Longbox Review

Action Comics #2: The goodness of issue one continues. There’s a lot of little things that really make this comic:

• Luthor referring to Superman as “it”, and reminding everyone else to do so.
• That people refer to Luthor as “Doctor”. Of course he’s a doctor–he probably has several doctorates.
• John Henry Irons makes his first appearance in this new continuity as well as John Corben.
• We find out that Superman emits radiation from his eyes, putting to rest that question for this version of Superman. For the record, I don’t like that. Him being able to see into the other areas of the EM spectrum that we can’t? Sure. But actually emitting radiation? Blech.
• I love love love Superman’s attitude during this whole torture bit and his escape. He could be extremely angry and vindictive, but he isn’t. He’s even amused at the absurdity of what they’re trying to do to him. I love this brashness, this playfulness, of the character. I wish we’d get that in the Superman book.

Detective Comics #2: Bruce is quite the horn dog. Between all the other Batman comics, I think he’s got a woman in each title! Recall that I was sticking around to find out why the Joker allowed his face to be removed? I just don’t care anymore. This comic doesn’t have that spark for me, thus reinforcing that I just don’t think Tony Daniel is that good of a storyteller.

Hawk & Dove #2: So it always bugs me when a new character is created just to have him/her killed off and move the plot forward, as Osprey is. Regardless, who was Osprey, what were his abilities (do they have anything to do with his name, Oliver Truly?), and what connection did he have with Hawk & Dove? Did they know about this guy who had a similar costume and name theme? See? It’s sad that I’m focusing on a character that appears for only three pages in this title. Most of the issue is pretty forgettable, but Ren shows up, and I’m glad to see her. She was one of my favorite supporting cast members from the 89-91 version of Hawk & Dove.

JLI #2: This issue of JLI doesn’t do much to convince me to continue with the title, I’m afraid. What I do like is that Booster is not being portrayed as the self-centered, fame-seeking putz that he often was while in the previous version of the JLI. He puts his team’s safety first while catching flack for it, and I respect that, even though Batman tells him not to let a retreat happen again. I like this book for some of the character interactions, but it’s not enough to keep me around for long.

Stormwatch #2: Wow, that Adam guy is really frigging annoying, huh (and seemingly inconsistent in his characterization, perhaps)? Also, I generally like Paul Cornell’s humor, but lines like “Any chance of a pint? Whatever one of those is.” is just a little too cheeky. However, he does write Martian Manhunter well. And I knew that Midnighter’s nerve pinch couldn’t take J’onn out! :) I also liked the bit where the Projectionist sets up a hapless villain as the cause of the moon’s transformation, causing the Justice League (International) to go after him. The rest of the issue is split between the big eyeball creature’s conversation with Harry and the conversation Adam is having with Apollo and Midnighter. I’m not as excited about this title as when I read issue 1. It’s better than JLI, but not as good as Demon Knights, say.

Swamp Thing #2: This comic, however, continues to be a joy to read and look at. Yanick Paquette’s page layouts remind me of J.H. Williams III art in Batwoman, but still unique enough. I do believe I have now become a Scott Snyder convert. This story and Snyder’s characterization of Alec Holland just intrigues me. This was one of the new 52 titles that pleasantly and hugely surprised me, especially considering that I almost didn’t pick it up at all.

I also read Animal Man #2 (Hmm, I’m just not sure if I like this comic or not. It’s just . . . there for me right now.), Mystic #3 (nothing wrong with it, it’s just a plot momentum issue to get us to the final issue), and Red Lanterns #2 (this title won’t stay long on my pull list, I think–it’s just not interesting).