Worst to First: 9/12/07

Every comic but one on the list this week falls in the same category: mostly good but held down by serious shortcomings. Not bad, in other words, but it could’ve been a lot better. Ain’t that just the way…

Worst: Green Lantern #23

It’s not that I didn’t like this book, it’s just that I didn’t like it nearly as much as I liked the Sinestro Corps special. As expected, that humdinger of a book (in which pretty much every major villain was trotted out) left a bar so high that even Giganta couldn’t reach it.

The problem is that these villains are sooooo tough, it’s impossible to believe they can’t just wipe out everything in the universe at will. It’s implausible for Hal and pals to storm the baddy base, free the captives and storm out. Especially since a stare-down with ol’ Anti-Monitor only netted one casualty??? C’mon.

What made the book still a worthy read (and hard to put so low) was Geoff Johns sticking to his thesis of fear corrupting power. Not only did this create Sinestro, it’s forcing weaknesses in the heroes (Hal putting on the yellow rings, the Oans rewriting the book and allowing lethal force). It’s an obvious parable to our current environment (the reaction to a threat causing more problems than the threat), but it reads better without attaching the political commentary.

Preachy: Thor #3

As I said before, the image at left sold me on buying this book. Tony Stark’s comeuppance has almost made Civil War worthwhile, and it hasn’t been done any better than here. JMS’s Thor is eloquently harsh (and then just harsh) to the resident Marvel a-hole, and the story does a good job of delivering a climactic confrontation while still leaving loose ends.

The problem with this book continues to be the hollow way in which Gods return to life. They just… do. Granted, I’m never one to expect a great explanation for the ol’ Phoenix routine (and hasn’t that taken on a nice double meaning?), but I expect a bit more than this. Whatever this is. Also, the treacly exchange between Thor and the little girl sent throbs through my sweet tooth. Still, man that was a fun butt-whooping.

Bendis is back: The New Avengers #34

It’s probably been two years since I gave up all comics by Brian Michael Bendis. I did so for pretty much the same reason as everyone else (every issue written the same, Secret War, snail’s pace, etc.). At the urging of Jim Doom, I’ve been reading a bit of this book lately with the thought of giving it a try. This was the week. (more…)

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. (more…)

I’m back, dear readers. After finding a job and getting settled in the ATL, I made my first trip to a comic shop in more than a month (quick shout to Odin’s Cosmic Bookshelf). Honestly, I was surprised more than anything by the sheer number of comics I really didn’t care to read. The only series I missed were (in order) X-Factor, Astonishing X-Men, Captain America, Hellboy and Daredevil. (Sadly, the shop was out of the latest X-Factor.)

What’s missing from there? You guessed it: I didn’t miss a single DC series. Hard to believe how far things have fallen since Identity Crisis and even the culmination of 52. I only ended up with a handful of comics from my month off, including three from Marvel, three independents and one from DC (Jeff Smith’s Shazam). I did also get all the Green Arrow: Year One (GAYO) books and the first Tangent collection sent over from DC, but I’ll save those for separate reviews. Now, onto the Countdown… Uh, I mean countdown.

Worst: Astonishing X-Men #22

It’s bad enough that this is late, but the big reveal of this issue (Danger not really being able to kill any X-Men) is just way too late (that storyline happened forever ago) and the killing off of Cyclops made Captain America’s death look tasteful. Oh, and the bad guys’ space rocket launcher looked like the Death Star with a boner. You know what, go ahead and scratch this off my list of comics I need.

Kombative: Immortal Iron Fist #8

Jim Doom already did a pretty good job of taking the logic of this book apart (heaven is based on fighting. WHA???), so I’ll leave that be. This was really just a catch-your-breath book that didn’t advance any of the storylines substantially. Particularly, the flashback story of Danny’s father didn’t do anything meaningful. The art in that part was also terrible, as Jim mentioned, which is odd given how good Marvel is about putting together art teams. Now all that remains to be seen is if there’s a new way to rip off Mortal Kombat (which itself was just a ripoff of Master of the Flying Guillotine).

Metaphoric: Shazam! #4

I think I just bought this to be a completist, since that $5.99 cover price is ridiculous. Whining aside, I did enjoy this series. It succeeds just as Bone did, by weaving a fun story that’s for kids (no girls with their boobs falling out or intense violence) but retains a high level of smarts. There’s a whole lot of social commentary that’s not too heavy handed. I started to wonder, after reading this last issue, how deep the metaphors run. For instance, Smith sets up Sivana as the attorney general and eventually reveals him to be working for the evil Mr. Mind, who then turns on Sivana after he’s served his purpose. There are some overt attacks on the conservative political establishment, but I can’t help but wonder if Mr. Mind is supposed to represent President Bush (manipulating his operatives, etc.). Of course, if that parallel is being drawn, Mr. Mind would probably represent Cheney or Rove…

All that aside, I wasn’t completely sold on the art. It went a bit too cute in places and, more than anything, the big climactic fight between Captain Marvel and Mr. Mind’s giant monsters was unbelievably stiff.

Bee-yoo-ti-ful: Killing Girl #1

If only Fin Fang Doom hadn’t given up his Meaningless Awards column, he would’ve had a shoo-in at splash page of the week. I know it’s not the most action-packed page ever done, but the image at left is comics at their most beautiful. Frank Espinosa branches off from Rocketo here to work with writer Glen Brunswick on the story of a prostitute-turned assassin. As expected, Espinosa’s frenetic art carries the book. It’s so graceful and active (a nice 180 from Shazam). When I looked at the page you see here, I literally shouted.

Apparently, though, there’s more to comics than pretty pictures. Does the writing hold up here? Eh, kind of. The premise here isn’t that original, and Brunswick leans on the crutch of some serious coincidences to craft drama. The prostitute goes to kill a guy in a town where she was kidnapped and sold into the sex-trade years ago, only to run across an FBI agent who’s engaged to her sister and is protecting her potential hit. That’s about as likely as the plot of Spider-Man 3, wouldn’t you say? (more…)