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| Oh yeah, Ray Palmer shows he's still got it. |
Sunday afternoon = comics round these parts.
Another band of survivors struggle to outwit the Crossed, this time in Scotland where things are just as bad as they were first time around when Ennis and Burrows introduced us to the world of Crossed.
It's another bleak tale which Ennis manages to carry off with his usual mix of realistic dialogue and characters pitched into a world of the most brutal insanity you can imagine. With shorter story arcs set to be written by a rotating team, it'll probably best if we don't get too attached to most of these people.
Though I find myself wondering if that really is Prince Harry under those bandages.
The final assault on Little Spring continues in full, bloody glory. Vandal Savage surprises the Questing Queen (and his earlier companions) by betraying her; Madame Xanadu rejuvenates; the Horsewoman sends reinforcements; Exoristos does her best Gandalf impersonation; and the Queen faces off against the Shining Knight.
It's bloody and brutal and while the Queen's Horde are routed at the end, the cost of the victory is measured poignantly in the destruction of the village and the heavy loss of life.
Another cracking issue.
Frankenstein and the Commandos return from Vietnam to find the Hub over-run by the Humanids given life and independent thought by the treacherous Brother Eye. Faced with overwhelming odds, there's only one thing they can do: fight! Meanwhile, Lady Frankenstein and Nina are trapped by the original Commandos although they are really no match for a woman with green skin, four arms and a basque! And to top it all, Ray Palmer reveals his secret before Father Time drops his own bombshell leading into next issue.
This has consistently been one of my favourite titles and I will be so sorry to see Lemire leave all too soon. Enjoy it while you can, folks.
Sinestro shows up, wanting Jordan to toe the line once more and help him following his discovery that the Guardians are going to replace the Corps. Before they can do anything, though, the Indigo Tribe arrive en masse and abduct Sinestro though Jordan manages to hitch along for the ride, leaving Carol - having donned her Star Sapphire ring again - to wonder where everyone went. Meanwhile, the Guardians talk about replacing the Corps and discover Sinestro has the Book of The Black which they need to find the First Lantern, and at the end of it all, it looks like Sinestro's due to be converted to the Indigos.
Johns continues to romp along, tossing out plot lines left, right and centre and dropping both Hal and Sinestro into situations which never look good for them. Still a splendid series.
Mr Terrific's called in to disarm a nuclear bomb on a ship that's been teleported into LA's harbour and, being the terrific guy he is, he of course manages this with very little trouble, despite the invisible soldiers guarding it. Power Girl (as Karen Starr) pops up briefly to pinch some tech from her ex-boyfriend, while Holt Industries bad boy Donald goes all cyborg, leading to the final issue next month.
Once again, it's not a terrible issue from the writing side of things, but Gugliotta's art is horrible in places: check out the legs here. It's a shame this title didn't work out, but there we go.
Craziness abounds as we find out a little more about the original Ninjettes, in particular Daisy who's an absolute demon with a gun even (or perhaps especially) when she's drunk, possibly causing a complete massacre and coming out of it as one of only two survivors. Meanwhile, Kelly dissolves her father's corpse in acid bit by bit. Crazy, huh?
Ewing's never going to win any literary prizes here but it's still entertaining enough to keep me coming back and the art is much better than that of Kewber Baal in the Jennifer Blood parent title.
Everyone remember good, fun superheroics? Maybe not laugh out loud on every page, but good, solid storytelling, interesting characters and clever resolutions? That's what you'll have had if you've been picking up The Ray over the last couple of months.
The Ray manages to save his girlfriend and defeat the bad guy but in a way which may feel a little deus ex machina but actually works within the confines of the story that's previously been set up. It's a well-deserved happy ending that doesn't feel forced at all and there's a last page that so desperately calls for a renewal of Palmiotti and Gray's last pre-Flashpoint series.
This has been a great mini-series.
Having escaped from Arkham Asylum Mitch Shelley holes up in Metropolis, choosing the same run-down apartment block as a bunch of criminals using it as a meth lab. The police get involved and all hell breaks loose as Shelley comes face to face with a man using the same type of force field he's seen before. He manages to stop the man and limit the damage to the building before slipping away.
Another darn good issue, this one gives us an insight into Shelley's motives as he begins to remember what a bastard he used to be and thinks he's doing good deeds as a form of atonement. Of course, there's always the possibility that he could become that bad man once again.
Meet Arcadia Alvarado, the new female, divorced Hispanic presidential candidate who thinks she was abducted by aliens and that America is being invaded by them. Elsewhere we have Professor Kidd who is seeing visions of the couple etched onto the Pioneer 10 space probe who then offer him guidance. As you can see, this is not your average comic.
Picked up on the spur of the moment simply because it's Paul Cornell writing, this is the first Vertigo series I've had for a while and as an opener, it's got plenty in there to keep me coming back and finding out just what the heck is going on.
And what made me smile:
You gotta love Lady Frankenstein!
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