Hello again GEN readers! It’s Jill a.k.a. The Nerdy Bird back with another installment of DoubleDCoverage. Green Arrow and Black Canary are in a terrible rut and their Fatal Attraction friend finally gets a name. Oracle decides to take a trip to Hong Kong which she realizes is just as dangerous as Gotham City. Reviews for Green Arrow/Black Canary #19 and Oracle: The Cure #2 are ahead, also, check out my star ratings for my other pulls from last Wednesday!
GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #19
Green Arrow finally comes face to face with “The Redhead.” After 4 issues she finally is allowed to have a name - Cupid. My, how original. He immediately connects her with the villain murders when he sees how Merlyn has been strung up. She knocks Ollie out with a dinosaur skeleton and ties him to some train tracks beneath the museum. It sounds even more ridiculous now that I’m typing it out.
Cupid’s a little quick on the trigger and stabs Ollie when he states the obvious - that she’s out of her friggin’ mind. She’s swallowed the key he needs to unlock himself from the tracks and says he can cut it out of her using the same knife she just stabbed him with. Luckily Dinah wakes up, after having been shocked unconscious by Ollie last issue, and kicks her ass. She then handcuffs herself to Ollie and tells Cupid how romantic it will be for them to die fighting a common foe. Cupid proceeds to vomit up the key so this doesn’t happen.
Cupid heads back up into the museum to hold Merlyn hostage and slices his throat in order to get away. (Why both heroes needed to stay to save him and why one of them couldn’t go after Cupid I have no idea.) Back at home Dinah tries her hardest not to freak out over the “hot redhead” and Ollie assures her he would “never hurt her like that.” I guess electrocution is ok though? The last thing we see is Cupid walking down a street past the next villain to come after the couple, the man who was left deaf from Dinah’s Canary Cry.
I haven’t been happy with GA/BC since Andrew Kreisberg took over writing duties. They are two of my favorite characters so I keep reading it even though they are being horribly mishandled but this issue was a new low. It takes a lot to offend me but when Cupid said this to Ollie, “God, you are so smart. Sometimes I’m afraid you’re going to dismiss me as some kind of ditz,” I just about lost it. The whole “Fatale Attraction” thing has been done to death and they aren’t even doing it well.
ORACLE: THE CURE #2 (OF 3)
Barbara finds herself attacked by three thugs in Hong Kong. Oh no! What will the helpless handicapped woman do?! Open up a can of woop-ass, that’s what. Barbara’s got some anger issues and she’s working them out by cracking skulls.
In his search to find a cure for what’s keeping his daughter Wendy in a coma, Calculator is hunting down the Anti-Life Equation on the internet. Barbara, on the other hand is now attempting to figure out how he killed her online pal in the real world through the game world of Alta Viva. Hence her visit to a tech-savvy crew in Hong Kong. They’ve created a virtual reality 3-D map of what the internet looks like from snapshots they took before it went down. There’s pieces of data trails missing, which is exactly what she, and Calculator, are looking for.
Another hacker who also plays in Alta Viva, Chaos Larry, is Calculators next test subject for his incomplete Anti-Life Equation. Oracle tries to warn him but his curiosity gets the better of him. Calculator is using the virtual world of the game as his base of operations, creating creatures to do whatever he needs. With their help he can process all his information of the Equation a lot faster. Larry does what any gamer would do and tries to blow up whatever they’re working on but it only grabs Calculators attention sooner. Just as quickly he realizes Oracle has started to download and delete the missing pieces he’s been looking for. He’s grabbed Larry and he’s coming for her next.
Two issues into this three issue mini-series and there’s no cure of any kind in sight. Will Wendy be cured, and if so, will it be her father or Oracle who’s responsible? I’m still not entirely clear where this is going yet but, to my relief, it certainly doesn’t look like Oracle herself will be cured. Even though I’m a huge Birds of Prey fan I’m really enjoying getting to see Barbara out on her own. So far Kevin VanHook is doing a fantastic job with her solo journey . Maybe all she really needs cured is her confidence. Also, for the record, I know I’m a little biased but this is one gorgeous cover by Guillem March.
ACTION COMICS #876 - Ursa is a wicked villain but this issue was just one extended fight scene.
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #35 - Who is your daddy and what does he do? He’s Sinestro and he leads a giant space snake and a alien with a tongue necklace. Awesome.
TRINITY #46 - Lois gives Superman chocolate chip cookies and the Crime Syndicate is forced to act like heroes.
VIGILANTE #5 - The Titans were all over the place and I don’t think Vigilante actually did anything the entire issue. This is his book right?
So, what did YOU think? What are you excited to be reading and what could you live without?
My pull list for next week:
AZRAEL: DEATH’S DARK KNIGHT #2 (OF 3)
BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL – ARKHAM ASYLUM
DETECTIVE COMICS #853
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #32
THE OUTSIDERS #17
SUPERGIRL #40
TRINITY #47
Which two should I review for DoubleDCoverage #5?
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:46 am
Sheesh. When I dropped GA/BL (or Green Canary as we call it) several months ago, I was really upset that it was coming off my pull list but I had to thin it out some due to getting overwhelmed. After reading that synopsis, not so much with the regretting. The cover art threw me when I saw it on the shelves. Canary is one of the hottest chicks in comics and quite frankly, she looks like a bad drag queen in that cover.
And yes, GLC is definitely worthy of those four stars!
April 22nd, 2009 at 6:35 am
I pick up GA/BC in the dollar bins after they come out, but I’m discouraged to hear Kresiberg’s run isn’t too good. I liked his first issue but that was the only one I read.
I agree on Oracle, though - it looks like Babs isn’t getting a ‘cure’ for anything besides her confidence, so that’s good. I don’t love the story, but the scripting’s solid. I wonder - could Wendy be cured and become the next Batgirl?
And yes, that cover’s fantastic.
Next time, how about Tec and Supergirl?
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:23 am
I haven’t been digging the Oracle series that much. I think it’s the “fighting in the internet” thing, and trying to graphically represent the internet. The virtual reality headset Barbara wears makes me think of the Lawnmower Man, and gives the tech a very dated feel.
The covers have been beautiful, though.
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:51 am
You know, I thought there was something odd going on with her crotch on the cover too. Glad I’m not the only one. Also, the cover that was sold has Cupid with short hair since she cut it a few issues back.
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:08 pm
All superheroes should be knocked out with dinosaur skeletons at least once.
Guillem March is the man.
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Oh Rich, please don’t throw another Batgirl candidate into the mix, there’s too many already. Haha.
Jason, I agree, the VR thing was a little odd technology wise.
Steph, LOL!
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:58 am
Green Lantern Corps 35…yeah…wow. Definitely worth the 4 stars! And I love the stars themselves, they’re so cute.