Comic Book Case

So this has been a fun month for comic books. A lot of new books have reached their third issue which is important because if by that time you don't really feel the book then it's probably the book isn't appealing to you as much as you thought it would. You can do the same thing with television series, just with three episodes. This month helped me come to the decision about which books should I keep spending my money on or which ones I should just drop. For the record, it isn't that I find these books to be bad, it's just at this point I don't see them continuing to appeal to me enough to buy them monthly and I may pick them back up when they hit a new story or something like that.

Green Lantern: Lost Army #3

This book continues to be more interesting than Green Lantern and it ultimately comes down to the large character roster. The bulk of the Green Lantern Corp, Guy Gardner, Krona, and Relic do a much better job of fleshing out the story as opposed to just Hal Jordan in that book which is why I'm going to drop that one for now. Watching as Guy and Jon argue what they should do in this universe that is doomed to be destroyed while trying to figure out if they can trust either Krona or Relic is interesting. Krona and Relic were such important characters to the Green Lantern Universe that any scene with just the two of them talking is really good stuff. Can the lanterns do anything to save this universe from being destroyed or is all doomed to happen because as John points out, their universe exists because this one is gone. One thing I didn't like about this book was the mention of the emotional spectrum being a finite resource, I didn't like it in the Relic story and I didn't like it here but that doesn't seem to the plot as we still don't know how they got here.

Black Canary #3

I really wanted to like this book and it isn't bad but I feel like were missing a bit of a story by not reading Birds of Prey and Secret Origins. This isn't to say that the story doesn't pick up at all, the reveal of Dinah's husband and where her own Canary powers came from are good but it never really wins me over. The art also doesn't appeal to me and I tried really I did, but it seems more focused on style than using the art to convey emotion or action, like it wants to be animated.It just seemed the band setting was more of a way to give Dinah a reason to travel around the country than anything else. I can't bring myself to care about the new characters, try as they might they just fall into the background a bit. Dinah does do plenty of fighting but it just seemed that we need stronger characters to give her someone to play off of and maybe that's going to be her husband but I don't know and don't really care at this point. Sad to say that I'll be dropping this series for the time being.

Doctor Fate #3

This series has gotten really good and almost feels a bit like Spiderman with how Khalid tries to juggle not only with stopping the flood but also medical school coming up, his family, as well as his girlfriend. It's interesting to see how Anubis is trying to not only hunt down the cat who gave Khalid the helmet but also how Khalid's family and it seems his father has some sort of idea or feeling of what is going on. The dialogue Khalid has is interesting because we are never really sure if it's him talking, the helmet, or both when he is trying to stop the flood. While the setup here is good, I do feel that issue 4 will shine more light on what is going on.

JLA #3

I honestly though I would drop this series earlier but it's just so much fun. The idea of a Kryptonian god showing up on Earth and just making things better while behind the scenes something else is going on is just great. Three issues in and Rao has done nothing to make you question his motives of healing the sick and making Earth a better place but something is actually going on. The gods of Olympus fled, and Hal and Barry were sent to Krypton thousands of years before it is destroyed. We see how the public has pretty much accepted Rao over all other religions because he is making actual large scale progress, not only healing the sick in third world countries but restoring the lands and even toppling government leaders to ensure peace. It almost feels like something out the Injustice series. As Wonder Woman tries to find out what happens to the gods, Barry finding himself in the 60's, Batman interrogating a criminal Rao rehabilitated, and Hal about to meet Rao before he left Krypton, the series promises to be something awesome (or decent)!

Martian Manhunter #3

This book never lets me down, a lot of solid stories and fun reveals. Not only do we see red and white Martians, we get an idea of what is going on as they prepare to send someone or rather something to deal with J'onn. We also see that like Pearl in issue 2, Agent Wessel also has some sort of connection with J'onn as Wessel gets a warning from him that his supervisor is going to kill and that he isn't human. It almost seems that J'onn has implanted himself in beings though he says that Agent Wessel isn't real. Issue 4 promises to reveal a lot of good stuff, unlike .. . . . .

Sinestro #13

This issue was less about story and more about story building as Sinestro personally welcomes a new recruit into his ranks. The new member Nax doesn't seem to be aware of any lantern corp and doesn't seem to know why she was chosen, she really doesn't fit the bill but Sinestro says that the ring wouldn't have chosen her if she didn't recognize fear in herself and others. It's always fun to see Sinestro in these kind of mentoring roles because it is what he is best at. Sinestro is primarily preparing to take over the work of the Green Lanterns who have disappeared, in addition to reworking the Manhunters that the guardians created, he also has Soranik and Nax examine the body of an alien affected by the anti-emotion religion known as The Paling where we discover that Nax can use Psychic Visection, where she can pull bodies apart (separating the Nervous System and brain, muscles, organs, and skeleton, without needing to cut) and put them back together perfectly. It isn't known exactly what Sinestro has planned, he has already removed Parallax from his body without telling his corp, but amongs his monitors are the warriors he battled when he saw Mongul again as well as Lobo. Could Lobo be his next target or is just an example of how much his control over the galaxy is spreading.

Wonder Woman #43

So I'll admit I'm still upset that we still haven't been to Ares's former home and it seems less and less likely that it's going to happen and I'm starting to wonder if it is because of rumors that Geoff Johns is planning to retcon her status in Justice League though evidence in that story says otherwise. Again, Diana seems to be a shell of who she was in Azzarello's run (which wile not perfect had her actively doing things) with the only good part being Strife and Donna who is finally doing something. They were ultimately the best parts of the issue along with the art which makes Diana's costume much better visually. Story wise it's interesting to see Donna take matters into her own hands as she seeks the Fates to cut her thread to kill her. We get some good moments from her and the guilt she feels over her actions against the male Amazons.  What exactly Aegus did to Diana with that arrow is a mystery but it seems that whatever plan he has may end up involving Donna Troy. The problem in this issue is that Aegus and the character who stole her lasso don't come off as interesting under the surface. Aegus is a kid who wants to be the god of war because he claims he deserves it. This would have been better if it had been one of the survivors of the Donna's purging of the men in Themyscara. I should probably consider dropping this book but I won't, I still feel this can get better.

Aquaman #43

So the Rule of Three apparently doesn't just go for single digit books. Issue 43 really helps of understand what is going on. Why he is on the run from Atlantis, why he has all these new powers, and why Mera seems dead set on his death. I'm really happy that they used the design from Wonder Woman for Poseidon who not only reveals that the city Thule was once called Atlantis (and the mysterious Coven of Thule that may be responsible for it's predicament even now), but also gives him the blessing of Poseidon which is where Aquaman's new powers have come from. It just really got off the ground in such a big way with this issue and again I'm upset that this book is only out at the end of each month.

Batgirl #43

Tigers!!! This issue came off as really fun but a bit silly at times. The idea of Tigers being sent out to kill people in the night and no one reporting seeing one ever is a bit confusing and with a Mech Batman patrolling Gotham City, you'd think we'd see him in this. Barbara is playing the double life card a bit more as she helps Alyssa plan her wedding and Frankie seems to be getting in over her head as she starts investigating on her own and at one point even donning a costume to talk to Qadir about the case. People who read Batgirl's Future's End story may see this as a possible callback to that and I believe people were hoping for some form of reference, similar to Batman  43 revealing the machine that Bruce will use to clone himself in his own Future's End  book. Again the problem I have with this book is the romantic angles being played at here, now with Luke Fox making Qadir intimidated about his chances with her. I'm looking forward to seeing how this story plays out, especially with how it affects Alyssa's fiance Jo who has been hiding the Tigers though we find out that she hasn't been releasing them.

Justice League #43

Despite what people may think, Batman being a god is not the most important thing in this book but it is AWESOME! The chair seems to have some sort of affect on Batman, he seems possessive of it and refuses to let anyone else sit in it. He asks who the Anti-Monitor is and the chair doesn't have an answer and despite the chair moving higher above them, Batman assures all of them, especially Diana that he can handle it. Seeing Superman and Lex together is always a great thing, like the only two characters who bring the best out in Lex is Superman and Batman, especially Superman as they make their way through Apokalyps and it gets worse when they find out that there is no sunlight meaning Superman is losing his powers. As Grail prepares to summon the Anti-Monitor Batman and Hal prepare to head to the depths of the multiverse to find out more about him while everyone else goes to the battlefield itself now accompanied by Mister Miracle. There is so much going on that you'd thin something would get lost but it never does. We still have no idea how the league is going to pull off a win but as of now the pieces are moving faster than ever. I should also note again how good Wonder Woman's dialogue is in this story and I wonder exactly how big a role she will play when it comes to grail. The two of them are both Amazons who are children of gods and it does seem she may play a highly important role.

Star Wars #8

So after reading this I've decided to drop Darth Vader for the time being. This is mostly due to budget and the fact that as cool as Darth Vader and Astra are, I've always been a fan of Luke more. Han and Leia's story finally comes back with Sana. Han seems dead set that she and her aren't married but Sana says that are and has the papers to prove it with Leia later becoming a potential hostage for Sana. On the other side we see Luke has finished reading Ben's Journals which makes me a bit sad but he has now resolved to find his way to Coruscant to further his Jedi training hoping to find something at the ruined temple. This is all good stuff honestly, the idea that Han could get himself into that kind of trouble with a girl makes sense and it does make sense that this would happen now, after all he and Leia won't have a real romantic moment for a while. Sana does seem to have her own agenda and  Han says there is more to the story than what she herself is saying. Luke's story makes sense in some ways. By Empire Strikes Back, Luke is able to use the Force to pull objects toward him and this is more than likely the story that helps him get to that point.

So that's it for this month. It seems as if the entire line was really starting to get off the ground here. For the record the books being dropped from the list are:

1. Black Canary 

2. Green Lantern 

3. Darth Vader

We may look into them later on but they will no longer be reviewed monthly like the others. Until next time. If you have any book (DC or Marvel) that you want me to review or a specific run feel free to comment.

*Images are property of DC and Marvel.