How The $oss Reviewed His Pull-List on Christmas

If I give something a bad review this week it's not because my heart is two sizes too small:

Fantastic Four #601

More intergalactic ridiculousness. Enough with The Kree and The Inhumans. For six solid months Reed Richards and crew have been on a strict diet of space battles. The Fantastic Four works best as a title when it mixes things up, some space travel and aliens some alternate reality and some standard super heroics. This has just been too much of one ingredient for my taste. I think I'm done reading this title for a little while.

Justice League #4

As DC's flagship title Justice League has the most hyped artistic team and the most glamourous heroes at it's disposal. Regardless of all these winning ingredients this is still a pretty bland book. The story is slow and the manner of introducing one hero per issue is turning any momentum this title could gather into sludge. I'm not emotionally attached to any of the characters. The whole thing feels rushed and hollow.

I know Gint will not like this but I have no problem with the way that Johns is portraying Hal Jordan. Isn't he supposed to be an arrogant dude who plays by his own rules? I loved when he touched Diana's truth lasso and started talking about how a lot of what he does is to impress people. That seems right in line with the young version of Hal to me. If this Green Lantern has never worked with any other heroes besides The Flash wouldn't it take some time for him to round into the level-headed version of Hal that we see years later in current Green Lantern books? To be honest Hal's immature actions are about the only tangible plot point that highlights the supposed five year difference in time. That is unless you count someone saying "I didn't think you really existed!" every other page. 

It is odd that a book loaded with A-list talent and characters isn't even in my Top 5 DC books.

Batman #4

Scott Snyder lost me a little bit with his flashback of Batman as a child detective. Writers can usually convince me that Bruce Wayne can do pretty much anything but at least make it the full grown Bruce. 

Greg Capullo's pencils are above average once again. I love the slightly cartoonish style that he brings to the table. It reminds me of the good qualities that some 90's comic art had. I said "some". He uses a variety of odd sized panels in this issue which is always a welcome change of pace from the norm. FCO Plasencia has provided amazing color work for this first arc. The gray, brown palette along with the red tinted Gotham night sky is a nice tip of the hat to Batman: The Animated Series. This remains my favorite of the Batman-centric titles I collect.

Here Comes Daredevil #2

I'm months behind on this title but I love what I had seen so far from. Pablo Rivera's work is truly something to behold. Simple, elegant lines that carry great energy are his forte and I've never seen an artist visually capture Matt Murrdock's powers quite like this. I really enjoy the way that he moves his characters thru the page, unrestrained by boundaries of panels. He creates his own structure as he goes along. This new Daredevil book is worth picking up strictly to watch Rivera at work.

Wonder Woman #4

Diana and company travel to London while back on Themyscira the goddess Herra drops by to have a chat with Queen Hippolyta. Brian Azzarello dives deeper into Wonder Woman's feelings of isolation and betrayal from her sister Amazon's. We also are witness to the punishment for Hippolyta's adulteress actions. It seems as if all of Themyscira must pay for her transgressions.  

Cliff Chiang continues to prove that he was the perfect choice as penciler for this book. His Amazon women are convincingly strong and sexy at the same time. 

I agree with Gint's comments that this book feels disconnected from the rest of the DCU. However, I think introducing other DC heroes at this point in the story would feel unnatural since most of this tale has been told on Diana's home island. Leave the cameo's for next arc and let Azzarello and Chiang build the foundation for this new Wonder Woman and her intriguing cast of supporting characters. -$

Panel of the Week: Mike Mignola's Hellboy delivering Christmas cheer.