Hibbs does 5/17

Huh, it looks like it's just me this week, as late as I am in posting. Just wrapped TILTING AT WINDMILLS, and Ben and Tzipora are still at the park, so let's see how much I can get written... 52 WEEK 2: Yeah, character piece. Or pieces, whatever. Liked this issue quite a bit, esp. the Morrow and Magnus scene (Lester says Morrison, I say Waid), and it moved right along, doing exactly what a weekly comic should do. My problems were all in the art -- a) that's such the wrong angle for Ralph's nose to wiggle, and, anyway, it's kind of out of tone to do that at your wife's grave, b) that crappy paste up job on the wall in the Morrow scene, and c) the hot lesbian in lingerie in Montoya's bed. Seemed pretty gratuitous, and out of character for a mean drunk. Mm, and, not knowing what they have planned later down the line, I think I would have pushed the Wondergirl scene a few weeks back. I don't know how she could have pulled together a worldwide thing like that in 10 days, or whatever it's been? Still, otehr than that: GOOD. Oh wait, I forgot -- the "History of the DC Universe" backup? Bad. Really really bad. Any "history" that has to begin with "See, there were these multiple earths, and then there weren't" is bad news.

ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #4: I thought the fold-out was really really effective. Not just as a piece of art, but more as a story-telling trick. That worked tremendously. Art's nice, as always all the way through. But, I don't like this Batman, and I don't really like this Robin, and while I'm sure that's the point, it's not something I would choose to read for pleasure. AWFUL.

ANNIHILATION: NOVA #2: Man, that's an ugly new costume. EH.

BATMAN YEAR ONE HUNDRED #4: Yeah, dug that all the way through. VERY GOOD.

FELL #5: Mm, yeah, strong issue -- perhaps the strongest one yet. I really liked the density, and the backmatter. This is EXCELLENT.

MAN-BAT #2: I literally yelled "Oh...no, ick!" out loud upon encountering the racial stereotyping (just one of many) of the Irish Desk Sergeant saying "boyo". I know several Irish people, and I've never once heard one say "boyo" ever. At least he didn't go "ti-ti-ti-ti-ti" and do a leprechaun dance. Really badly written tripe, AWFUL.

MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #1: The "kids" Avengers title, with the really bizarre addition of Storm to the team. I mean, Wolverine is on the "big kids" regular team, sure, but TWO X-Men just feels wrong. I kinda liked the Giant-Girl character (she had the only good lines, really), but the set-up of them being a government team just didn't work for me. Me no likee. EH.

MOON KNIGHT #2: The first issue's flashbacks worked because they built to the big reveal, but this issue it just felt padded. I also may be alone in just not liking David Finch's art. EH.

ROBIN #150: OK, so he had to do all that rigermorle and acrobatics to get in, right? How did he get out with a hogtied 200 pound man? (Superboy punched a wall!) Other than that, I liked this quite a bit. Really, the big problem is that this is OYL -- Tim and Bruce have bonded, the trust issue should be off the table now. Still, a low GOOD.

SHADOWPACT #1: I really really like seeing Willingham draw again. I wonder how long that can possibly last? Clever use of OYL (though I'm not sure it really matches up with IC or 52), and just generally, I liked it. So far, so GOOD.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #25: Yikes, that's what this was all about? Seems like kind of a waste, and quite a bit of a cheat to this reader. Extremely EH.

Hm, they're home. Let's put this back burner for the minute....

....OK, back, 28 hours later. Just got back from doing the comics at the store. WHat's left? Fuck, too tired to review more, so let's wrap up.... oh, and I notice that Lester just posted, making my rush to get this up probably wasn't needed...

PICK OF THE WEEK: FELL #5, no contest. A solid read, loverly illustrated, done-in-one, with lots of good Backmatter... and under $2. God Bless Warren Ellis is all I can say...

PICK OF THE WEAK: Yeah, ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #4. Despite the cool storytelling of the fold-out.

BOOK/TP OF THE WEEK: THe new KRAZY & IGNATZ is pretty terrific, HOTWIRE COMIX looked pretty interesting on the flip test, and we sold a LOT of copies of Y THE LAST MAN v7, but, pretty much hands down, the finest book of last week has to be Linda Medley's wonderful CASTLE WAITING HC. Gorgeous gorgeous work, with a fine light comic touch. "Solicitine" almost certainly goes on too long, in the context of the book, because it side-tracks the story away from Jain and the Castle, but, still, it's all damn fine stuff, and heavily recommended. It's also a very nicely designed book, too.

So, that's what I thought, how about you?

-B