Comics this week

Green Lantern Annual #1- The annual was supposed to be the start of the next great GL saga and after reading, it’s actually more of a prologue. Writer Geoff Johns again expanded the mythos of the GL while artist Ethan Van Sciver returned to Green Lantern, the series where he made his name. All the ingredients of a new great event are here; the new Guardians, the First Lantern, the birth of The Third Army, the “death” of Hal Jordon and Sinestro, the awesome prison, but there was something missing; A coherent story! The annual started with Hal in a coffin. I’m sorry here but since when did that happened? I can only guess it’s something that happened off screen because in #12 of GL, both Hal and Sinestro were still fighting Black Hand. It was as if Johns decided to get the details out of the way and go straight to the big reveals. The reveals were great but a story is more than that and on this, this annual was disappointing.

Justice League #11- The kiss! Yes, I know it’s the last issue of The Villain’s Journey, but all details have been overshadowed by THE KISS! Even in Singapore, the kiss between Superman and Wonder Woman made it on the news. And when it finally happened, the smooch between Superman and Wonder Woman was surprisingly understated. Which was great! I was worried the moment would be spoiled by a need for it to be “momentous” but the understated way it happened made the situation even more special. The rest of the issue was almost backdrop to the kiss. The fight against Graves was pretty weak but the aftermath was much better. Green Lantern leaving was kind of expected due to the events in the GL books but I questioned the new line-up shown in the previews. After just 12 issues, I think it might be too soon to change the whole structure of the team but hopefully I’ll be proven wrong.

Supercrooks #4- This double sized issue closed off Mark Millar’s Supercrooks. The series had been surprisingly good thus far but in a way I’m glad its out of the way. I can’t help shake the feeling Bolt and his gang would get on my nerves after a few more issues so the earlier than expected send-off was welcomed by me. Artist Leinil Yu’s work suited the story well and the only problem I had was that the plan went off almost too well. For all the talk of being the most successful supervillain in the world, The Bastard was played like a yo-yo by a team of second-rate supervillains. That just didn’t gel with me but overall I have to say Supercrooks was a good series.