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| Wednesday, July 2, 2008 05:53 PM |
| The Take |
 by Fëanor |
Fëanor's weekly comic book review post.
Moving and settling into my new house has kept me occupied for the last little while, and left me little time for comic blogging, so this Take is going to be a catch-all post, covering everything I've read in the last two weeks. Settle in!
Back issues and old data
JSA: Black Reign
I'm not sure why I keep picking up JSA books. I really don't like the characters or their stories that much. But this trade paperback collection was written by Geoff Johns, who's done some pretty cool stuff, and it tells the story of Black Adam's invasion and takeover of Khandaq, which was kind of a big event in DCU history, so when I saw it in the library I decided to give it a shot. The opening makes it clear from the outset that this is going to be a darker and more violent story than we're perhaps used to from DC, as we see Black Adam and his team swoop in and tear apart and blow up their enemies. Of course, the interesting part of the story is that what Adam and his friends are doing is not necessarily wrong. The leader they take down is a tyrant, and they do save many innocent lives. But when the rest of the Jusice Society hear about it, they're not too pleased, and head to Khandaq to see if they can talk some sense into Adam and his crew. Of course, inevitably it comes to a great big fight, and in the process a few little known characters lose their lives. Ultimately they come to an uneasy truce and Black Adam and his people are left in charge with the promise that they won't spread out and conquer any other countries.
When we first meet the JSA, they're in their civilian identities, celebrating Hawkman's birthday in St. Roch, which is clearly the DCU's version of New Orleans. This sequence is pretty terrible and really underlined for me why I dislike the JSA. None of these characters are interesting at all, and most of them are unlikable. Power Girl looks even more ridiculous in civilian clothes than she does in her crazy super outfit; in fact, the art in general, by Rags Morales and Don Kramer, is quite awful. The one scene in this part of the story that works really well is the one in which Hawkman busts in on a hostage situation and totally mutilates a guy. It's brutal and shocking and well done. The follow-up scene in which Hawkman walks into his birthday party all bloody with broken glass sticking out of him is equally fun.
Interesting note: in the beginning of the next part, the colorist (John Kalisz) makes a big blunder. One of Black Adam's guys is a dude named Alexander who carries around a diamond in which is trapped a powerful demon named Eclipso. Alex has a bunch of glyphs and spells tattooed all over his body so he can keep the demon imprisoned and use its power for himself - the presence of this body art is actually a really important plot point. One of the tattoos is a large blue half circle covering the right side of his face. On this first page, in one panel, the colorist forgot to add said blue half circle. Whoops!
Anyways, I'm not going to bother going into a detailed plot synopsis. Suffice it to say there are good bits and bad bits. The concepts are interesting, and there are some interesting twists and turns to the story, but the dialogue is generally pretty lame, corny, and melodramatic, and I just can't get into these characters. I'm going to try to remember to avoid the JSA from here on out.
Thumbs Sideways
New releases (6/18/08)
Scalped #18
Lately I've been too busy at work to go out during the day and run over to the Fat Jack's in Philly to pick up my comics, which means I've had to wait until after work and drive over to the Fat Jack's in Jersey. To my horror, when I arrived there this past week, the store was already sold out of Scalped #18. Scalped is one of my favorite books coming out right now, so I made it a priority to get to a comic shop in Philly and find a copy as soon as possible. Luckily I got out of work early on Friday, and the Fat Jack's in Philly was not sold out yet. Whew.
So, about the comic. Looks like we've got a new artist in the person of Davide Furno. I like his style; it's very stylized, with a sort of futurist/cubist kind of thing going on, especially in his depiction of people, with lots of jagged edges, cross-hatching and geometric shapes. Interesting stuff. The story is a powerful character portrait of Officer Franklin Falls Down, the one good cop on the res, and tells how he's able to come back to the force, find himself, and set out to track down the killer of Gina Bad Horse. The usual excellent work from Aaron. I'm so glad I was able to track down this issue.
Thumbs Up
Wolverine #66
I figured I'd probably drop Wolverine after Jason Aaron's arc was over, especially since the writer taking over for the next arc was Mark Millar, whose work I tend to have very mixed feelings about. But the premise for this one was too good to resist. It's set in a post-apocalyptic future where the bad guys have won, and Wolverine is an old man who has to go on a cross-country road trip with an equally old, and now blind, Hawkeye. The book itself is even more awesome than that sounds. It takes two characters, strips away some of their most essential characteristics, and then tries to determine what's left. What happens when you take the violent, never aging loner that is Wolverine and make him old, give him a family, and turn him into a pacificist? What happens when you take the keenest archer in the world and take away his sight? Oh, and also, Wolverine has to pay rent to the Hulk gang, a bunch of redneck grandchildren of Bruce Banner cruising around in an old beat-up Fantastic Four flying machine. And Wolverine and Hawkeye are making their roadtrip in a customized Spider-Mobile. It doesn't get much more awesome than that, folks. Very much looking forward to seeing where this story goes next.
Thumbs Up
Superman/Batman #49
This issue is the final one in the "let's get all the Kryptonite" story arc I've been following in this title. Sadly, it's also probably the worst issue so far. The dialogue and narration are corny, melodramatic, and just generally poorly written, and the characterization of Superman really bugs me. He's so self-righteous and so sure of himself. I just don't like him in this book, and that should never happen. Then there's the painful scene of him talking to Lana, the ridiculous poisoning of the Earth, the even more ridiculous cleansing, and the final cheesy speeches. Blargh. Just not good. So disappointing. This was a really interesting idea for a story, and it was going in some interesting directions, and then it just took a nosedive into a pile of garbage.
Thumbs Down
Star Wars: Legacy #25
I really don't know about this title. The main character, Cade, is just kind of a snot. The dialogue and narration is often corny and laced with lame slang terms. The only things keeping me vaguely interested are the setting (I have a hard time resisting the Star Wars universe) and the story, which continues to intrigue me. Still, I think I might be better off dropping this title. It just doesn't seem worth the money.
Thumbs Sideways
The Incredible Hercules #118
Herc and friends continue their journey to the lair of the Skrull Gods, but find they must make a pit-stop to ask for directions from Nightmare, who is willing to provide the service if they'll let him feed on their worst fears. Herc doesn't take the experience well and starts handing out beat-downs. Nightmare sends a horde of terrors at them, but luckily they manage to get what they need anyway and escape. A follow-up make-out session between two of our heroes is made creepier by the presence of Cho's coyote pup, who (spoiler alert!) might be a Skrull! At least, according to the weird green light around his eyes. But can Skrulls shrink down into tiny coyote pup form? Who knows. I hope not, because besides being hard to believe, the pup turning out to be a Skrull would be really lame. Especially since he only just finally got his name in this issue: Kirby! It was chosen by readers in a contest.
This was an okay issue, but not great. I'm beginning to sour on Incredible Hercules. It's never bad, but it's been a while since it was really good, either.
Anyway, at the end of the issue is a pretty funny Skrull-related Mini Marvels comic. Gotta love the Mini Marvels.
Thumbs Sideways
John Constantine: Hellblazer #245
I'm fascinated by the Hellblazer character, but I've never read anything with him in it that I really liked. That being said, the latest two-part arc of Vertigo's on-going title about the guy is written by Jason Aaron, one of my favorite new comics writers, so I knew I had to pick it up. Part one here introduces us to a film crew making an episode of a show called The Best Bands You've Never Heard of. The subject of this particular episode is a punk band Constantine headed up called Mucous Membrane. The band debuted at the Casanova Club in Newcastle in 1977, and less than a year later broke apart at the same club, apparently under mysterious circumstances involving murder. The crew shows up to film at the now condemned building that once housed the Casanova Club, only to experience some... pretty odd and nasty stuff. Constantine himself doesn't show up until the very end of the comic, when we learn he himself is on the way to Newcastle, perhaps because he's somehow aware that some weird junk is going down in his old stomping grounds.
It's an intriguing comic, with a classic horror story plot and some fun punk rock flavor. I also love Sean Murphy's jagged art. I definitely plan to tune in next month to find out how Aaron wraps up this story.
Thumbs Up
Guardians of the Galaxy #2
I was kind of thrilled, but also kind of disappointed, to see Cap's shield in a chunk of ice at the end of #1 of this new series. I'm getting tired of seeing Cap come back in strange new ways. So I was actually pretty relieved when, in this case, it turned out not to be Cap at all, but a completely new character, apparently from a distant future, who already knew the name of the team even though they themselves didn't yet. The Cap connection is certainly there, though, and the characters themselves point out the parallels to the formation of the original Avengers. And it looks like next issue will feature a fight with the Cardinals of the Universal Church of Truth, which should be fun.
This issue repeats the structure of the first, with the present action inter-cut with debrief logs recorded by the team afterward. It was kind of cute the first time around, but now it's getting kind of annoying. I hope they drop it soon. Overall it's a pretty good issue, although some of the attempts at comedy fall flat. Still sticking with this one for now.
Thumbs Sideways
Ghost Rider #24
Jason Aaron strikes again! His latest entry in the story of old flamehead opens with a seemingly unconnected look into the past, where we see an old priest who was apparently manipulated by angels into committing a horrific mass murder. (He'll pop up again later in the story, of course.) Then it's back to the present, where Johnny mysteriously shows up in a solitary confinement cell in a jail, asking to see the warden. Seems he's gotten another lead on Zadkiel. Unfortunately for him, Zadkiel already has a man or two inside who are going to make things difficult for him - including the hulking, scripture-quoting Deacon. It's looking like the start of another great story arc! And I'm loving the art here, which comes to the page thanks to Tan Eng Huat and colorist Jose Villarrubia.
In the back letters section we get to read the winning Ghost Rider playlist, as well as a couple by the comic creators themselves. Good stuff.
Thumbs Up
George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards: The Hard Call #3
The new Aces continue to try to deal with their powers, while the mysterious dog-faced Ace strikes a couple more times, this time using the Trump Virus he stole. Also, his true identity is revealed, and it is not surprising at all.
Not much happens in this issue, and there are some corny moments. I think I'm done with this title. It's not bad, but it's just not good enough to warrant me continuing to spend money on it every month.
Thumbs Sideways
Anna Mercury #2
I'm not loving this series as much as I usually love series by Warren Ellis, but it's okay. In this issue we learn a little more about just where Anna is and what it is she's doing there. It involves other invisible Earths orbiting our Earth, and a kind of space program that has developed to visit and explore them. The existence of the other Earths and the technology to visit them apparently came out of the Philadelphia Experiment, which is a neat touch. Anna is trying to save one of the other Earths from itself. The story is interesting, but not mind-blowingly awesome, and mind-blowingly awesome is what I expect from Mr. Ellis. Of course, I'll still probably stick with it till the end, but... we'll see.
Thumbs Sideways
New releases (6/25/08)
Runaways #30
At long last, another issue of Runaways! Sadly, it's the last one from Joss Whedon. Next month Terry Moore takes over, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm not familiar with the man's work, but I have a bad feeling I wouldn't like it. We'll see.
Anyway, as for this comic, it's a powerful ending to a great arc. Nico has had her powers pumped up, and uses them to put some serious hurt on the Yorkes. She also tries to graciously (sort of) step aside and let Vic start a relationship with the cute dancing girl from the past, but dancing girl isn't ready for the change - and never will be. They do pick up a new team member, though, and make it back home. There's also a really neat moment where Chase reveals what he did with the time machine before he came back to the past. It's an emotional issue, but not in a mawkish, corny way; it's moving and real. Classic Whedon stuff.
Thumbs Up
Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #1
I managed to keep myself from buying most of the Secret Invasion titles this past week, but I couldn't resist this one, what with the starring role for the Runaways and all. It picks up pretty much exactly where Runaways #30 leaves off, with the team back in present day New York showing their new member around. Then, of course, the Skrulls show up - and Xavin seems to immediately turn on her former teammates, to side with the invaders. Uh oh! Meanwhile, there's a really interesting subplot surrounding Hulkling that suggests he's a lot more important than I realized. This is surprisingly good stuff, with an intriguing story (by Chris Yost), exciting action, and lovely, cartoonish art (Takeshi Miyazawa draws a super-hot Nico, and on a less creepy note, Christina Strain's colors are fantastic). Definitely a very pleasant surprise. I'll be sticking with this miniseries probably for all three issues.
Thumbs Up
Secret History of the Authority #4
As I'd feared, this series has continued to get less and less interesting as the mysteries are solved. And the shocking surprise ending of this issue was not shocking or surprising at all (I mean, anybody who's ever seen a film noir knew that was coming). Still, this issue does have some strong moments. It was good to see Jack beat up one of those alien future punks, even if the way he disables the robot is a bit hard to believe; Sal's speech to Jack about what he needs to do to heal himself is kind of cool; and Jack's story about his childhood, and his identification of himself as not the king, but the slave of cities, is very interesting. So yeah, it's an okay comic. And the miniseries only has two more issues, so I'll probably stick with it to the end.
Thumbs Sideways
No Hero #0
Woo hoo! New Warren Ellis series! This one imagines a fascinating alternate history wherein a chemist named Carrick Masterson invents a drug that can turn people into super humans. He recruits six people to take it and help him change the world. He calls them The Levellers, and their mission is to create, through modern chemistry, a free world with a level playing field and equality for all - the world, in short, that was the dream of the counterculture in the '60s. They introduce themselves to the press and the public at large at the corner of Haight and Ashbury. In the '70s they change with the times, getting angrier, putting on different outfits, and switching their name to The Front Line. In the '80s, one of the original members quits and gives an interview, revealing that the drug that makes them super humans also has horrific side-effects. "It comes down to one thing, man. How much do you really want to be a superhero? Because you've got to really want it. Really want it." This is the essential premise of the series. Finally, in the present (which is actually the future - 2011), it looks like someone who knows how The Front Line's super powers work has declared war against them.
In the back of the book, Ellis provides a short summary of the premise and backstory for the series, a character portrait of Carrick Masterson, a short passage about the super drug, FX7, and an interesting explanation for the origin of the name The Levellers.
It's a great comic, well written as usual by Ellis, and I love the interesting historical question at the heart of it: what if back in the '60s, someone had actually figured out how to really change humanity and the world with drugs? Artist Juan Jose Ryp, who's also working with Ellis on his other super team book, Black Summer, does a great job here, as well. I'll definitely be picking up #1 when it comes out.
Thumbs Up
Thunderbolts #121
Ellis closes out his run on Thunderbolts with another brilliant, fantastic issue in a long run of brilliant, fantastic issues. We open up with a couple of hilarious, awesome fights: Doc "It's all gamma-enhanced" Samson and Penance vs. Moonstone (holy crap, Penance is powerful!), and Green Goblin vs. Songbird. Then Bullseye brutally takes out the garbage. In the epilogue, Penance decides on a new direction for his life, sort of, and Osborn and Songbird come to a kind of understanding, in that they're now both blackmailing each other. Awesome, awesome stuff. And although a lot of the credit does go to Ellis, I have to say, Mike Deodato, Jr.'s art on this title has been absolutely amazing, and this issue is no exception. Really imaginative and exciting page design and layout, and wonderfully realistic and lovely drawing. There's even some funny good-bye messages to outgoing editor Molly Lazar in the back.
Sadly, I will probably never pick up an issue of Thunderbolts again, as the creative team taking over now includes writer Christos Gage, who is my sworn enemy.
Thumbs Up
Superman #677
I gave this title a try a while back and decided I didn't like it, but then I learned that a new creative team was taking over with this issue, with James Robinson as writer, and that the stories from now on would be more closely integrated with those in Action Comics, so I thought I'd give it another shot. Sadly, I remain unimpressed. It opens up with Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Superman playing fetch with Krypto and Superman saying some dumb things about how he thinks everything's going to be fine for him from here on out. C'mon, how can even a naive farmboy like him believe that's true? Especially given his history? Anyway, next we meet a squad of the Science Police, the guys who usually clean up after Superman, who have their hands full fighting a giant monster. A dude shows up to help them out, and everybody assumes it's Supes, but it turns out to be some blowhard named Atlas. The stage is set for a fight between him and the boy in blue next issue. But I don't think I'll be there to see it. The writing in this is just not very good, and I don't care for the characters or the story. I hear many good things about James Robinson, but I have yet to read anything by him I like. Still, I probably will give his Starman a chance one of these days, since everybody seems to love it so much.
Thumbs Down
Uncanny X-Men #499
The last issue before the big #500 extravaganza essentially brings the latest story arc to a close, with Scott and Emma clearing up the whole '60s fantasy world problem and Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler taking care of Omega Red in spectacular fashion. The mutants even seem to have found themselves a new home in San Francisco! But in the epilogue we learn that some kind of sinister sisterhood is planning to come and get them soon. Ah, well. That's the life of an X-Man!
Still definitely enjoying this title and loving these characters, and I can never resist a big extravaganza issue, so I'll definitely be back for #500.
Thumbs Up
X-Men: First Class #13
I keep toying with the idea of dropping this title, and then I keep buying the next issue anyway. It's never earth-shatteringly excellent, but it's generally pleasant, cute, and fun. In this issue, the team is still smarting over the loss of Warren when they are introduced to the socially inept Aaron Stack, the Machine Man, and asked to take him along with them on their latest mission. This rankles some members of the team, but he may come in handy now that they find themselves surrounded by lava men! Or he may just turn on them. Meanwhile, a final one-page story about the mysterious and seemingly helpful government official Agent Baker suggests he may not be trustworthy after all. Anyway, as usual it's all just fun and interesting enough for me to want to pick up the next issue.
Thumbs Sideways
Star Wars: Dark Times #12
Another very, very cool issue of this title. There's some interesting Sith politics here: Vader is seeking an apprentice who can help him defeat his master, the Emperor, so that he himself can become master. The Emperor suspects this and is having him watched. As Vader and the ancient Jedi Celeste Morne fight, both of them realize they're caught in a kind of catch-22 - Celeste cannot beat the powerful Vader without giving in to the power of the ancient Sith talisman around her neck, thus losing her own soul, but if she loses the fight and dies, Vader will get the talisman and probably use it to take over the galaxy; meanwhile, Vader realizes that she will never be a good apprentice, but if he kills her and takes the talisman, he'll just be trading one master for another, as the spirit that inhabits the talisman will rule over him. Ultimately, Morne makes a terrible choice and faces a dark and empty future, while Vader and our heroes escape, but not without their own losses.
As I said, it's a very cool issue, with some very cool ideas in it. But sadly it's the last issue of Dark Times that will come out this year, as the Dark Horse Star Wars team is putting the book on hiatus until 2009 in order to concentrate on a Clone Wars series, and The Force Unleashed. I'm not sure if I'll try those or not. I'm also tempted to continue following Vector when it picks up in Star Wars: Rebellion next month, but that would probably be a mistake...
Thumbs Up
B.P.R.D.: The Ectoplasmic Man
This one-shot retells in more detail the events which transformed the medium Johann Kraus into an ectoplasmic man, thus bringing him to the attention of B.P.R.D. and ultimately leading to him joining the team. Pretty much as soon as he finds himself in ectoplasmic form, Johann ends up in the middle of an adventure involving a demon who eats the souls of the newly dead. It's an interesting story (written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi), and the demon is fascinating and creepy. Ben Stenbeck's art is sometimes clumsy and ugly, but other times quite fantastic. Overall it's a reasonably entertaining addition to my B.P.R.D. library.
Thumbs Up
Green Lantern #32
Hal Jordan's secret origin story continues in this issue, which opens with the sleazy and arrogant Dr. Hammond getting involved in a terrible accident involving the remains of Abin Sur's spacecraft, an accident that transforms him into a super-powered villain. I don't remember reading about a Dr. Hammond before, but according to Wikipedia he's a classic Lantern villain. Regardless, it's a cool origin scene, and all the scenes with him are great. As the story goes on, it quickly becomes clear that Hal Jordan sucks at keeping his secret identity secret. After a pretty nasty fight with Carol Ferris, she gives him his job back and they nearly end up making out. Don't know how that works. Then Jordan's job is immediately jeopardized by the appearance of Sinestro, who thinks Jordan is a pretty lousy Lantern with very little ability or discipline, and that he shouldn't be letting himself get distracted by things like jobs. Meanwhile, the thing that killed Abin Sur has managed to get the name of the person who will bring on the prophecy of the Blackest Night, and Hammond is running around causing trouble.
Good stuff! This is a fun and interesting story with a lot of entertaining scenes, and an intriguing mystery that's cleverly tied in with the stuff that's going on in the present Green Lantern timeline. The only thing I really don't like in this issue are the scenes between Jordan and Ferris. There's something a bit lame about their dialogue and the way their relationship is being handled. Still, it's not a deal-breaker.
Thumbs Up
Jack of Fables #23
Still really loving this Old West storyline they've got going on now about Jack Candle and his gang. In this issue, Bigby continues chasing Candle, determined to hunt him down for risking revealing the nature of Fables to the Mundy world, but he ends up making a bit of a spectacle of himself to the Mundies in the process. Lots of great dialogue (courtesy the kick-ass writing team of Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges), a very clever and wry tone, dark humor, and wonderful art (courtesy penciler Tony Akins, inkers Andrew Pepoy and Jose Marzan, and colorist Daniel Vozzo). There's also another great appearance from Babe at the end, and it looks like the Lone Ranger might be entering the story soon! Very cool.
In the back of the book is a sneak peek of a new ongoing Vertigo series that's a relaunch/reinvention of a classic DC character called Madame Xanadu. I'm not familiar with her, but the seven pages included here are kind of neat. Xanadu appears to be a kind of druid witch hanging about in medieval times. I don't think I'm interested enough to actually buy an issue, but it was intriguing to see her receive a disturbing warning from the Phantom Stranger.
Thumbs Up
1985 #2
This miniseries about Marvel superheroes and supervillains infiltrating the real world of 1985 continues to be quite cool. In this issue, our main character sees the impossibly real characters from the comics up close and personal, but he still can't convince anyone of what's really going on. Meanwhile, there are intriguing hints dropped about his Dad's past, and his future, and the villains make a move. Cool art, neat story. Definitely sticking around to see where this goes.
Thumbs Up
Mythos: Captain America #1
I'm pretty sure this is just a one-shot, as it seems to be one, simple, contained story. I think the concept for the Marvel Mythos line is to provide artsy origin stories for classic Marvel characters, and that's certainly what this is: a really beautifully painted, well-told reimagining of Captain America's origin. There's maybe a little more narration than there needs to be, and it gets a little corny at times, but the ending is genuinely moving, and brought a tear to my eye. Captain America's story is a powerful one in the first place - the idea of a selfless, patriotic hero, separated by time from everyone and everything he knows - and writer Paul Jenkins and artist Paolo Rivera manage to milk it for even more drama and emotional impact here. Very good stuff.
Thumbs Up
Captain America #39
This issue takes things slow and just builds us towards the Cap vs. Cap fight that Brubaker is saving for the big #40 issue. Although it also features pregnant Sharon pulling some pretty bad-ass stuff. Overall it's reasonably entertaining, although I'm pretty much still waiting for Captain America to wow me again.
Thumbs Up
Angel: Revelations #2
Plenty more fun, artsy visuals and almost-too-clever bits of foreshadowing in the latest issue of this Marvel Knights miniseries. The basic shameful, brutal high school shenanigans are going on, but it remains interesting enough to keep me hooked.
Thumbs Up |
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