Two weeks in a row my comics were delayed until Thursday. I can understand last week, because it was a Canadian holiday. But this week it was just a dumb American holiday and they held back on releasing the comics on Wednesday here just to be fair. Horrible!
Anyway, the agonizing wait is over. And it was worth it because there was a lot of fun between the covers this week.
Countdown Week 48
So...who doesn't know about Jason Todd's identity?
Like...this is concerning me. Bruce should really put a lid on this thing because it won't take a genius to figure out who Batman is if the whole world knows that Jason is an ex-dead ex-Robin. Jason's hero name seems to be Jason Todd, because more people seem to be calling him that than anything else.
Hey, look at what Jimmy can do!
Weird!
Karate Kid says something that you will never hear outside of a comic book:
And Lightray dies, causing Superman to speak in fonts:
That cracked me up. It probably wasn't supposed to.
Amazons Attack #2
Oh, those pesky Amazons.
Once again, the Amazons are HARDCORE:
Daaayummm!
I'm liking this, because Will Pfeifer and Pete Woods is a solid combination. And look at this thing:
There are battles, and then there are BATTLES. This, my friends, is as awesome-looking as an attack gets.
My boy Batman gets a starring role in this one. This is fun:
Oh, I have been waiting my whole life for someone to say that to me.
As much as I love me some Batman, I was kind of sad for Black Canary. I mean, who exactly is in charge here?!
Come on, Dinah! You're supposed to be the chairperson! Tell Batman to shut up!
Daredevil #97
I am finally caught up on this series. And what the hell took me so long?! It's FANTASTIC. I mean, obviously. You team up Brubaker and Lark and the results are always so good they actually frighten me a little. I mean, even if I didn't already think so, this series alone would tell me that Brubaker is the best writer in comics today. But he also happens to be writing, and has written, a whole bunch of totally amazing comics.
I mean, there are a lot of great writers working in comics right now, but Brubaker writes comics that I feel I can lend to anyone, whether they normally read comics or not, and they will not only love them, but they will understand them. His writing is very straightforward and engaging, and avoids getting tangled up in obscure references or overly complicated casts of characters.
Sometimes I'll just stare at one panel, re-reading the dialog and staring at the art forever. It's just so good. Daredevil is my new boyfriend. I mean, check this out:
Yeah. That's hot.
This was pretty surprising:
I hope Brubaker and Lark are doing the next 200 issues of Daredevil. And then Brubaker should write a new Daredevil movie that doesn't suck.
Blue Beetle #15
J. Torres!!!!
Superman was a really busy guy this week. He shows up in Hawkgirl, Countdown, Amazons Attack, and this as well as starring in a giant-size issue of Action Comics. It's a toss-up between this comic and Hawkgirl for most adorable cameo, but this was decidedly more entertaining.
I mean, first of all there's this page:
I just love the way he's holding both of those guys. Also, Livewire rules.
It gets really funny at the end because there's this whole Very Special Episode-style conversation between Blue Beetle and Superman:
That's just so...funny. "Go on, son. I'm listening." And then the sage advice and the whole "You did the right thing." "Thanks, Superman." exchange was just so delightfully wholesome. Superman!
And the art, by Freddie Williams II, was great too. Check out this facial expression:
I love this series.
Green Lantern #20
Everyone's favourite piece of meat is back in action this week. He's still dealing with that obnoxious Star Sapphire.
Hal does what he always does when faced with a problem. He makes out with it.
Pretty clever, Hal. When in doubt, make out.
This is what I like about Green Lantern comics. I'm just sayin', you're not going to see that in a Batman comic.
I love the art on this run. Everyone is all great-looking.
I like Cowgirl. But it doesn't look good for her, because guess what Hal just found out about Carol:
"Divorce?! That's my favourite word!"
Oh, Hal.
Justice Society of America #6
More Geoff Johns goodness!
"Insane? Wait, who are you again?"
Oh Starman. I love your crazy ass:
Aaaand I loved this:
Hee! I am really enjoying this Kingdom Come Earth development. I guess that what we are really learning is that all of the Elseworlds actually exist in the multiverse. It's fun.
And this was fun:
What about Black Lightning? He's cool! And he's standing right there! What wouldn't Diana like about a gold medalist decathelete?
Lovin' this cross-over. Get to the part where Barry Allan comes back!!!
Teen Titans # 47
I'll be honest. I only half-understood what was going on here. I'm making an effort to get to know the Titans but they are so damn confusing.
I did understand this though:
Robins! Ooodles of Robins!
Lordy those three boys all look the same. It's like Bruce has them manufactured or something.
Well, that was unnecessary, Tim. I expected better from you.
Action Comics #850
Now THIS was adorable!
A celebratory 850th issue of Action Comics that looks back at Superman's history via the Legion of Superheroes teaching Kara about her cousin. It's very clever and fun. And it's beautifully drawn by my new favourite person, Renato Guedes.
So, yeah. Brainiac 5 is testing out his new invention, the Chronexus, which allows people to view any point in time. He decides to use it to show Kara Superman's past. But first he has to find the correct past (read: the current origin and continuity for Superman; read: Birthright), which is fun. It takes him a few tries, which means we get awesome pages like this:
Everything is good about that page. "That hair! No."
Eventually Brainiac finds the right Superman and we follow him from birth on Krypton to present in a series of vignettes with snappy Legion commentary. And there are some really awesome and cute scenes, like this one after Clark's debut as Superman:
"Ah!" So cute.
His first date with Lois:
His first Justice League mission:
Barry! You're killing me! Look at his posture!
And here's a heartbreaking scene where Clark and Lois are talking about children:
Awwwwww.
