New Comics: 9/20/2006

Bought some regular titles this week, and found myself picking up some untried titles as well. Also found myself diving into some fifty-cent bins, and found a few items I had previously missed. This review covers what I was able to read last night, and I'll get to the others later. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

52 Week #20 - Again, I couldn't wait. Nice to see that Lobo's Achilles Heel come into play. Somewhere, he's taken an oath to uphold this religion he's a part of, and for once, he hasn't figured out a way to turn it to his advantage. We get a glimpse of what's going on in Gotham with Batman's absence, and maybe a clue/red herring as to the identity of Supernova (his knowledge of the Bat-Cave, his longing look at Robin's costume... I'm holding on to my zombified Superboy theory). Also, at long last, we're getting an idea as to he origin of the Eye of Ekron.

Astonishing X-Men #17 - I just love this title, and feel sad that there are only seven issues left. My theory that Whedon is playing out some ideas from the Morrison run on X-Men is still on the table with the revelation that it was Cassandra's protoplasmy form that was locked in that container. I liked this development because it kind of explains why she stopped being such a massive threat since Morrison's run. I have speculated elsewhere that the "evil" Emma may be Esme, the bad Cuckoo, from the same run. Sure, she died, but you know how hard it is to kill any comic book character, especially anyone connected to the X-Men.

Also, the fact that Kitty named her imaginary child Michael made my inner fan-boy tingle. Seeing the way Kitty's been built up in this series, I sure hope someone takes notice and puts her in the forefront again. She's a great character, and Whedon is showing that's she's got unlimited potential. There is a shortage of female characters like her in comics.

Civil War #4 - Seems like anyone can do is crab about the wait for this issue and speculate if it was worth it. I will offer a resounding "Sure". To some, the "big" death this issue was a disappointment (there's a pun there, but I'm going to restrain myself... well, maybe not).

I thought it was fine. I hadn't heard the buzz about the death, so I was shocked to see it. Plus, the death of an underdog/c-lister makes me sadder than if it was someone with a higher profile. They'll bring back Thor... you know it, I know it... but they probably won't bring back Goliath.

Cap seems to be going into wartime mode and, for the first time, the anti-reg side of this debate lost a little favor for me. Not that I agree with the pro-reg side, but now both sides seem a bit equal in their unsavory attitudes.

The letter from Sue near the end was quite touching and surprisingly adult. Love, and its many complexities, usually gets short shrift in superhero comics. Millar gets extra points for showing that it doesn't have to be that way.

Justice League of America #0 & #1 - Playing a bit of catch-up here. I actually read #1 first (#0 was nowhere to be found for a few weeks). I actually liked #0 better, even though it was all set-up. I liked the openess, the acceptance of all eras of the JLA and the peeks into the future. I'll probably give this series a chance through its first story arc... I think Meltzer's a decent storyteller, but I long for some action with this title, plus the art by Benes is not really my cup of tea.

X-Factor #10 & #11 - I'm looking forward to a resolution to this whole Singularity Investigations/Damien Tryp thing. I think David is one of the best writers in comics, but the title feels a bit off the rails. There's too much going on and too many loose threads out there. I'd like to see some answers soon and have things quiet down enough so that we get some character development again.