Justice League of America #56

James Robinson is trying. His normal league can't handle Eclipso, and who is surprised? These guys are not exactly the A-list. Heck, I don't remember what happened to Jesse Quick...

In any case, Congorilla rides to the rescue to help out the embattled Donna Troy, and he brings along Cyborg, Animal Man, Bulleteer, Red Tornado, and best of all, Zauriel. Zauriel even gets a few panels of one-on-one battle with Eclipso. It makes sense that these two former servants of heaven would have some history; it makes this confrontation the most interesting part of the book.

I do like Robinson's take on Donna Troy. She's tremendously powerful, a more brawl-y Wonder Woman. She doesn't exactly lead with her fists, but she's close enough that I find myself rooting for her over everyone else in the book. And am I alone in thinking Obsidian may actually get to play the hero in this story?

Brett Booth. Uch. Those weird elongated necks and faces. The smooth, curvy butts. Blerg.

Fair

Avengers Academy #13

What a sweet done-in-one. Super-heroes rarely get a moment to decompress and hang out as friends, so I loved seeing Christos Gage's super-hero prom. The book is chock full of Gage's signature strengths; it references all sorts of current continuity for Firestar and the Young Allies, it brings Reptil back in line, there are Easter Eggs for Avengers: The Initiative readers, and best of all, Gage hooks up a fair amount of the cast. The students pairing off doesn't really surprise me, but seeing the faculty just as... sociable? That's just fun.

And how wonderful was it seeing Speedball just goofing off and acting like his old self? Hardball should know better than to mess with Robbie Baldwin!

There isn't any threat or greater meaning to this one, it's just a solid issue showing the personal side of some great B-list characers.

Sean Chen is still the best fill-in artist in the business. I'd love to see him take over an Avengers book permanently. He's a perfect fit.

Good

Thunderbolts: Cage TPB

It's hard to review this book fairly. Jeff Parker has combined two great concepts, the original Thunderbolts and the Suicide Squad, so it's not surprising that I dig the book. The line-up is a neat amalgam too. Mach V, Fixer, Moonstone, and Songbird all show up from the original Thunderbolts. The Ghost is hanging around from the Dark Reign era. Crossbones, Man-Thing, and the Juggernaut round out the team, with US Agent serving as warden of the team's prison base (The Raft). Of course, Luke Cage is the leader of the new team, playing up his early appearances as a wrongfully imprisoned man who ended up a hero.

This is Cage's book. He drives the action, he's the team leader, and he makes all the tough calls. What's great about this Cage is that it FEELS like Power Man. This isn't the domesticated gentleman who often appears in New Avengers. Cage has his old Power Man swagger back when he leads these criminals into danger.

Jeff Parker has great character moments with most of the team. Songbird is justifiably annoyed at Moonstone's fifth or sixth chance, until Cage reads Songbird's psyche profile. And Crossbones. That guy is just tremendous. You have to work to be as big a jerk as the man who shot Captain America.

I've liked Kev Walker's art in the past, but I'm not sure he's the right fit for this book. Everyone is blocky and looks like they walked out of a British 80's comic. I think someone with a bit more mainstream look might work better (unless Death's Head is showing up soon).

Good

Walking Dead #84

And once again Robert Kirkman surprises me. I was certain that the No Way Out story was going to set our survivors back out on the road, with the core cast basically intact, plus or minus one. That's not the direction the book goes in, though. Instead, Kirkman does some neat stuff with Rick's outlook and with the whole survivor mentality. And man, Abraham really has turned into an acceptable Tyreese replacement now, hasn't he?

It really is great seeing the Community come together the way they do. And that almost every one of them was ticked about having to leave their haven to go help Rick and Michonne. But man, what a rewarding scene when everyone worked together... great stuff.

Charlie Adlard gets to draw lots of action and lots of zombies this month, and hoo boy, is it fantastic. I'm sure original art for this book is tremendously expensive now, but man, I'd love a page from this issue.

Excellent

Justice League: Generation Lost #24

I'm glad this issue ends with the announcement of a new JLI ongoing. I mean, with the sales and popularity these characters enjoy, there is absolutely no reason not to serve this fanbase every month. Soon we can start looking for lineup spoilers! I'm not sure the team needs BOTH Captain Atom and Martian Manhunter, for example. Does Batman belong on the team? Judd Winick has certainly shown to have the characters' voices down, he's the natural pick for the new ongoing.

Anyway, this issue sort of wraps up the last 24 issues, but not really. OMAZO does a pretty good job taking on the whole JLI team, and it was pretty funny seeing the group unable to figure out that they were being beaten by their own powers. Blue Beetle realized it, but ended up winning the day anyway, just because his powers worked a bit differently. I don't have a problem with that, since Captain Atom did the same thing, but it is still funny that there wasn't a more active way to beat the villain.

The parallel fight gave us Booster Gold vs. Max Lord, round three or four. These guys have really built up a good rivalry over the years, and it is great seeing Max continually trying to explain that he's not a bad guy. I hated seeing him just pop away at the end of the series. Sure, he's outed, but he's still in charge of Checkmate, he's still going to bedevil the JLI in their new series. I just have one request: PLEASE NO MORE OMACS!

Aaron Lopresti should be the regular artist for the new series. He's got such a classic DC style, everyone looks great. What is it about the new Blue Beetle design? Everyone makes Jaime look awesome! Like everyone else, I was tickled at OMAZO growing long hair and wearing a metal bra like Wonder Woman; clearly Lopresti has a sense of humor too, essential in a JLI title.

Good

Brightest Day #24

Listen, anything that returns the Martian Manhunter to his normal status quo is ok by me, but this was on odd series. At no point throughout the book did I think the purpose for this title was to reintroduce Swamp Thing to the DCU. And heck, to make things even stranger, this isn't Alan Moore's Swampy. I've been reading those collections, and the core concept is that Swamp Thing is a tree that thinks its a man, but really, Alec Holland is dead. The Swamp Thing moving forward from Brightest Day actually is Alec Holland turned into a tree man.

The book makes a few other fairly obvious turns too. Deadman ends up... well, dead. That's honestly the only way the character could end up, although I do like that he seems to have maintained a bond with his gal pal Dove.

Hawkman is back to yelling and smashing, but Shiera is going to stay an air elemental? Why I don't see what good that does for either character.

Firestorm has a nice little plot that should require a mini-series to resolve. Somebody get Tony Bedard and Eddy Barrows on the line for a 6 part Firestorm series. (Any of the go-to DC teams will do!)

Martian Manhunter doesn't have anywhere to go, but he's got a smile on his face and I'd say he's ready to join either the JLA or JLI, whichever needs him more.

Aquaman also has a nice platform for a new book. I'm pretty optimistic, Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis have done a great job on the Aquaman chapters of this series.

The book ends with another "shocking" ending, the return of SPOILER ALERT (John Constantine). I always laugh that I'm not imprinted on DC right, because I'm not sure what the big deal is? I thought Constantine was a foul-mouthed Ennis-type from Vertigo? Was he ever in the DCU?

The art in this conclusion is pretty nice. There are a lot of splash pages, making this one quick read. At $4.99 I don't think I can say this is a good value. That shot of the big four popping out of Swampy's chest is pretty fun, though.

Fair

Amazing Spider-Girl v4: Brand New May

I still love stopping by Tom DeFalco's take on the Marvel Universe. It's clear this whole universe is just an extrapolation of mid-90's Marvel. This is a What-If DeFalco was able to age the Marvel U after his time as editor-in-chief. It isn't genius or genre-breaking, but this is good solid action in the mighty Marvel manner.

May finds out about a link to that common spider-problem, clones, by the end of the trade. Most of the issue has Peter Parker taking the clone's side awfully easily, I don't care if he does think his May might be a clone, he spent his whole life raising her! He knows she's a good kid.

May's superheroics are always fun, in this trade she teams up with the X-People against Magneta. Those portions of the book are fun and move along nicely. The interpersonal drama involving May and her boyfriend are a bit harder to take. I don't think she'd be too interested in quitting her spider-career to join the dance squad, and adding more and more thought bubbles about it just gets annoying.

Ron Frenz's pencils still have that dated 80's look, but I mean that as a compliment. The costume design is classic, and the updates are wonderful. Arana's terrible suit actually looks good!

Fair