Justice League of America by Dwanye McDuffie (Review)

Citizen's Grade: O.K.

After Brad Meltzer's run on Justice League of America (see: JLA by B.M.), Dwayne McDuffie took over and hit the ground running with "The Injustice League". He would write 4 volumes of the JLA; and along with Ed Benes and a few other artists, make it an enjoyable run with some interesting plots and characters.

Justice League of America by Brad Meltzer (Review)

Brad Meltzer is a great writer, both in the Comic Book Industry and in Fiction Novels. He offers a great blend of emotions with action and plots that bring out the best and worst in his characters and captures your imagination. The only criticism from me about Meltzer's writing is he doesn't write enough.....we haven't seen his work in comics since he left the Justice League of America at issue #12. I would love to see him come back and work on some more JLA, or Flash, Superman/Batman, etc.....really, I'd buy whatever he decided he wanted to write.....the following are his three volumes of the Justice League of America.

Blackest Night (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

The mega-event of comics in 2010, Blackest Night shocked the world and has changed the DC Universe forever! There has always been the green light of willpower, channeled into rings and distributed to those with the ability to overcome great fear by the Guardians of the Universe. These individuals who received rings are known as the Green Lantern Corps, and are the police force of the Universe.

But none of the Green Lantern Corps were aware that other colors in the light spectrum were capable of doing the same as their green light of willpower.....until Sinestro; the long-time nemesis of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, discovered Parallax and became the leader of the Sinestro Corps, whose yellow light of fear sought to maintain order in the universe. (see: Green Lantern by Geoff Johns review for details on the Sinestro Corps war and other volumes leading up to Blackest Night...)

Now there are eight corps of the light spectrum.....Green (willpower), Yellow (fear), Blue (hope), Red (rage), Violet (love), Orange (avarice), Purple (compassion), and Black (death). As the different Lantern Corps fight one another over which light is more powerful and pure, the Black Lanterns move secretly....watching, waiting, for the most opportune time to rid the universe of light altogether!

Superman/Batman: Finest Worlds (Review)

Citizen's Grade: O.K.

In this eighth volume of the ongoing Superman/Batman series, Finest Worlds is just that....as friends and foes alike drag The Dark Knight & The Man of Steel into other worlds and bring others into theirs.

In the aftermath of Superman's battle with the All-American Boy (see: Superman/Batman The Search for Kyptonite), the entire Justice League shows up in Smallville to rebuild the town. They find an artifact that looks Kryptonian in design, and it "activates" when Superman touches it. Unknown to Batman & Superman, it has triggered a Kryptonian artifact secretly hidden in the Batcave by Batman's deceased father.

Superman: New Krypton (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Sterling Gates, & Greg Rucka weave a masterful tale of the lost, "bottle" city of Kandor and the new civilization of Krypton. After Superman had saved both Metropolis and Kandor from the clutches of Brainiac, Kandor had "re-grown" to original size in the antarctic (at the site of Superman's Fortress of Solitude), Supergirl had destroyed Brainiac's missile fired at the Sun (which would have sent it Supernova), and Superman had beat down Brainiac. But all that came at a cost....as Pa Kent was killed because of a second Brainiac missile fired at the home of Pa & Ma Kent (See: Superman: Brainiac for the whole story).

As Clark Kent comes to grips with the death of his adopted Father, Superman must come to grips with the resurgence of Krypton...New Krypton.

Hawkman by Geoff Johns (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

Geoff Johns created another masterpiece with his run as writer of the Hawkman series. He penned the first three volumes of Hawkman, which after he left faltered, was re-titled Hawkgirl, then cancelled after sales dwindled even lower.....but I loved this series and what Johns did with it. Saturated with Egyptian myth & history, delving into past lives and an undying love between a man and a woman, this series delivered great stories, enough action to keep you interested, and a different twist on some of DC Comic's most historic characters.

"O.K." Superman..... (Review)

Citizen's Grade: O.K.

Let me start off by saying that the following Superman Graphic Novels are not bad! They are just not as "Impressive" as the others, so I've grouped them all together here....some of the artwork is stellar, the best being Talent Caldwell's in Superman: Godfall (it looks so much like Michael Turner's artwork, it's hard to tell the difference!). The best writing would be Brian Azzarello's in Superman: For Tomorrow.

Batman: Wrath (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Sucked.

This collection from the Batman Confidential series left me greatly disappointed. The story follows the Wrath; both the original and the "second", as they try to destroy Batman. The original Wrath; born out of the similar tragedy as Bruce Wayne, is the anti-Batman. Of course The Batman outwits his evil "twin", but his protege; the second Wrath, comes back years later to finish the job his mentor couldn't.

JLA: When Worlds Collide (Review)

Citizen's Grade: O.K.

This is the JLA tale introducing the Milestone Characters to the DC Universe. Written by Dwayne McDuffie (Milestone Editor-in-Chief) and art done by Ed Benes, Rags Morales and others.

Icon and the Shadow Cabinet break into the JLA headquarters to steal the essence of Dr. Light (the female version). A fight ensues between the JLA & Shadow Cabinet, then Hawkman shows up....a fight ensues between Hawkman, JLA & Shadow Cabinet against their own Shadows as Shadow Thief reveals himself. The Shadow Cabinet then escape, Dr. Light's powers are returned to her......and the JLA realizes they've been "had".