Overall a pretty decent week for comic books with the majority of praise being showered upon team books. Reviews feature Teen Titans, New Avengers, Green Arrow, and B.P.R.D. plus the usual roundup of all those I can’t cover in such detail.
Full Reviews:
Teen Titans #44
Writer: Geoff Johns & Adam Beechen
Pencils: Tony Daniel
Part 2 of the Titans East storyline. As we saw last issue Deathstroke is striking back at the Titans with a vengeance using his very own Titans team consisting of Match, Inertia, Kid Crusader, Joker’s Daughter aka Duela Dent, Enigma aka Riddler’s Daughter, Risk, Batgirl, and Sun Girl.
This issue jumps very quickly into the knockdown super fights we expect from exciting team books. Deathstroke has created a twisted version of the formerly destroyed Titans tower and in it has setup several ingenious rooms of torture for our Titans. Jericho and Ravager are fighting Slade in the main room, Match is now very Bizarro-fied and dealing with Cassie. Kid Crusader is left to crucify and purge the demonic soul of Kid Devil, Duela and Enigma are breaking down Raven’s mental barriers, Risk has dismembered Cyborg, Sun Girl and Inertia are melting Miss Martian, and finally Batgirl is left trying to induce the same drug styled brainwashing she’s been a victim of herself on Robin.
A straight forward classic style super fight throughout most of the story that’s actually setup for an even bigger throw down to come later. Overall it’s a solid issue in what’s been a very exciting arc so far. I personally find it to be a breathe of fresh air during a very event heavy time in comics.
Daniel does a great job on the pencil work displaying why he’s perfect for this title. I particularly enjoyed his Kid Crusader layout as well as his Jericho/Deathstroke fight. The action throughout this book is big and Daniel delivers it all in a very exciting fashion that’s also surprisingly graphic. A couple panels in particular one featuring Jericho and the other Cyborg and you’ll see that Daniel’s playing for keeps here as these two teams get dirty.
Verdict: My choice for super fight of the week and a perfect issue for any Titans’ fan.
Quick Reviews:
New Avengers #28: Overall I enjoyed this issue a whole lot more than I thought I would. Going into it I sort of expected the worst for an Avengers team with a big zero classic Avengers and no notable Avengers’ leaders after the death of Cap. I found myself pleasantly surprised though. Bendis continues his Ronin arc while still not addressing who the new Ronin is, last week’s Initiative shocker dropped by Ms. Marvel is revealed to be what many had already assumed, and the Avengers pay a visit to the Silver Samurai. I really enjoyed the Luke Cage goes shopping scene as well as the Sanctum Sanctorum entrance. The art’s big and bold and I think Yu does a wonderful job of handling it throughout. I have one minor nitpick to address though. Someone, probably Bendis, needs to layout the timeframe of each subplot a little clearer as the quick jumps without warning or reason are bit of a nuisance.
Verdict: So far this has been the best NA arc in recent memory.
Green Arrow #72: What makes this issue special is the banter and it comes in two varieties. For my money it doesn’t get better than a good old Green Arrow and Batman disagreement/slapfight and Winick manages to get a good one in here. Winick delves into past arguments as well as mistakes both in careers and recruitment between the two and lays out a lot of nice dialogue as well. While this is going on, there’s a really good battle between the Red Hood and Speedy as these two sidekicks square off in a more physical tone but yet one that heavily features in mindgames too. McDaniel does a great job with the art here but honestly it’s Winick’s dialogue that’s the real showstopper.
Verdict: Not to be missed for any fan of the Arrow, Bat, or the JLA.
B.P.R.D. #1 of “Garden of Souls”: Longest. Break. Ever. Nevermind that though, according to the letters page the Bureau here is set to run for at least a year and half straight which has really made my day. The story itself is just getting started so I’m not going to get into it because… well there’s not a lot to get into, but this series as a whole and this issue for that matter receives my highest possible recommendation. This and Hellboy are the only two series where I buy both every issue and every trade. They are great! There’s nothing else to say really except that this is your warning. B.P.R.D. has started up again now go get you some.
Verdict: One of my favorite series ever.
The Loser(s) of the Week:
No losers this week, everything turned out okay for the most part except Wolverine Origins. That book sucks every month.
Roundup:
The Must Buys:
52 Week 45 – It’s on! Black Adam destroys an entire nation of millions of people.
The Irredeemable Ant-Man – Another solid issue in a great series, don’t be scared, just buy it.
The Still Good:
Thunderbolts – If I’m figuring this all out right, I think more of the classic Thunderbolts recently booted will be popping up very soon! Nice Radioactive man scene too.
Punisher War Journal – Basically a GW Bridge story with very little Punisher that ties directly into Cap #25.
New X-Men – “Mercury Falling” concludes and some of the tension between X-23 and Emma is put to rest.
Martian Manhunter – A somewhat satisfying ending to a really bad series that opens new doors while thankfully resuming the beloved status quo. Also Martian women wear even more skimpy clothing than Martian men, at this point why bother, the White Martians don’t.
The Confession – Iron Man doesn’t come off of this one looking so good. A book that tries too hard and after last week’s Cap shocker my heart strings are all tugged out.
Moon Knight – Somewhat of a wasted appearance by Cap but I just love the Finch art.
Ghost Rider – I’m not really seeing why this title needs the “Casualties of War” header otherwise gear yourself up for a soon to be Jack vs. Ghost Rider battle.
Wonder Woman – Lateness may have put the nail in this book and the secret identity shuffle is more of an annoyance than anything. Still it’s nice to see Wonder Woman being Wonder Woman again albeit briefly.
Superman – A really rather amusing Prankster tale. Surprisngly fun and enjoyable and some good development on historically a pretty pathetic villain.
Robin – I don’t know how much I care for another metahuman gang showdown after Nightwing’s last terrible time with it, but here at least it’s handled much better.
Green Lantern Corps – Back to basics here after the Corpsemen arc. Also I think this series is gearing up for a heavy Kilowog storyline which would be excellent.
The Filler:
Zemo: Born Better – This book could be filed in the “loser of the week” category but I’m feeling generous so instead it gets a Zemo fans only recommendation.
Tales of the Unexpected: Featuring The Spectre – It’s taking forever it seems for them to wind down the main plot of this book. If I wasn’t such a sucker for ironic punishments and the Spectre I’d have already dropped it.