Weekly Comic Review – 2/23/11
After a bit of illness this weekend, I’m finally getting around to doing my review. As with last week (and probably future ones), there’s a few spoilers in the reviews so consider yourself warned. Here’s what I picked up this week.
Fantastic Four #588 – The final issue. The team is down to three members down with the death of Johnny Storm. Or is that apparent death? They never show a body, just a fairly intact costume. I can see Johnny returning. I doubt anyone would be surprised. The book is well done with no talk through the book until the last couple pages. All the emotion is conveyed through the action and expressions only and is done pretty well. I’m not a big FF fan but I had to pick up this issue. Tho, if Johnny comes back, I wonder if they will pick up at Fantastic Four #589. (Or will the new FF #1 count as that?)
Green Arrow #9 – More of Jason Blood, Green Arrow and Galahad fighting the Demon as he begins to corrupt the forest. The sudden appearance by the Phantom Stranger in the prior issue came to nothing as be just babbles a little and goes away having no real impact on the story at all. Personally, I think having him appear at all was useless. If you’re going to have a cameo, make it worthwhile! I’ll always be a GL fan but the prior issue was definitely better than this one.
Justice League: Generation Lost #20 – A little history of Maxwell Lord, a little bit of the team fighting to get to Max, and the (probably not too final) fate of the Blue Beetle. They declare him dead but somehow, I don’t see that really being the end of his story in this.
Justice Society of America #48 – We get to find out how Scythe escaped, Mr. Terrific’s mind continues to degrade, and more of the JSA battling their mysterious new foe. Then, the All-Stars show up to save the day… next issue. Dr. Chaos seems pretty powerful though if his power levels matched either his ego or level he’s reached at being annoying, they team would be in even worse shape. I can only assume they are leading towards something in the 50th issue (2 months away). I’m a big fan of the JSA but the characters aren’t really growing well with so much going on and so little time beach spent on each. Mr. Terrific’s issue would be a lot more interesting if we didn’t get major jumps in it with only a little about it each time. I really hope this improves soon.
Secret Avengers #10 – The battle with Shang Chi’s father finally comes to an end. I’m liking how the team is working together and the story flows. While there’s nothing overly spectacular to point out (the good guys win, natch), it’s an interesting story. After the big battle, things move on to the mysterious John Steele. I’ll be looking forward to next issue to see more about him.
Teen Titans #92 – The best part of this issue? Tim and Damien righting side by side trying to out-do each other. While nothing definite is stated, I’m hoping Red Robin will be staying with the team. It’d be good to have Tim back, but it makes me wonder who will lead the Titans. I can see Time deferring to Cassie and Cassie wanting to step down because of her self-doubts. This could lead to some interesting stuff. And Damien? He’s back with Dick having learned his lesson. Couldn’t stand him anyway. He needs a good spanking.
True Blood: Tainted Love #1 – I’m a big fan of the show so I had to pick this up. It’s the usual cast of characters who are just about to find out that someone has been spiking the Tru Blood. It should be interesting to see how this all plays out.
X-Men Legcy #245 & New Mutants #22 – I decided to group these two together since they are Chapers 1 and 2 of the Age of X storyline. I’m still not sure what to make of all this. Blindfold seems to have a clue as to what’s going on. Kitty Pryde is considered a dangerous person. Rogue (or Legacy as she is known here) is in charge of holding the memories of all the mutants who die, taking them in just prior to death. Interesting twists but I’m not sure where any of this is going or how good of a road it’ll be to travel.
I’ve been a bit disappointed by some of my more favorite books lately. I’m really hoping things will start to pick up. My Top 3 this week are: Fantastic Four, Secret Avengers, and Teen Titans.