Tuesday, February 7, 2012

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.

Action Comics #6 – If were being honest with myself, I would admit that the new Action Comics has not really met my expectations. There was something lacking from the first storyline, but I cannot really put my finger on what it was. I like young Superman re-imagined as a brash super-activist, but the story itself felt kind of half conceived. But, Grant Morrison is sometimes hard to draw a bead on mid-story. I mean, the reality is that I have read some of his most famous runs with the benefit of hindsight. His runs on Animal Man and Doom Patrol had the weight of critical acclaim and the advantage of completion going for them. Plus, I would be deluding myself if I claimed that I thought every part of Morrison's Bat-epic was great on the first read-through. Based on his history, I would suspect that the first storyline and the second storyline of Action Comics will be connected in some way, whether thematically or directly. Until then, it will be hard to analyze just how strong each individual issue is. I will say that I enjoyed issue 5 and 6 more than the first four—perhaps because they have a more distinctly Morrison vibe to them. One gigantic plus has been the art of Andy Kubert. Though I am not usually a huge Kubert fan, his consistency is a nice change after Rags Morales' pencils got steadily uglier over the first four issues.

Animal Man #6 – There is really no doubt that Jeff Lemire is one of the rising stars of the comic book genre. Anyone that has read his Essex County trilogy or Sweet Tooth has seen just how flexible his writing ability is. While Animal Man has been (very, very) good so far, Lemire has yet to really stretch his legs from a narrative standpoint. In issue 6, he shows just how versatile he can be. The main balance of the issue shows a snippet of Buddy's movie role that was alluded to in issue 1. It was a nice respite from the Hunters Three storyline that we have been following for six issues. However, the greatest surprise of the issue is the revelation that someone close to Animal Man is actually watching the movie along with the readers. The insight Lemire gives us into that character is a touching moment. John Paul Leon's art lent a perfect feel to the movie-within-a-comic, and Travel Foreman continues to impress me with his work on the rest of the issue.

The Defenders #3 – The Defenders prove to be almost completely incompetent, but even the best teams need to be more lucky than good. Thank goodness for “deus ex machina in humanoid form.” Anyways, even though I know little to no continuity surrounding the major players in The Defenders, I still feel myself liking them. I am aware of who they are and that's all that really matters at the moment. I am enjoying the insanity of the series so far and I can think of no better tag-line than “Protecting Reality from the Impossible.” Matt Fraction is never lacking in ideas that are both fresh and recall the insanity of superhero comics from another age. The Dodson's art continues to give the series a nice sheen that makes everyone look nice and sleek. Also, “Hey that tiger is flying a spaceship.”

Swamp Thing #6 – Timothy Callahan, in his reread of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing over at tor.com, recently discussed the fact that one of the major plot points early in that run was the “death” of Swamp Thing and the revelation that the shambling creature had never been Alec Holland but rather a plant that thought it was Alec Holland. Now, it looks like Scott Snyder is referencing that linchpin of Moore's seminal run. Holland, who was resurrected before the upheaval of Flashpoint (or during Flashpoint, or after Flashpoint...who really knows?) has been almost completely disconnected from “the Green.” After Holland's refusal early in the series to rejoin the source of Swamp Thing's powers, Snyder seems to have masterfully maneuvered the plot into forcing him to reclaim the role as the environment’s protector. Once again, Marco Ruby does a solid job filling in for Yannick Paquette.

StormWatch #6 – Issue six is the final issue of Paul Cornell's run on StormWatch, but it is also the first issue that officially unites the entire StormWatch cast. At the end, Apollo and Midnighter finally join the team (though they have been present since issue 1). Cornell leaves his toys set up for the next regimes. First Paul Jenkins, for two issues and then the new ongoing writer Peter Milligan with issue 9. Personally, I think Cornell's run has underachieved. I think the plotting and concepts were fine, but the entire endeavor felt flat from the very beginning. The characters were a mixture of old and new and there was very little time for the reader to get acclimated. (Yes, I have championed a similar treatment with the Justice League, but those are iconic and recognizable characters—even to comic book outsiders.) This break-neck speed wasn't helped by mushy art from Miguel Sepulveda. Entire pages seemed almost dim, out of focus and overly busy. I like Cornell as a person and a writer—and I hope he continues to write Demon Knights—but I am glad to see some new blood on StormWatch. Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see Cornell transition to a new book soon, either taking over a series or in the eventual New 52 Third Wave.

Uncanny X-men #6 – Kieron Gillen's Uncanny X-men is a book filled with all kinds of interesting ideas, and the current storyline is a fine example of that creativity. While exploring a time-altered, bubble world somewhere in Montana (just go with it...) the X-men come across all kinds of fascinating hyper-chronological possibilities. In this tiny area that has rapidly undergone millions of years of evolution, there are plenty of places for the team to get split up and challenges for them to face. Yet, (and I know this isn't true or fair) it feels like most of the issue is spent having Magneto misguide the “Immortal Man's” missiles. I know there is other stuff going on, it's just returned to often enough that it seems like it dominates the issue. Enough has been said about Greg Land's art that I don't really feel like mentioning it, except to say that Psylock is freaking SMILING while unconscious at the feet of the enemy on the cover. Terrible.

Winter Soldier #1 – I. Love. Gorillas. Especially ones with machine guns. I realize that's a silly thing to be the first thing I think of when I think of Winter Soldier number one but, wow, gorilla with a machine gun. Brubaker's super-run on Captain America branches out to the formerly dead, formerly brainwashed, temporarily Captain America, and now supposedly dead Bucky Barnes, but really you don't need to know any of that. Just know that Bucky and Scarlet Widow are super-spies chasing down brainwashed super-soldiers....and then GORILLAS WITH FREAKING MACHINE GUNS. The art, by Butch Guice is good, but some of the early action scenes are almost too dark to be decipherable.

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