Friday Slice of Heaven, Slice Into the Woods 11/11/11 - Part 2

No song today as all of our Donist World bands and musicians have a clause saying that they only perform on Fridays as Saturday is "slice and a beer" for $4.95 at Creekside.  That said, David Lee Roth wouldn't budge on doing a quick performance no matter how much Obie pleaded, but maybe in the weeks to come he'll "Jump" for a chance some Friday.  Only time will tell.
Anyhow, I got the two books missing from my pull today, so here without delay is...


Friday Slice of Heaven (the Late Edition)




***Possible Spoilers Below***

Batwoman #3

Batwoman #3 - Written by J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman and illustrated by J.H. Williams III, published by DC Comics.  There is a reason why I went all the way back downtown, two days after visiting my LCS, and it was in the hope that the mysterious lost shipment from Diamond Distributors delivered so I could get my mitts on this book; today was my lucky day.  Issue three of Batwoman is not as good as the outstanding second issue, it is actually better.
Continuing the "Hydrology" storyline of the terrifying Weeping Woman who has been drowning the children of Gotham, Batwoman has met a foe that she does not understand and "who" threatens to destroy her emotionally.  Kate Kane is pulled beneath the waves by the apparition as she experiences firsthand the chilling touch of the ghost who is abducting and killing the city's children.  Barely escaping with her life, but with the demons of her past brought to light, Kate is confronted by agent Chase and her team, none of whom are a match for Batwoman who escapes with ease.  Unfortunately escaping the damage done by the Weeping Woman proves more than she can handle, leaving Kate to fire her cousin, Flamebird, from her tutelage.  Cameron Chase attempts to strongarm Kate's father to no avail and as Kate's world falls apart, she learns that she might not have to face things alone.
Crimony!  Issue four cannot come soon enough.  Blackman and Williams III created one of the most frightening--and beautifully illustrated--sequences of pages with Batwoman's near-drowning that I have ever seen.  Follow this with more of the highly-rendered Batwoman fighting the practically flatted Chase and her cronies to the bright real life scenes with love-interest Maggie Sawyer, you are left with one of the best looking and most engaging comics released this month.  I will be double dipping on this one when the hardcover collection is released later in 2012.  If you love superheroes and a steely female lead who is fascinating, complex and at times realistically flawed then this book should not be passed by.  VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Green Lantern #3

Green Lantern #3 - Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Doug Mahnke, published by DC Comics.  I have always had an interest in the books that take a multi-dimensional bad guy and give them a moment to be the hero, to shine and quite possibly redeem themselves to some extent, which is part of the reason I am enjoying Green Lantern or as it should be called Sinestro the Green Lantern.  Like the previously mentioned Batwoman, the third installment of this comic manages to slightly improve on an already fun second issue.
Carol Ferris switches on the television to see that Hal Jordan is back to being a Green Lantern, but what shocks her the most is his apparent partner, Sinestro.  Hal agrees to aid Sinestro in his quest to free the people of his home planet, Korugar, from the menace of his old Yellow Lantern Corp.  After some amusing verbal shredding, Sinestro fills Hal in on his plan to take down his old followers and the unlikely team set out to do the impossible.  But can two Green Lanterns defeat hundreds of Yellow Lanterns and has Sinestro been completely honest with Hal Jordan?
I did not see this ending coming at all, and I am curious to see how this months shocking conclusion plays out next month.  Boy-o-boy, looks like some bad news for Hal, but he is honestly not the character I am most interest in here.  Sinestro continues to be the star with his horrendously rude, pompous, but usually correct assessments of Hal Jordan and despite the ending of this installment, I am betting that his plan has not fully played out yet.  We will see.  Doug Mahnke's art is superb with exciting and dynamic action sequences that keep the story flowing.  I did not expect to like this book as much as I do, but I will say that I am excited for what comes next.  Great superheroic fun!  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!


Slice Into the Woods




Diamond Distributors Making Me Wait For These Books - No use crying about it, I did get my hands on these books after all, but I would love to see some competitor to Diamond rise to break up this nice little monopoly they have going.  Dare to dream.

Friday Slice of Heaven, Slice Into the Woods 11/11/11 - Part 2