My God, The Nonsense Continues in Flash 10

Quite a lot going on this issue. As a Los Angeles police cadet, Bart Allen attends a class where the teacher presents an unsolved murder from five years ago. The victim was found decapitated, and the head was never found. Bart Allen channels his grandfather and takes up the case. He fairly quickly determines that the man had his head frozen, then busted to pieces. This cold case was truly...a cold case. Bart questions Icicle, Mr. Freeze, then finally Len Snart, aka Captain Cold. Why didn't he put Snart off a little longer and question Killer Frost as well? So he finally determines that his own rogue via lineage is the killer and attempts to apprehend him. During Bart's reverse homicide investigation, we see Zoom viewing a moment in ancient history, accompanied by a mysterious hooded figure who is attempting to hire Zoom for some kind of assignment. Back to Bart's attempt to capture Captain Cold, the fight ends with Bart grabbing Snart by the shirt, just as Zoom appears and the real fight begins. Meanwhile, Jay finds himself fighting and capturing Heat Wave, then depositing him handcuffed in what appears to be an armored prison transportation vehicle. Inside, however, Inertia presents him with a huge opportunity that is so big it places getting rid of Flash - as a bonus. Bart trades blows with Zoom, and somehow overcomes the yellow speedster. When Bart asks who sent him after our hero, he points to Iris West Allen, who wears a skin tight body suit, long flowing cap, and a futuristic weapon aimed at Bart. Okay...where do I begin? First off, Bart considers practically every other cold-themed villain before his own natural antagonist. Okay, the kid probably had his reasons. Then, Jay captures HeatWave, and then supposedly cuffs and sticks him in a vehicle without speaking to an officer, then just speeds off? Jay is fast enough he could have handed HeatWave off to an actual officer, then he might have noticed Inertia hiding there. Oh, well, I guess Jay had a lot to do and just opened, shoved HW inside, and shut the armored door without looking. Makes sense. And of course, newly appointed Flash Bart Allen pretty easily defeats Zoom, a guy who alone gave Wally a hard time (to say the least)? Okay, so Zoom is having an off day. And the issue ends with Iris West Allen as the mastermind behind Zoom's attack? Now this ridiculousness is getting out of hand. What is the problem with leaving Iris alone? She's been through a lot over the many years of Flash history, and now she is cast as the big baddy who sends Zoom after her own grandson who is the latest Flash? Does anyone else have a headache here? That's all I will say for now, and see if maybe this supervillain Iris is actually an illusion and the real former Mrs. Barry Allen is vacationing somewhen else...

Our Dreams Have Come True! Gail Simone Gets WonderWoman!

She left Birds of Prey recently, seriously disappointng legions of fans who will miss her take on the super-heroine team. It truly benefitted from her special style of writing, and we all felt she had better be leaving to take a worthwhile project - something truly needing a regular, talented writer. Wonder Woman sprang up in most people's minds; this book (and the title character) is truly deserving of much better treatment than it has received since Greg Rucka's run ended just before Infinite Crisis began.
Our prayers have been answered!
Newsarama has just reported (the link is down at this moment) that Gail Simone is the new writer of the Amazing Amazon's exploits. This means WonderWoman will finally get the respect and treatment she deserves via Simone's witty, clever, askew and intelligent style of storytelling.
Ah...it's so good to be a Wonder Woman - and Gail Simone - fan these days!

Daredevil 96 - Mystery of Melvin Potter

This issue opens with Melvin Potter, better known as Daredevil supervillain Gladiator, in prison garb and being subdued by prison guards at Ryker's Island Prison. There are some prisoners with large buzzsaws sticking out from their backs, and Potter is doing the usual criminal mantra, "I didn't do this, I swear". In Hell's Kitchen, Daredevil has resumed his rounds and noting that in his and Iron Fist's absence (IF filled in as Daredevil), the criminals have become more brazen and the citizen's more frightened. He aims to fix that. Daredevil is familiar with the tactic being used where there is one lame crime used to distract while a second real crime is overlooked. With this in mind, DD goes after those who commit the second crime. As he stops them and begins questioning the crooks, they wind up killing each other and committing suicide. Daredevil is shocked, and wonders what they could have feared so much... The next morning, Matt Murdock receives a call regarding Melvin Potter, asked to defend him, which Matt turns down flat. Meanwhile, a friend contacts Becky, having become a partner with Matt and Foggy's law office. He urges her to take the Melvin Potter case, which she accepts. Back at the office, Matt and Foggy do not take it well, but listen to Becky's reasoning and agree to see Potter at the prison and hear his case. Using his "radar sense", Matt believes Potter is being truthful and that he is innocent of the murders at the prison. Later, Potter and another inmate are being escorted down some prison steps. The inmate is taunting Potter, and this eventually gets the better of him. Potter snaps his cuffs and beats on the offending inmate. He then headbutts the guard who falls to the bottom of the stairs. Potter then seems genuinely shocked to see blood on his hands as another guard steps out and sees his fallen comrade. This issue ends with Potter repeating that tired mantra, "I didn't do it". Ed Brubaker is a fantastic writer and proves this with each and every issue. This is the first of a five part arc, and it's already destined to be a classic Daredevil arc.

Action Comics 847 - Why Supes Is So Great

An excellent pause in the action, to focus mainly on a flashback to a little adventure Jonathan Kent shared with his Kryptonian son. As we saw last issue, General Zod not only freed several Kryptonian criminals from the Phantom Zone to be loosed upon the Earth, he has trapped Superman in that same Phantom Zone. Martha Kent is understandably distressed by the presence of several freed Kryptonian criminals, as she notes being just as powerful as Superman himself, but she is currently unaware of Kal's fate. To soothe her nerves some, Jonathan tells her a secret he shared with Kal, about a trip to the Fortress of Solitude which leads to a trip into space in a spaceship comprised of Kryptonian technology. During their trip through space in this fantastic ship, their father-son talk is interrupted by a crisis they hear about through the ship's translator from several light years away. Of course, Superman speeds off to save the trillions of people threatened by a sun eater with instructions for the ship to return Jonathan to Earth in three hours if Supes doesn't return by then. The story leads to Superman enduring intense pain and facing certain death to save a race of people he never met. Fortunately, Jonathan took it upon himself to fly the ship to Superman's location and ultimately save his son's skin with the ship. The recollection finishes, and Martha is comforted by the main lesson behind it: as long as Superman is in the fight, he will do everything in his power to defeat these renegade Kryptonians. Of course, the final panel reminds us of a painful truth: Superman is trapped in the Phantom Zone, very clearly out of the fight. Very nice recollection by Jonathan Kent, emphasising yet again just how good Superman is. I wonder if this is more than a simple story, and not possibly foreshadowing a use of that special space craft to ultimately free Kal and/or defeat Zod and his army? If we thought Supes (and Earth) was in trouble in Superman II, that was nothing compared to this prediciment. Speaking of which, loved the movie Fortress of Solitude and Phantom Zone shards used here. Very, very nicely done.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer 1 - Season Eight Begins

I have seen practically each episode of every season at least twice, and never bought a comic book featuring The Chosen one. When I heard that Dark Horse was starting a Buffy series, to be done as "season eight", and with Joss Whedon at the writing helm, it was a dream come true. I missed getting the first release of issue one, but fortunately it was re-released and this Buffy fan got his grubby little hands on a copy. Fantastic issue. Buffy is leading a humongous team of Slayers, divided into several smaller teams, and Xander is now her official right-hand man correlating them all. He's grown, both in stature and confidence, but fortunately doesn't find jokes beneath him. In essence, he is very much the Xander he's always been, only better. And I love his set up where he can keep tabs on all the Slayer teams. Meanwhile, the military is on her ass as they seem to blame Buffy and her "squads" for the gigantic crater in the ground that was once Sunnydale. There are also some scientists investigating underneath said crater, and we find they are not alone. On one of her sweeps, Buffy and her team of Slayers defeat some creatures who have already killed. The Slayers discover a sign on the chest of one of the dead, a symbol which resembles a star, sweep and horizon (a sunset?). Back at the Scottish castle where they headquarter, it appears Buffy's sister Dawn has done the most growing: she is now of gigantic proportions. She and Buffy have a typical sibling relationship, with plenty of hurtful barbs shot back and forth. Feeling ignored and overlooked by her older sister, Dawn has latched onto the missing Willow for support, and this development in turn hurts Buffy. To close out this phenomenal first episode of season eight, the military have an as-yet unseen person in a locked room. The final page reveals this person to be Amy, who holds a power sphere and wears a mischievous look on her face. Now, I have seen each episode of the late television series, but I am not absolutely positive as to who Amy is. I want to say Willow's girlfriend, but didn't she die in the final episode? It's now been a few years ago so my recall on certain things is a little hazy. Anyway, with Joss Whedon writing at least a season's worth of stories, this title looks to be going to phenomenal heights where I am concerned.

Mighty Avengers 1 - A New Era For The Avengers

This issue is fun to read from start to finish. This was something of a surprise given that this story comes right after the conclusion of Civil War, which I was fully expecting to be marked by darkness and moping around. Instead, there is a Tony Stark who seems overall confident and having a clear vision of the future and putting together a new Avengers team with Ms. Marvel that really brings out an old-school feel for this long-time fan while offering a new line-up that while provide some new character dynamics. It would certainly be absurd to lack any reference to Captain America and Civil War; in fact, those references made to Civil War are more negative than anything, with Ms. Marvel pointing out how useless The Sentry was during the whole thing and Ares, god of war, calling the whole thing a “slap fight". Perfect. The gathering of the team is done in this one oversized issue via several flashback scenes which are intermixed with an ongoing battle raging in downtown New York between the new Avengers and a variety of monsters. We learn that Tony Stark has chosen Ms. Marvel to lead the Avengers as he’s rather occupied being the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. The team’s roster is an interesting one that feels more like classic Avengers than it's sister title New Avengers does. I like the introduction of each new member and how they are made through a balance of the conversation between Tony Stark and Carol Danvers with a nice sequence of the Avenger being discussed battling the monsters... a really nice touch there. Incidentally, the interaction between these two strong-willed superheroes and the way they react to the inclusion of the different members shows a lot of promise for some pretty interesting team dynamics, and that is beside the personality dynamics of the other members, which is also very promising indeed. Artist Frank Cho is best known for his drawing of beautiful women. Here however, he doesn’t overplay the cheesecake factor. None of the female Avengers’ forms clash with how they’re usually portrayed and overall he just draws some rather nice superhero action. His Ares actually looks and acts like a cross between Thor and Wolverine, (Carol's description here), and I actually find myself liking his inclusion. Though hardly a traditional superhero artist, Cho’s crisp, clean art style adds to the whole superheroic feel of the book, with the Avengers ripping and smashing their way through hordes of monsters without it ever feeling at all gory or wrong. The story concludes with an appearance by Mole Man, the presumed perpetrator but, as it turns out, fellow victim. This leads to a bizarre transformation of Iron Man, and the new Avengers team face to face with a new, female Ultron! This is easily the most fun Avengers issue I’ve read in a long while, easily my favorite of the current two. Nearly everything about this comic works as Bendis seems to effortlessly combine good old superheroics with his usual trademark banter. This isn’t an issue that relies on reader nostalgia. It’s a new take on the Avengers that incorporates many of the elements that fans have always looked for in this team. A truly great start to a promising series...

Green Lantern 18 : Mystery of the Star Sapphire

After Superman and Batman, Hal Jordan's Green Lantern is my all-time favorite comic book character, and everything Geoff Johns has done with him has been fantastic. The last story arc was a great one that not only furthers the development of the Sinestro Corps, but advanced the relationship between Hal and his latest love interest. It also tied up a lot of loose ends that have been around since the beginning of this series and also set in motion the current events taking place in Hal Jordan's life. So what can Johns do to complicate Hal’s life even more and up the ante in terms of story? Bring in his ex-girlfriend Carol Ferris. This latest issue of Green Lantern opens up with Carol thirty minutes late for a board meeting. Carol Ferris late? Back in the day that would never happen; she was always on time and always the first to tear into Hal Jordan if he was ever late. However, Carol has taken to the skies herself, something not uncharacteristic of her, but something she wouldn’t do years ago knowing there was a board meeting. It’s almost as if just knowing Hal is alive has inspired her to go out herself and grab life by the horns. Of course, any regular reader of Green Lantern knows that the Zamaron rock that powers Star Sapphire is back on Earth and in search of a new host. Who better to host the Star Sapphire and go after Hal Jordan than the original Zamaron Princess herself, Carol Ferris? Now, at the end of last issue, I figured it would be Hal's latest love interest, Jillian "Cowgirl" Pearlman, figuring Carol was a figure mostly relegated to the past. There’s so much sexual tension between Hal Jordan and Cowgirl, and I figured that's where the Zamaron rock would go, while thinking it would be sweeter to bring back Carol Ferris and her past alter ego; Geoff Johns and I were on the same page: While he may always have a number of women in his life, there has to be one who equally balances Hal. Once it was Carol Ferris. Now it is the equally skilled pilot, Jillian Pearlman. The two have been through quite a bit, and Cowgirl is turned on to Hal even more knowing he is Green Lantern. As much as I love Carol Ferris, I have become quite fond of Cowgirl. She’s pretty close to being the female version of Hal Jordan and in terms of being in a relationship, she is his equal. They definitely have put themselves out there for each other also hold back, so why not add even more tension and bring in Hal’s ex-girlfriend? A beautiful development. Getting back to the story, Star Sapphire/Carol Ferris rips into the bar looking for Hal and finds him with Cowgirl. Now it's no secret that Hal Jordan gets around, but this moment was pretty classic. There’s of course Hal, the sexy southern babe and hotshot pilot Cowgirl, and the super-powered, super-hot, possessed ex-girlfriend. That’s quite a predicament we find Hal in. Super-powered or not, Cowgirl doesn’t back down from Star Sapphire and is ready to fight back. In a great Hal Jordan moment, he emerges from the rubble of the bar as Green Lantern simply stating “there’s enough of me to go around". Now this is the Hal Jordan I always knew: the arrogance and the confidence I know and love. But wait, there’s a twist! This Star Sapphire is seeking out the perfect host body that the chosen Hal Jordan desires. Through that body Hal is supposed to impregnate the Star Sapphire so that the Zamarons can breed. Complications arise in the fact that Carol has married and has seemingly gotten over Hal, so who next can Star Sapphire find as host through the woman who Hal desires? A blond Star Sapphire? My guess at the end of last issue comes true, as Carol's body is freed in order to make Cowgirl the latest Star Sapphire. Nice twist, Geoff Johns. Daniel Acuna, fresh off of the fantastic Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, steps in to provide the art this month. Acuna does a fantastic job with this issue of Green Lantern and really captures the abilities of Hal’s ring and also captures each character in flight very well, my only complaint is Hal's hair: it looks like he just stepped out of the shower and let his hair dry that way. With the upcoming onslaught by the Sinestro Corps, it seems fitting that “Tales of the Sinestro Corps” find their way into the back of Green Lantern. For those who don’t know the total history of the Sinestro Corps, it is a relatively new idea, but it is also wilder and much more organized than simply a bunch of renegade Green Lanterns. I personally love the idea and think that it is about time Sinestro got his upgrade to major, major baddie he is shaping up to be. The Sinestro Corps is definitely shaping up to be a huge event that will not only involve the Green Lanterns but the DC Universe as a whole.