Rapid-Fire Reviews (Dec 23rd Releases)

• Detective Comics 860 : Detective continues to be a real pleasure to read. Rucka is hitting them out of the park in both the main feature and the Question back-up. Kate’s origin manages to be compelling, straightforward and unique all at once and the noirish vibe of the walking wounded that permeates the story is awesome. The Question meanwhile has a different pace, but equally compelling.
• Justice Society of America 34 : Some decent character bits here in the first post-split book – I liked Mr. Terrific (who is usually so on top of it) making a gaffe and back-pedaling. I’m not crazy about the team seeming so at a loss, though. I missed Jesus Merino too.
• Fantastic Four 574 : Hickman’s FF continues to be a joy, most especially his treatment of the Richards’ kids. I definitely missed Dale Eaglesham this issue, though. A little surprised that Reed and Sue didn’t recognize their visitor, too.
• Wonder Woman 39 : And so concludes Warkiller, nicely bringing Diana back into the Amazon fold. Ares was nice and creepy here, but I did find Zeus’ contrition a little hard to swallow. I like what Gail Simone has been doing with Donna Troy and Artemis – although the choice to put Artemis in her mid 90s “Requiem” green-and-white costume still baffles. At least it’s not adorned with skulls any more.
• World’s Finest 3 : Arg. I’ve liked Sterling Gates work on Supergirl and have been enjoying Brian Q. Miller’s Batgirl, so I really hoped this issue would sing. And at least the vibe between Kara and Stefanie was right, and there was a nice bit about Batman’s “passing.” But Gates’ plotting was downright ham-fisted. Catwoman is present only to provide a single and extremely minor plot point and the terrible threat of Toyman and his composite robot just doesn’t live up. Plus, remember when Oracle was this mysterious uber-hacker / info broker to the super set and Barbara Gordon’s foibles where a nice contrast behind the mask? Yeah, now she’s sounding general super-hero alarms and having her comms surveilled without realizing it.
• Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade : Nice all-ages fun. For some reason, I just love the naming of the clone of Linda Lee as “Linda-B” or Belinda.