BT06 – Reviews of Real Comic Books

Okay, now for something marginally different.  Rather than TPBs, I’m going to do some of the regular comics I’m reading today.  I went and grabbed stuff I’d received and read in the last couple of months and threw it (alphatically, natch) into a box.  Here’s what I have.

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

52 #2-12 (DC) [4/4/2/1] (w. Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid; a. Keith Giffen, Joe Bennett)

With a list of writers that long, this ought to be a train wreck, and sometimes it does get a bit crazy, but these are all masters at the craft, and their integrated tales looking at what happened to the DCU in the aftermath of the Infinite Crisis and prior to the “One Year Later” everything got rebooted to is working remarkably well.  Some of the stories are gelling well, others are merely interesting sidelights, but coming as they are on a weekly basis (the 52 weeks of the year the series will run, hence
the title), it’s turning out okay.  At the very least, it’s good for DC triviameisters, if not for the more casual reader.

Backing up all of this has been an odd retelling of the DCU History, w/a. Dan Jurgens, featuring Donna Troy chatting with Harbinger’s sphere, and, evidently, ushering in a corps of Monitors in the near future.

Action Comics #841 (DC) [4/4/3/1] (w. Kurt Busiek, Fabien Nicieza; a. Pete Woods)

After the “Up, Up, and Away!” storyline, where we learned that Supes was basically powerless for most of the “Year Later” until he’d recovered from the big duke-out at the end of Infinite Crisis, Supes is now back.  It’s either a bizarre coincidence or an odd marketing play that just as Superman Returns comes out, Busiek and Action deal with “how does the world react to Superman coming back after being gone a year?”

The answer is an interesting one, as quite a number of people actually wonder if it’s really him, or someone faking him.  A fair question, given both the disappearance and what happened with Supes was dead previously.  It does mean reestablishing some professional relationships again, not to mention getting back whatever security clearances he once had with the governments of the world.  A fun twist.

Meanwhile, Supes is lending a hand with heroes across the US in fending off an alien <s>invasion</s> acquisition of the planet’s treasures.  How soon will the status quo return?  We’ll see.

All-Star Batman & Robin #4 (DC) [4/5/3/1] (w. Frank Miller; a. Jim Lee)

Miller has gotten a fair amount of heat for this not-really-continuity retelling of Batman’s adoption of Robin, his Bats seeming to be overly brutal, sadistic, and nasty.  And that’s just to the bad guys.  He’s even worse to the newly orphaned Dick Grayson.

The criticism seems to be correct, for what it’s worth.  It’s an interesting take on the character, but I sure wouldn’t pass this comic on to an impressionable kid, no matter how nice Lee’s art is (and it’s some of his best) or how engaging (within the parameters above) Miller’s writing is.  I’ll probably keep reading it, just to see where Miller’s going to take it (and because of Lee’s nice art), but I’m not really enjoying the process.

All-Star Superman #4 (DC) [4/5/3/2] (w. Grant Morrison; a. Frank Quitely)

Another non-canonical alternate take on an iconic hero. Morrison does his take on a classic style Superman/Jimmy Olson team-up, but with the sort of cosmic uplift that you’d expect from his JLA run a few years back.  Black Kryptonite, ultra-sophisticated research satellites, Doomsday potions, lots of technobabble and goofiness.  It’s a beautiful book, in look and craftsmanship, but there’s still a vague sense, when all is said and done, that you’re being laughed at by Morrison.

Folks who like Morrison, or Morrison’s reimagining of comic book conventions, will love this.  Big Superman fans might very well not.

(I suppose we’re lucky — or unlucky — that with Miller on Batman and Morrison on Superman, we didn’t get Warren Ellis doing Wonder Woman … and, upon consideration, why didn’t we?)

(listening to: Derbyshire, Delia , “Extended Theme (1967)” from Doctor Who (various))
(listening to: Riepl, Kevin, “Hide-n-Seek-v3” from Unreal Tournament 2003) 
(listening to: “Theme4” from City of Heroes)
(listening to: “James at 15” from Television’s Greatest Hits – VI)
(listening to: Cash, Johnny, “Ring of Fire” from Johnny Cash 16 Biggest Hits)
(listening to: “The Beverly Hillbillies” from Television’s Greatest Hits)
(listening to: Barry, John, “Moviola” from Moviola)
(listening to: Battlefield Band, “The Port of Call” from Anthem for the Comman Man)
(listening to: Stone Edge, “Yesterday’s Child” from Stone Edge)
(listening to: Monkees, “Monkees’ Theme” from Monkees – Greatest Hits)
(listening to: Isham, Mark, “Down the Alley (With You)” from A River Runs Through It)