Previews #251 ~ Comics:
p70: Detective Comics Annual #11 ~ Features Renee Montoya, but in an ongoing (non-Question) story I haven't been reading.
p155: Liberty Meadows Sunday Strips volume two
p158: Bomb Queen VI #2 ~ (must've overlooked #1 last month) I'm not sure if this is a good idea, after the lacklustre BQ5.
p242: Queen Sonja #1 ~ New writer, might be time to give this another try.
Marvel p41: Hulk #16 ~ Red She-Hulk, that's your best idea? Jeez.
Marvel p48: Nomad: Girl Without a World #2 ~ (another one I must've missed #1 of) Might be worth a look.
And merchandise:
p126: Gotham City Stories Catwoman display (a preview of it) ~ cute, but I'm lukewarm on Catwoman.
p128: Catwoman Deluxe Collector Figure ~ DC Direct just has no idea how to make quality 1:6 figures, these things are cheap and nasty.
p130: Blackest Night series 3 ~ Star Sapphine (a repaint, and a recent one at that, boo) and Arisia (new!).
p133: World of Warcraft series 6 ~ The Forsaken Queen looks yummy.
p134: Assorted Wonder Woman figures and statues ~ None I want that I haven't got, but handy for collectors.
p356: Star Trek Kirk vs Gorn 2-pack
p364: TMNT April O'Neil comic figures
p376: Street Fighter 4 'Survival Mode' (repaints) including Chun Li and Crimson Viper
p380: Fantasy Figure Gallery: Felicia, and white variant Medusa's Gaze
p384: WALL-E EVE maquette (I love WALL-E)
p396: Fraulein Revoltech: Queen's Blade 'Echidna' figure
Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #57 ~ Tarot's got it all to do this issue, having to save first herself (since she starts the issue poisoned, chained up, and about to be fed to a water dragon; she's also naked, but that's not really unusual), then Pooka, her adorable (if mischievous) goblin cat. Don't mess with a woman's cat. The references to the Fairy Court are interesting, possibly heralding a future encounter for Tarot in her role as balance-keeper between the realms, but for now she sticks to her immediate aims, rescuing her cat and continuing on after her sister (who has a mysterious cameo that hints of strange goings-on; I'm still curious about exactly what she's doing), with a little help from Holly G herself in a guest role as another witch whose familiar has fallen foul of the fairy court. It's your standard Tarot issue, really - action adventure with a dash of character-driven subtext, and another couple of additions to the ranks of the nude mystical fairy-women who populate the magical realm.
Wonder Woman #34 ~ Diana's feeling pretty morose after having necessarily turned her back on her people, and with the difficult task of facing Nemesis ahead of her, but aside from her own thoughts on the matter there's not a lot of progress there - Genocide is still a potential threat, and since Diana was the one who didn't kill it when she had it beat, she considers it her responsibility to go on the hunt once again. She gets help though, from Black Canary - yup, Gail Simone writes Dinah once more, and it's a big case of 'welcome back' as her brand of wry humour slips effortlessly back into place, making the two women distinctly different, yet (thanks to great writing) a convincing double act, as their personalities synch up on the big stuff regardless of the air of amused friction between them in lighter moments.
Fathom #8 ~ Things go pretty much the way you'd expect at the peace summit between humans and Blue - the Black mount an assault, everyone blames each other, Aspen goes all heroic (her dad's with the Black, so there's family issues to sort out there), and one of the President's security guys draws the wrong conclusion and goes off making things worse. If all this were happening in secret it'd be just another day at the office for a comic along these lines, but with the existence of the Blue now being public knowledge, it sets the stakes higher and makes the action and intrigue a lot more solid. Maylander's bit of the issue is well-written too, taking a moment from all the frantic action to be a bit more introspective and grounded.
Justice Society of America #29 ~ A new writing team arrives this issue - Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges - and while the results are a bit of a mixed bag, I find I'm feeling overall positive about it. On the down side the main plotline isn't exactly the most original idea, nor does it (at present) seem to stem from any basis other than 'villains want to attack heroes', which seems a bit lazy; also, Cyclone's bit of dialogue seems somewhat awkward (she's always been at risk of turning into an early-Willow (from Buffy) clone, but hasn't due to Johns's deft writing - here she falls into that trap a bit). But there are good points as well, including the mystery of what's going on with the egg featured on the cover (which just gets more mysterious the more we learn), and a likeable introduction of a couple of new young 'legacy heroes'. So the 'new era' isn't a runaway success yet, but with this issue it at least earns time to prove itself.
Detective Comics #855 ~ Batwoman vs Alice goes about as you'd expect - there's no way the hero's getting the drop on the villain for good this early in the story, so it's no surprise when the tables get turned, but Alice's kooky dialogue (courtesy of Lewis Carroll) makes the issue an entertaining and fresh-feeling experience to read, while J.H. Williams III's art is just perfect, heavy on realism in its lines, but also loaded with eerie layers just waiting to bleed out into the real world and mess it up. There are hints (at last) of Batwoman's past in the mix too, making the lead story of the issue very satisfying in the ground it covers. The backup featuring the Question doesn't quite fare so well, with a lot of space being taken up by an action sequence that, while entertaining, seems a bit greedy for a short-format backup comic like this - with only eight pages per issue to play with, I think it'd be a better idea to curtail the visual-intensive action scenes and go for a more story-dense style, something that can develop a complex and layered plot in spite of the limited space available.
Hack/Slash #24 ~ Samhain - introduced not long ago - features a lot in this issue, almost as a third cast member alongside Cassie and Vlad in some parts, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. The dynamic between him and the regulars is interesting, but has the potential to become tired if it's overused, and the backstory he brings with him (which includes a possible origin behind the entire 'slasher' phenomenon) doesn't really seem that inspired, instead feeling like it's shutting down interesting possibilities by clarifying the nature of the monsters - although it must be said it's still pretty open-ended so far as what they can come up with in future stories, so it's not all bad. Bryan Baugh provides the art, and I'm not entirely content with the results to be honest - the pages seem a bit too cartoon-like, and while it's fun to see that subverted by the violent blood-and-swearing storyline, I find I preferred the more subtle work in past arcs; there's a lot of supernatural stuff in this comic, and I think it needs to be grounded by mature art to work at its best. Also, Cassie's wearing just a fishnet leotard at one point, and I'd rather see that in full glorious detail than the Looney Tunes version, thanks.
