A few random thoughts that struck me while reading through my comics purchases. This week I've read:
Action Comics #23
Earth 2 #15
Superior Spider-Man #15
Warning, there may be spoilers!
Action Comics #23
Every review I give of a Scott Lobdell comic basically amounts to "Dodgy dialogue, exciting story." This one is no exception. At one point a character says "Though his body was born 23 years ago on the day of my birth, the evil that consumed my brother had infected his heart long before he began to practice the dark arts." Is it me or does that sentence make no sense? What's the fact that he was born 23 years ago got to do with the fact that he was evil before he started practicing magic? I suppose she could be referring to his newer planet devouring body, but still, it's a messy sentence that pulled me out of the story. Also at one point Superman responds to "Your humility only does you credit my liege" with "My false..wait, your liege?" Where did "false" come from? I know this is nitpicking but such clumsiness can make Lobdell's comics difficult to follow sometimes. Having said that, I still loved the story. Superman fights a gigantic, planet eating monster who's body is made up of dead planets! AND HE KICKS ITS ASS! I love how the alien warriors that are battling the planet eater are initially really dismissive of Superman, but by the end they're pledging allegiance to him (much to Superman's discomfort). The great thing is, Superman didn't just win them over with his powers and fighting skills. He won them over by risking his own life to save theirs. He won them over by being Superman!
Earth 2 #15
My favourite character in this series is still Jay Garrick. I love how during the battle he made saving Wesley Dodd's men his priority. James Robinson's doing an excellent job of conveying the fact that Jay is new to being a super-hero without compromising the natural heroic instincts that are part of the character. I really enjoyed Mr Miracle and Barda's scene too. "You'll have to fight her, I can escape her" was such a great line!
Superior Spider-Man #15
Nice to see a bit of focus back on the supporting cast again. Anna is a great character, and her relationship with Ock makes the Superior Spidey a much more multi-dimensional character. I love the fact that Carlie Cooper's figured out that Spider-Man isn't what he seems. It makes sense that Carlie's the one to figure it out, since she was clever enough to deduce that Peter was Spider-Man. With more focus on Tiberius Stone in this issue and Spider-Man 2099 due to turn up in issue #17, it looks like my theory that Stone is connected to Spidey 2099 (who's father is called Tyler Stone) could indeed be correct.