Friday, November 18, 2011

Quick Comic Reviews - November 18th, 2011

Well, I’ve finished a good batch of DC titles and this week DC is coming out much better than Marvel.  Not a lot of expectations for the DC stuff this week and it surprised me with almost every issue so far.  In fact, out of everything I reviewed, I don’t think anything was bad and there was some entertaining stuff.  Let’s take a look!

nightwing3Nightwing #3 – Written by Kyle Higgins, Penciled by Eddy Barrows & Eduardo Pansica and Inked by JP Mayer, Paulo Sequeira & Eber Ferreira.  Nightwing now owns a circus after the former owner’s death.  Nightwing has to hunt down the assassin and try to juggle the circus he was apart of creeping back into his life.  Ok, this all takes place only five years after leaving the circus?  Or even less?  What the hell happened in the meantime?  Ugh, it just doesn’t make sense.  I’m sick of trying to figure out how the hell this new continuity works.  That being said, I’m a bit mixed at times about this issue.  Really, the continuity thing is what is irking me right now.  Taking this for what it should be, it was pretty good.  I like the upgraded Nightwing costume and that they paid a little homage to the old one in here as well.  Trying to figure out who hired the assassin seems to be the main focus right now.  Although, it’ll be interesting to see where his relationships go from here and what the hell will he do now that he owns the circus.  I see him giving ownership to like the performers in some sort of stock option.  I thought this was an ok issue and is showing some positive momentum and giving Dick some growth as a character in a somewhat new role.
Rating - StarStarStarStarStarStar 6/10

batman3Batman #3 – Written by Scott Snyder, Penciled by Greg Capullo and Inked by Jonathan Glapion.  The Court of Owls is out to get Bruce Wayne, even though Bruce doesn’t believe they even exist.  This issue is full of new mythology for the character and brought on an interesting development.  The whole 13th floor not being in buildings or left empty due to superstition leaves for an interesting set of circumstances here.  Anyone who has ever heard of that rumor will understand why it makes sense here.  Snyder really starts bringing the story together in this issue as things are tying together a bit and making more sense.  I love Capullo’s version of Batman.  It is very much Frank Miller-esque and he does just a wonderful job here.  There were some moments in an action sequence though that was a tad confusing and I couldn’t figure out what was going on for sure.  This was an overall good issue.  I don’t know if I would call it great, but very solid and fun.  Take that for what it’s worth.
Rating - StarStarStarStarStarStarStar 7/10

bluebeet3Blue Beetle #3 – Written by Tony Bedard, Penciled by Ig Guara and Inked by J.P. Mayer.  Jamie “Blue Beetle” Reyes is missing from home after his tussle in the last few issues.  Jamie has to struggle with getting his slightly damaged costume under control and make it listen to him.  Meanwhile, the evil Beetles enter Earth’s orbit and look to lock in on the young man.  The main thing about this title is fun.  It seems geared towards a slightly younger audience as it should be.  I think that the Jamie Reyes Beetle is important and relevant for a couple of reasons.  The design of the costume is fantastic!  And we also have a young hispanic character with his family encountering life through an interesting new set of eyes.  The typical teen gains awesome powers and how does he deal with it comes alive here.  And the evil head of the Spanish Mafia is fun as well.  She’s pretty cold hearted when it comes down to it.  Guara’s style is very exaggerated in spots and it fits well.  He gives the story a bit of energy and youthful feeling to it.  He just fits this title very well.  I thought this was an excellent issue and keeps the character interesting, I liked it a lot.
Rating - StarStarStarStarStarStarStarStar8/10

redhood3Red Hood and the Outlaws #3 – Written by Scott Lobdell and Art by Kenneth Rocafort.  The Hood and friends have to find out what happened to the All Caste  and what killed them and why.  In order to do that, they need to have S’Aru the Proctor let them into the Chamber of the All.  That doesn’t come easy either.  Lobdell does some excellent things in this issue.  Mainly, he has the Hood giving us a bit of narrative as we go along so we know what’s going on without having to have read the first two issues.  This storytelling technique just isn’t “cool” anymore, but probably explains why people were always complaining about comics not being accessible anymore.  Great job Scott!  Second, he makes this comic much more interesting in this issue.  I thought the first issue was a total bomb.  This issue shows MUCH hope for the series.  I’ve got to admit, Jason Todd is starting to grow on me.  The only thing I didn’t care for is the fondest memory of Arsenal.  I just don’t seeing it being that, nobody is happy about wanting to die, nor are they fond of it.  But that being said, I thought the bit of history we starting getting here was definitely interesting.  The end of the issue of utterly fantastic, I thought.  The art was good, Rocafort’s style takes some getting used to and I don’t like his noses he draws.  This isn’t going to be a popular opinion, but I thought this was just a fabulous issue.  One that could spell very good things for a title that started just the opposite.
Rating - StarStarStarStarStarStarStarStarStar9/10

catwoman3Catwoman #3 – Written by Judd Winick and Art by Guillem March.  Selina is captured by a mob leader know as “Bone” and has to deal with the loss of her friend who harbored her for so long.  This is a very emotionally driven episode that keeps you on the edge of your seat.  It’s a rollercoaster ride and we’re given quite a view of everything going on.  The back story that unfolds really takes this story to the next level and gives us an understanding of why this is all important.  A lot of things in this that happen make a lot of common sense, which is sometimes missing in comics.  My only real gripe with the issue is that I wish they wrote Bone even more strongly.  I could see this guy being a great recurring character.  I thought the art was excellent and the scene where Selina is pushed to the edge and lashes out with sheer brutality was excellent.  I love how we get closer in to see the sheer rage and hatred in her face.  Once again, this series started out in controversial fashion and wasn’t so hot out of the gate.  This proved that Winick has more tricks up his sleeve and that we’re going to get a lot more out of Selina Kyle than just sex appeal.
Rating - StarStarStarStarStarStarStarStar8/10

capatom3Captain Atom #3 – Art and Story by J.T. Krul and Freddie Williams II.  As Captain Atom tries to find himself he encounters a situation in Libya.  What he doesn’t realize is that there’s about to be a major issue caused during his presence that will no doubt give him even more problems.  I love the Flash cameo here and it gives us a view as to how the Meta community views Atom.  The whole thing feels very Solar: Man of the Atom to me, so maybe that’s why I’ve been liking it so far.  This guy shows nearly omnipotent power, so where does it end?  Will he go a tad too Doctor Manhattan?  You can see a bit of disconnect going on with him as well.  You really wonder what the extent of this character is and his “controllers” level of involvement is a little confusing.  I was also a bit confused at first as to who caused the nuclear explosion.  Did Atom somehow accidentally set it off?  Did he feel it about to go off and as a sort of second sense just naturally attract to it and try to absorb it?  How did he survive it and how is he standing there when it looks like he flew off into the sky?  So those points muddled it a bit.  Of course, maybe Krul wants us to ask that.  I just found it confusing.  I loved the old Solar stuff from Valiant, so this is definitely scratching the same itch.  Like a mixture of that and Doctor Manhattan is the best way I can put it so far.  Of course, at the end of the issue, it looks like things might change.  Good stuff, but a lot of people don’t like poor Captain Atom.  Tough, that doesn’t make it bad. 
Rating – StarStarStarStarStarStarStar 7/10



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