The Fury of Firestorm The Nuclear Man #13
With Dan Jurgens on words and art, this book has a decidedly lighter tone than when Gail Simone and Ethan Van Sciver kicked it off for the New 52. And that's not a bad thing.
Its actually exactly what the character of Firestorm is about. The sci-fi bend of two high schoolers inhabiting one body to create a super hero plays out much better when treated as a more traditional super hero book than it does dark international thriller. The story may be fairly simple, but Jurgens' treatment of the characters makes it a fun book to read.
International intrigue is too dark for Firestorm. It may not be the sexiest book out there, but at least its on the right track now.
Justice League Dark #13
The JL Dark and Felix Faust continue to race to find the Books of Magic and Mikel Janin draws another impressive issue.
The ace up Faust's sleeve that surprises Contstantine and Zatanna is their old, previously dead, friend Nick Necro. He's back from Hell and apparently more powerful than ever. He's able to control a couple magical creatures and possess Deadman putting Constantine at a distinct disadvantage. He also control the House of Secrets which really puts our heroes on their heels.
Not much to say about this one other than another great job by Jeff Lemire and Janin.
I, Vampire #13
I, Vampire has been running along at a smooth pace since issue #1. It hasn't been deterred by bad/fill-in artists or lag in story. I can really appreciate that.
Andrew, our hero, has taken all the vampires evil spirits into himself. He's now waaaaay bad. Mary, our previous antagonist, is now human and our good guy. Josh Fialkov has managed to turn this entire book upside down in such a smooth fashion that you wouldn't even know the roles had been reversed. He totally avoided any kind of gimmicky storytelling and kept everything organic and real.
It upsets me that this book always seems to be on the cancellation bubble because its one of few books from the New 52 that has had all its trains running on time from the start.
The Flash #13
There are so many things I like about this book. What springs to mind this issue is, unlike Brian Azzarello's Wonder Woman, you feel like Frances Manapul and Brian Buccellato's Flash is the same one you read in Justice League. Its almost like Azzarello goes out of his way to write a different Wonder Woman than Geoff Johns.
The Gorilla's have landed in the Gem Cities and its up to the Flash and the Rogues to take them on. Its such a great, seemless super hero story, I just can't get enough of it. Manapul and Buccellato really know what they're doing with these characters. They have such distinct voices for them its hard to imagine I was ever worried when they got put on the book.
I can say Manapul and Buccellato's art is my favorite in the biz right now. There's never a sour note in the book.
Panel of the Week:
What Manapul and Buccellato's Flash gets credit for is something they call "reading the pictures. Not everything needs a caption or word balloon or sound effect as witnessed in Gorilla Grodd subtly sniffing in this panel featuring Grodd's nostrils.
-Gint
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