Comic Update #8

Sunday morning I read The Flash #3. Wally heads to the Salt Lake City branch of STAR Labs to be studied. He encounters a robotic lifeform called the Kilg%re, Kilg%re infects the computers at the lab and hen branches out from there. The issue ends with the government recruiting Wally for help and Wally noticing that the professor isn't quite right as the issue ends. Really good issue here. They've done a good job of showing you that Wally still has problems despite the lottery money. I like that he's trying to get his speed and metabolism issues corrected. I think this issue is where you see that Wally West can really hold his own title. It shows some depth to his character and really sets the tone for the book until Mark Waid takes over I believe. I was also surprised to see that Kilg%re makes several appearances past this storyline. He pops back up in the Flash a few times and he seems to be a fairly consistent foe for the Justice League for several year as well.

Next up was Legion of Super-Heroes #38. This issue finishes off the tale that went through the last issues of Superman and Action Comics. The Time Trapper reveals the whole pocket universe concept here to write Superboy out of the Legion. Superboy dies in this issue saying his version of Earth and the Legion. This was a good send off to the concept of the original Superboy but the actual issue was kind of mediocre I thought. I really hate the way they removed Superboy from the Legion and I think this solution was worse than just letting him stay. I couldn't imagine trying to explain this storyline to someone that wasn't in to comic books. I'm pretty sure they would look at me like I was a crazy person. I'm not going to be adding the Legion books to my Post-Crisis reading but sometimes I will seek out the issues to finish a crossover storyline like this one. As a side bar to this issue. I really think this is where DC damaged the Legion franchise badly. There was a point in time where the only book at DC that outsold the Legion was the Teen Titans. And then they kind of flushed the books popularity by removing Superboy and constantly rebooting the title. It's really frustrating to look at the mismanagement in hindsight.

Superman #9 was another really good issue from John Bryne. The main story featured the Joker coming to Metropolis for some mischief and the backup was a Lex Luthor story. The first story is my favorite kind of story. I love when a villain associated with another hero shows up to take on an opponent they don't usually face. Superman vs. Joker happens from time to time but I'm always happy to see it. It was a nice quick and fun story. The backup was excellent. Luthor is eating at a diner in a small town and offers the waitress a million dollars to join him. He gives her ten minutes to decide and then leaves early so she has to live with not knowing which decision she ever made and will forever question herself. Just an awesome dick move on his part and it really provides a great insight into the character of Lex Luthor. Bryne is really firing on all cylinders at this point with the Superman and Action Comics books.

Adventures of Superman #432 kicks off the Gang War storyline. This is considered to be the best part of Wolfman's run on the book. There was a lot of setup in this book as Jose Delgado tries to look out for his students but runs into issues. Lex Luthor is also secretly uniting the gangs for some unknown purpose on his part. This was a really good issue. I've had my problems with Wolfman's run so far but this is up there as one of his best issues so far. I'm really excited to see where this storyline goes in the future. I want to see how things play out with Perry White's son. I want to see what Luthor's motives are. And I want to see the debut of a great Superman supporting cast member in Gangbuster. It's hard to believe that I'm so deep into these Superman books and I'm still enjoying myself as much as I am. I think I'm starting to grow a real appreciation for the character.

2014 Comic Counter: 31