Besides those reviewed below, I picked up The Last Days of American Crime Preview, since it was free - I haven't had a chance to read it yet (and in this mood, probably won't), but hey, free stuff, you can't criticise free stuff (unless it's crap anyway, but a quick glance through this issue suggests it's not). Also I planned to review Approbation Comics's Chaos Campus #7 this week, but I'm really tired tonight so I'll save that for next week.
Invincible Iron Man #19 ~ I don't want to say too much about this issue, because it's the climax of the storyline, and revealing anything would ruin it. I will say, though, that it's wall-to-wall awesome. I've enjoyed this story as long as I've been reading, despite a couple of slightly shaky patches, but the last couple of issues have really piled on the quality, and this one just rocks, right to the last page. If you like Iron Man, this is a must-read story, and that's all there is to it.
Spider-Woman #2 ~ I'm still hot-and-cold on the art, including the use of a photographic model - when it works it's great, but as is often the case, the closer you get to reality, the more any slight flaw stands out, and in several places that's exactly what happens here. I'm not sure how I feel about this issue's story, either - I feel a bit like there isn't enough material in this issue, although to be fair everything that's here needs to be here. It's more just that, as the story goes, it takes a lot more work to get from beginning to end of the issue than the end really seems to deserve - I'd have been a lot happier had Bendis found some way to streamline the plot, and thus fit in something more from another angle to make this issue weightier. Call it a cautious 'good' rating from me, but since I'm in a downsizing mood, this is a title I'm keeping an eye on, and may drop down to just picking up its trade paperbacks when they come out.
Power Girl #6 ~ I don't like this title, to be honest. It's not a matter of quality, as such, more that I don't like Gray and Palmiotti's approach to it: so far as DC goes, I'd say Gail Simone's Wonder Woman is pretty much exactly what I want out of a superheroine comic, and this is pretty far from that. Granted they're different characters, and Kara shouldn't be laced with the same sense of mythology that Diana should - but I just want a mature, insightful, intelligent story. I want to see Kara treated the way The West Wing or The Sopranos treats its characters, and Gray & Palmiotti seem to be more in the mindset of a sitcom; for want of a better word, this comic feels disposable, like a chocolate bar - fun while it lasts, but gone and forgotten as soon as it's done - and I want more than that. I love Power Girl - even more than Wonder Woman, all things being equal - but this comic isn't worth my money.
Farscape: Gone & Back #4 ~ John's unrealized reality (parallel universe, that is) side trip comes to an end, and all in all, I don't think it's been that great an 'episode'. On the surface it's a decent story, and it's given us some new information which'll flow into the main timeline - it's just that the last trip into an unrealised reality, in the TV episode of the same name, was a frickin' belter of a show, and this is just middle-of-the-road by comparison. There are good moments in the story, but since they're mostly in a parallel universe they feel disposable - like D'Argo's opening scene with John, which would be great if it 'really' happened, in the timeline we're involved with. With Farscape back in its proper reality - and becoming an ongoing title from now on, I believe - things may look up, and I'm willing to wait and see.
Batman: Streets of Gotham #5 ~ Manhunter's still plodding around managing to not have much of anything to do with being a DA - as much as I like seeing Kate in a swimming pool, it's not the best use of the limited pages available, is it? Her former sidekick whatsisname (you know, the tech guy, I don't care enough to remember his name now) takes up most of the issue, largely repeating backstory from Manhunter issues, and this lack of momentum comes at just the wrong time, with me in a see-what-I-can-do-without mood - even Huntress appearing in the main story doesn't have me changing my mind, I just don't get value for money from the Manhunter story. And, honestly, I think it's time to get someone other than Marc Andreyko to write her - he did a great job early on, but the longer he's continued, the less he's hit the mark of what made her interesting to begin with, regardless of the editorial fluctuations the title's gone through as well.
