Wednesday Comics for 21 May 2014

Batman and Robin #31: Batman teams up with Frankenstein('s monster) to track down Ra's and recover Damien's body. After a brief misunderstanding with some yetis (?), the issue ends on a "cliffhanger" that I'm betting will turn out to be the resurrection of Damien. These team-up books are starting to wear thin; I wish they'd just bring him back already and be done with it. 

Batwoman #31: This issue feels really short (probably due to the Superman preview), but a lot happens. Batwoman wraps up the Wolf Spider case. The Spider gets away, but we get definite confirmation as to his real identity (which was obvious from the start, IMHO). We also get a brief glimpse of a woman whom I'm guessing will be the next big bad. This was a pretty solid issue - excellent fight scene and some nice characterization with Kate and Mags, although it seems like they might be heading for trouble in their relationship. Why can't DC let its heroes be happy?

Forever Evil #7: This ending took FOREVER (ha!) to get here, but it was pretty satisfying when all is said and done. There's some interesting character work with Lex (his bromance with Bizarro is the stuff ships sail on), and the Crime Syndicate gets (mostly) taken care of. 

Justice League #30: I'm pretty sure this is the only series still milking the "Forever Evil" nonsense. Lex attempts to join the League, but Superman puts his foot down. Poor Clark is having a hard time concentrating because he normally filters out ambient chatter...unless people mention Lex Luthor. Which they're doing constantly. That was my favorite bit from the book. The rest was okay; I'm curious to see if Lex blackmails Bruce to get on the team or what. 

Lola XOXO #2: The storytelling was a little confusing in this issue. We met a lot of new characters, including some carnies who were forced to fight wild animals (how very Ancient Rome) and Edgar, Lola's new boss. The art is still amazing (Siya's sketchy style is perfect for the post-apocalyptic setting), but I'm wondering where the story is going. Looking forward to issue three!

Saga #19: Oh, man. I love this story so much. There was a major time jump, so now we have Hazel as an adorable toddler hiding out on a neutral planet with her crazy family. The art is gorgeous as usual (the opening page is quite...interesting), and the characters are as dynamic and lovable as ever. BUT the issue ends on a pretty heavy cliffhanger that I'm hoping is just a big fake-out, ala Lying Cat's death. 

Wonder Woman #31: Some big things are happening, and I'm so glad this book doesn't tie in to the events going on in the rest of the DCU. Diana is still adjusting to being a god and queen, Hades is gone (dead?), and the Amazons are learning how to deal with a man on the island. It's all leading to an epic battle, and I can't wait to see oh it turns out. I'm really going to miss this creative team. 

Wednesday Comics for 30 April 2014

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).