Comics catch-up

Spoilers...



Bane Conquest #9
Bane recruits a new army and learns where Kobra's HQ is. The issue ends so abruptly I had to google to see if there was a misprint. (I'm genuinely getting sick of the previews for books that will inevitably be canceled at the end of every frickin' magazine). Not the best issue in the series.

Nightwing #38
The Judge's design is cool. Can't wait for the scene where Power Girl is a stripper. You know, equal opportunity. I don't really care about Bludhaven, so all the dialogue about what the Judge is doing to it means nothing to me. (I don't really care about Gotham either. I care about Batman beating the bad guy.) Since this is the first Sam Humphries issue I've reviewed, I'll also say that he doesn't annoy me with politics the way Tim Seeley did.

Action Comics #996-997
Superman and Booster Gold are stuck on New Krypton while Lois and Jon find Lois's father. Kneel before Zods. The two plots have basically nothing to do with each other (except "family," I guess). I put this book on my pull list so I'd be able to read "The Oz Effect" a few months ago. I haven't taken it off yet, so it must be doing something right.

Suicide Squad #35
I'm honestly more amused than annoyed by the way writer Rob Williams manages to channel his anti-Trump rage. (And to be fair, he pastiched Obama waaaaaay back in the Rebirth issue.) This issue sets up what looks like it might be a "finale" story arc.

Batman #40
They don't. Wonder Woman has a pet we never knew about. I like Selina's street clothes. Get to the wedding already. The double date a few issues back was awesome, but otherwise this book has been treading water. I get that everybody else and his dog loves the writer, Tom King, but I've always been more impressed by individual issues of his ("The Ballad of Kite Man") than overarching stories ("The War of Jokes and Riddles"). That's just me. Sorry. There are a couple of books, like Deathstroke, where I wait for the trades because the plot is so damn complicated. Then there's Batman, which I'm considering waiting for the trades for because the plot is so damn thin.

Detective Comics #973-974, Annual #1
Well. First and foremost, I want a Cass book. Actually I want a Cass book with good art, because I have a Cass book with awful art (her first volume of Batgirl from 2000). Another "finale" story, given that I'm expected to remember a character from almost two years ago, and also the team very much falls apart. You also get the sense that this was all planned out from HEY CHECK OUT THE CLAY STAIN ON BATMAN'S COSTUME ON THE COVER OF ISSUE #974! Also, totally random, I do not like Tim's haircut. This story is a more interesting examination of Batman's "no killing" rule than Under the Red Hood was, just saying, even though there's an obvious difference.