Aquaman #12

written by Geoff Johns     art by Ivan Reis & Joe Prado



When I first heard about The Others storyline that Johns had cookin up I was curious.  Johns specialty is taking our favorite heroes and twisting their origins a bit.  Of course the New 52 gave him a lot more leeway to do that than before.  One of Johns specialties is twisting the hero's origins a bit.  Here he gives us a Team that Aquaman led before that ended terribly.  Now he has a chance to redeem himself and save the team like he couldn't before.  Of course, Black Manta is in his way doing what he does best - pissing Aquaman off.

Johns does for Black Manta what he did for Sinestro.  He makes him a credible threat to our hero.  Manta is a force to be reckoned with and clearly knows what buttons to push on Aquaman.  The best part is he doesn't even have to try and THAT'S what makes a great villain. 

As great as Geoff Johns makes the story it would be nothing with out the uber-talented Ivan Reis and Joe Prado.  Separate they are good artists.  Together they have helped put Aquaman on the same level they did with Green Lantern during Blackest Night.  The action scenes seem to leap out at you.  The emotion feels real.  I almost wish every page could be a splash page.  But I think after a while I'd get annoyed that the book was so short.  Haha!  Ahem . . .

Rating:

Five Atlantean Relics out of Five

Smallville Chapter 14

Written by Bryan Q Miller Pencils by Chris Cross


If you are a regular reader of this blog (and if you are I apologize for the lack of posts) then you know Im a huge SMALLVILLE fan. I've loved the show from day one and now that it has continued in comic book form is just a dream come true for me. Even better that it's written by former show writer Bryan Q Miller. Miller is a favorite writer of mine from his amazing preNew 52 Batgirl series to one of my all time favorite SMALLVILLE episodes Luthor.

This particular arc is one that I have waited for since the Pilot: Batman Last issue's introduction was pretty standard Batman stuff. Not bad not bad. This issue however did not include the Caped Crusader. To the casual fan that would be very bad news. By casual fan I mean asshole commenter on Facebook, Twitter, etc But to me this issue was a really good post-Smallville Superman/Lex story. Does Lex remember Clark's secret? Will Clark figure out how to stop Lex tracking him? Was that kid on the bus Billy Batson? Where was Batman?

Posing interesting questions like this is what makes an awesome comic book. I don't have much to say other than I really enjoyed this issue and can't wait for more! Except the art is subpar compared to Pere Perez on the first arc. Although the problem might be that the artist's name is Chris Cross Yeesh

Justice League Dark #12

Written by Jeff Lemire      Art by Mikel Janin


I don't really know what I expected from this title.  The concept always intrigued me but I never really got into it.  To be honest the reason I started picking it up was because of Jeff Lemire.  His work on Animal Man has been nothing short of marvelous!  Because of that I became interested in this title to see where it was gonna go.

I'm not disappointed.  But I'm also not thrilled.  I'm trying to limit my weekly comic book intake to the titles that either get me super excited to read or at least are fun enough to follow.  This book has good writing, good art, good characters, but it's just not doing it for me.  I like Constantine but the character is just kinda meh to me.  I like Zatanna, Deadman, and Faust but again, it's just not the kinda book I'm really into.  Oh well.  I enjoyed the story but I don't think I'm gonna continue with this story. 


Except issue 0.  I will probably get issue 0.

Rating:   3 Houses of Mystery out of 5

The Flash #12

Written and Art by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato


If you are regular readers of this blog you will know one thing . . . That I haven't posted anything in like a year.  So I'll have to fill you in on something very important:

I love Francis Manapul's art.  I think he is a great artist and his work is among some of the best in the whole comic book medium.  But DC has a terrible history of having their artists become writers and the results tend to suck some hard ballsacks.  I was very very nervous about Manapul and Buccellato taking over the Flash last year.  After a great run (pun intended) by Geoff Johns how could it get any better?  Especially if it's an artist turned writer.  I was very nervous indeed.  Boy was my nervous energy wasted!!  The Flash was on the way to becoming a favorite character of mine and I felt as thought his New 52 series would be make or break for me.  I'm very happy to say that it's been a make :)

The more recent issues have been focusing on reimagining the Rogues.  That's a very smart move in my opinion.  The Rogues are to the the Flash that the Joker is to Batman or Magneto is to the X-Men.  They are who you think of when you think of great villians for great heroes.  The Rogues have always been a family with a very strict sense of honor among thieves.  This issue kind of turned that dynamic on it's head.  In the hands of a lesser writing team that would have spelled bad news.  But Manapul and Buccellato have an advantage - they aren't afraid to take a risk!  That seems to be the whole point of the new 52 right?  They're not afraid to show that these characters while a "family" are still Rogues and their allegiances can turn at the drop of a hat if given better leadership.

Glider is truly a credible threat to the Flash.  She's been able to manipulate the Rogues into trusting her and the public into hating the Flash even more.  No easy feat but all like any great villain she does it all with a smile on her face and makes it seem effortless.  I'm sold!  Can't wait to see what she does next!

I give this issue Five Shards in Dr Elias's heart out of Five

Batman: The Dark Knight #12

Written by Gregg Hurwitz      Art by David Finch



Holy. Crap!  That's what I had to say at the end of this issue.  This particular Bat-title hasn't been what you would call umm . . . ya know good for a good long while.  It always felt more to me like episodes of The Batman or sub-par Batman: the Animated Series episodes as opposed to really well done Batman stories.  But then again that might just be me being spoiled rotten by Scott Snyder's fantastic run on Batman.

That being said this issue kicked some major ass!  I really loved the trip down memory lane for both Crane and Wayne here.  Oh haha!  Their names rhyme!  That's funny . . . Anyway . . . Hurwitz was able to craft a very interesting, psychological take on the pasts of our protagonist and antagonist.  And of course Finch's art is always a treat.  He's really hit his stride in the New 52 with Batman. 

This is the kind of story I wish the Nolan films had done to utilize the Scarecrow character better.  Don't get me wrong, Cillian Murphy was great but the character was underused despite appearing in all three films.  Oh well. 

I give this issue Five Stitches in Crane's Mouth out of Five.  (damn that would hurt right?  yeesh!)

Before Watchman: Dr Manhattan #1

Written by J Michael Stracynski Art by Adam Hughes

Ok so JMS finally redeemed himself after that crappy take on Nite Owl! Seriously that was very not cool dude . . . Anywho . . .

The basic idea I took away from this story was Philosophy vs Quantam Mechanics. It seemed to be very involved in itself. That probably sounded a bit like I'm insulting JMS but I'm not! The book should be confusing, involved, and maybe a bit off cuz that's the nature of the Dr Manhattan character. He's not emotionally accessible like Nite Owl or emotionally closed off like Rorschach. He's something in between they I don't know how to describe and I think JNS hit that note perfectly.
None of the BW titles have been what I expected. But that doesn't really mean anything cuz I now realize that I didn't know what to expect with the stories. For the most part they have all been hit or miss. This one luckily was a hit. I highly recommend.
Also it occurs to me that I don't think I've ever read anything with Adam Hughes art. Huh . . . I liked it!

Rating: Four and a half blue penises out of five

Folks there is no need to worry! The JJ Blog will be returning soon!