Sunday 16 December 2012

New 52 Month 15: Will to live is almost gone

Batgirl #15: I know the Bat franchise is all about vengeance, but jeez, Gail Simone ladles it on. Batgirl wants to kill the Joker because he's hurting her mum. No, because of the whole cripple thing. No, her mum. No, the cripple thing. No, because of James. No, because of her mum. How do you live your life as such a seething ball of hate? It's amazing she's able to function, she's so led by her emotions. Anyway, (one of) the Joker's plans is revealed and... it's the plot to Boxing Helena. Which might almost be ironic and/or cute if one of the characters was called Helena, but since there isn't just feels lazy. I'd like to hope it was this "shocking revelation" that got Gail sacked.
Batman #15: Bruce, your skills of denial are fearsome but you're wrong. Of course the Joker's been in the Batcave and of course he knows who everybody is. Even Jason Todd, WHO HE KILLED, knows this is true and him zinging you over it is the highlight of this otherwise overly wordy issue. Not Jurgens Superman wordy, I'll give you, but very full of exposition and explanation. Maybe if a plot's that complex then it's too complicated? Maybe? The backup is far more like it, giving us the Joker's escape from Arkham and bring the (presumbly unreformed in the Johnsiverse) Riddler along for the ride. Poor old Steve though. Being ruined too like that.
Batman & Robim #15: See Gail? Peter Tomasi gets it. Actually, he possibly has more fun with the Joker than any of the other current Bat-writers, having him play with his face and sticking his hands through the mouth - even wearing it upside-down in a pretty disturbing image. I can't help thinking the whole Alfred plot is nothing more than sleight of hand during this crossover, and I stand by my guess that Damian is the one who dies after reading this issue.
Deathstroke #15: Not improved by lack of Liefeld. Now that's a claim.
Demon Knights #15: Some day a real rain will come and wash the magic off the bad guys. Not really how I thought this plot would end, but you can't have everything. It ends with the formalisation of the group as Stormwatch, and we all know if Merlin calls you a name you decide to keep it. This book has, unfortunately, petered out month on month after about the first 9 months and is probably nearing the end of worth. The next issue is set "thirty years later" though, so maybe a new team (presumably?) will revitalise it. Sales figures would suggest it's a lost cause though.
Frankenstein #15: So, now we know the missing link between Frankenstein #14 and Animal Man #15, which is that the magic women who turned up on the final page of last issue all die 2 pages into this issue in order for Frankie to beat the big monster. The rest of the issue is emo nonsense as it turns out F is head over heels with Not Abe Sapien and has made her pregnant. When did she stop wearing her water helmet? I've only just realised she doesn't have it on during this issue. Limping over the line rather than finishing strongly, the scent of failure is all over this title now and it's a chore to finish.
Green Lantern Corps #15: Guy isn't a Lantern any more. John Stewart is with one of the Star Sapphires, who tethers her heart with love to the bit of Mogo that JS has found to help it meet all the other bits of Mogo. Salaak is now the best Lantern in the history of Lanterning ever, as he's just about able to work out what the Guardians are doing (which seems to be proving ridiculously easy, so maybe the Lanterns aren't all that after all). Guy decides he going to bluff it against bad guys and goes out to bust some heads, but only ends up ruining a lengthy police honey trap for an arms dealer. Which, it seems, gets you arrested. There had to be something arresting about this book, I guess. Badum-tish.
Grifter #15: Wow. Marat Michaels goes all-out with his Liefeld worship here. It's much cleaner inked than Rob, but the poses and layouts are just as bad - arguably worse. King Shark, for example, is a noticeably different size in all four panels he's in. There's a plot in here somewhere but it's buried so far below the overwhelming tide of crap that I can't be arsed expending the effort to find it. Something to do with Mormon Daemonites I think. C'mon. I couldn't be making that up, could I? Anyway, this takes place about 6 months ago in continuity, I think, based on the Suicide Squad represented here. Is it so difficult to get basic things right, like WHO'S ALIVE?
Legion Lost #15: Wildfire sacrifices himself to no avail, although apparently they're going to try and rebuild him. I thought this was the last issue, but it turns out the next one is. Or not, as apparently it's merging (of sorts) with the Ravagers. You have to query the editorial mentality at DC, really. EVERY cancelled book - which has been cancelled because of poor sales, remember - has been merged or continued in another title. Here's the thing: people weren't buying it because they didn't like it. They still won't like it if/when you change the name and continue it in secret. Or am I missing something?
Suicide Squad #15: I think this will actually turn out to be a key point in Death of the Family in the end, as we find out a lot about the Joker's general motivation in the Johnsiverse. But that last page. I look forward to how THAT'S explained.
Superboy #15: Oh God, I had forgotten this crossover was still going. Superboy is beaten almost to death, so Supes flies him off to the Fortress of Solitude and tries to put his armour on Superboy to cure him. His logic is that it will recognise Kryptonian bloodline and help him but it doesn't work properly. Supes rationalises this as proof Superboy is a clone of him. Yes. The thing that works by recognising Kryptonians (in his head) doesn't work because he's perfectly identical to Kryptonians. Still, how can you take a man seriously who stops between two panels to put on a cape for no obvious reason? He'l looks like he's winning, which clearly means he'll lose in the next issue of Supergirl.
Team 7 #3: The hiding place of cancelled characters does a fairly basic spy team book as they try and break up whatever it is the singer from Ghost is trying to do. None of it really matters as the point of the whole thing is Deathstroke being turned into Eclipso on the last page. I doubt it'll make this readable next month, but you never know.
Ravagers #7: Fairchild sees a future where the Ravagers destroy the world. Yes, it's them that do it, not the definitely true Rotworld, or the Guardians' Third Army, or the New Krypton, or anything else that is definitely the future which will destroy everything. If you're having continuity, you sort of have to stick with it. (By the same token, where is this in relation to Legion Lost?) Deathstroke's going to be in the next one. Because he improves everything, obviously.

No comments:

Post a Comment