It turned out to be a very girly week, with two of the four comics I bought being wedding specials. I wasn't planning on getting the Black Canary Wedding Planner, but then I glanced through it at the shop, and noticed a scene of Wonder Woman in lingerie - no, bear with me, there's a reason. Besides the obvious, I mean. See, I'm a regular listener to the Comic Geek Speak podcast, which is nearing its 300th episode, and that's going to be a celebratin akin to a mini-convention, with people flying in from everywhere to join the party, artists doing sketches, live recording of the show - and one of the aforementioned artists is Danielle Corsetto, creator of Girls With Slingshots, and on her last interview on the show she said, as a special incentive for Ep 300 attendees, she'd sketch the hero or heroine of their choice in their underwear. Which got me thinking: which heroines do I like who haven't already appeared in a state of some undress at some point in a comic? The only major ones I could think of (this is just going off comics I've read, not the whole history of comics) were Supergirl and Wonder Woman - and both of those books are struggling for quality. All the good books I've read - She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Tarot, JSA (Power Girl), Seven Soldiers (Zatanna and Bulleteer) - the leading lady's been down to her undies at some point. So I bought the Wedding Planner, in the hope that by some weird cosmic underwear-to-writing-quality karma, it'll make Wonder Woman turn into a good book.
Of course, Gail Simone's taking over WW, so I may be on to a winner there - but if so, I'll maintain it was the lingerie that did it. Anyway, on to the comics themselves:
Justice Society of America #9 ~ Begins with Power Girl waking from a dream, in panties and tank top - guaranteed quality, then. Seriously though, this was a strong issue - very much a prologue (as it's intended to be, for 'Thy Kingdom Come'), in that it sets the scene and slowly builds momentum for the story to come. The scene being set is one I've come to think of as typical JSA - the heroes in the position of role models and inspirations to regular folk, but being very accessible, rather than cloistered away in some remote HQ waiting for the next emergency to strike. This issue finds the Society at a celebration with the fire department (tying back to #4, when the latter saved the world by running over Vandal Savage in a fire truck), with everyone mingling and joking and having fun, and the set piece being a charity boxing match between Wildcat and Wildcat (father and son, that is). Naturally the real plotline kicks in soon, but the time spent on this carefree, almost whimsical few pages is well worth it for the sense of camaraderie, friendship and general good cheer - never has the Society felt more like a family. The following action scene is really just to explain the appearance of... well, either you know what's coming or you don't, I won't spoil it - but it's worth noting that while it's more or less a 'to be continued', there is at least an aspect of the scene with a defined resolution, focusing briefly on Power Girl as Chairwoman, having to make the tough decisions. And spread liberally through the issue are small scenes, asides, and background dialogue assuring that no character is neglected. Eaglesham's art is up to the task, with bold central images, and a wealth of background detail - the only minor quibble I have is that Jeromy Cox and/or Hi-Fi (colours) got Cyclone's costume colours wrong, and not just wrong compared to previous issues, but they didn't even keep it consistent within this issue. That minor nit aside, without a doubt JSA remains my favourite DC title.
Heroes for Hire #13 ~ Zeb Wells continues to demonstrate that he's got a solid grasp of the characters that make up this team: his rendition of Humbug is compelling, and rings true in spite of the character being in a radically different position to his norm; Misty and Colleen are handled well and their personalities are clear, Tarantula and Shang Chi get some interesting development, and Black Cat, though not as prominent as the others, still gets some attention. All I need to see to consider Wells perfect for this title is to have the groups mixed up - if, say, a scene between Misty and Tarantula, or Cat and Colleen, or Shang and Humbug, rings as true as what we've got so far, I'll happily say Wells has made this title his own. The (much-debated) cover for this issue is another somewhat odd choice that doesn't really connect to the art inside the book - as was the case for last issue, though (ironically, given Marvel's denials of anything of the sort) the anime-ish art actually has a purpose this time: to me, it's a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of what comes to mind when you see heroines menaced by tentacles... Luckily there's nothing exploitative inside the book - even the nearest parallel to the cover, with the girls all chained up and soaked (to get rid of the Hiveling scent on them), was far removed from the kind of soft porn everyone claimed the cover represented. The backup story concludes (or appears to, anyway, unless I've read it wrong) with Scorpion and Paladin facing off, and the whole thing quite neatly tying into Scorpion's appearances in Incredible Hulk - good crossover material.
Black Canary Wedding Planner ~ Aside from Wonder Woman in her knickers (and the karmic effect I'm hoping for on her title), I can't really say this was a terrific book. It was fun - that's the best way to describe it. Dinah and Ollie are presented fairly well to new readers - I've seen little of either of them - with some scenes that are well-executed, if not particularly revolutionary for a pre-wedding story; in the vein of an old but good sitcom, there's nothing much new here, but there's nothing that'll make you change channels, so to speak. That's true, I should say, of the story itself - something that is new (or at least, feels novel) is the one-page inserts that serve as humourous 'chapter breaks', with the wedding checklist, a very cute anime-inspired Dinah and Ollie, the cover of a bridal magazine, and then a lingerie catalogue, and so on. Not all of them are laugh-out-loud funny, or especially inspired, but they're cute and they give this one-shot a fresh feeling that, in all honesty, it couldn't really have managed on plot alone. I'm not sure if this has done enough to entice me to get the upcoming Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special (though I'll certainly flip through it, if only in the hope of finding that Dinah did indeed have a better idea than the lacklustre wedding dress she tries on here), but knowing neither character well, I was a hard sell to begin with - I guess it's enough that I was entertained.
Justice League of America Wedding Special ~ Unlike the Wedding Planner, this wasn't just a comic I picked up on a whim. I've often felt that I was missing something fundamental to DC by not reading Justice League - obviously male-led titles like Superman and Batman are off my radar, but JLA includes Wonder Woman and Black Canary and Vixen, so much like I buy Mighty Avengers for the girls in the line-up (and, seeing as it's well-written, I can get along with the boys), JLA should be a valid pick. But I never felt it'd be worthwhile; Meltzer's writing, from all I heard, wouldn't have been to my tastes or allayed my disinterest in Clark and Bruce and so on, and the JSA/JLA 'Lightning Saga' crossover did more to annoy me than intrigue me. This issue, though, was a potential starting point: with Meltzer's run over, Dwayne McDuffie is taking the reins of JLA, and this one-shot written by McDuffie would serve as a decent test run, to see if the liking I'd taken to McDuffie's writing of Fantastic Four, when he took over late in Civil War, would carry over into this team. The answer? Hell yes. There's a lot of characters I'm unfamiliar with, but heck, so were there when I picked up Justice Society #1, and that was no impediment, because there, like here, the writing is solid and accessible to a newbie like me. Batman in particular - a character I'm lukewarm on at best - was written in such an entertaining manner, while very much in keeping with his personality as I understand it, that I'm thoroughly optimistic about how McDuffie will handle the JLA lineup. The plot this issue is a prologue to the real action (not unlike this week's JSA issue, in fact), but again, the quality of writing, and the amount of fun I had reading about these characters - heroes and villains - that until now I'd had little interest in, is sure to bring me back for more. There was one time when I really got into the Justice League, and that was the old (and, I'll admit it, riotously ridiculous) Challenge of the Superfriends cartoon - and now here we are, with McDuffie delivering the prologue to what looks like Challenge Redux, with Lex delivering speeches from his podium, almost all the old Legion of Doom members among the throng of villains (as well as new faces like Joker, who for a character I often find quite tedious, was written with considerable panache here), they even have the classic Darth-Vader-helmet Hall of Doom. I'm going to love this storyline. JLA, from #13 onwards, goes onto my standing order at the comic shop, and the JLA Wedding Special gets top marks for doing its job.
I also took the usual glance through Countdown - I've passed over too many issues to really find it interesting now, but it's worth noting that if you're buying the title to see up Mary Marvel's skirt, this is the issue for you. Fantastic Four caught my attention, with She-Hulk's frequent foe Titania on the cover, though I didn't actually see her inside when I flipped through it (though I didn't check every page) - Sue Storm was being all badass at one point though, which is always nice to see; just check her big moment in Civil War #4 if you need to learn why Marvel needs to publish a 'Sue Storm: Ass Kicker' book. I was considering buying Wonder Girl #1, but the online previews made me want to check it first, and flipping through it in the shop I decided I could live without it - teenage characters aren't my cup of tea, and that this miniseries comes out of Amazons Attacks is reason enough to be disinterested. If it turns out to be brilliant, I can always pick it up as a trade down the road.
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