JUSTICE LEAGUE #59 DC COMICS
Well, a new version of the Justice League rises from ashes. And there are no real surprizes with the line up seeing as they’ve been hyping the Infinite Frontier for monthes. With Black Adam and Naomi showing up this issue and more members on the way, a mysterious (and somewhat annoying) dimensional being shows up to start the storyline rolling. But while I was not impressed by any of this, there were two parts of Brian Michael Bendis’s story that caught my eye. First, the inclusion of a more traditional version of Green Arrow and Black Canary. Their witty banter is wonderfully refreshing and if you look close, artist David Marquez even gave Black Canary her trademark fishnets. Second thing was some of the characterizations here. Superman appears to be more of the boy scout we remember and Barry Allen’s Flash is most definately the team scientist. This along with a tamer version of Black Adam made for a more interesting story. Lets see where the creative team takes this. I give it a 7 out of 10 Grahams.
THE TRIALS OF ULTRAMAN #1 MARVEL COMICS
This title has a little more going for it than the Rise Of Ultraman book. While being given a forward moving storyline that incorporates many current attitudes, Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom don’t forget to give Francesco Manna some T shaped hand energy blasts that cut monsters in half to illustrate. (Honestly, that was the best part of the original show!) The United Science Patrol is out in the open. K-rays are no longer working. And the world is going of the deep end with conspiracy theories about Ultraman. Rubbery suits and badly designed monsters are back in fashion and luckily the storyline shares the spotlight with the battles. I give this one a 8 out of 10 Grahams.
CATWOMAN #29 DC COMICS
Honestly, I haven’t thought much about Catwoman since the atrocious Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle story from a while back. But with the eye catching variant cover, it was hard not to take a quick look. The Gotham City universe appears to be rebuilding itself not that that whole deal had anything for me (The Joker in speedo? Yuck!) But it does seem like writer Ram V understands what makes a good tale in the streets of Batman’s home town. Always one of the highlights of Gotham stories is the interaction between the villains. Unlike the Flash’s original Rogue’s Gallery, the villains of Gotham could never work well together and that was part of their charm. Oh sure, they’d try to team up or work a caper together but it always ended in bickering and internal fighting. So with Catwoman getting mixed up with the Riddler to discover Poison Ivy in peril, this is bound to get good. That being said however I really could have done without the rebooted Invisible Man movie character. This storyline has some potential as long as it doesn’t get lost. I give it a 7 out of 10 Grahams.
