THE WEEK IN COMICS: MAR. 14

52 #45 - Much more with Black Adam this issue, as Isis and Osiris are buried and BA goes on a rampage, destroying the country of Bialya (they harbor the Death, the last remaining Horseman). Nobody else in the DCU does much about it - Renee Montoya tries to help but Black Adam tells her to go back to Gotham and deal with Intergang there; Amanda Waller tries to send Atom-Smasher with a huge Suicide Squad group but he refuses. We also check in with The Great Ten and Dr. Sivana glorying in the fact Black Adam is heading Oolong Island way. This is obviously the start of World War III, which has its own separate mini-series concurrent with #50 of this series. If all the issues from now until then are mostly taken up with this Black Adam story, I will not be as interested. What's going on with Animal Man? Rip Hunter and Booster Gold vs. Skeets? The missing 52 seconds? I want to check in on all of this...hopefully, we will.

Teen Titans #44 - This is the second part of the "Titans East" storyline, where Deathstroke once again tries to destroy the Titans. We get Dethstroke versus his children (Jericho and Ravager); Wonder Girl versus Match; Kid Devil versus Kid Crusader; Raven versus The Joker's Daughter and another villainess whose name escapes me at the moment; Cyborg versus Risk; Martian Girl versus Sun Girl; and Robin versus Batgirl...with a twist at the end. It's interesting but I wouldn't recommend picking it up without having read the first part. Two more parts left, I believe.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1 - Ah, Buffy. Once upon a time, it was my favorite TV show (and still ranks as one of my all-time favorites. Up until this point, I haven't bothered reading any of the comics since they didn't really matter to the continuity of the show. With this new series, however, things have changed. This is the official "Season 8" of the show and Joss Whedon is at the helm, writing the first five issues and then overseeing things while other writers get a turn. Everything is here - the quips, Xander making comic book references, a brewing mystery, and the return of a character from the ruins of Sunnydale. Oh, and they do something that they never could have attempted on TV - somehow Dawn is a giant. This is all put together very well by the art team of Georges Jeanty and Andy Owens and the great colors of Dave Stewart. I highly recommend fans of the show to grab this and I can't wait to see where they go from here.

Superman #660 - This is another "done-in-one," most likely to allow Carlos Pacheco to get caught up and/or ahead on the book. It's told from The Prankster's POV and is a solid enough story, with good art by Mike Manley and Brett Blevins that helps to elevate the overall book. I enjoyed it but I didn't love it.

Wonder Woman #5 - Here's another fill-in, bridging the gap between the still incomplete opening story arc by Allan Heinberg and the new team of Jodi Picoult and Drew Johnson. It's a solid effort by Will Pfieffer and a number of artists but it's essentially treading water. I'll stick around to see what Picoult does and go from there.