Alright, catchup review set #2 comin' at ya. This week you get four comics out of a very good week, two of which are only a combined three issues into their respective runs, and another that recently changed its' name following the "One Year Later" jump. Now, let's get to it!

Previous Reviews:

Infinite Crisis #6 (of 7): 10/10
The OMAC Project Infinite Crisis Special: 8/10
Detective Comics #818: 9/10
Teen Titans #34: 8/10
Superman #651: 8/10
Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Blüdhaven #1 (of 6): 7/10
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #24: 7/10
Nightwing #119: 5/10
Justice #5 (of 12): 10/10
JSA Classified #11: 7/10
Manhunter #21: 8/10
Birds of Prey #93: 7/10

***

Villains United Infinite Crisis Special
"A Hero Dies But One"
Writer: Gail Simone
Penciller: Dale Eaglesham

Plot: War! The villainous Society, secretly led by Alex Luthor of Earth-3, has launched an all-out assault upon the superhero community, first ensuring the white hats are distracted by prison breaks at five major metahuman prisons, then by releasing ALL prisoners all over the world. The Society then marches into Metropolis in a massive show of force, led by the being that killed Superman--Doomsday!

Review: Wow. This was a very, very loaded 48 page special, and could have been even longer if DC had wanted it. Of course, for $4.99, folks who picked this up still got a lot of comic for their buck. I mean, any comic where you've got Oracle rallying the good guys all around the globe, a Luthor manipulating things from behind the scenes, and Martian Manhunter playing a pivotal role is gonna be--wait, that sounds a lot like the JLA World War III storyline...

Oh well, this is still a really good read. Simone and Eaglesham continued their quality work from their Countdown miniseries and led into Infinite Crisis #7 with a high note, though we saw less of the anti-hero supergroup, the Secret Six, here than I'm sure most people would've liked. Deadshot, Catman, Scandal, and Ragdoll are all that remain of the original Six, since Parademon was killed in the last issue of the mini, and Chesire was left for dead by the Society, who she'd been working as a spy for. Joining them is Scandal's lover, Knockout, and they get very little screentime here, but they do play an important role and help out the heroes--admittedly because Catman owes Green Arrow a favor, but Catman's status as a "villain" has been pretty ambiguous since the original miniseries--and they have some fun interplay with the Scarecrow and Amos Fortune, who ends up on the wrong side of Knockout's anger.

It's a small world: The one flaw of this book was that the actual battle in Metropolis wasn't covered in detail; when it came out, folks of course assumed it would be detailed heavily in IC #7, but the battle was only very briefly covered in a two-page splash at the beginning, and over the course of a few panels. It would've been cool to see a little more of the fight in this issue.

Reviewer's Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

***

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #17
Writer: Mark Waid
Penciller: Barry Kitson

Plot: Supergirl, the Legion and the Science Police stop a cybernetic terrorist from being "reincarnated." Several members of the Legion become aggitated that Supergirl is still under the impression that she is "dreaming" their adventures, while Cosmic Boy gives a little lesson on Supergirl's actual history. And a group of unknown aliens are making plans to take down the Legion... and could Supergirl be part of those plans?

Review: I'm very new to the Legion of Super-Heroes; I know there have been a ton of different versions of the Legion, from the classic pre-Crisis Legion with Superboy and Supergirl to the post-Crisis Legionnaires and now Waid and Kitson's rebooted Legion. I have no aspirations to learn everything there is to know about the different histories out there, because I think my head would probably explode. But I did read the first trade paperback of the current Waid reboot, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. So when Supergirl was set to join the Legion following the OYL jump, I knew I was ready to hop on board. Well, it's safe to say that I'm totally and thoroughly confused still! Not surprising, I suppose, since I've only read the first trade and the first two issues of the Legion since Supergirl was added to the name, but I'm still a little bit lost. I'm sure once I catch up on the story when the second trade comes out, everything will become a little clearer. But in addition to that, the whole "Supergirl dreaming up the Legion" thing is an interesting way to take the story. Waid's got a lot of fun things in this story that make you question whether or not the Legion is real or whether they're a figment of Supergirl's overactive, dreaming immagination. In any case, I'm in for this first arc, at least, and I really enjoyed this issue.

Reviewer's Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

***

Blue Beetle #2
"Can't Go Home Again"
Writers: Keith Giffen and John Rogers
Penciller: Cully Hamner

Plot: Jaime makes his way home from the desert after his tussle with Guy Gardner, and is helped along by a friendly stranger. In flashbacks, we see Jaime encountering a metahuman gang in El Paso, who are the first folks to get a taste of what the new Blue Beetle can do. In the present, Jaime sneaks home to find that he's been gone a little longer than he'd thought.

Review: I love this book. Two issues in, and I just love this book. The characters, the story, the setting, the art; Giffen, Rogers and Hamner are great so far. I say this despite the fact that there's a lot we don't know yet about what's going on. For instance, in Infinite Crisis Jaime seemed to be in some kind of control over what he was doing; the Blue Beetle scarab, in this issue, seems to be controlling most of his actions. Another question is the timeline: when does Jaime find out he's the Blue Beetle, after he fights off the Posse in this issue, or when Booster activates the scarab in the Batcave in IC #5?

Despite that, I'm really, really enjoying what this series is doing so far. The young characters could easily be caricatures of teenagers, but their actions and their speech remind me of things my friends and I would say and do in high school. Same with Jaime's family; they're not some stereotype that's not important to the story. Far from it, they're integral to Jaime's world and his life, and he values them and loves them, as they do him. It's going to be very interesting to see how the revelation at the end of this issue will affect his relationships and his character.

Reviewer's Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

***

Checkmate #1
"The Game of Kings Part 1
Writer: Greg Rucka
Penciller: Jesus Saiz

Plot: While the White King and Queen of Checkmate argue for the reconstitution of Checkmate as an agency fully funded and supported by the United Nations, Black Queen Sasha Bordeaux, Black King's Knight Beatriz daCosta (Fire), and Black Queen's Knight Jonah McCarthy infiltrate a KOBRA base to discover which UN nation is funding the terrorist group and trying to dismantle Checkmate.

Review: First issue, first review, and what a way to go. I've been a Rucka honk since I started reading comics, so it's really no surprise that I'm going to give this issue a very good rating. But beyond all that, this is a great introductory piece. Without requiring you to have an intricate knowledge of the DCU, this issue lays out the players (Checkmate, Kobra, the UN, and the major characters in each group) and sets the board, so to speak. Checkmate's being set up for a fall, and it's up to them to reveal who's behind the power play before they're shut down permanently. Of course there are questions to be asked, being a spy story there is plenty of mystery abounding. But it's a fun set of mysteries that are set up here, and it's all put together by Rucka, whose Queen and Country spy series has earned him rave reviews in the past and who's hitting the mark on this title so far as well.

The Man Behind the Curtain: I have a feeling that the Chinese government may ban this issue from selling in their country, but having a member of the UN Security Council funding a terror group is certainly an interesting twist, and being a fan of political drama, setting the White pieces of Checkmate against these folks is certainly going to be a fun ride. Also, points to Jesus Saiz, whose artwork continues to rock in this title after doing a great job in The OMAC Project, also written by Rucka.

Reviewer's Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

***

Like I said, this was a very good week for comics. But it still might not match what came out this actual current week as of my posting this. Infinite Crisis, Action Comics, Detective Comics, Teen Titans, JSA, Supergirl... lots, lots, lots, LOTS of fun stuff. Coming up in my next blog (for the week of May 3), I'll be reviewing Infinite Crisis #7, Action Comics #838, Outsiders #36, and Supergirl #6. Look for that tomorrow!

Until then, live long and may the Force be with you!

~JTS