What I Read This Week

Batgirl #8 -- Stephanie Brown has moved on with her life, but that seems to hit a snag when Tim Drake rolls back into town!  This marks the second issue of this series which I have read, and I am still unimpressed.  Steph's inner voice is bratty, the art is shaky, and overall this felt like a cash-grab, getting folks buying Red Robin to buy this issue.  Nothing much here of interest.  Which leads us into...

Red Robin #10 -- this issue, where Batgirl and Red Robin have to stop the League of Assassians from taking out all of Tim's loved ones.  This one is better than the Batgirl issue, but still pretty weak.  There's an abrupt art change at the end which is really jarring.  Hopefully things will pick up next issue.  

Doom Patrol #8 -- Back on Oolong Island after the Blackest Night, the Doom Patrol doesn't have time to rest on their laurels when interdimensional repo men arrive to claim a certain special brick.  Appropriately weird outing for the Patrol, as the stuff with Danny The Street from the previous issue begins to bear fruit.  Matt Clark splits the art with Ron Randall, but both of them look good, and Giffen is clearly having fun with the title.  The loss of the Metal Men backup stinks, but the break on the price is nice.

Human Target #2 -- Christopher Chance has to don the robe in order to get into the catacombs in Vatican City, but will he be able to escape with his life?  Then, we learn how he got a certain scar on his ankle thanks to one of his friends.  Len Wein knows how to pace these books so there is a great mix of action and exposition and things just keep moving forward.  I would totally read this as monthly series, and thats about the best compliment you can give to a miniseries.

Justice League: Rise And Fall Special -- After the destruction of Star City, the maiming of Roy Harper, and the death of his granddaughter, Oliver Queen is a man with nothing left to lose.  But his descent into darkness does not go unnoticed by those around him!  This storyline is becoming more controversial, but I am digging it.  Robinson set the table and Krul runs with it here, as Ollie pushes away all of his allies in his drive to bring forth hard justice.  There's a great bit between Arrow, GL, and Flash which surprised me in a good way.  Mayhew's art looks good as well.  Very enjoyable and I will be checking out at least the Green Arrow portion of this story.

Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks #8 -- A Bangallan village is rocked by the murder of two residents, but after the Phantom investiagtes, things get much, much worse.  Probably the least interesting Phantom issue I have read from Moonstone.  Lots of setup but little resolution, and it looks like the insane "divine dictator" Him is back.  The art by Silvestre Syzilagyi is strong (his stuff looks great on The Phantom) but Bullock's script is a little too thin for a full length feature.

Re-Read Pile: Doom Patrol, Human Target, Justice League.

The Pick Of The Pile is Human Target, which edges out the Justice League Special.  It's just such a well constructed comic that it is hard to find fault with it.