I've been saying for a while that DC should (once again) just let the Marvel Family have its own little corner of the Multiverse where Billy and co. don't have to age too quickly and whimsy can be the order of the day. Well, here's Mike Kunkel's Billy Batson And The Magic Of Shazam! #1, taking me up on it. Except not quite, because this is a Johnny DC title and therefore has no influence on the main-line Marvels. Instead, it's a sequel to Jeff Smith's Monster Society miniseries, picking up with Billy and Mary in their familiar roles.
Kunkel has redesigned Cap slightly, giving him a ridiculously broad chest and a how-you-doin'? look. This goes with Kunkel's take on Billy, who always tries to do the right thing but who realizes without much prompting just how good he has it. For example, Captain Marvel poses as Billy and Mary's father, but naturally favors Billy in parent/teacher conferences. Of course, hilarity ensues, especially since Kunkel shows that Mary is the smarter of the pair.
Kunkel also introduces Black Adam, but leaves the resolution of his subplot for a future issue. I haven't read hardly any of the Johnny DC books, but I suspect BBMOS is one of the few to employ multi-issue storytelling; and it makes me wonder who the real target audience is. This is a dense book which aims for rapid-fire delivery through small panels and packed word balloons. Not being 10 years old, I can't say whether this would appeal to kids, but it does seem like an older reader's idea of what a kid's comic book should be. Yes, that extends to the secret-code messages, which I thought were prohibitively long and which I still haven't tried to unscramble. Even so, I appreciated Kunkel's efforts, and I'll be back at least for the next issue.
Part 3 of "Batman R.I.P." hits in Batman #678 (written by Grant Morrison, pencilled by Tony Daniel, inked by Sandu Florea), in which our hero is reduced to his lowest point before meeting his spirit guide (did it have to be a Magical Negro?) and starting to rebuild. Also, other bad things happen to Robin and Nightwing (poor Nightwing...). Morrison's standard take on Batman in JLA was that "Batman always has a plan". Well, here, he's been completely cut off from his plans, thrown into a roiling sea of anarchy by the Black Glove, and made to put the pieces back together using stone knives and bearskins. As with Final Crisis, it's pretty nerve-wracking stuff, but at least we're at the halfway point.
I'm getting frustrated with House Of Mystery (#3 written by Matthew Sturges and drawn mostly by Luca Rossi). Its first arc seems determined to establish that Fig can't leave the House. However, we know this to be true, because that's the point of the book. Thankfully, that also seems to be the point of the issue, so I hope that settles it for Fig for a while. The issue does introduce a new antagonist, with a callback to the mysterious couple seen earlier, so maybe there'll be a more entertaining twist next time out. Still, if this arc ends only with Fig accepting her new status, I'll be pretty disappointed. I'm getting tired of books which take five issues to lay out what could have been one issue's worth of setup. I do like the art, though.
I'm also getting a little tired of Nightwing (#146 written by Peter J. Tomasi, pencilled by Don Kramer, inked by Sandu Florea), likewise because "Freefall" seems to have gone on for a couple issues too many. Yes, Dr. Kendall was a bad man; yes, it's good that Dick stopped him. However, the story seemed rather lifeless (no pun intended), and I don't know if that's due to Don Kramer's art not being quite as expressive as Rags Morales'; or Tomasi's talky scripts sapping the energy out of the action. Next up is a "Batman R.I.P." tie-in, so maybe things will pick up.
I did like Supergirl #31 (written by Kelley Puckett, pencilled by Brad Walker, inked by Jon Sibal and Jesse Delperdang), despite the jarring change in art style from the soft lines of Drew Johnson and Ron Randall to the quirkier combination of Walker et al. Basically, Supergirl convinces the dying boy's mother to accept the Resurrection Man's treatment by a) flying her to a distant mountaintop and b) telling her how her parents shot her into space. It's the kind of thing which has to be handled very carefully, because once superhero comics get into real-world ramifications of godlike behavior, they're already pretty far down a mighty slippery slope. This time I bought Supergirl's argument and the mom's response, but next time might be different. As it is, this time the argument had to get past Supergirl's bare midriff.
I continue to like Manhunter (#32 written by Mark Andreyko and drawn by Michael Gaydos). The current issue tracks Kate's continuing investigations into the women's disappearances, and features a couple of good scenes with Blue Beetle (super-suits hissing at each other like unfriendly dogs!) and Mr. Bones. Gaydos' art is "realistic" without sacrificing expression, and Andreyko has a good feel for the dialogue of a superheroic world.
Finally, I bought Star Trek: New Frontier #4 (written by Peter David, drawn by Stephen Thompson), the penultimate issue of the miniseries. Thankfully, things start to happen at a little more rapid pace this issue. However, the plot deals with duplicates of people; and the scenes shift so abruptly you're never sure whether, say, the Lefler who was on that planet is the same Lefler who's on this ship. I guess I have to get issue #5 to see whether the whole thing makes sense.
Kunkel has redesigned Cap slightly, giving him a ridiculously broad chest and a how-you-doin'? look. This goes with Kunkel's take on Billy, who always tries to do the right thing but who realizes without much prompting just how good he has it. For example, Captain Marvel poses as Billy and Mary's father, but naturally favors Billy in parent/teacher conferences. Of course, hilarity ensues, especially since Kunkel shows that Mary is the smarter of the pair.
Kunkel also introduces Black Adam, but leaves the resolution of his subplot for a future issue. I haven't read hardly any of the Johnny DC books, but I suspect BBMOS is one of the few to employ multi-issue storytelling; and it makes me wonder who the real target audience is. This is a dense book which aims for rapid-fire delivery through small panels and packed word balloons. Not being 10 years old, I can't say whether this would appeal to kids, but it does seem like an older reader's idea of what a kid's comic book should be. Yes, that extends to the secret-code messages, which I thought were prohibitively long and which I still haven't tried to unscramble. Even so, I appreciated Kunkel's efforts, and I'll be back at least for the next issue.
Part 3 of "Batman R.I.P." hits in Batman #678 (written by Grant Morrison, pencilled by Tony Daniel, inked by Sandu Florea), in which our hero is reduced to his lowest point before meeting his spirit guide (did it have to be a Magical Negro?) and starting to rebuild. Also, other bad things happen to Robin and Nightwing (poor Nightwing...). Morrison's standard take on Batman in JLA was that "Batman always has a plan". Well, here, he's been completely cut off from his plans, thrown into a roiling sea of anarchy by the Black Glove, and made to put the pieces back together using stone knives and bearskins. As with Final Crisis, it's pretty nerve-wracking stuff, but at least we're at the halfway point.
I'm getting frustrated with House Of Mystery (#3 written by Matthew Sturges and drawn mostly by Luca Rossi). Its first arc seems determined to establish that Fig can't leave the House. However, we know this to be true, because that's the point of the book. Thankfully, that also seems to be the point of the issue, so I hope that settles it for Fig for a while. The issue does introduce a new antagonist, with a callback to the mysterious couple seen earlier, so maybe there'll be a more entertaining twist next time out. Still, if this arc ends only with Fig accepting her new status, I'll be pretty disappointed. I'm getting tired of books which take five issues to lay out what could have been one issue's worth of setup. I do like the art, though.
I'm also getting a little tired of Nightwing (#146 written by Peter J. Tomasi, pencilled by Don Kramer, inked by Sandu Florea), likewise because "Freefall" seems to have gone on for a couple issues too many. Yes, Dr. Kendall was a bad man; yes, it's good that Dick stopped him. However, the story seemed rather lifeless (no pun intended), and I don't know if that's due to Don Kramer's art not being quite as expressive as Rags Morales'; or Tomasi's talky scripts sapping the energy out of the action. Next up is a "Batman R.I.P." tie-in, so maybe things will pick up.
I did like Supergirl #31 (written by Kelley Puckett, pencilled by Brad Walker, inked by Jon Sibal and Jesse Delperdang), despite the jarring change in art style from the soft lines of Drew Johnson and Ron Randall to the quirkier combination of Walker et al. Basically, Supergirl convinces the dying boy's mother to accept the Resurrection Man's treatment by a) flying her to a distant mountaintop and b) telling her how her parents shot her into space. It's the kind of thing which has to be handled very carefully, because once superhero comics get into real-world ramifications of godlike behavior, they're already pretty far down a mighty slippery slope. This time I bought Supergirl's argument and the mom's response, but next time might be different. As it is, this time the argument had to get past Supergirl's bare midriff.
I continue to like Manhunter (#32 written by Mark Andreyko and drawn by Michael Gaydos). The current issue tracks Kate's continuing investigations into the women's disappearances, and features a couple of good scenes with Blue Beetle (super-suits hissing at each other like unfriendly dogs!) and Mr. Bones. Gaydos' art is "realistic" without sacrificing expression, and Andreyko has a good feel for the dialogue of a superheroic world.
Finally, I bought Star Trek: New Frontier #4 (written by Peter David, drawn by Stephen Thompson), the penultimate issue of the miniseries. Thankfully, things start to happen at a little more rapid pace this issue. However, the plot deals with duplicates of people; and the scenes shift so abruptly you're never sure whether, say, the Lefler who was on that planet is the same Lefler who's on this ship. I guess I have to get issue #5 to see whether the whole thing makes sense.
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