Who'd Like A Cocktail? #110

Edward I continues his cross-border relations policy

Missed out on my comics last week so a bumper haul this week - possibly the last of 2010!

• BLACK TERROR #12 - don't you just love surprises? Like an issue of a series you thought had been cancelled suddenly turning up when you go to collect your comics? That's what I got when I saw Black Terror #12 in my buy pile. There's a quick bit of a re-cap and then Terror's off to fight child slavers. He gets captured by some bad guys (including that lass with the worst costume ever) before the real cliffhanger: we see Terror's alter ego, pharmacist Bob Benton, alive and well and working in a clinic. Let's hope we don't have to wait another four months for the next issue to find out what's going on.
• BOOSTER GOLD #49 - Booster finally comes to terms with the fact that Blue Beetle's not coming back in an issue that was splendidly done. It could have been overly sweet and maudlin but you can't help feel for Booster. A change of pace from the usual Giffen/DeMatteis madness but still an excellent issue.
• THE BOYS: HIGHLAND LADDIE #5 - Hughie, on the other hand, you'd just like to smack some sense in to. Sure he's had a shock but he and Starlight are at least talking again; if he can just put aside his ridiculous hang-ups and realise what he's at risk of losing . . . anyhow, next issue we find out whether he's bullet proof or not.
• BRIGHTEST DAY #16 - full marks to Firestorm's dad for having the guts to call Deathstorm's bluff; and the new Aqualad makes his appearance in costume. This series romps along nicely.
• CROSSED: FAMILY VALUES #6 - David Lapham is doing another Crossed series after this one called Psycopath. I won't be buying it. While the art has degraded over the last few issues - topped off this issue with the completely nonsensical shot of a fully grown woman curling up inside the torso of a man - Lapham's writing hadn't been that bad. With the introduction of the family's mother as villain, the dreadful pacing of this issue and the complete lack of interest I have in any of these characters, I'll sit this series out but won't be buying any more Crossed by him.
• THE DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER: THE LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA #1 - man, when did thought balloons go out of fashion? Or even those caption boxes that double for them these days? Roland wanders into Eluria delivering a freaking monologue. It feels like he says more in the first few pages of this issue than he does in the whole of The Gunslinger book! Lovely art as ever but Roland's chattering is completely out of character.
• GREEN LANTERN #60 - pretty much a big fight between the Parallax-possesed Flash and Hal Jordan until the story's bad guy turns up . . . when it turns into a big fight against him. Seriously, the whole issue's just a constant fight until the reveal of Krona as the bad guy - which I have to admit was nicely done.
• GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS #5 - Guy and his friends go up against a bunch of mind-controlled rookies as they track down the snake-wizard guy who really hasn't made much of an impression on me so far. Best part of the issue? Atrocitus and his instant messaging system!
• GREEN LANTERN/PLASTIC MAN: WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION #1 - a nice little one-shot that focuses a little too much on Green Lantern and not enough on Plastic Man but still manages to be enjoyable.
• JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST #15 - ho hum. Wonder Woman's never been heard of (that'll teach her for changing her costume) and the League get attacked by a totally gratuitous double page spread of the Creature Commandos. And if buggering up Ice's origin wasn't bad enough, Winick squeezes one more woman into a refrigerator by having Fire shot and laying in a pool of blood.
• KNIGHT AND SQUIRE #3 - oh dear me, how I laughed throughout this issue! I really don't know if the Americans are getting all the in-jokes (some of which Cornell explains at the back of the issue) but for my wife and I, this series just makes us rub our hands in glee. Where else would The Goodies get a mention in an American comic book?
• LADY MECHANIKA #1 - my word, this is a pretty book! Benitez's dialogue is much improved from issue #0 and that last bit of dialogue just made me grin so much. This series is off to a fine start.
• PROJECT SUPERPOWERS: X-MAS CAROL - well if it isn't yet another retelling of Dickens's A Christmas Carol, this time set in the Project Superpowers world. It's nicely done - as always - with the ClownCo CEO being reborn and, potentially, swapping to the side of the angels. It'll be interesting to see how this feeds into next year's Chapter Three.
• TIME MASTERS: VANISHING POINT #5 - I love how this series still pretends to be looking for Batman when all the heroes are doing is being thrown from one time period to another! Jurgens should just ditch the pretense and concentrate on the Black Beetle sub-plot which is way more interesting, particularly when you consider that Batman's already back in the DCU by now!

And what made me smile:

Call me an old softie if you like, but Booster's acceptance of Blue Beetle's death was quite touching. Certainly not funny but a good scene nonetheless.