A Quick Look at Action Comics #881

Writers: Greg Rucka and Sterling Gates. Artist: Pere Pèrez.

What Happened: For the record, this is the first part of the Action Comics/Supergirl x-over, "The Hunt For Reactron". There, now you've been informed. Flamebird, Nightwing and Supergirl teleport into an alley in Metropolis, disoriented and unsure how they arrived there. After regaining her wits, SG attacks FB(that's right, I'm not going to keep typing out all these names!), since SG still blames FB for not preventing the death of her father at the hands of Reactron. The two women fight(while NW tries in vain to stop them)until they realize the public is afraid of them due to what happened in the "Codename: Patriot" x-over(Mon-El's "death"). Guardian and the Science Police respond and order SG, NW and FB to surrender, and rather then fighting against the police, the Metropolis 3 flee the scene, heading to one of SG's hideouts in France. SG gets reacquainted with NW(her "cousin"), and proceeds to call FB a crazy religious fanatic who hears voices in her head. FB takes offense at SG's words, and before long, the two Kryptonians are brawling in the streets of Paris. NW tries to separate them, and this issue ends with Squad K(who have been reorganized under Gen. Lane's command)preparing to attack the Metropolis 3. Besides that, Reactron spots SG on the news and wants to chase after her, Perry White tries to figure out where Jimmy Olsen vanished to(he's swimming with the fishes, literally!)and the army hangs up on Lois Lane.

What I Thought: I thought this was a good way to open this x-over. We got some back story on the relationships between the various characters(NW loves FB, SG hates FB and SG was glad to see NW was alive and well), as well as a lot of senseless Kryptonian violence. Practically this entire issue dealt with the Kryptonians fighting the cops, Squad K and each other! No wonder we don't want them here on Earth! I was extremely pleased to see that the writers remembered that this was the first time SG had seen NW since he returned from the Phantom Zone. That would have been an easy thing to overlook, so kudos to Greg and Sterling for remembering to bring that up. Since I don't have Supergirl #45(THANK YOU USPS!)my next review will deal with Action Comics #882, which is the third part of this x-over.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.The voices in my head are telling me to read Action Comics #882, so I think I will.

Talking turkey.

Well, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'm probably not going to see my missing package of comic books anytime soon, so I'm going to just read the issues I have while using reviews from fellow comic book aficionados to figure out what happened in the books I don't have. I hate not actually reading the comic books personally, but what can ya do? On a positive note, my online comic book shop shipped out my latest CB order on Wednesday, so it's conceivable(but unlikely)that I'll be reading Blackest Night #5, Cap Reborn #4, JL Cry for Justice #5 and of course the comic I've been waiting nearly 4 years to read, Dark X-Men #1 as early as Saturday, provided my package doesn't get lost in the mail again... Speaking of my online comic shop, they sent me an e-mail alerting me to a 40%(!)off sale on ALL TPBs! Needless to say I'll be taking advantage of those great savings. I already have 13 trades in my shopping cart, and I'm only through the letter "e". Hmm, that's all I've got for now, I should really start to read some comics before I fall into a turkey induced coma. Happy Thanksgiving, and as always, Long Live The Legion!

A Quick Look at Daredevil #502

Writer: Andy Diggle. Art: Roberto De La Torre.

What Happened: This issue opens up with the paralyzed Owl being betrayed by his top three lieutenants. With Owl stuck in a hospital bed, the three goons have decided to divvy up his criminal enterprise amongst themselves. Needless to say, Owl doesn't take this news very well. From there Daredevil has a nightmare about his woman troubles, and wakes up in his underground Hand lair. White Tiger, who is only pretending to be a member of the Hand(like Black Tarantula and DD himself), demands to know why DD killed Master Izo at the end of the last issue. DD takes her to Izo's body and explains that Izo isn't really dead, only faking it, and on cue Izo awakens(HA! I knew it!). The scene then shifts to Kingpin's office in midtown Manhattan. Owl's three lieutenants from earlier arrive and tell Kingpin that they had told Owl exactly what Kingpin had ordered them to. Kingpin tells them that he wants them to pretend to run Owl's organization, while in reality, they'll be taking orders from him. One of the lieutenants doesn't agree with this arrangement is is beheaded by Lady Bullseye for mouthing off to Kingpin. The other two lieutenants quickly fall in line after witnessing that. This issue ends with some crooked cops interrupting a drug buy and taking the drugs for themselves. Before the cops can shoot the drug buyers, Daredevil and his Hand army arrive on the scene.

What I Thought: I liked this comic. It wasn't the greatest comic book in the history of comics, but it was a good, solid book. As I(and probably every other DD fan)suspected, Izo didn't die last issue, he only faked it, so that the Hand would take DD in as their leader. So now that we know DD isn't pure evil, it should be interesting to see how far he allows the Hand ninjas under his command to go next issue as they confront the crooked cops. The Hand has always been a clan of assassins, so it should be VERY interesting to see if they kill the cops, and if not, then how will DD convinces them not to kill the cops while still maintaining the charade that he is the evil leader of the Hand. All the story lines are easy to follow and beginning to come together here, what more can I ask for?

Score: 8 out of 10.I hate it when that happens!

A Quick Look at Batman #693

Writer/Pencils: Tony Daniels.

What Happened: Batman and Robin track down a few more of Black Mask's False Faces, and wind up beating them into unconsciousness. After defeating the False Faces, Bats and Robin check out the ambulance that was to serve as the False Faces getaway vehicle and discover that the back of the ambulance was loaded with tons of prescription drugs. The next day, Dick goes to a benefit party to keep an eye on Hush, who is still masquerading as Bruce Wayne. Dick is accompanied by Huntress, and the two make sure to stick relatively close to Hush. Meanwhile, Black Hand is talking to himself? OOOOOOK then... Back at the benefit, the Riddler bumps into Hush and makes vague comments about Bruce Wayne having babies... Wha??? Some teenage girl breaks into a lab at the benefit and is pursued by both Huntress and Riddler. The girl runs past Riddler and Huntress and a bomb suddenly blows up. Huntress manages to escape any major damage from the blast, but the Riddler seems to have been driven insane from the explosion... Huntress tries to track the girl who set off the bomb, and Oracle alerts Dick that something is happening at Gotham Harbor. After a change into his Bat-clothes, Dick arrives at the harbor and discovers several hacked up and charred mobsters from the Falcone mob, who were feuding with Black Hand's criminal enterprise. After examining the corpses, Dick concludes that it was the Reaper behind the crimes. Oracle discovers that the girl from the benefit escaped to Devil's Square, which is where Black Hand had set up his base of operations. She delivers this news to Dick, and he heads to the Square to see if he could find this girl and discover what she was up to at the benefit. Dick successfully sneaks into the Square and questions some kids about whether they had ever seen the girl. One kid goes over to tell Dick what he knew, and winds up getting shot in the head for his troubles, ending this issue.

What I Thought: Wow, this was awful... What the hell happened? I liked the last issue, but this one had 100 different things going on, with not enough time being paid to any specific storyline. For example, it seemed Black Mask was talking to himself in two different voices, since when does he do that? What the hell was up with the Riddler after that explosion? Speaking of the Riddler, what was up with his cryptic comments to Hush, and why did Hush wink when Riddler mentioned having rugrats? Did Black Mask show up at the gala in disguise and if he did, who did he go as? Why did that teenage girl set off a bomb at the gala? This comic was just all over the place. Hopefully next issue things will start coming together, because this was just a mess.

Score: 4 out of 10."What's Riddler talking about?" What was ANYBODY talking about in this issue???

A Quick Look at Green Arrow/Black Canary #26

Writer: Andrew Kreisberg. Art: Mike Norton and Bill Sienkiewicz.

What Happened: This issue opens up with Ollie having a dream that he's meeting with his younger self, back when he was stranded on the island that turned him from a boozing playboy into Green Arrow. Young Ollie tells old Ollie that he should go back to Dinah and make up with her, but old Ollie is too busy wallowing in self-pity to listen to his younger self. After a few pages, and some fisticuffs, old Ollie realizes that his younger counterpart is right, and he wakes up, determined to find Dinah and beg her forgiveness. Upon arriving at his and Dinah's home, Ollie discovers ANOTHER Ollie standing in the doorway with Dinah and Mia. Ollie launches an attack on Ollie #2, which cause Dinah to believe that Ollie isn't Ollie, but that Ollie #2 is the real Ollie... That was officially the most CONFUSING line I have EVER typed out! Somewhere my English professor is crying... Anyway, to make a long(and confusing!)story short, Ollie convinces Dinah that he is the real Oliver Queen, and Dinah realizes that Ollie #2 is Everyman, who took Ollie's place during Ollie and Dinah's wedding. Everyman runs away, still thinking that he is the real Oliver Queen, and is chased down by Ollie and Dinah. Before Ollie and Dinah can apprehend Everyman, he falls through a window on top of a warehouse, which causes Ollie and Dinah to lose track of him. Everyman winds up getting captured by an unseen assailant(probably Cupid...)while Dinah and Ollie return home to make up with each other.

What I Thought: Hey, you know what? I liked this comic. It was heads and shoulders better then the last few issues of this series has been, so that's definitely a good thing. It was a bit confusing at times(there were THREE different Ollie's here!), but all in all, I can't really complain too much. Plus Cupid didn't show up! That fact adds an extra 1/2 to the score for this issue!

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Leave it to Ollie to attack his younger self in a dream...

Green Lantern Corps #42

Writer: Peter Tomasi. Pencils: Patrick Gleason.

What Happened: We open this issue up with the Indigo Lantern known as Munk assisting Green Lanterns Vath and Isamot on Oa against an army of Black Lantern children. While Munk helps to even the odds a little, the three Lanterns are still egregiously outnumbered. During the pitched battle, the Black Lanterns suddenly stop when their rings inform them that they had exceeded their 100% power-level. Over on another part of Oa, Kilowog is about to be killed by his former drill instructor, when the drill instructor receives word that 100% power-levels had been exceeded. The drill instructor, as well as several other Black Lanterns in the area, begin to fly away, while their rings continuously repeat the words "Devour will". Kyle and Soranik, who were battling Black Lantern Jade witness the same thing when BL Jade suddenly ignores the two Lanterns and sets off to "devour will". So what does "devour will" mean? Thousands of Black Lanterns begin to mass at the Central Power Battery on Oa and proceed to stage a massive assault on it. Every Green Lantern on Oa, as well as Munk, respond at the Battery while the Black Lanterns attempt to weaken the Battery itself. During the battle, the Black Lanterns pool their powers and construct an enormous angel of death, which begins to literally tear the Central Power Battery out of the ground(!!!)! While the Green Lanterns try to stop the huge death construct, Guy and Kyle head to the sciencells and grab the captured Red Lantern Vice. Guy and Kyle throw the sciencell into the black construct and Vice begins to tear into every Black Lantern in sight. The attack from Vice takes the Black Lanterns by surprise and begins to weaken the black construct to the point where it begins to loosen its grip on the Central Power Battery. Unfortunately, Alpha Lantern Chaselon responds to the sciencell breach and kills(!)Vice, which allows the Black Lanterns to continue their assault on the Central Power Battery. The Black Lanterns also realize that Chaselon, being an Alpha Lantern, actually has a mini power battery inside of him, so they all gang up and attack him, ultimately tearing the power battery out of Chaselon, which kills him. Green Lantern Salaak alerts Kyle that the Black Lanterns had killed Chaselon, and that they had inadvertently created a small fissure on Chaselon's mini power battery. If left unchecked, the crack in the mini power battery would grow until it exploded so destructively that it would probably destroy much of Oa and possibly the Central Power Battery itself. Kyle rushes to the mini power battery and snatches it out of the hands of the Black Lanterns, which causes hundreds of them to give chase. With the mini power battery rapidly approaching meltdown, Kyle throws an energy dome up around himself and hundreds of Black Lanterns and says his good-byes to Soranik and Guy via his ring. This issue ends with Kyle holding tightly to the mini power battery as it violently explodes, vaporizing the Black Lanterns surrounding him, destroying the black construct that was attacking the Central Power Battery and most importantly, killing Kyle...

What I Thought: Wow... That comic was simply amazing. I'm going to start off by giving MAJOR props to Patrick Gleason and the entire art team, because this was one of the best art jobs I can recall seeing in a comic book in quite some time. The pencils, the inkwork and the colors were completely flawless. What a fantastic job. Now that I'm done gushing about the artwork, it's time to delve into the story. The story was pretty much as good as the artwork! There's really nothing in this comic book I can find fault with... OK, almost nothing. There is the ending of course. This issue ends with Kyle Rayner laying dead amongst hundreds of scattered black rings, with his own green ring vacating his dead body and leaving him to head to another space sector. As a fan of Kyle and a collector of both this series, Green Lantern and dozens of GL books from the 90's(which starred Kyle), it should go without saying that I have alot to say about Kyle's death, so bear with me here. First off are my initial thoughts on Kyle's death. I liked it. It was well done, and Kyle died in the most heroic fashion possible, saving his fellow Lanterns and possibly even Oa itself. What better way to go then that is there? Do I like the fact that Kyle is dead? Hell no! Of course not, but if he had to go, I can't think of a better way for a Green Lantern to die. The only thing that bothered me about Kyle's death was WHERE it happened. In my honest opinion, Kyle's dramatic moment should have come in the main Blackest Night title, not here. The death of Kyle Rayner, while certainly not on par with Batman's "death" in Final Crisis or Barry Allen's death during the original Crisis, should have happened in the flagship book of this mini-series, not a random issue of GLC. The fact that Kyle DIDN'T die in the main Blackest Night book leads me to believe that he isn't actually dead. OK, I'll grant that it looks like Kyle did indeed bite the bullet here, and his ring sure seemed to think he was dead, but to all that I simply say one word, "Ion". Sodam Yat, the last Green Lantern to contain the Ion power is dead, which means the Ion power is without a host. Kyle used to be the host of the Ion power. Put one plus one together and what do you have? Kyle being resurrected by the Ion force, that's what! I have absolutely NO doubt whatsoever that Kyle will be alive and well in very short order. I think the events before Kyle's eventual return should be very interesting, especially Guy Gardner's reaction to it. Next issue should be an absolute blast to read, I can't wait for it to come out!

Score: 10 out of 10.I could have chosen several differnt pictures from this comic to post, but this one might just be my favorite.

The Best of the Rest.(Nov. 13-Nov. 19)

Well, I've pretty much accepted the fact that my poor lost comics aren't coming anytime soon(if ever...), so after I get through the two new subscription comics I received in the mail today(Green Lantern Corps #42 and Green Arrow/Black Canary #26)I'll probably wind up digging up some reviews for the comics I'm missing so I can move forward with my comic book reading. I'm already two months behind on some titles because of this snafu, so before I fall further behind, and definitely before I get Blackest Night #5 later on next week, I figure I should make sure I'm caught up. I hate having to catch up this way, but what else can I really do? One good thing I will say about not being able to read a majority of my new books is the fact that I've been flying through my back issues. So without further adieu, here's the rest of the comics I've read this past week.

Outsiders #21-23- These issues dealt with the Outsiders returning to Gotham City only to find Arkham Asylum destroyed and a couple of Batman's rogues on the loose. It seems that Mr. Freeze, Clayface and Killer Croc didn't want to join forces with Black Mask, so rather then get killed by Mask thanks to the chips he had implanted in them, the three villains abandon Gotham and head off trying to discover a way to have the chips removed. With the three villains menacing three different parts of the globe, the Outsiders are forced to split up in order to corral the villains before they can cause any more damage then they already have. I liked these comics. I liked the concept, I liked the artwork, I liked the story, BUT I'm not sure if I like the Outsiders themselves... I'll definitely be giving this series another couple of looks, and hopefully I'll warm up to a few of these Outsiders. Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Batman: Batgirl #1(June 1998)- This was pretty much a flashback issue to when Babs was still Batgirl. Babs is on the trail of Victor Zsasz, who had recently escaped Arkham, and she has decided that she will do everything in her power to take Zsasz in before Batman does. That's pretty much the gist of this one. When I say "do everything in her power", what I'm really saying is act like a self-absorbed jerk. I was actually surprised at how much I didn't like Babs in this one. Usually she's one of my favorite female DC characters, but in this issue she was just annoying. Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

Wonder Woman: Donna Troy #1(June 1998)- Donna decides to go to church in order to ask God why he allows bad things to happen to good people. During Donna's talk with God, we she flashbacks of a recent battle she had with some neo-Nazi scumbags. Ugh, the less said about this one the better. First off, why would Donna even decide to talk/pray in a Christian church? Aren't her gods of the Greek variety? Besides that, the story was pretty dumb, and the imagery really bugged me. Score: 4 out of 10.

Captain America: The Chosen #1-6(Nov. 2007-March 2008)- A US soldier fighting in Iraq comes under fire by some Iraqis and he winds up defeating his enemies thanks to some assistance from Captain America... Or does he? Although the soldier swears Cap was right by his side helping him take down the enemy and rescuing his injured comrades, nobody else saw Cap, so what exactly is going on? Is the soldier going crazy, or is there more than meets the eye occurring here? Usually once I finish a comic off, I already know what I thought about it. I know the score I plan on giving it, I pretty much know what I intend on writing about in my reviews, and I'll even know which picture I intend on posting along with the review. Usually. After I finished off this mini-series, I was pretty conflicted about what I felt/thought. I wasn't sure if I liked this mini or not, and I had NO idea as to what I wanted to score it. That very rarely happens to me. I think I really enjoyed this mini-series, but there was something there that seemed to be just a bit off. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about this mini didn't seem right... Yeah, I know, that doesn't make any sense, but what can I say? The artwork was flat out gorgeous, but the story... I don't know. For a score, I'm going to go with an 8 1/2 out of 10. I liked this mini-series, or at least I think I did. This is one of those mini's that I can see I'll have to reread in about a months time to see what I thought after a second go-round.

JSA All-Stars #1-8(July 2003-Feb. 2004)- The elder members of the JSA have been kidnapped by a demon calling himself Legacy. The second generation members of the Society meet to decide what they should do, when they are interrupted by the Spectre(who was Hal Jordan at the time)the Spectre tells them that before they attempt to tackle Legacy, they have to wrap up any unfinished emotional business they might have hanging over their heads, because that baggage will only make Legacy stronger. The JSAer's decide to heed Spectre's words, and as soon as the JSA members are out of sight, we discover that the true Spectre was Legacy's captive and that the "Spectre" the JSA spoke to was actually Legacy in disguise! So the question becomes, why did Legacy kidnap the elder members of the JSA, and why does he want the younger members of the JSA to confront their inner demons? I liked this mini-series, but not as much as I would have hoped. This mini-series basically consisted of an issue that set the story, 6 one-shot type stories documenting each JSA member facing their past and a final issue wrapping everything up. The problem with reading six one-shots is that they're going to be hit or miss. For example, I really enjoyed the Dr. Midnite story, while I felt the Dr. Fate story was lacking. I did like the fact that after the main story each issue in this mini-series had a secondary story which detailed one of the older JSAer's who is linked to a current JSAer. Hmm, that's a pretty confusing way of putting it. Let me try again. In the Dr. Midnite one-shot issue, after the Dr. Midnite feature was concluded there was a story which dealt with the golden age Dr. Midnite. After the Stargirl one-shot there was a story about the golden age Starman, etc. Although I thought the main story was kind of weak, many of the one-shots were good, and if you're a fan of the JSA like I am, then this mini would definitely be worth a read. Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

Nightwing 80 Page Giant #1(Dec. 2000)- While patrolling the streets of Bludhaven as Nightwing, Dick Grayson spots a man bound with chains in a wheelchair careening down a busy highway. Dick springs into action to help the man, and manages to rescue him before he becomes street pizza. Unfortunately though, the man had a heart attack during the ride, and thus can't give Dick any info. A woman in a bizarre getup shoots the bound man several times from her vantage point, obviously wanting to make sure that he was indeed dead. Dick chases the woman, but ultimately she gets away. Dick later learns that the dead man had some numbers branded on him before he was murdered, and a short time later, another branded dead man turns up, followed by another. It's up to Dick to try to piece this puzzle together before anymore people are murdered by this crazy woman. Imagine my surprise when I found this comic laying in my unread back issues pile! I thought I'd read all of Dick's Nightwing comics, so finding this issue was definitely a pleasant surprise. The story was good, not great, but come on, Dick Grayson+Nightwing+Bludhaven is a recipe for success! Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Countdown Presents The Search for Ray Palmer: Wildstorm #1(Nov 2007)- The Monitor from Countdown to Final Crisis, Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner and Jason Todd arrive in the Wildstorm Universe in search of the missing Ray Palmer. Instead of finding Ray though, the three heroes find lots and lots of Wildstorm style trouble! This was one of the comics I received from my sister who is a big fan of Wildstorm's The Authority series. Me, I didn't particularly like the Authority, and I didn't particularly like this comic. Granted it was like 1,000% better then the Countdown maxi-series, but that's not really saying much, now is it? A fan of both the Wildstorm and DC Universe's(like my sister)would probably enjoy this one WAY more then I did. Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Aaaaaaand that's it for this week. I'm not really sure what I'll be checking out for next week's column, but rest assured, it'll be something. Until then, Long Live The Legion!

A Quick Look at Titans #19

Since I got out of school early today and a few of my subscription comics arrived in the mail, I figured I'd throw out a quick review of Titans #19 before things get busy again later on today.

Writer: JT Krul. Pencils: Angel Unzueta.

What Happened: Roy Harper(Red Arrow)and his young daughter, Lian, have moved away from NYC and the Titans and have wound up at a modest home in Star City. Roy gives Lian some archery lessons before taking her to school for her first day at her new school in Star City. Before he goes, he promises her that he'll be there to pick her up after school, and that he'll paint her new bedroom upon returning home with her. Unfortunately for Roy, he spots assassin Lady Vic(!)trying to murder some guy being protected by a police escort. Roy(as Red Arrow)steps in the way and winds up ruining Vic's assassination attempt. Although Roy manages to keep the guy Vic was after safe, Vic herself manages to elude capture, which prompts Roy to chase after her. By this time, school has let out and Lian is sitting all alone in front of the school building with Roy nowhere to be found. After a few minutes, Mia(Speedy)Dearden arrives to take Lian back to her home. After Mia returns Lian home, Lian begins to fear that there could be something drastically wrong with Roy, but Mia tries to reassure the girl that Roy's probably fine. Roy is still hunting Vic and he ultimately catches up to her in an abandoned warehouse. The two battle, but Roy is distracted by the fact that he once again allowed his duty as a super-hero to get in the way of his duty as a parent. This distraction leads to Vic gaining the upper hand during the fight, and she manages to wrap a chain around Roy's neck and she slowly begins to strangle the life out of him. As he begins to lose consciousness, Roy's mind begins to drift to what would become of Lian with him not there to guide her. After seeing a vision of her strung out on heroin as he was, Roy gets a burst of adrenaline and manages to drive his head back into the face of Vic, knocking her out. This issue ends with Roy handing Vic off to the cops before returning home to find Lian sleeping on the couch. After thanking Mia, Roy decides to let Lian sleep on the couch while he heads up to Lian's room to paint it as he had promised her.

What I Thought: I'm a big, unabashed fan of Roy, always have been, always will be. For a character with no superpowers, he's a very unique character, what with his overcoming heroin addiction and raising a child(which he fathered with a villain)on his own. With that said, I thought JT did a wonderful job with this story. It was a great look into Roy's life, and did a masterful job of showing how he was trying to balance the duties of being a single father with those of being a super-hero. Everything was well done, from the dialogue to the characterizations(JT even mentioned Great Frog!!!)and as any of the regular readers of my blog know(all three of them!)proper characterizations are one of the most important aspects of a comic book story to me. Plus, as a fan of the old Nightwing series, I have to admit that seeing Lady Vic make an appearance here did cause me to smile a bit. All in all, this was the best Titans solo story BY FAR, and has gotten my afternoon off to a very good start.

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.I've heard the word "bloke" before, but "manky"? What the hell does that mean???