We begin this week with Agents Of Atlas #6 (written by Jeff Parker, pencilled by Leonard Kirk, inked by Justice with Terry Pallot), the little miniseries that deserves a big future. I really liked how this book played with my expectations, especially this issue. The ending is so perfectly suited to the book's quietly subversive tone that I can't say much more for fear of spoiling it. The whole miniseries strikes me as Marvel: The Lost Generation without all of M:TLG's aspirations at legitimacy, but it's a fine story by itself. Also, speaking of nostalgia, it was good to see inker Terry Pallot's name in credits again -- for me, it's been since I read Star Trek comics in the' 90s.
From the Midnighter cameo I'm a little confused as to whether Welcome To Tranquility #2 (written by Gail Simone, drawn by Neil Googe) is supposed to be part of the regular WildStorm universe. It doesn't matter all that much, I guess: the issue uses Mr. Articulate's murder as an opening into further exploration of Tranquility and its quirky inhabitants. It's not really Astro City or Top Ten-level pastiche, but there's a lot of meta elements (old-style comics pages, ads, etc.), sometimes overlaid with the regular story, and that can get a little overstimulating. Together with Googe's cartoony art, the overall effect is supposed to be something like Northern Exposure, I guess, and that's not bad. Really, that's how I feel about the series too, at this point.
I did like the Spectre lead in Tales of the Unexpected #4 (written by David Lapham, pencilled by Eric Battle, inked by Prentis Rollins) more than I have in previous months, but that's because it ties the previous issues' carnage into an overarching plot. Unfortunately, the plot depends on none of the Gotham City police ever having heard of the Spectre; and I'm sorry, but wasn't the old Spectre rampaging throughout DC-Earth, including Gotham City, during Infinite Crisis? As always, the real treat of this book is the Dr. 13 backup (written by Brian Azzarello, drawn by Cliff Chiang), this time featuring much more craziness, including a gorilla with (I swear) the transliterated accent of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yes, there are Planet of the Apes jokes, including the one you expect, but there's also the one I didn't expect, and that was the best of all.
[FYI, I am writing while listening to the complete 2-disc Superman soundtrack, and I just took a break to enjoy Disc 1, Track 12, "The Big Rescue." ("You've got me? Who's got you?!?") Mmmm ... John Williams-licious.]
Batman Confidential #2 (written by Andy Diggle, pencilled by Whilce Portacio, inked by Richard Friend) takes its story in a very strange, almost Iron Giant-like, direction. I didn't dislike it, it was just ... not what I was expecting at all. The issue still ends in a pretty familiar place, though, although I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I have made up my mind, however, that this kind of Batman-discovers-technology story is done no favors by the moody, expressionistic art of Portacio and Friend. I'd have been happier with someone more suited to giant robots and mean-looking Bat-vehicles. Howard Porter's old style would have worked, as would Chris Weston's or even Michael Lark's.
"Grotesk" wraps up in Batman #662 (written by John Ostrander, drawn by Tom Mandrake), and nothing much happens except for a final confrontation between Grotesk and Batman aboard a vintage sailing ship in the icy waters of Gotham Harbor. Now, I like Bat-fights in moody, Frankenstein-esque locations, so this was a highlight of the issue; but the rest of the story was pretty predictable. I do get the feeling that Ostrander was going for a combination of Frankenstein and maybe Phantom of the Opera, but it ended up being very familiar.
Walt Simonson writes and draws JSA Classified #21 as a tie-in to the Rann-Thanagar aftermath he started over in Hawkgirl, and I'm not going to say no to Simonson art. The story answers some questions Hawkgirl raised, but by the end of the issue, unfortunately, things have gotten more confusing. Basically, Hawkman's trying to prove that Blackfire is still evil, but can't; he gets involved in a pretty cool mid-air fight; and the issue ends on a cliffhanger that sets up the last Hawkgirl. Oh, and Adam Strange might be alive and able to see, assuming nobody else on Rann dresses like him, which they do.
For real interstellar action, though, the best bet this week was Green Lantern Corps #8 (written by Keith Champagne, pencilled by Patrick Gleason, inked by Prentis Rollins). The three Green Lanterns take on a super-Dominator and a super-Khund, and things don't go well. Things go so badly, in fact, that I can't help but think a big chunk of this issue will have to be undone next issue. Still, I didn't mind, because the creative team did a great job of establishing these two bad guys as overwhelmingly dangerous, and building to a really suspenseful cliffhanger. Well done all around.
52 #36 (written by JMRW, breakdowns by Keith Giffen, pencilled by Jamal Igle, inked by Keith Champagne) finally wrapped up the Lady Styx storyline, touched on the Question and Osiris subplots, and connected Supernova and Skeets to Rip Hunter. The highlight was Igle and Champagne's artwork, because the two major plot threads -- in space and with the Question -- felt like they should have happened a while ago.
Finally, if the super-neo-Nazis are hunting down JSA relatives in Justice Society of America #2 (written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Dale Eaglesham, inked by Ruy Jose), why are they just trying to kill them? Why not try to sway them to their side? After all, the JSA's attempts to identify them could be taken as part of a plan to establish a kind of genetically-superior class of people, whose powers and connections give them a special destiny, yadda yadda yadda. In other words, there's a fine line between wanting to raise the next generation of superheroes right, and wanting them to embrace what sets them above the rest of humanity. Okay, maybe the line's not so fine, but you can see where Nazis might make a good set of villains for a Justice Society beyond just the World War II angle.
Instead, the issue is filled with more allusions to DC history, from the new Commander Steel to the old Star Boy -- and really, that's not a spoiler, because with last issue's last page, you had to kind of think that's what was going on. The Wildcat-and-son scene was good, but it's balanced against devoting a couple of pages to Starman screwing around with gravity. I like the art, despite Eaglesham's tendency to clutter panels with people and things. The issue itself moved in fits and starts, jumping at one point from a quiet scene right into the middle of a fight, and that might not have been so jarring if the rest of the issue had more action. Again, I'm sure a lot of folks will eat this up, but I've been out of the JSA loop for too long, I guess.
From the Midnighter cameo I'm a little confused as to whether Welcome To Tranquility #2 (written by Gail Simone, drawn by Neil Googe) is supposed to be part of the regular WildStorm universe. It doesn't matter all that much, I guess: the issue uses Mr. Articulate's murder as an opening into further exploration of Tranquility and its quirky inhabitants. It's not really Astro City or Top Ten-level pastiche, but there's a lot of meta elements (old-style comics pages, ads, etc.), sometimes overlaid with the regular story, and that can get a little overstimulating. Together with Googe's cartoony art, the overall effect is supposed to be something like Northern Exposure, I guess, and that's not bad. Really, that's how I feel about the series too, at this point.
I did like the Spectre lead in Tales of the Unexpected #4 (written by David Lapham, pencilled by Eric Battle, inked by Prentis Rollins) more than I have in previous months, but that's because it ties the previous issues' carnage into an overarching plot. Unfortunately, the plot depends on none of the Gotham City police ever having heard of the Spectre; and I'm sorry, but wasn't the old Spectre rampaging throughout DC-Earth, including Gotham City, during Infinite Crisis? As always, the real treat of this book is the Dr. 13 backup (written by Brian Azzarello, drawn by Cliff Chiang), this time featuring much more craziness, including a gorilla with (I swear) the transliterated accent of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yes, there are Planet of the Apes jokes, including the one you expect, but there's also the one I didn't expect, and that was the best of all.
[FYI, I am writing while listening to the complete 2-disc Superman soundtrack, and I just took a break to enjoy Disc 1, Track 12, "The Big Rescue." ("You've got me? Who's got you?!?") Mmmm ... John Williams-licious.]
Batman Confidential #2 (written by Andy Diggle, pencilled by Whilce Portacio, inked by Richard Friend) takes its story in a very strange, almost Iron Giant-like, direction. I didn't dislike it, it was just ... not what I was expecting at all. The issue still ends in a pretty familiar place, though, although I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I have made up my mind, however, that this kind of Batman-discovers-technology story is done no favors by the moody, expressionistic art of Portacio and Friend. I'd have been happier with someone more suited to giant robots and mean-looking Bat-vehicles. Howard Porter's old style would have worked, as would Chris Weston's or even Michael Lark's.
"Grotesk" wraps up in Batman #662 (written by John Ostrander, drawn by Tom Mandrake), and nothing much happens except for a final confrontation between Grotesk and Batman aboard a vintage sailing ship in the icy waters of Gotham Harbor. Now, I like Bat-fights in moody, Frankenstein-esque locations, so this was a highlight of the issue; but the rest of the story was pretty predictable. I do get the feeling that Ostrander was going for a combination of Frankenstein and maybe Phantom of the Opera, but it ended up being very familiar.
Walt Simonson writes and draws JSA Classified #21 as a tie-in to the Rann-Thanagar aftermath he started over in Hawkgirl, and I'm not going to say no to Simonson art. The story answers some questions Hawkgirl raised, but by the end of the issue, unfortunately, things have gotten more confusing. Basically, Hawkman's trying to prove that Blackfire is still evil, but can't; he gets involved in a pretty cool mid-air fight; and the issue ends on a cliffhanger that sets up the last Hawkgirl. Oh, and Adam Strange might be alive and able to see, assuming nobody else on Rann dresses like him, which they do.
For real interstellar action, though, the best bet this week was Green Lantern Corps #8 (written by Keith Champagne, pencilled by Patrick Gleason, inked by Prentis Rollins). The three Green Lanterns take on a super-Dominator and a super-Khund, and things don't go well. Things go so badly, in fact, that I can't help but think a big chunk of this issue will have to be undone next issue. Still, I didn't mind, because the creative team did a great job of establishing these two bad guys as overwhelmingly dangerous, and building to a really suspenseful cliffhanger. Well done all around.
52 #36 (written by JMRW, breakdowns by Keith Giffen, pencilled by Jamal Igle, inked by Keith Champagne) finally wrapped up the Lady Styx storyline, touched on the Question and Osiris subplots, and connected Supernova and Skeets to Rip Hunter. The highlight was Igle and Champagne's artwork, because the two major plot threads -- in space and with the Question -- felt like they should have happened a while ago.
Finally, if the super-neo-Nazis are hunting down JSA relatives in Justice Society of America #2 (written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Dale Eaglesham, inked by Ruy Jose), why are they just trying to kill them? Why not try to sway them to their side? After all, the JSA's attempts to identify them could be taken as part of a plan to establish a kind of genetically-superior class of people, whose powers and connections give them a special destiny, yadda yadda yadda. In other words, there's a fine line between wanting to raise the next generation of superheroes right, and wanting them to embrace what sets them above the rest of humanity. Okay, maybe the line's not so fine, but you can see where Nazis might make a good set of villains for a Justice Society beyond just the World War II angle.
Instead, the issue is filled with more allusions to DC history, from the new Commander Steel to the old Star Boy -- and really, that's not a spoiler, because with last issue's last page, you had to kind of think that's what was going on. The Wildcat-and-son scene was good, but it's balanced against devoting a couple of pages to Starman screwing around with gravity. I like the art, despite Eaglesham's tendency to clutter panels with people and things. The issue itself moved in fits and starts, jumping at one point from a quiet scene right into the middle of a fight, and that might not have been so jarring if the rest of the issue had more action. Again, I'm sure a lot of folks will eat this up, but I've been out of the JSA loop for too long, I guess.
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