Reviews: August 27, 2008 (part 1)

Trinity 13
That Was a Sonic Boom
Ryan Choi! I've missed him. I really enjoyed the All-New Atom. It was surreal in a Buckaroo Banzai sort of way, if you know what I mean. If you haven't read it, go and find it. I have no idea if DC is going to be releasing it as a trade, but it's so worth reading. I'm not sure why the Atom symbol on his forehead has only three loops instead of the normal six, but maybe they'll explain that.

Anyway, he's getting to help out the JLA on Earth-3 (if that's what they're calling it these days). The Earth of the Crime Syndicate.

Have I mentioned that I love Busiek's writing? Probably not here, since this is such a new blog, but I really do. Y: The Last Man, Superman: Secret Identity, Trinity... he just has a feel for the kind of stories I like and the kind of characterizations that feel right to me. I hope he's on Trinity all the way till the end.

So... Enigma is from the anti-matter universe? I've been figuring that he's some sort of parallel Earth Riddler, but I hadn't thought of anti-matter (at least partly because matter and anti-matter would annihilate, so I always have to jam my "suspension of disbelief" hat on extra tightly whenever they have matter folks in the anti-matter universe, or vice versa).

But if they try and make it seem like the Syndicate is a good thing for that Earth, I'm going to be irked.

Drop the Coffin and Surrender
The backup story is too disjointed for me. I get the idea of a story arc, but they're "dribs and drabs"ing it a little much here. The splash of the Titans/Outsiders/Birds of Prey showing up was cool, though. I can't wait to go back and read this arc of the backup stories once it's done. I'm sure it'll make a lot more sense then.

Final Crisis - Superman Beyond 3D 1
You've got to be kidding me. I missed the part where this was going to be 3D. I figured "Superman Beyond", it must be the Superman from the world of Batman Beyond. But no, it's focusing on Clark moping by Lois's hospital bed. And the instructions for the 3D glasses were wrong; the 3D works better (though not very well, really) with the red lens on the left.

Anyway.

I'm definitely going to have to pull out my copy of Yellow Submarine tonight. The first shot of the Yellow Submarine is the first page with actual good 3D. I mean, 3D is such a gimmick, but it's kind of cool here. I'm not sure what Ultraman is doing here, when he's busy getting beaten to a pulp by a Batmanized Superman in Trinity (see above), but lately it doesn't seem like DC really cares about such things any more.

I'm kind of curious to know exactly what Morrison was on when he wrote this, because in terms of stoner visions, it compares favorably with Promethea. And I have a little bit of a headache from those stupid 3D glasses.

Final Crisis - Rogues' Revenge 2
What kind of art is this? Ick. Weird squiggly lines all over everyone's faces. And... is this Libra's deal? He wants to reboot everyone?

Remember when the Rogues didn't murder people? Yes, I know, it's self-defense here, but.... well, fine. Remember when DC didn't have people killing each other in horrible ways? Sheesh, what's the point of Vertigo if you get to burn people alive and electrocute them to skeletons and blow them up from the inside in the regular DCU?

I'm so not enjoying this. I'll read the third part just to finish it off, on the chance that it'll be important for other stories, but gawd, reading this made me want to go and wash my eyes. Both from the art and from the story.

Justice Society of America 18
"Born to wander the earth until I meet my soul mate." Sounds like New Amsterdam (and a pox on Fox for cancelling it).

Anyway, it's Gog! And he's lost his insipid grin. I think that means someone's going to get a whupping. Except that KC Superman managed to goad Gog into creating Magog. That's some serious bad news. That isn't how the KC Magog came into being, though, is it?

This is such a cool book. Why can't the JLA be this interesting? Granted, I was hoping for a little more of the Earth-2 story (more than just two pages at the end), but at least they're not dropping it.

More when I get to it...