Titans #22 – John Layman, Writer; Daniel Bayliss, Artist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: It’s been a while since Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, but Deathstroke is finally back – and this issue finally reveals the identity of his torturer and captor. It’d Terra, but she wasn’t torturing him just for sport. She was weaning him off the painkillers to get him back into form to use him as a weapon – because she wanted to escape Amanda Waller’s clutches. But she’s gone now, off to greener pastures, and he’s back to stalking the Titans. Along with Clock King, Psycho Pirate, Mammoth, and Killer Frost, they’ve been targeting the Titans for weeks – including now unleashing Volcano Man on the city. The visuals of this fight are great, but there’s darker undercurrents to this story. Deathstroke has hurt the Titans in ways no other villain has – and that’s led Beast Boy to ask if it’s time for a more permanent solution. Solid issue, but one that feels like it’s treading on well-trod ground.
Catwoman #75 – Torunn Gronbekk, Writer; Patricio Delpeche, Artist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The story of Evie has been shrouded in mystery for a while, as Catwoman’s strange alter ego seems to have an odd number of friends and enemies. This issue, with brilliant guest art by Patricio Delpeche, takes us back to the past life and shows how she got them – on a caper in St. Tropez. This issue feels much more like a spy thriller than any other book in the DC stable, even more than the run has so far. There are no costumes, no Bat-characters, just a complex heist that even the safecrackers of Ocean’s 11 would cringe at. It does a good job of illustrating just how much goes into a heist, and how anything can throw it off at any moment and put everyone in danger. The characters are mostly thin except for Selina, but there’s a great sense of tension that bursts wide open in the final act and leaves us with a brutal cliffhanger. It’ll be interesting to see how these elements come back to haunt Selina now.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
