Chaos Campus Preview #1-3 & Survival Guide ~ I've reviewed these before (see February catch-up, first review there), so this is really just to say that, having ordered the bunch, they've arrived safe and sound. All the previous review's comments apply, but now that the issues are in solid form rather than just PDFs, they're really cool-looking, especially the full-colour Survival Guide. Zombies are suffering from over-exposure nowadays, but even if you feel like you could use a change from the undead, don't skip this one - like Shaun of the Dead, it's something special.
3 Little Kittens ~ A reoffer from Broadsword, in which a trio of heavily-armed women in cat costumes do their bit for homeland security - and yes, it's as silly as it sounds. 3LK is part war-on-terror satire, part affectionate homage to the classics - Charlie's Angels and the like - and it never takes itself too seriously. That said, it's not complete fluff - Jim Balent doesn't do this sort of thing just for fun, and as well as jabs at the sorry state of the world via-a-vis global politics, there's also a solid dose of body image affirmation. It's ground Balent's familiar with from Tarot, but it must be said the skewed, technicolour world of the Kittens isn't conducive to being too serious about anything, so you have to take the moral-of-the-story material in your stride - it's a good message, but the vehicle is over the top, and really deserves to be revelled in rather than analysed too deeply. This set also came with three lithographs of its heroines Catress, Jaguara, and Kitty Pop (no, I'm not making those up), which will be framed to take goofy pride of place on my walls somewhere.
Wonder Woman #19 ~ The wrap-up to this two-issue offworld adventure for Diana is equal parts whimsy and ballsiness - and it works. Diana gets a nice big fight scene, and as in the earlier Circle story she's both an awe-inspiring warrior and a dedicated peacemaker, and what Gail Simone did with the sequence between her and the Green Lantern who popped up at the end of the last issue took guts to try, because it could easily have fallen flat on its arse. But it didn't - Simone hits her mark, Chang's artwork plays the scene the way it needs to be played, and instead of being goofy it's iconic of Diana as a character. Top work there. Speaking of Chang his artwork supports the story well - and those who complain about Diana's costume being too revealing will be pleased to see her bottom thoroughly covered this time - but while he has a good grasp on Diana, secondary cast members like Etta and Nemesis have a tendency to come off a bit too cartoony. Aaron Lopresti takes over art duties next issue, so that'll be interesting to see. Speaking of secondary characters, Etta gets more cool stuff to do - she's quickly earning her spot in this title - and Nemesis continues, remarkably, to be interesting, which I'd have bet real money against after what Heinberg did with him, followed by the silly Amazons Attack arc.
The Last Defenders #2 ~ Not bad, but not great - and the main feeling I come out of this issue with is the belief that regardless of how good it might have been, it should've been better. The elements are there - a good cast of heroes, an interesting setup involving the 50 State Initiative, and a pack of villains to make life interesting - but it's just not coming together. I still don't know what the Son of Satan is doing, the serpent-y bad guys have cooked up what looks like your standard villainous gizmo - nothing especially compelling there - and the cast is badly fragmented this issue, with only She-Hulk sticking around for the majority of it to help out Nighthawk. Lucky it was She-Hulk, since she's a favourite of mine - if it had've been one of the others, I doubt I'd have enjoyed this even half as much (and to be fair, she does get one great scene with Tony Stark that very smartly plays against her brawler image, as she glares at him while running through a detailed mental checklist of exactly how to take him down, dealing with his armour's defences step-by-step). Colossus doesn't really do much of anything, and Blazing Skull seems more throwaway than last issue - possibly it's just that he wasn't in this one as much, but I didn't find as much stand-out humour in him as I did before. Overall, not the upward step this miniseries needed, after a decent but unremarkable debut.
Jenna Jameson's Shadow Hunter #2 ~ Damn but Mukesh Singh can draw. Christina Z's writing continues to be interesting, though not exactly flowing in its construction - it's kind of like an attempt at a dreamlike narration, and though that's probably intentional it's still not the most elegant prose to read - but the art on this book is just phenomenal. It's a real shame that he hasn't been given the covers, because I suspect a lot of people who'd appreciate this title for its art alone are missing out, because they're seeing Jenna Jameson's name and Greg Horn's cheesecake (though quite good) cover art, and dismissing it as not worth their time. Art aside the story continues at a rocketing pace, moving to a climax that'd normally take six issues to get to - one thing you can't accuse this book of is decompression, it's rather the reverse, super-compression - and once you decipher the somewhat murky intricacies of the writing, it's actually quite a fascinating take on the good-versus-evil battle that most large-scale supernatural stories wind up playing out. No matter what you think of Jameson or the ideas behind this comic, I'd encourage you next time you see an issue to just open it up and look at the art inside - you don't have to buy it, but if you don't at least know what's inside, you're missing out.
Justice Society of America #14 ~ The 'Thy Kingdom Come' arc hits a mid-way climax, which is good timing from Geoff Johns, since as enjoyable as it is to just watch his JSA to work, it was time for something big to happen in this storyline. That something is Gog, who gets further (dramatic) exposition, and then wades right into the Justice Society, laying about himself like the wrath of god and taking on all comers. My favourite newcomer Cyclone (and her ever-disappearing tank top) gets a nice moment, as do several of the other supporting characters (Amazing-Man had a very nice little bit of business) - when you see the earlier double-page spread of the JSA all packed in around their table, and realise how big the ensemble cast is, it's a credit ot Johns that he can keep even half of them moving at once - and early on there's a couple of pages that spotlight Sandman, but overall this issue is about showing the kind of threat Gog is by putting him up against everything our heroes can throw at him, and having him wade right on through it, so the moment he shows up it's really just one big melee until the end of the issue. Naturally there isn't a conclusion, and the final page is a cliffhanger for what looks like it could be a very cool confrontation.
