Comics are awesome.

[andersonh1]

Brightest Day #8
Issue 8 briefly follows up on Deadman, Hawk and Dove, and includes some advancement of the Martian Manhunter storyline, but the vast majority of the book is taken up with Hawkman and Hawkgirl as they fight to survive on Hawkworld. That’s fine with me since the character is one of my favorites. A lot of the history of Hawkworld is revealed, and Shiera proves to be a dangerous opponent, even if she’s unarmed. She’s certainly no shrinking violet, waiting for Carter to come and rescue her. And the queen and ruler of Hawkworld turns out to be her mother. Very interesting. I don’t know enough about the history of the characters to know if this is her first appearance or not.

Meanwhile, the Martian Manhunter discovers that there is a second green Martian alive on the Earth. I still wonder if it’s the Martian from “American Dreams”, but I suspect not. It also looks like this second Martian is a blend of two different individuals, perhaps mangled and merged by the teleportation to Earth?

This series continues to hold my interest.

Justice Society #42
The issue is part 4 of a 5-part crossover with Justice League. I haven't read the JLA portions of the story, but it's not that difficult to follow. And I have to say that it seems as though a good concept is being wasted here. The Starheart, which provides Alan Scott with his power as Green Lantern, has been brought to Earth and is possessing various people all over the planet and causing chaos. That's all well and good, but the story is a fairly by-the-numbers plot with very little notable characterization. The JSA characters are barely even recognizable by their actions or dialogue. About the only thing this story does is demonstrate just how powerful Alan Scott could be if he chose to cut loose and really tap into the power the Starheart affords him, even if it is the Starheart running the show in this instance.

I'll be glad when the crossover is done and we get back to a focus on the JSA characters again.

[Dominic]

Transformers (Nefarious) #6:
I cannot recall if I even reviewed issue 5. Either way, the series ends with neither a whimper nor a bang. Shortening "Nefarious" by 2 issues, and taking out the "OMFG, the world is going to go explodey" elements would have helped this immensely. I cannot go back and re-read the early issues to see if they flow together if read in one sitting because I already sent them to someone. This series is not terrible, but do not make any special plans to read it.
Grade: C/D


GI Joe (Cobra) #7:
Oddly, this issue is not written by Costa. Christos Gage, (who writes primarily for Marvel as far as I know), handles this issue. I have no idea if this is a permanent change, or if IDW is simply giving Costa a (well earned) break. In any case, this issue frames the origin of Croc-Master as part of the Cobra cult experience. All told, it reads pretty well. I am not committing to this title. But, it is on my radar. If nothing else, I am curious about the creative team.
Grade: B/C


Enter the Heroic Age (one shot):
A reasonable person might argue that I have no right to complain about this one. After all, there is no reason to expect anything more or less than what "Enter the Heroic Age" is. It consists of short stories by different writers and artists. Each story establishes something about the current status quo at Marvel and/or sets up for another Marvel series. It reads like a preview book, but is priced like a regular comics. It is worth reading as a curiosity if nothing else.
Grade: C And, it certainly reads better than....


Age of Heroes #1-4:
Well, at least it is over and done with. The high concept here is much the same as "Enter the Heroic Age". The main difference is that was one issue, which this is 4. In other words, this was a 4 issue, damned near $16, preview book. This sort of thing is annoying on FCBD, when the comics are actually free. But, paying for what amounts to previews and ads is even more bothersome. 4 issues of that is intolerable. "Enter the Heroic Age" was what I expected it to be. But, this was a 4 issue series. It really should have been more. The nicest thing to be said about "Age of Heroes" is that it is over.
Grade: F


Next week, there is one comic shipping that I plan to read, (the latest issue of "Avengers"), but I need to do some catch up reading first. Given that I need to break down and ship that BotCon set to the guys I am splitting it with (Onslaught6 and Onslaught86 from www.tfviews.com/forums), reviews of that set will take priority.


Dom
-is planning to be caught up on comics by Thanksgiving at the latest.

[138 Scourge]

Brightest Day #8
And the queen and ruler of Hawkworld turns out to be her mother. Very interesting. I don’t know enough about the history of the characters to know if this is her first appearance or not.

Man, nobody knows about the Hawk's characters anymore. It's a shame, because Hawkman should be a fairly straightforward character...You got your society dude that flipped out the one day, decided he was reincarnated from an Egyptian prince, and got himself some wings and a mace and went to town. Alternately, you got a space cop whose uniform has a serious bird theme going. The fact that they have the same superhero name seems like it should be simple...Katar shows up, people remember Carter and go "Holy Crap, Hawkman!" and there you go. But nnoooooo, DC editorial had to go and overcomplicate things. That dude's history is such a godawful mess.

Anderson, you ever read the first "Hawkworld" miniseries Truman did? I just reread that recently, and man, every time I do it just blows me away. For my money, when people talk about "Man of Steel" and "Batman: Year One" as great redefining runs on DC characters, I'd say "Hawkworld" should be right up there.

Transformers (Nefarious) #6:

I cannot go back and re-read the early issues to see if they flow together if read in one sitting because I already sent them to someone. This series is not terrible, but do not make any special plans to read it.
Grade: C/D

The first four flow together pretty well. It's no "Reign of Starscream", but on the other hand, it's no "Revenge of the Fallen", either. The artist is tolerable, even if I think his inking's a bit heavy. The way Ransack's drawn in here, though...man, it's horrible.

Also, I'm so going to pick up that Croc Master issue. That guy's a favorite of mine, so they've got me at hello, there.

[andersonh1]

Man, nobody knows about the Hawk's characters anymore. It's a shame, because Hawkman should be a fairly straightforward character...You got your society dude that flipped out the one day, decided he was reincarnated from an Egyptian prince, and got himself some wings and a mace and went to town. Alternately, you got a space cop whose uniform has a serious bird theme going. The fact that they have the same superhero name seems like it should be simple...Katar shows up, people remember Carter and go "Holy Crap, Hawkman!" and there you go. But nnoooooo, DC editorial had to go and overcomplicate things. That dude's history is such a godawful mess.

I think it's generally been streamlined and simplified though. Carter and Shiera are the golden age characters, then Katar and Shayera are the modern Hawks. They all got merged into one being during Zero Hour which was Katar Hol in some form. He was later killed, and then Carter was reincarnated as himself during JSA, since the character has apparently been reincarnated multiple times since ancient Egypt. Shiera came back as Kendra Saunders for awhile, and since Blackest NIght has been herself again.

So all the multiple versions of the character have been streamlined into a younger version of the golden age Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

Anderson, you ever read the first "Hawkworld" miniseries Truman did? I just reread that recently, and man, every time I do it just blows me away. For my money, when people talk about "Man of Steel" and "Batman: Year One" as great redefining runs on DC characters, I'd say "Hawkworld" should be right up there.

No, and I really do need to track down that series and read it sometime.

[Onslaught Six]

I think it's generally been streamlined and simplified though. Carter and Shiera are the golden age characters, then Katar and Shayera are the modern Hawks. They all got merged into one being during Zero Hour which was Katar Hol in some form. He was later killed, and then Carter was reincarnated as himself during JSA, since the character has apparently been reincarnated multiple times since ancient Egypt. Shiera came back as Kendra Saunders for awhile, and since Blackest NIght has been herself again.

So all the multiple versions of the character have been streamlined into a younger version of the golden age Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Comic books are fucking stupid.

[andersonh1]

Entertainment doesn't have to be intelligent to be enjoyable.

[Dominic]

Not a fan of Hawkworld. it was way too faux-political.

That said, yeah, Hawkman is a mess. That character epitomizes every editorial mistake DC has made since 1985. They should have gone with one clean reboot, and stuck with it. The merging of various iterations of the character, (which did not even stick...sort of, not really, except when it does), is one of the worst solutions to this sort of problem I have seen.

O6 is right.


Dom
-would just solve it by killing the character and calling it a day.

[Onslaught Six]

Yeah. Did you know I didn't even know there was a Hawkman until, like, 2007? I always thought it was just Hawkgirl. Because all my knowledge of the JL came from that awesome cartoon. This is also the reason I prefer John Stewart as GL.

I'll be off in the corner reading the ninth Sandman collection if anyone needs me. Damn, am I behind.

[138 Scourge]

Which one's the ninth? I forget. Is it "The Kindly Ones"? I love that one.

Oh yeah, Dom. As far as "just killing Hawkman and calling it a day". I wonder if that's why the Hawks got taken out at the beginning of "Blackest Night". Like, an attempt to leave behind all the baggage and bad fixes of the character, and then by bringing him back they get, sort of, a "New" Hawkman that's, in theory, not bound by a big ass mess.

I might be full of crap, there, I have no idea how the Hawks are being written these days.

[Sparky Prime]

Oh yeah, Dom. As far as "just killing Hawkman and calling it a day". I wonder if that's why the Hawks got taken out at the beginning of "Blackest Night". Like, an attempt to leave behind all the baggage and bad fixes of the character, and then by bringing him back they get, sort of, a "New" Hawkman that's, in theory, not bound by a big ass mess.

I might be full of crap, there, I have no idea how the Hawks are being written these days.

Carter didn't really seem to change between his death and resurrection in Blackest Night, but Kendra/Shiera certainly did. She didn't have any of Shiera's past life memories before she died, but had it all when she was resurrected.