Convergence: Justice League International #2

This is really more of a comment on all the Convergence books, although I will be talking about this one in particular.

I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what the status quo is supposed to be for all these characters going forward. Are all the interesting versions of the DCU's cast going to stick around or are they just shuffling off into obscurity again, leaving the limelight to the collar-wearing new 52? Please don't tell me that I'm supposed to be reading the core Convergence book to understand what is going on in the bigger storyline. From what I understand, that is all about the Earth 2 series that I never read, so that ain't happening.

As for this issue; what a refreshing change. Ron Marz knows these characters. Blue Beetle and Kingdom Come Wonder Woman try to talk their way out of trouble at the start of the issue. The way heroes should. Then when things finally do break down, the KC heroes make sure not to be jerks about the whole thing. The battle of Metropolis' champions plays out sort of like a scrimmage. No one needs to get hurt.

But the reader doesn't even get to see that, because we are lucky enough to follow Blue Beetle's point of view as he teams up with the Kingdom Come version of himself. It sounds more confusing than it is, thanks to Marz's playful script and laid back attitude towards Telos' threat level.

And while Marz clearly didn't have permission to use Booster Gold, rest assured, he knows what fans of the JLI want to see.

Mike Manley's art is a bit retro, and I mean that as a good thing. His JLI look absolutely perfect. I wish I could have had a few more panels with his version of Martian Manhunter. Ice's costume seems like a neat update too. The Kingdom Come characters are a bit more hit or miss. KC Blue Beetle looks just fine, but KC Wonder Woman looks like normal Diana with a sword. I would have preferred to see the armored version we get on that spectacular cover.

This is another GOOD book where the better versions of the characters are left intact. So at least I have a little hope. Surely DC wouldn't just tease the old fans with this type of content for two months then just dump it, would they?

Multiversity: Mastermen #1

What an open. I’m certain that I’ve never read a comic where the opening shot was Adolf Hitler reading a comic and crying on the toilet. Holy cow. That’s a statement!

We’ll lead off with the artwork, because it is pretty rare to see Jim Lee drawing a full comic these days, and I believe this is the first time Lee has worked with Grant Morrison. (Or am I forgetting a previous collaboration?) Lee does a nice job with the art, as always. His redesigns for the Nazi Justice League aren’t off-the wall creative, but they certainly get the point across. I particularly enjoyed the blonde and Aryan Wonder Woman. Most interesting to me is seeing Leatherwing, the evil Batman. Even that variant makes me miss seeing Lee’s dynamic Batman in action regularly.

Morrison comes out with a bit of nature vs. nurture here. The Nazis raised this alternate Superman into Overman; an evil tyrant. Yet as we see him age into adulthood, he clearly retains some of Superman’s inherent goodness. He has done some bad things and supported the wrong side, but it clearly weighs on his soul. It’s neat that Morrison loves Superman enough to write him like this.

As for the Freedom Fighters? Uncle Sam is more of a rebellious leader representing a forgotten America. The Human Bomb gets a few moments to shine. The rest of the team is reduced to one (admittedly cool) splash page. That’s OK, this is a book starring villains, where the heroes get the page count reserved for antagonists.

Should I be embarrassed that I think I finally understand the structure of these Morrison Multiversity books? Let’s start with the obvious; each issue shows us a glimpse of an alternate Earth, complete with its own set of super heroes. And again, it is obvious that at least one member of the Gentry will show up, sewing chaos and discord on that Earth. What is unclear to me is the role the multiple versions of Dr. Sivana serve. Is Sivana working for the Gentry? Do the Gentry work for him? Is Sivana incidental or integral to the greater Multiversity plot?

Now, for the first few issues, I was annoyed at the cliffhanger endings. In almost every case, the book ends with an apocalyptic scene clearly caused by the Gentry. SOS had the huge invasion. Justice League Me had the Superman robots turning on humanity. And this issue has the Nazi League satellite crashing into Metropolis as the world is tossed into chaos. Each issue ends at about the same point, with little to no resolution for that issue’s plot. I had hoped to see some sort of progression as we moved along, but I don’t’ think we are going to get it. Instead, I think the true conclusion will be in Multiversity #2 (much like the structure of Seven Soldiers). That leaves me with one big question: Will we even see these characters again at all? Will they play a part in Multiversity #2? Will we just follow President Superman and Nix Utoan? I’m curious.

So, like the other Multiversity issues, this is a glimpse of an interesting world with unique takes on the DCU’s heroes and villains. And just like every other issue of Multiversity, I am left wanting more. I want to know how the story ends.  

This is a FAIR comic; I just wish I had more of the story. Even when the set up is simpler than most of the other Multiversity titles, I’m still more interested in this than the new 52.

Justice League: The Grid HC

This was a bit confusing to me. The name of the collection is “The Grid,” but this sure reads like the Justice League/Trinity War I remember taking place in the many JL books last year. I dipped my toe back into the DCU with the Trinity War books, and I wrote reviews of those books at the time, so I won’t focus on those here (feel free to click on the Justice League keyword at the close of this review.) I’ll focus on the new (to me) aspects of the trade.

Geoff Johns leads off with a fun “try-out” issue, the kind that team comics have gotten miles of for years now. We see a quick snapshot of the DCU, both in Geoff Johns’ pet characters for later arcs (like Platinum of the Metal Men), characters getting “pushed” during that month (like Blue Devil and Black Lightning), and actual new members like Firestorm, Element Woman, and the new Atom.

Johns really had a wonderful take on the Firestorm character back before the reboot, and that new merging of Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch still works. I love the jock/nerd archetypes forced to work together, especially with the more intelligent Jason forced to try and maneuver simple Ronnie through complicated chemical compositions. (I will admit I miss the more good-hearted Ronnie of the Fury of Firestorm).

Element Woman is mighty weird. Her voice is described as amazingly high, and combined with her sunny personality; she’s a character where a little goes a long way. I still like her though, in the dreary DCU, it is nice to have such a positive character popping up.

The new Atom… well, she’s got her secrets, as we find out by the close of the collection. I don’t want to ruin it, but having a new, younger Atom who loves playing World of Warcraft is a pretty fun combo. I think she probably could have used a bit better taste in her friends, though.

The high point for me? Despero. Despero shows up and smashes his way around the Justice League satellite. There is no one around who can possibly stop him, and even better, the current league knows it. Having the Atom narrate the hopelessness of the overwhelming foe is a brilliant choice, especially when she realizes that the only reason the JL won in their first battle is thanks to the Martian Manhunter. It is clear that Johns must have affection for J’onn J’onnz; the guy does more than cast a heavy shadow here. I had a big grin watching the Despero battle play out in such an unexpected way.

The art on DC’s flagship title continues to set the standard for the DC house style. That said, Ivan Reis’ shows off some spectacular battle scenes and Jesus Saiz gets some quieter moments. Both artists do a great job with their pages; this is an attractive, exciting book. And man, that sequence on the satellite with Despero… SO good!

When the story doesn’t focus on the abbreviated history of the New 52, I find myself quite enjoying this title. It is a GOOD comic with some great heroes and classic villains. I just wish we didn’t have to pretend the villains and guest-stars were making their first appearances!

Wonder Woman v4: War HC

Duh, I read the collection before this one, right? Because I’m having a hard time remember what is going on here. Like, I honestly wonder if I finished it or not, because I don’t remember Hera’s new status quo, or what exactly Hermes did to Diana, or who that big nude guy in the arctic is supposed to be.

And my gosh, there are so many different children of Zeus running around now that I can’t figure out who half of them are anymore. I’m not sure if Brian Azzarello is trying to be particularly difficult or not, but I can’t make myself care about Lennox, or Wesley Willis, or any of the other folks when their motivations are so opaque to me. I honestly don’t understand what anyone aside from Wonder Woman is even trying to do in this story.

I’m lost.

I’m fascinated that Azzarello would use Wesley Willis as the inspiration for a Greek god’s mortal form, but heck, it is interesting, I’ll give him that. It is kind of like the returning Neptune; I wouldn’t have thought a big frog-fish-blob was the natural choice for the king of the seas, but I guess it works.

I’m also pretty thrilled to see Orion showing up. Highfather gets a moment, but this collection is Orion’s time to shine. He’s a bit of a boor, well a big jerk actually, but his heart SEEMS to be in the right place. Other than being a sexist pig, this is a pretty cool take on the character. That said, I like the old one more. There is no reason that Cliff Chiang’s brilliant redesign couldn’t have just been used on the real Orion in the old DCU.

Just like in the previous collections, the art is the strongest part of this series. Chiang’s work is deceptively simple. If I had to make a comparison, I’d say it is similar to Darwyn Cooke’s style; deceptively simple, exciting, and it cuts to the core of each scene.

I remain puzzled how the Wonder Woman who appears in this comic bears little to no resemblance to the one I’ve been reading about in Justice League. As I’ve said in the past, this feels like a Vertigo Wonder Woman series, with complicated, complex takes on Diana and her pantheon of relations. It isn’t bad, but it sure doesn’t feel like Wonder Woman.

Average

Wonder Woman v2: Guts HC

I find myself in an odd spot I can recognize that Brian Azzarello is doing some really neat stuff with this take on Wonder Woman. But even the biggest fan of this series has to admit this is starring a different character than the one appearing in Justice League. This is a Wonder Woman produced for a Vertigo world, a world without other super heroes.

While reading the first trade, I was a little frustrated at how much of an ensemble book this really is. Wonder Woman shares the pages with Hermes, Eros, Hephaestus, and more. That’s not counting the villains and tweeners that muddy the mythological waters. The trade tells the story of Diana’s near-marriage to Hades, who in this series looks like a creepy kid with melting candles on his head. What is more Vertigo than that?

This is a dark book, like most of the new 52 line. To be honest, I find it distracting. The scene with the car bomb features flying limbs and guts, along with a person carrying a dead child in the background. Then there are the many corpses lying shredded on the ground. I get it. This shows just what War does when he’s wandering the Earth. But man, that is just too much for me. Once again, the DCU is no place to be an innocent bystander.

But perhaps the most upsetting thing in the trade is when Hephaestus explains the “true history” of Paradise Island. You see, every few decades, the Amazons go out in boats and board ships sailing around the ocean. They climb aboard in the buff and get busy with all the sailors. After “draining them of life” they slit their throats and toss them overboard. Then upon returning to Paradise Island, they wait for the babies. The girls get to join the sisterhood of the island, while the males are sold as slaves to Hephaestus. Now, Hephaestus actually treats them pretty well, but… still.

How is someone supposed to take that? Doesn’t that drastically weaken the core concept of Wonder Woman as champion of her people sent out into the world? I mean, how embarrassed must DC Comics be at the idea of a perfect island of women warriors that this is the new origin for the #1 woman in comics? I find it absolutely stunning.

So yes, this is an interesting story, a mature take on the Greek gods and how they might fit in to the modern world. As a story, I find it pretty good.

But as a WONDER WOMAN story, I think it is tremendously damaging. I can certainly never mention anything about this book to my two daughters, who adore Wonder Woman. It really bugs me that DC tries so hard to distance itself from anything innocent or optimistic. This is an EVIL comic for what it does to the first lady of comics.

Earth 2 v1: The Gathering HC

Holy. Cow. Guys, you might want to sit down for this. At one point in this collection, Jay Garrick actually rescues some innocent bystanders. He complains that he wants to be fighting big bad Solomon Grundy, but he does it. And then, after the fight, he calmly states that he had to help fight the bad guy because “That makes us heroes, right? We do the right thing.” This is in a DC Comic? What the what????

These guys are actually acting like heroes, putting themselves at risk! There is no over-explanation of the costumes. There is no rationalizing or embarrassment about super-heroics. This is straight-up a new continuity of heroes.

James Robinson does what SHOULD have been done in the new 52. This is a new take on character you used to know. This is an Elseworlds that can admit it. Alan Scott is very different, heck; the ring he gets is coming from Swamp Thing’s “Green.” But he still acts like a hero. And overconfident, somewhat jerky hero, but his heart is in the right place.

Hawkgirl has ties to the “world army” along with the Atom and Mr. Terrific. There are lots of hints about shared history and secrets, but the story stands fine on its own. Most of all, Hawkgirl retains her tough edge while still being an approachable, fun character. She and Jay Garrick are buddies by the end of the book.

In the world of Earth 2, heroes are called Wonders. There were only 5. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Robin (Huntress), and Supergirl (Power Girl). They all died fighting off Steppenwolf’s invasion of parademons a few years before the main characters show up. Now it is the time for the next generation of Wonders to step up. The government has some. Some are popping up randomly. And it seems that Mr. Terrific is coming over from the new 52 to join up too.

I can’t state how refreshing it is to see a new continuity treated like a fresh start. I miss the old JSA terribly, but these aren’t those characters with their morals downgraded. Same names, similar powers, but these are re-imaginings. That is a lot easier to take.

Everyone’s suits have been updated to look sleek and post-modern, but the art has a different feel than the rest of the new 52. Even with Jim Lee designing some of the costumes, Nicola Scott does an absolutely fantastic job making everything still look heroic. Her alternate Wonder Woman just makes me pine for a better-looking version of the character in the new 52.

James Robinson isn’t reinventing the wheel like he did on Starman, or even the recent Shade series. He’s just delivering a solid super-hero title that is high on action and drama. This is a GOOD representation of what the new 52 should have been.

Justice League v3: Throne of Atlantis HC

This hurts to admit, but I’m starting to get over my anger at the new 52. Now, this is accompanying my new attitude towards the new 52. In the past, I collected dozens of DC comics every month. I kept meticulous attention to my favorite characters, mostly the JLI-era leaguers and their supporting characters. 

Now, with the new 52 a few years old, I find myself as an interested observer. I will read any new 52 stocked by my local library. I have no interest in OWNING any of these comics. They don’t need to be added to my 75 long boxes. But I’m happy to read them for free and judge the DCU that left this old (38 year old) man behind.

And you know, it isn’t all bad! As I’ve said before, Geoff Johns is quite good at getting to the core of his characters. These leaguers feel close to what I remember from my older comics. This is like a cartoon version of the DCU, where everyone is angrier and more innocent bystanders die in order to up the stakes of each story. 

This is a DCU for fans of the Dark Knight, where seeing the heroes suffer is a big part of the fun.

The book opens with a very classic-feeling story starring a new 52 version of Cheetah. She works much better as a League-wide threat thanks to a massive power upgrade from Johns. Tony Daniel draws her as a sleek, nude murderess. She’s able to snatch Flash mid-stride and repeatedly slash his hamstrings to slow him down. She chops at Wonder Woman’s throat and is basically tremendously dangerous. I liked how Johns used a “personal” villain of Wonder Woman’s to show the league growing closer together. This is Diana’s villain, but her friends are happy to help her deal with the situation.

The rest of the book is the titled “Throne of Atlantis” story. Including issues from both Aquaman and Justice League, this opens with multiple coastal cities being flooded, including Gotham and Metropolis. There are many comments made about how many people died in the tsunami, once again showing that if I were living in a fictional comic book universe, make mine Marvel.

Johns gets a lot of mileage out of Aquaman’s torn loyalties between the surface and Atlantis. Ocean Master in particular seems obsessed with revenge, but not entirely unjustified in his actions. It’s a nice turn to make the villain somewhat sympathetic.

One of my favorite things about the new 52 is the use of Mera. She’s arguably more heroic than Aquaman now, who is too busy being angry and pouty to be a good hero. She gets a lot of nice moments throughout the story, including a big rescue scene where she arrives with the Justice League cavalry. I think she belongs in the league full time.

Especially since this trade includes the expansion of the Justice League ranks. Atom, Vixen, Black Canary, Element Woman, Firestorm, and long-time favorite Hawkman all join up to help repel the Atlantians. We know some of those folks are just here short term, as they are destined to split off into the JLA.

With nice callbacks to early Aquaman stories (both pre and post new 52), this feels like an epic story that pays off a lot of subplots. This GOOD comic is by far my favorite in the new 52. 

Justice League: The Nail TPB

Wow. I forgot how much I absolutely love this series. Alan Davis might be my #1 favorite comic artist (certainly top 5), but man, I love his writing too. He hits all the necessary beats in a good Justice League story, and even more impressive, he does it without Superman.

In this world, a nail in the Kent's tire keeps them from adopting young Kal-El, which means the world develops very differently. We still have a Justice League, but here it is Hal Jordan, Batman, Wonder Woman, Barry Allen/Flash, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, and the Atom. Just including the Manhunter guarantees I’ll like it, but Davis gives him such a great depth of character and emotion, it reminds me of the beloved DC New Frontier.

This book does have some deaths. As an Elseworlds, that was sort of a staple in the mid-90s for an alternate reality. The great part is that the deaths always mean something. Hawkgirl is constantly drawing strength from Hawkman’s sacrifice, and Batman gets some extra motivation (and a new partner) from the developments here too.

The series does suffer a bit from Davis’ clear desire to draw as many DC characters as possible. But do you blame him that he wanted to draw Ultraa the Ultra Alien and found any excuse to do so? We also get the whole Green Lantern Corps!!! I also have to appreciate the use of a great 90’s era Superman villain as the big bad too. The reasoning is sound, and this guy was a major antagonist in the triangle Superman era.

Reading a book like reminds me how much I used to absolutely adore the DCU. I think it is time to break out some more Justice League minis! Alan Davis and his comics are GOOD! (Actually, they are EXCELLENT!)

Wonder Woman v1: Blood HC

Oof! I’m sitting in on a panel about Wonder Woman today going along with PBS’ documentary on the character. I plan on talking about the character from a fan perspective, so I wanted to be fairly caught up on her comic. I read issue 1 when the new 52 launched; I was dismayed at the level of blood and gore in the book, and saddened by the fact that it didn’t “feel” like Wonder Woman.

After reading the first trade, those first impressions were right on, but I’m not as upset about it. This is NOT a comic I can let my kids see. They are young comic fans, 8 and 5 years old. There is no way I can let them read a hard-R comic featuring decapitations and immolations. Wonder Woman is the #1 female character in comics, a role model and inspirational figure. But man, this book is not for the casual fan.

Instead, Brian Azzarello is presenting his take on the Greek pantheon. The gods are all here in new and interesting designs. Thanks to artist Cliff Chiang, the new costumes and looks are stunning. I think Hera is my favorite, walking around nude except for a peacock headdress. 

But War, Apollo, and Mercury all show up and look great. The Amazons have retained their classic look, with Hippolyta rocking a bit more warrior-like look than I remember. I love her armor, too. I’ve barely scratched the surface of players in this comic, so one thing should be clear; this is an ensemble book. Wonder Woman is the lead, but she is not the star.

Azzarello is also changing the “clay child” origin too, tying in Wonder Woman’s past much more directly to Greek myths. It’s a bit of a bummer, seeing another piece of classic comic lore go by the wayside. It’s almost like that origin is too silly and “unrealistic” for the grimmer new 52. I’m pleased that Diana doesn’t let this change her outlook too much; she’s still the same powerful woman as always, her world is just a lot darker.

In the end, I recognize this as a pretty compelling story. Azzarello has a nice, complicated plot with lots of players, intrigue, and betrayals. The problem is, that’s not what I look for in my Wonder Woman comic. Over the years, there have been very few iterations of the character I enjoyed. This simply adds to the pile of misses. For me, the character seems to work best in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon.

Fair (bumped up by the art)

Back Issue Review: JLA Classified #10-15 (2005)

Now THIS is the Justice League! Confident, friendly, and super-powerful, this is what drew me to the DCU in the first place.

I’m sure I skipped this because of Warren Ellis’ habit of mean-spirited protagonists. I bet I didn’t want to see the JLA done that way. BUT, I must have forgotten how well Ellis can do straight-up super heroics too. There are some small hints of the too-cool-for-school heroes in the first two chapters of this arc, but after that? It’s the Justice League kicking butt and expressing cool confidence in their work.

The plot follows a story that drives people mad through an ancient creation that is meant to bring the devil into the world. Martian Manhunter’s people had stories of it, and the JLA is very concerned when it starts killing folks on Earth. Sure enough, the devil arrives, and he does have an issue or two where he knocks the JLA around pretty good. But you know it couldn’t last. Every single person on the team overcomes their personal obstacles. Either through intelligence (most of the League) or just good-hearted stubbornness (Kyle Rayner). (As an aside, stories like THIS are how Kyle Rayner became my favorite GL.)

The League is the big seven plus Oracle, and man, did I love Oracle in this role. She and Martian Manhunter have great roles as the coordinators of the league. It’s clear that Ellis has some affection for the character too; she’s pretty important. I’m not sure that Ellis loves Wally West or Kyle Rayner as much, but they get some cool stuff even with less page time.

The art by Butch Guice is a lot of fun too. Guice never seems comfortable with Kyle Rayner, though. He’s got some kind of armor that he wears through the whole arc. I’m not sure if that was a costuming choice or there is a story reason, but it was a bit off from Kyle’s regular look. Martian Manhunter looks a bit spookier than some artists draw him, but he looks cool in any case. Of course, Batman looks the best. That dark, tactical costume works really nicely with Guice’s style. The coloring sells the alien pages, too. They have a nice, Underworld Unleashed-style glow.

Good

Justice League #3

At the end of the day, I'm just not down with the Ultimate DCU.

Look, I get it. Geoff Johns and Jim Lee have made the League 10x cooler and 100x more extreme than ever before. Wonder Woman is chopping dudes to shreds. Superman is taking pleasure in knocking parademons' heads off. Aquaman has mutton chops and an attitude.

But man, the parademons look too much like daemonites from mid-90s WildCATS comics. Those collars just aren't doing it for me. I don't like Hal Jordan calling "dibs" when he first spots Wonder Woman. This reads like a mighty attempt to make "not your Dad's Justice League, kids!" The problem is, I'm the Dad! I liked Superman as the no-kill leader of heroes. I liked Wally West growing into his role as the new Flash. I liked Kyle Rayner as a competent third-generation hero.

This comic has 22 pages of totally extreme goodness, not a bad ratio in today's environment. There are a ton of splash pages, but Jim Lee makes them look like awesome pin-ups or posters, so I can't complain about that.

The real problem is that I just haven't connected with the new DCU at all. So I think this is my last JL issue. Avengers is going on the sublist.

Average

Wonder Woman #1

While this was a pretty enjoyable debut issue, I'm not sure it totally feels like a Wonder Woman story to me. Brian Azzarello has been pretty up-front about this being a horror book, but I still wasn't expecting the level of gore and violence that is present in this book. This really is a Vertigo-style take on Wonder Woman, and once again, this is another comic I can't let my daughter read. I find it fascinating that there are so few comics that she can even read over my shoulder because of the DCnU's ultra-violence.

Azzarello has some neat ideas, no doubt. I love the idea of Apollo as some sort of business-villain, killing hotties to be his new oracles. And the weird, animalistic take on the Greek myths make sense too, with the centaurs and bird-like Hermes working surprisingly well. I'm interested in seeing how this goes, but I think this another book that I'll follow through digital sales.

Cliff Chiang's art is wonderful. Most of the ladies spend a lot of time in their underpants (or less) but Chiang keeps it from being too gratuitous. His character designs are wonderful, and he even keeps the gore from being too upsetting.

Overall, I'm just sort of shocked at the level of violence in this relaunch!

Good

Justice League: Generation Lost #22

Look, I'm happy that Judd Winick is able to tie Wonder Woman into this arc, but let's face it, we need the Martian Manhunter. I keep waiting for J'onn to make a triumphant appearance as Professor Ivo or someone else that Max Lord has mistakenly trusted, but now I'm just holding out hope that J'onn shows up for the finale. He really needs to take a stand with his old team.

Winick does a nice job bringing Bruce Wayne and Power Girl into the mix. They were both very important to the JLI, so linking them up makes a lot of sense. And this team was already great. The new Rocket Red gets three or four laugh out loud moments, and seeing the Blue Beetle's reaction to his team was wonderful. I loved that he was totally befuddled seeing Captain Atom being so happy. Good stuff.

Joe Bennett does love drawing Fire and Ice, and as always, I have to say he's good at it. He still does his best work on the two of them and Blue Beetle; I still don't love his Booster or Cap Atom.

Fair

Wonder Woman: Contagion TPB

I don't usually lead off with comments about the art, but wow, Nicola Scott was meant to draw Wonder Woman. Her take on Diana is flat-out stunning. She only draws a couple of the last issues in this trade, but it is clear that she's got a character-defining run in her pencils. Stunning. The other artists are fine, Aaron Lopresti has proven his chops with this character and I've been singing Chris Batista's praises for months on Booster Gold. But wow, it is too bad Scott's run got cut short when Gail Simone exited this title.

And speaking of Simone, let's talk about how great her take on Wonder Woman really is. Diana is so darn approachable in these issues, she always has moment for the normal person on the street. I love Power Girl, so seeing the two characters fight then team up was a real treat too. Simone clearly gets Power Girl as well as she does Diana, when PG is being mentally influenced, WW busts her free by asking when have you ever "done as you were told?"

The villains in this trade resonated more with me than Genocide. Genocide was clearly important to the flow of this title, but I prefer the mind-altering children of Ares and the gigantic snake robots sent by space-Amazons. Those types of big ideas are perfect for WW.

Good

Batman & Superman vs. Vampires & Werewolves

Guys, I'm not going to give you a hard sell on this book. Let's face it, this is the type of comic that you've got some sort of opinion in mind as soon as you read the title. You either think "this could be glorious" or "what a stupid idea." Let me tell you where I fit in.

Kevin VanHook isn't a fantastic writer, he doesn't do anything wonderful or new with the medium, but he writes one hell of a fun story. Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Nightwing, Wonder Woman, and the Demon all get a chance to face down some pretty disgusting mosters. There are vampires, werewolves, and Lovecraftian beasties galore. I did like seeing that Batman's "no-kill" rule doesn't extend to the undead.

VanHook has some plot to give all this a purpose, but it is all just window dressing to give the villain (Dr. Coombs) a nice origin and motivation. Really, that's his name. I think VanHook knows his audience.

Tom Mandrake is one of the best horror artists in the business, but people forget how good he is at drawing heroes. He does a fantastic job on both in this.

Good

Wonder Woman: War Killer TPB

This is an odd little trade. The first half stands pretty well on its own as a cool team up for Wonder Woman with Black Canary. I loved seeing the two of them go undercover into a fight club underworld. My problem is that I couldn't remember what was happening with Sarge Steel. He's in Dr. Psycho's body, but I have no memory of how that happened. A tad more recap would have helped me puzzle this out. I remember it happening, but not the how or the why. I'm afraid I might be reading the Gail Simone WW trades out of order.

The second half plays off of the Circle, Simone's first trade, and the "Manazons" arc. Again, I can't remember the motivations for Achilles' and his group, heck, I can't even remember who the second in command is. There are some neat sequences once the battles start, and I always like seeing Ares. But there is a bunch of political maneuvering and betrayals that I'm sure I didn't totally understand. I did like the whole idea that WW is so wrapped up with multiple gods of war.

Aaron Lopresti's art is a little rounder than Bernard Chang's, so his WW looks a tad curvier. Both do a nice job with all the weird mythological monsters. I did like Black Canary and WW's fake costumed identities too, complete with tear-away bits to reveal the real costumes underneath.

Average

Trinity v2 TPB

I'm kind of shocked. I'm more of a fan of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, (and 5th, etc.) level of DC heroes. I often lose interest in the big three. But here we are in volume two of the Trinity series, and the whole story is about the missing stars of DC. The big three are nowhere to be found, but without them, the story is wandering.

Those closest to the stars are wandering around in a bronze age world of purple aliens. It seems the Trinity ended up there somehow and taught these weirdos their values. It's nice knowing that they did their thing even in this weird place, but it's weird reading a whole series where the exciting stuff already happened. The stars of the book just sit around listening to stories!

Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza do a better job with the straight up super-heroics. I'm not really interested in seeing the DCU characters representing different Tarot cards, but I do like seeing dead characters like Tomorrow Woman and Triumph. The alternate world is fun because so many of the relationships are shaken up. (I'm betting Space Ranger is Martian Manhunter).

Mark Bagley and the crew on the backups are all pretty good. I sort of wish they were all drawing less hairy purple aliens though.

Average

Wonder Woman: Ends of the Earth TPB

I love the IDEA of Wonder Woman teaming up with Beowulf and Claw the Unconquered, but I never got as into this story as I'd have liked. Either DC released these trades out of order or I just messed up, but I'm pretty certain that this takes place before some of the other trades I've read recently. Diana's white gorillas are still hanging around and she's still sporting that hankie from the wind god. I liked seeing more of the "courtship" of Nemesis, but that's not a surprise. I loved that bit with WW and Nemesis riding the shell above the ocean. The addition of the megaladons is a slam dunk for me, so any time they get used makes me smile.

The core story was neat, especially how quickly the timelost warriors would come to respect WW, but I still found the entire idea a bit too removed from the DCU for my tastes. I know WW is a fantasy character too, she is a Greek hero after all, I just seem to prefer her more mortal conflicts. This trade does include two stories like that, and I really liked the trade's closer. Gail Simone's take on a potential Wonder Woman movie are a little too close for comfort. You know Hollywood would make the kinds of horrible decisions we see here. That scene with WW falling for Hercules...uch.

Aaron Lopresti draws most of the trade, and while he doesn't draw the ladies quite the same as the Dodson's, he does a good job. His Beowulf looks very heroic. My favorite is how he clearly dug drawing those white apes though. Heh. Bernard Chang handles the WW movie section nicely too, his take on the judo-era Wonder Woman actually made me want to see more of that suit!

Fair

Wonder Woman #600

Sigh. They always say you don't know what you've got till it's gone, but that's not exactly true here. I've appreciated Gail Simone's run on Wonder Woman through some excellent TPBs, but it still bums me out to read this issue. Simone only has a few pages (working with the still awesome George Perez) but she proves once again that she has Wonder Woman's voice down like no other. Factor in how well all the ladies of the DCU work together (and under Diana), man, is it too much to hope for a new team book featuring some of these folks? It took a long time for the "right" Wonder Woman writer to come along for me, so I'm going to enjoy the heck out of my trades of Simone's run. (Plus I think I have a couple left that haven't come out yet.)

Excellent

Louise Simonson has a fairly generic story that nontheless gets to highlight the great relationship WW and Supes share. It's fine, but it is kind of overshadowed in this giant comic.

Average

Amanda Conner's team-up with Power Girl is just plain amusing. Nothing like seeking out the strongest woman on Earth for some insight on cat behavior!

Good

Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins sure look like they're gearing up for a new Wonder Woman Secret Origin limited series, don't they? I'd be interested in that.

Fair

Then we get to JMS' reboot of Wonder Woman. I'm not positive this is a "real" reboot. Is any of this going to stick? Or are we in an alternate universe or something. Right now this sure feels like JMS starting over with the character. WW is around 20 years old, has never heard of the Amazons, and has been raised "in an urban environment" if the news articles are to be believed. How did DC let this go through? You can't just reboot one of the most important characters in the business. WW's origin and appearances affect too much else in the DCU. How in the world can this get explained away, if it is a reboot? I've got to think this is just a story arc that will end, things will go back to normal and Diana will keep her new uniform as a memento from JMS' first story. At least, that's the only way this story will work for me. At all. Either way, I'm waiting for the trade at best, I don't like this new urban, espionage-y take on the character.

Looks like I'll just keep an eye out for those last Simone trades.

Average

Justice League: Generation Lost #2

This wasn't quite as stellar as the first issue, but it was still darn entertaining. Judd Winick and Keith Giffen have too much set-up to do to make this feel as familiar as last issue.

Max Lord has made the world forget he exists. In fact, he's even altered the world's minds into not seeing proof of his exisitence. Wonder Woman doesn't remember killing him. Superman has never heard of him. And everyone thinks Ted Kord killed himself. Only the remaining four members of the JLI (and Skeets!) remember what really happened. And to make matters more difficult, Max is engaging in an ongoing attempt to discredit the JLI heroes. Checkmate dismisses Fire, Guy Gardner thinks Ice tried to kill him. Captain Atom is wanted for treason, and Booster... well, Booster is just Booster. He doesn't need to be discredited.

Max's powers have been significantly ramped up. There's a scene here where Max makes it seem that he's in a room, when really he's just making Captain Atom think so, leading to more problems for the Captain. It also seems Max has retained control over the OMACs, judging from the cliffhanger.

I would have loved a more drawn out fight between Captain Atom and Magog, but maybe we'll get that in a future issue. I also think it is interesting that the JLI gang hasn't quite re-banded together yet. Fire and Ice still think they can do it themselves. We shall see.

Joe Bennett handles the art this issue, and while he's solid, the story looks too "modern" for me. Aaron Lopresti's art in issue 1 "felt" like old JLI art, while this feels like a modern DC crossover. Clearly, I prefer the retro more than the current when it comes to my Justice League.

Good