{"id":1230,"date":"2002-02-10T19:40:57","date_gmt":"2002-02-11T00:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=1230"},"modified":"2002-02-10T19:40:57","modified_gmt":"2002-02-11T00:40:57","slug":"we_read_lots_of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/02\/10\/we_read_lots_of.html","title":{"rendered":"We read lots of comics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lots and lots and lots &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>And here are the reviews.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Remember, the grading is 1 (most mediocre) to 3 (best), with grades in writing, art, and tercile of the stack (&#8220;saving the best for last&#8221;).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i>Alias <\/i>#6 (MAX) [3\/2\/3]<br \/>\nJessica Jones has lunch with Carol Danvers.  Funny, touching, funny, interesting, funny &#8230;  This is a great title.  When are the collection TPBs starting to come out?<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Uncanny X-Men <\/i>Annual 2001 (MarvPG) [1\/1\/1]<br \/>\nWhat&#8217;s the point of doing something interesting with the art (printing it all &#8220;sideways&#8221; so that you can get big panoramas, when the art itself is muddled and artsy beyond understanding.  And it isn&#8217;t like the story was so strong that it carried it.  Avoid this.  Run away.  Toss it.  This falls into the category of &#8220;Comics I Bought And Never Managed To Finish.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><li><i>JLA <\/i>#62 (DC) [2\/2\/2]<br \/>\nJoe Kelly&#8217;s trying to fill awfully big shoes on JLA &#8212; and he&#8217;s doing it with stuff that&#8217;s interesting, but just a bit &#8220;off,&#8221; subtly out-of-character characters doing fairly interesting things.  In this case, WW is faced with a Singapore-like hidden Asian nation, a paradise on earth that can remain such if WW is willing to turn her back on her principles just this once.  She doesn&#8217;t, even though the rest of the JLA aren&#8217;t so sure.  Part 1 of 3.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Codename: Knockout <\/i>#9 (Vertigo) [2\/1\/2]<br \/>\nAngela and Go-Go encounter a very odd character from their past.  Sort of a filler issue< with filler art, but still entertaining in its own naughty way.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Out There <\/i>#8 (Cliffhanger) [2\/2\/2]<br \/>\nWraps up the saga of the Nevada ghost town and its tormented inhabitants.  Weaker than most issues, but still entertaining, and offering both a glimmer of hope to the protagonists and a new mysterious element at the end.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>The Ultimates <\/i>#1 (Marvel) [2\/3\/3]<br \/>\nThe origin of Captain America in the &#8220;Ultimate&#8221; universe.  Millar does a decent job of a more &#8220;realistic&#8221; Cap without dropping into the cynicism of the Authority, and Bryan Hitch&#8217;s art is always a delight.  So far, so good.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Ruse <\/i>#4 (Crossgen) [3\/2\/2]<br \/>\nContinued excitement in this quasi-Victorian Holmes-meets-super-heroes storyline.  Good, good stuff.  I really want the TPB of these, so I can loan them out.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Orion <\/i>#22 (DC) [2\/3\/2]<br \/>\nSimonson&#8217;s art gets better and better, as he takes a blinded Orion into a more mundane crime setting &#8212; the sort of thing that Kirby would do, too, and Simonson does just as well mixing the cosmic with the criminal.  And a blind Orion is still someone you don&#8217;t want to meet as an adversary.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Green Arrow <\/i>#11 (DC) [2\/2\/2]<br \/>\nSmith addresses the issue of &#8220;kid sidekicks,&#8221; while GA comes to grips with having a son.  Smith is having fun re-exploring this character, and it&#8217;s a shame his time on this title is already limited.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>The Establishment <\/i>#5 (Wildstorm) [2\/1\/1]<br \/>\nCynical, ugly people doing cynical, ugly things.  Strange, how quickly that begins to pall.  The team goes reluctantly public.  This makes a difference?<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Supergirl <\/i>#66 (DC) [2\/2\/2]<br \/>\nSolid entertainment.  Linda and Spike &#8212; er, Buzz continue to snipe back and forth, as some of Buzz&#8217;s old buddies show up again &#8212; and Jason Blood discovers that this is a real problem.  Nice art, especially of the dancing girls.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Catwoman <\/i>#3 (DC) [2\/2\/1]<br \/>\nThe art&#8217;s a bit too cartoony, but the story continues to progress.  We&#8217;ll see.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Elektra and Wolverine <\/i>#2 of 3 (MarvPG+) [3\/2\/3]<br \/>\nWow.  I really wish I&#8217;d know how good this would be, so I could wait for the TPB.  The art is too exotic for my taste, but Rucka&#8217;s novel writing here is spot on for both characters.  Great stuff.  Just great.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Rose <\/i>#3 of 3 (CB) [3\/3\/3]<br \/>\nI really should have waited, because I just plain <i>knew <\/i>I was going to get the collected edition.  This Bone prequel is stunning in its Charles Vess art and not too shabby in its Jeff Smith writing.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Herobear and the Kid <\/i>#4 (Astonish) [2\/3\/3]<br \/>\nThe only thing marring this is that the interval between issues has been so godawfully long.  Kunkel does fine in recapping the story, but the emotional connection gets lost.  If this ever gets collected, I&#8217;ll be picking it up, too.  Hmmmm.  Running out of shelf room.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Powers <\/i>#16 (Image) [3\/2\/3]<br \/>\nBendis and Oeming continue to work wonders.  Pilgrim has a disturbingly graphic dream, and Walker finds himself a target of blackmail.  Triffic stuff, as usual.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Sojourn <\/i>#7 (Crossgen) [2\/3\/2]<br \/>\nSolid fantasy, beautiful art.  Nuff said.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Wonder Woman <\/i>#177 (DC) [2\/3\/2]<br \/>\nParadise Island finally gets rebuilt, and everything looks rosy.  So why am I filled with ennui over so many storylines getting wrapped up.  Pretty to look at, though.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Citizen V: The Everlasting <\/i>#1 of 4 (Marv) [2\/1\/1]<br \/>\nNicieza is so eager to invent an entire team and its decades-long history from whole cloth, that he crams so much detail down our throat as to make his Thunderbolts look like an Archie comic.  In the end, it&#8217;s impressive to look at, but it&#8217;s an almost inedible mess to consume.  A shame.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Fantastic Four <\/i>#52 (MarvPG) [2\/1\/1]<br \/>\nHo-hum.  Another Government Conspiracy, more humanity being seized by artificially induced mob violence< more ... oh, ho-frickin-hum.  Some interesting twists just barely keep this one afloat.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Exiles<\/i> #9 (MarvPG) [2\/2\/3]<br \/>\nThis series remains just plain fun.  McKone&#8217;s art is crisp and exciting, and Winick plays the parallel universe schtick for all its worth.  So, again &#8230; when do we get a TPB I can pass around?<\/p>\n<p><li>Fury #6 (MAX) [2\/2\/1]<br \/>\nEnnis keeps pulling back from actually crafting a sympathetic character here.  It&#8217;s still worth reading, and I don&#8217;t necessarily want things to be too simplistic, but the title character is alternately despicable and almost heroic.  Weird.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Uncanny X-Men <\/i>#402 (MarvPG) [1\/2\/1]<br \/>\nOh, look &#8230; Banshee has decided to use his vast fortune (?) to create the Authority by way of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  Ho-hum action from Joe Casey.  This title is going, going &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Amazing Spider-Man <\/i>#38 (MarvPG) [3\/2\/3]<br \/>\nJMS continues to make Marvel&#8217;s most over-used character into someone interesting.  He finally blows up the &#8220;innocent Aunt May&#8221; myth &#8212; but does it in an organic, believable fashion.  So when is the TPB &#8230;?<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Avengers: Celestial Quest <\/i>#6 of 8 (MarvPG) [1\/2\/1]<br \/>\nOh, yeah, Thanos is in this one.  Kind of.  Not that you&#8217;d notice him different from any other villain.  Why am I buying this?<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Young Justice <\/i>#42 (DC) [2\/2\/2]<br \/>\nSecret gets help figuring out What&#8217;s What from the Spectre.  It all works for her &#8230; almost.  A lot of shudders here, and doubtless some repercussions for the future.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Superman <\/i>#179 (DC) [2\/2\/1]<br \/>\nSupes goes to therapy.  Supes deals with Angry Black Hero of the Ghetto.  Lois&#8217; mom learns something.  Nothing special, but a reasonable read.<\/p>\n<p><li><i>Green Lantern <\/i>#147 (DC) [2\/2\/1]<br \/>\nWinick finally resolves some outstanding John Stewart storylines, albeit out of whole cloth.  A few moderately interesting twists and turns, and if it gets us away from (feh) &#8220;Ion,&#8221; it&#8217;s worthwhile.<\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lots and lots and lots &#8230; And here are the reviews&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-comics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15350,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/25\/bt09-i-is-for-indefatigable-blogathon.html","url_meta":{"origin":1230,"position":0},"title":"BT09 &#8211; I is for Indefatigable (#Blogathon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 25-Jul-09 3:26pm","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Invincible, vol. 8, \"My Favorite Martian\"\u00a0(Image) [collects #36-41] Invincible, vol. 9, \"Out of This World\"\u00a0(Image) [collects #42-47] Invincible, vol. 10, \"Who's the Boss?\"\u00a0(Image) [collects #48-53] w. Robert Kirkman; a.\u00a0Ryan Ottley\u00a0 Writing New reader? Art Non-comics reader? Invincible remains a steady and powerful performer. While on one level Kirkman is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogathon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26438,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/16\/jla-psa-in-silhouette.html","url_meta":{"origin":1230,"position":1},"title":"JLA PSA in silhouette","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 16-Feb-12 7:45am","format":false,"excerpt":"Some cool super hero silhouette art that Mark M posted about (https:\/\/plus.google.com\/u\/0\/117242040716806453518\/posts\/53MGMqmQBb6) reminded me of this new PSA that DC is running in its various titles for African famine relief (http:\/\/www.joinwecanbeheroes.org\/). I thought it was very striking art, and an indication of how iconic these characters are, even in their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ecorazzi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/superhero-592x366.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ecorazzi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/superhero-592x366.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ecorazzi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/superhero-592x366.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38183,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/07\/07\/dave-does-the-comics-issue-52-7-july-2013.html","url_meta":{"origin":1230,"position":2},"title":"***Dave Does the Comics &#8211; Issue 52 (7 July 2013)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 7-Jul-13 3:46pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Lots and lots of comics this month, as always. Let's see what the pull box dragged in. [powerpress] The covers below are for the issues I gave an individual review of; hover over the covers below to see the ratings out of 5 stars (with an occasional added comment), and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;***Dave Does the Comics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"***Dave Does the Comics","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics\/dave-does-the-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Justice-League-21.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Justice-League-21.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Justice-League-21.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15356,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/25\/bt09-j-is-for-justice-blogathon.html","url_meta":{"origin":1230,"position":3},"title":"BT09 &#8211; J is for Justice (#Blogathon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 25-Jul-09 4:56pm","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 JLA\/Avengers\u00a0(DC) [collects #1-4] w. 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Decades in the making (mostly due to wrangling between DC and Marvel), Busiek's love for the characters here is matched only by Perez getting the chance to draw\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogathon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9314,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/07\/29\/bt06_multiple_e.html","url_meta":{"origin":1230,"position":4},"title":"BT06 &#8211; Multiple Earths, Multiple Reviews","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 29-Jul-06 9:53am","format":false,"excerpt":"Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing \/ art \/ new reader? \/ non-comics reader?] \u00a0 Crisis on Multiple Earths:\u00a0Volume 3 (DC) [2\/2\/3\/1] (collects JLA #91-92, 100-102, 107-108,...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogathon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10392,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/01\/29\/book_review_superman_the.html","url_meta":{"origin":1230,"position":5},"title":"Book review: Superman: The Never-Ending Battle","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 29-Jan-07 2:27pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Continuing with DC\/Warner's JLA series of paperbacks, -- a pleasant surprise: a nicely crafted, if unremarkable, JLA novel. \u00a0 Superman: The Never-Ending Battle by Roger Stern (2004) Overall Story Re-Readability...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-books"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}