'Cause they had to go back to the 'bary...

JLA: The Obsidian Age: book two isn't too bad. On this, my second read through, I found the storyline a lot more enjoyable than I had during my first read through a year or two ago. This volume continues the storyline that sees the big team heading into the past to save Aquaman and THE WORLD! At the end of the previous volume, we saw a dead Superman discovered in the present. Here, we open with Supes and the rest of the crew in the past up against a team that does kick their backsides, kills 'em even. The other reviewer (see above link) mentions that some of the tension is lost because we know that the JLA isn't going to die, and I agree, but what shines in this volume is the teamwork shown by the group, including the sacrifice that they have to make to save the future, not knowing (in the story, anyway) whether they would survive to see that future. It's the teamwork and relationships that hold this volume together even though they (mostly) take place during a rather long battle. The volume ends with a few of the JLAers going their own ways to figure things out, but enough of the team stays together to make Rules of Engagement - which I picked up from PLCH today - interesting at first glance.

The Secret of Barry Allen sees the newest Flash trying to come to terms with the actions of the JLA in mindwiping villians and even trying to turn some of them into good guys with the use of Zatana's magic. I'll give DC credit for the idea, at least, because if heroes existed and truly had the power of near-gods, then some of them at some point would have to think that they could solve a lot of the world's problems through magic or surgery or threats or whatever. But I'll also admit that the moral quandry and the rejiggering of DC history has gotten to be a little tiresome.

I do like the Flash's history (the former Flashes watching out for the current one, the family that forms around the mythos) as well as the ties that bind his massive and varied Rogues Gallery together - we see some really interesting interactions among the gallery in this volume - and that's the saving grace here. The artwork is good, the story is interesting, and if it weren't such a muck of mental corrections and moral problems, I'd probably've enjoyed it a whole lot better.

Daredevil: Redemption - let's see...the artwork's poor, the story's two-dimensional movie of the week fare, and it's full of inbred Southern culture stereotypes...I'm gonna say that it's pretty simply crap. And as much as I'm not a religious type, the religion bashing that goes on here is just way too heavy-handed even for my tastes. Steer clear of this pile of dookie...

Continuing their release of the newest Superman title, DC gives us Return to Krypton. It's a pretty typical throwback story in which a modern comic writer tries to recreate a story of his/her childhood using the modern character. As such, it works decently well, with Lois and the Big Blue Boyscout heading back to a hoax Krypton (not that they really know it) that's somehow trapped in the Phantom Zone.

The general storyline isn't too bad, but the modern technique of trying to explain everything gets in the way of the story. Instead of it just being a dopey lark, the writers try to make everything into something that's just a shade away from possible (in comic logic and science, anyway). If they hadn't tried that, if they'd instead just treated it a little more as a revisiting-the-childhood-tales tale, then I think it'd've worked way better.

But that's life...and it's my TPB reviews for now...more later when I go through the couple that I picked up today from the spectacular PLCH...

If you're here and inclined, stop by our Pasta for Pennies page or make an online donation toward the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.