Every week I go to the comic book store (Comics Ink at Overland and Braddock in Culver City, CA, hey Steve and Jason!) and grab a lot of comics. I sort these into two piles -- the "buy" pile (things I intend to spend money on, most often a small pile) and the "read" pile (often huge, including lots of stuff I don't actually like but wanna stay well informed about). In no particular order, here's some thoughts about all that.
NOTE: Last week, I was hideously swamped by poor time management, a huge project deadline, and considerable drama in my personal life. Therefore I did not get to the comic book store on Wednesday, as I normally do, but on the following Tuesday. This week's reviews represent an abbreviated set of looks at books from last week and this one. So here we go ...
Week of May 4th, 2005
Y: The Last Man #33:
Most guys will find this one of the most enjoyable issues in some time. There's a panel with Agent 355 and Dr. Mann that's simply one of the best things I've ever seen. The issue kind of treads water (no pun intended) as a very micro-level plot about piracy and mistaken impressions leads the gang into trouble once again, while the missing monkey remains a far-off McGuffin. On the basis of soft-core porn alone, with Sudzuka and Marzan's amazing ability to make eyes and curves especially delectable, almost in a Stan Sakai kind of way, it's good stuff.
Concrete: the Human Dilemma #5:
The big event finally happens, where Concrete's physical condition finally goes ... well, there's a ballistic component that's really funny, Larry plays up the cliches about his issues with Astra, and a lot happens without a lot happening, if that makes any sense. This issue further makes the case for this being the best mini of the year, but with one issue left, I'm interested to see how the Larry/Astra thing is going to be ... well, maybe "resolved" isn't the right word, but dealt with.
The Intimates #7:
School's out, and Henry Duke is getting one hell of a summer job. Kefong plays T'Challa as written by Christopher Priest, Punchy tries to get sensitive, Destra vainly tries to get her Agent Scully on, and Vee does market research. There's a whole lot going on, in a good way, with the always-entertaining info scrolls as a great bit of icing on the cake.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #18:
Jump from the Buy Pile. It had to come home with me, based on a few absolutely wonderful moments of dialogue. Kubert and Hanna have amazing, story-serving splash pages (the desert chase would make a great poster), Ben's quips border on genius, Johnny's exuberance is infectious, and Ultimate Las Vegas almost gets burned to the ground. I'm not exactly sure why Ultimate Annihilus is leading an army made up of Jawas wielding Gaffi sticks, but it seems a minor quibble in an issue of great entertainment value. Ellis' command of the characters is simply amazing to watch (the scene at the end with Ross is such a classic), and while the plot is very close to the big screen histrionics that started The Authority, that's a good thing.
Lex Luthor: Man of Steel #3:
Jump from the Buy Pile, but it shouldn't have. On first read in the store, I liked the tension and interplay, but on further analysis, it doesn't hold up unless Superman really is the bad guy Lex would claim. Moreover, even with Batman's admitted mental instabilities right now, even with the events in this issue, there's virtually no way he'd trust Lex freaking Luthor enough to purposely hand over something admittedly intended to attack Superman. The surface aspects of Bruce's character -- the billionaire playboy bit -- are flawless. But his actual actions, especially in the fight scene with Clark (which so would not go that way, since the Bat is so not that stupid, even early on), and of course Lex -- all 100 Kryptonite Bullets voiceover -- is wonderful. But the overwhemling desire to fly in the face of Kal-el's body of facts either makes this an Elseworlds or just poorly conceived/edited.
Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight #2:
F-U-N, and in my mind still the best of the minis so far. Sir Justin is on the loose in Los Angeles, chased by what appears to be a really bad dream, mixing traditional myth with science fiction in a way I find quite delicious. The immortal godfather bit I don't quite grasp, but it didn't seem to hinder the plot nor my entertainment, so I went with it. Great fun, and in my mind the best read of the whole event.
Week of May 11th, 2005
Mnemovore #2:
Jump from the Buy Pile. This comic is creepy. The memory loss aspect is a wonderful tool for making this story work, the central character Kaley is compelling in the fact she's clearly doomed, and the moody art and coloring work perfectly for the mood. I normally am angry when I have this little information, but here it's all good.
Wonder Woman #216:
Diana, Cassie and Ferdinand are on their way to, well, hell. As you might expect, that's not exactly an easy trip, especially skipping the ride with Charon. But, for reasons I'm not altogether clear about, Ares helps them find their way, and then things continue to go badly, just in an all new and much more horrible fashion. Which is, of course, excellent entertainment because, well, it's not happening to the reader. Cassie gets close to finding out something, but never actually does, while Diana's warrior mettle is shown in its gritty, awful glory. Just smart, well-told comics all around.
Captain America and the Falcon #14:
I'm not really sure what happened here, as Falcon never actually makes an appearance. I know he confronted Anti-Cap (long story) at the end of last issue, and I know what Anti-Cap says happened, but the boy's lied before, and Sam Wilson is a man of remarkable focus. Jurgens' fight scenes between new Cap and old are great, but I don't exactly feel super satisfied with how things ended (as this is the last issue). Or, truthfully, exactly what happened. Which isn't the best thing in the world ...
Fables #37:
It took me two reads to remember what had gone before, and realize what was happening, as Boy Blue relentlessly makes his way towards the Adversary, armed with some of the most dangerous items in Fabletown. Buckingham and Leialoha are back on art chores, and what a magnificent juncture they chose t return with, looking at the Adversary's rule. A building chapter, but one made excellent by Boy Blue's banter.
Marvel Team-Up #8:
Blade. Punisher. A rooftop chat. Absolutely wonderful. Best part -- Frank says, "You want some help?" and Blade -- with all of the relentless grim charm of the movie character, replies, "No, I got this," as he leaps from the roof. Great stuff. Well drawn by Jeff Johnson, tense, smart and funny.
Buy Pile Breakdown: Lex and Cap could have done better, but overall two good weeks of purchases.
Then there's the stuff on the "read pile" that I don't bring home ...
Week of May 4th, 2005
The Pact #1:
I am surprised to tell you that this issue was solidly "not bad" -- a very Silver Age-influenced team-up book, full of hokey good times that fanboys are always saying they miss.
Superman #216:
Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb. We now know how Jean Loring got a black diamond, but the Wisdom of Solomon really fell down on the job with a fight against an Eclipsed Supes. He had the guy in a full nelson -- fly towards sunlight, moron. Oh well. Then, when Shazam and the Spectre go toe-to-toe, who could have possibly believed that was a good idea? Advancing the super-crossover plot, perhaps, but surely not entertaining.
Authority: Revolution #7:
Alan Moore called, he wants his idea from Supreme back. Crafted in almost exactly the same way, Jenny Quantum meets almost every previous Jenny that lived, learns a lot and gets a big surprise to bring home to daddy. But it was so derivative, I couldn't even enjoy Dustin Nguyen's art, which I freaking adore. Bah.
Rising Stars: Voices of the Dead #1:
Fiona Avery tries her hand at a mystery/thriller, but she's just too boring to carry it off.
Firestorm #13:
Ronie Raymond's resolution, all the old business is concluded, and the new writer has a fresh slate from which to work. Kind of a pat and too-quick ending, given the array of forces lined up, but I did like the ultimate solution to Cliff Carmichael's "upgrades."
G.I. Joe Reloaded #14:
Speaking of "over too soon," G.I. Joe retakes the Hawaiian island Cobra took over, just in time for this alternate take to get cancelled. Shame, I did like what happened to Duke. Ah well, like G.I. Joe Extreme, it's hard to keep a spin-off going.
GLA #2:
Another glitch in continuity with Power Pack (somebody in editing decide how old they are and make everybody stick to it), more jabs at the comics world in general, Squirrel Girl being the most impressive person in the whole issue (and that's saying a lot), and finding out that Living Lightning is gay. I swear, this feels like it should be funnier and less cynical than it is.
Justice League Elite #11:
Wildly disappointing, as Coldcast uses the Hal Jordan defense (which we'll get to soon), the whole freaking JLA can't handle Vera/Manchester and a pseudo-Whorlogog (whereas, say, they've done it before) and Manitou's cheating wife inherits his powers. Blech.
Week of May 11th, 2005
JSA #73:
Yeah, all that drama from the "Black Reign" storyline had to be dealt with -- you don't leave a Superman-class supervillain in charge of a country for long -- but it's the side moments that threw me. Like Mordru and Shazam chatting. Like Eclipso and the Spectre almost on a date. I'm starting to believe that some kind of chemically-induced chaos really is gripping the DC offices, because almsost everything from there has been sucking recently.
Desolation Jones #1:
Warren Ellis from five years ago called, he'd like modern Warren Ellis to quit mining the same bits. When I realized that the McGuffin here was Hitler porn, I just got sad and bored. The really interesting stuff about what the Desolation Test was gets glossed over in a few lines of dialogue, and despite Ellis' mailing list admonition to "Buy it or I'll leave leper's blood-wank in your dinner," it wasn't even as compelling as Two-Step, let alone Simon Spector, so in the store it had to stay.
Killer Stunts Inc. #1:
Fun and confectionary, harmless as a single sugar-coated donut, this comic takes the term "thrill ride" seriously, and is mostly action. Not sure what I think just yet ...
Green Lantern Rebirth #6:
I'm so violently insulted as a reader by the sheer stupidity of this. Hal's back, because Hal's back. Everything's alright about Hal being back, because Hal's back. We're at war with Eurasia, we've always been at war with Eurasia. While punching out the Bat is cool in an "ooh" kind of way (and with everybody else watching made it weird), but outside of the staunchest H.E.A.T. members, I can't see anyone accepting this farce (and the "solution" to Parallax was mind-bogglingly ill-conceived). Oh, and unless you're gonna rewrite years of comics, it doesn't sound like a damned cannon every time Kilowog uses his ring, in your lame attempt to steal from Jedi lightsaber styles in making each "ring style" different. Sickening.
Excalibur #13:
I was tricked into reading this by Natalie, the retail troll at my store some call Adam, because it allegedly set up House of M. Which, if it does, could actually give DC a run for its money in sheer suckitude and concentration of Stupitron particles. I swear, it's like Claremont has forgotten everything he ever knew about making a comic entertaining. Plus, all of a sudden Wanda is the new Molecule Man, a threat so big everybody has to worry about it. Embarrassing.
Green Arrow #50:
Remember when Green Arrow was supposed to be somebody? To get his apprentice kidnapped, to get shot and beaten senseless by Eddie Nigma of all people (who, with this, "Hush," and Catwoman: When In Rome is trying to grow up and be somebody and still coming off pretty lame), only to have his house blown up ... well, it's not really making much of a case for him to be even a marginal success as a super hero. It's kind of like an invitation to retire.
Gambit #10:
When an X-book is one of the most entertaining reads of the week, you know things are dire, but when the writer of that book also wrote "Who let the cats out?" in Thudercats: Dogs of War, well, it's time to buy some asbestos underwear, because this stretch handbasket is headed somewhere really, really warm. This alleged part one of a three part story (which read like a "done-in-one" to me) brings Remy back to Westchester and lets him be a role model in the way only he can -- through the morally ambiguous and wholly self-serving behaviors of a scoundrel. Loved so much here -- the wide eyed awe of the kids, Storm's nude sunbathing on the roof, taking a break to beat down a monster in Manhattan (do towns like Baltimore or Topeka ever get attacked by giant monsters?) was well done and perfect in its matter-of-fact handling. In another book, that would have been the central thesis, here it was almost an after thought. In retrospect, I shoulda bought it ...
Rann-Thanagar War #1:
Thanagar's populace is in exile on Rann, but they're a band of warmongering, militaristic hotheads. Much hilarity ensues. The Lanterns are under orders to stay out of it. I don't know why. Basically, the whole Adam Strange series has led up to this, but took away all the fun and interesting parts. Right.
Read Pile Roundup: For two weeks straight, it was like DC was trying to gouge out my eye with a copy of Showgirls. Nobody else stepped up to stop them. Add to that I didn't catch Villains United before it sold out, missing my chance to see my man Khem-Adam in action. Argh.
So, How Was It This Week? Despite some shrewd spending, overall it was a brutal two weeks, with the future looking pretty challenging as well.
