A heavy week as I left the comic shop with eight books. Were they all good? Read on and find out...
Eighth Place:
Teen Titans #3
The Teen Titans' headlines this past week have been all about Bunker (dumb name) being super gay. But I really didn't think he was written all that gay. If I didn't read the headlines, I wouldn't know he was gay at all. And that's probably how writer Scott Lobdell wants it. I'm sure Miguel's homosexuality will be more on display as we learn more about the character, but this issue didn't put a spotlight on it. And also, Bunker is one of the few likeable characters in Lobdell's run so far.
Lobdell is setting up a handful of running plotlines that I hope dovetail soon. At some point I'm going to start forgetting stuff month to month. That probably says more about my misfiring brain than Lobdell's writing prowess.
This was an okay book. Not a glowing recommendation, but there are worse books out there.
Seventh Place:
Superman #3
Get comfortable. You're gonna be reading this one for a while. George Pérez is at it again cramming as much stuff as he can into one comic. Between his text and his breakdowns Nicola Scott's exceptional artwork barely gets room to shine. However, her work inside Pérez's breakdowns looks a lot better than previous artist Jesus Merino's.
This book has some nice moments that don't drag on like past issues. Oh, it has those moments too, but they're fewer and farther between than issues 1 and 2. The best parts of this issue are the subtle hints at the relationships between our classic characters in this DCnU. If Pérez did it on purpose, kudos, but I'm skeptical.
I'm still counting down to the new creative team, but this issue wasn't terrible. That's the best review I can give.
Sixth Place:
The Fury of Firestorm #3
I really want this book to be better. Its not bad, but its missing that intangible that normally gets me excited about reading a book. With the co-creative team of Ethan van Sciver and Gail Simone, this should be a no-brainer. But something is still missing.
We learn this issue that Professor Stein created Firestorm Protocols for every nuclear powered country so they'd each have a Firestorm for defense. Well, the US version, Helix, apparently went nuts and nuked a whole town including his kids and half of his wife's body. His wife, Director Zither, works for the covert government agency trying to corral our two heroes.
Yildiray Cinar's pencils are fine, but he can do better. He has the potential to really tighten up his artwork and make everything a little sharper.
I'm hoping van Sciver and Simone find a groove for this book because so far The Fury of Firestorm is a middle-of-the-pack effort.
Fifth Place:
Annihilators: Earthfall #3
Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning keep the space epic rolling in Earthfall. The Magus is back and has escalated the threat of the Universal Church of Truth to Earth and the extended Universe beyond.
The last two issues of this book have really hit a certain stride with the Annihilators that we haven't seen before. This book now feels more in-line with the tone of the Marvel U. that Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova started. DNA's time on their Flashpoint tie-ins and the first Annihilators' story had shaken my faith in them, but I feel its been restored.
The art of Tan Eng Huat is still pretty crappy. But its crappy in a way that's readable. I won't say enjoyable, but it apparently gets the job done because I don't get furious looking at his work. Its become amusing at this point.
As for the Rocket Raccoon and Groot backup story, DNA are clearly mailing it in. Its much less entertaining than their first backup tale and not as good as their appearances in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Fourth Place:
Green Lantern: New Guardians #3
Tony Bedard may have finally tapped in to what makes a Green Lantern book work. His work was up and down through his time on Green Lantern Corps., but these last couple issues of New Guardians have really been pretty good.
Bedard is setting up a mystery surrounding why one of each of the colored rings were drawn to Kyle Rayner, and he's doing it without dragging the story out. He's keeping the story pumping every issue so nothing feels dragged down. Three issues in and those eager for finally seeing where Larfleeze is get their wish.
The only negative this issue is the dual art duties from Tyler Kirkham and Harvey Tolibao. Tolibao isn't as strong as Kirkham and they're styles are different enough to be a little jarring when going from one's work to the other. I'd like to know why Kirkham isn't drawing this whole book because he didn't seem to have a problem keeping a schedule on Green Lantern Corps.
Bedard and Kirkham are proving me wrong in my assertion that a third Green Lantern book wasn't needed. Fingers crossed that they keep it up.
Third Place:
I, Vampire #3
This one took a couple reads to fully comprehend. Whether it was Joshua Fialkov's dialogue or the Penguins/Canadiens game in the background, I don't know.
Fialkov offers up a bit of DC vampire mythos trivia to the reader that our main antagonist and protagonist might not even know. If this book continues to do what it's been doing, this could provide a heart-wrenching plot twist for the end of this series.
Andrea Sorrentino, who I recently just found out is a dude, draws the heck out of this issue even though the gruesomeness is dialed way down from last issue.
The pace of the story has been sped up a little bit and we move closer to our first meeting between a vampire and an honest-to-goodness DC resident. I will most certainly keep reading.
Second Place:
Aquaman #3
The excitement for Aquaman continues. Geoff Johns clearly has this story planned out and is giving it a great pace. He's also laying hints for future stories and I'm hoping this doesn't become a Superboy situation where Johns writes 6 issues and is out. This could set up for a long successful run and I'd like to see it continue.
Arthur and Mera (who may be my new sexiest lady in comics) find out a little more about the Trench while getting a couple hints dropped about Arthur's past and the history of his trident.
The negative this issue: the inking. Joe Prado normally does a masterful job of inking Ivan Reis. And maybe its part Reis fault too. Bottom line is some of this work feels rushed. Some linework feels carelessly thrown on the page but its really not enough to hurt the book. Just a critical eye by yours truly.
First Place:
The Flash #3
This is a damn intelligent book. I've read that all the kooky science terms that Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato use are actual science terms and theorys, as crazy as they may sound. And the way these two are writing Barry's powers will really challenge any other Flash writers to up the ante.
Barry Allen is now able to tap his brain into the speed force. It gives him the ability to forsee a handful of different outcomes before he acts on a situation. This may sound like a nice deux ex machina for some situations, but so far Manapul and Buccellato use it very unobtrusively.
And its all beautifully illustrated by Manapul with expert colors by Buccellato. These dudes should really be proud of the produce they're creating. A+ work all the way around.
Panel of the Week:
Look at that hand-rendered text. I haven't done that since school and Manapul and Buccellato are using it to give The Flash a very unique quality by using some old school comics' tricks.
-Gint
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