Be warned of possible spoilers! Also, new graphics courtesy of Bartoneus!
Booster Gold #1: A pilot issue so strong that I subscribed immediately after reading it. Readers are filled in on everything they need to know about Booster, and he’s given a new mission involving jumping around in time. Plus it manages to be funny, meta, and ominous. And a last page preview of the upcoming series should be a requirement of all new series
Brave and the Bold #6: The ending of this arc, which calls in a somewhat obscure Deux Ex Machina (or is that Challengers Ex Machina?) to fix things. Still, it all seemed exciting, and plenty of old school superheroics.
Captain America #29: Lighting The Falcon on fire seemed gratuitous, but the rest of the issue was pretty strong, tying up loose ends of what all the cast of characters are doing but at the same time moving things along… especially at the end, when the Winter Soldier gets into some trouble.
Checkmate #17: The “interview” for Checkmate’s master guardian, who happens to be a former supervillain. Not only a great done in one, it leaves plenty of threads for later (mole inside Checkmate? Love triangle?
Dynamo 5 #6: One of the best telepath jokes I’ve read all day!
The Highwaymen #3: Probably the best action book about secret government agencies making forbidden weapons experiments I’ve read all day! (Whoops, can I make that joke twice in a row?)
Justice League of America #12: It’s a shame that so much of Metzler’s run was taken up by big crossovers and annoying setup. He has a real love of the League as a family, and I could have seen him doing better. Still, Dwayne McDuffie is next, and he’s someone I think will do great with JLA.
Outsiders Five of a Kind Thunder and Martian Manhunter: While the premise of the series that Batman is giving “tests” to odd pairings to see who is worthy of his new Outsiders is lame, this one actually stood out as interesting. Two very mismatched heroes, with some good interplay, and a likable Martian Manhunter instead of Broody McBluepants.
Shadowpact #16: An all out brawl against Doctor Gotham, with some classic Superman thrown in the mix, and more infernal legal matters. I think a whole series could spin out and be called “The Thirteen Tasks of the Blue Devil.”
MODOK’S 11 #2: It starts with a TMBG quote. Automatic “HIT” right there. Fortunately, it’s also a great issue. Who knows who’s really what they appear? Now it went from super-heist to even more complex, as all the best heist stories are.
Flash #231: Wisely dropping the Bart Allen murdered thread to give readers a new start, we get a history of both The Flash and what has happened and the Flash’s two kids. No wonder they had to murder Impulse- he was too similar to the two kids.
Ultimate Spiderman #112: Stuart Immomen, as always, does awesome on the art (though I prefer the Nextwave style…) and the dialogue is actually really funny, and the plot, while a cliche, works very well in the Spiderman concept. But what the heck was up with the cover?
Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman #23: Hmm, hard to describe. A lot of stuff about JJJ’s conscience. Some good character moments. Good stuff, and definitely a “final issue” sort of story.
Superman Batman #39: Lookie, Superman is mind controlled and attacks Batman… again… and who thought a Scarecrow/Darkseid teamup was a good idea? But I’m still giving it a MEH because it’s leaps and bounds beyond what the title has been lately.
New X-Men #41: It’s not enough to muddle the X-men concept with scifi, it also has to be muddled with occult, eh? I guess with 20 different X-books every month you’ve got to go everywhere. Anyway, the art’s good, and the story is passable, and it ties up the arc. Can’t say much else as I don’t follow the book.
Annihilation Conquest Quasar #2: Solid, but not exceptional. The series has set its own high bar.
Black Canary #4: Knowing all the wedding specials were coming up sort of took the tension of the ending out, but at least it was a clever solution.
Catwoman #70: There weren’t previews this week, but was this the last issue of Catwoman? Sure seemed like it, wrapping up the Amazon Attack tie-in, getting Catwoman into a lot of trouble, and having her drive off into the sunset at the end.
Countdown #37: The trip through Zatanna’s mansion is kind of fun, but like most of the stories in Countdown, doesn’t seem to go anywhere. The ending is the most satisfying part, where Jimmy Olson tears off Clark Kent’s shirt (to reveal his secret identity, of course.) And the origin of Poison Ivy is pretty fun artistically.
Amazons Attack #5: Still a mess. And we waited years for Grace’s origin, and this is what we get? Best moment: tanks versus big cyclops.
Aquaman #55: Since Busiek left, it has squarely gone back to being superhero fare. Vandal Savage, a drunk, and a classic supervillian don’t have good characterization, and that’s kind of weird to say. The only funny part looked to be the introduction of a villain I can only assume is going to be named “Clownfish” and is an underwater version of The Joker.
Booster Gold 1 may be the most perfect start off issue I’ve ever read.
Seriously.
Agreed there, totally. It’s hard to think of any that were better. Plus, it hits all the buttons of: telling new readers everything they need to know about the characters, explaining their current situation, setting up the tone of the series, and providing glimpses both into immediate problems and stuff down the road.