Weekly Comic Review for 8/28/13
This weekend, for the holiday, my local comic shop had a $1 sale on back issues. Not just recent issues but a lot of older stuff that wasn’t overly expensive. I got some good deals on old Avengers and Doctor Strange stuff along with some other random back issues I found. That should give me some interesting reading when I get the time. For now, on to last week’s stuff.
Avengers Arena #14 – It seems I missed #13. In that issue, we see how Arcade has dealt with the fact that all these young heroes are missing. Most of them are damn gullible and ready to just leave the kids to run on their own. This issue, we pick up again with the kids and a lot of them have gone their separate ways to figure out what’s going on. Bloodstone and Anachronism have a fight and it takes Nara to finally explain to him that his best friend has a crush on him. Meanwhile Bloodstone talks about his history and, by the end, we finally find out his secret. (Without a ring he wears, he turns into a monster like the ones his father trained him to fight. To make matters worse, Arcade lets lose a batch of X-23’s trigger scent. I’ve also noticed that instead of a question mark over Chris Powell’s face, there’s now an X. I guess they are saying he is officially dead without actually explaining any more.
Batman/Superman #3 – This issue is a big mess of story between the mess between the 2 Batmen, 2 Supermen, Wonder Woman, and the spirit possessing everyone (which it appears it’s alternate dimensions and not time periods) and a story of young Bruce and Clark. I’m still not sure what’s going on and the confusion is making me a lot less interested in trying to follow this any more.
Justice League #23 – Trinity War part 6 of 6 – The truth finally outs all across the board. Superman’s sickness had nothing to do with Pandora’s box. It has to do with some Kryptonite inserted into his head. The Outsider (someone TOTALLY different than the one we met during Flashpoint) was behind everything. His traitor is revealed too. Or maybe I should say traitors. The Atom is not just a traitor to the Justice League but to the heroes all together. She also turned Cyborg into a traitor as his metal side separates and becomes a creature called called Grid. All this comes to reveal that the trinity isn’t about the Trinity of Sin but a trinity of worlds. It turns out that The Outsider is from Earth 3 (as is the Atom is is actually called Atomica) and uses the box to open a gate to his world which the Crime Syndicate come through. (This all leads up to the Forever Evil mini-series.) The team seams a little different though. An evil Aquaman comes through but doesn’t make it. The normal 5 members follow along with an evil Firestorm called Deathstorm. Also, Power Ring stutters and seems a bit timid.
Red Lanterns #23 – Well, it seems that Rancorr isn’t the only one who can make constructs now. Dex-Starr lapped up some of his blood and can do it now. This allows him to create a new heart for Atrocitus until he can get a new ring. Since he sent out some rings before, he decides to track one down. Instead he finds the Butcher, who has been captured, and melds with him just as others have melded with Parallax and Ion. Back with Guy, he tries to get Hal to extract him but he can’t/won’t and then Guy’s green ring runs out of energy just as Bleez catches him. This is going to get messy.
Scarlet Spider #21 – Kaine spends the issue fighting Ben Reilly in the old Scarlet Spider costume. The only problem is that it turns out it isn’t Ben (who is dead anyway) but Kraven who had drugged Kaine. This also means that the scars weren’t real either. As if Kaine’s head wasn’t messed up enough. To make matters worse, someone is attacking Aracely and someone has broken into Don and Wally’s place and killed their dog.
Teen Titans #23 – The Titans save Bart from some people using Echo tech. We still don’t know what’s up with “Bar Tor” and his past. (I liked the old Bart Allen history better.) The Titans spend some quality time together and heal interpersonal wounds. Meanwhile, Bunker gets news on his boyfriend and heads off with Beast Boy to check in on it. At least they are finally doing some decent addressing of the fact that he’s gay.
Young Avengers #9 – We start out with a follow up on the kill. It turns out that Prodigy is actually bisexual. The other Avengers work their way through back to the parasite’s dimension and escapes by dragging along their alternate versions. The team is back together on their Earth but who knows where there are going next. The thing has changed. Because of Teddy’s mistrust of weather Billy made him love him, they end up breaking up. It’s good to see them have actual issues and not have everything be kittens and rainbows but I hope they aren’t apart too long.
Three out of seven titles dealing with gay topics. That’s pretty cool. Glad to see that. Overall, this week was pretty good. The top 3 this week is Avengers Arena, Justice League, and Teen Titans.
