Guess what I did?

Wow, Christmas break lasted a lot longer than I thought it would. Sorry ‘bout that. Anyway, last week I did something I haven’t done in a long while: I bought some comics. While a fan of comics, the current state of the market, namely both DC and Marvel opting to publish one continuous never-ending crossover, has led me to stop buying on a regular basis. I still pick up trade paperbacks on occasion, and I bought every issue of Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers, but other than that, I’ve been strong. Until last week.
I was at the comic store, and a few titles struck my eye: JSA All-Stars #’s 1 & 2, Blackest Night: The Flash #’s 1 & 2, and Starman #81.
The new JSA comic I bought because I love JSA and thought the new line-up looked interesting. Or, rather, Power Girl, Stargirl, Damage, and Cyclone are interesting. As far as the rest goes… I still have no idea why Magog is in the JSA; my theory is that DC owes Alex Ross a lot of money and this was the compromise they reached. King Chimera is too new for me to have an opinion on, though I must say, he’s got a dapper costume. I’m am not a fan of the current Hourman; bring back the android from DC One Million already! Judo master (her power is judo!) pretty much falls into the Magog category. Finally, Wildcat II is very, very irritating. Overall, the first two issues had good writing and characterization, though the art wasn’t great. It wasn’t the worst I’ve seen, but I’ve seen better. It’s noticeable because the art throughout the main JSA title has been, for the most part, very good through the years.
I had no intention of buying any Blackest Night titles, partly due to pride. I’m not saying DC ripped anyone off, but they totally ripped me off. A crossover where heroes fight the rising dead written in 2008*? I wants my money!
Anyway, I picked up the Flash books because it promised to feature the Rogues killing zombies, which we really didn’t get a hell of a lot of. Instead we get Barry Allen (blah) as a Blue Lantern (double blah). Barry Allen’s back and Lanterns every color of the rainbow? Shameful. On the plus side, it continues the reunion of the creative team of Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins, who are responsible for what was arguably the best Flash run (no pun intended) ever.
Finally, Starman. This more or less picks up where the series ended years ago with #80. I could give a synopsis, but if you’ve never read Starman (and why the hell not?), you’d just be confused. Suffice it to say, if you have read Starman before, you’ll like this. If not, you’ll be lost, as it draws on not only the Blackest Night nonsense, but 80 plus issues of continuity besides.
While these were all entertaining enough, none swayed me to start buying comics again on a regular basis. That honor shall probably fall to the Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers ongoing series, coming later this year! In the meantime, most of my comic money shall go towards Mutants and Masterminds sourcebooks, so I’m good reading wise.

*In case the link doesn't work, just go here: http://www.urbis.com/media/view/121873/and-the-world-will-never-be-the-same-again-scenes-from-a-comic-book-crossover