Avengers: The Children's Crusade #4: Ok, I love the Young Avengers. I do. I'd love them even if they didn't have the most functional gay couple depicted, like, anywhere in fiction. The first few issues of this arc were great, because the Young Avengers are at their best when they're doing what adults tell them not to do. But, here's the thing. This series feels more like a companion series to what should be a much larger series, one detailing the return of the Scarlet Witch. I mean, at the end of the day, we don't know that Billy and Tommy are the Witch's "spiritual" children, so it's still a little weird every time they're presented as such, no questions asked. Plus, the bi-monthly format is really starting to get to me. Is it really going to be a year before it's resolved? At this point, given that the story is spinning its wheels a bit, I feel we probably could've had a six-issue monthly series and felt satisfied. Hopefully Heinberg's got some great stuff in store.
Batman #706: The latest installment in the "Hear No Evil/See No Evil/Speak No Evil" story arc is great. I've really enjoyed this arc, because it's fleshing out Dick's cast of characters. Catwoman, Catgirl, Robin, Peacock, I Ching, Sensei: some old, some new, all awesome. I loved Dick noting Damian's sudden interest in girls and Damian denying it in a perfectly adolescent way. Their dynamic is the best part of "Batman and Robin" and I'm really glad to see Daniel keep it going in "Batman." (Plus, can you imagine how much trouble a horny Damian could find? The mind boggles.) I liked how Dick defied Bruce by asking for Catgirl's help. It shows that he's still running the show in Gotham and he'll do what he needs to do, even if it's not exactly what Bruce told him to do. Like most Batman stories, I'm still a little lost with the plot mid-way through the arc, though I'm sure all will be revealed in the end. I'm still not sure who actually walked into the antiques shop in issue #704 (I thought it was Sensei, but, based on his comments in this issue, I think he had already killed the proprietor before the shadowy figure arrived) and I'm still not sure how Dick knew to go to Prof. Sinnot's home in #705. The Riddler connection is intriguing, and I hope we get to see some great Riddler/Robin banter in the next issue. In other words, it's vintage Batman.
Batman: Streets of Gotham #19: The "House of Hush" story arc continues here. It's kind of been on a slow burn, and it doesn't get faster here. The bulk of the story is a recollection by one of Judson Pierce's henchmen of his teenage encounter with the Joker. It's a pretty good story, but I have to say that I'm ready for something to happen in this arc. Despite being billed last issue as the primary feature, the "House of Hush" story actually took a back seat, page-wise, to the Ragman second feature (which doesn't appear in this issue at all), so it's been a while since something, you know, happened.
Dungeons & Dragons #3: This series is seriously well written. The characters are really well defined, despite the series only being three (well, four, including #0) issues into the run. Rogers does an excellent job, for example, making Bree Three-Hands into a really fun character while, at the same time, setting up the possibility that she's going to sell the entire team down the river at some point. The running jokes about Adric's poorly-laid plans haven't gotten old, and I'm always surprised how, at the end of the issue, Fell's Five find themselves in a worse position than they were at the end of the previous issue. It's occasionally a little hard to follow what's happening, given how fast the action moves, but I'll forgive that just because the action is so well depicted.
Legion of Super-Heroes #9: Um, I think I'm kind of done with the Legion. I subscribed to the stand-alone comic based on the Legion back-up features during Superboy's run in "Adventure Comics." But, I just ended "Adventure Comics" because I have no interest in the Legion Academy and I can't say the Durlan assassination plot is really all that interesting. This storyline clearly could've been handled in one or two issues, rather than four or five. Watching everyone just stand around the United Planets hall waiting for poorly-executed assassination attempts isn't exactly worth $2.99 a month, to my mind (nor, apparently, to Timber Wolf's).
Batman #706: The latest installment in the "Hear No Evil/See No Evil/Speak No Evil" story arc is great. I've really enjoyed this arc, because it's fleshing out Dick's cast of characters. Catwoman, Catgirl, Robin, Peacock, I Ching, Sensei: some old, some new, all awesome. I loved Dick noting Damian's sudden interest in girls and Damian denying it in a perfectly adolescent way. Their dynamic is the best part of "Batman and Robin" and I'm really glad to see Daniel keep it going in "Batman." (Plus, can you imagine how much trouble a horny Damian could find? The mind boggles.) I liked how Dick defied Bruce by asking for Catgirl's help. It shows that he's still running the show in Gotham and he'll do what he needs to do, even if it's not exactly what Bruce told him to do. Like most Batman stories, I'm still a little lost with the plot mid-way through the arc, though I'm sure all will be revealed in the end. I'm still not sure who actually walked into the antiques shop in issue #704 (I thought it was Sensei, but, based on his comments in this issue, I think he had already killed the proprietor before the shadowy figure arrived) and I'm still not sure how Dick knew to go to Prof. Sinnot's home in #705. The Riddler connection is intriguing, and I hope we get to see some great Riddler/Robin banter in the next issue. In other words, it's vintage Batman.
Batman: Streets of Gotham #19: The "House of Hush" story arc continues here. It's kind of been on a slow burn, and it doesn't get faster here. The bulk of the story is a recollection by one of Judson Pierce's henchmen of his teenage encounter with the Joker. It's a pretty good story, but I have to say that I'm ready for something to happen in this arc. Despite being billed last issue as the primary feature, the "House of Hush" story actually took a back seat, page-wise, to the Ragman second feature (which doesn't appear in this issue at all), so it's been a while since something, you know, happened.
Dungeons & Dragons #3: This series is seriously well written. The characters are really well defined, despite the series only being three (well, four, including #0) issues into the run. Rogers does an excellent job, for example, making Bree Three-Hands into a really fun character while, at the same time, setting up the possibility that she's going to sell the entire team down the river at some point. The running jokes about Adric's poorly-laid plans haven't gotten old, and I'm always surprised how, at the end of the issue, Fell's Five find themselves in a worse position than they were at the end of the previous issue. It's occasionally a little hard to follow what's happening, given how fast the action moves, but I'll forgive that just because the action is so well depicted.
Legion of Super-Heroes #9: Um, I think I'm kind of done with the Legion. I subscribed to the stand-alone comic based on the Legion back-up features during Superboy's run in "Adventure Comics." But, I just ended "Adventure Comics" because I have no interest in the Legion Academy and I can't say the Durlan assassination plot is really all that interesting. This storyline clearly could've been handled in one or two issues, rather than four or five. Watching everyone just stand around the United Planets hall waiting for poorly-executed assassination attempts isn't exactly worth $2.99 a month, to my mind (nor, apparently, to Timber Wolf's).
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