Longbox Review

Batgirl #2: This continues to be stellar, and more so for the art by Ardian Syaf, Vicente Cifuentes, and Ulises Arreola. I don’t care for the villain, Mirror (I appreciate his motives, but the whole mirror motif? C’mon . . .), but I do like that Babs is being shown as vulnerable, though extremely driven. And does Commissioner Gordon know about Babs’s nocturnal activities? It seems like he does not, but the look on his face when he’s told that Batgirl is back makes me think that he does. I hope he does. I would like that element to be present in this book.

Batman & Robin #2: I’ve never been a big fan of Peter Tomasi’s work, but his writing on this title is clicking for me in a big way. I love how they’re showing Bruce struggling with being a father and mentor to Damian, with Alfred struggling himself to help Bruce in that regard. That panel of Alfred watching Damian kill that bat and toss it aside–while being overly heavy-handed metaphorically–effectively showed his despair and worry for the boy. As far as the villain of the book, I’m curious if this is something new or started elsewhere. I’m not sure if I like the idea of Bruce being a part of some nefarious group that disapproves of his current path (ok, that part I actually like).

Batwoman #2: Did I miss the story of how Batman and Batwoman met and Batman sanctioned her work in his city? Cuz if I did, I’d like to read that. Also, if that DEO agent was looking for who Batwoman is, I don’t think it’d be too hard to know that she’s Kate Kane because of her skin and hair color (it’s so white and red, respectively!). For that matter, Detective Sawyer should now be able to put two and two together. There are some great lines in this. Batman talks about being careful with side-kicks since the murdered ones tend to come back from the dead as super-villains. Later, as Batwoman talks to herself, she says, “God, this is so Camp Crystal Lake.” This right before she’s attacked by the “monster”. The writing team of J. H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman is doing a good job of keeping me entertained.

Demon Knights #2: I don’t know how Paul Cornell does it. Throw in Middle Ages-ish DC characters, some dragons (reptilian and robotic alike), more than a dash of humor, and end up with one highly entertaining comic book. I like all of the major players (Vandal Savage especially in this issue) and cannot wait to see where this is all going. If you’re not reading this, huh? It’s in my top 5 books for sure.

FF #10: Barry Kitson is such a tease. I see his name on the cover (huzzah!) and think More Barry Kitson drawn Sue Storm! YES! But I really didn’t get that much since Hickman seems intent on writing scenes with other characters for some reason. :D However, that scene he wrote between Sue and Reed was beautiful. So much unspoken, but said very well. Hickman is fast replacing Bendis in my mind as THE Marvel writer to read. And having Kitson draw his story is just luscious icing on the cake.

Green Lantern #2: Just when you thought that Sinestro as a Green Lantern again was mind blowing, Geoff Johns and company throw this at us: Sinestro makes a GL ring and gives it to Hal so that Hal can help Sinestro save Korugar. And we all learn why Sinstro was once considered the greatest GL of all: he schools Jordan on the usage of the power ring, making Hal look like a rank amateur. Sinstro wields the ring like a surgeon does a scalpel, while Hal uses it like a bat. I love how Hal’s reputation as a great GL is being undercut here, for it will only make him a stronger Green Lantern in the end. I know that this isn’t what someone new to this comic will probably not like to see considering what the GL movie showed the general public (or maybe they won’t mind it that much), but man, I am loving this change of pace.

Resurrection Man #2: I’m not yet sure what to make of this book. The whole Resurrection Man angle is actually the not so interesting part, which does not bode well for the title, but I like the angelic stuff. However, things like “Cheruphone” and the Carmen/Bonnie duo are just so over the top, but I liked the now aged super-villain character. It’s like the book is at war with itself. The ending though really makes me take notice. I guess issue three will be the defining factor in whether I continue with this title.

Shade #1: So, if you’re James Robinson and a fan of his work on Starman, I guess you can go home again. I and many others have given Robinson crap over the years because his work after Starman has been not so Starman-y. But here we get the Robinson from Starman back, like he never left us. Shade was also my favorite character from that series, so this is a super win for me. I am interested in knowing, however, if or how this fits into the post-Flashpoint DCU (it certainly seems as if it is set in the DCnU since Shade refers to Mikel’s gorilla friend). Since there’s no longer a JSA to draw from as the Starman series did, how does that affect the character and story threads now? And talk about your cliffhanger endings! I cannot wait to see how  Shade gets himself out of the mess that Deathstroke put him in. Finally, it seems that every few issues of the twelve will feature a different artist, so I’m looking forward to how that will contribute to the overall story. This issue was drawn by Cully Hamner and was the appropriate amount of atmosphere.

Suicide Squad #2: I really did not expect to enjoy this title at all, but I love the moral ambiguity that Deadshot seems to be mired in, and am looking forward to seeing more of this, especially with El Diablo quite clearly being Deadshot’s conscious manifest. In fact, this Deadshot reminds me a lot of Catman in the last Secret Six series. Oh! That’s what this comic needs, Catman in it! :) Aside: I really wish the artists in comics would be more consistent. There doesn’t appear to be another artist filling in, yet a few panels are quite obviously different (look how Harley Quinn is drawn on page three and then again on page 9, panels five and six), but are they so because the artist of record was rushed, or did DC bring in some help to get the book out in time? If it’s the former, shame on the artist, if the latter, then DC should give credit, even if I don’t care for the work done.

I also read Alpha Flight #5 (such a disappointment this whole series has been), Buffy S9 #2 (this was an improvement on issue 1, though it was really only the last page that kicked up this current story a notch), Legion Lost #2, New Avengers #17 (here’s something to get off my chest: Spider-Man should not be shown in his black and white FF suit unless he’s in FF!), SHIELD #3 (hmm, there was meaningful dialog only on the last two pages; the rest of this comic was “silent” battle scenes–I think I was ripped off just a little), and Unwritten #30 (a great ending to the latest storyline).