Week of August 30th, 2006
Some pretty cool titles out this week, though not a whole lot of stuff that I couldn't wait to read. Still, there's a brand new, amazing Alan Moore book out, so we'd better get onward!
SPOTLIGHT ISSUES:
Trials of Shazam #1:
Trials of Shazam is a new 12-issue series featuring DC's most underused good character, Captain Marvel, and one of the only promising series to come out of DC's massive Brave New World launch. Judd Winick, who wrote the recent Superman/Shazam: First Thunder miniseries, has promised to restore the once-great Captain Marvel to his former luster, and he's got Howard Porter along handling the art. They produced a good first issue that features Captain Marvel breaking up a child-abduction ring, before a mysterious change overcomes him at the end, kicking off the transformation that DC says the character will undergo between now and the end of the series. Worth checking out, and I'll be sure to review future issues so you'll know if it's still living up to its potential.
Ultimate X-Men Annual #2:
Robert Kirkman begins to truly leave his mark on this book with this issue, a story focusing on Nightcrawler and Dazzler. You may remember the huge changes that happened in BKV's annual, with Gambit dying and Rogue absorbing his powers; there are some moments just as big in this issue (including one with Rogue, who often seems ignored in the pages of UXM), as well as some serious re-characterization done with Nightcrawler. I don't know how I feel about the character changes, but it's certainly well-written, and an entertaining read. The two-page "Why Professor X's Cat is Named Mystique" was disappointing though; the answer to the question is uninteresting enough that I wish it was still a mystery.
FUN SIZE REVIEWS:
Black Panther #19:
I'm kind of a sucker for well-structured arcs, and Reggie Hudlin's current World Tour arc is certainly that. Immediately following their wedding, Black Panther and Storm embark on a whirlwind diplomatic tour - this issue sees them traveling to Latveria, and next issue to the moon to see the Inhumans, who will be making their first comic appearance since they declared war on the U.S. I recommend this issue, and likely the rest of the arc; Hudlin's a great writer, and Scot Eaton's pencils are smooth and gorgeous.
Young Avengers & Runaways #2:
This mini has presented yet another subtle facet of the Civil War event, and has been a real surprise for me. Zeb Wells is a capable writer who handles these two young teams well, and watching the hero-worshipping Young Avengers interact with the hyper-paranoid Runaways has been a lot of fun. My only complaint is the overly-shiny Lee Bermerjo derivative art by Stefano Caselli.
Action Comics #842:
Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza have got a great arc going in Action, and I'm loving it, no matter how impatient I am for Richard Donner and Geoff Johns' tenure to begin. The story is about an auctioneer snatching up landmarks and metahumans off the earth to put them on the selling block. A cool villain, a cool story, and an all around great Superman arc.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #33:
Mike Carey begins his run on Ultimate Fantastic Four, promising to return them to intergalactic glory. Instead, his first issue was confusing, unenjoyable, and an all around disappointment when held next to Mark Millar's masterful run. I didn't really ever get a sense of what was going on in this book, and the art, by Pasqual Ferry, was weird too; half the time it was great, but the other half looked like it was smudged or blurred.
52 #17:
I'm officially a fan of 52 (for now at least), and this issue did something no comic has ever done before - made me think Lobo is cool. Both in the main story, and in the Mark Waid/Keith Giffen backup, I was caught off guard by him. This book is going strong, let's just hope they don't let up any time soon.
Justice #7:
What a beautiful book. Alex Ross painting over Doug Braithwaite's pencils actually looks better in a comic book than him painting by himself at this point; they're really firing on all cylinders. There's a double-splash near the middle of the book with Metamorpho and a few other characters standing outside the Fortress of Solitude that is among the best pieces of comic art I've seen in a while. The story still feels a little slow, but that's probably just because it's coming out bimonthly, when I wish it was out every week.
All-Star Superman #5:
This is another amazing book I can't get enough of that comes out way too infrequently. If only Grant Morrisson and Frank Quitely could work at super-speed…well, this issue, like all the others, was worth the wait. This one follows Clark Kent into prison to visit Lex Luthor, awaiting execution, and features a very cool All-Star Parasite, as well as the now-to-be-expected superb dialogue and art.
NEWS BRIEFS
A surprising number of announcements from Toronto this week, as both Marvel and DC announce high profile new series.
–This one's not coming for a while, but it's news now: at the end of next year, Geoff Johns and J.G. Jones will start a new All Star series. Who will it be: The Flash? Green Lantern? Nope. It's……Batgirl! I know, I'm as stunned as you. Johns has said it will be the Barbara Gordon Batgirls, and he's said they're shooting for a Long Halloween/Dark Victory kind of feel to the book. Sounds damn cool.–For the thousands and thousands of Alpha Flight fans who read this column: fear not! A new Canadian team book is coming, in the form of Omega Flight by Mike Oeming and Scott Kolins, sometime in 2007. I never read Alpha Flight, but if it's an Oeming/Kilins book, I'll be sure to pick up Omega Flight, even if I do think the name is kind of dumb.
TRADE REVIEW
Lost Girls:
I already reviewed this book in much larger form for a newspaper I work for, but I'll try to sum up my feelings about it here: it's great. There are a thousand bad things you can say about it, but every insult I've heard can be countered easily with: "Yeah. That was the point." Critics are decrying it as pornography, but Alan Moore's been calling it that for years, and I have to say, it's unlike any porn I've ever seen. It's inventive and well-structured enough to stand next to Moore's finest works, a compliment I don't take lightly, and Melinda Gebbie's art is absolutely stunning, and on par, or nearly on par, with the writing. In case you haven't heard, Lost Girls is the story of Dorothy of Oz, Wendy from Peter Pan, and Alice from Alice in Wonderland, meeting in a hotel in Europe to discuss their copious sexual experiences in great deal. Moore posits that all three of these children stories are actually rather obvious metaphors for female sexual awakening (a tornado sweeping up a 16 year old girl and taking her to a wonderful fantasyland for example), and throughout the book details the kinds of sexual experiences each girl would have had to have produced the stories we've heard about them. There's much more to it, and it really is a masterpiece, but I don't want to give anything else away. If you've got the scratch to buy a $75 book, you should get this one: it's the best packaged and designed comic I've ever seen, and any book fit to sit next to Watchmen and V is worth the price, to me. Just be prepared for a lot of naked, naked ladies along with your high literature; I know I, for one, see absolutely nothing wrong with that.
<TOP>Week of August 23rd, 2006
Ah, it's good to be back. Here we are again--it was the first truly good week in quite some time, and there's tons of stuff to talk about. Let's get onward!
SPOTLIGHT ISSUES:
JLA #1:
One of the most highly anticipated books of the summer has already lived up to expectations; I don't know what surprised me more, the fact that Brad Meltzer chose to focus his first issue around the Red Tornado, or that he made me care so much about the character. I wish we'd had more of a complete roster by the end of this issue, but the dialogue of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman as they decide who's going to be voted in and who isn't is some of the best between the Big Three. The story is great, the art by Ed Benes is maybe his best work, but there was one weird thing about the ish: an oddly out of place excerpt from Meltzer's new novel at the end. Kind of odd, but aside from that a great issue, and a must-read for any DC fans.
Astonishing X-Men #16:
An issue so great I had to read it twice, Astonishing 16 has everything you could ask for from Whedon and Cassaday: a few perfect Kitty Pride lines, paired with a few perfect facial expressions, two huge surprises, and a sniveling, cowardly Wolverine (who Whedon writes eerily well). The last page reveals who's going to destroy the Breakworld, and it's…it's really, really cool. Check this one out.
FUN SIZE REVIEWS:
Eternals #3:
I'm still loving Gaiman's scripts, and JR Jr.'s pencils have truly never been better, but the story may be a bit slow in unfolding. I place implicit trust in Neil, of course, but by the end of the third issue, which is the halfway point of this miniseries, I felt like the story was just beginning.
Batman and the Mad Monk #1:
Yes! The return of Matt Wagner's Batman…who may be just as good as Paul Dini or Grant Morrisson's. Please buy this book if you haven't, and pick up the trade of Batman and the Monster Men, one of the best Batman stories ever.
Ultimate Spider-Man #99:
I'm trying to keep from thinking about the 100th issue, because that's the only way I'll be able to keep from crossing days off the calendar. Thought the revelations in last issue were big? This one's got three that are bigger, and Bendis swears there are at least three in the next issue that will be even bigger. This is comics at its best, and with Bagley leaving in ten issues, you should soak it up while you still can.
Heroes for Hire #1:
The first issue of a new team book is always kind of shaky, and this one's no different. I liked Billy Tucci's art a lot, and I'm glad he's made the jump to the House of Ideas. But this didn't seem like Gray and Palmiotti's best writing, and I really didn't find myself caring any more about the characters by the end of the book than I did when I started it. If you're a Civil War junkie, the Heroes do provide a new and nuanced take on registration. Aside from that, the only people who will enjoy this one are those who already love the mostly B-to-C list cast.
52 #16:
Spin the 52 story wheel and…Black Adam's thread comes up for this issue, along with two pages of Adam Strange. Adam's story is one of the best going in the book, so I loved this issue, and the backup origin, also on Black Adam, was great. One of the best 52s to come out thus far.
New Avengers #23:
This issue is pretty good, but it left me kind of flat: the story was very similar in structure to last month's Luke Cage issue, and I think that the story is a little too involved with what Bendis has done with Jessica in the pages of New Avengers thus far. The last page is beautifully written and drawn, but this isn't a must-read, a rare thing for New Avengers.
Ultimates Annual #2:
This is not an Ultimates issue, it's a Cap and Falcon team-up with a not-so-good story and some of the most heavy-handed discussion of race to be found in comics. I'm for socially progressive or conscious comics, but I want them better written than this.
Batman #656:
Batman vs. NINJA MAN BATS!!!!! I love Grant Morrisson, I really do. Great action story, great art by Andy Kubert, who is already starting to come in to his own. Don't believe me? Look at the last page.
Wolverine #45:
I'm still not sure about Humberto Ramos drawing Wolverine, but you can't go wrong drawing Wolverine vs. Namor. The writing was sub-par on this issue, but it's a good Civil War tie-in. Worth the read.
NEWS BRIEFS
It's good news for DC and less good news for Marvel this week, with plenty happening.
–Mike Marts, X-Men Editor extraordinaire, has left Marvel for the Distinguished Competition, reportedly not because of any animosity, but just because he wanted a change.–The other big loss for Marvel, is the departure from Mark Bagley from Ultimate Spider-Man. Granted, he's putting in 110 issues with no blown deadlines before he goes, and he's still with Marvel, but still. Bummer.
–On the other hand, DC signed Adam Hughes to an exclusive contract that means he's beginning work on the book he's been thinking about for several years: All Star Wonder Woman. He says he'll probably have most of the 12 issues done before they're solicited.
TRADE REVIEW
ABSOLUTE Dark Knight:If there are two ABSOLUTE editions to buy, they're definitely Watchmen and Dark Knight…This amazing, and of course expensive, edition features everything you'd expect to find in a book with this kind of price tag attached to it. There's a brand new introduction from Frank Miller, and the original proposal for the book, called simply Dark Knight, that Miller says provided him an enormous amount of material for both this book and Batman: Year One. Really interesting and well-written stuff. There are also the usual assortment of concept sketches, promotional art, and other goodies. Plus, you get Dark Knight Returns, looking beautiful and getting the treatment it deserves; you also get Dark Knight Strikes Again, looking beautiful and getting the treatment Dark Knight Returns deserves. A must-own gorgeous collection for any serious collector.
Hit the message boards and hit them hard, folks. With Civil War #2 out, there should be at least a few things to talk about. I'll see you there, but of course if you have any comments, complaints, or compliments, I'd be glad to field them as well as any questions at skio84@charter.net.
<TOP>Week of, but not limited to, August 22nd, 2006
Before we head onward, a few words to explain my absence: between this column, the two newspapers I contribute to, various other freelance stuff, and writing stories, I got burned out and took an unintentional sabbatical from writing (almost a month), the longest I've gone without writing anything since I started when I was thirteen or so. The results: no columns for way too long, and me being excited about writing for the first time in a bit. Enough wishy washy, there's so much to catch up on that we'd better get onward!
The Word of Mike
In place of reviews of individual comics, I'm just going to write a few paragraphs of opinion; there is simply too much to say about too many books for me to do a regular review. Those will return next week and proceed to run weekly for the next several millennia.
First, let me just say that I think Marvel is kicking DC's ass through the floor right now. DC's post-Crisis titles, in my opinion, have been abysmal. They've taken the hype from a now-past event and assumed that they could use it to put out series centered around characters that have never been able to sustain their own books (Martian Manhunter, for example). I'm not saying some of it hasn't been interesting, but other than Batman and Superman, most of the DC character titles have been on the downslope. Batman and Superman, on the other hand, are more interesting in their monthly titles than maybe they've ever been. 52 has picked up after what I thought was kind of a scattered if still intriguing first few months. My fiancée read the first 12 of them back to back and found them quite good, but I disliked reading it week to week (I read them all back to back and have to agree that they're much better that way). The stories in the last four issues have been amazing, too.
Marvel has impressed me with Civil War, as well as its ancillary titles, nearly all of which I've found to be well written and pretty relevant. Frontline is the best companion title of any event I've ever seen. That said, their shipping delays could quite possibly ruin all the big mainstream hype they brought back to comics. The Ultimate U remains red-hot, with Millar's amazing run on FF coming to an end and Bendis' fabled issue 100 of USM coming out soon.
Other than that…it continues to be an amazing time to be a comics fan, and I'm excited to be back in the game of reading and reviewing. Look for the column, there should be some cool stuff coming up that you won't want to miss.
NEWS BRIEFS
Can be found in my Comic-Con coverage, and will return next week.I'll try and get back on the message boards tomorrow and hang out some there so feel free to drop a complaint or compliment if the fancy strikes you. Anything you don't want out there in public you can send to my new email address, mike@LBUnion.com. Thanks, see you in a few!
<TOP>8/10/06
Special Comic-Con edition
Late news is better than no news, right internet friends? Life before and since Comic-Con has been crazy, but I finally found a spare half hour to sit down and share some of my experiences at the best convention in the world. Most of the news from Comic-Con (and from last weekend's Wizard World Chicago) has already reached your eyes or ears I'm sure, but in case you've missed something, here are the highlights, in no particular order:
–The convention itself was big news as always, with the hall filling up for the first time on Saturday; they actually had to stop ticket sales. Look for record-breaking attendance statistics to be released soon.–After Guggenheim and Ramos are done on Wolverine, Jeph Loeb and Simone Bianchi will be taking over to do six issues, focusing on the relationship between Sabertooth and Wolverine. Jeph Loeb is excited, which means that I'm excited, and the images that Marvel has released of Bianchi's art look amazing; he's primed to become a big force in the industry.
–Whether you loved or hated Superman Returns, you'll get at least one more chance to debate Bryan Singer's vision, since he announced he will be directing a sequel.
–Speaking of Superman, the long-teased new Action Comics team has been announced, and it lives up to the hype: Richard Donner, director of the original Chris Reeves Superman movie will be teaming up with Geoff Johns for what is already the most anticipated Superman story since they killed the guy off.
–Perhaps as an apology to Bendis for ripping his team in half, Marvel is giving him a new Avengers book, called Mighty Avengers, that will be drawn by Frank Cho.
–DC is launching a new line of mature, animated movies, made specifically for comics fans. The movies will be faithful animated versions of classic DC stories, with the original artists overseeing the animation to make sure it's true to their style. The flagship titles will be: Superman/Doomsday, New Teen Titans: Judas Contract, and, most excitingly, Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier. More to come, and let's all just hope Dark Knight Returns or Batman: Year One are up next…
–Marvel has unearthed and will be publishing a lost issue of Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The book, which Joe Quesada has rightly called the comics equivalent of finding a complete Beatles CD, was going to be FF#102, but Stan did a different one instead. The book is completely penciled, and Stan will be doing the dialogue. The inks and colors may be done either with modern techniques, classic ones, or both; either way, Marvel will be releasing the Kirby pencils in the issue as well (a good idea because the pencils they showed at the panel were amazing).
–The next All Star project for DC was announced, as Adam Hughes will be writing and drawing All Star Wonder Woman.
–It was a slow WW:Chicago this year, but the big announcement to come out of the windy city is that Mike Turner's first real Marvel project has been announced and it's…an Ultimate Wolverine miniseries with Jeph Loeb. Sweet! Also, something of great personal interest to me is that Loeb's auction of art from Superman/Batman #26 made over $70,000 for his son's charity. Amazing.
But enough of that; let's talk about me. Comic-Con 2006 featured some of the absolute best moments I've ever had at a convention. First and foremost: I met Stan Lee, which, as a writer and a comics fan, is one of the coolest things that's ever happened to me. I stood there in awe for ten seconds before finally mustering up the ability to say, "Your writing and your characters have really been inspiring to me, Stan. I think you're the best." Done signing my hardcover copy of his Marvel Visionaries book, Stan grinned widely at me and said, "And I think you've got wonderful taste!" Then, with Stan still smiling at me, a security guard more or less dragged me out of the way, my head still reeling. Stan Lee! And there was no camera to record it, save my brother's phone, which won't send pictures…
I had the pleasure of getting there early enough on Friday to sit with my little brother at the Spider-Man: Then and Now panel, which was amazing; sitting and talking about Spider-Man were Stan Lee, the John Romitas Sr. and Jr., JMS, and Joe Quesada. The best panel I've ever been to, bar none. I'll write more about it some time…
I was also one of the lucky few who attended the Marvel vs. DC Softball Game on Thursday afternoon; an amazing time was had by all, even by the DC team who got walloped by twelve runs or so. There were a number of great moments, but my favorite had to be a DC player, trying to make a play at second, winging the ball about two yards over Jim Lee's head; an editor quickly chimed in, "When you're throwing to Jim, you've got to aim a little lower." After the pummeling, Dan Didio stood in the middle of a circle of Marvel players, and removed his jersey (number 666), which hung in the Marvel booth for the rest of the weekend, with the score scrawled across its chest. There is already talk of doing another game for next year, also to benefit A.C.T.O.R. as this one did, but they're hoping to have it at the Padre's Petco Park, just a few minutes walk from the convention center.
Some other highlights:
A long conversation with Neal Adams, as well as the purchase of his three Batman Illustrated volumes, which he signed for me. Best thing I've spent graduation money on so far…
Finding out that Robert Kirkman is as good a guy as he is a writer: he hooked me up with a great early look at one of his books, which I promised him I wouldn't put anything in print about. Since the book isn't coming out for two months still, I'll stay true to my word. Also, for a writer, he draws a mean zombie.
Stumbling on Brian Vaughan sitting alone at a DC table the day after he lost the Eisner to Alan Moore (which he told me was an honor). A friend of mine and I talked to him for ten minutes, with no one else approaching even once, before Pia Guerra came over and did me a wicked Ampersand sketch.
Speaking of Alan Moore, his partner and Lost Girls collaborator Melinda Gebbie was there, and I spent a few minutes talking with her. I'm only one degree away from the master…
I bought a ton of comics, but aside from the Batman Illustrated books, my biggest purchase was picking up a complete bootleg of the X-Men: Animated show for fifty bucks--best deal of my life. In case any FBI guys stumble across this, let me state that I will buy the show as soon as it is released on official DVD and I needed the bootlegs for research and review purposes.
Visiting with me and Shar's convention buddy, Tim Sale, who was amazing to us, as always, and let us see all the finished pencils and inks for the first few issues of Superman: Confidential (it's going to be amazing).
Meeting Matt Wagner, and getting an amazing Batman head sketch from him….drool…
All in all, it was even more crowded than usual, but it was another amazing year at Comic-Con; we came home with a trunk full of obscure and not so obscure great comics, and two heads full of some amazing memories. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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