Justice League # 3 Review

I have been waiting with bated breath for this issue because Diana was going to make her appearance and Geoff Johns, who has not written Diana that well in the past, really surprised and made me enormously happy! This new iteration of Diana he got perfectly! She is young, strong, and enthusiastic. Fresh off the boat. I love the stranger in a foreign land angle as opposed to the silly she is not human crap. She is curious about her new surroundings and she wants to help by doing what she does best. She is a trained warrior and she is seeing threats that she knows she can deal with. As we know parademons are coming in via boomtubes and kidnapping people and if you know who they are and why they take humans, you know that is not good. Diana is being kept in a government facility and she finally has had enough and throws off her leash. And she makes a stunning entrance.

Why she is there I am not sure but we know Steve Trevor is back into continuity and younger and her liaison.  I expect he fell onto Themyscira but I really hope Diana did not leave to chase after him. Least she does not seem to be crushing over him just yet and he comes across more like a den mother. Anyway, Diana discovers the joy of ice cream. It was a lovely little character moment and she is so unconscious that her sword, which is clearly just a tool to her, intimidates the already paranoid public.

Diana leaves Steve to go and fight the creatures. I bet he didn't fuss about her getting hurt then. Anyway, we see poor Vic Stone badly burned and dying (after being hit by a boom tube last issue) and his father refusing to give up and allow him to die.  The rest of the heroes, Green Lantern, Flash,Batman and Superman are in Metropolis fighting the seemingly infinite hordes of parademons, who all are like crazy suicide bombers when they shriek "For Darkseid!" Yeah, they are bent on death and destruction and I seriously doubt amid all the madness anyone could reason with them. So seeing the boys take them out and try to prevent them from kidnapping innocent people? Go team!

It is sheer pleasure to see Superman in action. The guy is a powerhouse and he uses that power. Enough with the whining already from the people who claim Superman does not kill. First off all, that is an incorrect statement. Superman has destroyed many forms of consciousness ( energy monsters, vampires, robots etc) and he killed Doomsday and was always pretty ready to kill and do other questionable crap like turn time for Lois. So the use of lethal force here is relative. You try not to kill but if you have no choice, you do must do something.  If the parademons are not technically alive, then why shouldn't he cut loose? He sliced off limbs and wings and used his heat vision in a kids' cartoon. Anyway it was funny to see Hal try keep up with him and Flash discover Batman was just a normal guy and not a vampire.

The moment Diana joins the battle with the boys is a classic. They are all stunned at her beauty and strength. Hal, the cocky one, naturally calls dibs. Barry, the well behaved one simply goes "Wow". And then there is her brief interaction with the tough one. He gives her an assessing look and states matter of fact, "You're strong". She retorts, giving him also an assessing look, "I know." The glint in both their eyes signal that something has flared between these two. All Superman Wonder Woman shippers hold their collective breaths. Are we going to get what we have been praying for years? Are we going to see a romance? I really hope so. But I want it to develop organically and no repeat of Action 600 (huge cop out) and just like how sparks fly here...give us more of that. It makes sense. Two strong personalities, great contrasts of the curious new comer who happens to be a royal princess and warrior with the standoffish, rough around the edges social crusader and reporter. Come on DC, make it happen.

We get to see the creation of Cyborg and somehow Vic seems to be able to get a vision of Apokolips and it seems Darkseid senses this. It's quite a nice, teasing shot of an enemy we love to hate.

The battle spills over to the seas and of course we sense something is coming.

And,boy, is it worth it when it does. Just to note that Jim Lee just aces it with the pencils in this. Everything is so damn pretty to look at and that is a plus. Kudos to Alex Sinclair as well. And here he comes. Bold and larger than life and full of attitude. I love the jewellery. He looks like a pirate/explorer, exactly what I expect of a young, arrogant king of the seas.

I give this issue 4.5 out of 5.

5 out of 5 for art and anticipation again.

It just keeps getting better and better. It's entertaining stuff. The only down side is that it feels too short and one has to wait too damn long for the next issue. But that is good, right?

Best Panel: Yes, the double spread of Diana is gorgeous and probably deserves it. But as a Kal and Diana shipper, I reserve the right to indulge myself.

It's the one where everyone else is looking at the retreating parademons and he is a mite distracted and simply staring at her. You can just about imagine the thoughts going through his head.

Wonder Woman # 3 Review

Well, this cover alone was a foreshadowing of what was to come. The clay baby origin has been turned on its head. The so called 'perfect' Amazon birth we learn was a lie. Diana suddenly becomes one of us, even though her birth still remains quite something. I mean, she is now the daughter of Zeus himself. That's not normal but the circumstances leading to it is so full of humanity. Triggered by passion and then motivated by maternal love. An affair with a man followed by a desire to protect the child conceived from that affair. Sounds familiar. What makes it now interesting is that man being the King of the gods who has an insanely jealous and powerful wife. The morale of this story so far is you don't get to choose your family. But does that really stop one from being a hero or what they represent? Not at all. Clay or the daughter of Zeus, Diana is still a daughter of Hippolyta, an Amazon and a brave, compassionate, strong, and confident young woman. It is simply right now it hurts. Hurts as any skeleton that comes out of the family closet that changes everything. At least until one come to terms with it.

Strife continues to be insidious. She is turning out to be such a dangerous and yet delightful foe. Stirring trouble and enjoying it. It was actually novel to learn that not all the Amazons liked Diana and she was called "clay". Again that little detail sort of makes any of us who were teased as children understand how that kind of thing can hurt.

Hermes continues to show that he is one of the few gods, so far at least, that truly cares for Diana and the Amazons. And even amidst all this drama, Zola gives us a light chuckle worthy moment.

Chiang's art is so good and really compliments Azzarello's script. The love scene between Zeus and Hippolyta was so well done as was the almost dangerous glint in Strife's eyes when she said "Lets be." Here we see two beings succumbing to passion. Two equals. Hippolyta's character has always been a woman of strong passions and at times she displayed poor judgement as with Heracles in the Perez origin. This was not rape. It was good old fashioned hot sex that they both enjoyed.

It was a beautifully written heartfelt scene here when Hippolyta explains to Diana why she kept her birth a secret and here it seems Hippolyta even allowed Diana to spread her wings because she understood that she needed to. I loved that. She always seemed to want to mollycoddle Diana and keep her in a kind of gilded cage. But Diana is very hurt. And very angry. She leaves the island, vowing never to return, with her little rag tag group. (It is so funny to see Strife casually stroll with them)  Where are they going to go and what is going to happen next? I can't wait!


5 out of 5 stars

Best Panel: Hippolyta's anguish. What a difference a day makes.

Adam Hughes' Superman and Wonder Woman

Action Comics # 3 Review

Another nice issue. The only weakness is the pacing as it cuts and jumps all over the place at times. But we begin with the new DCU version of Krypton. I just fell in love with these pages done by Gene Ha. It's clear a lot of thought went into the way the architecture and clothing looked and the planet is not cold and sterile. It's an advanced society, with relationships just like ours, there is love and friendship and gossip...it is so wonderful to see baby Kal-El surrounded by this warmth. A testament to the two people and race that sired him.

We learn that Jor-El is not only a controversial scientist but he is heroic himself. Lara is brave and beautiful.And Brainiac is now linked to Krypton's destruction.  We also see a fierce Krypto.

We see Clark, now as a reporter, continued tangling with the police. His exposure of corruption is not making them happy because it causes trouble. Great to see Clark with attitude. Superman's presence in Metropolis is still troubling to the public and Glenmorgan is trying to deflect his shady doings by focusing on Superman and stirring paranoia. You really feel for Clark in this issue. You get a sense of what he lost and how he is struggling just trying to do good and fight for justice. You feel his isolation and his passion. And he does not have to mope to do this by the way.

Lois is trying to get Clark over to the Planet and for now he does he does not want to because it is owned by Glenmorgan. Again Lois thinks Clark is following her to get scoops as if she is the only one who has that monopoly, I guess.  Lex as we expect is wheeling and dealing with Brainiac. And we see John Corben volunteering to be a super soldier. Not really impressed by the way the man who would be Metallo is depicted so lame and his motivations are now to impress Lois.


Best Panel : Clark asleep in his messy room. Looking exhausted, and vulnerable and like a real young man.

Art was a little rushed at times.Clark's face looked like it was melting a little in places but I still loved Rag's art. Contrast it with Ha's and you get the different feels for Krypton and Metropolis. Kal-El is now down in the mud with us humans and it isn't pretty. Oh and it seems Krypto's ghost is keeping vigil over Clark.

I give this issue 4 out of 5 stars.

Superman #2 Review

Another forgettable issue. It's not a bad book. Writing is not the worse and art is good. But the tone DC want to set for a new Superman is utterly failing because it feels totally out of sync with their main character in Justice League and Action Comics. Yeah, I get it. He is older and more restrained but why the hell does Superman have to be so mopey? And why does the start of a new chapter in the mythos have to feel so mediocre? This book should be up there with Action Comics, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, etc and instead it belongs lost in the middle as average, and to me, boring.

George wants to give us our money's worth. He wants to give us something contained. Nice ambition. But it is clear to me DC wants to keep old school fans or fans crying over the reboot happy with this title by trying to say, it is a new Superman. It's Clois soap opera, monster of the week and it feels trite.

There must be a less heavy handed way of trying to get sympathy for Superman. It's a generally bad way to set up your hero as mopey because he can't get a woman. I repeat, he is not Peter Parker.

So I took away three things from this issue.


1. Clark needs to get laid. And there is zero chemistry between him and Lois but they keep shoving them in our faces.

2. Superman is a little dense. He can't work out the thing fighting him is invisible. Once again he needs to be followed by Lois and the news gang (while continuing to give us a lot of exposition) and she has to, in the most cliched way, help save his hide. But for Lois' quick thinking... YAWN.

3.  Sad Sack Superman. For decades Superman was alone and he never behaved like this. If only...if only...if only I got a date with Lois...I guess I would smile now and then and stop slouching and pouting.

Best Panel: Well, I really don't have one. I guess I like this cause of the perspective with him lying sideways, face on the smashed floor. Merino does draw a nice looking Superman.

If you going to do new, then do new and have some consistency with your star. He is the new DCU Superman. He is passionate, tough, compassionate, socially conscious, even feels different but he is not needy and mopey.

I give this a miserable 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Justice League # 2 Review

 A fun issue. A very accessible comic to new fans and issue # 2 is better than issue # 1. And what can I say? Superman stole the show. As a fan of Superman, I was sick and fed up of seeing him wussing out for the last decade. Or being beaten down by everyone. I was waiting for the Batgod to take him down and Johns pleasantly surprised me and made me realize that reactive guy is gone. He limped out of continuity with his Lois.

 This is a modern Superman with his old fire from the Golden Age. In Morrison's Action he is brash and tough and being hounded because of who he is, so he felt very in character here. He was just...explosive in the best way possible. And we see signs that Superman can be cunning. Loved it. Loved Lee's art here. Really he nailed the movement and coordinated those panels superbly.

Every character shone. The Flash and Superman panels were a pleasure to behold. Hal and Barry have been established as friends. Barry seems to be the one to get Hal's butt out of trouble. Bruce you can see is studying them quietly. Don't ever underestimate him. We also see the creation of Cyborg.

There is a lot of chemistry among the four men; and for a change an uneasy alliance is refreshing than four complete strangers suddenly trusting each other. Credit to Johns for bringing humor and a more personal dimension to the book. Can't wait to see my favorite Amazon princess next!

4 out of 5 stars

5 out of 5 for art and again anticipation.

Best Panel :  Superman double splash page of course.

Wonder Woman # 2 Review

Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang continues to keep Wonder Woman on track with a taut narrative and beautiful art. We meets several more characters and learn a bit more about those we knew from issue one.

We meet Hera and she is not Diana's benign patron of old. She is more like Hera of mythology. Vain, spiteful, beautiful and cruel when she wants to be. Zeus has a roving eye and she will rather take it out on innocents than have the will to leave Zeus. Her daughter, Strife, laps this all up.

Hermes is my favorite already. I love his wry wit. Zola is childlike and adorable in a way the way Chiang draws her. You can't bear her any ill will or judge her...indeed if she loves men like Hermes says, nothing to apologize for.

Hippolyta is blond in this incarnation. The Amazons are not living in pristine marble halls either. They are warriors and their architecture is somewhat rustic and there is a real earthiness to the island. The Queen is a regal and pragmatic figure and someone who has the respect of her people and daughter. But she comes across as somewhat blinkered. She thinks what she is doing is for the benefit of her people. Diana is not taking sides but is protecting an innocent and this is typical Diana. We had Steve then. We have Zola now. And Diana has a little twinkle and smile in her eyes and continues to come across as strong and beautiful and confident and focused.

Hermes mentions Diana's clay birth and that Diana was the "perfect Amazon" to the Amazons...ie no male seed to taint her. That alone spoke volumes because once again one has to consider how isolationist and dated their views had become. Hera was derisive in her description of Themyscira, a cockless coop...but she is right in a way. How can any where be even called paradise when it is locked off and wrapped up itself? The panels of Diana's birth are amazingly beautiful.

We are hit with the big reveal by Strife, who decides to pay the Amazon a visit that Diana has a father. Zeus. It's intriguing stuff. How will Diana react? And Hera is not very happy.

Chiang's work again...art and a palette to die for. Dreamy, surreal...foreboding.

5 out of 5 stars

Best Panel :Diana greeting her mother.

Action Comics # 2 Review

Grant Morrison and Rags Morales continue to wow us with this relaunch of a young, proactive and fun Superman. It really is the journey of a young man learning how to be a hero. One with passion and little restraint. Who feels invulnerable even if he is not as yet. One who has found his calling but who has to bleed for it.

After he is captured by Lex and General Lane, Superman is tortured in different ways and this allows us to discover along with his torturers what they can do or not do to him and some of his abilities. It is tough to see him suffer and it hits me that we never saw Superman so vulnerable and yet even while they try to break him and make him bleed, he heals and laughs in their face and breaks free.

 One of the best moments for me is when he stumbles upon the rocket he was sent to earth in as a baby. The government has it and of course has been trying to get its secrets out of it. It only needs Kal-El to come near it for it to activate and greet him. It's a pivotal moment for this brash farmer's boy from Kansas.

He escapes the facility and Lex is pissed that "it" got away. We see a tease of none other than Brainiac, who it seems is in cahoots with Lex. Does Lex even know what he is getting into? And what does Brainiac have to do with Krypton? Special mention to our favorite scientist John Henry Irons (aka Steel) who quit when he saw Lex and co torturing Superman. We also meet a rather lame introduction to John Corben  (aka Metallo) who gives Lois puppy dog eyes and grew a mustache for her or something like that.

5 out of 5 stars

Best Panel: the cape being riddled with bullets.

JLA A LEAGUE OF ONE by Christopher Moeller

This is one of my favorite depictions of Wonder Woman in comics. It is a JLA story but Diana is it's heart and soul and spine in this tale. She is focused on heavily, as not only a hero, but as her role of  friend and princess. You get to see Diana's whole way of operating and there are the themes that define Wonder Woman as Wonder Woman...love, peace, hope and friendship even while it explores betrayal, isolation, pride, fear, and death. An Oracle prophesies the death of the Justice League when an ancient bane of the world, the last Dragon Queen, re-awakens and wreaks havoc and destruction. To prevent the death of her friends Diana decides to take on this threat herself. 

Moeller establishes to the readers who Diana is as a person. He shows us Diana's relationships with her allies and how she views herself. She has the respect and trust of her friends and she loves her home. She is a princess and hero who at times feels the world is on her shoulders. But she still has a sense of playfulness and fun. 

One of the most poignant panels is when Diana wraps herself in the magic lasso and faces her inner self. She does not have the luxury of self deception. She must deal with the truth and what frightens her most is that she would one day turn from the path of  the warrior who fights for peace to the one that destroys.

 Diana uses her intelligence, and training to individually take down the individual members of the League to get them out of the way so she can face the dragon, Drakul Karfang, on her own. She believes that the League is an ideal than can be represented by one Justice League member therefore she can defy the prophecy by sparing her friends from death. 

The way Diana takes out all the various League members was clever and even as she takes them down and feels terrible inside for deceiving them, she does it with skill and determination. But it is her confrontation with Superman that is the most difficult and painful for her.

Moeller shows us that Superman and Wonder Woman have a different kind of relationship than she does with the others.  There is clearly a deeper understanding, respect and tenderness for each other. It is seen in how their battle starts and ends. It can be contrasted for example with how Batman mocks Diana and her heritage even though he worked out what was bothering her. He used anger as a motivation for Diana to ask for help. Kal, however, knew something was wrong the moment she attacked him. He wants to find out what it is and he wants to help her. He never mocks or derides her. In the end he does what she knew he would do. She knows him so well too.

Drakul Karfang has a ton load of personality and is arrogant and cunning and Moeller’s art work is so beautiful. There is real character and presence in the dragon’s expressions and body language. 

Diana is physically rendered perfect to me. But she is smart and compassionate and powerful.  She is seen as perfection and purity; yet in some ways this story also shows she is not so perfect and not so pure. The warrior spirit makes her pragmatic and she will do what she has to even if it means she sacrifices what is dearest to her: the good opinion and trust of her allies.

Without spoiling too much Diana defeats the dragon but she does so by putting her life on the line. She actually fulfills the prophecy. But perhaps the Fates did not account for someone with the powers of a demi-god to reach Diana before her soul departs the world. Superman’s expression speaks volumes as he pleads with Diana to fight.

The following images are just the icing on the cake for us Superman Wonder Woman fans because we get to see how much these two care for each other. The other characters seem to fade into the background as Superman confronts Wonder Woman over her betrayal. 

In the end, the pair sees that while they may or may not do things differently in their fight to keep the world safe, they do care for the same things.  Love, family, friendship…the things that make life worth living.  Special shout out to the lovely nymphs, Althea and Zoe, and the gnome, Elmen. Would not mind seeing them again in the Wonder Woman mythos. Hats off to Christopher Moeller.  I wish I could upload every panel, they are so lush and lovely and full of emotion. I wish DC would let him write her again.