From the “Better late than never…” file, I am finally getting around to the reviews of last week’s four-color haul. So, without further delay…
Batman #697
Batman and crew face off against Black Mask’s army of thugs. Army? “Horde” would probably be a more apt description. The face of Black Mask is finally revealed; I can’t really say that I saw it coming but after reading, it made sense. Batman (Dick Grayson) comes to… terms, of a sort… with Catwoman and also with the weight of the mantle of The Bat.
Green Lantern Corps #46
It’s double-date-a-rama in the Corps! Unfortunately, Lanterns Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner’s dates are… well… dead. And they’re Black Lanterns. That’s got to put a kibosh on the good night kiss. This book also gets a thumbs-up and an okay from me for a well-placed Tholian Web reference, from Guy Gardner. The Anti-Monitor puts in an appearance and is introduced to Sinestro Corps member Bedrovian and nominal Teen Titan Dove. And a bullet. A very big bullet.
Spider-Woman #7
Unfortunately, this was the last issue of what was a really good book. But, Bendis and Maleev go out with a bang:
I know what you’re thinking: Okay, Spider-Woman versus a big, giant Super-Skrull. This’ll be fun. We saw her do this before. We know she’s about to be the holy Hell out of this guy.
*Super-Skrull zaps her*
Well, I hate to break it to you, but the last Skrull I went up against had been tortured by professional torturers. It had been starved and beaten.
That Skrull was out of it and it still took everything I had to beat it.
This guy — this guy is military-trained.
Ready to go.
Fired-up.
And maybe a little drunk.
Let’s not forget the drunk.
*Super-Skrull zaps her*
Ow! I think the deciding factor on how badly I’m about to get my ass kicked all depends on just how drunk he is.
*Super-Skrull zaps her*
Oh, man… Okay. I’m not being defeatist. I’m being realistic. He’s just got the goods on me. I don’t know what I was thinking coming here.
Super-Skrull: “Do you want to know why our queen chose your form? Do you want to know why she knew she could replace you?
“The reason we knew you could be switched out for one of us… is that of all the people in the world… we discovered that no one on this entire planet cares enough about you to notice you at all.
“And of all the things that went wrong with our invasion… that was the one thing we were absolutely right about.”
Ouch. Talk about kicking a woman when she’s down. Reading Jessica Drew exorcise some of her personal demons AND track down rogue Skrulls has been a fun ride. And, fortunately, readers will be able to read more of her adventures in the upcoming “reboot” of The New Avengers.
Supergirl #51
Brainiac’s attack on New Krypton continues. The Legion are put under arrest… and resist. Connor (Superboy)… attacks Supergirl’s mother, Alura… and Kara comes charging to the rescue. The best panel of the issue was the last one — a picture of Kara, Connor and the LSH flying off to take the fight to Brainiac, done in a manner that pays homage to Alex Ross’ classic picture:
Superman 80 page giant
This was an anthology of Superman-related stories. Among the stand-outs in this issue were:
- “Cold” — A story of a young Clark Kent and Jonathan Kent, this was a good father-son story.
- “Superman Is My Co-pilot” — A young agoraphobe thinks that he was saved by Superman during a robot attack… and goes from one extreme to another. Literally. And that’s not necessarily a good thing.
- “Five Minutes” — Clark waits for Lois to show up for a dinner date.
- “On Break” — A different look at a Superman/Bizarro fight