Shelly's Comic Book Shelf

Full of Awesome

2012-01-12T01:41:00.000-05:00

These animated comic book covers are amazing. So clever and well done. I followed a bunch of links to get to the source and forgot to leave bread crumbs to mark the trail. Sorry. But thanks to all who posted about these.

The Addams Family

2012-01-07T17:08:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I'm still here. Just haven't been reading comic books. Not for 2 months! That's what DC's done to me, killed off my interest with the DCnU. Well, no, not really, but my enthusiasm has waned a bit. I'm still buying and now that I'm -- tada! -- retired, as of the end of 2011, I should start to be able to catch up. Anyway, Google caught my eye with its latest logo doodle, and since it's comics related, I realized it would make a good post to kick off 2012 here.

So, thanks to Google, I know that today is the 100th anniversary of Charles Addams' birth.

Google Doodle

I've adored the cartoons of this cartoon genius since I was a kid. My father had briefly worked in the stock room at Doubleday following his discharge from the navy after WWII and was able to buy a lot of books. Lots of non-fiction, some fiction, and a lot of cartoon collections. I bought my own cartoon collections over the years and a few years ago, my father gave me his because he knew how much I coveted them.

Charles Addams Collections

The one with the plain cover is Drawn and Quartered. Its dust jacket fell apart many years ago. Favorite Haunts still has its dust jacket, which is in remarkable shape. And Monster Rally is a softcover I was able to find on my own. A number of Addams cartoons are also in the bigger anthologies that collected works of many wonderful cartoonists. But none were quite as perverse as Addams was, though many cartoonists who followed him brought their own brand of lunacy to the genre, ie Gahan Wilson and Charles Rodriguez, both of whom contributed to the National Lampoon.

But back to Addams. I supposed my favorite of his cartoons was the skiing one. I'm too lazy to go find and scan it, but it's classic: a tree with one set of ski tracks that run up to it, around it on both sides, then rejoin in front of it to continue on. There's no caption; none is necessary as we're left to scratch our heads in puzzlement, and wonder about the nature of the human/creature who left those tracks.

I grew up reading all those cartoon collections over and over and over. I traced the art. I practiced drawing by copying them freehand. Cartoons, as much as comic books, were a vital part of my childhood and now, my adulthood. And the cartoons by Addams feel as fresh today as when I first read them 50 or so years ago.

By the time The Addams Family premiered on TV, they were all familiar to me, as well known to me as my own family, though far more entertaining. And were brought to life by that amazingly perfect cast led by John Astin and Carolyn Jones.

So, here's a toast to Chas Addams, as he signed his cartoons... one of the very best to create a world with pen and paper and a deep imagination.

DCnU Not So New

2011-11-10T15:43:00.001-05:00

Read issue 2 of Voodoo and issue 3 of Grifter and I'm not feeling the love. I don't hate them, but I'm not seeing anything special in them, either.

Voodoo has a lot of sex in it, so far, which doesn't bother me, as Pris is using her sexuality more than being exploited because of it and even exploitation doesn't bother me if it's part of a larger story, but the thing here is, even allowing for a snail's pace of revealing the backstory, precious little is happening here. Yeah, there was some action, but I don't feel anything is really building here as opposed to wandering. I'll stick with it for another couple of issues, but I suspect I'll be dropping it. The tease of a Green Lantern appearing next issue is not helping as I've been avoiding the regular DC characters, except for Batwoman.

Grifter started out with an intriguing mystery, and while it's not meandering the way Voodoo is, it's not exactly great, either. The art is fine, but there's nothing that feels new here. And rather than letting me get into an alternate version of Cole, I'm finding myself missing the original very much. The reason for him wearing the mask, even what it looks like, is rather silly. Cole was my favorite Wildstorm character, but right now, I don't really care about him. I did in the first two issues, but this third one has squandered the emotions it built up. And visiting Seattle, home of Green Arrow, next issue? Oy vey!

Ways DC Could Have Rebooted the DCU

2011-10-18T22:28:00.001-04:00

I've been thinking about how DC could have reinvented the DCU that wouldn't have pissed me off so much.

They could have created another universe in the multiverses and started over. They could have taken the new versions of the old characters in any direction. Everything would have been new and fresh and could've been exciting. The old DCU would exist in the universe we all knew and loved, but we just wouldn't be reading about them, until/unless there was a crossing of the universes and they all met. Fun times! Same as when Earth-1 and Earth-2 characters learned about each other.

Age the longstanding DCU characters to something resembling their actual age, maybe add in a decade or two. Most would be retired, some even deceased perhaps. Keep some of the newer, younger characters in their roles, either at their age at the end of the DCU or a bit more mature. Fill out the character roster with new heroes. Maybe Bruce Wayne, Jr. is Batman. Superman and Supergirl likely age more slowly, so might be able to maintain their roles, or perhaps, their offspring have taken over.

I like either of the above options because they maintain continuity, in a fashion, and the legacy aspect of the DCU that made it so special to me for 50 plus years, along with the multiverse. The DCnU doesn't feel special at all. It just feels like a mess.

NYCC Sunday

2011-10-16T22:22:00.001-04:00

It was kids' day at the con. Lots of short folks underfoot. It might've been more mobbed yesterday, but today it really got to me. I could hardly move anywhere. I didn't get many sketches this con, partly because I never got to Amanda Connor's table at the right time and partly because too many of the artists I wanted sketches from were too busy finishing commissions. I don't really commission art or buy finished pieces because I have no room to display them and my money goes toward supporting my toy, book, and comics habits. ;)

Anyway, Cliff Chang was nice enough to do a quickie for me, and Dustin Nguyen did a quick Steph Brown Batgirl sketch. To me, these little sketches are like enhanced autographs.

Now, I'm exhausted and my feet and legs hurt, not from walking around so much as from standing around or moving at a snail's pace trying to get through the dealers' room where I hang out pretty much the entire time I'm at the con.

Highlights in photos...

Cliff Chang

At the DC Booth

I'm not sure what's scarier: that they made these Alfred E. Neuman Justice Leaguers or that I think I want the Wonder Woman one.

Celebrating Spy vs. Spy's 50th Anniversary

Jimmy Palmiotti

Neal Adams

Toys! Toys! Toys!

Steph Batgirl by Dustin Nguyen

Sketch by Cliff Chang

More NYCC ComicCon Photos

2011-10-16T02:26:00.001-04:00

I spent time in Artist Alley today, then visited with a flickr friend who came to the con from out of town.

Katie Cook

Amanda Connor is always obliging when I ask her to pose with a toy.

Dustin Nguyen

Amy Reeder

NYCC 2012 Has Begun!

2011-10-15T00:51:00.002-04:00

I missed out on Thursday's Pro Hours because I didn't know they were going to do them Thursday evening, so I didn't ask for that off on my vacation request last fall and had to work. :(

Today was a madhouse. I met up with 4 friends I met via flickr, which was very cool. Two are friends I've gone on photoshoots with after meeting them in person a few years ago, one I met in person at last year's NYCC, and the other I met for the first time a few years ago and haven't seen since. It's great getting to meet online friends.

We mostly walked around taking pictures and shopping/browsing at the toy vendors. And I got David Horvath to sign my vinyl Critterbox Cinko. Tomorrow, I plan to hit Artist Alley and some of the comics vendors. I'd love to fill in some GNs and compilations I'm still missing.

David Horvath

Dr. Horrible

Some DC Cosplay

DC Booth

Zombie Nurses!

Yet More on the DCnU

2011-10-13T16:42:00.003-04:00

If you haven't seen it, this is awesome: What the DC characters think of the DCnU.

I read Grifter 2 and while not much seems to be happening, it hasn't turned me off, so I'm still curious and still reading.

The Nature of Sex and Sexism in the DCnU

2011-10-09T23:26:00.000-04:00

I posted this long comment on a post over at Stars and Garters and thought I'd repost it here, to share and to keep it for myself for future reference.

An excellent post. I do feel the need to add a few things, however,

Because not all women are created equal. We don't think alike, nor do we enjoy the same things. Or get offended by the same things.

First, I'm a middle-aged white married woman who has been reading comics, mainly DC Comics, for over 50 years (egads, that makes me feel OLD).

I do prefer female characters to be strong. I prefer male characters to be strong, too. I want to read about good, interesting characters. I also like reading about quirky characters, ones with emotional conflicts, flaws that get explored in stories, and lots of other things, but mostly, I like them to be individuals.

I'm shunning most of the DCnU not because of how the characters are being treated, but because I just can't handle another reboot, especially one that negates so much of what I know and love about my favorite characters.

Batwoman is fine. She's knew without a lot of history to have negated. Catwoman, no matter how she's being written now, is out for me because too much is being denied as having happened. I'm sickened by what I've read about how she's being depicted, but my not reading her book has nothing to do with that treatment. I'm not reading Nightwing for a similar reason. I don't want to read Dick Grayson going backward in his life.

So, another book I'm not reading is Red Hood and the Outlaws because I detest Jason Todd (I'm one of the folks who voted for him to be killed). And as appalled as I am by how Kory is being treated, I'm also appalled by how Roy Harper is being treated. He was a wonderfully complex character, one who always tried to do the right thing and even though he enjoyed sex with any woman who was willing, he always respected them. And now, he's a moron, based on the panels I saw if he's willing to take advantage of Kory like that.

As for Voodoo, it wasn't the best way to intro the character, but it's a part of Pris that I remember and I'm willing to see where it's going. She is an alien, after all.

So, when it comes to the DCnU, I'm just annoyed and appalled by a lot of the choices they've made. I happen to like reading about males as much or more so than females. I like beefcake and therefore can't begrudge guys their cheesecake, provided there's that beefcake for me and stories to go with both.

So yes, we all need to keep protesting how females are treated in comics, but let's also protest how idiotic and misogynistic men are so often portrayed, too, because that just keeps feeding the stereotypes and the wrong attitudes in the readers.

The Crisis Crisis

2011-10-03T13:30:00.001-04:00

So the Crisis never happened? Here's my take on things, which given I'm reading very, very little of the DCnU, should be taken with a handful of salt.

Crisis happened. Everything happened. As with the post-Crisis, end of the multiverse times, there's no collective memory of it. Back then, time just rebooted itself and plopped people into place as if there had never been a multiverse, but of course, some characters outside the bubble, so to speak, did remember and that led to the second Crisis.

So now, no one recalls the old 'verses. Flashpoint reset everything, with some characters having a history that reflects the Crisis and post-Crisis times and others not.

For us veterans of Doctor Who and Torchwood, this wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff is no big deal.

And I still have no interest in reading most of it.

And someday, we'll have a new reality in the DC realm. And maybe it'll be one I'm interested in reading.

It's All a Game

2011-09-30T23:07:00.000-04:00

The New Teen Titans Games

I cannot believe this is now in my possession. The New Teen Titans Games. Twenty years in the making. Finally in my hands. Awesome.

I'm almost afraid to read it in case it doesn't live up to the impossible expectations I've built up over the past 2 decades. Despite all the setbacks on the road to publication, I always believed DC would get this into print. Thanks to Marv Wolfman and George Perez for this!

Well Into DCnU Now

2011-09-30T13:22:00.000-04:00

And yet, I'm still working my way through a stack of DCU, aka pre-DCnU, books.

I'm taking my time with these "older" universe books, savoring them like the fine wine they are.

For instance, Batgirl. The Steph Brown BG. I love(d) this book. And Batgirl 24 epitomized all that was wonderfully perfect about this book. From the awesome cover to the last panels with Steph and Babs, this book rocked. Steph has her showdown with dear old dad who's now in prison, and has a lovely scene with her mother. But then, we also got to see amazing pages of her remembered hallucinations while under the influence of Mercy, the powerful hallucinogen her father doused her with, and well, this was a bittersweet sendoff for one of DC's best and brightest books and I can't begin to explain how much I'll miss it.

As for the new DC, I tried Grifter and Voodoo, two characters from the Wildstorm universe which I didn't mind seeing rebooted in the DCnU proper. Both diverged quite a bit from the original versions of the characters while keeping the flavor of who they were in WildCats.

Grifter shows the most promise of the two, with Cole being as badass as he was before and the book setting up an intriguing mystery. The art was nice, too, though there was more spittle in mouths than I like. Makes him look like he's drooling.

Voodoo also sets up a mystery, and introduces both Pris and agents hunting her. Hard to tell yet who's good and who's bad in this, and it might be more complicated than good vs. evil. Pris is an alien of some sort, but from where and why she's here, we have yet to discover. I'm hoping the journey to the answers are worth the time I'm going to give this because I did love Voodoo in Wildstorm. Sure, there's a titillation factor, but Pris, as I recall, was a very sexual woman, one who used all she had, including her body, as a means to an end, but she was no pushover. I do recall vulnerability in her and some self-confidence issues. It's been a while since I read Wildcats. But I'm willing to go along with this here, because the women working in the sex club, while stereotyped, are knowingly pandering to a class of men who objectify women and I want to see if Ron Marz will take this to something more empowering for women, especially Pris, who as an alien, clearly has other issues to deal with, too. And I so love the cover. So I'll stick with this through the first story arc.

Which brings me to the books I haven't read nor plan to read. The ones being vilified all over the comic blogosphere. Namely, Catwoman and that Red Hood book that Roy Harper is unfortunately starring in, Red Hood and the Outlaws) and all I can say is that I'm very glad I'm not reading either. You can find lots of links to posts about there on Dispatches from the Fridge because I can't begin to link to all of them, let alone the best of them.

So, for the record, I like when Bruce and Selina are romantically involved. I liked in the old DCU when they had sex, or it was at least, implied. I like that there was emotion there, and on Earth 2, they were actually married before she was killed, and the had a daughter.... excuse me. I got caught up in a moment of nostalgia.

But those panels/pages I saw posted were just ugly. Sorry, Judd Winick, but edgy they ain't. They sure weren't sexy, except possibly to teen boys and the men who never grew up. Aside from the art, which seemed odd in places, especially Batman's torso, I just didn't like seeing Selina like that. I'm no prude, no, that's not my objection here. But Selina of the DCU had come so far and was such a cool character, and while she took what she wanted, she certainly wouldn't take Batman like that. That Selina was above that, miles past it. She wanted Bruce, but she wanted him the way a mature woman wants a man. As an equal. As someone desired for herself and not her body.

As for the Red Hood book, I'm not reading it because I detest Jason Todd, but now, seeing how sexualized Kory is, based on the pages I saw, and how moronic Roy is, all I can say is, "Feh." Sorry, DC, but that's not how a woman who enjoys sex would act. That's how a damaged woman, a vulnerable woman would act. And the guy who goes with her is essentially agreeing to rape her. And while the old Roy would hop in bed with any female who was interested, I like to think he'd draw the line at taking advantage of someone clearly as vulnerable as Kory seems. They were friends, for crying out loud. And I can't see him hanging out with Jason, either, so he clearly isn't the Roy of old.

But then, that's why I'm not reading these books. Because I can't get what was out of my head. I can't get past who these characters are/were to me. I wish someone would just wake me when the DCnU is over.

Cool Project Reminder

2011-09-18T12:12:00.001-04:00

I posted about this a short while ago. Scott's a friend of mine and this is a cool project. Support it if you can. I think it's worth it.

A Late Addition to the List

2011-09-17T00:18:00.002-04:00

I added Resurrection Man to my pull list. I don't really know the character, other than his appearance not all that long ago in Supergirl, and he seems cool, and is someone who can't be screwed up in my mind because I have no real preconceptions about him.

I did read Grifter 1 and while it's certainly not about Cole Cash from the WildCats in the Wildstorm universe, the book wasn't half bad and a lot of intrigue was set up. Cole is a real grifter in this who somehow has been dragged into something he has no clue about. Or does he? The art was fine. Nothing special, but easy enough on the eyes.

I still have some last DCU books to read and review. I think I'm putting them off so I won't have to say goodbye to those wonderful characters. *sniff*

Introducing the New Pull List

2011-09-09T16:00:00.000-04:00

It's a done deed. Went to Forbidden Planet and started my pull list over from scratch.

Returning titles:

Lone Ranger
Zorro
Criminal
The Unwritten
Doc Savage (We think it's continuing, maybe.)
The Spirit (We think it's continuing, maybe.)

New titles:

Voodoo
Grifter
Batwoman
Jennifer Blood
The Shadow (upcoming)

I'll continue to get in trades:

Scalped
Air

Picked up exactly one comic today, Jennifer Blood 4. Got 2 of the new Doctor Who action figures, and picked up some trades to fill in where I had gaps. For some comics, I'm converting the monthlies to trades to save space and to be able to put them on shelves like books.

I was going to add some other DCnU books, but couldn't bring myself to do it. I might try a few first to see if I want to bother sticking with them. Batgirl 1 was sold out. I think I'm relieved. I know folks have liked it, judging by reviews I've seen on other blogs, but I can't think of Babs as Batgirl again. I've tried, but the older, more mature Babs as Oracle keeps getting in the way.

Ah well. was fun while it lasted. I'll be reviewing old DCU titles for a while longer. And I still haven't been able to get myself to read the last Detective. I'm not ready to say goodbye to Dick as Batman, damn it!

Two Reviews

2011-09-04T13:59:00.002-04:00

I'm reading my comics stack very slowly in order to make it last during the fallow period, which I hope won't be longer than a year or two, but I suspect will be much longer. Even if the DCnU gets rebooted, there's no guarantee DC will revert to the DCU, but rather move to a DCnnU!

Anyway, Green Arrow 15 ended that version of the title with a decent ending to a decent story. Nothing great. No big tug on my heart. Just and ending. I will miss "my" Ollie, but he's been gone a long time now, anyway.

Gotham City Sirens 26 ended the series on an interesting and a bit surprising note. Having Batman/Bruce's involvement revealed was a neat twist, but what I really liked is, that despite her own emotional issues, Harley is no dumb bunny. She still has her shrink training and her smarts to figure out that Ivy is out of her mind and that Selina is right. Nice farewell to the gals.

And I loved seeing the preview for The New Teen Titans Games. I can't believe I've been waiting 20 years for this and I can't believe it's really going to be published. Now there's a DC book I'm really looking forward to!

For Lovers of the Silver and Bronze Age

2011-08-23T00:34:00.000-04:00

Kickstarter.com is a site that seems to be a way for folks who have a project needing funding or other help to get what they need. A friend of mine, Scott Rosema has a project listed there: Silver & Bronze Age Mania. Scott's no wannabe. He's a pro artist who's worked for Marvel and DC and a lot of others. And, he's a big sweetheart of a guy. So if this sounds like something you'd like to see, why not help out. :)

End of Run Reviews

2011-08-20T17:40:00.002-04:00

I feel like I'm writing obits rather than reviews and I keep putting off the task, as if that would make these wonderful titles live longer. But alas, September is nearly upon us, bringing the DCnU with it, and I must say goodbye to these cherished friends. Oh sure, I'll reread them, but it won't be the same as that first read when it's fresh and I'm wondering what will happen. Still, I'll savor them in rereading, and maybe someday, the PTB at DC will realize the error of their ways and restore sanity to the company and return my beloved DCU.

Among the friends I'm saying farewell to...

Supergirl 67
What an awkward number to end on. A lovely cover, nice enough art inside, a sense of fun to the story brings this book to a bittersweet close. Not as special as the Gates/Igle run, which should be considered classic, this last story ended better than I'd thought and left Kara/Linda in a good place emotionally.

Batman 713
Oh, my. Not what I'd expected. This was a love letter to the fans by Nicieza and a team of artists, rather than a traditional story. A fable in one issue. Sweet.

Birds of Prey 15
The art was as schizo as last issue. I don't mind splitting art chores, but the art has to be good throughout and in this story, half still is fairly ugly. As for the story, it was decent enough, but hardly the big finish I wanted.

Booster Gold 47
The only Flashpoint book I've been reading. So I guess Booster fixed time, but not quite and the DCnU is the result? What a waste of the last issues of one of my favorite books.

Batman and Robin 26
From the wacky cover I was expecting something a lot better than what I got. Another book going out with a whimper instead of a bang. I suppose if the book was continuing as is, this might be the start of something that could build into something cool down the road, but alas, it's not to be.

Upon Review as the DCU nears the End

2011-08-07T17:56:00.002-04:00

I've been feeling downright melancholy reading DC comics this summer. I do have a nice backlog to sustain me come September, but as I read the last issues of my favorites, I keep thinking of all I'll be missing.

Case in point. Secret Six. Secret Six 36 was a fitting and brilliant end to a marvelous and marvelously warped series focusing on the fringe characters of the DCU. From the perfect cover,with Bane dismantling the log and Ragdoll peeling back the cover, to the last panel, where Bane, having helped destroy the team he came to believe was holding him back, is poised to wreck havoc on the world, specifically his enemy, Batman. This was a violent comic about violent characters who were more criminal than not, yet they also had heart and passion and were all too human, except for Killer Shark who was really, all too shark. I am going to miss these characters hugely, especially Catman and Scandal Savage. They've been loads of fun to read.

Meanwhile, at least Green Arrow is going on on a better note than this year started. Finished with the Brightest Day crossover that had grown tedious, in GA 14, Ollie is working an actual case with intrigue and danger and explosions. This isn't the comic it could've been, but it's not an embarrassment either.

There are few covers in comics that quite equal the lunacy and terror of the Joker on Detective 880. The dovetailing of the Joker and James Gordon storylines has been masterful. Scott Snyder deserves all the kudos we can heap on him and Jock's art has been pitch perfect throughout. One more issue and it's over. I almost don't want to read it. I'm caught between wanting it now so I can read how this powerful story ends and holding it aside so I'll have it forever to look forward to. But yeah, I'll be reading it first thing.

Gotham City Sirens 25 is another winner. Next issue is Selina vs. Ivy. It should be classic. And yeah, Selina's zipper is pulled a bit low on the cover, the same complaint the new Catwoman comic's cover has garnered. I wish they wouldn't always show her cleavage, but it doesn't seem overly sexed up here as it does on the preview I saw of the other, DCnU one.

Supergirl 66 is a fairly good read, if not on the same level of genius that marked the Gates/Igle run. The art is nice, though, and the story harkens back to earlier era when Kara really did go to college somewhere back in my own youth. I'll miss Kara.

Batman 712 concludes the Two-Face story and truthfully, this book, while good, isn't finishing on the strong note Detective is. The thing I've most enjoyed about the Bat books with Dick as Batman has been that it's Dick under the cowl and the stories have really used that to advantage if not outright catering to it. This could've easily been rewritten for Bruce and Dick's muscular physique in his topless panels make him look almost like Bruce. Actually, he even looks more like Bruce in the costume than he has til this arc. Maybe it's me, but I could've taken or left this story. And the cover seemed a bit much, too, given that's supposed to be Dick. I dunno. The whole thing just didn't work for me.

Aquaman Guest Stars in Monty

2011-07-31T14:53:00.004-04:00

This made me chuckle.

Posted this on DC's Facebook Page

2011-07-21T18:25:00.001-04:00

They said they were reading feedback, positive and negative and appreciated everyone's passion and hoped we'd be reading the new 52 in Sept. So I posted this:

There are precious few DC comics I'll be reading come Sept. I'll give the ones that aren't characters I know and love and don't want to see retconned a try: Batwoman, Voodoo, and Grifter. I might try something else, too. Not sure yet. But everything I love about the DCU will be gone. Better to have started the whole thing from scratch than take the characters I love and destroy them this way. Sticking Roy Harper with a character I detest (Jason Todd) is no way to make up for killing his daughter. Taking the Batman cape and cowl away from Dick Grayson is a step backward. I've read him as Nightwing. I'm past that now. I want to read his adventures as Batman. So, I'll go from reading 30 or so DC books a month to 3-5. Somehow, I figure that'll just be a drop in the bucket of DC's profits. And I'm sad that after reading DC Comics for 50 plus years, starting when so few girls like me read superhero comics, I'm no longer a reader DC wants.

The End of the Super Marriage is Big News

2011-07-21T16:48:00.000-04:00

The NY Daily News had something to say about Superman in the DCnU. Just reading the two pages that have been circulating all over the comics blogosphere today, I've got to say: I can't go through this again. I've read Clark as dweeb for so many years, decades, even. And while I don't read all the Superman books, I was thrilled that good guy Clark finally got the woman of his dreams. I really don't want to read all that angst until he wins her over, again.

I get that it's new to a lot of people. I get that the younger writers are itching to write it. Don't mean I gotta read it. And I won't.

Counting Down to DCnU

2011-07-16T14:32:00.001-04:00

Just two more months of the old DCU. And here are reviews of 3 books I'll miss more than I can say.

Detective 879 is everything a good Bat comic and a good comic should be. The focus is on Commissioner Gordon and his son James. The back-and-forth storytelling that alternates between goings-on with the Joker's latest escape scheme and Jim trying to figure out what his son is up to is masterful, and next issues climax promises to be great. Scott Snyder is the perfect writer for this book and Francesco Francavilla's art has been the perfect complement to the writing. Kudos all around. This team deserves a longer run on this book, with these characters, Dick as Batman, and the DCU as is.

Batgirl 23 is another book that epitomizes the best of comics, especially for folks young and old who like their comics to be fun as well as full of chills and thrills. Steph gets a little help from powerful friends and that last panel promises the next and last issue will be a fitting end to this incredible ride we've been on.

Geez, I feel like I'm at a never ending wake. Birds of Prey 14, however, is less than the perfection it is in Gail Simone's hands and most any other artist who's worked on the book. The story, featuring Zinda, the original Phantom Lady, and Black Canary, is ably being written by Marc Andreyko who has a proven track record with female characters, especially the current Manhunter. It's too bad the art isn't up to par. After a lovely cover by Billy Tucci, we get into the story, which has its roots in the past. The flashback scenes are fairly nicely drawn, but the present-day scenes just make the women look ugly. Based on Tucci doing the cover, I'm guessing he did the flashbacks and Adriana Melo, credited as the second penciller, must have done the current scenes. I'm not familiar enough with either's work to know for sure. And to confuse things, the first page is a rather nice full page panel with the gals looking fairly nice, but as soon as you turn the page, things take a nasty turn with pinched faces that make them all look like they're wearing ancient girdles that are too tight. I hated that Gail wasn't bringing the book to a close, herself, but was fine with Andreyko doing the writing. I just wanted it to be nice to look at, too.

October in the DCnU

2011-07-11T21:26:00.002-04:00

I didn't think the DCnU could get worse after the big announcement of the 52 #1 books, but I was wrong. The solicits for October make me even less enthused. Aside from some of the descriptions saying nothing of any note, between the non-costume Kory is wearing, the unusual tattoo Roy is sporting (doesn't looking Native American to me), and the second issue of Catwoman sounding even more soap opera-ish than the first, I really don't see myself reading more than Batwoman and perhaps one or two others. DC might be jumping a herd of sharks with this reboot.

Meanwhile, Secret Six 35 rocked, as usual. Bane wants to take the offensive and go after the people important to Batman. This cannot end well, but the sad fact is, that after the next issue, it does end. Damn.

Mera in Plastic

2011-07-07T00:50:00.000-04:00

Mera

I got only 2 comics today -- Secret Six 35, which I'll review later, and Batman and Robin 25, of which the less that's said the better -- and the above action figure of Mera. The other new figures were fine, but I'm being selective. I've got the Red Lantern Mera, so I thought I should have this one, too. Here they are together.

Mera and Mera

I forgot to include Red Lantern Mera's trident in the photo. Oops. Anyway, they're long and hard to fit into the frame, so 2 would've been problematic. There's a slight, flat section on Mera's chest, in the same place as Red Lantern Mera has her logo. They had to redo the head, so even with using the same basic body mold, couldn't they fix that one spot? It's a bit weird. Otherwise, she's lovely, though I wish her hands would turn, on both figs, so I could better pose her holding the trident. I've always been a fan of Mera, so it's nice having these figures of her.