Hawkeye #10

Most of this issue focuses on a guy named Kazimierz Kasimierczak, a guy who grew up in a war-torn region of Europe, saw his whole family killed during various acts of war, and eventually grew up to be an assassin wearing whiteface clown makeup. And he’s on Hawkeye’s trail.

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s a good story with good art, good dialogue, and all the great stuff we expect from this series. I wish we knew if this guy had some sort of codename — it’s going to get very tiring if I have to type that name very often…

Worlds’ Finest #12

The new version of Desaad, an inhuman fanged monster, has shown up, and he’s disguised as Michael “Mr. Terrific” Holt. After the authorities try to arrest Huntress and Power Girl for attacking him, they make their escape, but Karen soon finds her business failing because of financial attacks and more destructive terrorist bombings. Can the heroes keep from losing everything?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A nice ramp-up in the mystery and danger for the heroes. A lot of the publicity about this issue has to deal with getting Power Girl back into her classic “boob window” costume, but it appears almost as an afterthought, which is probably a good way to do it. The new costume was really awful, though, and I hope we don’t see anything like it again.

And let’s take a very quick look at the comics I got for Free Comic Book Day:

World of Archie Digest

Almost 100 pages of Archie comics? Reprints both old and new? Archie takes the prize for the year’s best release for FCBD.

Mouse Guard/Rust

Archaia always puts out great stuff for FCBD — solid stories designed to preview upcoming comics and promote what’s already out there for new readers. Everything here was great fun to read, and the Cow Boy story in the middle even has some fun with the comic’s flip-book format.

Finding Gossamyr/The Stuff of Legend

Loved these a lot. Both are long-running stories, and the FCBD comic was able to both summarize the previous storyarcs and create new mini-stories that were fun to read.

R.I.P.D./True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys/Mass Effect

Ehh. Almost completely forgettable stuff. I’d been considering picking up the Killjoys series, but I’m questioning whether I really care that much about it now.

Marvel Infinity

Beyond forgettable. There were more of this comic than anything else on FCBD. The lead story was depressing and un-fun. The ’70s reprint was depressing and un-fun. The preview from “Endless Wartime” was more entertaining, but it was just a preview. Come on, Marvel — Free Comic Book Day is supposed to bring new readers in, not scare them off.

Young Avengers #3

Hulkling, Wiccan, and Kid Loki are being attacked by Loki’s father, the frost giant Laufey — who has been dead for a long, long time. They’re soon rescued by the newest version of Miss America, but they’re quickly confronted by her mothers, who have also been corrupted by the interdimensional parasite masquerading as Hulkling’s mother. Loki teleports all of them to a New York City nightclub, which gives them some time to compare notes. They learn that Wiccan’s power has been depleted by the spell he cast to summon the parasite, and he needs stronger finesse to dispel her. Loki has the finesse, but not the power — but he offers to borrow Wiccan’s power to boost his power, but Wiccan, possibly sensibly, figures it’d be unwise to lend the God of Mischief any extra power. Unfortunately, all this arguing isn’t getting them any closer to getting rid of the bad guys…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Good story, art, action, humor, characterization, you name it. And we don’t even have the full cast on stage yet…

Finding Gossamyr #4

Denny, Jenna, and the other friends they’ve met in the math-focused fantasy world of Gossamyr have finally arrived at a safe zone — the city where the Roughhew live. Unfortunately, the Roughhew have decided that Denny is too powerful a mathemagician to be left with Jenna, and they hold a trial to have him separated from her care. And even worse — the Roughhew may not be as trustworthy and loyal as they like to pretend…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Beautiful artwork, and an amazingly fun story where being able to do high-level math gives you the power to do high-level magic. Hopefully, we’ll see this series continue sometime soon…

Today’s Cool Links:

• Superheroines in costumes that don’t bare a lot of flesh? Most of them seem to work out pretty well…
• Please tip your server.
• Remember Glorp Gum? That was the best gum, wasn’t it?

Love and Capes: What to Expect #6

Well, everyone wants to find out when Abby and Mark’s baby is going to be born and whether it’s a boy or a girl… but you’re gonna have to wait ’til the end of the issue for that, of course. Between now and then, we’ll also get to find out who Darkblade will pick as his new protege, as well as Abby’s plan to save her bookstore — and how her sister Charlotte is going to help. But of course, the bulk of the story focuses on the soon-to-be-born baby. Crusader arranges for Major Might to back him up if there are any crises when the baby’s due — and he’s also considering giving up his powers so he can focus on being a father. And of course, the Chlorodrones pick that moment to invade the Earth. Will Abby’s baby be born okay? Is it a boy or a girl? And who’s the secret, entirely unexpected guest star who shows up?

Verdict: Thumbs up. An extraordinarily fun comic. Lots of great dialogue, humor, and even low-grade suspense — and not just about the childbirth, either. I know I say this about a lot of comics, but — why the heck aren’t more of y’all reading this one?

Finding Gossamyr #3

Jenna and Denny are still stuck in the fantasy world of Gossamyr, in and out of danger. They meet some new friends, particularly Azune D’Tall, a big green ogre-lookin’ dude, and they show that both of them have some skills that make them useful in this setting. Denny’s vast mathematical genius allows him to work magic here, while Jenna’s medical training lets her heal people and animals without needing magic. But there are still many wonders and dangers they have to get through — ships that can sail up mountains, rock-skinned rhinos, and much more. Can they find a place of sanctuary from the enemies pursuing them?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Excellent action and a real sense of wonder and amazement throughout the whole story. I love the idea of a world where math is magic, and I love the fact that the completely mundane, non-magical character still has skills that let her contribute to the adventure.

The Goon #42

Holy cheezwiz, look at that cover. Is that cover not just absolutely beautiful? Yes, it is, kid, don’t contradict me.

The story inside ain’t quite as good as the cover, but it’s still pretty good. Someone’s sending supernatural warnings to the Goon — and the warnings then try to kill him, too. This leads to several pretty funny situations, particularly Goon having to wear Franky’s clothes. So who’s behind the warnings/threats? You can bet it’s a familiar player.

Like I said, not as good as the cover — but that’s probably one of the best covers of the month. It’d be hard for anything to live up to that.

Happy! #1

New miniseries by Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson. We follow a scumbag ex-cop-turned-hitman as he kills off a serial killer and then a bunch of other hitmen who were out to kill him. Unfortunately, he gets injured and sent to a mob-run hospital, where they plan to torture him for information. Luckily, he’s got a very unexpected friend who’s going to try to help him.

Yeah, I’m not even going to try to spoil that one, ’cause it’s such a nice twist to the story. And yeah, I liked it enough to plan on getting the rest of the series.

Finding Gossamyr #1

The folks running the local shop asked me to give this one a try. It spotlights Denny, an autistic kid who’s a math whiz — more like someone who never answers anything wrong — and Jenna, his sister, his sole guardian. He has a chance to enter a prestigious academy for math geniuses, but he has to try to solve an impossible math problem first, one that’s stumped other mathematicians for centuries. And Denny refuses to solve the problem when he sees it — but he’d done enough work on it to intrigue the teacher, who can tell he’d be able to solve it. Can Denny be forced to solve it? And what are the possible consequences if he does?

This one? Loved it. Obviously, a fantasy story, with our two heroes traveling to a world dominated by what seem to be evil elves and good orcs. The writing and characterization are excellent, and the art is just plain gorgeous. Go pick it up, if you can — it looks like it’ll be a very fun all-ages series.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Wonder Woman is appearing on the cover of “Ms.” magazine again, this time courtesy of Mike Allred.
• Yeah, this thing with DC’s new Oracle is just a liiiiiittle bit insulting to the fans, innit?
• The Daily Show’s John Oliver is a lot more interesting when he’s played by Patrick Stewart.
• Cookie Monster and Grover sing about movies and TV. You’ll probably want to watch it.