Comics

Convergence: Booster Gold #1

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Convergence: Booster Gold #1The first tie-in issue of Convergence not centered around a transplanted city in a dome gives us not one but two Booster Golds, but (against all decency and common sense) somehow neither is the classic character wearing his trademark Elvis-collar costume with gold pants as both are stuck in lesser variations of the New 52 character’s look.

In a special prison on Telos for time travelers, the New 52 Booster joins with Rip Hunter to search for the Future’s End Booster Gold who is reacting badly to the laws of time and space being warped so drastically on the planet all the heroes find themselves trapped on.

The structure of the story, not centered around an entire year without powers as so many of the Convergence tie-ins have been, is a nice change but the comic does loose points for blatantly refusing to give us a recognizable pre-New 52 Booster in all his glory. On the plus side Booster’s jumping willy-nilly gets the New 52 version beat up by the Legion of Super-Heroes and reunites the other Booster with an old friend. For fans.

[DC, $3.99]

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Princess Leia #3

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Princess Leia #3Princess Leia‘s mission to unite the survivors of Alderaan leads Leia and Evaan (who spends the issue wearing Luke’s jacket from the celebration at the end of Star Wars) to Sullust where the pair are met with a good deal of distrust and animosity by the group’s leader Lord Junn.

Despite the arrival of Imperials, which Juun first blames Leia for, the princess does manage to make inroads with the survivors. With only two issues to go from here the storyline doesn’t appear to have much room to develop much past this point, especially with the Empire now tracking Leia down.

Although I still have mixed feelings about the inking of several panels, Terry Dodson’s art continues to be one of the highlights of the five-issue mini-series which, at least to this point, seems to have bitten off more than it can chew in such a short run. The only real question now is will Evaan survive the final two issues and pop-up somewhere else in Marvel’s current Star Wars run? For fans.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #45

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #45Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #45 immediately walks back last month’s shocking cliffhanger and the death of Donatello at the hands of Rocksteady and Bebop. The return of the Fugitoid brings new hope to the shocked family and offers a slim chance to save their fallen brother.

I understand the reasoning to bring Donnie back in some form, but wwith the announcement of the current series concluding with issue #50 the series flees from a real opportunity to delve into the change in the group dynamic following Donnie’s death. I have no doubt Robot Donnie will turn out to have an interesting arc over the final five issues but with the Foot Clan looking for revenge and the Turtles down a man there were several other (albeit it bleaker) paths for the story to go down.

The issue also gives us Casey (seemingly fully-healed from his life-threatening injuries) hitting the streets and teases a new partnership for the Shredder and Baxter Stockman which will also likely play a role in the final arc of the series. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.50]

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Convergence: Shazam! #1

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Convergence: Shazam! #1Although not as memorable as Grant Morrison‘s recent The Multiversity: Thunderworld Adventures #1, also focused on giving fans a taste of classic Captain Marvel storytelling, writer Jeff Parker and artist Evan Shaner certainly deliver one of the better Convergence tie-in stories with Convergence: Shazam! #1.

In terms of storytelling, layout, and style the issue feels like a throwback to an old Captain Marvel adventure giving us Billy Batson and his world trapped on the Convergence world with appearances by several supporting characters (including Tawky Tawny) and villains (Dr. Sivana, Ibac, and Mr. Atom).

Although the writing and basic set-up of so many Convergence issues has, more often than not, led to disappointment, Convergence: Shazam! #1 is certainly on of DC’s event’s stronger issues as the return of the magic lighning comes none to soon to save Billy, Mary, and Freddy Freeman from a group of the Marvel Family‘s classic foes. Worth a look.

[DC, $3.99]

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Samurai Jack #18

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Samurai Jack #18The single-issue tale from writer/artist leads Samurai Jack to a marketplace where the temptation and chance to return home to the past puts the warrior in the middle of a trap laid by the evil that is Aku.

“Samurai Jack and the Fallen Four” pits our hero against a resurrected robot army Jack much face and the legendary four fallen warriors who won the battle also temporarily returned to life. After providing art for many of the previous issues of Samurai Jack, Suriano does double-duty giving us an action-packed issue that, while enjoyable, does lacks the humor of some of the best issues of the series. The twist of the Fallen Four joining Jack’s side also leads to an anticlimactic conclusion as Samurai Jack is largely a bystander in the climax of the battle.

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