Wow! How can a week get more chock full than this one? I am wondering what possessed DC to release all 4 issues of World War III at once. Just 52 and the 4 War books would have made a pretty decent week but on top of that we have the start of the long anticipated JSA/JLA/Legion crossover, the truth about why Oracle and Nightwing didn't get hitched, the Birds of Prey going head to head with the Secret Six ...er Five, what would have been the finale for Manhunter if it had not been picked up again, the government crossing swords with X-factor, Blue Beetle and Batman Take on the Fatal Five(? wait, you mean from 1000 years in the future fatal five?) and lastly the animated Legion of Super-heroes which I should probably save for a slow week but we'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Click the read more link or the image for the rest of my random thoughts.

 

52 WEEK #50 $2.50
Ok so how can you top an amazing week like last week? Apparently you start World War III. Why you might ask? Well it could be because Black Adam seemingly executed (or murdered depending on your point of view) an entire country to find the men responsible for the monsters who murdered his family and many of his subjects. Incidentally as I mentioned last week, the mastermind responsible for the creation of the four horsemen (of Apokolips?) has worked for Darkseid in the past. It could be because the worlds largest criminal organization has completed some prophecy and appears to have paved the way for Apokolips with fire pits appearing all over Gotham. It could be that the Justice Society of America and China's Great Ten are butting heads over an island full of mad scientists. Maybe it is all these things, but I think it is a pretty safe bet that some part of Apokolips will be rearing it's ugly head in one of this weeks books. I'll even exclude Birds of Prey from this bet which coincidentally will be featuring two ex-Female Furies this week.

BIRDS OF PREY #105 $2.99
I picked up a pretty sizable stack of Mr. Miracle form a five for a dollar sale last week including one where Booster Gold and Blue Beetle show up and fight a team of Amazo robots. One of the robots hurls Beetle towards a crowd of onlookers. Barda catches him in one hand and tosses him back into the action then turns to her husband to tell him what a "Nice tush" Beatle has. Now that is my kinda super heroine. Last issue Barda saved the day three times! She's perfect for the birds. She loves Scott Free completely but she's been missing direction in her life the same way Dinah's character was missing direction when she joined Oracle.

That aside I have to say that it feels like Gail is done with Birds here. She seems to be simply using the book, as Didio put it, to get "her Secret Six Jollies." Those are her new toys and it seems the birds are left by the woodshed with the Velveteen Rabbit for Mckeever to pick up, polish off and try desperately to make new.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #8 $2.99
It all leads up to this. Months of teases, mostly in the JSA but a bit here. Who are these Legionnaires? Who's future are they from? Are there more of them? How did they get here? The whole crossover seemed at first to be about Earth 2 and it may still be, but perhaps the Earth 2 of the future and not the present? At any rate we have seen Star Boy (Now going by Star Man which I like. It always disturbed me that he kept the "boy" with the full on Grizzly Adam's beard), Dream Girl, Karate Kid and a tease of Dawnstar. That's enough to make it a 3 way crossover, but I sure hope there are more.

I also hope we can find a way to keep both incarnations of the Legion. We have Supergirl and Powergirl being essentially the same person from alternate realities but yet being so different, couldn't both Legion's exist but be different? Kind of like having your cake and eating it too? They did it in poorly in the 90's with younger clones showing up and co-existing with the older Legionnaires and somehow that wasn't too confusing... Ok it was but this is different..

LEGION OF SUPER HEROES IN THE 31ST CENTURY #1 $2.25
Yes I know this will rot my brain and possibly give me cavities, but I want it anyway. I'm assuming I'll be feeling my age by the end of the issue and won't pick up the rest of the series, but it just might be okay. I am not a fan of Devin Grayson's writing, but the work she did on the X-Men Evolution comic was surprisingly good. I'm hoping this book is another nice little surprise. I don't think I have read any of J. Torres other work (mostly young reader's books and comics), but his blog is interesting. Besides Michael Cornacchia, the guy who does the voice for Bouncing Boy was a friend of mine in college. He's extremely funny and a very talented actor.

MANHUNTER #30 $2.99
This issue was originally supposed to be the series finally, but Manhunter has since been saved once again. The writing has been fairly good and the title character is complex and intriguing. They've been pulling all the stops lately to get ratings. Batman, Wonder Woman and even the late Blue Beatle made cover appearances. This issue should wrap up a bunch of dangling plot lines and pave the way for a nice jumping on point and new storylines when the series returns in July. I must also say it's nice to have a D.C. hero stationed in Los Angeles. Between this book and Marvel's Runaways and Loners, I am beginning to see how it must be for New Yorkers to read comics.

NIGHTWING ANNUAL #2 $3.99
Way to leave a plot point dangling! It certainly looks like Nightwing was not meant to survive the Crisis and had that happened they would not need to deal with whether or not Barbara Gordon would have accepted his marriage proposal. Regardless of whether they are meant to be or not (and I sure loved them together when they were together) I doubt that Oracle would have said yes back at the time when his life was such a mess. (Not to mention he was sleeping with his ex, Starfire, over in the Outsiders book) But I would like to see what has happened and why they haven't talked in such a while.

Lately it has felt like Wolfman is phoning these in. I am hoping that once the restrictions on the secrets of 52 and World War III are lifted he will really be able to get creative. It would be nice to see strong confident smiling Dick Grayson again and not the sad, awkward one of late. There is a big difference between angsty and mopey.

WORLD WAR III PART ONE A CALL TO ARMS $2.50
This book has been billed as revolving around Firestar and Firehawk. The cover also shows an anguished Black Adam and a man holding a Nightwing costume and looking at an old Robin costume. At first I thought this was Dick Grayson, but we know he's in his Nightwing costume after the One Year Later. Then I thought it was Jason Todd... but he also was in the Nightwing costume after One Year Later. Then I realized that nobody said this was even our Jason Todd or Dick Grayson? Sandman mentioned what sounded like Earth Two Huntress was in one of his prophetic dreams over in JSA. Could this be Earth Two Dick Grayson?

WORLD WAR III PART TWO THE VALIANT $2.50
This issue is all about the young female partners of the big three. Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), Wonder Girl (Donna Troy though t Wonder Girl any longer) and Supergirl. So I am assuming from this and from the preview images that we learn how Cassie ended up with Deathstroke, how Donna ended up becoming Wonder Woman and how Kara ended up with the Legion of Super-Heroes. I am so hoping that the Supergirl with the Legion is a different person from the disaster over in the Supergirl main book. I can't think of how they could be reconciled otherwise.

 

WORLD WAR III PART THREE HELL IS FOR HEROES $2.50
It feels like the role of the Teen Titans in these reality spanning crossovers is to offer up some casualties to help up the emotional level. With Donna Troy, Raven and Jericho just back from the dead I am not sure it has the impact it may have once had.

WORLD WAR III PART FOUR UNITED WE STAND $2.50
Apparently a Hero is re-born... is this figurative or literal? Wally and Barry are the first two to come to mind. I think Beetle is out of the question. Maybe they mean a hero comes out of retirement or takes on a new identity? The ancient evil I am assuming is Darkseid (see my 52 #50 speculation). As to the cover...wow what is up with Black Adam and Martian Manhunter. That looks painful. Who's side are the Great Ten on? Will they survive the issue and have they been duped by Darkseid?

X-FACTOR #18 $2.99
The writing on this has been strong and consist ant. I have really enjoyed it. Peter David (whose blog is rather political, including a George W. Bush countdown clock) manages to make interesting political statements without hitting you over the head and without sacrificing character or story.

Of course those who know me know I would buy anything with Quicksilver even though all of his appearances have been painful of late. He seems to play a big part in this issue according to the preview. I just hope this insanity spell is over soon. I mean a couple years ago he was wearing sweaters and judging high school art contests.

 

BRAVE AND THE BOLD #3 $2.99
Wow in all the hub bub I almost missed Brave and the Bold. Last issue was hysterical with Hal Jordan the ladies man trying to deflect Supergirl's constant unwanted attention by thinking to himself "Don't be Ollie." I cracked up. I also thought Waid's general portrayal of Supergirl here was great. She's smart, good natured and fun, not at all like Kelly's monstrosity over in her main book. I dropped the New Blue Beetle after the first few issues. It wasn't bad, I just wasn't into it. So it will be nice to see how his character has progressed.