Comics I Bought: January 25, 2007

Another week with only one new comic to buy:

Samurai: Heaven and Earth Vol 2. Issue 2 (whew... that was long).

Much like last week I also picked up a magazine about comics. Draw! issue 13. It's about how to draw comics spotlighting certain artists. I picked up an early issue ages ago but I didn't like it. I'll let you know if I like this one. It looks good.

Two weeks ago I pulled the series "Felon" out of the 50¢ bin at my local shop. It was written by Greg Rucka so for two bucks I gave it a chance. Two bucks down the toilet. It was not his best work and went from color to black and white by issue four. Obviously no one else liked it either.

I just read the whole "Point Blank" mini series as I finally got the one issue I was missing. Good stuff. Written by Ed Brubaker, who excels at crime drama, this series was a prequel of sorts to his two "Sleeper" maxi series. It is good stuff and I recommend it if you can find it. Now I have to read "Sleeper" seasons 1 and 2 again.

Week Seven of my reviews of recent DC Comics.

Catwoman 60-61 - Catwoman is another of those characters that I just never understood. She's a villain, she's a hero, she's an anti-hero she changes her stripes from appearance to appearance. She is a tiny woman with no training and no super powers who can kick grown men's asses. How? I don't know. I haven't read any Catwoman in years but since this is issue 60 I thought maybe they've given her a little consistency.
I liked these two issues. They had good storytelling and imagination. A guy named "Film Freak" is creatively committing crimes to honor films. Catwoman seems to be generally sneaky and avoids physical confrontation when she can but kicked some ass when she had to. Smart for a tiny woman. Even though she did attack a giant ape. But what do you expect. It's a super hero comic. Super heroes aren't allowed to use their brains too often. Oh... and nobody draws a cover with a woman's overflowing bosom like Adam Hughes. Check it out.

Green Arrow 68-69 - Wow. Everything I don't like about super hero comics are in these books. They are not as badly executed as some. Just stupid as all hell. Issue 68 is the last part in a four part story. Green Arrow in on an island and a gang of assassins is also on the island with instructions to kill him. GA now has to take out every one of them without killing the because he refuses to kill. Dumbness ensues.GA sets up traps, such as a tree snare, that flings these assassins hundreds of feet in the air. We never see them land but are to assume this doesn't kill them. Huh? Falling off a the equivalent of a ten story building doesn't kill you? GA will also set off a napalm bomb on the beach with the assassins two feet from it. Some how this also doesn't kill them and in the very next panel they are all in the water talking about how the beach is on fire and they can't go back that way. Huh? Dumb dumb dumb. I won't even get started about the endless first person narration during the fight scenes.
Issue 69 isn't quite as stupid. Except for I find out that in addition to being a crime fighter Green Arrow is also the mayor of Star City! His secret identity is the mayor? How does anyone not notice that the mayor looks exactly like the Green Arrow? Ex Machina it is not. Stay away from this mess. Unless you like stupid super hero comics. Hey, some people do.