Green Lantern Corps #15
I am really enjoying the Sinestro War story line going on between Green Lantern and this book. It’s high octane action with some great character moments. This particular issue is basically the Battle of Helm’s Deep in space. The Sinestro Corps have come to the Green Lantern planet of Mogo, who is not only a source of great morale for the GL’s, but apparently is the being responsible for find new ring bearers when the old ones die. So, it’s pretty important to the GL’s to protect him, and it’s important for the SC to destroy him. This is big epic action though, planets literally collide. It’s also nice that you can read this and add another layer to the story going on in Green Lantern, or you can ignore it and not miss anything. As with the story, this is the way big event comics should be. Dave Gibbons handles the large cast well, as there are a ton of characters on each side, many of them with alien dialects, but it never gets confusing, and a special mention to the letterer Phil Balsman for making each characters word balloons distinctive. Patrick Gleason and Angel Unzueta split the pencil work and really bring a lot of intensity to the work. The action leaps off the page and in a story with this much going on, the story telling never makes it confusing. Get over your event fatigue and pick this book up. –4 out of 5

PULL LIST 8-22-07 Green Lantern Corps #15 The Order #2 Batman/Lobo #1 Green Arrow Year One #4 The Spirit #9 Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes #33

The Order #2
I’m beginning to feel that maybe Matt Fraction isn’t cut out for work at Marvel as I’ve been less than impressed with his work, but I like his independent stuff. There’s just no snap to the writing, and it comes off as kind of pedestrian. This issue has the Order fighting a team of old Russian super villains and it should be a fun fight, but it just kind of sits there for me. There’s some decent character moments but I’m just not feeling it. The art from Barry Kitson lifts the book though. His designs are nice and the story has a great flow to it. He also handles the character moments well. I’m still on the fence about the series though. –2 out of 5

Batman/Lobo #1
Sam Keith art is always something worth checking out and he is on fire here, drawing an action packed team up between Bats and the Main Man. His Lobo is especially well done, Keith has given him the proper size and added a bit of the grotesque to him. It’s a really cool looking visual. The story is fairly immaterial, with a sci-fi story of Batman being teleported to a spaceship that is under attack by a body-snatching entity who takes over women and then runs amuck. Lobo is there on a separate bounty and teams up with Batman in order to finish his job. It’s fun, it’s got chase scenes and fight scenes and it doesn’t take itself seriously. I just had a good time with it. –3 out of 5

Green Arrow Year 1 #4
Maybe six issues are too much for this story? The good thing about classic origin stories is that they set up the character quickly, gave all the information that was needed, and got the character into regular adventures in a small amount of pages. Taking the original stories and spreading them out over this many pages just cause the story to meander and slow down. It’s just a pacing thing. At least it looks pretty though. Jock still handles the art well, getting some action scenes to draw, and then showing Green Arrow as he goes through withdrawal (surely a new aspect of the origin). That’s the big plot point of this issue. Oliver Queen is still stuck on an island being used to grow opium. Having broken his leg last issue, an inhabitant of the island nurses Ollie back to health, but uses the opium to dull his pain. This is fine till he gets addicted. Writer Andy Diggle writes these scenes fine, they just seem unnecessary to the larger story. But the action’s fun and if you’re a fan of Green Arrow, this is a decent enough retake on his origin. –3 out of 5

The Spirit #9
Oh, Darwyn Cooke, why do you have to leave this series? Each issue of this series is just so incredibly done; it gets hard to find new superlatives for each issue. This issue uses a different tone from the rest of the issues, as it’s a bit of a horror tale dealing with a zombie that has come back to haunt The Spirit. One of the most amazing things about this series has been the issues that focus on a supporting character with out The Spirit really being in the story. This one focuses on Ebony Black as he tries to find The Spirit, who has been kidnapped. Cooke shifts the focus several times from Ebony, to the stories villain, El Morte, to the villains’ mother and brother, and then back to Ebony. The art is great. That’s all I can really say about it. It’s sad to see Cooke leave so early though, when it seems he has a long term story planned. –4 out of 5

Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes #33
I’ve been a big fan of this series since Mark Waid and Barry Kitson relaunched it a few years back, and I’ve definitely missed their talent leaving the book. The fill-in team of Tony Bedard and Dennis Calero has done competent but not spectacular work, and this issue is a bit of an improvement. The team of Sun Boy, Star Boy and Mekt Ranz continue to investigate and run afoul of some cultist and some surprises are revealed and somebody gets arrested. The story is a good mix of sci-fi futurism and old fashioned superhero stuff and has some darkness to it, but it doesn’t get bogged down in angst. The art is not really my cup of tea; it relies too much on shadow and just looks a bit sloppy. Characters have some weird things going on with their faces. I’m just not a fan. Still, the story is enjoyable and there’s some decent mystery still playing out. –2 out of 5