So in my review of a recent Justice League of America issue (#202, I think), I talked about how I keep getting suckered into these comic grab bags at my LCS. They mostly contain low-grade or overprinted comics that at the price of 5/$3 is always worth it even if there are a few duds. This particular grab bag had that Justice League issue, which was facing outward, so I decided to get it.

But what of the other books? Well, at a glance, I decided that I was going to donate each of these to a good cause, and I would then decide if I was going to go ahead and continue reading the books on the DC Infinite app (and no, I haven’t decided to “Go Ultra” at the moment, although it is tempting). So that’s what the ratings for each of these will be.

I’ll go in chronological order …

Justice League Europe #11. A fight between Guy Gardner and Metamorpho in the midst of Metamorpho’s own family drama (specifically his infant son). JLE is a bit of a blind spot for me because I’ve only ever read issues that were part of the “Breakdowns” storyline or dealt with some sort of line-wide crossover. This comes courtesy of Keith Giffen, William Messner-Loebs, and Bart Sears, and it’s a top-notch book (even if the paper it’s printed on is kinda crap). The script is tightly written and Sears does a really great multi-panel comic. I’d forgotten that he could do that, to be honest. Yes, I know what that sounds like, but you have to understand that my main interaction with him outside of the Invasion! crossover was Wizard Magazine covers and a lot of ’90s stuff that, by then, eschewed traditional panels. His art here is great. I’m definitely going to keep going with this.

Kamandi: At Earth’s End #2. This is an Elseworlds series based on Jack Kirby’s “Last Boy on Earth” title. It’s also … well, I don’t want to sound like a dick, but it’s almost like someone had watched the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Cyborg way too many times and decided to write a Kamandi comic around it. It’s VERY Nineties. And it’s not very good. There’s this whole thing with mutated-looking people and post-apocalyptic streets and … like I said, Cyborg. Skipping this.

Justice League: Generation Lost #14. By the time Brightest Day rolled around, I was in the middle of an 18-month break from comics altogether (finances and event fatigue were at the core), so I missed this. The story in this one is about Captain Atom bouncing around time and winding up in … well, we’re 2/3 on post-apocalyptic futures so far. Anyway, the world is overrun by OMACs, the heirs to the Justice League along with a number of near-immortal heroes are fighting against them, and he joins in but is powerless. And when he gets his powers back, he’ll wind up jumping time again. It’s … kind of a redo of Armageddon: The Alien Agenda but better? I enjoyed it and am intrigued as to how we got here and where it’s going. So, off to read it on DC Infinite, I go.

Justice Society of America #48. I’m not sure which volume this is. Three? Four? Anyway, it’s from 2011, which I believe was right before the New 52 reboot. The story in here is basically a big hero/villain fight throughout a city that … well, I like Scott Kolins’ art, but this is from the era of that “realistic” coloring that made this very muddied and dark. It’s literally hard to read. Skipping it.