Bomb Queen IV #4 ~ It's a good feeling, when a story really comes together for the climax - when all the strands of plot suddenly swerve into the one course, all the loose ends and questions suddenly make sense, and you realise that it is going to be what you hoped it'd be, and then it goes the extra mile to be better than you hoped. This is one of those issues - it is good. I've been guarded in my enthusiasm for this series of Bomb Queen - it's been good, no contest, but I wasn't sure it had the focus, the clear sense of purpose, that BQ had to begin with. Well, I'm eating my words now. This series finishes with a bang that doesn't just resolve its own plot, but caps off, it seems, everything that's happened through the preceding two series as well. If you like Bomb Queen, you need to get this issue, because it's BQ at her best.
Crime Bible: The Five Lessons of Blood #3 ~ There's one requirement for enjoying this issue: you have to accept that Renee's globetrotting quest to understand and take down the Dark Faith has been occupying a huge part of her life, and has been doing so long enough to really get under her skin. It's a fair call, but with only two prior issues, it's not something you automatically take into this one - it's something you have to accept when it's presented to you. I guess that's the limitation of a five-issue miniseries, it has to forge ahead at a pretty quick pace in order to get all its story in. I don't have a problem with the idea that the Question is a bit obsessed - it makes sense, especially when you get the full explanation - it's just not as elegant a story point as the rest of the issue.
The big news is Batwoman's return - the first real Batwoman appearance we've had since 52, when you realise that her and Renee's cameo in Countdown was done without Greg Rucka's consultation, and went against the story he had planned (it's incorporated here, but you can see how it's a patch-up, not something that's really part of the story). It's all good news on the Kate Kane front - she doesn't dominate the issue to the exclusion of Renee (this book's about the Question, after all), but nor is she limited to a simple guest appearance. She and Renee have history, and it's used to the fullest, in a way that builds on 52 and will satisfy their fans from there, but is also fairly accessible to new readers. The only drawback is that we're still left with little in terms of background on Batwoman, how she operates, how she became what she is, what her day-to-day M.O. is. 52 gave us enough hints to intuit a lot, but I've no doubt Batwoman's detractors (the usual parcel of knee-jerk complaining fanboys) will go on and on about how she's 'shallow'. This isn't Crime Bible's problem, though - it's DC's, and if they had any sense they'd quite hesitating and delaying, and get a Batwoman book out. This issue shows that it'll shine, if they'd just give it the chance.
Avengers: The Initiative #8 ~ A very enjoyable issue, but I have to admit, I'm not sure about the idea of there being an overarching plotline to the next few issues (the 'KIA' thing), as what I'm really enjoying is the slice-of-life stuff, with Ant-Man arriving (and getting into a fight), the Taskmaster settling in in his own unique style, Gyrich getting into a pickle, Hardball and Komodo's extra-curricular activities, and so on - especially Yellowjacket and Stature's conversation. It feels like we're barely scratching the surface of what's going on at Camp Hammond, but I find I'm not bothered by the rapid pace at which some plot threads are developing, with a lot happening off-screen - not that I don't think it'd be great to see the in-between scenes, but doing it this way does develop a great sense of continuous time happening in the story, that there's actually a whole base full of people all living their lives, regardless of how much time they get in any given issue. In this first of the four-issue KIA arc, the focus is mainly on setup and this slice-of-life stuff - I'm hoping the main story doesn't dominate things too much in future issues.
Countdown to Adventure #5 ~ It was a good week for hopes fulfilled - after previous issues, in which I'd quite gotten to like Viza Aziv, I'd formed a rough idea of the kind of story setting I'd like to see her in, the framework of her ongoing storyline from here. And here it is - if DC has the sense to hand this idea to a good writer (not that Justin Gray isn't good, but I don't know if it's his intent to keep writing Viza after this miniseries), and let it run without blowing it all up in Final Crisis, it could be their Farscape, and an excellent portal for newcomers to get into the outer space side of DC, as Annihilation is for Marvel.
On the other side of the issue, the Animal Man/Starfire/Adam Strange storyline chugs along, entertainingly enough and with some developments, but I can't shake the feeling that it's not as concise as it could be - five issues in, it doesn't feel like five issues' worth of story have happened, even taking into account the fact that the meeting between the Adam Strange and San Diego sides of the plot is yet to happen, at which point it'll seem a lot more cohesive I'm sure. I think the problem is that this comes out of 52, and that was where I first met these characters - even though 52 would skip them (and other plotlines, when needed) entirely some weeks, when they appeared it was punchy and to-the-point. This is more laid back, and in a big spectacle kind of adventure story, I think I prefer the punchiness that came from only having a few pages per issue to work with. (I'm also not really seeing the point of Animal Man's new powers being kept semi-mysterious - we know from 52 what he's doing, it's a bit tedious to see him dangling hints to Starfire as if it's supposed to be introguing.)
Gene Simmons' Dominatrix #5 ~ This was an issue with all the makings of goodness, but I have to admit, I still felt a bit dissatisfied. The previous issue ended on a minor bombshell, with all the photos in the briefcase, and this issue we get... more verbal sparring between Dominique and Doug, which gets cut off before we get more than the next veiled clue. We're five issues in, and Doug knows what's going on - I'm starting to share Dominique's frustration at the jerk refusing to tell it straight. On the positive side, one of the other hanging plot threads gets picked up in an interesting way, and the writing remains extremely enjoyable to read, regardless of how much or little it's revealing - Dom's thought captions lift every page they appear on. The only odd lapse in writing quality is what looks like a bit of a clumsy incorporation of a new mask into Dom's costume - the impression I got was that the writer and/or artist decided that having her ears exposed looked silly and wanted to change it, but the way the thought caption draws attention to it was a nasty little jab in the suspension of disbelief. It would have been so easy to simply show three or four masks in her dresser as she got into costume, and let any readers who noticed the new design just assume that she'd picked up a different one, rather than trying to make a self-aware point of it. Odd lapse, but nothing critical - I just found that with this issue being largely a way of getting from the previous one to the next one, it stood out as a notable moment.
52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen #5 ~ I'm in an odd position with this miniseries - I like it, but it's becoming a bit frustrating. The problem is the Holy Trinity - Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, so far as DC's concerned. Wonder Woman's not so much of a problem, since she's on Oolong Island with Dr. Cale and the mad scientists, but Superman and Batman are fighting their battles in what's left of Bialya, which is to all intents and purposes a nowhere, just somewhere for a comic book battle to take place. The problem is that I just can't really care about the big three's involvement in this - of course they're not going to die, and any of the Horsemen who try to take them out will fail. If you ask me, this story is about Dr. Cale, the scientist who brought these monsters to Earth, and her guilt-ridden zeal to send them packing again. She's the one with the emotional connection to what's going on, while Supes et al are just the equivalent of the mass of heroes who show up at the critical moment to help out whenever the star of the story has gotten into a really big fight. It's like how the JLA and JSA turn up in the Sinestro Corps War - half the Green Lantern issue wasn't devoted to them, they just showed up and fought, but it's the Lanterns' story. Likewise, this is Dr. Cale's story, and until Superman and Batman get their caped butts to Oolong Island, it's a shallow exercise to be devoting pages and pages to them.
