Comics

Worlds’ Finest #18

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Worlds' Finest #18After finding a way to temporarily de-power her out of control partner by dunking her in the East River, the Huntress still has to continue her search for the the super-powered tattoo killer (who DC Editorial has unfortunately decided to name “Tats”) who has a personal vendetta against the city’s more glamorous population. Meanwhile, Power Girl continues to try and get her bearings and come to grips with the fact that her powers are now completely out of control.

Because so much of the issue is spent resolving the cliffhanger and Huntress finding a way to stop her best-friend from going nuclear in the middle of the city, little progress is made in the search for their killer. However, the issue does introduce the woman’s boss, a priest of the demon Xazdi whose gifts have allowed her to wreak havoc in the city.

As always the best parts of the comic are the interactions between our two heriones which we get quite a bit of to both open and close the issue. I’m not sure where this Tats/Xazdi storyline is going but I’ll keep sticking around for more of Helena and Kara who next month are finally going to earn their first annual. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

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G.I. JOE: Special Missions #10

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G.I. JOE: Special Missions #10The new four-part arc of the JOE’s Special Mission Force focuses on taking down Destro before he finishes perfecting his deadly new version of B.A.T. To do so Scarlett decides to pull Copperback out of maximum-security prison and enlist her help to track down the man responsible for killing Copperback’s father. Of course it doesn’t take long for the former Cobra operative to turn on Scarlett and her team and the ruins of Destro’s former stronghold.

I’m all in favor of a Destro-centric arc, and G.I. JOE: Special Missions #10 does a great job of selling me on the dangerous wild card Copperback represents. However, I am a bit confused when exactly the arc takes place as Destro just fell out of favor with Cobra (in fact Cobra Commander himself just led a raid of the weaponer’s home).

Despite the timing and continuity problems (why is the Baroness all of the sudden wearing a completely different version of her basic costume?), I’m looking forward to see where writer Chuck Dixon takes things from here. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

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Batman: Black and White #4

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Batman: Black and White #4The black-and-white anthology series puts out another strong issue highlighted by the final story from writer Sean Galloway and artist Derek Laufman involving a classic Batman and Robin adventure (and the 60’s television show’s Batmobile) as the Dynamic Duo set out to save a missing Superman from Brainiac. Laufman’s style and use layering panels to suggest motion is pretty damn cool.

Without any real weak stories this month, Black and White #4 also boasts a Mad Hatter and Penguin tale from Michael and Lee Allred where Cobblepot attempts to out-wit both the Hatter and the Dark Knight Detective (which features Micahel Allred’s trademark smooth but quirky style), Dustin Nguyen does double duty writing and illustrating an average night for Batman in Gotham City ending with an appearance by Catwoman, Nathan Edmondson and Kenneth Rocafort offer up a tale of Batman taking on an invisible enemy, and David Macho and Rubén Pellejero deliver a tale of Batman getting the help of a homeless veteran (and his pet rat) to take down Killer Croc. Worth a look.

[DC, $4.99]

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Nova #11

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Nova #11Despite the final issue of the last panel suggesting Sam Alexander was blind, that’s actually far from the case (as he has his sight for he entire issue). What Sam is actually seeing (even when not wearing the helmet) is a series of dots that make up a map to the remains of other members of the Nova Squadron all of whom are dead (at least so far that we know).

After making the revelation, and serving out his sentence in Chess Club rather than detention for his latest fight with a bully whose behavior the principal so far has shown zero interest in altering, Nova eventually shoots back into the stars to investigate one of the small blips on the map where he not only finds the body of a Nova but the space-spider creatures who killed him.

Despite immediately abandoning the set-up of a blind Sam, the issue has fun moments on both Earth (involving Sam babysitting his little sister) and in space (where they hero discovers the fate of another Nova). Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Powerpuff Girls #4

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Powerpuff Girls #4Although things start off well-enough for our pint-sized heroes with working with the various former villains to keep the city safe, the second-half of the six-issue mini-series begins a big shift in the story. The new-found peace and happiness of Townsville is threatened when HIM decides to lessen his control over the city’s super-villains allowing each of them to begin to revert back to form.

Powerpuff Girls #4 has some fun moments (one of my favorite being Bubbles‘ picnic with Fuzzy Lumpkins which is captured so beautifully on the variant cover by artist Agnes Garbowska I just had to snatch it up). Buttercup and and Blossom also have issues when their newly-reformed friends “accidentally” put the pair in danger. And it appears the transformation of Mojo Jojo back into plain old Jojo wasn’t such a permanent thing after all.

With the various villains all now up to no good I’d expect quite a bit of action in the final two issues of this enjoyable mini-series from writer/artist Troy Little. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

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