MORE COMICS CHATTER

When we were in Columbus a couple weeks ago, we went to The Laughing Ogre, which is one of the most-known comic book stores in the country. It can be overwhelming when you walk in there, as they have rows and rows of single issues and trade paperbacks and so much more. I wandered around and looked at all the possibilities...and ended up buying just one comic. Eh, I'll be there again.

The comic I bought that day was Nexus #99, the first new issue of the series in 10 years. Obviously, it's been a while since I read those last issues and I no longer own them, of course. But Nexus has always been one of my favorites and it wasn't hard to get back in the groove. Mike Baron and Steve Rude are back in their groove with this issue - a plot against Nexus, the Elvonics and Alvinites are at each other's throats, and Sundra is about to give birth to their son. All that and a letter column to boot. One of the best comic books ever is back and here to stay for what I hope is a long, long time.

I also brought a trade along on our vacation and managed to get it read. The All-New Atom: My Life in Miniature collects the first six issues of the recently-relaunched series, this time with a new Atom at the helm. Dr. Ryan Choi comes to Ivy Town to take Ray Palmer's (the previous and longstanding Atom) place on the faculty and ends up taking his place as the hero as well. The series is full of weirdness and humor with a scientist support group, a new villain who shares the same powers, intergalactic war, a cancer god, and a man trying to adjust to his new powers. Gail Simone does a great job in writing the series and the art (by John Byrne and Eddy Barrows and Trevor Scott) is super-hero solid. I will definitely pick up the next volume in the series.

The week I bought the first two issues of Countdown I also picked up Justice Society of America #8. It foucses on Jesse Quick, the daughter of Golden Age heroes Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle (who starred in one of my favorite series of the 80s, All-Star Squadron). I've always had a fondess for the character and the mixture of her history and the present day (where she is married to Hourman) works very well. The issue also deals with some redemption for Damage and Jesse learns even more about herself. This is how done-in-one comics are supposed to be. Thanks Geoff Johns and the solid fill-in art by Fernando Pasarin (and Rodney Ramos) for that.

Finally, I picked up Batman #667 last week. It teams Grant Morrison with J.H. Williams once again and that's a great thing - Williams is easily one of my favorite artists. This is the first issue of the three-part story which features "Batmen" from around the world. It's funny and twisted and features Batman the way you want him to be. Can't wait to see where the story goes from here...