 Empowered: The Wench with a Million Sighs ~ A departure for Emp, a comic issue (31 pages including the in-characer recap page) rather than a softcover volume. That said, it's largely business as usual, and this really wouldn't seem unusual if it just happened to be a 31-page story in the next volume - I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, as it seems like the standalone issue format might've sold Emp better with something a little different storywise, but still, it wouldn't do for things to be changed too much, and the story is a fairish way of incorporating the superhero action crossed with cool-soap-opera fun character drama that's Emp's stock in trade. The art is the same as always, raw pencils without ink or colour, but stunning; there, though, I do think it may have been a better idea to go with conventional coloured art, since it might have attracted new readers.
JSA All-Stars #1 ~ This follows very tightly on the heels of recent JSA issues - so much so that, rather than being a new title, it almost feels like it's just another reguler JSA issue, like the main title doubled its output to follow two teams. Still, my guess is that new readers won't find the continuity daunting - there's enough explanation, and standalone storytelling, for this to work without having read previous material. Magog has a leading role, but to my liking, Power Girl is equally prominent - there's a sort of battlefield-leader/overall-commander dynamic being set up, I think, which works for me - and bonus, Cyclone gets quite a bit to do, continuing her build as one of the more successful newly-introduced characters I can think of. (Her costume is rather free of errors this time round too - although there's one panel where her skirt flies up, and either due to mistake or prudishness her stockings are drawn as tights, going all the way up over her hips, whereas (rather racily, but I'm not complaining) they've been shown to only go thigh-high previously. Her symbol's changed from gold to red, but that may just be a new version.) All the other major characters get a little bit of business to do, making for a promising and varied debut issue
Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1 ~ I haven't been reading Blackest Night (I'm not very fond of Green Lantern as a whole), but between general knowledge I've picked up and what this issue explains, I got the idea well enough; that said, the whole thing does seem kind of contrived, as if "because the writers want to do it" is the sole reason any of this is happening. Still, Diana comes off pretty well, with Greg Rucka doing a decent job of utilising Gail Simone's writing style for her thoughts and mannerisms. Nicola Scott's artwork is as good as it was in Secret Six (which is to say, very good).
Athena #3 ~ More of the Trojan War playing out in modern times; kind of like Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet update, but on a bigger scale. A couple of typos mar this issue, and although the art is impressive and the concept still a good one, there's a kind of slapped-together mood that makes it seem like this needed another couple of drafts before it really should've been published; it's good, but could be a lot better.
Hack/Slash #28 ~ New artist, but it's difficult to judge the quality since almost all of the issue is done in an Archie-esque style. The humour of cosmic horror in an old school all-ages comic book town is played with, but the villain (Mary Shelley Frankenstein, my favourite ever since she first showed up) isn't used with anything near the imagination that her concept deserves. Still, a fun enough one-shot adventure.
Barack the Barbarian #3 ~ Still amiable enough, but the lack of ambition in the writing is starting to grate - instead of pulling stories from current events, this is still just the election, which is a real shame, and also seems like it's killing any chance this title might have to last longer than its present miniseries and the one-shot being advertised.
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