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| You have no idea how many times I've said that to my wife. |
Two comics last week, ten comics this week. Consistency would be nice.
Things go from bad to worse to really f'd up as the Homelander continues his all out assault on the American government and Butcher and the Boys do as much as they can to stop it, releasing everything they have on the supes is to the media. The Homelander confronts the Vought American exec who's been managing the team since the beginning but that meeting doesn't go as planned and at the end of it, Butcher heads off to face him one on one. Too late to stop him, though, Mother's Milk discovers something that might change it all.
It's another splendid issue, all building up nicely to the big confrontation next issue which might not happen as we'd expect. And anybody else think that the Vought American exec's words to the Homelander pretty much sum up Ennis's own feeling about superheroes?
Well here's an annoying thing - due to a delivery cock-up a few weeks back, I still haven't received let alone read issue #2 of this series.
So while I bought this issue, I haven't read that either.
So nothing to see here, really.
Move along.
Move along.
Ollie gets ambushed by a set of triplets, all drop dead gorgeous and big fans of his work, using the attack against him as an audition to work with him. Ignoring his responsibilities to his company, Ollie decides to head to Canada and see what the ladies have to offer. One thing leads to another and after a bit of the other, it all turns out to be a honey trap.
New writer Ann Nocenti has Ollie rambling almost continuously to himself over the first few pages in thoroughly unconvincing dialogue and his suddenly deciding to pretty much quit from his company is handled way too quick. New artist Harvey Tolibau doesn't endear himself to me after the clean lines of Jurgens and Perez, Tolibau's way too busy for my liking. He almost makes Ollie look like he's thirteen.
On the whole, this new team isn't off to the best start as far as I'm concerned.
Jen and her new accomplice find out who's behind the attempted hit on her and, leaving the idiot behind, Jen launches a daring daylight attack. While that appears to go according to plan, the untimely arrival of the two detectives searching for her gives them some darn good leads.
The story continues to rattle along nicely, the police involvement promising to add a little more realistic tension to the proceedings while the crazy-ass Ninjettes Two are hinted at ensuring that the madness continues as well.
Baal's back on art which doesn't impress me that much but the story's still good.
After the explosion that ended the last issue, the JLI are in tatters. Vixen may be paralysed; Ice has broken legs; Fire's comatose; and Rocket Red's dead. To top it all off, their UN liaisons are also killed in the blast and the UN decides to shut them down, leaving Booster to vent his anger against the bomber, a new villain called Lightweaver.
It's all fairly grim stuff at the moment in a book which has been one of my favourites of the New 52 mainly because it's tone was quite light. While Rocket Red may be dead, I wonder if that whole alien robot downloading into his armour from last issue will enable him to return somehow? If that does happen, that leaves the serious injuries on the team weighted heavily on the female members which seems a little unfair.
Still and all, it's a good issue despite the darker tone.
Captain Victory and his Rangers are stranded on an alien planet with their spaceship stuck underwater. Luckily they have an aquatic soldier called Orca to hand who's able to dive beneath the surface and get the ship back up and running. All the while, Orca regales us with his origin of sorts and how he was recruited into the Rangers in the first place.
Honestly, it's all rather boring right now and there's at least another four issues left to go. Admittedly it's not as bad as Kirby: Genesis - Silver Star but I expected more from Sterling Gates after hearing so many good things about his work on Supergirl.
Baron Winters is back in the DCU, still apparently stuck in his house, gathering disparate souls together to aid him in his battle against dark forces. So far a police officer and an adopted girl, surviving victim of a murder attempt are brought together, both of whom share a dark, connected past.
This was something of a punt for me; I like Marv Wolfman's stuff on the whole and I'm a fan of Tom Mandrake's work and it's always good to see something featuring the darker, mystical side of the DCU.
Good first issue on the whole.
The team of soldiers stage their own ambush of the Stitched and their helpers, managing to bag a prisoner in the meantime. With him turning out to be from London there's no language barrier to prevent him being interrogated and giving up what he knows about the origin of the Stitched. Turns out a human trafficker creates them and uses them to clear villages before capturing the women and children. Despite their disbelief in black magic, it's hard for the soldiers not to believe him with the evidence all around.
Another cracking issue, you have to wonder when the good guys are going to start dying, this being an Ennis story.
Stormwatch detect an anomaly around the old reactor and Chernobyl and send down a team to investigate. Even Apollo, however, is no match for the things he finds down there which are somehow mining gravity itself. A hasty rescue mission also manages to capture one of the creatures but that doesn't end well back on the ship.
I was a little hesitant about this series following the departure of Paul Cornell (who was the main reason I picked it up in the first place) but Paul Jenkins fills in nicely and does a darn fine job. Shame he wasn't allowed to continue and has to make way for Peter Milligan which, honestly, I'm not looking forward to.
Alec Holland comes face to face with the Parliament of Trees once more, not as their protector but their whipping boy. And stabbing boy. And bludgeoning to death boy as they keep his body alive while the Rot's agents continue to kill him. Feeling he has failed them, they exact this revenge as they themselves die. It takes Holland's pointing out their faults to make them realise what they've done and become and they help him turn once more into the Swamp Thing, this time of his own choosing. And, as all good heroes do, he flies off to rescue his beloved.
This really has been a series that's just gone from strength to strength and with Holland back as Swamp Thing, I hope it gets even better.
And what made me smile:
While I try to keep the profanity to a minimum around here, I have a friend who uses that very phrase so couldn't help laughing when I read it.
If you want to read the naughty word yourself, click the picture for the uncensored version.
I liked the first issue of Night Force as well. The art is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteSwamp Thing just keeps on getting better and better. Have not read Animal Man 7 yet, but am really looking forward to it.
Didn't pick Animal Man up either but will probably get the trade in the simmer.
DeleteSo can I have a puppy then ?
ReplyDeleteNo.
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