Let’s try some capsule reviews, brought to you by Babar and Zibbler:
JLA / JSA: Virtue and Vice
Zibbler: I bought this primarily for the nostalgia value, and found myself pleasantly surprised by a good story. The art, while good, was nothing exceptional, but it fit well with the idea of an updated version of the old JLA / JSA crossovers. If you know enough DC history to catch all the references, you'll probably enjoy the book. Personally, I also appreciated the fact that DC didn't publish some 4 issue version of it first and make we wait for a trade to come out.
Babar: I don’t really know any DC history beyond what I learned from Superfriends so I skipped this.
Noble Causes: Distant Relatives #2
Zibbler: Calling this book a soap opera might be valid, but I always have a lot of fun reading it. It is interesting to read a book where the crime fighting takes a back seat to the personal relationships.
Babar: I’ll wait for these to all be out before I read it. In general this series started out somewhat entertaining but has seemed to run out of steam in each new incarnation. We’ll see.
Dr. Fate #3 of 5
Zibbler: I'll admit it. I'm one of those guys who buys many of DC's crappy limited series. However, that being said, this isn't a bad book. If you can't get enough of Dr. Fate in JSA, you'll probably enjoy this little look into his life. The smart bet would be to wait until this book hits the $1 bin.
Babar: You’d still pay $1 for this? Skipped.
Solus #7
Zibbler: Is it more respectable to be a George Perez groupie than a Jim Lee groupie? Anyway, nothing much has happened in this book since issue 1 and I won't be that sad to see it go.
Babar: That may be a question with no correct answer, Z. I actually did read this, and found it to be even more disappointing than the terrible cover. Why would you use your title that is supposed to be explaining the mysteries of your universe to introduce lame new characters and repeat the same plot every month? Ugh.
The First #35
Zibbler: To paraphrase a friend, this is that book where "everybody looks the same". I can't really argue with that very much, and this is another book where something happens once every 10 issues or so. I can't seem to stop buying it, but that won't be a problem much longer.
Babar: I think that was me you paraphrased. This was another terrible, terrible issue. The big character drawings taking up half of every other page seemed like filler. And couldn’t there have been some effort to tie the different scenes together somehow? Is this supposed to be building to a climax? This is not the way to do it.
Smax #3 of 5
Zibbler: I skim Top Ten for Smax and Toybox stories, so I love this book. It also doesn't hurt that this is some of my favorite Alan Moore writing in a while. This issue was a little bit of filler, giving us a better picture of Smax's home, but I didn't mind it. I'm looking forward to seeing what he pulls out of his hat for the last two issues.
Babar: You only skim Top Ten? That’s wrong for someone who is willing to read Dr. Fate. This was thoroughly entertaining Alan Moore in non-serious mode. Lots of fun little jokes, and the idea of affirmative action questing (they aren’t quotas!) explains so much about so many fantasy works. I feel like I shouldn’t enjoy silly fantasy parodies this much, but this is really well done. And sometimes it is fun to shoot fish in a barrel.
Zibbler: As a clarification, what I meant is that I initially skim Top Ten before going back to read it a couple more times. I feel like I have to read practically everything twice in order to get my money's worth.
1602 #3
Zibbler: I find myself intrigued by the premise and story, but at the end of each issue I wish that I had waited for the TPB. I haven't seen anything after 3 issues to dash my hopes for a interesting resolution, but there also wasn't much content in the first three issues. All in all, an enjoyable read but I'm not getting my hopes up too much.
Babar: I have a soft spot for Neil Gaiman’s work but this is not catching my interest at all. Why should I care about any of these people again? I like the idea of Captain America as a Native American, but this doesn’t seem to be going anywhere interesting. I know, it isn’t even close to being done yet, which is why we don’t do real reviews of partial series.
Stormwatch: Team Achilles #16
Zibbler: I love this book. I simply can't say enough good things about this book. That isn't really a review of this issue, but I think it has really hit its stride with the current story arc, this issue being no exception.
Babar: I enjoy seeing a little political commentary in comics and it is nice to see a writer who is actually trying to think up more interesting plans for villains. However, something about the use of phrases and jokes from other places seems to bother me, like the “Faux News” and “Steve Gatesniak.” And my nitpick has to be that “Computouch” is the worst fake company name I’ve heard in a long time. I do think I will like the new artist more once the pacing gets a little tighter. Hey, the book is good enough to be worth some actual critiquing!