Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar #4 ~ Phyla-Vell's miniseries concludes with a blast, laying its cards on the table with regard to the 'saviour', and also the identity of the voice Phyla has been hearing - neither of which really meant anything to me, since I'm new to Marvel's cosmic scene, but the story was good enough that I didn't care. The relationship between Phyla and Moondragon, specifically Heather's concerns about having transformed into a giant flying lizard, gets some more detail, but the majority of this issue is devoted to Phyla facing off against the Super-Adaptoid for the final time, and having to find a way to win against this enemy she's been trounced by already, and now has no quantum power to call on just to make things harder. The battle is an interesting one - it's written perhaps a little heavy on expository dialogue, and in fact Phyla spends most of this issue in a self-narrating mood, but the text is put to good use revealing some interesting concepts that make the fight more than just two fighters swinging weapons at each other.
Lilly's art is powerful, and Phyla is drawn especially well - this is a story that needs big, bold art, and that's delivered, in addition to some very effective use of background lines to convey the force and motion of the battle. The only thing lacking from this miniseries is a true conclusion, but with its whole purpose being to lead into Annihilation: Conquest, that's to be expected - the feeling here was a mix of The Empire Strikes Back with a particularly good swashbuckling episode of original Star Trek, and I really hope that that feeling continues into the Conquest miniseries, in which Phyla will be taking a leading role.
Justice Society of America #10 ~ What can I say about JSA? It's one of the best comic books I've ever read, one of the best stories I've ever read, and it just keeps getting better. Building on last issue's introduction of the Superman from Kingdom Come, this issue is all about him - and all about a lot of other characters too, as we see several of the JSA (including Obsidian, who's been pretty much a background character so far) talk to and about the newcomer in ways that reveal a lot about themselves. Cyclone gets some useful screen time, so naturally I'm happy, and Power Girl's struggle with the loss of Kal-L, the sudden hope and then dashing of hope with the arrival of this new Superman who turned out not to be the cousin she misses, is handled with strength and dignity - her sorrow isn't presented as tearful falling apart, she keeps it together, and her grief is much more profound because of that. Superman himself is a masterful combination of enigmatic and accessible - having not read Kingdom Come he's a fairly unknown quantity to me, but deftly-handled dialogue and scattered scenes of KC (delivered in Alex Ross painted art) filled in a lot of the blanks, without feeling like info-dumps. The climax of this issue is outstanding, one that really creeps up on you and hits you with its meaning - it's terrific writing, and I don't want to be any less vague in case I spoil it. The only thing I wonder about is that, with the exception of one background shot, Power Girl spends this whole issue with her back to camera, or with her front otherwise obscured - it's probably just coincidence, but a part of me did wonder if Dale Eaglesham is deliberately trying to keep the 'window' in her costume off screen, just as he's reduced its size, out of a feeling that it makes her look silly. I wouldn't worry - the way Geoff Johns writes her, and the way Eaglesham draws her, some minor detail of her costume sure as hell isn't going to make her seem less compelling a character.
52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen #3 ~ I have mixed feelings about this issue - it's good, and considering what happens it moves the plot along quite nicely, but it feels a little bit filler-ish nonetheless. Perhaps it's because, for the most part, the 'holy trinity' of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman just stand around talking - there's really just one moment of action in this whole issue, though to be fair, it's a big one, and it guarantees big stuff to come. On the plus side, the dialogue between the three heroes is well-written, with a particularly pleasing sense of brevity and understanding between them - there's a true sense that these three people know each other so well, and have worked together so often, that they don't need to waste words - while not falling into the trap of making them all get along perfectly with each other. What's interesting about seeing the three heroes together is how they don't really get along - they're each leaders in their own way - but that they're too smart and professional to let that stop them working together effectively. It's a smart choice, foregoing the easy road for drama by having them bicker, and instead choosing the more difficult to write but more satisfying to read interplay of intelligent people. Dr. Cale and Oolong Island also get a lot of time this issue, which is very much welcome, as they're without a doubt one of the most fun concepts of 52, and doubly welcome because they - Dr. Cale particularly - are written very, very smartly.
Crime Bible: The Five Lessons of Blood #1 ~ First off, anyone interested in this book should check out the interview with Greg Rucka on Newsarama (conducted by Geoff Johns), which is all about Crime Bible, and includes preview pages. Now, there was no part of 52 that intrigued me more than Renee Montoya, the brave, fiesty, flawed, smart heroine who took over the mantle of the Question, so this five-issue miniseries was something I was looking forward to from the day it was announced. Does it live up to expectations? Let me put it this way, my only disappointment was that there was so much text on the cover, between the title, subtitle, and the newly-added '52 Aftermath' banner, getting in the way of John Van Fleet's brilliantly neo-gothic cover. Aside from that, it's plain sailing - Rucka's writing is as smart, witty, and noirish as it was throughout 52 whenever Renee was around, Tom Mandrake's art is very well-suited to tell this story of intrigue, action and violence, and David Baron does some excellent work with colour - Renee's skin tone seems a touch more orange than Latino on some pages, but everything else is solid. The story for this issue is relatively simple, for two reasons: firstly it's the first issue, so part of it is devoted to introducing the overall storyline, and secondly, this is the Lesson of Deceit: the story has to be introduced quickly, so that the twists and turns can start. As a debut for the new Question in a story of her own, this is a strong starting point - it's modern, but with the feel of those classic pulp detective-superheroes like the Shadow.
Velocity: Pilot Season ~ Now here's a book I want to see more of. Velocity isn't anything especially revolutionary, but it's quality through and through - Joe Casey's writing is confident and enjoyable, and in keeping the villain plot in this one-shot nice and simple, he leaves plenty of room to play with different areas of the title character's life, through self-narration asides, and dialogue between her and a doctor she takes a liking to. The book skips effortlessly from Velocity musing about being a speedster - Casey has some interesting takes on the idea, in terms of how it affects her personality - to a social environment, to battle, and back in time for a fun little coda to her adventure, with a bittersweet touch at the end. The villain is simple, as I said, and smartly Casey gives him a familiar stereotype, and then shoves him far over the top with overblown comedic dialogue - nothing complex, but a lot of fun to read. Kevin Maguire's art (with colour by 'Blond', whatever that is) is lively, engaging, and - rather importantly - very good at conveying high speed when necessary. And unlike the other two Pilot Season books I've read - Cyblade and The Necromancer - this one doesn't finish with any particular 'to be continued' plot hook. I like that - it says to me that the writer is confident enough in his work to let it succeed or fail on its own merits, rather than trying to get people to come back to find out what happens next. If people vote for this, it'll be solely because they enjoyed reading it - and I did, very much.
The Necromancer: Pilot Season ~ In contrast to Velocity (which was last week's issue), this week's Pilot Season entry is more or less a return to the Cyblade format - it's not bad, but it just feels like an issue of a 90s comic that someone accidentally put on the shelves, rather than in the 50c bins. Jonboy Meyers' art deserves some credit, being lively and stylised in a fashion that rather suits a teenaged heroine - a little cartoony, but also a little edgy. And Joshua Ortega doesn't do anything really bad with the writing side of things, it's just that at the end of the issue (the obligatory cliffhanger) I just didn't really care what happened next. There's a bit of interesting storytelling with regards to Abby's power of communicating with the dead, but for the most part the issue is spent introducing cast members for a few panels before moving on, and fighting generic demons with equally generic magic. Perhaps if I'd read the earlier Necromancer comics I'd have more of an insight into what's going on, and care about the characters - but that's not what a pilot episode is about, is it? And honestly, I don't think I'd much like Abby anyway - she's too much the teen heroine, struggling with darkness, trying to lead a normal life while continually being drawn into icky adventures that leave her morose and struggling to make sense of it all... I watched enough Buffy episodes not to need to buy a comic to see it again.
Countdown to Adventure #3 ~ Starfire and Animal Man are the focus this issue - mainly Starfire, which is very pleasing, since she took a bit of a back seat in the first two issues. Here we get a fairly well-written exploration of why she's pursued the course she has, having returned from the odyssey she and Buddy and Adam Strange went through in 52. There's also some interesting interplay between her, Buddy, and Ellen, though I wonder where it's going - with the options available, a love triangle would seem a rather predictable result, if that's where this is leading. On the plot side, it's all about everything going all to hell, with the uncontrollable rage spreading throughout San Diego - and on Rann - and our heroes trying to work out what's going on, while contending with legions of innocent people driven violently mad. If there's a fault to this issue, it's that so much time is spent on character that the plot isn't given the room to do anything but move in the most obvious way - it gets from A to B, but doesn't have the opportunity to sightsee along the way.
The Forerunner backup story takes an interesting twist too, with what seems to be an overarching plot rearing its head. As much as I've been surprisingly enjoying Forerunner so far, I have to say it's probably a good time for this move - there's only so many scenes of her fighting and philosophising at the same time that can be done before it starts to get repetetive, and putting her in real jeopardy could be the crucible she needs to resolve into a properly three-dimensional character. Perhaps it's just the effect of having read three issues now, but for once I found I wasn't bothered by having both the Space Crew story and Forerunner in the same book - they're still nothing to do with each other, but with Forerunner now building ongoing momentum, her material seems less like filler, albeit enjoyable filler.
Green Lantern #24 ~ I don't really have a great deal to offer on this issue, since I haven't been following the Sinestro Corps War, and only bought this for the (tiny) cameo of Cyclone in one panel. One thing I can conclusively say, though, is that even though this is part eight of the War, it's powerful and exciting on its own - no doubt it's a fortunate time for me to have dropped in, with Sinestro launching a cataclysmic attack, and the Green Lanterns rallying to save the day, but even so, there's a solid narrative just within this one issue, mainly to do with Parallax, and that's written in enough of an accessible manner that, with the small amount of background knowledge I have about the Lanterns and Parallax and whatnot, I was easily able to follow it. Ivan Reis's art deserves a special mention, along with the inkers and colourist, for some blockbuster visuals that would make Michael Bay happy.
The Brave and the Bold #7 ~As I said in passing in a previous week, the problem here is that this Power Girl isn't the Power Girl I want to see. In JSA right now, Power Girl is a mature, complex, sophisticated character, a woman with deep feelings and an equally deep sense of her obligations as a hero and as a leader. Power Girl here is a hothead, rash and impulsive - it's an earlier PG, and it just doesn't fit with the current continuity into which, by some quick asides (one of which containing the Cyclone appearance I was after), it tries to fit. Aside from the fact that Kara's made into a bit of a klutz so that Wonder Woman can save the day, the story is entertaining enough, with a reasonably interesting villain and a neat little scheme to kill Superman - but at the end of the day, this feels like an isolated adventure with no connection to any other book, and if I'm going to read an isolated adventure, it'd better get Power Girl right.
