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And heeeeeere we go.

Superman #688 - Mon-El continues to fill in for the absent Superman as Metropolis's appointed guardian. This is my second favorite thread moving through the Superman books right now (World of New Krypton being the first) but this issue felt a little flat to me. Mon-El briefly loses his powers, but then he gets them back, then he finds out he may still be dying? Everything, including the layouts, felt a bit clunky. Still, the New Krypton/World Without Superman stuff is compelling each month, so it's worth reading if you've been enjoying everything so far.

Green Lantern #41 - With each new issue of Green Lantern you can feel the tension building. Issue #41 is no different. The war with Larfleeze escalates and you really get the feeling that maybe some of these Green Lanterns aren't going to get out of this battle alive. The bulk of the issue is Hal vs. Larfleeze in what is as much a screaming match as an actual battle of the light and the cliffhanger Johns gives you at the end is actually pretty chilling. My only issue with this book right now is the art, which I don't think stands out, especially as compared to Ivan Reis's work on the series. But more importantly it's the colors that really bother me. I'm no color theorist, so maybe those of you out there who are can correct me if I'm wrong, but I really feel like none of the color here pops. And on a book where color is the driving force of the story, it should. That being said, it was still one of the best books of the week.

Ghost Rider #35 - If you're a fan of Tony Moore (and you should be) then you'll adore this issue of Ghost Rider. Moore gets to go crazy in almost every panel, drawing increasingly wild and disturbing images as the Skinbender blows through town. But that's about all that you get from this issue. I'm a big fan of Aaron's run on Ghost Rider, but there's just not a lot going on in this particular issue. It's important to the story because, by the end of the issue, Johnny Blaze has found the spirit of vengeance inside of himself and let the Ghost Rider out. That being said, you'd feel like a total heel if you missed the awesomeness that is Tony Moore on this issue. Grab it!

Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive - Unnecessarily "sexy" Vicki Vale imagery? Check. Tim Drake acting like a spoiled mysoginist and treating Stephanie Brown like crap? Check. An obvious set-up for other storylines we'll see in future Batman books this Summer? Check. Nothing actually happening? Check. Yeah, this definitely feels like a Battle for the Cowl tie-in. Skip it.

Batman in Barcelona: Dragon's Knight - This was the best book of my week. I picked it up not really knowing what to expect and I was very pleasantly surprised. Diego Ramos's art on the book is not his best work, but it's good enough not to take the reader out of the story. And that's a good thing, considering Mark Waid has created one heck of a neat little Batman story here. Taking place outside of the current BFtC timeline, this book sets Batman in Barcelona, re-telling the tale of St. George vs. the Dragon with Killer Croc standing in for said beastie. This is maybe the closest a Batman comic has ever come to capturing the mood of the newest Batman films, specifically the Dark Knight. You could easily see Dragon's Knight taking place sometime in between Batman Begins and the Dark Knight. There's just so many neat little additions to the Batman universe here as well, specifically the realization that Bruce Wayne keeps underground "Bat-caves" in major cities all across the world. Why does he do that? Well, it's not easy slipping all that Bat-gear through customs these days. At another point in the book, Batman is pursuing Croc through the streets of Barcelona and the people are as frightened of him as they are of Croc. "...I'm not in Gotham." Maybe in Gotham City they know and trust the Batman, but there's no reason for the people in Barcelona to necessarily. It's little things like this that make Dragon's Knight a very enjoyable Batman story. Definitely pick this one up.

That's all for that. Here's my pull list for this week:

Batman & Robin #1
Scalped #29
Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye #3
Superman: World of New Krypton #4
Irredeemable #3

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