Wednesday's Loot - The Sequel

Aquaman #42
I'm still enjoying this series and now with it starting to tie into the true Aquaman story, however minimal, I'm enjoying it even more. Although each time I pick it up I'm never sure if I should have. I think from now on I'm going to start thinking in keeping or cutting terms and this book is one that I'm just completely unsure about. I do enjoy it, but never as much as I'd like to. I feel like a heathen for thinking of cutting out a Busiek book but I may get a few more issues or sell of what I have at next weeks Great Glebe Garage-sale and buy the trade. I'm thinking like Conan, this would read well as a single story.
I rate this story: Still good but perhaps not good enough to keep.

DMZ #7
And then there's DMZ. Another book I felt similarly as I do towards Aquaman for a while but now it seems to have truly found its feet. I'm liking it now more than ever. This storyline shows Matty growing up a bit and realizing that the paragons of adulthood aren't always what they appear to be. He has a brilliant moment when he realizes he's like the people that used to piss him off - like his Dad or Zee asking why everyone is such a disappointment. It just hit me that even the art is somewhat similar to Aquaman. Both are showing us new worlds that are quite frankly, filled with dirt, grime, flotsam and jetsam. I just absolutely love that about this series. It's not sparkling. I also love how Matty is having a typical "moving to the big city to become his own man" story in the midst of such a unique world. That's great writing. No matter where it takes place, make the story something we can all relate to on a fundamental level. He's growing up and learning from his mistakes and his disappointment. He gets used and he gets mad at himself for letting himself be hoodwinked, but he's also experienced enough to figure it out sooner. He's not completely niave and is growing into a better person for it. By better I don't mean on a scale of good and evil but on being self-reliant and being the person Matty wants to be, not what anyone else expects of him.
I rate this story: Better than ever.

Shadowpact #1
This was a surprise to me. I liked the crisis special one-shot but had absolutely no interest in the whole Day of Vengeance mini-series. I liked this as a first issue. It was clever, it was funny, and heck it name checked Hellboy, how cool is that? Plus, Phantom Stranger. I know little about him, but I like him in some weird unexplainable way. There's a great setup to the characters if you didn't know anything about them or their interactions previously. You get informed of what you need to know. The story is fairly straightforward but streamlined is good. Again, I'm liking it but I don't know if it's enough to keep me buying it. I think this will be one of those, if I'm in the mood when issue two comes out I may pick it up. I mean how can I turn down a drunken chimp detective? The only beef I really had was the whole "villainess explains the evil plan to the citizens" moment. Yeah, they're evil, I know a bit about that, but I got a goose egg on my cranium from that.
I rate this story: Worth checking out if you're looking for a new series that's worth a few bucks each month. I probably won't keep buying it for long, if at all, but then again I'm evil.

Oh yeah I was totally going to pick up the Marvel - Edgar Allen Poe thing because I love Poe's work, same with Chthulu Tales or whatever but the price point killed both for me.