Last week while I was talking to the manager of my local comic shop I found out that while DC is clearly the #2 seller of comics behind Marvel, the gap between the two is roughly 5 to 2. For every 2 books DC sells, Marvel sells 5. That's a MUCH greater disparity than I thought. And I was also told that since the reboot was announced DC sales have plummeted even further. As a DC fan and supporter, this was hard to hear. More is riding on this reboot than I thought and it makes questions like, "why are books like Voodoo and OMAC part of this reboot," even more astounding.
Anyway, on to the reviews...
In a well-deserved Fifth Place:
Flashpoint: Abin Sur: The Green Lantern #3
Well... this comic was a lesson in pointlessness. Absolutely nothing happens in this book that has any bearing on the Flashpoint story.
That's not entirely true. At the end Abin gets kicked out of the Corps and uses the remaining 1% of power in his ring (keep in mind 1% usually isn't even enough to generate a uniform) to stop Aquaman's Geo-Force Bomb and save Earth from exploding. A fairly key plot point, but since it happens in an ancillary book, not the main Flashpoint title, it comes off as something minor that happens off panel.
If the point of these Flashpoint books was to tell boring stories that don't impact anything, then this title succeeded.
It had the stink of "let's capitalize on the Green Lantern movie and do an Abin Sur book!" all over it.
Fourth Place:
Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #3
Unless you're getting the Lois Lane and Aquaman Flashpoint series, don't expect to get ANY kind of satisfying return for buying this series.
This hurts because I'm a huge fan of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. But the blame for a series with no resolution falls more so at the feet of the architects of Flashpoint, not the writers that had to write in certain parameters.
The most resolution we can hope for is that Wonder Woman's aunt and Aquaman's brother are the real culprits behind the Amazon/Atlantis war. Other than that? Who knows? The ends of the other stories are in other books.
Remember when Flashpoint was starting and DC said you didn't have to get all the books to know what was going on? Yeah, I remember that too.
Third Place:
Supergirl #67
Another book bites the proverbial dust leading up to the reboot. And this is one that almost deserves it.
When Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle were writing this book it had direction. It had good writing, interesting characters, and an overall feeling of what a Supergirl book should be that it rarely has been. Since Gates and Igle have left the title its been a rudderless mess.
Supergirl, for as popular as the character should be, is one of those characters that creators just never know what to do with.
This story by Kelly Sue Deconnick and Crisscross was fine. Cute. But that's about it.This was easily the least artwork-offensive issue of Crisscross' 3-issue run.
Farewell, Supergirl. Good luck in the New 52.
A respectable Second Place:
Green Lantern Corps #63
Written by Scott Kolins with art by Joe Prado, Kolins, Freddie Williams II and Daniel HDR, this issue is a nice little filler issue. Too many times over the last year or so I've talked about how I'd like to read some issues about the down-time between giant Universe-shaking stories. This issue, like War of the Green Lanters: Aftermath, covers that.
Kolins does a nice job with his art. He draws way better aliens that humans. The other artists were the class of the book though none of it was particularly outstanding.
The strength of this issue is Kolins' feel for the uneasy, almost volatile atmosphere on Oa after the Corps was taken over by Krona. With three separate stories, you get a look at how different Lanterns are dealing with their post-traumatic stress. As of right now I find Kolins to be a better writer than artist.
A First Place Farewell:
Superboy #11
This was a good book. With another beautiful cover by Karl Kerschl.
I believe this story would have been more enjoyable with a different artist. Say, Francis Manapul. Jeff Lemire's story was cool, and I'd have loved to have seen how he would grow Simon Valentine and Lori Luthor. BUT, the reboot calls so we'll never know.
Besides a couple ups and downs Lemire wrote a cool story arc. Superboy wins with the help of his friends of course and there's a nice clean finish to the story. But the entire time I just couldn't get into a groove with Pier Gallo's art. But a nice arc none the less.
So another book down as the New 52 looms. Jeff Lemire's Superboy, we hardly new ye.
Panel of the Week:
This week there is no Panel of the Week. I thought about posting the best option available this week, but there really wasn't one. There were a couple well-done panels, but nothing deserving of Panel of the Week. My favorite artwork this week: the Superboy #11 cover. (see above)
-Gint
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