My Week In Comics 8-18-10

Perhaps it was because I sat on a bench in Rittenhouse Square reading these books on an overcast but not unpleasant afternoon (and finished them all just before it began to shower, ending my stint on the park bench). But I was at least reasonably pleased with all of these...

Supergirl 55: The battle between Supergirl and her Bizarro duplicate continues. The biggest problem with writing Bizarros is consistency. Sometimes it's clear that when they're talking Bizarro-speak, what they're saying is a complete opposite: "Me am ugly" means "I am pretty." Other times, they're speaking and there's no opposite meaning, although the language is still pretty fractured, as in a scene on the first page of this book, going back six weeks to a situation on Bizarro World where Bizarro Lois says, "You am greatest hero of Bizarro World, Bizarro #1, and now am your time to shine!" Anyway, Bizarro World is in great danger and that's why Bizarro-Girl ended up in Metropolis, and Supergirl has her hands full.

Batman Beyond 3 (of 6): The murderer who's attacking old Batman villains has been dubbed Hush, and we don't know if he's somehow connected to the original Hush, but he sure seems to know a lot about Bruce Wayne and Batman. In this issue, Bruce and the new Batman, Terry McGinnis, are really at odds, and Bruce has an unusual solution. Meanwhile, we see a bit of Terry's life out of the costume, and it's not going so well either.

Simpsons Comics 169: Meet Brad, a new kid in Bart's class. Bart takes Brad under his devilish little wing, but soon things take a bad turn...for Bart. Remember "Single White Female"? Sort of like that...

Comic Book Guy: The Comic Book 2 (of 5): Comic Book Guy is dead! And his eulogy is delivered by Stan Lee, who's in a rush: "I have to be on the set of 'X-Men 5: X in the City' in an hour!" (That's a movie I want to see!) That means there's a new owner of his store, and lots of changes. Also, suddenly the Internet is rife with "full, interesting conversations" instead of "mean sarcastic remarks." That's a crisis that is addressed by two characters not seen since "The Simpsons Movie" -- Russ Cargill and President Schwarzenegger!