Category: Blogathon

Cleared of comics to review! Until next year, that is!

Runaways #27 (Marvel) w. Joss Whedon; a. Michael Ryan
Whedon’s run on the title has been solid but not extraordinary.  Throwing them back in time is an interesting move, especially given that we encounter some 1907 metahuman street urchins (the Yellow Kid — I love it) and some other time travelers that are unlikely to be pleased by all this.

Outsiders #49 (DC) w. Judd Winick; a. Matthew Clark, Ron Randall
CheckMate double-crosses, torture, border violations, and more intrigue than you can shake a stick at — which ends with setting up a new Batman and the Outsiders.  Interesting.

Thunderbolts #115 (Marvel) w. Warren Ellis; a. Mike Deodato, Jr
This continues to be the “Dark Underbelly of the Registration Act” group, run by Norman “Green Goblin” Osborne and populated by both well-meaning heroes and some real scum.  Good damned stuff.

And in honor of that, I’m going to be even more brief in my reviews.  Or less structured.  Or something.

Green Lantern #21 (DC) w. Geoff Johns; a. Ivan Reis
I’m tired of all the screwing around with the GL universe.  The art is pretty, but the whole Sinestro Corps thing has been a real turn-off.

 Hawkgirl #66 (DC) w. Walter Simonson; a. Renato Arlem
Finally resolves the whole Hath-Set / eternal rebirth cycle thing for the Hawks.  Kind of ballsy, better than dwelling on it every other issue.  So now Kendra doesn’t have mystic mojo pushing her toward Carter.  Looks to be the end of the title.

Teen Titans #49 (DC) w. Adam Beechen; a. Al Barrioneuvo
Clumsy art, stilted plotting and dialog, and an Amazon Attacks! tie-in.  Bleah.  Hopefully #50 will be something special.

Jack of Fables #12 (DC Vertigo) w. Sturges & Willingham; a. Akins & Pepoy.
The series has never gelled for me as well as Fables.  This ep falls in-between serious adventures. Meh.

Justice League of America #11 (DC) w. Meltzer; a. Ha
Red Arrow and Vixen trapped under a fallen building.  Decent character stuff.

 Ms. Marvel #17 (Marvel) w. Brian Reed; a. Aaron Lopresti
The end of an overly-long and complex AIM/MODOK arc.  Thank heavens.  For all they were pushing this as a keystone title, they seem to have given up.

Stormwatch: Post Human Division #9 (Wildstorm) w. Christos Gage; a. Andy Smith
A failed assassination attempt, lots of internal paranoia, and a really stupid character-warping solution to the mystery.  Ugh.

Shadowpact #15 (DC) w. Bill Willingham; a. Tom Derenick
While Blue Devil is in Hell trying to free his family, Zauriel (a horribly underused Ellis-era JLA character) joins the team.  Not his fault Doc Gotham’s destroying the city.

Usagi Yojimbo #104 (Dark Horse) w/a. Stan Sakai
“The Darkness and the Soul” tale concludes with nary a sign of our titular hero.  That’s because, about two thirds of the way through, we realize this is the origin story of Jei, the demon spearsman.  (Stan’s inside joke is that, with an honorific, he’d be “Jei-san,” which sounds a lot like another unstoppable cinematic slashing killer …)  It’s all beautifully rendered, terrifying and poignant — par for the course, with this title.

Chronicles of Wormwood #5 of 6 (Avatar) w. Garth Ennis; a. Jacen Burrows
Wormwood, the affable Anti-Christ, realizes that he’s let his friend Jay — the Other Guy’s son — wander off with a returned Judas, which cannot bode well.  Depressed, and metaphorically kicked in the balls by his ex-girlfriend, Wormwood waits until darkness to have a chat with his own father, which leads in typical Ennisian fashion to a meeting (next ish) with God.  Bloody, irreverent fun, which is just what you expect from the writer.

 X-Factor #21 (Marvel) w. Peter David; a. Pablo Raimondi
A mysterious guy in an ice flow takes meds to keep from overhearing the conversations of the world.  Jaime tries to manage the unfortunate triangle between him, Monet, and Siryn.  Rahne and Rictor reach out to each other in a couple of ways.  Guido gets offered the job of sheriff for the mutant quarter of town.  The team takes a job to reunite some kids with their grandparents.  Someone at the office has a positive pregnancy test.  And the guy from the firs scene sits down with Jaime in the bar to have a drink.  It all fits together nicely, and the art is appropriately noirish and dark.  I approve.

Y: The Last Man #57 (DC Vertigo) w. Brian Vaughan; a. Pia Guerra
Yorick and Beth make up for lost time, sex-wise.  Which is fine, until she fesses up to something that kind of puts a kink in the relationship for the moment.  He leaves — but what comes in through the door later is even more significant.  (And, yeah, I’m being cryptic because there are some folks who really don’t want spoilers on this series.)  As Y comes towards and end, I have no idea how it’s going to resolve.  But it continues to be a fine book worth reading.

 New Avengers; Illuminati #3 of 5 (Marvel) w. Brian Bendis, Brian Reed; a. Jim Cheung
So what were the Illuminati doing during, say, the Marvel Secret War?  Discovering that the Beyonder was not really an all-powerful near-Godlike uber-critter (as everyone who has failed to blot him from his memory thought until now) but was actually a really powerful Inhuman Mutant.  So when he comes back for Secret Wars II, the Illuminati go visit him in the asteroid belt, where they discover that he’s created an artificial Earth with artificial inhabitants, heroes included, who are the actual folks who were in Secret Wars II, evidently.  They try to tell him to leave the universe, he offers them a world like they want it.  Namor gets all kinglike and chides him on Black Bolt’s behalf.  And things get a bit out in the corn fieldy, and that’s the end of the tale.  Which, I suppose, makes slightly more sense than Secret Wars II itself, but it’s still a bit irksome.  But the dialog is faboo, and the art is very nice.  Still … an Inhuman Mutant?  Yeesh.

 Silver Surfer: Requiem #3 of 4 (Marvel) w. Joe Straczynski; a. Esad Ribic
The Silver Surfer is dying (since he hasn’t been getting regular tune-ups with Galactus). Having spent the last two issues learning this, then chatting with Spider-Man, he chats a bit with Dr Strange, then goes out into the galaxy.  He finds two races at war, and resolves it by wiping out their fleets and their war-mongering leaders.  It’s actually been a very moving series, and Ribic’s painted art has been a perfect touch.  This has been the weakest of the three issues to date (the other two would have gotten five stars).

Streets of Glory Preview (Avatar) w. Garth Ennis; a. Mike Wolfer
Ennis brings his romanticism and violence to the old West.  We get beautiful panoramas, callow youths,  treacherous horsemen, and lots of head-shattering gunplay, much the hands of an old gunfighter who you know is going to be our protagonist.  There are also notes from Ennis on the glory of Westerns.  Looks like triffic fun.

Thor #1 (Marvel) w. Straczynski; a. Copiel, Morales
I Short of Walt Simonson returning to the title, there’s nobody besides JMS I would trust with something this big.  And he proves his worthiness from the get-go, as the spirit of Thor … or is it Don Blake? … ponders his life before … passing to wherever he is.  Thor is summoned from beyond by, yes, Blake, his existence returned once the gods were no more.  Blake makes the case for Thor’s returning to the moral world.  Thor fights the requisite struggle against the forces that would restrain them, and then … a man walks down a desert highway with a walking stick …. It’s beautiful, it’s understaed, and it’s promising as all get-out.  I want the next issue. I want the trade paperback.  I want Thor, dagnabbit.

I am actually beginning to run low on intervals to post in, and am confident I have more material than time.  Huzzah!

So, in the interest of bieng interesting, I’m going to focus on comics of some note — mostly (though not all) stuff that’s really good.

Martha Washington Dies (Dark Horse) w. Frank Miller; a. Dave Gibbons
I proudly have the various Martha Washington graphics, and one shots, on my TPB shelves, but this tale, set in 2095, is hardly worth the effort.  It’s basically a recounting of MW’s life, and her last chat with folks in her resistance community in some ruined city.  And then she dies, and turns into fireworks, and her followers/family go charging off to fight the barbarians.  Seventeen pages.  Whuh? Oh, to pad out the thing, there are some pages from Frank Miller’s original 1987 outline for Give Me LIberty.  Oh, boy.  An inappropriately pointless ending for a moving character.

The Mighty Avengers (Marvel) w. Bendis, a. Cho
Ultron has taken over Tony Stark’s armor and body and made itself look like Janet, but, more importantly, has declared the end of the world.  Ares is cranky and fights a lot.  Wonder Man and Sentry kick ass against threatening satellites, but then Ultron activates a million-zillion Iron Man armors, while it goes off and kills Sentry’s wife.  Yikes!  Ares kicks more ass.  Ultron starts activating nuclear missile codes.  Bendis has some fun dialog (enhanced by snarky thought balloons, a technique that had almost vanished from comics. ).  Cho’s art is very nice.  The overall story is epic but unengaging.

The New Avengers (Marvel) w. Bendis, a. Yu
Yes, yet another Avengers title.  This one has the fugitive Avengers.  They’re all flying back from Japan where they fought Elektra and her million-zillion ninja, only to discover that Elektra was actually a Skrull shapeshifter.  Yikes!  So now everyone’s paranoid that someone on the team is a Skrull, as though that possibility had never existed before.  Plus there’s arguments about what to do with the body.  Spider-Woman wants to give it to Tony Stark and SHIELD to alert them.  Everyone else is suddenly thinking maybe Tony Stark is a Skrull, hence his acting like an ass-hat.  Then the plane crashes, and Spider-Woman takes the Skrull body.  Huh.  Okay.  Art is kind of ugly, but the story and dialog are classic Bendis.

 Fables #63 (DC Vertigo) w. Bill Willingham; a. Mark Buckingham
“The Good Prince” series continues, as both the Fables and the Adversary’s councils plot the next moves in the war.  Fabletown starts mustering its forces, both in the city and even amongst the dead.  This is mostly an entr’acte episode, some nice character play and groundwork laid for future actions.  I fear the war against the Adversary is going to be damned bloody.

Fallen Angel #18 (IDW) w. Peter David; a. J.K. Woodward
An odd adventure with Shi continues from the previous issue.  They make an odd couple — which actually helps, because it gives the Fallen Angel someone to snark at.  And from the other perspective, it actually makes me interested in Shi again.  Some nice Peter David dialog, a few twists, and the menace of the Yellow City revealed on he last page.  Some of the best FA action since the series moved to IDW.

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #5 (Marvel) w. Jeph Loeb; a. John Cassaday
The series has been looking at how different individuals have dealt with Cap’s death. This issue focuses on Iron Man, his chief adversary in the Civil War.  We see Cap’s funeral — a large affair of state, despite how things ended.  Stark is unable to speak, leaving it to the Falcon to give a remarkable elegy.  The Cassaday art is, as always, exquisite.  And the final scenes, and the final laying to rest of Cap, will remain with us for a while.  Probably one of the best post-Civil War books yet.

Fantastic Four #547 (Marvel) w. Dwayne Mcduffie; a. Paul Pelletier, Rick Magyar
The FF are back from their zombie encounter (in Black Panther), while Reed and Sue are doing scientific stuff together out near Saturn.  Reed recovers an organic probe and takes a quick jaunt to earth to consult with Hank Pym on it, learning it carries a message about an invading alien force.  Out in space, though, Sue’s under attack by the Frightful Four, who, upon her capture, tell Reed their going to kill her, so that he’ll take a booby-trapped space vehicle.  It actually plays out a lot better than it sounds.  The art resembles Alan Davis.  Overall, quite readable.

 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #22 (Marvel) w. Peter David; a. Todd Nauck
This is another Back in Black tale, but Pete’s not behaving at all like he is in Amazing Spider-Man.  Instead, he’s dealing with a creature who wants him to host her spider babies inside of him.  Plenty of supporting characer action from Betty Brant and Flash Thompson, as Spidey figures out a way to deal with the spider woman permanently.  That just leaves one problem — Joe Robertson’s been fired by Jolly JJJ.  It’s all not-quite-nutty fun, a relatively light romp compared to some in the current Spidey-verse.

Hmmm.  “F” was a pretty good letter.

Countdown #41 (DC) w. Paul Dini, Adam Beechen; a. Dennis Caleao
DC tries to bottle weekly lightning twice, by turning 52 into Countdown.  But the writer, the plot, and the characters aren’t nearly as compelling, and using the series as a cross-over bridge rather than telling a story itself makes it even worse..  Piper and Trickster, Flash Rogues on the run from both the law (as they’re implicated in Bart Allen’s death) and their fellow Rogues, nearly fall to their deaths.  Jimmy Olson plays with costume designs for his new powers, and realizes what a pain secret identities are.  Mary Marvel is all angsty about having Black Adams Angry Lightning Powers.  A Monitor is accompanying time anomolies Donna Troy and Jason Todd along with the new Atom to find the old Atom.  Amazon Attacks! is still brewing, endangering the odd Athenean women’s shelter Holly Robinson is at.  And the Legion of Super-Heroes (an odd flavor thereof) is finally leaving Earth, but leaving Karate Kid behind.  Whatever. 

 Dynamo 5 #5 (Image) w. Jay Faerber; a. Mahmud A. Asrar
Great concept — Captain Dynamo is dead, but his powers have been singly inherited by his many illegitimate offspring, covertly organized by his widow into a new super-team.  But can this inexperienced team actually pull itself together?  Will government agency who used to authorize Capt. Dynamo support them or throw them in jail?  And why is there someone who looks just like Captain Dynamo showing up again, and will Cap’s widow go off with him??    This is actually a very good series, well-drawn and decently written.  A lot of promise.

 Exiles #96 (Marvel) w. Chris Claremont, a. Clayton Henry
Betty deals with beings who tell her creation is unravelling.  The rest of the team is on an earth with a Victor Doom-led FF going up against some bad guys who kidnap Blink.  But are they really the Bad Guys, and is Vic and Company actually the right horse to back?  Claremont breathes some life into this creaking title, albeit melodramatic life, but it’s still a bit sketchy.

Ktbuffy asked:

What’s the top three comics you would recommend to a total comic book n00b, and why?

Hmmm.

Actually, back in 2003, I noted the The Top Twelve Comics Everyone Should Read.

My list:

1. Watchmen
2. Usagi Yojimbo
3. Walt Simonson’s run on Thor
4. Sin City
5. Strangers in Paradise
6. Marvels
7. The Sandman
8. Kingdom Come
9. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
10. Bone
11. Astro City
12. The Dark Knight Returns

And, honestly, looking at the list, I’m not sure I’d amend it at all.

Now, I’m cheating a bit, because those aren’t necessarily single comics or volumes, but multiple collections or books.  It also sort of depends on what your goal is.  Do you want to understand comics and get int more mainstream reading?  Do you want a good, solid tale that happens to be in comic format?  Do you like the Spandex crowd, or just graphic storytelling?

If I was going to assign a “n00b” to some items that delve into the mainstream comic world, I’d probably go for Astro City, Marvels, Watchmen, in that order.

If I was going to suggest ripping good graphic tales, regardless of super-powers, Strangers in Paradise, The Sandman, Usagi Yojimbo, and Bone would probably be at the top, not in any particular order.

Clearly, though, you need a personal comics assistant to help you.  I can make recommendations …

 Captain America #28 (Marvel) w. Ed Brubaker; a. Steve Epting, Mike Perkins. 
The Red Skull’s daughter, Sin, is running the Serpent Society, and is committing bloody mayhem to get the resources to sneak onto the SHIELD helicarrier to break loose Cross-Bones, who’s in custody there.  Meanwhile, the Winter Soldier (Bucky) is trying to find a way on board, too, so he can take out Tony Stark.  Standing against Bucky is the Falcon and Sharon Carter, the latter having nightmares about how she was manipulated into killing Cap.  It’s all dark, grim and gritty, and getting a bit too muddled for anyone’s good.

 Castle Waiting #7 (Fantagraphics) w/a. Linda Medley
The new series hasn’t quite clicked yet.  A discussion of the manly art of self-defense.  A goat who goes where she pleases. Recollections of adventures from past generations.  A discussion of the propriety of the word “dwarf.”  Excavating into a wall.  It’s all very nice, but presumably it will all eventually mean something.  That said, it’s all more interesting and pleasant and lovingly crafted that most of the stuff out there.

Catwoman #69 (DC) w. Will Pfeifer; a. David Lopez. 
Selina  is trying to lay low, let her friends who got hurt because of her be safe once more, while still dealing with her child.  But with all the Amazon Attacks! foofoorah, Batman recruits her to infiltrate the Bana.  She steals something radioactive for them to prove her bona fides; they double-cross her, and one of them threatens to blow up a big chunk of the city … and ends the issue triggering the bomb.  Huh.  Aside from the AA! annoyance, a decent issue.

 Checkmate #16 (DC) w. Greg Rucka; a. Bennett, Prado, Jadson
A long series of flashbacks going into how Sasha Bordeaux — former Bruce Wayne bodyguard, then Checkmate agent, then OMAC tool — got reestablished in Checkmate as the Black Queen.  Cool stuff.  Mr. Terriffic struggles with his romantic feelings toward Sasha (she thinks he’s spiffy because, as someone invisible to electronic detection, her OMAC enhancement don’t auto-flag all his kill points, which I have to admit would be kind of offputting in most relationships).  Meanwhile, Beatriz and Tora are reunited, which is sweet, as Bea keeps trying to deal with less-than-heroic background.  A bit of downtime, and less complex than most Checkmate issues.  Is Rucka finally hitting his stride here?

(listening to: Jones, Tom, “It’s Not Unusual” from Mars Attacks!)
(listening to: Beatles, “I Feel Fine” from One)
(listening to: Jaccottet, Christiane, “Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 – Variations 22-24” from Great Piano Moments, Vol. 2)
(listening to: Fitzpatrick, James & Prague Philharmonic, “The Wind and the Lion – Suite” from Jerry Goldsmith – 40 Years of Film Music)

Birds of Prey #108 (DC) w. Gail Simone; a. Nicola Scott
The endless “Whitewater” mission to Russia is over.  The Secret Six slink off, defeated.   Babs Gordon and the BoP plan a rebellion against the blackmailing, obnoxious Spy Smasher.  Bab, from her wheelchair, successfully brawls with her — and the rest of the team calls in basically the entire supporting cast, including all past members, Robin and the Outsiders, Catwoman, the JSA — a four-page spread of “buzz off, or we’ll buzz you off.”    Huzzah.  Babs figures out Misfit’s secret.  Fairly good stuff, but still a bit busy.

The Boys #8 (Dynamite) w. Garth Ennis; a. Darick Robertson
Ennis dives into the gay scene of super-heroes with his usual delicate aplomb, trying to track down a murderer.  More corrupt super-heroes, as the Boys investigate, and Hughie tries to come to grips with the killing he committed himself.  Actually, not a lot better than that all sounds.  Ennis does a fine job of being subtle when you expect something broad, and vice-versa, keeping you off-balance.  Pretty good stuff.

 Brave and the Bold #5 (DC) w. Mark Waid; a. George Perez
Truth be told, I sort of miss the stand-alone B&B of the good old days.  The current ongoing story arc is oddly convoluted and more than a bit goofy — Batman, pulled to the 30th Century, half-fused with Tharok, on the trail of a mystic tome.  Um … there’s about four too many contradictory plot elements there.  On the other hand, it’s kind of amusing to watch Bats flee the Legion and successfully evade them despite their powers (and familiarity with the era).  Bob Wiacek’s inks don’t do Perez’s pencils any favors.  Disappointing. 

(listening to: Pet Shop Boys, “Rent” from Actually)
(listening to: Giangiulio, Richard, & Paul Riedo, et al., “The Queen’s Dolour” from Music for Festive Occasions)
(listening to: Pomona College Mens Blue & Whites, “One Minute More” from Silence Profound)
(listening to: Broughton, Bruce & Sinfonia of London, “The Robot Attack” from Lost In Space – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)