Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]
JSA: Black Vengeance (Vol. 10) (DC) [4/4/2/2] (collects #66-75)
w. Geoff Johns; a. Don Kramer, Leonard Kirk, Steve Sadowski, et al.
The JSA encounter their 1950s counterparts at the height of the McCarthy Era, and reexamine their own heroism. Meanwhile, the Spectre is going nuts and meting out vengeance. And in the midst of all this judgment, what about Al Pratt (Atom Smasher), or his mentor, Black Adam? Is there a difference between Justice and Right, and on which side of that divide must a hero walk? Or is there just one right path.
And etc. The art, despite the diverse hands, is all good. The stories by Geoff Johns are, not surprising, penetrating and dark. JSA has been one of the best continuing DC series out there — which makes its current status … well, we’ll leave that for the individual issue reviews.
Legion of Super-Heroes: Teenage Revolution (Vol. 1) (DC) [3/4/4/4] (collects #1-6)
w. Mark Waid; a. Barry Kitson
I really want to love this series. Really. Waid and Kitson are both stellar talents. But, damn, the LoSH as a “youth movement” meme just falls oddly flat, and Kitson’s art (and costume design) is incredibly stiff.
Part of it may be that I just resent to hell yet another reboot of Legion continuity, without any compelling reason behind it than that, as far as I can tell, Waid and Kitson wanted a clean slated and nobody at DC cared enough to say no. That anyone continues to read this title is a testament to the underlying appeal of the concept and the characters, but after a while, you just start stop caring about what happens to X or Y because, sure as shooting, next year someone’s going to come along and rewrite
X and Y again. Feh.
Stand-alone, these issues aren’t bad. But both from wasted potential and wasted continuity, they’re greatly disappointing.
Manhunter: Street Justice (Vol. 1) (DC) [3/3/4/2] (collects #1-5)
w. Marc Andreyko; a. Jesus Saliz, Jimmy Palmiotti
This title owes less to the previous DC characters of this name, and more to DC’s Vigilante — a DA/Prosecutor who decides to take the law into his/her own hands to punish the guilty. It’s a bit more grim and gritty than that title was, and some of the practical issues of vigilanteism — broken bones and broken equipment — are dealt with in this slender volume. Still, it’s all old hat. I might pick up the next TPB, if it ever comes out. Or I might not. But I’m not going to
go out of my way to do so.
And with that, we are one-third done, 8 hours (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.) into the Blogathon! Woot!
I’ve been fairly diligent about recording the music I listen to, for your edification as to my electic tastes if nothing else. I’m irked that the iTunes interface doesn’t pull over Composer as well, since Artist is not always the key creative talent involved in a particular piece of music. Ah, well.
(listening to: Tygerberg Children’s Choir, “Skorro Korro” from We Call It Afrika)
(listening to: “Falcon Crest” from Television’s Greatest Hits – VI)
(listening to: Blue’s Clues, “Putting It All Together” from Blue’s Big Musical Movie (Nick Jr))
(listening to: “Otoko to Megami no Love Song” from Aa! Megami-sama – Complete Vocal Collection)
(listening to: Beethovenhalle Bonn, “Sym 33 in Bb, K.319 – Andante Moderato” from Mozart – Two Salzburg Symphonies)
(listening to: Holiday, Billie, & Teddy Wilson Orchestra, “I Wished on the Moon” from Artist’s Choice: Tony Bennett)
(listening to: Newman, Dave, “Going For a Ride” from Serenity)
(listening to: Simon & Garfunkel, “The Dangling Conversation” from Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, And Thyme)
(listening to: Enya, “Oriel Window” from Oíche Chiún [EP])
(listening to: “Twilight Zone Main Title” from Twilight Zone)
(listening to: Raine, Nic & Prague Philharmonic, “Under Fire – Suite – Prelude” from Jerry Goldsmith – 40 Years of Film Music)
(listening to: Shore, Howard, “The King Of The Golden Hall” from LOTR2: Two Towers)