
Superman and Batman running moonshine during prohibition?
No, they were just trespassing in a government warehouse of kryptonite weapons.
Batman #675 was a trip back to 1994 with exagerated anatomy and millions of little lines on every male face. Chris at the ISB said it best: “it starts to read like a very well-colored issue of X-Force.” I myself did not mind the art that much, but after hearing rumors that the Batman R.I.P. storyline would involve Bruce Wayne choosing love over playing Dark Knight, the revelation of Batman’s secret identity and seriousness of the relationship between him and Jezebel Jet seems quite forced.
On a side note: I like the interaction and teamwork shown by Morrison during the Nightwing and Robin scenes… It makes me wonder about who will become the next Batman since these two former Robins work together so well as a team reminiscent of the original Dynamic Duo.

Ahh a main and stable cast! Lets sing: “We are family! I’ve got all my sisters with me…”
Ok, I’ll stop and move on to the review now.
Birds of Prey #117 is starting to have that family feeling again that made it so enjoyable in the past. Since the inception of this book it has always been part of the “Bat-Family” of books, focusing on many of the females in the Gotham. Since Black Canary left to wed Green Arrow the family dynamic has not been that strong with a rotating cast of female characters. Now with the full inclusion of Misfit, who I have to admit has grown on me, the family dynamic made this issue one of the best of last week.

Oh, and how could I not mention the awesomely stereotypical nerd from Birds of Prey 117 who wears glasses so thick they magnify his eyeballs!

Jimmy your relationship is not the only thing heading to the dumpster!
Countdown to Final Crisis #1 is finally over. One year later and about $160 spent the build up is over… or is it. 52 was awesome and set a high standard for Countdown. I think DC planned for Countdown to be a let down so that the upcoming Final Crisis will look awesome compared to it. Yeah… I have nothing else to say about it…

Superman still refuses to remove his Metal Gear Solid Ninja costume.
Superman Batman #47 continues the Kryptonite Crusade to rid the planet of Superman’s only weakness. This issue is a little “Men in Black” and a little “The Untouchables” with an underground government facility built to house weapons to take down Superman facading as a small town diner. This arc started out strong, and I don’t know if its just me or the story, but it seems to be dragging on too long. I am afraid that this is one of those stories that will be better read in on sitting as a trade, which if that is the case then release it as a trade from the start…
Ok, back to issue 47…
In this issue we see that the government is afraid that one day Superman will go nuts and take over the world, so they created a task force to take him out just in case that ever happens. This story works and was awesome when I saw it the first time on the animate Justice League Unlimited. Anyway even if it seems to be dragging, I am still enjoying it and wonder exactly what the origin of the Kryptonite Doomsday is.

Justice League of America #20 featured a solo Wally West story with a supporting cast of Wonder Woman and Black Lightning. I used to love the thought balloons in early comics when they shed insight on the character and not the storyline. Thought balloons were great to show what a character was really like, but many times were misused as a story telling devise. This issue of Justice League of America Dwayne McDuffie does a great job of using the narration boxes to build the character of the Flash. We get to see the reasons behind his actions, not to tell us what his actions are or will be. My favorite part of the whole issue was when Wally was reminiscing of the humorous story behind the science of putting out a fire. Its little touches like that along with the prescience of Superman and Batman thorough the dialog that makes Justice League of America #20 and it’s phenomenal character portrayals the BEST COMIC OF LAST WEEK.
SpaceBooger’s weekly review of last weeks comics is back giving a fresh take on 5-day-old comics:

In Batman and the Outsiders #5 Geo Force says enough is enough… a crisis looses meaning the third or fifth time around. I miss the Barr and Arparo Batman and the Outsiders, no matter how much I like Chuck Dixon’s work this new series doesn’t have the same appeal.

Amazing Spider-Man #554 was better than the last two issues together. This issue had it all: Spidey still hated by the public, the dumb Parker luck, and a Meth smoking super villain. Not only is he hopped-up his origin revolves around Stem Cell research.

Where have I heard this before?

Yeah, I liked this idea the first time when Doomsday killed Superman and didn’t offend any pro-life organizations.

I am resisting the urge to make the obvious “fastest man alive” joke. Instead I will say that since the death of Bart Allen the Flash is quickly running out of time on my pull list. The Flash #238 may have been the last straw. Not only is Wally’s family hampering the story the main villain takes National Enquirer headlines and makes them come true…

There is something about juvenile humor that keeps cracking me up this week. In Robin #172 we see the return of my favorite mortal who believes he is a god: Maxie Zeus. The story moves slowly with a great scene between Tim and Zoanne’s father. The issues ending threw a hint at the upcoming Robin/Spoiler one shot… but the solicit for next weeks issue said “Bizarre Love Triangle” showing images of Robin, Violet, and Spoiler… since when did Tim inherit Dick’s womanizing Robin trait? Or is it just a bad solicit? I guess we will have to wait until next week.

Superman/Batman Annual #2 was the BEST COMIC LAST WEEK!
This issue takes place in the past, a past where Alfred just learns of Superman’s secret identity and Robin goes all “fanboy” when he first meets the Man of Steel. This issue was hands down the BEST COMIC OF LAST WEEK, and even the best DC comic featuring the Big Two in a while. S/B Annual #2 was a stand alone issue where Superman becomes powerless and Bruce shows his human side. With Superman powerless Batman and Robin are watching the chaos erupt in Metropolis when Robin gives one of the best quotes in comic history: “Gotham needs Batman and Robin, but the WORLD needs Superman.”
Batman proceeds to train a powerless Clark Kent to fight crime again, but he does not just strengthen Clark’s body Batman focuses on Clark’s spirit. In the end the training of Clark’s spirit and Robin’s reminder of who Superman really is powers our hero up just in time to save the day.

Birds of Prey #116: Ready for the next story arc, but I may not buy it.
Catwoman #77: Can we get Selina back to reality? There were some good character building moments in this issue, but if I have to read about Catwoman in an virtual reality I should only have to buy it with virtual cash.Countdown 6: This was a good issue and it reminded me that there really are writers for this series. The narrative of Earth ?’s Buddy Baker was informative and entertaining. I could follow the story clearly and now know that Karate Kid released a virus that will wipe out every human on every of the 52 Earths. The best part was that the narrator was Buddy Baker - Jack Kirby’s original OMAC.
Justice League of America #19: Blah… I am really getting tired of all this Salvation Run stuff… It’s not that good of a story to be crossing over into Gotham Underground, Catwoman, and Justice League of America.
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