2018.042 Justice League Vol 5: Legacy

Justice League Vol 5: Legacy
Written by: Bryan Hitch
Illustrated by: Fernando Pasarin, Oclair Albert, Andy Owens, Batt, Mick Gray, Scott Hanna
DC Comics

2018.030 DC Meets Looney Tunes

DC Meets Looney Tunes
Written by: Frank J Barbiere, Tony Bedard, Sam Humphries, Tom King, Steve Orlando, Jimmy Palmiotti, Bill Morrison, Jim Fanning, Bill Matheny, Juan Manuel Ortiz
Illustrated by: John Floyd, Tom Grummett, Scott Hanna, Kelley Jones, Barry Kitson, Aaron Lopresti, Jerome Moore, Mark Texeira, Lee Weeks, Dave Alvarez, Ben Caldwell, John Loter, Bill Morrison, Juan Manuel Ortiz, Byron Vaughns
DC Comics

181 X-Men Blue Vol 2: Toil And Trouble

Still my favorite of the Blue & Gold X-Men books.  Cullen Bunn seems like he's having a ton of fun with this.  I wasn't happy with the direction he was taking the Beast, but it appears to be resolved and hopefully he can get him back on track.

X-Men Blue Vol 2: Toil And Trouble

Writer: Cullen Bunn

Artist: Cory Smith, Joey Vazquez, Thony Silas, Terry Pallot, Giovanni Valletta, Scott Hanna, Douglas Franchin

Marvel Comics

177 Justice League Vol 4: Endless

This felt more like a collection of inventory stories than anything.  Not sure what's going on with this series.  Hopefully it was just a stop gap so they can settle the schedules of whomever is taking over the series.

Justice League Vol 4: Endless

Writer: Bryan Hitch, Shea Fontana, Tom DeFalco, Dan Abnett

Artist: Bryan Hitch, Tom Derenick, Philippe Briones, Ian Churchill, Daniel Henriques, Andy Owens, Scott Hanna, Trevor Scott, Andrew Currie, Paul Neary, Tony Kordos, Batt

DC Comics

176 Wonder Woman Vol 4: Godwatch

One of the better books being published today.  Solid, consistent and a joy to read.

Wonder Woman Vol 4: Godwatch
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Bilquis Evely, Mirka Andolfo, Nicola Scott, Scott Hanna, Mark Morales, Andrew Hennessy, Raul Fernandez
DC Comics

175 Justice League Of America Vol 2: Curse Of The Kingbutcher

Not Steve Orlando's strongest work.

Justice League Of America Vol 2: Curse Of The Kingbutcher

Writer: Steve Orlando

Artist: Felipe Watanabe, Jamal Campbell, Andy MacDonald, Neil Edwards, Scott Hanna, Sandu Florea

DC Comics

149 Titans Vol 2: Made In Manhattan

Titans is my team.  Ever since I first discovered them as a (probably) ten year old when they revived the book, Titans has been my team.  This book, while not the greatest book ever published, is one of my favorites right now.  The reason being is that these are new versions of my favorite characters (okay, I'm not thrilled about that) coming back together realizing something has happened to reality and trying to figure things out as they go.  This is the book that lead directly into Rebirth.  I'm anxious to see how they peel back the layers of this onion.

This volume (re)introduces Bumblebee.  I'm happy about that, but I'm still slightly annoyed how Mal and Karen have been handled.  There's something not quite right, but I'm still happy they're here.  

This was the last book I was reading monthly from any publisher, but when DC started jacking up prices on their floppies, I dropped this book in favor of the trade.  I'm not 100% collected edition!  First time ever!

Titans Vol 2: Made In Manhattan

Writer: Dan Abnett, James Asmus

Artist: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, Minkyu Jung, Lee Weeks, Reilly Brown, Scott Hanna

DC Comics

130 Batman: Zero Hour

Collected together for the first time are all the Zero Hour crossovers from the Batman Universe.  It's an odd book, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.  I would have loved it if they devoted one page (as a forward, maybe) explaining what was happening in the Zero Hour mini series so that thing would have been a little bit clearer in this volume.  

Basically, the book is broken down into two sections.  The first have are the actual Zero Hour tie ins.  Time has gone screwy, different realities are popping up here and there, the Bat Family are being drawn to different realities and they have to deal with it.  Fun stuff happens, like the return of Batgirl, in full costume, though from a different reality.  In her reality, Commissioner Gordon was killed by the Joker rather than Babs getting maimed.  A young Dick Grayson shows up and teams up with Robin.  Batman is drawn back in time to where is parents lived but he was shot in Crime Alley.  Fun stuff all in all.

The second half of the book showcases all the #0 issues that were published after the mini series ended.  These were basically jumping on points for the characters, showing the new realities they're living in.  This being the Batman Universe, though, there really weren't many changes or tweaks at all.  You know how that goes.

Batman: Zero Hour

Writer: Chuck Dixon, Archie Goodwin, Alan Grant, Doug Moench

Artist: Bret Blevins, Mike Manley, Joe Rubinstein, Vince Giarrano, Graham Nola, Scott Hanna, Bob McLeod, Tom Grummett, Ray Kryssing, Jim Balent, Bob Smith

DC Comics

126 Justice League Of America Vol 1: The Extremists

DC has high hopes for Steve Orlando.  They gave him two high profile books (this and Supergirl) to write with the Rebirth initiative.  So far, he's falling slightly short for me.  And I don't know why.  I love love love love love his Midnighter work.  It's been one of my favorite books from DC in a long time.  But dealing with mainstream DC stuff, it's just not clicking with me yet.

This books has two stories.  The first is the modern day reintroduction of the Extremists.  Lord Havok and his bunch.  While the story itself wasn't bad, reading it all in one fell swoop didn't do it much justice (pardon the pun).  The timeline of the entire story is unbelievable to me.  Things happened entirely too fast for them to seem (even in comic books) plausible.  

I am enjoying the interpersonal exchanges between the characters and look forward to a lot more of that going forward.  It's an interesting line up for a team and I'm anxious to see it succeed.

The second story was my least favorite of the two.  It felt like the team was dealing with a Maxie Zeus knock off.  Yawn.

Justice League Of America Vol 1: The Extremists

Writer: Steve Orlando

Artist: Ivan Reis, Felipe Watanabe, Diogenes Neves, Andy MacDonald, Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, Julio Ferreira, Scott Hanna, Ruy Jose, Marc Deering

DC Comics

124 Aquaman Vol 3: Crown Of Atlantis

Dan Abnett is continuing his stellar run on Aquaman.  He's been slowly laying down the pieces to make this book his own.  He's not ignoring anything that came before, but instead building on it.  He's developing the vast supporting cast and laying down stuff that seems like it will take him quite a while to get to the pay off stage.  I like that.  It's how comics used to be.  It's nice that someone will take over a book, do a six or twelve issue run and then go on, but it fucks with continuity.

While I'm enjoying this book, there are parts that irk me.  The Aqua Marines.  They're stupid.  They feel like a rejected late 80s or early 90s concept.  I really hope this is the last we see of them.  Seriously.  I do not care for them at all.  

This book also features yet another "Aquaman isn't fit to be King" story.  We get them all the time.  But I don't really mind this time around.  I'm interested in seeing where this will lead.

Aquaman Vol 3: Crown Of Atlantis

Writer: Dan Abnett

Artist: Scot Eaton, Philippe Briones, Brad Walker, Wayne Faucher, Andrew Hennessey, Scott Hanna

DC Comics

097 Batman - Detective Comics Vol. 2: The Victim Syndicate

I'm continuing my love affair with this book.  I know it's Detective Comics, but it should be called Batman Family.  It's the type of book I'm really loving.  Batwoman has been charged with training the various Batman Family members.  They've formed a makeshift team.  They're just a lot of fun to watch.

The story this time around is the BatFam battles a new group of villains.  People who were caught in the crossfire of Batman and his rogue's gallery and left broken and victimized.  These victims are now superpowered and out to make Batman pay.

One of the team, still haunted by Red Robin's "death", ends up turning on the team.  I really hope this is all part of a bigger story arc for them and not a stupid editorial decision because I've been enjoying them in this book.

I'm anxious to see where this book goes next because it's been a fun read.

Batman - Detective Comics Vol. 2: The Victim Syndicate

Writer: James Tynion IV, Marguerite Bennett

Artist: Alvaro Martinez, Eddy Barrows, Ben Oliver, Al Barrioneuvo, Carmen Carnero, Raul Fernandez, Eber Ferreira, Scott Hanna, Julio Ferreira, Szymon Kudranski

DC Comics

084 Avengers Four

I don't know how he does it, but Mark Waid is producing some of the best stuff of his rather long career.  He's still coming up with stories that entertain highly.  This is (mostly) no exception.

This is a sort of retelling of the first Avengers line up change, but it's an all new story, too.  The original Avengers all step down and are replaced by this new line up.  Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Hawkeye join Captain America.  And the public see them as a joke.  This is quickly rectified when they meet a woman who uses her powers to help boost and amplify the powers of these four.  They become a powerhouse team.  They invite her to join the team as Avenger X.  But because of the nature of her powers, they keep her in the background for her own safety.

However, since joining the team, she actively tries pitting them against each other and tries to take them down.  Which is fine, but unless I missed something, there really isn't a sufficient reason for her to do this.  And that makes this story crumble for me.  It was pretty good up until that point.

And on a tangent, can I mention how much I hate how Marvel publishes monthly books?  This volume reprints Avengers 1.1 - 5.1.  What?  They couldn't make it a stand alone mini-series.  They made it issues 1.1 through 5.1 of the regular book?  Really?  What's the purpose?  It's stupid.  At least I only read Marvel in trade format, so it's less confusing that way, but still.

Avengers Four

Writer: Mark Waid

Artist: Barry Kitson, Mark Bagley, Sean Izaakse, Ro Stein, Mark Farmer, Rafael Fonteriz, Andrew Hennessy, Scott Hanna, Mike Perkins, Ted Brandt

Marvel Comics

065 Robin Vol 2: Triumphant

I'm a little behind on the Robin trade paperbacks.  This is the second, though there are three out right now.  The book collects the second and third Robin mini-series from the early 90s as well as a couple of issues of the main Batman book leading up to the second mini-series.  Like most of the Batman books under Chuck Dixon's lead, this is pretty solid.  He had built up a solid base of what Gotham City at the time was like, who was in it and what they were doing.  Robin got a slow build.  Rather than immediately introduce Timothy Drake and have him out as Robin within three issues, there was a deliberate build to getting him in costume and out on his own.  Which makes sense.  The previous Robin had been murdered by the Joker and the last thing Batman should be doing is just throwing a replacement out there.  

Both mini-series are solid.  The first involves Robin's first encounter with the Joker.  The second involves Robin's first meeting and team up with the Huntress.  Both series involve Robin's slowly building rogue's gallery (King Snake, Lynx) and introduces some of his regular recurring cast (Ariana).  This is a decent read.  You don't really get any nutrition out of it, just some empty calories, but they're tasty calories. 

Robin Vol 2: Triumphant

Writer: Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant

Artist: Tom Lyle, Norm Breyfogle, Grant Miehm, Bob Smith, Andy Mushynsky, Steve Mitchell, Scott Hanna, Jose Marzan Jr

DC Comics

055 Batman: Legacy Vol 1.

Batman and I were on a break when this storyline was originally published.  I think I've managed to get most of these issues long after they were originally published, but I haven't read them in any cohesive order.  Until now.

This book picks up sometime after the Batman: Contagion storyline happened.  I wasn't a huge fan of that particular story.  It seemed forced to me.  This is a sort of sequel to that story as the virus from the Contagion storyline is back and deadlier than ever.  LOL.  This volume doesn't contain the whole story.  It's called Batman: Legacy, but the actual Legacy storyline doesn't officially start until the last issue in this book.  It's more of a prelude.

It starts with a story involving a vigilante capturing and locking up bad guys (holy Vigilante!!).  I think this is included because there's a very small plot point about the virus storyline starting up.  Next up is a Catwoman story which seems out of place here until you realize it's all tightly connected.  That realization hits during the actual virus storyline which rounds out the book.

I complained about how the Superman books during this period were all too interconnected.  That they were basically a weekly Superman book rather than four monthly titles.  The Batman books did similar things, but they never felt like the Superman books did.  It proves there's a right way and a wrong way of doing things.  The Batman books were basically all telling the same story, but it felt different.

This book also contains an art team that I still don't understand to this day.  Jim Aparo inked by Bill Sienkiewicz.  I don't know if I love it or abhor it.

Batman: Legacy Vol 1

Writer: Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, Alan Grant

Artist: Graham Nolan, Jim Balent, Mike Wieringo, Jim Aparo, Dave Taylor, Scott Hanna, Bob Smth, Stan Woch, Bill Sienkiewicz

DC Comics

051 Suicide Squad: Secret Files

I said a few posts ago that I was pleasantly surprised by the new run of Suicide Squad.  So here's a peripheral collection for me to study up on the current versions of three of these characters.  Three different stories highlighting one member each.  Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc and Amanda Waller.  I enjoyed two of the stories, but not so much the Amanda Waller tale.  I found that I just didn't care enough to finish reading that one.  It was just bad.  But the other two...  I really liked the Croc story the most.  I think I mentioned in my Suicide Squad post that there's a lot more to this character than what you see on the surface.  This story showed it. And the Boomerang story wasn't so bad, either.  

The book collects the Suicide Squad Most Wanted mini-series, but for some weird reason, they renamed it for the trade.  Really?

Suicide Squad: Secret Files

Writer: Michael Moreci, Christopher Sebela, Vita Ayala

Artist: Oscar Bazaldua, Scott Hanna, Brian Level, Matt Merhoff

DC Comics

046 Suicide Squad Vol 1: The Black Vault

Admittedly, I'm not a big Suicide Squad fan.  I think the New 52 Suicide Squad was shit.  There was nothing slightly enjoyable about it to me.  With hesitation, I tried this.  The Rebirth stuff I've read hasn't been horrible.  Some of it has been surprisingly good.  I'm afraid I would have to say the same about this.  This volume was surprisingly good.  Good?  Or not bad?  There's a fine line between the two.  But I did find myself enjoying it.  There's still a lot of stuff I'm not hot on in it, but it was decent.  I'd love to see Deadshot's look redesigned back to his pre-New 52 look.  It's still dreadful.  And I don't particularly care for this version of the Enchantress.  But I do like that Amanda Waller is suddenly no longer Angela Bassett.  She's got her heft back.  This is my Amanda Waller.  I'm intrigued by Katana being in this group.  On the surface, I wasn't hot on Killer Croc being here, but there's always been a lot more to him than meets the eye.  I'm willing to try another volume of this to see if this is a fluke or something that will be worthwhile to read.

Suicide Squad Vol 1: The Black Vault

Writer: Rob Williams

Artist: Jim Lee, Philip Tan, Jason Fabok, Ivan Reis, Gary Frank, Scott Williams, Jonathan Glapion, Scott Hanna, Sandu Florea, Oclair Albert, Sandra Hope, Trevor Scott

DC Comics

037 Justice League Vol 1: The Extinction Machines

Here's Bryan Hitch's second shot at writing a Justice League book.  His first attempt was kind of a mess.  Delays plagued the book almost from the start.  That's the problem when he tries to write and draw a monthly book.  Even with a head start.  This time around he's just writing, though he drew the Rebirth special, too.

I'm trying to figure out why I liked this book, but didn't love it.  The longer I think about it, the more I'm sure it's because he over thinks things.  The story he told was going along fine, but then it kind of started making less sense.  I think this is something an editor should have stepped in and helped smooth out.  But otherwise, it was a fine book.  They're easing the new Superman onto the team, they've added two new Green Lanterns.  Everyone is feeling out the new dynamic.

What I love love love about Bryan Hitch's storytelling is how cinematic it seems.  I thought we'd see less of that in this volume with a new artist, but this story also had a big screen, cinematic feel to it.  He does this extremely well.  I'm anxious to see what else he has in him.  Justice League is supposed to be a big book.  I hope he's able to deliver.

Justice League Vol 1: The Extinction Machines

Writer: Bryan Hitch

Artist: Tony S. Daniel, Bryan Hitch, Jesus Merino, Sandu Florea, Daniel Henriques, Scott Hanna, Andy Owens

030 Batman Vol 1: I Am Gotham

I'm a huge fan of Scott Snyder's run on Batman,  Huge.  So it's taking a little getting used to someone else writing this book.  Tom King is a solid writer and I think he's off to a good start.  We're setting up a new dynamic here, with Duke Thomas now firmly ensconced in the Batcave.  I like Duke and I like the slow and steady use of him.  I like that Batman has gotten him a costume, but he's not been in it yet.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Always.  As a counterpoint to Duke, we have Gotham and Gotham Girl.  Two super-powered heroes who suddenly show up on the scene.  And they're all over Gotham.  They came on strong and burned out even stronger.  It's too bad, because I would have liked to have seen them show up here and there before getting to their story.  (Remember subplots and foreshadowing?  I mean REAL subplots and foreshadowing, not what we're given these days.  The fact that the next storyline is broadcast in each issue of this trade doesn't mean it counts as either of those things.)  They might have felt like more than throw away characters.

All in all this was a solid first volume of the Rebirth run of Batman.  I'm anxious to read more.

Batman Vol. 1: I Am Gotham

Writer: Tom King, Scott Snyder

Artist: David Finch, Mikel Janin, Ivan Reis, matt Banning, Danny Miki, Sandra Hope, Scott Hanna, Joe Prado, Oclair Albert

DC Comics

027 A-Force Vol 2: Rage Against The Dying Of The Light

This book is right up my alley.  It's a team book.  It features and all female cast.  These two reasons alone should mean I love this book.  But I don't.  I like it very much, but I don't love it.  And that's a shame, because Marvel could do better.  And it wouldn't take much effort to turn this from a decent book to an amazing book.  My advice is simple.  First, give the book a foundation.  It's a female Avengers team, but it stars a bunch of heroes who just happen to find themselves working together.  One quick one issue story to set them up as an official line-up with an official headquarters and all that jazz.  Then they'll feel like a real team.  Second, rethink the line up just a little bit.  Singularity has got to go.  Singularity, if you aren't familiar with her, is a sentient pocket universe.  Yes, you read that right.  She's gotta go.  And Medusa.  I love Medusa, but I feel she's in this book to push Marvel's "Everything Inhuman" agenda.  Which is fine, but actually use her, dammit.  She feels like an afterthought.  The rest of this book has a lot going for it.  The women are all over the board personality and motivation wise.  I like that.  And despite me hating Dazzler's current look, she's quickly becoming my favorite member of this team.  She's the moral conscience of this team and I love it.

A-Force Vol 2: Rage Against The Dying Of The Light

Writer: Kelly Thompson

Artist: Ben Caldwell, Paulo Siqueira, Joe Bennett, Scott Hanna

Marvel Comics