Comic Proportions

Superman: World of New Krypton No. 9
Published by DC Comics. Written by Greg Rucka and James Robinson. Art by Pete Woods and Ron Randall.

The Deal: Superman’s adventures on the rescued planet of New Krypton continue.

The Verdict: This book is all political intrigue and machinations … and that’s all good, but where’s the wonder? I mean, here’s Superman’s chance to finally hang out with living, breathing Kryptonians — folks he figured he’d never meet — but he never, for a second, just basks in the wonder of it all. As a reader, that aspect of the book screams out every single issue. It’s interesting, but it’s missing heart.

Reviewed materials provided by Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find: www.heroesonline.com.

Justice League of America No. 38
Published by DC Comics. Written by James Robinson. Pencils by Mark Bagley. Inks by Rob Hunter.

The Deal: Writer James Robinson and artist Mark Bagley begin their stint on the Justice League, which stars a rather sparse-looking team that’s fronted by an injured Vixen.

The Verdict: This issue is exciting enough — featuring a big (and slightly out-of-nowhere) fight with an old-school JLA villain — but, making reference to two DC limited series, it feels sort of in between crossovers. The dialogue is little better than Robinson’s work in Cry For Justice, and Bagley’s art is kinetic as ever (Rob Hunter’s inks add a touch of flash to Bagley’s sometimes middle-of-the-road illustrations), but I’m just waiting to see the team’s new lineup.

Reviewed materials provided by Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find: www.heroesonline.com.

Justice League: Cry For Justice No. 3
Published by DC Comics. Written by James Robinson. Art by Mauro Cascioli.

The Deal: It’s the third issue of the JLA-centric limited series starring Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Arrow, the Atom and several other DC heroes.

The Verdict: Damn, this book was damned-near unreadable. Filled with awful dialogue and some really preposterously coincidental plot points, I actually had to put it down a few times. Last issue was decent, but this is definitely a move in the wrong direction. But, all that said about the story, the art sure is pretty.

Reviewed materials provided by Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find: www.heroesonline.com.

Still here at HeroesCon, reporting on all the goings on. I just left the panel hosted by Marvel Comics, where they made several announcements about upcoming projects. Now I’m at the DC panel. So far, they’ve announced:

• Starro the Conqueror is the big villain behind R.E.B.E.L.S. (Is anybody reading this book?)

• James Robinson and Mark Bagely will apparently be the new creative team on JLA.

• More pain in store for the Teen Titans. (Man, I do NOT like what they’re doing with this book.)