Justice League Free Comic Book Day Gatefold

By Jim Lee.

Superman #8 Review

I thought this was going to be better than the last issue. Turns out it's not. Even with such a really great cover. We have Lucy and Lois discussing Clark. Lucy is not impressed he failed to pick her up and can't say I like her very much. Is she going to be his new love interest? I hope the hell not. But knowing DC, she'd be perfect. LL. That's all you need. She seems a bit old for Jimmy as well.

Helspont gives Clark a vision of the future. He's hunted down by the authorities and people are terrified of him. He offers him once more to join him to avoid that future coming to pass. Of course he talks and talks and talks just to say that.

Superman is not interested and they begin fight. It's not even a great fight. Superman seems to suffer from talking/ thinking too much too and whatever the team started to build the last issue, they lost momentum in this one. The battle with Helspont ends as abruptly as it starts and you are left wondering what was the point of that? Again with the lackluster villains. What is it with this title that it can't have one great issue? Anyway we end with the one enjoyable scene in the whole book. Jimmy and Clark just being friends.

I give this 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Best Panel : Clark and Jimmy. They do have a fun dynamic.

Justice League #8 Review

We begin with Steve Trevor again, battling with Congress who want to plant a hero of their own in the Justice League. They want to know why the League are not opening up to more members. We then cut to Green Arrow who has decided he wants to join the Justice League. He follows them around and is very enthusiastic to show what he can do.

But they don't want him. In fact, they don't want any one. We are told they had other people in the League and it did not work out and Aquaman and Green Arrow appear to share some bad blood. For the next week Green Arrow follows the League around and they just keep knocking him back. The Flash and Superman seem to think that they could use more people but the group is adamant.

Luckily for him, Steve Trevor is around to offer him an alternative. Apparently the League does not have a social conscience and Steve can find a team  best suited to someone like him. We find out as well who was on the League before.

And he is still around and knows a lot about them. He also is seen to say that they are not ready. I am not sure what he means but I can agree that they don't feel a team. Again, Johns is not developing the team at all. Hal and Bruce more often than not gets to bicker and, again, he writes Steve and Green Arrow better than the stars. Steve comes across as smart and manipulative and I am sure the team are doing exactly what he wants. Not the other way around. I really don't like the team as pawns and would have thought they would try not to be dependent on any one government. That they would act in the interest of all of mankind. That they just going along for the ride and have no social conscience after five years makes no sense. Why are we rooting for these people? Johns needs to do better than this.

The Shazam back up was sweet. Much better than the first. Billy came across very sympathetic here.

I give this issue 3 stars. I felt like a 2.5 though for the lack of making me care for the JL. But the art was better and the Martian Manhunter tease was great.

Best panel. The Martian Manhunter battling the League is really awesome but you know me, it's about what I dig. Superman and Wonder Woman telling some readers...stop whining...we can take the monsters out.

Wonder Woman # 8 Review

Diana dons armor and selects weaponry created by Hephaestus in readiness for her descent into hell. She is going to be accompanied by Hermes only, even though the others want to join them. Eros' pistols are given to her by Hephaestus because she would "bring them back".

Hell as it turns out is home.Hermes explains that the underworld is made up of dead souls and they are everywhere. They are, of course, attacked by the undead.

And they work as a very tight unit. Diana shows her skill, bravery and loyalty. Hermes is rather impressive in this issue. Also showing his skill, patience and his wisdom.

They find Zola but unfortunately Hades finds them. Hades has come to see if she has kept her end of the bargain. He wants a Queen. If he cannot get one, he will keep Zola and her child. He spots Eros' pistols at Diana's hip and he decides he will prefer to have them instead. Diana asks if he will keep his word and she breaks hers in a way by giving the pistols away.

Hades fires the pistols at her. Diana lifts her bracelets. She is shot in the heart. Hades announces that there will be a wedding.

Wow, this book continues to deliver twists and turns and the characters are written so economically and yet already seem to have all these layers. Hades is another one, you have to appreciate how he is portrayed. I want to say brat by the way he looks. But he's calculating and clever.

I give this issue 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Best panel: Diana dressed for battle. Beautiful.

Action Comics #8 Review

Superman battles John Corben who is fused with the caterpillar collector. Lex Luthor whines that he does not want to be saved by Superman. Corben is driven by his obsession over Lois and his jealousy over Superman. While he fights and whines, Lex bitches and Glenmorgan cries that creepy, little man is the devil.

Superman, of course, takes whatever Corben/Collector throws at him and refuses to choose between Kandor and Metropolis. Corben's humanity reasserts itself long enough to save Superman from being collected. In the bottled city of Metropolis Kal-El's baby rocket ship calls to him. He breaks the bottle and finds the shrunken rocket. The Collector takes back control of Corben and is about to offer Superman "salvation".

Superman is prepared. The rocket ship is indestructible and when it hits the Collector he is destroyed. Metropolis is magnified and reinstated. The city rejoices. Lex is not happy and John Corben is now permanently fused with his super-soldier suit and he is without a heart.

Clark finally leaves the Daily Star for the Daily Planet after being told by Mr Taylor it was okay to move on. And his landlady knows his secret. I love seeing Clark interact with other normal people. People who are not invested in him as Superman to exploit him for a story etc and who just have his interest at heart as Clark.  It gives us an insight into who he is. His landlady is right. He is a good boy.

Metropolis gives him the keys to the city and he, of course,blabs to them about himself. I am hoping Superman does not this time around court the media as their darling as he use to and keep some things about himself to himself. I mean, bad guys I am sure listen to his every word. But I understand the people want a piece of him so he gives it to them in good faith. And Lois has to be the one to point out the obvious or the question that startles him. Does he have a place to be by himself? Sigh. Could we allow Superman to keep/think up some iconic things for himself? I thought that would be obvious to him of all people.

4 out of 5 stars.

Best Panel: His first Fortress of Solitude.

Variant Cover to Justice League #8

Cover to Action Comics #10

By Rags Morales. I love this.

Superman #7 Review

So Superman changes creative teams. We now have Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens. Superman battles a high tech robot in the middle of downtown Metropolis. And lord, we get an on going commentary on his every thought. He even tell us it is not sentient. Superman, if you have go to town on an opponent...I know that. Unlike some whiny fans I don't need you to tell me that every time you go into battle.

We get to see how the public see Superman. He's accepted by some and still viewed with suspicion by others. He is also a little reserved and does not enjoy being part of a media circus. I like that. He dispatches the robot and we meet the villain of this arc: an alien called Helspont who is on Earth to recruit the powerful Kryptonian.

At the Daily Planet, Clark is trying to write up a story and he's accosted by Lois and Jimmy who want something from him. Without meaning to, he acquiesces to both their requests. Jimmy has bed bugs and needs a place to stay. Lois needs Clark to pick up her sister, Lucy, who is coming to town. Perry also dumps the Superman gig on Clark. At this same time, Helspont decides to send his high tech robot to bring Superman in.

We get a good idea how the new suit works :Kryptonian Bio-tech. Superman takes on the robot and gets the fight away from the Daily Planet. It's nice to see him not playing up to the cameras for Lois for a change or her stalking his every move. The robot teleports him to the Himalayas where Helspont waits.

Ah, good old Helspont is a typical baddie. How he loves to hear himself talk. And of course he's here to rule. Anyway he wants Superman to join him because he is the most powerful of the meta human population and, of course, our hero says no. And this does not please Mr Helspont. He hits Superman with a blast and knocks him out. Meanwhile, Lucy Lane stands waiting for her ride at the train station.

Okay, this book is still a little too full of exposition but the writing is a significant improvement. Superman is not a whiny sad sack but confident. He thinks quickly and has a sense of humor and still has a toughness to him. I actually enjoy the Clark Kent scenes. It is not perfect by any means but so much better than what I read before. Helspont is not that interesting to me. He comes off a bit cliched. Am I really driven to see what happens next? Not really but I am hopeful it can only get better. The Lucy Lane thing is neither here nor there for me. I still feel only Jimmy is the one who is the most interesting but why do they persist in drawing him like a fourteen year old?

I really think Merino's Superman is far superior to Jurgens. Ivan Reis' on the cover...even better.

I give this 3 out of 5 stars.

Best Panel : Clark actually considering the conflict of interest in writing about himself. This is such an important point and I wonder if after touching on it, DC will just gloss over it now.

Justice League# 7 Review

Steve Trevor and his team  are in present day (that's five years later to me and you) Maryland fighting an army of monster spores. Of course they are overwhelmed and the people on the ground call for the Justice League to come and save the say. The "real heroes" show up to do just that.

This team does not really act like a team. I don't quite get it. How can five years pass and everyone is behaving as if they just met a week ago? There is Hal making wisecracks and ribbing Batman (and undermining him) and the others standing around saying nothing much or reacting to generic things. There is no clear leader here, by the way.

Anyway, the League manages to save the day and Steve Trevor, as Liasion, is there to clear up their mess, shield them from too much scrutiny and keep the government off their backs. One wonders why he is even doing this? Does he really think them so great? We are treated to the return of Etta Candy. Etta is now a young, professional woman of Afro-American origin and she is there to be Trevor's new aide.

Steve features a lot in this book and, in fact, he is fleshed out more in these pages than the League themselves. They all come across as demanding, bickering children who don't have any consideration for anyone but themselves. Wonder Woman is irritated by them and she is probably the only one who seems to act like an adult. She clearly matured in five years. It's very odd than the men seem to have regressed. Aquaman and Superman are lucky they get a couple of panels because they don't get to utter a word.

We get to find out in the end why Steve is putting up with a desk job and all this liaison rubbish. He is in love with Diana and wants to be near her. Etta suggests to him to tell her how he feels and he confirms he already did. Well, isn't he a selfless soul or just a plain, love-sick sap. Well, she is very hot, Colonel. Am I supposed to feel sorry for you now?

This book as far as a Justice League book goes was disappointing. I expected the Justice League. A team that feels like a real unit. Five years has passed. I was interested to see how the heroes would relate to each other. It was as if time had stood still for them and I am amazed at how chaotic everything feels with them. It's good they are building Steve Trevor but he should not be built up at the expense of the others who are like cardboard cutouts. There is a Wonder Woman book for him. If they are trying to make him into the next Nick Fury...they could have been a little more original than that.

Anyway we get a glimpse of their next villain and he has Steve Trevor in his sights as a way to destroy the League.

The Shazam  back up was okay. I'm not a huge fan of Billy Batson. But guess it's there, so I'll read it.

Gene Ha's art is not as good as the art he did in Action Comics. He's okay with expressions but the art is not clean enough for me.

I give this issue 2.5 stars. I want to read Justice League. Not A Day In The Life Of Steve Trevor.

Best Panel: I really am not that enamored with anything in this issue. Superman says little and it is not worth remembering. But at least he shares a panel with Diana along side him. So, I'll put that up.

Wonder Woman # 7 Review

Now we come to the most controversial issue since Wonder Woman's relaunch. Why? Because according to some, it destroys the notion of the Amazons being feminist icons and them being this  glowing example of peace and enlightenment. They were essentially the perfect, utopian society. Some even say if one does not really know Wonder Woman or is not that invested in her, only then will one not get upset. I'll share my views after I give a little summary.

To save Zola, Diana needs more allies. We meet the nephew of Hermes, Eros. Again wonderful update on the characters' design. The plan is to get more weapons as they need to make a trip to hell. Eros leads them to the forge of the god, Hephaestus.

I love the design of the God of metal,fire, technology and craftsmen. In his workshop they are attacked by a creature sent by Hades and we get to see an ability of Diana's lasso to act like a whip that can destroy metal when it is cracked. Diana also learns some things that rock her world.

She notices there are young men in the service of Hephaestus and is stunned to learn that she has "brothers" . Hephaestus tells her three times in a century the Amazons leave their paradise and go out looking for men to father children. After having sex with them, they slay them. Those who conceive, give birth. If it is a girl, there is rejoicing. If it is a boy he is taken away and given to the God in exchange for weapons.

Diana thinks she can "free" them and all will be well. With Lennox, she binds Hephaestus and tries to get the male Amazons to rise up. What comes next is a great lesson in humility. The men do not want to leave. They see themselves as artists and craftsmen and Hephaestus is...well, he is their father. He raised them when they were not wanted. They are actually happy.

So, there it is. First of all, let me say I really don't understand the furor over this. For one, we are in the middle of a story. With Olympian Gods. Who are capable of goodness as well as evil and deceit. This is a game they have been playing for eons. The story Hephaestus tells could be true or partly true or just like legends of the Amazons themselves as told by sailors...over hyped. I feel Azzarello has raised questions for us to consider here. What is a utopia? Who really are the Amazons? How can they isolate themselves and call it paradise? How can they say they know what is best for mankind? Why did they isolate themselves for so long from mankind and womankind, who encompass the real world? How can they make the claim, a race from a more savage time, isolated for centuries, that they know what is best for us when they don't know us? I loved Perez's version of the Amazons for what it was but their attitude always bothered me and Wonder Woman, Diana, is the feminist icon here. Not the Amazons. She went against the grain and fought for the right to be a hero and protect innocents. They never played that great a role in the wider DCU.

As women we still have our battles to fight for equality but it's a poor start by running down and judging a whole gender and people. Marston's Wonder Woman origin is very outdated actually. Diana did not leave or consider there was a world out there until a man fell on her island. Before that she and her sisters were happy, no doubt, to stomp grapes and play in games for thousands of years. It was a great conceit to set themselves up as proponents of peace when they stayed hidden away from the real world.

Also the idea that women must somehow not be written negatively or with flaws in order to make them important is a huge cop out. That is not feminism. Nor is it gender equality. Women are people and, like men, are capable of good and bad. The Amazons came from a time when slavery was the norm. No one blinked an eye at it. To these women what they do may have been just part of survival. It is noted that not all mothers were happy when their sons were taken. There is another complaint that Diana could never become a great hero if she was raised by these Amazons. How silly. Men and women grow up in homes with abusers and addicts, and they turn out okay. And the women are what they are. Warriors from a society out to protect and preserve their own kind and life at any cost. They care for each other. Not so much men. I wonder that people never question that the Amazons say in Perez's version, in the three thousand years, would have never encountered a male child as it has been shown in some stories they do find and take in lost girls. The seas must be conveniently discriminating.

We don't know if the story is true and I am very willing to wait to see the outcome. I am wondering if Azzarello set this up to test the reaction of readers too and reflect how judgmental we can be. And even if the tales were true, I would like to see Diana at some point teach her sisters that real living and service is not being isolated on an island and shunning men.

As for the notion if you don't know much about Wonder Woman etc you wouldn't mind...oh, what bullshit. Excuse my language but you can be a fan of Wonder Woman and love this story. It's compelling reading, it keeps the core aspects of Wonder Woman ( WW ran a boutique for god's sakes and aped Emma Peel back in the day) and is one of the best of the new 52.

I give this a solid 4 out of 5 stars. Welcome back too, Cliff Chiang. We did miss your art.

Best Panel. Diana's expression says it all.

Action Comics #7 Review

Young Superman makes a leap into space. I have to say this is one of the most awesome moments in Action. Rags Morales really really did beautiful, energetic work here and the image with his shoes and clothes ripping off as he attains the speed he needs...wow.

He is successful launching into space and gets into Brainiac's ship by allowing it to take him. When a drone tries to "collect" him, he uses his indestructible cape to shield himself and manages to evade capture by other robots. His hearing leads him to a collection chamber.

Here he finds Kandor and Metropolis. The Kryptonian armor he touches has the nanites, I assume, that caused all the confusion in the Superman title five years later. Er, nice touch in here to acknowledge it but that was a boring arc. Was that Morrison's idea or Perez? Bleh, either way.

While Superman looks at the collection, he is being seen by the people of the shrunken city of Metropolis as they watch from their bottle. Lois, Jimmy, Lex, Glenmorgan and the strange little man hide out in a bar in an attempt to escape spider robots. Lex is his usual obnoxious self and admits to Lois about knowing of the plans of the AI, Brainiac. He did not expect Brainiac to back off on the deal though. Brainiac gives Kal-El a choice. To choose between Kandor or Metropolis. The question is asked. Which is stronger? Nature or nurture?

Superman refuses to choose. He dons the armor of his people. He is ready to fight.

We have a nice back-up story with Steel. It more or less shows that people with extra ordinary abilities and powers are not the only ones who can help save a city. Nothing overly spectacular. But human with beautiful art.

I liked this issue a lot. It shows a Superman with guts, brains, heart, courage and pride in his heritage and upbringing.

I give it a 4 out of 5.

Best Panel : Oh, Rags Morales, thank you, for my shirtless Superman. I am kind of sorry he got the armor now. sigh.

Kingdom Come Epilogue Sketch

The sketch by Alex Ross that inspired the One Year Later Epilogue scene. Yep, Clark and Diana are going to have a baby and they are going to ask Bruce to be the Godfather. Can be seen in the Absolute Kingdom Come Edition.

Superman Wonder Woman by Tom Derenick

Gorgeous work. Funny as well as sexy.

Wonder Woman #6 Review

I know I am really late but I had issue with getting my books. Anyway, I got my copy now. We last left off with Diana battling Poseidon.And our big, fat fish-God is a tad chauvinistic and will not tolerate Hera ruling heaven.  "Without a king, the Queen has nothing." Meaning : the spoils are for him and Hades, the brothers, to share.

Meanwhile, Lennox meets Hades to try to convince him to come to a bargain with Poseidon. Again, the designs for these Gods are so clever and very original. Diana fights Poseidon and tries to convince him it would be worth his while to make that bargain and they would both keep Hera in her place. While they try to come to some agreement, those creepy centaurs created by Hera come for Zola.

Diana dispatches them and saves Zola. Together with Lennox, Hermes, and the two gods, they talk. What Diana is trying to do is play these Gods at their own game and get what she really came for.

While they dialogue, Hera appears because she is not having any one sharing heaven or her. Lennox gets a chance to get Hades to agree to giving him a light. What he does is swipe one of the candles off his head and throws it to Diana, who uses Hermes' staff to go to Hera's house. She uses the candle to destroy the pool that Hera uses to see everything. She has blinded her.

Poseidon is amused and leaves. Hades is miffed and storms off. Diana rubs it in while giving Hera a warning. Will she really spend her days reeking vengeance on Hera? I think our Amazon has much to learn still. Anyway, Diana rejoins her crew on the bank of the Thames and they think they have won this round. But Hades kidnaps Zola and warns Diana. She must fulfill her end of the bargain or he will kill Zola and her child.

Good stuff. The story's pacing is good and keeps us on our toes and it's good to see how these Gods see themselves. Atkins' art is not Chiang's but still adequate.

I give this 4 out of 5 stars.

Best Panel : Yeah, Zola, it's no position for any sane person to be.