But let s move on. Tony has been reinstated to the FDA, but we re not sure why. But it does lead to

Batwoman #16 ( World s Finest Part Four: Serpent s Homeland ) by J. H. Williams III (writer/artist), royal caribbean cruise ships W. Haden Blackman (writer), Dave Stewart (colorist), Todd Klein (letterer), Rickey Purdin (assistant editor), Harvey Richards (associate editor), and Mike Marts (editor). $2.99, 20 pgs, FC, DC .
We ve reached the penultimate chapter of Williams and Blackman s massive 17-issue epic, and DC nicely allowed Williams to go absolutely royal caribbean cruise ships nuts with the art on this issue. royal caribbean cruise ships There s Page 1, then 3 double-page spreads, then two pages laid out in a fairly standard way, then 5 double-page spreads (the last one is a bit more conventional, but still) and then the final page of the issue. royal caribbean cruise ships So 16 of the issue s 20 pages are double-page spreads (and DC stuck all the ads at the end, which they should do for all their comics), and they re packed royal caribbean cruise ships with beautiful royal caribbean cruise ships artwork and amazing royal caribbean cruise ships details and impressive layouts and even interesting lettering. It is, of course, a giant fight comic, but Williams and Blackman still manage to get some nice character details about the various people involved in the fighting, plus a brief about the ultimate villain, Ceto, whom Medusa is trying to bring out of the ocean to destroy Gotham. As with most superhero comics, it strains credulity a bit that no other superheroes notice that one of the country s great cities is being destroyed, but that s the way it is, isn t it?
I know that some people have dropped this because, let s face it, 17 issues is a long time to follow a story, and some people were buying it just for the artwork and couldn t get on board with Amy Reeder or Trevor McCarthy, but I m really curious about the sales of this book. Without making a big deal about it (like announcing that your comic is going to star only females!), this book is completely dominated royal caribbean cruise ships by women. There s Kate, of course, but there s Maggie, Wonder Woman, Cameron Chase, and Bette, while the villains are females too. Sure, Director Bones and that dude with the hook hand show up in this issue, but they re sideshows. Williams and Blackman manage to get a bit of romantic longing into the book, as Kate originally heads over to Maggie, who tells her to take off and help others royal caribbean cruise ships (of course, because Maggie doesn t know about Kate s secret). They also check in on Chase, who s freaking out but still fighting, and even Medusa, who explains why she s trying to raise Ceto, which doesn t make it right but at least provides some depth to her backstory. royal caribbean cruise ships One of the problems with putting females in superhero books is that there were so few of them that they had to be the exemplar for every woman, and in recent years, that s begun to change. All of these women are different characters with different motivations, and the fact that they re women is important but not the only thing about them. The idea of motherhood, for instance, is a crucial part of this entire story arc, so Williams and Blackman bring that in, but there s a lot of other things going on, too. I ve written before that Williams and Blackman have gotten better with the writing aspect of this book as it s gone along, and it s nice to see that they re pulling things together well as we reach the end.
I m still not sure if I m going to keep buying the book past issue #17 I don t know if Williams is going to be back on art after he finishes with Sandman but the finale of this arc seems like it s going to be something, so we ll have to see after that, don t we?
This is the final page of the issue, but I hope you don t think that Medusa wouldn t succeed in summoning Ceto, do you? So many of the others are double-page spreads, and they d have be shrunk to fit in this post, but I do like this page a lot. Using Medusa as a frame for the scene is smart, and Williams shifts from her to the tentacled monster to give the impression that Ceto and Medusa are one, not just mother and daughter. It s a nicely balanced page, too, as Medusa s head, Batwoman, Ceto, and Medusa-inside-the-frame form a nice diamond, while Williams turns the symbolism on its head, as it appears royal caribbean cruise ships Ceto, Medusa s mother, is rising into her womb instead of the other way around, which makes sense as Medusa is giving birth to her mother, if we consider resurrecting her as a rebirth. Notice that Williams seems to make Ceto look 3-D the greens and reds are echoes royal caribbean cruise ships of each other and I wonder if that s to make it appear as if she s from a different reality than ours. We ll see next issue, won t we?
But let s move on. Tony has been reinstated to the FDA, but we re not sure why. But it does lead to a new case, which has all the hallmarks of a classic Chew case something horrible is happening royal caribbean cruise ships to people (see below) and it has to do with food, and Tony and Colby track down what s going on, and it turns out it s connected to one of the larger plotlines that has been weaving through the book. In other words, Layman decides to calm down a bit after the intensity of the previous two arcs and regroup he gives us some of the fallout from issue #30 in the first few pages, royal caribbean cruise ships and it s clear that Tony is slightly more focused in this issue, but it also seems that Layman wanted to show us a good old-fashioned case, too. That s fine, though one of the great things about Chew is that it can go from the absurd to the deadly serious very quickly, and it always feels tonally correct. It s not surprising that Tony is a bit more focused in this issue, so even the absurdity of the case can t quite wipe the past away. It s a nice balance.
Guillory does his usual superb job with the art the first few pages are necessarily muted, and he does a marvelous job with the facial expressions of the characters, which is always crucial in this comic but particularly so in this issue. The absurd part of the case is wonderful, and we also get the vision artwork when Tony is reading something, which is also very cool. Plus, there s always the Easter eggs, which are fun.
Guillory and Layman use the Viking opera clich , but that s okay because it s so goofy. Meanwhile, Guillory nails the convention experience, although he makes Layman far more attractive than he really is. Although Layman probably would act that way if someone burst into flames right in front of him he s kind of a bastard like that.
Dark Horse Presents #20 . The Victories: Babalon Working Chapter 1 by Michael Avon Oeming (writer/artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), and Aaron Walker (letterer); Alabaster: Boxcar Tales Chapter 3 by Caitl n R. Kiernan (writer), Steve Lieber (artist/letterer), and Rachelle Rosenberg (colorist); Journeyman Chapter 1 by Geoffrey Thorne royal caribbean cruise ships (writer) and Todd Harris (artist); Gamma Chapter 3 by Ulises Farina (writer/artist/letterer) and Erick Freitas (writer); The White Suits Chapter 3 by Frank J. Barbiere (writer/letterer) and Toby Cypress (artist); Station to Station Chapter 2 by Gabriel Hardman (writer/artist/letterer) and Corinna Bechko (writer); royal caribbean cruise ships Captain Midnight Chapter 3 by Joshua Williamson (writer), royal caribbean cruise ships Pere P rez (artist), Ego (colorist), and Nate Piekos (letterer); Resident Alien: The Suicide Blonde Chapter 3 by Peter Hogan (writer) and Steve Parkhouse royal caribbean cruise ships (artist/letterer); X: The Pigs Part Two: Pointy royal caribbean cruise ships Sticks ) by Duane Swierczynski (writer), Eric Nguyen (artist), Michelle Madsen (colorist), and Richard Starkings (letterer); Finder: Third World Chapter 17 by Carla Speed McNeil (writer/artist/letterer), Jenn Manley Lee (colorist), and Bill Mudron (colorist). $7.99, 80 pgs, FC, Dark Horse .
As I ve mentioned before, I m not sure if I like what Dark Horse is doing with this comic, even though the quality is always high. They seem to switch royal caribbean cruise ships too easily between running a serial in this title and then transferring it to a regular book or vice versa, far more often than they did when they first launched the book. I mean, Howard Chaykin s story and Neal Adams s story, whatever you thought of their quality, ran entirely royal caribbean cruise ships in DHP . Some serials are still doing that McNeil s Finder story keeps trucking along, showing up in 17 of the 20 issues so far, and it s quite good but they seem to be doing shorter stories royal caribbean cruise ships that they then package as a zero issue before the inevitable launch of a mini-series, which is kind of annoying. Then, occasionally, something royal caribbean cruise ships that began as a mini-series shows up in DHP , and that s also annoying. I didn t buy Michael Avon Oeming royal caribbean cruise ships s The Victories , because it sounded like just another superhero book, but now here it is in DHP . I don t care all that much it s not a bad little story, and it s obvious royal caribbean cruise ships you don t need to read the mini-series to know what s going on, but I wonder why Dark Horse is doing it. I mean, if you re already picking something up by Dark Horse (that s not a strictly licensed book), you re probably paying a bit more attention to who s writing and drawing the story, so it s not like you re going to get DHP only because Oeming s superhero story continues royal caribbean cruise ships here, is it? I ve mentioned this before, but it s still worth pointing out: in this issue, we get The Victories , which began in a separate mini-series; Alabaster , which began in DHP , went off a was a mini-series, and now is back; and Resident Alien , which is the same as Alabaster royal caribbean cruise ships . Meanwhile, Gamma promises that it s The End For Now, the Captain Midnight story continues in a free comic on FCBD (which is fine, of course, as it s free, but still); and I can t imagine that Dark Horse is prepping some of the others, like X , for a new mini-series royal caribbean cruise ships or series. Again, that s fine, especially if it helps them sell more books, but I get bugged by the switching back and forth as I mentioned, I haven t gotten Resident Alien in trade yet, and now there s a sequel back in DHP . If they move it out of the anthology into mini-series, that s cool but don t bring it back, man!
Anyway, they re all pretty good stories, which isn t surprising. It s always nice to see Cypress s chaotic artwork, and for me, Journeyman is the most interesting, because I ve been waiting for Thorne and Harris to follow up their excellent Prodigal: