Hey guys! It’s time for a dose of DC Reviews. This batch is not nearly as heavy as last week’s, but there are still some good books to be read!
Minor Spoilers Ahead!
Batman: Streets of Gotham #12
Writer: Paul Dini co-feat. Marc Andreyko
Artist(s): Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs co-feat. Jeremy Haun
Cover Art: Dustin Nguyen
Publisher: DC
This issue focused mainly around Jenna Duffy, a con artist that has now become a carpenter to Gotham’s richest villains. We start off watching Duffy incite a bar brawl then immediately being propositioned for a new job. It appears that Gotham attracts even those Hollywood types, as the Director makes his very first appearance. On the other side of town Damian has been doing some major spending, having bought his new friend Abuse a garage and motorbike. While this feels almost like a filler story, I do appreciate the fairly steady pace this series has. The way that these issues have been set up, shifting focus throughout Gotham without necessarily involving Batman, has allowed it to refrain from feeling like we’re jumping from one major event to another. 3.5/5
The Manhunter feature felt more like a setup issue this time around. The meta-human Ramsey, who also happens to be a child accompanied by his robot dog, beats the hell out of a gang of hoodlums. Jane Doe makes her come back, unfortunately, and unexplainably, she’s wearing Kate’s face. Overall, in my opinion, this has been one of the better Second Features. 3/5
Brightest Day #2
Writer(s): Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi
Artist(s): Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark, and Joe Prado
Cover Art: David Finch
Publisher: DC
The Brightest Day powers on and this week Firestorm and Martian Manhunter get the spotlight. First up we’ve got the newly resurrected Ronnie Raymond inexplicably stuck with Jason Rusch, the two had previously become paired upon Jason’s girlfriend’s death and Ronnie’s rebirth. The pairing has been fairly interesting to watch/read considering Jason still blames Ronnie for his gal’s death. We’re then graced with almost a retelling of Martian Manhunter’s first appearance. Honestly, I’ve never really cared for him. That being said, a certain scene with a certain psychotic female was pretty cool. We see a little bit of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, who have decided to take the fight directly to Hath-Set. And finally we’ve got Aquaman, who seems to be more in touch with the dead of the sea, than the living. I understand that since there were twelve individuals who were brought back, that the focus needs to keep shifting, but at the same time they’re not giving me enough to actually start to care about some of the characters I didn’t already enjoy. That being said, Deadman is a character I do like and without giving away too much, I am looking forward to his role in the next issue. 3.5/5
Superman: War of the Supermen #3
Writer: James Robinson and Sterling Gates
Artist(s): CAFU & Bit
Cover Art: Eddy Barrows
Publisher: DC
It’s the penultimate issue of this four-issue mini-series and it’s by far the best of the bunch, to date. With only one more issue to go, it was really time to step up and this issue has done just that! General Lane, aided by none other than Lex Luthor himself, had previously turned the yellow sun red, effectively shutting off all of the Kryptonian’s powers. However, not everything was going so smoothly for General Lane. Superboy and his gang of Super-folk tore through the Mt. Rushmore base, saving Natasha Irons. Sensing the danger her fellow Kryptonians were in (having lost their powers due to the red sun, the Kryptonians found themselves choking in space) Thara Ak-Var, a.k.a Flamebird, makes the ultimate sacrifice destroying the false Rao, reverting the red sun back to yellow, killing herself in the process. I never got around to actually caring about Flamebird but I’m sure she will be missed. With their numbers stripped down to a mere ten thousand, the Kryptonians make their final stand. The Kryptonian army shreds through Earth’s defenses killing Prime Ministers, destroying capital buildings, defeating superheroes, and it seems like nothing can stop them. This was definitely more fast paced, filled with more action, and overall more exciting than the previous two issues had been. I do question, however, the necessity to destroy New Krypton and methodically kill off all the Kryptonians after having spent years developing their existence. 4/5
Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net
I agree about Brightest Day (I just typed out Blackest Night out of habit) shifting so much it’s hard to get a grasp on some of the characters. Since I’m not as well read in DC as Marvel, characters like Firestorm just don’t connect with me and I find myself waiting for someone I do care about to come along.
I’m really digging Brightest Day. I think the pace and level of action is perfect.
I also really liked that issue of Streets. The C list characters are growing on me!
I’m with Mattie B, the characters that have returned for Brightest Day just don’t do anything for me. I could care less about those characters.
I wanted the original Azrael back, dammit!
Deadman will definitely have his hands full next issue!
Pingback: Tweets that mention Crisis of Infinite Reviews: 05/19/10 -- Topsy.com
@Mattie- I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Firestorm ever since Identity Crisis.
Regarding Brightest Day, while I’m interested in it as a whole, there are certain characters I can’t find myself caring about.
Arnab it’s good know I’m not alone in liking Firestorm on here!!
War of the Supermen sounds great.
I was sad to see Flamebird die, which is surprising, even to me because I’ve never read anything with her until this issue. (I’m hesitant to write that because if it’s untrue and I’ve forgotten, I’ll get a lecture from Arnab, for sure.) Also, the art is still not working for me. Compared to Streets of Gotham (because I think Batman has the best art), War of the Supermen makes me cringe. I don’t know, maybe I’m being too harsh.
@ Billy War of the Supermen really stepped it up a notch this week. If I had any hesitance in suggesting it before, this week has completely erased any of that. I’m definitely stoked to see how it all ends this week.
@InfiniteSpeech, as odd as this sounds, I’ve liked Firestorm ever since Ronnie died during Identity Crisis. Just the way that scene was written was great.
@Anisa, no lecture here.
I think I might like Firestorm more if he wasn’t actually two people, or at least if the second person wasn’t quite so annoying.
I do appreciate how the story is unfolding, though, but only because it’s a bi-weekly story (bi-monthly? Whichever one means every two weeks). I think if there was so much crammed into just one monthly issue, the pace would be far too slow.