What I Read This Week

Doom Patrol #2 -- There's a black hole in Germany... and it wants to negotiate?  Who else would get called in for that but the Doom Patrol?  Meanwhile, Gold, Platinum and some other, third member of the Metal Men attempt to fix a satelite... and end up making the situation substantially worse.  The lead story has a lot going on in it, even if there is not a lot of action, if that makes sense.  There is an overwhelming sense of discord and unhappiness over the entire proceedings, which somehow seems very appropriate (although I am not a Doom Patrol expert so I cannot say for sure).  The wordiness and bizarre "bad guy" almost seem to evoke Grant Morrison, but in a sort of goofy manner.  The Metal Men backup is certainly much lighter and funnier, and reads very well for a ten-pager.  The runn joke with Copper keeps getting better, as Platinum refers to her as Nickel several times.  All-around good comic.

House of Mystery #17 -- The Poet takes the center stage as his tragic love life is played out, but is he being taken for a ride?  Quality as usual, but this arc is holding my interest less than the previous ones.  Also, I thought the Poet was the Dragon?  I guess I missed something.  This is a series I enjoy while reading but find myself unsure of the details.  One has to wonder if this reads better collected.  Interesting twist: the main story and the short intertwine throughout the narrative.

Red Robin #4 -- Tim Drake is Iraq... and he is not alone, as his League of Assassians escorts are waiting for him.  But not everyone is getting out of this country alive!  Solid wrap-up to the first arc does reward Tim's seemingly insane belief that Bruce is alive, but also has one heck of a cliffhanger to lead into the next story.  I am not much of a Robin fan, or much of a Bat-fan, but this series has been a lot of fun for me as a "newbie" to this particular corner of the DCU.

The Shield #1 -- The US Army's first superhero is dropped into Bialya to investigate what happened to three teams sent in after insurgents hiding in the mountains, and runs into a welcome wagon he did not expect.  In the backup, Inferno still doesn't know who he is, or why he is able to generate flames from his body, but when you light up Star City, you better believe Green Arrow is going to be interested.  As a debut issue, this is pretty strong.  Eric Trautmann's Shield story is not what I expected -- it's neither jinogistic nor pacifistic, but does strike a good balance between the two.  I am afraid that this is going to end up dipping into Anti-Americanism at some point, but online the scribe has said that he is not setting out to do that.  So we shall see.  Marco Rudy's art is a really good fit for the character.  The backup with Inferno is more intriguing than I thought it would be.  Just who is this guy?  A solid if not spectacular debut.

Warlord #6 -- Did this come out?  If it did my shop must have been shorted.  Ah well.

Wednesday Comics #10 -- More old school broadsheet awesomeness, including Hawkman hitting a Tyrannosaurus with a mace, Superman putting a mental whammy on some aliens (I absolutely LOVE how Supergirl is rendered by Lee Bermejo in that strip), Batman fighting off a pair of attack dogs, and Deadman making his play to escape from the Underworld.  So sad that there are only two more issues of this left.  

War of Kings: Who Will Rule? -- The epilogue of War of Kings picks up a little while after the deaths of Black Bolt and Vulcan, leaving the Kree under the rule of Queen Medusa and the Shi'ar embroiled in civil war and general unrest, with Gladiator trying to keep it from falling to pieces.  As issue #7 of War of Kings, this one-shot does a great job of tying up loose ends and setting the stage for the next general arc for the Marvel cosmic titles.  About the only complaint I have is that DnA don't really turn in any surprises with the main thread of the story, although the twist at the (very) end I did not see coming.  A worthy purchase.

Re-read Pile: Doom Patrol, The Shield

The Pick Of The Pile is Doom Patrol, which was a very dense read but still had a lot of fun hidden amongst all the despondence.  WoK was very good as well, and The Shield has some potential.