Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal #3 (of 4) — Writer: J. T. Krul; Pencils: Geraldo Borges, Kevin Sharpe and Sergio Arino; Inks: Mario Alquiza and John Dell
More editorially-inspired grief is piled on Our Hero Roy, absurdly so (fights with super-villainess ex-wives, a bionic arm that hurts and drips yellow goo, visions of his dead daughter, impotence), and before you know it he’s hitting up a street dealer for heroin (“China Cat,” he calls it, to show that he’s, like, in with the lingo), using a lighter to heat up a bunch of white powder on the top of what looks like his iPad, and then hallucinating dead daughters and Promethei; this culminates in him coming to in an alley, standing over a bunch of beat-up junkies with a dead kitten in his hand (he’s apparently been using that to smack around the junkies), and Batman (well, Bat-Grayson) standing there. You’d think this would be interesting — a writer like Jason Aaron, steeped in exploitation-movie history, might have had fun with it) — but it’s just as flat and dead as that kitten, with mix-and-match art by five different pencillers and inkers that goes nowhere. Hey, kids, don’t do drugs: snorting a bunch of heroin will make you batter junkies with decomposing animals! It’s like those late-’60s DC books where the 40- and 50-something writers and editors tried, disasterously, to act hip, and an indictment of that kind of sad, cynical, the-kids-won’t-know-the-difference corporate culture.
Superman: War of the Supermen #4 (of 4) — Writers: James Robinson and Sterling Gates; Pencils: Eddy Barrows, Cafu and Eduardo Pansica; Inks: J. P. Mayer and Bit
I read mini-series like this so you don’t have to — in four issues over a month, DC sweeps away the last year and a half’s worth of continuity, eliminating all the Kryptonians but Supergirl (through, successively, exploding planets, red suns, and Phantom Zone projectors), bidding farewell to all the extraneous cast members like Mon-el and Nightwing and Flamebird, and turning all the Superman books back to their default settings for J. Michael Straczynski and the other new creative teams. It’s not horrible, but it’s utterly generic, a product of a five-member penciller/inker art team and writers who dutifully hit the required beats, then sweep up and turn out the lights.
Dark Wolverine #86 — Writers: Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu; Pencils: Stephen Segovia; Inks: Cam Smith
Wolverine: Origins #48 — Writer: Daniel Way; Art: Will Conrad
The last two chapters of the Romulus/Daken/Logan thing, which after four years ends… let’s say less than conclusively, in that there’s a clear victory but nothing to prevent what’s done to R & D from being undone later. Still, with Origins ending in two issues and DW in four, there’s the same kind of franchise-resetting going on here as in the Superman titles, as a years-long storyline is wrapped up to even more less-than-startling effect (must… resist… Lost analogy…).
The Thanos Imperative: Ignition #1 (of 1) — Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; Pencils: Brad Walker; Inks: Andrew Hennessy
This kicks off the latest Abnett/Lanning cosmic crossover, involving a resurrected Thanos vs. the Magus and a last-page surprise-return good guy (or is it a bad guy…?). If you’ve been following the various Annihilation/Phalanx/War of Kings/Guardians of the Galaxy books (and they’ve built up a nice little cottage industry/fan base with them), then here you go: they’re just as skillful at weaving together their vast cast and covering big galactic crises as ever.
Power Girl #12 — Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray; Art: Amanda Connor
This is the last issue by this creative team, as Connor is leaving, so there’s a lot of wrapping up, encounters with various supporting characters like Terra and Vartox, and leaving Kara in a good place at the end (there’s also Kara in a bikini — “This isn’t clothing… this is a thought balloon” is her reaction — but hey: it isn’t sexist when a woman draws it, is it?). Since Connor’s art has been the biggest attraction of the book, it’ll be interesting to see if any other artist can make Palmiotti and Gray’s light-as-air scripts work, but for now this is an affectionate and effective goodbye after a year’s worth of decent stories.
Dazzler #1 (of 1) — Writer: Jim McCann; Pencils: Kalman Andrasofszky and Ramon Perez; Inks: Rick Ketcham and Ramon Perez
The cover copy has this as a “Necrosha aftermath,” but none of that ever comes up: this is just a here’s-Dazzler-again one-shot, with a by-the-numbers story involving Arcade, Klaw and Allison’s murderous sister. The art is just individual enough to be interesting (and there’s an eight-page backup story drawn by Francesca Ciregia where that’s even more true), but if you aren’t already a fan of Marvel’s sound-powered mutant, there’s little here otherwise to convert you.
Chimichanga #2 — Writer/Artist: Eric Powell
Just a mention that this book came out this week, so all you Powell fans can get a fix. As with the first issue, it’s a poor substitution for The Goon, with a too-precious story and none of that title’s tough, tragic backbone to help leaven the juvenile humor and junior-high grossouts. Still: nice art, with that surreal Gothic quality that Powell’s able to deliver so well.
Phil Mateer
