JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #3 DC COMICS
The Huntress’s trip bouncing through space and time have ended in the present and a very interesting combination of JSA members including the Infinity Inc Wildcat and the Stargirl TV show Doctor Mid-Nite (I don’t care, that is the official way to spell it!). But thanks to a fundimental blunder on the part of Deadman and Detective Chimp, Huntress has lost possession of the snowglobe. This can only lead to bad things (see the final cliffhanger page). And with the amazing help of Mikel Janin and Jerry Ordway, Geoff Johns manages to do that often ignored cameos of the DC war comics charecters! With the Unknown Soldier along with Sgt. Rock and the members of Easy Co.! With some backstory on this current version of Per Degaton to catch up the unenlightened, we are ready to start the official storyline. Still on the fence with Alan Scott’s beard though. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
HELLCAT #1 MARVEL COMICS
And so another creative team takes a run at one of Marvel’s most complicated characters. And while Christopher Cantwell and Alex Lins try their best, much gets lost in the translation. Patsy Walker (former teenage comic star from the 1940’s) was given a second chance when Marvel had her take over the mantle of the Cat from Greer Nelson in 1976. And while an amusing idea at the time, Marvel unwittingly created a character that no one really knew what to due with. Make her an Avenger … check. Make her a Defender … check. Have her possessed by demons … check. Have her marry the Son of Satan … check. You get the idea. And what is, at the heart of it, a mystery story of whether or not Hellcat committed murder is drowning in multiple subplots involving new love interests and family issues. And as always, once the initial story is resolved (probably after 6-7 issues which is standard trade length) what then. This one offers us up nothing new. I give it a 5 out of 10 Grahams.
DANGER STREET #4 DC COMICS
There is no doubt that Tom King and Jorge Fornes have totally committed to a series of tertiary characters (many who only had one major appearance and who I still feel have potential), I ran into someone while picking up the review books who was confused by the series. And while he was familiar with the characters, he was still lost. So in leiu of a review, lets take a more indepth look at the story. So first off, First Issue Special was the brainchild of Carmine Infantino who noticed that the first issue of a title seemed to sell better than subsequent issues. So following in the footsteps of DC’s hit series Showcase, a title was created to highlight new characters and reimaginering old characters. The title lasted for 13 issues and did bring us the first appearance of Mike Grell’s Warlord. And so we have the 13 characters that King has to work with. (Atlas, Green Team, Metamorpho, Lady Cop, Manhunter, Dingbats, Creeper, Warlord, Dr. Fate, the Outsiders, Codename Assassin, Starman, and the New Gods). With the Helmet of Dr. Fate providing the narrative, `we have Metamorpho, Warlord, and Starman working a deal to find their way back into the modern superhero world. They inadvertantly bring Atlas to Earth and are forced to kill him. During the fight one of the Dingbats is killed and the rest track down Lady Cop for help. Meanwhile, the New Gods have learned of Atlas’s death and are taking action. And finally, The Green Team and their employee Codename Assassin are waging a social media war against the Outsiders and have hired Jack (the Creeper) Ryder to help. Are we all up to speed now. My advise is go out and REALLY read the original 13 issue and comeback for a fresh start. This is an excellent title and more people should be “getting” it. 9 out of 10 Grahams.