Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #3 - The third issue of Joseph Michael Straczynski's first contribution to Before Watchmen has been the third that I've bought on pure impulse. Despite reading the first two preceding issues, they had failed to make me very excited about the third, but I found myself drawn back into Nite Owl's thrall once I saw it's cover on Comixology. JMS' decision to bring Dan Dreiberg's sexuality into the forefront seems like it should work; after all, the character was more or less defined by it in Watchmen proper. However, it doesn't work here as well as it did in the original work. While it occupied a small corner of the story that Watchmen was telling, JMS makes it the centerpiece to his tale, and it only distracts from more compelling stories going on with Hollis Mason and Rorschach. The interactions between Nite Owl and the Twilight Lady feel flat, and their doesn't seem to be much depth to their relationship between masks and sex. Hopefully, Stranczynski brings the more compelling background elements of this book to the forefront in its final issue, and pushes the soap opera towards the back where it belongs.
Daredevil #18 - Mark Waid's work with Daredevil continues with this latest issues, in which further evidence against Matt's sanity is revealed while Foggy gets Daredevil to investigate some strange goings on. Waid cleverly intertwines his second plot to enhance the first; his slipping sanity causes Matt to call Foggy, which allows Waid to highlight just how dire the relationship between the two has become, and while on the case Matt is forced to further question his own state of mind. The plot that Foggy sends Daredevil investigates fails to stand up in the face of the overarching question of Matt's mental state, and the pages dedicated to it alone pale in comparison to the rest of the book; however, Waid is careful to limit these to only what's absolutely necessary and keep his more compelling plot solidly in the forefront throughout. Daredevil #18's good points greatly overshadow its weaker points, and as Waid builds towards revelations and upheavals in the coming months, I have no doubt in this books continued quality.
Godzilla: Half Century War #2 - Despite not being a big Godzilla fan, Half Century War delivers exactly what I imagine a Godzilla comic should deliver. Every visual of the titular monster makes him seem truly massive, something far beyond the weapons humans hit him with, something truly awe inspiring in size alone. From a shot of helicopters that pulls back to reveal them circling around Godzilla's tail, to Godzilla flailing around a cloud of smoke - everything about Godzilla here just feels right. The battle between Godzilla and Anguirus feels similarly impressive, as the writing and the art combine to give a great sense of the massive scale involved. The books does drag a bit during the bits without the monsters; they feel very formulaic, and while that approach works with the monsters due largely to the framing and the art, it isn't as successful when they aren't around. A preview teases future monster battles, and while I'm curious if James Stokoe will be able to keep the comic from feeling formulaic, the strength of this issue means I'll check back in next month.
Justice League #0 - Justice League makes good use of Zero Month by attempting to wrap up its Shazam backup. However, the book ends up feeling more like the end of a first act than providing actual closure to Billy's origin. The book sees Billy get the power that transform him into Shazam, the Wizard warning him that Black Adam will be hunting him, and Billy first using his powers, and then ends. Billy doesn't learn to be a hero, the threat of Black Adam doesn't even begin to come to fruition, and Sivana - a major part of the backup - isn't even mentioned in passing. Despite feeling incomplete, Johns' story is well told, and Garry Frank does a good job with the artwork, making the Rock of Eternity feel truly magical. While I'm sure that the second and third act of Billy's arc will be told in future issues of Justice League, that leaves this book feeling more like more of a backup than a legitimate comic in its own right.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #0 - Scott Lobdell uses his zero month to give Jason Todd a sorely needed definite backstory. Todd's story, before his resurrection, plays out like a Greek tragedy; a common boy, raised in the most destitute of conditions, is risen to the height of society, only to be slain at the moment of his greatest triumph. Lobdell wisely keeps the broad strokes of this story, and the subtle changes he makes - the most important of which is making the woman Todd goes to Africa to save not an unknown biological mother, but the mother who raised him - enhance, rather than detract from it. The major change to the origin comes at the end of the comic, as its revealed that Jason's rise and fall was orchestrated by the Joker. This makes Todd's story even more tragic than it was before, as we see that he had never really had control of his life, and was always meant to be nothing more than a memory to torment Batman. It further adds some gravitas to his time with the Outlaws, as they become the first time he truly is in control of his own life without some invisible puppeteer. RHotO is, along with the rest of the Bat books, poised for a great few months with Death of the Family, and this issue sets this book in particular up for a truly fantastic arc.
Venom #25 - In his 3rd issue of Venom, Cullen Bunn reveals that his demon arc has not been, as I thought it to be, cleanup for Remender's work, but the start of a wildly different status quo for the book. Taking Venom from being an almost spy based thriller to a title about magic and demons is a bold move, but it seems like it might just work; it will, at the very least, keep the book fresh and keep Remender's run from overshadowing Bunn's work. Bunn also uses Flash's monologue in an action set to emphasize just how little is left of Flash's personal life after the Savage Six went to town on it, and the void left in Flash's supporting cast should give Bunn plenty of room to work his new angle. Bunn's first new character, the occult reporter Kathy Kiernan, is cemented in place as a principle member of this new cast, and proves to be a good, if not great, addition. Venom is a book very much in flux, and its unfortunate that its going to be sidetracked by a crossover with Scarlet Spider in the next few months, as the place it seems headed is proving to be very interesting indeed.
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