Gotham Central is the mag dealing with Gotham PD's detective sqaud. Noir crime drama in comic book form at its best. Oh, & very, very limited Batman.

Looks like JWP is going for the "Groucho of comic book threads" title.

I was in Chicago over the weekend, made my usual comic shop stop (Chicago Comics) and picked up a few things I might not of otherwise.

I saw Kirkman's name on the cover and picked up Battle Pope. I know this is a reprint series, but will it continue beyond the original run? Or is it done afterwards?

Whoops, did I forget my smilie? hahaha

Maybe it's because we all drool over Gotham Central's greatness.

I can't wait for the spinoff coming this fall...Gotham Central: Special Victims Unit.

If it's by the same creative team, that's one spinoff I wouldn't mind.

I almost wish GC wasn't in the DC world. I mean, it's such a great detective drama. I think too many people aren't reading it for the wrong reasons: lots of folks won't read it because they fear superheroes will be in it all the time, and lots of folks won't read it because they fear there won't be enough.

Hooray! That's where I shop!

Wait, the "ultimate" edition they released earlier wasn't even in color? Why not? That makes no sense to me, regardless of the cool extras they packed in...

I collected the original Earth X run, mainly because I liked John Paul Leon from his run in DC's Milestone line. Couldn't keep track of all the special issues and the sequels and whatnot, though.

And why was Shrinking Violet not in the Great Darkness Saga? She clearly appears in several panels... Because at the time she was held captive and being impersonated by a double.

This week's comics...urg...

JLA # 116:

For one an enticing cover doesn't lie. In fact, there's very little that this comic leaves to the imagination, and at the same time, there are so many unanswered questions that probably won't be answered sufficiently given that they haven't had any time to really build up the suspense. It'll be a case of revelations that don't matter because we didn't see unexplainable events for a while now. And even if they somehow "reveal" what's been going on, it's either going to be events that we didn't even see or something so minute and petty yet inflated in importance that either way, it's going to be tough to care.

Geoff Johns likes to recycle storylines, especially his own. He does the same thing here, with almost atrocious results. Silver Age villains teaming up against the hero(es) and making their life hell. It's a bit anti-climatic then to see them suddenly run away and even be thwarted so easily. If they could take down those powerhouses so easily before, why can't they do it again? and if it's the old "we have not yet begun to fight!" then why bother tip your hand and give your enemy the chance to prepare and possibly counterstrike?

Another thing i'm tired of (and that seems really out of the writing style of Johns) is the Just-us League of Super-jerks. They can't even have more than one meeting together before someone has to throw a punch. And i'm really tired of that person being Batman. And i'm also getting really really REALLY REALLY REALLLLLLY tired of "John the invisible man" routine. One minute, everyone seems to bow to his power and experience, the next, they brush him off like he's a nobody. He's the first, the best, and probably one of the most underrated and improperly used characters in comicdom.

This is probably the worst Justice League story ever written.

Good thing you said "probably", since everyone knows that honour belongs to the Busiek story that mercifully ended a couple of issues ago..

Also, i'm enjoying this story.

Also gotta admit Zombie King's first couple of pages caught me offguard..

It's amazing how easily the big city shops can put mine to shame.

Fixed.

Yeah, that was a good concept that was poorly executed. The current story is bad on both counts. It's a bad story and it's being executed horrifically.

I'll say. I was laughing throughout most of those first few pages. Of course, the novelty wore off a bit and the story felt...I'm not sure what it felt like. It seems Cho hasn't completely mastered the ebb and flow of comics writing. He's still a strip writer.

So what'd you guys think of the new Miller/Lee Batman?

It's only the first issue, but so far, I thought it was just... meh.

The art was nice - Jim Lee is nothing if not consistant. But the writing felt more like someone trying to mimic Miller instead of Miller himself - and what was the deal with the gratuitous Vickie Vale cheese-cake shots?

Haven't sat down to read it yet, but this is the first thing that...ahem..."stood out" as I was thumbing through.

Might want to spoilerize, but (warning, rant follows)

Does anyboy read any of the Burleyman comics? One of the other ones I picked up in Chicago was Shaolin Cowboy #2. I'm not sold on the storylines yet, but the art is just incredible. The scale feels like the "widescreen" effect given by Hitch in Ultimates.

I certainly wasn't blown away by the All Star issue. I'm not even sure I liked the art that much. But the story seemed to watered down to be called adult literature, and too gruesome for little tykes. Who's the audience here?

Yeah I'm pretty much with you on this one. Actually it was a bit of a weird read in places. But it was a first issue so I'll wait and see what happens next.

I really dug Ultimate Fantastic Four 21. Greg Lands artwork is not my cup of tea (way too static), but the story was interesting. The cliff hanger appealed to me bunches - something I'm sure GiantRobo would identify with if he reads it. Speaking of the FF I finally got around to reading JMS's first two issues and I'm really digging his take on the team and especially Reed. I don't buy that Reed never thought about the question posed in the issues, but whatever - it's still good stuff.

Batman 642 was a waste. Not terrible (I'm one of the few here who's actually into the red hood story it seems) but they totally dropped the ongoing story for this issue which was a let down for me.

Haven't read JLA 116 yet but you all don't make me look forward to it.

The best part of All-Star Batman was . I was on the floor.

It wasn't a great first issue, but like someone else said, it's a bit too ambivalent. The next issue is due in September so this issue should have done more to blow audiences away and entice us to come back. Hype usually only holds out for so long and without solid storytelling this series might tank.

I'm looking forward to All-Star Superman. I think I might be one of the few people on this planet who actually likes Frank Quitely. His artwork is extremely clean, consistent, and best of all, expressive. He's not as good with facial expressions as Maguire but his body language is always spot-on. His characters never look posed. The writing's by Morrison so of course it's going to have some weird sci-fi bent as well as some great conceptual re-imaginings of Superman's powers/persona. Given that it takes place in it's own little bubble he might actually be able to write a decent story.

i just go one of the weekly mile high emails and he had some con pics up. i thought this was pretty cool.

Only if it screams "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

I agree on the "m'eh". But, it seems pretty rare that the retelling of an origin story ever is all that interesting (excepting Miller's own "Year One", of course).