Battle for the Cowl: Man-Bat

I have decided to buy all of this 'Battle for the Cowl' malarky so that I can warn people if it sucks. I figure that there are going to be about a fifth as many issues to buy as there were of Countdown and at least this time i have a reason beyond simple masochism.

This was... okay? I like a Man-Bat story as much as the next guy, but there have been better. I don't know, I guess I have to get a better feel for this whole event to know whether it had any bearing on things or was just a feebly tied-in filler.

Keywords for the villain (I won't spoil who it is if you don't already know): discount chains and poorly-explained motivation.

Irredeemable No. 1

BOOM! Studios have only entered my radar comparatively recently, but they're making a good impression. I love me some good in media res superhero tales with lotsa made-up continuity, and between this and Caped they're doing a damn fine job of feeding the particularly nerdy monkey on my back.

Good new characters, good takes on the ramifications of a super-powered lifestyle, an Afterward by Grant Morrison If you like that sort of thing. Good show, Mark Waid.

Strange Adventures No. 2

I haven't been following events in the far reaches of DCSpace as closely as I probably should have in order to be reading this, but I like it anyway. I like Adam Strange, I like Bizarro and I like Captain Comet (I especially like the pulp detective-esque Captain Comet of recent times as opposed to the 1959s throwback of before).

The only real drawback is that Lady Styx is tangentally involved, as I find her about as interesting as mud.

The Flash: Rebirth No. 1

This was very good! I have hig hopes for this comic - Geoff Johns has been writing 'em like I like 'em for a while now and It's hard to go wron with the Flash. Not to say that it can't be done, but it doesn't look like that's what's happening here.

Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye No.1

Oh thank heavens.

I liked Seaguy a whole lot - it was chock full of intriguing Morrisonisms to delight the senses - but it didn't really work as a stand-alone book. It definitely suffered for a sense of incompleteness. Hooray, though, as Grant Morrison has managed to get DC to go ahead with Part 2!

I just hope that any further parts of this story don't require a Crisis of some kind to be written for Morrison to get the clout together to make it happen (aw, i don't know if it's true or not but it sure is a compelling little story, yes?).

Other comics I read this week: Jersey Gods (good, Kirbyesque!), Dead Romeo (bad, long-winded!), Greatest Hits (Good ending!)