I hope you'll all forgive me for running a little late with this week's Weekly Crisis Comic Book Reviews, but I got caught up with some personal stuff that kept me away from my comics and the computer. There was a lot of good stuff this week, but, with my lack of time today, I'll only get to review a handful of books. However, you can look forward to a larger group of Quick Shot Reviews tomorrow to make up for it. Enough of my excuses, on with the reviews!Comic Book of the Week
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #18Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art and Cover by Pat Gleason and Prentis Rollins
Well, this was unexpected. With only two issues left to the Sinestro Corps War, I expected this issue to be an all out battle with Superman Prime and Sodam Yat that would finish off their part of this epic and remove the incredibly powerful Prime from playing field so we could see the final Sinestro VS Hal battle. What I got was half an issue of Sodam Yat's "origin", which consisted of showing his motivation and what the xenophobic Daxamite's homeworld is really like, and the other half consisting of the fight depicted on the cover.
The actual fight was excellent, though. I loved the heat vision battle that evaporated the entire lake. It was a nice touch. However, I'm not sure I agree with the use of the Daxamite's weakness to lead. They show how the ring reacts to his lead poisoning, but, considering he's Ion now, I just figured nothing as mundane as that would even play a part in this battle. The biggest surprise, however, is that Sodam loses the battle this issue. The last page has Prime holding his beaten and limp body as Guy and John come to his rescue.
However, that fight turned out a lot different than what I expected, but I have a couple minor complaints. Apparently, Sodam and Prime battled all day long and all across the planet with no interferance or help from any other heroes. I don't mind the solo battle, but, based on the description, they fought for hours and no one came to help him until the very end of the issue? Superman, Supergirl and Power Girl didn't seem to be injured at the end of the Prime special. They couldn't spare a second to help him out? It's a small complaint, and I'll admit I'm nitpicking, but it just struck me as odd, to be honest.
Verdict - Must Read. The review might read a little negative, but this is really another great addition to the Sinestro Corps War and the only thing I'm worried about is the final part in next month's Green Lantern #25. That issue already looks like it will be jam packed trying to wrap up all the loose ends and, with Prime still undefeated or seriously injured at the end of this issue, it looks like they've left another huge plot point to be wrapped up in GL #25. I'm just worried it's going to be a rushed ending that spoils an otherwise perfect story.
ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #8Written by Frank Miller
Art by Jim Lee and Scott Williams
All-Star Batman is always polarizing for people. Some love, some hate it and I'm sure the haters will be complaining about this new tattooed version of the Joker. Not sure what that tattoo adds to his character, but I really enjoyed Miller's take on him. He felt like a real serial killer and credible threat and not just a comic book character making some corny jokes. It's only been one appearance, but I think I like this version of Joker more than the mainstream one. That might have something to do with the overexposed nature of his regular DCU version though.
However, much like every issue of ASB&R, the story is all over the place. Black Canary, who's been featured heavily since the start of this series, doesn't show up this time around in favour of showcasing Joker, having Batman make call Green Lantern a moron and a cameo of Catwoman. A lot of stuff happens, but with all the scene changes, it feels like nothing happened at the same time. As an aside, I love Catwoman's new costume. It's like a blend of the old purple one with some new touches from Lee.
If you like this series, there's more of the goddamn Batman in this issue. However, I don't think 'goddamn' is used once this issue. Batman is still insane though and his over the top dialogue is as entertaining as always.
Verdict - Must Read. I really enjoy this book and this issue continues with the hilariously over the top version of Batman that Miller has been writing since issue one. However, if you still can't stand this version of Batman, this issue won't change your opinion on this book. Otherwise, it's a great read.
DAREDEVIL # 102Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Michael Lark
I loved the surprise introduction of the Hood to this storyline at the end of last issue, but this month he's no where to be seen. I figured there'd be some follow up to his appearance, but, outside Wrecker saying Hood sent him, it's as if he didn't even show up last issue.
Despite my complaint at the lack of any real follow up to the Hood from last issue, I did enjoy this month's offering. Mr Fear is setting Matt up for a fall and has even arranged for his wife to be released from jail under special supervision. Brubaker also does an excellent job of building up Fear as a credible physical threat with some aid from his chemicals.
The Enforcers and Wrecker's appearance in this issue seemed a little out of place. It's almost like Brubaker wanted a fight scene for the sake of having one this issue. Nothing was really accomplished from the fight, none of the villains were captured and it didn't move the story forward. It was an entertaining fight, but, in the grand scheme of things, accomplished very little.
Verdict - Check It. Aside from a few plot points, not much really happens here. You could probably skip this issue and pick up the next one and not miss a beat in this storyline.
MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 # 2Written by Robert Kirkman
Art by Sean Phillips
Two issues in and pretty much nothing has happened in this Marvel Zombies sequel. It's not that the issue, itself, was bad, but this is a five issue mini-series that I've dropped $6 or $7 on and I feel like I'm not getting anything for my money.
Basically, this issue sees the zombies make it back to Earth and the Hulk ate one person before all the zombies started bickering on whether to eat everyone now or set up breeding camps so they can make their meal last indefinitely. The issue ended with Spider-Man and Luke Cage objecting to the inhumane (can zombies be inhumane?) ideas and fighting back against the other zombies, with a little help from Black Panther and Wasp.
However, this issue also introduced some odd problems. First up is the time frame for Black Panther's supressing his zombie hunger. It doesn't seem like it's been that long since he was locked up and he's already a fully functioning non-human eating zombie? The other zombies have been flying through space longer than he was locked up and the first thing Hulk does is eat someone. Next up is the last page or two where Spider-Man unleashes the power cosmic, nearly decapitating Pym. Seems fine enough, considering they all have the power cosmic, but, afterwards, when they all start fighting, Black Panther and Wasp, who do not have the power cosmic, are seen fighting back and holding their own against the stronger zombies. Also, the zombies never use the power cosmic again, opting to punch each other.
Verdict - Check It. It's still some fun Marvel Zombie action, but this issue doesn't really add anything or progress this sequel's story. I expect this series will finally start with next month's third issue.
SUB-MARINER # 6Written by Matt Cherniss & Peter Johnson
Art by Philippe Briones
This mini-series started with such promise, but the quality seems to have declined with each subsequent issue.
If you've been following this series at all, this last issue won't offer anything you haven't already guessed. As the first issue revealed, "Namor's" skeleton was found on the throne of a destroyed Atlantis sometime in the future. Well, with the introduction of Namor's son as the villain of this story, it was pretty easy to figure out it was actually his skeleton found on that throne and this issue show us all the details in a predictable fashion.
Basically, Namor decides that instead of letting SHIELD have an underwater military outpost on the outskirts of Atlantis, it would be smarter to blow the entire city up while sneaking his people out of the city in hidden, underground tunnels. The other option was destroying the surface world, so I guess we lucked out on this one. But, where are all these people going to go? Why, they'll all become sleeper cells, planting themselves in cities scattered all over the world. It's apparently a brilliant plan that makes no ssense, whatsoever, to me. As well, it took the entire issue to show him blowing up the city.
The only actual surprise or thing of note from this issue was the surprise ending. While Namor sent the entire population of Atlantis away, he kept the army with him and the issue ended by showing where he took that army - to ally with Dr Doom.
Verdict - Check It. I only say Check It because of the ending with Doom. I thought it was a great ending to an otherwise uneventful story and I hope this is building towards some event that would star Doom for a change.
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