Continued from yesterday, my thoughts on every new comic I bought in February, which I got all at once at the end of the month after neglecting to visit my local shop before then.
Batman Black and White #6: First of all, I did not know this was a mini-series. It makes perfect sense, of course, that they wouldn't put this out indefinitely, but it's still a bummer to learn only now that this is the last issue. There were a few truly godawful stories here and there, but mostly this was an excellent book, and one of my last connections to DC outside of their Vertigo stuff. Ah, well, at least it went out with a strong issue. Cliff Chiang's opening story was particularly good, about Dick Grayson trying to earn the respect of Batman and the Gotham police as Robin. Chiang writes Dick as confident and smart but still young, new to the game and not 100% sure of himself, until the end when it really matters. Chiang's artwork also may have been my favorite in the issue, though Dave Johnson's was a close second, as was his script. Chiang's work was a little inkier/heavier, which I ultimately preferred to Johnson's grayer style, but they were both excellent, especially in their interpretations of Batman. Slim but strong, realistically fit and scary without seeming larger than life. All the artists in this issue had a good-looking Batman, actually. The Olly Moss/Becky Cloonan story that came second was excellent, because I'm always a fan of stories that examine how horrible and fake Bruce Wayne is as Batman's public persona. Also, Becky Cloonan rules always. And the second-to-last story by Adam Hughes impressed me by first bothering me with its Batman-comes-to-the-rescue-of-a-helpless-Catwoman plot but then turning things around by revealing that Catwoman was the one running the show all along. Her reasons for manipulating Batman didn't wow me, but at least she was played as smart and strong rather than a damsel in distress. Dave Taylor's middle story was my least favorite, though his artwork was great, able to capture the chaos of a mad scientist's lab in a very confined space without cluttering things up too much. But I cringed at his interpretation of Alfred as an outspoken, sarcastic skeptic, totally unsupportive of Batman at every turn. Also, having the villain explain his plan in a long self-congratulatory speech was uninspired and unnecessary, since Batman had pretty much figured things out already anyway. I'm grateful that the weakest narrative came right in the middle, though, because it made this issue open and close with things I liked, as good a way to finish Batman Black and White as I could ask for.
Harbinger #21: This issue is exemplary of what I love most about Harbinger—Joshua Dysart's spot on characterization of teenagers. Here, the Renegades have been hiding underground, literally, for too long, and the close quarters are starting to take their toll. Charlene and Torque are drinking a lot, Monica Jim keeps sneaking out when she thinks no one is looking, and tons of pressure have just been piled on thanks to hacktivist @X leaking all of Project Rising Spirit's information last issue. Now @X is hiding with the Renegades, meaning Harada is searching for them harder than ever, so they decide it's time to act. After all this time planning their next move, Peter and Kris figure if they want to carry out their plans, it's now or never, so things are coming to a head. Meanwhile, Faith and Torque lose their virginities to one another, in a very sweet, touching, funny, awkward, utterly teenaged scene. I've been rooting for Faith and Peter to become a couple all this time, but now that she and Torque have connected, I must say, they make much more sense to me. She's the most put-together member of the team, the most emotionally mature, but also the least self-confident. He's basically the opposite, emotionally still a little boy but with all the bluster and swagger that comes with it. If Faith could calm Torque down and Torque could amp Faith up, they'd be even better versions of themselves, so I'm eager to see how their relationship develops from here. Along the same lines, Monica Jim is revealing herself to be something of a malcontent, so I'm curious about her future role in the series as well. She may end up a villain or, at the very least, a major liability, and that's exciting and a little frightening to consider. Harbinger is really in its groove these days. Dysart has assembled this wonderfully dysfunctional team of young rebels, and as their struggles get crazier and more dangerous, the book becomes more and more arresting. And @X is a perfect addition to the cast, another teen with an ax to grind (get it?) but also an outsider and non-psiot, yet with enough hacker skills to make him an interesting and useful expansion to their collective skill set. With Clayton Henry's smooth, clear, expressive artwork also on board, Harbinger #21 was one of the most rock solid issues of one of the most reliably strong series coming out today. An origin for @X, a new romance, and major steps forward in the series' larger plot. That's a lot to get done, but it doesn't feel wedged in. It moves calmly but with determined purpose, a well-oiled machine firing on all cylinders.
Catalyst Comix #8: In its second-to-last issue, Catalyst Comix naturally brings all three of its stories to a head. The Agents of Change finally learn the truth about how Bert has been manipulating and lying to them, and they get appropriately pissed off about it. Bert tries to shut them up by separating them in the simulated environment in which their psyches are currently housed, but the pushback is stronger than anticipated, and it looks like next time they may be busting out and rejoining the real world as a unified group of furious super-people. Frank Wells discovers that it was Grace, not himself, who truly saved the world in December 2012, and coming to grips with his own unimportance in that event is a difficult but necessary step in his path to enlightenment. Now fully in touch with himself, Frank is ready for the final phase of his process of becoming the best superhero he can be. Finally, in her own story, Grace reaches the Reaver Swarm, her true enemy, the real threat to life on Earth. And she finds herself unprepared for its size and power. It destroys her ship and captures her, starting to consume her, so she sends out some kind of psychic distress call to the folks back home. Her survival seems unlikely, but maybe the citizens of her city will save her or, at the very least, succeed where she failed. Hers has always been my favorite narrative, and here in the penultimate chapter, it ends with the most compelling cliffhanger. Joe Casey has done a great job building to these climactic points in all three tales, and hopefully he'll nail the final chapters as well. All of his artistic collaborators continue to produce incredible work, giving the book a single voice while also keeping the different storylines distinct from one another. Catalyst Comix has been a weird, fantastic look at what superheroes can be, and it'll be missed.
Unity #4: The finale to Unity's first arc, and possibly its least interesting issue to date, primarily because all of its major developments were easy to see coming. Aric wasn't going to be separate from his armor for long, because X-O Manowar is still a series. And Harada had to be officially kicked off the team before they could do anything else together, since we'd already seen the rest of them agree he was an enemy. So that's what happens: Ninjak, Gilad, and Livewire steal back Aric's armor, stomp Harada with it, and return it to its original owner while freeing him and his followers from a secret prison. It's inevitable, and though Matt Kindt writes it logically and efficiently, there aren't any real surprises in there. All the characters are used well, the story does what it should, and the ending is tidy but still leaves the road open for the book's future. Also, Doug Braithwaite is still on art duties, and still crushing it. The one new character in this issue, Anchor, was one of my favorites in the whole series so far. He was very simple, like a big ugly thumb with a body, but there's a tenderness to him the undercuts his size and sturdiness nicely. In only a few pages on a single issue, Anchor is given a sad little background, a likable if pathetic personality, and an important but ultimately failed role to play in a key fight. That fight is where Braithwaite really brings in the noise, most of all when Ninjak and Harada face each other. Some intense, expertly-executed violence in those panels. Even the most predictable issue of this series is good comics, but it's too bad Braithwaite is leaving (at least for now) on a somewhat dull note. CAFU's a fine enough artist, but with a less rich style than Braithwaite's, and also, I find, less interesting.
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #6: This was a very consumable issue, and I'm starting to think that's the main appeal of this book. It's such simple, almost retro superheroics. All the heroes are devoted, hard-working, good. They're not all nice, but they are honest and earnest, they try to do the right thing, they look out for one another, they believe in the cause. The villains, on the other hand, are all mad scientists and cultists and others hellbent on mad levels of power. There have been giant ancient monsters, dinosaur robots, and, this issue, a twelve-year-old evil genius. Even the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents' abilities—speed, strength, invisibility—tend to lean toward the classic, the easy-to-understand. And all of that is refreshing. This is a book that exists outside any continuity or shared universe, where secret agents and superheroes are one-and-the-same, and everything is straightforward and black-and-white. EXCEPT...there's some kind of crazy-old, crazy-secret thing with glyphs on it that holds the secret to deep, mystic power and/or knowledge and/or who the hell knows what else. This one cosmic puzzle that sits at the heart of the series helps it stand out, and is the throughline that keeps the narrative wheels turning. But Phil Hester slow-plays that mystery and uses most of his time to tell awesome, to-the-point superhero adventure tales. That's what this issue is, and what they've all been, and, with any luck, what they'll continue to be in perpetuity. The artist is Roger Robinson, not a name I think I've seen before, but more than earning his keep here. The huge, multi-eyed flying octopus robot emerging from the water was incredible, as was all of the action surrounding its appearance. I also loved the crazy mind-control helmet that got made on the fly out of spare parts assembled by a magnetized robot spider. Rogers managed to show what was happening clearly and quickly, giving the awesome final image of the helmet tuning on enough space for it to come with a great light show. That panel is also a highlight of colorist Rom Fajardo's work on the issue. It's good all over, from both Rogers and Fajardo, smoother in the foregrounds and on the characters, but with subtler details and textures in the backgrounds to give things a bit of depth. This is a blast of a book, always, and this issue is no exception.
Thor: God of Thunder #19.NOW: What is .NOW? There does not seem to be a separate issue #19 of this series coming out, which is what they used to to with .1 issues, right? It'd go 19, 19.1, 20, or at least that's my memory of it. Not sure what the last .1 issue I read was. Probably an X-Factor. Anyway, I guess all the .NOW is supposed to indicate is that this is the start of something fresh for this series, a new arc for the All-New Marvel NOW currently being rolled out across the line. If so...dumb. There's already the biggest, most obnoxious white "#1" imaginable in the right corner of the cover to say exactly the same thing, so the tiny "NOW" sitting underneath the "19." at the bottom is hardly going to draw anyone in. Ok, that's all I had to say about that idiotic thing. As for this actual comic, it was pretty lame as far as Thor stories go. The real star was an environmentally-focused S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Rosalind Solomon, who is funny and brash and cool, but the main reason she's here is because Thor has a crush on her and is trying to impress her by kinda-sorta helping to save the environment. The result is that there's a lot of Solomon arguing with her boss and then with one of the bigwigs at the evil Roxxon Corporation, while Thor operates more in the background, showing up to save Solomon and ask her out awkwardly. It makes both characters look weaker—Solomon because Thor keeps fighting her battles for her, and Thor because he's diverting all of his energy to getting the attention of a woman, which is not a look Jason Aaron manages to make look good on Thor. There's not enough humor, charm, or self-confidence in Thor's approach. I get that he's trying to be respectful, but it comes across as just acting out-of-character, oddly timid. As evidence of how much less exciting this story is than usual, and how stifled Thor is as a hero within it, I submit the incredibly gorgeous splash page of Thor smashing a frost giant in the face. This moment, while visually beautiful, is forced into the middle of the comic as a full-page punchline to a very weak joke Thor makes in the preceding panel about how he got his hands on a large amount of ice. It is also the only classically Thor-like moment in the comic, and one of only two times Esad Ribic truly gets to shine as an artist, the other being the final splash of Galactus showing up on a desolate, far-future Earth. The rest of the issue is too confined, trapped in environmental debate, Roxxon posturing, and Old Man Thor moping in the future. There are no thrills, no big action, nothing worthy of the might of this character, and nothing fit to display how amazingly majestic Ribic's work can be. This series has been all about doing Thor as an epic warrior, so seeing him brought back down to earth feels like deflation. It's not that human, grounded Thor stories can't work, but they are not what Aaron does well in this title, and I was less than enthused by this first chapter. Hopefully things will become a little more intense now that Galactus is involved, and the Roxxon guy is, I think, secretly a minotaur, based on his nickname and the cover image. So things may be amping up soon as far as power levels, but this issue was underwhelming in that regard.
Kings Watch #4: First things first: Marc Laming is dominating with this book. His invading hordes of monsters and beastmen are especially delicious, but even just the establishing shot of Skull Cave or Lothar firing Zarkov's giant sonic weapon are enough to give me chills. There's a lot of fantastical and/or sci-fi stuff going down, and Laming makes it all look real and, when appropriate, terrifying. And there's a lot of personality in every character, even the expendable grunts in Ming's forces. Laming makes them all detailed, unique, fully-realized animal-people. Shout out to colorist Jordan Boyd, too, who makes all the explosions and magic look lifelike in their lighting, matching Laming's realism. As far as hard-hitting action-adventure comics go, I can't imagine there's much coming out right now that looks any better than this. And because this issue had the most chaotic, widespread combat, it was perhaps the best-looking yet. Jeff Parker's script is excellent, too, smartly paced to keep things lively. The shit officially hits the fan, and the heroes step up immediately to deal with it. Kings Watch is not dissimilar to T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, in that much of its appeal is how simple things are from a morality standpoint for all the main characters. Ming calls himself merciless, he calmly and plainly explains to the people of Earth that he's there to invade them and turn their way of life upside down. He's so comfortable as a villain, and so unconcerned with being perceived as such, that he lays his cards out on the table right away. The heroes, meanwhile, are free from any of the bickering or strategic debate of many teams, trusting one another already and respecting all the voices of the group equally. It makes them extremely efficient, able to believably assess the threat Ming represents and cook up a response in only 24 hours. They haven't won the war, of course, and I'd argue they lost the first round last issue, but round two goes to the good guys for sure.
Rachel Rising #23: I've praised this series a lot, and so have many others, and it's all well-deserved. This issue didn't stand out to me as especially great, but a lot of important things happened, as they pretty much always do. Rachel and Jet met up with Zoe again and, finally, figured out that she's not the little girl she appears to be. All of the masks are falling off, and this was an important one to finally do away with. Rachel also got ahold of her box of witch stuff at last, and the process to return Aunt Johnny's soul to her body came a few steps closer to being complete. All gripping, significant stuff, but also all relatively mundane. The creepiest part of the issue is when Dr. Siemen considers having sex with Johnny's soulless body, which lasts for a few tiny panels before the power goes out and he has to deal with that instead. Other than that, the events of this issue run fairly smoothly, until the final, haunting panel that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I'm not going to waste time trying to describe it because I could never do it justice, but it's probably the most beautiful, unsettling, horrific thing Terry Moore has done in this series up to now. I don't even really know what it means yet, but it has already left its mark. One unforgettable panel is more than most comics have to offer, so this is still a great comic, but it wasn't as bonkers as Rachel Rising can be. Then again, there's been a pattern of calms before storms, so chances are a major storm is a-comin'. My impression of Moore's plan is that the storyline that's been running through this series from the start is about to wrap up, and certainly it feels that way in-story, with Rachel, Jet, and Zoe all headed for Lilith together for what they hope will be the final confrontation. So this was a quick pause before all the scores get settled, which is a structurally sound way to go, and fits with the general pace of this title.
Daredevil #36: The "last" issue of this series before the same creators relaunch it next month as a new volume with a new, higher price (ugh). Mark Waid, true to form, comes up with a very clever way for Matt Murdock to defeat the Sons of the Serpent, by revealing that he's Daredevil and confessing to all the lies he told and laws he broke over the years to keep that a secret. It gives the Sons no moves, nothing they can use to threaten him, so they make a desperate final attack, and Daredevil beats them gleefully. He gets disbarred, and so does Foggy, but that was always part of the plan, a necessary evil to defeat a far greater evil. In the end, at Kirsten's suggestion (because she, too, is now out of a job) the plan is to relocate to San Francisco, since the only chance they have of practicing law again is in a state where they've done so before. A new setting is a good enough reason to reboot a book's numbering, I guess, but really this is just the end of an arc. Still, Waid does a pretty good job of making it feel like a bigger, more final ending than this book has had in the past. Murdock burning his career to the ground, exposing his true identity, and deciding to move across the country are a lot of big, life-changing things to do in one issue, so there is a special flavor to this, a feeling of added importance. It may be manufactured, but it's effective. I'm glad Waid is sticking around, and extra glad Chris Samnee will still be the artist, because he does the best Daredevil ever at this point. Fun-loving, fit and trim enough for me to buy all of his superhuman acrobatics, and solid as a rock. That's a Daredevil I'll never tire of, and everything and everyone else looks just as good when Samnee's drawing them. The Waid-Samnee-Daredevil mix seems to be evergreen, so do whatever the hell you want with the numbering, I guess, Marvel. As long as the quality keeps up, I'll be reading. I'm more than invested now.
Drumhellar #4: I had actually already read a digital version of this in preparation for my recent PopMatters piece on this title. But I always like a hard copy, and I prefer to read things in that format, so I went ahead and gave this another read. It was still great. This series isn't for everyone, but I love the hell out of Riley Rossmo, and his previous series with Alex Link, Rebel Blood, is an all-time favorite of mine. Drumhellar's not quite as amazing, but it's completely its own thing, bold and bananas in ways I respect a lot. It's also very funny and it always looks so goddamn good, because Rossmo is really cutting loose on this title, playing around with every style he's ever used before and mixing them freely and perfectly. This issue has an ideal example of what I mean in the side-by-side full-page splash panels of Drum's vision of using Doc's dead body to house DJ's spirit so DJ will stop aging backwards. Rossmo brings totally different coloring, linework, and inking styles to the two pages, but then uses repeated imagery in them to show how they connect and to make their message clear. It's trippy and a little hard to decipher, but everything you need is there, which is, actually, a good description of this whole series. It moves weirdly, jumps in time and location happening without warning or transition. Rossmo and writer Alex Link trust their audience to keep up, or, as I usually do, go back and figure everything out once we know more. The opening page of this issue, for instance, actually takes place in the middle of it, chronologically speaking, but there's no way to know that until later on. So at first, you just have to soak up the washed-in-blue panels of a rat sneaking in the dark and chewing on wires. Who he is, where he is, and what he's up to will be explained eventually, as all things always are in Drumhellar if you pay attention and let yourself get swept up in the ride. A lot got resolved this time, but then at the end Drum became a werewolf, so...we'll see where this all ends up. Supposedly the first arc ends next issue, but what does that even mean in a series that moves like this? The plot about DJ only came up in issue #2 or maybe even #3, and it's already been taken care of, so I'm not sure what an "arc" really is for Drumhellar. I also don't really care, because Rossmo is my hero and this is a fabulous and impossible-to-predict comicbook I love to read.
Phew...all caught up. G'night!
Showing posts with label Daredevil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daredevil. Show all posts
Monday, March 3, 2014
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Pull List Review: Daredevil #22
I picked Daredevil as one of the titles to review from my list this week mostly because it's been so long since I have. But the reason for that is that there's not a lot of new stuff to say about this title these days, which I mean in the best possible sense. It's one of the most reliably strong superhero comicbooks (or really comicbooks of any genre) coming out right now, and issue #22 is by no means an exception.
Chris Samnee is just aces on this book. I've been a fan of his Daredevil from the start, and more and more his Matt Murdock grows on me, too. As a hero, he is fittingly muscular while remaining as trim as he'd need to be for the acrobatics he's always pulling off. And as an everyday lawyer (or former lawyer, in the case of this particular issue) there is the right mix of confidence, intelligence, and insecurity. Matt Murdock is a skilled and self-assured guy, but that attitude is constantly challenged by both of the double lives he leads, and Samnee has really gotten a handle on that blend. He also does some very solid work with Foggy, who can go from goofy to severe in a single panel without it ever feeling jarring or unnatural. And hey, even Stilt-Man was looking pretty good this month, cocky and smug because of his upgrades, which came through crystal clear in the artwork.
I must say, though, that Samnee's strongest character here may well have been Spider-Man. Now that Doc Ock is in charge of Peter Parker's brain, Spidey has more of an edge than before, which Samnee displays by having his fingers be sort of pointed at the end. They almost look like claws, and though it is a tiny detail, it goes and incredible distance as far as helping to underline the harder, meaner aspects of this Doc-Ock-Spider-Man hybrid. Who, by the way, I was introduced to in this issue for the first time.
I knew about the recent developments in Spider-Man's life from all the online hooplah, but it is Mark Waid who got to be the writer to show me this "superior" version of the character. And in his hands, I definitely see the potential of the idea. Not enough to want to actually read it, but enough to...see that it has potential, I guess, and leave it at that. It helps that it is through Daredevil's lens that I meet this new Spidey, because I don't think I'd be able to spend much time in his head. For the length of a single fight, though, I enjoyed the shift in his voice and strategy, and it was fun to watch DD try and adapt to them as well.
I was also glad to see that, though it came from different sources than usual, Waid still made sure to include plenty of humor in this Daredevil-Spider-Man team-up issue. Those two characters have such a hilarious interplay, historically speaking, so it seems important to include some comedy when they get together, even if their dialogue won't be where it comes from. "Thank God for Stilt-Man" was no doubt the single funniest moment, but there were other laugh lines throughout that fight, and in the final scene there was Foggy's bacon and Limburger cheesecake. All genuinely funny stuff, and included in a way that called the reader's attention without being distracting.
This was a bit of a lighter issue, inasmuch as the main story was a throwaway team-up between Daredevil and the new Spider-Man. But Waid brought it home in the end, tying Spider-Man's motives for chasing down Daredevil in the first place to one of the longer-running threads of the series. And the cliffhanger last page is a freaking bombshell that I won't get into here because I'd rather wait to get the details and development before discussing it. Let's just say that some emotionally-fraught material is on the horizon for Daredevil, and because of how regularly amazing it's been for so long, I'm quite looking forward to that.
8.0/10
Chris Samnee is just aces on this book. I've been a fan of his Daredevil from the start, and more and more his Matt Murdock grows on me, too. As a hero, he is fittingly muscular while remaining as trim as he'd need to be for the acrobatics he's always pulling off. And as an everyday lawyer (or former lawyer, in the case of this particular issue) there is the right mix of confidence, intelligence, and insecurity. Matt Murdock is a skilled and self-assured guy, but that attitude is constantly challenged by both of the double lives he leads, and Samnee has really gotten a handle on that blend. He also does some very solid work with Foggy, who can go from goofy to severe in a single panel without it ever feeling jarring or unnatural. And hey, even Stilt-Man was looking pretty good this month, cocky and smug because of his upgrades, which came through crystal clear in the artwork.
I must say, though, that Samnee's strongest character here may well have been Spider-Man. Now that Doc Ock is in charge of Peter Parker's brain, Spidey has more of an edge than before, which Samnee displays by having his fingers be sort of pointed at the end. They almost look like claws, and though it is a tiny detail, it goes and incredible distance as far as helping to underline the harder, meaner aspects of this Doc-Ock-Spider-Man hybrid. Who, by the way, I was introduced to in this issue for the first time.
I knew about the recent developments in Spider-Man's life from all the online hooplah, but it is Mark Waid who got to be the writer to show me this "superior" version of the character. And in his hands, I definitely see the potential of the idea. Not enough to want to actually read it, but enough to...see that it has potential, I guess, and leave it at that. It helps that it is through Daredevil's lens that I meet this new Spidey, because I don't think I'd be able to spend much time in his head. For the length of a single fight, though, I enjoyed the shift in his voice and strategy, and it was fun to watch DD try and adapt to them as well.
I was also glad to see that, though it came from different sources than usual, Waid still made sure to include plenty of humor in this Daredevil-Spider-Man team-up issue. Those two characters have such a hilarious interplay, historically speaking, so it seems important to include some comedy when they get together, even if their dialogue won't be where it comes from. "Thank God for Stilt-Man" was no doubt the single funniest moment, but there were other laugh lines throughout that fight, and in the final scene there was Foggy's bacon and Limburger cheesecake. All genuinely funny stuff, and included in a way that called the reader's attention without being distracting.
This was a bit of a lighter issue, inasmuch as the main story was a throwaway team-up between Daredevil and the new Spider-Man. But Waid brought it home in the end, tying Spider-Man's motives for chasing down Daredevil in the first place to one of the longer-running threads of the series. And the cliffhanger last page is a freaking bombshell that I won't get into here because I'd rather wait to get the details and development before discussing it. Let's just say that some emotionally-fraught material is on the horizon for Daredevil, and because of how regularly amazing it's been for so long, I'm quite looking forward to that.
8.0/10
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Pull List Review: Daredevil #15
There is so much impressive, lovable stuff in this issue. I guess the logical starting point, and possibly my personal favorite aspect, was the subtle expansion of Daredevil's powers. It's an elegant solution to the problem introduced last issue of DD having his senses stolen from him, and one that is unexpected while still feeling totally appropriate and logical, pulling from the character's origin and reexamining it to end up with a new understanding of what happened. And writer Mark Waid earns it, making it a struggle for Matt Murdock to, first of all, find the patience within himself to let his body heal and, even when his senses being to return, they are so weak and muffled that his escape attempt only barely succeeds. It's not a deus ex machina situation, where after time Murdock is able to undo the damage done to his brain for no understandable reason. Instead, it is a band-aid on the gaping wound of Daredevil losing his superhuman abilities, and is therefore more satisfying.
Speaking of satisfying things which Mark Waid totally earned, the arrival of Iron Man to save the day at the end was perfectly executed. I'm not typically a fan of this approach, but Daredevil pulls off so much amazing crap on his own here, and under such intense circumstances, that he absolutely deserves the win, even if it means being rescued by another hero. And I appreciate that Waid utilizes the greater Marvel Universe when appropriate in this series, without relying on it heavily enough to ever to pull his title character out of the spotlight.
Although it may be that the real reason I was so pleased with Iron Man's entrance was Chris Samnee's art. You can practically hear the dramatic music and the sound of the bullets futilely ricocheting off Stark's armor. It's not even a full-page splash, but it feels like one, demanding the reader's attention with it's drama and action and heart. There's a lot of emotion coming from underneath Iron Man's metallic exterior, not just in his first panel but for the whole issue. His anger toward Beltane, his genuine concern for Daredevil, even his cockiness as he turns scares off a pair of Latverian soldiers with a simple, "Really?" Samnee somehow lets the human beneath the suit shine through powerfully, and it adds a lot to the character's unexpected guest appearance.
Samnee is an artistic rock star from the very start of the issue, too, along with colorist Javier Rodriguez. The fuzzy vision which Murdock slowly gains is so expertly rendered, and acts as a gorgeous and telling contrast to the radar vision we've seen before. And that panel of Daredevil hanging from a window ledge in the rain was fucking marvelous. Even with some of his skills coming back to him, he is one man in a terrifying foreign land with little hope of survival, all of which is expressed fully in that single image.
This book has been highly-praised since its launch, and Daredevil #15 is a powerful reminder of why that's so. A new twist on a the abilities of a familiar character, lots of fun and beautiful action, a bombastic and satisfying surprise ending...it's the recipe for an exemplary superhero comicbook, and that's precisely what we get.
8.5/10
Speaking of satisfying things which Mark Waid totally earned, the arrival of Iron Man to save the day at the end was perfectly executed. I'm not typically a fan of this approach, but Daredevil pulls off so much amazing crap on his own here, and under such intense circumstances, that he absolutely deserves the win, even if it means being rescued by another hero. And I appreciate that Waid utilizes the greater Marvel Universe when appropriate in this series, without relying on it heavily enough to ever to pull his title character out of the spotlight.
Although it may be that the real reason I was so pleased with Iron Man's entrance was Chris Samnee's art. You can practically hear the dramatic music and the sound of the bullets futilely ricocheting off Stark's armor. It's not even a full-page splash, but it feels like one, demanding the reader's attention with it's drama and action and heart. There's a lot of emotion coming from underneath Iron Man's metallic exterior, not just in his first panel but for the whole issue. His anger toward Beltane, his genuine concern for Daredevil, even his cockiness as he turns scares off a pair of Latverian soldiers with a simple, "Really?" Samnee somehow lets the human beneath the suit shine through powerfully, and it adds a lot to the character's unexpected guest appearance.
Samnee is an artistic rock star from the very start of the issue, too, along with colorist Javier Rodriguez. The fuzzy vision which Murdock slowly gains is so expertly rendered, and acts as a gorgeous and telling contrast to the radar vision we've seen before. And that panel of Daredevil hanging from a window ledge in the rain was fucking marvelous. Even with some of his skills coming back to him, he is one man in a terrifying foreign land with little hope of survival, all of which is expressed fully in that single image.
This book has been highly-praised since its launch, and Daredevil #15 is a powerful reminder of why that's so. A new twist on a the abilities of a familiar character, lots of fun and beautiful action, a bombastic and satisfying surprise ending...it's the recipe for an exemplary superhero comicbook, and that's precisely what we get.
8.5/10
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Pull List Review: Daredevil #14
One of the things I've most enjoyed about Mark Waid's Daredevil run is that the stories take full advantage of the superhero genre and universe in which they take place. So in Daredevil #14, not only do we get a trip to Latveria, but also a wicked plot involving gas that contains microscopic surgical robots. It's supervillain science fiction at its best, and even though the actual scene where the plan is explained felt forced, everything else about Waid's story was a success.
Daredevil is on his A game, pulling off death-defying acrobatics, winning fights against incredible odds, and the whole time strategizing and formulating a plan to escape. Daredevil's a talented tactician, using the constant flow of new information from his heightened senses as a means of better assessing and dealing with his situation. But then those horrible little robots start to knock out his senses one by one, and the challenge of his flight is increased exponentially. As Waid introduces this threat to DD and we watch our hero figure out what's going on, his fear and our own steadily rise, so when he reaches the border and makes his final, desperate grab at freedom, we're right there with him on the edge of our seats. It's exactly where we should be when a character known as the "Man Without Fear" becomes terrified , and it makes the punch of the ending all the more powerful.
Any faltering in Waid's script is saved by Chris Samnee's skilled pencils. Samnee makes DD a bit scrawnier, perhaps, than other artists, but it doesn't take away from his obvious physical prowess. This is just a take on the character that emphasizes the acrobatic aspects of his physicality, and in an issue with an extra helping of jumping, diving, and running, it only enhances the visuals. And while it's the worst scene in terms of script, the images of the tiny robots in the lab rat's brain are some of the best in the issue. A nice bit of balance there, if nothing else.
After some missteps during and following "The Omega Drive" crossover, Daredevil is back to form. Good news for us as readers, but bad news for the titular hero, trapped now in a hostile foreign country with no power. It makes my brain hurt to imagine the experience of being alive but having no senses, but I bet Mark Waid will write the hell out of it.
7.5/10
Daredevil is on his A game, pulling off death-defying acrobatics, winning fights against incredible odds, and the whole time strategizing and formulating a plan to escape. Daredevil's a talented tactician, using the constant flow of new information from his heightened senses as a means of better assessing and dealing with his situation. But then those horrible little robots start to knock out his senses one by one, and the challenge of his flight is increased exponentially. As Waid introduces this threat to DD and we watch our hero figure out what's going on, his fear and our own steadily rise, so when he reaches the border and makes his final, desperate grab at freedom, we're right there with him on the edge of our seats. It's exactly where we should be when a character known as the "Man Without Fear" becomes terrified , and it makes the punch of the ending all the more powerful.
Any faltering in Waid's script is saved by Chris Samnee's skilled pencils. Samnee makes DD a bit scrawnier, perhaps, than other artists, but it doesn't take away from his obvious physical prowess. This is just a take on the character that emphasizes the acrobatic aspects of his physicality, and in an issue with an extra helping of jumping, diving, and running, it only enhances the visuals. And while it's the worst scene in terms of script, the images of the tiny robots in the lab rat's brain are some of the best in the issue. A nice bit of balance there, if nothing else.
After some missteps during and following "The Omega Drive" crossover, Daredevil is back to form. Good news for us as readers, but bad news for the titular hero, trapped now in a hostile foreign country with no power. It makes my brain hurt to imagine the experience of being alive but having no senses, but I bet Mark Waid will write the hell out of it.
7.5/10
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Boy Do I Feel Stupid: The Pointlessness of "The Culling" & "The Omega Effect"
It's not that I expect great things from comicbook crossovers. I understand that their main purpose is to boost sales across titles, and secondary to that is the telling of a good story. It may not be true for everyone involved, but it tends to be the ultimate reality. However, for both DC's "The Culling" and Marvel's "The Omega Effect" I did let my expectations rise just a little because I was already reading the titles they spun out of (Teen Titans and Daredevil, respectively). And those titles were GOOD. Teen Titans wasn't exactly flooring me, but it was one of the most genuinely fun series I followed, always full of wit and with a cast that grew on me more each month. Daredevil, meanwhile, was even better, some of the strongest work done with the hero or his alter-ego in quite a while. And more often than not, it was better than any of the other superhero titles coming out from either publisher. Not only that, but both books had been building up to their respective crossover stories for a long time. Hell, Teen Titans since it's very first issue. So I was invested, inasmuch as I always am in the stories of series I like, and I think I was reasonable in my expectation of some amount of narrative closure from the crossovers. Because I was told, in-story and through advertising, interviews, etc. that they were what everything was moving toward. Problem is, "The Omega Effect" and "The Culling" have come and gone, Marvel and DC have each made extra money off of me for one month, and I have yet to find any such closure.
Admittedly, "The Culling" is more successful than "The Omega Effect," at least in terms of its ultimate conclusion, but it's a worse, even less significant story along the way. Pages upon pages are filled with nothing more than teen meta-humans fighting each other without any clear victors or lasting consequences. All of which leads to even more drawn out fighting, this time between the big bad Harvest and the combined forces of the Teen Titans and Legion Lost teams. I don't mind a good old-fashioned superpowered slug-fest, even one that lasts for multiple issues, but only if it also serves to somehow move the story forward. In "The Culling," the fighting is the story, pretty much. The larger narrative arc is that the Titans and Legion want to free themselves and the other prisoners from Harvest and N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s clutches, but basically all that amounts to is the two teams fighting various enemies on multiple fronts for four issues until the very, very end when a real plan is put into place and an evacuation begins. But by the time that evacuation and the subsequent destruction of the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. facility occur, it's hard to muster up much enthusiasm as a reader, because we've already had to slog through so much meaningless punching and yelling from such a vast number of characters that the point of the whole mess has been lost. Or, if not entirely lost, at the very least dramatically dampened by the ridiculously awful pacing and storytelling.
The other obnoxious thing about the ending of "The Culling" is that, while it arguably ties up some of the smaller threads from of the overarching story of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and it's goals, it still doesn't even remotely attempt to explain what those goals might actually be. We learn a little bit more about Harvest than we knew going in, primarily that he is either from the future or has spent time there, but his endgame and the desires of his wicked organization remain as mysterious as ever. Which is what I mean when I talk about a lack of closure. For almost a year, Teen Titans has centered on the team's attempts to uncover and thwart N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s undoubtedly evil plans, but even when they are in the belly of the best, the best they can do is, apparently, to blow shit up without getting any concrete answers. It doesn't help that almost all of Harvest's lines are intentionally cryptic and vague, which some of the other characters actually call attention to. But the bigger problem, I think, lies in the fact that "The Culling" spanned three different titles plus an annual, and so it was afraid to tell too complete a tale. Rather than answer any of the looming questions from the preceding Teen Titans issues, it tried to tell a story which could be understood by fans of any of its series, even if that meant drastically diluting the narrative quality of each individual chapter. Which, as I've said, is usually the main goal of any crossover, so maybe I should have anticipated it, but I believe now as I did beforehand that it would have been possible to do both, to provide new and important information regarding N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s aims while simultaneously relating a unique and self-contained adventure involving casts of multiple titles. That the creators behind "The Culling" choose instead to do a story of so little substance that it could probably be removed from the canon entirely without majorly impacting any of the series involved is, I think, pathetic and a bit cowardly. But it's nothing compared to the utter pointlessness of "The Omega Effect."
"The Omega Effect" kind of suffers from the opposite, or maybe inverse, problem as "The Culling." Rather than being a fluffy, meaningless story with a weak bit of unsatisfying closure at the end, it's a mostly semi-interesting story that has a cop out, bullshit ending which doesn't even try for closure. And that makes it, overall, the worse of the two crossovers in my book, even if while I was reading it I enjoyed it slightly more.
Daredevil had already, in the pages of his own title, discovered and obtained the Omega Drive, a device with secret financial and other information on several of the "Megacrime" organizations in the Marvel U: A.I.M., Hydra, Black Spectre, etc. It was an interesting and dangerous situation, because DD knew he couldn't keep the drive out of his enemies' hands indefinitely, nor could he effectively use it against them on his own. So "The Omega Effect" was meant to be, or at any rate set itself up to be, the story of how DD would resolve the problem of possessing such a hotly-sought-after bit of technology. And for 2/3's of the story, that's exactly what it pretended it was. DD joined forces with Spider-Man and the Punisher, and after a bit of bickering, they all agreed on a course of action that would lay this Omega Drive issue to rest for good. Then in it's final act, the story inexplicably and needlessly changed course, and by the end of the crossover literally nothing had changed. Not in regards to the Omega Drive anyway. Yes, there was some tiny character development for Punisher's new partner, Sgt. Cole-Alves, but other than that, the status quo of everyone involved was exactly what it had been before the crossover began. DD still had the drive, Megacrime still wanted it, and a plan to fix all of that still needed to be devised. Apparently, the "Effect" in "The Omega Effect" was that it had none whatsoever.
I'm still reading Daredevil and Teen Titans both, because they earned enough points with me before these crossovers took place that I wasn't going to drop them after one bad story. Especially one with extra writers in numerous titles. But as they move forward---Daredevil has had two issues since "The Omega Effect" and Titans' first post-"Culling" issue won't be until later this month---I find myself much less excited or anxious to see what's next. Which shouldn't be the case, because they're titles with strong track records and, because so little was changed by either of their crossovers, they still theoretically contain all the same story potential they did before. But I was so thoroughly underwhelmed and, more than that, truly disappointed by the crossovers that the sour taste they left in my mouth remains. Instead of using the momentum of these mini-events to launch into the next great leg of their respective narratives, these series now have to rebuild that momentum from zero. I do have hope that they can succeed, that in a few months these pointless stories will be distant, forgotten pieces of a much greater whole. Hope, yes, but no longer faith. Where once I trusted Teen Titans and Daredevil to regularly deliver the goods, I now feel only apprehension that they may no longer do so, and that right there is the biggest thing either "The Culling" or "The Omega Effect" accomplished. No great changes made within their own worlds, but out here in our world each series has at least one fewer enthusiastic fan.
Admittedly, "The Culling" is more successful than "The Omega Effect," at least in terms of its ultimate conclusion, but it's a worse, even less significant story along the way. Pages upon pages are filled with nothing more than teen meta-humans fighting each other without any clear victors or lasting consequences. All of which leads to even more drawn out fighting, this time between the big bad Harvest and the combined forces of the Teen Titans and Legion Lost teams. I don't mind a good old-fashioned superpowered slug-fest, even one that lasts for multiple issues, but only if it also serves to somehow move the story forward. In "The Culling," the fighting is the story, pretty much. The larger narrative arc is that the Titans and Legion want to free themselves and the other prisoners from Harvest and N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s clutches, but basically all that amounts to is the two teams fighting various enemies on multiple fronts for four issues until the very, very end when a real plan is put into place and an evacuation begins. But by the time that evacuation and the subsequent destruction of the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. facility occur, it's hard to muster up much enthusiasm as a reader, because we've already had to slog through so much meaningless punching and yelling from such a vast number of characters that the point of the whole mess has been lost. Or, if not entirely lost, at the very least dramatically dampened by the ridiculously awful pacing and storytelling.
The other obnoxious thing about the ending of "The Culling" is that, while it arguably ties up some of the smaller threads from of the overarching story of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and it's goals, it still doesn't even remotely attempt to explain what those goals might actually be. We learn a little bit more about Harvest than we knew going in, primarily that he is either from the future or has spent time there, but his endgame and the desires of his wicked organization remain as mysterious as ever. Which is what I mean when I talk about a lack of closure. For almost a year, Teen Titans has centered on the team's attempts to uncover and thwart N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s undoubtedly evil plans, but even when they are in the belly of the best, the best they can do is, apparently, to blow shit up without getting any concrete answers. It doesn't help that almost all of Harvest's lines are intentionally cryptic and vague, which some of the other characters actually call attention to. But the bigger problem, I think, lies in the fact that "The Culling" spanned three different titles plus an annual, and so it was afraid to tell too complete a tale. Rather than answer any of the looming questions from the preceding Teen Titans issues, it tried to tell a story which could be understood by fans of any of its series, even if that meant drastically diluting the narrative quality of each individual chapter. Which, as I've said, is usually the main goal of any crossover, so maybe I should have anticipated it, but I believe now as I did beforehand that it would have been possible to do both, to provide new and important information regarding N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s aims while simultaneously relating a unique and self-contained adventure involving casts of multiple titles. That the creators behind "The Culling" choose instead to do a story of so little substance that it could probably be removed from the canon entirely without majorly impacting any of the series involved is, I think, pathetic and a bit cowardly. But it's nothing compared to the utter pointlessness of "The Omega Effect."
"The Omega Effect" kind of suffers from the opposite, or maybe inverse, problem as "The Culling." Rather than being a fluffy, meaningless story with a weak bit of unsatisfying closure at the end, it's a mostly semi-interesting story that has a cop out, bullshit ending which doesn't even try for closure. And that makes it, overall, the worse of the two crossovers in my book, even if while I was reading it I enjoyed it slightly more.
Daredevil had already, in the pages of his own title, discovered and obtained the Omega Drive, a device with secret financial and other information on several of the "Megacrime" organizations in the Marvel U: A.I.M., Hydra, Black Spectre, etc. It was an interesting and dangerous situation, because DD knew he couldn't keep the drive out of his enemies' hands indefinitely, nor could he effectively use it against them on his own. So "The Omega Effect" was meant to be, or at any rate set itself up to be, the story of how DD would resolve the problem of possessing such a hotly-sought-after bit of technology. And for 2/3's of the story, that's exactly what it pretended it was. DD joined forces with Spider-Man and the Punisher, and after a bit of bickering, they all agreed on a course of action that would lay this Omega Drive issue to rest for good. Then in it's final act, the story inexplicably and needlessly changed course, and by the end of the crossover literally nothing had changed. Not in regards to the Omega Drive anyway. Yes, there was some tiny character development for Punisher's new partner, Sgt. Cole-Alves, but other than that, the status quo of everyone involved was exactly what it had been before the crossover began. DD still had the drive, Megacrime still wanted it, and a plan to fix all of that still needed to be devised. Apparently, the "Effect" in "The Omega Effect" was that it had none whatsoever.
I'm still reading Daredevil and Teen Titans both, because they earned enough points with me before these crossovers took place that I wasn't going to drop them after one bad story. Especially one with extra writers in numerous titles. But as they move forward---Daredevil has had two issues since "The Omega Effect" and Titans' first post-"Culling" issue won't be until later this month---I find myself much less excited or anxious to see what's next. Which shouldn't be the case, because they're titles with strong track records and, because so little was changed by either of their crossovers, they still theoretically contain all the same story potential they did before. But I was so thoroughly underwhelmed and, more than that, truly disappointed by the crossovers that the sour taste they left in my mouth remains. Instead of using the momentum of these mini-events to launch into the next great leg of their respective narratives, these series now have to rebuild that momentum from zero. I do have hope that they can succeed, that in a few months these pointless stories will be distant, forgotten pieces of a much greater whole. Hope, yes, but no longer faith. Where once I trusted Teen Titans and Daredevil to regularly deliver the goods, I now feel only apprehension that they may no longer do so, and that right there is the biggest thing either "The Culling" or "The Omega Effect" accomplished. No great changes made within their own worlds, but out here in our world each series has at least one fewer enthusiastic fan.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Pull List Reviews 05/17/2012
Avengers vs. X-Men #4: Somehow, even though so little happened, I ended up liking this issue slightly more than the previous three. Partly it was John Romita, Jr. who, despite some noticeable mistakes (the guy cannot get a handle on Colussus' helmet, huh?) generally delivered stronger work than before. The Polar Bear was nice looking, and Romita seems to have finally pinned down Hope. Mostly, though, I just enjoyed the Hope-Logan interactions as written by Jonathan Hickman. To my knowledge, he's fairly new to these characters, but I warmed to them. For a while, anyway. In the end it all got ruined because Wolverine decided that being a dick on the Moon is somehow different/better than just doing it on Earth, and then there was some dumb yelling, and then we were done. The middle was also weak, showing us tiny and often poorly-drawn glimpses of fights taking place in other titles. Still unimpressive overall, but just the tiniest bit less so than the earlier issues.
4.0/10
Birds of Prey #9: I understand that, ostensibly, Birds of Prey lives within the bat-family of titles. And it takes place in Gotham, too, so I see the argument for including it in the "Night of the Owls" crossover. However, so much about this issue felt forced: their reasons for joining the fight, the solution they reach to kill the Talon, and especially the incredibly rushed ending. Travel Foreman is a welcome addition, and draws the hell out of the Talon, so if upcoming villains can similarly fit his style I think he's going to elevate the series overall. He did make Starling a bit more scantily-clad than necessary when seen through the Talon's twisted perspective, but he killed it with Katana and Canary both, so I think I can let that slide. But all Foreman got to draw here was one long, drawn out fight, and no matter how good that looks it gets boring. Hopefully once Duane Swierczynski doesn't have to shoehorn a crossover story in, he can return to the excellent superhero action-thriller he's been writing all along.
5.5/10
Daredevil #13: I just don't think Khoi Pham is right for this title. He did an OK job with Daredevil himself, but his Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock are both failures. And the panel where we see things as they look through Daredevil's pink sonar-vision things was a mess. Come to think of it, the New Avengers didn't look too great, either. Though not quite as bad as his first time on the title, Pham still feels like a poor fit here. Unfortunately, the story doesn't do all that much to help. I'm not a big fan of trick endings, but more than that, the whole thing felt more complicated than necessary, particularly when Daredevil ended up giving the drive to someone who asked for it ages ago. I know DD wanted to give Megacrime a new target, but I just wasn't thrilled with the solution Mark Waid cooked up. Still, Waid has earned a lot of credit with this title so far, and now that the Omega Drive stuff is winding down I'm anxious to see what's next. Plus, you know, DD in Latveria intrigues me...
4.5/10
Hardcore #1: A fairly standard first issue: introduce the high concept, the good guy, the bad guy, and the hook. I guess it's not totally obvious yet if Drake or Markus will be the ultimate hero of this tale, or if either of them even will be, but for the time being the roles seem set. The basic premise is a pretty cool bit of spy sci-fi, and Robert Kirkman introduces it clearly, but the exposition is largely delivered through kind of lame dialogue. While overall the character voices are strong, in those moments where they are explaining the concepts or their own actions they sound unnatural. Brian Stelfreeze handles the action scenes and the sci-fi elements all very well, and brings a nice energy to the overall feel of the book. His characters have some generic details, like facial shapes and glasses and such, but we know who's who and there's a lot of fun, entertaining stuff. I'm definitely curious to follow the title from here.
6.0/10
Hellblazer #291: I see why this is officially the epilogue to "Another Season in Hell" but truthfully it's more of a standalone story. A really good one. Constantine assembles a simple enough plan to take down his evil twin, puts it into action, and succeeds. Sometimes it's nice to just watch the hero win. Sometimes it's what they and the reader need. And it always feels good to have a major plot thread like this finally reach its resolution. Gemma is seemingly shuffled off the board for the time being, after being an integral part of the cast for a long stretch, and it feels not just right but good to see her go. First, of course, we get to see her torture the shit out of her own personal demon, and that feels just as good as her departure. Gael Bertrand really knocks out the artwork during Gemma's attack, and actually did a pretty fantastic job all over. At first his style was a bit jarring, but once I settled in it felt totally fitting. In a story about luring out a demon, Bertrand makes everyone looks a bit demonic, which sets a nice mood. Peter Milligan continues to tell wonderful tales of dark magic and violence and the Constantine clan, offering up a done-in-one story that still has major significance for the larger series.
8.5/10
Saga #3: Yes, this series is Brian K. Vaughan's idea, but make no mistake, Fiona Staples is the reason it is so excellent. Vaughan kicks ass in his own right. He keeps us plugged in to all the previous characters and advances their stories while still primarily using the issue to introduce Izabel, the ghost girl with no legs from the cover. And Izabel is a lot of fun. She's perhaps a bit of an archetypal chatty teen, but her history is interesting and I appreciate her go-getter attitude. I also continue to love The Will, and adding a bit of bitter romance to his character through The Stalk was a brilliant development. However, as I said, Fiona Staples' art is the reason to be reading this book. I finally realized it when I got to the page of The Will eating cereal with his cat. It so perfectly set the mood of the character for the conversation that followed. But really everything Staples draws, right down to her awesome colors, is breathtaking. Even the violent bits soothe the eyes. Vaughan and Staples are carefully constructing a universe together, and so far it looks and feels amazing.
8.0/10
Scalped #58: Very much a middle chapter, Scalped #58 is great, but the actual events of the issue didn't wow me. Important and heavy stuff happened, yes, but really Jason Aaron just turned the temperature up a little bit on all the chaos, bringing things that much closer to truly bubbling over. The cast seems to be getting set up for a final confrontation of some kind where everyone is trying to kill everyone else, but in this issue all we get are a few small moves in that direction. Important moves, yes, but small ones, like Dash learning about his child or Dino proposing an attack on Red Crow. Still, with only two issues left, Aaron and artist R.M. Guera both clearly know what they're doing from here on out. Guera brings his typical A game, which I mention as a courtesy since it's basically a given that any issue of Scalped which he draws will look phenomenal. Guess what? This one does, too. As big a void as it's going to leave, I'm more excited to read the conclusion to Scalped than anything else currently coming down the pipeline.
7.5/10
The Shadow #2: Garth Ennis' take on The Shadow is superb. Lamont Cranston is a no-nonsense, no-mercy kind of hero, who feels a genuine hate toward his foes. He acknowledges a certain darkness within himself, and embraces it, gladly giving up his own soul to fight the good fight. He's also a total badass, able to handle himself in a fight on an airplane where he is outnumbered and outgunned. And the details of his powers that we discover this issue make him all the more terrifying and fascinating. Ennis also writes a fully-realized and highly-likable Margo Lane. She's strong and capable but ultimately kind, an ideal counterbalance for Cranston whose just strong and hard from head to toe. They're a fun couple, and as we learn about them they also learn about each other. Aaron Campbell has a few rough moments on art, but mostly triumphs. The champagne glass in the eye is a great image, as are the fire extinguisher going off and The Shadow's initial entrance. Campbell is a talented noir artist, which is, of course, exactly what this story calls for. The Shadow is very quickly climbing up the list of my current favorite titles
8.0/10
Thunderbolts #174: A very Thunderbolts kind of ending, to be sure. Fixer being at the heart of the story helped with that, as did Jeff Parker's skillful use of his entire enormous cast. Parker and artist Declan Shalvey both have clearly hit a real groove with this series, and I am relieved the name change doesn't mean a change in creative team or, necessarily, cast. There will be additions, but based on this issue pretty much all the old-timers are sticking around, somewhen or another. That's definitely good news, but I appreciate that the end of the title Thunderbolts included the end of one its founding character's stories. An intelligent and satisfying way to make the transition.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Men #12: So, why is Cyclops comfortable with ALL OF THE OTHER CHILDREN being in Avengers custody, but not Hope? I get that he wants the Phoenix to get to her and is afraid the Avengers will prevent that or whatever, but it still felt like it undermined his position somewhat the way he so forcefully brushed that topic aside. That's just one small gripe, and truth be told I have many. This title seems to really suffer from being forced into a crossover, because so far all that its tie-ins have offered is a bunch of fighting with no victors and no point. Visually, Greg land continues to underwhelm, particularly with Hepzibah and Namor. Their faces kept bothering me, as did their less-than-witty flirting from Kieron Gillen. The saving grace of this issue was the Tabula Rasa guy (whose name escapes me or maybe doesn't exist). He had some really fun bits all throughout, and his final assumption that all this fighting would lead to mating was awesome. A perfect little fuck you to the whole event. Even if that's not the intention, that's how I choose to read it.
4.5/10
Wonder Woman #9: So, so frustrating. I know Brian Azzarello likes wordplay, but Strife's stupid little turns of phrase alone made me want to pull my hair out. As if that wasn't enough, Tony Atkins doesn't make her look nearly as cool or powerful as when Cliff Chiang is drawing. And she's on practically as many pages as the title character. Speaking of, Diana was especially passive here. I'm starting to find this take on the character less of a stoic badass and more of an impossible-to-read, weird sort of blank slate. Her conversation with Persephone was as dull as it was uncomfortable. Ditto her chat with Hades at the end. Meanwhile, we meet not only Persephone but Aphrodite, Hades' father, and those weird dog-women maidens, too. I assume they have names from classic mythology, but I don't know 'em. The point is, Azzarello is piling on new characters, racing through his mission of building a complex world for the gods of Wonder Woman, and sacrificing storytelling along the way. This series impressed me so much when it started that I have tried to stick with it in these recent, rocky months, but this was a definite low point.
3.5/10
4.0/10
Birds of Prey #9: I understand that, ostensibly, Birds of Prey lives within the bat-family of titles. And it takes place in Gotham, too, so I see the argument for including it in the "Night of the Owls" crossover. However, so much about this issue felt forced: their reasons for joining the fight, the solution they reach to kill the Talon, and especially the incredibly rushed ending. Travel Foreman is a welcome addition, and draws the hell out of the Talon, so if upcoming villains can similarly fit his style I think he's going to elevate the series overall. He did make Starling a bit more scantily-clad than necessary when seen through the Talon's twisted perspective, but he killed it with Katana and Canary both, so I think I can let that slide. But all Foreman got to draw here was one long, drawn out fight, and no matter how good that looks it gets boring. Hopefully once Duane Swierczynski doesn't have to shoehorn a crossover story in, he can return to the excellent superhero action-thriller he's been writing all along.
5.5/10
Daredevil #13: I just don't think Khoi Pham is right for this title. He did an OK job with Daredevil himself, but his Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock are both failures. And the panel where we see things as they look through Daredevil's pink sonar-vision things was a mess. Come to think of it, the New Avengers didn't look too great, either. Though not quite as bad as his first time on the title, Pham still feels like a poor fit here. Unfortunately, the story doesn't do all that much to help. I'm not a big fan of trick endings, but more than that, the whole thing felt more complicated than necessary, particularly when Daredevil ended up giving the drive to someone who asked for it ages ago. I know DD wanted to give Megacrime a new target, but I just wasn't thrilled with the solution Mark Waid cooked up. Still, Waid has earned a lot of credit with this title so far, and now that the Omega Drive stuff is winding down I'm anxious to see what's next. Plus, you know, DD in Latveria intrigues me...
4.5/10
Hardcore #1: A fairly standard first issue: introduce the high concept, the good guy, the bad guy, and the hook. I guess it's not totally obvious yet if Drake or Markus will be the ultimate hero of this tale, or if either of them even will be, but for the time being the roles seem set. The basic premise is a pretty cool bit of spy sci-fi, and Robert Kirkman introduces it clearly, but the exposition is largely delivered through kind of lame dialogue. While overall the character voices are strong, in those moments where they are explaining the concepts or their own actions they sound unnatural. Brian Stelfreeze handles the action scenes and the sci-fi elements all very well, and brings a nice energy to the overall feel of the book. His characters have some generic details, like facial shapes and glasses and such, but we know who's who and there's a lot of fun, entertaining stuff. I'm definitely curious to follow the title from here.
6.0/10
Hellblazer #291: I see why this is officially the epilogue to "Another Season in Hell" but truthfully it's more of a standalone story. A really good one. Constantine assembles a simple enough plan to take down his evil twin, puts it into action, and succeeds. Sometimes it's nice to just watch the hero win. Sometimes it's what they and the reader need. And it always feels good to have a major plot thread like this finally reach its resolution. Gemma is seemingly shuffled off the board for the time being, after being an integral part of the cast for a long stretch, and it feels not just right but good to see her go. First, of course, we get to see her torture the shit out of her own personal demon, and that feels just as good as her departure. Gael Bertrand really knocks out the artwork during Gemma's attack, and actually did a pretty fantastic job all over. At first his style was a bit jarring, but once I settled in it felt totally fitting. In a story about luring out a demon, Bertrand makes everyone looks a bit demonic, which sets a nice mood. Peter Milligan continues to tell wonderful tales of dark magic and violence and the Constantine clan, offering up a done-in-one story that still has major significance for the larger series.
8.5/10
Saga #3: Yes, this series is Brian K. Vaughan's idea, but make no mistake, Fiona Staples is the reason it is so excellent. Vaughan kicks ass in his own right. He keeps us plugged in to all the previous characters and advances their stories while still primarily using the issue to introduce Izabel, the ghost girl with no legs from the cover. And Izabel is a lot of fun. She's perhaps a bit of an archetypal chatty teen, but her history is interesting and I appreciate her go-getter attitude. I also continue to love The Will, and adding a bit of bitter romance to his character through The Stalk was a brilliant development. However, as I said, Fiona Staples' art is the reason to be reading this book. I finally realized it when I got to the page of The Will eating cereal with his cat. It so perfectly set the mood of the character for the conversation that followed. But really everything Staples draws, right down to her awesome colors, is breathtaking. Even the violent bits soothe the eyes. Vaughan and Staples are carefully constructing a universe together, and so far it looks and feels amazing.
8.0/10
Scalped #58: Very much a middle chapter, Scalped #58 is great, but the actual events of the issue didn't wow me. Important and heavy stuff happened, yes, but really Jason Aaron just turned the temperature up a little bit on all the chaos, bringing things that much closer to truly bubbling over. The cast seems to be getting set up for a final confrontation of some kind where everyone is trying to kill everyone else, but in this issue all we get are a few small moves in that direction. Important moves, yes, but small ones, like Dash learning about his child or Dino proposing an attack on Red Crow. Still, with only two issues left, Aaron and artist R.M. Guera both clearly know what they're doing from here on out. Guera brings his typical A game, which I mention as a courtesy since it's basically a given that any issue of Scalped which he draws will look phenomenal. Guess what? This one does, too. As big a void as it's going to leave, I'm more excited to read the conclusion to Scalped than anything else currently coming down the pipeline.
7.5/10
The Shadow #2: Garth Ennis' take on The Shadow is superb. Lamont Cranston is a no-nonsense, no-mercy kind of hero, who feels a genuine hate toward his foes. He acknowledges a certain darkness within himself, and embraces it, gladly giving up his own soul to fight the good fight. He's also a total badass, able to handle himself in a fight on an airplane where he is outnumbered and outgunned. And the details of his powers that we discover this issue make him all the more terrifying and fascinating. Ennis also writes a fully-realized and highly-likable Margo Lane. She's strong and capable but ultimately kind, an ideal counterbalance for Cranston whose just strong and hard from head to toe. They're a fun couple, and as we learn about them they also learn about each other. Aaron Campbell has a few rough moments on art, but mostly triumphs. The champagne glass in the eye is a great image, as are the fire extinguisher going off and The Shadow's initial entrance. Campbell is a talented noir artist, which is, of course, exactly what this story calls for. The Shadow is very quickly climbing up the list of my current favorite titles
8.0/10
Thunderbolts #174: A very Thunderbolts kind of ending, to be sure. Fixer being at the heart of the story helped with that, as did Jeff Parker's skillful use of his entire enormous cast. Parker and artist Declan Shalvey both have clearly hit a real groove with this series, and I am relieved the name change doesn't mean a change in creative team or, necessarily, cast. There will be additions, but based on this issue pretty much all the old-timers are sticking around, somewhen or another. That's definitely good news, but I appreciate that the end of the title Thunderbolts included the end of one its founding character's stories. An intelligent and satisfying way to make the transition.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Men #12: So, why is Cyclops comfortable with ALL OF THE OTHER CHILDREN being in Avengers custody, but not Hope? I get that he wants the Phoenix to get to her and is afraid the Avengers will prevent that or whatever, but it still felt like it undermined his position somewhat the way he so forcefully brushed that topic aside. That's just one small gripe, and truth be told I have many. This title seems to really suffer from being forced into a crossover, because so far all that its tie-ins have offered is a bunch of fighting with no victors and no point. Visually, Greg land continues to underwhelm, particularly with Hepzibah and Namor. Their faces kept bothering me, as did their less-than-witty flirting from Kieron Gillen. The saving grace of this issue was the Tabula Rasa guy (whose name escapes me or maybe doesn't exist). He had some really fun bits all throughout, and his final assumption that all this fighting would lead to mating was awesome. A perfect little fuck you to the whole event. Even if that's not the intention, that's how I choose to read it.
4.5/10
Wonder Woman #9: So, so frustrating. I know Brian Azzarello likes wordplay, but Strife's stupid little turns of phrase alone made me want to pull my hair out. As if that wasn't enough, Tony Atkins doesn't make her look nearly as cool or powerful as when Cliff Chiang is drawing. And she's on practically as many pages as the title character. Speaking of, Diana was especially passive here. I'm starting to find this take on the character less of a stoic badass and more of an impossible-to-read, weird sort of blank slate. Her conversation with Persephone was as dull as it was uncomfortable. Ditto her chat with Hades at the end. Meanwhile, we meet not only Persephone but Aphrodite, Hades' father, and those weird dog-women maidens, too. I assume they have names from classic mythology, but I don't know 'em. The point is, Azzarello is piling on new characters, racing through his mission of building a complex world for the gods of Wonder Woman, and sacrificing storytelling along the way. This series impressed me so much when it started that I have tried to stick with it in these recent, rocky months, but this was a definite low point.
3.5/10
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Pull List Reviews 05/03/2012
Animal Man #9: In terms of story, pretty damn boring. I mean, yes, everything we see here is probably necessary. We certainly had to learn what Buddy "dying" at the end of last issue meant and where it would lead. But this issue is literally just characters traveling without getting anywhere, which makes for a less-than-thrilling read. Steve Pugh's art continues to suit the title perfectly, and there are numerous stunning visuals in Animal Man #9: the Bone Orchard, the Shepard, the Island of Decay or whatever it's called. Detailed and compelling images, to be sure, but the story they're telling this month is lightweight at best.
6.0/10
Avengers vs X-Men #3: So, when this event started, despite my general hate of massive events, I was devoted to reading all twelve issues of the main title. No tie-ins from series I wasn't already reading, none of the AvX: Vs. stuff (it's a cool enough idea but I don't care to spend my money on it), just one, fifty dollar, six month commitment. So here we are at issue #3, only one-fourth of the way to the finish line, and I find myself already so underwhelmed by what I've seen that I am seriously considering dropping this title outright. This issue, written by Ed Brubaker and still haphazardly drawn by John Romita, Jr., felt like so much wheel spinning. The Avengers and X-Men talk to each other, then the X-Men run away and the two teams talk privately, then Captain America becomes an even bigger asshole than Cyclops, for no reason other than to give readers the cheap thrill of watching Cap throw down with Wolverine. And even that fight is uninspired and ends in a stupid, stupid way. I'm not sure what exactly I want from this title, but it is most assuredly not what I've been getting.
2.0/10
Blue Estate #11: I appreciate that here, as the "first season" comes to a close, Blue Estate didn't bother with any new complications or twists. It's been full of them up to this point, and has done a great job of juggling all the balls in the air, but with only one issue left before this story concludes I was glad to have a more straightforward installment. Also, Clarence and Rachel finally getting together was a big moment, and their relationship is just as strong and as much fun face-to-face as it has been during all their previous phone conversations. Maybe more so. Blue Estate #11 is a lot more action than story, it's true, but this final, enormous fight scene between the two crime families has been a long time coming, as has the Clarence-Rachel team-up, and it is all well-executed here. I've never been wild about the art style in this book, put together by a team of artists under Victor Kalachev's guidance, but it's certainly reliable, it tells the story clearly, and in the midst of this termite-infested gun battle it even heightens the chaos. Not bad at all.
7.0/10
Daredevil #12: The friendship between Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson has always been an excellent one, and in Daredevil #12 we get a bit of an origin story for the two old chums. It works well, with the right blend of humor and sincerity, even if it doesn't teach us a lot of new information about the characters. The same is true of the present-tense date between Murdock and ADA Kirsten McDuffie, a blossoming romance I am actively rooting for. Chris Samnee's artistic contributions are solid as well, clean and crisp and fitting. Not a fan of those last few pages. I mean, if Black Spectre can be "reborn" so quickly, then why did "The Omega Effect" happen at all? Why is the Omega Drive even a threat to these megacrime organizations if one of them can so easily bounce back? But since that ending was basically disconnected from the rest of this issue, I'll ignore it for now and focus on the excellent personal stories Mark Waid tells instead.
7.5/10
The Defenders #6: What is going on with this title? Remember just a few issues back when it was an awesome, end-of-the-world, madcap adventure series? Now that Matt Fraction has changed his focus from The Defenders defeating a clear threat to The Defenders stumbling over an enormous cosmic mystery, it seems like the series has lost its juice. Fraction still has a really good handle on the voices of his cast, and I got some laughs out of Iron Fist and Silver Surfer trying to communicate. But beyond that, this was mostly a bizarre and not-that-entertaining history lesson coupled with some semi-educated guesses about what these concordance engines might be/do. And Victor Ibañez, while not doing a necessarily bad job, definitely brings us one of the worst-looking issues of The Defenders to date. The monster Silver Surfer turned into was alright, but the whole thing was a bit cartoony without really committing to that style, and the overall effect was big time meh. Meh everywhere.
4.5/10
Dial H #1: As far as first issues go, Dial H #1 is simply marvelous. From the very opening scene, China Miéville expertly introduces us to the strange and depressing world in which this series takes place, and I would like to spend as much time there as possible. Our main character, Nelse, is perfect. He's depressed and maybe even a little hopeless, but a genuinely kind man and good friend, which makes him an ideal candidate for these numerous bizarre superhero identities. And the heroes themselves, in this first issue anyway, were logically connected to Nelse, one having cigarette-related powers and the other having sadness-related powers. The real treat, though, is how Miéville handles the psychological aspects of Nelse's transformations. While it never stops him from fighting evil or accomplishing his goals, it was nice to see the confusion and disorientation that come with suddenly taking on a new persona and set of powers. And Mateus Sanolouco's art complements the story perfectly, adding a gritty reality to things and launching the madness into the stratosphere when needed. There were some really excellent villains introduced as well, and others only hinted at, so it seems evident that Dial H has big plans for itself. I, for one, can't wait to see how they unfold.
8.5/10
Earth 2 #1: James Robinson uses an interesting approach in this debut. Rather than fully introduce us to the characters who will star in Earth 2 (we see a little of three of them at the end) he takes almost the entire first issue to instead teach us the history of this alternate reality. It's an awesome little tale of struggle and sacrifice, of an inter-dimensional war and the heroes who fight it, and of how Earth 2 lost its first wave of superheroes five years ago. So now we're set up to see who will take their place, and as anxious as I am to meet them, I still had a pretty great time reading what was, basically, this prologue to their future adventures. Not least of all because of Nicola Scott on art who, even if there are a few smaller panels with awkward expressions or angles, generally kicks ass. So much of this issue is huge, high-powered, chaotic violence, but Scott never loses us in the insanity, and makes all three of the DC Trinity look good in spite of some lame costume redesigns. And those moments with Mercury were spectacular. Pretty good opening chapter, even if all the main characters in it were killed off by the end.
7.0/10
G.I. Combat #1: Both the "War that Time Forgot" and "Unknown Soldier" features felt they like suffered from having to share this title with each other. The former, essentially, did nothing except for introduce its concept in the most basic way: soldiers find dinosaurs and fight them. Little else to say about that, except that Ariel Olivetti can draw some damn convincing dinosaurs. On the "Unknown Solider" side of things, it was kind of the opposite problem: too much going on in too little a space. Plus the jumps in narrative point of view were awkward, and I still do not understand how, exactly, this guy ended up riding with the U.S. military. I hope at least one of these stories can find its legs, and fast, because all this opening issue did was briefly introduce us to the main ideas behind each feature and nothing else. Nothing to come back for, yet.
5.0/10
Green Arrow #9: No surprises here, as Ann Nocenti continues to tell one of the most confusing, least interesting comicbook stories I've ever read. Even worse this month, we get her pathetic attempts at writing old-West-style dialogue, which she simply does not grasp whatsoever. I've been really enjoying Harvey Tolibao's art since he joined Green Arrow, but under Nocenti's breakneck pacing, his fluid line work starts to feel a little overwhelming. Like the images themselves are being swept up in the ridiculousness of the narrative. I'm hoping the next arc can take a quick breather, settle into some kind of real status quo for Green Arrow and then go from there in a better direction. It's a creative team with definite potential, but so far they've been dropping the ball in a significant way.
2.5/10
Pigs #7: For a long time, Pigs frustrated me. I wanted it to be about the complex moral and emotional issues inherent in being a sleeper agent. That seemed like what is was setting itself up to be, and the idea thrilled me. What we've been getting instead is more of a blockbuster spy action series, and if you read it at that level, it's fairly high-quality stuff. The break-in and subsequent violence in this issue were inventive, well-drawn, well-paced, and even pretty humorous when they wanted to be. That's absolutely all Pigs #7 has to offer, and I wish it had more. I feel like it wants to have more. But my theoretical vision of this series is not the scale by which it should be judged, and as far as shoot-em-up spy stuff goes, Pigs is doing a consistently enjoyable job. I will say that the cover positively sucked and made no sense, and that in the flashback sequences drawn by Will Sliney I could not get over the stupid way he draws a bunch of weird lines on everyone's noses. But the main narrative was what Pigs has been for a while: a group of young assholes raising hell and killing folks. No more, no less.
5.0/10
Swamp Thing #9: For the second month in a row, art trumps story in Swamp Thing. Lucky for us, Swamp Thing #9's art is even better than last issue's, from both Marco Rudy and Yanick Paquette. The two are an amazing match, and the transition from one to the other is hardly noticeable. And every single page has something astounding to stare at, even if its just the layout (although it's never just the layout). I would like Scott Snyder to maybe pick up the pace a bit, and some of the stuff in this issue was kind of lame, like the trick with the canned peaches or the totally predictable and long-ago announced "cliffhanger" at the end. But Alec and Abigial are good together, and their reunion felt earned, so I was glad for that. Really, though, it's all about the art with this series. And the art is fucking great.
7.5/10
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #10: Pretty good issue, if badly paced. The discussion Miles and his Uncle Aaron have is definitely interesting and important, but I felt like it took too long. Bendis loads the first two-thirds of the script with this conversation, and while he can write dialogue for days, I wish he'd cut it down a little here. The scenes that followed---Miles considering going to The Ultimates, Miles at home with his parents, Miles actually deciding to go after the Scorpion---all deserved a page or two more than they got, and I think that space could easily have been found by trimming the opening chat. Still, I am excited to see how this Scorpion story unfolds, and David Marquez did an impressive job on art duties as always, keeping me interested in the Miles-Aaron talk even as it started to drag. Hopefully more goes on next time.
6.0/10
Friday, April 27, 2012
Pull List Reviews 04/27/2012
So...I don't know whether or not Monocyte #4 came out this week. I thought it was supposed to, but they didn't have it at my local store, and the Internet isn't being helpful so I'm not certain if it was pushed back again or if my place just failed to order it. But other than that (and being late a day) pretty fair haul this week:
Astonishing X-Men #49: Some really nice moments here between Kyle and Northstar---a very well-written and emotionally resonant romance. Other than those few pages, though, nothing really stands out. A pretty boring fight with an even more boring and somewhat cliched resolution, which leads us to an even MORE cliched and totally obvious conclusion to the issue. I appreciate that Marjorie Liu gave most of her cast something to do, and there wasn't anything especially bad about this story, but there wasn't anything especially good, either. The same is true of Mike Perkins' art, which is rough and sloppy in places (like the horribly jumbled splash page in the middle of the fight) but generally serviceable if not impressive. And hey, am I supposed to know who the woman revealed on the final page is? Because I do not, and it weakened the effect of the ending, to my mind. Overall I walked away from Astonishing X-Men #49 feeling unenthusiastic about the future of the title. Not a bad read, but not one that particularly makes you want to come back for more.
5.0/10
Daredevil #11: Well, it's official. "The Omega Effect" was a bust. I read all three parts, and while none of them were spectacular, this finale was especially disappointing because it made the entire crossover feel totally pointless. What happened? Plenty, I guess. But what changed? Nothing. The Omega Drive is still in DD's hands, and now he has a "new plan" to deal with it, but based on how much of a waste of time his first plan was (meaning this issue right here) I find myself none-too-excited to learn what comes next. To be fair to Daredevil #11, Marco Checchetto delivered some incredible art, and the first third of the issue was pretty solid in terms of story: fun action with solid characterization of Spidey, DD, and Punisher all. And for just a second it seemed like this whole Omega Drive situation might actually be developed in an unexpected way. But as soon as Murdock took off after Alves---I use the name she prefers, and I honestly don't understand why no one else will---it got boring, everything was undone, and the status quo returned. Congratulations, Marvel, you tricked me into buying two extra comics this month for no reason. Four, arguably, because I probably could have just gone straight from Daredevil #10 to Daredevil #12 without feeling like I missed a thing (and there was that stupid ass .1 issue before TOE really kicked off). It's a bummer, because TOE had massive potential and awesome talent behind it, but alas, it ended with a fizzle rather than a bang.
3.5/10
Justice League Dark #8: I'm not sure how much needs to be said about this issue, which is Peter Milligan's last as writer of Justice League Dark, and you can feel him not giving a shit about it on every page. The super-forced exit of Shade, the Changing Man felt like it might have been the comicbook representation of Milligan's own exit from the title: the chaos of this thing he is supposed to be controlling becomes too much for him to handle, and so he just gives in to it and leaves. Next month we get a shift in the lineup of the team, a new writer, and, fingers crossed, a believable and compelling reason for these characters to even work together in the first place. That lack of focus or motive has been a problem for Justice League Dark since its debut, a fact that has never been more apparent than in this choppy, lackluster crossover issue.
2.0/10
Moon Knight #12: I know there were some naysayers, but I have been enjoying the story of Moon Knight vs. Count Nefaria in spite of their obvious power imbalance. There were definitely a few moments in some of their encounters where it seemed like Nefaria was holding back for no real reason, but in general I thought Brian Michael Bendis did a good job of keeping it believable and interesting. So going into Moon Knight #12, knowing it was going to be the conclusion to that tale, I had my hopes set pretty high. So maybe it's partially my fault for being so excited up front, but this issue was a massive letdown. He calls in the Avengers? Seriously, Bendis? That's the solution you came up with? After a year of Moon Knight steadfastly fighting this battle on his own terms, in his own city, with his own resources, he dials the superhero emergency line and lets somebody else finish the job. In one hit, might I add. Weak. But don't worry, there's a reason for it: Tony Stark gets to tease the upcoming Age of Ultron for two whole pages. WEAK! Don't plug your new project in the final throws of your old one, Bendis, ya schmuck. That's just classless all over. And now we'll never get the innovative, inventive, awesome finale this series deserved. Instead we're stuck with this forever. A cop out closing with below-the-bar art from Alex Maleev, less-badass-than-usual behavior from our title character, and what basically amounts to a commercial for a new title at the end. Nasty.
3.0/10
Rebel Blood #2: Though not quite as strong as its opening issue, Rebel Blood #2 continues to tell a singularly entertaining story of one man trying to cope with unimaginable horror all on his own. Chuck is a great blend of improvised action hero and terrified victim, responding to each new development with a combination of stunned shock and survivalist violence. And the brief trips we take into his unstable psyche in the midst of all this madness help to add both realism and surrealism to the book, grounding it in human fears, memories, and desires while at the same time building an uncertain reality and history for Chuck. As he is swept up by the unthinkable situation that surrounds him, the reader is carried right along with him by the fluid, restless storytelling and artwork from Alex Link and Riley Rossmo. It seems like the primary goal of Rebel Blood is to make the reader and Chuck one-and-the-same as much as possible, as far as our emotional and mental states while the narrative advances. And more often than not, that's exactly what happens. All of his disgust and anxieties are shared by the reader as the issue powers forward, never settling down long enough to let us or our protagonist get too solid a grip on anything. But even with that pacing, because this isn't a typical "group of survivors" story, we are able to fully experience what Chuck goes through, externally and internally, and that's precisely what makes Rebel Blood so good. Well, that and Rossmo's kinetic, brilliant artwork, which highlights the horrific elements of the story perfectly and is just rough enough around the edges to add to the surreality of the comic without detracting any clarity. In fact, in some places, like the flashback sequence, the art tells us more of the story than the letters do. We're already halfway through this series, and while it feels like it'll end too soon, I'd probably also be more than satisfied if the two issues we've seen so far were all that ever came out.
8.5/10
Secret Avengers #26: As far as event tie-ins go, Secret Avengers #26 is an exemplary comicbook. The story it tells, while spinning directly out of the main AvX narrative, stands largely on its own and could easily be enjoyed by someone who isn't following the event proper. It is, perhaps, a bit simplistic---a team of Avengers fight and fail to contain the Phoenix Force in space---but Rick Remender has a good handle on the voices of every single character (and there are quite a few), and gives each of them something to do without ever seeming like he's forcing it in. Each of their roles is logical and natural, and it gives the issue a real "team book" feel that Secret Avengers has been missing since Remender took the helm. And it felt for a while like Noh-Varr and Ms. Marvel were going to be ignored, but turns out they actually have pivotal roles to play in by the end of the issue (or, at any rate, they most likely will have said roles in the next issue). It's a fun and well-orchestrated story, but what really pushes Secret Avengers #26 over the edge is the team of artsit Renato Guedes, and colorists Bettie Breitweiser, and Matthew Wilson. I name all three because the soft yet vibrant colors are a major part of the overall affect, but Guedes is the champion, from his two-page Phoenix spread to his close-up on Captain Britain's nose bleed and everything Remender asks of him in between. As loathe as I am to say it, this tie-in has been my favorite of Remender's issues on Secret Avengers. Best art, best lineup, best story.
8.5/10
Spaceman #6: Losing a bit of momentum this time out, Spaceman #6 had a lot of characters communicating information to each other that we already knew. The scenes that took place on Mars were still good, but even they felt a little more by-the-numbers than they have in previous issues, merely moving the story of the space mission forward a step or two without offering any new insights. The moment where we see The Fence and all that surrounds it was important and well-done, but I wouldn't use those words to describe very much else in the issue. I mean, Eduardo Risso kills it as always, packing detail and emotion into every panel, but so much of what he draws is people standing around and talking that even the art deflates a little. And Brian Azzarello's script is the least interesting or original of this series so far. It's still a cut above any number of other titles, but the progress made in Spaceman #6 is so small that it felt like filler, which you don't want in a nine-issue limited series.
5.5/10
Teen Titans #8: Scott Lobdell clearly knows his cast, and their distinct voices and viewpoints have been a highlight of this title so far, but in Teen Titans #8 the one-by-one characterization was laid on a bit thick. It's still a fun read, but its only real purpose is to lead us into the upcoming "The Culling" crossover, and so that's all we get. I'm not complaining, really, just saying this issue was a tad light. One at a time, the Teen Titans are prepared for whatever Harvest and his followers have in store for them next, which is the main event, presumably, that Teen Titans has been ramping up to for some time. I'm excited for "The Culling" because Harvest is a pretty interesting villain (as are his lackeys Omen and Leash) and Lobdell has been doing good work with this cast. This prelude issue made me a little impatient since not a lot actually happened, but Solstice's dialogue with Bunker made the impending final confrontation between the Titans and N.O.W.H.E.R.E. seem even scarier and more exciting, and nothing here actively dampened my enthusiasm for "The Culling" so I guess, really, it was a solid prologue. Fluffy, maybe, but as good for new readers as old, and a probably necessary first step before leaping into the crossover.
6.0/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9: I like Esad Ribic's art a lot, and he has been a major part of why Ultimates has been such an entertaining title, but I always find myself irked by the way he draws widely opened eyes or mouths. Any time anyone is yelling or surprised, and even sometimes in battle scenes, Ribic makes their eyes bug so much you expect them to pop out in the next panel, and their mouths take up half of their faces. Normally, this is a small complaint, but in Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9, for some reason, it happened an inordinate number of times. I'm nitpicking, because the rest of his art was at its typical high standard, but it was something I couldn't help but notice.
Aside from that, a middle-of-the-line kind of issue. Jonathan Hickman advances all of his numerous plot threads, but only a little bit, and not in any truly surprising ways. No one expected Zorn to be the solution to the City, but it was also not shocking when he did have the power to do some actual damage to it. And Reed Richards' retaliation against the U.S., while it looked cool, was pretty much to be expected. A shade decompressed for my taste, but no less high energy or interesting for it.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Men #11: Kieron Gillen deals with the obligation of doing an AvX tie-in by showing us some scenes which we've already seen in the main title through the eyes and inner monologues of three characters from Uncanny X-Men. It's a fine enough approach, although I doubt it would be the least bit enjoyable for any Uncanny fans not following the event. And while Namor and Colossus both have strong voices here, neither of them says anything that felt all that new. I get why Namor likes mutants, and I get why Colossus struggles with being Cyttorak's avatar, so even though I didn't dislike their scenes, they were very much non-essential reading. Hope's part actually did teach me a thing or two, like Hope and Logan making a deal for him to kill her, or that she has an actual plan in her mind for dealing with the Phoenix (although how much do you wanna bet it doesn't go the way she wants?) but it was an extremely brief section of the issue, plus it's probably information we'll get somewhere else in another month or two, anyway. Greg Land's art was inconsistent at best. He seems to have difficulty with smaller panels, as many of his close-ups look unnatural and stagnant, but he nails most of the fight moments that take up a larger portion of the page.
The press release at the end was just stupid, and I choose to pretend those two pages don't exist.
5.0/10
Astonishing X-Men #49: Some really nice moments here between Kyle and Northstar---a very well-written and emotionally resonant romance. Other than those few pages, though, nothing really stands out. A pretty boring fight with an even more boring and somewhat cliched resolution, which leads us to an even MORE cliched and totally obvious conclusion to the issue. I appreciate that Marjorie Liu gave most of her cast something to do, and there wasn't anything especially bad about this story, but there wasn't anything especially good, either. The same is true of Mike Perkins' art, which is rough and sloppy in places (like the horribly jumbled splash page in the middle of the fight) but generally serviceable if not impressive. And hey, am I supposed to know who the woman revealed on the final page is? Because I do not, and it weakened the effect of the ending, to my mind. Overall I walked away from Astonishing X-Men #49 feeling unenthusiastic about the future of the title. Not a bad read, but not one that particularly makes you want to come back for more.
5.0/10
Daredevil #11: Well, it's official. "The Omega Effect" was a bust. I read all three parts, and while none of them were spectacular, this finale was especially disappointing because it made the entire crossover feel totally pointless. What happened? Plenty, I guess. But what changed? Nothing. The Omega Drive is still in DD's hands, and now he has a "new plan" to deal with it, but based on how much of a waste of time his first plan was (meaning this issue right here) I find myself none-too-excited to learn what comes next. To be fair to Daredevil #11, Marco Checchetto delivered some incredible art, and the first third of the issue was pretty solid in terms of story: fun action with solid characterization of Spidey, DD, and Punisher all. And for just a second it seemed like this whole Omega Drive situation might actually be developed in an unexpected way. But as soon as Murdock took off after Alves---I use the name she prefers, and I honestly don't understand why no one else will---it got boring, everything was undone, and the status quo returned. Congratulations, Marvel, you tricked me into buying two extra comics this month for no reason. Four, arguably, because I probably could have just gone straight from Daredevil #10 to Daredevil #12 without feeling like I missed a thing (and there was that stupid ass .1 issue before TOE really kicked off). It's a bummer, because TOE had massive potential and awesome talent behind it, but alas, it ended with a fizzle rather than a bang.
3.5/10
Justice League Dark #8: I'm not sure how much needs to be said about this issue, which is Peter Milligan's last as writer of Justice League Dark, and you can feel him not giving a shit about it on every page. The super-forced exit of Shade, the Changing Man felt like it might have been the comicbook representation of Milligan's own exit from the title: the chaos of this thing he is supposed to be controlling becomes too much for him to handle, and so he just gives in to it and leaves. Next month we get a shift in the lineup of the team, a new writer, and, fingers crossed, a believable and compelling reason for these characters to even work together in the first place. That lack of focus or motive has been a problem for Justice League Dark since its debut, a fact that has never been more apparent than in this choppy, lackluster crossover issue.
2.0/10
Moon Knight #12: I know there were some naysayers, but I have been enjoying the story of Moon Knight vs. Count Nefaria in spite of their obvious power imbalance. There were definitely a few moments in some of their encounters where it seemed like Nefaria was holding back for no real reason, but in general I thought Brian Michael Bendis did a good job of keeping it believable and interesting. So going into Moon Knight #12, knowing it was going to be the conclusion to that tale, I had my hopes set pretty high. So maybe it's partially my fault for being so excited up front, but this issue was a massive letdown. He calls in the Avengers? Seriously, Bendis? That's the solution you came up with? After a year of Moon Knight steadfastly fighting this battle on his own terms, in his own city, with his own resources, he dials the superhero emergency line and lets somebody else finish the job. In one hit, might I add. Weak. But don't worry, there's a reason for it: Tony Stark gets to tease the upcoming Age of Ultron for two whole pages. WEAK! Don't plug your new project in the final throws of your old one, Bendis, ya schmuck. That's just classless all over. And now we'll never get the innovative, inventive, awesome finale this series deserved. Instead we're stuck with this forever. A cop out closing with below-the-bar art from Alex Maleev, less-badass-than-usual behavior from our title character, and what basically amounts to a commercial for a new title at the end. Nasty.
3.0/10
Rebel Blood #2: Though not quite as strong as its opening issue, Rebel Blood #2 continues to tell a singularly entertaining story of one man trying to cope with unimaginable horror all on his own. Chuck is a great blend of improvised action hero and terrified victim, responding to each new development with a combination of stunned shock and survivalist violence. And the brief trips we take into his unstable psyche in the midst of all this madness help to add both realism and surrealism to the book, grounding it in human fears, memories, and desires while at the same time building an uncertain reality and history for Chuck. As he is swept up by the unthinkable situation that surrounds him, the reader is carried right along with him by the fluid, restless storytelling and artwork from Alex Link and Riley Rossmo. It seems like the primary goal of Rebel Blood is to make the reader and Chuck one-and-the-same as much as possible, as far as our emotional and mental states while the narrative advances. And more often than not, that's exactly what happens. All of his disgust and anxieties are shared by the reader as the issue powers forward, never settling down long enough to let us or our protagonist get too solid a grip on anything. But even with that pacing, because this isn't a typical "group of survivors" story, we are able to fully experience what Chuck goes through, externally and internally, and that's precisely what makes Rebel Blood so good. Well, that and Rossmo's kinetic, brilliant artwork, which highlights the horrific elements of the story perfectly and is just rough enough around the edges to add to the surreality of the comic without detracting any clarity. In fact, in some places, like the flashback sequence, the art tells us more of the story than the letters do. We're already halfway through this series, and while it feels like it'll end too soon, I'd probably also be more than satisfied if the two issues we've seen so far were all that ever came out.
8.5/10
Secret Avengers #26: As far as event tie-ins go, Secret Avengers #26 is an exemplary comicbook. The story it tells, while spinning directly out of the main AvX narrative, stands largely on its own and could easily be enjoyed by someone who isn't following the event proper. It is, perhaps, a bit simplistic---a team of Avengers fight and fail to contain the Phoenix Force in space---but Rick Remender has a good handle on the voices of every single character (and there are quite a few), and gives each of them something to do without ever seeming like he's forcing it in. Each of their roles is logical and natural, and it gives the issue a real "team book" feel that Secret Avengers has been missing since Remender took the helm. And it felt for a while like Noh-Varr and Ms. Marvel were going to be ignored, but turns out they actually have pivotal roles to play in by the end of the issue (or, at any rate, they most likely will have said roles in the next issue). It's a fun and well-orchestrated story, but what really pushes Secret Avengers #26 over the edge is the team of artsit Renato Guedes, and colorists Bettie Breitweiser, and Matthew Wilson. I name all three because the soft yet vibrant colors are a major part of the overall affect, but Guedes is the champion, from his two-page Phoenix spread to his close-up on Captain Britain's nose bleed and everything Remender asks of him in between. As loathe as I am to say it, this tie-in has been my favorite of Remender's issues on Secret Avengers. Best art, best lineup, best story.
8.5/10
Spaceman #6: Losing a bit of momentum this time out, Spaceman #6 had a lot of characters communicating information to each other that we already knew. The scenes that took place on Mars were still good, but even they felt a little more by-the-numbers than they have in previous issues, merely moving the story of the space mission forward a step or two without offering any new insights. The moment where we see The Fence and all that surrounds it was important and well-done, but I wouldn't use those words to describe very much else in the issue. I mean, Eduardo Risso kills it as always, packing detail and emotion into every panel, but so much of what he draws is people standing around and talking that even the art deflates a little. And Brian Azzarello's script is the least interesting or original of this series so far. It's still a cut above any number of other titles, but the progress made in Spaceman #6 is so small that it felt like filler, which you don't want in a nine-issue limited series.
5.5/10
Teen Titans #8: Scott Lobdell clearly knows his cast, and their distinct voices and viewpoints have been a highlight of this title so far, but in Teen Titans #8 the one-by-one characterization was laid on a bit thick. It's still a fun read, but its only real purpose is to lead us into the upcoming "The Culling" crossover, and so that's all we get. I'm not complaining, really, just saying this issue was a tad light. One at a time, the Teen Titans are prepared for whatever Harvest and his followers have in store for them next, which is the main event, presumably, that Teen Titans has been ramping up to for some time. I'm excited for "The Culling" because Harvest is a pretty interesting villain (as are his lackeys Omen and Leash) and Lobdell has been doing good work with this cast. This prelude issue made me a little impatient since not a lot actually happened, but Solstice's dialogue with Bunker made the impending final confrontation between the Titans and N.O.W.H.E.R.E. seem even scarier and more exciting, and nothing here actively dampened my enthusiasm for "The Culling" so I guess, really, it was a solid prologue. Fluffy, maybe, but as good for new readers as old, and a probably necessary first step before leaping into the crossover.
6.0/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9: I like Esad Ribic's art a lot, and he has been a major part of why Ultimates has been such an entertaining title, but I always find myself irked by the way he draws widely opened eyes or mouths. Any time anyone is yelling or surprised, and even sometimes in battle scenes, Ribic makes their eyes bug so much you expect them to pop out in the next panel, and their mouths take up half of their faces. Normally, this is a small complaint, but in Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9, for some reason, it happened an inordinate number of times. I'm nitpicking, because the rest of his art was at its typical high standard, but it was something I couldn't help but notice.
Aside from that, a middle-of-the-line kind of issue. Jonathan Hickman advances all of his numerous plot threads, but only a little bit, and not in any truly surprising ways. No one expected Zorn to be the solution to the City, but it was also not shocking when he did have the power to do some actual damage to it. And Reed Richards' retaliation against the U.S., while it looked cool, was pretty much to be expected. A shade decompressed for my taste, but no less high energy or interesting for it.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Men #11: Kieron Gillen deals with the obligation of doing an AvX tie-in by showing us some scenes which we've already seen in the main title through the eyes and inner monologues of three characters from Uncanny X-Men. It's a fine enough approach, although I doubt it would be the least bit enjoyable for any Uncanny fans not following the event. And while Namor and Colossus both have strong voices here, neither of them says anything that felt all that new. I get why Namor likes mutants, and I get why Colossus struggles with being Cyttorak's avatar, so even though I didn't dislike their scenes, they were very much non-essential reading. Hope's part actually did teach me a thing or two, like Hope and Logan making a deal for him to kill her, or that she has an actual plan in her mind for dealing with the Phoenix (although how much do you wanna bet it doesn't go the way she wants?) but it was an extremely brief section of the issue, plus it's probably information we'll get somewhere else in another month or two, anyway. Greg Land's art was inconsistent at best. He seems to have difficulty with smaller panels, as many of his close-ups look unnatural and stagnant, but he nails most of the fight moments that take up a larger portion of the page.
The press release at the end was just stupid, and I choose to pretend those two pages don't exist.
5.0/10
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Pull List Reviews 04/05/2012
So, still no Astonishing X-Men #48 at my store. I'll probably just have to pick it up somewhere else, but won't bother reviewing it at this point. However, I did get my other missing comic from last week...
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #8: For the first time since the Ultimate line hit restart several months ago, Ultimates was actually kind of dull. Last issue, we were promised both Hulk smashing and Zorn revenging, but neither paid off this week. After a few pages, Reed handily calmed and won over Banner, and Zorn was in transit the entire time. While both of these things made for stunning visuals from Esad Ribic---particularly the Hulk-Reed scenes which I hope we get a few more of before this storyline concludes---neither were especially interesting plot beats. The stuff with the President is certainly in keeping with the spirit of the title so far, by which I mean it's high-power and batshit insane, but it only inches forward this issue. A decision made early on is only officially announced on the final page, and there's not quite a satisfying portion of meat in between.
Even the scene where the announcement is finally made loses weight because of the ridiculous facial expressions. In fact, my one quibble with Ribic's art in general is that his surprised faces are all laughable. Stark, Hulk, Congress...it's the same look every time and it is not flattering. Otherwise a beautiful if low calorie read.
5.5/10
Animal Man #8: In terms of actual story progression, not a lot happens, but several significant character turns take place that I enjoyed. Buddy finally whole-heartedly leaps into the fray. Maxine discovers some impressive if frightening new powers, and then promises to put an end to that sort of behavior while her father is away. And Ellen and her mother each reach their respective breaking points in the face of all the horror they've seen. A new chapter begins here, even more so than in this arc's official first chapter, for nearly every member of the Baker family (Cliff no so much) and it keeps me excited to see where they all end up.
On the art side of things, while Travel Foreman does a fine enough job with his portion, Steve Pugh really has all the best moments, including his first two pages (6 and 7) and his final one. As much as Foreman was one of the best parts of this series at the beginning, Pugh is a very welcome addition (and no stranger to the character). Plus I'm excited to see Foreman on Birds of Prey.
I do have one burning question, though, and it applies to Swamp Thing #8, below, as well: If the Rot has become such a worldwide problem, and the military are showing up en masse and everything, then where the hell are all the other superheroes? I mean...I'm glad the Justice League isn't showing up awkwardly in these titles, but if I am supposed to believe they exist in this world, why would I believe they choose to sit this one out? Did I miss an explanation at some point as to why they wouldn't try to take on The Rot themselves? Just something that popped into my brain while reading this week.
But other than that long, disconnected question, a solid issue throughout.
7.0/10
Avengers vs. X-Men #1: The page with the line ups of both teams really makes things look bleak for the X-Men, huh? I'm just talking numbers (even though, of course, there are TONS of Utopians not mentioned...but why?) And I also thought that, basically, this issue was exactly what everyone expected it to be in the most disappointing ways possible. A long, long set up that leads to the first blow in the fight we've been told for months is coming. Pretty boring stuff, really. Bendis does a good job with his dialogue and Romita, Jr. is serviceable if not impressive on pencils. Really nice colors by Laura Martin, but otherwise nothing to write home about. This whole Marvel-wide fight basically starts because Cyclops and Captain America decide to be dicks to each other immediately. Especially Scott, who seems like he walks into that conversation looking to pick exactly the fight he picks. Namor says that things are already ramped up, and he's 100% on the nose with that call, but why things get so ramped to quickly is sort of unclear and sort of dumb.
Other dumb thing: the Marvel AR tags all over the place. Like roaches in a TV set.
And we hear a lot of talk about fans choosing sides in this fight, but I'll tell ya...so far, the fight seems to be about whether protective custody or mutant boot camp is the best way to handle the Phoenix Force, and I just simply do not care or even see why those two sides are necessarily at odds with one another. Fairly weak sauce beginning to the year's blockbuster event.
3.0/10
Casanova: Avaritia #3: Matt Fraction can catch you up on the story so far and confuse the shit out of you in the same panel. It's really an amazing style and voice he brings to every chapter of Casanova, and this one is no different. While the primary Casanova-Xeno-Sasa threesome/escape plan was totally interesting and bananas, the best parts of this issue focussed on other characters. Suki Boutique gets a nice bit of spotlight, Seychelle re-dons the creepy villain cap quite naturally, and Kaito just generally kicks ass. I have missed the shit out of him, and his return to the title this week is more awesome and terrifying than I could have imagined. And of course, Gabriel Bá and Cris Peter go to town every page, Peter more noticeably than Bá this time, keeping the red foundation of "Avaritia" but also generous and intelligent with greens and using the blues of "Gula" for Kaito's split-second flashbacks. Entertaining, fast-paced, high-concept comicbookery for all (as long as you don't mind sex and violence and swearing and whatnot.)
8.5/10
Daredevil #10.1: The last six pages are pretty good, but everything before that is sort of a dud. A no-stakes flashback fight and a recapping Daredevil's long-term and short-term history, since this is meant to be an issue where new readers might jump on. Murdock goes to see a potential client who was put in prison by Daredevil after trying to assassinate Murdock. Not a bad idea, not even a BAD story, but most definitely not that interesting in execution. And Koi Pham's is quite underwhelming. Again, in the final scene where Daredevil and the megacrime stooges have their little scuffle, things really come to life, but in the Murdock scenes Pham's faces often lack detail or shape, and sometimes his bodies as well. He puts very little detail into anything, and it gives a real sense of the art being rushed or maybe just sloppily finished. Check out the part where fat Daredevil takes on two even fatter bank robbers. Weird stuff.
Art that felt rushed, a story that felt stretched. Meh.
4.5/10
Fairest #2: If I thought some of the other titles this week were boring, Fairest #2 gives a whole new meaning to the word. To be fair, if you ignored all the words, Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, and Andrew Dalhouse offer a really soothing and stunning visual trip. The Ice Queen and all of her minions look gorgeous and foreboding at once, and in the Sleepy Beauty backstory sequence, we get a great splash page of the fairy godmothers, followed by an even greater and more detailed double spread of an incredible royal hall.
That sequence, though, as far as story? Really, really lame. And why doesn't Sleeping Beauty know about it? Yeah she was young, but she's grown now. She's lived in our world. Wouldn't she have heard some version of this story? But none of that is the real problem, the real problem is that all three of the heroes (Ali Baba, Sleeping Beauty, and Panghammer) are obnoxious as hell and won't shut up. Am I rooting for them? Hell no! The Ice Queen looks the coolest, acts the coolest, and has friends who know how to keep their mouths shut. THAT is who I root for, every time.
4.0/10
Green Arrow #8: Uh...what? Seriously...???
1.5/10
Swamp Thing #8: Scott Snyder does an interesting thing in this issue, filling it to the brim with combat and filth, letting Yanick Paquette and Marco Rudy pretty much run things (despite an abundance of captions for some pages). It all feels very deliberate. The art highlights the violence, the violence highlights the art, and plot more or less stands aside to let that take place. We get a big development for Abby at the end, but not an unexpected one, and beyond that little really happens. It's almost like an alternative first issue for all the naysayers who were upset at the amount of Holland and lack of Swamp Thing this series had in the previous seven installments. So now it's all Swamp Thing all the time, at least for one month, and even if it's perhaps overly simple in its narrative, you could study the panels of Swamp Thing vs. The Rot for hours without boredom. Plus this new design for Swamp Thing is balling.
7.5/10
Thunderbolts #172: I have no strong feelings about this issue either way. The Thunderbolts vs. Thunderbolts concept is a perfect ending to both the time travel story that has been running through the title for a while now, and for Thunderbolts as a title at all, since once this arc wraps it will become Dark Avengers. As cool as the idea is, though, this opening chapter is less than thrilling. All of Jeff Parker's usual humor is there (especially with Boomerang, who is always my favorite part of the book) and the fight that makes up the last half of the issue is fun and in a cool setting and generally well-drawn by Declan Shalvey, but it's all a little straightforward for my taste. I'm very excited to see if Fixer's foreshadowing pans out (or, I should say, HOW it pans out), and the cliffhanger ending definitely makes me excited for whatever comes next with Moonstone, but nothing exceptional in-and-of itself here.
5.5/10
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #9: Three extremely well-done scenes. Admittedly, my experience with the Ultimate line before its recent reboot is extremely limited, so I do not know if Captain Frank Quaid is a new or returning character, but it hardly matters because Brian Michael Bendis so succinctly introduces him here. I really hope he's going to be a recurring character now, because Miles could use somebody like that in his corner, and also because I just like the guy.
The main event of the issue is Prowler vs. Scorpion. Both characters slowly reveal to each other, and therefore to the reader, the scope of their abilities. Prowler expects to disarm and surprise Scorpion with his new toys, but Scorpion clearly has some older, scarier, innate abilities that make him one hell of a foe. It's a fun escalation to watch, and it's also satisfying to see Uncle Aaron gradually go from arrogant to terrified. He's a pretty despicable dude (seeing as he blackmails his nephew into helping him deal with a supervillain), which makes the panels where all he can do is panic and run are some of the best in the issue, with David Marquez evoking Aaron's stunned horror perfectly.
Marquez continues to be an excellent substitute for Sara Pichelli all around, brining all the attention to detail and character and expression she always did. And all of this seems to be tumbling toward a Spidey-Scorpion meeting, which I can't wait to see.
8.0/10
Wolverine & the X-Men #8: Beast fighting Sabretooth in space is a great goddamn idea that misses the mark here. I mostly blame Chris Bachalo, who's art is unclear everywhere, but particularly during the climatic final moments of that fight. I'm sure Bachalo's style is appreciated by many, but I have always found it a little too bizarre and inconsistent to really enjoy. And he gives his characters such animal-like faces. I know Beast and Sabretooth are meant to resemble cats, but why Angel and Kilgore, and why only sometimes?
Jason Aaron's script has its highs and lows. Again, conceptually, Beast vs. Sabretooth on S.W.O.R.D. HQ is sweet, but it feels sort of cramped in the same space of the other story. The same is true of that story, wherein the students go back to Planet Sin to get a cure for Wolverine. Even though the exchange between Angel and Genesis is a highlight of not just this issue but the series to date, the rest of that mission goes by in such a blur its hard to get invested in it before they're already returning home. Between that frantic pace and Bachalo's sloppy pencils, Wolverine & the X-Men #8 just fell short for me this time.
4.0/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #8: For the first time since the Ultimate line hit restart several months ago, Ultimates was actually kind of dull. Last issue, we were promised both Hulk smashing and Zorn revenging, but neither paid off this week. After a few pages, Reed handily calmed and won over Banner, and Zorn was in transit the entire time. While both of these things made for stunning visuals from Esad Ribic---particularly the Hulk-Reed scenes which I hope we get a few more of before this storyline concludes---neither were especially interesting plot beats. The stuff with the President is certainly in keeping with the spirit of the title so far, by which I mean it's high-power and batshit insane, but it only inches forward this issue. A decision made early on is only officially announced on the final page, and there's not quite a satisfying portion of meat in between.
Even the scene where the announcement is finally made loses weight because of the ridiculous facial expressions. In fact, my one quibble with Ribic's art in general is that his surprised faces are all laughable. Stark, Hulk, Congress...it's the same look every time and it is not flattering. Otherwise a beautiful if low calorie read.
5.5/10
Animal Man #8: In terms of actual story progression, not a lot happens, but several significant character turns take place that I enjoyed. Buddy finally whole-heartedly leaps into the fray. Maxine discovers some impressive if frightening new powers, and then promises to put an end to that sort of behavior while her father is away. And Ellen and her mother each reach their respective breaking points in the face of all the horror they've seen. A new chapter begins here, even more so than in this arc's official first chapter, for nearly every member of the Baker family (Cliff no so much) and it keeps me excited to see where they all end up.
On the art side of things, while Travel Foreman does a fine enough job with his portion, Steve Pugh really has all the best moments, including his first two pages (6 and 7) and his final one. As much as Foreman was one of the best parts of this series at the beginning, Pugh is a very welcome addition (and no stranger to the character). Plus I'm excited to see Foreman on Birds of Prey.
I do have one burning question, though, and it applies to Swamp Thing #8, below, as well: If the Rot has become such a worldwide problem, and the military are showing up en masse and everything, then where the hell are all the other superheroes? I mean...I'm glad the Justice League isn't showing up awkwardly in these titles, but if I am supposed to believe they exist in this world, why would I believe they choose to sit this one out? Did I miss an explanation at some point as to why they wouldn't try to take on The Rot themselves? Just something that popped into my brain while reading this week.
But other than that long, disconnected question, a solid issue throughout.
7.0/10
Avengers vs. X-Men #1: The page with the line ups of both teams really makes things look bleak for the X-Men, huh? I'm just talking numbers (even though, of course, there are TONS of Utopians not mentioned...but why?) And I also thought that, basically, this issue was exactly what everyone expected it to be in the most disappointing ways possible. A long, long set up that leads to the first blow in the fight we've been told for months is coming. Pretty boring stuff, really. Bendis does a good job with his dialogue and Romita, Jr. is serviceable if not impressive on pencils. Really nice colors by Laura Martin, but otherwise nothing to write home about. This whole Marvel-wide fight basically starts because Cyclops and Captain America decide to be dicks to each other immediately. Especially Scott, who seems like he walks into that conversation looking to pick exactly the fight he picks. Namor says that things are already ramped up, and he's 100% on the nose with that call, but why things get so ramped to quickly is sort of unclear and sort of dumb.
Other dumb thing: the Marvel AR tags all over the place. Like roaches in a TV set.
And we hear a lot of talk about fans choosing sides in this fight, but I'll tell ya...so far, the fight seems to be about whether protective custody or mutant boot camp is the best way to handle the Phoenix Force, and I just simply do not care or even see why those two sides are necessarily at odds with one another. Fairly weak sauce beginning to the year's blockbuster event.
3.0/10
Casanova: Avaritia #3: Matt Fraction can catch you up on the story so far and confuse the shit out of you in the same panel. It's really an amazing style and voice he brings to every chapter of Casanova, and this one is no different. While the primary Casanova-Xeno-Sasa threesome/escape plan was totally interesting and bananas, the best parts of this issue focussed on other characters. Suki Boutique gets a nice bit of spotlight, Seychelle re-dons the creepy villain cap quite naturally, and Kaito just generally kicks ass. I have missed the shit out of him, and his return to the title this week is more awesome and terrifying than I could have imagined. And of course, Gabriel Bá and Cris Peter go to town every page, Peter more noticeably than Bá this time, keeping the red foundation of "Avaritia" but also generous and intelligent with greens and using the blues of "Gula" for Kaito's split-second flashbacks. Entertaining, fast-paced, high-concept comicbookery for all (as long as you don't mind sex and violence and swearing and whatnot.)
8.5/10
Daredevil #10.1: The last six pages are pretty good, but everything before that is sort of a dud. A no-stakes flashback fight and a recapping Daredevil's long-term and short-term history, since this is meant to be an issue where new readers might jump on. Murdock goes to see a potential client who was put in prison by Daredevil after trying to assassinate Murdock. Not a bad idea, not even a BAD story, but most definitely not that interesting in execution. And Koi Pham's is quite underwhelming. Again, in the final scene where Daredevil and the megacrime stooges have their little scuffle, things really come to life, but in the Murdock scenes Pham's faces often lack detail or shape, and sometimes his bodies as well. He puts very little detail into anything, and it gives a real sense of the art being rushed or maybe just sloppily finished. Check out the part where fat Daredevil takes on two even fatter bank robbers. Weird stuff.
Art that felt rushed, a story that felt stretched. Meh.
4.5/10
Fairest #2: If I thought some of the other titles this week were boring, Fairest #2 gives a whole new meaning to the word. To be fair, if you ignored all the words, Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, and Andrew Dalhouse offer a really soothing and stunning visual trip. The Ice Queen and all of her minions look gorgeous and foreboding at once, and in the Sleepy Beauty backstory sequence, we get a great splash page of the fairy godmothers, followed by an even greater and more detailed double spread of an incredible royal hall.
That sequence, though, as far as story? Really, really lame. And why doesn't Sleeping Beauty know about it? Yeah she was young, but she's grown now. She's lived in our world. Wouldn't she have heard some version of this story? But none of that is the real problem, the real problem is that all three of the heroes (Ali Baba, Sleeping Beauty, and Panghammer) are obnoxious as hell and won't shut up. Am I rooting for them? Hell no! The Ice Queen looks the coolest, acts the coolest, and has friends who know how to keep their mouths shut. THAT is who I root for, every time.
4.0/10
Green Arrow #8: Uh...what? Seriously...???
1.5/10
Swamp Thing #8: Scott Snyder does an interesting thing in this issue, filling it to the brim with combat and filth, letting Yanick Paquette and Marco Rudy pretty much run things (despite an abundance of captions for some pages). It all feels very deliberate. The art highlights the violence, the violence highlights the art, and plot more or less stands aside to let that take place. We get a big development for Abby at the end, but not an unexpected one, and beyond that little really happens. It's almost like an alternative first issue for all the naysayers who were upset at the amount of Holland and lack of Swamp Thing this series had in the previous seven installments. So now it's all Swamp Thing all the time, at least for one month, and even if it's perhaps overly simple in its narrative, you could study the panels of Swamp Thing vs. The Rot for hours without boredom. Plus this new design for Swamp Thing is balling.
7.5/10
Thunderbolts #172: I have no strong feelings about this issue either way. The Thunderbolts vs. Thunderbolts concept is a perfect ending to both the time travel story that has been running through the title for a while now, and for Thunderbolts as a title at all, since once this arc wraps it will become Dark Avengers. As cool as the idea is, though, this opening chapter is less than thrilling. All of Jeff Parker's usual humor is there (especially with Boomerang, who is always my favorite part of the book) and the fight that makes up the last half of the issue is fun and in a cool setting and generally well-drawn by Declan Shalvey, but it's all a little straightforward for my taste. I'm very excited to see if Fixer's foreshadowing pans out (or, I should say, HOW it pans out), and the cliffhanger ending definitely makes me excited for whatever comes next with Moonstone, but nothing exceptional in-and-of itself here.
5.5/10
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #9: Three extremely well-done scenes. Admittedly, my experience with the Ultimate line before its recent reboot is extremely limited, so I do not know if Captain Frank Quaid is a new or returning character, but it hardly matters because Brian Michael Bendis so succinctly introduces him here. I really hope he's going to be a recurring character now, because Miles could use somebody like that in his corner, and also because I just like the guy.
The main event of the issue is Prowler vs. Scorpion. Both characters slowly reveal to each other, and therefore to the reader, the scope of their abilities. Prowler expects to disarm and surprise Scorpion with his new toys, but Scorpion clearly has some older, scarier, innate abilities that make him one hell of a foe. It's a fun escalation to watch, and it's also satisfying to see Uncle Aaron gradually go from arrogant to terrified. He's a pretty despicable dude (seeing as he blackmails his nephew into helping him deal with a supervillain), which makes the panels where all he can do is panic and run are some of the best in the issue, with David Marquez evoking Aaron's stunned horror perfectly.
Marquez continues to be an excellent substitute for Sara Pichelli all around, brining all the attention to detail and character and expression she always did. And all of this seems to be tumbling toward a Spidey-Scorpion meeting, which I can't wait to see.
8.0/10
Wolverine & the X-Men #8: Beast fighting Sabretooth in space is a great goddamn idea that misses the mark here. I mostly blame Chris Bachalo, who's art is unclear everywhere, but particularly during the climatic final moments of that fight. I'm sure Bachalo's style is appreciated by many, but I have always found it a little too bizarre and inconsistent to really enjoy. And he gives his characters such animal-like faces. I know Beast and Sabretooth are meant to resemble cats, but why Angel and Kilgore, and why only sometimes?
Jason Aaron's script has its highs and lows. Again, conceptually, Beast vs. Sabretooth on S.W.O.R.D. HQ is sweet, but it feels sort of cramped in the same space of the other story. The same is true of that story, wherein the students go back to Planet Sin to get a cure for Wolverine. Even though the exchange between Angel and Genesis is a highlight of not just this issue but the series to date, the rest of that mission goes by in such a blur its hard to get invested in it before they're already returning home. Between that frantic pace and Bachalo's sloppy pencils, Wolverine & the X-Men #8 just fell short for me this time.
4.0/10
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Pull List Reviews 03/29/2012
First of all, two of my titles were missing this week from my local shop: Astonishing X-Men #48 & Ultimates #8. So those are getting skipped (for now).
Avengers vs. X-Men #0: This is a pretty solid zero issue. Inasmuch as zero issues have any purpose whatsoever (but that's an argument for another time). But if you are going to do a non-essential opening chapter for your story, AvX #0 is the way to do so. Could I have skipped this entirely? You bet. Was it worth the time and money? Sure.
Brian Michael Bendis and Jason Aaron each deliver a clear, complex, and honest character piece. Bendis begins to reintroduce the Scarlet Witch to active superherosim, and in a small amount of space puts Wanda through physical and emotional triumphs and failures. Aaron's Hope story accomplishes a lot of the same things, although in that case it is mostly Hope's triumphs and Scott's failures. We get to see Hope finally confront the issue of the Phoenix, which feels like it's sort of a long time coming. Obviously Marvel has been building up to it by design, but the girl ain't no fool. It makes sense she would have figured out so much already, and it was nice to have her say so out loud after all this time. Also the Serpent Society! Oh man, I have a soft spot in my heart for those clowns, and watching Hope use all of her tactics (including excessive rage-punching) to defeat such a bizarre and ridiculous group of villains was as entertaining as it was unsettling. Frank Cho's art was also solid and consistent. Fun action scenes that had villains which played to his strengths, and good, clear, expressive emotions in the angry-man-talks-sternly-at-woman scenes.
It loses some points because...nothing all that significant happened. No Avengers fought any X-Men. It was issue zero, and it had zero importance. But a fun prologue nonetheless.
6.5/10
Daredevil #10: Daredevil against Mole Man is a pretty interesting match up. Mole Man's natural dimwittedness means that, except for arguably the first page or two, he never puts Daredevil in any real danger, but he's also smart enough to point out that the whole fight is useless because Daredevil has nothing to gain. And it's true. As the narrative captions so kindly point out to us, everybody loses this time. Mole Man may not be a threat to Daredevil, but he's already done all the damage he could do with his little grave-robbing scheme to Matt Murdock. And it is, appropriately, Murdock whose name is attached to the construction of the replacement headstones, granting him the only real victory for any of the characters. A thoroughly satisfying ending to this two-parter.
Then there's the weird part at the very end where...I guess maybe he's going crazy? Or he's overly paranoid? Something's up. Of course, The Omega Effect is next, as we already know, so his paranoia is probably not misplaced. But it was a sort of jarring ending to what was otherwise another great issue from Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera.
8.5/10
Justice League Dark #7: Blech. If they hadn't already announced Lemire taking over, I'd be dropping this title for good as of this week. I have a theory that Peter Milligan never wanted this job or, at any rate, once he got it he regretted the decision for some reason. Because we know damn well he is capable of writing a John Constantine with actual charm and some sliver of likability, but every month in this book all Constantine does it bitch. Bitch bitch bitch. At Xanadu and, sometimes, Deadman, who isn't even bold enough to bitch back. Instead, all he does is whine (yes, there is a difference, but they are equally obnoxious and wrong for these characters). As if that wasn't enough, Shade's only role this month was to be confused and scared. Xanadu, too, until she abandons everybody. Also Zatanna, basically, although she may not have been so scared. A few vampires did get killed, but mostly Xanadu barked orders and the others begrudgingly obeyed. Like always. I get it, Milligan, you can't think of one damn reason this group would be formed, so you just have a magic lady force them together. Stop pointing it out and just tell me a story.
The art was serviceable, but also felt a little bit rushed or...cramped, like maybe Admira Wijaya and/or Daniel Sampere might have liked an extra page or two. A lot of M-Vest activity happened off-panel, and we jumped around from Bat-people back to the main cast in a rapid, disorienting, unsatisfying way.
Basically, boo.
3.0/10
Moon Knight #11: I will be so sad to lose this title next month. The craziest hero in the game, that's the angle Marc Spector has chosen for himself, and it is working on every level. Alex Maleev draws the shit out of what is mostly just one great and sometimes humorous fight scene between Moon Knight, Madame Masque, and Agent Buck Lime over control of, you guessed it, the head of Ultron. And Bendis continues to develop the interesting partnership between Moon Knight and Buck, as well as hanging onto the Echo and Nefaria threads, all of which makes for the perfect push to what will be the inevitable final showdown in issue 12. Definitely the best title to get the axe from Marvel all year.
8.0/10
Morning Glories #17: Jade and Ike talk to each other. End of plot summary.
This was not a bad issue. This was not an impressive issue. There was some insight given into the minds of both characters, but I would argue that, for the most part, it's not a lot we didn't already know. Jade has some secret knowledge, and it is connected to her killing herself. Yep, knew that. Ike is a prick, but only sort of, because really he's kind of nice and sad and smart and understanding. Duh. Other than Jade's mom's death, which only raises more questions than it answers, nothing was really to be gained from this issue. And that, I think, is a problem with Morning Glories in general. Nick Spencer loves to throw weird and/or unexpected shit at us (see the last page of this issue) and then just makes us steep in it without any conclusive payoff. Example: Jade finally asks out loud what the school is, vaguely says it might be a test, and then...nothing. End of topic. Not helpful.
My interest shrinks with this title more and more. But Joe Eisma always brings his A-game. His A-game is not necessarily dazzling, but it's always right there, looking the same and therefore creating a real sense of consistency to the world of the book. And that is as true here as always.
5.0/10
Scalped #57: Another title which, when it ends, will be every so dearly missed. I must say, I honestly thought we'd be done with all the Diesel stuff. I guess maybe that was stupid of me, but if so I'm glad to be stupid, because I really enjoyed the surprise of it coming back into play here, at the end of everything, in such an enormous way. Diesel's murder (and the whole story surrounding it) was such a key part of the greater arc of Dash's character, really getting him in with Red Crow in a way he hadn't quite accomplished before that, so it seems fitting it would be the thing that might undo Dash in the end.
Of course, it's all really because of Carol's abortion, which is another plotline I wasn't sure we'd ever hear from again (although I was less surprised by this one). And I really, really hope we get to see Red Crow and Carol talk about it before the title comes to a close, because I just think Jason Aaron is going to write that scene into space.
Trail's End is shaping up to be one hell of a closing arc. And I didn't even talk about how it's probably one of the top ten covers Jock's ever done for the series, or how brutal Catcher gets to be one last time before it all comes to a close, or how R.M. Guera does such a great job decaying Diesel's body you feel like you're watching Bones. Only three to go, so Aaron and Guera better already have their next project locked and loaded.
8.5/10
Secret Avengers #24: I am having a hard time pinning down my feelings about this one. I have been enjoying this story, by-and-large, but under Rick Remender's pen, Secret Avengers has started to feel kind of like Justice League Dark, where the biggest common theme from issue to issue is how much everyone dislikes and fights with each other on the team. Now, there is certainly more of a sense in Secret Avengers that, eventually, some of this griping and sniping will resolve. Hawkeye obviously wishes he was doing better, Beast has been trying to keep the peace, etc. but for now I find it sort of grating. Captain Britain and The Torch bicker, Hawkeye apologizes to Beast for last month's bickering, and Flash Thompson just complains out loud to himself for a page. Enough.
However, Gabriel Hardman could not be a better fit for the title right now, I think in some ways because of all the in-fighting and negativity. His lines are rough but always clear, his characters so expressive even when they're not as detailed, and it fits the somewhat gritty and uneven feeling of the team. And he makes Father quite the imposing villain, while still letting some of the humor of a room full of arguing robots come through.
Still, mostly just more losing to Adaptoids and failing to get along for the Secret Avengers this issue. Same as last issue.
6.0/10
Spaceman #5: Coming right in the middle of this nine-issue series, Spaceman #5 is a bit of a slow burn. Each of the various seeds Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso planted in the previous four issues continues to grow. Orson and Tara get one step closer to getting her home once they are spotted by, and then spot, a camera crew from her show. The story of Orson's past on his space mission takes a fatal and, no doubt, highly significant turn. And by the end of the issue, Orson's past gets incrementally closer to catching up with him in the present. Steady as she goes with this story, as well as Risso's art. What can be said that hasn't been said already? He captures the gloom of the world so perfectly, while both Orson and Tara stand out as more innocent and hopeful figures. Even when compared to the other "spaceman" on the last page (whose name escapes me at the moment), Orson is far less imposing or hard in his appearance. It keeps us on his side, even as we learn that his greed led to another's death, or we wonder whether he's the best guardian for Tara at the moment. He may not be, but it's clear he's doing his personal best, and that's good enough (for me, anyway).
7.5/10
Teen Titans #7: Teen Titans is such an insane romp of a comic book, sometimes it zips by so fast it barely leaves an impression. I mean, what even happens this month? The Titans win and win and win but don't get anywhere, argue with each other a bit (Red Robin is a total dick in this issue), and then get attacked by a scary-looking villain. Not the first scary-looking villain to attack them, mind you. Not even the scariest-looking, which sort of detracts from the ending. And something so weird happens to Kid Flash for like half a page that I am guessing will be important down the line.
It wasn't bad, per se, just a bit fluffy. I will say that I found myself actively cheering on Solstice when she was scolding Red Robin, who, again, was such an ass about it. He's really not that great a leader, or even, in this issue, that great a hero. But the rest of his team are such a lively and interesting-looking group, that even when it's not doing much, Teen Titans continues to entertain from cover to cover.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Force #23: The Otherworld story finally ends, and not a moment too soon. Man, so much about this was a disappointment. Tocchini's art, as has been pointed out elsewhere, is all wrong here. Uncanny X-Force has, to my mind, always been its best when the art has been as down-to-earth as possible. It is a team of grim characters doing dirty work, even when they are battling goat monks from the future and skinless judges, and they need an artist who can show it. Having such blurred and uneven art is a huge drawback.
The story, alas, was only the tiniest bit better. I did like the very, very end of the issue, where Betsy gets to put each of her brothers in their respective places, because Psylocke is a badass and should get to act like one as much as possible. But Mr. Skinless or Weapon III or whatever he's called just runs off, and the reveal about the goat monk's identity, while semi-interesting, was not all that inventive and made the bulk of the fighting in the last few issues seem like a lot of wasted time.
Also, the whole trial of Fantomex thing hasn't really been resolved, has it? I mean, the plan was to erase the guy from existence, and that did not happen. Is the Captain Britain Corps NOT going to come after him again for murdering kid Apocalypse? And if not, why not? And if they are going to come after him again...lame. I don't want to see those British pricks in Uncanny X-Force ever again!
EVER!
4.5/10
Avengers vs. X-Men #0: This is a pretty solid zero issue. Inasmuch as zero issues have any purpose whatsoever (but that's an argument for another time). But if you are going to do a non-essential opening chapter for your story, AvX #0 is the way to do so. Could I have skipped this entirely? You bet. Was it worth the time and money? Sure.
Brian Michael Bendis and Jason Aaron each deliver a clear, complex, and honest character piece. Bendis begins to reintroduce the Scarlet Witch to active superherosim, and in a small amount of space puts Wanda through physical and emotional triumphs and failures. Aaron's Hope story accomplishes a lot of the same things, although in that case it is mostly Hope's triumphs and Scott's failures. We get to see Hope finally confront the issue of the Phoenix, which feels like it's sort of a long time coming. Obviously Marvel has been building up to it by design, but the girl ain't no fool. It makes sense she would have figured out so much already, and it was nice to have her say so out loud after all this time. Also the Serpent Society! Oh man, I have a soft spot in my heart for those clowns, and watching Hope use all of her tactics (including excessive rage-punching) to defeat such a bizarre and ridiculous group of villains was as entertaining as it was unsettling. Frank Cho's art was also solid and consistent. Fun action scenes that had villains which played to his strengths, and good, clear, expressive emotions in the angry-man-talks-sternly-at-woman scenes.
It loses some points because...nothing all that significant happened. No Avengers fought any X-Men. It was issue zero, and it had zero importance. But a fun prologue nonetheless.
6.5/10
Daredevil #10: Daredevil against Mole Man is a pretty interesting match up. Mole Man's natural dimwittedness means that, except for arguably the first page or two, he never puts Daredevil in any real danger, but he's also smart enough to point out that the whole fight is useless because Daredevil has nothing to gain. And it's true. As the narrative captions so kindly point out to us, everybody loses this time. Mole Man may not be a threat to Daredevil, but he's already done all the damage he could do with his little grave-robbing scheme to Matt Murdock. And it is, appropriately, Murdock whose name is attached to the construction of the replacement headstones, granting him the only real victory for any of the characters. A thoroughly satisfying ending to this two-parter.
Then there's the weird part at the very end where...I guess maybe he's going crazy? Or he's overly paranoid? Something's up. Of course, The Omega Effect is next, as we already know, so his paranoia is probably not misplaced. But it was a sort of jarring ending to what was otherwise another great issue from Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera.
8.5/10
Justice League Dark #7: Blech. If they hadn't already announced Lemire taking over, I'd be dropping this title for good as of this week. I have a theory that Peter Milligan never wanted this job or, at any rate, once he got it he regretted the decision for some reason. Because we know damn well he is capable of writing a John Constantine with actual charm and some sliver of likability, but every month in this book all Constantine does it bitch. Bitch bitch bitch. At Xanadu and, sometimes, Deadman, who isn't even bold enough to bitch back. Instead, all he does is whine (yes, there is a difference, but they are equally obnoxious and wrong for these characters). As if that wasn't enough, Shade's only role this month was to be confused and scared. Xanadu, too, until she abandons everybody. Also Zatanna, basically, although she may not have been so scared. A few vampires did get killed, but mostly Xanadu barked orders and the others begrudgingly obeyed. Like always. I get it, Milligan, you can't think of one damn reason this group would be formed, so you just have a magic lady force them together. Stop pointing it out and just tell me a story.
The art was serviceable, but also felt a little bit rushed or...cramped, like maybe Admira Wijaya and/or Daniel Sampere might have liked an extra page or two. A lot of M-Vest activity happened off-panel, and we jumped around from Bat-people back to the main cast in a rapid, disorienting, unsatisfying way.
Basically, boo.
3.0/10
Moon Knight #11: I will be so sad to lose this title next month. The craziest hero in the game, that's the angle Marc Spector has chosen for himself, and it is working on every level. Alex Maleev draws the shit out of what is mostly just one great and sometimes humorous fight scene between Moon Knight, Madame Masque, and Agent Buck Lime over control of, you guessed it, the head of Ultron. And Bendis continues to develop the interesting partnership between Moon Knight and Buck, as well as hanging onto the Echo and Nefaria threads, all of which makes for the perfect push to what will be the inevitable final showdown in issue 12. Definitely the best title to get the axe from Marvel all year.
8.0/10
Morning Glories #17: Jade and Ike talk to each other. End of plot summary.
This was not a bad issue. This was not an impressive issue. There was some insight given into the minds of both characters, but I would argue that, for the most part, it's not a lot we didn't already know. Jade has some secret knowledge, and it is connected to her killing herself. Yep, knew that. Ike is a prick, but only sort of, because really he's kind of nice and sad and smart and understanding. Duh. Other than Jade's mom's death, which only raises more questions than it answers, nothing was really to be gained from this issue. And that, I think, is a problem with Morning Glories in general. Nick Spencer loves to throw weird and/or unexpected shit at us (see the last page of this issue) and then just makes us steep in it without any conclusive payoff. Example: Jade finally asks out loud what the school is, vaguely says it might be a test, and then...nothing. End of topic. Not helpful.
My interest shrinks with this title more and more. But Joe Eisma always brings his A-game. His A-game is not necessarily dazzling, but it's always right there, looking the same and therefore creating a real sense of consistency to the world of the book. And that is as true here as always.
5.0/10
Scalped #57: Another title which, when it ends, will be every so dearly missed. I must say, I honestly thought we'd be done with all the Diesel stuff. I guess maybe that was stupid of me, but if so I'm glad to be stupid, because I really enjoyed the surprise of it coming back into play here, at the end of everything, in such an enormous way. Diesel's murder (and the whole story surrounding it) was such a key part of the greater arc of Dash's character, really getting him in with Red Crow in a way he hadn't quite accomplished before that, so it seems fitting it would be the thing that might undo Dash in the end.
Of course, it's all really because of Carol's abortion, which is another plotline I wasn't sure we'd ever hear from again (although I was less surprised by this one). And I really, really hope we get to see Red Crow and Carol talk about it before the title comes to a close, because I just think Jason Aaron is going to write that scene into space.
Trail's End is shaping up to be one hell of a closing arc. And I didn't even talk about how it's probably one of the top ten covers Jock's ever done for the series, or how brutal Catcher gets to be one last time before it all comes to a close, or how R.M. Guera does such a great job decaying Diesel's body you feel like you're watching Bones. Only three to go, so Aaron and Guera better already have their next project locked and loaded.
8.5/10
Secret Avengers #24: I am having a hard time pinning down my feelings about this one. I have been enjoying this story, by-and-large, but under Rick Remender's pen, Secret Avengers has started to feel kind of like Justice League Dark, where the biggest common theme from issue to issue is how much everyone dislikes and fights with each other on the team. Now, there is certainly more of a sense in Secret Avengers that, eventually, some of this griping and sniping will resolve. Hawkeye obviously wishes he was doing better, Beast has been trying to keep the peace, etc. but for now I find it sort of grating. Captain Britain and The Torch bicker, Hawkeye apologizes to Beast for last month's bickering, and Flash Thompson just complains out loud to himself for a page. Enough.
However, Gabriel Hardman could not be a better fit for the title right now, I think in some ways because of all the in-fighting and negativity. His lines are rough but always clear, his characters so expressive even when they're not as detailed, and it fits the somewhat gritty and uneven feeling of the team. And he makes Father quite the imposing villain, while still letting some of the humor of a room full of arguing robots come through.
Still, mostly just more losing to Adaptoids and failing to get along for the Secret Avengers this issue. Same as last issue.
6.0/10
Spaceman #5: Coming right in the middle of this nine-issue series, Spaceman #5 is a bit of a slow burn. Each of the various seeds Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso planted in the previous four issues continues to grow. Orson and Tara get one step closer to getting her home once they are spotted by, and then spot, a camera crew from her show. The story of Orson's past on his space mission takes a fatal and, no doubt, highly significant turn. And by the end of the issue, Orson's past gets incrementally closer to catching up with him in the present. Steady as she goes with this story, as well as Risso's art. What can be said that hasn't been said already? He captures the gloom of the world so perfectly, while both Orson and Tara stand out as more innocent and hopeful figures. Even when compared to the other "spaceman" on the last page (whose name escapes me at the moment), Orson is far less imposing or hard in his appearance. It keeps us on his side, even as we learn that his greed led to another's death, or we wonder whether he's the best guardian for Tara at the moment. He may not be, but it's clear he's doing his personal best, and that's good enough (for me, anyway).
7.5/10
Teen Titans #7: Teen Titans is such an insane romp of a comic book, sometimes it zips by so fast it barely leaves an impression. I mean, what even happens this month? The Titans win and win and win but don't get anywhere, argue with each other a bit (Red Robin is a total dick in this issue), and then get attacked by a scary-looking villain. Not the first scary-looking villain to attack them, mind you. Not even the scariest-looking, which sort of detracts from the ending. And something so weird happens to Kid Flash for like half a page that I am guessing will be important down the line.
It wasn't bad, per se, just a bit fluffy. I will say that I found myself actively cheering on Solstice when she was scolding Red Robin, who, again, was such an ass about it. He's really not that great a leader, or even, in this issue, that great a hero. But the rest of his team are such a lively and interesting-looking group, that even when it's not doing much, Teen Titans continues to entertain from cover to cover.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Force #23: The Otherworld story finally ends, and not a moment too soon. Man, so much about this was a disappointment. Tocchini's art, as has been pointed out elsewhere, is all wrong here. Uncanny X-Force has, to my mind, always been its best when the art has been as down-to-earth as possible. It is a team of grim characters doing dirty work, even when they are battling goat monks from the future and skinless judges, and they need an artist who can show it. Having such blurred and uneven art is a huge drawback.
The story, alas, was only the tiniest bit better. I did like the very, very end of the issue, where Betsy gets to put each of her brothers in their respective places, because Psylocke is a badass and should get to act like one as much as possible. But Mr. Skinless or Weapon III or whatever he's called just runs off, and the reveal about the goat monk's identity, while semi-interesting, was not all that inventive and made the bulk of the fighting in the last few issues seem like a lot of wasted time.
Also, the whole trial of Fantomex thing hasn't really been resolved, has it? I mean, the plan was to erase the guy from existence, and that did not happen. Is the Captain Britain Corps NOT going to come after him again for murdering kid Apocalypse? And if not, why not? And if they are going to come after him again...lame. I don't want to see those British pricks in Uncanny X-Force ever again!
EVER!
4.5/10
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