Comic Book Case

Aquaman #46 (Wonder Woman is here and it kind of works)

So after Aquaman manhandles Extriax for information about Thule, Siren, and talks to Wonder Woman for the bulk of the book he is now going off to deal with the issues in Atlantis. This actually brings up a little fact that I think would have probably helped Bunn's run on the book, if we had gotten a feeling about Atlantis being infiltrated by the Shifters, who can turn into anyone and pretend to be them. There isn't much to this issue save the conversation between Arthur and Diana about how Arthur doesn't have to do it alone and I think that works and would have worked better if Diana had gotten some outside help in her own book but that is neither here nor there. Looking at it, you wold think she would have played a bigger role, especially with Poseidon arming Arthur which is how she found him. This does feel like the deep breath before we get to the climax so let's see what happens.

Doctor Fate #6 (Still circling)

So Khalid is now blind but he can see with the helmet. Meanwhile Anubis seems to be escalating his flow and the more I look at this issue, the more I feel he is really using this as a way to stroke his own ego. What is weird is that while this is going on and Khalid is currently blind, needing the helmet to see, and is doing his online assignments. It's weird because while Anubis is out and about, Khalid still seems to be wanting to do something else and still seems to be rationalizing it. This book has a problem with too much padding. As interesting as it is to see Khalid's personal life and his parents, the Anubis thing is moving waaay to fast for me to sympathize with his lack of action. It is interesting though to see Khalid using the helmet to multi task, using his laptop, phone, and books, to chat and do his homework. How Khalid plans to keep his blindness a secret from everyone is a mystery but hopefully  the story will maintain the good tone this issue ended with.

Martian Manhunter #6 (Did we just End of Time this?)

So the End of Time is an episode of Doctor Who (one of my least favorites) where the Doctor has to stop Gallifrey returning because it will destroy time. In this issue we find out that the plan the Martians had was to bring Mars back to life but to do that Earth will die. We also get a fantastic scene where we find out about Mars's return as well as J'onns creation via ancient blood magic and technology. The Martians have changed from a seemingly brutal species to a group desperate to return home  being pushed to a point where one of them says "We no long have the privilege of morals." before attacking Pearl and Captain Pajamas in an attempt to get them to enter the light which will bring Mars back. It's all really good and the ending is so interesting that I want all of you to check it out

JLA #6 (WHY IS A #0 FOR ANOTHER BOOK HERE!?)

So despite how awesomely issue five ended with Superman being confronted by Rao and pretty much the entire league realizing he can't be trusted, we take a moment to look into events years ago involving Martian Manhunter before his own book starts. This isn't a bad story as J'onn's internal dialogue carries the story as he investigates a cult of Mars worshipers and murders in Japan. There ia lot of fun foreshadowing to events that happen in Manhunters book like memories that he can't access, sentient weapons, and the creation of separate entities for the future. My issue with this issue is that it contributes NOTHING to the main book. It should be the annual issue to Martian Manhunter, not interrupting a high note in another book.

Doctor Strange #2 (Magical House)

This issue was fun and I just had to keep reading it. Watching Strange and Zelma going through the Sanctum Sanctorum was just brilliant, it really made the house itself feel like a character. It was like Hogwarts fused with Wonderland as we get introduced to who Strange is as well as Wong who was brilliant in what little he showed us about himself. Being someone new to the character and the book, I can't help but feel that fans of the Dresden Files should read this if they haven't already. It's interesting to see this wizard of so much power with so many magical maladies like sentient Kidney Stones that refuse to pass or more psychic abscess. Even while all of this fun stuff is going on it still ties into the mystery of Strange and something strange (sorry) is happening to his magic with it sometimes turning off. It looks like whatever is causing that involves another dimension as another Sorcerer shows up searching for Strange to warn him about the Empiriku but is pulled back as voices talk about burning away the "corruption" of magic out of him and others.

The Mighty Thor #1 (Messed up, but interesting)

                                       

So if you've been under a rock (or waiting for my Thor Goddess of Thunder review) then you probably don't know that Jane Foster is now Thor via being worthy to wield the hammer. I've been skeptical about the whole thing because while goddess was decent but didn't really feel like it was telling/furthering a story and was more in love with itself for the idea and spent more time on who this new Thor might be. That is a problem I think Marvel has at times, too in love with itself having diversity.

There is a lot to admire about Jane Foster in this book and the previous one. Jane Foster has cancer that has spread so far that the hammer can't remove it from her body when she transforms but it does remove the chemo in her body which the hammer sees as a poison. While Jane is trying to recover she is also dealing with Maliketh and his slaughtering of Light Elves and dropping their bodies into space and war is threatening to break out over it as the Congress of Realms still doesn't trust Thor or Jane Foster's claims. Jane Foster is literally dying being Thor and can't tell anyone while her own words are ignored. With Loki showing up next month I can't help but be excited with this book.

Star Wars #11-12 (Feels like we stopped this short for the tie-in story)

So this story upsets me a BIT and it may be because I don't know what Luke learned about himself or if he got his confidence back after his encounter with Vader. It was starting out good as everyone heads towards the arena to Luke as he himself begins to fight. Maybe I'm alone here but I thought we would see Luke fight the Game Master or the Magna Guards as opposed to a knock off of the monster in Force Unleashed II. I do like that the Sana Solo mystery is solved if for no other reason than so we can stop talking about it and I would be lying if I said I didn't like the scene where Han tries talking to Leia only to find that she had left and didn't hear him tell the truth. I really hope that we see Luke get his  mojo back next year but first we have to go through the ti-in story Vader Down. To be fair there is a lot going on and I do like that, it reminded me a bit of the Solo Rescue mission in Return of the Jedi but it's Luke instead and it even involves a Hutt and R2 giving Luke a lightsaber. I was really hoping that possibly some of the stuff that belonged to the Jedi would find its way to Luke's hands but it doesn't seem likely.

Earth 2: Society #6 (NOOOOOOO!)

Sooo Anarky is a girl in this one but it doesn't matter because we never got to know her or anything and I wonder how much sense that makes. This issue is really good because the story seems to be mostly caught up with the present day though we don't know where Hawkgirl is. Jimmy Olsen (Doctor Impossible), seems to be set on proving his godhood, openly challenging Superman and Flash and recruiting people with promises of power, change, or in fear of opposing him. We got a bit of Jimmy's backstory and I have to wonder exactly what his motivations are, it seems to mostly be out of hubris and a desire to prove his own omnipotence in the world as he attempts to change the Earth back to it's original form. My issue (and it breaks my heart) is that he seems to somehow have gotten my lovely Helena on his side, behind Kara's back. I get that she is upset about the Source Vault her father gave but I really don't know how to feel about it because she was one of only four (Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Kara) who didn't get a flashback but were rather IN flashbacks. This has been a really good book consistently. I also do love how Hourman is the son of the Hourman from the original JSA.

Sinestro #17 (didn't get Lobo, but this is just as good)

So a Guardian of the universe is the Pale Bishop? Didn't see that one coming and it is implied that he wasn't dead but just waiting for the right time to come back, a bit far fetched but ok. This was a fun enough issue with Sinestro and Black Adam fighting the Pale Bishop and Adam getting a Sinestro Corp ring if for no other reason than to keep him safe from the Paling because Sinestro realizes that they can only handle one emotion at a time which explains their methods. Sinestro and Black Adam have really great dialogue with each other and you see that they really are similar people. I also find it interesting that Cullen Bunn seems to want to keep using Wonder Woman because she shows up here as well. She just kind of shows up on War World demanding to know why it's there and she and Sinestro have a cute banter of him not respecting her and her not putting up with him. I really wanted to see her fight Bekka who looks similar to Wonder Woman in Justice League: Gods and Monsters.

Superman: Lois and Clark (Life and possible superpowers)

You know how books like Starfire have this big epic plot feel/idea at times but honestly it's more about the character just living with the other stuff taking a back seat? This book is a lot like that. It almost feels like Smallville from the perspective of John and Martha keeping this big secret from Clark though a bit different. Clark and Lois are hiding their secret life and past (Clark's heroics and Lois super journalism and books) from trest of the world and their son John. It's interesting to see how different this "Superman" operates as he essentially works like Batman with the secrecy, preferring to operate at night and in small towns. Lois and John are very interesting, Lois herself provides some really good dialogue and I hope that later on they'll use different color boxes to differentiate between her and Clark. John is interesting enough, he is showing himself to be very observant and trusting if a little short tempered and it seems that he may end up having superpowers though nothing concrete. With the threat of Intergang trying to get Lois and a mysterious space stone, I'm honestly looking forward to it.

Wonder Woman #46 (Makes sense, but doesn't make sense)

So this was apparently a ploy by Zeke (Zeus) who wanted to bring back Ares and Apollo as well as make Donna Troy the new Fate. This explains some things but not other, actually it barely explains anything. This implies that Zeus may have been behind Donna's creation but we don't know that and if he did that means he was behind the killing of the Amazon men. It also doesn't explain what happened with Aegus and Eirene the goddess of peace. Aegus is still a stupid boring enemy and Eriene needs explaining. The biggest problem was Diana who really just seems to be talking but not talking. What I mean is it never feels like she is passionate about anything and this is best scene with her discussion with Eriene. Eriene needs Diana to embrace her mantle as the god of war because if she doesn't the balance thrown off. It never seems that Diana is taking in what Eirene is saying but just believing that it's wrong. The blood from her eyes was explained as her fighting the power of the god of war which is interesting and admirable but it's never brought up at all throughout the entire story. Did she deal with mechanical eagles and dragons that attacked the Amazons? Did she go to Ares's home like was supposed to happen but didn't? I also still have no idea what Donna Troy's story was supposed to be about. I get that she was someone who was created for one thing and had fate determined for her and others trying to decide it for her, and then she becomes Fate (taking the place of the Fates). However, does this help her come to terms with what she did?  Also, if Ares is back, does that mean Diana is no longer the god of war or will this be revealed in next month's Justice League which says that Diana has a secret which Geoff Johns also mentioned that only Batman knows? So three books came out this month that had Wonder Woman in it, and sadly Wonder Woman may be the weakest of the three.

So this month has been really fun for comics. Next week we get double Batgirl and Justice League as well as another Darkseid War  tie-in with Lex Luthor. Since the next Star Wars  book will be a part of tie-in event I won't be reading that until January. At the same time I'll also be reading the new Scarlet Witch book that starts.