Comic Mini-Reviews Week of June 6th, 2012

This week: Trey is incredibly late.

Review: Animal Man Annual #1

Or, how Jeff Lemire wrote a Before Animal Man that worked quite well.

What Would Darren Read, Home Edition (May 30th)

What would Darren read on a 5th Wednesday!?!

Comic Mini-Reviews Week of April 4th, 2012

This week...who am I kidding? Look at that banner image!

Comic Mini-Reviews Week of March 7th, 2012

This week: The secret history of the Manhattan Project is revealed, Animal Man is the coolest super-dad ever, and Superman jumps off the earth.

New 52 Year 0.5: Swamp Thing and Animal Man

We've reached the halfway point of New 52: Year One, and it seems like a good time to go back and look at some of the most outstanding series in total so far. So for the next month, I am going to choose a book each week, read all six issues, and jot down some general thoughts and reactions. This week: Animal Man and Swamp Thing!

More Change is afoot at DC!

     All morning, Josh Kushins over at the DC Source Blog has been posting announcements about DC's plans to move some of their artists around beginning in May.  So far, the books involved in the Musical Chairs are Birds of Prey, Resurrection Man, Animal Man, and Suicide Squad.
Steve Pugh will take over as the ongoing Animal Man artist freeing up Travel Foreman to move to Birds of Prey. Meanwhile, current BoP artist Jesus Saiz will move to Resurrection Man, where current penciler Francis Dagnino will take over Suicide Squad.
     I'm not really sure what would have caused such a restructuring.  My guess is that the departure or reassignment of an artist caused the dominoes to start falling.  One thing I will point out is that the artists who worked on Suicide Squad 1-7 haven’t been mentioned so far.  Federico Dalloccio did the art for the first five issues, but the last two have been fill-in artists.  Based on the pattern of changes, it seems that this all began with Dallccio and Suicide Squad. Perhaps, DC is moving things around in an effort to bring stability to the book?  Then again, that may be an unfair assumption.
Regardless, I will be sad to see Foreman and Saiz leaving their current books. Foreman on Birds Of Prey should be very interesting, I like him quite a bit but I am not sure he would have been my first choice for a book like BoP.

Update:  Travel Foreman weighed in on the changes over at the comicbookresources forums:

"I just want to chime in briefly, because everyone here has been so supportive of the book and because there's so much behind the scenes stuff that goes on with these books... I read a lot of comics and I too get confused about whats going on in some books and ultimately feel like we're getting a raw deal sometimes.

The change on Animal Man boils down to the reason I was on the book to begin with, which was that I needed to take on a job after my mother died (to deal with the financial end of someone being sick for a while and then passing) and Animal Man was the only thing DC was going to let me do. Which in any other time frame would have been perfect.
But really the context of me dealing with the death of my mom and drawing the kind of content in Animal Man just burned me out sooner than I thought.
I had hoped to stay on the book until at least the spring so that the artist I wanted to replace me was free from his commitments, but I would have ultimately just dragged the book down if I did, because it was becoming harder and harder to concentrate on the work.

Steve was bending over backwards on his fill-ins to keep the book on schedule so you have to keep that in consideration. Really, he won't skip a beat once he's doing the book full time.

Thanks, everyone."

[Image courtesy of DC's Source Blog]

Comic Mini-Reviews Week of February 1st, 2012

This week, Superman is a time-traveler, Swamp Thing is in trouble, and Bucky is a super-spy.

What Would Darren Read, Home Edition (Feb. 1st)

Every week on the FIGcast, we take Darren to our imaginary comic book store and force him to choose three comic books based solely on their covers. You, too, can play at home! Look at the covers after the break, listen to the podcast or the theme music and judge some comics!

Trey's Obligatory Year-End Comic Book Lists of 2011

Obviously, the fraction of comic books I read this year is tiny compared to many of the industry's total output.  Perhaps, in 2012, I will be able to expand my consumption of comics to include stuff by publishers other than the Big Two. Heck, I might even read some indie books!


Regardless, I would feel amiss not making some general observations based on my, admittedly, limited reading.

Best New Superhero On-goings in 2011 (that I read)
1. Daredevil
    Just incredible. How more superhero comic books ought to be.
2. Wonder Woman
    If the only lasting legacy of the New 52 is Azzarello and Chaing's Wonder Woman, then it will have been a moderate success.
3/4. Swamp Thing/Animal Man
    Snyder, Lemire and their respective creative partners have met and exceeded expectations.
5. FF
    Might have been higher if I had been able to read the entire 2011 output. We'll see in February when Volume 2 comes out.
6. Batwoman
    Hard to believe that that this series has barely skipped a beat without the writing of Greg Rucka. JH Williams III is one of the best in the business.
7. Batman and Robin
   What?! A surprise entry! Tomasi's Bruce/Damien/Alfred dynamic and Gleason's art have this book slightly ahead of the flagship.
8. Batman
    Snyder's Batman is not as strong as his earlier run on Detective Comics, but Batman is certainly in good hands.
9. Wolverine and the X-men
    I want to hate it, but it is so good that I adore it.
10. Batman, Inc
   Hurt by a shockingly poor final issue and the fact that, technically, the series ended with the New 52, Morrison's Bat-saga is still a shining example of why he is one of the best in the industry.

So, with seven of the ten entries on my list published by DC, it is safe to say that I am still a fanboy, but MARVEL took home the top spot.  Make of that what you will.


A Few Great Single Issues of 2011(and a few observations)
Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #4
   Would win the "Most Fun Comic Book Trey Read This Year" award.
Wonder Woman #4
Daredevil #7
    I'll admit it...I cried.
Batman, Inc: Leviathan Strikes #1
Swamp Thing #3
Wolverine and the X-men #1
Batman #1
    Best issue of the series so far. Hopefully setting the stage for more to come.
All Star Western #1
    As much as I am enjoying All Star Western, I would read a Hex/Arkham ongoing team-up book.

Tomorrow or the next day (or sometime soon, I promise!) I'll post some thoughts on the biggest surprises of 2011 and discuss some of the things to be watching for in 2012!

Comic Mini-Reviews Week of December 7th, 2011

Action Comics #4 – Few comics have encapsulated their own inherent flaws so completely as Action Comics #4. With this issue, Grant Morrison's Superman story is joined by a Sholly Fisch penned backup feature starring John Henry Irons, a.k.a. Steel. Aside from an editorial note that served to draw attention to an awkward storytelling choice that would have been glossed over otherwise, the two scripts are adequate. Yet, the Steel story was drawn by Brad Walker, whose sheer competence put Rags Morales to shame. I realize that this is Rags' fourth issue in a row and Walker has literally had months to prepare, but it exaggerated the lackluster art that Morrison's Action Comics has been saddled with. On the writing side of things, the series has been solid but not spectacular. As always, I have faith Morrison is taking this in a particular direction that will pay off.

Animal Man #4 – Every month, it seems that Animal Man and Swamp Thing leapfrog each other for the top spot of the DCnU quality list. Really, their only competition is the stellar Wonder Woman series and Batman and Batwoman vying for a distant fourth. This month, it was Animal Man's turn to take the number one position as Jeff Lemire continues to freak me the hell out. I really hope that Travel Foreman is either mentally resilient or has a good therapist because drawing the creepy stuff from Lemire's head must be a frightening task. I said last month that I thought Animal Man and Swamp Thing were headed for a crossover, and I am even more certain of it now since Alec Holland is mentioned within the pages of issue four.

Defenders #1 – It's difficult to not compare Defenders with Justice League Dark thanks to a somewhat similar team agenda. Thankfully, the rosters of the teams in question are quite different. Different, also, it seems, are the writers desired styles. Matt Fraction takes on a much more traditional comic book narrative style than we have seen from Milligan's JLD. Yet, there are still hints of Fraction's deeper stylistic choices. In last week's podcast, I mentioned that there are little notes written at the bottom of the issue's pages that were almost more fun to search for than the issues actual plot. As usual, the Dodson's art is nice and smooth, giving all of the characters a particular charm.

StormWatch #4 – Before the Relaunch, I was certain that StormWatch was going to be one of the best books of the New 52. While it has improved monthly, it has never reached that potential. With news that Paul Cornell will be replaced by Paul Jenkins as scripter, I doubt I will continue to pick this series up. For now, the story is fine but underwhelming, and the art is kind of mushy. We finally get to see Midnighter and Apollo flex some muscles, but few of the other characters really make an impact, emotionally or otherwise. I used the term “mushy” to describe the art, but it actually fits the entire book. The mass of uninteresting and ill-defined characters and the meandering plot make for a disappointing read.

Swamp Thing #4 – It is no coincidence that Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Action Comics and StormWatch are released in the first week of each month. I am fairly certain that when DC was making the schedule they wanted to really wow readers with some of their strongest (on paper, at least) new titles. Thankfully, this strategy has worked pretty well, so far. Swamp Thing and Animal Man are two of the best and Action Comics is perfectly adequate—meaning that three of the four are essentially successes. Marco Ruby does an admirable job filling in for Yannick Paquette this month. Scott Snyder continues to wind a narrative that mixes the old canon with new to strong effect.

Episode #44 Supplemental Post: What Would Darren Read, Home Edition

Since it looks like FIGcast #44 is going to be delayed a bit longer, I'm going to go ahead and post this week's What Would Darren Read, Home Edition. Hopefully, it will keep you entertained until Darren has MacGyvered the latest podcast together out of twine, Christmas tree needles, a Grand Central Station locker key.

Cue the music! It's time to plaaaaaaaaaaaaaay WHAT WOULD DARREN READ...Home Edition! Just click the images to enlarge them and start judging some books by their covers!

Action Comics #4  

Animal Man #4

Green Arrow #4

Batwing #4

                                                                            

O.M.A.C. #4

Hawk and Dove #4

Avenging Spider-Man #2

Swamp Thing #4

Defenders #1

Deadpool Max X-mas Special #1

Venom #1

The Punisher #6

X-Club: We Do Science #1

[All images courtesy of dccomics.com and marvel.com]

Comic Reviews Week of November 2nd, 2011

Action Comics #3 - Still solid. As often is the case with Grant Morrison, Action Comics will probably read better in its full form.  Without a doubt the book's biggest flaw is its art. Rags Morales did not even do the full issue and his art looks terribly rushed. I think the book would benefit from a completely new artist, and would not be surprised if that happened in the near future.





Animal Man #3 - Jeff Lemire has a talent for creepy, and Travel Foreman can certainly deliver on the demented stuff in his scripts. This was a bit of a transition issue, it seems as if the proverbial poop is about to hit the fan.  Animal Man and Swamp Thing make me wonder how much Lemire and Scott Snyder are coordinating with one another.  I smell a crossover in the near future.




Stormwatch #3 - Cornell's books (Stormwatch and Demon Knights) continue to improve. The character introductions that made the first couple of issues feel frantic have finally given way to the storyline.  The mixture of old and new characters is finally coming together in a cohesive mixture.  Still has a few abrupt moments that mess with the narrative a bit but, overall, Stormwatch seems to have found its footing.




Swamp Thing #3 - This is my pick of the week.  Yanick Paquette's art is still gorgeous.  Snyder, like Lemire, has a knack for creepiness. This issue both reintroduces an old character and introduces a new character--both of whom are immensely interesting. Despite having read most of the Hellboy catalog, delved into Grant Morrison's crazier work, and read Batman books most of my life, Swamp Thing continues to deliver some of the most frighteningly creepy things I have ever seen in comic book form. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Uncanny X-men #1 - What's this!? A MARVEL book?! That's right, True Believers, Trey is branching out.  Though I did not write a review for it, Wolverine and the X-men was my favorite book last week.  Uncanny was solid, but not quite as good. The highlight might be Carlos Pachecos' art. He is easily one of the best visual storytellers in superhero comics. One of my favorite things about the book is it's setup. I really like the idea of a superhero team having a huge roster with multiple branches that each have their own unique purposes.

DCnU Mini-reviews Week of October 5th, 2011

Action Comics #2 – So far, so good. Grant Morrison's revamp of Superman and his early days in Metropolis might be one of the most interesting things done with the character since Mark Millar's Red Son. Superman acting like a brash young man with an activist leaning might not be what we are used to, but it is a take that makes him a much more dynamic character. It also stays true to the earliest Superman stories. There's something else to this re-imagination—Action Comics is set early in Superman's career. I am sure that stories set later will attempt to make Superman a more rounded character than he was in the Old DCU, but the impulsive, some-what angry Superman of Action Comics is part of a story-arc. He will grow as the story goes on. The biggest problem with the series remains the art. Rags Morales and Brent Anderson just are not giving the book a good look. Morales can be solid when given time, but it is obvious that the month-to-month grind is too much for him. Bottomline is that the art detracts from a story that has been solid so far.

Animal Man #2 – Jeff Lemire knows what he is doing. After finishing issue 1 with a creepy reveal, issue 2 continues to mix family drama with horrifying superheroics. Buddy Baker, one of the little known guys of the DCU, is confronted with events that hold frightening implications. Suddenly manifesting a series of abilities that outstrip her father's, Maxine Baker leads the Buddy on a classic hero's journey. The Hunters Three are creepy, the family drama seems real, and the plot is fascinating. Travel Foreman's art is great—sharp lines, expressive faces, and scary monsters.

StormWatch #2 – I am still not sure about this book, but I know that I enjoyed issue #2 more than the first issue. It is still kind of frantically paced. There are tons of characters being introduced and I am not sure just how well that process is going. While most of the characters are interesting, drawing a bead on where the new characters stand is kind of difficult. That might be on purpose, but it seems a bit ambiguous. Sepulveda's art seems a bit more confident in this issue than it did in the first. Even having read StormWatch 1 and 2 and Superman 1 I am not entirely sure how the three books are connected. If I can't figure it out, I doubt new readers can.

Swamp Thing #2 – For the second month in a row, Snyder tricked me. Like issue 1, issue 2 begins with a ton of exposition and dialogue that is not terribly compelling, but then hits the ground running in the second half. The creepy stuff from last month's issue returns with a vengeance and turns the scary up to 11. The relationship between Swamp Thing and Alec Holland is still somewhat in question. Apparently, there have been other Swamp Thing entities in the past? My knowledge of Swampy continuity is pretty limited. Yanick Paquette continues to draw one of the best looking books of the New 52. The attack of the creepiness, expansion of the Green and Red lore, and a cool reveal at the end of the issue make this book at least as good as the stellar first issue.

DCnU Week 2 Mini-reviews:

Action Comics:  Classic Morrison beginning to a story. A few interesting revamped details--Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent are the same age, Lois Lane and Clark work at rival papers. Lex Luthor's appearance was pitch perfect and his strategy for capturing Superman was clever.  Superman has been written so stoic in recent years, it is nice to see a feisty and young take on the character.

Animal Man:  A well pitched first issue.  I especially liked The Believer pastiche on the first page.  It looks like the book will be an interesting mixture of family drama and horror.  It is a compelling story takes advantage of underutilized characters like his Buddy Baker's children, Maxine and Cliff, and his wife, Ellen.  Foreman's art has a rough-hewn quality to it that is perfect for the atmosphere that Lemire is creating.





Batgirl:  Simone crafted the first issue very carefully. She has an obvious love for the character coupled with a reverence for the Oracle years.  Killing Joke plays a much bigger part in the story that I expected.  The (mysterious) Mirror is a very Simone-esque villain--silly but she makes it work.  A solid issue that wont convert all of the most strident doubters, but took significant strides.



Green Arrow:  The new status quo is...interesting is too strong of a word....it's...it's something.  Green Arrow's been de-aged (no real shock there, I guess.) Krul is definitely trying to build a supporting cast, which is nice since DC has systematically drained the characters surrounding Ollie out of continuity over the last couple of years.  It's too bad that the new supporting cast is essentially a Lucius Fox ripoff and an Oracle knock-off. Perhaps this was the point, but the villains were some of the dumbest I've since the '90s were in full swing.  The idea that Oliver Queen's company is going to be DC-equivalent of Apple is already annoying--Qphone just doesn't roll off the tongue.  One nice thing: A modernized take on trick arrows.

Static Shock:  Virgil's moved to New York and interns at S.T.A.R. Labs...as a 16 year old.  Ok, ok..it's comic book logic, just go with it. Nothing real special about this issue, just solid superheroics.  McDaniel's art has a nice finished look to it that it hasn't had in the past.  I've always been a fan, but I would begrudgingly say it's an improvement.  I'm not sure but it seems like Static is being stalked by Power Rangers on motorcycles being bossed around by a fish-man. The issue ends with kind of a fun cliffhanger.



StormWatch:  A solid first issue. Interesting Martian Manhunter retcon that makes you reexamine decades of Justice League history.  Compared to Justice League #1, it was nice to jump into a team book without having to worry with origins.  Being dropped into the middle of a story is one thing, but being dropped into a comic that references an event that wont be published for two weeks is another.  Not great planning there, DC.  Definitely an issue that is building toward something, it will be interesting to see how it all pays off.


Swamp Thing:  Perhaps the best issue of the DC Relaunch so far.  It was interesting to see extended interactions between Alec Holland and Superman--welcome back to the DCU, Swamp Thing!  A couple of intriguing mysteries were were established: What is going on with the animals of earth and how will the Swamp Thing/Alec Holland story pan out?

15 DCnU Books to Watch: "Grab Bag Edition"

Look, even to a DC Comics Zombie, the company's September relaunch can seem intimidating. The information is almost overwhelming—52 brand new books, a smattering of new characters interjected into the publisher's traditional roster, and completely new creative teams on almost every book. On top of that, the chances of all 52 (or even a high percentage) being worth buying is minuscule. So, for you gentle reader, I have taken the time to separate the wheat from the chaff, to isolate the cream of the crop, and to highlight the must-haves of the DCnU. Once a week, between now and the end of August, I will attempt to explain and justify my choices for the 15 most important books of DC's upcoming relaunch.

This week, the Grab Bag Edition: Animal Man, Stormwatch, and All Star Western

Animal Man (Jeff Lemire, Travel Foreman, and Dan Green)

     One of the tightropes that the powers-that-be-at-DC have to walk is that they must maintain a reverence for established readers and the things they like while re-branding their line in an effort to attract new readers. None of the New 52 exemplifies that more than Animal Man. On the one hand, Animal Man is a strange choice. He's a character of extremely limited history, starring in only one or two famous storylines total. Heck, at one point his greatest achievement was gracing the roster of a group called the Forgotten Heroes. Granted, that was before Grant Morrison left his mark on the character, but still, that should give you an idea of how limited Animal Man's involvement in the greater DCU continuity is. On the other hand, Animal Man is a fan favorite, thanks mostly to a late 1980s and early 1990s revamp and a starring role in DC's 52 both written by the aforementioned Morrison. What Animal Man lacks in name recognition outside of the realm of comic book shops, he makes up for with his limited but beloved status within those comic-dungeons. Still, it should go without saying that editorial at DC is banking on this new Animal Man series garnering a more widespread following than other attempts in the past.

     Now that I think about it, they may be on to something. While much of the focus among the nerds (ie: me) has been to examine and dissect the characters, creative teams, and continuity changes of the DC Relaunch, a largely ignored part of the entire enterprise is the shift to day-and-date releases. Brand new DC comics will now be sold digitally on the same day they hit store shelves. Some of the sales figures I've seen from digital comic book sales indicate that consumers that buy their comics online tend to buy comics of the more independent and Vertigo-style stripe. (Admittedly, this information may be out of date. After all, I am no comic industry insider.) So in Animal Man, DC has a character that was famously one of the founding members of Vertigo written by current Vertigo wunderkind Jeff Lemire (Sweettooth). Those in the know at DC have mentioned that they want their new 52 to encompass a broader segment of comic book readership and Animal Man is definitely one of their forays down paths that only Vertigo used to travel.

     As I have said before, Lemire is a rising star. He has received critical recognition for his short run on Superboy and his creator owned Sweettooth and Essex County Trilogy. The artistic side of Animal Man will be handled by Travel Foreman who is fairly new to comics, and has mostly worked for MARVEL since breaking into the industry. If the previews are any indication, Foreman's work will fit well with the story Lemire wants to tell. Jeff has said that he sees Animal Man “very much a horror/superhero hybrid. As such, I’m able to take it in some very dark places.” Its an interesting direction to take Buddy Baker and his animal-themed alter-ego, but one that could give new life to a character that has not had a starring turn since the early 1990s.

Stormwatch (Paul Cornell and Miguel Sepulveda)

     A couple of weeks ago, (in a cold-medicine-addled fog) I mentioned that my limited funds were forcing me to choose one Paul Cornell and one Peter Milligan penned book. Since I chose Justice League Dark for my Milligan book, that left Stormwatch as the obvious choice for Cornell. (Anyone that's listened to our podcast's discussions about Game of Thrones knows that I can only take so much fantasy. Sorry Demonknights!) Add to that the fact that one of my all time favorite characters—Martian Manhunter—is now a member of Stormwatch and I'm sold.

     The premise of Stormwatch—a secret group of superpowered people who quietly save the world—is one of those ideas that seems obviously clever but is surprisingly hard to get right. In spirit, the team has been around since the early 90s but only a few creators have been able to write comics that live up to the premise. Of all the writers (other than Grant Morrison) working at DC right now, Cornell seems like the obvious choice to head a revival of Stormwatch. Cornell has packed a lot of solid superhero comic book writing into a fairly short about of time. His recent run on Action Comics starring Lex Luthor lost much of its steam toward the end, but was still a solid story overall. A Dr. Who alumnus, Cornell has shown that he is able to mix imaginative premises with compelling threats. Word coming out of the DC camp is that the villain of the first Stormwatch story-arch will be the Moon. Having read some of Cornell's work at DC, that seems about right.

     Stormwatch is a book with a monstrous amount of potential. The premise and characters are solid, Cornell has a knack for writing interesting comics, and the art (handled by Miguel Sepulveda) looks spectacular so far. Hopefully, it will bear a stronger resemblance to the crisp storytelling of Cornell's early issues on Lex Luthor and not the less intriguing, by-the-book later issues.

All Star Western (Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Moritat)

     I'll make this easy: Buy All Star Western. It's strange that I, a comic book collector that literally owns only one western-themed comic book, can say that. But, without a doubt ASW will be one of the most consistently great comics being released by DC in the New 52. How can I know that? Well, the writing team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray were able to orchestrate a seventy(!) issue on DC's most recent western book, Jonah Hex, which ran from 2006 until last month. The only way a comic book based in the old west could survive at the Big 2 in today's market is if the writers wrote its brains out. I am sure that they will bring those same energies and sensibilities to ASW.

     No longer confined to just Jonah Hex and his cast of characters, Palmiotti and Gray now have the entire DC Western roster to play with. At least at first, each issue will feature a story starring Hex with a backup featuring other characters. Series-artist Moritat grabbed readers attention with his recent run on The Spirit. His work was perfect for the urban settings of that comic's Central City, but it will be interesting to see how it translates to the wild west. Of course, it may help that apparently ASW is taking place in the Gothic-inspired wild west version of Gotham. He's a talented artist that gives a sense of place and atmosphere to his work, which should serve a period piece comic well.

     Here's the thing: I missed out on Jonah Hex. When it first came out, I decided I wasn't interested in a western comic. Then Palmiotti and Grey quietly built up one of the strongest comic book runs in recent memory while I was wasn't paying attention. This time around, I'm determined to be along for the entire ride of this brand new western series.