Wonder Woman #8

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Wonder Woman
Issue: #8
Date: June, 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Matt Idelson, Chris Conroy
Cover: Cliff Chiang

Diana and Hermes enter the Underworld to free Diana's friend Zola from imprisonment in the realm of Hades. If you have read your mythology, you probably realize that this kind of quest usually doesn't end well.

Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of the version of Greek mythology that shows up in Wonder Woman comics. I've also seen a LOT of versions of the underworld in one incarnation or another over the years. So I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised in both regards with this story.

The Greek gods were written in clever and original versions that kept the flavor of the stories. The underworld was imaginative and creepy, with Cliff Chiang's artwork doing an excellent job of bringing life (well, undeath, really) to the vision.

Diana spouts a lot of cliches in the dialogue, and she kind of blunders into big trouble as the story unfolds, but it was still a fun read that kept me interesting in seeing what was coming on the next page.

Rating: 8/10

Batgirl #40

The last of a three-issue run of Batgirl that I bought last summer at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester NH. My review of the previous issue is here.

Title: Batgirl
Issue: 40
Date: May, 2015
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher
Artist: Babs Tarr, Cameron Stewart
Colorist: Maris Wicks
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Chris Conroy, Dave Wielgosz
Cover: Cameron Stewart

Defeating Batgirl, murdering citizens of Gotham, and unleashing weapons of mass destruction? Turns out, there's an app for that.

Barbara confronts an out-of-control AI that's imprinted with her own brain patterns, and it's decided that Gotham isn't big enough for the two of them. It's also planning on stopping crime that has yet to happen through some strategic mass murder.

This was a solid conclusion, perhaps a bit too neatly wrapped up, but still loads of fun. Barbara employs some classic Star Trek tactics against her digital likeness, and gets a hand from Canary to deal with a fleet of ill-intentioned drones.

Good fun that wraps up a bunch of loose ends, and nicely transitions into a new chapter of Batgirl's story.

Rating: 7/10

Batgirl #39

I have a small run of three Batgirl issues that I picked up last summer at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester NH (they happened to have some signed issues in stock!). I reviewed the first of them (#38) here.

Title: Batgirl
Issue: 39
Date: April, 2015
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher
Artist: Babs Tarr, Cameron Stewart
Colorist: Maris Wicks
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Chris Conroy, Dave Wielgosz
Cover: Cameron Stewart

Batgirl discovers that a social media mob can escalate quickly, in this case turning into a good old-fashioned literal mob with torches and pitchforks (well, clubs and rolling pins anyway).

And as the world seems to be turning against her, Barbara begins to suspect that there is more going on with her internet presence than meets the eye. She's going to need help, and she's alienated the one friend best equipped to help her.

This was loaded with plot twists, some good action, a few high-five moments, and the continued really strong and diverse supporting cast. There turned out to be a lot more going on than I picked up on in the previous issue, and it all worked really well.

Looking forward to #40!

Rating: 7.5/10

Batgirl #38

I'd been hearing a lot about the new-look Batgirl, and Double Midnight Comics & Games in Manchester NH happened to have a couple of signed issues in stock.

Title: Batgirl
Issue: 38
Date: March, 2015
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher
Artist: Babs Tarr, Cameron Stewart
Colorist: Maris Wicks
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Chris Conroy, Dave Wielgosz
Cover: Cameron Stewart

Batgirl has become a neighborhood social media celebrity, and Barbara Gordon is enjoying her moment in the spotlight, even if it's put her friendship with Dinah in jeopardy. And then there's her budding relationship with a young cop who has no use for Batgirl's brand of vigilante justice.

When she goes after a street-racing reality TV star, the lines begin to blur between her brand of social media attention-seeking and his, and social media has a way of being very fickle.

As mentioned, this was my first chance to read the new version of Batgirl. Like a lot of people, I like the new costume, and I enjoyed the down-to-earth low-key style of story.

Boyfriend Liam is a bit longwinded in what is a pretty standard run-through of the pro-law anti-vigilante argument, but there are also some hints that there is more to Liam than meets the eye.

The action was good, and I liked the new supporting cast. Lots of minor characters with good potential.

I'm glad I picked up three issues of this, so I'll get to follow the story a bit.

Rating: 6.5/10

 

Wonder Woman #5

Title: Wonder Woman
Issue: 5
Date: March 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Tony Akins
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Chris Conroy, Matt Idelson
Cover: Cliff Chiang

Introduces Lennox, a new demigod character who shares a bit too many of John Constantine's mannerisms. Hopefully he will develop in his own directions as the story progresses.

The major point of action here is the arrival in London of Poseidon, presented in an absolutely awesome interpretation that absolutely steals the show.

That being said, Diana's dialogue with Zola continues to be great, and the mythological references keep coming from around every corner.

Tony Akins takes over the art here, and delivers quite well, although in a more traditional visual style than we were getting with Cliff Chiang. As mentioned, his Poseidon was so awesome that didn't mind the change, at least at this point.

Rating: 7.5/10

Animal Man #5

Title: Animal Man
Issue: 5
Date: March 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Penciler: Travel Foreman, Steve Pugh
Inker: Travel Foreman, Jeff Huet
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Kate Stewart, Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Travel Foreman, Lovern Kindzierski

Buddy and Maxine return from the Red to confront the third of the Hunters Three, but Maxine's inexperience with her own powers makes a bad situation much, much worse.

This is exactly what the current plot needed: Something to show that Maxine is not the all-powerful and all-knowing god-child. And perfect timing too.

There were also good moments from just about every member of the supporting cast as the situation degenerated from bad to near-apocalyptic. This was a good taste of how deadly an enemy the Rot is going to be, and it was delivered with good fast pacing and some unexpected twists.

Ending was a bit too much of a blatant marketing plot for my tastes, but overall a strong issue.

Rating: 7.5/10

Animal Man #4

Back to the New 52!

Title: Animal Man
Issue: 4
Date: February 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Penciler: Travel Foreman
Inker: Travel Foreman, Jeff Huet
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Kate Stewart, Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Travel Foreman, Lovern Kindzierski

Two of the Hunters Three are fighting Buddy Baker in the Red's dimension while the third is currently impersonating a cop to get close to the Baker family.

And in spite of all that, this feels like a very transitional issue, dominated mostly by a huge infodump courtesy of the Red. The tension did pick up toward the end, but the opening fight scene (featuring a hulked-up Animal Man) didn't do much for me.

The visuals continue to be creatively shocking, especially the final scene.

Rating: 6/10

Wonder Woman #4

Title: Wonder Woman
Issue: 4
Date: February 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Chris Conroy, Matt Idelson
Cover: Cliff Chiang

Hera exacts a bit of divine revenge on Hippolyta for her affair with Zeus. There is actually a pretty intense (and vividly drawn; the visuals of Hera are awesome) confrontation between the two queens, but when it is all said and done we learn that 1) Probably not a good idea to bring a mortal axe to a the divine equivalent of a gunfight, 2) The Amazons continue to be the Redshirts of the DC Universe, and 3) Somebody is going to need to get these mother****ing off of this Paradise mother****ing Island (and I don't think Nick Fury is likely to be available any time soon).

Meanwhile, Diana, Zola, Hermes, and Strife go clubbing. In the sense of drinking and dancing. Strife finally manages to annoy Diana enough that Diana smacks her around (stabs her in the hand with a broken bottle, actually), and Strife leaves in a huff.

There is a really nice follow-up scene with Diana and Zola talking about the nature of home and about the isolation they each felt in their childhood.

There's also some scenes involving Apollo and War, who's drinking amid the carnage in Darfur, but these serve more to distract than to add to the plot, at least for the moment.

The final revelation of Hera's revenge is a pretty strong scene, reinforcing this series' theme that these gods really do have pretty godlike abilities and they are not beings you would want to trifle with.

A lot of really great scenes in this issue, but it was more uneven than the last couple of issues have been.

Rating: 7/10

Detective Comics #4

Title: Detective Comics
Issue: 4
Date: February 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Tony Salvador Daniel
Penciler: Tony Salvador Daniel
Inker: Sandu Florea
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Katie Kubert, Harvey Richards, Mike Marts
Cover: Tony Salvador Daniel, Tomeu Morey

When I did my review of last issue, I said that this title needed to show some improvement if I was going to keep spending my money on it.

Well, it did improve. This conclusion to the Dollmaker storyline spent a lot of time explaining and filling in gaps, and it spent a lot of time setting up future plotlines, and it did all of that fairly smoothly.

The Batman came off looking strong (as did Bullock and Gordon), and the stage is now set for the return of one the classic Batman rogues. Dollmaker is also still available as a future threat, and a number of smaller plot threads have potential to grow into major stories.

This didn't completely make up for the nonsense that preceded it, but it was a big help.

Rating: 6/10

Suicide Squad #3

Title: Suicide Squad
Issue: 3
Date: January 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Adam Glass
Artist: Cliff Richards
Colorist: Val Staples
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Sean Mackiewicz, Pat McCallum
Cover: Ken Lashley

Mad Dog!

Sadly, though, it's Mad Dog repackaged as a generic mercenary/bounty hunter with none of what made the original character (a "home grown" midwestern vigilante) interesting or appealing.

In spite of being in a downtown domed stadium last issue, the team is out in the boondocks. They've got a baby (carrying zombie virus immunity) to protect, but it's pretty much the most cooperative baby of all time, as NONE of the possible problems one might expect from trying to care for a newborn in a dangerous situation actually occur. In fact, the baby is pretty much an afterthought.

Actually, logic and common sense are afterthoughts in this issue as well. The structure of the story is an unnecessary jumble of flashbacks for no apparent reason, as the team counts down to an arbitrary "evac" and wander around town scrounging supplies (evac is only two hours away!) in really bad attempts at "disguise".

Then Mad Dog, who's been sent to recover the baby, decides to blow up a diner with the Squad AND the baby inside.

Oh, and Harley seduces Deadshot in the midst of all of this. Because this story didn't have enough sex, I guess.

Ends with the team being assigned some additional personnel. Except that they spell it "personal". Hey, look, it's an Asian guy named Yo-Yo! Does he play cello? Because that would actually be cool. The other new addition is a classic Suicide Squad regular, and fairly inevitable choice.

Oh, and he's got a handy remote control detonator for everybody's implanted bombs. Because of course that makes a ton of sense.

I could go on, because there was plenty more idiocy in this issue, but I think I'll leave it at that. And I'll be leaving future issues of this series on the shelf, a decision I probably would have been better off making three issues ago.

Rating: 3/10

Animal Man #3

I didn't get another comic to review at Templecon today, so it's back to the New 52.

Title: Animal Man
Issue: 3
Date: January 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Penciler: Travel Foreman
Inker: Travel Foreman
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Kate Stewart, Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Travel Foreman, Lovern Kindzierski

The pace of the plot picks up in this issue as the Hunters Three launch an all-out attack on the Baker family, both on Earth and in the Red.

The action back home is the more interesting scenario, as Ellen tries to escape from one of the Hunters only to find herself walking into a trap.

Meanwhile in the Red, Buddy meets the Totems (kinda the Red equivalent of the Parlaiment of Trees, or at least that's the vibe I got), and then fights to defend Maxine (who is, rather unfortunately, being referred to as the "Avatar" here) against the remaining two Hunters.

The pacing is good and the visuals are great, but a lot of this feels very familiar. The child savior must fight the war against the forces of the Rot, and Buddy doesn't want his daughter put at risk. And meanwhile, the rest of his family is in jeopardy.

I feel like I'm still waiting for this series to wow me with something really unexpected. Maybe next issue.

Rating: 6/10

Detective Comics #3

Title: Detective Comics
Issue: 3
Date: January 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Tony Salvador Daniel
Penciler: Tony Salvador Daniel
Inker: Sandu Florea
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Katie Kubert, Janelle Asselin, Mike Marts
Cover: Tony Salvador Daniel, Tomeu Morey

The Batman has to do battle with Dollmaker's "family" while fighting the effects of a paralyzing drug, and that's just the start of things in an issue that was pretty heavy on violence and mayhem.

Unfortunately, it's all a bit too much, and writer/artist Tony Salvador Daniel resorts to bad cliches like cannibal serial killers and evil kids all while ratcheting up the violence including a purposeless beatdown/torture session by the Batman on one of Dollmaker's surgically-altered minions that went on for two pages. And of course, another Gotham cop killed. Just put them in red Star Trek uniforms and be done with it, already.

Jim Gordon is pretty much the only bright spot in this. He's a captive of the Dollmaker and actually displays some reasonable intelligence as he deals with his situation.

We end pretty much back where we started, with the Batman brawling with more surgically altered minions and the promise of more "shocking" medical horrors to come.

I'll be shocked if I end up reading much more of this title the way things are going.

Rating; 4/10

Wonder Woman #3

Title: Wonder Woman
Issue: 3
Date: January 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Chris Conroy, Matt Idelson
Cover: Cliff Chiang

In the aftermath of Stife's arrival on Paradise Island, old wounds are opened, and old lies are finally uncovered.

This is the reboot of Wonder Woman's origin, and the new origin itself isn't particularly surprising. It's the most obvious backstory once the original (sculpted out of clay) tale proves false.

What is really great here is the rivalries, jealousies, and mixed loyalties of the Amazons, a simmering on the surface with Strife more than willing to stir the pot. Strife's position as a (minor and annoying) goddess leaves the Amazons pretty much unable to force her to leave, so she sticks around like the ill-mannered relative who is obliged to be invited to all family functions. The best one can do is to ignore her (actually, that would be a cool thing to see them try) and put up with her continuous insults and provocations.

Forced to confront the truth of their past, Diana's relationship with Hippolyta is stressed to the breaking point, while Amazon warrior Aleka falls into the role of Diana's childhood bully. I particularly loved the use of "Clay" as the derisive nickname for Diana.

Azzarello has the intensity turned way up and loads the issue with good character interactions and confrontations that should have lasting impact on Diana and her relationship with Paradise Island and the Amazons.

Rating: 8/10

Suicide Squad #2

Back to the reviews and back to the New 52. I still have a few stray #2's to deal with here.

Title: Suicide Squad
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Adam Glass
Artist: Frederico Dallocchio, Andrei Bressan
Colorist: Val Staples
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Sean Mackiewicz, Pat McCallum

We open the show with the squad dropped into a darkened domed stadium that is apparently under military quarantine. They've got a woman to find. She's got "the package" and it's up to the Squad to secure it by "any means necessary". It's all very macho, with hints of mayhem in the background. Weirdly, the front page "introduce the team" sequence (from Deadshot's POV: "Amateur, hero, wild card, and cookoo for cocoa puffs"; that last one would be Harley) actually skips over one team member. I realize that the idea here is that no one is safe, but that seems a little bit too obvious. Sure enough, mister-no-introduction gets redshirted before we're done.

As for the scenario? Well, if you were told that a mysterious virus had been let loose in a stadium, what would be the least interesting and most overdone story you could think of? If you said zombies, then there might be room for you on the DC Comics writing staff!

So the action turns quickly into something that had the feel of a zombie apocalypse video game complete with a pregnant woman transformed into a tentacled "boss". There was a fair amount of gross-out and alleged "shocks" including the surprise twist that was essentially given away on the first page.

The story also continued the DCU's escalation of mass violence. An entire stadium full of people are massacred here, and the government will just cover it up. Yup, just another day in the DC Universe. I would say that this runs the risk of desensitizing the audience to violence, but the stupidity of the plot already had me not caring.

Remarkably, the ending scenario actually does provide the possibility that the next issue could be better than this one, due entirely to Deadshot being forced into a very unusual role. I actually bought the third issue of this mess (by accident; I had planned to stop after my first look at the "new" Amanda Waller), so I'll actually be reviewing that one to see if it's any better than this. Which actually shouldn't be too difficult, you would think.

Rating: 3/10

Animal Man #2

Still working on New 52 #2's. Only one more after this.

Title: Animal Man
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Penciler: Travel Foreman
Inker: Travel Foreman, Dan Green
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Kate Stewart, Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Travel Foreman, Lovern Kindzierski

Things go rapidly from strange to stranger in the Baker household, and Maxine tells Buddy that he needs to go "into the Red" to save the Old Tree, on which all other life depends. Conveniently, the map of the way into the red as appeared tattooed onto Buddy's skin.

Maxine as the mysterious prodigy with all the answers is walking a thin line on the edge of cliche territory, but the actual execution of the plot was pretty good in this issue. The art is surreal in places and intense everywhere, and the horror elements were pretty disturbing.

This is a solid follow-up to the first issue that delivers good emotional conflict, well-paced advancement of the plot, and some nice shocks along the way.

Rating: 7/10

Detective Comics #2

Closing in on the end of my DC New 52 #2's. I believe I only have two more after this.

Title: Detective Comics
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Tony Salvador Daniel
Penciler: Tony Salvador Daniel
Inker: Ryan Winn
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Katie Kubert, Janelle Asselin, Mike Marts
Cover: Tony Salvador Daniel, Ryan Winn, Tomeu Morey

This issue has a lot going on. We get a new business rival and a new love interest (two separate characters) for Bruce Wayne, along with the Joker on the loose and the new villain the Dollmaker, who has his own little troupe of psychos.

Jim Gordon gets a big role here too, and the appearance by Harvey Bullock is always appreciated.

The actual plot still seems convoluted, and the fixation with removal of human skin is a bit gratuitous.

But overall, I liked the fact that this issue had plenty of plot and subplots and the series is succeeding in keeping my interest in where it is heading.

Rating: 7/10

Wonder Woman #2

Title: Wonder Woman
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Chris Conroy, Matt Idelson
Cover: Cliff Chiang

We open (presumably) on Mount Olympus with Hera and her daughter Strife, who have been watching the events of the first issue from on high. Strife is, as one might imagine from the name, rather an ungrateful child, but she's happy to go and do some mayhem in her mom's name.

Which brings us to Paradise Island.

Is it just me, or does every story that takes place on Paradise Island absolutely have to include...

1) An amazon challenging Diana to some sort of sparring match, and...

2) A bunch of Amazon's getting killed by whichever villain is invading Paradise Island this week.

The Amazons are seriously the redshirts of the DC Universe (but better looking and wearing less).

To the credit of the team of Azzarello and Chiang, both of these somewhat unsurprising developments are at least handled well. Diana's fight with amazon challenger Aleka is visually fun, and Strife's trouncing of the Amazon guards does a perfect job of building her up as the god-level threat that she is.

Zola has the best line of the issue when Hermes asks her what form Zeus took to seduce her, and we get the beginning of what looks like a major continuity change in regards to Wonder Woman's origin.

This was a case where the details were strong enough to overcome a plot that felt phoned-in.

Rating: 7/10

Suicide Squad #1

Still making my way through the New 52's issue #1's.

Title: Suicide Squad
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Adam Glass
Artist: Frederico Dallocchio, Ransom Getty, Scott Hanna
Colorist: Val Staples
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Sean Mackiewicz, Pat McCallum

I don't have a gripe with Harley Quinn's new costume. I mean, it does make her look more like a prostitute than a superheroine, but it isn't any worse than half the female characters in mainstream comics. Bleach the outfit and you've basically got Emma Frost.

But I do think the costume change is a pretty idiotic decision by the powers-that-be at DC comics. The classic Harley Quinn costume is incredibly popular with cosplayers (take a look around any major convention and you'll usually see several Harley Quinns), and it seems like a waste to not support that popularity.

What I DO object to is the new look for Amanda Waller. "The Wall" was one of the best female characters in comics, someone who was tough enough to face down the Batman without any powers of her own. The fact that she was middle-aged and overweight was a refreshing change from pretty much every other female character in the DCU. Well, the new version of Amanda only appears on one panel in this issue, but she's got the exact same body type as well, I would assume it's the same body type that the marketing department feels in necessary to keep the 14-to18-male demographic reading.

Younger Superman with an attitude? I can live with that. Emphasis on the warrior side of Wonder Woman? Okay. Barbara Gordon back as Batgirl? Controversial, but I'm at least willing to give it a try. Catwoman/Batman sex scene? Well, hopefully not in every issue, but at least it fits the vibe of a Catwoman book. And as I said, I can even overlook the stupidity of the new Harley Quinn costume. But mess with The Wall? You just lost a reader. This will be my last review of the new Suicide Squad.

But as it turns out, I don't think I'm going to be missing much. This entire issue was an extended torture sequence involving the captured members of the Squad. Actually, it could be argued that it's the readers who are being tortured, especially since the "surprise" twist at the end of the issue can be seen from a mile away.

Anyway, there is a little bit of background on some of the characters about how they were captured (Harley got taken down by Black Canary; well actually Harley just kinda surrendered to Canary). The other characters who get the spotlight are Deadshot and El Diablo (a Latino fire-elementalist guy, not the DC hero from the late 80s of the same name). Sadly we didn't get to see how King Shark got arrested and tried. That at least might have been some good comic relief ("Candygram!").

And that's it. Torture. (Not) Surprise plot twist. Amanda Waller is skinny. The end.

If this book was a member of the team, I'd be hoping they'd detonate the bomb implant right about now.

Rating: 3/10

Wonder Woman #1

Title: Wonder Woman
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Chris Conroy, Matt Idelson
Cover: Cliff Chiang

Wonder Woman always struck me as a character that DC couldn't quite figure out what to do with. The Batman had his comedic phase in the 1960s when the TV show was popular, but other than that he's always been the "avenging dark knight". Superman was always the "big boy scout".

With Diana it seems you never know what you're going to get. Amazon warrior or pacifist? Is she the naive visitor to "man's world" from her Paradise Island, or is she the only JLA member with the guts to break Max Lord's neck when that was what had to be done? Patriotic symbol or mythological figure? Feminist, or sex-object? Or a bad attempt at both?

Unlike a lot of the DCU, Wonder Woman could really use a reboot, along with an attempt to bring her some coherence and consistency. Now personally, my favorite versions of Wonder Woman have been the George Perez run in the 1980s (emphasis on her pacifist side and really strong on interactions with her supporting cast, which in that series was pretty much the best it has ever been), and the Lynda Carter TV version (which I love in spite of all the goofiness because the character showed wisdom, restraint, and most importantly the sense of humor that is so often lacking in her comic portrayals).

And for the record, I feel that some of the more recent Wonder Woman comic stories have been among the worst I've read in recent years (must avoid ranting about Genocide...).

So I approached this book with some trepidation, having heard that it would emphasize the warrior side of Diana and that it would be heavily based in Greek mythology. That's not necessarily the direction I was hoping they would go.

But as it turned out, the first issue a pleasant surprise that showed some good potential.

Opening scene involved a villain, a demigod (literally; he's a son of Zeus). He's hanging out atop the world's tallest building, which for some reason in the DCU is located in Singapore and not Dubai. Anyway, there's some small-talk with some women, followed by some throwing of women off of the aforementioned world's tallest building. That was how I was able to figure out the guy was a villain.

Fortunately, this does get better, although not before we have some gratuitous equine decapitation. Now THAT was a phrase that I didn't expect to be writing on this blog. It actually leads to a gruesome, but at least clever sequence where a pair of centaur assassins are conjured using the bodies of the just-slain horses.

The assassins, as it turns out are after a woman named Zola and her child (fetus, actually; DC Comics apparently favors the Mississippi definition of personhood). Hermes has just arrived to protect her, but she's not actually all that thrilled with a strange blue-skinned dude breaking into her house to warn her of her impending assassination. But just as things get out of hand, Hermes tosses her the magical key of teleportation and she ends up in Diana Prince's bedroom (Wonder Woman sleeps naked btw, just in case anyone was curious, and DC was hoping you were).

Now it's Diana's turn to be not amused by an uninvited guest.

And then it actually gets pretty good. No, really. I realize I've been mocking this issue pretty mercilessly up to now, but I loved the interaction between Zola and Diana. The action sequence that followed was excellent. A bit more gory than might be expected from a Wonder Woman book, but we are in Amazon warrior mode here so it works. And the scene that followed with Zola, Diana, and Hermes was really solid too. Ending bit brought us back to the opening scene and some generic prophesy, but the good of the second half of this book really overshadowed the bad.

And Cliff Chiang's artwork helped a lot. It's a slightly more stylized look than most of the new DC titles, but it really fits the mythological feel of the book and Chiang's action sequences are crisp and powerful.

Rating: 7.5/10

Demon Knights #1

Title: Demon Knights
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Paul Cornell
Penciler: Diogenes Neves
Inker: Oclair Albert
Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Matt Idelson
Cover: Tony Daniel, Tomeu Morey

What once was old is now made new in DC Comics' fifty-two. We'll begin this twisted plot, flashing back to Camelot. Jason (of Norwich?) is close at hand, as the guinea-pig in Merlin's plan. So imprisoned in the form of man, our old buddy the Demon Etrigan. Fans who haven't been caught napping most likely didn't need recapping, but there is one detail new: they throw in Madame Xanadu. Fast-forward now she's on a lark, still years before the J-L-Dark, and she's got Jason there to hold her hand, while on the side she's banging Etrigan. (Ew!).

Now immortal-types gather from near and far. Of course they meet up in a bar. Why not? It's standard fantasy. It always works in D&D. And while on the subject of cliches, the dialogue in these dark-age days, well they throw in words like "bollocks" and "arse". The result: Less historic and more plain farce. The characters gather, the team assembles. The mostly third-rate group resembles a medieval Substitute Hero Legion, called upon to defend the region from Mordru and the Questing Queen. Really? I guess I hadn't seen the Shining Knight in many recent books, but Vandal Savage? This really looks like they're digging to find the most obscure of character who have endured in backup stories long since told in Showcase or Brave & the Bold.

The plot's generic with lots brawling. By the end a bunch of dragons come calling. And I find I'm yearning for the time, when Etrigan at least would speak in rhymes. From hackneyed plot I wish they'd freed him. Where's Matt Wagner when you need him? Come on, rebooted DC Universe, bring back dialogue in verse!

Rating: 5/10
(And I'm really sorry! I just couldn't resist!)