June 27th Comic Roundup

posted by JediSheltie @ 11:15 AM

Well, 2 summer event comics in one week? And Amazons Attack is the “big event”? Don't really have to look much past the “Johns” on the cover of Sinestro Corps to figure out which one has more multiverse-shattering implications, and it doesn't disappoint.

Amazons Attack 3

In terms of event tie-ins, I give Marvel credit. They splash a weekly list of comics that tie-into an event in the back of the early issues. A “guide,” if you will. Granted, it puts them in the unenviable position of having to actually publish those comics when they say they are, and so I can understand why DC would be reluctant to follow suit. Marvel got burned on Civil War and I hear there was already tie in scheduling issues with World War Hulk.

Still, having Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, and Wonder Woman hit on the same week was kind of confusing. One or two were late, obviously, since the idea that something could be 'early' is so anathema to the rules of the universe that is approaches logical impossibility. Sure, Wonder Woman had the “next in” at the end that clued me to the fact that its continuation in Issue 4 of AA meant I should have read it after AA 3. Dropping in a little “continued from” note on the first page would have been appreciated, that's all.

Well, onto the actual comic... The plot thickens a bit here, if anyone was wondering if that would actually happen. The President of the United States puts in a strong supporting role in this issue, reminding us that there was a government in the city which the Amazons attacked. Those looking for you subtle political context will be glad to know that wasn't left out either, as the Pres decides to go all World War II on the dainty butts of any known “amazon sympathizers” by ordering them rounded up and put in concentration camps. You know, for their own good.

This leads to events detailed in the Teen Titans tie-in, where in Wonder Girl and Supergirl are suddenly a bit more sympathetic to the Amazon cause. That cause turns out to be the subjugation of the Untied States, as Hippolyta goes on national TV and informs everyone she expects our surrender shortly. It was kind of amusing to go see Live Free or Die Hard (good flick, btw, even at PG-13, which I feared would kill it) a few days later and have a weird since of deja vu.

Batman is the first to starting piecing together that the secondary Amazon attacks have been driven by technology a bit more advanced than glowing spears. This is the first such indication and we're not given much more, so it remains to be seen who the mystery benefactors are. Diana also intimates that, Circe, being a very powerful sorceress, may not have been so easily felled by one of those aforementioned glowing spears as Hippolyta would like to have believed.

Woods still turns in great art. I feel bad not mentioning it each time, but unless they suddenly swap the artistic talent in a later issue (which appears highly unlikely), I suppose I don't really need to lavish much more attention on it. The script is getting a bit more interesting, though at this point it's going really need to bring on the “mysterious benefactors” to make it worth 6 issues.

Sinestro Corps Special 1

The trials of one country on one planet now seem to pale in comparison to the upcoming universal smackdown that Geoff Johns is about to bring us. No one will ever accuse this man of thinking small, that's for sure. In a way, this kind of came out of nowhere, as it seemed, to me at least, most of the marketing efforts were focused on Amazons Attack. Yet in terms of pure gravitas, and pure heavy-weight villainy, Sinestro Corps could turn out to be the single biggest thing to happen to the new multiverse this year.

The prologue has been seeded throughout Johns recent Green Lantern run, and now we're off and running. The Justice League makes a cameo, ably handled by Johns who recently shared them in the Lightning Saga crossover, taking on the anti-Flash, Zoom, for information about Sinestro. Bruce informed them of his recent encounter with a Sinestro Crops ring and Sinestro is now number one on Hal's “persons of interest” list.

Elsewhere in the universe, Kyle helps a couple of Lanterns who encounter one such a ring and brings it back to Oa, where Guy Gardener, John Stewart, and Hal meet up with him to have a look at it. Yes, Johns isn't leaving anyone out. Like his work on Rebirth, he's weaving a story that involves all the Lanterns of Earth, a story that builds on that very work in Rebirth.

Granted, that means if you're one of those who's pissed off at the whole Parallax / yellow impurity angle Johns used to bring Hal back, then you should probably skip this whole thing. I suppose if you are one of those people, you really want the entire DCU reset to the Reign of the Supermen so Hal never went bad. Good luck with that.

The captive yellow ring escapes, sucks Kyle into the anti-matter universe, and then members of the Sinestro corps attack. Kyle gets a close up look at (and a single handed stand against) Sinestro's troops while Hal and company try to repel and attack whose primary purpose is... a jail break. Yeah, you know who. I won't spoil it, but it's not a surprise, really. The real surprise turned out to be that the newly escaped prisoner wasn't the biggest villain revealed to be arrayed against the Corps.

Going any deeper is spoiler territory, and this definitely isn't a comic you want spoiled. Suffice to say, turns out Sinestro answers to someone else... The last page reveal is a jaw dropper of epic proportions, that's for sure.

Loved Acuna's run on the main Lantern title, and it's now obvious why Ethan Van Sciver was locked away in a small room in an undisclosed location for months. His work on this title is amazing, and he's got so much to work with. Amazing detail on massive splash pages, one of which features a huge number of throughly dastardly Sinestro Corps members. Hopefully he'll be back on the main title to keep the story going, and I'm very much looking forward to it.