BT03 – When Come the Comics Reviews!

You know, I will run out of relatively new comics before this is over. Fortunately, I have other ideas too.

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).

Scars #6 of 6 (Avatar) [3/3/1/2/Y]
Scars is a Warren Ellis tale of a traumatized police detective having to face a horrific child killing — and the even more horrifying possibility that the man he thinks is guilty will get away. It all grinds down to an inevitable conclusion this issue. Jacen Burrows B&W art is simple, expressive, and effective. Ellis doesn’t pull any punches, and while this could have been an exploitative bloodbath, it comes across as something … well, not more profound, but certainly less cheap than that. And the afterword by Steven Grant (himself no stranger to violent comics) is almost worth the issue itself:

Some scars happen by accident, some are ritual. All are there to remind us of what we’ve learned. What we do with what we’ve learned is what makes us monsters and bastards, or not. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments: rules of behavior that were supposed to make people moral. Ten was too much to remember. Jesus knew this. He brought them down to two: Love God and Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself. Still too much to remember, if the last 2000 yearfs is an indicator. So let’s bring it down to a simple four words: Don’t be a bastard.

Not bad for a cheap black-and-white comic.

JLA #82 (DC) [1/1/1/1/N]
As the stats indicate, I’m about this far from cancelling my sub to this. Only inertia from past glories keeps me on (and not for long). Joe Kelly, frankly, is an awful writer. His characterizations suck, and he seems to glorify in dragging down everyone he writes. The art here from Duncan Rouleau and Aaron Sowd is dreadfully mediocre. The actors go through their paces, the bad guys eventually are taken down, dire and darksome threats remain, and you end up feeling just a bit sticky and dirty from the whole experience.

Flash #199 (DC) [3/2/2/1/Y]
Joe Kelly needs to learn from Geoff Johns. Johns writes dark, but he also writes well, and there’s purpose behind what he puts our heroes through. Just as the original Professor Zoom brought down Barry Allen’s Flash from grace, so the newest Professor Zoom — a different person, very different motivation, and a stunningly different power — threatens to do the same. I’d dropped this title for a while, but I’m back, and glad I am.

Formerly Known as the Justice League #1 (DC) [2/3/3/2/Y]
Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, with Kevin Maguire and Joe Rubinstein on the art, have successfully brought back the classic 80s (!) Justice League. You remember — the crisp clean art, Maxwell Lord, Oreos, self-lampooning humor, intelligent writing. Oh, sure, it eventually all became just too silly, especially as other folks tried to extend the franchise, but it was groundbreaking stuff. And bringing it back looks like it may be a lot of fun. Yes, there’s a bit of goofiness, but so far it’s in check and in service to the story. Besides, nobody else was doing anything with Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Mary Marvel, Green Flame (or whatever she’s calling herself these days — and her establishing money-making scheme is worth the price of the whole issue), or the Elongated Man. Fun stuff, both for the nostalgic and for those looking for a bit of fun.