This Week In Comics: Mar. 21, 2007

Amazing Spider-Man #539
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artist: Ron Garney

Spider-Man's back in his black costume, and it's about damn time. With all the crap that's happened to Spider-Man lately (Gwen Stacy's goblin babies, Aunt May's other near-death, the Other, HoM, Civil War, and Aunt May being shot), it's not much of a surprise that he's finally snapped. It's great to see Spider-Man finally lash out at the world. There's only so much one man can take. Coming into this issue, I was worried about was the reason behind Spidey donning the black costume, but JMS makes it believable. He's back in black, he means business, and frankly, I feel sorry for all those that have made Spider-Man suffer. I really wasn't impressed with Ron Garney's artwork in his previous issues, but something finally clicked here. It's fast-paced, kinetic, and shows that Spidey means business. I've enjoyed JMS' work in the past, but this is gearing up to be his best work yet, and it should serve as a fitting end to an already great run.

Detective Comics #830
Writer: Stuart Moore
Artist: Andy Clarke

It's funny, but I actually think that not expecting much out of this book let me enjoy it more. Sure, it's not an original story and like I said about the last issue, we know how it was going to end, but that didn't stop Moore from turning this predictable tale into something that was ultimately enjoyable. There were also plenty of little moments that stood out, like Wayne faking an explosion to get away and change into Batman, the shot of Wayne Tower diagramming the locations of Batman, Vox, and Robin, and the similarities between Vox and Batman's mission. There's not really much to say about Clarke's artwork. It was good but not remarkable. Overall, this fill-in story turned out to be better than expected, but I can't wait for Paul Dini's return next month.

Justice Society of America #4
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Dale Eaglesham

I understand that the Justice Society works because of it's importance as a family over it's importance as a super-hero team, and as a result I feel like the ending of this overall great arc fell a little flat. Sure, we were treated to page after page of pure ass-kickery, but Johns seems to have neglected that the Society is interesting because they are a family. Yeah, there were scenes of acceptance and togetherness amongst the chaos, but they didn't really seem to take precedence. I mean, if I want to see heavies beat the crap out of obligatory super-villains, I'll pick up an issue of Justice League. I don't want it to seem like I didn't enjoy this book, because I really did, but it just seems like Johns could have found to end to arc with a bigger focus on the family aspects we've come to enjoy.