Page by page, panel by panel annotations of DC Comics' summer events and crossovers
Freedom Fighters to the rescue!
I know kid sidekicks were all the rage back in the 60s, but man, how young was Corky Baxter when Rip and Bonnie took him on adventures where he had to face prehistoric sea monsters?
I’ve long been a fan of the Freedom Fighters and would be more than happy to see this team up actually happen.
“Inconceivable! That was half our fleet!”
“Surely we don’t think some omnipotent being snapped his fingers and half our people ceased to exist? HAHAHAHA!”
The Moonheads, dealing with a sudden fall in their numbers
FREEDOM FIGHTERS #9
The torture of the captured Human Bomb and Doll Woman continue, while Uncle Sam and Phantom Lady have to moderate their plan of attack due to Black Condor’s actions. Supposedly in Detroit for a covert mission, he ends up leading a full on rebellion against the Nazis with surprising results.
Another good issue that enters into the final arc; it’s going to be a blast between now and #12, the final issue.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #15
Alive to the threat of Circe, Wonder Woman enlists Zatanna and Kent Nelson to help her access the Witchmark powers from last year’s The Witching Hour storyline; that means using Eclipso’s black diamond. Meanwhile Swamp Thing tries to reconnect with the green only to be defeated by Floronic Man, and Man-Bat goes nuts following his encounter with the Otherkind last issue.
Another cracking issue – tons of stuff happening, along with throwaway references to mystical artefacts like the Spear of Destiny and the Ace of Winchesters, and it all looks gorgeous as well.
SHAZAM #7
Billy sets off to try and find the other members of the Shazam! family; Pedro and Eugene are stuck in what appears to be an amalgamation of Oz and Wonderland, while Darla and Freddie are rescued by Tawky Tawny only to end up in the Darklands, just like Billy.
Plagued by delays, this title is still entertaining when it arrives. I couldn’t help but notice it’s taken these seven issues before there’s even a hint that it’s taking place within the main DCU as Mary Marvel plans to head off and find the Justice League to enlist Wonder Woman’s help. The next issue blurb of “Shazam meets… Captain Marvel?!” sounds intriguing.
THE TERRIFICS #20
The Terribles faces of against the Terrifics and win, finding the power source they need to start up their time machine. They need more, however, which means a threat to Phantom Girl’s home planet, but before that, the Terrifics have to contend with being warped back to the 90s and then the 80s!
Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of Bizarro and the forced backwards speech that always reads inconsistently, but I can ignore than when the rest of this issue is so much fun.
WARLORD OF MARS ATTACKS #4
John Carter finally makes it back to Barsoom, but so do the Moonheads – though half of them promptly vanish thanks to the quantum-flux state of the planet. The remainder are attacked by the Heliumites and the Tharks, led of course by Dejah Thoris and Tars Tarkas, all of which leads to the final confrontation in the next issue.
Still enjoying this – it’s very silly and charges along at a good pace and is clearly having fun with itself.
ANIMOSITY #21
Jesse and Sandor continue their drug fuelled vision quests to find the answer to the question of who is behind the Wake., but Jesse ends up in trouble.
It’s a nice looking issue but the rationalist in me doesn’t really cotton to drug trips to find mystic answers – it’s all in their heads so the only answers they’re going to find is from within themselves already. But then, this is a comic about talking animals, so you know . . .
FREEDOM FIGHTERS #6
Having rescued Uncle Sam from the Nazi last issue, the Freedom Fighters try to catch their breath and continue the struggle, but they’re interrupted by the arrival of Overman, the Nazi Superman, who manages to capture Human Bomb while the others escape.
Another splendid issue where the action just keeps going – honestly, this series has barely let up. And if you thought you knew who Overman was, you may be in for a surprise.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #11
As Dr Fate and his Lords of Order track down the magic users who have fled before them, Wonder Woman and Zatanna meet up with Mordru who has been hiding under their noses the whole time. While they attempt to have him join them in their battle against Fate, he rejects them, telling them that he, as an agent of Chaos, doesn’t care about their battle. However, he does imbue the Ruby of Life with chaotic power and leaves it for them, transforming Zatanna and Wonder Woman into the new Lords (Ladies?) of Order.
It’s another cracking issue that runs along nicely, at the same time looking gorgeous.
THE TERRIFICS #16
Stuck fighting a military grade virtual reality combat simulator intent on connecting to the outside world via the internet, the Terrifics must deal with outlandish versions of the Plagues of Egypt, specifically gnats and flies. This being THE TERRIFICS, things aren’t straightforward as the gnats are robotic and the flies are merchants forcing the team to take weapons and armour so they can claim they’re thieves and attack them.
It’s mad, crazy and fun, and so far writer Gene Luen Yang is continuing the tone from Jeff Lemire’s run. Long may it continue.
Crisis on Earth-Prime 