We begin this week with Supergirl #23 (written by Kelley Puckett, pencilled by Drew Johnson, inked by Ray Snyder), which I bought mostly out of past loyalty to these creators. By now these Supergirl relaunches have an air of "This time for sure!" about them, so I'll also admit to some morbid curiosity. In that respect I wonder if it's a bit of black humor that the cover has our heroine going up in flames....
Anyway, the issue itself is an enigmatic bit of decompression which starts and ends with a mysterious box delivered to Supergirl's apartment. After a brief, but funny, chat with Batman about the box, she's called away by Superman to help him and a squad of Green Lanterns stop an interstellar war. Things don't quite go as planned, but her reaction -- and the role of the box -- aren't quite explained, thereby theoretically encouraging us readers to come back next month.
Should we, though? I'm more intrigued by the storyline than I am by the title character, and I'm not sure that's a good thing. From what I can tell from this issue, Supergirl's kind of a spaz. She zones out when the GLs brief her. She's apparently responsible enough to have her own (spacious, nicely furnished) apartment, and that magazine subscription in her hand indicates she's put down some roots, but how old is she supposed to be -- late teens? Early twenties? What's her "secret identity" like? (Judging by this week's Superman, she doesn't have much of one ... but that's this week's Superman.) She's got all the powers of Superman, so how does she use them differently? In short, why should I care about her enough to pay $2.99 (plus tax, minus folder discount) every month?
Well, the art is quite good. Johnson and Snyder do meticulous work. I'm not entirely sure about their Supergirl anatomy, but that could just be an optical illusion from the costume. There's a long, wordless stretch in the second half of the book, and they handle that pretty well too. Like I said, I'm intrigued by the story, and this issue was good enough to make me want to see more. However, if I'm going to make a long-term commitment, I'd like to know more about Supergirl herself.
As for her cousin, Superman #670 (written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Rick Leonardi, inked by Dan Green) finishes up "The Third Kryptonian." It's a good conclusion to what was a somewhat predictable but still enjoyable arc. Busiek hit most of the "moody loner" character beats with Kristin Wells, including the "only out for herself" one. However, the issue is mostly action, which Leonardi and Green do nicely. I also like their Supergirl, who looks about five pounds heavier than Johnson and Snyder's; and their Power Girl, who looks about ten pounds lighter than, say, Michael Turner's. Anyway, the basic plot is that the Head Bad Guy has all kinds of weapons specifically designed to kill Kryptonians, so Superman and his allies (including Batman) have to figure out inventive ways to counter them. It's all fairly straightforward, although it apparently sets up a sequel and at least one other future story. That's not really a criticism, because I haven't been this consistently pleased with a Superman writer in a long time.
Countdown #25 (written by Paul Dini and Adam Beechen, pencilled by Ron Lim, inked by Jimmy Palmiotti & John Stanisci) finally checks in with the cliffhanger that closed out Firestorm, lo those many months ago. That's the bulk of the issue, and it's entertaining and somewhat satisfying. However, the other "check-in" scenes -- Jimmy and Mary Marvel on Apokolips, and Piper and Trickster escaping from Deadshot (?!?) -- are kind of lame. Art is good throughout, and I would expect no less from an old hand like Lim.
I was curious about The Search For Ray Palmer: Red Rain (written by Peter Johnson, pencilled mostly by Eric Battle and Angel Unzueta, inked by Derek Fridolfs, Vicente Cifuentes, and Jonathan Glapson, with a few pages drawn by Kelley Jones) because I enjoyed the "Bat-Vampire" trilogy by Jones and writer Doug Moench. However, this has all of the grue and none of the grim nihilism. It's not a very attractive book, mostly because it tries to ape Kelley Jones' style without much success. The colors (by Art Lyons) are muted and muddy, like a red filter has overlaid everything. The plot is moderately diverting, since it involves this Earth's Dick Grayson (and, in a small role, Barbara Gordon), but even that feels like something of a departure from the original material. The Batman/Dracula: Red Rain book was creepy precisely because it was set in a Bat-milieu that could easily have been the character's regular title. However, this special's Dick and Babs are just characters with the same names. What's more, our Challenger heroes really can't do anything to affect this Earth's status quo -- they can only introduce us to it and move on. Therefore, nothing of consequence happens. Unless you just like seeing alternate versions of familiar characters put through penny-dreadful situations, you don't need this issue.
In the regular Bat-books, "The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul" begins officially in Robin #168 (written by Peter Milligan, drawn by Freddie E. Williams II). If you've seen one of those "Bad Seed" kinds of movies, where no one will believe the good kid who knows the evil kid's evil, that's about how Tim must deal with Damien. Also, Batman rescues Talia from what is apparently her bandage-enwrapped father. It's kinda unremarkable, except for the hints at the mysticism (Nanda Parbat, the Sensei, etc.) behind Ra's' return. Williams' work is fine; Robin is lean and muscular, and Batman is appropriately chunky.
The romance, or whatever it is, of Ryan and Doris "Giganta" Zuel is the best thing about (The All-New) Atom #17 (written by Gail Simone, pencilled by Mike Norton, inked by Trevor Scott). I found myself rooting for the two crazy kids despite the fact that she's a little unhinged. The weird androgynous villain (at least I think "he" and "she" are the same person) was hard to figure, but that's a good enough mystery for two issues. Norton and Scott turn in another fine issue. They work about as well with Simone as Nicola Scott did on Birds Of Prey, and considering how much I like Nicola Scott, that's high praise indeed.
I bought Welcome To Tranquility: Armageddon #1 (written by Christos Gage, drawn by Neil Googe and Horacio Domingues) out of loyalty to the regular title -- only one issue left, apparently -- and it was just okay. Basically, it focused on Tranquility's Captain Marvel-analogue, but let him stay "in costume" the whole issue, as opposed to his regular role of deus ex machina. Also, the time-travel involved in showing us the alternate future also made our hero's role that much more confusing. In short, he flies around while others tell him how bad things have gotten, and then he forgets about everything and the issue is over. It was kind of like the Ray Palmer: Red Rain issue, above, except without the muddy art.
Fantastic Four #551 (written by Dwayne McDuffie, pencilled by Paul Pelletier, inked by Rick Magyar) looks like it kicks off this creative team's last arc, involving a set of time-travelers bent on stopping Reed from saving the world. It ends on a heck of a cliffhanger, and it ties into Reed's "room of notes" from Civil War. That's not a lot in terms of plot, but it's executed well.
Howard the Duck #2 (written by Ty Templeton, pencilled by Juan Bobillo, inked by Marcelo Sosa) gets closer to its roots, as Howard and Bev must deal with Howard's sudden celebrity following his smackdown of the hunters last issue. Most of the issue finds Howard on a yelling-match talk show, and that goes about like you'd expect, or maybe a little worse. I might be easily amused, but I did like MODOT (Designed Only for Talking) a lot. This is not a bad miniseries by any means, even if it has a lot to live up to.
Finally, the satire is presented much more deftly in Groo: Hell On Earth #1 (by Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones), in which Groo's bumbling leads to eco-unfriendly consequences. I'm not sure how this can be stretched out into four issues, but if the rest are as clever as this one, I definitely won't care. The latest Groo tale finds everyone at the top of their particular game, especially Aragones and colorist Tom Luth. Those two complement each other perfectly through Aragones' exquisite backgrounds and two-page spreads. This story aims for a broad scope and even an epic feel, and succeeds admirably.
Anyway, the issue itself is an enigmatic bit of decompression which starts and ends with a mysterious box delivered to Supergirl's apartment. After a brief, but funny, chat with Batman about the box, she's called away by Superman to help him and a squad of Green Lanterns stop an interstellar war. Things don't quite go as planned, but her reaction -- and the role of the box -- aren't quite explained, thereby theoretically encouraging us readers to come back next month.
Should we, though? I'm more intrigued by the storyline than I am by the title character, and I'm not sure that's a good thing. From what I can tell from this issue, Supergirl's kind of a spaz. She zones out when the GLs brief her. She's apparently responsible enough to have her own (spacious, nicely furnished) apartment, and that magazine subscription in her hand indicates she's put down some roots, but how old is she supposed to be -- late teens? Early twenties? What's her "secret identity" like? (Judging by this week's Superman, she doesn't have much of one ... but that's this week's Superman.) She's got all the powers of Superman, so how does she use them differently? In short, why should I care about her enough to pay $2.99 (plus tax, minus folder discount) every month?
Well, the art is quite good. Johnson and Snyder do meticulous work. I'm not entirely sure about their Supergirl anatomy, but that could just be an optical illusion from the costume. There's a long, wordless stretch in the second half of the book, and they handle that pretty well too. Like I said, I'm intrigued by the story, and this issue was good enough to make me want to see more. However, if I'm going to make a long-term commitment, I'd like to know more about Supergirl herself.
As for her cousin, Superman #670 (written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Rick Leonardi, inked by Dan Green) finishes up "The Third Kryptonian." It's a good conclusion to what was a somewhat predictable but still enjoyable arc. Busiek hit most of the "moody loner" character beats with Kristin Wells, including the "only out for herself" one. However, the issue is mostly action, which Leonardi and Green do nicely. I also like their Supergirl, who looks about five pounds heavier than Johnson and Snyder's; and their Power Girl, who looks about ten pounds lighter than, say, Michael Turner's. Anyway, the basic plot is that the Head Bad Guy has all kinds of weapons specifically designed to kill Kryptonians, so Superman and his allies (including Batman) have to figure out inventive ways to counter them. It's all fairly straightforward, although it apparently sets up a sequel and at least one other future story. That's not really a criticism, because I haven't been this consistently pleased with a Superman writer in a long time.
Countdown #25 (written by Paul Dini and Adam Beechen, pencilled by Ron Lim, inked by Jimmy Palmiotti & John Stanisci) finally checks in with the cliffhanger that closed out Firestorm, lo those many months ago. That's the bulk of the issue, and it's entertaining and somewhat satisfying. However, the other "check-in" scenes -- Jimmy and Mary Marvel on Apokolips, and Piper and Trickster escaping from Deadshot (?!?) -- are kind of lame. Art is good throughout, and I would expect no less from an old hand like Lim.
I was curious about The Search For Ray Palmer: Red Rain (written by Peter Johnson, pencilled mostly by Eric Battle and Angel Unzueta, inked by Derek Fridolfs, Vicente Cifuentes, and Jonathan Glapson, with a few pages drawn by Kelley Jones) because I enjoyed the "Bat-Vampire" trilogy by Jones and writer Doug Moench. However, this has all of the grue and none of the grim nihilism. It's not a very attractive book, mostly because it tries to ape Kelley Jones' style without much success. The colors (by Art Lyons) are muted and muddy, like a red filter has overlaid everything. The plot is moderately diverting, since it involves this Earth's Dick Grayson (and, in a small role, Barbara Gordon), but even that feels like something of a departure from the original material. The Batman/Dracula: Red Rain book was creepy precisely because it was set in a Bat-milieu that could easily have been the character's regular title. However, this special's Dick and Babs are just characters with the same names. What's more, our Challenger heroes really can't do anything to affect this Earth's status quo -- they can only introduce us to it and move on. Therefore, nothing of consequence happens. Unless you just like seeing alternate versions of familiar characters put through penny-dreadful situations, you don't need this issue.
In the regular Bat-books, "The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul" begins officially in Robin #168 (written by Peter Milligan, drawn by Freddie E. Williams II). If you've seen one of those "Bad Seed" kinds of movies, where no one will believe the good kid who knows the evil kid's evil, that's about how Tim must deal with Damien. Also, Batman rescues Talia from what is apparently her bandage-enwrapped father. It's kinda unremarkable, except for the hints at the mysticism (Nanda Parbat, the Sensei, etc.) behind Ra's' return. Williams' work is fine; Robin is lean and muscular, and Batman is appropriately chunky.
The romance, or whatever it is, of Ryan and Doris "Giganta" Zuel is the best thing about (The All-New) Atom #17 (written by Gail Simone, pencilled by Mike Norton, inked by Trevor Scott). I found myself rooting for the two crazy kids despite the fact that she's a little unhinged. The weird androgynous villain (at least I think "he" and "she" are the same person) was hard to figure, but that's a good enough mystery for two issues. Norton and Scott turn in another fine issue. They work about as well with Simone as Nicola Scott did on Birds Of Prey, and considering how much I like Nicola Scott, that's high praise indeed.
I bought Welcome To Tranquility: Armageddon #1 (written by Christos Gage, drawn by Neil Googe and Horacio Domingues) out of loyalty to the regular title -- only one issue left, apparently -- and it was just okay. Basically, it focused on Tranquility's Captain Marvel-analogue, but let him stay "in costume" the whole issue, as opposed to his regular role of deus ex machina. Also, the time-travel involved in showing us the alternate future also made our hero's role that much more confusing. In short, he flies around while others tell him how bad things have gotten, and then he forgets about everything and the issue is over. It was kind of like the Ray Palmer: Red Rain issue, above, except without the muddy art.
Fantastic Four #551 (written by Dwayne McDuffie, pencilled by Paul Pelletier, inked by Rick Magyar) looks like it kicks off this creative team's last arc, involving a set of time-travelers bent on stopping Reed from saving the world. It ends on a heck of a cliffhanger, and it ties into Reed's "room of notes" from Civil War. That's not a lot in terms of plot, but it's executed well.
Howard the Duck #2 (written by Ty Templeton, pencilled by Juan Bobillo, inked by Marcelo Sosa) gets closer to its roots, as Howard and Bev must deal with Howard's sudden celebrity following his smackdown of the hunters last issue. Most of the issue finds Howard on a yelling-match talk show, and that goes about like you'd expect, or maybe a little worse. I might be easily amused, but I did like MODOT (Designed Only for Talking) a lot. This is not a bad miniseries by any means, even if it has a lot to live up to.
Finally, the satire is presented much more deftly in Groo: Hell On Earth #1 (by Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones), in which Groo's bumbling leads to eco-unfriendly consequences. I'm not sure how this can be stretched out into four issues, but if the rest are as clever as this one, I definitely won't care. The latest Groo tale finds everyone at the top of their particular game, especially Aragones and colorist Tom Luth. Those two complement each other perfectly through Aragones' exquisite backgrounds and two-page spreads. This story aims for a broad scope and even an epic feel, and succeeds admirably.
2 comments:
Speaking of Supergirl, what do you think of Laura Vandervoort's portrayal of Kara on Smallville.
She's 15 different kinds of hot! And since Smallville has been known to bring in actors and actresses from the Superman movies, what do you think the chances are of a Helen Slater cameo on Smallville?
Vandervoort is OK. I haven't made up my mind about her one way or the other.
Helen Slater has already been on the show once (two weeks ago, I think) and will be on tonight (11/15). She's playing Lara.
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