Hey there Bulleteers, it's Raph with
some Raging Bullets of the Week. I didn't get a chance to review
anything last week, as I was at a conference for the company I work
with. I did do a short mini column, but I told Sean not to post it until
I reviewed Green Lantern #14... which I didn't end up doing... sigh,
that's life.
This was a slow week for me, slow
being I spent less than 30 dollars this week... I only got 5 DC titles.
So I figure I'll experiment now. I want to change my top 3 picks into a
Silver Bullets of the Week, where I will have 3 categories and a pick
for each one. It'll be a little more in depth, and it'll explain a
little more why I liked it. Also, since this thing takes up two pages in
my open office word, I may cut the reviews out.
First, I thought I would discuss
Heroes, as it is one of my favorite shows, and one of the only shows I
watch feverishly, with Smallville, Simpsons, American Dad and Family
Guy. I think Heroes is interesting and awesome. The idea of people
getting powers out of nowhere and how they use and abuse their powers,
and how they struggle with them. I feel for Nikki when she's scared to
death of the things her Hyde part does. I'm lovin' Peter Petrelli's
dreams of being more than what he is. The cop who can read minds and
tries to love his wife again, but the one I especially love Hiro, he is
just like me, an Asian geek who wishes he could have superpowers, and he
FINALLY gets them. I root for Hiro all the time
Normally, I love all the shows....
but this week's episode PISSED. ME. OFF....
DAMNIT!!!! WHY DID THEY KILL THE CUTE
GIRL WHO LIKES THE ASIAN GEEK?!?
DAMN YOU SYLAR!!! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR
@$$!!!! YOU DON'T MESS WITH MY BOY HIRO!!!!
Anyway, onto my Silver Bullets of
the Week... sniff, she was so cute... I was pulling' for Hiro to get the
girl... he gave me hope... Sigh....
The Charlie (Hiro's girlfriend) Memorial
Bullet: Birds of Prey #100 – I have jumped on and off this book
periodically, and now I'm back on. I'm intrigued by the direction of the
BoP, post issue 100. They have an interesting line up.
The Afterschool Special Bullet: Robin #
156 – It's a solo story that doesn't have anything to do with
continuity, but it has a special message. If you feel life is not going
your way, you can always find someone who will be there for you. Or you
can pick up this book.
The Bang for the Buck Bullet: This is my
book of the week. This is probably the only selection that will remain
static. This week's pick is... a tough one. I liked 52, Supergirl and
Checkmate, but there was no overwhelming favorite for me this week. If I
were to recommend one of these for a newbie or Comic Book Mooch, I would
have to say... Checkmate #8. It has action, political intrigue and it's
a jumping on point for a new storyline. Pick this up. It's cool. It's
Rucka.
I guess I'll just review Supergirl #11. I'll leave the 52 review grunt work to Sean and Jim. The Writer was Joe Kelly, Pencils by Joe Benitez, with Inks by Victor Llamas, Colors by Rod Reis, Lettering by Comicraft. The Cover was done by the awesome Ian Churchill (who signed a lot of stuff for me at Comic-Con and was really awesome to me.) and Rod Reis. Jeanine Schaefer is the Associate Editor (She got promoted from Assistant Editor, it says so in the DC Nation column, congrats!) and Eddie Berganza is the editor, or as it says inside, Cap'N Crunch.
Let me start off by saying I LOVE Joe Kelly. Mr. BUH-GUYH himself. If you guys see a Joe Kelly book on the shelf, it means it's a fun book filled with adventure. For the few of you who don't know what BUH-GUYH is.... shame on you, go read my first column!
The story is essentially about Supergirl auditioning for the Outsiders. The Outsiders are on a mission to infiltrate a mysterious group of pirates who are terrorizing the African Coast. The pirates don't use weapons, that means metahumans. The book opens with Kara and Grace (the tall powerhouse woman on the Outsiders) looking gorgeous as pirates. The highlight of their pirating adventure? When Kara goes ballistic and curses out one of the hostages and snaps his leg!!! We found out later it was Metamorpho, as the real pirates catch up with Grace and Kara. We get a flashback to how this plan started, and it should be noted that Kara is not only the one who comes up with the key plan, she's also managed to draw a nice little drawing of herself and Nightwing... sigh, I wish I could draw anywhere near that good... damn you and your Super-drawing powers Kara...
We learn that the powers of these metahuman pirates are magical in nature, as Grace was hurt by one of them. So Kara is at a disadvantage. They eventually join the pirates, and go on a few capers. Kara covers herself by shooting someone, only to reveal she moved at super speed to knock the guy out. We get another couple of flashbacks, one where Captain Boomerang and Kara are together talking about... Kara's crush on Nightwing, and how Boomer is “A big brother who has icky feelings about his l'il sis he doesn't know how to deal with.” Wow... Kara messed with his head.
We finally get to see Kara's “promotion” into the pirates, and it's by eating a piece of fish... which we learn is from the body of some sentient ocean dweller! He might be from Atlantis, and the art painfully shows us how they've been taking pieces of his tail to gain powers. The being asks Kara to kill him, as he is the source of their power. We flash back again to Kara telling her cousin she isn't ready to talk to him yet, while he hears her as he's floating in space. The mission becomes jeopardized when Kara won't kill the guy, and the pirate leader finally gets to her and stabs her in the chest with her fingers, telling her she has too much heart to be a pirate. Meanwhile, Grace kills the Atlantean, and then gets mugged by more pirates as Kara is impaled on the leader's hand. Suddenly, a rushing being takes out Grace's attackers and smacks the pirate leader across the room. The man who does all this tells Kara to mark the day on the calender, because POWERBOY has arrived!
I've got to say this was a very interesting story. I haven't read the Outsiders since Brainiac and Superboy attacked them, but this is a team that I really enjoy. I want to fit them back into my pull list, maybe when I drop another series. I'm kinda interested in what POWERBOY is going to do for Kara, she is a 15 yr old girl with raging hormones after all. Plus the ability to crush you into a little ball and fling you into the next planet. Cool girlfriend to have... except when it's that time of the month. I have many friends who go through that time of the month... it frightens me...
The art was spectacular. I love Ian
Churchill's work, and his cover was terrific. What sometimes happens
with covers though, is that they are so good that they overshadow the
internal art. This is something my less hardcore comic book fans often
complain about. That doesn't happen here, as Joe Benitez' pencils
compare favorably with Ian's work. I am going to continue picking up the
series, the art is great and one of my favorite writers is on it. This
book gets 3 ½ Bullets out of 4, the other half I'm saving for Syler...
that's right... I don't need an entire bullet... you're goin' down...
Until my National/Big Apple Comic Con
report, keep reading folks, and keep supporting Raging Bullets... and
shamelessly promote the podcast and my lil' ol' column...
Oh and if any cute girls are out there reading this, please find an Asian geek and tell him he's cute. Please... help an Asian geek out... only you can save us from falling into dorkdom.