Who'd Like A Cocktail? #119

Ravager encapsulates my feelings about those bloody things

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #110

Edward I continues his cross-border relations policy

Missed out on my comics last week so a bumper haul this week - possibly the last of 2010!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #93

Negative Man speaks the truth in Doom Patrol #13

Life gets in the way sometimes, hence nothing much happening here over the last few days, but hey, look: comics!

• BLACK TERROR #11 - I think Phil Hester's settled in to the writer's role now; Black Terror's dialogue is fun to read and, for most of this issue, he's simply not interested in navel gazing. Fighting a duplicate of himself that's meant to shake him to his core? He doesn't care, he's just having fun beating the crap out of it! On the whole, this is pretty good stuff, though there was one thing that made me laugh but that's at the bottom of this list . . .
• THE BOYS #45 - that lovely, innocent looking cover belies at least one cat getting out of the bag in this issue: Starlight coming out as a supe to Wee Hughie. It's a sad tale that leaves the poor lad in a hell of a state, particularly when Butcher makes an apparently honest attempt to reach out to him.
• BRIGHTEST DAY #7 - so the White Lantern finally explains to everyone it brought back why it did so. And, of course, the answers are about as enigmatic as you'd expect. Anyone thinking we were going to get straightforward reasons must be disappointed! Still, nice to see Miss Martian looking better than she did at the end of last issue.
• CROSSED: FAMILY VALUES #3 - as brutal as this issue is, it wasn't the subject matter that left me feeling a little uneasy, rather it was the art. For some reason, this issue's artwork seemed more cartoon-like than any previous, more amateurish almost. Some of it felt just a little too gratuitous, really, a feeling that Jacen Burrows's work on the original series never induced. I hate to sound so negative (I do try to be fairly upbeat about comics on this blog) but the art just let this issue down.
• DOOM PATROL #13 - whereas this issue that focused on Elasti-Girl was, quite possibly, the best of the run so far. An origin tale of sorts, Rita reveals her big secret to the rest of the Patrol and looks to be settling her divorce in a permanent way. This is a really nicely done issue which lets us get inside Rita's head and heart and shows that Giffen can do more than laugh out loud funny.
• JSA ALL-STARS #9 - as Cyclone calls King Chimera on whether or not he's going to make a move, the rest of the All-Stars meet up with their old friend Brainwave who's obviously on exposition duty this month. And just in time, too, as the kids he's been looking after turn out to be Paradorian gods! Damn, I love this book!
• Co-feature LIBERTY BELLE & HOURMAN - you know, I could see Icicle, maybe even Tigress, reforming after this storyline. They work well together with the two JSA-ers and it'd be something of a shame to have them return to villains of the month once this story wraps up.
• MAGOG #12 - so that wraps up this series, then, although there's the forthcoming special that'll tie-up the actual storyline. An enjoyable series on the whole, mostly down to Giffen's writing again, but not, I think, one that actually had any lasting impact. Sure, Magog gets a name-check in Brightest Day this week as someone that Max Lord has to stop, but I think it likely he'll either fade away or become a JSA anti-hero/pseudo-villain as Black Adam did.
• SECRET SIX #24 - how often to you get to enjoy an issue without knowing what the hell's going on!? The Six are in some alternate dimension/universe/dream state and it looks like Junior's behind it all. The banter between Jeanette and Deadshot was wonderful and the Punch and Judy dolls looking like Joker and Harley Quinn was just genius! Can't wait to see where this goes.
• THE STAND: HARDCASES #3 - oh Harold Lauder, you sad, pathetic man.

And what made me laugh out loud:

The. Worst. Costume. Ever!

People moaned about Wonder Woman's new look that was unveiled a couple of weeks ago, but seriously, this has to be the most ill-conceived design for a costume I've ever seen. Two bandoliers criss-crossing her chest?! It's like something a 13 year-old boy would come up with - bullets and boobs!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #82

Booster Gold - considerate of even the worst beings in the DCU

Cocktail was slightly delayed this week due to attending a family get together over the weekend. But hey, you don't care about that, do you? You just want the comics:

• Black Terror #10 - this issue seems a little sprawling, not entirely helped by the art which manages to seem a little cramped. Black Terror goes up against the spirit of Pandora's Urn and ends up trying to kick his own ass as he fights against a doppleganger. For all its little faults, this series keeps throwing out the action scenes.
• Booster Gold #32 - the cover says it all: "Giffen & DeMatteis reunite" It's got the same whip fast dialogue, the jokes repeated throughout the issue, and more than a dash of drama. And I love it!
• Justice League: Generation Lost #1 - so this is it, spinning out of Blackest Night / Brightest Day we have Max Lord back as a villain and only Captain Atom, Fire, Ice and Booster Gold know who he is. I'm a little wary of Judd Winick's involvement but hey, I'm going to stick with this because it's Giffen and the JLI in all but name. Snell over at Slay, Monstrobot... already picked up on the big gap in Max Lord's plan - namely that even though he's made everyone forget about him there's tons of archive footage laying around waiting for someone to watch it. As I commented on Snell's post, though, I'm guessing they're playing with the idea that if Superman watches the press conference he gave on page 3 of this issue it'll somehow fail to register with him, that Lord's grande mind-wipe will prevent others even reading or seeing him in print or on video or whatever. All in all, not a bad start.
• Magog #9 - in a Giffen heavy week, this is probably the lightest in terms of content. Magog battles the Shield and Tommy Tomorrow turns up while sub-plots move along in the background. Not a bad issue, but nothing major either.
• Punisher Max #7 - Jason Aaron continues his excellent run on this series, touching briefly on the origin of Bullseye, ably assisted by the art of Steve Dillon.

And what made me smile:

Poor old Dan Jurgens!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #73

A couple of days late due to having last weekend away, but what the heck - here's what I picked up:

• Black Terror #8 - Black Terror finally finds the original American Crusader and ends up helping create a new one. Not a bad series, but still seems to be lurching from one fight to the next a little.
• Blackest Night #7 - the Guardians' secret is revealed and Sinestro claims his position as the best and biggest Lantern in the Universe! Oh, crap.
• Blackest Night: JSA #3 - Power Girl doesn't give up against the Black Lantern Superman and Mr Terrific comes up with a way of getting rid of the Black Lanterns en masse. Of course, it has to be a one time only deal, doesn't it . . .
• Chronicles of Wormwood: The Last Battle #3 - you'd think the Antichrist having a rough time of it would be the right thing to happen, but you can't help feeling sorry for the poor bugger.
• The Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill #4 - traitors revealed and friends die as the end of Gilead draws ever nearer.
• Green Arrow #30 - well, so much for the Green Arrow / Black Canary title of this book. Still, new writer J.T. Krul works a good story into the Blackest Night event, and artist Diogenes Neves is such a huge improvement on Sienkiewicz. Hopefully this book will manage to claw it's way back from the last few months.
• Justice Society of America #36 - another alternate future looking back tale, this time with the Nazi's in control. This should be good.
• Project Superpowers: Chapter Two #7 - what seems like four thousand sub-plots are crammed into one issue here but it looks safe to say that Kid Terror's secret is going to come to light soon.
• Teen Titans #80 - as one door opens, another closes. Just as Green Arrow starts to recover, Teen Titans continues its downward slide. The writing here is dreadful: Holocaust spends the whole issue saying how lovely and kind he is then flips in a split second? Wonder Girl and Beast Boy's supposed antagonism is clumsy at best and no-one else seems to do anything.
• Co-feature Ravager - this, on the other hand, is still ticking along nicely with Ravager seeking revenge.

And what made me smile:

You might not get it if you haven't been reading Chronicles of Wormwood: The Last Battle but it made me laugh!