What You Should Have Read #33

Last Week’s Awesomeness

I think Marvel’s Astonishing line is a silly concept. Stories set just outside continuity? Why make a separate line for that, when it’s not exactly outside continuity. All the stuff from Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men run is canon. He brought Colossus back, gave form to the Danger Room and introduced a new alien race, all of which moved smoothly into “regular” continuity. I loved Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine, I loved Warren Ellis’ run on AXM (and I’m enjoying Jason Aaron’s current run, although I don’t understand why they’re doing alternating stories), and while it isn’t the greatest Thor story I’ve read, I’m enjoying Astonishing Thor. Aside from the name, I’ve been intrigued by Alter Ego. This two-page spread by Mike Choi, though…well, it’s just epic. One living planet EATING another? Awesome.

These are men with a purpose. I expressed my dissatisfaction last week over the death of Bucky and Steve being back as Cap, but dammit if this isn’t just an awesome image.

This is the first DC book on here in a few weeks, I believe. But this image had too much going for it not to be included. Flashpoint royally fucked up everything in Batman’s world, but we know it won’t be the Flashpoint Batman that makes it into DC’s new continuity in September. I guess that means the entirety of his cast of characters is fair game for anything…and Azarello certainly is giving us anything and everything.

I grew up with G.I. Joe. Not the dolls, but the ACTION FIGURES!! Loved the cartoons, loved the toys, somewhat knew Marvel was putting out a comic. I picked up the book for a few months when Devil’s Due jumped on the nostalgia bandwagon a put out a new comic. I heard good things about IDW’s relaunch, though, and I’ve been hooked since their beginning. The stories are a bit closer to “real life,” and they’re pretty damn engaging. I’m singling out these panels, though, for the (probably) last words of a Joe who is proud to go out like a true geek.

Ho…ly…crap. It wasn’t until I read the afterward in issue one of Red Skull that I found out that the writer of this book, Greg Pak, also wrote Magneto: Testament three years ago. I remember really being moved by that book. I’m similarly moved by this book, the story of the Red Skull, but instead of sympathy for the main character, I feel nothing but horror. At first I worried that Pak was going to attempt to make the Red Skull a sympathetic character, showing kindness to the puppy and another boy at the orphanage, but the end expertly illustrates the hate and evilness that will one day turn Schmidt into one of the villainous villains in the Marvel universe. Nothing says “future villain” like “child puppy killer.”

As with every issue of Secret Six, there’s a lot to like about this issue if you enjoy snappy dialogue and unwasted panels and pages…and I do. I picked out this panel (as opposed to Knockout remember the fun of battle or King Shark singing as he attacks a house) because it illustrates one of the things I like about this book: Gail Simone is not trying to reform these villains. These are bad people have no questions about their morality or their deeds. And Lawton says it best, “I just like to shoot things.”

I’ve loved Thunderbolts since Warren Ellis took over the title. Never cared for it before, but everybody who has worked on it since has been wonderful. I like tie-in with Fear Itself. It doesn’t feel force like some regular titles do when they cross into big events. It WAS a bit weird, though, to read Uncanny first, where Juggernaut is already on the West Coast, but here he’s only as far as Chicago.

Oh, shit. Namor knows how to bury a knife and then twist it all the way around. I guess Emma isn’t all that used to be on the receiving end of a hurtful barb like this. Also, I hate Greg Land’s art. This book is just ugly. At least the story is compelling.

Comic Book Reviews for the Week of Nov. 5, 2008 (Mini Series)

Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel#1

The Blue Marvel. A new, ret-conned superhero that comes complete with his own ret-conned arch-nemesis, Anti-Man. His last fight with Anti-Man was June 4, 1962, so I’m assuming this takes place just days before the Fantastic Four show up on the scene and the Age of Marvels starts. But because of his race, he’s asked, by President Kennedy no less, to step down because the U.S. wouldn’t be able to handle a black superhero (hmm, this comic is released the same week that the first black President of the U.S. has been elected…eerie). I wonder what die hard Black Panther fans will think of this, or even thought of the introduction of Isaiah Bradley, a black man who preceded Steve Rogers as the first Captain America? BP has been regarded as THE first black (not African American, since he’s not American) superhero in the Marvel universe. This is an interesting premise, one that I hope is handled better than the convoluted mess that is the Sentry’s backstory.

Back to Brooklyn #2

I’ll say this for him, Garth Ennis is a consistently good writer. He may not always have a homerun like Preacher, Hellblazer or the Punisher, but he almost always gets a base hit. I think any fan of Ennis’ MAX Punisher series would enjoy this. My only gripe is with the artwork. It seems so stiff, and the characters are difficult to tell apart. I also don’t like the washed-out coloring.

Civil War: House of M #3

Another good issue, although I still think the title should be reversed (House of M: Civil War). Even though we know how the story is going to end, it’s interesting to see how the world got the way it was in House of M. I’ll have to go through my back issues, but did we see why Steve Rogers isn’t around but Bucky is? And I guess with the addition of Mimic to Bucky’s little strike force, not all mutants share Magneto’s, or even Xavier’s, views. Two more issues to go.

Marvel Zombies 3 #2

“Aw, snap! She’s a mannequin!”

Well, Fred Van Lente certainly has Kirkman’s fanboy disease. Portal? He’s using Portal in the series? He must be a Darkhawk fan. So this series looks like it actually takes place between the first two Marvel Zombie minis. I guess this’ll explain what happened while the other group was in space. The novelty of this has ALMOST worn off, but not quite, especially now that it’s robots vs. zombies!

Sub-Mariner: The Depths #3

This is still an engaging story, even though we haven’t seen more than bits and pieces of Namor. Maybe that’s why it’s probably the most compelling Sub-Mariner story I’ve read. I’ve never like the character; he seems so one-dimensional. Focusing on the submarine crew and the legend of Namor seems to be the way to go.

Terror Titans #2

Pretty decent, by-the-book mini here. We see the results of some 3rd-tier-hero fights, but not the fights themselves. Some of them would have been nice to see. I didn’t understand the Argent/Sapphire fight. From the art, it looked like Argent actually won. I’m wondering if Ravager is working on a little sting operation to prove herself to the Teen Titans.

Sandman: The Dream Hunters #1

This is an adaptation of a book that I haven’t read. I think I need to. This first issue was very well written (it’s a Sandman story by Gaiman, so why wouldn’t it be?) and beautifully illustrated by P. Craig Russell. It tells the story of a monk and a fox, how they meet, and what happens to them. Morpheus does not appear in the book, but it definitely fits in the Sandman mythos. I can’t wait for the next issue.

Ultimatum #1

Not the best first issue I’ve seen. I actually felt a greater sense of loss when Magneto blew up the Brooklyn (or was it the George Washington) Bridge in Ultimate X-Men. There was just too much going on to really make an impact. Jeph Loeb is just taking a hit from me lately. I don’t think he’s the right fit for the Ultimate universe. I will give him kudos, though, for being right on top of where all the titles are. As for David Finch, I can take him or leave him; it all depends on my mood. I liked him on Ascension and thought he was okay with Avengers and Ultimate X-Men, but I thought it was kind of ugly here. So, the book isn’t off to the greatest start, but I’ve got hope that it’ll get better.

Venom: Dark Origin #4

This has been a fascinating mini-series. We all thought we knew what we needed to know about Venom’s origin, right? I guess not. When telling a story like this for someone who has been around, what, 20 years, you can assume there’s going to be some retconning. What I’ve found, though, has been insignificant. When we first met Eddie’s wife in or around Amazing Spider-Man #375, she was white. Here she’s black. Big deal. In this issue we get to relive the classic being-pushed-in-front-of-the-subway-with-no-warning-from-his-spider-sense scene, but here it’s an elevated train, not the subway. Again, very minor. I was hoping we’d see the scene where Spidey’s crawling up a building and Eddie grabs his leg and tries to throw him off, but the MJ scene from the end of ASM #299 was extended instead. Good call. Zeb Wells is doing a superb job on this mini, and Angel Medina was made to draw Venom. But with the focus being on Eddie here, I wonder if he’s eventually going to get the suit back? I like Gargan as Venom, and Eddie as Anti-Venom (Corny!) is very neat. I’m looking forward to the conclusion next month.

Vixen: Return of the Lion

Meh. Dull story, beautiful art.

X-Men: Manifest Destiny #3

I feel like the Iceman story is just going over ground already covered when the White Queen took over his body for a while. He’s still got a villainous female putting him through the motions. The Graymalkin origin story was good. Having Yanick Paquette draw it was a good choice since he does the artwork on Young X-Men. I wonder, though, why Graymalkin wasn’t freed any of the other times the mansion was or grounds were destroyed? The Colossus story was pretty depressing, and as much as Wolverine tried to lighten things up, I think it was Santo who actually provided the comic relief. As depressing as it was, it was a story that needed to be told since Peter and Kitty were so close.

X-Men/Spider-Man #1

What we’ve got here is a decent throw-back story that seems to know its continuity. It’s not a bad story, and as I was getting to the end it looked like it was wrapping up as a one-shot and not a mini-series. But then a mystery villain (who is VERY mysterious for the time period) makes himself known, and we’ve got a good set-up for the next issue. Kudos to Gage. As for Mario Alberti, I’m disliking most of the art. When it doesn’t look like a Tim Sale clone, it’s just ugly. Except for the women, that is. He has a knack for drawing extremely gorgeous women. Go figure.

Comic Book Reviews for the Week of Oct. 1, 2008

Cream of the Crop

Doktor Sleepless #9

The first issue of Book Two. It looks like this time around we’re getting an outsider’s perception of Heavenside and all the crazy goings-on there. I like that angle. Using a relatively normal person, as far as we can tell from the first issue, allows the reader to immerse themselves in the weird a bit easier. It’s like gradually heating a pot of water with a frog in it to boiling rather than just dropping the pour amphibian into the boiling water. We were just hit with it last time around, and that usually doesn’t work for me when writers are trying to go all high concept. I’m not some gigolo you can bang right away; I need some romance and some get-to-know-you time first. After that, bang away my weird British friend, bang away.

March on Ultimatum Saga #1

Holy crap. If you’ve wanted to get into the Ultimate universe of books but have been put off by any continuity you might need to know, get this book. It’s a reader, mostly text with a few panels pulled from an issue here or there, but it’s well worth the time. This tells you EVERYTHING about the Ultimate universe beginning with the conflict between Atlantis and Lemuria and ending with the present. Even if you’ve been reading the Ultimate comics since the beginning, this is a wonderful reference to have.

The Boys #23

I’m waiting for the eventual payoff when Hughie realizes that he’s schtuping the only hero with a conscience on The Seven. That should be fun. This issue was all planning, but through the planning we learned a LOT about the G-Men, obvious parodies of the X-Men. Ennis has done what Liefeld never could when he started Youngblood, a group of heroes who were media and licensing darlings. Of course, I don’t think we were supposed to hate Liefeld’s characters (at least not on purpose) like we’re supposed to with Ennis’. Hughie’s girlfriend seems like the only respectable one we’ve seen yet, and that makes me dread her future.

Trinity #18

I love alternate reality stories, and I think I’m really going to enjoy the mystery behind this one. Busiek and Bagley have really found their stride with this book, and I hope they can keep it up for another 34 issues. And it looks like a new player has replaced Tarot as the lead in the back-up series, someone who knows something isn’t quite right about the world.

Leftovers

Civil War: House of M #2

Pretty good, if not quick issue. Last issue saw Magneto’s reason for fighting, which is more or less the same as his 616 reason. This issue sees him build his army and forge a short-lived friendship with Charles Xavier. It’s a simple and unnecessary story, but one that is told very well. I’m learning that Christos Gage is a consistently solid writer. Andrea Divito is a solid artist. Nothing flashy, but very clean. Sort of a Ron Frenz/Sal Buscema/Mark Bagley feel to it.

DC Universe: Decisions #2

My thoughts on this issue are split. 1) Winick and Willingham are excellent writers and they’ve crafted a solid story. 2) While I tend to find Porter’s line work a bit to sharp, it’s nice to see him drawling the JLA again. It’s a nostalgia thing; his and Morrison’s version of the JLA is my version. So we’ve got good writing with art I’m enjoying, but I’m not connecting with the story. I’m not a very political person at all, and the voice of celebrity has no effect on my political leanings one way or another. So superhero endorsement of fake candidates mean nothing to me. If this ends up being part of the villain’s plot, I’m okay with that. But if it’s just in the story because we’ve got an extremely important election in just under a month, then I’m a little put off by it.

Justice League of America #25

This ranks very low on my Leftovermeter. First off, we’ve got a continuity snafu going on. Isn’t Animal Man in space dealing with the Rann/Thanagar Holy War? So what’s he doing at home, and will Anansi clear this all up, like he cleaned up his power issue? I liked that he could take on the abilities of space creatures. It was a neat concept. And I really don’t mind the return of his original powers, I just wish it wouldn’t have been so easy. It smacks of Mephisto meddling with Spider-Man’s marriage. At least in that instance a choice was involved. I liked the different artists, although some of it seemed a bit too dark. Not thematically, just plain old dark. I’m ready for the Vixen stuff to end. As with Animal Man, I think she’s more interesting with her new abilities. But those are gone now, too.

No Hero #1

I had to think about where to place this book. It’s Warren Ellis, probably #2 on my list of favorite writers, and it’s a good set-up (if you don’t count issue #0 as the set-up, which actually was), but a fundamental reason is keeping me from placing it in the Cream of the Crop. It’s Ellis himself. I’m a member of his mailing list, a frequent visitor to his blog, and a Myspace friend. I get updates about the guy and general ramblings from him. I’ve also read my fair share of interviews. He has said on numerous occasions that he is sick of superheroes unless something different and new can be done. He might be nailing different on the surface of each new book he puts out, but the new isn’t really there. Underneath everything, underneath (or even right out in the open if I can notice it) The Authority and Black Summer and Planetary and Doktor Sleepless and Freakangels and now No Code is a firm belief in the failure of current leadership/authority and the belief that something better can and should be done. It’s all there, and maybe the methods or the outcome may be different, but the message is the same, “Fight for what you believe in.” At least that’s what I’m getting out of it all. I’m also having a little problem with some of the art. I’m used to seeing Juan Jose Ryp’s name on Avatar books. He seems to be a company man, and that’s cool. He’s ultra-detailed and very graphic, which seems to be at the core of Avatar release, which I’m also cool with. Maybe (probably) it’ll be explained in later issues, but what’s up with the “sand” that’s splashing around whenever Joshua hits someone? It even happens when Carrick claps his hands together and The Operator does something to her phone. I hope it has something to do with the story, because if it’s just an effect, it’s awful.

Sub-Mariner: The Depths #2

This isn’t a story about Namor. This is a story about myth and legend and belief, about what men dream about and what their nightmares are, and about discovery of self. The reader isn’t sure if Namor ever even shows up in this issue. There are hints and conjecture, theories and possible dreams, but as the scientist said, if it were nothing but a dream, then what of the pool of sea water in his cabin? The book intrigues me. I have no love for Namor, so the less he’s in the book the more I’m enjoying it. I’ll wait until the end of the mini, though, to say if I like it or not. Right now I’m just intrigued.

Terror Titans #1

Decent story that picks up from the events in Teen Titans. Rose has been recruited by Clock King to work with and train his Terror Titans while he plots and maneuvers to take over the Dark Side Club. This whole Dark Side Club has my hackles up. I don’t like the way the New Gods were just wantonly killed off. As epic as the mini was, Death of the New Gods was anything but epic. I’m assuming this will be rectified in Final Crisis, but there are already contradictions in that, so I have no idea what to expect. While that’s usually a good thing, it’s leaving me cold.

Top Ten: Season Two #1

I didn’t jump on the America’s Best Comics bandwagon when it first rolled in. I should have. It’s a good story by Zander Cannon, I can only imagine what it would have been like under Alan Moore. And really, my hesitation a handful of years ago is the only thing keeping this out of the Cream of the Crop. I don’t know any backstory and I don’t know any of the characters. Looks like I’ve got some back issues to pick up.

Vixen: Return of the Lion #1

What is the fascination with Vixen lately? I don’t get it. Maybe I’m just more into Animal Man after reading Morrison and Delano’s runs on his book, but I’ll take him over Mari any day. The one thing that bumps this book out of the Compost and into the Leftovers is the art. I’ve never heard of Cafu. I don’t know if he’s new or if I just haven’t run across him, but wow. He’s not there yet, but I see big things in this…person’s (is this a guy or a girl?) future. I can’t wait to see what his work will look like in a few years. What we get in this issue is an unrefined beauty. And I think some credit also needs to go to the colorist, Santiago Arcas. Very soft colors here give the work a great depth. What I find lacking in interest for the hero is more than made up for by the art.

Compost

Aspen Showcase: Benoist #1

In all honesty, this wasn’t a bad book, but it was my first Aspen book, so I’m not sure if I’m missing the bigger picture. Is this a new character, or something that is a part of Fathom? The gist of the book is a guy finds out he’s doing work he didn’t know he was doing, and when his bosses find out they know, they kill him…or at least they think they do. He’s found, given bionic limbs, goes through some personal issues, and winds up stronger. Not a bad story, but not all that original, either. But it’s not something that I’m interested in pursuing, hence the Compost Pile.

Four Eyes #1

Imagine a cock fight during The Great Depression, except instead of being in a basement or somebody’s secluded back yard it’s in an arena or stadium, and instead of roosters it’s dragons. When I think of dragons, I think of something on a scale slightly larger than gambling. The script is serviceable, but I’m not sure what the plot is yet. The art smacks of Tim Sale, but with a looser style. Max Fiumara, a name I don’t recognize, draws gorgeous dragons, but there aren’t enough in here, and I don’t like his people all that much. Good effort, and maybe I’ll check on the book again at some point, but right now there’s not enough to keep me coming back.

Greatest American Hero Ashcan

Okay, I realize that it’s an ashcan edition that’s supposed to get us ready for the series to come, but it was ridiculous. They could have at least given us a complete section of the book or some sketches or notes or something. Instead they give us a few random pages that do nothing to get me excited for this comic about a TV series I have great nostalgia for.