THE CAT'S MEOW: What's Good on the Shelf This Week-Year 2 - Week 37 _ _________________________________________________________________________
Reviews by John Norris, May 19 , 2008

THE BATMAN STRIKES! 45: “ Gotham Girls: Honor Among Thieves” (All Ages)

Jai Nitz (w); Christopher Jones (p); Terry Beatty (i); Heroic Age (c); Travis Lanham (l); cover by Andie Tong

Publisher: DC

Format: monthly series

Concept: Follow the adventures of Bruce Wayne in his early years as Batman.

In this issue : Batman's left Batgirl to watch over Gotham on her own. Uh-oh. She's fought lunatics like the Joker and brutes like Killer Croc to a standstill, but she may not be able to compete with the craftiness of Catwoman! (from dccomics.com)

Review: It's an all-Gotham Girls issue with an anti-tobacco message Batgirl patrols the city alone while Bruce and Dick are away. Things go well at first, but then she stumbles across Catwoman and Harley, who are trying to rescue Ivy from a cigarette testing lab. I like it when writers give the villains some redeeming qualities. Harley and Catwoman will do anything to get their partner back, even if it means allowing Batgirl to help, and Ivy understandably is against tobacco. The real villain turns out to be the owner of the cigarette company, who is much more than he appears to be…a super-intelligent tobacco plant, nicely drawn by Jones. Just what the world DOESN'T need right now.
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JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #45: “Powerless” (All Ages)

Alexander Gradet (w); Scott Cohn (p/i); Heroic Age (c); Travis Lanham (l); cover by Zach Howard & Dave Tanguay

Publisher: DC

Format: monthly series

Concept: Follow the adventures of the Justice League, based on the hit cartoon.

In this issue: Metropolis is under attack thanks to some serious monkey business! And somehow, the League is powerless to stop the threat. How will Mary Marvel and Booster Gold save the day? (from dccomics.com)

Review: “Monkey” business is right…Gorilla Grodd returns, and he's not only got it in for Star City (NOT Metropolis), but the Justice League as well. His plan works so well, in fact, that the League is powerless to stop him…except, perhaps, for Booster Gold. I like the fact that the police and construction workers are presented as heroes as much as the League, and Cohn makes Grodd look great.
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LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES IN THE 31 st CENTURY #14: “See Me” (All Ages)

Jack Briglio (w); Adam Archer (p/i); Heroic Age (c); Sal Cipriano (l)

Publisher: DC

Format: monthly series

Concept: Follow the adventures of the Legion, based on their hit cartoon.

In this issue: Phantom Girl is seeing—and hearing—ghosts, and they're after her mom! Can she convince the Legion that she's not crazy in time to save her?

Review: Something's up with Phantom Girl. Not only is she seeing and hearing ghosts, but she seems to be having trouble changing from phantom form back to normal. The problem, as you can imagine, lies in trying to convince everyone else that these ghosts are real. This issue is about sticking to your guns when you know what's right, even if no one else believes you.
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MARVEL ADVENTURES HULK #11: “Last Monster Standing” (All Ages)

Paul Benjamin (w); Steve Scott (p); Nathan Massengill (i); A. Street (c); Dave Sharpe (l); cover by Sean Gordon Murphy & Moose Bauman

Publisher: Marvel

Format: monthly series

Concept: Caught in a blast of gamma-radiation, brilliant scientist Bruce Banner now finds himself living as a fugitive, cursed to transform in times of stress into the living engine of destruction known as the HULK.

In this issue : Bruce Banner heads to the Baxter Building hoping that Mr. Fantastic can help rid him of his curse. But Ben Grimm's the only one home and he knows H-U-L-K spells “trouble.” It's the green goliath vs. the ever-lovin', blue-eyed Thing! ‘Nuff said! (from marvel.com)

Review: The Thing and the Hulk certainly have a history together, so it's no surprise when Ben Grimm isn't quite thrilled to see Bruce at the Baxter Building . Bruce just wants Mr. Fantastic to cure him (which, of course, is what Ben wants as well). But you can always count on Dr. Doom to make things interesting. Seeing the Doombots mistake Rick, Bruce and Monkey for the Human Torch, Mr. Fantastic and Franklin Richards is hilarious. For his part, Scott does a nice job with The Thing, and provides us with a great splash page featuring the giants in battle…uttering their famous phrases, naturally.
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MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #39: “Model Student” (All Ages)

Marc Sumerak (w); Ryan Stegman (p/i); Guru eFX (c); Dave Sharpe (l); cover by Patrick Scherberger

Publisher: Marvel

Format: monthly series

Concept: Bitten by an irradiated spider, which granted him incredible abilities, Peter Parker learned the all-important lesson, that with great power there must also come great responsibility. And so he became the amazing Spider-Man!

In this issue: Hold on, Spidey! You can't fight the Fantastic Four! You're all supposed to be on the same side! Not to mention the fact that you're waaaaay outnumbered! Wait... the FF kidnapped your school's new exchange student and are experimenting on him in the Baxter Building ?!? Well, then, what are you waiting for, webhead? IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME! (Umm... just try to be the "clobberer," not the "clobberee"...) (from marvel.com)

Review: Ah, the foreign exchange student…a perfect opportunity to learn about a completely different culture from someone who's actually lived it. But when Kristoff begins his speech in front of Peter's Model U.N. class with “ America is evil,” you know he's no ordinary exchange student. In fact, he's got a particular interest in American superheroes, namely the Fantastic Four. So when Peter takes him to the Baxter Building , things get…interesting. Sumerak manages to make Kristoff a sympathetic character until the big reveal, and you can't help but feel for Peter as he really wants to believe that someone who comes from a certain small country in eastern Europe (I can't give away the name) can be good.
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RETURN OF THE GREMLINS #3 (All Ages)

Mike Richardson (w); Fabio Laguna (p/i); Dan Jackson (c); Michael David Thomas (l); cover by Laguna

Publisher: Dark Horse

Format: three-issue miniseries

Concept: The Gremlins return, based on the characters created by Roald Dahl.

In this issue: Poor Gus will never look at England the same way again. He arrived from the states only days ago in order to sell a house willed to him by his grandfather. Seemed simple enough! But since then he's been beset by mysterious hauntings, accosted by real-estate thugs, tied up, roped into saving gremlin creatures from eviction, and literally knocked off his feet by Molly, a lovely young librarian with a black belt. To top it all off he's landed in jail, and his house is about to be bulldozed! What he needs now is a brilliant plan . . . and hundreds of tiny friends up for uncontrollable mischief. Hold on to your hats, everybody-the gremlins are going to fight back in the only way they know how! (from darkhorse.com)

Review: The delightful miniseries comes to an end with this issue. After getting something of a sneak peek on the cover, Richardson & Laguna jump right into the action. Mr. Snide has filed charges against Gus, who ends up in jail, and the bulldozers arrive! The pace is wonderfully frantic as the Gremlins go to town…literally! It's sad to see the series end, but at least it goes out on a high note, with one final nod to pilot Gus. I hope we will get to see more of the little guys in the future. Also check out the classic Gremlin comics drawn by Vivie Risto and Walt Kelly.
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TINY TITANS #4 (All Ages)

Art Baltazar & Franco (w); art & cover by Baltazar

Publisher: DC

Format: monthly series

Concept: It's all your favorite Titans, in their cutest possible form!

In this issue: Find out what happens when Robin's life goes to the birds! Meet the Little Tiny Titans as they show Wonder Girl just how tough babysitting can be! See why being Beast Boy's dentist isn't all it's cracked up to be! All this and more Tiny fun than you can shake a stick at! (from dccomics.com)

Review: I just love that cover image of Robin—er, Nightwing—getting his John Travolta on. (I also love the reason WHY Robin tries a new costume.) There's also a great gag with Aquaman and Aqualad. Wonder Girl and Bumblelee discover the joys of babysitting, Kid Flash fixes Star's hair, and Beast Boy gets a pet. And if you think your kid hates going to the dentist, wait until you see Beast Boy's reaction! There's also a match game and pin-up.
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COLLECTIONS

IRON MAN & POWER PACK: ARMORED AND DANGEROUS digest collects IRON MAN & POWER PACK #1-4.

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #11 collects MA AVENGERS #11 and MA IRON MAN #3

By thy side,

John “Figaro” Norris

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