I liked quite a few things about Infinite Crisis #2 (written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Phil Jiminez and George Perez, inked by Andy Lanning and Jerry Ordway), but I'd like to think the Perez cover (showing Power Girl from the rear) is a none-too-subtle dig at the fascination with PG's chest. Perez and Ordway's contribution to the interior consists of a few pages telling the history of the old Multiverse, and while some might say that's proof that the whole magilla is too complicated, I think it's a fine tip of the hat to the original Crisis on Infinite Earths artists and to COIE itself. As exposition goes, it's fairly economical too.
The spotlight is on Power Girl in issue #2, and speaking of exposition, I'm now glad I didn't spend the money on her JSA Classified origin issues. InfC #2 is the emotional payoff of the former arc's false starts, but it doesn't need those issues to work well. Power Girl might well have been better off consigned to Earth-2 oblivion, for all the mucking around with her backgrounds various writers have performed over the last twenty years, but Johns takes good advantage of her confusion.
The issue's other plots all work as well. I especially enjoyed the interlude with Clark and Lois at the Daily Planet, culminating in a neat little "job for Superman!" moment. As much as I love Perez's work, Jiminez has become a fine storyteller in his own right. I just wonder if there's not an Earth-2 homage to COIE #7 in Power Girl's future....
JLA #122 (written by Bob Harras, pencilled by Tom Derenick, inked by Dan Green) is another "[MAIN CHARACTERS] vs. OMACs" story, just like half of DC's books from the past few months. I hope the number of these decreases after the events of Infinite Crisis #2. There's not much more to it than that, except the kind-of creative notion that the Key is attacking anything with the initials "JLA." (The Best Wife Ever is in the Junior League, so word of warning to the Key: they are tough.) It's nice to see some old familiar faces back in the fold, but I wish they had something more exciting to do.
Gotham Central #37 (written by Greg Rucka, drawn by Steve Lieber) is the big Infinite Crisis crossover issue, and I hate to say it, but it's not as good as I've come to expect. Sure, I like Allen and Montoya; sure, they react believably to the mystic carnage going on around them; and sure, this was probably a decent introduction to the characters for the hypothetical first-time reader -- but it just didn't have the punch of, say, the Poison Ivy one-off issue of a few months ago. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good as it has been. Good ending, though; and I do hope the Crisis completists pick up multiple copies, because the book deserves all the support it can get.
Action Comics #833 (written by Gail Simone, pencilled by John Byrne, inked by Nelson and various others) begins what looks to be a fun little story pitting Supes against an old Justice League foe. It doesn't appear to have much to do with Infinite Crisis, so instead it's free to weave in scenes for Lois and Jimmy. I'm not saying who the villain is, because Simone takes her time in building up the revelation, and packs a lot into the first half of the issue. For that I was pleasantly surprised.
As the first part of "Blaze of Glory," Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #197 (written by Will Pfeifer, drawn by Chris Weston) also unloads a lot of plot. The story concerns a supervillain wannabe who blames Batman for his problems, which isn't overly original, but Pfeifer makes his antagonist a fairly smart guy who just happens to have wound up on the C-list. The one strange thing about the issue is the art. Weston's heads seem just a little too large (or the bodies a little too small), kind of like Mike Grell. Still, like Grell, once you get past that it's pretty good.
Finally, Star Wars: Empire #37 (written by Welles Hartley, pencilled by Davide Fabbri, inked by Christian Dalla Vecchia) continues "The Wrong Side Of The War" in fine fashion. As the Rebels put their undercover plans in motion, Imperial Lt. Sunber becomes acclimated to his new assignment. While Sunber takes on the alpha male in his barracks, though, the Rebels discover they may have to rescue all the slaves from Jabiim. Hartley portrays the Imperials as evil bureaucrats -- not so much mustache-twirling, but you can see they're not particularly nice. The art is also good, with bright colors (thanks again to Fabbri) and big, expansive layouts. Nothing groundbreaking, but a good Star Wars story nonetheless.
The spotlight is on Power Girl in issue #2, and speaking of exposition, I'm now glad I didn't spend the money on her JSA Classified origin issues. InfC #2 is the emotional payoff of the former arc's false starts, but it doesn't need those issues to work well. Power Girl might well have been better off consigned to Earth-2 oblivion, for all the mucking around with her backgrounds various writers have performed over the last twenty years, but Johns takes good advantage of her confusion.
The issue's other plots all work as well. I especially enjoyed the interlude with Clark and Lois at the Daily Planet, culminating in a neat little "job for Superman!" moment. As much as I love Perez's work, Jiminez has become a fine storyteller in his own right. I just wonder if there's not an Earth-2 homage to COIE #7 in Power Girl's future....
JLA #122 (written by Bob Harras, pencilled by Tom Derenick, inked by Dan Green) is another "[MAIN CHARACTERS] vs. OMACs" story, just like half of DC's books from the past few months. I hope the number of these decreases after the events of Infinite Crisis #2. There's not much more to it than that, except the kind-of creative notion that the Key is attacking anything with the initials "JLA." (The Best Wife Ever is in the Junior League, so word of warning to the Key: they are tough.) It's nice to see some old familiar faces back in the fold, but I wish they had something more exciting to do.
Gotham Central #37 (written by Greg Rucka, drawn by Steve Lieber) is the big Infinite Crisis crossover issue, and I hate to say it, but it's not as good as I've come to expect. Sure, I like Allen and Montoya; sure, they react believably to the mystic carnage going on around them; and sure, this was probably a decent introduction to the characters for the hypothetical first-time reader -- but it just didn't have the punch of, say, the Poison Ivy one-off issue of a few months ago. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good as it has been. Good ending, though; and I do hope the Crisis completists pick up multiple copies, because the book deserves all the support it can get.
Action Comics #833 (written by Gail Simone, pencilled by John Byrne, inked by Nelson and various others) begins what looks to be a fun little story pitting Supes against an old Justice League foe. It doesn't appear to have much to do with Infinite Crisis, so instead it's free to weave in scenes for Lois and Jimmy. I'm not saying who the villain is, because Simone takes her time in building up the revelation, and packs a lot into the first half of the issue. For that I was pleasantly surprised.
As the first part of "Blaze of Glory," Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #197 (written by Will Pfeifer, drawn by Chris Weston) also unloads a lot of plot. The story concerns a supervillain wannabe who blames Batman for his problems, which isn't overly original, but Pfeifer makes his antagonist a fairly smart guy who just happens to have wound up on the C-list. The one strange thing about the issue is the art. Weston's heads seem just a little too large (or the bodies a little too small), kind of like Mike Grell. Still, like Grell, once you get past that it's pretty good.
Finally, Star Wars: Empire #37 (written by Welles Hartley, pencilled by Davide Fabbri, inked by Christian Dalla Vecchia) continues "The Wrong Side Of The War" in fine fashion. As the Rebels put their undercover plans in motion, Imperial Lt. Sunber becomes acclimated to his new assignment. While Sunber takes on the alpha male in his barracks, though, the Rebels discover they may have to rescue all the slaves from Jabiim. Hartley portrays the Imperials as evil bureaucrats -- not so much mustache-twirling, but you can see they're not particularly nice. The art is also good, with bright colors (thanks again to Fabbri) and big, expansive layouts. Nothing groundbreaking, but a good Star Wars story nonetheless.
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