An emergency trip to Louisville
delayed my reviews a bit, but here they are in all their glory. I
have decided to no longer rate comics using the “interest-o-meter”
but I have not chosen a replacement yet. For now, you will have to
read the reviews to see what I thought of each book! (It's so much extra work, I know!)
Amazing Spider-man #677 – Well, this
is easily the book with the highest issue number I have reviewed so
far. Sorry, Spider-fans, I'm not picking up any webslinger books.
Rather, issue #677 is the first part of a Daredevil/Spider-man
crossover and I am buying
Daredevil. So in order to not be completely lost reading Daredevil
#8, I had to buy #677...crazy how that works, huh? Written by Mark
Waid and illustrated by Emma Rios, ASM #677 was a solid piece of
work. As is normally the case in crossovers, it was encumbered by
more continuity than I am used to in Waid's Daredevil, but, for the
most part, it was easy to follow. Waid's talent for capturing a character's essence and voice is on display as he handles perfect characterizations for both Peter Parker and Matt Murdoch. Art-wise,
Rios is no Marco Rivera but she has a fluidity that works well for
the rubbery Spider-man.
Batgirl #5 – I can't seem to put my
finger on this book's problem. After a less than solid first arc,
issue number five falls somewhere between lackluster and solid. The
strange thing is that Simone doesn't seem to have deviated from the
formulas that made her a fan favorite on other books—specifically,
Secret Six. She's taken a beloved character, paired it with a solid
voice and pitted it against two villains that are patently
Simone-esque (read as: weird/creepy). Yet, five issues in, something
just isn't working. I have a sneaking suspicion that the disconnect
comes somewhere between Simone and artists Ardian Syaf. I am not
exactly sure who is at fault but some of the sequences in
issue five fall flat. A panel that I am sure was originally meant to
be a revelation into the nature of the new villain, Gretel, seems
flubbed. Or, it could be intentional to maintain a secret.
Regardless, if a veteran comic reader like me had trouble discerning,
I am sure that the coveted new readers would be similarly flummoxed.
Batgirl continues to underperformed. If the title character
proves to be more interesting as a member Bird of Prey, it
will only exaggerate the lackluster nature of this book.
Batman and Robin #5 –
In last week's FIGcast I claimed that I would read an ongoing comic about people
doing nothing but drinking tea if Pat Gleason drew it. I still stand
by that statement. Pre-
B&R, he was already one of my
favorite comic illustrators, but these first five issues have been
INSANELY well drawn. For all the praise I have heaped on Gleason, I
often forget to mention that Tomasi is pumping out some of the best
plotting I have ever read. He has taken the Bruce Wayne/Damian
Wayne dynamic and expanded it to a moral minefield filled with
father/son crises and disturbing familial troubles. Can Bruce save
Damian from his psychologically troubling upbringing? Will Damien be
one of Bruce's greatest triumphs or failures?
Batwoman #5 – The most beautiful book
in the New 52 continues to be one of the most solidly written. After
the resolution (for now) of the Weeping Woman storyline, the book
takes a turn as two different organizations vie for Batwoman's
allegiance. Kate Kane is given the choice to join Batman Incorporated
or work for the Department of Extranormal Operations. A recent
rereading of Batwoman: Elegy reminded me of a key difference
between it and the current run. The New 52 series is quite a bit less
wordy than Greg Rucka's earlier run, but this makes sense considering
an artist is the main creative mind behind the book. Also, while
Elegy focused on one of Rucka's earlier creations The Religion
of Crime, Batwoman is focusing on one of JH William III's, Cameron Chase and the D.E.O. Personally, I love Ms. Chase and the
D.E.O. (Director Bones!) so Batwoman is still in my top five
favorites of the New 52.
Demon Knights #5 – A while back, I
complained that Demon Knights was the absolute epitome of
decompressed storytelling in comic books. Five issues in and the
medieval superhero team is still stuck defending a tiny, besieged
town. It's not poorly written and, even though the siege is taking
forever, plenty of interesting stuff is going on. Yet, with each
passing issue, I can't help but think “This is going to make one
heck of a collected edition.” I have nothing against trades or
trade-waiting (in fact, I am a serial trade-waiter), I am just
impatient for real resolution. For example, two issues in a row have
ended with “shocking” acts by members of the team that seem like
betrayals. Even if one of these actions turns out to be real, the
“Benedict Arnold Barrel” is a pretty shallow one and shouldn't be
gone to with such frequency. I enjoy Demon Knights, I really
do, but I am really, really ready for a second storyline.
O.M.A.C. #5/Frankenstein, Agent of
S.H.A.D.E. #5 – The crossovers have finally begun! I haven't been
following O.M.A.C. but I didn't want to miss out on half of the
monster slamming action! It turns out that I could have saved the
$2.99. Don't get me wrong, the issues weren't bad, they were just
the same story—almost literally. The only difference lies in the
perspective. The two issues tell the same events from the view point
of the title characters. The concept is clever but it doesn't work
out very well. The story ends abruptly without any real resolution.
In the end, the crossover feels like half a story told twice. It's a
fine little smackdown between DC's two current brawlers, but it left
me wanting more. I can't believe I'm saying this but: For a book that
was mostly action, it could have used about 20 more pages of
monster-on-monster violence.
Green Lantern #5 – Honestly, I was
pretty shocked that the status quo was not reestablished by the end
of Green Lantern's first storyline. Instead, after Hal helps free
Korugar, he is returned to Earth sans-ring power while Sinestro's
membership in the Corps seems firmly entrenched. Personally, I like
Sinestro as a (somewhat morally ambiguous) good guy. Somehow Geoff
Johns is able to make him a complete butthole and sympathetic at the
same time. Well, perhaps not completely sympathetic but redeemable.
The problem, of course, is that Green Lantern only has so many worthy
villains and I doubt it will be very long before Sinestro returns to
his role as professional-yellow-themed-menace. Doug Manhke's art is
the real star once again—deftly jumping from humans to humanoid
aliens to scifi craziness without breaking a sweat.
The Ray #2 – Just because the 1990s
version of the Ray happened to be one of my favorite under-utilized
DC characters doesn't mean that I can't get behind a re-imagining. In
fact, I would argue that the Ray is the perfect candidate for a
revamp: a low b-list/high c-list character that has been around for a
long time without ever being in any really famous stories. He's the
kind of character that could be a blank slate for a creative team to
tinker with. The new Ray is a light-based, Korean American teenage
superhero from San Diego that is zapped by some sort of ray. You
know...standard superhero stuff. The first two issues, written by
Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and drawn by Jamal Igle, have been
solid, if traditional, superhero fare.
The Shade #4 – Maybe my expectations
were low, but The Shade has been surprisingly solid. James Robinson's
output since returning from Hollywood has mostly been somewhere
between so-so and bad. Yet, something about writing the Shade seems
to revitalize him. Cully Hamner's art in the first three issues was solid, but issue four, drawn by industry powerhouses Darwyn
Cooke and J. Bone, was absolutely gorgeous. One a side note, I know
that I am probably the only one that finds this interesting, but
cameos by Golden Age mystery men, Vigilante and Madame Fatale, seem to
imply that in the new continuity there is still some semblance of a
superheroic tradition in DC's past.
Wolverine and the X-men #4 – I find
it difficult to believe that Wolverine and the X-men is written by
the same guy that writes Scalped. It's just so...happy! Four issues
in, the series is still successfully walking the line between
relaunch and continuation. I know next to nothing about MARVEL
history and yet, for the most part, I have no difficulty knowing what
is going on. The most recent issue flirts momentarily with new
reader continuity confusion as a couple of characters that, I am sure
are recognizable to long time readers, are introduced into the book.
Yet, in the end, these additions just add to the developing story of
the Jean Grey School for Mutants. This book is still one of my
favorite books to pick up whenever the hell it happens to come out.
(Yes, that is a dig at MARVEL's haphazard release dates, shifting
schedules and craptastic website...but that is a discussion for
another time.)
