Who'd Like A Cocktail? #116

Power Girl explains the problems of dating Kryptonians

It's Sunday, so that must mean comics!

• BLACK TERROR #13 - our titular hero really starts living up to his image as he has his ghost ship deliver a broadside to the bad guys but they still get their shots in, leaving him writhing in agony, dosed up with snake venom, all of which leads to a meeting with his unknowing alter ego. A good issue - I think Phil Hester's writing has settled down and started to relax into the characters now.
• BRIGHTEST DAY #19 - the White Ring finally begins to explain its mission and, not surprisingly, it's all fairly vague concerning a battle against a Dark Avatar to ensure a new Champion of Earth arises. Meanwhile, Aquaman and the new Aqualad attempt to prevent Siren taking over the land in a battle that goes well for them . . . until Black Manta appears and chops Aquaman's hand off! Man, to lose one hand once is unfortunate . . . to lose the same hand a second time? That's just embarrassing.
• CROSSED: FAMILY VALUES #7 - well thank goodness that's finished. I've already told my comic shop not to bother ordering the forthcoming Crossed series by Lapham. This series started promisingly but quickly revealed itself to have none of the depth of the original; it was just gore and dreadful art all the way. Any day now, I'm bundling all these together and putting them on e-bay.
• FREEDOM FIGHTERS #6 - Black Condor helps the Fighters get out of the situation last issue left them in, just in time for Miss America to reveal herself as something of a hard-ass when it comes to leaving criminals to die. Not sure when that happened - maybe she's channeling some dark, twisted side of the American Spirit to counter Uncle Sam? Phantom Lady and Condor finally stop flirting and get together while Doll Man gets forcibly recruited back to the team. Another cracking issue.
• JSA ALL-STARS #15 - the team go up against Arthur Pemberton again in an attempt to find their missing members only to have their butts handed to them by his new helpers, the Puzzlemen. And then there's Roxy who's indulging in a bit of body snatching which can't end well.
• SECRET SIX #30 - Dear Dan and Geoff at DC, can Gail Simone write everything, please? This was just an excellent issue: I've said it several times but I love comics that are fun over everything else. Sure the big events, the crossovers, the huge cosmic outer-space stuff is great, but it's the fun stuff that just tops my list. Power Girl (especially the Gray/Palmiotti run), Blue Beetle, The All New Atom - they're the ones that bring a smile to my face and with this issue, Gail Simone has simply out done herself. Bane's negotiations (see below) actually made me laugh out loud; the appearance of the Doom Patrol; the D&D playing nerds ("Are those . . . are those girls?"); Black Alice's smack-talking Elasti-Woman; Shark's attempt to eat Robotman; the whole thing was just marvellous. Thank you, Ms Simone. At the risk of sounding greedy, can I have some more?
• THE STAND: NO MAN'S LAND #1 - the adaptation continues as Nadine Cross makes her choice and teams up with Harold Lauder.
• TIME MASTERS: VANISHING POINT #6 - the search for Batman concludes a couple of months after he returned to the DCU . . . but hey, that's time travel for you! We get a new Waverider in the form of the Linear Woman and the last page reveals hints about the forthcoming Flashpoint series. We also get a glimpse of Rip Hunter's mother for the first time who, unless I'm mistaken, is wearing the same Goldstar outfit as Booster's sister Michelle. Now who else has worn that costume and had something of a crush on Booster? I'm thinking we might see the return of Trixie Collins, the first Goldstar, at some point.

And what made me laugh out loud:

"I wish to mate."

Oh Bane, you smoothie!