Who'd Like A Cocktail? #214

Admitting it is the first step.

EARTH 2 #9 - Hawkgirl tries to convince Dr Fate (or at least his civilian alter-ego) the he needs to man up and help her and the other heroes of the world but all he agrees to do is look in on Flash who's visiting his mother. That visit doesn't turn out too well as the World Army arrive to try and arrest or at least capture the Flash; Fate's arrival, though, allows them to escape into Fate's realm which is a bit like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Another sterling issue - Sonia Sato (last seen as Judomaster in the Geoff Johns era Justice Society of America) appears as a major in the World Army and we get both the new Fate and Wotan as well. My only gripe - Flash's mother appears way too young. Seriously, they're more like brother and sister than mother and son.

HUMAN BOMB #3 - in the midst of the alien lab, Joan triggers the Human Bomb's full powers, revealing things he didn't know he could do. Trouble is, that lets the aliens know where they are and while they manage to escape that leads them to another alien hideout which teleports them to a moon of Jupiter!

It's a bit all over the place, this issue - there seems to be too much story crammed into too few pages which doesn't really let the issue flow as well as it normally does.

PHANTOM STRANGER #5 - the Stranger, convinced the Spectre has abducted his family, tracks him down and starts a fight with the Wrath of God which, honestly, isn't the brightest of moves. They both give as good as they get, though, until God turns up and scolds them for behaving like children, informing the Stranger that the Spectre was not involved in his family's disappearance. Dr Thirteen gets in touch, though, because someone who may have the answers (paradoxically) is the Question.

Not bad at all; there's been a definite improvement since DeMatteis has taken the reins of the scripting.

STORMWATCH #17 - Apollo and Midnighter manage to escape from Stormwatch HQ while the Engineer continues going nuts, splitting up the rest of the team and showing the Eminence of Blades just who's in charge now. While Midnighter recruits an old familiar face, the Engineer brings in the new OMAC.

Not bad - I think this is the first time we've seen Zealot in the new DCU and it looks like it's building to a confrontation between the Engineer and the others.

SWAMP THING #17 - Swamp Thing fights against Anton Arcane with Animal Man at his side. Things go wrong, then they go right, then wrong again, then a last minute reprieve before it all wraps up next issue.

Honestly, this interminable Rotworld storyline and cross-over has been going on far, far too long and I really have lost interest in it. I enjoyed this series at the start - both the writing and art were excellent - but I'm ready for a change now.

WORLDS' FINEST #9 - Starr Labs is broken into by a bunch of high-tech weapon wielding robbers whose plan to steal some equipment is hindered by the Huntress's arrival. While she manages to hold them off, it's Power Girl who sweeps in to save most of the day before it's revealed the thieves had been hired to retrieve items PG had stolen from Michael Holt which Huntress is none too happy about.

Not bad on the whole - the art's not by the usual team so is a little shaky in places but the story moves along nicely.

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And what made me smile:

God shows he has a sense of humour.