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| Wednesday, October 22, 2008 01:18 AM |
| The Take |
 by Fëanor |
Fëanor's weekly comic book review post.
This covers new releases from the week of October 15th, as well as a few TPBs I got out of the library.
Back issues and old data
The Fog
This small Dark Horse TPB immediately attracted me because it has a creepy cover by Mike Mignola, and writing by Scott Allie, whose story in The Dark Horse Book of Monsters so impressed me. A quick look inside seemed to suggest that the book had nothing to do with the movies of the same name, so I snatched it. A longer look inside when I got it home revealed that I'd been completely mistaken, and that the book was in fact done as a prequel tie-in to the more recent film called The Fog. But whatever. It's set in the late 19th century, on a small island off the west coast. A large group of Chinese men and women have arrived there by ship and been hired to work on a rich white man's land. But a terrible curse has followed the Chinese workers, and without meaning to they will pass it on to the people of the island.
It's a pretty simple story, all-in-all, and reasonably creepy and disturbing, but even so I'm left feeling vaguely puzzled about some of the details. Todd Herman's art is strong (it's quite difficult to draw menacing fog, but he does his best), and is of course made better by Dave Stewart's colors. It's an okay book, but nothing amazing.
Thumbs Sideways
The Incredible Hulk: Tempest Fugit
You all know how I love the Hulk, so I was looking forward to reading this TPB, which collects The Incredible Hulk #77-82, originally published in 2005. Sadly, it's pretty bad. Issues 77 through 81 are all one story arc (entitled "Tempest Fugit"), having to do with the Hulk washing up on a mysterious island and running into a lot of strife, both mental and physical; real and imagined. All issues in this storyline feature art by Lee Weeks and Tom Palmer. The last issue in the book has art by Jae Lee and is an unrelated, one-off story. Every story in the book is written by Peter David. The "Tempest Fugit" story arc intercuts the Hulk's adventures on the mysterious island with flashbacks to Banner's high school days, revealing that the Hulk already existed in Banner's troubled mind all the way back then as an alternate personality. This idea annoys me for a number of reasons. First of all, how could the Hulk appear in Banner's mind looking exactly the way that the Hulk will actually look when he is physically born into the world after Banner's exposure to Gamma rays? That's just impossible. Admittedly, this storyline is all about blurring what's real and not real, what's possible and not possible. But still, that just bugs me. And just in general dwelling on the psychological and psychiatric aspects of the Hulk, and the idea that Banner has multiple personalities and the Hulk was always latent within him, is all just very annoying to me.
Also, I always dislike stories set during high school where the main character is a weird, pathetic nerd who is constantly being made fun of and getting beaten up, and that's exactly what this story is. It's stereotypical and irritating. But worst of all, I hate the way that David writes Banner and the Hulk. David's Banner is a whiny, insecure, depressive, angst-ridden blabbermouth. David's Hulk talks too much, too; he's at once too articulate, and not articulate enough. Both characters are unlikable jerks, constantly spouting stupid dialogue.
The plot proceeds almost like the movie eXistenz; we're constantly being offered a new version of reality, a new explanation for what's going on, and then that reality is pulled out from under us and replaced by another. It's a pretty irritating plot structure. And when we finally do get to hear the actual, real explanation, it turns out to be a really ridiculous and unbelievable bit of claptrap involving Nightmare and 9/11. Hulk solves the problem, as usual, with an application of brute force, thus providing the story with a gigantic anticlimax. I'll admit there are some vaguely interesting ideas sprinkled through here, and Lee Weeks and Tom Palmer's art is pretty good. But other than that, "Tempest Fugit" is just terrible.
The one-off in the back of the book isn't much better, as David writes Hulk and Banner exactly the same in this story as he did in the other. There's even narration this time wherein Banner tries to use the Three Stooges as a metaphor for the tragedy of his life. WTF? The plot is about Banner randomly meeting a hot sorceress, witnessing her murder, and then trying to help her astral projection solve the crime. It has its moments, but it's mostly pretty melodramatic and corny. Jae Lee's art is unique and rather pretty, but it's also kind of smoky and surreal, and his Hulk looks more like Frankenstein's monster than it does the Hulk we know.
So yeah, overall obviously not my favorite book ever. But at least now I know to avoid Peter David's Hulk in the future!
Thumbs Down
New releases
The Age of the Sentry #2
I was afraid I'd tire of this book, and the central, and rather gimmicky, premise that it's a "lost" Silver Age comic, but if anything it's gotten even better in this second issue; it's easily the best comic I read this week. The first story is "Ursus the Ultra-Bear," written by Jeff Parker and beautifully penciled by Nick Dragotta. It's a truly wonderful story that features a cranky Truman Capote filling in as a guest journalist at the Daily Bugle (and revealing his secret, shameful fear of bears); Harrison Oogar, the Caveman of Wall Street, giving financial advice; the man with the tri-level mind tricking the Sentry into turning a tutu-wearing circus bear into a giant, laser-eyed Ultra-Bear; Carol Danvers guest starring as the Sentress; and a whole bunch of other fun little things that it would take too much time to explain here. Suffice it to say, it's goofy, fun, hilarious, and action-packed - pure comics in the best way.
The next story is "The Secret of Area B," by Paul Tobin, with art by Michael Cho. This one is even more interesting than the first story. The plot is a simple thing wherein all the Sentry's super buddies seem to be ditching him as part of some huge conspiracy. It has that same fun and funny feel to it, but also includes a truly disturbing and powerfully effective moment near the end of the story where the illusion starts to break down and the Sentry's insecurities and mental problems rear their ugly head. Cho's art in this story has a wonderfully authentic Silver Age quality to it that's just perfect, and the writing is spot-on, too. This title is really absolutely fantastic. Can't wait for the next issue.
Thumbs Up
Astonishing X-Men #27
I wasn't sure at first about Warren Ellis' take on the X-Men, but with this issue I'm now really enjoying the title again. There is some seriously smart and funny dialogue in here, and some great character interplay, especially during the sequence involving Cyclops cursing. Plus, the story is starting to come together and get really interesting. The one thing I'm still not sure about is Simone Bianchi's art. It's kind of pretty and interesting, but it just doesn't seem right for the X-Men.
Thumbs Up
Captain Britain and MI13 #6
The team faces its first big crisis in the form of an apartment building being taken over by a wish-fulfilling demon. Things are made more complicated by the fact that the newest team member is trying to kill one of the other team members. Plus, Captain Britain is being sorely tempted by the demon. Very neat stuff!
Thumbs Up
Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #2
I continue to be surprised by how much I like this miniseries, especially given the fact that it's a tie-in with the wretched Final Crisis, and the fact that it's described as "continuity porn," and I generally hate DC's big continuity stories. This issue opens up with a few members of the Legion swooping in to free another member from an evil wizard's prison, only to be stopped on the way out not only by the wizard, but also the entire enormous and frightening Legion of Super Villains. There's a huge super fight, of course, which leads to one character's death. Meanwhile, Brainiac 5 sets in motion a complex, multi-part plan to save the universe, which naturally involves calling in the two other Legions for help. I think more major super human characters appear in this comic than all the other comics I read this week combined. It's freaking crazy. It also looks like Geoff Johns has found a way to tie this story into the whole Green Lantern mythos he's building. Intriguing!
Thumbs Up
Ghost Rider #28
Man, I love this book. This issue opens by introducing us to Tibet's version of the Ghost Rider, a seriously bad-ass dude wielding a big spear/scythe thing and riding a giant, fire-breathing, purple horse that wears a necklace of human skulls. Awesome. Unfortunately, we don't get a chance to get to know him better because Danny Ketch shows up and ruins his shit. The new Caretaker gives Johnny the bad news about his brother, and tells him a bit more about the Ghost Riders. Next issue we finally get the knock down drag out between Ketch and Blaze. Should be a doozie!
In the back of the book, after the main story, is a super-handy prose summation of Daniel Ketch's backstory, written by Michael Hoskin, with reprinted illustrations from the original comics sprinkled throughout. I was really curious about some of this Ghost Rider history, so it was great to get a primer on it. It is kind of ridiculous, though, how many different ways they've tried to explain the Ghost Rider and its origin. It's a family curse; it's a demon; it's an angel; it's the result of a deal with the devil; it's caused by a magic insignia; it has to do with a whole network of spirits of vengeance all over the world; and so on, and so on. It's almost impossible to reconcile all of these ideas with each other and make a coherent story out of it, but Hoskin tries his best. Anyway, as I said, I was happy to get the information.
Thumbs Up
Grant Morrison's Doctor Who #1
Apparently Grant Morrison wrote some Doctor Who comics. This is the first issue of a new miniseries that will reprint and collect them all, in color for the first time. It contains three stories: both parts of a two-part Sixth Doctor story called "Changes," and a one-off Seventh Doctor story called "Culture Shock!" "Changes" sees the TARDIS invaded by an evil shape-shifting alien, and the Doctor must gather his wits about him to save his assistant Peri from the creature. At this point in the continuity, the Doctor and Peri are also accompanied by their own friendly shapeshifter, a fellow name Frobisher who generally takes the form of a penguin. I didn't expect a talking penguin, but when you're doing a comic tie-in with a TV show, you might as well take the opportunity to do crazy stuff they won't be able to do on the TV show, so a talking penguin it is! Morrison and artist John Ridgway also take the opportunity to give you a little tour of some of the odder parts of the TARDIS. It's not a particularly complex or original story, but it's fun enough. The next story opens with the Doctor (now alone and without assistants of any kind) feeling old and useless, and considering giving up the wandering life altogether. But then he happens upon a lifeform in trouble, and figures out a way to save it and help it fulfill its purpose in life. This reenergizes him and he heads right back into the TARDIS and off on another adventure. Again, not a particularly complex or original story, but a pretty good, solid one that kind of gets to the heart of who the Doctor is and what he does.
This was fun to read; it's interesting following the Doctor's adventures in a comic book. I'll probably pick up the next issue of the series.
Thumbs Up
Greatest Hits #2
This is the second issue of that Vertigo miniseries about the British superhero team whose career sort of parallels that of the Beatles. I still love the concept, but the reservations I felt about the first issue came back tenfold in this one, and I think I'm just going to drop the series now. Sure, the crazy giant '60s-style party in the Mates' hotel suite is pretty fun, and there are a couple of other interesting moments, but generally it's just a lot of sordidness, and there's not really many likable characters to hang onto. The main character is probably the least likable of the bunch - he's a snotty, irritating, self-absorbed asshole. I don't really feel like reading about him anymore.
Thumbs Down
Guardians of the Galaxy #6
I still just can't seem to make my mind up about this series. This final part of its tie-in with Secret Invasion opens up with the explanation for the stunt Drax pulled at the end of last issue, and then we finally figure out why there are Skrulls on the station and what that's all about. The explanation makes sense, and is even kind of cool, but also a little disappointing (I want to hate the Skrulls! Hate them, I say! Dirty, filthy Skrulls...). It's also rather lame that the series' only tie-in with Secret Invasion is that our heroes get to learn it's going on; thanks to a convenient explosion, they have no way of actually getting back to Earth and interfering with the invasion at all. I understand why they did things this way, but it feels a bit contrived. And why bother doing a tie-in if there isn't really going to be anything tied in?
The more interesting part of the issue is the very end, where the secret of how the team came together comes out, possibly shattering it for good, and there's foreshadowing of even more terrible things on the horizon.
Still, it's just not a great comic. The story is reasonably interesting, but the dialogue isn't that great, and there's nothing particularly exceptional about the art. I think it might be time to drop it.
Thumbs Sideways
The Mighty Avengers #19
Speaking of Secret Invasion tie-ins, here's another! This one deals with how Captain Marvel and the Kree warrior Noh-Varr are dealing with the invasion. The bits with Marvel are mostly retreads of stuff we've already seen in the recent Captain Marvel miniseries, and the latest issue of Secret Invasion, which is a bit disappointing. The stuff with Noh-Varr is a bit lost on me, as I'm not familiar with the character and his history. But really his dialogue/narration isn't very well written. The art in this (by Khoi Pham) is good, so there's some cool visuals and some decent action, and some reasonably moving moments involving Marvel, but mostly it's a bit disappointing.
Thumbs Sideways
Monster-Size Hulk #1
This one-shot is described as "Monster-Size" for two reasons: it's extra long (containing multiple stories), and it involves monsters. The first story, by Jeff Parker with art by Gabriel Hardman, imagines that the novel Frankenstein was actually a true chronicle of real events, and that the newest member of the family is continuing her ancestor's work and attempting to revive the creature. Problem is, she needs Banner's help to continue. Of course, it turns out there's more to the whole thing than she's telling, and there ends up being a fight between Hulk and the Creature. But then there's kind of a reenactment of the end of Return of the Jedi (with the Creature as Vader, Hulk as Luke, and the US Army as the Emperor), and the Creature ends up on Hulk's side for a time. Some closing narration drives home the already obvious similarities between Hulk and the Creature. The art is pretty cool, and the concept is appealing, but ultimately the execution is rather clumsy.
Next up is a story called "Hulk by Night" by Steve Niles with art by Lucio Parrillo. This is a really short one detailing an encounter between the Hulk and Werewolf by Night. I'm not a big fan of the weird, black and white art; the monsters are drawn pretty well, but the people look kind of ugly and dumb. The story is so rushed and simplified and cliche that it's hardly worth telling.
The third story, "Goom's Fairy Tales," is only two pages long, and is done purely for laughs, but it's easily the best story in here. It's written by Paul Tobin with art by Dave Williams, and its premise is that the tales monsters tell to scare each other are about the Hulk. It's funny and clever. The last story in the book is a prose tale by Peter David accompanied by some black and white illustrations by Gabriel Hardman. It imagines a meeting between Dracula and the Hulk. I detailed earlier in this post how much I dislike the way David writes Banner and the Hulk. He isn't quite as bad in this story, but the writing overall is still kind of irritating; David shoots for a darkly humorous tone, but fails to be particularly funny. So out of four stories, there's really only one that's any good. A little disappointing, but not entirely unexpected; these one-shot issues with a bunch of short stories in them are rarely all that great.
Thumbs Sideways
Star Trek: Romulans - The Hollow Crown #2
John Byrne's very clever story of personal revenge and politics in the Romulan Empire continues in this issue - and appears to come to an end, although I could be wrong about that (I'm not sure how long this miniseries is supposed to be). Anyway, I really enjoy the way Byrne weaves his story into already existing Star Trek continuity, slipping in interesting little references to incidents from episodes of the original series. There are also a number of familiar characters here, but the story includes just as many brand new characters who are just as interesting as the pre-existing ones. It's fascinating to see them all try to manipulate events, and each other, to their own ends, and to watch as certain people's schemes fall apart and other's succeed. It's a very intelligent story that I really enjoyed.
Thumbs Up
Superman & Batman vs. Vampires & Werewolves #1
Having already purchased and at least partially enjoyed Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator, I couldn't very well ignore this new miniseries with a similarly ridiculous and appealing title. It's written by Kevin VanHook with art by Tom Mandrake, and it opens in Gotham City with Batman investigating a brutal, gory murder. There's a mysterious man nearby who clearly knows more than he's letting on, and who is also clearly a vampire. He gets away, and then has a conversation with a werewolf. Wonder Woman, meanwhile, also finds herself tangling with vampires. And finally we meet a mad scientist who just might be responsible for the vampire plague.
Notice anything missing from that plot summary? That's right, Superman! It would have been nice to include all of the title characters in the first issue of your miniseries! Sigh. The art in the book is clumsy and ugly, and the writing is just as bad; there's way too much narration, and it's all melodramatic and ridiculous. I definitely won't be picking up another issue of this.
Thumbs Down
Ultimate Origins #5
The final issue of this fascinating Ultimate Universe miniseries shows us another revealing flashback: a Nick Fury-led S.H.I.E.L.D. raid into the Weapon X compound, wherein Fury learns the true origin of mutants, and decides to take extreme measures to cover it up. Brutal stuff! We also learn the origin of Ultimate Black Panther, and get a quick look at the origin of Xavier's paralysis (it involves an unfortunately appropriate sound effect), and of the conflict between him and Magneto. Finally, in the present, Uatu the Watcher reveals why he and his fellow Watchers all suddenly came online: a big crisis point is coming for Earth, and it's time for the Watchers to choose a Herald. Their choice is a bit... unexpected, and what exactly it means for the character and the universe is not immediately clear. I assume answers are forthcoming in future issues of Ultimate Universe comics. Which is a little disappointing as I don't plan to read those, but... ah, well. This was still a really good series with a really fascinating, well constructed story, great art, great characters, and smart, funny dialogue.
Thumbs Up |
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