Batgirl Annual #2: This was an interesting team-up of sorts between Batgirl and Poison Ivy. Piggy-backing off an old Bird of Prey story (featuring my beloved Starling, so you know it's from a while ago), this issue had Babs becoming increasingly frustrated with Ivy, whose health deteriorated with the change in seasons (and who tried to kill the BoP). I'm not a huge Ivy fan, but I liked this characterization of her: she's plant-based, so it makes sense that her health would fade as the seasons change. I also loved getting to see pre-betrayal Starling and look forward to the day that whole mess gets retconned. It probably would've worked better as a BoP annual, but it was a nice break and insight into one of the DCU hero-villains with whom I'm less familiar.
Batman Eternal #4: The best issue of this weekly yet! Of course, it's co-written by John Layman and pencilled by Dustin Nguyen, which probably explains my bias. Batgirl is not dealing with her father's imprisonment very well, which leads to a confrontation with Batman (she even punches him - twice!) and to her beating up Pyg's henchmen. I'm worried for Gordon; it doesn't seem like being locked in Blackgate with a bunch of criminals he put on there will lead to a long, happy life for him. More importantly, Stephanie is still on the run from her father and may have placed her trust in the wrong person.
Batwoman Annual #1: This was awful. I usually love Batwoman, but this annual was a confusing mess. It apparently wrapped up events from six issues ago, but all it did was make me wonder what on earth was going on. The art was not as good as normal, either. Overall I just found this disappointing, especially compared with what I've been getting from this series.
Chew #41: Chew is consistently the funniest, most innovative comic I read every month. This issue is no exception! Tony, Amelia, and Colby head to Vegas for an FDA convention. Tony gets called in to work a case...the morning after his drunken, Elvis-officiated wedding! I loved seeing Tony work this case with Amelia tagging along because he's evolved so much as a character. It's great to see him really step up into the hero role, but I worry about what Layman has in store for him. Guillory's art is great, as usual. I especially enjoyed this splash page:
That's a tattoo of Ian Malcolm on that unisaurus's belly. There are so many great visual jokes!
Flash Annual #3: The plot of this issue alternates between present-day Barry, who is still trying to recover from the aftermath of Forever Evil, and future Barry, who is trying fighting Gorilla Grodd and trying to come back in time to kill his past self. There were two different artists on this issue which was a nice visual cue to help differentiate between timelines. Story-wise, we're building to a Flash vs. Flash showdown, and we also get the New 52 Wally West!
Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #4: Another great issue! The gang teams up with some new faces to infiltrate a medical base and save some young women who (like River) were being used in experiments. We also check in on Zoe, who's still trapped on a prison planet but will probably get rescued by Mal and crew soon. Georges' art is beautiful - he manages to capture the actors perfectly without resulting to photorealism (which can be creepy and distracting).
Flash Annual #3: The plot of this issue alternates between present-day Barry, who is still trying to recover from the aftermath of Forever Evil, and future Barry, who is trying fighting Gorilla Grodd and trying to come back in time to kill his past self. There were two different artists on this issue which was a nice visual cue to help differentiate between timelines. Story-wise, we're building to a Flash vs. Flash showdown, and we also get the New 52 Wally West!
Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #4: Another great issue! The gang teams up with some new faces to infiltrate a medical base and save some young women who (like River) were being used in experiments. We also check in on Zoe, who's still trapped on a prison planet but will probably get rescued by Mal and crew soon. Georges' art is beautiful - he manages to capture the actors perfectly without resulting to photorealism (which can be creepy and distracting).
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