The Doomino Effect for the week of Mar 1, 2007

Hey everybody, it’s time for that little weekly event of falling over with your friends to make a beautiful picture from up above that we call The Doomino Effect!

Starting off this week is 52 #43. I’m pleased that each week has an actual big event, but I’m sick of them spoiling it on the cover! I’m also glad that Sobek’s heel turn is in full effect, but I’ll leave the rest of this issue to Doom DeLuise…remember the weekly 52 review…

And speaking of remembering 52, that leads me to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #27. The issue opens with a Dominator declaring in a big splash page “Remember the fifffdee-tu.” All kinds of craziness is going down as the Dominators have infected all of Earth’s technology with an AI virus. People are getting killed left and right, including members of the Legion apparently. It’s like Maximum Overdrive, except kind of heavy and intense, as the Legion are struggling to make contact with another planet for some backup without the help of computers or machinery. They can’t even use their flight rings! To show you what kind of stuff they’re dealing with, Invisible Kid attempts to use his Legion ring, and upon activating it, it immediately contracts the Dominators’ AI virus and fights back at him, ripping off his own arm! I don’t know if he bites it or if he survives, because plenty of other good guys get killed and dismembered when Brainiac 5’s teleporter gets possessed. Stuff is getting so bad in the future that I was actually suspecting there might be a surprise end of the 31st century Earth so as to allow for another Legion relaunch to line up with the post-IC universe. Surely there’s more in store for Mon-El…he just came back a few months ago.

But speaking of Mon-El, that leads me to Action Comics #846, where General Zod and his gang have infiltrated Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, passing by the Phantom Zone viewer and taking a peek at Mon-El. I’m excited about this story and bummed about its delays, but I have to say, Adam Kubert is at the top of his game on this series. I don’t know if it’s because he’s inking his own work or if it’s Dave Stewart’s colors, but I can’t ever remember liking Kubert art like I’m liking this. Sadly, I fear the delays will rush the art, as this issue is already so far delayed that the Action Comics Annual #10 was supposed to follow it.

So I guess in the new post-IC Earth, this is the first appearance of Zod and friends, and now it looks like they’ve let out plenty of other Phantom Zone criminals. That’s one thing I really don’t like about resetting the universe every so often. I didn’t know until now if Superman had ever met Zod, so I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction I was supposed to have. Was it a “Zod has returned!” or “Zod got out?” Still, I’m enjoying the story, and that’s what counts I guess. We’ll see how much I enjoy it after the fill-in issues, which I believe are supposed to begin next month.

And speaking of good stories by Geoff Johns, that leads me to Green Lantern #17, this with even more amazing art by Ivan Reis. Reis reminds me of something like Bryan Hitch, only with a little less Alan Davis and a little more Neal Adams. I totally geeked out when the Sinestro Ring chose Batman as a new member of the Sinestro Corps…I would love to see them come back to that someday, but for the time being, it was a great setup for the ring to seek out Amon Sur. Sometimes Johns’ stories can be too heavily laden with continuity and background, but this current GL arc has been able to pull from Hal Jordan’s history without making it unreadable for new eyes. John Stewart’s rescue of Jordan was a bit too “Gotcha!” for my tastes, but at least it was plausible and I liked how this arc wrapped up. Amon Sur with a Sinestro ring is going to be fun, I’m sure.

And speaking of little twists that are likely to have a good payoff, that leads me to X-Factor #16, which was this week’s Book of Doom. I didn’t get mine read in time to participate in the roundtable, but I’d say I enjoyed it as much as the other two regular readers. X-Factor has basically been a continuation of the Madrox miniseries from a few years ago, as the stories really do revolve around Madrox and the rest of the team is just his supporting cast. But it’s such a great supporting cast, particularly in the hands of Peter David. I don’t enjoy this book because it’s by Peter David, but I do enjoy how well he handles these characters. It’s such a great counterpart to the wide-screen action of books like Uncanny X-Men and Astonishing X-Men, as insight into characters’ neuroses really can keep a monthly issue going.

Which leads me to Daredevil #94 – a look into the mind of Milla Donovan. The poor lady has found herself in the middle of a Matt Murdock relationship, full of all the psychological turmoil you’d expect. I agree with Jean-Claude Van Doom’s assessment somewhat – that the book seems to recap and not really move forward – but I’m glad that Brubaker took the time to develop the inside of Milla, because that was a look we just haven’t had yet. Bendis and Brubaker have been masters at developing the guilt that plagues Matt Murdock’s life, and now we get just another glimpse of how love can be strong, but self-doubt can knock it down. Matt and Milla are two people in love who won’t let themselves be happy. We’re caught up, prepared for the inevitable, and now strapped in and ready for the next arc. And again I agree with JCVD – bravo to the editors for an amazing job at choosing a fill-in artist. I wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t recognize Lee Weeks’ name.

And speaking of great art, that leads me to Justice #10. But all I can comment on is the art, because I don’t read these things anymore. I’m just buying them until I get to #12, and then I’ll read them. I used to read them when they came out, but there was so much time between issues I just thought “Eh, screw it. I’ll read them in a few years when they’re all out.”

And speaking of books that I only appreciate for the art, that leads me to Wolverine #51. Good golly, what a waste of an issue. I could not help but notice how rapidly I got through this, and how it’s almost like Jeph Loeb is trying to win a bet on how many issues he can spread out a one-page story. Punch punch, slice slice. The end. Bring on the next issue. And I am getting a little sick of Wolverine getting so badly burned that his skull is exposed. It’s almost like in the past year, Marvel has a new policy that Wolverine must lose his face and scalp at some point in the issue. Reminds me of how once Cable started getting his face ripped off, it started happening ALL THE TIME.

Stop burning off Wolverine’s flesh already. We get it. He has a healing factor.