Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2 - Ugh. Tony Daniel. What are you doing? I think the job description 'writer/artist' may have one too many occupations in it for him. Look, I love Daniel's art, but it's pretty evident this is his first foray into writing. This issue was rife (RIFE I say!) with horrible dialogue, ugly cliches, and some pretty awful puns. I mean, come on, I think we all knew that Jason Todd. I had it figured out from the "I AM BATMAN" teaser image he drew. And even if you do want to spell it out for people, there's absolute no reason for both Dick and Tim to say, basically, "I've figured out who you are... JASON TODD!!!" Why would they say his last name. Which other Jason are they differentiating him from? And for as much of a badass as JT is, he still wouldn't kill Tim. (Or Dick.) Or beat him to the brink of death. And why would Jason have a crowbar just laying around his "Batcave" just waiting for someone to re-beat him to death? I'm sorry, Mr. Daniel, but no. Just no. Stick to the art.
When this was solicited, I thought "How are they going to tell this story in 3 issues?" Now I'm wishing this was a one shot, tops. Or even skipped altogether. Although, to be fair, I just recently read an interview with Judd Winick on Comic Book Resources, and apparently, he was supposed to do this mini, and at the last minute they decided to shift his entire plot into the Batman ongoing he'll be doing and left something like the first 1/8th of the previous plot for Battle for the Cowl. So, Daniel probably didn't have a lot to work with here.
But still, that's no excuse for someone saying, "I love the way you light up a room," to Firefly. Or writing Damian as a complete wuss. Morrison's Damian would have killed this one a long long time ago. I think Talia would have, too. Anyway, if this had any more than one more issue, there would be no way I'd be picking up any more.
Green Lantern #39 - Look, I love Johns' run on this title as much as anyone, but, honestly, can we get on with it already? I was expecting something ridiculously cool with these orange lanterns but it's pretty much the same thing as the red ones. Sure, different "emotion" (although I'm not entirely sure "avarice/greed" is an emotion) but it's just a one track villain. This sort of feels like a "color corps" thrown in just to get the full rainbow effect. I dunno. He has a few issues left to wow me. (Not that I'm going to drop the book or anything, that's just how long this arc is supposed to last.)
Superman: World of New Krypton #2 - Wow, I'm just Mr. Negative today. (No, not the lame Brand New Day Spidey villain... I just wasn't into these books.) There weren't really any major developments in this issue. And I hate it when Supes is embracing his Kryptonian roots, even though I know it's basically a ploy. But Clark, er, Kal as a military commander is a cool idea, but all he does here is herd psychic alien triceratops. I'm almost positive that's what they were, anyway. Even cooler is seeing him as the Kryptonian Gandhi. But regardless of which road he ends up taking, (can he take both?) I am MUCH more optimistic about the next issue of this book than the two books above it.
Wolverine: Weapon X #1 - This is a pretty standard Wolverine book. He's surly (possibly drunk), dismembering thugs, and his past is coming back to haunt him. If that's your thing, you'll probably enjoy this title. I wasn't a big fan of the art, but Jason Aaron has shown himself to be more than a competent writer of surly (possibly drunk), angry, violent characters on Scalped, so this could be a fun ride for you guys that just can't get enough of Wolverine. I think I'll be passing on it, but I might check out a trade if i hear enough good things.
Okay, last week's books...
Cable #13 - Meh.
JSA #25 - It really is a shame to see Johns' JSA run come to a close with this.
Flash: Rebirth #1 - Okay, Barry Allen has never been my Flash. He died a couple months before I was even born. However, just as long as Wally doesn't get the shaft (and I'm fairly certain he won't), I have absolutely no problem with Barry being the Flash again. The only problem is, I don't really like him all that much, yet. He's just kind of moping around the whole issue. I know he's a little shocked and all, coming back from the dead, but you'd think he'd be a little happier about it. And why is he moping around with Hal instead of spending time with his wife? That part just bugged me. Barry had time to tour the Flash museum with his buddy, but not to touch base with his wife? I dunno. Weird. And although this was only one page, why was Bart being such a dick about Barry's return? Didn't he just come back too? Oh, the art was fantastic; Van Sciver is at the top of his game.
I'm almost positive I'll enjoy this a bit more once the series gets into full swing. I just have to get to know the characters first. One major plus, though, is that it's very clear Barry is not Wally. Which I'm really glad is the case. I'd hate to replace one character with another in name only, just for nostalgia's sake, but not have him actually be a different character.
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