Forever Evil has been the series to beat the last few months and that continued this week.
Fourth Place:
Green Lantern #29
Its been a while since Green Lantern has fallen this far. What I really liked about this issue was seeing Hal back on Earth, albeit briefly, to visit his family. He pretty much tells them he's going to war and may never see them again. I feel like this scene would have carried more emotion under the guidance of Geoff Johns.
If you bought this book expecting to get a lot of Saint Walker who is featured on the cover, you'd be disappointed. Walker gets an entire 2 pages of screen time. But that's fine since its bullshit the avatar of hope in the galaxy is is being a pouty baby.
The most encouraging thing about this issue was finally seeing Hal get his shit together. He's been bumbling around leading the Corps since writer Robert Venditti took over, but this issue he starts to put some things in place and looks more like the Hal Jordan we expect to see.
Third Place:
Hawkeye #15 and #16
Since I keep forgetting I get this book, we're playing catch-up and doing a double-book review. The long and short is #15 focuses on Clint and is great, and #16 focuses on Kate and sucks.
When this book kicked off, Kate Bishop was a revelation. The way Matt Fraction played her off of Clint, making her snarky and clever was brilliant. But in these later issues since Kate's gone off on her own, a little too much of the writer is bleeding through. Its not the fully realized character of Kate we're reading, but an uber-clever extension of Matt Fraction. Every word of her dialog in this issue is a witty zinger. Including a groan inducing line referencing Lars Ulrich and Napster. It subtracts from the depth of the character we've previously seen.
But Clint and the story surrounding him and the bros trying to take his building is still top notch. What helps is David Aja is drawing the majority of that story. Annie Wu pencilled the Kate-centric book and while very good, just doesn't have the magic Aja does with Fraction's story.
Still... one of the best books on the stands.
Second Place:
Nova #14
The incredible Paco Medina takes a month off and instead we get an issue pencilled by David Baldeon. He does a pretty nice job, but his style is a Paco Medina knock-off, and like all knock-offs, just doesn't quite live up to the original. Ultimately, its the story I'm interested in.
Gerry Duggan takes us back into some of the previously developed Dan Abnett-Andy Lanning Marvel Space-lore. Nova and Beta Ray Bill go to Knowhere, the old base of the good Guardians of the Galaxy and even find Cosmo, the Russian space dog. We even see a Beta Ray Bill flashback featuring what LOOKS like the missing Richard Rider. It could just be a conspiracy theorist's hope, but I want to think we're getting to a place where we're going to find Rider.
Good stuff from Marvel this issue, but I'll be eager to get back to Paco Media's work next issue.
First Place:
Forever Evil #6
The penultimate chapter of Geoff Johns and David Finch's evil epic really cranks things up. Between the fate of Dick Grayson, the identity of the hooded prisoner being revealed and the major throwdown between the Syndicate and Luthor's team... there's a lot of really awesome stuff that Johns will hopefully pay off the right way.
What really stood out this issue was the brutal nature of the fighting. Between the Syndicate and Luthor's squad, neither team believes in taking prisoners. David Finch draws some absolutely gruesome panels as neither team gives a fuck about pulling punches. I applaud Johns for really opening up the no-holds-barred nature of the characters involved.
For as lauded as Johns is, he also has the stigma of not being able to finish satisfactorily. This book has been damn impressive so far. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Johns and Finch can bring it all home next month.
Panel of the Week:
Sinestro transports Luthor's team to the Syndicate's base... in the old Legion of Doom headquarters. A very nice touch by Finch.
-Gint
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