Bucket O' Comics: DC Monthly Favorites

Well it's almost the end of March and I've finally read through my comics this month. Time, time, where is the time. I used to be able to read about 20 comics in less than a week now it takes me at least three weeks to read fifteen comics. In my tally right now DC is whomping Marvel's ass at least 4 to 1, in fact Marvel better start getting their shit together or I may be dumping all of their titles before summer hits.

DC

Green Arrow and Black Canary #6
Judd Winick has really impressed me with his excellent and consistent run on GA&BC. I'm kind of a latecomer to Oliver Queen, I actually picked it up on a whim a few years ago and I haven't been able to put it down since. Ollie is a no-nonsense bad ass who doesn't apologize for his snarky attitude and I love how Cliff Chiang draws Ollie and the book itself is beautifully put together. Now a lot of people aren't as big on Winick and his writing, there are times where it can be a bit cliched, but I really dig the way he portrays Ollie and Dinah. I love that they don't have a perfect relationship and that sometimes she has to smack Ollie upside his head for being an asshole but it adds the spice that we as readers love so much. Now if you haven't been reading GA hears a little re-cap. Ollie decides to pop the question to Dinah, they get married. Fast forward to the Bridal Suite where they attempt to get some Newlywed nookie she kills Ollie with one of his arrows when he suddenly attacks her--seems like this thing ends before it begins--Ollie appears to be dead again! GA is canceled and the 1rst issue of Green Arrow and Black Canary is released. We learn that Ollie isn't dead he was just kidnapped by a bunch of souped up Amazons just so they could recruit Black Canary. Silly Amazons, they can never just write a formal invitation. They have to plant some guy to die to make it seem like it was Ollie just to get Black Canary to notice them. Seems like a lot of work. Anyway, so Canary goes to the island undercover while Ollie's son Connor and Speedy bust him out of his island prison on Themyscira (Wonder Woman's Home). As they escape the island Connor is sadly shot through the heart. He's put on the ventilator and of course Ollie goes nuts, he's considered brain dead. So for issue six, after all of that drama with Connor and Ollie some douchebag decides to take Connor's body--the reason is unclear but Ollie dusts off the old bow and takes off after his son's captors with the intention of shoving an arrow up their asses--whoever they are. It's a fun read and as I said before I'm really enjoying the dynamic between Ollie and Dinah and the quick pace of the book.

Green Lantern #29
The Green Lantern book has by far been my favorite comic since the Rebirth of Hal Jordan. Last month we saw the conclusion to the war between the Sinestro Corps and the Green Lantern Corps. They locked Sinestro's pink ass away on Oa but it appears this is exactly where Sinestro has intended to be. With his Corp he has forced the Guardians (The Little Blue guys who formed the GL Corp.) to change the Laws of Oa and allow the Lanterns to use deadly force. Writer Geoff Johns has smartly woven this long arc bringing the former Green Lantern's motives to the surface. He wants the Corps to be like him, to rule with an iron fist. Through the Sinestro War Johns is subtly hinting at a doomsday prophecy called the Blackest Night, where 8 power rings of various colors do battle until the end of the Universe. We know of Green (willpower) and Yellow (Fear). Now there is Blue (hope) and Red (rage) and we have seen hints of a possible Black ring (?). The other colors are Orange (greed), Violet (love) and Indigo (compassion) all representing different emotions. Now in issue 28 an officer of the Corp, Laira, brutally murders Abin Sur's (Hal's Ring's former owner) son Amon Sur. She is tried by the new Alpha Lanterns and banished from Oa. On her voyage home she receives a red ring and as you guessed it becomes an agent of Rage. Issue 29 goes back to the origin of how Hal got the ring--which we have seen many times but we actually get to see Abin Sur, Hal's Lantern forebearer tracking down the prophecy of the Blackest Night. We;ll see where this goes but I have to tell you I really have enjoyed this series Johns has amped up the action and really given some depth to this space age police force. As he explains it in Wizard that the Lanterns are Galactic Police Men and they should have to deal with the consequences of using deadly force against an enemy. If you read anything for DC at all this should be the book you pick up it packs a universal punch in dialogue, mythology and of course bad ass action.

Batman #674
This one I'm gonna put in the eh-- it's okay pile. Writer Grant Morrison has always been kind of hit or miss with me and that's how I feel about his recent stint on Batman. I really liked that Batman has a son with Ras Al Ghul's daughter Talia and that he's a bad ass spoiled brat, but the storyline hasn't felt consistant and he keeps doing to many random things. For instance for the 666 issue it was a stand alone future issue about Damien, Batman's son, becoming the new Batman in a hell in Gotham scenario. What was the point of this and where was he going with it, you got me? So Batman 674 is a two part issue about the replacement Batmen. There are still some alive out there and one of them decides to take Batman hostage. It was interesting to see sort of an anti-Batman who thinks, acts and fights like Bats giving Batman the thought that his time as the Dark Knight may be coming to an end. The artwork by Tony Daniel and Jonathan Glapion is excellent and I think captures the essence of the Bat books.I'm willing to follow Morrison a little bit further but if he keeps wandering off the reservation I might have to wait it out until a new writer takes over.

Detective Comics #842
I just started picking up Detective cause I just can't get enough Batman. I think I like Detective cause they do single issue arcs and it's nice to get away from the over-plotting of Morrison for a bit. Paul Dini had writing honors on #841 about the Mad Hatter, it wasn't a spectacular issue but it was sort of reminiscent of the animated series. #842 was written by Peter Milligan. Dustin Nguyen did an amazing job with the cover and pencils. We get a little back story on the Suit of Sorrows, the armor given to Bats by his on again off again love Talia. The suit kind of acts a bit like the ring of power from Lord of the Rings enticing Batman to be more brutal toward his enemies. Bats goes to the far reaches of the earth to uncover the mysteries of the suit and finds something quite unexpected. So far I like the low key nature of the book and how they try to change it up issue to issue.





Next comics post will be Marvel Favorites