Comics! Batwoman #7

Batwoman #7

J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman: writers
Amy Reeder: penciller & cover

The Solicitation
Six lives on converging courses that will change them forever...Batwoman, in a hidden lair beneath Gotham Harbor, faces a horde of monsters inspired by urban legends led by Falchion, an evil mastermind.Jacob Kane waits in agony for some sign of life.Kate Kane tries to enjoy new romance as the werebeast Abbot begs for her help.Maro, an enigmatic wizard, evokes an evil that all children fear: their own reflections in a darkened mirror.Detective Maggie Sawyer is caught in a turf war between The Werebeast Cult and The Medusa Syndicate.DEO Agent Cameron Chase struggles with a new operative who refuses to be controlled.It's all coming in "To Drown the World," part 2.

Preview

The Story
For the second month in a row we get the ridiculous attempt at dividing up the story into multiple parts and jumping back and forth in time to try and straighten it out. Again, I am of the belief that if I writer can't understand how the story should be told in this manner as opposed to a linear way of telling the story, why bother with the jumping timeline? Is this some weird homage to the movie Crash or something?

Everything is so distorted, I can't figure out what anything is, there is no proper introduction to half the characters here that makes any sense or makes me care for them. Seriously, i just don't care enough anymore, not even to try and write down the story here. This character is missing something with this writing team, or the writing team is missing something with this character.

And when you have some commentary in the book that could be used to describe how much better your art style is than other people's work, then I am calling you out for being a jackass. It was a line that pulled me out of whatever story I was trying to read. Specifically, the line is describing the difference between Batwoman and her twin sister. When describing their artwork, their father says "...Beth would paint a dozen pictures in fifteen minutes, sometimes just a splash of color and she was done and on to the next one. Kate filled up the entire page, left nothing uncovered."

Emphasis not mine, it was actually from the book.

Bleh.

The Art
Usually a redeeming quality of the book. Kinda sorta in this issue. But its trying to be splashy, and I don't think that works well with Reeder's artwork. At least it didn't with this issue.

The Cover
Good use of light source, but other wise just weirdly shaped. I think Batwoman posed like that in the last issue, and I made the comment then about how awkward it looked.

Kinda funny how this covers seems to be similar to Batgirl's cover with the water/watery theme thing going on. This cover is slightly more impressive than Batgirl's.

Grades
Words: 2/10
Pictures: 5/10
Recommend: No. Highly not.
Buy Next Issue: Just saw that the guest art stuff would go until around the double digit issues. After this issue I am just a few drops of willpower away from dropping this book. That's sad, because I liked Batwoman much better than Batgirl and I just dropped that title.

Previous Issues

Comics! Green Lantern #7

Green Lantern #7

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils & Cover: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Keith Champagne & Christian Alamy with Mark Irwin

The Solicitation
"The Secret of the Indigo Tribe," part 1! The GL team of Hal Jordan and Sinestro must investigate a crime that leads them to the Indigo homeworld in deep space. And what they find there will not only shock them, but also change the way you look at Lantern lore!


Preview

The Story
Nok.

Indigo Tribe, the misunderstood or heavily not understood tribe. Full of compassion. Who can imprison people like the Black Hand, who was a key figure in the Blackest Night mini series. Who is now acting as if he is lobotomized.

Nok.

Continuity mistake! When last we saw Sinestro invading the bedroom of Hal and Carol, it was broad daylight. Now its night time.

Anywho, besides being geeky like that, this issue wasn't too bad. Same set up as the last story line -Sinestro needs Hal and wants to drag Hal along to any adventures that he has. This time Hal is firmly putting his foot down and saying no. Sinestro doesn't accept that.

enter the Indigo tribe. They have decided that Sinestro needs to be one of them. They kidnap him and Hal tags along just as Carol dons the Star Sapphire ring to try and help out Hal.

Cue to the planet Oa and the Sciencells, the prison the Guardians have, where Lyssa Drak is imprisoned. The Guardians want the book of the black in order to find the first lantern.

Cue to the Indigo jail cells where Hal is at. Black Hand comes by and pays him a visit. Black Hand tells Hal that Sinestro will become one of the Indigo tribe and will be reborn with compassion.

Eh, not bad for a setup issue for the upcoming story line. Methinks that all Johns wants to do is have Sinestro and Hal fight time and time again. It does start to get boring after awhile, much like watching professional wrestlers story lines play out over months with the same two people fighting.

The Indigo tribe seems to be full of people who are being controlled. By what or whom is something that I figure will be answered with this series. Right now it is basically some sort of reintroduction to the Indigo tribe to update us on who they are, which still isn't much besides a throwaway line to Abin Sur, the Green Lantern who Hal inherited his ring from.

The Art
Consistent Mahnke. Can't complain too much here with this issue outside of the night time/daytime mistake.

The Cover
The font on the cover reminds me of some weird 50's era horror movie font. Maybe the Indigo tribe will be like that? Or inspired from that? Who knows. Although the Indigo coloring makes the main figures appeared more shadowy than I think was expected. If I would improve on this cover, I would say to take the indigo down more and just play with the light source more. The head symbols and eyes could be creepy with more shadow around them and make the cover stand out more.

Grades
Words: 6/10 -just because nothing new is presented here. doesn't excite me at all.
Pictures: 7/10 - continuity mistake. See what happens when the regular artist takes an off issue?
Recommend: Eh. I think if new readers stuck around after issue #1 then they will enjoy this little taste of Indigo. Not for me though.
Buy Next Issue: Let's start to see this story boil, something is getting ready to be cooked.

Previous Issues

Previous Issues: The Flash

The Flash

Previous Issues

The Flash #8


Story by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Art by Francis Manapul


Words: 5/10
Pictures: 6/10
Recommend: I don't see why I should. You don't need to develop the Speed Force, it is a pretty simple and clear concept.
Buy Next Issue: I am so close to just outright dropping this comic and picking up the issue later when I can find them for cheap. I'm definitely disappointed each issue with the price of admission.

The Flash #7



Story by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Art by Francis Manapul



Words: 7/10
Pictures: 8/10
Recommend: Not for new readers. Too much happens that you need the previous issues to get.
Buy Next Issue: The Flash train keeps chugging along.

The Flash #6


Story by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Art by Francis Manapul


Words: 7/10
Pictures: 7/10
Recommend: You get caught up to speed from the previous issues if you missed them. Its worth a try to check in and see how the new Flash is in the 52 world if you haven't caught it before.
Buy Next Issue: I'll pop for it.

The Flash #5 


Story by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Art by Francis Manapul


Words: 6/10 - Blah.
Pictures: 6/10 - Blah blah.
Recommend: A skippable conclusion. Villain is still alive after everything is said and done and nothing of note is important for this issue. Not even the art is worth coming to it.
Buy Next Issue: Let's hope the next arc kicks off better than this one concluded.

The Flash #4 


story by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
art and cover by Francis Manapul


Words: 7/10 - much better than previous issues.
Pictures: 8/10
Recommend: If this was the first issue that you read, you will be missing a few plot points and may wonder where the Flash is at, but if you have been with the comic since #1, then you will enjoy it.
Buy Next Issue: Let's see where this leads to!







The Flash #3 


Story by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Art by Francis Manapul


Words: 4/10
Pictures: 6/10
Recommend: Not really.
Buy Next Issue: I'm a Flash fan. I gotta buy it, but I probably won't like it much.






The Flash #2 


Story by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Art by Francis Manapul


Words: 6/10
Pictures: 6/10 - they looked good, but I couldn't get squat of story telling from it. The one saving grace was the "Speed Thought" pages.
Recommend: Not really. Not even for seasoned pros to the Flash books.
Buy Next Issue: Yes, hoping that some of what was in this issue will make sense in the overall picture.



The Flash #1


Story by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Art by Francis Manapul


Words: 8/10
Pictures: 9/10
Recommend: Run with it, you will like it more than that pun.
Buy Next Issue: Locked and loaded for the next one!

Comics! Batgirl #7

Batgirl #7

Gail Simone: writer
Ardian Syaf (pages 1-5, 14-20) & Alitha Martinez (pages 6-13): pencillers
Vicente Cifuentes: inker

The Solicitation
One dark, tragic night, The Joker shattered the life of Barbara Gordon in the landmark story BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE. In this issue, see a side of that story that has never before been told, as BATGIRL faces the demons of her past! And if that's not enough, a deadly new gentleman killer, Grotesque, stalks the streets of Gotham City!

Preview

The Story
I know that last issue was going to be my last one. So what brought me back? Did you not read the solicitation? If they are finally going to reveal some info and address the whole Killing Joke story, then I want to hear about it. Unfortunately, this doesn't really happen in as much the sense of the Joker showing up as it is addressing the issues Barbara has had since taking back the cowl of Batgirl.

We start with the bad guy getting the advantage over Batgirl and kicking her butt AGAIN. Thankfully, this issue gets addressed for why Barbara has been having this happen to her. Me likes that. But an inspirational talk later doesn't seem to do much in the long run.

Batgirl then spars with Black Canary to let some of her energy out and to try some therapeutic methods to discovering what is keeping her back. We check in for a quick minute with James Gordon meeting his wife that ran away. Then back to Batgirl. She starts crying again because her life is so depressing and messed up and that is when Black Canary slaps her. I was so thankful for that moment. I'm glad someone had enough sense to slap Barbara for all her whining about being able to walk again and the guilt it brings her.

Cue back to Batgirl investigating this Grotesque villain that is the villain of the moment. She gets the drop on him and his gang. When she knocks out one guy, she recognizes him as the guy who was standing behind the Joker when she was shot.

To me it seems like the comic has done a complete 360 in the same comic. Here she went from being down and out about it, to finally gaining some perspective and then back to being down and out about it. The cause of it was some guy who was standing in the background. Sigh.

There book actually had some strong points even though it didn't really have the Joker in it. And I commend it for that. Someone had to tell Barbara to stop being pitiful and be thankful for what has happened to her. I'm glad we got to see that moment, it made the book feel like it was moving forward. Then it comes to a complete stop.

Seeing how this is the first time that I see Black Canary in the new 52, I wonder what is new about her in this universe. We don't really get a feel for anything about her. We know that she is someone that Batgirl confides in and knows about Batgirl's secret ID.

The story makes me regret spending the money. But then we get to...

The Art
Bleh. Messy. And not much to write home about. There was a guest artist on this book, but there was still some pretty bad art and use of page space for this issue. For example, on Page 3, which I think may be in the previews, uses half the page to show the ceiling of a sewer. Literally half a page gone to waste.

In the center of the book we have the guest artist. Every face that is drawn by the artist looks as if it was made of putty. Seriously. And they all have this weird porn motif going on, like a porn actress was used as a reference point. That's my own thought, I don't know if the artist actually did that or not. Just seems really awkward.

But when Black Canary grabs Barbara's left arm, and then takes her down by it, why does Black canary somehow have Batgirl's right arm? the same weirdness happens when Batgirl lands on her back and Canary flips from being on one side of her to the other.

By the end of the book, when we get back to the regular artist, we get some more weird perspectives and body contortions. Seriously, the floor that everyone is standing on must be at a 45 degree angle or something. It was the same weird perspective that I talked about a couple of issues ago.

Where did Batgirl's cape go on that last panel? It seems to have disappeared. And her boobs seem to go between Superhero Big to realistic to not there to Superhero Big in each panel.

Bleh.

The Cover
There are MANY things wrong with this cover. First off, what is she trapped in? Is it some sort of bubble? She has room to stand, so I assume it is some sort of pool/bubble thing.

Where did her chest go? She gained an Ass but somehow the chest went to nothing. She looks very awkward and weirdly posed. I don't see her having a sense of danger other than her eye catching how big her backside got.

Grades
Words: 3/10
Pictures: 2/10
Recommend: No. New readers will be lost, and while we do have some character progression in this issue, is seems like it goes stepping back on the last page.
Buy Next Issue: No. Definitely not. Trust me, I gave it one last chance and it bit me in the ass.

Previous Issues

Previous Issues: Green Lantern: New Guardians

Green Lantern: New Guardians

Previous Issues

Green Lantern: New Guardians #7



Tony Bedard: writer
Tyler Kirkham: penciller
Batt: inker



Words: 5/10
Pictures: 5/10
Recommend: Blah. Nah, unless that character on the front cover intrigues you.
Buy Next Issue: Yes, but this book just feels inconsistent. It will have a good couple of issues, then drop off, then back to good, then drop off.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #6


Tony Bedard: writer
Tyler Kirkham: penciller
Batt: inker


Words: 5/10. Nope. Not for me.
Pictures: 4/10 - I wonder if something other than boobs can be drawn on a female character.
Recommend: Negative. Just wait until next issue, I'm sure that the story has to come back to the good stuff.
Buy Next Issue: This issue just really put a bad taste in my mouth. There is a repetition to the story from the previous arc that is just ticking me off. I'll give it another issue to see if it gets somewhere.



Green Lantern: New Guardians #5


Tony Bedard: writer
Tyler Kirkham: penciller
Batt: inker


Words: 8/10 - nice setting up, let's see some payoff next issue.
Pictures: 7/10
Recommend: Nice starting point if you are familiar with the characters, but definitely not a good place to come in knowing nothing about the Lantern Corps.
Buy Next Issue: Money will be allocated for the next issue.



Green Lantern: New Guardians #4


Tony Bedard: writer
Tyler Kirkham and Harvey Tolibao: pencillers
Batt: inker


Words: 8/10
Pictures: 7/10
Recommend: With this issue, the series gets its stride. I understand that team books take a few issues so it can give you some character moments for each team member, but now that that is out of the way, let's get to some action.
Buy Next Issue: The cliffhanger reveals an alien spaceship emerging from a white hole and the ship is the size of a solar system. You better believe that I'll be back.



Green Lantern: New Guardians #3


Tony Bedard: writer
Tyler Kirkham and Harvey Tolibao: pencillers
Batt: inker


Words: 8/10
Pictures: 6/10 -one artist per book please, unless there is a dream sequence or some other fundamental difference in the story that having a different artist makes sense.
Recommend: You would need some info from the previous issue, but there isn't much out of the ordinary that you wouldn't already know. The story does an excellent job of getting newbies up to speed.
Buy Next Issue: With a cliffhanger like that? You bet!



Green Lantern: New Guardians #2


Tony Bedard: writer
Tyler Kirkham and Harvey Tolibao: pencillers
Batt: inker


Words: 6/10
Pictures: 6/10
Recommend: Only to show to an untrained eye how comics should not be.
Buy Next Issue: It will need a major bounce back to something better than this next issue to keep me interested.



Green Lantern: New Guardians #1


Tony Bedard: Writer
Tyler Kirkham: Penciller
Batt: Inker


Words: 8/10
Pictures: 8/10
Recommend: This would be one of the books that is more geared towards new readers. Those new readers just need to give it a couple issues to show you the whole story.
Buy Next Time: If I could already spend the money on the book for it to be in my hands, I would have three less dollars in my pocket.

Comics! Fatale #1

Fatale #1

Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips

The Solicitation
GUNS! SEX! SECRET CULTS! AND MONSTERS!


Nothing the BEST-SELLING and AWARD-WINNING creators of SLEEPER, CRIMINAL and INCOGNITO have done so far will prepare you for the explosive debut of FATALE!     


A reporter in 2012 stumbles on a secret that leads him down the darkest path imaginable... to a seductive woman who’s been on the run since 1935, a mobster who may be an immortal demon monster, and the stories of all the doomed men who’ve been caught in their decades-long struggle.


FATALE blends noir and horror to tell a riveting epic unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Preview

The Story
Nicholas Lash is the main character that we follow along. He is the reporter mentioned in the solicitation. He is burying his godfather in the beginning of the book when a strange woman comes around that knocks him off his feet. He notices some symbols on his godfather's tombstone that belong to some weird group he was with. The interesting part is that his grandfather was an atheist, so it is a bit intriguing.

The woman, Josephine, is a little more than she appears to be. Skipping over a couple of events, they get in a car accident, he gets hospitalized, and then he discovers a picture of his godfather and Josephine from the 1950's. she hasn't aged a day.

Brubaker knows how to deliver a these investigative stories like no other. I know he can pull of a great mystery and he has a way of giving characters a voice that sound like their own without being too stereotypical, which is how some voices can appear in a noir type of story.

Basically, the story is as enjoyable and as intriguing as any other of Brubaker's. I like it, and its a nice change of pace from the superhero stuff. If the preview didn't get you, then this comic simply will not be for you.

The Art
Phillips has always had an art style that I appreciated. No big splash pages, just enough play with the lights and shadows that seeing it in black and white has as much ambiance as color. He has a style that reminds me of Eduardo Risso from 100 Bullets that has more developed backgrounds and works within the panels of the comic instead of splashing images into one another. This is a comic that anyone new can get into and follow along quite well.

The Cover
I got the third printing, black and white variant of the Beast edition. Even in black and white it grabs you. Some octopus head thing in a suit with a gangster's machine gun? How can that not make you stop and notice it? There is a white frame around the comic as well that works great and makes the comic stand out on the shelf.

Grades
Words: 10/10 - off to a great start.
Pictures: 10/10 - I appreciate this art so much.
Recommend: Highly. Great first issue that sets the tone and lets you know what to expect from this series. I'm down with it.
Buy Next Issue: Bought it with the first one, I think I may not regret that decision.

Comics! Red Lanterns #7

Red Lanterns #7

Writer: Peter Milligan
Pencillers: Ed Benes & Diego Bernard
Inkers: Rob Hunter, Mark Irwin, Sal Regla & Dave Meikis

The Solicitation
It's Green Lantern Guy Gardner vs. the first Red Lantern of Earth! Rancorr – once the human John Moore – was born in the fires of heartbreak and rage, but why do his powers work unlike any other Red Lantern's? And why will he be such an important player in the upcoming Red Lantern civil war?

Preview

The Story
We start with Bleez attacking some fallen Sinestro Corps Members. Apparently there were some survivors from Sinestro turning off their rings (over in Green Lantern) and they cut off some fingers to remove the rings. Nice nod to continuity. Bleez then proclaims that the age of Bleez has begun, which makes me think part "duh" and part "when did this go down?" The second part mostly because she kept denying denying denying and now we have this turn. Interesting.

Guy Gardner then meets up with our Red Lantern from earth. The Red Lantern speaks a bit and then gets pulled into space for what will probably end up being the Red Lantern home world.

Cue to Bleez telling the surviving Sinestro Corps members that Bleez will now lead the Red Lanterns against the Sinestro Corps. The Sinestro Corps member laughs saying that she will never lead them, that Atrocitus was feared by even Sinestro and that she is nothing. So she makes him burn.

Back on the Red Lantern's home world, Atrocitus is trying to find out who took the corpse of Krona. We see his doll fetish again, and by doll fetish I mean his child's falling doll from when he was killed. He happens about some of the first Red Lanterns that he tried to create and ended up burying centuries ago. Abysmus and his Abysmorphs.

I know, I laughed too.

Abysmus is wearing the skin of Krona, so Atrocitus decides that it will be just like killing Krona himself and attacks. The Red Lantern of earth lands in the middle of the fight just in time for Atrocitus to get a spike rammed through his chest. End of issue.

While the story does pick up pace greatly, I kept wondering why this didn't go down in previous issues. This issue was major plot advancement and the past couple of issues that we could have done without should have been replaced with this issue.

I'm kinda torn with this issue. I am glad that it is picking up pace, but I'm saddened because they seem like lame plot points and twists. The first Red Lanterns? Aren't they doing that over in Green Lantern with the Guardians searching for the first Green Lanterns? The Red Lantern from earth is someone I could care less about. His big go to - that he can speak and has somewhat coherent thoughts - was a trick already used with Bleez when she was given intelligence.

The more I think about the issue, the more I realize that the Red Lanterns are just a one note character. Bloody rage. In fighting, as in lots of. They haven't interacted with much of the other corps until this issue and I'm wondering why they couldn't have met up before.

The Art
Art duties got chopped up again this issue, and it has me worried a bit. Where it worked well in other issues, this one just is covered with weirdness and inconsistency. You can definitely tell where some solid ink work was done, and where some sketchy fill in was used.

Blah.

The Cover
Taken from a scene in the comic. Is it weird to say that it feels like it is too up close of a shot? Standard unimpressive superhero cover with two distinct colors fighting it out.

Grades
Words: 6/10 - I like that it is picking up the pace, I just think it is old ideas being reused.
Pictures: 5/10
Recommend: If you were waiting to see an issue of Red Lanterns pick up the pass and have been skipping lately, come see it. If you are new to this, Guy Gardner's appearance won't make sense, you won't get the deal about Sinestro members cutting off their fingers, and the ending ends on such an abrupt line that will just leave you feelings deflated. And Rancorr has yet to be referred to by name in the comic even though the solicitations the past couple of months have been referring to him as such.
Buy Next Issue: If this situation doesn't develop into something better by next issue, I may be done.

Previous Issues