November 2007 DCBS Order

I didn't mean to let so much time to past between posts, but that's the way things sometimes go, unfortunately. In an attempt to try to post something more often, here's what I ordered from DCBS this month, peppered with an occasional comment.

52 Aftermath The Four Horsemen 6
Action Comics 861
Adam Strange Archives, vol. 3
Al Capp’s Complete Shmoo The Comic Books
Most comic book readers don't appreciate how popular Shmoo was in the late 40s and early 50s. (You can go here or here, if you are interested in learning more.) If anyone knows the character at all, it is from the cartoons that teamed it with Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble (who beyond logic were cops in Bedrock) or where the Shmoo played the Scooby-Doo role in another variation on the Scooby theme. These are comics I would never seek out, but in a collection like this, I'll bite. What I'm really waiting for is the archival collection of the Peanuts comic books from the 50s and early 60s.

All-New Atom 19
Alter Ego 75
Amazing Spider-Girl 16
Amelia Rules 20
Angel After The Fall 3
Annihilation Conquest 3
Atomic Robo 4
I'll just pause here for a moment, using Atomic Robo as the example of how good all the Red 5 comics.

Avengers Initiative 9
Back Issue 26
Bat Lash 2
Batman 673
Batman Strikes 41
Birds of Prey 114
Black Panther 34
Bomb Queen, vol. 3
Booster Gold 6
In a million years, I never would have thought that Booster Gold would star in a must-buy comic, especially after he and Blue Beetle were made the JL-Bwah-ha-ha's class clowns, but he is. I just hope that the DCU that remains after Final Crisis allows for continued time travel adventures.

BPRD 1946 1
Buffy The Vampire Slayer 10
Captain America 34
Catwoman 75
Clockwork Girl 3
Countdown Lord Havok and the Extremists 4
Countdown to Adventure 6
Countdown to Final Crisis 17-14
Countdown to Mystery 5
Crime Bible The Five Lessons of Blood 4
Daredevil 104
Dark Horse Heroes Omnibus
Death of the New Gods 5
Detective Comics 840
Drafted 5
Dynamo 5 #11
Engineer 2
Essential Captain America, vol. 4
Fables 69
Fantastic Four 553
Flash 236
Futurama Comics 35
Goon 21
Gotham Underground 4
Green Lantern 27
Harvey Comics Classics, Hot Stuff, vol. 3
I don't know what makes me happier, that Harvey comic books from the late 50s through the mid-60s are getting the recognition they deserve, or that the very bad Harvey comics from the mid-70s forward are being ignored.

Hybrid Bastards 2
Immortal Iron Fist 13
Infinity Inc 5
Iron Man Power Pack 3
Jack of Fables 19
JLA Classified 50-51
Jungle Girl 5
Justice League of America 17
Justice League Unlimited 41
Justice Society of America 12
Legion of Super Heroes 38
Legion of Super Heroes In The 31st Century 10
Lobster Johnson Iron Prometheus 5
Madame Mirage 6
This might be the last issue of this title for me. I bought this solely on the basis of Paul Dini's name and the story is o.k., but I have not enjoyed the art so far. If there is another series, I'll look closely at who is named as artist and make my decision from there.

Madman Atomic Comics 8
Maintenance 9
Marvel Adventures Avengers 20
Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four 32
Marvel Adventures Hulk 7
Marvel Adventures Iron Man 9
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man 35
Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Daring Mystery, vol. 1
I never thought I'd say this, but Marvel really has DC beat when it comes to reprinting its pre-Silver Age material.

Mavis 5
Metal Men 5
Midknight 2
Mighty Avengers 8
Mouse Guard Winter 1152 #4
Ms Marvel 23
New Avengers Annual 2
Nexus #100, Space Opera Act 2 Of 4
Nova 10
Order 7
Pax Romana 1, 3
Previews, vol. XVIII #1
PS238 29
PVP 40
Red Mass for Mars 2
Salvation Run 3
Savage Dragon 136
Shadowpact 21
Shark-Man 1
She-Hulk 2 #25
Showcase Presents Ser 1, Superman Action Figure
Showcase Presents Superman Family, vol. 2
Simpsons Comics 138
Spirit 14
Superman 672
Superpowers 1
Teen Titans 55
Teen Titans Go! 51
Teen Titans The Lost Annual
Was there anyone not taken by surprise by this book on the schedule? I wish someone would ask Dan Didio what happened that he "gets" this book now, after famously taking it off the schedule because he didn't get it when it was completed.

Teen Titans Year One 1
I know that this is going to get on my nerves. Already, the half-fish Aqualad shown on the cover and Bat-jerk giving Robin grief in the preview pages annoy me, but I just couldn't control myself.

The Twelve 1
In theory, I should like this, a new story featuring Marvel's more obscure Golden Age heroes, but I know that JMS is going to insist on putting his post-modern mark on the characters, but I'm still a sucker.

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters 5
Wonder Woman 16
Wonder Woman: Who Is Wonder Woman? collection
You never know where life is going to take you. As a child, I really disliked Mike Sekowsky's stilted art on any title other than Justice League, and here I am buying a trade of his Wonder Woman work.


World War Hulk Aftersmash Damage Control 1
I haven't read a single issue of "Planet Hulk" or "World War Hulk," yet I'm buying this because Dwayne McDuffie is writing it.

X-Men First Class, vol. 2 #8
I know it makes me a fanboy, but as much as I like this comic, I'd like it even more if the costumes the X-Men wear actually matched costumes they were shown wearing in previously published stories.

Y, The Last Man 60
Is it wrong of me to be glad that this comic is finally ending. I mean, it started out strong, but geez, it took forever to get to the end.

OML for September, Part 2

Category A (cont.)

Y, the Last Man #58
Is it wrong of me to be happy that this comic finally coming to the end of its story? I'd have to go look at the back issues to tell when it happened, but about two-and-a-half years ago the story started feeling padded to me. Not that there haven't been some nice moments and interesting reveals during that time, but I just kind of feel it could have gotten to the end sooner. Beyond that, those last few pages were a hell of a kick in the head and, for me, kind of disappointing. Especially in contrast with the book's cover.

Marvel Comics Presents #1
I'm not sure yet. The point of an anthology, I would think, is that there should be one feature that brings a person back to buy the book. For me, it would be the Hellcat story, and if it doesn't run past issue #3 I'll stick with it, but nothing else really excited me. Maybe I've so distanced myself from the Marvel Universe, ignoring huge chunks of characters and books for years, that the characters featured can't excite me. However, when you have a Spider-Man story, where he meets all the other Spider-Men (Spider-Mans?) from all the other dimensions and alternate realities, and it doesn't generate as much interest in me as any random issue of Marvel Team-Up from the 1980s, something is wrong somewhere.

Wonder Woman Annual #1
When all is said and done, Alan Heinberg's story was a lot about nothing, and that was emphasized by having the chronically late story finish not in the monthly title where is began, but in an annual because the monthly title had to move past waiting for whoever was late, Heinberg, the Dodsons, or both. The best part of the story was the conversation between Wonder Woman and Batman, but then, long before it became part of the character development on Justice League Unlimited, I've always thought the two should get together. I guess I might be more forgiving if, in the end, the story just wasn't so outdated by events currently happening in the DCU titles. However, I did like the back-up story, a Secret Files-like story that presented backstories for Diana Prince, Nemesis, and Sarge Steel, and it was written by Heinberg, too, with art by Gary Frank. The best part of this story, though, was the inclusion of Thunderbolt with the other Action Heroes for a panel. Harbinger that the character is part of the DCU again or mistake? I'd like it to be the former, but I'm pretty sure it is the latter.

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #6
In some small way, I almost wish that Joss Whedon had provided us a bible for the show's eighth season and let fans daydream about would might have been rather then seeing them produced in comic book form. Not that this is a bad series, but it is a comic book series and not a television series, so no matter what, it is always going to feel like a comic-book derived from a television series. I think what I'm trying to say is that if Buffy had started as a comic book, this would be a fantastic continuation, but as a continuation of a television show, it suffers for being a comic book.

Countdown to Mystery #1When the Eclipso back-up story is more interesting than the main story, something is wrong. Why I understand that Steve Gerber needed to include background on where Dr. Fate's helmet had been until showing up here, even without that material, I found the story a little confusing and kind of boring. Like I said, Eclipso fares better, though the background of the character is veering away from how I remember it and while the inclusion of Plastic Man is slightly interesting, would that the character was more like Jack Cole's version and not the "funny" version thrust upon us by Grant Morrison.

The Irredeemable Ant-Man #12
I know I'm supposed to be heartbroken that this canceled, but I'm kind of glad because it is a comic I don't have to buy anymore. It looks like Eric O'Grady could be maturing at story's end. We'll see if that continues into Avengers: The Initiative.

Supergirl #21
Liberty Comics #1

Sergio Aragone's Groo: 25th Anniversary Special
Maybe the best thing about Groo is that the Sergio and Mark Evanier don't feel a need to update the character for a decreasing, aging fan base. I've read Groo sporadically over the last twenty-five years, but I've always liked it, and, even though I didn't know who some of the characters were outside of Groo and his dog, I neither felt I had to go back and buy read all the back issues nor did I feel cheated because a what-has-happened previously page wasn't at the front. Yes, most of the supporting cast was re-introduced in "The Groo Alphabet" and Groo's early years were shown in "Groo for Sale," but those were back-up stories, properly read after the lead story.

Jungle Girl #1
I'm still enjoying the story, even with what feels like Frank Cho's greater participation. Thankfully, because of the inclusion of more unapologetic shots of Jungle Girl's chest and backside, Cho appears to be influencing the art more than the dialogue.

Batman and the Outsiders #50
I did not read an issue of this when Judd Winick was writing the title and I only picked up this issue because I needed to see if this was were the darkening of Batman (something I don't want) was going to start. Thankfully, Batman wasn't the jerk I've disliked prior to Morrison and Dini writing the character, and I didn't mind the comic so much, though the fingernail dropping passing as Metamorpho needs to get rid of Queequeg's facial tattoos.