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| Sunday, December 9, 2007 10:42 PM |
| The Take, Volume Two (Week of 11/28/07) |
 by Fëanor |
Whew. Finally finished up with the comics from two weeks ago. (Volume One here.)
Backissues and old data
B.P.R.D.: The Soul of Venice and Other Stories
Yes, I finally found the second volume of B.P.R.D.! And it is quite a bit of fun, despite the fact that it's a book set in Mike Mignola's universe that has almost no work in it actually by Mike Mignola; he contributed to the writing of the title story, and single-handedly wrote the final story in the collection, Another Day at the Office, but otherwise he had nothing to do with it at all. Thankfully, he got the right people to take over for him. The title story is a truly excellent piece of work, strongly in the Hellboy/B.P.R.D. tradition, with writing by Miles Gunther and Michael Avon Oeming (as well as help from Mignola, as I already mentioned). Oeming also takes art duties, with Dave Stewart doing his usual excellent job on colors. In this story, the team heads to Venice and discovers that somebody's been mistreating the goddess whose job it is to maintain the canals. This pisses Roger off. There are plenty of creepy bits, plenty of beautiful art, a moving ending, and a hilarious moment wherein a demon from hell asks Roger to say hi to Hellboy for him, and Roger says okay.
The next story, "Dark Waters," isn't entirely original, but it is well done and quite effective. The art, by Guy Davis, with colors again by Stewart, is wonderful, and Brian Augustyn does a fine job with dialogue and character as he tells us about the secrets and evils of the past that are dug up when a small town near Salem drains the pond in the middle of the town and finds the perfectly preserved, three hundred-year-old bodies of three young women chained together. Love the ending of this one even if, as I said before, it's not entirely original. My largest complaint is actually (oddly enough) with the lettering. I almost never notice the lettering in comics, but in this story it actually sticks out like a sore thumb, and manages to be overdone and melodramatic. Bad job, Michelle Madsen!
Next up is "Night Train," a story by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins, with art by Kolins and Dave Stewart, that features a cameo by Lobster Johnson (yay!), and Roger working out the remaining issues he has surrounding Liz. It's another fun story with strong art that suffers from being slightly unoriginal. Which is a description that also fits equally well the next story, "There's Something Under My Bed." Think Monsters, Inc. but with characters from the Hellboy universe and you're almost there. It's a satisfying bit of fluff, but a bit pat.
I really quite enjoyed "Another Day at the Office," though. As the title suggests, it's about a group of agents of the B.P.R.D. dealing with some truly horrifying and hideous events as if they're ho-hum, everyday type of stuff. It's short and sweet, fun and funny. It's followed by a neat little sketchbook featuring art from all the artists in the book. A fine way to end another fine collection.
Angel: After the Fall #1
The first issue of Joss Whedon's continuation of the Angel storyline, covering events taking place after the last episode of the TV show, is finally here. It's essentially Angel Season 6, and it's a project Whedon decided to take on after Buffy Season 8 started doing so well. I'd heard this book had sold out of its first printing before it even got to comic book stores, due to lots of preorders and extreme demand, so I didn't expect to get my hands on it anytime soon, but there was a nice stack of them at Atomic City when I stopped in on Wednesday night, so swipe one I did! Sadly, I can't say I'm as excited by this comic as I was by Buffy. First of all, although Whedon helped plot it out, he didn't actually write it; that task fell to Brian Lynch. Lynch is no slouch, but he's also no Whedon - and no Brian K. Vaughan, either, for that matter. He does a pretty good job with the dialogue - captures the characters' voices pretty well - and there are even some laugh-out-loud funny bits, but the book has a bit more narration than it really needs, and it just doesn't snap and crackle with excitement and smarts the way I want a Buffyverse book to. It would probably help a lot, too, if the art was better, but neither the illustrations, by Franco Urru, nor the coloring, by Ilaria Traversi, are very good. The book looks sloppy and cartoonish (in a bad way). Still, the concept is pretty clever, and the story reasonably interesting. I will probably pick up the next issue when it comes out.
New this week
Superman/Batman #43
This is not a series I collect, but this issue is a one-shot issue from Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett, the creative team behind Nova, one of my favorite comics, so I was rather looking forward to it. Sadly, it's pretty disappointing. Superman fighting a weird, faux, zombie-like version of the Teen Titans is an amusing idea, but it doesn't go much of anywhere. The dialogue and story are pretty ridiculous, and just when the thing seems to be getting ready to get going, it's suddenly over. The scene where Batman totally incapacitates, and scares the crap out of, the villain is pretty good. But other than that there's not much here that's very exciting. Ah, well.
Dan Dare #1
This comic has shaken the founding principles upon which my idea of comics and comic collecting is based.
Allow me to explain. Before I started collecting, Star lent me a copy of the first collection of Preacher, by Garth Ennis. I found it unimaginative and repulsive. So when I started collecting, I knew that I didn't even have to try anything by Ennis, and if I saw his name connected to a book, I could pass it by without even thinking about it. But Dan Dare is a series I became curious about before I heard that Ennis was going to write it. Dan Dare is an old British comics character of whom Sir Richard Branson is a huge fan. Branson decided he wanted to launch a new Dare title under his Virgin Comics label. I was intrigued by this story, and the character, and thought I'd give it a try when it came out. When I learned it was being written by Ennis, I of course decided not to add it to my list. But when I got to the comic book store, I forgot why the book wasn't on my list, and only remembered that I had been interested in it, so I picked it up. I was horrified when I pulled it out of the bag to read it and saw Ennis' name on the cover. But I still went ahead and read it. And... it's good.
Not awesome, mind you. But certainly not repulsive or unimaginative. In fact, it's clever and funny sci-fi/space opera, with smart dialogue, interesting characters, and an intriguing and exciting story about Dare coming back to work as a commander of the spacefleet when the aliens that nearly destroyed the Earth return to finish the job. I think I'm actually going to have to pick up #2. And rethink my stance on Ennis. I may even have to pick up his Authority books now, too. Damn it!
Blue Beetle #21
This is definitely not a strong issue of this title. The Beetle heads to the prison in answer to a distress call and finds the Spectre (who's some new, crazy, psychopathic guy now apparently; who knew?) dealing out brutal, fatal justice on the prisoners. The Beetle is against killing, of course, but his alien suit can only offer him incredibly destructive measures to use against the Spectre, and even those probably wouldn't work, what with the Spectre's mystical, God-like powers and all. Anyway, while the Beetle is trying to decide what to do, if anything, about the Spectre, he finds himself also dealing with his budding relationship with magic girl Traci, his anger toward the man who shot his father, and his lack of confidence in himself. At the end, we all learn an important lesson. Gak. The art is fun and the story engaging, and there are some funny bits, but the dialogue gets corny and the way the moral is thrown at us is just clumsy and obvious. Maybe next issue will be better...
All-Star Batman and Robin #8
I'm still waiting for the issue of this title that will end with a message from Frank Miller saying, "I wanted to write the most ridiculous, offensive Batman title ever and see if people would keep buying it. And you all did, suckers!" But no, this issue is just plain ridiculous and offensive, with no message at the end. It is also pretty freaking hilarious and entertaining, though. Oh, the narration! The horrible, repetitive, overdone narration! The horrible, repetitive, overdone dialogue! The Joker with a giant dragon tattoo! And a topless henchwoman with swastikas across her nipples!
I really kind of hate the whole antagonistic relationship he's building between Batman and Robin, and the way they interact, and the way Robin is characterized as almost impossibly smart and knowledgeable. I dislike this petty, psychopathic, hateful Batman. I can't believe the way Hal Jordan's Green Lantern is characterized, and the way Batman interacts with him. But every time it gets almost unbearable, there's a bit of dialogue or narration, or a crazy drawing by Jim Lee, that just totally cracks me up.
So yeah, I'm still collecting this title. At least until Miller admits it's all a sick joke.
The Authority: Prime #2
I said an Authority book would have to be pretty awful for me to drop it. Well, guess what? This issue was pure crap, and this book is dropped.
The story is about a fight between StormWatch and The Authority which was initiated at the end of the last issue when both teams arrived at an old bunker of Henry Bendix's at the same time, each wanting the contents for themselves and themselves alone. Which is an okay premise for a story. But I find the actions and dialogue of most of the people here to be out of character or simply ridiculous and unbelievable. Also, Gage uses the argument as an excuse for the characters to yell exposition at each other, in order to fill the reader in on the characters' backstories. On the one hand, I can understand the need to do this; I certainly found myself unaware of a lot of the history, and in need of a refresher on some of the stuff I had actually read. But it's executed extremely clumsily.
And did I mention that the art is terrible?
This panel, which I truly believe may be the worst panel that I've ever seen in a comic book, pretty much sums up the book for me:
The guy whimpering pathetically there, and clutching his fist in overblown emotion, is Winter, an ice cold, rock hard, bad-ass Russian commando who would never break down crying in the middle of a fight because somebody mentioned something awful that he did a while ago. The dialogue and art are clumsy, expository, unbelievable, melodramatic, out of character, and stupid.
Christos Gage and Darick Robertson, you ruined The Authority! You are the worst people in comics!
Batman #671
Good issue. Batman, given the choice between giving up his adopted son (Robin) and his real son (Damian) cheats and selects a third option: showing Ra's the way to the fountain of youth. Ra's accepts, but when they get there they find the Sensei and his men have already arrived, so they team up to take him down. Batman does some seriously hardcore butt-kicking, taking down everybody pretty much single-handedly. It's hot. Also, the Sensei quotes Zimm: "Why does it burn?!?!" Funny, and awesome. Thank you, Grant Morrison.
X-Men: First Class #6
I think maybe I got a screwed up copy of this? Or maybe they put it together weird this week on purpose. Anyway, the issue opens up with one story, which is suddenly interrupted by two back-up stories, and then the first story picks up again directly where it left off. That first, main story is about the X-Men waking up one day to find all their powers are gone, and then all the sudden they're attacked by Sentinels! Exciting, clever, cool, with the usual wonderful art. The first of the middle stories is about the Professor trying to help scientists scan a comet passing relatively near the Earth that just may have intelligent life on it. He doesn't seem to find anything, but the suggestion at the end is that he did in fact wake up something on the coment, and that it is now heading toward Earth. This story doesn't go much of anywhere, but it's clearly setting up something in the future, and it's pretty funny, especially the first page, which is meant to mimic the opening crawl of a Star Wars film. The next story is the follow-up to the incredibly super-cute back-up story from a previous issue wherein Marvel Girl and the Scarlet Witch team up to do fun things together, and fight crime. Again, it's funny and super-cute. All-in-all, another fun, action-packed issue.
Moon Knight Annual
Hey, it's Duane Swierczynski! I forgot he was taking over this book. Poppy and I read a great sort of sci-fi/action novel by him, and I even met him very briefly at a book signing (and got a signed copy of a book from him, of course - which I should really read one of these days). He's a pretty cool author, and it's exciting to see his name on the credits of a comic book I'm collecting. But how does he do? Well... okay. The story centers on a therapy circle for women who've been raped. They each tell their stories, and the stories together tell one larger story about a serial rapist and how the women and the Moon Knight worked together, sometimes without even realizing it, to take him down. It's not a particularly great or fun story, but it's told relatively well. Authors of literary fiction who switch over to comics can be in danger of trying to fit a whole novel into the narration boxes and word bubbles, but Swierczynski has the important talent of knowing when to shut up and let the pictures tell the story for him, which bodes well for his future in the medium. This issue by itself didn't really blow me away, but I'm going to keep collecting in the hopes that future stories will be stronger.
Usagi Yojimbo #107
A flashback helps fill in a bit more of the backstory for this arc (apparently it connects back to one or more previous Usagi arcs), and our various storylines and characters begin to converge, bringing things closer to a final showdown with the demon-possessed woman who's been killing so many people each issue. It's interesting, exciting stuff. There's also a one-page comedic back-up story, printed literally on the inside flap of the back cover, featuring Usagi vs. Groo (a character from another comic who appears to be a kind of parody of Conan the Barbarian). It's goofy and pretty pointless, but vaguely amusing.
World War Hulk: Front Line #6
At long last, the final tie-in comic for World War Hulk! The events in this issue take place during and after the final issue of the World War Hulk miniseries. We get to see how our indie newspaper heroes survived those events, and what they do afterwards. We also get to learn the identity of the paper's mysterious benefactor. Can't say I really enjoyed this one too much. The bits about how hard it is for the regular people after the superfight is over, and how they always get the shitty end of the stick, are just a bit too preachy, and a bit too obviously meant to make us think of the refugees from hurricane Katrina and the aftermath of that disaster. The suggestion is that the superhumans never think of the consequences of their actions, and never help rebuild after a disaster, but this is hard to believe, especially since I'm quite sure I've seen comics in the past that show the heroes helping people rebuild after such disasters. The comic is just a bit too earnest, a bit too unimaginative, a bit too clumsy getting its boring and familiar message across. It's rather a dull thud for World War Hulk to finally end on, but what can you do? |
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