Who'd Like A Cocktail? #211

You have to admit, he's got a point - the clue was in the name.

Sunday afternoon + comics = good times.

EARTH 2 #8 - Steppenwolf's still on Earth 2, five years after his failed Apokoliptian invasion and hiding out in the only country in the world that would have him, the rogue nation of Dherain which had helped him during the invasion. Now, though, its ruler tries to capture or kill him and claim the bounty but Steppenwolf, along with his trusted ally/pet warrior Fury mounts a coup, kills the king and takes Dherain as his own, waiting for the world to make its play.

Another cracking issue, this time leaving aside the new heroes and concentrating on the villain of the piece who, along with Fury who's revealed to be Earth 2's Wonder Woman's daughter, seem well worth keeping an eye on.

GHOST #3 - Dr October spills some beans about how the ghosts and demons of the world have come into existence while at the same time planning revenge. Ghost, meanwhile, remembers more of her past, including the identity of who made her what she is and, in a flashback, Ghost's sister Margo makes an appearance looking remarkably different from her last incarnation.

This is good stuff; the writing flows along nicely, nothing's stilted, and the art's deceptively simple. I really hope we get an ongoing by this team.

GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS ANNUAL #1 - the lead-in to the forthcoming Threshold series takes Carol Ferris, Arkillo and Saint Walker to the Tenebrian Dominion, ostensibly to ask Lady Styx to intervene against the Guardians and their Third Army. On the way, they meet undercover Lantern Jediah Caul and Carol ends up forced to take part in The Hunted, a game show where the entire planet's population are allowed to hunt and kill her. She's rescued, of course, but Caul ends up in her place.

It was a good fun issue on the whole though the art was a little odd at times and the local dialogue (all scut, chok b'damned and das't) took some getting used to. Still, looking forward to Threshold.

HUMAN BOMB #2 - the new Human Bomb gets picked up and recruited by Uncle Sam who explains what's happened to him: a terrorist organisation attacked him and his fellow Marines and turned them into living explosives. He, however, had a metagene that allowed him to reject their programming but retain the explosive powers. Together with Sam's telepathic colleague Joan and a team of troops, they attack the organisation's base having discovered there's an alien race behind it all.

This issue seemed a bit rushed, as though there's a bigger story but they have to get it into a four issue miniseries. Still, nice to see the return of thought bubbles!

THE PHANTOM STRANGER #4 - the Stranger gets pulled from a shopping trip with his wife to a meeting called by John Constantine who tries to convince him that the Stranger really needs to join up with him team. It's no surprise he's not interested - as Constantine says he's used to the ""I am the Stranger and I walk alone" rubbish" but Constantine's confident he'll come round eventually. Returning home, the Stranger finds his wife and children missing and the mysterious Pandora waiting for him. While she claims innocence of their abduction, she does point the finger at the Spectre.

It's not bad; the plot's a little slow but at least with DeMatteis on board the dialogue's improved!

STORMWATCH #16 - Harry Tanner's plan to masquerade as a Shadow Lord to take over Stormwatch comes tumbling down around his ears in a fairly predictable manner: a combination of giving himself away and clues found by others leads to a somewhat standard showdown . . . which is where the twist comes in. It's a little surprising (despite having been foreshadowed for a few issues) but is handled well and I don't really want to spoil it. Suffice to say this title, which had been flagging a little, has become a bit more interesting again.

SWAMP THING #16 - Swampy finds that Batman has stored a partially weaponised version of his bio-restorative formula beneath the impenetrable Arkham Asylum which Bats turned into something of a fortress before succuming to the Rot. With the aid of Barbara Gordon, Swampy's able to get a group of Gothamite survivors and attack Arcane's stronghold in a last ditch attempt to save Abby, although judging by that last page, he may be very, very late.

Not bad; things seemed to pick up a little but this whole Rotworld thing just never seems to end.

WORLDS' FINEST #8 - Helena's past catches up with her as someone attempts to cash in on a bounty on her head. With her hospitalised, Power Girl seeks out the shooter and then the man behind the bounty and there's a last page that implies Batman's going to brushing shoulders with them soon.

Bit of a nothing issue, this one: Helena's shot and PG fights. There's also no reason why PG has to go after the shooter to get the name of the man who ordered the hit: Helena tells her his name while she's recovering!

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And what made me smile:

It's a shame we won't get Arkillo, Star Sapphire and Saint Walker written by Giffen a little more!