Snap Judgements: Reviews for Secret Six #3, Final Crisis: Resist, and Trinity #23

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST. Beware some potential spoilers.

Secret Six #3 gets an A from DEgan
It's great reading a book without a hero in sight-and Gail Simone knows how to give us exactly what we want... lots of villain on villain action. Fighting that is (though there's a fair bit of the loving too, just not in this issue). Another strong issue in what has quickly become one of my most anticipated monthly DC books... and this story arc is already utilizing one of my favorite storytelling cliches: The Roadtrip! Also, its not too often that I'm blown away by the cleverness and unique-itude of a comic book concept, but the reveal at the end of this issue had me giddy. Can't wait for the next issue!

Final Crisis: Resist gets a B from DEgan
I was able to really enjoy FC: Rage of the Red Lanterns; even though it deals with the current Green Lantern continuity which I haven't been following. I didn't need to know the ins and outs of the politics on OA-and they gave us a solid enjoyable issue that stood on its own. Resist, however, is so bogged down in Checkmate continuity that I found it hard to get through. I haven't followed any of checkmate's doings since they were loosely involved in the Bruce Wayne Fugitive story years ago. So I felt kinda lost throughout (and if you've been reading any of my previous critiques of Final Crisis so far, you'll know that I don't need to feel lost anymore than I already do). Now why doesn't this book have a lower grade you might ask? Well, the nonsense between Snapper Carr and Cheetah was so enjoyable that it saved this book from sucking. This is the second book this week in which she's featured prominently; Secret Six being the other (I accidentally typed "Secret Sex"... which is telling considering her shenanigans this issue). I never knew I liked Cheetah before... but if she's given this treatment more often, she'll quickly climb my list of favorite DCU villains.

Final Crisis: Resist gets a B from AHR
I actually just picked this book up from DEgan's stack and flipped through it, but that sex scene was so steamy I have to give it some props. Favorite part: post-coitus, Snapper is reeling from the experience and Cheetah is like, "Yeah, I know, I'm extremely good." I agree with Deeg, more of her, please!

Reviews for Trinity #23 and another take on Secret Six, after the jump...


Trinity #23 gets a B from DEgan
I wish I had realized at the start that Trinity was DC's next weekly comic... I wasn't quite ready for the commitment. But, that being said, this book is a refreshing break from DCs other big continuity events, Final Crisis and Batman RIP. Though those are still enjoyable, I find myself lost most of the time. Trinity, on the other hand, may lack any characters I care about but it delivers on story. I'm never lost and the progression of the story makes sense and feels right throughout. Plus, in a time when DC continuity is under attack by crisis event writing, Trinity flaunts and taunts its continuity at the same time. The only holes in the plot that appear in these pages, are deliberate and cause the characters some delightful consternation. Wouldn't you be really upset if someone you knew for years is suddenly the head anchor for a national news magazine show... and she's always been so... even though she wasn't 10 minutes ago? Yeah. Its also great to see Black Adam again... and he's not happy about his continuity changes... he's smashing demons demanding to know why he's fighting them. Pretty funny stuff. So although its missing the characters I loved from 52, its giving me a far more coherent and enjoyable story than either of DC's previous weekly comic attempts.

Secret Six #3 gets a C from AHR
The first Secret Six miniseries is one of my favorite comic runs of all time, but I'm not quite feeling this. I thought this would be a rollicking road trip with bullets flying every whichaway, but these issues have felt slow. Too much plot, not enough of the casual interaction between the six that I like so much. I love these characters, but they feel a little stale...Ragdoll's disturbing non-sequitors are fun, but a little repetitive. I'm probably just mad because Knockout died, destroying one of my favorite comic couples. I'll stick with this comic, but I really hope the pace picks up.

Snap Judgments: Reviews for Trinity #1, Ultimate Origins #1, Buffy #15 and More

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 #15 gets an A from AHR
Oh noes! Here endeth the Buffy/Satsu storyline, aka the ship that launched a thousand fics. I'll certainly miss the lesbian jokes, but this issue wraps up with excellent action sequences, heartwarming and heartwrenching drama, and a satisfying resolution that still opens up a few doors. Also lots of lesbian jokes.

Detective Comics #845 gets an A from AHR
Too much fun. Batman and Detective Chimp sitting at their computers IMing each other may top out some people's tolerance for silliness, but i found it delightful.

Reviews for H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horrors #1, Omega: The Unknown #9, Secret Invasion #3, Trinity #1, Ultimate Origins #1 and House of Mystery #2 after the jump...

H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horrors #1 gets an A from Albo
Kind of a weird idea. Celebrated underground artist Richard Corben does graphic adaptations (and expansions) of H.P. Lovecraft short stories and poems, and includes the original source text after each story. This works really well when the source is a vague poem that he has built an interesting narrative around, but when the source is a short story with more evocative imagery than the adaptation, things become a little less satisfying. He did the same thing with Poe, but I haven't gotten the chance to read those. All told, a cool experiment and a welcome serving of Corben's unique art.

Omega: The Unknown #9 gets a B from Albo
This book is so consistently good that for some reason it hardly excites me anymore. That sounds cynical, right? But I'm sitting here flipping through it and thinking "that's great, that's great, that's good too" but I know that when I was reading it I was a little bored. What's the deal? Well, in my heart I know this is a classic story that I'll be re-reading for years to come. The end is near!

Secret Invasion #3 gets a B from Albo
Ho hum. Very skeletal storytelling. Feels like an outline for tie-in issues to elaborate on, a very Marvel storytelling method I strongly disapprove of. Yu's art is still amazing, though, and the confrontation between Skrullica Drew and Tony Stark is pretty exciting though I'm pretty sure it's just some Skrullian mind games.

Trinity #1 gets an A+F=C+ from AHR
Wow. The first half of this book, in which Bruce, Diana, and Clark meet up for lunch and talk about a spooky dream they had, is awesome. I love any time attention is drawn to how insane Batman's "Bruce Wayne" persona is, and here Wondy actually calls him on it. But the second part of this book is a droning mish-mash of expository detritus featuring characters and situations that I have zero interest in, and after spending a fun lunch with my oldest DC pals I have no desire to jump into a red and green space land full of proselytizing god/alien creatures. Perhaps the writers are trying to set up two bands of alien/god creatures, since that description extends to the titular trinity, with the intention of showing us how much more interesting the group who act like humans are. These two very segmented stories are perfect examples of what I love and hate about DC.

Ultimate Origins #1 gets a C from Albo
There's nothing outright bad about the first issue of this major Ultimate event, but it just doesn't make enough of a statement right off the bat to justify its existence. You can hardly blame Bendis, though. I mean, how many universes can he be expected to turn upside down at once?

House of Mystery #2 gets a C- from AHR
Bleh. Reads like second rate Neil Gaiman, with really self-conscious and over-stated fantastical dialogue. It's brightened up by some fun touches (lady pirate bouncer) and a few pages of Jill Thompson's moody cartoon art, but what a let down after such a gripping and disturbing first issue.