Justice League of America #20 ~ McDuffie's finally back from cover to cover, and consequently this issue is good, rather than the mediocre stuff DC's shoved in here of late. The focus is on the Flash, with Wonder Woman supporting, and McDuffie juggles a conventional disaster-management superhero sequence with a supervillain battle and a lot of insight into Wally's life and how he sees his place as a hero and a JLA member, as well as how the JLA members see him. He even pokes fun at the old 'create a vacuum' gag, turning an explanation of Flash's application of his speed into a humourous in-joke that gives it some warmth and zest. Van Sciver does well on art, big and bold and energetic (though Wonder Woman's face looks a bit weird in one close-up). I have to be honest though, I'm far from sure I'll be picking up JLA next month. As enjoyable as this issue was, my enthusiasm for the team and the title has been sapped by the boring Salvation Run tie-in, and with the next issue being touted as a big Crisis tie-in - and I'm not really sold on the whole Final Crisis idea to begin with - well, I'm starting to look at the cover price and wonder if I'd really miss JLA if I quit on it. DC Universe Zero, the prologue to Final Crisis, is coming next week - if that jazzes me up for FC itself I may give JLA a stay of execution, but if not... well, I'll let you know next week.
The Blackbeard Legacy #3 ~ Previous issues have been fun enough to get me to buy the next one, but not realyl more than that. This one is better, but hamstrung at the same time. The plot takes some big strides with a significant revelation about what Robbie's running from, and Hanna's character seemed more well-defined to me this issue than previously - I'm hearing her voice in my head as I read her dialogue, which didn't happen before, and is always a good sign for me (she's got an Irish accent - not sure if that's what writer Eric Arvin had in mind, but it works for me). What was annoying about this issue was that, twice, what were obviously intended to be two-page spreads (with panels continuing across both pages) were arranged wrong when the ad pages were put in, and ended up separated. It's no fault of the story or art itself, but it was really irritating to realise what'd happened, and Bluewater Comics needs to make sure that doesn't ever happen again, especially since I'm looking at getting Gearz from them, starting in June. I'll see if I can find out anything about this error, and report back if I turn up any news.
She-Hulk #28 ~ Damn but Peter David can write. This issue is mostly setup for the story which will, by the looks of things, reveal what happened to turn Shulkie from a top-flight lawyer to a disgruntled bounty hunter, and being setup, it's naturally short on payoff - stuff happens, but the finale, and the full explanations, are yet to come. Still, PAD has the sense to hang the setup on a good concept plotline, of Jen and Jaz on the trail of Bran, the guy who blew up a bar (with Shulkie in it) a few issues back, and focusing the issue on this mission - which leads into the larger story - gives it a sense of progress even though the big story is just starting. David's dialogue, though, is fantastic - he writes a story well, and he writes characters well, but no matter what the scene is, he has a gift with words that makes it terrific to read. Everything - drama, humour, sombre moods and sensational action - is heightened by PAD's way with words. Semeiks' art is strong, and consistent with earlier art in the Peter David run - I'll still be happy to have Shawn Moll back (if he's coming back, I must look that up), but this is good stuff regardless.
Hack/Slash #11 ~ Point one about this issue - Cassie checks out a guy wearing an original series Star Trek uniform, and seeing as I just today bought a replica original series phaser pistol, I got a kick out of that. The kinds of things that perk up your day when you're single... Moving on to more relevant matters, this issue has a complete story in it - a slasher which Cassie confronts, and it's an interesting and novel situation created by clever writing - but around that story is a lot of ongoing subplots and setup for future events. Cassie's still tracking people who may be her father, or connected to him, she's still dreamy about Georgia (yay), Lisa and Chris are still running Hack/Slash Inc and get involved in a new development, and a psychic in Montana is... actually I'm not sure what that bit was about, but I'm sure we'll find out before long. It's a packed issue, in other words, and while the ongoing nature of the subplots makes it difficult to isolate one issues's worth of them and discuss it (they'll be great in a trade paperback), the solo story for this issue is a strong one, so the regular Hack/Slash 'the subplots are more interesting than that slasher' thing isn't a problem here.
Mighty Avengers #12 ~ I have to confess, I found this issue a bit ho-hum. Yes, we finally find out what Nick Fury's been doing all the time he's been absent... but I'll level with you, I don't find Nick Fury that interesting. Like Jack Bauer of 24 he's the guy who does impossibly hard-ass missions, grimly saves the day by being ruthless, and so on - he's regarded as cool, but he's 'cool' in the same way that laser guns and stuff blowing up are cool, pure spectacle with no depth. At least Jack Bauer got to cry that one time (no doubt at the script - that was after 24 became a joke, but before the writers started making it a satire on purpose). Nick Fury's just a cliché here, whose actions further the plot but reveal nothing about him - he's 'insert-spy-hero-here' and nothing more. Plus, if he really wanted to be in disguise, for heaven's sake man get a fake eye. SHIELD can manufacture lifelike androids, but he can't come up with a disguise that doesn't involve his trademark eyepatch? Jeez. That little rant over, this issue does have some good points. Spider-Woman gets a scene, which reveals some more interesting layers to her motivations (because, unlike Fury, she behaves like a human being), and Maria Hill likewise gets some screen time, in which she's portrayed as smart and calm - plus, she's in her underwear. I have a crush on Maria Hill, if you hadn't noticed. Maleev's art is something different, much more sketchy and down-to-earth than previous artists, which is appropriate for an issue that operates very much on a down-to-earth level with a minimum of spandex superheroics - and Maleev, unlike Yu, can be sketchy without making all the women ugly. And as a tie-in to Secret Invasion, it's a fun - albeit not very surprising - look into one corner of what's been going on behind the scenes.
Ms. Marvel #26 ~ This issue is largely a middle-of-the-story kind of thing, with lifts itself for one notable scene where Agent Sum questions Carol. Those two pages are great writing and great art, playing into the Secret Invasion concept, showing Carol's cleverness without making her unrealistically prescient (like, say, Nick Fury, who always seems like he's read the script in advance), and plays into this issue's revelation of some of Agent Sum's past, which is... well, not what I was expecting, not by a long shot. I'm looking forward to finding out more about that story. Otherwise though things are basically business as usual, with Carol suspected of being a Skrull, and therefore fighting her own Lightning Storm team, each of whom give her a bit of trouble but get fought off until the other Carol turns up and we get to the whole who's-who thing. Sleepwalker gets an interesting little aside that may be foreshadowing a future plotline, while Machine Man's writing is less humourous this issue, and more... well, downright disturbing, in a lot of ways. Like, scary disturbing. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to laugh at him again, and I'm curious about whether that was writer Reed's intention, or if it just turned out that way.
