Titans #20 – John Layman, Writer; Pete Woods, Artist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: This new run on Titans continues its focus on emotions, as Raven’s powers are now spilling out to the rest of the world – heightening emotions based on whatever she’s feeling at any given moment. This has caused strife among the Titans – but it’s also caused odd emotional connections, like Roy and Donna briefly reviving their romantic bond. When Raven and Beast Boy go out on a date, the entire park goes haywire due to a combo of anti-meta bigotry and Raven’s powers – leading Beast Boy to have to “go Quokka” to calm the crowd down. This is the funniest scene of the issue, but a lot of it is pretty wordy, with the team arguing over what’s going on and seeking out the help of Bumblebee. The team does seem to be getting along a little better this episode, and there’s a clever twist at the end that reveals what’s really going on, so this arc may be picking up momentum.
Catwoman #73 – Torunn Gronbekk, Writer; Marianna Ignazzi, Artist; Patricio Delpeche, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: Catwoman’s globetrotting adventure continues, as she moves from Russia to Japan in search of more old friends and old enemies. Taking on another new identity and meeting some allies in the meantime, she carefully infiltrates her way into another social circle. The interesting part of this title is the way it shows some skills that Catwoman really doesn’t get to show off too often. She’s a master of disguise and a master manipulator as much as she is a superhero. There are some interesting subplots here, like her meeting with an old master who might be one of the few people she truly trusts, but the problem is, it at times feels like we’re only getting glimpses of a whole life that we never got to see Selina lead. This is one of the more low-key issues of the series, with action bursting out towards the end in a surprisingly violent way. It’s intriguing, but I feel like this whole thing might play better in graphic novel format.
Milestone Universe: The Shadow Cabinet #4 – Joseph P. Illidge, Writer; Darryl Banks, Atagun Ilhan, Ray-Anthony Height, Artist; Chris Sotomayor, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: For a miniseries that was only four issues, this story packed an enormous amount of story and a ton of characters in. That’s both it’s biggest strength and its biggest weakness, as it has a great sense of scope and scale – and an incredibly fast pace. Edwin Alva has turned out to be not so dead after all, and while his estranged sister Angela makes moves behind the scenes, he’s been turned into a cosmic being that threatens all of Dakota. His return didn’t have much buildup, but the real heart of this issue is watching the heroes reunite and work together. Icon and Rocket sorting things out and proving why they’re an iconic duo is great, as is Static finding his groove and returning to the role of hero. At around 30 pages, this oversized finale delivers in a lot of ways, but it leaves some key stuff unresolved, like Hardware’s future. This isn’t a flawless story, but it makes me hopeful that more stories by this creative team are coming.
DC Horror Presents Creature Commandos #5 – David Dastmalchian, Writer; Jesus Hervas, Artist; Alex Guimaraes, Colorist
Ray – 7.5/10
Ray: For the last few issues, we’ve been introduced to the different members of the Creature Commandos, each of which has a twisted and tragic story. Now that the team is together, it’s time for them to take on Brainiac. This is the most action-packed issue of the series left, with some great battle segments and a not-surprising level of violence given the horror brand on the title. We get some flashbacks to the origins of the doctor supervising them, but there isn’t much in the way of insight beyond finding out that she’s kind of a workaholic. With one issue to go, General Eiling seems to be shifting into the role of the main villain here, viewing the creatures as a threat to his men. The various members of the team are intriguing, but since their focus issue, they don’t have all that much to do beyond be a team player. It just doesn’t have the same energy of the recent brilliant TV series, which took this concept to the max.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
