Sinestro #2 (REVIEW)

I was really excited to get into this series this month because of the sheer magic that is Cullen Bunn’s writing on Magneto’s solo series for Marvel. Perhaps my background to Cullen’s writing there was not a great thing for me to have. It has definitely dictated my experience of this book more than it should. Just the same, I do think that Bunn’s approach to Sinestro is extremely intriguing. Bunn seems to be able to write these villain solo titles unlike anyone else. The art is also very impressive. There were a few panels that threw me for a loop, but it the following panels cleared up any confusions.

I really love the approach to this book. That is, I think framing this book in terms of legends and stories, which Sinestro hopes his life becomes, allows for an approach to this villain that allows for some relatablity with the reader. Sinestro’s consistent interest in stories and legends points to the way in which he views his own life and his own importance. I’m interested to see where some things in this story goes: the motif of stories and legends, the relationship between Sinestro and his daughter, and the “church of anti-emotion” story. There is a lot that Bunn has in play here, and he is doing a nice job so far of balancing it all and telling the story.

I give this book 4.5/5.

the-league-of-assassins:

All of the corps - Matthew Waite 

http://waitedesigns.deviantart.com/

These are pretty sweet.

Batman Eternal #7 (REVIEW)

I’m actually really glad that we’re seeing more of the crime boss battles in this book. Eternal #4, 5, and 6 were all really jumpy, but this seems to be continuing on that crime war story a little more. I do wish we were getting something about Gordon here, but I also understand some of the reasons why it is being withheld at the moment. There are a lot of threads to this story in the seven issues, and I’m not sure that they’re being held together very well. We have the crime war, the story with Gordon, Vicki Vale’s reporting, and the sick children Red Robin is trying to take care of. These are all starting to strain on the title as a whole I think. Thus, it makes each issue seem more taxing when we’re not hearing about each of those issues. At the same moment, it seems that if you brought up all of those stories in one issue it would be too much. I guess, all in all, this issue was decent as a stand alone, but given the series as a whole, it is lacking and was doomed to have flaws because of the multiple stories set up thus far. I feel like all of these stories have potential, but the overlap is too much for the audience.

I give this book a 3/5, keeping in mind that most of my problems stem from the entire series.

Superman: DOOMED (Review)

This review will cover the first three installments of Superman: DOOMED, which appear in Superman: DOOMED #1, Action Comics #31, and Superman Wonder Woman #8.

Superman Doomed #1 was a great start to this crossover. It’s a nice revisioning of the Superman Doomsday rivalry. The art is great and the story is extremely fun. My biggest complaint with this book is that, in the new 52, Doomsday himself is painted as something so much more difficult to fight, having grown into his powers. However, Superman’s fight with him, while amazingly choreographed and drawn on the page, starts and ends rather quickly. it seems shockingly convenient for the month long crossover event to have Doomsday be easily defeated. Perhaps they will return to this, but it seems a bit too convenient for me.

Action Comics #31 starts the really great part of the stories here. Superman’s worries about saving the human race that arose in the face of Doomsday in Superman: Doomed #1 become even more pronounced in this issue. Greg Pak does a great job of really pushing the man of steel to think about his identity in the face of his role as a protector of humanity. He is not human, and that is what sets him apart. All of this comes to a fore as he is infected.

Finally, Superman Wonder Woman #8 really highlights Wonder Woman and the amount that she cares for Superman. This story follows her as she tries to relocate Superman, and it shows the problems in their relationship, even if those problems aren’t in the open yet. Some of the dialogue in this issue is somewhat stilted and cheesy, especially when Superman is Doomsday.

I give Superman:Doomed #1 a 4/5.
I give Action Comics #31 a 4/5.
I give Superman Wonder Woman #8 a 3.5/5.

I give the event overall thus far a 4/5.

Batman Eternal #6 (REVIEW)

This issue opens in the middle of a battle between Batwing and Gentleman Ghost. While I am glad to finally see Gentleman Ghost in the new 52, it drops us in the middle of this fight without rhyme or reason as to why the fight is happening. And it never returns to explain that. Hopefully we’ll come back here.

The art is really strong and consistent in this issue. Trevor McCarthy (art) and Guy Major (color) do a nice job of making this issue fit into the overall feel of the series. It doesn’t feel like an outlier at all. The one thing that I found a little problematic was the use, and I consider it overuse, of the kind of radial style panel organization. Like this:

I like the use of a less often used panel arrangement here, but I think that having pages like this upwards of 6 or 7 times in one 23 page issue is overkill. I would have liked to see this used more sparingly I think. But that could be personal preference for sure.

Finally, I think the last three issues (4 , 5, and 6) are all much more jumpy and less cohesive than the first three, which focused mainly on the Gordon storyline. It seems that the book is trying to balance a few too many storylines in just the six issues that we’ve gotten so far. I also think there might be too many characters included thus far, but I know some people would highly disagree with me on that.
Overall I give this book a 2.5/5 and I think this is the weakest of all of the Batman Eternal books released thus far.