Quick DC Comic Reviews

Action Comics #823

by Chuck Austen, Ivan Reis & Marc Campos

Part two of "Repo-Man" is better than most of the recent issues of Action, though that's not really saying much. The bulk of the issue is a fight scene between Superman & the titular bad guy (whose motivation is, um, being bad?) with the aid of Superboy. Fortunately Reis & Campos excel at fight scenes, so while the comic is slight, at least it looks good. The remainder of the issue is filled out by two pages of the Preus subplot, one page of Doomsday 'Thoom'ing around Metropolis (yet still undetected!) and Lois and Lana acting like bratty high schoolers. I do like the cover though, which seems a throwback to something that would've come from the title in the 60s or 70s.

Rating: 2 (of 5)




Majestic #1

by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, Neil Googe & Trevor Scott

Speaking of slight, not much happens in the first issue of the ongoing Majestic series either. Superman & The Eradicator return with Majestic to the WildStorm universe, only to find itempty of all animal life (including humans) yet otherwise intact. The many one- and two-panel pages give us ample opportunity to gaze at Googe & Scott's rather good skill at drawing cityscapes and backgrounds, and the battle against the giant alien robots iw well-handled as well. But a $3 introductory issue needs to take more than 4 minutes to read, don't you think?

Rating: 2.5 (of 5)




Breach #1

by Bob Harras, Marcos Martin & Alvaro Lopez

Ex-Marvel E-i-C Bob Harras comes to DC to essentially re-tell Cary Bates's Captain Atom #1 from 1987. He's joined by artists Martin & Lopez, for whom I predict great things someday, but this probably won't be it. Still, there are several great scenes to gaze upon, incluing the opening sequence and the shot fo the supercolider that it's certainly worth a look-through. But the story, while mostly competent, does not present a compelling main character.

Rating: 2.5 (of 5)




Green Arrow #46

by Judd Winick, Tom Fowler & Rodney Ramos

As the cover suggests, GA sponsors the new Speedy into the Teen Titans. It's a good change-of-pace issue, keeping the ongoing narrative going while taking a breather from the seriousness by lightening things up a bit. The new art team of Fowler & Ramos is a mixed bag; the opening scenes are quite nice, with animated character and great flow, while the later scenes with the Titans seem stiff and awkward. Chalk it up to growing pains, as I expect that we'll see the new guys settle in nicely within a couple of issues.

Rating: 3 (of 5)