What is up with JLU?

Justice League Unlimited: consistently well written, even if I prefer the now cancelled Teen Titans (though Speedy from the Teen Titans appeared in last night's episode).

Last night's episode started out as a fun, insightful look at heroes. Five non-superpowered heroes have to take on the gray Hulk (well, being a DC show it wasn't "The Hulk" but other than some weird saber-teeth, this was the Hulk) - or at least a rouge general who hates the Justice League so much he's willing to turn himself into a Hulk like being.

Overall, it was fun with some clever dialogue and neat fight scenes (even if Stargirl was underused). And then the writers tipped their hand. The main villain went off on the usual "reveal everything" monologue/rant and we find out: The whole episode is really an attack on Bush's actions in the war in Iraq. Lines about doing this to protect America from possible threats or even-though-I've-become-what-I-hate-you'll-realize-I-was-right-all-along show that this wasn't just an adventure about the JLU.

Instead it's meant to say: Bush's polices of pre-emption are evil and he's become just as bad as those he's fighting.

Interesting. Anyone else recall a few months ago, when in an episode of JLU, Wonder Woman threatened the nations of the world with invasion (by the super-powered Amazons) if global warming didn't stop?

So, pre-emptive war is okay to save the environment, but to protect America it's not. Sometimes I wish the creators of the JLU would do what they do best: Tell good stories and let the viewers draw their own lessons from the stories. Instead, they seem to fell they have to bludgeon us over the head with "Conservatives bad, Liberals good" crap.

Nothing I bought was worth reviewing in depth,

So here are a bunch of capsule reviews of several recent comics:

Supergirl #5: What a waste. Loeb is a truly talented writer, but this series has (so far) had no point. Moving past the point there's way too much skin and T&A for a comic starring a 15 year old girl, this issue wasted a promising revelation with a backhanded dismissal.

After four issues of pointless fight scenes, this issue starts off with a rather cool new take on the idea of Supergirl. I was about to be impressed, but at the end of the tale we are told it might or might not be true, but in any case it doesn't matter because Supergirl is the coolest, bestest hero ever.

And what the hell is up with Superman's solution? "I can't tell who is good and who is evil, so I'll beat the hell out of both of you and sort it out later." Ugh.

Fantastic Four #535: The last few issue have been more of a Hulk tale than an FF tale. The interesting storyline dealing with Child Protective services gets resolved as almost an after thought. JMS is not in top form here, though he writes the Hulk well.

Nick Fury's Howling Commandos #5: Does anyone have any idea what is going on in this comic? I didn't think so.

Spike: Old Wounds: An unremarkable tale set in between episodes of the last season of Angel. However, it was nice to see Los Hermanos Numeros again.

Ghost Rider #6

Ghost Rider #6

Well, the art by Clayton Crain was wonderfully spooky. It had all the right details, the perfect aura of depression and magic, and it created a world both bizarrely supernatural and oddly attractive.

Also, Miss Catmint was a great character I wouldn't mind seeing more of. I'm not sure how she's going to get off the top of that building, but she'll likely manage. She has guts and verve.

But the story for this series - ugh. Garth Ennis on cruise control AND asleep at the wheel. This gets my vote for the most gratuitous high profile comic of the last 5 years. Without giving away the ending, I will say that it renders the entire story more or less pointless. Yes, it allows Ghost Rider to find a bit of pleasure from his torments in Hell - but otherwise it maintains the status quo set up at the beginning.

Also - most of the characters were pointless. Only Hoss and Ruth really had much to do - it was their tale. Malachi and the other Angels do a few things, but after the first two issues of the series, they barely register on the radar until a near pointless cameo at the end. The Preacher who blew up a church adds nothing to the tale either - he could have been eliminated from the plot entirely and not a thing would have changed. He seems to be in the script for one masochistic scene only. And it's a rather trite one.

And then there was the ultimately irrelevant gratuitous character: Ghost Rider. Even worse than Batman in the Batman Returns movie, Ghost Rider becomes a cameo in his own comic book - ultimately irrelevant and generally ineffective.

The story seems like one left over from a rejected Hellblazer or Preacher script. Nothing that happens matters, everything is reset, and heaven and hell are *yawn* just as bad as each other.

The clearest thing I can say about this comic is that it was predictable.

A Lack of Reviews

Comes from a lack of money to buy new comics.

But I have some money and will go to the comic shop tomorrow.

My local comic shop, however, did not and will not order the "Liberality for All" comic, so I'm going to have to order that one online somewhere. Then I can see if it's any good and then review it.

Two interesting items of note:

1. Dan Jurgens has signed an exclusive contract with DC comics. I wonder if Marvel's shoddy marketing and treatment of Combat Zone had anything to do with it?

2. Joe Quesada makes a rather odd comment here about Chuck Dixon. Since Chuck is one of the few openly conservative comic writers, and he hasn't had a lot of work at Marvel lately, I wonder if Joe really was "just kidding" or if there's something a bit deeper.....

who knows?