't really shown in comics. It's a nice story that hits the action and emotional beats, but I wasn't super excited over it. I like how Spider-Girl looks, but I do miss the Araña name and costume. I think I'll give the next issue a read, but I'm undecided if I'll keep reading.
Conan the Cimmerian 24 - In the end of Conan the Cimmerian, Conan fights the pirates and becomes their leader, escaping the cursed island new leader of the pirates (who are running from the demons that are killing everyone). I wasn't excited with the Cimmerian stories too much (maybe if I read them in one big chunk?), but now Conan gets to become king and that will hopefully be cool.
Fantastic Four 585 - Reed is talking with Galactus without any free or even awe (he's an unflappable guy) while Sue is trying to get a peace treaty with the various sea people (to which Namor suddenly kills the leader of the other group) and Ben has some fun being human. A lot of little things happen that are only leading somewhere, not actually getting there. Like usual, I feel this would read better in one big chunk.
Heroes for Hire 1 - A new Heroes for Hire series that is a lot like Ellis' Global Frequency (Misty Knight calling in various superheroes to work together under her direction to save lives). A nice twist on the title is that Misty is doing the hiring in this case. It was a nice, high energy issue with an interesting twist ending (what does it all mean?!). I actually want to buy this issue, but it's solde out at HeavyInk.