Man, what a week. The Best Wife Ever has been out of town, so you know what that means: blogging about the DC solicits and World War III!
Anyway, three weeks behind; no time to waste.
APRIL 4
I'm just going to do a quick rundown for these books. I talked about Justice League of America #7 over at Blog@, in connection with the rest of "The Tornado's Path." Madman Atomic Comics #1 was not what I expected -- weird, expositional, and kind of depressing. Welcome to Tranquility #5 was decent, as the first arc starts getting wrapped up. Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #28 was pretty good, and its current arc is ready to end as well. Atom #10 was okay -- I'm not a huge fan of Eddy Barrows' art, and the "Sometimes They Come Back" story doesn't feel right for the book. Detective Comics #831 was very good, especially with the flashback to the previous Ventriloquist. Superman #661 felt like it could have come out of the '70s or '80s, and that's not entirely bad. Superman/Batman #33 finished what turned out to be the Despero arc, and I'm glad it's over. Nightwing #131 was okay -- not as good as the rest of the arc has been. Finally, 52 #48 felt rushed, and never quite came together.
APRIL 11
We begin the backlog in earnest with Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #1 (written by Jeff Parker, pencilled by Mike Wieringo, inked by Wade von Grawbadger) and All-Star Superman #7 (written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Frank Quitely), two books designed to meet all one's needs for their respective subjects. I know I'm supposed to say something insightful about every title, but with these it's not going to get much deeper than "more, please." I can't get enough of Mike Wieringo's FF, and he draws a fine Spidey too. Jeff Parker's story strikes a good balance between the typical street-level Spidey adventure and the correspondingly cosmic FF tale. It's nice and light-hearted, with the Impossible Man and a great set of Ben/Johnny pranks. The stakes are laid out a little more clearly in the Superman title, as a "Bizarro plague" comes to Earth. The problem's big enough that it doesn't require Superman to be artificially de-powered, or to hold back, but at the same time Morrison and Quitely's Superman radiates confidence. More, please.
I can see that Tales of the Unexpected #7's lead Spectre story (written by David Lapham, pencilled by Eric Battle, inked by Prentis Rollins) is trying to wrap everything up in its penultimate chapter, but I'm not really invested anymore. The same is definitely not true for the Dr. 13 story (written by Brian Azzarello, drawn by Cliff Chiang), which just seems to get crazier and more affecting as it goes along. The satire on DC's continuity struggles has never been more clear, with the "Architects" even wearing Ben Cooper-style superhero masks representing some of their signature assignments. (If I'm right, they're Grant Morrison/Batman, Greg Rucka/Wonder Woman, Geoff Johns/Superman, and Mark Waid/Flash). Speaking of stakes, the Dr. 13 story seems to be about nothing less than the survival of DC's own Island of Misfit Toys. We'll find out next issue.
More metacommentary is on display in She-Hulk #17 (written by Dan Slott, pencilled by Rick Burchett, inked by Cliff Rathburn). Slott's treatment of Shulkie's sexual history comes into play during an encounter with Iron Man and some Nick Fury LMDs reference several other books' subplots. The bulk of the story has Shulkie's squad taking out old Hulk villains both in the field and on the SHIELD Helicarrier, and that part's good. Meanwhile, Mallory and Two-Gun try to clean up the former's image following her breakup with Awesome Andy. I have always been a fan of Rick Burchett's work, and Cliff Rathburn's inks are a good complement. However, it all feels like treading water until "World War Hulk" and its attendant round of status quo change(s).
Lotsa plot in Green Lantern Corps #11 (written by Dave Gibbons, pencilled by Patrick Gleason, inked by Prentis Rollins), so I won't try to summarize. Suffice it to say that everything seems to be connected to weird goings-on on Mogo, which I'd guess are in turn caused by the imminent attack of the Sinestro Corps. A mention of the old Empire of Tears only heightens the apocalyptic mood. I enjoyed this issue, because it balances the various plot threads (I count six) pretty well. I'm also a lot fonder of Gleason and Rollins than I was this time last year.
JLA Classified #37 (written by Peter Milligan, drawn by Carlos D'Anda) begins "Kid Amazo," so when we see a slacker college student who's questioning his purpose and the meaning of existence, it's not hard to figure out why. However, this story wants to look at its title character not as someone who will naturally turn to the light (a la Red Tornado and Tomorrow Woman), but someone who can make a real choice to join his "family" against the JLA. In that respect it looks interesting. I know I've seen D'Anda's work before, but I can't remember where. Here it's pretty good -- kind of like the clean Doug Mahnke/Tom Nguyen style, but a little rougher. A decent book all around.
Still sticking with Wonder Woman (#8 written by Jodi Picoult, pencilled by Drew Johnson, and inked by Ray Snyder), even though this issue isn't much better than the last. The art's still good, though. I will say that the story ties into Amazons Attack a little earlier than I expected, and it makes me wonder about how that event played into the development of Picoult's arc.
That leaves us with 52 #49 (written by The Architects, breakdowns by Keith Giffen, pencils by Eddy Barrows, inks by Dan Green, Rodney Ramos, and Barrows) -- and honestly, with everything that happens in 52-land this week, I can't say much more about the leadup in this issue. The Dr. Magnus bits were the highlight, and Barrows draws facial features a bit soft for my taste.
APRIL 18
The elephant in the room this week was World War III, about which I've already written some 1600 words behind the above link. Short version: incoherent, redeemed somewhat by the efficient 52 #50. Moving on.
The Metal Men show up in Superman/Batman #34 (written by Mark Verheiden, pencilled by Pat Lee, inked by Craig Yeung), and the story is set up for them to fight Supes and Bats, but it's not much more than that. Lee and Yeung's art is dark and slightly exaggerated, such that when one of the bad guys looks grotesquely overmuscled, I'm not sure whether I should accept that there's an in-story reason or that it's just bad anatomy. At one point Bruce Wayne gets slapped by the widow of one of his employees, killed in an attack, and you don't see that too often, so the story gets points for that. However, it sure doesn't have as much fun with Magnus or the Metal Men as 52 does, and I hope that changes.
By now you've probably heard about the bestiality in The Spirit #5 (by Darwyn Cooke), and sure, that's good for some laughs, but it's only part of another solid issue. The plot takes off from the unauthorized licensing of the Spirit's likeness into some unexpected directions. When a comic makes you feel sympathetic for a guy who loves his pet more than he really should, that's saying something.
Manhunter #30 (written by Marc Andreyko, pencilled by Javier Pina Diego Olmos, and Cafu, inked by Robin Riggs and Art Thibert) was enjoyable, but perfunctory: the Wonder Woman arc ends, the Chase-and-her-sister arc ends, and there's more with Mark Shaw. I think having this book "uncancelled" took a little pressure off everyone involved and let them spread out more, so that it feels more transitional than anything else. It's good that the book isn't cancelled, and the resolutions are all handled well -- there's even an Amazons Attack tease, if I read it right -- but it doesn't seem as ... resolute, I guess, about everything.
Andreyko also writes Nightwing Annual #2 (pencilled by Joe Bennett, inked by Jack Jadson), the secret history of Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon's lurve. Andreyko does a good job with the material, working in Dick's time with the New Titans pretty well, and Bennett and Jadson likewise do right by the characters. (They take particular care with the Robin costume.) Dick does have one moment where he lives up to his name, which I'm sure you've read about already. I am not a Dick/Babs 'shipper, nor am I a Dick/Kory 'shipper. I think Dick and Babs are more like siblings than potential lovahs, and I never got the sense that Dick and Kory were in it for much more than the sex. Therefore, I wasn't emotionally invested in these events, but I can't tell you what either party's ideal mate looks like. Anyway, a pretty good issue overall.
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #51 (written by Tad Williams, pencilled by Shawn McManus, inked by Walden Wong) centers around Topo leading the Atlantean survivors through underwater "hatches" which teleport them across the oceans to Sub Diego. Along the way, they encounter Species 8472 ... I mean, the race that built the hatches. The art seems to be a little more cartoony than it was last issue, to go with the more fanciful tone overall. I'm not complaining about that. The book seems to be finding a middle ground between the isolation of the early Busiek SoA issues and the pre-OYL stories, and it's still intriguing to me.
Big doins' are afoot in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #11 (written by Marc Guggenheim, pencilled by Tony Daniel, inked by Art Thibert), mostly in preparation for next issue's fight with the Rogues' Gallery. This issue is about Inertia gathering the Rogues, and Grandma Iris telling Bart why she's pointing that gun at him. I don't really buy Inertia as a Rogue mastermind, especially since he's Bart's peer. However, the issue flows well, it's not implausible otherwise, and I'm interested to see where it goes.
The JLA/JSA/old-school LSH team-up begins in Justice League of America #8 (written by Brad Meltzer, pencilled by Shane Davis, inked by Matt Banning). I must have missed Geo-Force joining the League, and the issue dwells inordinately on Red Arrow almost getting killed by a tree. It was okay, although I spent the whole issue wondering what else it would reference from my childhood. The art was fine, although very similar to the regular Benes/Hope team. I said over at B@N that this crossover could be so big, it forces Meltzer to pick up the pace, and I still hope that's the case -- but this issue was just prologue.
And then there's The Brave and the Bold #3 (written by Mark Waid, pencilled by George Perez, inked by Bob Wiacek), another incredibly good issue teaming Batman and Blue Beetle against the Fatal Five. I intend to catch up on the new Beetle, so I don't know how closely Waid writes him to his regular voice. However, I did think Beetle's dialogue, funny as it was, fell into a standard Waid type. It was still very funny, but it felt familiar too. Anyway, more, please.
Lastly, bringing our survey of some thirty-odd issues to a close is Birds of Prey #105 (written by Gail Simone, pencilled by Nicola Scott, inked by Doug Hazlewood). The fight with the Secret Six continues as the mystery behind You-Know-Who's sudden reappearance is explored. It has to do with a Rasputin cult, apparently. Hawkgirl and Scandal fight and the new Secret Sixer is revealed, but most of it is standing around talking. It's good talking, don't get me wrong, and as I've said too many times in this post, wait 'til next issue. Good as Sean McKeever may be, he'll have a hard act to follow on this book.
Anyway, three weeks behind; no time to waste.
APRIL 4
I'm just going to do a quick rundown for these books. I talked about Justice League of America #7 over at Blog@, in connection with the rest of "The Tornado's Path." Madman Atomic Comics #1 was not what I expected -- weird, expositional, and kind of depressing. Welcome to Tranquility #5 was decent, as the first arc starts getting wrapped up. Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #28 was pretty good, and its current arc is ready to end as well. Atom #10 was okay -- I'm not a huge fan of Eddy Barrows' art, and the "Sometimes They Come Back" story doesn't feel right for the book. Detective Comics #831 was very good, especially with the flashback to the previous Ventriloquist. Superman #661 felt like it could have come out of the '70s or '80s, and that's not entirely bad. Superman/Batman #33 finished what turned out to be the Despero arc, and I'm glad it's over. Nightwing #131 was okay -- not as good as the rest of the arc has been. Finally, 52 #48 felt rushed, and never quite came together.
APRIL 11
We begin the backlog in earnest with Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #1 (written by Jeff Parker, pencilled by Mike Wieringo, inked by Wade von Grawbadger) and All-Star Superman #7 (written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Frank Quitely), two books designed to meet all one's needs for their respective subjects. I know I'm supposed to say something insightful about every title, but with these it's not going to get much deeper than "more, please." I can't get enough of Mike Wieringo's FF, and he draws a fine Spidey too. Jeff Parker's story strikes a good balance between the typical street-level Spidey adventure and the correspondingly cosmic FF tale. It's nice and light-hearted, with the Impossible Man and a great set of Ben/Johnny pranks. The stakes are laid out a little more clearly in the Superman title, as a "Bizarro plague" comes to Earth. The problem's big enough that it doesn't require Superman to be artificially de-powered, or to hold back, but at the same time Morrison and Quitely's Superman radiates confidence. More, please.
I can see that Tales of the Unexpected #7's lead Spectre story (written by David Lapham, pencilled by Eric Battle, inked by Prentis Rollins) is trying to wrap everything up in its penultimate chapter, but I'm not really invested anymore. The same is definitely not true for the Dr. 13 story (written by Brian Azzarello, drawn by Cliff Chiang), which just seems to get crazier and more affecting as it goes along. The satire on DC's continuity struggles has never been more clear, with the "Architects" even wearing Ben Cooper-style superhero masks representing some of their signature assignments. (If I'm right, they're Grant Morrison/Batman, Greg Rucka/Wonder Woman, Geoff Johns/Superman, and Mark Waid/Flash). Speaking of stakes, the Dr. 13 story seems to be about nothing less than the survival of DC's own Island of Misfit Toys. We'll find out next issue.
More metacommentary is on display in She-Hulk #17 (written by Dan Slott, pencilled by Rick Burchett, inked by Cliff Rathburn). Slott's treatment of Shulkie's sexual history comes into play during an encounter with Iron Man and some Nick Fury LMDs reference several other books' subplots. The bulk of the story has Shulkie's squad taking out old Hulk villains both in the field and on the SHIELD Helicarrier, and that part's good. Meanwhile, Mallory and Two-Gun try to clean up the former's image following her breakup with Awesome Andy. I have always been a fan of Rick Burchett's work, and Cliff Rathburn's inks are a good complement. However, it all feels like treading water until "World War Hulk" and its attendant round of status quo change(s).
Lotsa plot in Green Lantern Corps #11 (written by Dave Gibbons, pencilled by Patrick Gleason, inked by Prentis Rollins), so I won't try to summarize. Suffice it to say that everything seems to be connected to weird goings-on on Mogo, which I'd guess are in turn caused by the imminent attack of the Sinestro Corps. A mention of the old Empire of Tears only heightens the apocalyptic mood. I enjoyed this issue, because it balances the various plot threads (I count six) pretty well. I'm also a lot fonder of Gleason and Rollins than I was this time last year.
JLA Classified #37 (written by Peter Milligan, drawn by Carlos D'Anda) begins "Kid Amazo," so when we see a slacker college student who's questioning his purpose and the meaning of existence, it's not hard to figure out why. However, this story wants to look at its title character not as someone who will naturally turn to the light (a la Red Tornado and Tomorrow Woman), but someone who can make a real choice to join his "family" against the JLA. In that respect it looks interesting. I know I've seen D'Anda's work before, but I can't remember where. Here it's pretty good -- kind of like the clean Doug Mahnke/Tom Nguyen style, but a little rougher. A decent book all around.
Still sticking with Wonder Woman (#8 written by Jodi Picoult, pencilled by Drew Johnson, and inked by Ray Snyder), even though this issue isn't much better than the last. The art's still good, though. I will say that the story ties into Amazons Attack a little earlier than I expected, and it makes me wonder about how that event played into the development of Picoult's arc.
That leaves us with 52 #49 (written by The Architects, breakdowns by Keith Giffen, pencils by Eddy Barrows, inks by Dan Green, Rodney Ramos, and Barrows) -- and honestly, with everything that happens in 52-land this week, I can't say much more about the leadup in this issue. The Dr. Magnus bits were the highlight, and Barrows draws facial features a bit soft for my taste.
APRIL 18
The elephant in the room this week was World War III, about which I've already written some 1600 words behind the above link. Short version: incoherent, redeemed somewhat by the efficient 52 #50. Moving on.
The Metal Men show up in Superman/Batman #34 (written by Mark Verheiden, pencilled by Pat Lee, inked by Craig Yeung), and the story is set up for them to fight Supes and Bats, but it's not much more than that. Lee and Yeung's art is dark and slightly exaggerated, such that when one of the bad guys looks grotesquely overmuscled, I'm not sure whether I should accept that there's an in-story reason or that it's just bad anatomy. At one point Bruce Wayne gets slapped by the widow of one of his employees, killed in an attack, and you don't see that too often, so the story gets points for that. However, it sure doesn't have as much fun with Magnus or the Metal Men as 52 does, and I hope that changes.
By now you've probably heard about the bestiality in The Spirit #5 (by Darwyn Cooke), and sure, that's good for some laughs, but it's only part of another solid issue. The plot takes off from the unauthorized licensing of the Spirit's likeness into some unexpected directions. When a comic makes you feel sympathetic for a guy who loves his pet more than he really should, that's saying something.
Manhunter #30 (written by Marc Andreyko, pencilled by Javier Pina Diego Olmos, and Cafu, inked by Robin Riggs and Art Thibert) was enjoyable, but perfunctory: the Wonder Woman arc ends, the Chase-and-her-sister arc ends, and there's more with Mark Shaw. I think having this book "uncancelled" took a little pressure off everyone involved and let them spread out more, so that it feels more transitional than anything else. It's good that the book isn't cancelled, and the resolutions are all handled well -- there's even an Amazons Attack tease, if I read it right -- but it doesn't seem as ... resolute, I guess, about everything.
Andreyko also writes Nightwing Annual #2 (pencilled by Joe Bennett, inked by Jack Jadson), the secret history of Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon's lurve. Andreyko does a good job with the material, working in Dick's time with the New Titans pretty well, and Bennett and Jadson likewise do right by the characters. (They take particular care with the Robin costume.) Dick does have one moment where he lives up to his name, which I'm sure you've read about already. I am not a Dick/Babs 'shipper, nor am I a Dick/Kory 'shipper. I think Dick and Babs are more like siblings than potential lovahs, and I never got the sense that Dick and Kory were in it for much more than the sex. Therefore, I wasn't emotionally invested in these events, but I can't tell you what either party's ideal mate looks like. Anyway, a pretty good issue overall.
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #51 (written by Tad Williams, pencilled by Shawn McManus, inked by Walden Wong) centers around Topo leading the Atlantean survivors through underwater "hatches" which teleport them across the oceans to Sub Diego. Along the way, they encounter Species 8472 ... I mean, the race that built the hatches. The art seems to be a little more cartoony than it was last issue, to go with the more fanciful tone overall. I'm not complaining about that. The book seems to be finding a middle ground between the isolation of the early Busiek SoA issues and the pre-OYL stories, and it's still intriguing to me.
Big doins' are afoot in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #11 (written by Marc Guggenheim, pencilled by Tony Daniel, inked by Art Thibert), mostly in preparation for next issue's fight with the Rogues' Gallery. This issue is about Inertia gathering the Rogues, and Grandma Iris telling Bart why she's pointing that gun at him. I don't really buy Inertia as a Rogue mastermind, especially since he's Bart's peer. However, the issue flows well, it's not implausible otherwise, and I'm interested to see where it goes.
The JLA/JSA/old-school LSH team-up begins in Justice League of America #8 (written by Brad Meltzer, pencilled by Shane Davis, inked by Matt Banning). I must have missed Geo-Force joining the League, and the issue dwells inordinately on Red Arrow almost getting killed by a tree. It was okay, although I spent the whole issue wondering what else it would reference from my childhood. The art was fine, although very similar to the regular Benes/Hope team. I said over at B@N that this crossover could be so big, it forces Meltzer to pick up the pace, and I still hope that's the case -- but this issue was just prologue.
And then there's The Brave and the Bold #3 (written by Mark Waid, pencilled by George Perez, inked by Bob Wiacek), another incredibly good issue teaming Batman and Blue Beetle against the Fatal Five. I intend to catch up on the new Beetle, so I don't know how closely Waid writes him to his regular voice. However, I did think Beetle's dialogue, funny as it was, fell into a standard Waid type. It was still very funny, but it felt familiar too. Anyway, more, please.
Lastly, bringing our survey of some thirty-odd issues to a close is Birds of Prey #105 (written by Gail Simone, pencilled by Nicola Scott, inked by Doug Hazlewood). The fight with the Secret Six continues as the mystery behind You-Know-Who's sudden reappearance is explored. It has to do with a Rasputin cult, apparently. Hawkgirl and Scandal fight and the new Secret Sixer is revealed, but most of it is standing around talking. It's good talking, don't get me wrong, and as I've said too many times in this post, wait 'til next issue. Good as Sean McKeever may be, he'll have a hard act to follow on this book.
2 comments:
A couple of questions for you...
I haven't been reading it closely-- wtf is up with Wonder Woman? I thought Donna Troy was going to be taking over for Diana Price... But I haven't seen Donna since what? WW #2?
So is Donna Troy the new Wonder Woman or is she going to leave that to Diana so she and Kyle Rayner/Icon can make babies together?
And apparently Flash #14 is supposed to be a biggie... is Wally coming back? Not as Flash or anything, but just in general? I'm not asking because I think you know or anything-- just curious what your opinion is... Oh and what is Zoom's beef with Bart? Technically he's one of Wally's rogues. His beef is with Wally in particular, not with Flashes in general (as is the case with much of the rest of the rogue's gallery)... I don't think enough motivation is there for Zoom's involvement to make sense... at least not yet. I hope some motivations for Zoom to hate Bart are developed soon as I think he's one of the best "new" DC villains in a long time. He's considerably more interesting than Eobard Thawne/Professor Zoom was.
Donna: apparently she's going to be a big part of Countdown and related events. Diana's been back as Wonder Woman for a while. You'll remember that DC pretty much telegraphed that by making Diana prominent in the latest JLA.
Flash: Sure looks bad for Bart, but I think it's a fakeout. We may find out what happened to Wally, but I think we're stuck with Bart for a while. I don't think DC would spend so much time setting Bart up with a new life and then boot him out of the book in favor of Wally.
Kind of weird that Iris would choose to work with Zoom, considering her history with Thawne, huh?
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