Superman: Lois And Clark #7 - A Review

In the wake of Intergang's attempt to kill Lois Lane (aka Author X) and her young son, Jonathan's powers have been revealed. Thankfully, Superman is along shortly to get them to safety. But even Superman may not be able to rebuild the bonds of trust in his own family in the wake of the revelation that he and his wife have been hiding their real selves from their son for his whole life.


This series has been building up to this moment since the very beginning. And Dan Jurgens plays it out perfectly. Lois, Clark and Jonathan sound like a real family - something that is surprisingly rare in most comic-book portrayals of parents and children interacting with one another.


Once again I have to praise the efficiency of the art team on this issue. Typically, when you have two pencilers and three inkers on a comic, the result is chaotic and messy. Shockingly, the visual continuity of this issue doesn't suffer at all despite having numerous cooks working on the dish, so to speak.

Batman/Superman #30 - A Review

Superman is the captive of an alien mad scientist and Lobo's out for Batman's head. And that was before Batman stole his ship! Still, they're not called The World's Finest team for nothing but they may need some help from the universe's finest heroes to get out of this one!



Tom Taylor's script for this issue is a wonderful throwback to the classic days of DC Comics team-ups, with stunning twists and a healthy dose of weird science. After seeing so many stories where he pitted Superman and Batman against each other, it's a real treat to see Taylor perfectly capturing Clark and Bruce as allies rather than enemies. And the cameo by the Green Lantern Corps is just the icing on the cake!


The artwork for this issue is largely excellent. This is the best work I've ever seen from Robson Rocha and the inks by Jay Leisten are accurately applied. There's a flew glitches in the coloring by Blond (note the unusually pale Superman in the final panel of the above page) but these moments are thankfully few and far between.

Superior Iron Man #8 - A Review

Round One between Tony Stark and the "clean back-up" of his mind from several years earlier is over.  Now they are preparing for Round Two, with the back-up Tony heading to the lab to build and plan while the flesh and blood Tony throws an epic party with enough booze to get The Hulk smashed. Who will prove to be the superior Iron Man?


I'd say words cannot express how much I love Tom Taylor's writing on this series, but then I'd have nothing to say here! There's a lot of Taylor's famed comedy in this issue and the Superior Iron Man is the kind of anti-hero/quasi-villain that we all love to hate. Yet Taylor still finds time for some softer scenes, like the subplot involving Teen Abomination.


The art team matches the quality of Taylor's scripts. Felipe Watanabe's pencils look great as do the colors by Guru-FX. And I would never have known that there were three different inkers working on this book had I not checked the credits page!

Justice League United #10 - A Review

This final issue of the Legion of Superheroes/Justice League United crossover had all the same problems as the previous issues. And for those who missed my earlier reviews, I'm referring to the forcibly posed artwork and complete lack of explanation as to who any of the Legion characters are for the readers who don't know/don't care about the LOSH. And yet, I found this one far more enjoyable than any other part of he crossover so far. And that enjoyment came down to three separate factors.



1. The awesome alternate cover inspired by Mars Attacks.



2. The goofy-ass moment in this panel, where Brainiac 5 briefly becomes Macaulay Culkin.



3. The final few pages, in which the characters are allowed to be characters and have conversations rather than shout exposition.

Alas, I'm not sure how many of these characters will be surviving in this form as we enter into the Post-Convergence DCU.  Still, for all its problems, this book wasn't dull.  I just wish Jeff Lemire had been allowed to do more to bring these characters to life.

Justice League United #9 - A Review

Pro Tip: When you have so many characters in your comic that you can't name them all on a single page and indeed can barely fit their headshots onto a single page, that might be a sign that you have too many damn characters in your comic.


I don't mean to keep harping on this point but that's really all I can say about Justice League United at the moment.  Literally nothing has happened for the past few issues except that more Legionaries keep being sent to the past to fight this one cosmic villain. And the whole affair is mind-blowingly dull in the way that only the most truly awful of LoSH stories (i.e. most of them) can be dull.


The artwork continues to be the high point of this book.  You may not have any idea who any of these characters are or what they can do but by gum they look good doing it!

What happened, Jeff Lemire?  Did Paul Levitz insist on taking over JLU and ghost-writing it now that all the Legion books have been canceled?  Do the have your family?  Is your true opinion of this crossover hidden in Sardath's dialogue about there being too many characters to keep track of?

Just blink twice if you need help!  We are ready to rescue you!

Justice League United #8 - A Review

I must apologize to you all, dear readers. I had intended to review Justice League United #8 today. But owing to some kind of printing error, my copy seems to have been replaced with a Legion of Superheroes comic.

*whisper whisper whisper*

Say that again?

*whisper whisper whisper*

This IS the new issue of Justice League United?

*whisper whisper whisper*

Then why do we barely see the Justice League in it?!  I mean, I know there's a crossover going on, but shouldn't the title team have most of the action focused on them?

*whisper whisper whisper*

You think this gag where I talk to an unseen person is getting stale and I should drop it, especially since it doesn't really make sense in print?  Oh, okay.



In all seriousness, I commented in previous reviews that the presence of Legion characters in this comic was a hindrance to the story as little effort was made to explain who the dozen-or-so characters were and what their powers were, let alone their personalities. Introducing another dozen of them in this issue does little to help matters.  Indeed, nothing of importance really happens in this issue until the last few pages. Until then, everything is all about how things are still terrible in the future and how the Legionaries still in the future come to the past.


At least the artwork by Neil Edwards is still good.  Though one wishes he focused less on two-page splashes and more on trying to make the action flow smoothly.  Edwards is great in an open space but confine him to a few panels on a page and everything becomes hemmed in and sloppy.

Justice League United #7 - A Review

It appears that the cast of Justice League United are as bored with this crossover with The Legion of Superheroes as I am.  At the very least, Animal Man and Green Arrow are fed up with it.  Both of them make wisecracks about how many damned Legionaries there are and how hard it is to keep track of all of them in this issue!


Jeff Lemire tries his best to keep the story moving but the inertia of The Legion continues to hold him back.  It doesn't matter that he slips in some quick gags such as Animal Man and Timberwolf sniffing each other.  The story never bothered to explain who Timberwolf was for the readers who aren't already intimately familiar with every single member of The Legion, their powers and their personalities... or lack thereof!


The artwork this month is an improvement.  Neil Edwards' figures are still forced and stiff, but this is less obvious in the splash pages that dominate the second half of the comic.  Strangely, though this issue features two inkers, the finishes on the comic seem less erratic than they did last month when only one inker was assigned to the book.

Justice League United #6 - A Review

The one saving grace of Justice League United #6 is Jeff Lemire's ability to bring little moments of character into what is essentially one gigantic fight scene. It is these moments that have defined the series so far. And it is these moments with all the little interactions between the regular cast that make the book so interesting.


Alas, most of this book is taken up with the sort of Claremontian battles that have come to define any story involving The Legion of Superheroes.  There are no characters here - merely a loose collection of bodies attached to various superpowers.

These scenes consist of various characters standing around, explaining the action to the reader (Quickly, Ass-Kicking Lad!  Kick the ass of that big guy while I hold him in the grasp of my Magnetic Mind Grip!) while clumsily letting us know their codenames.  It's a shame because Jeff Lemire is capable of so much better than this and the scenes in which his Justice League speak to themselves showcase the difference between the two teams.



As before, the artwork is erratically mixed.  Neil Edwards is a clearly skilled penciler, but too many of his figures seem artificially posed. The best aspect of the artwork is the energetic colors added by Jeromy Cox.

Justice League United Annual #1 - A Review

The biggest problem with Justice League United's crossover with The Legion of Superheroes is that it is a Legion of Superheroes crossover.  The good news is that thanks to The New 52, readers will not have to worry about any of the cumbersome continuity problems that beset the classic LOSH comics.  The bad news is that the LOSH are still a collective of bland characters largely defined by their individual super-powers, with only Brainiac Five and Mon-El possessing any kind of personality. And those personalities are "know-it-all jerk" and "hot-headed douche-bag" respectively.


Writer Jef Lemire does what he can, but even he can't battle the inherent inertia of an storyline involving The Legion of Superheroes.  Too much time has to be devoted  to explaining who they are and listing off the individual members of the team. It also doesn't help the plot is strictly standard, with The Legion having come back in time to kill Ultra (Jonn J'onzz's adopted multi-ethnic alien son) before he becomes a world-destroying monster known as Infinitus in the future.

The subplot involving the rest of The Justice League trying to track down the body of a deceased Hawkman is far more interesting for a number of reasons.  Chief among these are the interplay between the team members and the little character touches that Lemire excels at. My personal favorite was the interplay between Supergirl and Green Arrow, with the inherently rebellious Oliver Queen struggling in a position of authority as he tries to reign in the equally rebellious Supergirl.  



The artwork this time is a bit of a mixed bag.  Neil Edwards is a skillful penciler and there are a number of Kirbyesque splash pages throughout the book.  The problem is that many of the poses of Edwards' figures seem overly forced and artificial, up to and including two women pointing their posteriors directly at the reader while curving their backs so we can see the profile of their chests!   The inks by Jay Leisten are competent but not particularly noteworthy. The best aspect of the artwork is the coloring, with Jeromy Cox using a vibrant, heroic palette that makes everything jump off the page in just the right way.