Comic review
March 02, 2008
My main activity today was a losing Caps game. Still fun though, although they really fell apart in the second period.
But, I also read the fourth Manhunter trade paperback 4 today. I don’t think I reviewed 3 either. The series is about a lawyer by day deadly superhero and parent with visiting privileges at night. What makes the series a bit different is the hard driving poor parenting attorney is Kate Spencer, a female.
Anyhow, the third book picks up after DC comics skipped year. I think the gimmick hurts the series. It starts in a reasonable place with increased attention on some supporting characters, but I didn’t know some of them so I wasn’t invested in them. The story also took a turn for the darker with Kate doing some jobs for a shadowy government agency. The book was enjoyable enough but not quite good enough for anyone not already a fan.
Happily the fourth book picks up nicely. I got to know some of the newer supports better and like them. One is Obsidian, a gay superhero whose main home is the JSA comics. So I am inclined to like him and more time is helping. I particularly like the stories involving henchman extraordinaire Dylan Battles and government agent Cameron Chase. Nothing incredibly new there, but their stories tend to be fun. There’s also a plotline involving a prior Manhunter, Mark Shaw. Too soon to tell whether a lot of fairly ironic setup will actually pay off.
But most importantly the main plotline is a terrific Wonder Woman cross-over. She needs defending in US court for a murder that happened in a big DC event. The story is interesting enough but mostly they have fun interactions and I prefer the lighter tone when Wonder Woman is around. So if you got three but weren’t sure about four, I can definitely say go for it.