{"id":1878,"date":"2002-04-13T12:43:01","date_gmt":"2002-04-13T17:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=1878"},"modified":"2002-04-13T12:43:01","modified_gmt":"2002-04-13T17:43:01","slug":"isnt_it_about_t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/04\/13\/isnt_it_about_t.html","title":{"rendered":"Isn&#8217;t it about time for comics reviews again?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[N.B.  This post was started but never finished.]<\/p>\n<p>Why, yes, I suppose it is &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Ratings are 1-3 (worst to best), for writing, art, and where it sits in the pile to be read &#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Young Justice #44 (DC) [2\/2\/2]<br \/>\nWhat&#8217;s happened to YJ?  Who are these people?  And what&#8217;s Jason Todd doing here?  Mystery upon mystery, as everyone seems to think this is normal.  Some, ah, amazing shots of Empress, and a nice Flash homage by Bart.<\/p>\n<p><li>Impulse #85 (DC) [2\/2\/1]<br \/>\nPart 2 of 5 of the &#8220;World Without Young Justice&#8221; cross-over.  And it&#8217;s all Bart&#8217;s fault.  Kind of.  What&#8217;s most noteworthy about the issue (aside from Bart actually using his head for a change) is how good he looks in the Kid Flash outfit &#8212; for my money, one of the all-time great costumes.<\/p>\n<p><li>The Thessaliad #4 of 4 (Vertigo) [2\/2\/3]<br \/>\nBill Willingham lets me slightly down as Thessaly deals with the refugee Death Gods who&#8217;ve been after her.  It&#8217;s not bad, mind you &#8212; just not up to the previous issues.<\/p>\n<p><li>Fray #6 of 8 (Dark Horse) [2\/2\/3]<br \/>\nThe only thing that keeps Fray from being an incredible book has been its lackadaisical release schedule, which destroys any continuity of feeling from issue to issue.  That and the sense that we&#8217;ve seen this story before, in Joss Whedon&#8217;s more familiar character.  Sure, a different setting, and a different cast, lets Joss play with some different ideas, but, really, it&#8217;s <i>Buffy <\/i>with nice art and flying cars.  Not that there&#8217;s anything wrong with that, and it&#8217;s solid entertainment value and all, but I&#8217;m waiting here for some serious twists before it&#8217;s over.<\/p>\n<p><li>Superman &#038; Savage Dragon: Chicago #1 of 1 (DC\/Image) [1\/1\/1]<br \/>\nWhy is it that Mile High always manages to forget to do it&#8217;s automatic cross-over orders when it&#8217;s something I want but forget, but always includes them on this sort of dreck.  Dragon whines, Supes whines, things blow up, and you end up feeling like you just read a 3rd rate indie title with a wildly unreal price tag.  Bleah.<\/p>\n<p><li>Black Panther #43 (MarvPG) [2\/2\/2]<br \/>\nThis certainly is the least new-reader-approachable series on the market &#8212; or maybe it&#8217;s just too densely inscrutible.  I only understand about a third of what&#8217;s going on, but Priest makes it entertaining nonetheless.  <\/p>\n<p><li>Alias #8 (MAX) [3\/2\/3]<br \/>\nBendis rocks.  Major, major jonesing (no pun intended) for the collected editions.  Great stuff here, as Jessica finds Rick Jones and discovers what a basket case he is.  Excerpts from Rick&#8217;s book <i>Sidekick <\/i>are priceless.<\/p>\n<p><li>Deadline #1 of 4 (MarvPG) [3\/2\/3]<br \/>\nThis miniseries may say it was written by Bill Rosemann, but if you told me it was a spin-off of Alias by Bendis, I&#8217;d believe that, too.  The Guy Davis art is his usual solid stuff, as Rosemann writes of a new reporter on the <i>Daily Bugle <\/i>who is chasing, much to her dismay, a story that could make her career or end it by the first page of issue 2, permanently.  Good stuff.<\/p>\n<p><li>Strange Killings #2A (Avatar) [2\/2\/3]<br \/>\nWhat if John Constantine worked as a supernatural specialist and butt-kicker for Her Majesty&#8217;s Army?  He&#8217;d be a lot like Sergeant Major Gravel, I&#8217;d wager.  Warren Ellis has a lot of fun here, and it&#8217;s only marred by an abrupt ending that very much feels like the editor took the completed story and arbitrary cut it into N parts.<\/p>\n<p><li>Double-Shot #1 (MarvPG+) [-\/-\/2]<br \/>\nEnnis\/Quesada [2\/3\/-] A typically grisly and humorous Punisher tale.  Short, sweet, and to the murderous point.<br \/>\nHaynes\/Haynes [2\/2\/-] A fairly light-hearted story about a special errand Kingpin sends one of his buttonmen on, and how DD brings it to an embarrassing conclusion.<\/p>\n<p><li>The Haunted #4 of 4 (Chaos) [2\/2\/2]<br \/>\nSolid, if not wildly-inspired writing by Peter David brings this Buffy-gone-Image tale to its early close (though a new series starts in June).  The Nat Jones art, which also reeks of Image, is okay, though oddly out of focus.  This particular mini-series doesn&#8217;t so much conclude as get chopped off, which is a shame, because there&#8217;s some good stuff here.<\/p>\n<p><li>Hawkman #2 (DC) [2\/3\/2] <br \/>\nIf you liked the resurrected JSA series, you&#8217;ll love this effort by the same team.  Contemporary action, recycled old criminals (including the Shadow-Thief), and solid action and characterization.  It won&#8217;t win any awards, but it should win a solid following.<\/p>\n<p><li>The Path #1 (CrossGen) [2\/2\/2]<br \/>\nI understand why Ron Marz didn&#8217;t set this in medieval Japan per se &#8212; to constricting &#8212; but he plays on all the Japanese warrior tropes that we&#8217;ve seen in <i>Shogun, Usagi Yojimbo,<\/i> and<i> Lone Wolfe &#038; Cub<\/i>.  The result is mildly unsatisfying, even with Bart Sears doing his darnedest on the art.  It&#8217;s not bad, mind you, but it&#8217;s not anything overly special.<\/p>\n<p><li>Ruse #6 (CrossGen) [3\/3\/2]<br \/>\nThis, on the other hand, is great stuff>  A &#8220;done in one&#8221; episode, it ties into the mystery of Archard&#8217;s former partner Lightbourne &#8212; about whom I trust we will learn more anon.  This is really one of the better efforts coming out of CrossGen.<\/p>\n<p><li>Spyboy vs. Young Justice #2 (DC\/Dark Horse)<br \/>\nThese two series mesh surprisingly well &#8212; or perhaps not surprising, since both are written by <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Green Arrow #13 (DC) [3\/1\/2]<br \/>\nGoing from the most entertaining interaction between GA and Hawkman and Black Canary<\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[N.B. This post was started but never finished.] Why, yes, I suppose it is &#8230;&#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-1878","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":15339,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/25\/bt09-f-is-for-fleeting-blogathon.html","url_meta":{"origin":1878,"position":0},"title":"BT09 &#8211; F is for Fleeting (#Blogathon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 25-Jul-09 12:52pm","format":false,"excerpt":"As of this post, I'll be a quarter of the way (!) through the Blogathon -- 6 hours from my 7 a.m. start. And, coincidentally, just over a quarter of the way through that stack of TPBs. Hmmmm ... \u00a0\u00a0 52, Vol. 1\u00a0(DC) [collects #1-13] 52, Vol. 2\u00a0(DC) [collects #14-26]\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\/stars4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1587,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2001\/12\/07\/random_comics_c.html","url_meta":{"origin":1878,"position":1},"title":"Random comics cavalcade","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 7-Dec-01 10:05am","format":false,"excerpt":"Various comics, recently read. Catwoman #1 (DC): New writer, new artist, new costume -- but nearly enough new to warrant the tired old trick of restarting with issue #1, after...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Comics &amp; Comic Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Comics &amp; Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49240,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/12\/vixen-to-get-her-own-dc-animated-series.html","url_meta":{"origin":1878,"position":2},"title":"&quot;Vixen&quot; to get her own DC animated series","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 12-Jan-15 11:32am","format":false,"excerpt":"Complete with ties to Arrow and the Flash (in some fashion).I've always liked Vixen -- her powers (especially in an animated format) are very dynamic, understandable, and, when used right, imaginative. She tends to be overpowered, though, by the biggest guns in the DCU, so having her own series may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7831,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/08\/06\/bt05_the_flames.html","url_meta":{"origin":1878,"position":3},"title":"BT05 &#8211; The Flames of Blogathon!","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 6-Aug-05 8:28pm","format":false,"excerpt":"All right, officially into the Post-Dinner Blogging Seasons. Woo-hoo!...","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":4604,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/07\/31\/im_so_proud.html","url_meta":{"origin":1878,"position":4},"title":"I&#8217;m so proud","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 31-Jul-03 7:05am","format":false,"excerpt":"I have Kitten shouting off the names of the various Justice Leaguers during the main titles to the cartoon. \"Look! They're shadows! Ooooh! Batman! Wunnah Woman! Geen Lanern!\" Pause. \"Supuhman!...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Comics &amp; Comic Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Comics &amp; Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"JLAnimated","src":"\/blog\/images\/jl-animated.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":132529,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/09\/cw-renews-all-its-dc-comics-series.html","url_meta":{"origin":1878,"position":5},"title":"CW renews all its DC Comics series","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 9-Jan-17 6:11am","format":false,"excerpt":"None of them will be remembered as groundbreaking triumphs of examining the human condition, but they're pretty entertaining popcorn shows. Glad to hear they are doing well enough to get renewed. CW Renews Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow The CW has announced that all four of its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1878","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=1878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1878\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}