Backed Up Comics

I finally had a chance to read some books today. I trimmed a few books from my pull list, so each week is maybe 2 or 3 now. I didn't pick up last week's books so it's been a good 2 week gap in reading. Add to that company overtaking my house for the last week......I've had to change my routine.

I was happy to get a little quiet time though and check out a few that I had picked up. This week was:

Batman #7

Wonder Woman #7

Aquaman #7

Daredevil #10

I dropped All-Star Western for the time being because they were not making the Gotham/Batman connection I was hoping for.

As you can see from above, this week's Daredevil cover is probably one of the coolest covers ever. Seriously. It looks like an old engraving; monotone except for the dulled red of Daredevil's suit. If you look close you can see how the linework was done with a marker. EXTREMELY time consuming. I would love a huge print of it. DD#10 was another good issue. This series has been really good. The story is solid and the art has been retro good. Sometimes it comes off a little weak, for example in this issue, Matt's suit is more neon magenta than red. I love the Mole Man. He has to be one of my favorite villains in comics. Disgruntled, bullied, geek gone evil, followed by his underground minions the Moloids. This issue was good, but there were some quirks. The bright,

neon colors really didn't fit the gritty underground setting. Also, DD brings back a sack full of diamonds to compensate for the theft of a graveyard of bodies. The stones are set in each headstone as a tribute. Ummmm does anyone see a problem with that?

I was pretty sure Batman would be my pick this week. The Court of Owl story arc has been great, adding another dimension to Gotham that never existed before. This issue was a quick cool down though compared to the action filled story to this point. Bruce unveils some nifty detective work and sets some heads spinning by revealing that Dick Grayson, Nightwing, formerly Robin, was intended to become the Owls' next Talon. Best scene is when Dick throws a little tantrum and Bruce pimp slaps him, knocking his tooth out and revealing a hidden electrum implant. Good story, really a link to the new Night of the Owls event coming up.

Wonder Wom

an I've liked and disliked up to now. I love Cliff Chang's art. Its chunky, the colors are a little muted, and it's been a big attraction. The story though, has been a little hard to follow. The flow is sort of broken. Things happen that are hard to keep track of. In this issue, they visit Hephaeston, the weapon maker of the Amazons. He is telling a story about the fate of male Amazon babies, they cut to another scene, and then POOF, all of the sudden Hephaeston is tied up with Wonder Woman's lasso, no struggle. What happened? If this doesn't smooth out pretty soon, WW will be on the chopping block.

Finally, book of my week. Another return of a classic villain, great art, and a good start to a new story arc. The opening pages follow a chase through the jungle, a mysterious beautiful woman, and her dark pursuer. After a dramatic explosion, we learn that the bad guy is actually BLACK MANTA!!!! Back lit by roaring flames. Excellent. He steals an artifact from Atlantis and the stage is set for Aquaman and his shady new group of pals "The Others" to get it back. High paced action and the quality art. Aquaman has been good. It's slowly built up to this story about Atlantis and waited to introduce its supervillain. I'm excited for more.

So thats it. The Merman wins. If I get more quiet time this weekend, I'm gonna eat some tofu, drink a lot of water, sleep in a bed, watch a Kurosawa movie and maybe go to the pool.