Comic Book Case

Civil War 2 (So it really is the Minority Report)

So I was never as sold on the first Civil War, I felt that while the idea was great, the execution (namely how overly complicated and vague things were) was lacking along with it spanning multiple books. This seems to have the same idea with a lot of tie-in issues which I don't have time or money for. With that in mind this was a decent and interesting fun issue that builds up the argument and sets the stage. We have the lovely She-Hulk and Captain Marvel essentially putting in the arguments with Jen saying that if we can be punished for thinking than we have no freedom and Carol of the mind that acting before it happens will only save lives. Meanwhile Rhodie is meeting with the president who is offering him the presidency, primarily because it will only be a matter of time before a superhero makes a break for it and Mr. President would rather it not be someone like Stark. While all of this is going on, one of the Inhumans (at least I think he is, i'm not sure) who has the power to see the future 

Aquaman #52 (eh)

This was rather dull though not as if to say it was a bad ending. This is issue 52, the last issue of this book's run and it isn't an ending of the book but an ending of this adventure with Dead Water. Arthur and the Scavenger have their throw down but Payne shows up as Dead Water and tries to kill Scavenger. In an attempt to keep him down, Arthur amps up the power when fighting him but Dead Water is still too strong, feeding off Payne's rage and sadness. It is only when Payne forces Arthur to kill him does Dead Water finally get put down. Arthur of course feels horrible but even worse was that he never found a way to stop Dead Water and he never found the water that got to Payne, the same water that got to him. While I'm hoping that this story will be truly completed in Rebirth Aquaman I still don't feel this should happen unless we have the same writer for this and I think we do.

Doctor Fate #12 (must be nice to dodge a bullet like that)

So Khalid is about to removed from the program because he kind of ISN'T GOING TO CLASS but is saved thanks to the Dean having a heart attack and Khalid saving him by taking his soul back from Anubis. The most interesting thing about that was that he and Anubis met again and we got see how for Khalid had come since their first clash. Luckily saving Khalid via Kalid's EMT training (as he told the medics and his professor) has kept him from getting expelled and we get to see Shaya again who is happy to hear he won't be expelled as Akila talks to Khalid's dad about something, it's never specified what, whether she wants his help in protests or for romance but Mr. Nassour says Khalid has been busy and that his work takes away too much time for anything more than he has.We also see  Bastet is ready to pass on feeling that he has chosen well in Khalid and that others will be able to watch over, perhaps his uncle KENT NELSON THE PREVIOUS DOCTOR FATE!? Or maybe those other deities Bastet was talking to, who knows?

Sinestro #23 (just when you think you know)

Thanks to a now converted Dez, the Red Lanterns have found their way to new Korugar and have engaged the Sinestro Corp. After a short battle in which Dez notes Soranik is more like her father than she believes, we find the true purpose of Sinestro's plans. Sinestro has the science division terraform New Korugar, enabling things to grow as well as providing water, the Korugarians now have a home they can thrive in under the protection of the Sinestro Corp. What is interesting is that while talking to Lyssa, Sinestro reveals that there is something else coming, something that will require him to take Parralax into his body. Since this is the last issue of this book sadly I can only guess it will be the return of the Green Lantern Corp. But Sinestro will not sit back as the Green Lanterns undo all his work. Another war is coming and this time Sinestro will be more than read with more lessons to teach.

Wonder Woman #52 (was it really that bad? kind of)

Diana finally confronts Hecate and we get the truth of Zeke's condition; it was Hera who made Zeke sick but all she did was speed it up. Hecate meanwhile was going to sacrifice Zeke and using the eyes of the Cyclops and Gaia, was going to awaken Zeus so they could be together like he promised ages ago. If anything this is kind of a battle caused by Zeus' infidelities. It's his wife vs his girlfriend vs his daughter from another girlfriend. But the problem is that this as a mystery makes no sense. Again, what does Doctor Poison have to do with the poisoning of Zeke and the monster Diana freed and the journey to Tartarus did nothing save upsetting Hera. Hera was possibly the best thing about this issue and story and I kind of wanted it be a bit more complex from her but what she did made sense. Hera is tired of Zeus always causing trouble, if he isn't screwing around in his regular body, as a baby all he did was cry and whine. For Hera this is too much and she refuses to wait for Zeus to grow up when he is still content to move things around when he chooses to. At the end of it all Zeus does return but at the cost of Zeke and while Zola lives out her days on Themyscara attempting to get over the loss of her child, Diana mourns on the beach over the loss of the closest thing she ever had to a a child of her own. The sad ending is fine but it being over Zeke because of what he meant to her seems stupid. Throughout all 52 issues of this book, she has never spent any noticeable time with Zeke and it never seems that Zeke is anything more than a shell for Zeus, a shell that he was going to burn out anyway. This wasn't earned and what good ideas this book has had is lost in the fact that I never get what WW has learned from any of her adventures. What was the point of this? Other than Donna Troy being back nothing has happened that really feels like it works and even worse that at this point, all that seems to happened is we set Diana back before Meredith Finch took over. Maybe this should have been better as a big 52 issue origin story for Diana, we make some changes here and there (like removing any mention of the JL and her knowledge of "Man's World"and we now see the more battle hardened warrior that Geoff Johns wrote in Justice League. Now we just wait for Greg Rucka to take over.

Martian Manhunter #12(That's messed up)

So as it turns out that entire story of J'onn versus the Red Martian, the White Martians attacking people, and the Martians of Mars were pieces of J'onn's subconscious. J'onn was so lonely in the millennium he was on Earth that he created an entire species who were ultimately trying get back to him though they thought it was Mars. This whole thing happened because J'onn was lonely and as infuriating as it was, it is also very sad. The only reason J'onn didn't know was because he really really wanted to believe he could save his home and his people. Looking back on all of this it kind of explains why people like Darryl and Peral were not really fleshed out as much as they could. But at the end of it all this falls a bit short of what was starting with J'onn torn between helping his people and saving Earth. This also never felt like it deserved to have Constantine, Doctor Fate, Zatanna, and Etrigan to get involved. If you were looking for something like the DCYOU Starfire or Doctor Fate, I'd say give it a pass but if you just want a decent Martian Manhunter story then I'd give it a read.