This Week's Comic Stack 8/25/10

The Good:

• The Heroic Age: Prince Of Power #4- Satisfactorily resolved this mini and set up the Oct-Jan event Chaos War.
• Justice League: Generation Lost #8- More action comedy as the heroes tried to escape the Checkmate facility they just broke into last issue.
• Captain America #609- Zemo remains one step ahead of everyone with his plans for Bucky. The Falcon really stood out in this issue. There was something that confused me a bit. Steve crushed Iron-Hand Hauptmann's hand thinking it robotic, but wasn't. Wouldn't he have known having faced him before? Was that a clue? Or just a hiccup in a great story arc?
• Superman: Secret Origin #6- Finally this series concluded... I would have been more receptive to this issue several months ago. That said, the art was great and the story retroactively set-up a lot of what's in the New Krypton saga.
• Detective Comics #868- Dick and Jim Gordon had their hands full in this issue as a fake Joker and fake Batman [they're gonna be the same person] set Gothamites against each other as the Jokerz and Guardian Bats. I was surprised at how much I liked this. Even the insane part where Dick takes the modified Joker Venom that has been crazing people up, to learn how it feels. I could see Bruce doing that. [Although, it makes me think about what else the Bat boys have tried]
• Legion Of Super-Heroes #4- This issue had more intrigue with Earth-Man. The focus remained on Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad and Lightning Lass rescuing Garth and Inza's kids who disappeared in the first issue. They were taken by a cult of Darkseid to be used as a sacrifice. The cultists were soon dealt with and family reunited. Sodam Yat commanded the seeker to find another worthy possessor of a Green Lantern ring on Earth, so it looks like the rebuilding of the Corps will continue to be featured.

The Alright:

• Time Masters: Vanishing Point #2- I knew of these characters existence, but never really read them in anything until now (I missed Claw's appearance in Wonder Woman). I enjoyed the look at this corner of mostly forgotten Sword And Sorcery characters. I don't think this is going to be as important to the Return Of Bruce Wayne as I originally thought. Still, if all I get out of it is a wild trip through DCU with gorgeous art by Dan Jurgens then that's alright.
• Justice League Of America #48- The JLA/JSA crossover ended with things being business as usual again. Batman offered Jesse Quick a spot on the JLA [Hello....what about WALLY!] and she accepted. Jade and Obsidian must never be in the same room again or Alan Scott will go all evil again [HUH?]. Jade discovered her White Lantern status, fulfilled her mission "to balance the darkness" and was fully restored to life within the story. At this point it really is Bagley's art that is the draw [no pun intended] on this title. The Cyborg/Red Tornado backup isn't worth mentioning other than acknowledging it's existence.