Dynamo 5 #0 ~ Here's a cute little thing - US99c for 10 story pages, plus a two-page 'the story so far' summary of everything up to the present. And I do mean everything, so far as is possible - it's small, dense text on the summary pages from top to bottom, so it's a very comprehensive narration. This issue's story is a cute little done-in-one adventure (with a neat twist in the end for long-time readers), starting with Dynamo 5 sitting around chatting about stuff, then an emergency arising that has the kids in costume and battling, while Maddie tracks down the source of the villain's super-suit so we can see her in action as well (less fighting, but plenty of kick-ass attitude). It's a good sample of what to expect in the regular title, both in terms of superhero action and interpersonal character drama, since it's from the regular writer and artist (Asrar draws a luscious Scrap as always). If you haven't yet checked out Dynamo 5, this is a bargain way to do so.
Birds of Prey #127 ~ So, that's it huh? Birds of Prey is no more, and as a finale... well, let's be honest, Bedard hasn't done a great job with this title. He's not awful, but his work (I've noticed this on other titles he's worked on too, if I recall rightly) is plain, generic - no special insight into the characters, no flair for taking the book and making it his. This Platinum Flats arc that the book's been on recently has been pretty dull, despite drawing on some big guns - the Joker, for heaven's sake, you'd think having Oracle face the Joker again would be monumental. But it wasn't, since it wasn't written particularly interestingly, so the fact that that encounter (and this one with the Calculator) form Barbara's reasons for disbanding her team just seems arbitrary - the writer wants us to believe these are important events, but that's not how they seem on the page. We'll see what happens with Oracle next (although the hints laid here, especially in the 'Origins & Omens' backup, suggest a dark turn, which will have to be written very well not to flop), but if you're a big Birds of Prey fan... well, cherish your Gail Simone trade paperbacks, they're where it's at.
Jungle Girl Season 2 #3 ~ The pulp fantasy adventure continues at its customary rollercoaster pace, with Jana discovering more about the mysterious (and apparently malevolent) mermen who've taken her prisoner, and Togg and the rest struggling to defend their submarine from a bunch of giant killer squid. It's business as usual for this title - Jana is as close to a Frank Cho warrior woman as you can get without Cho actually drawing her, all kick-ass attitude and acres of gorgeous female body in a skimpy bikini, the evolving mythology of her strange homeland gets another added touch, with the fish folk and their Cthulhu-esque beliefs, and there's lots of monster-fighting going on. The backstory of Jana's fellow captives is sketched in with a good flashback that manages a nice horror feeling - you can't go wrong with 'something so horrible he tore his own eyes out' scariness, really. All in all, another fine issue.
Guardians of the Galaxy #10 ~ The road towards the 'War of Kings' continues, with this issue wrapping up the Blastaar/42 angle, bringing a new face into the team, dropping in on Adam Warlock to see a bit more of what he (and the Church of Universal Truth or whatever) are up to, and finishing with a visit to Starhawk just to remind us that great events are afoot and the future is in a mess. It's good, solid space adventure, but the thing I'm noticing with this title is that the longer it goes on, the funnier it gets - I was giggling from page one of this issue, and the comedy is there for the whole length of it. It really helps to ground what's otherwise a far-fetched story, and make 'cosmic' seem as real and believable as the street-level superheroes back on Earth.
Amber Atoms #1 ~ I admit to being a bit disappointed by this issue, and there's one big reason: she's a teenager. I know it's quite popular (Buffy et. al.) but I have a really difficult time enjoying the adventures of immature characters, be their heroines, heroes, or just regular people. That aside, what we have here is mostly set-up - the big players on the galactic scale are introduced (in an ambiguous manner that suggests a plot twist coming up), then we move to the personal level to meet Amber and her parents, who don't seem that likeable. Her father is understandable, maybe - when we first see them, Amber's gotten into a fight with a rogue droid that's evidently kind of her fault for not shutting it down properly, and he has to bail her out, so his frustration is understandable (although his outright shouting seems over the top). Her mother is... well, telling her she's not smart enough to follow her dream of going to university, that's pretty poor. Amber can't believe she said it, and frankly neither can I, nor that her father basically agrees with her mother in that scene. No wonder Amber's 'ungrateful'. Ultimately, I just don't see why I should find any of them particularly likeable - Amber seems alright, but the story seems to suggest that her parents aren't intended to be utter jerks, and I don't know if I'll get along with a story that works that way. Still, we'll see next issue.
Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising #2 ~ This issue isn't so expansive as the first one - with the broad canvas laid out, now we get down to the nitty-gritty of the invasion of Venus, with Sam wading in and trying to get the colonial forces to see reason, since they can't (or won't) acknowledge how outclassed they are. Ultimately she gets some authority and shows her stuff, averting catastrophe in a manner that brings her unexpected prowess to the attention of the enemy; they quickly conclude that there's an ex-Marine with the Venusians, but then have their own difference of opinion on what to do about it. Meanwhile Sam's secret is out, causing all sorts of friction with her colleagues, who have plenty of reason to hate the Marines - it's tense, untrusting atmospheres all 'round. The art is evocative as usual, but I'm starting to think it might be good to have a bit more clarity in the battle scenes - confused scenes of warfare are all very well for conveying the fury and savagery of it, but they're not great and illustrating the tactical manoeuvres going on, and on some panels I wasn't even sure if I was seeing Marines or colonists. The dialogue holds it all together, but I'd be happier if the art was as good at telling the story of the fights as it is at setting their mood. Still, a very good comic nonetheless.
Justice League of America #30 ~ Granted I missed an issue (#28, with #29 not counting since it was one of DC's stupid 'Faces of Evil' wastes of time), but this is still pretty garbled. There's no lack of things going on - Shadow Thief creates shadow duplicates of the League, and then a shadow duplicate of the moon which will crash into the Earth (yeah, it's a bit Superfriends-ish, but that's part of the fun) - but there's not a lot of ingenuity in dealing with these threats. Flash gets a cool moment when he outruns his own shadow, but everyone else just kills time until Dr. Light shows up, and the solution for the rogue moon is... Superman punches it. That's not exactly clever, is it? Five-year-olds could come up with that one. It's kind of like Justice Society of America but without the character development - the only significant character arc happening here is Red Arrow and Hawkgirl, and that's handled like a bad Buffy episode, with them continually getting distracted or walking away instead of just dealing with their problem like grown-ups. I know they're young, but jeez, give us a little credit for wanting to read about heroes more mature than the Tiny Toons, would you? Adding to my generall annoyance, the colourist - or maybe the editor ordering the colourist - did that stupid thing where they colour Zatanna's exposed cleavage and upper chest white, as if it's a skin-tight costume; here's a thought, if she's not allowed to wear her waistcoat without a top underneath it (because god forbid we have a bit of a female body sullying the good wholesome bloody violence) tell the artist that. They even forgot to recolour her in other panels, it's just silly. Black Canary - again - gets to do nothing as 'leader'; bring on the new League, this one's not working.
The Invincible Iron Man #9 ~ Marvel was evidently paying attention to last week's column wherein I revealed that I'd missed out on this issue, so they rushed a reprint out. Kind of them, huh? And unsurprisingly, there's nothing much to say about it that I didn't say in reviewing #8 and #10 - Larocca's art seems a bit off on Maria Hill's face in some panels, and Pepper doesn't really do much this issue (since her big moment is in #10), but overall it's very much of a piece with the issues I'd already read, which is to say very cool.
