Jimmy Olsen’s Blues

OK, so — not all of these came out this week. Yes, one or two were from last week. Dude, I’m way way behind on buying comics. Give me a break, OK?

Prince of Power #1 (of 4)

BEST OF THE WEEK! (Er, well, last week, technically. But I just read it today.) Man, thank the heavens above Amadeus Cho, angsty billionaire super-genius, isn’t a DC character — I’d hate to see him get offed in an undignified manner as soon as Hercules inevitably returns to reclaim his “Prince of Power” title. Writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente copy and paste the sense of fun and mythological underpinnings from their run on The Incredible Hercules into this new Cho-focused mini (yes, whimsical sound effects included). They had me laughing by the end of the recap page, people. If you want fun instead of grizzly murder, this is the book for you. Grade: A-

Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 27) #1

I should be thrilled with this book: the writer of my favorite era of the Legion is back writing the newly-restored original version of these characters. This new LoSH should be a slam-dunk, but it’s just… not. I don’t remember the Levitz Legion feeling quite so choppy in its storytelling or stilted in its dialogue. The art from Yildiray Cinar is gorgeous in some parts and amatuerish in others. And there’s too much focus on a character I have no reason to give a shit about yet. I’m not giving up on it yet, but this wasn’t the strongest start. Grade: C+

The Avengers #1

If you dig Bendis’ overall take on the Avengers — and from the sales numbers, it seems you probably do — you’ll dig The Avengers #1 as it’s a quintessential example of Bendisy Avengerism. This one’s mostly a team-building issue, but sets up this first arc as being time-travel-y (a concept for which I am a big sucker) and pulls in characters from a direct-to-DVD movie and a classic mid-90s limited series. (For the record, I still disagree heavily with having Wolverine in the Avengers. Do we really have to have all of the hot movie properties in one book?) Grade: B+

The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 (of 6)

(Yes, another last-week book. Deal.) An interesting beginning, but I’m more excited to see where Grant Morrison is going with this series than I was in the particulars of this issue. I always love seeing artwork from the underappreciated Chris Sprouse, though, and he doesn’t disappoint with Hairy-Chested Batman Amongst the Clan of the Cave Bear; I wish he were drawing all six issues of this series rather than just this first one. While it’s not absolutely required that you have read Final Crisis before reading this book, wow would it ever be a good idea if things like “context” are something you’re into. Grade: B+

Brightest Day #2

I missed the first issue and my local shop didn’t have any, so I know I’m coming in a little late — but I shouldn’t be this lost after missing one issue. I have no idea whatsoever what’s going on, since (much like 52) this isn’t one story, but rather a whole bunch of stories (hopefully related, in the end) which each get advanced just a touch in each issue. It’ll probably read just fine when collected, but right now it feels like I ate the individual ingredients for a recipe instead of waiting for the meal to be cooked. Grade: C