Week of October 25th, 2006
Welcome back to the Mainstream, we've got a lot of good stuff to get to, so…let's get onward!
SPOTLIGHT REVIEWS:
Action Comics #844:
The long-awaited Johns/Donner/Kubert era of Action Comics begins! Truth be told, I loved Kurt Busiek, and I actually wished he wasn't leaving. This issue was good, though; I'm not honestly that big a fan of Adam Kubert's art, but it was mostly good on this book, with a few weird panels and a few weird lines here and there. All in all I'm a much bigger fan of this book's cover than of the art inside it. The writing was good, and the pacing excellent. My only complaint here is that it seems almost too Chris Reeve's era; I know Donner has a lot of stuff from then that he wants to do, but Jimmy Olsen taking a twenty year hop backwards in time was awkward for me. The Superboy storyline has promise, but I worry that they're going to repeat too much of what Jeph Loeb did with Supergirl's arrival in Superman/Batman. I'm curious to see what comes next; there's a lot of promise, but plenty of potential pitfalls as well.
Civil War: Choosing Sides #1:
Is it a gimmick? Yep. Is it a slapped together plea by Marvel to forgive the lateness of Civil War? Yep. Is it a Brave New World-style plug for a bunch of books? Yep. Is it overall pretty well done and an overall enjoyable read? Yep, but barely. A few of these short stories are pointless (Ant-Man and USAgent), and only one of them doesn't unravel into a different Marvel book (Howard the Duck), but they're generally all well-written and drawn. Even the barely tolerable USAgent story boasts Skott Kolins' beautiful work. The real gem here is the Howard the Duck story, which, honestly, is the main reason I bought it. This is worth the four bucks; it's not Civil War, but it's a passable pre-meal snack.
FUN SIZE REVIEWS:
Black Panther #21:
I do not understand why the hell this title doesn't have a Civil War banner on the front of it; Black Panther and Storm are touring the Marvel U, talking to some of the biggest players in the conflict, and in this book make a huge decision that may drastically effect the outcome of the book. Way more relevant to the miniseries than the recent Cap issues, and way better done.
Ultimate Spider-Man #101:
This book is good enough to be a spotlight pick, but I don't really have anything new to say about it. It's insane, and once again the last page is nut-butt crazy. See the news briefs for Marvel's recent announcement about Mark Bagley's replacement.
52 #25:
First, kudos to DC and 52 for the Halloween cover, which is pretty damn great. The rest of the book is okay, but a bit scattered; they touched on six stories, with barely any time spent on any of them. Awful last page. Also, last week they teased that the new Batwoman would be in this issue, which she wasn't. A Halloween trick?
Superman/Batman Annual #1:
The story and art on this book were pretty average; I've kind of had enough multiple Batman Superman stories after Jeph Loeb's run, but Joe Kelly kind of/sort of managed to make it work. All in all, this just wasn't BIG enough to have been an annual. It was just a long single issue story, and that don't an Annual make.
New Avengers #24
One of the things I really like about Civil War is that I keep getting to read about it from new angles. This issue focuses on The Sentry making his decision (perhaps a scale-tipping one), while bringing in the Inhumans storyline that started in Son of M and will continue in Silent War after Civil War is over. A good issue.
NEWS BRIEFS
Bryan Singer has been confirmed officially as the director of the next Superman movie. Superboy, here we come…
Stuart Immonen has been confirmed as the replacement artist for Mark Bagley on Ultimate Spider-Man after Bagley leaves with issue 110. Good? Bad? We'll see.
Email me with anything you have to say about the column, comics, life, love, or whatever else at skio84@charter.net. If you've got an opinion on Immonen, I want to hear it, and not just cuz opinion on Immonen sounds cool. See you in a week.
<TOP>Week of October 18th , 2006
We've got the most exciting week in Wildstorm history, a few Civil War tie-ins, and a new edition of Matt Wagner's unbelievable series. We'd better get onward, already.
SPOTLIGHT REVIEWS:
Authority #1:
I just read about seven volumes of The Authority that my friend had and was nice enough to loan me; if I was expecting to get something familiar out of this new launch, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Gene Ha, I was being foolish. The new series resembles the "classic" Authority very little; the first issue, which seems to have a combined twenty words in its script, features no superhuman activity, and ends on an almost spooky discovery of the only Authority-related item in the whole issue. There isn't really enough here to judge on, but I will say that I liked the art for the most part, and that Grant Morrison's script, of course, was intriguing, sparse though it was.
WildC.A.T.S. #1:
WildCATS, on the other hand, I have no experience with; I haven't ever read an issue of the old stuff, or seen an episode of the old show. Bad news is I didn't know any of the characters in this book, and I didn't get any of the inside jokes I'm sure were embedded in it. The good news is I can review it from the demographic this new series is targeting: new readers who are fans of Grant Morrison, Jim Lee, or both. After reading the first issue, I'm impressed, and willing to read at least a few more issues in the series, if not tracking down some of the older material. Jim Lee's art is loud with a capital L in this issue, and much more experimental than his work has been recently; a refreshing change of pace. Morrison writes in a style that's half Frank Miller, half flashy 90s dialogue, and somehow pulls it off; it couldn't be any more different than his Authority work, but it's just as good. If that's not the mark of a great comics writer, I don't know what is. This issue is definitely worth checking out.
FUN SIZE REVIEWS:
Wolverine #47/Civil War: X-Men #4:
A tale of two tie-ins…these issues couldn't be more different, coming in at my favorite and least favorite tie-ins. Wolverine continued to be incredibly relevant to the main Civil War story (there's a huge shadowy controlling figure behind the Stamford tragedy); there's great action, and one of the most graphic last pages you'll see in a Marvel comic. The X-Men series continues to feature Creepy Chest Tentacle Man, allow its diplomats to do its hero-work, and presents its superheroes as two-dimensional, cartoony parodies of themselves. Buy Wolverine, avoid X-Men, which just didn't live up to the "mutants on the run" potential of its premise.
Batman and the Mad Monk #3:
I've said nearly every good thing possible about this series; the writing, art, and covers are all great, and the product of one man: Matt Wagner. In his first miniseries, Batman and the Monster Men, a Year One Batman had to deal with fighting a force more powerful than street toughs. Now he has to deal with the supernatural; this issue also brought up another first: the first time he has to deal with a villain scarier than he is. Buy it, fool.
52 #24:
As a final answer to critics of this series' art, DC had Phil Jiminez, their Crisis superstar, do the pencils for issue 24. It was another good once, with the formation of an all-new, all-ineffective Justice League, and the further adventures of Black Adam, whose story I'm starting to really like, as well as Skeets the Evil Robot; we also get the formation of the new Checkmate. Next week: New Batgirl. Woot.
Ghost Rider #4:
I'll Ghost Rider this: by the end of this issue, I'm excited. The story to come is Ghost Rider, tracking down 666 different humans who have been corrupted by exploded pieces of Satan, destroying them one by one until it's a one on one showdown. The problem is, this is the fourth issue, when it should have been the first. The fight with Dr. Strange seems entirely unnecessary except to get one of Strange's friends out to tell Ghost Rider what's going on with the devil. Still, the setup for the next arc is, as I said, pretty cool, and enough to keep me buying.
NEWS BRIEFS
There isn't much news to report. There isn't any news to report, really. So, you know, I won't be reporting any news, until next week at least.
Sorry there wasn't more of my blather to read this column; just not much happening. Count the tumbleweeds with me, if you'd like. So, until next week, send any yawns, fawns, or…lawns you have to skio84@charter.net. See you in seven.
<TOP>Week of October 11th , 2006
Back into the swing of things, right. Right. Let's get to it.
SPOTLIGHT REVIEWS:
Ultimate Power #1:
As cool as the Ultimate Universe experiment has been (and as wildly successful), the one thing they've never really gotten right has been the big event. Yes, Mark Millar's Ultimates (especially the second volume) is as big and crazy as any Crisis or Civil War, but the truly big, wide-reaching event has never really worked, with only a few attempts (Ellis' Gah Lak Tus trilogy among them) logged so far. Marvel hopes to change that with the wildly experimental (perhaps) Ultimate Power miniseries. In it, the Ultimate Universe will be crossing over with the "Supremaverse," the universe that JMS' Squadron Supreme inhabits. Both universes have had some interdemensional stories already, so it doesn't seem implausible for either to be meeting up. Among the interesting promises made by the creative team is the particularly juicy morsel that supposedly one character will end the miniseries stuck in the wrong universe… The book is going to be drawn by Greg Land, and written by three writers, each of whom will take three issues. The first three are written by Bendis, since in his own words, he's "much better at making the mess than at cleaning it up." As is to be expected for a nine-issue miniseries, not a whole lot happens in this first installment, but we do officially have the crossover by the last page, setting us up for some crazy action next month, and the motivations behind the crossover are believable, if often-used in the Ultimate U. All in all, not nearly enough to judge by yet, but it shows potential. Can't wait to see what happens next.
FUN SIZE REVIEWS:
Civil War Frontline #7:
I love how often this book comes out; if only it were weekly…The front story sees last week's major Speedball event through Ben Urich's eyes, and we get a hell of a tease about Norman Osborn's future. The Speedball story sees him somehow getting even closer to death, and the Atlantis story shows us Wonder Man getting his ass kicked by Green Goblin pumpkins…neither of these were great, but I really dug the first story, as I have issue in and issue out.
Wolverine Origins #7:
As usual, my favorite thing about this issue of Wolverine Origins is its covers. I still think Steve Dillon is wrong for the art on this series, and I still think that Daniel Way, while a good writer, just isn't good enough to be handling something this momentous. We've got a flashback-heavy issue featuring Omega Red this month--it's pretty good, but the pacing feels really uneven on this series. Better to read in trade form.
52 #23:
Damn what a crazy issue. The art looked good on this one again, I'm glad DC is stepping it up. The bulk of this issue is devoted to Montoya and the Question infiltrating an Intergang Lab; look for another addition to the rapidly growing Black Adam family. Strong issue.
Ultimate X-Men #75:
WOW. Kirkman kicks it into overdrive on this one, the first issue to reach the bar set by his masterly predecessors. Cable makes his Ultimate U debut, and has one of the most stunning revelations/departures from the 616 Universe I've seen in an Ultimate book…ever. This issue is what the Ultimate Universe is all about; good writing, good art, and inventive stories that work for new readers while offering fun surprises for old ones. Bang-up job all around.
TRADE REVIEW:
Infinite Crisis HC
For all the flaws it ended up having, which are more and more clear in hindsight, I genuinely enjoyed this entire event, from Identity Crisis to the last page of Infinite Crisis. I think that the DCU is in an "infinitely" worse place in its aftermath (with a few notable exceptions), but, like I said, I enjoyed the series. This hardcover features some bonus pages not included in the original series, as well as -ahem- finished art in Infinite Crisis #7. There are jokes about it in the bonus interview, but as someone who shelled out money for the monthly issue, I was a bit offended by the fact that they didn't bother to ink or color half of one of the big splashes. Overall, I still enjoyed this series, but, to be honest, it made much less sense without the miniseries and specials that came out before and during it. It's a good edition, with a great lengthy interview at the end of it, but the book itself serves more as a nostalgia-inducing souvenir of a big event than it does as a record. It was just too far-flung to collect, and while I loved it as it was going on, this book reminds me of that love more than it does inspire it in me again. Still, worth the (overpriced) buy at $25, as its an essential book in recent comics history.
NEWS BRIEFS
--DC just announced (as in, like ten minutes ago) that they'll be doing FIVE new Year One series next year. Most of the writer artist teams are newcomers, but here are the characters: Green Arrow, Teen Titans, Metamorpho, Black Lightning, and Huntress. More info as its available.I'm gonna go get to writing some research papers (grad school, don'cha know), and then to unpacking some more boxes (moving in with the fiancée, don'cha know), but I'll see you next week. Send whatever whatevers to skio84@charter.net.
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