Teen Titans #55

One panel into "Teen Titans" #55 and the Titans are down one major player. Writer Sean McKeever begins to make his mark on the team beginning this issue. The first story arc was an editorial mandate story and he did a fine job with it. Now, McKeever takes a breath with this issue and starts building to what he has planned for the team. More on that over at Newsrama. This issue picks up the pieces from the "Titans Tomorrow" story line and lays out where all of the team are. I'm not sure whether I care about the hooking up of Cassie and Tim. It somewhat mirrors what was going on between Nightwing and Starfire in the original series and seems a bit of a retread. Hopefully that plot line will go away. I do like the playfulness of Ravager and how she screws with the opposite sex. It's affects on a young Kid Devil, however, might not be so nice. I'll go along with what McKeever is working on Miss Martian but I'd really like to see that character go somewhere other than dark. You have Ravager, Kid Devil, and Miss Martian all dealing with dark personalities and that is just a little too much. I like the addition (or not) of Blue Beetle. Jaime is a great character and brings fresh eyes to this franchise. I like having him hang around.

Sean McKeever is a good writer and I'm hoping that he can return this title to prominence with solid story telling and characterization. DC needs to stop the carousel of artist on this series and stick with one team. Jamal Igle does a decent job here but I'm not sure he's fully up to the task either. With Dan Didio now serving as editor, here's hoping that a top art team is assigned and Didio stays out of McKeever's way and lets him tell good stories.

Countdown to Final Crisis #23

The first half of this issue has the reader bouncing around catching up with all of the players that have been absent the last few issues. This issue is another step backwards in improving the series. It feels like this issue is there for stretching the story out.

Why are the Challengers here? They have all of those one shots they can deal with their plot line.
Why are the New Gods here? They have "The Death of the New Gods" for their story.
What is the importance of Piper & Trickster? Are they here just to get whacked?
What is the importance of Holly & Harley? That story has just gone nowhere.

The Karate Kid/Firestorm in Bludhaven plot has provide some good action and a good ending to this issue, but how does it all fit in. I'm ready to give up on this weekly. "52" was a compelling read that rose to the top of my weekly pull list. "Countdown to Final Crisis" has had some improvements but this issue misses the boat.

Green Latern Corps #18

Part 10 of "The Sinestro Corps War" has Sodam "ION" Yat going toe to toe with Superman "Ultimate Fanboy" Prime. Of course, the fate of some of the players here have been spoiled over in "Countdown" which did reduce some of the dramatic tension. Writer Peter J.Tomasi does a fine job of interleaving a hard hitting fight scene with flashes back to Sodam's past. The flash backs really provide a good bit of character development on Sodam and show why he's so dedicated to the Corps. The art team does a great job of pulling together both the bloody fight scene and the flash backs.

While the outcome of this fight is truly spoiled over in "Countdown", I felt that Tomasi's story played out quite nicely with good art in support.

Teen Titans #52

"Teen Titans" #52 continues the "Titans of Tomorrow" story line with each Titan getting to work with their older selves. The interaction between Tim Drake Batman and Tim Drake Robin was done quite well. McKeever also captured Blue Beetle's characterization very well. I really liked the touch of having Kid Devil's older self get new memories as things changed. However, I was disappointed in the art. Jamal Igle and a gaggle of inkers do a passable job filling in for the absent Ale Garza, but I would have preferred seeing Garza's take on all of this. I like to have artistic continuity in specific stories. This book was solicited as Garza pencilled as is next month's. I hope Garza can finish out this story next month. I give DC credit for making the call and getting the book out on time, but today's artist need to learn to keep to a schedule. McKeever's story is action packed with moments for good character development. I'm looking forward to the conclusion of this with Luthor's Titan Army next month.