Comic Book Case

Aquaman #44 (...... What?)

So this may be my least favorite issue of Aquaman in a long time. There is just no real subtlety to the reveal about Mera's twin sister. It being spoiled at the end of the last issue was interesting but the fact that Arthur didn't notice was a bit off putting a bit. I get the twin idea but it never seems like he is questioning "Mera's" character at all and I think it would have been better if there were some slight hints at something being wrong with her. The whole thing felt rushed and I think it required reading the Future's End tie in issue which I didn't read. Siren as a character seems to be a bit more in your face than anything else as a villain with her wide expression and it's hard to tell exactly what she wants.

Batgirl #44 (How will this end I wonder? Oh wait...... badly!)

So the Tiger issue is resolved here rather quickly and apparently Velvet Tiger is an old villain from Batgirl's Rogue's Gallery which is a shame because her story ended so easily and Barbara doesn't allude to that and I feel she was only used for the thematic (cause missing Tigers). Frankie seems to be the only one actually progressing any sort of real story, with her using her tech savvy to control drones and even Batgirl's bike. On another note let's talk about the Elephant in the room that is the cover, Barbara and Luke Fox. Barbara has had more flirtations this run than any of the Bat Books and I'm getting sick of it so this relationship is fine if for no other reason than it should put a stop to all of that. I don't know enough about Luke Fox to hate or like him but I think we all know it won't go anywhere. This is why I don't like romances in comics, they never feel real or meaningful, especially with already key characters (ironically). But hopefully this will stop all the other flirting going on. Points to Luke Fox, even though Future's End: Batgirl has already shown us the end result.

Batman Annual #4 (You can never escape your past, even if you forget it)

So this was a fun old annual issue and I was surprised to see and it and it was honestly pretty fun. The idea of Riddler, Clayface, and Freeze going after Bruce for creating Batman is brilliant especially when Bruce has no memory of him actually been Batman. In Batman Inc Bruce revealed to the world that he had been funding Batman for years (true) and when the city seized Wayne Manor in Batman Eternal and made it into a new asylum for criminals, it did make sense for them to take their frustrations out on Bruce, especially when they know that he has no memory of funding Batman or even the death of his parents. They believe Bruce is more insane than they are for endorsing Batman to beat them up and ruin their lives. I honestly thought this would be the issue where Bruce gets his memories back but nope and I'm actually happy about that, I hate when stories get resolved in an annual *cough*Wonder Woman*cough* and I believe they should be used to enhance a story rather than finish and it does here. It also doesn't really bode well for Jim Gordon Batman. Again while he isn't bad, the book seems to do less with Gordon Batman than a book like Batman and Superman, and Detective Comics. 

Justice League #44 (It's big but not)

The problem with the Darkseid War is that it never really puts emphasis on Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor as characters and while we don't NEED that it would help the story match the title. Once again the story proves to be really good but I think the story itself would never live up to the actual idea of it. Diana's dialogue is the best we've gotten for her in anything I've seen in her in outside of Sensation Comics  but other than  that she hasn't done much of anything and the same could be said of Cyborg, Flash, Power Ring, and Shazam but that does seem to change this issue. Superman and Lex's little moment was just epic as we see what the solar energy of Apokalypse does to Superman. Batman and Hal trying to figure out more about the Anti-Monitor proves to be interesting as we find out that it is carrying the Anti-Life Equation, and the fighting going on between Grail and Kalibak is fun. The problem is that the league still had nothing to do this issue, they can't stop either Darkseid or the Anit-Monitor and even Mister Miracle is too busy to help. I kind of wish we would see Orion and the other New Gods. But the story is really so well written that you honestly don't notice until the end of the issue and maybe the story is just about the league trying to endure this war they can't stop which is a new place for them to be in. With Flash along with Superman and Batman essentially becoming gods promises to be an interesting read later.

Sinestro #15 (Lot of hyp for a lot of something coming soon)

Sinestro is planning something, that is all we really get from this issue. I'm guessing we need to read this month's Lobo to get the idea of how they met though Lobo was on Sinestro's screen in issue 14. There wasn't a lot to this issue really, like the last issue it was more set up than anything else. With Saint Walker now Sinestro's services to experiment on the Blue Ring's ability to power up other rings and Lobo under his employ it seems he is trying recreate the army he had in the Sinestro Corps War and this is even more enforced when it turns out that next issue he will be meeting/recruiting Black Adam who he met in Forever Evil and was one of the best moments in that story. It was also nice to see Sinestro giving food and water to a starving planet, he may not have done it for any reason other than control but it isn't something you hear other Lanterns doing save the Blue Lanterns (and Saint Walker is the last one of that). Sinestro is getting ready for a big move, he's going to take over the spot the Green Lanters once occupied but I wonder if he has a plan for the Paling yet and how long he can control Lobo. Overall a decent issue but it actually lacked the gravitas Sinestro brought to other issues.