Hello again GEN readers! It’s Jill a.k.a. The Nerdy Bird back with this week’s installment of DoubleDCoverage. Superboy-Prime breaks the fourth wall and the DC Comics offices this week and The Nerdy Bird is not filled with holiday cheer. Reviews for Adventure Comics #5 and DCU Holiday Special 2009 are ahead. Also, check out my star ratings for my other pulls from last Wednesday!
ADVENTURE COMICS #5
Books with a sense of humor aren’t always everyone’s cup of tea. A lot of comic book readers want their stories to be epic and dramatic all the time but I feel that having a bit of fun now and then is a great relief. In a universe where Black Lanterns are ripping hearts from chests it’s nice to see them infiltrate the DC offices in New York City and scare the crap out of the employees.
Superboy-Prime is on Earth-Prime, which basically means we’re all involved in the story. Black Lanterns are trying to kill him but he’s hell-bent on murdering the DC Editorial staff first. He blasts his way through the NY offices screaming about how he’s been treated by the writers and editors. Several real DC employees get to make a cameo appearance before Alexander Luthor takes Prime back to his basement where Alex taunts him by touching his precious comic book collection. Prime is desperate at this point and grabs a BL ring that had detached from it’s previous owner and puts it on. He shifts through several of the emotional corps until he finally stops at rage, the one color that seems to have the most detrimental effect on the BLs. He destroys them and, thinking the worst is over, is relieved to see his precious Laurie back in his arms…with a BL ring. Oops, guess Prime doesn’t get a happy ending after all.
The second feature in this issue wasn’t a Legion story as it has been in the past, instead it was a continuation of the Superboy story that had been the main feature since the start of the series. Adorable bad-doggie-breath aside, some serious subject matter is covered. Conner catches his new friend Lori (not Prime’s friend Laurie, though now I find an interesting parallel) in the act of defacing the local clinic. Once he questions her motives she confesses to pouring sugar into the doctor’s gas tank and toilet-papering his house as well. She also happens to plant a kiss on Connor’s lips. He informs her of his taken status but still wants to help her. Lori’s mother’s health is declining and the clinic doctor refused to help her when her insurance failed to pay. Besides the fact that she can’t think of anything productive to do to help the cause, the cliffhanger of this issue begs the question; why didn’t she ask for help from her rich uncle? Her uncle is Lex Luthor.
I liked the first half of the Superboy-Prime story more than the second. Mostly because he was channeling some very Twilight Zone behavior last issue. But I liked seeing him interact with the real-world characters here, I think it’s all in good fun. I just hope Prime gets put to rest for a while. After Legion of Three Worlds and this, I’ve had enough wining for the time being. I’m looking forward to Connor taking back the main story next time. The cliffhanger was worth it but Lori’s odd behavior seemed a little nonsensical. Besides the rich uncle, why she would vandalize a clinic instead of, oh I don’t know, getting an after-school job to help pay her mother’s medical bills is beyond me.
DCU HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2009
The holiday specials from DC are always something I look forward to. The DCU Halloween Special 2009 was great this year so I expected nothing less from the December holiday’s stories. The spectacular cover by Dustin Nguyen filled me with joy, the issue however, did not. Here’s my favorite and least favorite stories from the book.
While Jay Faerber and Peter Nguyen’s dialogue-less “Silent Knight” confused me at first (I thought it was one big Santa gang), it was a great example of the softer side to Batman. “Reason for the Season” by Fred Van Lente and Nick Dragotta was a fun look at Christmas through alien eyes, specifically Martian Manhunter. Instead of the superficial holiday norms, J’onn finds camaraderie with his fellow officers that puts him in tune with the Christmas spirit. Billy Tucci’s “A Peace on Earth” featuring Sgt. Rock winds up being one of the most powerful stories in the bunch. Rock and an enemy soldier settle on an unsual truce as their share what soldiers share, booze, cigarettes and pictures of women.
On the downside, “Man of Snow” by Arie Kaplan and Nick Runge had me really worried for Superman. He finds a kid with the power to animate anything he creates and leaves him be after being attacked by one of his golems. Future supervillain in the making anyone? Ralph Soll and Rodney Buckemi’s “Party Gift” had me confused. Villains having a Christmas party seemed like a concept I could get behind but then Bizarro Superboy showed up and ruined it all. Bizarro speak is usually a chore to translate but I couldn’t make heads or tails of this. When I think of the holidays, B’Wana Beast is not the first hero to come to mind so “The Hunt for Christmas” by Beau Smith and Gary Kwapisz felt more than a little ridiculous. Even though Scott Kolins’ “Unbearable Loss” had a happy ending, it was really, really depressing. You can tell an uplifting story from a bad situation but this just made me want to stay along at home on Christmas.
There’s not much more to say really. This issue didn’t fill me with the holiday spirit like I thought it would. The good stories were good, but not enough to carry the book. The bad stories made me annoyed I shelled out $5.99 for this when I could have put that towards my Christmas shopping.
ACTION COMICS #884 – I think Lois’ dad and Supergirl’s mom should get together and make babies. Main story was ok but the second feature is still flailing about.
BATGIRL #5 – Oracle and Batgirl versus Batman and Robin was awesome, more of that please. Plus Miller wrote Damian just like Morrison, “All the ones you know about, Pennyworth.”
BOOSTER GOLD #27 – Not as good as I had hoped. I just couldn’t hear Ted’s voice in his Black Lantern counterpart.
RED ROBIN #7 – Tam Fox as the next Spoiler?
SECRET SIX #16 – Love Black Alice, loved the issue, but what was up with her legs on the cover? Double-jointed much?
My pull list for this week:
BATMAN #694
BATMAN 80-PAGE GIANT
BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #7
GREEN LANTERN CORPS # 43
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #40
THE OUTSIDERS #25
POWER GIRL #7
SUPERGIRL #48
Which two should I review for DoubleDCoverage #39?
