Last Week In Comics:
A fresh take on 5 day-old comics.

Action Comics #833

The last time we saw Flamebird and Nightwing they defeated Reactron after being framed for the murder of Mon-El. Now all of that seems to be behind them and they are free to roam the Earth. LWIC (Last Week In Comics):

• Nightwing and Flamebird have new costumes with the Superman “S” on their belts along with a Superman styled “diamond” on the chest.
• After being framed for the murder of Mon-El, the hunt for Zod’s Kryptonian sleeper cells continue.
• Jax-Ur, on of Krypton’s most feared member of Zod’s sleeper cell, is undercover working with Dr. Light at S.T.A.R. Labs.
• Jax-Ur is enthralled by the Kryponian legend of the Nightwing and Flamebird and he gets his chance to get close and personal when Chris (Nightwing) is brought into S.T.A.R. Labs after aging extremely fast again.
• Jimmy Olsen is missing, probably related to his research into Project 7734, and Perry White plays detective and searches for his favorite photographer.

I wish I knew what happened between the capture of Reactron and the revile to the world that he and General Lane framed the Kryptonian heroes, but instead I get to see the heroes back on their original mission. Even with the confusion, its nice to see the original mission continue. Like in Red Robin (reviewed later in this post) this comic is set in the main character’s world, including subplots featuring the supporting cast, yet creates its own identity by traveling the world on mission instead of protecting one major city.

Batman #693

First of all since Dick Grayson took over the mantle of the Bat he modified the costume to meet the needs of his crime fighting style. Now Tony Daniel returns and draws the new Batman exactly like the old one – forgetting all of the costume changes except the belt… seriously. All nitpicking aside there is a lot going on in Gotham with Tommy Elliot (Hush) posing as Bruce Wayne trying to destroy everything Wayne has accomplished to a possible “new” Black Mask organizing all of Gotham’s costumed crazies into his own personal army. Oh, and speaking of Hush (Tommy Elliot,) it was nice to see and question Mr. Edward Nigma’s new “Reformed Riddler” identity again. LWIC:

• Batman and Robin take out some of the Black Mask’s gang who seems to be gaining power in Gotham.
• Bruce, being impersonated by Hush, and Dick attend a fundraiser to rebuild Arkham Asylum, along with the Black Mask…
• The Black Mask seems to have a dual personality, this was show by him talking with two differently styled word balloons along with his appearance at the fundraiser. The reader never sees the Black Mask, but none of the other attendees recognize him as the criminal mastermind.
• Also in attendance is the “reformed” Riddler.
• Tommy Elliot seems to be concerned with the security and progress of the rebuilding of Arkham Asylum that he funded as Bruce Wayne.
• Hush and the Riddler have an interesting moment together… possibly foreshadowing another villain team-up similar to their original meeting.
• An odd scene after an explosion involving the Riddler… maybe my previous bullet point is on point.

After reading this issue its safe to say that there was a lot happening but nothing happened. There was a lot of possible set-up but Daniel’s writing and art was slightly confusing, so I am just going to pretend that I am right and the Riddler returns to his evil ways and teams up with Hush again because that sounds fun to me.

Batman and Robin #6

Jason Todd returns again as the Red Hood with a new sidekick – Scarlett. Scarlett and the Red Hood think that they are just like Batman and Robin except they will make the “Punishment fit the Crime” – meaning they kill criminals that kill people. This extreme vigilante style has brought in criminals that can be considered “extreme” versions of the normal costume crazies in Gotham. LWIC:

• Jason has captured Batman and Robin while he himself is about to be captured and killed by the newest villain on the block – The Flamingo.
• The Flamingo almost kills Jason until Batman and Robin escape Jason’s trap just in time to save his sorry butt.
• During the rescue Robin get shot multiple times in the back only to have Batman and Gordon shrug it off since Talia Al Gul and her crew show up to resurrect or re-clone him… weird.
• In the end Jason buries the Flamingo under a ton of rubble and gets himself captured by the police while Scarlett escapes and decides to never take up that evil identity again.

I was not that impressed with this whole return of the Red Hood story, so I am ready to see what Morrison has planned for the next couple of issues.

Red Robin #6

Tim Drake was traveling the world looking for proof that Bruce Wayne never died and that he is still alive. During his travels Tim worked with Ras Al Gul and now Ras has Tim working for him to hunt down the assassins who are assassinating the League of Assassins. LWIC:

• Tim takes advantage his new found freedom to search and brows the League’s files and databases.
• Tim takes the lead on rounding up the assassins that are assassinating the League of Assassins with the goal of nobody dying…

With Red Robin leading the raid of assassins against assassins and hoping that there will be no killing is funny, so funny in fact that I enjoyed the comic. The comic was simple, fast paced, fun, and full of ninja assassins – what more could you want from a comic book.

Blackest Night Comics

Ok, time to copy and paste:

Back in the day when Abin Sur passed away and his Green Lantern ring and responsibilities were passed to Hal Jordan, he did so because of his findings about the prophecy of the “Blackest Night.” In the present, many different colors of Lantern Corps have formed or have been found in the universe. Each color of Lantern Corps receives it’s power from emotion and each emotion is represented by a different color. The prophecy of the “Blackest Night” predicts the removal of all life and emotion from the universe by a corps of lifeless lanterns – the Black Lanterns. To remove the emotion and life from the universe, the Black Lantern Corps’ members are all formerly deceased creatures/heroes throughout the universe that prey on those they were close to. By raising the emotions of their prey the Black Lanerns energize, or recharge, their Power Battery in preparation for the rising of their leader and the destruction of life. The only hope for the universe is all of different lantern corps to work together using each color of the emotional spectrum to create the only thing that can destroy the Black Lanterns – pure white light. LWIC:

Booster Gold #26

• Booster retells the story of his and his best friend Ted Kord’s adventures.
• Ted Kord, the recently passed away Blue Beetle, rises from the dead and attacks Booster and the new Blue Beetle.

Green Lantern Corps #42

• The Indigo Tribe joins forces with the Green Lantern Corps to destroy the Black Lanterns.
• The Black Lanterns reach full power, as show in Blackest Night #4, and set their sights on the Green Lantern’s power battery.
• The Indigo Tribe and the Lanterns can not fend off the overwheming number of Black Lanterns, so
• Kyle Rayner who was once the most powerful Green Lantern ever sacrificed his own life to save the Green Lantern’s Power Battery.

It was sad to see Kyle pass away. It seems that since his conception in the 90′s no writer has been able to do anything with Kyle to solidify him as a mainstay of the DCU.

and

THE BEST COMIC OF LAST WEEK
BATGIRL #4

This comic was FUN!

In a universe full of death, violence, and zombies sometimes a fun comic can overshadow them all.

I love the fact that Steph Brown does not want to be Batgirl to be part of the Batfamily, she does it because its fun to her and she likes doing good. Its refreshing to see a hero who is doing so not because she is an orphan or learned the hard way that “With great power comes great responsiblity.”

*note: neither my wife or I proofed this article… she was too busy dealing with a crying baby, and I was to busy crying while watching the Browns on Monday Night Football.