R.E.B.E.L.S. #28 - I feel like a lot of the covers for this title have been sort of generic "Here's a bunch of characters against a dull background" lately. Maybe that's because it was canceled, so who cares, right? The two I saw for that story with the Green Lanterns and the Psions were sort of interesting, so it's disappointing.Starro's fending off Starfire, Blackfire, and Captain Comet pretty handily. Fortunately, Lyrl Dox sends Tribulus up to help out, since his mental lightning kills the little starfish, which weakens Starro and frees Vril Dox, who then uses Tribulus to bat Starro around a little before sending him through a portal into the waiting fists of Lobo and Smite. So I guess that's the last we'll see of that Starro. After that Vril seems to have been officially recognized as Blackfire's consort, which is a useful public relations move for everyone somehow, and the group will apparently continue even if the title doesn't. For three more months, when stupid Flashpoint reboots everything.
OK, this month Blackfire kind of disses her sister by describing her as "difficult" to be in a relationship with (something she learned from Dick Grayson, no doubt). A couple of issues ago it was Alanna (Mrs. Adam Strange) speaking poorly of Kori. The legends are true. Women really do constantly talk shit about each other behind their backs! I thought it was a myth. OK, fine, I actually found out it was true last year, from conversations my coworkers had about other coworkers, which was awkward, since I got along with the people talking and the person being dissed.
Someone reversed the order on two pages. Page 3 is Brainiac 3 watching Tribulus. Page 4 cuts back to the fight with Starro, but has Brainiac 3 in conversation with Adam Strange. Page 5 is still Brainiac 3 watching Tribulus, and contacting Adam in the last panel. Don't know what happened there. Not sure what happened to St. Aubin's art either. It feels more stiff than usual, maybe because the linework is thicker. It's not all that way, but especially when Vril starts controlling Tribulus the figures seem to be posing more than moving. There's also a panel where Starfire almost has cat whiskers, which somehow do help convey a sense of embarrassment/chagrin, but looks strange anyway.
Rocketeer Adventures #2 - I'm glad Jack keeps sending me the Dave Stevens covers. I might as well get some Dave Stevens art in a Rocketeer mini-series. Also, this isn't the book set in the 1930s I was talking about.In Mark Waid's story, Cliff lets his jealousy get the best of him, and while he does save the life of the man he's angry at, he also helps the guy's image, while landing in a fountain for his trouble. Which sounds about right for Cliff. he does the right thing when it comes down to it, but not happily, and it doesn't work out for him. I don't have much to say about Chris Weston's art. it's clear, gets across the information, but didn't really catch my eye.
Darwyn Cooke writes and draws the next story, presented as the sort of serial I guess they used to play in theaters, where Betty has to save Cliff with the rocket, while not being entirely dressed, since that seems to be a problem Betty has frequently. She's still a better pilot than Cliff is in most of these stories. It's a cute story, with a few funny gags to it.
The last story was by Lowell Francis with art by Gene Ha as Cliff attempts to bring down someone else who stole one of Howard Hughes' flying man prototypes. Which he does, mostly through luck. The story is set to a boxing match being announced over the radio, so there's no dialogue by the characters involved until the end. It's not a bad way of doing things, but I was more interested in the guy who stole the flight suit, and that sort of narration isn't exactly forthcoming with the details, so it didn't do much for me.
Secret Six #34 - Go ahead Bane, break his back as much as you want. They'll just wipe it out in a few months. Maybe. Or maybe not. Who knows?The team is out of Hell, even managed to get Knockout out as well. They also save Liana from crazy guy, but do not respect her request that they not kill him. Which isn't surprising, but it is a little disappointing. But if they figure they're going to Hell anyway, why hold anything back. Scandal talks with Ragdoll, who is sad because Alice left without even a note for him. Which is a lousy thing of her to do, but I assume she didn't expect him to be back. He did willingly go to Hell. Bane goes on a date with Spencer, who is strangely unbothered by the story of Bane's life. Even the part where he broke the Bat. Also his taking a knife through the hand, then jabbing said knife into a guy's face while the knife is still stuck in his hand didn't faze her much. Credit to Spencer, or should those be big red flags?
I wonder why Scandal said she had something else to skewer, then went up to the roof to talk calmly to Ragdoll. She was even nice to him, which doesn't jibe with mentions of skewering. Now I don't know whether that's a sign that something's wrong, or a sign Simone's trying to rework the story on the fly to reach a decent ending before the book gets canceled.
It's the same colorist this month as usual (John Kalisz), but Calafiore's art looks a little different, and I'm pretty sure it's the colors. Some of the characters look softer than usual, but maybe it's just the lighting. In the early sequence they're illuminated only by headlights, which is atypical for the book, so maybe that's it. There were just a few panels where I felt Scandal looked different. Otherwise, it's Calafiore's typical work, so take from that what you will.
OK, tomorrow, the first two issues of a mini-series set in, you guessed it, the 1670s! No, no, that's wrong. It's the 1930s.
No comments:
Post a Comment