Who'd Like A Cocktail? #65

And the first Cocktail post of 2010 rolls in all too quickly:

• Battlefields: Happy Valley #1 - Garth Ennis's wartime stories returns with an established bombing crew forced to accept a new pilot straight out of training. Genuine characters with dialogue that's so liberally peppered with profanity that even the main character comments on it!
• Black Terror #6 - this mini-series has started to drag of late; it could probably do with being read all in one sitting which (if I'm lucky) I might find time to do.
• Blackest Night #6 - something of a holding issue, this one, as the Deputy Lantern Corps is created in time to fight back against the forthcoming invasion, but still a good read. And I'm so looking forward to the forthcoming resurrected series that are advertised in the back of the book!
• Blackest Night: JSA #1 - the JSA fight back against the Black Lanterns; Power Girl gets pissed off; and Mr. Terrific realises he's been pre-empted just a little too late. A couple of gripes, though: how come Kal-L is in his standard and not Black Lantern costume? And why does Power Girl refer to him as her cousin in one panel and then, four panels later, as her uncle?!
• Crossed #8 - man, this is one messed up world.
• The Dark Tower: Battle of Jericho Hill #2 - wait, nine years went by? Just like that? This General Grissom looks like he's being set up just to act as the bad guy for this mini-series rather than some one of any note. Still, as ever, the art's gorgeous.
• Green Lantern #49 - John Stewart deals with the return of Xanshi and his dead wife excellently, just in time to get a big shock as he leaves. Oh and we kinda/sorta get the origin of Nekron as a little extra as well.
• Justice Society of America #34 - no surprise who the guest villain turned out to be; love how Liberty Belle rationalises how her and Hourman can be on different teams but still be married; and really liked the Society having safeguards in place to prevent further infiltration.
• The Stand: Soul Survivors #3 - Fran and Stu get together, leaving Harold to scheme his schemes.
• Teen Titans #78 - Deathstroke and his family fight against the Black Lanterns with a team-up at the end that I didn't see coming.

And what made me smile this week:

Mera gets feisty facing off against Wonder Woman in Blackest Night #6!