Infinity and beyond

52 #21 Written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid; Breakdowns by Keith Giffen; Art by various

Nothing much happens in week 21 but it does tell a good story. Infinity, Inc. is resurrected care of LexCorp., and the kids are likeable enough, ambitious enough, desperate enough, but not good enough to be heroes. A pre-OYL Teen Titans line-up also makes an appearance, and it's great to see a totally new dynamic, or the lack of it. The imperfect groups always make the more interesting read, and I want to see more of BB and Raven trying to get the Titans together, and the comings and goings of members. I want to see what made BB give up on the Titans. So, a good issue? Yes. But. It doesn't really move the 52 story forward. But still. Also, it looks like the Metal Men will be in the next ish, so there's still plenty to be happy about. ****

TEEN TITANS #39
Written by Geoff Johns; Art by Tony Daniel and Kevin Conrad
Part Two of Titans Around the World and we get to meet three ex-Titans: Zatarra, Miss Martian (who's like Miss Marvel, only green, or not) and a girly Captain Atom whose name escapes me right now but is downright annoying. The search for Raven is muddled, lost in transition, and much of the clues are frustrating to read or figure out. The banter is still quick and funny (Zatarra to Robin: You must be Wondergirl) but there's really nothing much happening except for that great reveal in the last frame. But I still like the way it's written, the realness of the dialogues (and the art's back to its original greatness). Out of all the books I'm reading, I'm closest to this title because by now the Titans have become real people to me (Man, I wish the boyfriend will never get a chance to read this or there goes my sex life). And playing catch-up is always fun, is always like that once a month drink at a bar with old friends. ***

SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #22
Written by Mark Waid and Tony Bedard; Art by Barry Kitson, Adam DeKraker and Mick Gray

How do you follow-up an almost great issue on Braniac losing his mind? You don't. This is all about flirting and dating, all about the boys loving Supergirl and the girls hating Supergirl, and the shortness of her skirt. Loved how Invisible Kid (?) explains to Cosmic Boy (with charts and tables) how its all about physics (the palpitation, the dizzyness) between Cos and Kara. Because Invisible Kid wants her for himself --- in which we get to see the Kara shrine and the freak factor goes a notch up. The kid's acting out of character and maybe it IS all about Kara. In fact, everyone has been a little different since Supergirl joined the team. Evil clone, anyone? I've been reading both Supergirl titles, and Kara's really messed up, and with the LSH, she's just too...cute. Hope there's an actual story in the next issue. **

SUPERGIRL #10
Written by Joe Kelly;
Art by Ian Churchill and Norm Rapmund

This is a curious creature, this book. It took me awhile before I finally picked it up, and I'm not at all regretting that I did. It's so fucked up that it's turning out to be good. After that strange Kandor arc (which hinted at lesbian and incestous sex in one issue), things are sort of back to normal for Kara. Normal being haunted by freaky flash backs on her last days in Argo while trying to fit in. It's Carrie meets Buffy, psycho instinct meets hero instict. Lots of moments to love here: that bit of girl talk between Cassie and Kara while Cassie's fighting a french-speaking gorilla grodd, Kara and Boomer hanging out, and THAT Carrie prom-night flash back, goosebumps over goosebumps. When Jeph Loeb brought Supergirl back to the DC universe, he made it a point to giver her an entirely different history from her previous incarnations. This Kara was sent to Earth to kill Kal-El, and has been brought up as an assassin (I'm assuming from the flash backs), which has made her monumentally mental. Can't wait to find out how she'll do Nightwing. Heh. ****