Naomi: Season Two #2 – Brian Michael Bendis/David F. Walker, Writers; Jamal Campbell, Artist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: After a very leisurely first issue, we get some serious plot development this month as Naomi finds out that much of what she knows about her friend Dee is a lie. Of course, to find that out, she’ll have to get past her father—and the Rannian refugee is more brittle and hostile than he usually is. The Justice League plays a particularly big role in this issue, first with an opening segment where Naomi gets her powers examined by them and asks some key questions, and then as Hawkgirl enters the fray to consult on a mysterious artifact that Naomi finds. This kicks off some major twists regarding the history of Thanagar. Bendis and Walker are plumbing some nasty history of both Thanagar and Rann, but soon we’ve moved on to Naomi blowing off some stress against villains. It all looks gorgeous, but the pacing can be odd at times. The ending seems to be setting us up for a tense return to Naomi’s homeworld, so the next four issues will likely have some major drama and action.
Green Lantern #12 – Geoffrey Thorne, Writer; Tom Raney, Marco Santucci, Artists; Michael Atiyeh, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The first year of Geoffrey Thorne’s radical reinvention of the Green Lantern mythos—complete with the destruction of much of the Corps—wraps up this issue as John Stewart returns from time and space with a massive power upgrade. But before he returns, he encounters an unexpected figure—the Source itself, taking human form and giving John an impossible choice. What John does massively resets the battlefield and unrings some of the bells rung earlier in the run, but the Lanterns are left weakened and renewed, with some characters taking on surprising new roles. Hal Jordan plays a bigger role here than he has in the run so far, but this is John Stewart’s story and the last few pages set up an intriguing new status quo for him. This series seems to be coming to a close for now, with an open-ended cliffhanger, but it’s going out with one of the strongest issues of the run.
Future State: Gotham #12 – Dennis Culver, Writer; Giannis Milonogiannis, Artist
Ray – 7.5/10
Ray: The end of the first year of this future-set thriller delivers some great action, as Hush makes his move over Gotham and Red Hood and the new Batman try to hold off the new Joker. In his final issue on the series, artist Milonogiannis has some fantastic double-page spreads, but the villains aren’t particularly strong—particularly the so-called Joker, whose role in the series seems to essentially be undercut completely by one of the cliffhangers. On the other hand, some of the subplots are particularly strong. Dick Grayson, still catatonic after seeking out Damian’s whereabouts last issues, awakens and makes a dramatic decision about how to proceed. Major players like Harley Quinn and Hush have their own agendas, and the Magistrate’s rule seems to be slowly collapsing. All that comes together to set up a chaotic but intriguing next chapter as Geoffo takes over as the artist with #13.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
