Comics I read over the past two weeks (May 13 and 20, 2009)

Sorry for the delay, a strange mix of time and money issues kept me off the computer and away from the comic book store for a while. But here’s a look at what I picked up over the last couple of weeks:

Green Lantern Corps #36
Hey, did you hear? There’s going to be this huge event over at DC which focuses on the Green Lanterns! It’s ripped out of an old Alan Moore GL story and will focus on not just one, not even two, but seven (I think?) Lantern factions in the ultimate battle royal! The last lanterns standing will thereafter be known as the “Best Color in the Universe!” DC’s latest summer event seems to be made out of equal parts superhero police force, World Cup Soccer teams, and WWE No Holds Barred Something-or-Other. Like all events at Marvel and DC, the hype for the books has actually eclipsed the books themselves. Darkest Night is still almost a month away and I’m already feeling vaguely disappointed. This issue wasn’t so bad, though. Kyle and Guy try to quell a riot the Science-Cells, while Sodam Yat (another character/idea stolen from Moore) gets thrown around by Mogul and does something drastic and possibly really cool at the last minute. GLC has become my favorite of the two ongoing Lantern books, mostly because I’ve always liked the other GLs more than Hal. Sodam’s fight with Mogul was okay, but I’m more interested in what happened in that final panel. Did he just pull a Parallax?

RASL #4

The pace has begun to pick up with this issue. Sal the Camel guy is blackmailing Rasl by essentially saying that if Rasl doesn’t hand over a pair of mystery journals, Sal will devote all his time traveling to different parallel worlds and killing Rasl’s special lady friend in each of them. A strange threat, considering that there are potentially an infinite number of parallel worlds, but whatever. Jeff Smith’s begun incorporating some actual historical events into RASL, starting with the Navy’s botched attempt at influencing electromagnet waves, a la the Philadelphia Experiment, or Project Rainbow. My one complaint with this book is the shipping schedule. This is the first issue of RASL to come out in 2009. Trying to remember what happened in a book whose last issue came out over five months ago is a lot to ask. I know Smith likes to take his time on this stuff, and I can respect that, but c’mon. What else is he working on that could make RASL, a black and white comic of standard length, take so long to get out?

Kick Ass #7
The more I read from Mark Millar’s latest soon-to-be-a-shitty-movie-comic, the less I like. Big Daddy and Hit Girl are Ruby Ridge holdovers who set themselves up to fail, and Red Flame is even more of a douche. Kick-Ass the character is still entertaining, but the honeymoon’s over as far as the series is concerned. Gratuitous violence and nonstop profanity by themselves do not a good story make, as Millar has proven with Kick Ass.

Wolverine # 73
Wait… Seventy-three? Where’s #72, the conclusion to “Old Man Logan?” In an effort to milk its current movie for all it’s worth, the Powers that Be at Marvel decided to push Wolverine #73 out a month early, as it’s a stand-alone story that would be a good jumping on point for the three people in the U.S. who actually liked the new Wolverine movie and were motivated by it to buy the latest comic. Lame.

What’s even more lame is the fact that I really, really liked this issue. Adam Kubert’s back on Wolverine! Even if it’s just for one issue, Adam Kubert’s back on Wolverine! And Jason Aaron’s writing! This is, in my opinion, a dream-team pairing for this title. Although their collective story was only half of the issue, it was well worth the $2.99 I threw down for this issue. I particularly loved the content of the Aaron story, an almost satirical look at how absurdly popular and in-demand Wolverine is in the Marvel Universe. And Adam Kubert’s back on Wolverine! The second half of the book, by Daniel Way and Tommy Lee Edwards, was shit. Something about a biker that looks like John Goodman, and his traitorous son. Hopefully this won’t be the ongoing story once “Old Man Logan” wraps up.

Green Arrow-Black Canary #20

Since his resurrection several years ago at the hands of the dubious Kevin Smith, I’ve absolutely adored Green Arrow. Olliver Queen is cocky, pretentious, womanizing, pig-headed, egotistical, arrogant, and painfully flawed. AKA, me if I could be a superhero. The series had been consistently well-written since its relaunch, and included great writing stints by Brad Meltzer, Judd Winick, and even Kevin Smith (arguably the only decent thing Smith’s done since “Mallrats”).

That said, I’m probably going to have to drop Green Arrow-Black Canary soon. Since Winick left the title, the book’s been on the highway to cancellation hell. Worst of all, the current writer’s just casually destroying the Emerald City sandbox that Winick and company spent years building up. He had a psychotic homemaker kill Brick, for God’s sake. Gah! This issue sucked. I hated it. Moving on.

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3

What a lousy miniseries. Tony Daniel, stick with the penciling in the future. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, since you penciled Morrison’s amazing Batman run over the past few years. I’d hoped against hope that some of that Morrison-y goodness had rubbed off on you. But lo. Battle for the Cowl has been nothing but an amazing waste of money. Dick’s Batman. Damien’s Robin. That was easy enough to figure out from the end of R.I.P. The entire Battle for the Cowl event has been a colossal waste of time, with no memorable moments or redeeming factors whatsoever. I never thought I’d read a Batman story that made me yearn for “Hush” until I’d read Battle for the Cowl. Now Tommy Elliot doesn’t seem so bad in comparison.

Oh well, Morrison’s back soon with Batman and Robin #1! And Winick’s back on Batman (which will be great as long as he doesn’t try to bring Dick’s parents back from the dead or something)!

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910
I have no idea what just happened or who most of these people are, and I love it. Alan Moore has once again thrown the reader into his Steampunk dystopian version of England, this time in 1910. As before, Moore’s England serves as a meeting ground for any and all characters of English literature from past to present. As with previous volumes, this current incarnation of the League is made up of both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Some survived the Martian invasion, some showed up in Moore’s Black Dossier, some are new to the world. But the great thing is, all (and I do mean absolutely every one) of the characters in League can be traced back to their origins in English literature. The context this gives Moore’s work is staggering. Not only is this great as a stand-alone work, but it becomes even better as the reader delves into the history of these characters. Work like this really challenges the reader to read between the lines and work to find out the full story. I loved it with the previous volumes of League, I loved it with Morrison’s Batman, and I love it with this new installment of League. I can’t wait for issue two.

Best comic of the past two weeks: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910.
Worst comic of the past two weeks: Tied between Green Arrow-Black Canary #20 and Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3.

What did you guys think? Did I miss anything great? Am I totally off-base? Anything I should keep an eye out for?