The Week That Was

A splash page depicting unknown and/or obscure Teen Titans?

The Keeper hasn’t been this excited since Robby Reed found that freaky dial at the House of Mystery!

As much as we love the icons, it’s the second- and third-string characters that fuel our lifelong devotion to the spandex set.

After all, Spider-Man can be found just about anywhere, but it takes a real fan (or is that deluded fanatic?) to follow the exploits of The Shroud (who had the only decent moment in Ms. Marvel #6) or Nightshade (now it can be revealed - the true reason we love Shadowpact).

And sometimes, just sometimes, the has-beens of yesteryear are the super-stars of tomorrow. (Hi Jessica!)

So while they remain cyphers, let’s salute Power Boy, Talon, Young Frankenstein (a shout-out to Mel Brooks?) and Little Barda. For all we know, they will one day inspire a generation of bloggers yet to be born!

As for this week’s booty, the Keeper is obliged to note his continued flirtation with Marvel. As long as we avoid overt Civil War references and steer clear of the always obnoxious Joe Fridays, this crazy fling may just work out …

52 #17

Your timid host has never been a huge fan of The Main Man - although Lobo: The Last Czarnian was a good Wolverine parody - but he makes a good foil for everyone’s favorite Tamaranian princess, Starfire.

In fact, we felt the oft-derided character stood up to the Bastisch pretty well.

Forced to negotiate with the feared bounty hunter, Koriand’r quickly finds herself at a disadvantage …

Yet shows no sign of fear or intimidation. (Although we agree with Editor Stephen Wacker re. Starfire’s apparent display of modesty. Tamaranians aren’t exactly self-conscious …)

And even tames the bounty hunter by using the one thing Lobo holds any affection for …

Money.

That sequence - coupled with her optimistic view of the universe (as shown in a Fourth Wall-defying conversation with Animal Man) and combative chemistry with Adam Strange - forms the backbone of the best Starfire we’ve seen since the Teen Titans cartoon.

So you better not kill her, Didio.

All-Star Superman #5

What do you do after writing the best Jimmy Olsen story ever? Take a shot at Superman’s Worst Enemy, Lex Luthor!

This chapter doesn’t quite reach the rarified heights of the previous issue, but is still pretty @#$%^ great.

Through the arch-villain’s endless monologues - punctuated by Superman’s secret attempts to save the creep’s life - Morrison effectively demonstrates the depth of Luthor’s envy of the Man of Steel.

In fact, Luthor is so desperate to shore his monumental ego that he refuses to see the truth right before his eyes concerning Clark Kent. It’s a nice moment, topped by an even greater scene.

Namely, for all his petty jealousies, Luthor is still brilliant enough to kill Superman. The man is no joke.

Finally, the last page has an added treat for fans of the Bronze Age Supergirl (all two or three of us) …

the triumphant return of Nasty!

Somebody get this girl into the mainstream DC universe STAT! Kara 2.0 needs a decent villain to fight …

Black Panther #19

Well, this is a surprise.

Annoyed by Reginald Hudlin’s compulsion to rewrite the histories of T’Challa and Ororo, your traditionalist host never intended to pick up this issue.

Our ever-abiding interest in Doctor Doom prevailed, however, and we have to give Hudlin credit for a great story. Both T’Challa and Storm are portrayed as strong, intelligent individuals who love each other deeply. It’s also nice to see the two playfully tease one another (”I am a Wakandan, not a Keebler elf.”), since neither are exactly famous for their witty quips.

Doom, of course, is Doom. (Although who knew he was such a racist? We always thought his contempt for humanity was color-blind…)

All told, a entertaining and well-crafted story. If the royal couple’s visit to Attilan is half as interesting, we may stick with this book for awhile.

Fallen Angel # 8

An issue of Fallen Angel without Lee isn’t exactly a day without sunshine, but is lacking nonetheless.

With the central character elsewhere, writer Peter David turns his attention to two individuals known as Sachs and Violens (who apparently starred in an R-rated mini-series written by David and drawn by George Perez back in the ’90s).

Needless to say, they are far less interesting than the Fallen Angel.

J.K. Woodward’s art also takes a shocking dip in quality this issue. Woodward’s sketchy portraits resemble a third-rate Don Perlin, which does little for the story or Perlin’s reputation.

A major disappointment.

Justice # 7

The trouble with delays is that it’s tough to follow what’s going on when a new issue finally appears.

For instance, we had forgotten about those pesky mind-worms and weren’t entirely sure why Barry couldn’t stop running.

Still, any issue that features Katar-Hol blowing up bad guys is OK by the Keeper. And who knew Aquaman had a healing factor?

(Guess that missing hand should have grown back at one point …)

Teen Titans #38

Speaking of delays, did we really wait Rao knows how many weeks to read about the Titans taking a leisurely stroll with Red Star? The last page is awesome however, and the Keeper holds some affection for Leonid because he starred in the first Titans comic we ever owned.

Ultimate Fantastic Four # 33

Now that those horrid zombies are out of the way, Mike Carey and Pasqual Ferry prep the team for a trip into an alternate universe and a confrontation with Ultimate Thanos.

The “Seed Nineteen” characters are a bit similar to the current antagonists in Carey’s X-Men, but the overall concept is interesting enough to warrant our return next issue.

Plus, a future cover solicitation depicts a giant robot with a floating eyeballs for a head. Comic books need more giant robots with floating eyeballs for heads …

Ultimate X-Men Annual #2

When this title launched a few years back, the Keeper so disliked Mark Millar and Brian Bendis’ story arcs (surprise, surprise) that we initially skipped over Brian K. Vaughan’s much superior run.

Robert Kirkman has done a pretty good job following Vaughan, but this is the first story that really delivers the emotional goods for our money. The denouement will come as a shock to Nightcrawler fans, but we don’t have much sympathy for a homophobic stalker.

(Ack. Does this means we’re going to buy three X-titles? Or will Ultimate Cable throw this book back into the “quick skim” category??)

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #2

We prefer the Golden Age Uncle Sam, who won his battles by punching bad guys in the face rather than talking them to death.

Still, even though the Freedom Fighters were converted a little too easily, the issue manages to add greater…er … depth to the Phantom Lady and the last page reveal beats out Cable’s debate with Dubya to be our political moment of the week.

X-Men #190

The Children Of The Vault may not be the most original bad guys around (neither mutant nor human … been there , done that) but Mike Carey and Chris Bachalo pack so much thought and *gasp* action into the story that such concerns are quickly obliterated.

Plus, and the Keeper can’t stress this enough, we love bad-a$$ Rogue!

Whoops, that’s all we’ve got for today. Our best of week kudos go to Black Panther (yeah, the Keeper is shocked as well) for an unexpectedly fun issue.

We were equally surprised by our pick for worst of the week, Fallen Angel. Hopefully Peter David and JK Woodward will set things right next time.