Longbox Review

Brightest Day #20: I actually have the issue with the Gary Frank cover showing Aquaman clutching his bloody stump, but I kind of like this one better. I like the new Aquagirl (well, she’s new to me at any rate), especially at the end when Aquaman and Mera are kissing, and Aquagirl looks over at Aqualad and says, “Don’t get any ideas.”

You know, Deadman may very well re-earn his moniker if he continues to go around zapping our heroes with that white ring and disintegrating them. Just what is going on with that? Will DC actually, really kill off some of these characters (the Hawks, now Aquaman)? I doubt it, but if they aren’t really dead, then what? Can’t wait to find out!

Green Lantern #62: Interesting, isn’t it, that this cover shows Green Lantern’s friends seeming angrier at him than his colored corps allies (especially Flash)? I have to give props to the colorist on this issue, Randy Mayor. This being Green Lantern, there’s a lot of green in the comic, but the two-page spread where Hal is blasting mini-me Krona is just wonderful to look at because of the coloring job. But wait! There’s more! Considering the other corps, there can be no mistakes with the coloring, and Mayor doesn’t disappoint.

I didn’t care for how Krona is mostly portrayed as focused, if a bit dour, and then one panel later is smiling crazily. We already know how unstable he is, do we really need an overtly unhinged Krona now? What was good regarding character portrayals was Batman, Flash, and Superman telling Hal how they can help him. When Hal awakens after battling Krona and wonders what happened, good, old Batman tells him, “You lost.” Heh. I’m sure (I mean I hope) that Hal’s refusal of the League’s help, particularly Barry’s, will have some repercussions down the road.

JLA #54: Ok, one half of the reason I haven’t been liking this comic is gone (the artist), but Brett Booth isn’t much of an improvement. I do like his rendition of Eclipso, however. As far as the story, I’m afraid it looks to be more of the same from Mr. Robinson, i.e., a rehash of the previous few storylines. Ugh.

LSH #10: I am so tired of this Durlan assassination story. Can we get some old-fashioned Legion stories for a change? But I do find out (since I didn’t read Adventure Comics until #523) which Legionnaire is now a Green Lantern: Mon-El. Wow. So he’s heavy guns of the group, newly elected Legion leader, AND a Green Lantern? Poor guy. Plus, that new costume sucks. A nit: there’s a panel showing Cham, Yera, and Tinya standing out in the rain. Why would Tinya not turn phantom to remain dry? I would if I had her power.

Wonder Woman #607: Diana learns how to use the golden lasso of truth. And a bunch of Amazons get killed. And there are way too many cooks in the kitchen on this issue, and by that I mean two pencillers and three inkers, and it shows. The quality isn’t that bad, but it’s noticeable, and I hate it when some art calls attention to itself. However, as I stated in the last pull list review, I’m still liking this JMS plotted book over the other one (Superman). It will be interesting to see which of the new writers’s stories I end up liking more, but I’m thinking this comic for now.

Ok, that’s it for a while. I’m off to Emerald City Comicon for fun, shopping, and more comic goodness I can shake a cosmic rod at. Stay tuned here and my Twitter feed for news and observations coming out of ECCC11!