What I Bought 1/12/2011

My vehicle's "check engine" light came on yesterday. Had an initial assessment that suggested it would cost 500 bucks to fix, but they didn't have the parts could I come back tomorrow? Sure, drive 35 miles home, then drive 35 miles back with a vehicle that has something wrong with it. Sounds great. So they gave me the list of problems, told me I could get it serviced at a location closer to home. Made an appointment, figuring it would give that place time to order the parts in case they didn't have them. Guy I talk to on the phone says they'll want to run a diagnostic, too, to make sure they don't replace something that doesn't need replacing. Turns out to work in my favor, since what they diagnosed as the problem only cost $300. Let's hear it for things not being as bad as I feared!

Batgirl #17 - Steph's on a case of kidnapping, and ends up teaming with Damian, who stumbled into it because he likes to observe the people he condescendingly protects. They follow the kids they believe may contain the potential victim to a museum field trip, which requires Damien to go undercover amongst the 'runny-nosed brats'. It turns out the kidnappers plan to abduct all the children, not just one, which leads to a fight on a school bus. Villains and their love of crimes that involve public transportation.

Steph was on this mission by request (order?) of Batman, though I don't know whether that happened in another Batbook, or simply off-panel. Doesn't matter, I suppose. I do enjoy Steph and Damian trading insults, but also that Steph tries to help him in her own way at the end. It matches what she told him before, that what she and Oracle are doing is about hope, not fear. I can't say I approve of Bryan Q. Miller's attempts to make me like Damian more. I'm quite satisfied not liking the little snot. Pere Perez drew this issue, which is a bit of a shift from Dustin Nguyen (who'll be back next month), but it's mostly fine. There were certain things in the bus sequence I didn't follow (what Nell told Robin to watch out for, why one of Steph's Batrangs - or was it Damien's? - went flying out a bus window), but his Damien is suitably sour looking.

Heroes for Hire #2 - Misty sends Silver Sable to shut down an arms dealer. Meanwhile, Paladin with an assist from Satana, investigates the corpses of some of the arms dealer's customers, and makes a troubling discovery. Sable is making the same discovery on her own about that time, but fortunately, Misty is able to call in Ghost Rider to lend a hand. After all that's settled, we see that Paladin knows something is up with Misty, too. He doesn't know what precisely, but he knows there's something.

I still like Brad Walker's layouts, how well things seem to move from one panel to the next, especially during action sequences. Love that Abnett and Lanning seem willing to use anyone. There's all these character that either haven't gotten play in years, or haven't gotten much, why not? I don't know if I'd even heard of Baron Brimstone before. His name sounds like one I should be familiar with, but it hasn't rang a bell so far. I'm curious to see how the missions so far serve Puppet Master's purpose. I can't imagine he's strictly a concerned citizen. On the negative, Silver Sable's dialogue seemed off, to the extent some of her lines would have seemed more natural coming from Stephanie Brown, or maybe Jubilee. I think of Sable as having formal speech patterns, not much slang, and being abrupt and to the point.

Also, phantom pregnancy? Didn't Peter David use that in X-Factor a couple of years ago?

R.E.B.E.L.S. #24 - Dox has dinner with Blackfire. They're both being charming, and Dox at least, seems charmed. Which can't be good. Adam Strange enjoys some time with his family. Captain Comet sulks in a bar after another meaningless makeout session with Starfire. Lobo thinks he's found another member of his species, but it's a trap, designed to help give Starro a boost. Cue the little starfish. Then Vril Dox' spaceship is attacked by one of Starro's other lackeys as he approaches home.

The thing I like is even though I started reading only a couple months ago, Tony Bedard's provided enough backstory for me to follow what's happening. I haven't read the original Starro the Conqueror story he wrote, but I get the gist of it. It hasn't been done in what feels like a blatantly obvious infodump fashion. Admittedly, there's a lot of talking throughout the entire issue, and maybe that makes it easier to fit backstory in, but I think Bedard's careful about not trying to tell us too much at one time. Mention what's relevant, move on. I don't have a lot to say about Claude St. Aubin's art. It was a talking heads issue, and it was fine. I still think St. Aubin's style makes Lobo look too neat. I mean, he has stubble, but his hair looks neatly conditioned, and I can't imagine even working for Dox would get him to take baths.

Secret Six #29 - I hope this is the only month DC's going to put these previews for their comic based on their online game. I keep getting fooled into thinking there's more to read only to discover, nope, the issue is over, but here's a few pages of this thing I don't care about!

The bomb's spoken of in Action Comics do detonate. Eventually. After much talking, negotiation, bloviation, threats, insults, force bubbles, and gum. So there's an explosion, but everyone takes a ride in Lex' pink bubble, and Alice uses Alan Scott's powers to catch them, and they all survive. Though Ragdoll is convinced they all died. Lex tries to force his hand with Vandal, but gets punched in the face (twice!), and gets his fake Lois decapitated. Vandal and Lex agree to work together as partners, the Six leave, and we learn the story of Scandal's mom, which was not something I was interested in, actually. Strange, I know, given my love of interesting backstory, but the two-parter really did nothing for me. Which doesn't bode well for next month's run-in with the Doom Patrol.

Marcos Marz drew this issue. I don't know if that's because Calafiore needed a month off, or they felt Marz' style was more similar to Pete Woods. Which is an explanation I'd believe, because Marz work is superficially similar to Woods.