I thought of picking up the Puppet!Angel cover. . . maybe I will if there are any left next time I'm at the comic shop. . .

Okay, anyone else who's read the TT/Outsiders crossover, which concluded in today's Outsiders (#25) am I seeing things, or -- did the artist forget that Tim's arm was broken? Because the 4 issues (TT #24, Outsiders #24, TT #25, and Outsiders #25) don't have any lag-time between them, so -- whither Timmy's cast?

I picked up Outsiders #25 (obviously), WW #217, Batman #640, OMAC #3, and Batgirl #65.

With the exception of Batgirl, I can see how all the different titles are trying really hard to get their timelines closer together. Like, in Outsiders, Dick leaving at the end of it (though he's not on crutches, but whatever, right now I'm only trying to make sense of time continuity, not injury continuity) paves the way for his Goodfellas schtick in Nightwing (even though that started a few titles ago -- so I'm assuming that TT and Outsiders are a few issues behind Nightwing, although -- I guess -- TT and Outsiders must be *ahead* of Robin, because Tim doesn't have a broken arm in his own title -- arrrrrrrrgh! head hurty!!!).

Batgirl isn't ignoring time continuity; I just think that right now it has the least potential for continuity fuckups, since she pretty much sticks to her own title, with occasional guest appearances in other Bat-titles.

And speaking of Batgirl, I am really loving it right now -- not so much for the current storyline, but just because I *love* Gabrych's worldbuilding in Bludhaven. I know, you're going to say, there was no "worldbuilding" required, since the 'Haven had already been established in Nightwing. But the Bludhaven we see through Cass's eyes is different from the one we saw in Nightwing. Not radically different; Bludhaven is still a cesspool -- I just mean little details like the coffee shop (and the owner, who I swear has a crush on Cass, and I say hell yeah to the hot Batgirl/coffee girl action), and the neighborhood she lives in. It's just enough detail to make Bludhaven *matter* to the reader, without slowing down the A-plot.

Winick wrote Batman and Outsiders, and while I like his grasp of character continuity (more or less), he's a little melodramatic of a writer, isn't he? Dude, CHILL.

And rounding out today's purchases was Rucka on OMAC and Wonder Woman. I thought that WW was a little predictable in some places (I could see Wonder Woman's choice of "reward" coming about 3 issues ago, along with the bonus!eyesight -- cancel the trip to Lourdes, I guess), but not in others (I didn't expect Cassie's father to be Zeus; I really thought it was Ares -- and poor Ferdinand!). On the whole, though, I liked it.

OMAC is kicking ass and getting even creepier. I can't quite suss out what happened at the end (I mean, I know *what* happened, on the page; I just don't know *how* it could have happened, how it could have been set up and then carried out). Oh, and, can I just say -- SupEs & bATs 4EVah!!1! OTP!!! All that was missing was Superman giving mouth-to-mouth to Batman. The art in OMAC was a little weird though -- it almost seemed like it switched artists halfway through, particularly on Superman.

RE: Steph's comment on WW (which I haven't read). I learned way back during 10th grade for a Trivia Bowl we did, whenever the Greek gods are involved and you have doubts as to someone's parentage , always bet on Zeus.

Heh. You're not kidding. I still crack up at the Disney Encyclopedia's family tree of the Greek Gods, where Zeus' entry looks like a spirograph design with dozens of lines radiating from a central blob .

(and the owner, who I swear has a crush on Cass, and I say hell yeah to the hot Batgirl/coffee girl action)

Heh. The coffee girl is hot, dude.

The art in OMAC was a little weird though -- it almost seemed like it switched artists halfway through, particularly on Superman.

It did. If you look at the credits, you can see that Saiz pencilled pages 1-14, and Cliff Richards and someobody else were credited with the remaining pages. If you recall, Cliff Richards pencilled quite a few of the Buffy comics. I think his art has improved, but he still has a problem with getting detail on faces for panels less than a quarter-page. At least none of the characters looked like a mole.

Now that I *finally* got my comics...

This week, the sparkly pink hearts go around the words Batman and Batgirl.

I've really been digging the main Bat title, because it's been reminding me that Winick can, when he chooses, be a FUN writer. He's got a good hand with dialogue, and his Jason is, frankly, charming. (And probably right about Gotham.) I'd been a little worried that Winick, who is on record as voting for Jason to live back in the infamous day, would be basically writing Jason Sue (based on interviews where he basically said what direction he wanted Jason to go in for this), but the character is fleshed out, and more importantly, stays fairly true to post-Crisis pre-Death Jason, both in his original incarnation and in the way he's been show in flashback tales. Also, I'm madly in love with Onyx.

Which leads me to... Batgirl. If Shiva is her mother, this thread totally called it. I'd Nilly the link, but I'm too busy giggling. I adore the completely fucked yet oddly loving relationship that Cass has with Cain, and the final panel with the note and the damaged flower was perfect. And? More Onyx!

Batman Allies SFO had what I think is the most perfect picture of Montoya ever. I'm not whitefonting that, because it's not a spoiler.

Flash: always nice to see Bart, but other than that, this wasn't as exciting an entry as last issue.

Outsiders: the end of the crossover arc was predictable, but I liked the teamwork between characters who haven't had as much play lately, like Anissa and Jade. Winick is managing to make me actually like Starfire, which is a blessing. I still have my extratextual issues with her, but she's feeling more human (you know what I mean) here than I've seen her elsewhere. The anvils were a touch heavy, but Shift having to kill Indy still managed to hurt. Not quite heavy enough to make me feel dirty, but close. I miss the sense of fun (see above re: Batman). I'm having Buffy S6 feelings about the title at the moment, mixed emotions about grim for grim's sake and nothing much to lighten it. The grim hits harder if there's a little light.

There were more books, but Steph already covered WW, GL was okay, but still exposition central, and I haven't read Planetary yet.

Oh, and OMAC, I like.

I think I should see if Batman Allies:SFO is still available.

Some brief comments on this week's pull list (in the order I have read them):

Angel: The Curse #1 - I didn't get the Angel puppet cover, dammit. It was good to get a new Angel story, but man, this issue was almost all exposition. I found the art a bit stiff, although there were a couple of panels I liked. I think things will liven up in the next issue. I'll have more to say about this issue later.

The Omac Project #3 - I LOVED this issue. The naysayers who are down on the DC "event" are missing out, IMHO. The part where Superman saved Bats was perfect. Good character moments (it figures that Rucka could give Booster depth). I do think the final bit is kind of WTF?, but I don't think I am anticipating another book more than this one at this time.

Wonder Woman #217 - I found this issue predicatble but enjoyable (I think most dealings with the Greek gods are going to be fairly predictable, and it was obvious that Diana was going to get her eyesight back (hell, she has it back throughout OMAC) , but I still liked the story. Between this and OMAC, though, it appears that Diana is in for a rough time. I found it funny that some of the end pages of the DC books were touting WW #218 for this week's hot books.

The Outsiders #25 - As Plei commented, a bit predictable. Also, Luthor never learns, does he? I did think there were some good artistic flourishes, esp. regarding camera angles and Indigo's face. I do think that Nightwing is kidding himself if he thinks anything he does can just be "business". He gets emotionally involved in everything he does. I agree with many commentators that it makes absolutely no sense to indicate on the cover that the issue crosses over with Teen Titans. It also seems to me that the Donna Troy piece is just being shoehorned in, rather than flowing naturally.

Batman # 641 - Count me as another big fan. Excellent pacing, some pretty snazzy art (I would kill for the original of the full page shot of Bats standing in the rain), and even though it may be melodramatic, I think it is called for here, especially considering how important Winick feels the storyline is.

Flash #223 - Suffers from mid-arc-itis. A lot of fighting, a lot of charcters to keep track of, and a set up at the end for finale of the Rogue War (which I'm sure is going to take another 2 issues), but not much progress in this issue itself.

Batgirl # 65 - Another top-notch issue by Gabrych. I am puzzled by the comment that Batman had that Cassandra would be about the same age as Jason but maybe I am mis-interepreting the scene. This book is not getting enough publicity.

Runaways #5 - The most FUN issue of the week. I really hope readership goes up on this title, because it is massively enjoyable.

Young Avengers #5 - All-fight issue. A minor setback in what is another fun title, much more enjoyable than I had expected.

Green Lantern #2 - Another Geoff Johns all set-up issue, but fortunately, the arc is only a three-issue one. Pretty artwork. I do like the creepy, empty Coast City location.

JLA Classified #9 - This "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League" run has been wholly weird - the comedy routine is just vitiated by the events of Identity Crisis, Countdown to Infinite Crisis, and The OMAC Project. Still, this run was enjoyable on its own terms (G'nort-zilla!), and managed to deepen characterization of Guy and Booster. Ironinc ending.

Still to come - Batman Secret Files - I did get to the Montoya story, and liked it; Solo #5 (Darwyn Cooke! Slam Bradley story!), Planetary #23, The Losers #25, Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight #3.