Action Comics #853

Action Comics #853
This book is just so good! After months of wondering why Jimmy Olsen apparently knew who Jason Todd was, it's this comic that answers the question: knowing things is one of his powers. As is:
Turtle Boy! Flame Breath! Geiger Counter? Even with all these powers, Jimmy remains the everyman character, wondering about the dynamics of superheroing, such as how they get around, how they prevent cowl cap, where they keep their clothes, etc.
All this and the triumphant return of Krypto!!!
Plus a cameo of sorts for Scipio Garling of the Absorbascon (and Devon Sanders too)! (See the articles on page 4.)
Pure brilliance. Pure EXCELLENCE.

Oh, and guess what? The editors have finally admitted that they weren't fooling anyone last time when they told us that we had to read Countdown to keep abreast of this story. Sure, there's an editor's note saying that this issue occurs on the heels of Countdown #39, but in small print they tell us that they'll fill us in if we missed it. So now, even the stories that were originally central to Countdown are merely scenes from other books. How about that? Could Countdown suck any harder? In fact, the editors mention to us that we should read issue #37, but NOT issue #38! See? It's become, for the most part, irrelevant. I really wonder how it'll finish out the year with the quality just being so bad, and sales dropping off so sharply.

Eventually, I can see this being the book DC publishes that nobody reads. It's just there to provide an avenue for them to get from point A to point B in their Universe, but nobody actually cares. I believe that even Manhunter at its lowest sold better than Countdown is. So why did we as fans constantly have to save that series from the chopping block, and are currently being forced to go without? Why is Catwoman in danger of cancellation? Tell DC to chop away the dead weight. Migrate the Jimmy Olsen story entirely to Action, the Atom story to All-New Atom, the Holly Robinson story to Catwoman or Wonder Woman, the Trickster and Pied Piper story to Flash, the Karate Kid story to JSA, the Mary Marvel story to an ongoing Shazam! title (if Winick can ever get around to finishing Trials), the New Gods story to Superman and/or their own series. Do that and DC can increase the readership of those titles while simultaneously allowing each story to function as its own entity. It's a good idea. So I can't be the only person who's thought of it, can I?

New Releases for 3/7/7

Geez, I can't believe it's been nearly a month since my last post. I guess Adrian Watts was right...but, c'mon, February's such a short month...

Anyways, speaking on tomorrow's releases:

I'm looking forward to Atom #9.

I had been under the impression that the Dark Tower series was comprised of new material, so you can imagine my disappointment when I found out that it's a collation of Roland's backstory pulled from the various books of the series.

Fantastic Four: The End has been entertaining so far, albeit a tad nonsensical. I'm interested in seeing how it wraps up.

Wasn't Helmet of Fate supposed to be coming out weekly? Why the delays?
I've been half surprised and half disappointed with this series. Detective Chimp was EXCELLENT. Ibis was likewise VERY GOOD. But I had such high hopes for Black Alice, and it really wasn't any good. It was actually CRAP. It and Sargon - which sucked ASS - didn't even have anything really to do with furthering the fate story. I'm very disappointed in Simone and Niles.

Incredible Hulk has been a lot of fun lately. And it was nice to see Bruce Banner get some in #103.

Justice League of America continues to meander towards the "end" of an arc...which I really can't see as being any sort of conclusion whatsoever. Even Bendis isn't THIS decompressed.

Of course, Justice League Unlimited!

And Manhunter! My LCBS guy told me this is ending with issue 30. Boo hoo. Blue Beetle just came back, Shaw is on course to be the next Azrael (wonder if he'll want Kate's gauntlets?), and Kate still hasn't gotten together with her cousin Jack Knight. There's so much more that this book could do. I really don't want to see it end. I love this book. It's EXCELLENT.

Marv Wolfman's Nightwing has been extremely disappointing so far. He teased us with the spectre of the Monitors, and then took the book way out into left field. And now he's got this new villainous couple? I couldn't be less interested. Heck, I'm more interested in Outsiders, and that book sucks.

Mighty Avengers will probably be just as bad as most of Civil War. So unless one of you deems it worthwhile, I'm not even going to bother.

Yay! More Planetary Brigade! How lucky are we to get an issue of this AND Hero Squared IN THE SAME month! Now I just have to get my comic shop to carry it.

Superman/Batman - Fuck you, Verheiden, for taking a promising title and turning it to CRAP.

I'm interested in reading the Transformers Prequel merely to get a sense of whether or not the movie will suck.

I'm wondering where Bendis is going to take Ultimate Spider-Man now. But Ultimate Vision is soooo freaking lame. And the concept is just unbearably stupid. Truly AWFUL.

I'll read Uncle Sam because I'm hoping for some Ray Terrill. Who else wants him back in the JLA???

And, of course, Welcome to Tranquility. It's a GOOD fun book to read.

Manhunter #27

Manhunter #27
You gotta love that cover. Seriously! If you were even the slightest bit pissed about Countdown, you've really got to love that cover. And it does such a great job of lampooning current comics with their not-so-secret big reveals on the last page: Spider-Man unmasks? Wait, didn't I read that he was going to in the New York Times? Supergirl joins the Legion of Superheroes? Gee, it's not like the title gave it away or anything! The other Nightwing is Jason Todd? Nice of the next issue box to tell us! So this issue ends with the return(?!!) of Blue Beetle Ted Kord and sets up a new story, while furthering the main story of Kate's defense of Wonder Woman. One of the reporters outside the Grand Jury courthouse asks a question which still hasn't really been made clear in any of the books: what happened to Diana's diplomatic immunity? I suppose we'll find out, but I'm guessing that she's surrendered it voluntarily in the hopes of restoring her name.
Also, Cameron Chase's father was a superhero, and she's got meta powers [Edit: apparently she's been portrayed in the past as having the subconcious ability to negate meta powers when under stress]; Mark Shaw may become the new Azrael (interesting, since Kate uses Az-Bat's gauntlets); Sasha Bordeaux thinks that the video of Wonder Woman snapping Max Lord's neck is a doctored phony - which leads one to wonder what she believes the truth to be.
Another EXCELLENT issue of a truly EXCELLENT title. If you aren't reading Manhunter yet, then shame on you. It's because of you that quality comics get cancelled while piss poor periodicals proliferate. Read Manhunter!
Edit: [Okay, so I did some research since writing this. Apparently, it was revealed that Cameron Chase's father was the hero named Acro-Bat in Chase #6, which was supposed to be a peripheral Bat-title. Yeah, I didn't read it either. Apparently nobody did, and it was cancelled without any fanfare after ten issues, the tenth of which was #1,000,000. What a way to go. Anyways, it's interesting to note that one of the members of Walter Chase's team was the Bronze Wraith, later to be known as the Martian Manhunter! This was revealed in the likewise short-lived Martian Manhunter series, though several more people actually read that one. Cameron's father appeared in flashbacks in two issues of that series. And that's it. He hasn't been mentioned anywhere else, before or since, in the entirety of the DCU, and neither has any other member of the Justice Experience (except for its Bronze Wraith, of course). The only member besides Wraith in the JE with any apparent superpowers was Song Bird, who had wings and could fly. They were to be a continuity implant meant to fill the void in the 60's and 70's when there were few or no other active superheroes. Had the book which introduced them not been speedily cancelled, and their name not sucked ass, we might have seen more of them over the years. I'm impressed that Andreyko was familiar with this forgotten piece of DCU lore. Even the usual sources don't have very much more than I was able to present herein, so, kudos.]

Manhunter #24

Manhunter #24
Another EXCELLENT issue. Andreyko delivers once again.
This time, the verdict comes in on Kate's client, Dr. Psycho, but before the foreman can read it, the Society somehow deactivates his mental restraints (the art doesn't make it very clear how they do this. In one panel his restraints are present and in the next they're just gone! Oh well, chalk it up to having merely 22 pages wherein to tell a story. The art is still beautiful). Dr. Psycho then goes, well, Psycho on the courtroom, and prevents Kate from getting to the briefcase with her gear. As she resists him, he realizes what she's trying to do, and makes her put on the costume. He keeps the mask, however. He then forces her to tongue kiss him, whereupon she bites down and beats the crap out of him, eventually impaling his forehead with her blade and snapping it off, thus rendering him effectively lobotomized. Afterwards, she finds the verdict on the floor. Not guilty. So not only has she taken care of Dr. Psycho, to the apparent acceptance of the Society, but she has proven herself capable of effectively representing supervillains as well, thus fulfilling Bones' agenda for which he assigned her this case in the first place.
In the subplot, it appears that the Sweeny Todd murderer may be Mark, who leaves Dylan's house, and has apparently been suffering blackouts again, during which he has been tracking down soon-to-be metas, excising their pituitary glands, and apparently eating them. (At least, I think that's Mark. I can't tell for certain.) Gruesome stuff, to be sure, but not that shocking to us regular readers of this series.
The art is lovely as always, and yet another reason why if you aren't already, you should be reading Manhunter.
READ MANHUNTER!!!