BT03 – My Comics Reviews, My Enemy!

Back in the saddle again!

I love all those old Lee-era titles. They’re great.

Slow going this time out. A few distractions going on here at home.

Review code format: writing (3-1, faboo to mediocre), art (3-1), suitability for jumping on as a new reader (3-1), suitability for hooking a a non-comics reader (3-1), and eagerly waiting the collected TBP (Y/N).

Fantastic Four #500/71 (Marvel) [3/2/3/2/Y]
I was slow to warm to Mark Waid on FF. Maybe it was the craptastic logo they introduced, or maybe it was Mike Wieringo’s art (I like Wieringo, but not on “straight” superhero stuff). But Waid’s run has grown on me, which is why he’s been booted off the series, I’m sure, but not before establishing a significant new chapter in the Dr. Doom/Reed Richards rivalry with his “Unthinkable” arc. Fantabulous. Doom decides that true power lies in his occult studies, not his scientific ones — power he gains in a truly horrific fashion, and power he’s certain the oh-so-rational Reed can never match. How the FF manage to beat Doom the Occult Master is inspired, and is a fine, fine piece of writing. And there’s a nice twist ending to boot. Good stuff, and probably one of the best mainstream comics of 2003.

Emma Frost #1 (Marvel) [1/2/3/2/N]
I remember when we first met Emma Frost, back in X-Men 131. Psionic and sadistic bitch, she was pretty quickly dispatched by Phoenix. Yet something about her — perhaps the white bustier — has kept her as a popular X-character, despite her being totally unlikable as an individual. She was the evil school marm in opposition to Prof. X’s teacher of the New Mutants — and then tragic figure when her charges were killed. Eventually, she was brought into the X-fold, even though she’s still a bitch. Now Karl Bollers brings us a new ongoing Emma Frost series, starting off with a 6-part review of how she grew up an unloved little rich girl, a reject among her preppy friends, squirming under the thumb of her tyrannical father, and suffering those tell-tale headaches that we all know means mutant powers will soon be popping out like zits. The art by Randy green and Rick Ketcham is Image pretty-folk standard, which is a shame, since something a lot more everyday (Michael Lark?) might have been a nice contrast. Nothing much new to see here. Will I stay with the series, hoping it improves (yeah, I’m fascinated by the little witch, too), or will I drop it until something interesting seems to come along. Stay tuned.

Batman #616 (DC) [3/3/3/1/Y]
I shouldn’t like this series. Jeph Loeb’s writing an Elseworlds story here, since nothing he’s doing seems attached to the rest of the Bat-universe, either in the past or of late. And Jim Lee draws beautifully as always, but it’s way too Image for my taste. Still, it’s a gorgeous work, and when you get Ras al Ghul and Talia and Cat Woman and various battles to the death, it’s hard to turn your back on it. I’m hooked. Though I shouldn’t be.