BT05 – Giant Guest Star Blognanza!

This is taking longer than I thought, going through my “current” stack. This will be the last installment for a while, though, assuming I get through the remainder of the “first quarter of the alphabet.”

• Day of Vengeance #3-4 (of 6) (DC): So the Spectre — God’s wrath incarnate in the DC Universe — has been duped by Eclipso (who always seems lame, no matter how much DC tries to it into a major villain), who is wearing Jean Loring’s body (so as to torque off folks who disliked “Identity Crisis”), into thinking that the root of all evil in the DCU is magic. This has led to (a) lots of third-string magic-users in the DCU getting killed, (b) still others of them rather entertainingly (this is Bill Willingham writing) banding together to take down the Spectre out of suicidal self-defense, and (c) Captain Marvel and the Spectre duking it out. I hope this reads better when the collection comes out, assuming I decided to buy it (feeling mixed at the moment, which is a bad sign), because it feels awfully busy, not to mention contrived.
• DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #2-3 (of 4) (DC): Donna Troy’s return from the dead was a foregone conclusion. It’s a shame her return is coming out so muddled. Juan Garcia-Lopez’ art is as good as ever, but Phil Jimenez’ story is both rushed and ponderous (and for some reason reminds me of Shark Boy & Lava Girl — don’t ask me why). The cast involved — the Teen Titans and the Outsiders — is so large that it’s impossible to focus enough on any of them and their relation to Donna and the events at hand. Feh. I just want Donna to either return, or not, and be done with it.

• Defenders #1 (of 5) (Marvel): Giffen, De Matteis and Maguire try to do for the Defenders what they did for the Justice League. It actually succeeds — the pompousness and mutual irk-fest which was the non-team of Dr Strange, Namor, the Hulk, and the Silver Surfer is ripe for in-continuity lampooning. Me like.

• Dork Tower #31 (Dork Storm): In color! Which, to be honest, doesn’t add to the enjoyment for me. That said, I love Dork Tower (hey, it’s a witty cartoon about geeky topics, especially gaming — given my commentary so far today, y’think it’d be my cuppa? Huh?), and this issue is a solid one, as Igor tries to to put together a gaming convention. Heh.

• Fallen Angel #20 (DC): Final issue of Peter David’s book, in which he (a) brings back another old set of his characters, Sachs and Violens (who actually have a bigger tie to the book than first seems), (b) wraps up the series without wrapping it up, leaving it with a comfortable (if rushed) opening for a future resurrection of the book, and is in keeping with the general mystery of the title. Sorry to see it go.

• Fables #39 (Vertigo): A traitor in the Fabletown government is discovered and dealt, both in a fittingly fairy tale fashion. Another wandering fable — Mowgli — is summoned back to Fabletown on a special mission only he can fulfill, as the Beast finally shows he’s getting the hang of being the security chief. Good stuff as always.

(listening to: Enya, “The First Of Autumn” from A Day Without Rain)
(listening to: Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime” from Stop Making Sense)
(listening to: Dallas Symphony, “Saturn the Bringer of Old Age” from The Planets)
(listening to: Original London Cast, “Valjean Arrested – Valjean Forgiven” from Les Misérables (London))