New Comics! (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Justice League #11:  Holy effing crap.  Johns kicked it up a notch this issue.

First, Johns lets the ticking time-bomb of mistrust that he established last issue explode into a titanic fight first between Wonder Woman and Green Lantern and then essentially Wonder Woman and the Justice League.  But, Johns doesn't let it devolve into just your run-of-the-mill, hero-misunderstanding battle royale.  He uses it to advance both Diana and Hal past the caricatures that he's mostly portrayed them as being for most of this series.  We see Diana have actual human emotions when she realizes that Steve has been put in danger because of her, and Johns makes it clear that it was her fear over just this situation that made her break off their relationship in the first place.  She's still more reserved than the Wonder Woman of the DCU, but at least now we can add "worried" to her previous emotions of "detached" and "enraged."  (I loved the comment that she made to Hal:  "This isn't giving me any pleasure.  But I'm sure you've heard that before."  I mean, how good was that line?  It's actually the moment when I felt like, somewhere under the Amazonian warrior-princess exterior Diana might actually have a personality.  It's not necessarily the personality that she had in the DCU, but at least it's something.  At this point, I'll take what I can get.)  But, Johns doesn't just stop with Diana.  He also uses the moment to give us the real Hal, peeling back the douchey exterior to reveal some actual feelings.  Hal tries to stop Diana from going after Graves herself, telling her that he understands why she feels responsible for Steve's fate.  When Diana dismisses him as an idiot who can't take anything remotely seriously, he retorts that the Justice League is a picnic compared to his time in outer space.  It's a great moment, because it reminds us that Hal might be a douche, but he's a douche for a reason.  Johns also adds in other moments of characterization throughout the issue, like Batman refusing to answer Flash's question about the vision he saw when Graves fed off the League's mystery, furthering the idea that he doesn't trust any of them yet.  But, it's Johns' work with Diana and Hal that really makes the issue and starts to make this series feel like it may have some heart buried underneath the clever lines and beautiful art.

Speaking of the art, Lee was also on fire here.  The splash pages that we get -- Wonder Woman shattering Green Lantern's bubble and later kicking Superman across the jaw-- don't feel gratuitous, instead conveying the seriousness of each situation.

Returning to the story, we still need some answers, though Johns seems poised to give them to us in the next issue.  We learn that Graves and his family died of a mysterious illness that Graves blames on their exposure to Darkseid.  But, since no one else seemed affected by it, it seems pretty clear that it wasn't Darkseid's fault.  (I loved Hal's line about the Justice League being the scapegoat for "every super-powered psycho out there.")  I'm guessing that it was caused by something at the writing cabin, turning Graves' sanctuary into his worst nightmare, but I guess we'll see.  Johns also leaves some hints about Cyborg's true nature, since he not only can see the entrance to the Valley of Souls -- something that only someone walking the line between life and death can see -- but also sees his own soul in the Valley.  But, just as we're reeling from that revelation, we get to the one that actually made me gasp aloud:  Steve's soul appearing to Diana, telling him that it's too late.  I'm pretty sure that Steve isn't dead, since last issue we saw him get pulled through a portal.  I'm guessing his body is alive, but comatose, somewhere, while his soul is trapped in the Valley.  But, I will definitely be here next issue to see.

Unlike the last few issues, the Shazam story is actually pretty quiet.  Billy tries to break into the Bryers' car but trips the alarm, so he hides Freddy in the bushes and then he leads the Bryers on a chase that ends with him jumping on a subway car.  I'm not really sure how the modern subway car magically turned into a steampunk subway car, but I'm guessing that we'll get some sort of answer next issue.  Originally, I had thought that Billy would stumble upon the device that will turn him into Shazam, so I thought it odd that he instead seems chosen for it.  I guess we'll see.

Superboy #11:  I appreciate what Lobdell was trying to do here.  After the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. arc and the Crucible business, he's trying to give us a regular ol' team-up issue, a done-in-one story where Bunker helps Kon learn a little more about being a regular teenager while they take down a bad guy.  It's what this issue was meant to be.  Unfortunately, it's so marred by Lobdell's awkward dialogue and plot inconsistencies that I still find myself wondering why I'm paying money every month for this title  I could list a seemingly endless number of odd moments here, but I'll pick two because I feel like they're emblematic of the problems with this series.

First, Lobdell once again uses some off-panel plot development to advance a major on-panel story.  For example, shortly after Superboy left N.O.W.H.E.R.E., he met some cop in a library and, like, became best friends with her, so much so that she came running when he asked her to come rescue Fairchild in issue #7.  But, Lobdell never showed us their meeting, which allegedly happened in issue #4, so every time that she appeared (and she seems to be completely forgotten now), I just kept wondering, "Who the Hell is that?  Why is she here?"  In this issue, we have a similar development, with Superboy meeting some girl in a coffee shop who just happens to be the richest girl in, like, the world and who lets him use her penthouse while she's at "a couple of parties -- in Paris and London."  Really?  She just let this stranger use her place full of antiques and valuables because, what, he's hot?  Plus, we learn that Kon can afford the rent because he robbed a bank of all its money, again off-panel.  REALLY?  My incredulity over those developments in and of themselves isn't helped by the fact that Lobdell doesn't even bother to show us either event happening, so it's not like we can draw our own conclusions about the motivations of the characters involved.  I mean, we don't even get a flashback of Kon meeting the girl.  Moreover, I confused why Lobdell would decide to make Kon rich.  Wouldn't it have been more interesting to have him struggle a bit, to maybe live in the type of place where Clark lives at the start of the "Superman:  Earth One" graphic novel?  It would help him learn more about humanity, something he's sure as Hell not going to do living in a penthouse in whatever city it is that we see depicted here.

But, perhaps more annoyingly, the main problem with this issue is that DeFalco just does NOT have an ear for dialogue lately.  (Crazy, right?)  I mean, I get Bunker and Superboy deciding to get tattoos.  Sure.  I mean, we knew that Kon was going to get that tattoo, since it featured prominently in the promotional art for "Teen Titans."  But, Bunker makes this big speech about never hiding who he is, screaming out his commitment to "revel in [his] uniqueness" as he reveals...a pretty small tattoo of a brick on his rib cage.  Um, OK, there, dude.  You're definitely unique.  No one else has a tattoo hidden by a shirt.  Totally original.  (Sigh.)  Needless to say, this sequence is incredibly awkward, because the emotions behind the scene seem totally disjoint from the events transpiring, a problem that, honestly, Lobdell has in pretty much ever series that he writes.  Silva doesn't help matters by giving both characters odd expressions pretty frequently.  When Kon reveals his tattoo, Bunker looks like Kon's revealing that he's really a robot underneath his skin or something.  He looks totally shocked beyond what his reaction to a fairly standard tattoo should be.  It happens several other times throughout this issue, where both characters act and look odd, but I thought the tattoo scene was the best example of it.

I just don't know what to think about this series.  Lobdell honestly just seems to have no plans for it, no larger story that he's telling.  We began with Kon realizing that he was a clone and fighting N.O.W.H.E.R.E., but even that felt half-hearted.  Supporting characters, like that cop (not to mention Fairchild and Rose) just come and go, leaving us only with Kon.  But, given that his personality varies from issue to issue, it's a mixed bag in terms of the Kon that you're getting.  This issue actually felt like we were getting a Kon more similar to the person he was when he walked by a simulated burning building in issue #1 as opposed to the one who developed a real connection with Cassie in issue #10.  I'm giving Lobdell one more issue to make a full year and, if he can't convince me to stay, I think I'm done. 

Teen Titans #11:  OK, this issue wasn't bad!  Hurrah!  I'm intrigued both by the Cassie developments AND the dino-teens that we met in the secondary feature.  Most importantly, though, I'm excited that Lobdell seems to be doing a pretty good job of giving us some fun group dynamics.  He still has some awkward moments (like when Solstice essentially narrated her relationship with Bart to Bunker), but, for the most part, it was a fun read.  Bunker and Kid Flash both provide some comic relief and play off one another really well.  The "bad of the week" was interesting, and, unlike usual, Lobdell actually gives him a pretty reasonable motivation for attacking the Titans (as opposed to most of the time, when Lobdell just seems to throw villains against them with no real rhyme or reason.)  I loved that Bunker met him through "Greg's List."  All in all, this issue was one of Lobdell's most solid outings in a while.