OK, OK, I know this is a tad late… I’ve been busy: I was at the 2013 SVP meeting in Los Angeles. I’ll try to catch up on almost a month’s worth of comics, because this batch represents two weeks of backlog. I’ll drop in my review of the next two week’s worth sometime this week.

Stars out of five.

Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of 4D Bio?

 

The Shadow #18, Roberson, Timpano, Guerra, and Steen. Covers: Ross and Alexander. ***
This issue saw the resolution of the Light’s storyline. See, she’s a counterpoint to the Shadow who kills for thought crimes. I liked the philosophical debate between Shadow and Light (as they fought across the rooftops of NYC), discussing the merits of punishing folks for their bad thoughts vs. bad actions. A good effort, this issue never really got me excited about the characters, and I found the ending predictable and unsatisfying.

 

Batman doesn’t need any fancy gadgets to kick. your. ass.

Legends of the Dark Knight #13, Milligan, Seeley, Burchielli, and Williams II. *****
This one was well worth the price of admission. The first half sees the excellent end to the story of Batman forced to return to his fundimentals by a stock-market attack from the Demon’s Head. Busting heads is always a good place for Bats. The second story is a good Batman-as-human one-shot. Keep up the good work on this title, folks!

 

Wonder Woman looks awesome even as she waits for action in the next issue…

Wonder Woman #24, Azzarello and Sudzuka. **
This issue is a transitional story, positioning the characters for future action. As such, it’s hard for it to rise above two stars.

 

Batwoman and Batman have a beatdown. Who will win?

Batwoman #24, Williams III, Blackman, McCarthy. ****
A tremendous cliffhanger of an issue, team Batwoman’s plan to free themselves from the DEO springs into motion. We finally have some good Batman-Batwoman bantering and fighting, and Flamebird finally gets to show her stuff. I can’t wait to see what happens next month!

 

Beware the wrath of Toothpaste!

Batman and Two Face #24, Tomasi, Gleason, and Gray. ****
We finally get Toothpaste’s (how my kids say his name!) origin story retconned into the New-ish 52. First, we see that Gilda Dent is not only merely dead, she’s really most sincerely dead. Also, Toothpaste was scarred by a red-headded Irish lady mobster, not by Sal Moroni as in previous continuity.

 

Next week:
OMG, I have so many books for next time… Batwing, Legends of Red Sonja, Shadow: Year One, Nightwing Annual, and more.