No spoilers, no spoilers, no spoilers... ok, maybe a little bit of spoilers.
In today's column I'll be reviewing: Akiko #38, Batman: The Gotham Adventures #24, Green Lantern #124, JLA #40, Martian Manhunter #18, and Previews Vol X #3
Akiko #38
The conclusion to the Moonshopping story brought a couple of surprises for me, and made the all the previous issues worth the effort. As usual, the package as a whole is worth it, and it's such a great book to buy for kids that people shouldn't miss it. (A color version of Akiko on the Planet Smoo also came out this week, and was pretty neat).
RAPID VERDICT: Check it out.
Batman: The Gotham Adventures #24
The art was a little confusing early on, and the motive of the villain doesn't make much sense to me, but it was an interesting story. There was a laugh-out-loud bit with a secondary villain.
RAPID VERDICT: About average.
Green Lantern #124
A rather pathetic ending to a promising arc. True, Kyle is finally showing some intelligence and strength, but he still acts like an over-hormoned twenty-something with no life. The ending is promising, but any promises are quickly shot down by the last letter in the letter column and its very depressing response. Yuck.
RAPID VERDICT: Don't bother.
JLA #40
I wish this didn't come out monthly. In one large chunk, maybe once every six months, Morrison's JLA would be readable. As it is, it's just another massive chunk of mess with a bright spot or two. No Aquaman, so reading this was completely pointless for me.
RAPID VERDICT: Bleah. Wait until it's collected.
Martian Manhunter #18
I collect the JSA, so the characters are familiar. However, they seem more real in this story than in their own book. While I'm sure people will complain about them being out of character, I think they worked well, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this story turns out.
RAPID VERDICT: Decent.
Previews Vol X #3
Last month I had a lot of hard decisions to make, and ended up spending about 25% over my budget, which was not good. This month is going to be more of the same, mostly due to two very important trade paperbacks that I intend to buy, mostly to support the artists, but also because the books are really, really good.
The first is Clan Apis. As soon as I got Previews in the store, I opened to the page with this on it, called my store owner over, and told her that she had to buy at least one shelf copy of it. She read the preview, was impressed, and said she would. Mission accomplished! Two copies for my store at the minimum!
The second is Castle Waiting. I don't know if there will be any extra material in it, but I want to support Linda Medley and make sure the new series comes out, so I'm buying a copy. My shop owner can't keep Castle Waiting in stock, so there will no doubt be more than two copies at my store in May.
I'll get my usual order of Usagi Yojimbo, Xena, Batman: The Gotham Adventures, Batman Beyond, Birds of Prey, Supergirl, Superman Adventures, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Hourman, JLA, JSA, Martian Manhunter, The Titans, Young Justice, Rising Stars, Avengers, and Thieves & Kings. This is my pull list.
The Silver Age crossover looks good in some ways, horrible in others. I'll probably get some of it. Superman and Bugs Bunny is a must. If Racer X is half as good as the Speed Racer series that came out recently, it'll be worth it. Batman Chronicles #21 is an anthology of Elseworld tales, it's on my list. Nightwing is a true crossover with Birds of Prey, I'm grumbling, but I'll probably get it (my husband is thinking about picking up Nightwing anyway).
Other books I'm thinking about: Powers #2 and Shock Rockets #2 - I ordered #1 for these, probably will get the second issue. Empire #1 - I'm not sure about this one... There's also some reprints of early Phantom strips that I'm somewhat interested in...
RAPID VERDICT: Another big month. Ug.
I'm looking forward to next week's selection (depending on what actually ships): The Ring, Superman Adventures, and Hourman. Wow, small week coming up.