Comic Book Case

Green Lanterns #2 (Red Rage Zombies?)

So the Hell Tower has spread it's infection to more people as Jessica tries to save her sister despite Simon's attempts to get her to focus on getting to the source. It all comes off as a sort of Zombie Apocalypse and it leads to me to wonder exactly what Atrocitous is planning. This issue doesn't give us more mystery but more character and while that makes it hard to review on a story basis it is hard to dislike Jessica Cruz and seeing her go from shut in to hero is awesome. I didn't mention it last month but Simon Baz's "Emerald Sight" is pretty interesting, getting glimpses of the future.

This story is really made by the interactions between Jessica and her sister, Simon's active attitude, and Atrocitus. Atrocitus really sums up what his corp and the Red Element is about. Rage being what is left when justice fails is a very real things people deal with and with the events this week I kind of wonder if this was more aware of the outside world. Simon is really showing off how he is as a Lantern, he likes to hit bit and fast and is very mission focused so he's like a fusion of Guy and John thought that may change. Jessica is interesting because she isn't able to create constructs and there must still be some blocks for her to overcome and it may go further than the murder of a couple of her friends. Her sister Sara seems to be connected to it and it kind of implies that Jessica let her down at some point and while Sara doesn't openly say anything, when she becomes Rage Infused, she lashes out at her and it stops her from creating a construct.

Justice League Rebirth #1 (Hitch is Back)

Earth is under attack (again) by what looks like Cthulu knock off. In the current state, all eyes are on a League without Superman and behind the scenes it shows. Meanwhile Clark White wrestles with the decision whether or not to done the cape and symbol, something we had already covered in both Action Comics and Superman so suspense wasted. Superman arrives to help the League and together they stop the Cthulu who says is a Reaper and that he is only one of many creatures out to destroy the planet but the League doesn't back down.

This issue is a lot like every other #1 in Rebirth in that it shows off the new writers as well showing us a feel of this book in it's new direction. You may remember the writer of this series, Bryan Hitch when he did JLA when Rao came to Earth. Now that story was never finished but Hitch does mention it happening in this story, Wonder Woman even has Zeus' thunderbolt. This story looks really decent now but it does have Hitch's love of dialogue and he isn't shy about how many words he uses. My favorite part of this issue had to be when Batman and the rest of the League give the message of mercy to the Reaper and how they won't be defeated in their pursuit of defending the Earth. It was very Eleventh Hour from Doctor Who. Not 100% sold on it but I am interested.

Superman #2 (Father/Son moments and ERADICATOR!)

Superman has taken Jou with him to help save a submarine crew in the North Pole and together he and Johnathan work together to save the people as well as helping Jon get over what happened with Goldie as Jon's heat vision is used to help break the mind control device on a squid monster. Later Jon has a talk with Kathy about what happened with Goldie and she seems odly fine with keeping it a secret but the tender moment is ruined when Kathy placing her hand on Jon's causing him to snap the tree branch he is sitting on snaps and he falls down. While he's fine we get a meeting with Kathy's grandfather who brings Jon to his home and after a tense moment Kathy and her grandfather leave. Meanwhile, something in the North Pole scans Superman's blood and takes it to the fortress of solitude and creates the Eradicator.

This  was another solid issue. Lois says it herself that one thing Clark's father never could do was teach him about his powers and Clark can, so while Clark is teaching Jon like Johnathan taught him, he can also guide him through his powers. I kind of thought that the issue with Goldie would have lasted longer but it really didn't but I did know that this would be the end result. The scene where Jon reveals he's wearing a Superman shirt under his coat was a touching scene and the talk the two share is beautiful. That's hopefully going to be a constant thing in at least the first couple of issues.

Batman #2 (He's Baaaaack!)

This was pretty much my favorite issue the entire week. Gotham and Gotham Girl have been working watched by Batman and during a fight with Grundy we see more of what they can do. Batman seems to be genuinely affected by the events on the plane, mentioning to Alfred that he will eventually die or be killed and the same for Dick if he takes the Cowl so it seems that while he doesn't trust them yet, he is considering them to be protectors of the city. Gordon meanwhile meets a man who claims to be behind the plane incident and that the "Monster Men" are coming before he kills himself in Gordon's office. Gordon meets up with Batman and the Gotham Duo and the three of them get to work while we find out that Hugo Strange is back in town and working for KOBRA (which I can't help but yell whenever I say it)..

I loved this issue. Tom King has really gone a route different from what I thought would happen. Gotham and Gotham Girl are very standard in their powers but do feel genuine in their desire to save the city and aren't trying to replace Batman. This is something that makes sense, that the people with super powers would decided to go help out in Gotham. We still don't know anything about them but they do seem genuine. Batman was the man of the hour this issue just like last month's. While he doesn't fully trust Gotham and Gotham Girl, he is wlling to give them a chance and really only tells them to be better and it reminds me of how he treated Huntress in No Man's Land. Tom King does seem to like to make Batman more of an equal to Gotham and Gotham Girl on grounds of experience as he is the one who stops Grundy and is able to leave undetected despite Gotham's ability to see through anything. Hugo Strange being in this story is also awesome since the last time I saw him it was in Arkham City but his appearance also kind of wonders what his connection to KOBRA is and if he is connected to Gotham and Gotham Girl.