Atlas #3 - Atlas investigates what happened to the original 3-D Man, and find more people possessed by whatever it is controlling them. The possessed folks are looking for crystal shards, and "trionics", of which Delroy is the only one apparently. Before Atlas can really make any sort of plan, they find everyone in their base has been possessed and is attacking them. Then these would-be conquerors get smart and remove two big guns from the equation, so Delroy's going to have his work cut out for him. There's also a backup story detailing M-11's early days.I can't put my finger on why, but this volume of Atlas hasn't been working for me as well as the earlier ones. I don't think it's the inclusion of 3-D Man. I like Hardman's art and Breitweiser's coloring, the dialogue's fine, the threat is sort of intriguing, but something's missing. It's frustrating.
Batman Beyond #2 - I did pick up the first issue before I left town, so I'm up to speed. One of Terry's foes (and his family) is killed with umbrellas, but no one seems to buy that it's the Penguin. Terry's unable to capture an all-new Catwoman, then runs into what appears to be Hush at the home of the Calendar Man.The back-and-forth between Bruce and Terry reads about right, though Terry feels a bit more chatty during fights than I recall. Not that he didn't make with the comments, but I don't remember him being quite this level of motormouth. Maybe he was just excited about the possibility of having his own uneasy romantic relationship with a Catwoman. After the Ten/Royal Flush gang debacle, you'd think he might learn. Ryan Benjamin's art is better than I recall from his issues of Batman and the Outsiders. He still seems like a strange choice to illustrate a mini-series where the designs were done by Darwyn Cooke, but it's not too shabby. His Terry's a bit young, but Bruce seems suitably wizened, and the Catwoman fight/chase works pretty well. Darker colors don't help the clarity of his work, though. All the red and green city lights illuminating the fight with Catwoman help me follow along, but the flashback to Bruce's last go round with Hush, and the fight in Calendar Man's room are in all dark blues and blacks, and things are more muddled, especially during the flashback I was having trouble picking up what was going on. The narration helps, but it'd be nice if the art could do more of the heavy lifting.
Power Girl #14 - The bank is seizing everything they can from Starrware, to make up for all the money they're owed thanks to Power Girl's seemingly corrupt accountant. She and Booster have a little argument when she doesn't remember Max Lord, and he doesn't seem all that concerned about her problems. Then she runs into a big purple bio-weapon guy, who becomes more formidable as things progress, which is bad news for her.I liked this issue a little better than the one before it. Power Girl trying to talk with the bio-weapon first, figure out its goals, maybe settle things peacefully, was a nice touch. As much as she likes beating up bad guys, she's also been aware of the damage those kinds of fights cause, and has consistently tried to talk things out first. Nice to see that hasn't been abandoned. Basri's art is still OK. It's an uphill battle, replacing Amanda Conner, and the background detail and range of facial expressions aren't there, but there are some good expressions in there, and the fight scene was decent. I still think the coloring isn't helping. Everything is too soft, muted. It doesn't help the art make an impression.
That wraps up reviews for the week. Let's see, awards. All three books are in the running for Best Obscured Villainous Scheme, but I'm giving it to Power Girl, since I'm pretty sure the problems with her company are part of a larger issue, but it's less clear than the other books. Atlas wins Best Bad News For the Heroes Last Page (going by the main story, not the backup).
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