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!