New Comic-book Night - 5/22/13

I had a rare slow week this week for New Comic-book Night.  I've hit a bit of a roadblock with the 4th series of Supergirl.  I have the series in trades through issue 33 (except for issues 20-22, which were never collected in a trade, and I therefore have individually), and the next trade, Who is Superwoman?, covers issues 34 and 37-42.  Issues 35 and 36 are not collected in a Supergirl trade, but are, rather, part of the Superman: New Krypton arc, and appear in the second trade paperback collecting those comics.  However, I honestly have no interest in the New Krypton trades -- I'm just trying to get all the Supergirl series stories.  So rather than bother with a bunch of trade paperbacks that really aren't about Supergirl, I decided to go ahead and buy issues 35 and 36 individually.  This week I picked up one of those, issue 35.  It was quite good. This is the second issue of the Sterling Gates run (I won't get to #34, the first issue of the Gates run, until I get my hands on the next trade, which my comic shop does not have in stock).  I enjoyed it. 9/10.

The other comic I got was the only new issue from my pull list to come out this week, Justice League #20. JL has been faltering, lately.  The Throne of Atlantis story arc had a very weak ending in issue 17, and issues 18 and 19 were just not up to the standard set by the earlier issues in the series.  This isn't to say they were bad, but in my database, I have the pre-17 issues all rated 9/10 or 10/10, and 17-19 are rated 7/10 or 8/10.  However, I thought #20 redeemed writer Geoff Johns a bit.  The action was good, but there were also some great moments of quiet drama, especially a great discussion between Batman and Superman about what happens if one of the JL members goes rogue.  This issue served as a lead-in to the Trinity War crossover that is coming next month (apparently), and we can sort of see at least some of what is going to happen, as they are starting to set up the obvious conflict between the JL and the JLA.  I gave this one a 9/10 also.

Finally on a personal note, the main reason NCN was so sparse this week is that I am trying to rein in the spending and especially the buying of anything that will need to be moved, as I prepare to close on my new home in early June and move in late June.  By July I should be back to normal, but for these next few weeks, I am trying to keep the amount of stuff I bring into my apartment to a minimum.