Category: Comics Reviews

Comics Reviews: Detective Comics Annual 1, Green Arrow Annual 1, Question Annual 1

Detective Comics Annual 1 coverDetective Comics Annual #1 – “The Monkey Trap” – Denny O’Neil/Klaus Janson/Tony DeZuniga

This is the first of a three-part story that continues in the Green Arrow and Question annuals, linked by the story of a Japanese sensei who imparts some wisdom to each of the heroes in exchange for their help later. We start with a scene from the sensei’s past, when he was a soldier in Manchuria during the Sino-Japanese War. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Detective Comics Annual 1, Green Arrow Annual 1, Question Annual 1”

Comics Reviews: Wonder Woman 25, Firestorm 80

Wonder Woman 25 coverWonder Woman #25 – “The Burning School” – George Perez/Chris Marrinan/Will Blyberg

This is an Invasion crossover that coordinates with JLI 22, repeating a number of scenes from that issue (which is why Giffen and DeMatteis get a special mention in the credits). This one opens with Lieutenant Etta Candy running for her life on a small Pacific island. Etta was assigned to a radio post and detected transmissions from the invading alien vessels. Her superiors weren’t sure whether to believe her or not, but when the aliens came in and started blasting, they figured out it was for real. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Wonder Woman 25, Firestorm 80”

Comics Reviews: Legion of Super-Heroes 55, Suicide Squad 22

Legion of Super-Heroes 55 coverLegion of Super-Heroes #55 – “Different Paths” – Paul Levitz/Keith Giffen, Ernie Colon, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Erik Larsen/Al Gordon

This one starts with Legion leader Polar Boy worrying about a few Legionnaires who have taken off for personal reasons and fallen out of contact. The rest of the issue is a series of vignettes letting us know what these “missing” Legionnaires are doing. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Legion of Super-Heroes 55, Suicide Squad 22”

Comics Reviews: Justice League International 22, Young All-Stars 21

Justice League International 22 coverJustice League International #22 – “Little Murders” – Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis/Kevin Maguire/Joe Rubinstein

This is another Invasion crossover and it starts with Oberon and Max Lord discussing the alien Invasion of Earth. Most of the team have gone to the South Pacific in response to a summons from Black Canary and Wonder Woman. Max is pretty worried about the threat to Earth, which makes Oberon worry too. He goes to see Booster Gold, who’s pissed off about being on monitor duty and missing all the alien-bashing fun. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Justice League International 22, Young All-Stars 21”

Comics Reviews: Batman 428, Detective 595, Green Arrow 13

Batman 428 coverBatman #428 – “A Death in the Family Chapter 5” – Jim Starlin/Jim Aparo/Mike DeCarlo

This continues the storyline of Jason (Robin) Todd’s death. Apparently, the fans actually got to decide his fate at the time, calling either of two phone numbers to vote for killing Jason or sparing him. Obviously, they voted to kill him, although on the Letters Page, Denny O’Neil claims the vote was pretty close (5343 for killing Robin to 5271 against). Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 428, Detective 595, Green Arrow 13”

Comics Reviews: Wonder Woman 24, Firestorm 79, Warlord 133

Wonder Woman 24 coverWonder Woman #24 – “Combat Zone” – George Perez/Will Blyberg

Last issue, Hermes came to Earth to revive the worship of the Greek gods by humanity. His method of attracting followers was to dole out temporary miracles, ensuring humans would continue their adoration in the hopes of earning more favours. Diana was troubled by Hermes’ methods, but decided to follow him anyway, which pissed Julia off. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Wonder Woman 24, Firestorm 79, Warlord 133”

Comics Reviews: Legion of Super-Heroes 54, New Titans 51, Suicide Squad 21

Legion of Super-Heroes 54 coverLegion of Super-Heroes #54 – “Strength in Numbers” – Paul Levitz/Keith Giffen/Mike DeCarlo

This one starts with Polar Boy doubting himself as leader, which he’s been doing a lot lately. He’s worried because a lot of Legionnaires (including most of the heavy hitters) are absent. His fears are justified when he gets a report of a jailbreak on Labyrinth. Apparently the Khundian Garak of the Glow (who we saw imprisoned on Labyrinth last issue) was bioengineered so the energy cells have no effect on him. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Legion of Super-Heroes 54, New Titans 51, Suicide Squad 21”

Comics Reviews: Justice League International 21, Young All-Stars 20

Justice League International 21 coverJustice League International #21 – “Apokolips Wow” – Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis/Ty Templeton/Joe Rubinstein

Last issue, Big Barda, J’onn J’onzz, Gnort, and Rocket Red tracked Manga Khan to Apokolips, where Khan was trying to open trade relations by selling Barda’s husband (Mr. Miracle). When they were attacked by a horde of Parademons, Barda boomed to Earth for reinforcements, bringing back the rest of the team (plus Lobo, who’s been hanging around headquarters waiting for Barda and the others to return so he can kill them and fulfill his contract with Manga Khan). Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Justice League International 21, Young All-Stars 20”

Comics Reviews: Batman 427, Detective 594, Green Arrow 12

Batman 427 coverBatman #427 – “A Death in the Family Chapter 3” – Jim Starlin/Jim Aparo/Mike DeCarlo

If you’re wondering what happened to Chapter 2, it was last issue; these issues are double-sized and DC published a couple extra issues of most titles (labelled Winter and Holiday) at the end of 1988. Speaking of last issue, we saw Jason (Robin) Todd figure out that the woman he’d thought was his other was actually his stepmom. He narrowed his biological mother down to three possible candidates: Sharmin Rosen, Shiva Woosan, and Sheila Haywood, all of whom were overseas. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 427, Detective 594, Green Arrow 12”

Comics Reviews: Wonder Woman 23, Firestorm 78

Wonder Woman 23 coverWonder Woman #23 – “A God Among Men” – George Perez/Will Blyberg

This one starts with Vanessa Kapatelis getting all kinds of attention from her classmates at school because she’s in a magazine article about the Amazons. Vanessa’s friendship with Wonder Woman has made her pretty popular, so much so that she ignores her supposed best friend Eileen (who she never treated all that well, actually) to hang out with the cool kids. Eileen even sticks up for Vanessa with Lucy Spears, but Lucy’s surprised to learn that Barry was Vanessa’s boyfriend, since he didn’t tell her that when they started hanging out. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Wonder Woman 23, Firestorm 78”