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| Tuesday, November 20, 2007 08:49 PM |
| The Take |
 by Fëanor |
Wow. What a fantastic bunch of books came out this past week. I think the comic book creators of America were trying to make it up to us for the issues of Robin and World War Hulk: Gamma Corps that came out the week before.
All-Star Superman #9
I was so so glad to get my hands on another issue of this amazing title. The beautiful, stunning artwork of Frank Quitely (with lovely colors by Jamie Grant) paired with the brilliant, fun, hilarious, Silver Age-homage writing of Grant Morrison makes for a seriously excellent comic. This particular issue has Superman returning from his adventures on Bizarro World only to discover that two months have gone by back on Earth, and a couple of jerk-ass Kryptonian explorers (who were away at the time of the famous planet explosion) have taken over Metropolis in his absence. The result is an interesting little conflict that takes a surprising turn.
World War Hulk #5
And finally the story of World War Hulk comes to an end - you know, sort of. As much as these things can come to an end. I have to admit I felt a little angry and betrayed when I got to the last pages of this issue and realized that the series wasn't really over at all, that in fact this issue was just setting up a whole new storyline that would be covered in various new titles to be launched soon, and that there would also be a series of "Aftersmash" titles covering the aftermath of the events of WWH. Obviously I should have seen this coming, as this is simply how these things work, but it still kind of pissed me off for whatever reason.
That aside, this was a seriously excellent comic that worked as a powerful conclusion to what has been an all-around top notch Marvel series. The first half consists of a mind-blowingly destructive and awesome fight between the Hulk and the Sentry, which is followed and accompanied by some really amazing and moving dialogue. Then a shocking act of violence leads into the reveal of who was really responsible for the ship explosion (I was right!), and sets up the tragic conclusion. Not only do the action scenes work really well, the dialogue and character scenes work really well, too - to the extent that this here comic book actually moved me to tears. I think it's able to do this because of the fact that it takes into account the entire history of this character, and builds on it, so that it resonates with everything that the Hulk is about. And yeah, they've got me hooked. I'll probably be picking up all those Aftersmash things, and at least trying out all the new titles that they're going to spin out of this series (well, except Gamma Corps, of course).
Nightwing #138
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this title is actually quite good. Unlike the guy writing Robin, who totally dropped the ball in terms of dialogue and characterization, Nightwing author Fabian Nicieza does a fantastic job generating clever, funny, and believable interactions and dialogue amongst these characters, and moving the story along in a way that's entertaining, exciting, and interesting. There's plenty of great ninja-fighting action, and it's pretty funny how that trio of scantily clad, third string villainesses keeps showing up and getting dropped instantly by somebody or other.
Nova #8
Like Nova's life wasn't already weird and complicated enough, in this issue he finds himself trapped in the head of a decapitated Celestial floating at the end of the universe and fighting a weird zombie space plague with the help of a talking Russian dog cosmonaut. And yes, this issue is exactly as awesome as it sounds.
Punisher War Journal #13
I expressed misgivings about this title in the last Setup, but I am happy to report that this is one of the good issues - in fact, it may very well be the best issue yet, which is really saying something. I think the reason it works so well is that Fraction has stopped trying to tell the story using some kind of weird, irritating plot gimmick, and has instead just given us a straight-up, super-fun, hilarious, awesome piece of comic bookery. It's the Punisher out there chasing criminals, and the authorities out there chasing the Punisher. As The Rhino says, it's old school, and it's good. It helps that the art, by new-to-this-title Cory Walker, is fantastic, wonderfully cartoony stuff, lovingly colored by Dave Stewart. And did I mention that it's really funny? I was laughing out loud as I was reading this one on the train. Hooray for Matt Fraction!
Oh, and something else I've been meaning to talk about: for the last couple of weeks a lot of the Marvel comics I've been picking up have had the same set of bonus content in the back, apparently to pad out the length a bit. First up is a fascinating little list of little known facts about the X-Men called "Fury's Files." It's amusing bits of what appears to be actual trivia about mutant canon. Next up is some concept art and character profiles from an upcoming title by Chris Claremont called New Exiles, which features parallel universe versions of Rogue, "Mystiq," Kitty Pride, Sabretooth, and some guy named Morph. Needless to say, it looks awful. Man, I hate Chris Claremont. Thankfully, the next two bits are far more entertaining: an informative and funny interview with Matt Fraction about his work on Iron Fist and The Order, and silly answers from various Marvel comic book creators to the silly question, "If you could date a Marvel character, who would it be and why?" The best answer is from Matt Fraction, who says: "Galactus. I bet he has funny stories."
B.P.R.D.: Killing Ground #4
Okay, I loved this issue - fantastic art and colors from Guy Davis and Dave Stewart, respectively, and a crazy exciting story full of shocking twists and turns - but I am also in serious WTF mode. Why did that happen? And who is that guy and what is he doing? And what does it have to do with that? And what happened to Johann? And... (spoiler) Lobster Johnson?! Where the hell did he come from?
I'm ready for the next issue, please!
Ghost Rider #17
Ghost Rider Annual #1
Double the Ghost Rider means double the fun! This week's issue sees Johnny making a deal with the devil, and the angels revealing themselves to him and offering their aid. There's also plenty of brutal, fiery action and some pretty funny gags. So yeah, pretty much another kick butt episode of Ghost Rider! The Annual, meanwhile, is set at an unspecified amount of time before #17, and opens with an "O'Malley's Bar" kind of sequence that sees the devil killing a lot of people, and also introduces an intriguing new character who's a double agent so many times over for heaven and hell that he doesn't even know what he really is anymore - demon or angel. But he plans to learn the truth and get back in the game, and his plans involve using the Ghost Rider in some as yet unspecified manner. Interesting...
Captain Marvel #1
As with Nightwing, I thought this would probably suck, but it's actually surprisingly good. After some time-traveling shenanigans land Marvel in the present, decidedly not dead, and the end of the Civil War leaves him with little to do, he retreats to the Louvre and contemplates art and life, trying to avoid thinking about the painful holes in his memory that surround the events that brought him here. But Iron Man wants to know what his deal is and sends an agent to check in on him. Meanwhile, a weird, creepy religious cult has grown up around the returned Captain Marvel. And Marvel, after some soul-searching, decides that he needs to get back in the fight. The soul-searching bits are surprisingly well done, and there's plenty of excellent narration and dialogue, besides a couple of kick-ass action scenes in which Marvel takes out a super villain and then does some giant robot fighting. Good stuff! I'll be collecting this one for sure.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier
The long-awaited third volume in Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series is sadly a bit of a disappointment, and definitely the weakest of the trilogy. It falls prey to a recurring fault of Moore's wherein he gets so wrapped up in creating a complex world and describing it - its history, its structure, and its workings - in great detail, that the actual story becomes a dull afterthought.
Black Dossier picks up about 60 years or so after the conclusion of Volume 2, and introduces us to Mina and the now young Quatermain (as we learned in the back pages of Volume 2, he's taken a dip in the Fountain of Youth) as they get the better of young Jimmy Bond and manage to steal the titular document, which contains all the information that British Intelligence has collected over the years on "The Murray Group" - as the current League has come to be known - as well as all the earlier versions of the League, and even a couple of foreign imitations. Most of the rest of the book actually is this "Black Dossier" - it's clippings and picture postcards and lengthy text reports describing the founding of the very first League, back in the 1600s, filling in some background on Mina's first adventures with her group, and then getting us up to speed on everything Murray and her companions have been up to since then. We read the dossier along with Mina and Allan, and between perusals of the documents, Mina and Allan have their own adventures in the present, which consist mainly of them trying to evade British Intelligence.
As before, Moore manages to incorporate pretty much every scrap of fiction written or acted out during the time period, including a great many with which I am completely unfamiliar (which might have contributed somewhat to my disappointment in the book, I'll admit). But I do recognize, and enjoy, the Shakespearean references, the many references to James Bond, Lovecraft and the Cthulhu mythos, 1984, The Prisoner, The Third Man, The Wicker Man, Metropolis, The Phantom of the Opera, Dr. Mabuse, Orlando, Lupin, and many others I'm probably forgetting. The Jeeves and Wooster/Lovecraft crossover ("What Ho, Gods of the Abyss") is particularly excellent - it's an astoundingly perfect amalgamation of the two universes/styles. Moore also does a very good Shakespeare, and I both enjoy and am pained by the terrible and clever things he does to James Bond. But sometimes you feel like you're reading an encyclopedia entry instead of a comic. The lengthy stream of consciousness beat poetry section, for instance, is really a chore to get through.
But the stories that are being told in the Black Dossier do sound very interesting, even though we're often getting just glimpses of them from the point of view of someone removed once or twice from the action. And yet the story told outside the Black Dossier - which is the actual body of the comic - turns out to be kind of boring. It's just a simple chase with a bit of intrigue. So I have to wonder, why did Moore summarize the interesting stories in the Black Dossier instead of actually telling them, in comic book form? He has material there for many more volumes of League, but he just skims over all of it.
I should mention that the book comes with 3D glasses, which you have to use to read the final section - the section wherein Moore's world-explaining fault comes most to the forefront. It's basically just a guided tour of the Blazing World, which you have to endure while wearing a pair of headache-inducing goggles.
Did I mention the constant references to filthy sex? Yep, it's a Moore book, all right.
But, it's a Moore book, which means it's also brilliant, entertaining, and impressive. The world he takes such care to build really is quite a place, loaded with familiar characters and story elements carefully interwoven and reimagined. And the final speech from the Duke - which essentially sums up Moore's message about the importance and power of fiction and imagination - actually works quite well, and even sent some chills up my spine.
All of which is to say even the worst League book is still a pretty good book. |
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