Justice League #10

Justice League issue 10 finally brings us face to…  um…  husk? With our newest villain: Graves.  He’s actually not new at all. He appeared way back in Justice League #6 as a writer who first proclaimed the Justice League as gods.  However, it seems he’s changed his mind about that.  Honestly, he seems to be established as a damn good villain and is definitely poses a huge threat to the league.  It’s not exactly clear what his abilities are except that he seems to be possessed by these demonic astral wyrms that feed off of suffering and sorrow, which allows him to use the heroes’ worst memories against them.  It’s definitely a unique angle to go with a new big bad and I’m excited to hear more about Graves as we go.

The issue itself is done in a very cinematic fashion, cutting between flashbacks to how Graves, a man who five years ago had it all and four years ago was somehow knocking on death’s door, got his new powers and the current going on with the League.  The League does a great job of actually starting to work towards an understanding with each other instead of just complaining about how much they don’t really like each other.  Like how Batman and Superman are familiar with each other outside of Superhero work, or that Flash doesn’t like talking about his love life around Green Lantern because Hal has stolen his date more than once.

Overall, this show is AWESOME.  I was debating on whether I wanted to continue this book after issues #7 and #8, but the Villain’s Journey arc (LOVE that name by the way) is proving to be a great read told in a fabulous manner.  As for the Shazam! back up story?  All I can say is that I still want to punch Billy Batson.  So very, very much.

Oh! And the best part about Graves? How he got his powers was because he was a paranormal researcher and new all these ancient theories about places of supernatural power.  Which means in reality, he’s this guy:

Vry’s Rating: 4 alien conspiracy theories out of 5.

Teen Titans #10

Okay. I’m curious as hell. Why is Superboy a separate book?  Seriously.  Out of ten issues, Superboy has crossed over in at least half of them.  DC, you need to just merge the Superboy book into Teen Titans or something because I’m getting annoyed having to shell out $6 a month instead of $3 to see one continuous plot.  You don’t make me read Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and Aquaman’s separate series to keep up with the Justice League (Though I do hear some good things about the whole Court of Owls storyline.  I’ll probably grab it when it’s in trade.) why do I have to do it with Teen Titans?

Okay, with that rant out of the way let’s talk about this comic.  It’s…  okay?  Really, it tries to continue with the nice quiet down time character moments that Superboy #10 had, but with quadruple the characters, meaning that the character moments come in short bursts.  It’s mostly Bunker that steals the show in this issue, get more panel time than anyone else.  He continues with his great humorous moments, and shows that he’s really being set up to be the heart of the team.  He gives Red Robin a verbal slap to the face and tells him to put his big boy britches on, his concern has always been on the well being of the team, and to boot he’s the only one to show any kind of religious preference (Which is interesting because he’s also gay.  Oh come on, you KNOW that’s going to come up eventually somewhere down the line.)

This issue’s strengths is in the subtle touches.  Things like the moment after the event of Superboy #10 where Cassie and Tim give each other a palpably awkward hug or a single panel where you see Cassie’s armor growing and piercing her skin setting up the next storyline.  There’s also moments where the plot beats you with a blunt object, like Solstice and Kid Flash’s spontaneous romance.  Okay, granted, they started hinting at it back in issue #6 or something, but these two finally hook up and I must be honest I am confused as to how.  It’s almost like their entire romance happened between issues or off panel and now they’re smooching.  They’re a cute couple and all, but it just feels underdeveloped.

Speaking of underdeveloped, the Teens are on the mysterious island of mystery still.  Wanna know what the mystery of the mysterious mystery island is?  Me too! Too bad the group just teleports out at the end of the issue with out a single answer being given as to why there’s a giant island full of dinosaurs that is apparently not only shaped like a question mark but also double sided.  Their easy escape comes in the form of the final sacrifice of Danny the Street.  If you’re unfamiliar with Danny the Street I’m not shocked.  While the ‘character’ has appeared several times in the Teen Titans series, he’s only been called by name maybe once or twice and he’s never properly explained.  I dunno if it’s in another book like Legion Lost or something, but I had to go to the internet to read an explanation about the teleporting kid who is in the form of living street complete with houses and what not.  Now he’s dead.  I’d call that a spoiler but the character had so little development it feels almost like saying that Jeff Smith died in the destruction caused by Godzilla in Godzilla 2000 is a spoiler.  Who is Jeff Smith? My point exactly.

Overall, it’s a decent issue. There’s some fun bits, some bad bits, and no one really questions all the dinosaurs beyond “This place is weird.”

Vry’s Rating: 3 speedster smooches out of 5.