Sorry about the delay (again) - once more it's been an eventful and enjoyable, but not particularly time-efficient week. On the mailbag side of things, as you may have spotted in the issue photo for this week, my copy of On Dangerous Ground arrived - this is a novel by a friend of mine (and fellow Buffy fanfic author) D.L. Line, which began life as a Willow/Tara story, and was then rewritten into an original novel. The romantic chemistry between the two now-original characters survives their re-imagining unscathed, and D.L. tells a great investigation/mystery/thriller story. If you want to get a copy of your own, go here - it's a great read.
I also picked up Barack the Barbarian #2 this week, but it's late and I'm tired and I haven't read it yet, so I'll try to remember to review it with next week's batch rather than do it now. So, on to everything else:
Previews #252 ~ Comics:
p85: Justice Society of America 80-Page Giant one-shot ~ featuring the newbies, including the adorable Cyclone
Marvel p14: Sky Doll: Doll's Factory #1
Marvel p25: Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1 ~ not a character I've ever taken an interest in, but I'll give her a shot
Marvel p67: S.W.O.R.D. #1 ~ featuring Agent Brand, from her eye-catching Secret Invasion role
p202: Fearless Dawn #1
p202: The Bomb trade paperback
p213: Roger Corman Presents Black Scorpion #1
p226: Farscape #1 ~ ongoing, rather than the miniseries it's been until now
p230: Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #59
p235: Barack the Barbarian: The Fall of Red Sarah one-shot ~ no colour, I may skip it
p244: C.E. Murphy's Take A Chance trade paperback
Merchandise and stuff:
p131: Blackest Night series 4 action figures ~ includes Wonder Woman, but they're being mysterious about in what form
p132: Lynda Carter Wonder Woman statue
p133: Ame-Comi Heroine Series: Wonder Girl and a new re-imagining of Wonder Woman
p145: The Art of Greg Horn volume one trade paperback reoffered (plus vol.2 HC, but I don't like Horn enough for hardcover)
p268: J. Scott Campbell's Fairy Tale Fantasies 2010 calendar
p341: Star Trek "Tribbles" Kirk & electronic command chair ~ I have this chair (with a different Kirk figure), and it's terrific
p344: Back in Black Dawn statue ~ not a bad price
p370: Star Wars Slave Leia mini-bust
p383: Metal Gear Solid action figures including Boss (reoffered)
Detective Comics #856 ~ The Batwoman side of this issue continues with style, providing more exploration of characters and ideas introduced in the Religion of Crime thread of 52, while also giving Kate some non-costume time to develop her character in other directions (she looks great in a tux), and also fleshing out a little more of the nature of the relationship between her and her father. The hints and allusions dropped here suggest that when we get her 'origin story' it'll be worth the wait - already she's doing a good job of stepping out of Batman's shadow in terms of her character and her superhero nature, while at the same time not straying too far; she is, after all, Batwoman, and needs to remain faithful to the storytelling format of the symbol on her chest to a degree, and so far that's working out well. As before though, the backup story featuring the Question isn't economical with its pages - a comic presented in instalment this short, especially a detective story where investigation and plot twists are almost expected, needs to pack lots of information into the space available to it, and the Question is spending too much time on fights and unnecessary information.
Wonder Woman #35 ~ The team-up of Diana and Black Canary concludes in this issue, with both characters shining under Gail Simone's talented pen. The story that last issue seems straight-forward takes an unexpected turn, tying in dramatic fashion into the events of earlier issues (multiple different issues, not just the ones that are obvious going in), while between fights and new developments, Diana and Dinah make the most of their Japanese holiday to spend some time together, with valuable scenes of dialogue between the two women that do much to deepen both characters, and display a bond between them that goes beyond the superficial superhero-team-up scenario. Just to top it off, there's a really cute poke at DC's Ame-Comi statue line (although I should point out that, contrary to what this issue suggests, Power Girl is sadly udner-represented in action figures, at least so far as I'm concerned; Wonder Woman herself is the most common superheroine to turn up in the toy aisles) - and, lastly, a cliffhanger that I'd never have believed I'd care about, but now I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens next.
Guardians of the Galaxy #17 ~ The 'War of Kings' arc comes to a head here, and also manages to justify one of the somewhat shaky underpinnings of this whole title, that galactic strife is causing damage to the fabric of reality - while it's true that both Annihilation stories involved mucking about with spacetime in some ways, the 'fabric of reality' is such an over-used sci-fi plot device that it feels a bit of a cheap reason for a superhero team to exist as an ongoing concern. Here it's more straight-forward - the fabric of reality is in direct, immediate danger because the Inhumans have set off a blow-up-reality bomb (accidentally, mind you), which makes for a much more palateable macguffin to get the plot moving. This issue is very fast-paced and frantic, and very entertaining so far as it goes, but when you finish it and look back, it plays pretty fast and loose with its setting (vis-a-vis, for instance, giant space squid horror things turning up for no real reason other than to give the heroes something to fight) - I had a fun time reading, but looking at this title as a long-term prospect, I'm still feeling a little ambivalent.
Gotham City Sirens #3 ~ This issue presents an enjoyable and very readable story featuring the Riddler, which is both good and bad - good because it is a good story, and bad because it's only tangentially related to the main characters of this series, who feature in what can't be claimed as more than a cameo. I'm not saying a comic should never take an issue to do something different, but c'mon, it's issue three of 'Gotham City Sirens', we've barely had an intro story, and now the sirens are all but absent for a month? I just have trouble believing that this story was necessary - even if some part of it is needed for future issues (say, the Riddler's new modus operandi, or the new villain who pops up), surely those could've been incorporated into a story that actually features at least one of the comic's trio of stars? So regardless of the quality of the story and the art, I have to give this issue a low score - it's just not what this title is supposed to be about.
Dynamo 5 #24 ~ Oh good heavens, Scrap in a bikini... Sorry, I zoned out for a moment. Good news: Mahmud A. Asrar provides 100% of the art for this issue (after a couple of issues where other artists have helped out on some pages), so the world of Dynamo 5 is looking exactly as it should, and the writing is back on form, with exciting, fast-paced superheroic action alongside interesting, involving character drama - the scene between Myriad and Scatterbrain in particular was really well-written. Combined with an expositionary glimpse into Maddie's past, this is an all-around strong issue, and most welcome after #23 being a little less than the high standard I've come to expect from this comic.
Ms. Marvel #44 ~ This issue is mainly about moving all the pieces into one place - Karla, Ms. Marvel (the powered version) and Catherine (apparently Carol as a regular human) - but somehow it all seems a little shallow. As I've said before, Karla as Ms. Marvel just doesn't have depth as a character - she could have, but since we only really got one issue of her as a hero, solo (and, the cynical part of me suspects, because she's part of Dark Reign and can't undergo any major character changes in this title), she doesn't live up to the potential that was there for her. Ms. Marvel and Catherine both suffer from the same kind of problem (though without the Dark Reign aspect) - whatever they are, Carol's personality split into two halves or whatever, they haven't really had time to develop before being thrust into the fray; Catherine especially is little more than a sketch of a character, so it's very difficult to care about her as the person she is, rather than as a mixed-up version of the Carol we're familiar with (compare with Doctor Who's 'Family of Blood' story, where the Doctor's alternate persona, John Smith, was thoroughly real in his own right). On the plus side, Sana Takeda's art takes a so-so story and makes it visually memorable - it's different to Aaron Lopresti's Ms. Marvel (the last artist I thought really made the title his own), but I can easily imagine this art becoming the new standard for the title, so I hope it stays a while.
Justice Society of America #30 ~ Like the cover indicates, Dr. Fate turns up to lend a hand (with some coaxing from Jay, in a rather cute presentation of the new character), but otherwise this issue's mainly about friction on the team, with Wildcat and Magog having different ideas about what they should do next, and Power Girl playing referee. It's a nice idea, but I found the two guys a bit too clear-cut in their arguments for my tastes - Wildcat is stereotypically belligerent, ready to throw an angry punch like a hot-headed rookie rather than be wise like he should be, while Magog comes off poorly, rather like an anti-military writer's idea of how a soldier should behave; also, since his last real moment in the spotlight, storywise, was to side with a god that turned out to be destroying the planey, you'd think he'd have learned a bit more introspection. Otherwise it's business as usual, with the attack on Mr. Terrific still a mystery to our heroes, the hero-vs-villain fighting going pretty much as expected (Citizen Steel gets a notably cool moment), and Cyclone managing her traditional one-per-issue art error, with her sleeves coloured as bare skin in one panel, bless her.
