Wednesday Comics for 25 June 2014

Batman #32: The penultimate Zero Year issue finds Batman being one-upped by the Riddler (again) before finding his hideout...and discovering that the Riddler is STILL one step ahead. There's a lot of tension building up, but considering the fact that Gotham is still standing five years in the future and all the major players are still alive, next month's conclusion seems pretty enevitable. Capullo's art is nothing short of amazing, and I'm impressed he's been able to consistently illustrate this series for so long. There's also a preview for the new Grayson series which seems interesting. 

Chew #42: I continue to love this series and everything about it. Tony is awesome and has really grown into a strong, confident agent. There are some nods to previous plot threads and hints (dire warnings?) about what is still to come. The highlight, however, will always be Rob Guillory's art:

That's a Quacken, but notice anything about the cephalopods around him? There was also a flash forward to issue 60 in one panel featuring gray-haired Tony. I'm relieved that he survives, but even more nervous about Colby's fate (especially given the "doomed weddings" book at his nuptials). Fingers crossed for a happy ending!

Justice League #31: The Forever Evil storyline is over (hooray!), but we're still dealing with the fallout. At least it's interesting! I'm really curious about Luthor's angle re: joining the Justice League, and I like the new "villain," Jessica, an unwilling barer of the Power Ring. Shazam is growing me, too, with his ping pong table obsession. 

Ms. Marvel #5: A perfect ending to this first arc, and the reveal of a villain weird enough to lead us into the next one. Kamala learns to use her powers to her advantage, and even gets a pretty cool costume (which I will be replicating for DragonCon). The family dynamic - especially the father-daughter heart-to-heart - is really touching, and a huge part of what makes this book so special. 

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #6: The mini-series wraps up (mostly) happily, but still leaves the story open-ended enough for another volume (which, according to my sources, won't be happening any time soon). This issue seemed a bit short, but it could just be that there's so much that happened and it all jumbled a bit. Mal & co. have taken on two new crew members, and now there's a mysterious new person (a clone?) hot on their heels. I've really enjoyed getting back into the Firefly universe and am sad to see it end again, but at least we have new fodder for fanfic and the potential for another comic book series...someday. 

Wednesday Comics for 30 April 2014

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Batgirl Annual #2: This was an interesting team-up of sorts between Batgirl and Poison Ivy. Piggy-backing off an old Bird of Prey story (featuring my beloved Starling, so you know it's from a while ago), this issue had Babs becoming increasingly frustrated with Ivy, whose health deteriorated with the change in seasons (and who tried to kill the BoP). I'm not a huge Ivy fan, but I liked this characterization of her: she's plant-based, so it makes sense that her health would fade as the seasons change. I also loved getting to see pre-betrayal Starling and look forward to the day that whole mess gets retconned. It probably would've worked better as a BoP annual, but it was a nice break and insight into one of the DCU hero-villains with whom I'm less familiar. 

Batman Eternal #4: The best issue of this weekly yet! Of course, it's co-written by John Layman and pencilled by Dustin Nguyen, which probably explains my bias. Batgirl is not dealing with her father's imprisonment very well, which leads to a confrontation with Batman (she even punches him - twice!) and to her beating up Pyg's henchmen. I'm worried for Gordon; it doesn't seem like being locked in Blackgate with a bunch of criminals he put on there will lead to a long, happy life for him. More importantly, Stephanie is still on the run from her father and may have placed her trust in the wrong person. 

Batwoman Annual #1: This was awful. I usually love Batwoman, but this annual was a confusing mess. It apparently wrapped up events from six issues ago, but all it did was make me wonder what on earth was going on. The art was not as good as normal, either. Overall I just found this disappointing, especially compared with what I've been getting from this series. 

Chew #41: Chew is consistently the funniest, most innovative comic I read every month. This issue is no exception! Tony, Amelia, and Colby head to Vegas for an FDA convention. Tony gets called in to work a case...the morning after his drunken, Elvis-officiated wedding! I loved seeing Tony work this case with Amelia tagging along because he's evolved so much as a character. It's great to see him really step up into the hero role, but I worry about what Layman has in store for him. Guillory's art is great, as usual. I especially enjoyed this splash page:

That's a tattoo of Ian Malcolm on that unisaurus's belly. There are so many great visual jokes!

Flash Annual #3: The plot of this issue alternates between present-day Barry, who is still trying to recover from the aftermath of Forever Evil, and future Barry, who is trying fighting Gorilla Grodd and trying to come back in time to kill his past self. There were two different artists on this issue which was a nice visual cue to help differentiate between timelines. Story-wise, we're building to a Flash vs. Flash showdown, and we also get the New 52 Wally West!  

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #4: Another great issue! The gang teams up with some new faces to infiltrate a medical base and save some young women who (like River) were being used in experiments. We also check in on Zoe, who's still trapped on a prison planet but will probably get rescued by Mal and crew soon. Georges' art is beautiful - he manages to capture the actors perfectly without resulting to photorealism (which can be creepy and distracting).