Weekly Comic Review for 9/25/13

I’ve had a lot less going on and have been able to get through my reading faster so here is this week’s comic reviews including the final week of villain month.

Batman: The Dark Knight #23.4 (Joker’s Daughter #1) – OK, he may be as nuts as the Joker, but she isn’t related. The story tells of her messed up childhood. Her parents were great but she had some major issues. She ends up down in the sewers where she finds the Joker’s face that he had been wearing. (I don’t normally read Batman titles so I’m not sure how he lost it.) There are a bunch of former Arkham inmates underground and she starts to rally the women and brands crescent shaped smiles on the men and takes over. Like the former Joker’s Daughter/Harlequin, her name is Duela, but unlike her, she is not from Earth 3. Who knows where this is all going to lead but she’ll definitely be the standard Batman psychopath.

Detective Comics #23.4 (Man-Bat #1) – We start off with Kirk trapping and defeating his wife, Francine. (I remember her pre-New 52 as the dutiful and supported wife, not as a She-Bat.) Man-Bat starts off the comic as a hero, which is what he always wanted to be in the old days. The thing is that as he keeps amping up his serum, he becomes more out of control despite seeing himself as Gotham’s here in Batman’s absence. He start killing people and ends up in the same place as the She-Bat when he stopped her. Where he goes from here is anyone guess. I always liked him as just mark enough to function and trying to be a hero so I hope he stays there.

Green Hornet Legacy #41 – Green Hornet’s team (him, Nikki Stripez, Blamazon, Pyramid, and El Gato Rojo) is out in search of Dr. Creepy’s zombies when the find that the smarter zombies have been sent after the police. Since they are also literally walking bombs, this is a bad thing. The worse thing is when the newest zombie joins the battle — Green Hornet 2.0. Yeah, this is getting WAY too far off the path the comic should be in. Zombies and super-hero teams? How is the Hornet supposed to keep an identity as a crime boss? That’s probably why the next issue is the last issue.

Green Lantern #23.4 (Sinestro #1) – It’s Sinestro’s origin and life as told through the eyes of Lyssa Drak. The story is like reading Green Lantern crossed with Twilight. Lyssa tells the story like she’s got some school girl crush and nothing Sinestro could ever do is wrong. We do find out that Sinestro was an asshole from the beginning, getting the ring to defend himself and the injured Green Lantern who had had it and then leaving the alien to die so he could keep the ring. We see how he lost track of his daughter, how he took over his planet, and how his relationships with Abin Sur and Hal Jordan developed. Of course, it’s all colored by Lyssa’s opinions. A straight out story would have been better. At least the page borders are interestng.

Justice League #23.4 (Secret Society #1) – This is actually more the story of the Outsider who it turns out is Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred killed Thomas Wayne’s parents and lead Thomas to become Owlman. We get to see the Earth 3 Joker (not Jokester like in pre-New 52), having killed Talon (the Earth 3 Robin as named pre-New 52, not the Talon that exists in the New 52), get killed by Owlman. He’s still hooking up with Super Woman too. Alfred and Atomica come through to Earth 1 and start setting up for the others’ arrival. It seems Thomas is guilty about Talon and may be wanting Dick to join up with the Crime Syndicate.

Justice League of America #7.4 (Black Adam #1) – Yes, even though he got turned to ask, Black Adam is back. Someone translates some scroll to bring him back from the dead. The guy dies first but his sister, Adrianna, finishes it off by saying Shazam and bringing him back to life. As she runs away though, someone who is watching says “She is the one.” Not sure what this means though. I guess no mater what happens to you when you die, you can be easily resurrected.

Scarlet Spider #22 – It’s Ana and Sergei Kravenov vs. the Scarlet Spider. Kraven the Hunter gives us some background around him as relates to Peter, Ben, and Kaine. Having captured all of Kaine’s friends, he is hoping he can get the spider to fight him to the death. You see, Kraven once killed himself since he felt he accomplishes all he wanted and saw no reason to live more. He’s not too happy he was brought back. This battle should be interesting. Will Kraven get Kaine to turn into a killer again?

Wolverine and the X-Men #36 – Battle of the Atom chapters 5 – We’re half way through. The three X-Men teams fight over whether the original team should be sent back… and fight over why they shouldn’t be fighting each other. Old Jean lets young Jean read her mind about what the future is like but all is not as it seems. Magik had teleported off and it seems she was off to get the young Iceman and Beast to go back to the future and see what’s going on. What we saw last time looked like Days of Future Past. This time around, we see a more peaceful setting. Another X-Men team is at the school and this one has an ice “elder” (the real Bobby? Is the other being Rockslide?), Colossus, what looks like a young storm riding an onyx “black panther”, an older Julbilee (she shouldn’t be aging if she’s a vampire), a cross between Cloak and Doctor Strong (Wiccan maybe?), someone in Iron Man type armor based more on a sentinel, and a very cool looking male Phoenix. (Oh, yeah. And then have Sentinels as Guards.) Something is really wrong here. What is the truth?

Young Avengers #10 – Who can you trust any more? Loki talks to Mother about their deal. Leah talks to Mother to set up some deal. Leah talks to Hulkling (along with the spooky Patriot and some others from the multiverse the team had run across) and the drops him with the Parents so that Mother can return. The issue is a lot of people messing around and I’ll really be glad once this arc is over.

OK. Not the best of weeks. I’ll give the top spots to Justice League, Scarlet Spider, and Wolverine and the X-Men. Detective Comics (with Man-Bat) came in close but the others were about a lap behind. I’m hoping next week will turn out better.