Kevin Reviews His Weekly Singles #09

GØDLAND #23
While the whole “parallel reality” schtick has been a standard of superhero comics since the Silver Age, Casey and Scioli manage to make it exciting again, no mean feat in the post-Elseworlds era. It’s certainly not the issue to start things off with, but it is another argument for the title being one of the most fun titles for those who like superheroes, if not the way the big guys are handling them most of the time. I doubt that GØDLAND is going to go the way of Brat Pack, but there’s an impression that, as De La Soul reminded us, Stakes Is High, and that none of the characters are particularly safe.

Justice League of America #21 (Contains some plot spoilers.)
Just last week, I scoffed at Dan DiDio’s DC Nation column in which he informed the eager readership that they’d be slapping a (hideous-looking) “Sightings” banner across the top of the comics that were important to the publisher’s editorial mandates. Then (of course) this week, I picked up JLA for the first time in a few months because of said banner (a sort of “making sure I was right” thing) and the Carlos Pacheco art and cover. Next thing I knew, I was taking it home, reading it, and thoroughly enjoying it, despite the fact that the “Trinity” (a concept I’m thoroughly sick of) sits around a table and talks for the first third of the issue before we cut to Hawkgirl (!) and Red Arrow (!!) trying to stop The Human Flame (!!!) from getting away from the scene of a robbery and getting foiled by Libra, who takes the Martian Manhunter villain (there is such a thing?) to the supervillain cotillion he’s holding. This should be “decompressed” comics at their absolute worst, but McDuffie’s script is basically perfect, giving readers a lot to chew on in every scene while giving us the perfect balance of action and the excitement of dudes-standing-around-talking that has become a mainstay of the DCU.

Star Trek: Assignment Earth #1
I bought this John Byrne written-and-drawn Star Trek comic on a whim, as the original episode is one of my favorites. I won’t be making that mistake again.

War Is Hell: The First Flight Of The Phantom Eagle #3
Short Version: I am very much enjoying this Garth Ennis war comic drawn by Howard Chaykin, who is one of my favorite artists. It makes me laugh while giving me glimpses of what aerial combat during World War I was like. Also, dude gets crab lice from a hooker, something that never happens with Nick Fury.