Worst to First: 9/6/07
Forgive a tangent, but I’m already a bit leary of city life. In a month, I’ve been stuck in copious amounts of traffic, gotten lost in suburbia, accidentally happened upon people shagging at a storage unit and seen an Office Depot sign’s letters rearranged so it said: “Special today, clear red vagina.”
Wait, never mind, the city is awesome.
What does that have to do with comics? Well, nothing. So let’s get to the week that was (including some old issues, though now I’m finally caught up)…
Worst: Outsiders #50
I was a bit late to jump onto the OYL Outsiders, but dang if it wasn’t a fun book. Now, in a move that’s as much a grab for readers as a reference to DC past, we get Nightwing out and Batman in. Can the magic continue? To answer that, let’s look at a quote from Bats to start the issue:
“Luthor’s Everyman project tainted the public trust in so-called superheroes. Black Adam murdered an entire country. People are asking themselves if we aren’t all walking weapons of mass destruction. After all, your Amazon sisters laid waste to the capital of the United States. The post-Amazon mentality is that all the super-people should be identified, monitored and controlled.”
Now, let’s look at that quote again with a few simple substitutions.
“The school explosion tainted the public trust in so-called superheroes. Nitro murdered an entire school. People are asking themselves if we aren’t all walking weapons of mass destruction. After all, your friend Hulk laid waste to the capital of the United States. The post-bombing mentality is that all the super-people should be identified, monitored and controlled.”
Hmm… Let’s just go ahead and call this a drop, seeing as things only go down from there, hitting a nadir with the most ill-planned operation ever launched by Bruce Wayne.
Just goofy: The Brave and the Bold #7
This book operates on such a fine balance of making no sense whatsoever yet moving at such a fun pace that you can’t get caught up in the incongruities. The credit for its success splits between the creators. The George Perez style anchors it so firmly in campy superhero history that the comic logic inserted by Mark Wait (just where the heck do the Challengers come from? How does the history and future just suddenly repair? etc. etc.) doesn’t seem like a blatant attack on my intelligence. Not sure if I’ll lose interest in this silliness, but for now I’d label this as quite possibly my favorite of DC’s catalog.
Good, but: Daredevil #99
As Jim Doom opined before, the brilliance of this book lies in the subtle heel turn of Milla, which is balanced with narrative perfection against the hard fall of her husband. As is always the case with Brubaker, too many plots to count are rushing forward at once while never feeling jumbled (Bru is outshined only perhaps by Peter David in this respect).
There’s a “but,” though. I can’t help but feel like Matt has just continually been on the run from secretive plots against him for about five years now. That’s an overstatement, but not overly so. After this arc, I’d really like to see something new.
A new hero: The Programme #2
As I’ve said before, you should buy this book just for C.P. Smith’s art. Normally, a heavy dose of Photoshop can make comic art look too digitized and sanitary, but Smith pieces things together in just the right way, ending up with a style that’s emotive and harsh. Added to that are brilliantly edgy colors from the brilliantly named Jonny Rench.
Writer Peter Milligan is always great or terrible, it seems, so I’m glad to see he’s at his best here, winding together a realistic superhero tale with Cold War mystery, some Manchurian Candidate secrecy and X-Files suspense. It still feels like we’re in the tight beginnings of a grand tale, which is a fine accomplishment for a second issue.
Woulda, coulda: Captain America: The Chosen #1
It’s pretty unfair to not give this book my top choice of the week, since I liked it the most of anything that actually came out this week. But, well, them’s the breaks.
If you want to read a nice discussion of this book (and contribute your thoughts, you damn savages), check out this week’s entry of the Book of Doom.
First: X-Factor #22
When I moved across the country and spent a bit more than a month away from comics, the one book I missed above all others was X-Factor. Through 21 issues, Peter David had woven an intricate, hilarious and emotionally dense story of also-rans. It was comics at their most entertaining, as far as I’m concerned. It had become the only series that consistently had me laughing out loud every issue (ever since The Goon turned to crap).
After hunting through a few comics shops, I finally found a place that had issue 22, which I’d missed. And damn, did I ever miss a good one. First off, Pablo Raimondi is back on art, replacing the forgettable fill in. Raimondi’s style is very even-keeled and allows for normal looking characters, which is perfect for a book not featuring over-sized heroes and villains (well, Strong Guy excluded).
The story is typical David genius: As Madrox’s monologue narrates with typical precision, uncertainty and humor, Mean Mr. Huber recommends adding mutants to the Endangered Species list (which sounds like a good idea, but shows a complete naivete regarding how politics really works), M and Siryn face off with people even tougher than themselves, Rahne and Rictor’s dirty love reveals a dirty secret, Guido makes a joke that nobody laughs at and Layla faces her toughest challenge yet — some other little girl.
See, I told you nobody weaves together more plots than PAD. And I didn’t even mention the pregnancy test!
The only thing that could drag this down was that continued Endangered Species backup storyline. Man, that thing is stupid. Evil Beast? Seriously, he’s still around? Balls to that.