Green Lantern (v4) #43Written By Geoff Johns
Art By Doug Mahnke
Maybe it's the fact that there are two spreads that show off the many ways DC has killed off their characters over the past few years, or maybe it's the face that a guy graphically murders his family then blows his brains out, but this isn't quite what I thought they meant when Dan DiDio and company meant when they said they were making the DC Universe fun again.
But here's the thing, this is the culmination of years of build-up, and it was all for a glorified zombie story? Really? I mean, this is shaping up to be the best superhero zombie story ever told and I suppose that's something. Personally, I'll just be glad to see Green Lantern move onto something new.
The art's good, though, and I suppose if you're going to write a story about evil zombie Black Lanterns and their leader, this would be the one to write.
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36
Written By Marc Guggenheim
Art By Pat Oliffe
Speaking of bizarre returns from the dead, I believe this is the first Spider-Man book in over a decade to make more than an oblique reference to the Clone Saga. Of course, ever since One More Day, the Clone Saga's position as the unspeakable shame of the Spider-Man mythos has been usurped, and so I guess this had to happen at some point, because, comparatively speaking, while the Clone Saga was seemingly endless and poorly written, it didn't involve Spider-Man making a deal with the devil. Plus, it was the story that brought the Green Goblin back to life, so it must have done something right.
Anyway, this annual also features Spider-Man ogling his cousins...and then feeling self-conscious about it, and it goes on for a few pages. More importantly, this issue contains the most accurate representation of Boston and its inhabitants ever seen in a comic book. Oh, sure, some would say that many Bostonians are fully capable of pronouncing 'r's and do not constantly use the word 'wicked' in every other sentence. However, that is clearly a lie concocted by Bostonians so that the world cannot see them as the subhuman monsters they are. Therefore, I would like to give Guggenheim high praise for his insightful and clever writing in this annual.
Green Arrow & Black Canary #22
Written By Andrew Kreisberg
Art By Mike Norton
The big idea of this story is the two leads dealing with villains that they, through indirect means, created. That part is fine. Of course, it ends with Black Canary demanding that Green Arrow quit for reasons that don't make a lot of sense and don't really amount to much.
For some reason, Kreisberg thinks that this is a good time to show a new version of Black Canary's origin, and that part is somewhat awkwardly jammed in. It helps if you remember that last issue there was the scene where Black Canary's power accidentally deafened a guy when her powers first manifested, which is what happened to the villain of this issue, but it's not referenced in this particular issue, so it took me a bit to fit it all together. It'll work better in a trade paperback, I'd assume.
The back-up features an uninteresting bit with Green Arrow and Cupid, but you could do worse.
Pico-Reviews: 10^-12 of a normal review!
Batman #688: Much like Chuck Austen wrote Uncanny X-Men while Morrison wrote New X-Men, so too must Judd Winick write Batman when Morrison writes Batman and Robin, because balance in the universe must be maintained.
Ms. Marvel #41: Wait, they killed Ms. Marvel why, again? Also, how has this series lasted 41 issues?
Red Robin #2: And why does this comic exist?
R.E.B.E.L.S. #6: And why would they bring back the unsuccessful follow-up to a largely-forgotten series at all?
Booster Gold #22: And why....oh, wait, I liked this one. Damn it.
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