My Week In Comics 4-27-11

I only bought two books, but one was huge. More on that shortly. First...

Batman Incorporated 5: I'm not quite sure what was going on in this book. Maybe I need to re-read the previous two, or maybe it's just getting ridiculous. I did enjoy the first meeting between the Bruce Wayne Batman and the new Batwoman, though. And she called him "sir." I thought it was weird, but I look at it as an outgrowth of her military training. She's dealt with the Dick Grayson Batman before, but with Batman, Inc. getting off the ground, it's obvious to her that the original Batman is the five-star general.

Action Comics 900: As befits such a milestone issue, this book contained 96 pages. A large chunk was devoted to the main stories, which have finally dovetailed -- the finale of "The Black Ring" and the continuation of the "Reign of Doomsday." And yes, the return of Doomsday was a Lex Luthor machination. The Luthor story, and his confrontation with Superman (hey, he's back in his own book!) after gaining godlike powers as a result of merging with the being that created the energy spheres, was superb. The "Doomsday" storyline, in which the captured Superboy, Steel, Supergirl, Cyborg-Superman and the Eradicator have been trapped in an endless maze of sorts, felt out of place. Two separate stories instead of one that swung back and forth between the two plotlines might have been better. The other mini-features in the book have their own charms, but one in particular made a splash in the news.

My Week In Comics 3-9-11

A week after I had nothing to buy, I ended up with five books -- thanks to one featuring a storyline tie-in and another being the final issue of a miniseries. So we'll get to them first...

The Outsiders 37: This is the tie-in book, that story being the "Reign of Doomsday." Much of the book was about the Outsiders themselves, though, and not only was I not interested in that aspect of it, I didn't like the writing throughout very much at all. But hey, just like in the recent Steel special, Doomsday displayed new powers and easily absconded with a severely wounded, if not dead, Eradicator. If you're familiar with the post-death of Superman period in the comics, he had four replacements. Two, Steel and the Eradicator, have now been attacked by Doomsday. So obviously Superboy and Cyborg Superman are in Doomsday's sights.

Victorian Undead II -- 5 (of 5): While this whole "Sherlock Holmes vs. ______" idea was fun, I think it's sort of run its course. After defeating zombies, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and, in this concluding issue, Dracula, I'm not sure they can keep going back to the well. Or can they? Holmes vs. Frankenstein? The Mummy? The Wolfman? For now, my Holmes fix has to come from...

My Week In Comics 1-5-11

Since I'm on a roll...and I still can't write about the Eagles just yet...


Steel 1 (of 1): This is a one-shot special that begins a new DC event, Reign of Doomsday. Doomsday is, of course, the monster that killed Superman. Temporarily. After the Death of Superman, but before he came back, was the Reign of the Supermen, when each of the Super-books at the time starred someone claiming (or thought of) to be the newly-returned Superman. One of them was John Henry Irons, who never claimed to be Superman but was inspired by his death to build his armored suit and become Steel. (A movie based very loosely on the character -- wiping out the whole connection to Superman and the comics -- came out in 1997. It starred Shaquille O'Neal. Let us never speak of it again.) The last time we saw Steel he was nearly beaten to death during the whole "New Krypton" storyline. All of these replacements are apparently keys to the Reign of Doomsday, who suddenly appears in Metropolis and starts tearing up the city until Steel arrives, the only one available to try and fight the monster. And therein lies a big problem with this issue: in this age of instant transmission of information, don't you think that, as soon as word got out about Doomsday's attack, Superman would interrupt his meandering walk across America and return to Metropolis? Hell, in the last issue of "Superman" he flew back from the Midwest to talk to Perry White about a photograph. Seriously.

Superboy 3: While some of the still-unsolved mysteries from the first two issues are put aside for a moment, there are new arrivals in Smallville causing havoc for Superboy. The issue jumps back and forth, which is a little too silly. From the second pages, which takes place "Then." (Which is apparently earlier in the morning.) "Now." "Then." "Now." "Then." "Now." There are some fine character moments between Conner and (in order) Ma Kent, Bart Allen and Simon Valentine, though, which continue to make this a good read.


Simpsons Super Spectacular 12: Both stories in this book star Bartman, but they find room to spoof, among others, the Metal Men. Maybe it's because it's not a monthly series, but I don't think this book has failed to entertain me yet, between the typical Simpsons humor and the comic geek nods.