What Does It All Mean?
The Story:
The events that take place during weeks 14-26 after Infinite Crisis.
My Thoughts:
The four genius men responsible for this epic event (Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid) continue to delve further into the multiple story lines they created in the first volume. While they hit a bit of a snag here and fail to deliver the same level of quality created in the first volume, this was still an entertaining read. Their ability to produce multiple story lines which focus on a wide variety of themes is uncanny and something that has really got me hooked to this series.
The reason why I didn't enjoy this as much as the first volume was due to the Animal Man/Adam Starnge/Starfire storyline which seemed to drag on. I'm not sure where they're going with this but it fails to grasp my attention. The writers should just have them land back on Earth already because their space "adventure" is starting to become really dull.
Another storyline that sort of went downhill was the Steel/Natasha Irons/Lex Luthor fiasco taking place. Again the pacing seems to be slow and fails to create any excitement while reading.
The storyline that stole the show for me was the Black Adam/Isis/Renee Montoya/Question storyline. Great pacing with lots of fun and excitement. Another worthy storyline to mention was Booster Gold's. I can honestly say I didn't see that coming. The appearance of Clark Kent was pretty funny. I'm glad the writers have been throwing him in even if it's just a small part. It's nice to know the true savior of Metropolis is still keeping an eye out for danger.
Just like in the first volume, we get commentary from one of the writers or artists at the end of every issue. Reading their thoughts on the prior issue is always fun to read. I like getting their insight on the story arc and the process they used to make this all happen.
The art is by a variety of different artists who pencil some quality work. I liked all the artists styles except for one. Phil Jiminez is one artist whose style really stands out to me. The inks and coloring are nicely done. The cover gallery is once again beautifully done.
Not quite as intriguing as the first volume, but nevertheless packs an ample amount of shock and suspense culminating in an entertaining story. I have no doubt things will continue to get even more interesting in the following issues and look forward to what these four writers cook up next.
Rating: 3.5/5