Dark Nights: Gotham Resistance (Teen Titans #12, Nightwing #29, Suicide Squad #26, and Green Arrow #32): I finally had to admit I was enjoying “Dark Nights” so much I decided to go back and buy these issues. (I read "Nightwing" #29 when it was released on September 20.) The authors do a great job in keeping the story connected issues to issue as some members of the Suicide Squad and Teen Titans get possessed by the Batman Who Laugh’s Damian while the other members join with Green Arrow, Mister Terrific, and Nightwing to get to the heart of Challengers' Mountain in the middle of Gotham. It actually helped reading these issues after reading "Dark Nights: Metal" #3, since it's clear the music and voices Dick is hearing is Bruce telling him not to come rescue him. Dick doesn't exactly hit the nail on the head in interpreting that message, deciding instead Bruce is dead or lost. (That said, he was a helluva lot closer to interpreting the message correctly than Clark was.) The main outcome of this cross-over event in terms of the larger story was Damian seemingly mortally wounding his counterpart with Nth metal. Mister Terrific arrives to whisk the remaining team members — Damian, Dick, Green Arrow, and Mister Terrific — to the Oblivion Bar, as we saw in "Dark Nights: Metal" #3. Here, Green Arrow reveals what they've learned about the Nth metal, setting the ball rolling for the rest of the series. Beyond just advancing the larger plot, the authors really show the despair the characters are beginning to feel, particularly Dick and Harley; you understand why Dick is such a mess in “Dark Nights: Metal” #3. The only criticism I have of this mini-event is I didn’t really buy Harley and Killer Croc feeling some sort of patriotism for Gotham, but it’s a minor complaint. All in all, it's a solid event that anyone reading "Dark Nights: Metal" would benefit from reading.
The Flash #33 ("Dark Nights: Bats Out of Hell" #1): This issue starts immediately after Superman enters the Dark Dimension, as Murder Machine and Devastator arrive to steal the tuning fork (as seen in “Batman: The Devastator” #1). Interestingly, Devastator destroys the fork, saying he’ll bring it to Barbatos only after he rebuilds it. Why would he need to rebuild it? Is that going to provide the loophole the League needs to defeat Barbatos? Meanwhile, Barbatos kidnaps the various League members from their missions to lock down more Nth metal, separating Arthur, Barry, Diana, and Hal from their partners and sending them against their Dark Dimension counterparts. This entire event has been building to this moment, and I can see why these issues were sold as essential to the overall story.
Amazing Spider-Man #790: OK, first, I have to say, I could overlook a lot here just given how beautiful the art is. Honestly, in 35 years of reading Spider-Man comics, I can't remember them ever looking as good. (Yes, I'm not a McFarlane fan.) As mentioned in the letters column, Immonen really has an amazing (heh) ability to convey motion; at certain points during Peter's fight with Johnny and later Clash, it really felt like I was watching a movie. But, the good news is I don't have to overlook anything. Slott is telling a really bang-up story. I love the idea of Peter committing to going on an apology tour, showing how solid of a guy he is; as Harry says, most companies would've just sent some lawyers to sign the settlements on their behalf. I'm also glad Slott is continuing to keep the Robin Hood version of Clash here. I even liked Peter continuing to somewhat uncharacteristically look the other way when it comes to Clash, as he does here when Clash steals back the tech he developed for Parker Industries. It was a little questionable previously, but something about it now feels like it reflects Peter's new worldview after the fall of PI. Is he really going to sweat Clash stealing back the technology he himself created? He has bigger fish to fry. Meanwhile, I wonder if the developments in "Uncanny Avengers" means Johnny is going to buy back the Baxter Building. (Are the Avengers going to live there?) It seems too perfectly timed for it not to be true. In other words, Slott and the art team have really hit a home run when it comes to a Legacy story that feels and looks like the Spider-Man stories of my youth, and I hope it lasts as long as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment