Sensational Spider-Man #40 — Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa; Art: Clayton Crain
Peter meets God (one of those Joan of Arcadia or Saving Grace Everyman manifestations of Him, anyway), and God kind of shrugs and says, “Hey, Quesada’s going to make them screw up your life, and I’m sorry, but what can I do?” Good last page, with a melancholic reverie on the corporate stupidity that’s apparently about to envelope this franchise.
Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious #1 (of 2) — Story & Art: Sam Kieth
If Sam Kieth pinups of various women in ripped clothing who are aiming guns at Batman and Lobo are worth six bucks to you, go for this; if you’re the kind of reader who also expects, oh, a plot for your money, too (other than “This woman goes nuts and fights Batman and Lobo. Then, she passes her insanity on to another woman, who goes nuts and fights Batman and Lobo. Then, that one passes it on to yet another woman…”), you might want to skip this book.
Birds of Prey #109 — Writer: Tony Bedard; Penciller: Nicola Scott; Inker: Doug Hazelwood
Actually not too bad; Bedard, who seems to have written half of DC’s books this summer, shows a talent for getting the characters’ voices and attitudes right, especially in Oracle’s story of the first meeting between Green Arrow and Batgirl, in the scenes with Oracle and Black Canary, and in Sin’s Pokemon tutorial. I could do without the Countdown tie-in, though, as the open season on New Gods catches up to Knockout and Big Barda, and the huge DC Editorial Plot Hammer threatens to crush the book.
Countdown #36 — Writers: Paul Dini with Tony Bedard; Pencils: Jim Calafioire; Inks: Jack Purcell
The Flash-villain segments are the best, as Trickster runs a con on Ivy and shows signs of actual competence, but they’re hurt by the last-panel reveal of Ivy’s boss, who’s an uninspired and overexposed choice. Everything else — Dark Mary Marvel, Super Jimmy Olsen, Infected Karate Kid and Missing Ray Palmer — just kind of clicks one notch ahead on the Plot Meter, and waits for next week.
World War Hulk: Gamma Corps #2 (of 4) — Writer: Frank Tieri; Penciler: Carlos Ferreira; Inker: Sandu Florea
I remember getting halfway through the first issue of this mini-series and saying “Geez, who’s writing this?” and then seeing it was Frank Tieri and going “Ah.” I’m sorry, but I just don’t relate to his stuff: his characters all seem too unlikeable, and the dialogue never sounds right. This second issue, with its how-the-team-got-recruited plot, doesn’t help; it’s confusing, and doesn’t repay the work needed to get through it.
Iron Man #21 — Writer: Daniel and Charles Knauff; Artist: Roberto de la Torre
Marvel’s answer to One Year Later, as last issue’s cliffhanger is ignored and we jump ahead to sometime after World War Hulk, with an apparently-fine Tony ready to pick up his dangling Mandarin and Dr. Hansen/extremis plot threads. Those aren’t particularly interesting, unfortunately, and it seems like a cheat that no one even mentions, you know, that time a few weeks ago when the Hulk took over the world and made Tony fight as a gladiator in his Arena of Death and some other stuff, like, must have happened.
Blue Beetle #18 — Writer: John Rogers; Artist: Rafael Albuquerque (16 pgs) & David Baldeon & Dan Davis (6 pgs)
Jamie gets in the middle of a tug of war between the Teen Titans and Lobo (who doesn’t seem to remember that whole “L’il Lobo” thing). OK, but somehow not quite as much fun as it should have been.
Phil Mateer
