Please note, Batman #681, the finale to RIP, will get a full tandem review from myself and Grey later in the week. As is, we have some of my favorite books like Blue Beetle Captain America, The Walking Dead, Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy… and two books I’m not sure why I pick up, Teen Titans and Runaways.
Blue Beetle #33 – Beetle tries to take out the chaos that’s infecting El Paso, which turns out to be a giant diversion for another giant diversion. Luckily, he called in the Titans for help and they, Robin specifically, with Peacemaker get the best scenes of the book, but Beetle gets the emotional depth, particularly with the cliffhanger closing that’s just viable enough with the book getting the axe. 7/10 – Good
Captain America #44 – Damn, Brubaker’s Cap is nearly perfect. As Cap here tries to figure out his mysterious enemies plans, he fails to realize he’s being set up. Add in how Batroc can completely hold up in a fist fight and we have an intriguingly human character adjusting to his role in the face of yet another conspiracy. 9/10 – Excellent
Guardians of the Galaxy #7 – Damn, this book is awesome. With the core team breaking up last issue, Rocket Raccoon gathers his crew from the Starlord Annihilation Conquest series to pick up the slack. Meanwhile, Starlord himself is occupied by Blastaar who has taken over the Negative Zone with Annihilus out of commission, while Warlock decides to take over the Universal Church of Truth with Gamora, and Drax and Quasar search for Cammi. Everyone has an awesome subplot going and with so many, the slow reveal, along with the purpose of the original Guardians showing up, has made this a truly incredible book. Don’t jump on at random, but with the first trade just out, get on board. 9/10 – Excellent
The Incredible Hercules #123 – This book is simply too much fun. Herc and Namor finding out the plan is hilarious as they talk a great constant stream of crap, as is calling Athena when advice is needed, because, I mean, when the goddess of Wisdom is your sister, why not? And finally, most importantly, Amadeus Cho gets some. 7/10 – Good
The Kingdom 1 Shot – The cracks have finally shown in Gog’s omnipotent facade. All of his gifts have, as noted in the book, a monkey’s paw quality and his very presence is destabilizing Earth. Of course, the young generation doesn’t believe this, while the older must unite and figure things out as time runs out. The build to this has been perfect, with both sides being well-thought out at first, but the gifts slowly turning against those who received them was actually handled subtly until now, making the pay off that much more viable, though no less obvious. It’s also great to see Sand back in a lead role again, since he was so effective in earlier issues of JSA. 8/10 – Great
Nova #19 – Nova spends this issue adjusting to the Nova Corps return. The Worldmind has lost trust in Nova alone and a well-trained Nova Corps are extremely efficient. Of course, Nova himself isn’t thrilled about his lack of involvement in the process, but the Worldmind has done this long before Nova was alive, so Nova’s point is rather difficult to see. I get a feeling we’re headed towards a switch where Nova proves himself worthy and many of these Corps go away, but either way, this is intriguing stuff from Abnett and Lanning, as always. 7/10 – Good
Runaways #4 – I’m not sure why I read this. I love Terry Moore, but the entire issue was spent proving that these characters bickering was caused by a spell… and still that’s not remotely proven. It remains that the issues with the characters are far more interesting if organic and this dues ex takes away from the drawing point of the series. 3/10 – Bad
Teen Titans #65 – Wonder Girl here has her battle with Ares champion, while the rest of the Titans face a giant fire breathing dog. The dog is naturally impossible to hurt, except for a convenient power of new member Bombshell. Somehow, in a terrible bit of characterization, Robin and Blue Beetle do nothing useful, but Red Devil comes up with the plan to save the day. The Beetle is also characterized as a juvenile fool, pissing me right off. If this is what Beetle has to look forward to when his title is cancelled, leave him in limbo. Wonder Girl unsurprisingly eventually wins as somehow, for no discernable reason, her natural powers are incredible and turn the tide. What a poorly written comic. 2/10 – Terrible
The Walking Dead #55 – It’s our life on the road/new status quo book… but this being Walking Dead, this semi-quiet existence has a zombie fight, Rick’s decent into madness, and someone dying. The characterization is what keeps this running, but we’re now left with a book of badly, and justifiably damaged characters that barely hold on. There is no catching your breathe here, so get into the best comic out today. It’s great even in a tone setting issue. 8/10 – Great
