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| Tuesday, October 14, 2008 09:10 PM |
| The Take |
 by Fëanor |
Fëanor's weekly comic book review post.
This covers new releases from the week of October 8th.
Action Comics #870
The final issue of Geoff Johns' "Brainiac" storyline opens up with Metropolis bottled, Supergirl and Superman captured, and everything just looking generally grim. Then Superman gets pissed and gives Brainiac a royal beatdown. It rules. There's also a lot of great, cinematic editing in this issue, as we cut back and forth between various locations and storylines to really build up the drama and tension. Supergirl even gets a chance to "man up" (as it were) and pull off a kick-ass stunt.
One thing that kind of bugs me (and it's a bit of a spoiler) is that they once again kill Clark's father in this issue. How many times is this poor bastard going to have to die? I swear I've read his death four or five times now in various different Superman comics. Given, it was very moving almost every one of those times, including this one, but still. Either let him live, or let him rest!
This story sets the stage for a big new storyline (which I believe will spread into Supergirl and Superman, although I'm hoping to be able to keep myself from buying those books), focusing on the whole city full of Kryptonians that has now been dropped unceremoniously onto the Earth. Should be interesting!
(Oh, and I almost forgot: props to Gary Frank, as usual, for his excellent art.)
Thumbs Up
B.P.R.D.: The Warning #4
As giant ancient robot monsters rampage through the city (ha ha ha! I love B.P.R.D.), Abe and Johann head underground in the hopes of finding the power source of the machines and blowing it to hell. There's lots of killing and violence, and little goblin guys riding giant lizards, and Abe makes some clever uses of Johann's gift, before going all cold and bad-ass and possibly sacrificing himself and his whole team to save the world. Man, Abe is pretty intense these days. Anyway, yeah, another great comic from Mignola and Arcudi, with more great art from Guy Davis and Dave Stewart. I'm very curious to see how this one will wrap up, and who'll make it out alive!
Thumbs Up
The Goon #29
This issue puzzled me a bit, I suspect because it refers to things from previous issues that I haven't read yet. I've gotten through a lot of the Goon back catalog, but not enough, apparently. Still, there are great drawings, the Bastards get a dog (sort of), there's some fun fighting, and then something dramatic happens at the end that I also don't understand. Hooray!
Thumbs Up
Green Lantern #35
The new (definitive?) Hal Jordan/Green Lantern origin story comes to its conclusion in this issue, as Jordan and Sinestro get called on the carpet by the Guardians for working together. But Jordan calls them out in turn, seeing straight to the secret fears in their hearts, and questioning some of their more foolish edicts. Sinestro finds himself agreeing with Jordan, and drops the bomb on the Guardians that one of their number has taken a name, and it was he who ordered them to work together. Jordan tries to recreate his stunt where he used the ring against yellow, but can't quite do it. Then he flirts with Carol, makes up with his brother, and reveals his secret identity to him (he's pretty bad at keeping that secret, isn't he?). Finally, we check in on a couple of the other characters from the miniseries to see where they ended up, then the Five Inversions unleash another prophecy, this time about Sinestro, and we get some foreshadowing about the Red Lanterns.
It's a pretty good story, and I really did like the way Johns kept tying it in with the stuff that's going on now in the aftermath of the Sinestro Corps War. He's building this whole fascinating Lantern mythology and it's working quite well for him. Ivan Reis' art is strong, too.
Thumbs Up
Green Lantern Corps #29
I know I said I'd dropped this one for good a while back, but... damn it, they dragged me back in again! This issue promised to unveil yet another new Lantern Corps (that of the Star Sapphire), and I just couldn't miss that. These new rings derive their power from love, rather than courage or fear. So the issue ends up being mainly about love, with an uncomfortable subplot about a rough patch in the relationship between Guy Gardner and Tora, and another subplot about Kyle Rayner helping to find and protect the loved ones of other Lanterns. The main plot is about an unfortunate couple of newlyweds who are broken apart by violence. The undying love of the remaining half of the couple calls a Star Sapphire ring to her, and she agrees to joins the new Corps. The Guardians don't know exactly what's going on, but they know the center of the activity is on Zamaron, so they send Gardner and a couple of other Lanterns there to poke around.
It's not a great issue. There's some corny, cliche stuff in here. The art is a little odd, especially that drawing of the girl becoming a Star Sapphire (eee! Creepy!). But I remain fascinated by the overall story, and the idea of new rings and Lantern Corps being born out of different parts of the emotional spectrum. Still, I think I'll try to put this book down again and stay away from it for good this time. It's just not good enough to warrant me spending my precious hard-earned cash on it every month.
Thumbs Sideways
The Helm #3
Yay, The Helm! At long last, another issue! This issue opens up with Matt and the Helm bickering as usual, then Matt has to break off a date to go fight some evil. Only the evil turns out to be someone familiar! Which would be all well and good if Matt's girlfriend didn't learn a bit too much, and then fail to believe Matt's perfectly honest and true explanation (which, admittedly, sounds completely insane). So now what does he do? Things could get very dark and very serious very soon!
This book is taking a pretty interesting turn. This issue had its funny moments, but it also had some pretty disturbing moments, too. I'm really fascinated to see where things go in the last issue.
Thumbs Up
Marvel Zombies 3 #1
I believe I tried the first Marvel Zombies series and found it not to my taste, but something about this new miniseries attracted me (probably the cover featuring the Machine Man in a classic fantasy pose), so I decided to give it a go. And I actually rather enjoyed it. It opens up on Earth-616, where the Florida Initiative team (The Command) is investigating a situation in the Nexus of Realities. Turns out some zombies have slipped into the regular Marvel universe and are beginning to spread their horrible plague. There's a wonderful zombie fight, with all of the humor, sleaziness, creepiness, and extreme gore that you'd expect from such a thing. Then Aaron Stack is called in by an even more secret branch of the military than S.H.I.E.L.D. or S.W.O.R.D. (A.R.M.O.R.) to infiltrate the zombie universe and get a blood sample so a zombie vaccine can be created. He's all ready to refuse until he realizes an old flame is on the mission, too. That quickly changes his mind for him. Unfortunately, the zombie infiltration is already far more advanced than anyone realizes...
Like I said, this has got lots of classic zombie movie-style comedy and gore, and the characters in The Command are pretty hilarious ("Witch Girl! Space Hippie! Look alive!"). And hey, there's that Morbius guy. I remember reading a super-melodramatic comic about him way back. But anyway, despite the fact that this book is actually pretty entertaining, and I can't point my finger to anything in particular that I dislike about it, I'm still not sure I'll pick up another issue. It's just one of the many comics that's good, but not great.
Thumbs Sideways
Star Trek: Mirror Images #4
After an unfortunate diversion to the Next Generation timeline, this series has returned to telling the tale of how Kirk took over command of the Enterprise in the Mirror Universe. Scotty's still struggling to get Kirk's mysterious device set up, and Pike still suspects Kirk of planning something. So Pike finds a dangerous mission and puts Kirk in command of it, in the hopes that this will get the ambitious young schemer out of his way once and for all. Unfortunately for Pike, his plan backfires on him completely, and Kirk ends up with more prestige and a new loyal staffmember. The next issue is the last for this series, so it will undoubtedly feature Kirk murdering Pike. Yay!
This book is still really entertaining me. Scott and David Tipton tell a fun story, with plenty of intrigue and action, and David Messina's art is a fine accompaniment. Looking forward to the conclusion.
Thumbs Up
X-Men: Magneto - Testament #2
I am really, really impressed with this series. It's meant to be the definitive origin story for Magneto, but so far there's been no mention of mutants or superheroes or powers of any kind. It's just the story of a Jewish family trying to survive the rise of the Nazis. It's incredibly moving and powerful. I'm very impressed with Greg Pak's writing, and the smart way he's treating the material. Carmine Di Giandomenico's art isn't always my cup of tea, but it's not bad. I'll definitely be sticking with this title through to the end.
Thumbs Up
X-Men: Original Sin
This is a one-shot containing the first two chapters of the next big, multi-book X-Men story, plus a reprint of an older X-Men issue that they reference. The first chapter is written by Daniel Way with art by Mike Deodato and it starts, as all big X-Men stories are now apparently required to start, with Wolverine! He's thinking back to the first day he came to the mansion and the first time he met Charles Xavier. He's thinking of this because he needs the help of someone like Xavier to put his son Daken's mind back together. He hands Daken into the safe-keeping of one of his old friends, then heads out to talk to Emma, whom he figures is the closest he can get to an Xavier-type person now that Xavier is dead. But when he finds Emma, he smells Xavier on her and Scott and realizes the guy is alive and they've just been to see him. He gets extremely pissed all of the sudden, hits some people, then heads out to find Charles. I like Deodato's art well enough here, as I generally do, but Way's writing is a bit clumsy and overdone.
In Chapter 2, written by Mike Carey with art by Scot Eaton, Wolverine finds Xavier, and threatens him a little. Meanwhile, the bad guys make a move on Daken. Carey is a rather uneven writer, and this little story is not one of his high points. I'm really tired of reading about yet another of Wolverine's children, or lovers, or what have you, and Daken is a particularly annoying relative. Eaton's work is generally acceptable here, but he occasionally ruins things when he's trying to draw a person. The last page is particularly egregious, with a completely ridiculous-looking surprised Xavier in an inset panel, and a lumpy and anatomically incorrect Wolverine in the main panel.
In the back of the issue is a reprint of a story from Classic X-Men #1 called "First Night," written by Chris Claremont with art by John Bolton. This story opens up with a summary of a previous, even older story, which interestingly enough is the same story that got retconned so brutally by X-Men: Deadly Genesis, that lame TPB I read a couple weeks ago. The first panel, which depicts a bunch of the "new" X-Men standing together in a room at the mansion, was actually recreated as a full-page graphic in Chapter 1 of this book. Interesting. Anyway, these new X-Men have been brought in to save the old ones, who are all trapped on an island and being sucked of their life force. The island itself turns out to be alive, and the mission a trap, but they all manage to escape anyway. Once they all get back, there's a lot of tension in the mansion, sexual and otherwise. Jean is frustrated that Scott is so wrapped up in his work and in his role as leader that he has no time for her, while Colossus feels out of place, and Iceman is so pissed about all these new people showing up and crowding the mansion that he gets all bigoted and nasty. Meanwhile, Wolverine comes onto Jean, and Angel comes onto Storm. Then, seeing Wolverine and Jean together, Angel swoops in to break things up, and there's a bit of a fight. The next morning, Jean resolves to leave the X-Men so she can live her own life, and avoid the confusion of feelings she has for Scott and Wolverine.
I'm usually not a big fan of Claremont and his incredibly wordy style, and indeed he does get carried away here a number of times, but some of the dialogue is surprisingly smart and snappy. Bolton's art has a very old, classical look to it, almost as if he's doing a Prince Valiant comic strip. It doesn't always work, but it's sometimes quite lovely, especially when he draws Jean. It's not a great story, but it's an interesting piece of X-history, and I was glad to read it.
That aside, overall this is a pretty bland book, with a pretty dull story that reminds me far too much of every other X-Men story I've ever read. I don't know how they always trick me into buying the first issues of these things, but at least I never buy the second issues.
Thumbs Sideways |
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