Quick DC Comic Reviews

Villains United #3
by Gail Simone, Val Semeiks & Prentis Rollins

The villainous Secret Six have been captured by the Secret Society of Super-Villains, and torture is the name of the game. While cracks begin to emerge in the inner circle of the Society due to the differing goals of the members, the Six attempt to escape, leading to many pages of villain-on-villain violence. So far this has been my favorite among the Infinite Crisis prequels, as Simone has shown a deft ability to write the protagonists as the amoral badguys they are, and it's interesting to see that as the villains are attempting to united, they are possibly doing themselves more harm than good. Semeiks & Rollins continue to turn in the goods, providing a visually interesting spectacle that doesn't sacrifice clarity for excitement.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Flash #223
by Geoff Johns, Howard Porter & John Livesay

More villain-on-villain action as the old school rogues fight against the younger villains, The Flash & Kid Flash try to break them up, and Zoom is acting on whatever sort of strange agenda is going through his twisted psyche. There's not much room for character intereaction or subplot advancement here, just wall-to-wall fight scenes; but hey, any comic that has Gorilla Grodd can't be all bad, right?
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Gotham Central #33
by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Kano & Stefano Gaudiano

A kid in a Robin costume shows up dead in an alley, apparently haven fallen from the rooftops above. We know it's not the 'real' Robin, and to their credit most of the GCPD think that it probably isn't either, but they have to go through the motions anyway, treating this as a redball case and working around the unwanted participation/interference of a certain caped vigilante. This is Brubaker's swansong before he goes off to waste his talents in an exclusive at Marvel, and he and Rucka have chosen a doosy of a premise to run with. They make lemonade out of lemons, using the stupid post-War Games status quo between Batman and the police to come up with a plot that could only work if they're not talking to each other. This is also the debut of the 'new' art team as Kano & Gaudiano switch duties; it works well: Kano provides clean layouts, good figurework and strong storytelling while Gaudiano's inks give it all a gritty edge. This continues to be one of the best comics published monthly by DC.
Rating: 4 (of 5)