Comic Review: Ranking the week (August 25, 2004)

Only got two issues this week:

2. Superman #208: I said, in my review of #207 that I don't think Azzarello's strengths lie in the action sequences. The fight with Equus bored me. What drew me into this arc was the strength of the dialogue between Superman and the Priest. We're back to that this week, but first we get a bit with Mr. Orr and the Priest. I like the fact that the Priest is now seemingly questioning Superman, he seemed to be much more of an impartial observer in previous issues. Definitely a major improvement over last week and despite what I thought from the cover image, I'm glad there was no fight with the JLA. I enjoyed the disagreement much more than seeing another super-hero vs. friends fight. Overall: 9 out of 10

1. Flash #213: One of the major changes Mark Waid made to the Flash was the introduction of the Speed Force. Love it or hate it, it's an integral part of the Flash nowadays. And I personally like it and felt it was missing from the title since the start of “Ignition.” So I was happy to see the return of the Speed Force in this issue, especially with a villain (one without super-speed to boot) make use of it. Certainly made for a challenge for Wally. It was fun to see Wally being interrogated by Chrye and Morillo, but I really wanted Flash to let them in on the secret. But then again, I'm not sure it would have made things easier. One last note: Bring on Identity Crisis! Overall: 9.5 out of 10.

Rating for the week: 9.25

I also got a few of the Julie Schwartz memorial issues from the past few weeks (I still need to pick up the ones with Superman, the Atom, and the JLA. Reviews of the ones I've gotten forthcoming.