Clippings From The Beard

COMICS AIN'T CHEAP! - 5/18/11

2011-05-25T06:08:00.000-07:00

BATMAN: GATES OF GOTHAM #1 – 4 ½ whiskers
A great beginning to what looks to be a fascinating investigation into one of the coolest fictional cities of all. I love that Snyder and Higgins will be building upon bits laid down by Grant Morrison and that we’ll be finding out more about the Wayne family tree. While the art here is hit-and-miss, it sometimes nails it right on the head. Again, a solid beginning and I know I’m going to be depressed when this miniseries comes to an end. Also bummed that I didn’t score the alternate cover.

AVENGERS #13 – 4 whiskers
Bendis gets things back on track this time with a clever little FEAR ITSELF tie-in; leave it to him to buck the trend and do things his way. “His way” this time is one of his patented “sitting around talking doing something next to nothing” issues, but if I must have one of those, I’d want it to be by Bendis. Nowhere else can you get these little character and personality insights, like Jarvis’ steadfast belief in the Avengers and Spider-Woman’s dating problems. This ties in neatly with FEAR ITSELF #1 and is quite ominous by the end. Not a big Bachalo fan but he’s got a certain odd charm on occasion.

BATMAN #710 – 3 whiskers
This issue loses some points with me by a) not being drawn by Tony Daniel, and b) featuring Two-Face. Something really cemented itself in my mind with this story: I’m just not a Two-Face fan. I like almost all of Batman’s villains, but I can’t bring myself to care much if Harvey’s coin is lost or he gets shot or whatever. This title was really rolling along, but with that “Judgment” thing in the last two issues and now a Two-Face story with Daniel only on writing, well, its okay but it ain’t rising to the top.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #661 – 3 whiskers
Another “okay” issue. Maybe I’d be more inclined to dig it if I was reading AVENGERS ACADEMY; as it is I can’t stand any of those super hero wannabe kids. I think the point here is to reinforce the fact that despite his new job and new girlfriend, Spidey’s still a loser. Reilly Brown’s art is like that of all the other books on this list: hit-and-miss. He draws Spidey and the Thing well, but his Peter Parker – hell, most of his civilians – look amateurish at times. I hope this title isn’t primed and ready to be flushed down the crapper.

ROCKETEER ADVENTURES #1 – 2 whiskers
I wasn’t planning on picking this up, but it called to me from the rack and I took it home with anticipation. Well, one good story does not a good comic make, sadly. Kurt Busiek and Michael Kaluta’s “Dear Betty” was very nice and I enjoyed it, but the other tow stories were empty fluff. What ever happened to the art of the short tale? The other two stories are so nothing, as if the creators thought they’d just throw together any ol’ story and it’d be good enough. Way to honor Dave Stevens, y’know? Cassady’s art is nice, but Allred’s really getting sloppy these days…at least Kaluta shows ‘em how to do it. Sigh. I wanted to really, really like this book…

COMICS AIN'T CHEAP! - 5/11/11

2011-05-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

BATMAN INCORPORATED #6 – 5 whiskers
Still occupying the top spot on my stack is my gushy-gushy fave, Grant Morrison’s ode to all things Batman. I know it may sound odd, but this book is just about everything I want in a Batman comic and I look forward to each issue. This one provided action and adventure, but also information and a good look into what Bruce Wayne is trying to do with his new organization. It’s fairly radical; Morrison is fundamentally changing the status quo of the Batman universe, though retaining what is essential and taking it in a new direction. I totally get that some people don’t dig it, but I suspect those readers know nothing more than what we’ve been spoon-fed since THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Word to yo momma: Batman can be fun. Morrison’s showing us how.

THE UNWRITTEN #25 – 4 ½ whiskers
Again, this is the only Vertigo title I read and I thank goodness I was smart enough to jump onboard at the very beginning. Our hero gets back to the real world and heads off into a new phase of his quest…and gets a bit of sugar for his troubles. Lizzie Hexam’s become quite an interesting character, but I haven’t full warmed yet to Richie. Maybe it’s the whole vampire thing. Anyway, I love when Carey and Gross throw in “artifacts” such as screen-grabs or documents or whatever, and this time we get an auction listing for Wilson Taylor’s effects – fun stuff. And that ending? Yow – I need the next issue, stat!

FF #3 – 4 whiskers
I can’t believe I’m actually enjoying the book that replaced FANTASTIC FOUR, but I know full well it’s simply another chapter in the over-arcing story. I appreciate all the cool nods to Lee and Kirby here, as well as Hickman’s ability to infuse this title with that “big” feeling it should have. As to Spider-Man’s involvement – ehh. I thought it’d be totally cool at first as I was never a Human Torch fan, but overall there hasn’t been much too really cement his placement on the team. Regardless, I loved all the guest-appearances in this issue, am in awe of Epting’s art and I want to know what’s going to happen next, so all is good.

JOHN BYRNE’S NEXT MEN #6 – 3 ½ whiskers
Sometimes I have to chuckle at the thought of someone not familiar with this book wandering into it and becoming baffled as hell over what is going on. Sometimes I feel like that person, too. But hey, this is Byrne at his best, or what passes for his best here in 2011, and I think he’s firing on almost all cylinders. I feel like this issue’s Civil War-era action was solid and authentic, and I especially marveled at the “security” surrounding the White House in Lincoln’s time – I figure if Byrne is telling me that’s the way it was, then by golly, that must be the way it was. I wish others could join in my appreciation for this title, but I suspect it’s too dense and too far down the line for someone to easily jump on its train.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #660 – 3 whiskers
Sigh. This isn’t bad and it’s not exactly great; its just there, for the most part. I guess I’m looking forward to this FF storyline being over and the book getting back to Spidey as the focus. I’m really not digging all the lead-in to “Spider-Island” – what I know of it at this point leaves me cold. And I didn’t really dig the Ghost Rider back-up story, either. I think they need to simplify this title again and get back to basics; it’s beginning to feel cramped and overloaded. Glad to that Peter and Carlie actually had a scene that showed they are dating or whatever. I was beginning to think I just imagined they were.

NEW AVENGERS #12 – 2 whiskers
Ouch. What happened to this book? Used to be one of my favorites, but this current storyline is killing it. I am not moved at all about Mockingbird’s peril or Superia’s villainy and especially not by the 1950s Nick Fury flashback. I mean, so what? At this juncture, Bendis is not being very coherent and the two storylines seem wholly unconnected. Damn, I hate to drop this title, but the next arc better kick it back in gear.

COMICS AIN'T CHEAP! - 5/4/11

2011-05-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

FEAR ITSELF #2 –
3 ½ whiskers
Marvel’s big event for 2011 has gotten off to a pretty good start and I’m enjoying it, but overall there isn’t so much here yet that’s risen above the norm of these sorts of things. Fraction’s a competent writer but he lacks the unique voice of a Bendis or a Morrison. Fortunately, the art here is very much to my liking; I realize now how long I’ve been a fan of Immonen. The first few of the Worthy are cool, but I’m dreading the coming transformation of my most favorite Marvel character, Ben Grimm…

ADVENTURE COMICS #526 – 2 ½ whiskers
Sigh. I’ve given this book a chance, four issues of a chance, and I’m sad to say I’m probably dropping it. I wanted very badly to like it and its sister book, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, but, frankly, it’s fairly boring. I really liked the first issue with Levitz and Jimenez, but Phil’s gone apparently and the whole thing smacks of bait-and-switch. Borges’ art is tepid and Moy’s is no better…and the writing is just not cooking with gas.

THE MIS-ADVENTURES OF ADAM WEST – FCBD EDITION –
3 ½ whiskers
This one surprised me. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this sneak-preview, but I’m a big Adam West fan so to pick it up was a must. Incredibly, there’s nothing really jokey here or even light-hearted – it’s quite solemn, in fact. An aging Adam putting up with a bunch of younger shitheads and they’re condescending modern attitudes…did not expect that. There are some statements here about growing older and the place of heroes in the world today and in all, this has made me luck even more forward to the ongoing series. Too bad the art kinda sucked. (Side-note: I could find absolutely no copyright indicia in this book – I think that means that I can own everything in it?)

COMICS AIN'T CHEAP! 4/27/11

2011-05-04T06:45:00.001-07:00

BATMAN INCORPORATED #5 – 4 ½ whiskers
At the top of the mondo heap of books this week sits my fave Bat-title, Grant Morrison’s wacky and wonderful ode to all things Batman. I’m going to have to read this a few more times to really get everything that’s going on, but I love it nonetheless. The new hero, The Hood, is very cool and I totally dig that Morrison’s Batwoman fits neatly with Rucka’s version – I’d seriously like to see another team-up between those two. Also, huge props for Morrison’s inclusion of the black Batman from waayyy back: BATMAN #250 (1973), “The Batman Nobody Knows!”

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #50 – 4 whiskers
Okay, I liked this issue. JSA’s been on the fence for a while now, and I’ve actually considered dropping it more than once, but Guggenheim kicked it into gear for the big #50 and along with a coterie of top-notch artists delivered an issue worthy of the landmark. Although I really enjoyed his new take on the classic JSA Vs HUAC scene, I think his more-ambiguous ending – which lacks the famous “Our identities, our lives, are our own…” disappearing act – soured it a bit, so I took off some points. And, admittedly, I like the idea of Jay Garrick as the mayor of a city…but oh does that suck-ass Alan Scott costume have to go. This issue only proved how clunky it is.

BRIGHTEST DAY #24 – 4 whiskers
Isn’t a half-year 26 issues? Oh, well, regardless, here’s the big wrap-up and it delivered. There was a whiff of by-the-numbers-get-everything-in here, but overall it was a solid ending and I think overall the book was worthwhile. I think I’ve become an even bigger Ivan Reis fan because of this title, if that’s possible. So glad Deadman’s back to being, y’know, dead, and I might even consider trying Aquaman’s upcoming series.

FF #2 – 4 whiskers
Marvel enters the ring with the second issue of their experimental book, FF. I say “experimental” because, face it, this is dicey territory. Thankfully, I think Hickman’s doing a good job and he knows how to write a good Doom scene, something not every writer can claim. This is a good balance of humor and drama and I like the art, just wish it was a bit more compressed – too often his stuff seems too airy.

PLANET OF THE APES #1 – 3 ½ whiskers
I wanted, really wanted to like this book – and I did. Whew! Too often, these licensed titles just fall flat and fail to deliver, but I’m happy to say that writer Daryl Gregory held my interest throughout this first issue, despite the fact that I’m not too thrilled with the time period they chose to set the story in – much rather have seen something closer to the time of one of the films. But, it is in original movie continuity and it does feel that way, so that’s a plus. I can’t totally dig Carlos Magno’s art – hated it on COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS – but at least it appears as if he’s grown a bit since then. Just needs to work on his monkey faces and move them closer to the classic makeup of the films.

RUSE #2 – 3 ½ whiskers
Okay, true confession: I never did any Crossgen back in the day. But, that said, RUSE is totally something I thought I’d enjoy and, lo and behold, it is. Mark Waid’s dialogue is crisp and witty and I really enjoy the interaction between Archard and Bishop. I just wish they’d get a different artist on this book; Mirco Pierfederici’s just bringing me out of the fiction way too many times. I see we get a “special guest artist” next issue, which is weird considering this is just a miniseries…good thing we have wonderful Butch Guice covers.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #659 – 3 whiskers
I’m still here and I still enjoy this book, but Mr. Dan Slott needs to do two things: simmer down with Spidey’s constant-constant-constant wiseacre comments and tighten up the continuity between this and FF. I’ve never truly felt as if the two books jibe, seeing as how they are now so closely related. I dig all the Lee-Kirby homage, but I’m left a little nonplussed by the whole pirate zombies thing…and Dan totally ruined Carlie Cooper for me this time out. Why sabotage something like that? I just don’t get it. Ah, well.

AVENGERS #12.1 – 2 ½ whiskers
Top of the heap last week, almost at the bottom this week: total letdown. Oh, Bendis; wha’ happen? Lackluster overall and this is an “insertion point” issue for new readers? And what’s with that art? Worst Hitch Art Ever. Disappointed.

GODZILLA #2 – 2 whiskers
The tallest star in this week’s pantheon resides at the list’s lowest point. I want, want, want to LOVE this book, but I just can’t. Really bummed out by the first issue, but I gave it another try and it once again tasted like stale soup. This thing is all over the map and doesn’t know what it wants to be – it introduces even more monsters when the star, Godzilla, is barely doing anything. Add to that a total lack of developing human characters and more stupid, inane scenes with President “Ogden” – what, you draw him as Obama but you can’t say his name??? – and you get this mishmash of political rhetoric. I didn’t feel a damn thing for the guy who gets fried at the end because instead of growing him throughout the two issues and making me CARE about his demise, Powell and Marsh run around hither an thither adding a bunch of pointless ingredients into the mix. Maybe, just maybe, Godzilla truly cannot be translated well into comics. Yeah, maybe that’s the truth.

COMICS AIN'T CHEAP! 4/20/11

2011-04-25T05:04:00.001-07:00

AVENGERS #12 – 5 whiskers
Standing tall at the top of the very short stack this week is the wrap-up of the “Infinity Gems” storyline by Bendis and Romita Jr. Wow. The arc has had its ups and downs, but mostly ups and this issue was definitely an up – I’m pretty sure that both creators are doing some of the work of their careers currently in this title. I’ve really grown to appreciate what Bendis does in his scripting, something that really surprises me because I’ve never been that big of a fan of that kind of “flip-hip” style of dialogue. But, Bendis makes me almost believe these characters are real and that’s a pretty cool deal. With the ending of this issue, he hit me right between the freakin’ eyes. I mean, it’s like I painted a target directly between both my eyes and he just BLAMMM punched me right there in the middle. It made me work up emotions about what happens – and that ain’t hay.

GREEN LANTERN #65 – 4 whiskers
Again, here’s another fantastic last page, courtesy of the Master of Last Pages, Geoff Johns. I don’t know how he does it, but he’s managed to build event after event in the pages of this book for YEARS and I just sit and gobble it all up, happy and content. The scope of the GL universe is immense and though I used to get a bit miffed that the book seemed to be very little about Hal Jordan himself, now I just don’t give a damn – this stuff is classic space opera. The scene of the choosing of the rings among our GL heroes was wonderful…though I wonder at the somewhat-stereotypical choice of costume for John on the last page.

BATMAN #709 – 3 whiskers
This issue was just okay. I feel a bit foolish because I bought this two-part “Judgment on Gotham” story by accident – see, last month I grabbed BATMAN thinking I was getting Tony Daniel and his continuing saga and got a guest-writer and artist and a story that was shoe-horned into the title. Looking back, it appears as if this thing was originally supposed to play out in the other Bat-titles, but I assume that Tony needed some time to catch up – no argument from me, do what you have to do, Tony – and David Hine and this story filled the gap. I should have looked more closely at the cover credits, and that gaffe is completely on me. But, that said, I thought that #708 was okay enough to buy the second part. March’s art is actually pretty nice and the story wasn’t half-bad. Now, let’s get back to Daniel and the fantastic work he’s been doing lately, which is five times or so past what Finch is failing to deliver in his own Bat-book.

COMICS AIN'T CHEAP! 4-13-11

2011-04-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

UNWRITTEN #24
– 5 whiskers
At the top of the stack this week stands another Mike Carey and Peter Gross masterpiece. This story comes as a break from the ongoing narrative, but it’s no slacker; it pushed almost every single one of my fiction pleasure buttons. An army of talking animals ascends a staircase that goes on forever and is waylaid by a foul-mouthed human in a rabbit’s body and soon he becomes a kind of charismatic dictator over them. Extra points for the inclusion of Piglet. If you haven’t jumped on this series, go back and get the trades, dammit!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #658 – 4 whiskers
I’ve been enjoying Spidey’s inclusion in the Fantastic Four…err…”Future Foundation,” but Marvel needs to watch their continuity between books: there’s some odd gaffes between this book and FF on Peter’s initial interactions with the team after Johnny’s death, mostly concerning Ben’s attitude towards him. Anyway, I loved this issue’s nod to FF’s of the past and I’ve really grown to like Javier Pulido’s art. Spidey’s in good hands with Dan Slott, too.

NEW AVENGERS #11 – 3 ½ whiskers
I think the book’s suffered a bit with this new storyline and the absence of Immonen’s art, but overall Bendis is still rockin’ it. Not really sure where this is all going, and I don’t care overly much that the name of “Avengers” wasn’t unique to Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Giant-Man and Wasp all those years ago, but the dialogue still sparkles and Deodato’s art is nice to look at. There have been better issues; I’m sure there’ll be more.

JOHN BYRNE’S NEXT MEN #5 – 3 whiskers
I have been lovin’ what Byrne’s been doing with this book and compliment him on its timeliness – take that, young whippersnappers – but this issue landed on the dull side. Not sure exactly why. Still, John’s art has never looked better and I think he’s really enjoying himself on the series, so all is good.

ADVENTURE COMICS #525 – 3 whiskers
How cool is it to have not only a regular title from Paul Levitz and Phil Jimenez – that actually arrives mostly on time! – but have it sport such a cool, classic old name? I don’t know what it is about this book, but I dig the combo of writer and artist, despite its sometimes pedestrian plot. See, I don’t get the regular LEGION book, but I do like this one – maybe its Jimenez’ incredible worlds and vistas…though I could have done without the giant penis on page 4.

January 1973

2010-08-11T06:32:00.001-07:00

Another of my favorite MTUs this time, a story I first read in one of those great, over-sized Marvel Treasury editions of the 1970s. I remember digging the art but realizing that Gil Kane’s work looked…different, little realizing he was being inked by Mike Esposito. Makes for an interesting combo, eh? And speaking of interesting combos, how about that Batman/Wonder Woman team-up? As I say there below, this one signals the end of the “mod” WW era – fascinating time; too bad the story was fairly lukewarm.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #6 4 ½ whiskers

DATE: January, 1973

TITLE: “…As Those Who Will Not See!”

STARS: Spider-Man & The Thing
VILLAINS: The Puppet Master & The Mad Thinker

WRITER: Gerry Conway
EDITOR: Roy Thomas

PENCILLER: Gil Kane
INKER: Mike Esposito

STORY: At the Baxter Building Ben Grimm, the Thing, discovers Spider-Man crouched over the insensate form of the Puppet Master and demands an explanation. Ben’s blind girlfriend Alicia Masters explains to the wall-crawler that the villain is her step-father while the Thing interrogates him about her blindness. With a small hope that Alicia’s condition may not be permanent the two heroes, the girl and the Puppet Master fly to his old lab in Pennsylvania. En route, the story of the Puppet Master’s guilt in the accident that stole his step-daughter’s sight comes out. At the lab, Spider-Man and the Thing are taken off-guard by security defenses while their prisoner slips away. Following him into the underground lair, the Puppet Master’s partner-in-crime is revealed: the Mad Thinker.

COMMENTS: Picking up moments after the end of the previous issue, with this story Conway attempts to impart some humanity into an otherwise base villain. The particulars behind Alicia’s blindness and the Puppet Master’s treachery are revealed here for the first time.

Spider-Man and the Thing will go onto many team-ups after this initial one, and though their relationship is characterized as a bit strained it’s not nearly as tenuous as that between Spider-Man and the Thing’s teammate the Human Torch. The web-slinger’s presence in the story is a bit odd, with only a brief comment by him about how he’d like to trust Ben Grimm and using the adventure as a way to gauge such possible trust.

The Mad Thinker’s been an opponent of the Fantastic Four almost as long as the Puppet Master, having first fought them in 1963’s FANTASTIC FOUR #15. His android servants change throughout the years but are usually gigantic and mute, such as the one in this story. The Thinker’s background has yet to be fully explored by writers and he remains a villain of unspecific power and motivation.

The team-up herein between the super-villains is atypical in that they share a laugh together but also typical in that the one betrays the other – the Puppet Master truly does love his step-daughter and when he perceives that she is threatened, he lashes out at his partner the Mad Thinker and brings their brief alliance to a ruinous close.

Conway’s story is strangely open-ended, offering a presumed suicide by the Puppet Master and no real explanation as to the supposed cure for Alicia.

THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #105 three whiskers

DATE: Jan-Feb, 1973

TITLE: “Play Now…Die Later!”

STARS: Batman and Wonder Woman
VILLAIN: El Moro

WRITER: Bob Haney
EDITOR: Murray Boltinoff

ARTIST: Jim Aparo

STORY: Mod Diana Prince, the de-powered Wonder Woman, plays duenna to a beautiful girl caught in the middle of a Latino war transplanted to Gotham. Batman believes he’s being targeted with an old con called the “Spanish Prisoner Game” but the San Sebastian nationals he’s keeping a close eye on might just be on the up-and-up, desperately seeking a ransom for their father, the guardian of a treasure that may tip the scales of the war.

COMMENTS: This issue coincided with the end of the “mod” Diana Prince era of Wonder Woman, which lasted five years total. Diana has a strange “guardian angel” in this story, an Amazon warrior who helps her with advice and even saves her life. This issue is also a good example of the type of sophisticated story Haney had achieved by this time, eschewing super-villains and world-busting threats and concentrating on street-level drama. Keep a look-out for a semi-truck with the name HANEY emblazoned on its sides.

November 1972

2010-08-04T06:58:00.000-07:00

Two fantastic co-stars this month for our Web-slinging Wonder and Dark Knight: the Vision and Deadman. Gil Kane’s still hanging out in MTU and his artistic counterpart over at DC, Jim Aparo, returns to B&B after an unfortunate break. Now that I think of it, aren’t Kane and Aparo truly counterparts? Same universe of style and level of artistic merit, right? Also, check out my comments about some of the wonky stuff Haney was trying to insert into the Bat-mythos...

MARVEL TEAM-UP #5 - four whiskers

DATE: November, 1972

TITLE: “A Passion of the Mind!”

STARS: Spider-Man & The Vision
VILLAIN: The Puppet Master

WRITER: Gerry Conway
EDITOR: Roy Thomas

PENCILLER: Gil Kane
INKER: Mike Esposito

STORY: The android Vision is laid low by what he categorizes as “epileptic seizures,” a condition which literally throws him at the feet of night owl Spider-Man. Moved by the android’s plight and wishing to help, the web-slinger takes him to a local hospital for a covert EEG and computer probe. The results are startling: the Vision suffers from an extra set of brain waves. The two heroes track the unique frequency of the brain waves to the Baxter Building, headquarters of the Fantastic Four, where they discover the villainous Puppet Master and his new thrall, a hulking alien robot he calls the Monstroid. While Spider-Man battles the giant the Vision struggles against both the painful seizures and the evil manipulations of the Puppet Master.

COMMENTS: One of Marvel’s most unique characters, the Vision makes his debut in 1968’s AVENGERS #57 and soon becomes the comic book poster child for synthetic beings searching for their humanity. It’s of little surprise that he’s chosen for the first truly warm team-up for the series; he and Spider-Man’s interactions are friendly and sincere, despite this being their first meeting. Eschewing the by-now-clichéd “fight of misunderstanding,” Conway presents a desperate android who the web-slinger’s good nature embraces and which sets the stage for a true team-up of convenience.

Conway also ties plot elements to both the Visions then-occurring troubles in AVENGERS #105 and the famous Kree-Skrull War, penned by his MTU editor Roy Thomas. For the second issue in a row Peter Parker’s roommate Harry Osborn appears, again at their shared apartment – where Spider-Man quite oddly initially takes the weakened Vision, hoping Harry will continue to slumber through their tête-à-tête.

The Puppet Master was already a longtime Fantastic Four foe at the time of this story, first appearing in FANTASTIC FOUR #8, in 1962. The stepfather of the Thing’s girlfriend Alicia Masters he provides not only the villainy here but also the link to the subsequent issue of MTU, a team-up with the Thing.

Note the opening of the tale, in which our insomniac wall-crawler swings off his frustrations over the night-darkened city and which also will become something of a standard Spider-Man story-opener.

THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #104 - four whiskers

DATE: Nov-Dec, 1972

TITLE: “Second Chance for a Deadman?”

STARS: Batman and Deadman
VILLAINS: Lilly Lang and Richie Wandrus

WRITER: Bob Haney
EDITOR: Murray Boltinoff

ARTIST: Jim Aparo

STORY: Batman uncovers a fantastic “spa” that provides facelifts and identity changes for criminals, but its heavily-guarded island in Florida proves unbreachable. Enter Deadman as Batman’s invisible agent. The restless ghost takes up residence in spa owner Lilly Lang’s lover and while gathering evidence falls in love with her – hard. The game reaches a deadly conclusion when Deadman must choose between friend Batman and a real, physical life with Lilly.

COMMENTS: Aparo returns though B&B’s schedule is still off, a situation that would last until issue #107. Look for a reference to Deadman’s first B&B appearance in #79, a mention of Batman’s “bat-sense,” Commissioner Gordon referring to the Caped Crusader’s code against guns as “idiotic” (right after Batman brandishes one, albeit with blanks), and an interesting argument between Batman and Deadman wherein the spook tries to cut a deal that will allow Lilly to go free. In the end, he actually kills her, hoping to join with her ghost.

Zeroids #1 - Review

2010-08-04T06:23:00.001-07:00

ZEROIDS #1 – four whiskers

If I know you as well as I think I do, you’ve recently bemoaned the lack of comics that revive old 1960s robot toys and combine them with sexy young co-eds, zombies and soldiers in Afghanistan – am I right?

Good, because Moonstone and Captain Action Enterprises have a new comic for you: ZEROIDS. But I warn you; its crazy-ass stuff.

One huge good thing right off the bat is that you don’t have to know anything about the Zeroids toys from the 1960s to read this. Which is good because barely anyone knows anything about the Zeroids toys from the 1960s. If you want to know, look ‘em up on Wikipedia – we’re talking about the comic book here. ZEROIDS #1 kicks right off with some backstory on the chunky-funky ‘roids and in a fairly interesting way, too. It’s all wrapped up with that old chestnut, the 1947 Roswell, New Mexico flying saucer crash, but the narrative manages to make it seem fresh and gets you up to speed. You’ll have to put up with a scientist named Zero – you can imagine what his school days were like – and a reference to the 1970s toy revival of the Zeroids – look it up – but overall it’s easy to follow.

Then the crazy-ass stuff happens. And happens. And happens.

Flash-forward to two separate yet somewhat concurrent stories of a houseful of cute girls in short-shorts and tank tops fending off a zombie plague and the misfortunes of two tough-as-nails soldiers in Afghanistan fending off a – yes – zombie plague. What the actual connection is between the two tales is held in abeyance for the nonce but as in the intro-backstory part, things move along nicely and then the alien ship arrives along with the robots.

Yep.

I dug it all – its presented with some really nice, clean art by Roberto Castro and Craig Henderson that erred just this side of cartoony yet helps the crazy-ass proceedings gain a little traction in your brain matter. The downside is while the dialogue by Aaron Shaps is often smooth and engaging it also delves wayyy too many times into smug “hip” slang and awkward self-referencing – as in “Dude, if this was a horror movie, we’d be…” etc, etc. It’s kind of cute the first time but it gets old quick. For example, one of the soldiers is black and at one point he makes it known that in horror films the black guys always gets offed, no matter how nice they are. That sort of thing. Anyway, like I said, it’s not deal-killer but Shaps seems to be trying a bit too hard to appeal to one segment of the intended audience, i.e., “young people,” and this aging fanboy was taken out of the fiction one too many times.

I’m pretty sure that Moonstone and the Captain Action guys have a potential nut-job sleeper-winner on their hands here, if they can maintain the nuttiness and almost-camp that’s evident in ZEROIDS #1. Not sure if the sexy co-ed thing is anything more than just a bit of male-fantasy fluff but I guess time will tell if this first issue is a promise – or a threat. Regardless, this issue made me want to know what happens next, which is always a good thing for an ongoing comic.

Oh, and one more thing: not enough Zeroids. Just sayin’. I want to see how those old clunky toy designs will work in such a “hip” new world – you know, kind of like all of us aging fanboys.

September 1972

2010-07-31T06:30:00.001-07:00

And the Morbius Saga in MTU finally comes to a close, with the help of the then-homeless X-Men. Over in B&B, the Metal Men check in with Batman – what would B&B be like without the Metal Men?

Marvel Team-Up #4 three and 1/2 whiskers

DATE: September, 1972

TITLE: “And Then – The X-Men!”

STARS: Spider-Man & The X-Men
VILLAIN: Morbius the Living Vampire

WRITER: Gerry Conway
EDITOR: Roy Thomas

PENCILLER: Gil Kane
INKER: Steve Mitchell

STORY: While a still-ill Peter Parker thrashes through nightmares in his sleep, Morbius the Living Vampire returns to State University to abduct Prof. Jorgenson. Unfortunately, Spider-Man’s found investigating the scene after the fact and is blamed for the kidnapping. In Westchester, Professor Charles Xavier sends his mutant students, the X-Men, to rescue his old colleague Prof. Jorgenson. The mutants track down Spider-Man and winning a battle with him take him back to Prof. X, who after searching the young hero’s mind realizes he’s not the kidnapper. Now with Morbius as their target the X-Men confront and beat the vampire, recover Prof. Jorgenson who in turn saves Spider-Man’s life from the toxins in his blood from a previous encounter with Morbius.

COMMENTS: The Human Torch team-ups come to an end this issue as the X-Men join Spider-Man for an adventure. The mutant heroes’ own stories hit a kind of hibernation as their title ceases to publish new adventures almost two years previously, and at this time in the middle of more than four years of reprints. During that time, the X-Men guest-star in various other Marvel series until their triumphant return in 1975’s GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1.

Sadly, there is no real team-up here between Spider-Man and Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman and the Angel. As is becoming par for the course with MTU, the two sides battle over a misunderstanding – Spider-Man losing due to his illness – and never get the chance to fight side-by-side. By story’s end there’s no real animosity between them over the earlier fight and Spider-Man makes a quick exit, claiming he’s “anti-social.”

For the first time in MTU one of Spider-Man’s supporting cast makes an appearance – namely Harry Osborn, Peter Parker’s friend and roommate. This is most likely due to the fact that scripter Gerry Conway was at the time the newly-minted writer of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, also. Conway also makes heavy use of the events of ASM #102, wherein Spider-Man was cured of extra arms by a dose of serum made from Morbius’ blood – here the cause for the hero’s illness.

The “next issue” blurb trumpets “The Eye of the Basilisk!” though no such story appears in MTU #5. A villain called the Basilisk will appear in issue #16, more than a year later and written not by Conway but by fellow scribe Len Wein.

THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #103 two and 1/2 whiskers

DATE: Sept-Oct, 1972

TITLE: “A Traitor Lurks Inside Earth!”

STARS: Batman and The Metal Men
VILLAIN: John Doe

WRITER: Bob Haney
EDITOR: Murray Boltinoff

ARTISTS: Bob Brown and Frank McLaughlin

STORY: Having killed his creator, the USA’s ultimate robot-computer John Doe blackmails the entire country from its lair deep beneath the desert. Batman recruits the Metal Men to infiltrate John Doe’s location but the robots are captured, forcing the Masked Manhunter to find his own way in. The super-computer will not be easily beaten, though, for once its own personality is destroyed its takes on that of its late creator.

COMMENTS: This issue marks the first time since B&B’s inception in 1955 that it failed to meet its bi-monthly schedule, due to Aparo’s personal emergency. The Metal Men had been “retired” for almost three years previously, after their series was put on hiatus in late 1969, but a year after their team-up here their book was re-activated. There are echoes in the story of B&B #74 and its “robot convention” and also of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and its runaway computer Hal – though John Doe sings “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, not “Daisy”.

July 1972

2010-07-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

The Spidey-Torch love-fest continues in MTU while over in B&B Batman has to deal with his own gaggle of hip kids…and Aparo needs a little help from his friends.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #3 three whiskers

DATE: July, 1972

TITLE: “The Power to Purge!”

STARS: Spider-Man & The Human Torch
VILLAIN: Morbius the Living Vampire

WRITER: Gerry Conway
EDITOR: Stan Lee

PENCILLER: Ross Andru
INKER: Giacoia

STORY: Brothers Jacob and Jefferson Bolt part ways after a heated argument but instead of peace Jefferson discovers Morbius floating unconscious in the river. For his troubles Morbius feeds on his rescuer, turning him into a vampire. Morbius fiancée Martine asks the Fantastic Four for help and when she mentions a Professor Hans Jorgenson at State University in Queens it jogs Johnny Storm’s memories. Recalling that Spider-Man attends the same school, the Human Torch seeks out both the Professor and the web-slinger. Spider-Man, suffering from apparent extreme flu-like symptoms stumbles upon Morbius attacking a student on campus and attempts to stem the vampire’s actions. Soon, the Human Torch, Jacob and Jefferson Bolt, and a mob of angry and mislead students enter the fray – and Morbius escapes.

COMMENTS: In this, MTU’s first continued story, Spider-Man and the Human Torch team up for the third consecutive issue. Johnny is again portrayed as being willing to seek out Spidey, albeit grudgingly and this time for information on a possible foe. Their relationship becomes a bit more complex herein; they face off like prizefighters when first spotting one another yet fly into battle together, despite their almost complete lack of ability to work in tandem. In one striking sequence, the ill Spider-Man is pulled off of Morbius by Johnny before the young hero beats the vampire to a pulp. At the coda, Spidey compliments the Torch for a heart-felt comment on the plight of the story’s two brothers.

There is an odd statement by Johnny in the story of how Spider-Man told him about Morbius when the two heroes last met. As their previous recorded meeting was two months earlier in MTU #2, which holds no mention of the vampire and was also written by Gerry Conway, it’s a strange comment and one obviously meant to serve the plot.

Morbius and Martine make their debuts in 1971’s AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #101 and 102, respectively. A scientific vampire, as opposed to a supernatural one, Michael Morbius gains vampiric abilities and disabilities from a blood experiment rather than a curse. One of Marvel’s strangest characters, he is neither completely good nor evil but almost always all-together self-centered. His appearance here in the river corresponds with his seeming disappearance at the end of ASM #102.

Look also for a cameo of Archie Bunker, of TV’s “All in the Family.”

THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #102 three whiskers

DATE: June-July, 1972

TITLE: “The Commune of Defiance”

STARS: Batman and The Teen Titans
VILLAIN: Sonny Trask and Angel Lee

WRITER: Bob Haney
EDITOR: Murray Boltinoff

ARTISTS: Jim Aparo, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano

STORY: The Barclayville neighborhood of Gotham’s a slum and its protectors, the Young Aquarians, are sick of the city turning its back on the area. After some civil disobedience, with help from Batman and the Titans, Gotham’s Mayor gives Barclayville 30 days to clean up its streets or its demolition time for the historic district. All goes well until the neighborhood’s crime lord gets out of prison and decides to teach the Aquarians a lesson on who’s the boss…

COMMENTS: A family emergency interrupted Aparo halfway through #102’s art chores, but B&B alum Adams and inker Giordano stepped in to finish the job with nary a bump. The story is another early 1970s lecture on “urban renewal” and “flower power”, complete with hip vigilantes the Young Aquarians: Jamie, Ben Ahmed, Needles, Mother Earth, and “Lawyer.” The Titans line-up this time around includes Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy, Wonder Girl, and the plain clothed Mal Duncan. Dig Needles aping Marvel’s Stan Lee with exclamations of “True Believer!”

May 1972

2010-07-14T08:21:00.001-07:00

Seems as if Marvel may have wanted MTU to be nothing more than a Spidey-Torch joint...and Metamorpho, every B&B fan's friend crawls out of his retirement and kick-starts a long-standing convention for the book.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #2 three whiskers

DATE: May, 1972

TITLE: “And Spidey Makes Four!”

STARS: Spider-Man & The Human Torch
VILLAINS: The Frightful Four, Annihilus

WRITER: Gerry Conway
EDITOR: Stan Lee

PENCILLER: Ross Andru
INKER: Jim Mooney

STORY: A depressed Johnny Storm seeks out Spider-Man for some friendly talk but is rebuffed by the wall-crawler. Later, Spider-Man shows up at the Fantastic Four’s Baxter Building headquarters and proceeds to pummel the Torch insensate. Johnny then learns that his fellow hero has been hypnotized by the Frightful Four, whose leader the Wizard plans to utilize the FF’s equipment to capture and store vast amounts of cosmic energy. Unfortunately, the process opens a doorway to the Negative Zone and its most infamous denizen, the evil and powerful Annihilus. Mentally freed, Spider-Man stands with the Torch between the menace of the Frightful Four and a terrifying incursion from beyond.

COMMENTS: More a Human Torch story than a Spider-Man tale, the webslinger is used mostly as the villains’ tool for most of the narrative until he wakes up for the last four pages. Despite their long-standing rocky relationship, Johnny actually proposes friendship to his fellow teen-ager, an olive branch that an uncharacteristically-callous Spider-Man shrugs off as “playing counselor to some neurotic’s fantasies!”

The loose references in this issue to the previous issue, such as Johnny’s mention of working with Spider-Man “a few weeks ago” and Sandman’s bit of payback on Spidey, presage the multipart MTU stories to come.

Johnny Storm is pining herein for the Inhuman girl called Crystal, whom he first meets and falls in love with in 1965’s FANTASTIC FOUR #45. After a long romance Crystal leaves Johnny for the mutant Quicksilver, with whom she eventually marries and has a child.

The Frightful Four first run afoul of the Fantastic Four in FF #36, in 1965. At first their membership consists of the Wizard, Sandman, Trapster, and the Inhuman Medusa. As noted in MTU #2, Medusa has left the group to join the side of the angels; the Wizard’s search for her replacement will become something of a running joke through the years.

Annihilus, one of the FF’s most powerful and dangerous foes, makes his debut in 1968’s FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #6. Wielder of the so-called Cosmic Control Rod, the would-be conqueror constantly seeks to extend his reign of tyranny outside the borders of his native Negative Zone. Before MTU #2, his most recent defeat is shown in the previous year’s FF#109-110.

THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #101 three and a half whiskers

DATE: Apr-May, 1972

TITLE: “Cold Blood, Hot Gun!”

STARS: Batman and Metamorpho
VILLAIN: Bounty Hunter

WRITER: Bob Haney
EDITOR: Murray Boltinoff

ARTIST: Jim Aparo

STORY: A strange “murder list” left at a homicide includes both Bruce Wayne and Metamorpho’s girlfriend Sapphire Stagg. Batman steels himself for the onslaught of Bounty Hunter, a notorious one-armed assassin and the owner of the list, offering protection to everyone on the list. Meanwhile, Bruce and a restless Sapphire attend the auction of a grand old estate, not realizing that its owners are intricately linked to the hired killer – and Element Man is hot on Sapphire’s pretty heels.

COMMENTS: Before this issue Metamorpho had been in publishing limbo since the demise of his series, three years previous. During that time, Haney and DC solicited readers’ opinions on whether to bring Rex Mason back, the result of which is this tale. Bounty Hunter is one of Haney’s more-inspired villains, more of a gun-for-hire than a hunter of lawful bounties. Gordon is practically beside himself with worry over Bounty Hunter’s arrival in Gotham yet Haney allows the killer a rare getaway at stories end and a thoughtful Batman ponders their next encounter…

Where the ACTION Is

2010-07-14T08:02:00.001-07:00

CAPTAIN ACTION #1

3 1/2 whiskers

The new CAPTAIN ACTION #1 “Season 2” picks up the, well, action from the previous series and gets right down to business. This is a solid adventure-intrigue comic with a lot going for it and though it isn’t perfect it tries hard and succeeds more than it fails.

The original Fabian Nicieza premise of super-spies and super-heroes in a world invaded by aliens from the previous series is further explored here and it’s an interesting one. It’s more super-spies than super-heroes but there are plenty of fisticuffs for, well, action fans. Steven Grant’s writing is competent and steady, with relatively-smooth dialogue and I had no real complaints with the pacing. Manuel Martin’s art is very nice, with – dare I say it – a very-occasional Wally Wood vibe, which is appropriate. Again, it’s a book that has it together in many ways and Moonstone should be proud of the package.

The story jumps right in from the previous series and puts our somewhat-newbie Captain Action right in the middle of trouble. Posing as the President of The United States he tires of his masquerade and when he tries to bail rushes headlong into a confrontation with Russian super-agents. One of the things I like best here is the relationship between Our Hero and his father, the former Captain Action of the 1960s. This isn’t the clichéd “I hate my dad and everything he stood for” rebellious relationship; the two men aren’t exactly the best of buds but they manage to work together and Captain Action Senior has much still to offer in his current role.

I also appreciate that the Captain Action owners haven’t relied on pure nostalgia here to sell the book. It must have been a challenge, to find a new path for the character, without miring him in the swamp of the 1960s yet not changing him so much his original fans couldn’t recognize him. The balance in CAPTAIN ACTION #1 is a good one, with equal parts past, present and future. Something for everyone.

Here’s where the book stumbles: not enough Captain Action. Let me clarify – for most of the, well, action herein Our Hero is not himself. See, in order to retain the old “man of a thousand faces” concept from the original 1960s toys, they’ve hooked him up with this stuff that allows him to change his appearance – and super-powers – at will. Problem is that you get Captain Action as everyone else but himself most times. The redesign of the original costume is a very good one and I wish I’d seen it more in what is an inaugural issue of sorts. I sympathize with what the creators have to deal with to make the Captain more than just the normal guy in the blue-black suit, but maybe they erred on the side of, well, action than image this time.

Also, there’s very little back-story relayed here and for someone picking up this book for the first time there may be a bit of confusion. I knew the back-story and I was still struggling at times to dope out the proceedings. And while I’m at it, the moratorium on Obama appearances should begin any moment now. Seriously, guys, it had its day quite a long time ago. Now, it’s just marketing, and not very good marketing. More like pandering.

We also get a retro Action Boy back-up tale which is a lot of fun and connects to the main story. Good to see this character wasn’t forgotten and is being brought into the fold to join the good Captain. This was a nice addition to the book and I for one am intrigued with where they're going with it.

Overall, Joe Ahearn and Ed Catto, the current owners of Captain Action, have been quality caretakers for the property, more so than any others who’ve tried to resurrect the character since his original days as an Ideal action figure. They’ve started with a good foundation, an interesting world in which Captain Action lives, and seem to have a plan in place to grow it. Again, they’re not just relying on nostalgia though they do tip their hats to it and recognize it for its worth. This is a crucial time, I think, as they could easily sink this property than save it. If this new CAPTAIN ACTION #1 is any indication, I think they’re going to save it.

Give it a try. There are far, far worse ways to spend your disposable dough at the comic shop these days.

March 1972

2010-07-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

As MTU dawned, B&B was celebrating its 100th issue...both strong entries and both displaying team-ups that are not always copacetic.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #1 3 1/2 whiskers

DATE: March, 1972

TITLE: “Have Yourself a Sandman Little Christmas!”

STARS: Spider-Man & The Human Torch VILLAIN: The Sandman

WRITER: Roy Thomas EDITOR: Stan Lee

PENCILLER: Ross Andru INKER: Mike Esposito

STORY: After a disastrous run-in with the Sandman, Spider-Man hopes to foist the problem off on the Fantastic Four - but gets the solo Human Torch instead. The squabbling heroes decide to confront the villain together, despite it being Christmas Eve, and a few short digressions later they track Sandman to New Jersey. Because of their inability to work together, the two heroes are defeated and dropped into a watery death-trap. After escaping, Spidey and the Torch catch up to the baddie and discover his Jersey secret: an ailing mother he visits every Christmas Eve.

COMMENTS: The Human Torch is a logical choice to inaugurate a series of Spider-Man team-ups. Johnny Storm first meets the wall-crawler alongside his Fantastic Four teammates in 1963’s AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1, and beginning in STRANGE TALES ANNUAL #2 that same year the two heroes begin a long tradition of rough-and-tumble meetings.

MTU #1 portrays the Spider-Man/Torch relationship as before, a begrudging camaraderie with plenty of insults and put-downs in good measure. While the two heroes manage not to kill each other and even find some common teen-age ground, their ability to work in tandem leaves much to be desired.

Spider-Man makes an odd comment in this story that Sandman isn’t “his” enemy, though the grainy goon made his debut in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #4. In fact, Spidey claims he only “tackled him once” yet Sandman is a charter member of the Sinister Six, a team-up of Spider-Man villains, beginning in 1964’s AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1. The Torch first opposes Sandman in 1963, in STRANGE TALES #115, and then alongside the full FF in FANTASTIC FOUR #36, in 1965.

In MTU #64, in 1977, it will be revealed that the woman Spider-Man and the Torch save from muggers here in MTU #1 is Misty Knight, a tough-talking private-eye with a bionic arm and the paramour of the super hero martial artist Iron Fist.

Though it’s Christmas Eve in this story, there’s no indication of the holiday – nor the wintry season – in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #106, published the same month. Both stories are reputedly edited by Stan Lee.

THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #100 4 whiskers

DATE: Feb-Mar, 1972

TITLE: “The Warrior in a Wheel-Chair”

STARS: Batman and 4 Famous Co-Stars VILLAIN: Belknap

WRITER: Bob Haney EDITOR: Murray Boltinoff

ARTIST: Jim Aparo

STORY: With a bullet lodged near his heart and awaiting a life-or-death operation, Batman calls in Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Robin to intercept a shipment of heroin scheduled to be smuggled into Gotham. A drug kingpin senses interference and tests his network – and each of the heroes – determining that when the Caped Crusader goes under the knife, he must never recover.

COMMENTS: This “Spectacular 100th Issue” pulls out all the stops by offering four Bat-partners for the price of one. There’s a rare reference herein to another DC title, this time Green Lantern #86, the infamous “Speedy on smack” issue. In another scene, Green Arrow actually kills a drug smuggler with an arrow, seemingly without remorse and at odds with the character’s belief system. Batman running the show from a wheel-chair has a certain “Rear Window” ring to it and his ongoing narrative about a nearby spider, comparing it to his own ploy, verges on the poetic.

Thursday Follows Wednesday #8

2009-08-26T15:18:00.001-07:00

Wednesday Comics #8 – Overall rating: 4 whiskers.

I sit ready to read WEDNESDAY COMICS #8 and I must admit to some trepidation. Why? Last week’s edition scored the highest whisker rating to date – how can this week hope to compete with that? Alas, nothing ventured nothing gained – taking a page from DC themselves with this wonderful little experiment – so into the breach, dear friends, and all that other stuff.

The DC heroes await! Here comes Batman!

BATMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. Batman and Commissioner Gordon make note of a “walk” while criminals confer. This week’s strip is deceptively simple yet there’s a lot going on here. A new wrinkle in the story above all but also another fold and crease in the relationship between Batman and Gordon, as see back in #1. Not your happy-go-lucky “duly-deputized officer of the law” and his boss here. Tension you could have sliced up in a butcher shop. I like it. I’m not so sure of the pat scene of our supposed killer meeting with his own boss, the beautiful widow. Too simple. Got to be more to it. Right?

KAMANDI – 5 whiskers. Kamandi and his friends grieve deeply for the lost souls of war but gain a new pride of allies. Gibbons and Sook continue their march towards the perfect comic strip and this week does nothing to slow them down. The punch to the gut of the tiger-ape battle having taken place at Historic Gettysburg is an inspired move on the creators’ parts and the art somberly carries the mood. I also appreciated the oddness and wonder in a canine convincing a tribe of cats to fight alongside them. But can we trust the lions? Regardless, I see something like THE HOBBIT’s “Battle of Five Armies” on the horizon…

SUPERMAN – 4 whiskers. Superman gets wise but continues to get hurt for his troubles. Like “Batman” this strip’s deceptively simple this time around – but with a little less going on. Stand back and take a look at this page. It’s gorgeous. Bermejo’s probably doing the work of his career here. Can’t always say the same for Azzarello. I appreciate the situation he’s in with this format and its demands but he’s got only four more installments left to bring this to a close. I liked the force of Superman’s anger in the first panel and that he’s thinking again, like the hero he is, but too often the lure of producing beautiful art has curtailed plot development. There are glimmers of hope here, and I still look forward to the answer to the question of Kal’s super-funk.

DEADMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. Deadman learns more about his prison and takes the fight to his jailer. Now here’s a situation where the art – normally wow-wowing us – takes a back seat to the writing. But that’s okay, for the most part. I’m glad to know about that stone we’ve seen in the trees the last few weeks and the entire situation grows a little bit more intriguing with every chapter. “The kiss” comes off as both a cliché but also as a poignant reminder of Boston’s own personal situation – he’d dead. His costume is now himself. He can try to free these girls but he cannot love any of them, cannot end the story “happily ever after” in the company of any one of them. Its good stuff and I think a kind of a sleeper strip, one that might be flying under some readers’ radar.

GREEN LANTERN – 4 ½ whiskers. Green Lantern shows his true face to the monster he battles. I’ve really been getting my wish for action these last few weeks in this strip and this week’s no slacker. I’ve always liked the idea of a hero who has to appeal to someone’s inner self to be able to stop the destruction, etc. My only real gripe here is that Quinones’ sparse, comedic “hruh?” panel fell flat when I think a bit more dramatic impact was needed. Though there’s something inherently cartoony in his art I think the design choices in that single image stick out like a sore thumb. One other thought, and not a grouse: I wonder if GL’s vulnerability to yellow would’ve been too much to put across in this strip? We rarely see much that can get through the ring’s shields, thus my train of thought carries me to the traditional lantern weakness…

METAMORPHO – 4 ½ whiskers. Rex and Urania run down the table of elements in pursuit of an ancient enemy. Ha! Say what you will but you have to hand it to Gaiman and Allred for going out of their way to give you something different in this strip. I’ve complained a bit before about clever games and bits that don’t do much to advance the story but this week they try mighty hard to combine it all into one helluva quirky-jerky-hurdy-gurdy fun ride of elemental proportions. After much thought, after much staring at all that’s there, I’ve decided I like it. And hey, I don’t know the Peroidic Table from a pencil and tablet so Gaiman scores right there. He also loses half a whisker for the very unfunny Java coda. Blehhh. Beautiful portrait of Urania, though.

TEEN TITANS – 2 ½ whiskers. The team goes back to their original nest and headlong into their history. Hmm. Let’s take this slow. Okay, I griped about not getting any background on this team and its characters, so now Berganza throws a boatload of TT history at us – but essentially in the space of a single panel. It could be interesting but its way too much in too quick of an instant to be worthwhile. Here we are in #8 and I still ma not sure of what the story is – is it a revenge story? Was that what we were told? And has Kid Devil been in the strip all along? Again, too much, too quick and too confusing.

STRANGE ADVENTURES – 4 whiskers. Alanna takes her plea to Lord Korgo, seeking an ally. Back to Alanna on Rann, Pope continues to flesh out his own version of the famous planet, this time by introducing us to Lord Korgo of the blue monkey people. Pope does something a bit funky here by using omniscient narrator captions to hide actual dialogue boxes in an effort to put across the idea of words lost to history. I’m intrigued by the device but I’m not completely sure it works. Would we have liked to have read Alanna’s speech instead? Regardless, it’s a good installment, interestingly presented despite the absence of our star. Oh, but Paul? Get rid of that same old panel layout you’ve been using the last few times. Give us something new, please.

SUPERGIRL – 3 ½ whiskers. Supergirl takes her pets to the doctor and meets a tasty owl. Hurrah, Dr. Mid-Nite! Poor Charlie, though! Palmiotti and Connor continue with their mini-tour of the DCU and bring Supergirl to the JSA’s resident physician to seek help for her furry friends. Connor loads the strip with a multitude of gags, funny ones too, but overall I think she and her partner hand this week’s strip over to the gags a bit too much. I really get the feeling that whatever’s going on will be addressed in the final week as a minor note and the gags will rule all. But maybe that’s intention. Ah, what the heck; it’s a fun strip and WEDNESDAY COMICS really needs something like this.

METAL MEN – 4 ½ whiskers. The Metal Men finally get out of the bank – and straight into Chemo’s grasp. What can I say that I haven’t already said? DiDio and Garcia-Lopez offer everything a super hero strip should and do it gracefully. I’m glad to see their venue opened up a bit into the streets and I’m hoping we get a kind of Godzilla-giant monsters-vibe in the last four weeks of the story. And that o’ ante’s really been upped, huh? Kudos to Iron for his single-minded ode to friendship and heroism – this is the Metal Men that I love. The real, honest-to-goodness Metal Men.

WONDER WOMAN – 3 whiskers. Diana meets a wolf and gains a certain lasso. Caldwell rolls out a fairly drastic change to his usual cramped and profuse panels in the form of a gigantic panel right in the middle of the strip. That about bowled me over when I turned the page. Way to grab my attention. Diana finds the Golden Lasso, which is cool, but is confused by all that she’s bombarded with through other characters. I know how she feels. There’s a lot do here with Norse mythology but its not really clear how it impacts the story – still, Caldwell seems to be tightening things up and there’s a feeling of movement in the plot. One other thing: didn’t Diana have the eagle on her chest in one or more installments? Or was that a dream?

SGT. ROCK AND EASY CO. – 4 ½ whiskers. Rock confronts his tormentor but the tables turn terrifically. I dig it. This might be the best blending of both the art and writing to come along yet. Our hapless Rock’s out of the frying pan but steps straight into the fire – and a strange dilemma. The set-up is now that his rescuer, a man he does not know, is being held with a knife to his throat by a Nazi officer. Rock could just kill them all and flee, but he’s too much of a shining knight to leave the guy to the German’s tender mercies. It’s a good development and one that Kubert Senior draws to perfection. Look at the looks on that officer’s face in panels 6 and 9 – classic and expressionistic. Good stuff. Story's moving.

THE FLASH – 5 whiskers. Barry gets a super-speed lesson from his other selves and the mother of all nosebleeds. Things are moving – dare I say it? – quickly and Kerschl and Fletcher waste no time rolling out the plot points. I got a real kick out of the way the Flash seems a bit less smart than the other Flashes, though of course they’re all himself! It’s like a time travel story that’s fun! I also notice, after I finished reading it, that the strip is now simply named “The Flash” and all stories have become one. The juxtaposition with the nosebleeds and the collapsing Flashes was handled very well and dramatically – this one’s an edge-of-the seater, kids!

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. Selina’s about to lose herself. Listen, this strip – and boy does that word take on deeper meaning here – is about as hot and heavy as they probably allow for this project. Simonson’s loading Morgaine up with sexy innuendo and Stelfreeze is doing his best to draw the sexiest near-Kirby women he can – it all gets pretty steamy! Basically, Morgaine wants Selina’s body to inhabit for, well, some adult pursuits; I guess she’s pretty frustrated after thousands of years. Overall, the strip’s – there’s that word again – atmosphere is one of decadence and decay and hints of pleasures of the flesh beyond even mortal understanding. My only concern here is that Selina’s hasn’t really been herself since the first few weeks and we’re not really seeing what Catwoman’s all about. I’m sure that will change, though.

HAWKMAN – 2 ½ whiskers. Hawkman calls for help. I think this story’s gone off the rails – or pinfeathers, if you like. Is it a Star Trek tale or a Hawkman adventure? Baker’s stacking the deck with aliens and Justice Leaguers but the whole house of cards looks to topple soon from the weight. I get no real sense of Hawkman here. The thought of the Winged Wonder stuck on Dinosaur Island is a good one. No, a great one. But that’s not what we’re getting. We’re getting Hawkgirl and Batman and alien armadas and Hawkman without his wings and a whole bunch of extraneous stuff. Where’s the incredible feeling from the first few weeks? Where’s the sense of wonder and barbaric strength in the character of Carter Hall? What I see here is just about everything but.

And that’s another edition of “Thursday Follows Wednesday” in the can and I am outta here…what? Who? Oh, him. Yeah, yeah…

Mr. Wednesday Wanty – wants more talk about WEDNESDAY COMICS. He’s afraid that DC has, in a way, shot itself in the foot by making this out of continuity and therefore drawing the lowest amount of interest and conversation to the project. Kind of sad, because it’s worthy of more reviews and discussion. He wants to know what MORE people think of this incredible production.

Thursday Follows Wednesday #7

2009-08-20T06:13:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Comics #7 – Overall rating: 4 ½ whiskers.

Wow, #7 already. This’ll be done before we know it – but in a good way.

Going to try something a bit different here in the second half. Going to read it while holding it, like a newspaper, instead of laid out flat. Will that make a difference? Will “Teen Titans” suddenly become my favorite WEDNESDAY COMICS strip? Let’s find out together, shall we?

Oh, and btw: I find I’m referencing past issues more now than I have before. Oh sure, that’s most likely that my memory’s shot to hell but I like to think its because I’m enjoying the reads so much that I want to get the whole picture…or it could just be that my memory’s shot to hell.

Anyway – turbines to power, batteries to speed, the Caped Crusader’s up first!

BATMAN – 5 whiskers. Batman interrogates a suspect while his real prey becomes Number One with a bullet. This week’s strip has everything: Plot development, characterization, intrigue, mood, and of course…eye injury. Where’s Wertham when we need him??? Regardless, look for Batman at his best – threatening a goon for information – and fantastic coloring job that segues from a cool night high over Gotham to the hot streets below. Just follow the falling cig – and make those damn dogs stop staring at me!

KAMANDI – 5 whiskers. Kamandi, Dr. Canus and the human girl come upon a scene of great horror. Loved that opening panel of post-apocalyptical grandeur, which then moves us to a more intimate scene of our heroes attempting to communicate with the girl. Each character present is full of personality, which is a tribute to Gibbons’ writing and Sook’s art. After lingering on a beautiful portrait of the girl we’re then brought to a true view of devastation and Sook once again pulls out a few nice touches, such as the wailing tiger, kneeling over their dead comrade. Moving stuff, wonderful strip, as always. I’m sad to leave it and move on…

SUPERMAN – 5 whiskers. The Man of Steel’s beaten within an inch of his life but he can only think of his loved ones. Listen, you’re going to think I’m crazy by giving this week’s “Superman” a perfect clipping but hear me out: The story’s moving ahead and there’s a definite sense of danger and trauma in action. The art’s lovely – you can FEEL those punches in your bones – and the characterization is pure Superman. Despite the heavy beating he’s only concerned for Ma and Pa. The mystery of the aliens expands, too. Why are they more powerful? And can they read his mind? I loved it. This is what the strip should’ve been all along.

DEADMAN – 5 whiskers. Deadman listens to the chilling story of the lost souls he’s discovered. Okay, this is getting weird. FOUR perfect ratings in a row? I must be insane – or really digging my WEDNESDAY COMICS. So, we learn the set-up behind Boston’s latest troubles and it’s perfectly bone-chilling. I’m reminded here a bit of “Poltergeist” when we’re told that there’s an unseen demon on “the other side” that holds souls in a grip of terror and from their final journey – always a terrifying thought. I’m glad for the wonderful layout of the page as it perfectly conveys everything it needs to in what amounts to a single, large image. I also dig Deadman’s cool, or what appears to be cool…now let’s see him kick some demon booty!

GREEN LANTERN – 5 whiskers. Green Lantern encounters his friend-turned-monster but learns he may get more than he’s bargained for. Okay, I’m insane, I guess, but dammit, this is good stuff. From Busiek’s terse but oh-so succinct opening caption he throws us into some honest-to-Oa GL ring-slingin’ action. It was everything I wanted. Hal’s creepy as he oozes through the wall – ala Alan Scott! – and blazes into the studio. Great characterization – he’s a man of action but wants innocents to be safe – and great art – Quinones’ take on GL’s power shields is simple and effective – and the cliffhanger wrapped in a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in some sudoku is exciting. Kudos all around. This really deserves those clippings, folks.

METAMORPHO – 5 whiskers. The expedition gets down and dirty and runs into an old adversary. This is getting weird. Really, really, REALLY weird. Six strips, all with perfect clippings. BUT THEY WARRANT IT! My gosh, I laughed out loud at this week’s “Metamorpho”! The humor – “They had antimatter beams in Atlantis? Who knew?” “Java. He knew. That is me.” I mean, who knew that Gaiman had such a knack for clever quips? Pile that on top of a rapidly moving plot and the full intro to a dastardly evil Element Man and in the words of one of my readers, “Gaiman’s channeling his inner Haney.” And we reap the benefits. This is definitely now one of my most favorite strips. Bravo! Now, anybody able to translate Latin?

TEEN TITANS – 3 whiskers. The Titans dope out the situation and fly off to save a friend. You knew it had to end at some point, didn’t you? Yeah, and what better place to end the five whiskers streak than with “Teen Titans”? Okay, it DID rate its highest ever score yet and here’s why: It explained itself. The reader gets a better idea of who these characters are and what they’re up against and a sense of being a team is definitely imparted. I liked Robin’s inner dialogue and it was cool to see Superman and Batman. What I didn’t grok is the strange nod to current continuity concerning Dr. Light – seems out of place in this “kiddie” strip – and the somewhat annoying on-again-off-again use of contractions. Either Robin uses them or he doesn’t. Sounds weird when he doesn’t; too formal, too stiff. Awkward. Starfire can get away with it, though – but she should really stop ending sentences with a preposition. Regardless, a step up from previous weeks but it still harshed my perfect rating mellow.

STRANGE ADVENTURES – 4 ½ whiskers. Adam dreams of Fate and some of his prayers are answered. Okay, this strip just took a left turn into looney land – but WHAT a turn. Dr. Fate, fellow JSA fans. Dr. freakin’ Fate! Who would have seen Dr. Fate visiting? That’s truly inspired, especially the great observation that they’re both archaeologists, but as cool and wonderful as the dream sequence is it’s screwed by that garish red coloring job, in my opinion. Pope’s still firing on all cylinders in what’s happening but in an urge to impart and other-worldly feeling in the art he obscures his JSA visitor and lessens his impact. Again, it’s a wonderfully wonky wrinkle in the story and I dig it the most but man is this strip hard to look at. Oh, well. Adam’s got what he needs to ride the Zeta beam and that’s all that matters. Stranger days ahead!

SUPERGIRL – 3 ½ whiskers. Aquaman reads Supergirl the riot act. You know, this strip’s come a long way since its beginning seven weeks ago. Look at how dense it this week with panels and exposition. That’s a good thing, I think, if it actually advances the story. This installment – ehhh, not so much. It’s cute, in a way, and it’s lovingly drawn and the dialogue’s crisp but I think it’s inherently flawed. This is pretty unfair treatment of Aquaman, everybody’s doormat, and what I hoped last week was just a funny intro to him turns into an almost relentless jerk portrayal. Then, Supergirl’s status as a, well, blonde, is played up, also at the character’s expense. I’m intrigued by what’s wrong with Streaky and Krypto but the humor can fall flat when the characters are subject to put-downs. It’s a shame, ‘cause it’s drawn to humorous perfection and Palmiotti and Conner’s hearts are in the right place – but a mean-spirited core is starting to show. Prove me wrong, guys. Please.

METAL MEN – 5 whiskers. The Metal Men meet Chemo and find out the hard way just how corrosive he is. Here’s what I like about this week’s strip: it takes the conventions of comics – heroics, villainy, bravado in the face of danger, action and pathos – and rolls it all out with obvious love for the material. One can tell DiDio and Garcia-Lopez LOVE these characters. There’s no ground-breaking story here, no medium-busting message, just simple, straightforward comic book adventure. I find it interesting to compare this strip with Berganza’s “Teen Titans,” both by editors yet seemingly irreconcilable with each other in their construction and deployment. We know who the Metal Men are, we know their situation and we now know who the villains are and what they’re capable of. It’s not a lot to ask for, but “Metal Men” provides it in a deceptively-simple fashion. More, more.

WONDER WOMAN – 3 whiskers. Diana flies in the face of her adversary, the Cheetah, and makes a play for the Sword. Oops, something just happened here that caught me off guard: Caldwell intrigued me. Suddenly, and this could be just me, things got a mite interesting. I felt as if there was a clear definition of the enemy this week and of the battle. I felt as if Etta shown through as a viable character, and a funny one to boot. In fact, the humor this week was nice, and I actually smiled in a few places. Overall, its still a jumble of graphics that doesn’t lend itself to clarity of storytelling and how Diana got herself into this situation is unclear, but I’ll give Caldwell props for the coloring this week – and this line: “Oblivion is the fate of all those who stand on the wrong side of history…” That’s a lovely line. Made me stop and ponder it. Okay, let’s see where we go from here, then. Baby steps.

SGT. ROCK AND EASY CO. – 4 ½ whiskers. Rock’s free and Easy Co. plays a game of “Hot Potato.” This may be, for me, the most interesting installment of the strip – as late as it’s appearing. Rock is actually Rock now and not a punching bag. The ease with which he slips into command mode is comforting to see. One wants to trust Gustav but when one considers the situation, said trust is difficult to scrape together. The knife goes into Rock’s hand but it could just as easily slide between his ribs. And the potato bit with Easy Co. was great. In five easy panels the horrors of war are clearly illustrated – everything may possibly be an attack. In the rain a potato becomes a grenade and your life flashes before your eyes. This strip’s taking some heat for moving so slowly – and I’ve laid on some of that heat myself – but if you spend a little bit of time with this week’s page I think you’ll be rewarded with a particular genius at play.

FLASH COMICS – 4 whiskers. Everything explodes in Flash’s face and Barry follows his nose. Cool stuff this week. A juxtaposition of both strips, Barry’s and Iris’, and it creates a weird confluence of intense Super hero science fiction and Stephen King romance. And that’s only scraping the surface here. Fletcher’s art has never looked better and if there’s an award somewhere for drawing evil monkey waiters than he needs to get at least two or three of them. Brrr. The story’s in overdrive now and though Kerschl’s still skirting losing us all in wackiness he knows how to entertain us, too. I was worried that Iris’ story would be buried in the all the dimensional gewgaws but she’s keeping her head above water admirably. Oh, and nice nod to the Flash TV series, guys!

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN – 5 whiskers. Morgaine gets the better of Etrigan but Selina regains her true form. Good, great, wonderful! Everything’s heating up nicely here and I’m loving every frame of it this week. Morgaine’s deliciously evil in her wicked and salacious ways – rrowrrr! – and I really felt bad for poor Jason. But as he descends into his troubles Selina’s on the rise and – watch out, Morgaine! Wow! Simonson and Stelfreeze put the Cat back in the scene and make one eager for the next installment. That’s a good feeling. A little scary, a little sexy; its all good.

HAWKMAN – 3 ½ whiskers. Hawkman gets all Jurassic. See, I’ve got a problem – I’m in a love/hate relationship with this strip. On one hand, Baker’s got the feeling down pat here, all nice and rugged and manly. Hawkman as he should be. And I totally dig Dinosaur Island. That’s just cool. But on the other hand the coloring is getting way out of hand and actually made it difficult to enjoy this otherwise-enjoyable installment. Why does it look like everything’s being bathed in the light from a nuclear blast? I feel like I’m looking at a negative image or something…and the heavy use, again, of CGI doesn’t help. Hawkman himself still looks great but why the jokey giant glasses on the realistically drawn little girl? I mean, why go for caricature in the midst of computer-generated bits of reality? Maybe I’m just not understanding something here, but I’ll just hope that the ultimate coolness of Hawkman on Dinosaur Island outshines the art problems.

Wow. Eight strips out of fifteen with perfect ratings this week means the highest overall whiskers a single issue of WEDNESDAY COMICS hasn’t gotten from me yet. Congrats, DC! Keep ‘em flying!

Mr. Wednesday Wanty – wants to thank everyone who chimed in on their picks for strips in a possible sequel to this project – which leads him to his Big Want: more WEDNESDAY COMICS!!!

Thursday Follows Wednesday #6

2009-08-12T17:04:00.001-07:00

Wednesday Comics #6 – Overall rating: 4 whiskers.

So, WEDNESDAY COMICS #6.

Halfway through. In the middle. The glass is half empty – or half full? However you want to look at it, this series reaches its center point and is still rockin’ right along. Not every piston's pulling its weight but overall the engine’s in good shape and the ride’s pretty smooth. But enough with mechanical allusions, let’s talk about me.

I’ve gotten some good responses from these reviews, enough to make me feel like I’m entertaining people. Or amusing them at least. Even gotten a few pro responses, specifically from creators who, wow, appear in this series. Interesting and always humbling. Some other reviewers might pause and ponder whether or not to tailor their future reviews in one way or another, to perhaps favor or even further piss off said creators. That said, I want to assure all “Thursday Follows Wednesday” readers that what you get HERE is always and simply my unadulterated reviews. No agendas, no hidden costs, no extra charge for valve stems. Just me and a few opinions. Just like Mom used to make. If she was a comic book reviewer.

Le’s git to it!

BATMAN – 4 whiskers. Batman plays cat-and-mouse with a man he believes to be a killer. So, the Darknight Detective’s hunted a few murderers in his day and it probably gets boring after a while. Why NOT play with them a bit? Good, moody entry this week, with some nice touches: an ex-boxer/presumed killer who listens to opera, a big splash to emphasize the action, an evil smile on our hero that sent chills down my spine. Not much happens, per se, but Azzarello and Risso always evoke a mood-o, and for my money, that’s the key to the Bat-o. Cheerio, guy-with-a-gun.

KAMANDI – 5 whiskers. The strange girl gets a kick out of her gorilla captors and gets Kamandi back on the road. Anybody out there getting sick of this strip’s perfect scores across the board? Hands? Hands? No? Didn’t think so. The colors this week are so great, so rich, that they ramp up the art to a very high place. I love that middle panel, that tableau straight out of a pulp illustration. Girl with gun. Apes beware. Now, I’m not so sure that a young girl’d be able to fell a full-grown gorilla with one kick, and one right in his big leather belt rather than his kidneys, but hey, sometimes perfection in writing and art make me suspend some disbelief in things that make you go, “hmmm.” And thank Kirby that Dr. Canus is okay – now go help Tuftan, gang! Please!

SUPERMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. A restful peace is shattered by the arrival of some unwanted visitors at the Kent farm. Waitasecond. Did Arcudi just, wait for it, DO SOMETHING? Did he just, I dunno, ADVANCE THE PLOT? It took all of three seconds to read the damn thing this week but I was so overjoyed that the moping dematerialized and the crazy-ass alien infestation began. Just what this strip needed. Cool to see aliens of the same variety as that in #1. Sad to see Ma and Pa’s house ruined. troubling to see the very sad-looking grandfather clock lying amidst the rubble. Something poignant about that…

DEADMAN – 5 whiskers. Deadman falls to his death, watched by three strange personages. Everything clicked here this week and I’m moved to give “Deadman” the elusive perfect clipping. Boston’s inner dialogue of how this death differs from his first is as surreal and fascinating as it sounds. Art and colors were spot on and the wrinkle of the three women appearing at the cliffhanger, one of who Deadman recognizes – the girl from the alley in #1 – is a good shot in the arm for the story. Good job, all, though I have to chuckle a bit at a classically-garbed goddess type - who wears panties. Editorial mandate or…?

GREEN LANTERN – 3 ½ whiskers. Hal remembers the events of his dismissal from the astronaut program. A good balance here this week between the flashback to Dill’s story, a catalyst of change in Hal’s life and Green Lantern heroically swooping in to – hopefully – save the day. I think it presages some deeper struggle that might occur between GL and whatever Dill’s become, deeper than a physical one. Quinones art is really great on the centrifuge but I have to assume that the device had slowed down considerably when Hal was thrown from it – be more than a cracked rib or two if not, eh? As always, an interesting story and I think I’m about to get all the Green Lantern action I could hope for.

METAMORPHO – 5 whiskers. The intrepid explorers are waylaid by gigantic snakes deep in the Antarctic ruins. Okay, if we have to have a compression of story panels to make way for what amounts to a clever game board – I can dig it. Here’s how I justify it: the story advances, characterization evident and a few morsels of the future to be gleaned if you know where to look. “Chutes and Ladders” was one of my most favorite games when I was a kid, so that’s a win right there. Yeah, yeah, it’s called “Snakes and Ladders” in the UK; I can still dig it and it IS pretty clever to insert it here. But also look for the reference to “Algon” at the bottom – he’s the Roman Centurion Element Man who’s mentioned in #2 and who “died in a volcano,” i.e., the volcanoes that harbor the ruins Stagg and Co. are even now trampling through. Extra points for the little boy who wants to play Element GIRL in the game. Poor kid – “gender roles are hard!”

TEEN TITANS – 2 ½ whiskers. Blue Beetle wonders what he’s doing here as Trident moves in for the kill. So, we actually get some explanation of who one of these Titans is and why he’s here. Was that so hard? Why did it take six chapters? Anyway, it was a good bit of monologue and though Beetle comes off as not much of a HERO he at least intrigued me. I liked the part where he and Trident said each other’s name and then fell over. Cute. Still muddy colors and goofy art, though. And Trident is Dr. Light’s son? Is that in regular continuity, too? Not interesting enough for me to look up; just sayin’.

STRANGE ADVENTURES – 5 whiskers. Adam hits the dirt and his old life comes crashing down on him soon after. Wow. Paul Pope is doing wonders with this strip. So many little touches, so many grand ideas, so cool of a story. Here’s what’s to love this week: the culmination of the disco ball graphic from last week, Adam an old man on Earth, postcards and dusty photographs from Peru, the frustration of a dream and a grim reminder of death. Who’d have ever thought that an Adam Strange adventure could possess this much nuance alongside such larger visions of science fiction and derring-do? Paul, you made me FEEL for Adam in this strip – I don’t think that’s ever happened before for me. Kudos.

SUPERGIRL – 4 ½ whiskers. Supergirl calls on a friend for help. Best. Supergirl. Strip. Yet. I’m serious – suddenly I love this. Aquaman? I mean, Aquaman??? Who saw the coming? And I sympathize with Jimmy here ‘cause, y’know, you have to look for something to do with the King of the Sea, something interesting – and who’d ever have thought that Aquaman would end up as “that guy.” You know, that annoying guy on the cellphone. Hilarious. And funny art touches throughout from Conner: watch the pets closely and they’ll crack you up. None of this really advances the story but hey, “Supergirl” has never really been about the story, has it? Good marks for you this week, team. Fun stuff.

METAL MEN – 5 whiskers. Tin saves the day – or does he? I mean really; Tin is tops. What a great way for DiDio to ratchet up the love for the Metal Men’s “weakest” member. Wow – I seem to be saying that a lot this week. And I totally called Chemo last week! You know it! It’s good to be right, and if this is being right I don’t ever want to be wrong again. Err, or something like that. I’m sounding like a long-playing record but: good story, good dialogue, good characters, good development, good art. All this and a burp from the Villain with Gas to Spare. Way cool. Go get ‘im, Metal Men!

WONDER WOMAN – 2 whiskers. Diana gains a new friend in her quest. Took me a few minutes but I figured out that you have to read this one vertically rather than horizontally. Some call that “playing with the comic book format,” but I call that “somewhat annoying.” Thanks though to Caldwell for the introduction of Etta Candy and a narrative that makes a bit more sense than previous weeks. Where this takes place or when is a mystery and what it all means to boot but again, it appears as if we’re getting WW’s origin. Now if only we could ever get one clear shot of our heroine so as to set her in our mind’s eye as a living, breathing character – we’d be all set. Oh, I liked the sucker at the beginning, though I felt a little like I was looking in a mirror.

SGT. ROCK AND EASY CO. – 4 whiskers. Rock receives an unexpected ally. DON’T TRUST ‘IM, ROCK!!! Sorry, couldn’t help myself, soljer. I, like Rock, am suspicious of this new development, but hey, stranger things have happened in war - and to Rock. And nobody can draw poverty like Kubert. Nobody. He makes you feel every old garment, ache in the belly and punch to the face. Thanks for the development this week, father and son.

FLASH COMICS – 3 ½ whiskers. Flash creates even more time disturbances and Grodd conquers all. After those opening caption boxes, Barry should have said, “What the…??” instead of “Where the…??” But that’s simply an indication of what comes next as this strip gets even more crazy and, yes, convoluted. Gone is the “Iris Allen” strip and in its place appears a new “Gorilla Grodd” story which though interesting also throws something of a, heh, monkey wrench into the proceedings. It’s a speed bump, the first in this story, but one that I want to see what Kerschl and Fletcher do with. It could be fascinating, or it could just hurt your head. It’s a pivot point this week, folks.

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN – 4 whiskers. The Demon meets his foe and goes for the gusto. Yay! Jack Kirby’s Morgaine le Fay is here and hopefully to stay! We get a nice encapsulation of Etrigan’s origin and his connection to Camelot and some set-up for the battle ahead – all we need now is Catwoman. You know, the co-star of this strip? I’m afraid with no appearance of late she’ll be overshadowed by all the mystic hoo-hah and whatnot. What’s her place in this story now? Also, is it just me or did Stelfreeze this week channel an artist by the name of – Simonson? And in a good way? Nice look this strip has, gentlemen.

HAWKMAN – 4 whiskers. Hawkman checks for survivors of the downed airliner. I like the questions Baker’s asking here: can Hawkman be a hero without his wings? What can he do about the larger picture while stuck on the ground? Can he relate to the plane’s passengers? I really like how Baker’s brought this strip back down to Earth, so to speak, and dispensed with the aliens for now. I liked the grimier vibe we got in the first two weeks and I’m hoping that’s what we’ll be getting more of from here on out. But don’t go to long without getting some wings back on that boy, Kyle! HAWKman, not WALKman!

What? Another week’s flown by? Where did the time go? Must be a little left for…

Mr. Wednesday Wanty – wants hear some suggestions for strips for a “Wednesday Comics” sequel – which we’ve been told is a possibility. Aquaman? Check. Sugar and Spike? Check. Robin? Could be cool. Who else? We want to know!

Thursday Follows Wednesday #5

2009-08-06T06:04:00.001-07:00

Wednesday Comics #5 – Overall rating: 4 whiskers.

Hi, everybody. Thanks for checking in and or checking again with my weekly WEDNESDAY COMICS review. I appreciate it more than you can know. One quick thing before we start.

I’m still not quite getting this whole “I’m not paying 4 bucks for a newspaper!” argument. I’ve said I get the whole money-is-tight thing but past that there’s a connotation here that WEDNESDAY COMICS is as temporary and transient as a real newspaper. To that I say: really? Would I pay 4 bucks for USA TODAY? Nope. THE NEW YORK TIMES? Nope. TOLEDO BLADE? You’d have to pay ME. What I’d pay 4 bucks for is a keeper – a publication with 15 different stories by some of the top names and talents in comics and meant to be a lasting testament to the power and concept of a great tradition, namely Sunday Comics. Which just happens to be printed on newsprint. THAT’S what I’ll be paying 4 bucks for – and I do.

I give that argument only 1 whisker. Pretty weak and – dare I say it? – cheap as newsprint.

Back to the Reviewcave!

BATMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. Deep in the bowels of the earth Batman ponders the problem and Alfred offers opinions. With moody coloring that fits the submerged grotto of Batman’s deep thoughts Azzarello opines on Bruce’s thought patterns and psychological problems – which he passes to Alfred for the zinger. Alfred zingers, when done right, can be worth all the gold in a pimp’s choppers. Taking a bit off here ‘cause it doesn’t do much to advance the story, though it does open the door a bit on the detective.

KAMANDI – 5 whiskers. Gorillas galore as Kamandi struggles supremely against a tide of tufted titans. It’s the mark of a good DC artist to draw monkeys marvelously and Ryan Sook proves his mettle on that score this week. And again this strip clocks in with a perfect score. Do you blame me? Interesting plot and dialogue. Check. Fantastic art. Check. Understanding of the medium and project. Check. THIS is the strip that should have gone out to the world, not “Superman.” This is the strip that “gets it.” Lay them stinkin’ paws on me, oh Baaku! I don’t ever want to get free from “Kamandi”!

SUPERMAN – 3 ½ whiskers. Kal flashes back to his life on Krypton and its untimely demise. Here’s what I’m trying to do this week – I’m trying to put myself in the mind of Arcudi and ask myself what I’m attempting with this strip. I’m asking because, frankly, it seems to be just a tour of Superman’s world and really, nothing much else. Is it because this is the strip that’s in USA TODAY, the one being shown to “normal” people? Are there some editorial parameters because of that? I think it looks great this week, no problems there; this is a beautiful Krypton. But for those of us who already know the character, and that’s pretty much everyone, eh? We might like a little, y’know, ACTION. There was a kind of promise made in Week 1 – let’s see that promise kept. Let’s see what the Man of Steel can DO, not what he CAN’T do.

DEADMAN – 3 ½ whiskers. Deadman tries to take matters into his own hands but he has a devil of a time with backstabbers. There’s something kind of interesting going on here if you think about it: Deadman, who’s dead, goes to a place where he’s alive and must fight as someone who’s alive but is seemingly killed – and I’m guessing will be dead again. That makes me interested to know what happens next. I love the colors in this strip; they really make this sucker pop. Also dig Boston’s dialogue and thought processes. It slows down a bit this week at first but that last bloody burst of a panel makes up for it.

GREEN LANTERN – 3 whiskers. The difference between Hal Jordan and rival Joe Dillon is illustrated. Okay, what’s being said this week is important to laying the foundation and characterization of our leads and I applaud that – but – we’re almost halfway through the run of the strip and Green Lantern himself is again nowhere to be enjoyed. Maybe that’s impatience on my part, I acknowledge that, but again I’m also thinking of the potential of Busiek’s story to hook people onto GL and his ongoing adventures. At this point I’m saying, “Well, this is some interesting astronaut rivalry stuff,” but as an ode to a magic ring slinging hotdogin’ man-without-fear super-hero – it’s falling a bit flat. Art rocks as usual as does the dialogue. What book is that from?

METAMORPHO – 5 whiskers. Rex wanders into an insidious attack and shows everyone what he’s made of. Now this, this is a perfect installment. It’s got everything: progression of story, action, danger, characterization, humor and wee bit of duck a l’orange. Gaiman knocks it out of the long-lost temple by showing us exactly what Metamorpho can do and how he reacts to situations. Toss in his rival/friend Element Girl and Simon Stagg’s wonky way of exploring archaeological sites and you’ve got a recipe for success. “What is a human life balanced against a perfectly cooked omelette,” indeed!

TEEN TITANS – 1 ½ whiskers. The Titans watch a rescue attempt. I’m trying to find something in this strip to like. Maybe I’m trying too hard. I realize this week that one of my problems with it is that there is no single “voice” to it, as exemplified by the introduction here of one of the SMASH people’s narration. Last week it was the villain. And I still don’t know or care who anybody is. I’d like to know what makes these Titans a team, who they look up to and who they can’t stand. Why are they heroes? Why do they fight? What does this particular mission mean to them and to the world? Why is the dialogue so clumsy? And did Robin just cop a feel? Yikes.

STRANGE ADVENTURES – 4 whiskers. Alanna makes her way into the desert and ponders her next move without Adam. I get that this is the continuation or sequel to Alanna’s little adventure last week but I can foresee Pope falling into the same situation as “Green Lantern”: lack of hero. I really like what I’m being shown here, especially the guide to Rann’s flora, but I’m hoping Alanna’s words in the last panel set up Adam’s return engagement next week. Also, what’s with the psychedelic baseball at top, front and center? I’m guessing it represents the zeta beam energy or Adam himself but, it really just sticks out like a…psychedelic baseball. Not one of Pope’s better graphic decisions.

SUPERGIRL – 3 ½ whiskers. Streaky gets his mouse but Supergirl and Krypto end up with the whole ball of yarn. I’ve grown to like this strip but am I the only one who’s beginning to feel that a humor strip involving a passenger jet in mortal danger is a bit…disturbing? That got hammered home with this installment when I saw the inside of the plane and its creaming passengers and LITTLE KID IN TROUBLE. Maybe it’s not the wisest of choices for comedy these days. Otherwise, yeah, it’s still cute with nice little touches of wit and I’m still glad for any exposure for the Super Pets but at the end of the day the laughs kind of wear thin when you step back and observe the whole picture. Love the blasé look on Streaky’s face in the title panel, btw.

METAL MEN – 5 whiskers. The Metal watch in wonder as their creator faces his teacher. Love it. LOVE it. Somewhere Earnest Thesiger is looking down – or up! – and getting a chuckle out of this. Maybe even with a shot of gin, his only weakness. And Bela, too, God bless the old Count. DiDio rolls out an interesting new adversary but not exactly for the Metal Men: for their creator, Will Magnus. It’s a cool set-up here – Magnus has advanced robotics to nth degree but almost refuses his creations to function as they were built. Will’s teacher has a beef with him over intellectual properties and dismisses the Metal Men as “amusement park attractions.” Good stuff. Wait. “Experiments with toxic waste”? Could this be a lead-in to a Chemo appearance? Zowie! Point one percent of a whisker off for a really, really dumb title, Dan.

WONDER WOMAN – 1 ½ whiskers. Diana gains an item. I feel pretty much the same about the strip this week as I have the preceeding weeks. It just makes me tired to even look at it. Nice to see The Cheetah and the tiara show up. That's something I guess. Looks like she'll be gaining pieces of her famous outfit bit by bit through dreams or something. Sort of looked like she had the eagle breastplate this time too but the coloring was so impenetrable I wasn't sure.

SGT. ROCK AND EASY CO. – 3 whiskers. Rock looks death in the face and gets crowned instead. Well, I’m at an impasse this week, folks. The beautiful Kubert art grinds its wheels pushing up against the brick wall that the story’s become. Ive looked the other way for a four weeks but this isn’t really going places. Here’s what we know in five weeks: Rock is being interrogated by Nazis and Easy Co.’s on some kind of a mission. I like the set-up, I like art, I like the tension and I like the potential – but I don’t dig the anticipation anymore. Kuberts: bring me back home, pappy and puppy. Tell me more about why I should be getting my feet dirty slogging away next to Rock and the boys.

FLASH COMICS – 4 ½ whiskers. Grodd goes fishing for “the Big One” and Barry tosses away the golden ring. It’s a testament to Kerschl and Fletcher that they’re making this trip work the fine way it does. I mean, where else can you get apes drooling over quantum mechanics and the soapiest of soap operas all in one good-looking package? Their super-heroic instincts are good and their balancing it with the domestic troubles of costumed crimebusters makes for an enjoyable evening with the Allens. Hey, have you realized that “Wednesday Comics” has three strips with apes? That’s worth 4 bucks alone.

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. Etrigan uncovers his enemy’s lair and bids her come forth! The grandeur of this strip just increased fourfold and its magic draws me in. And though Selina’s but a footnote this week I wonder at her place in the scheme of the story – what is special role will she play in the drama? She’s here in this tale for a reason. That’s the bit of intrigue that keeps me perky for this strip; that and the combo of Simonson’s sonorous speeches and Stelfreeze’s stunning stretches of sights. But, umm, guys? A bit too dark this time around; that third panel needs its moment to shine.

HAWKMAN – 4 whiskers. Hawkman lends wings to a wingless bird and pulls up with all his might. It’s quite interesting to weigh this installment against the “Supergirl” strip this week; two crashing jetplanes, two different moods. Action-wise I think Baker is firing on all cylinders – I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hawkman do something like that with his gear before. That was pretty cool. Art-wise I appreciate the lack of CGI but those dark, damp colors have got to go. I think it takes an edge off the tense situation. Regardless this strip made me get back up on my feet and holler again. Yeah!

Nice to be able to end on high-note this time. Of course, this next little gentleman could put a downer on things…

Mr. Wednesday Wanty – wants to know why, overall, “Wednesday Comics” is getting to be pretty gloomy with its coloring. Look at this edition; at least half its strips look like there’s suddenly a run on vibrantly colored inks. Maybe our dear old newspaper’s on the skids and the budget’s being slashed? Hold the presses! Send out for more color, DC!

Thursday Follows Wednesday #4

2009-07-29T17:00:00.001-07:00

Wednesday Comics #4 – Overall rating: 4 whiskers.

I’m trying something a bit different here this week, my Faithful Few. Instead of reading the entire issue and then writing my review I’m writing about each strip right after I read them, so as to keep my thoughts fresh in my mind. Getting old’s a bitch, in case you haven’t heard. I’ve been meaning to start taking gingko for my memory but keep forgetting to do so.

Now, let’s join our strips in progress, shall we?

BATMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. Bruce Wayne gets mooned. Well, that was certainly pregnant with sexual innuendo, wasn’t it? WEDNESDAY COMICS’ most adult story continues to tease and please and frankly, the absence of Batman this week doesn’t hurt it a bit. That lovely shadow over Bruce is enough to tell us that the Darknight Detective is on the case and watching every move on the chessboard. And that’s what this feels like: a prickly game of chess. Or in Luna’s case, chest. Hmm, Freudian slip much?

KAMANDI – 5 whiskers. Kamandi and friends dangle themselves into the depths of danger and lose their ride to some damn dirty apes. I’m beginning to think that Gibbons and Sook can do no wrong with this strip. They do everything right, never missing a chance for action, exposition or excitement. I think Kamandi’s yearning for fellow humans comes through so strongly here and the world of animals he’s forced to live in becomes something of a cage for him. He wants to live peacefully. His enemies want him dead. Find out what Mr. Wanty wants at the end of this column.

SUPERMAN – 3 whiskers. Clark visits Kansas but receives little solace. This strip’s beginning to get on my nerves – just a bit. I think by now we get the fact that he’s “out of sorts” and depressed. Fine, Interesting premise for a story. How about now we get some story with that? I still think there’s a likely “outside influence” at work here and maybe the look into his Kryptonian heritage we should get next week will illuminate things. Otherwise, ho hum. Note to Bermejo: I really liked that transition from evening to night. Very effective. You’re holding your end of the strip up quite nicely, sir.

DEADMAN – 4 whiskers. Deadman’s got a hell of a problem with a guy with an axe to grind – in Boston’s head. Did I already use that joke? Anyway, another good installment here; I like this strip for its noir atmosphere and for getting the character of Boston Brand right. I loved the fine showing of his circus skills and especially the Cirque du Soleil put-down. Sissies indeed. Didn’t care much for the over-used joke of “couldn’t get much worse-next, things get worse!” nor did I dig the confusion of which panel to start at. I went first for “Krak!” but found out it was really “Die, Human!” Let’s not sacrifice clarity for nifty, eh? In all, Deadman probably hasn’t had it this good in a while.

GREEN LANTERN – 4 whiskers. Hal Jordan remembers a friend as he speeds toward a possible new enemy. In the words of Hal himself this week, “Nice strip you’ve got here.” I love it when writers give me something to work with. And it’s true. Busiek’s building a real feeling of an era, of a time in history here and really cements that this time around. I could always use a LOT more GL action but I’m beginning to dig this strip for its period performance. I’m wondering if it might be fun to see a few historical personages show up here – what do YOU think?

METAMORPHO – 4 ½ whiskers. Element Girl makes an appearance and the stakes of the mission are laid out for all to ponder. Before I turned the page to this strip I said to The Little Woman, “I’m afraid – what if it’s as disappointing as last week? I want to like this strip.” Whew. All is well. Gaiman and Allred kicked in the afterburners and dialed this puppy up to, well, at least 9 or so. As if to make up for the last two week’s single-panel duds they throw us a bunch of story and development. In only a few short panels Element Girl reveals herself to be a fascinating character – I had to laugh as she gives the boys a peek at Christmas then seemingly regrets it and covers herself demurely. Then, when Sapph-baby shows up, E-Girl tousles her own hair in an unconscious – or conscious – nod to feminine vanity. Prime stuff. Firing on all cylinders except for the wonky Java portrayal and a bit of confusion over the shadow man’s identity. Is that Stagg? Or are Rex’s blood-shot eyes meant to convey surprise at a new arrival?

TEEN TITANS – 1 ½ whiskers. The Titans are going down with the ship. Boy, do I feel sorry for anyone who doesn’t know these characters in advance ‘cause Berganza’s not giving them much to go on. Who is Blue Beetle? Who is that girl with the glowing hand? Why should I care about any of them? The team as a concept is one thing but its compoenents are cyphers. This is the one strip that really demands some foreknowledge of the concept and frankly that’s a bad thing. And why did the Titans supposedly “turn” on society? And why purposefully color a comic story in mud, rust and other unsavory materials? Confusing and dull, this strip does little to inspire any interest in the Titans. Sink this one, please.

STRANGE ADVENTURES – 5 whiskers. Alanna takes her own destiny in her blood-stained hands and makes her escape. Wow. This strip clocked in with a perfect score this week. And no Adam Strange to be found. This is all Alanna’s gig, for the moment, and I doubt if she ever shown this fiercely and capably in any Silver Age or otherwise adventure. Around a stark but beautiful portrait of her by Pope her adventurous escape from the blue monkey’s clutches speaks to the oldest sense of derring-do and again gives one a perfect picture of the John Carter of Mars tradition. Pope’s amazing me, folks. I hope you’re seeing everything I see here. Good stuff.

SUPERGIRL – 4 whiskers. Streaky goes a’stalking and sinks her claws into trouble. I think I finally “get” this Supergirl story this week. I actually chuckled out loud at Streaky’s stealthy and evil-eyed stalking of “Mel Mouse” – I could see it as if it was a film, with the intercutting of the cat with the mouse. Fun, fun stuff. Add to this the wry, “Really, Krypto? Woof?” which I read as sarcastic on Supergirl’s part, and this strip definitely moved up a notch or two in my estimation. Writing and art come together at last. One question: has Streaky always been a “her”?

METAL MEN – 5 whiskers. The Metal Men solve one crisis only to be handed another. Another prefect score this week. I must be ill. Or, I must be likin’ what I’m readin’. From the drop-dead artistically-impactful opening panel to all the humor, back story, action and adventure, DiDio and Garcia-Lopez fully mesh in this installment and produce a real winner. And that mysterious figure who’s haunted the backdrop for three weeks reveals himself! Yipes! Extra points for the funny exchange between the kid and Mercury – which make up for the points lost for Mercury’s orange-ish opulence.

WONDER WOMAN – 1 whisker. Diana flies around and gets a shield. To go from strips like “Strange Adventures” and “Metal Men” to this little gem isn’t what I call consistency. I’ll admit it: I just skimmed over Caldwell’s latest offering of jigsaw-storytelling this week. He lost me after the first tier (?) of panels and I mean LOST me. Where you were supposed to go after that, I seriously couldn’t tell you. It all seems to be a re-telling of how Diana gained all her Wonder Woman accoutrements with Hispanic (?) overtones but again, I only skimmed over it when I realized I was spending too much time on figuring out what panel came next – and me a 35+ year veteran of reading comics. If a creator insists on being what I see as self-indulgent – my opinion – then I don’t need to waste my time and energies on it. I wanted to like it but Caldwell’s working against his readers.

SGT. ROCK AND EASY CO. – 3 ½ whiskers. Rock’s interrogation comes to an end and Easy Co. finds some new friends. Unfortunately, the Kuberts seems to be falling into the same trap as the Superman strip: repeating themselves. We get that Rock’s being beaten. Got it. Thanks for bringing it to a close, perhaps, with a gun loosed from its holster. More interesting is the path of the battle-happy joes of Easy Co. and the underground warriors they chance upon. That’s an avenue I’ll happily follow; let’s hope Rock gets a similar chance to strut his stuff.

FLASH COMICS – 4 ½ whiskers. Flash travels back along a race he’s already run, risking both his life and his life with Iris. Okay, I had to get out my copy of WEDNESDAY COMICS #1 to put things together and if you do the same, I think it will be very worthwhile. Sure, I spent a bit of extra time on this strip to figure it out, like “Wonder Woman,” but unlike that I was actually rewarded for my efforts. Kerschl and Fletcher cleverly use time to their advantage and again not only weave both stories together but also all previous installments. Can’t wait to see where else this goes, guys. Cool.

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. A transformed Catwoman squares off against a curious Demon. Ask for a meeting between the strip’s two stars and ye shall receive! In a flurry of Ye Olde Speeche the Demon gets down to the business of figuring out what’s what and you the reader has a front-row seat. And it’s pretty cool. Simonson’s upped the ante on Selina to make her a match for Merlin’s monster and the fight and the magicks come off pretty damn cool. As to all the flowery talk – ehh, I’ll leave it to more learn others to tell me if it’s “correct” or not. Me, I always get a kick out of stuff like that. Shades of Stan Lee!

HAWKMAN – 3 whiskers. Hawkman summons help to stop an alien invasion. Couple of things disrupted my enjoyment of this story this time around. First and foremost, I don’t care for computer-generated art mixing with hand-drawn. Something about it makes for a speed-bump the size of Rhode Island for me. It was probably there all along but Baker’s use of it here with the spaceships and the texturing made me a bit queasy – either one or the other, Kyle! I know that incredibly creative things can be done with drawing programs but it still smacks of laziness to me when it’s mixed with hand-drawn art. And I already know Baker can draw up a storm. Two storms. A tempest, actually. Second nitpick: why tease us with Hawkgirl and Batman and then not fully show them? What was up with the silhouettes? Is Baker worried that other heroes will steal Hawkman’s thunder? Kyle, not when Hawkman is being portrayed as THIS COOL. See? I’ll put forth that we didn’t need the JLA at all in this strip, though Hawkgirl’s a very welcome addition. Third pick of nits: why do the alien craft look like the Reliant from “Star Trek”? Sigh. Hailing frequencies closed.

Though we end here on something of a downer I just want to say that it’s still an overall pleasure to buy and consume a new issue of this incredible project. What? Oh, he’s right here…

Mr. Wednesday Wanty – wants to see some more of the ruined Earth in the “Kamandi” strip. We’re getting its denizens but wouldn’t some more coolness like the sunken NYC in the first issue be great? Also, Mr. Wanty wants to tell you that he’s to the point that spreading his copy of WEDNESDAY COMICS out flat on the floor and smoothing it down a bit works the best for his reading pleasure. What’s YOUR preferred mode of reading it? We want to know!

Thursday Follows Wednesday #3

2009-07-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Comics #3 – Overall rating: 4 whiskers.

Continuing with my informal, unscientific poling of message boards I’m seeing a lot of disdain for the “Teen Titans” and “Wonder Woman” strips in WEDNESDAY COMICS, a situation that doesn’t exactly fill me with glee – I want the entire project to succeed – but I think it confirms that I’m not crazy at least. How did those two stories fare this week along with the rest of the continuing adventures of The World’s Greatest Heroes?

Let’s find out. Together. Just you and me. Pull up a chair, pal.

BATMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. Batman eavesdrops on a domestic squabble, delving further into a mysterious case. This strip continues to surprise me. Lots of subtle things going on here but the stand-out thought in my mind is that Batman’s stuck on the outside looking inside on a private life, however disgusting, that’s lost to him. One of the nicest touches is Batman’s doubled-up fist when witnessing the slap; the lady may be a tramp but she’s a human being nonetheless. Violence, though often the Caped Crusader’s tool, is something that boils his insides. What a moody piece this is. Bravo.

KAMANDI – 5 whiskers. Kamandi and Tuftan escape the rats and go sailing away with another ally. I was really hoping Dr. Canus would show up sooner than later and was not disappointed by his arrival this week. Again, Sook uses the huge playing field to great advantage and with a nice arranging of panels gives the airship a beautiful introduction. The richness of Kirby’s world is given full flower this time and the perky glimpse of beauty and beasts in the final panel make me thrill for more. Beautiful colors, btw.

SUPERMAN – 3 ½ whiskers. Superman’s still troubled by thoughts of being an alien and flies home for a taste of what really matters. I think perhaps this week’s entry provides the nicest art of the three installments but I’m still wondering – lightly – where this is going. I appreciate the look at Clark’s two worlds, both of Metropolis and Lois and the Kent’s Smallville, but there’s something about Arcudi’s abrupt endings that bugs me. Could it be he feels a “To Be Continued” or a “Next Week” would be out of place in the strip? Regardless, it’s interesting that the character with the greatest power and action potential of WEDNESDAY COMICS has one of the quietest strips of the lot.

DEADMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. Deadman’s attempt at possession sends him hurtling into the abyss, only to find someone with an axe to grind at the bottom. Turning the page to this strip was one of the highlights of the issue. What a loaded gun that was! I liked Boston’s inner struggle between helping the girl and the idea of welcoming her into the spirit world. Interesting stuff. And why is Deadman “alive” at the end and who is “Kalak”? Count on me to be right here next week to find out…

GREEN LANTERN – 4 whiskers. No sooner does Green Lantern enter as Hal Jordan then he exits again as GL – to save a friend-turned-monster! There’s an underlying humor in this strip that not only compliments the action but the art, too. Hal’s friend perk up when he enters and that in itself is a joy to behold, though Carol Ferris is less than impressed – supposedly. What’s up with astronaut Joe Dillon? I dunno – but boy is he ugggggllllyyy! Note: Colors were a bit too somber this week, I thought.

METAMORPHO – 3 whiskers. Rex and Co. enter an ancient temple. Sound like the description for last week? It is; good spotting. If this one giant panel thing continues – this is the second week of it – I may have to reassess my enjoyment of this strip. Oh, it looks GREAT but does nothing at all for the narrative. It’s almost as if Allred’s more concerned with showing off his panoramic powers than telling a story, as if Gaiman thinks he has more than twelve parts to spin a yarn and why hurry with the spinning? Guys, c’mon. Metamorpho is a FANTASTIC character with a FANTASTIC supporting cast – don’t use up your precious few installments with pretty pictures alone. DO something. And Java isn’t erudite or poetic – what’s up with that? And as cute as the MFA panel is it doesn’t mean the rest of the strip gets a pass. Give us some meat.

TEEN TITANS – 2 ½ whiskers. The Titans seek aid from the medics but Trident’s still on their tails. I must admit that while overall I continue to not care for this strip at least something happens this week. I sort of like the idea of S.M.A.S.H. but that art is am eyesore and the cast is completely uninspiring. Who are these characters? Why are they together? What do they do, other than get their asses handed to them? Before I forget, that “Yamato” cartoon or whatever called and wants their flying submarine back.

STRANGE ADVENTURES – 4 ½ whiskers. While Allana’s led to the larder Adam gets in touch with the Zeta beam and – disappears. Ladies and gentlemen, I think this story might just be the one that’s running under everyone’s radar and I submit here and now that it’s worthy of much, much more attention then its getting. It’s good. Very good. And it’s so pulpy, so in tune with the early days of science fiction that it makes it a joy for an old school fan like me to read. The whole bit with the Zeta energy harkens back to classic stuff like the “Lensman” novels and all those seminal uses of mind powers in pulp days. Pope really knows what he’s doing here and surprising me every issue. May be one of the best things he’s ever done.

SUPERGIRL – 3 whiskers. Krypto calms down and joins Supergirl in the quest for Streaky. Again, this strip isn’t really bad or really good – it just is. Its fun, sure, and it’s drawn in a fun manner and if you like the Super Pets like I do than bonus. Personally, I think we didn’t need the last panel of Supergirl telling us exactly what we can see is happening in the penultimate panel but, hey, that’s probably just me.

METAL MEN – 4 ½ whiskers. One of the bank robbers takes a hostage and the Metal Men are put between a rock and a hard place. The Little Woman pointed out to me that there’s a shadowy figure in trenchcoat and wide-brimmed hat that’s been in the background of every installment so far – boy do I feel dumb for not noticing him. Maybe that’s a credit to DiDio and Garcia-Lopez’ cramming of action into every panel, or maybe its just that I didn’t notice it. The mystery man doesn’t seem to be fazed by all the goings-on…who could this be? What fun! That made this strip even better.

WONDER WOMAN – 1 ½ whiskers. Diana fights Dr. Poison. Yep, here we go again. I apologize for the tirade ahead, folks. Just about everything that Caldwell does here is a great disservice to the strip and it audience, in my opinion. I realized while reading it that the tiny panels do absolutely nothing for my sense of the action; what is going on, exactly? If there are fights and other movements I cannot discern them through the cramped artwork. If there is wonderful dialogue and speeches I cannot fathom them through the near-unreadable lettering. If there is wonder and magic I cannot glimpse them through the muddy coloring. Why do I dread this strip each week? Why do I collect myself and save my strength up to start down its path each issue? Its one big attempt at turning WW into a faux-Disney feature, complete with their typical moon-eyed heroine, talking/joking animal sidekicks and just this side of scary villains. I gave this week’s chapter a half point for using an established WW opponent but other than that I wouldn’t cry too much if I didn’t have to slog through nine more weeks of this. And get a costume on that girl.

SGT. ROCK AND EASY CO. – 4 ½ whiskers. Easy Co.’s closer to finding Rock but the battered soldier himself isn’t looking too pretty. Joe Kubert knows how to draw the effects of a serious beat-down, that’s for sure. And that’s a good thing! I continue to appreciate Rock’s insolence in the face of adversity and I’ve become quite fascinated with the photographer character who’s stepped out of the background to perhaps take center stage. His presence is almost perverse, in a way, and I look forward to discovering why his presence is so important to the “Kommadant.” Go, Kuberts!

FLASH COMICS – 4 ½ whiskers. Iris has had enough and leaves while the two Flashes go back to the future. Thing are moving, well, FAST here this week and there’s no time to reflect on Iris’ angry departure. We’ve got a date with the future and a future Flash who echoes many of the Scarlet Speedster’s comic book adventures of the past several years. Kerschl’s just this side of complicating things a bit too much but I’m still greatly enjoying this double strip and I can’t say enough about the art. It suits the story to a “T.”

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN – 5 whiskers. Catwoman’s captured by a strange old lady who collars the kitty and induces a transformation. Wow, this strip just moved into the 5 Whiskers Club. I’ve said it before: I never expected to like this one as much as I do and this week’s installment fired on all cylinders. The sense of Selina’s entry into a darker world beyond her abilities is thick and her magical change this week was both surprising and eerie. Who’s the old crone? The Demon’s traditional and eternal enemy is Morgan Le Fay – if this is her, its something of a new take on her. Might also be the legendary Baba Yaga. We’ll find out one way or another and I can’t WAIT for Catwoman to meet Etrigan face-to-face! Meow, indeed!

HAWKMAN – 4 whiskers. The Winged Wonder uncovers the vanguard of an alien invasion of Earth. Sure, Hawkman’s been a science fiction character for decades but I must admit to a bit of disappointment when the terrorists of weeks 1 and 2 turned out to be “Makkorthians.” Why? I think there’s already enough SF in WEDNESDAY COMICS, pure and simple, and I think something more along the lines of a political thriller might have stood out more. Still, there’s a great feeling of power in Baker’s Hawkman and a gritty realism. Still like the strip and will see where it all goes.

And that's pretty much it for another week, except for...

Mr. Wednesday Wanty – wants to know how this thing’s selling and what the plans are for collecting it. The mind boggles: can you imagine the size of the tpb for this? Surely they won’t shrink it down? Defeats the purpose! Clue us in to what’s up, D(o)C! And while were at it, why isn’t there a WEDNESDAY COMICS forum on the DC Message Boards? Insane!

Thursday Follows Wednesday #2

2009-07-16T06:04:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Comics #2 – Overall rating: 4 whiskers.

If I’m any judge of gauging reactions as I’ve traveled around the ‘Net I’d say DC has a winner on their hands with WEDNESDAY COMICS. Oh, there were a few quibbles over the format – as if there wasn’t a ton of explanation before hand – and a few stink bombs about the price – I get it that money’s an issue, as it is with me – but I wholeheartedly believe I’m getting my money’s worth here with the amount of paper, the talent, the storytelling and only one ad. And I understand and appreciate the history of the format. I feel as if I’m walking in the footsteps of my father, my grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. That’s a pretty cool feeling.

This week brings some improvements to a few of the more lacking strips and a couple o’ nice surprises to others. Let’s dig right in, shall we? We shall!

BATMAN – 4 whiskers. Bruce Wayne attends a funeral and falls head over heels for a widow. This is the way I think it should be for all the strips: introduce your hero the first week and start playing around with the set-up thereafter. It was very cool to see Bruce enter the story – a facet of Batman I never get enough of – and a good glimpse into Bruce’s “life.” I’m assuming his callous remarks about the widow are simply to maintain his status as a shallow playboy; regardless, he’s got some new trouble on his hands of which I’m betting it’s all a trap to snare him like Franklin Glass before him.

KAMANDI – 5 whiskers. Kamandi greets an old friend but crosses paths with a horde of savage mutated animals. The perfect strip, hands down. I love its continued emulation of such classics as “Prince Valiant” with the dialogue in the text and not in balloons – and can Ryan Sook’s art get any more gorgeous and illustrative? I honestly think this is a strip that Kirby’d be proud of – and it’s what he originally intended, his DC creations begun by him put continued by others. This is one exciting and charming exercise in comics.

SUPERMAN – 4 whiskers. Superman heads to Gotham City for some advice but his words fall on unsympathetic ears. Wow! Didn’t see THAT one coming! Batman’s appearance here ups the ante for me on this strip and Bermejo’s supplying a Dark Knight that crouches and snarls and glowers. Two caveats here: Superman should have been way past such feelings a long time ago and his departure came off as petulant. Still, a good-looking strip and the dialogue’s handled well. But poor widdle Supes!

DEADMAN – 4 whiskers. Boston Brand tells his spiritual benefactor to stuff it and steps into deep doo-doo. Nice confrontation here between Deadman and Rama Kushna, giving the reader an idea of the forces at play in his ghostly world. Kind of chilling when she says his “mere existence” is at her “discretion.” But Boston’s headstrong – gotta love ‘im – and leaps when he should think. Looks like everything’s going to Hell in a red and white handbasket…

GREEN LANTERN – 4 whiskers. Green Lantern shows us what he’s made of and astronaut Dillon gets the mother of all headaches. Okay, this is what I’m talkin’ ‘bout: GL action. Ring-slingin’, baby. And against Russkie spy-warriors. It looked great, reads as well and the stuff with Joe Dillon is interesting. Is he going to become one of Hal’s rogues’ gallery? I dunno, but consider my interest piqued and my outlook on this strip changed for the better.

METAMORPHO – 3 ½ whiskers. Rex and Co. enter an ancient temple. Okay, didn’t really see this coming, either. Basically, its one very large panel with a weird little extra added bonus at the bottom. Clearly, Gaiman and Allred are going to be playing fast and loose with this strip – and they should – but I think there’s a bit of a mis-fire here. There wasn’t much that happened last week; not much happens here. If that’s the intention, that the art is the draw and whatever else is just along for the ride, well, okay, I guess. I did dig the fantasy of the MFA at the bottom, really, but…I’m waiting to see if this’ll be the norm for this page. Nice try with the logo, btw.

TEEN TITANS – 2 whiskers. The Titans fight Trident and must be saved by their elders. I was going to give this strip an extra half whisker this week for actually getting on with it but I deducted it for calling Trident a toothpaste instead of a gum. Weird thing is that Berganza’s an EDITOR. Huh.

STRANGE ADVENTURES – 4 whiskers. Adam Strange is forced to play a different tune but has something else up his sleeve. I like this strip. I think I like it even a bit more than last week. Pope’s creating a balance of conventionality and the avant garde that not only fits the strip but fits the overall concept of WEDNESDAY COMICS. If you’re an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan, as well as a Julius Schwartz fan, I don’t think you could go too wrong with this. Fun stuff. Blue monkeys rock.

SUPERGIRL – 3 whiskers. Supergirl’s pets create more havoc. Second verse same as the first. I think I have it now: this is the humor strip. This is the light-hearted story for fun and frivolity. And it fills that role fairly well, too. Nice to look at, relatively innocuous; I have no real complaints about it nor passionate feeling, either. I was glad they mentioned the amount of property damage, though.

METAL MEN – 4 ½ whiskers. The Metal Men stop the bankrobbers but face Doc Magnus’ ire as well as the security cop’s gun. Yeah, baby: that’s some Metal Men right there. THAT’S what I wanted last week. Metal Men action and hijinks and goofy one-liners and Tina’s crush on Will and Will’s complete exhaustion over what do with these crazy-ass robots he’s created. DiDio kicks it in this week and dammit, I want to know why that cop is pointing a gun at them. Oh, and btw, that kid is a-okay in my book. Mercury’s orange coloring is not. Must be some wacked-out thermometers in the Mulvihill household.

WONDER WOMAN – 1 whisker. Diana goes through water and talks to more animals and thinks she’s dreaming again. Does that sound right? Listen: I wanted to give this strip a completely new, even fairer chance after my disappointment last week. It squandered that chance. Everything it did wrong last time it did wrong this time. I just don’t believe this is the place for an experimental take on Wonder Woman – save it for a graphic novel. Hell, there’s no Wonder Woman even in it. There are tiny panels, tiny lettering, horrible colors and boring happenings. I am sorry, Mr. Caldwell, truly, but I don’t care about whatever’s going on here. Please make me care. Where’s the myth? Where‘s the WONDER?

SGT. ROCK AND EASY CO. – 4 whiskers. Rock gets another chance to speak but holds his tongue. Kubert’s really the master, isn’t he? Can anyone else make war comics look this brutal, this visceral, yet this grandiose? You have to LOVE Rock’s bravado in the face of the ultimate beating. That alone was worth the turning of the page. And glad to see some of Easy Co. enter the story, too.

FLASH COMICS – 5 whiskers. Iris wants to leave but the Flash enters into some supreme weirdness. I have this strip pegged now, too: it’s the romance comic of the book. I totally dig that, especially since the crazy-ass stuff that happens this week puts it into something more like “Dark Shadows” territory. I mean, Flash meets himself and fights himself over a note on a piece of paper? And kudos to Kerschl and Co. for tying these two strips together the way they do. I love that. Its fun, its flashy and its one of my favorites. More! More!

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. Catwoman pilfers the goods and a certain demon’s not too happy about it. Like I said last week, the fun here is the idea of Selina getting into a situation that’s far, far out of her league. I really liked the oddity of Jason’s home – another nod to “Dark Shadows” in a way – and I’m glad to see Etrigan so soon. Half a point off for some confusion as to what exactly is going on in the last panel: is the Demon howling or the wolves or both?

HAWKMAN – 5 whiskers. Hawkman approaches the hijacked plane and must contend with both captors and captives. This is a rough Hawkman. He throws his “army” into harm’s way and damn the cost. On the other hand, he charmingly and engagingly gives a little girl a cherry thumbs-up. This strip continues to amaze me. I think perhaps this could actually be good for the character once all is said and done. And that’d be a miracle.

Two weeks in and already there are calls for a continuation, a sequel. I think people are seeing the magic of the format and the quality that DC’s pouring into it. It’s an enjoyable experience.

Mr. Wednesday Wanty – wants to like TEEN TITANS and WONDER WOMAN, no fake, but sense the rest of the community marshalling their forces behind him in support of his negativity. But the calls for the two strips to be dropped and replaced with something else? Heh. It’s a done deal, Bunky. This ain’t an ongoing.

Thursday Follows Wednesday #1

2009-07-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY COMICS #1 – Overall rating: 3 ½ whiskers.

Hey, everybody. Thanks for taking a look at my first WEDNESDAY COMICS review. I hope you’ll enjoy it or find it worthwhile and join me for the next 11 weeks.

I’m going to be looking at DC’s grand new experiment with an eye towards their own advertisement of the project – that it’s accessible to new readers yet accessible to everyone. Do the stories within give you enough to go on and enough to make you stick around? For the most part, I’d say “yes.” There’s a few odd chances being taken here by some of the writers but overall this is a creatively intriguing “book” and I’ll be glad to follow it for 12 weeks.

Also, a small part of me is chuckling over thoughts of some fans cringing at the folds and stress marks on the paper. Visions of them ironing it have me in stitches…

BATMAN – 3 ½ whiskers. The Dark Knight’s on a new case, one that doesn’t exactly jibe with other kidnappings. I liked Azzarello’s opening insight into Batman and Gordon’s relationship but I thought he made our hero come off as something of a neophyte. The Caped Crusader’s lack of foreknowledge of the case and his surprise as to the time isn’t inspiring me with confidence in his abilities. Risso doesn’t help things with panel 11’s pained expression but he does do a very nice Mignola-type visual.

KAMANDI – 5 whiskers. The Last Boy on Earth reflects on his world and is confronted by a stranger. Wow. Top marks for both writing and art. Gibbons sets the mood as both wistful and adventurous by not focusing too strongly on the apocalyptic angle but definitely playing up the “entire world to play in” thing. There’s a touch of Tarzan here, too. Sook’s art is glorious and his tilted view of a partially submerged building is easily the Panel of the Week. I appreciate the nod to classy to Kirby, also.

SUPERMAN – 3 ½ whiskers. The Last Son of Krypton meets an alien who has something to say about our hero’s heritage. Another visual treat here, with Bermejo’s painterly visuals leaping off the page with a single bound. Arcudi has a few interesting things to say about Superman’s outlook towards other aliens and the public’s view of his fights. Good stuff and I’m hoping for more on these angles.

DEADMAN – 4 whiskers. The Ghost With the Most sticks his nose into a strange series of murders. Bullock and Heuck get high marks right off the bat for presenting the original version of Deadman, that is, not the emaciated, skeletal spook of the last several years. This is a full-bodied Deadman who basically tells us he’s too curious for his own good. While I appreciated the opening establishing text box I feel as if the actual narrative wasted space going over some of the same points, which these strips cannot spare. Still, it’s a good first look at the character’s milieu – I just hope he’ll do some body-hopping next week.

GREEN LANTERN – 3 whiskers. Hal’s friends talk about him in a bar. I wish it was a bit more exciting than that but that’s the gist of the story this week. It’s an odd beginning by Busiek, taking a chance on excluding his star until the final panel and while his secret identity of Hal Jordan is definitely referred to otherwise I’d have to say that someone new to the character might not get that first important impression. It’s not necessarily the wrong way to go put the visual hook of GL and his ring isn’t truly there. Cool that the NEW FRONTIER setting and look is being used – Quinones rocks the house visually.

METAMORPHO – 4 ½ whiskers. The Element Man’s in his element and then out as Stagg sends him on a new mission. Another fantastic visual treat with Allred’s careful art considerations from literal top to bottom. The roll call lit me up like a Christmas tree. My only story caveat here is that Gaiman is hiding his light under a bushel – there’s no real glimmer of his unique voice in the writing. This is 1960s Metamorpho all the way, baby…but maybe it could be a bit more? Where are the Gaiman touches?

TEEN TITANS – 2 whiskers. The Titanic Teens gain a new adversary. One of the low points of the issue, Berganza goes with the modern Teen Titans instead of a membership that may have appealed to a wider slice of readers. A lot of the page is taken up with a history lesson, by the villain, and nothing much more to intrigue us. Galloway’s art is a manga-mash and is simply not my cup of tea. Too cartoony for its own good its muted coloring robs the strip of the visual punch it needs to carry the story.

STRANGE ADVENTURES – 3 ½ whiskers. Adam Strange wakes up to find he’s needed to put down a strange invasion. I’ll admit it: I was a bit tremulous about what Pope – a fellow Ohioan – would do with the character but I was pleasantly surprised. He sticks to the established Adam Strange history and really gives it his all. There’s a quirky sense of modernism underlying the whole thing and sadly here too do we get muddy, muted coloring – what gives? Regardless, the story’s off on a strange and exciting launch.

SUPERGIRL – 3 whiskers. Supergirl’s got her hands full with not one but two super-pets. I appreciate the retro Supergirl look and the use of both Krypto and Streaky but I’m not too sure of what we’re in store for here. Adventure? Comedy? A mixture? It’s certainly a competently-handled strip on all fronts but doesn’t tell me too much about the character – other than her seeming lack of concern for the public’s safety and a helluva lot of property damage. It’s definitely a wait-and-see entry.

METAL MEN – 3 ½ whiskers. The World’s Greatest Automatons go on a field trip and fall smack dab into a bank robbery. First thought as I read this: where are the Metal Men? Why is there yet another strip that holds its main characters in reserve? The Garcia-Lopez art is drop-dead gorgeous and DiDio’s scripting is smooth – as well as his choice of a retro look – but that tiny peek at one of the Metal Men’s powers doesn’t really cut it. These are characters that rely on the visual hook of their personalities PLUS their powers, in my opinion. At least the colors here are bright and a sense of fun is in high evidence.

WONDER WOMAN – 1 ½ whiskers. Princess Diana dreams (?) she’s in Mortal’s World. I truly do not have much of a clue as to what’s going on here. It’s absolutely the lowest point of this issue. From the terrible logo to the muted colors, tiny lettering and uninteresting story, Wonder Woman’s seen much better days. I hesitate to even call it “Wonder Woman” for she’s really nowhere to be seen. I’ll give Caldwell credit for trying something new – I think he’s re-telling the origin? – but in a nutshell I grew bored with it about ¾ through. Full disclosure: I’m not a WW fan but I hope and hope for someone to come along and make me a fan. Even hoped that this series would do it, supposedly being ground-zero for accessibility, but Caldwell’s first foray gave me a slight headache as I tried to discern what it’s all about, both in writing and art. Not a great start.

SGT. ROCK – 4 whiskers. Rock’s captured and at the mercy of a Nazi officer and his thugs. Wow. Wow again. Kubert’s back and brought his son with them and the results are great, but – it’s not enough! I compliment the Kubert’s for starting right in the middle of the action with some fist-falls and hard knocks but it’s so good that the urge to want more NOW is too overwhelming. Looking forward to this one – though I bet Rock isn’t. Gonna be brutal.

FLASH COMICS – 5 whiskers. Flash faces off against Gorilla Grodd and Iris decides to leave Barry. Whodathunkit: two strips for the price of one! Kerschl and Co. managed to squeeze two separate stories into their page, one of Flash and one for Iris. They seem to be connected and I dig that aspect the most. Flash is shown using his powers and up against a great adversary and the balancing of the fantastic and the mundane was one nice surprise. This is a page I’ll look forward to every week. I hope Iris can maintain her own logo…that’s too unique to drop.

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN – 4 ½ whiskers. Selina’s off on another caper, this time in England where she sets her sights on Jason Blood. When I first heard of this strip’s concept I scratched my head over it, but Simonson sold me right out of the gate and made a pitch for the logic behind Catwoman’s interest in what Blood’s got. No, the Demon’s not present but the mood and atmosphere are and Stelfreeze’s art is both expansive and detailed. The potential that Simonson lays out is terrific: what will a lone, mortal cat burglar do when she finds herself in the home of a supernatural powerhouse the likes of the Demon? I for one want to know and know soon. Glad to see this one.

HAWKMAN – 5 whiskers. Hawkman and his avian entourage head for a rendezvous with danger high in the sky. I can find no fault with this Hawkman strip; in fact, I think it’s wonderful. Through the unique voice of one of the birds who follow him on a mission Baker tells us pretty much everything we need to know about the Winged Wonder. I appreciated the cinematic visuals and the particular danger of the mission Hawkman’s approaching and I’m thoroughly intrigued. Bring it on.

In summation, a good, solid start. I’d love to know what someone who may pick this up off a discerning newsstand might think of it. There’s something here for a wide variety of readers, but…

Mr. Wednesday Wanty – wants to know why there’s super-heroes, war and science fiction but no western strip or, amazingly enough, one of DC’s golden age characters in a 1940s setting. What a missed opportunity he thinks to not have prepared a Sandman story or an Hourman tale with plenty of what made the heyday of Sunday comics something special. Wouldn’t that have made sense? There’s some redundancy herein and the ticket would have been, in his opinion, a bit more diversity. Give us the Golden Age next time!

Thursday Follows Wednesday #0

2009-07-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, its Friday - so sue me.

In this space starting next Thursday the 9th you will find my weekly reviews of DC Comics' WEDNESDAY COMICS. I'm pretty excited about it, as you can see from my photo. Hope you are too.

See you then.

Batman & Robin Ichiban!

2009-06-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

Written to Dan DiDio on Facebook:

"Dan, BATMAN & ROBIN #1 was a romp yet encompassing a serious core. Good action, great art, simple yet eloquent dialogue and it touched upon things that a both modern and classic Batman fan'd be interested in - namely Dick's almost-shy shouldering of the mantle, Damian's brashness-of-legacy, Alfred's presence (thank you!) and a couple of fun new baddies. Hey, it was fun. And that's praiseworthy in itself."

Trinity #16

2008-09-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

We're up to #16 of the year-long weekly series - here's my ComicsBulletin.com review of the latest issue.

Clipped on 6/25/08 and 7/2/08

2008-07-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

Playing ketchup with two weeks’ worth of capsule reviews – Wizard World Chicago disrupted my schedule – so strap yourselves in; its gonna be fast and furious!

BATMAN #678 (DC) – 4 whiskers – quite possibly the most I’ve ever enjoyed being confused and nervous at the same time. It’s Part 3 of R.I.P. and Grant Morrison is either strange, deranged, or insane – either way, I’m digging it. Really. I don’t try to figure most of it out; suffice to say it keeps my interest because for the first time in a long time I have no idea what’s going to happen next. It’s a weird feeling, that Morrison and DC could do just about anything, short of kill Batman. Bruce on the streets, hepped up on streets drugs? Dick in Arkham, foaming at the mouth? The Black Glove in possession of the Batcave, a beaten Alfred, and Thomas Wayne’s original bat-costume? What in the name of sanity is going on? Oh, hell – I love it. Feed me some more, DC.

FINAL CRISIS #2 (DC) – 3 whiskers – it’s that Morrison guy again! Slightly less kooky but nonetheless mind-bending, FINAL CRISIS isn’t tripping my trigger quite the same as R.I.P. but at least I have a better handle on what’s going on this issue. I actually liked all the Japanese “heroes” stuff and I always was drawn to Jack Kirby’s Sonny Sump character – be interesting to see where this aspect is heading. I really got into the Luthor-Libra scene but overall I thought the Flash sequence was a bit clunky, especially the dialogue. Strange to fear for Batman here in FC in a different way than I do for him in R.I.P. Can the two be reconciled? Should we care or just sit back and let it all flow over us like water? How – refreshing, to not be able to be so blasé about my comics…

GREEN LANTERN #32 (DC) – 3 whiskers – long and short of it is that I want “Secret Origin” to be over. As I’ve said before, I’m not sure why we needed this drawn-out of a retelling of Hal’s origin and frankly, Sinestro was more interesting in “Sinestro Corps War.” This all looks good and it plays out smoothly but it’s not engaging to me and I want to get on with current adventures.

SUPERMAN #677 (DC) – 4 whiskers – I haven’t read much in the way of reviews of this first James Robinson issue but I bet people hated it. I thought it was pretty interesting and I for one am glad for a different tone on this book – and in Superman stories in general. This is pure James Robinson, yet it isn’t. Its character stuff and its stuff that’s not about the main character and it feels “real” while at the same time not feeling “real.” Bringing Kirby’s obscure Atlas into the modern DCU is something I’m all for and while I didn’t overly feel anything much for the Science Police I know with Robinson I’m going to be getting my own personal money’s worth. It’s not STARMAN and it doesn’t have to be. Rock on with it. Oh, and James? A little less choppy on the dialogue, sir. Thanks.

TRINITY #4 & 5 (DC) – Please see here and here at ComicsBulletin.com for my latest Trinity reviews! Tell ‘em Mr. Wanty sent ya!

THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT #3 (DC) – 2 ½ whiskers – Okay, they’re losing me, starting with this issue. I’m already forgetting what happened previously, which is never a good sign, and the characters are starting to blend one into another. I like the “soldiers from different wars” thing and I got a kind of “Prisoner” vibe this time (the classic Patrick McGoohan TV series) but I’d like to actually have the action slow down a tad and get more discussion from the characters on who they are and what they think the island is. I appreciate that the writers want to move things along but as it stands all I’m seeing is one little action vignette after another while the substance is leaking out around the staples. Make me want to continue on to #12, Mr. Jones. You’ve got one more issue to convince me.

PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #4 (Dynamite) – 2 ½ whiskers – Yow! Same feeling of “What? What” What was that again?” from this book – I feel as if I have to go back and re-read the first 3 or so issues. Maybe there are too many characters? Maybe they’re not focusing on the ones I like? Regardless, this book suddenly went from me supporting it all the way to jumping onto my watch-list. I think it can be turned around but Ross and Krueger need to smooth out the narrative and perhaps give us a few reminders of the big picture and what’s at stake here.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #564 (Marvel) – 3 ½ whiskers – an intriguing excursion into a story told from different points of view and an overall successful one. We’re still a bit too heavy on the humor – it tends to bog things down for me rather than speed things through – but the Spidey crew continues to create a solid sense of continuity and tone in this series that is, if you’ll forgive the pun, amazing. One almost wonders how Wacker and the Braintrust can keep this up. Almost.

AVENGERS/INVADERS #3 (Marvel) – 2 ½ whiskers – what is it with these miniseries these past two weeks? Here’s yet another one that hit its third issue and stumbled and fell. I liked the first two installments but as nice as the art is I can’t fathom (pun intended) what possessed Ross and Krueger to think that a young Namor could beat his older self so handily. That was almost insulting to us Sub-Mariner fans. Add to that the rather boring interlude with the regular guy from WWII meeting his current self and you have something of a snooze fest. C’mon, guys! Get on with the fascination with Cap being “back”, the heroes wanting to protect the Invaders from too much “future” knowledge, and the battle between Avengers over the basic “right” to the Invaders. More about what the damn Invaders mean to the modern world! This series is also now on probation.

FANTASTIC FOUR #558 (Marvel) – 3 ½ whiskers – a good issue of FF. All is right with the world. Interesting new “Defenders”, great smashing/crashing action with Ben, great moment with an intelligent Valeria, and Johnny finally wises up and tells his super-villain “piece-of-ass-of-the-month” to take a hike. Great stuff with Doom also – almost made you feel sorry for Victor! Bring on the next issue.

Grumble, grumble, complain, complain…

Clipped on 6/18/08

2008-06-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday brought a full moon – but did the comics that arrived that day reflect it? Let’s find out!

BRAVE & THE BOLD #14 (DC) – 4 whiskers – Every time I get an issue of B&B I think to myself, “How the hell does this book survive?” I mean, a team-up book? How fantastic! How wonderful! How is it still not cancelled?!? Well, it’s truly one of my most favorite current DC titles and mostly ‘cause Mark Waid knows his way around a good super-hero story. This month catches up with Green Arrow as Deadman tells him of an unholy assault on the mystic city of Nanda Parbat. There’s some great interaction between the two heroes, an honestly chilling representation of their weird, burning-blue skeletal adversaries, and of course, all the inherent fun of Deadman’s body-hopping/possessions. Add to that a wow-wow cliffhanging ending (with no actual cliff hanging - more like falling!) and the only thing I really have to complain about is Scott Kolins’ visual take on Deadman – he subscribes to the withered-corpse school of Boston Brand, whereas I’m more a traditionalist. So, bring on the next issue! How will they bring Hawkman and Nightwing into this???

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #22 (DC) – 2 1/2 whiskers – The Red Tornado is one of my favorite DC heroes and I love it when he gets the spotlight – he practically launched this current League title – but I’m left nonplussed by this latest chapter in the “Let’s Abuse Red Tornado” saga. DC: we get it. Enough already. Give Reddy a break. Really. No amount of calling out the ridiculousness of his destruction-rebuilding merry-go-around in the actual dialogue is going to make us Reddy fans comfortable with this never-ending cycle. I appreciate that you’ve created the “ultimate” body for him, but don’t dangle it like a carrot – just give it to him. He’s coming off here as the worst sad-sack, whiner, and ne'er-do-well in DC comics. When’s the last time he just went into action as a hero? When’s the last time we were shown how plainly powerful he can be? The Amazo thing is played out, too. And the training scenes between JLA members. And Vixen’s “I got a secret-poor widdle me” thing. Let’s start to fix a few problems with these heroes and get on with the adventure. I expected a lot more from McDuffie, and frankly I don’t know what I was thinking when I said he’d be great for the book as there’s barely been any difference between his and Meltzer’s run. And let’s put a moratorium on all the arching-backs, thrusting-asses, and heaving chests of Benes’ females. That too is tired. It’s become parody and the book as a whole is getting mighty close to it, too.

TRINITY #3 (DC) – Please see my TRINITY review at ComicsBulletin.com!

ZORRO #4 (Dynamite) – 3 ½ whiskers – I like this book a lot but I’m thinking its not going to be everybody’s cup of tea. I enjoyed Dynamite’s LONE RANGER series through most of its first arc but it soon became little substance spread way too thin over each issue. ZORRO, on the other hand, is meaty; a book that you put some time into and its text rewards you for that time. On the surface, its pretty standard stuff: the classic hero of Old California buckling his swash and beating on a few deserving soldiers. The “present day” story is inter-cut with scenes of Zorro’s childhood and formative years, with each such interlude offering explanations of his abilities and passions in the “present”. It’s written well, with Matt Wagner obviously interested in the subject matter and putting care into the depiction of such a legendary do-gooder. Readers trying to jump on-board here with #4 would do better to try and pick up #1-3, as the story is dense and the flashing back and forth could be somewhat confusing. The art by Francesco Francavilla is serviceable if not a bit crude at times. His style does set a certain tone to the proceedings, a kind of Latino flavor that puts one in the mood of dusty roads, the smell of horses, and the feel of earthen villas. You may find yourself forgiving the lack of detail and admiring the shadows he employs to nice effect. Overall, it’s a series I can recommend, especially to anybody who admires pulp as one of the progenitors of comics.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #563 (Marvel) – 3 whiskers – Let me try to be succinct in my review this week: way too much humor. The ASM team has skirted the borders of comedy impropriety on more than one occasion but never have they loaded a single issue with this many Spidey wisecracks and one-liners. It’s in almost every single panel and wordballoon. Not saying it wasn’t funny most times but it really started to pull me out of the story and there’s no greater faux pas for a creative team to make, in my opinion. And it’s not like we’ve just come off a deadly-serious story-arc and needed the comedy relief – this wasn’t what I expect from this otherwise fantastic, high-quality title. I expect a balance. And I expect more interesting bad guys than the Enforcers and a very-unfunny old man with emphysema. Not one of your finer moments, ASM team.

Clipped on 6/11/08

2008-06-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

Big Marvel week! Let’s get right to it!

ACTION COMICS #866 (DC) – 4 whiskers – After a few okay fill-in issues Gary Frank returns in triumph to ACTION and he and Geoff Johns hit another homer. This is the beginning of a big-ass Brainiac story and honestly, it’s about time. Brainiac’s a major part of the Superman saga and he’s gotten short shrift for years – I think mostly ‘cause no one recently has been sure how to present him. Johns delivers that big feature film feeling – though I think it could be overdone any time now – and Frank is in lockstep with him, obviously having a great time. We get a new cool look at the famous abduction of the Kryptonian city of Kandor and a very, very strange assault on Superman by Brainiac-bots. It’s all very ominous, which is a delicious thing when one can get it in a comic. The sour note for me this issue was the reintroduction of Cat Grant in a scene that just goes on too long and overstates its point. Add to this that it doesn’t much seem like the Cat we knew from the 80s-90s and a Steve Lombard that’s simply one-note and a whisker is shaved. Overall, though, buy this issue. Its gonna be a memorable story arc.

TRINITY #2 (DC) – Please see ComicsBulletin.com for my TRINITY review!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #562 (Marvel) – 3 ½ whiskers – This latest issue is a step down from the previous arc in my opinion but still up to the usual ASM-BND level of quality and goodness. Spidey runs afoul of a loudmouth 5th-tier villain who calls him out on the Internet. There’s some rigamarole with a character called the Bookie who coordinates bets with super-villains – a scene that intends to set his character is actually kind of painful to struggle through, and not the good kind of pain. Pete’s life is back in the crapper but I’d rather be subjected to the “Parker luck” any day compared to some other schlep with an unfunny homelife. There’s a very nice surprise reveal with a duplicate Spider-Man who’s inserted into the action and there’s a fun “oh snap!” moment at the cliffhanger. A good issue but not one of ASM’s better ones.

ETERNALS #1 (Marvel) – 4 whiskers – I liked this intro; it’s well-crafted, looks great, and has a unique feel to it. You could do a lot worse with a #1. My fear though is that it’s not quite enough “Marvel Universe” to sell the series to potentially interested parties. Not without some cajoling, that is. Consider yourself cajoled. ETERNALS picks up from the miniseries of the same name and lays the groundwork: a fantastic race of Jack Kirby-created, advanced god-like aliens created two races at the Dawn of Man and in the present those races are at war with each other – which is sad because a ravenous star-spanning Horde is approaching Earth and the Eternals and Deviants need to band together to stop it. There’s good dialogue here, intrigue, a bit of superhero-type action and an edgy darkness that permeates the entire issue. I’m already a huge fan of Daniel Acuna’s art and I’m glad he was given this series. He’s hasn’t much “Kirby” in him but honestly, he doesn’t need it; he does okay for himself. Check this one out.

LAST DEFENDERS #4 (Marvel) - 2 1/2 whiskers – I finally determined what it is that’s been lacking in this miniseries: its not really a story, it’s a set-up. The entire series to date seems to exist just to put together a new team of Defenders. That’s fine, it’s been done before, but this is even more blatant this issue and it becomes a distraction. As I’ve said before about the book, Nighthawk’s been presented as a real schmo, someone you wouldn’t really want to follow, but I’m happy to report he does show some backbone this month and he does elicit a touch of sympathy – but overall there’s still something that’s missing. Something engaging. There’s no real villain yet, no signs of where this is really heading, other than to present a few oddball characters here and there. I’m in it to the end, being a Defenders fan, but once we get the “real” team assembled, I don’t think the means much justify the end.

THE TWELVE #6 (Marvel) – 3 ½ whiskers – Another good issue of one of my most favorite Marvel comics and another fine, fine turn by artist Chris Weston. This isn’t a book for kiddies, and that’s kind of hammered home this time around, what with Dynamic Man and Black Widow’s encounters with the edges of society. My disappointment with #6 is the presentation of Rockman’s origin; I thought he’d be one of my favorites of the Twelve but unfortunately Straczynski seems to have taken what I saw as unique about the character and made him somewhat mundane. Or at least that’s what it seems to be. I’m hoping Rockman turns out to be exactly what he was created to be and not just another guy gone off his rocker. Perhaps it was thought that as the ruler of an underground kingdom he was too farfetched – to that I present the sad case of Black Widow and ask if that’s any more preposterous. All in all, it’s still a top-notch book and with the Phantom Reporter getting back in gear this time it’s going to be solid second half that awaits us, I think.

Clipped on 6/4/08

2008-06-07T06:10:00.000-07:00

DETECTIVE COMICS #845 (DC) – 3 ½ whiskers – Like the previous two issues, the actual crime here isn’t near as interesting as that which surrounds it. The story of a guy who wants kooky revenge on the Riddler took a backseat to the whole “Batman online” scenario – complete with Bobo the Detective Chimp anonymously chatting with Bats, trying to dope out the book’s mystery with a virtual sleuths club. That whole deal alone was worth the price of admission. I liked the interlude with Catwoman but it really felt out of place with the other goings-on – I know Dini’s trying to set up the next issue, an “R.I.P.” tie-in, but it’s just felt like a digression, intriguing as it was. I dug the ending a lot, which surprised me because I generally don’t care for that cruel of a Batman – but hey, the guy deserved it. DETECTIVE has been a steady source of great one and two-issue looks into Batman’s world and I almost hate to see that status quo interrupted by “R.I.P.” – almost.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #16 (DC) – 5 whiskers – Yes, only my second perfect score, but this issue is more than worthy. I’ve had some mixed feelings over the direction of the current Gog storyline but Geoff Johns brought it all home this time, laying out a JSA tale with a different feeling to it for me – different good. I think there’s a wonderful sense of reality when the team confronts the monolithic Gog, a good take on what it’d be like to look up at such a towering being and try to wrap your brain around what your eyes see. Looking at Gog made me muse on the lack of gigantic characters there is in the DCU, unlike in the Marvel Universe, which made it all the more appropriate when Gog’s power manifests in “Kirby crackle”. The beautiful Alex Ross pages are some of his best work, I think and really helped to set Gog’s “origin” apart from the here-and-now of the JSA – and are we supposed to see a similarity between Gog and what Darkseid’s supposedly gone through over in FINAL CRISIS, et al? Guest artist Fernando Pasarin’s no Dale Eaglesham (who is?) but I give him a lot of credit for consistency and for the aforementioned worm’s eye view of the proceedings. Add in the wrinkles of the JSA members’ reactions to Gog and the way Damage speaks for all of us readers when he calls BS on the whole scene – and you’ve got one great issue of JSofA. And no, I don’t trust Gog. One. Single. Iota.

TRINITY #1 (DC) – Please see my TRINITY review on ComicsBulletin.com.

THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT #2 (DC) – 3 whiskers – The sad thing here is that so far this is actually a fine little miniseries that I’m sure no one is reading. This issue introduces even more old DC characters into the action and for an old-schooler like me they’re definite pluses. The art is nothing to write home about, those it’s serviceable, and the story isn’t anything to rock the house, but the locale is interesting and the characters are oddball enough to make you want to know what the hell is going on. Which by the way you will ask yourself several times while you read this. One bugaboo I have here is that old-time characters I really love like Viking Prince and the Golden Gladiator are basically being used as “bad guys” – or so it seems. That’s disconcerting to me, but the wacky, out of left field appearance of a faulty G.I. Robot being worshipped as a deity by a group of ancient Greeks, Romans, and Viking is truly an idea that will keep me coming back for more next month. And I’m probably the only one who will.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #561 (Marvel) – 4 ½ whiskers – Okay, here we go again: Jim’s gonna rave on and on about how awesomesauce ASM is. Well, I can’t help it – its may be the best book I’m reading right now. Consistently best book I’m reading right now. I mean, this issue you’ve got a really cool-creepy villain, great Spidey action, Spidey’s great supporting cast, the return of Mary Jane, Peter Parker’s redemption as a paparazzo, and of course, Spidey himself. Slott, Martin, and Wacker just don’t let up with the unique blend of humor, action, drama, and super-heroness they’ve captured on the page and it becomes one literal page-turner. Cleverness abounds as Spider-Man fights Paper Doll while MJ gives him heads-ups over a microphone from a safe-room in her billionaire boyfriend’s mansion – I know some readers will be pissed, thinking that the Spidey crew is playing with their affections for MJ but c’mon, this was great stuff. And that Peter does “the right thing” at the end and tells his boss to stuff it is just frosting on the webbed cake. And another weirdo appearance of weirdo Sara Ehret at the coda? Extra points. Which gets a half-point deducted for making us wait two weeks for this wrap-up.

AVENGERS/INVADERS #2 (Marvel) – 3 ½ whiskers – I don’t have a whole lot to say about this issue other than I like the direction their taking, laying down the impact of the Invaders jaunt to our present day, and I dig seeing Steve Sadowski on the art chores. I wish the Invaders could have mopped up the floor with the Avengers but I have a feeling that day is still to come. The whole deal with Paul Anselm is just drawing a “meh” from me right now – too obscure – but I think Ross and Krueger are doing a competent job of portraying each Invader’s personality and mind-set and really, this is a series that I know ill continue to be a solid super-hero adventure.

SECRET INVASION #3 (Marvel) – 2 whiskers – I really don’t know what Marvel thinks they’re doing with this series but I started shutting down while reading it, realizing it’s the third issue and nothing much is going on. I get he distinct feeling that I need to be reading a LOT of other Marvel books to be able to grok the situation here in the main book, and that ain’t right. This issue is simply a slugfest between lackluster heroes and lackluster baddies. Where is the promised intrigue and Cold War-type suspicion and whatnot? Yes, the scene with Spider-Woman and Tony Stark was just about awesome but hey, the whole damn series should have that feeling. It’s not any kind of a “secret invasion” at this point and despite the aforementioned scene and a truly creepy bit with Jarvis-Skrull and the Helicarrier this book is firing blanks, in my opinion. I want to dig it like I dug WORLD WAR HULK but the gee-whiz-gotcha-gotcha factor is plainly absent.

Clipped on 5/29/08

2008-05-31T06:16:00.000-07:00

ACTION COMICS #865 (DC) – 3 whiskers – There’s a lot of nostalgia here and for different ages of Superman fans. Me personally, I was treated to both the Toyman of the 70s and the one from the Bryne era. That’s cool and all but it didn’t really make for that fantastic of an issue. Basically, Geoff Johns tries to return Superman villain The Toyman to his original, well, not exactly “glory” but status quo, I guess. In a tidy done-in-one story, Toyman busts out of Arkham and kidnaps Jimmy Olsen to tell him the real story about all the various Toymans we’ve seen over the decades – they were robots, see, and Toyman is not the child murderer everyone thought he was. I applaud Johns for what he’s attempting but at times the attempt is all you can see in the story and when it comes right down to it, it’s debatable whether Toyman’s a bad guy you’d want to save. Again, it wasn’t a bad issue and Jesus Merino’s art is very good (he switches styles for the flashbacks – too cool), but you get the sense that it’s simply a biding-time measure until the upcoming Brainiac story arc. Extra credit for the Prankster's appearance and obsession with team-ups.

BATMAN #677 (DC) - 4 whiskers – I’m disturbed. Very, very disturbed. Everything in Batman’s world has been dynamited, devastated, and I’m lost. This isn’t actually a bad thing – it’s just disturbing. Grant Morrison has me exactly where he wants me and I’ll admit it: my concern for the character just went through the roof. And I need to make this clear – this demolition is done well, written well, drawn well, constructed well, but as a story its like a knife in the gut. When I was done reading this issue, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was nervous, anxiety-ridden, confused. Never before have I “connected” with Batman, felt I knew what he was going through. I wanted to scream at the pages for him to get out – get out! Get Out! Run! You can’t fight this! They’re crawling under your skin, into your bloodstream, towards your brain…and Alfred. Good God, Alfred. No, no, no. Morrison, you got me. How can Bruce come back from this? You committed the one act that pisses me off the most concerning Batman: people discovering his identity. That’s sacrosanct to me, and now, goons that just work for the villains know! You’ve got me, got me, I’m lost, lost, no rudder, no moorings, drifting, drifting – until next issue.

FINAL CRISIS #1 (DC) – My review at ComicsBulletin.com

GREEN LANTERN #31 (DC) – 3 ½ whiskers – Here’s the thing: did we need a re-telling of Green Lantern’s origin? Oh, it’s good, and as solid as any of Geoff John’s issues of this series, but while I read it, same as last issue, I can’t help but wonder why we were going over this ground again. Maybe I’m just not that big of a GL fan and maybe there are tons of new revelations here – I don’t know, truly. But, as with most any issue of this book, it’s crafted well and that in itself is a reason to pick it up. Johns somehow attracts the best artists for his books and GL is no omission. Ivan Reis’ visuals are incredibly pleasing and oh-so professional that they’re worth the price of admission. I just hope that when “Secret Origin” is wrapped up, that it’s a long, long time before another re-telling of this story comes up again.

GIANT-SIZE ASTONISHING X-MEN #1 (Marvel) – 3 ½ whiskers – This series brought me back to the X-Men after about fifteen years or so and has held my interest throughout. I know enough about the team to enjoy the stories but I’m not their hugest fan. There could be things here that have pissed off the diehard X-fans but I can’t worry about that. I’m also not a subscriber to the cults of personality that swirl around such writers as Joss Whedon so I feel like I can judge the book on its own merits. It was pretty good. I felt the tension, was surprised at which character made the big sacrifice, and think that as a wrap-up, I’ve read worse. Whedon had his little character bits like he’s had all along in the series and those were good, although by this time they stress cracks are showing a bit. I’ve given this series a lot of leeway for being late, something I haven’t done with other such series, but I do have to state that as nice as John Cassaday’s art here was very nice, there were also many pages of obviously rushed work. It was as if he jumped around, drawing all the cool stuff first and then dragged his heels on the quite stuff until it was way too late. The guy’s done better. In all, I judge this ending by how much I’ll miss the characters and the situations. I won’t be continuing on as the series does – but I will miss my semi-regular dose of Whedon’s X-Men.

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #15 (Marvel) – 4 whiskers – this has been one heckuva enjoyable series but its drawing to a close. Matt Fraction, without co-writer Ed Brubaker, delivers another tale from The Book of the Iron Fist, a kind of “times past” series-within-the-series that’s been a nice blend of history, fable, mythology, and drama. This issue is continuation of the story of Iron Fist Bei Bang-Wen, from 1860, the first part of which was several issues ago. Bei’s an interesting character with a death-wish who meets up with a fellow “super hero” from India and together they act out a morality play. Fraction’s narrative runs the gamut from history lesson to humor to dream-like state. I especially envy his ability to insert a funny line into the drama that is at once humorous but also strangely appropriate and truthful. It’s a good issue and I for one am really going to regret when Fraction’s (and Brubaker’s) run on the series is done.

Clipped on 5/21/08

2008-05-24T06:03:00.000-07:00

THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #13 (DC) – 3 ½ whiskers – When one is presented with a commonplace story such as in this issue, one needs to look for character bits for entertainment. At least, that’s how I look at it. Samuroids aside, I couldn’t have asked for a better DC team: my favorite all-time hero (Batman) paired with my favorite Flash (Jay Garrick) for a fun but standard plot. The fun is the interaction between the two men and Waid’s knack for zeroing in on truisms with just a line or two. The price of admission for me was worth it for the familiarity Bruce affords Jay with his identity and exposure to the Batcave, and a quiet yet revealing (and one-sided) discussion of heirs and legacies. This is how I like team-ups between the old guard and the middle guard; somewhat warm, somewhat prickly, all together respectful. And having Jerry Ordway draw it doesn’t hurt the eyes too much, either. Extra points for the post-52 use of T.O. Morrow.

COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #8 (DC) – 3 whiskers – I feel sorry in a way for Matthew Sturges, as he’s had to take a back seat to Steve Gerber, and now the ghost of Steve Gerber, for eight issues. The Spectre story has been hit and miss but I’m going to call this wrap-up a hit as it held my interest and piqued my interest to hear more about Crispus Allen’s future. On the Dr. Fate front, I’ve enjoyed Gerber’s re-imagining of the character, but felt that he’d hit a speed bump by what I perceived as a shift away from Kent and to Maddy. The four-vision coda by Waid, Evanier, Simone, and Beechen was lacking somehow but alas, how could it have been otherwise, really? It lacked Gerber, of course, and though we were promised four different writers’ visions of how Gerber would have ended the story, what we got was four tributes to Gerber. That’s not a bad thing, not at all, but it is an all-together different thing. Now I just want to know if this version of Fate will be left to lie fallow or if someone will actually run with it.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #21(DC) – 4 whiskers – What I found really interesting about this first permutation of DC’s “Sightings” sub-brand is that someone else other than Grant Morrison was allowed the first real use of Libra in a regular title. This is really two separate stories, following the Big Three through a conversation in the Star Chamber, err, excuse me, “Lounge”, and the return of an old Silver Age Martian Manhunter baddie, the unfortunately-named Human Flame. I credit the conversation part with being “just” a conversation and holding my interest at the same time. In a way, its commercial for the upcoming TRINITY weekly, but the characterization is rich. The Human Flame’s story was also engaging I gotta tell you: the ability to so deliciously skewer stupid-ass Lex Luthor with one, single sentence puts the Flame way high on my list. Always nice to see Carlos Pacheco on a book, too.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #15 (DC) – 4 whiskers – After some criticism for walking-and-talking too much on the book, Geoff Johns gives us two issues in a row that are basically slugfests. But when the sluggers are the JSA and the sluggee is Gog, it’s a tasty tussle. Somehow artist Dale Eaglesham is able to hold things together and actually makes sense out of all the brouhaha AND infuse the art with beaucoup d’art. Everybody gets their shot at Gog and what shots they are; some of it, heck, most of it, looks like it hurts. I was worried that the Kingdom Come characters would take over this title but the JSAers manage to rise to the top and show us that they too classify as “heavy-hitters.” And that wow-ee-wow turn-the-book last page(s)! And that what’s-become-a-tradition teaser page! JSA is and has long been one of the most consistently-good DC titles since 1999.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #560 (Marvel) – 4 whiskers – Its getting pretty embarrassing for me to keep saying how much I love “Brand New Day”, but – its true. Things didn’t click quite as much this issue as they did last time but ASM is still one of the very best super hero books on the stands. A few words about Paper Doll: the “obsessive fan becomes murderer” is nothing new but PD’s infinite amount of creepiness more than makes up for the cliché. I hope she has some staying power. I loved the whole battle in the art gallery and Spidey’s line about the art speaking to him was tops. I also dug Marcos Martin’s drawing of Edith’s autopsy (so sue me!). The downside here is a bit too much humor, just a bit, and my concern that Peter’s jump into paparazzo-hood is a bit too pat; I think it should be bothering him a lot more than it seems to be. I’m also pretty sure everyone saw the MJ bit coming a mile away and frankly, I don’t think this book needs her – or at least not right now. Oh, and a point off for having the two week break come in the middle of a story arc. Not cool.

FANTASTIC FOUR #557 (Marvel) – 3 ½ whiskers – The Millar-Hitch FF has been a bit of bumpy ride for me but this issue, the wrap-up of the “World’s Greatest” storyline was definitely more palatable. Again, it’s not so much what happens in the story as the characterization. Anyone who writes a good Reed Richards is a-okay in my book and Millar gives him that necessary balance between nerd and swashbuckler that Reed needs. I appreciated the nods to the current pro/ant-Registration status quo of the Marvel Universe (made it feel like it was actually part of the MU) and I got a kick at how “easy” it was for Reed to beat CAP – all on an educated guess. Alyssa Moy got exactly what she deserved, in lieu of being hauled off to prison, Reed and Sue got more than they deserved (wonderful dinner scene), Ben is basically running in place, and sadly, Johnny has been devolved to an insufferable, shallow, cartoon of his real self. Bryan Hitch’s art has been…rough for me. After much soul-searching I’ve come to the conclusion that his expressions are often wrong for the scene and he uses way, way too much photo-reference. In all, I’m going to stick around and see what’s up with ol’ Doomsie, though.

Clipped on 5/14/08

2008-05-16T06:32:00.000-07:00

Big week for books. Let's get right to it --

BATMAN #676 (DC) – 3 ½ whiskers – “Batman R.I.P.” begins in earnest. For the most part I’ve been enjoying Grant Morrison’s tenure on BATMAN and his increased use of Bruce Wayne, the most forgotten part of the Bat-mythos, in my opinion. I’ve read this issue about a dozen times now and still feel like I’m absorbing it all. Here’s what I think at this point: Jezebel Jet isn’t yet a character that’s worthy of our time – or Bruce’s, for that matter. It’s like the members of the Black Glove; they’re visually intriguing and I can see the potential but they’ve got a long way to go to deserve being the villains that bring down the Batman. We barely know Jezebel and I’m just not feeling the weight of the romance. Why should I care that this is the woman that may finally tear down the last defenses of the Bat? Not saying Morrison won’t tell us but we seem to be pretty far along in the relationship and I simply don’t feel it in my gut yet. I dug Alfred’s monologue about Bruce very much and the feeling of dread I have for Bruce is becoming all-too palpable, but I need a bit more information. And the Joker stuff is way too weird – even for the Joker.

BOOSTER GOLD #9 (DC) – 2 ½ whiskers – When Geoff Johns is done with this book, I’m done, too. I liked the first few issues and had high hopes for it but by this issue I feel like I’m slogging through it and not getting my money’s worth. This whole rehash of the Maxwell Lord/OMAC magilla is tepid at best and I’m just not seeing the point. Not being the biggest fan of time travelers-change-history stores I guess I’m just not the intended audience here. The book looks nice and it’s competently written but overall this issue hammered home my fairly pervasive boredom with the entire story arc. Booster, I made it all the way through your original series; can’t say the same for this one, bud.

FINAL CRISIS SKETCHBOOK #1 (DC) – 3 whiskers – See, now, I like these kinds of books. I’m a sucker for all this behind-the-scenes stuff, ‘because I like to see the footprints of the creative team, see the pencil marks and the false starts and the creative process. In some ways I was surprised that they revealed as much as they did about the FINAL CRISIS characters here but the more I thought about it, things like the Forever People and these crazy-ass Japanese heroes will probably only play minor parts in the series. I approached the revelation of the New Gods’ new incarnation with trepidation (I’m a huge Kirby fan and changing his work doesn’t sit well with me) but I found that basically the characters are intrinsically the same, despite their “updated” looks. Morrison and Jones’ notes do show some reverence for the source material and I enjoyed getting in their heads for a bit. I think I may like Big Science Action and Super Young Team as much as I liked the Great Ten: they look annoying as all get-out but the fun kind of annoying! So, the Sketchbook is pretty much what you would expect from these kinds of things and in that I felt as I got my $2.99’s worth – besides, immersing oneself in an event isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes the whole-cloth experience can be rewarding on many levels. Btw – does the #1 on the cover and in the indicia denote more Final Crisis Sketchbooks on the way?

SUPERMAN #676 (DC) – 3 ½ whiskers – In some ways, I hated this issue…because it’s the kind of story that I wish I had the chance to write. Reading like a lost issue of DC COMICS PRESENTS, it tells a tale set in Superman’s early days at the Metropolis Marvel and showcases a team-up with Alan Scott, the original Golden Age Green Lantern. It’s standard stuff, told well, and looking visually nice, and the only real gripe I have with it is that I can’t believe for one moment that either Superman or GL would allow a bunch of strange guys in hazmat suits to waltz up and cart Grundy away with nary a question as to who they were or what exactly the hell they were doing with the monster. Alan even holds Superman back from doing this! Nope, that was definitely a sour note in an otherwise good story. Alas, it’s simply a fill-in before James Robinson takes over – and I for one can’t wait.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #559 (Marvel) – 5 whiskers – I’m a 100% unashamed fan of “Brand New Day” and though I’ve been lovin’ this book since the reboot, everything clicked for me this issue. Every. Thing. And it gets my perfect score. I find that Dan Slott seems to be the most-suited writer for AMAZING, doling out equal amount of action, pathos, and humor, and making it look breezy and easy. I normally can’t stand “hip urban” characters like Screwball, but Slott made me giddy with that chase, as well as with JJJ’s attempt at tai chi. Pete’s new job as a paparazzo is both troubling and engaging, perfect fodder for another aspect of the original comic book loser’s life. And Paperdoll? Brrr – creepy. And let us not forget the real pleasure here: Marcos Martin’s art. Hear me out – Martin is the true successor to Steve Ditko, in my opinion. And the guy knows how to draw it all, super heroes and mundanities alike. That was Ditko’s legacy and its Martin picking up the ball and running with it. I just love his Spider-Man to death; the best of the ASM BND artists, in my estimation. The Spidey team needs to take a huge bow and then forge ahead with this perfectly enjoyable periodical.

LAST DEFENDERS #3 (Marvel) – 3 whiskers – I’m trying real hard to like this book. It should be giving me a few kicks, an old Defenders fan like me, but unlike ASM its components are definitely not clicking yet. The parts are all there: Nighthawk, crazy memberships, crazy missions, even the return of Dr. Strange and Son of Satan – but these elements are not mixing overly well for my tastes. First, Nighthawk is being portrayed as an almost complete doofus and loser. He’s never been the most sterling example of a Marvel hero but Joe Casey has claimed that he loves the character and wants to show everyone how cool he can be. Despite a smidge of a move in the right direction this issue, its otherwise just ain’t happening. Its like it’s almost the Defenders, its almost coming together, there’s almost some of that old magic there…but not quite. Makes for a frustrating read, I gotta say. I’ve given Casey the benefit of the doubt for 3 issues but he’s only got 3 more to go – Joe, do something. Say something to make me care that this is the “Last” Defenders.

THE TWELVE #5 (Marvel) – 4 whiskers – One of my most favorite titles, THE TWELVE is an absorbing read every month. I will admit to being somewhat concerned after finishing #5 that nothing truly significant is happening yet in the lives of our timelost heroes but I then realized that that’s what its all about: their lives. If figure the first six issues are supposed to read “small” and the second half of the series will turn everything on its ear. This issue we have the story of the Witness and it was an interesting one to be sure. The surrealistic sight of that old man being struck by the bus is burned into my eyes forever. Dynamic Man is getting way out of hand (on purpose, I presume), the Blue Blade is pathetic, the Laughing Mask is even more pathetic (the shot of him being arrested is enough to make you bawl), and finally something is being done about Electro! All this good stuff and delineated by the wondrous Chris Weston means THE TWELVE is always a page-turner for me.

(I also still have 2 Dynamite and 1 Dark Horse books to review; will update soon!)

Clipped on 5/7/08

2008-05-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #7 (DC) – 3 ½ whiskers – The Eclipso half of this book has been hit or miss for me but this issue was a fairly solid hit. I felt happy at the heroes’ release from black diamond bondage and Bruce Gordon’s active role. It was also good to see the Spectre enter into one of his more old-fashioned brouhahas and I got a chuckle out of Eclipso’s oblique reference to the cover of SHOWCASE #61. Kudos also should go to Adam Beechen for picking up the late Steve Gerber’s plot for the Dr. Fate story and continuing with what I see as nary a bump. I just wish we could get back to Kent actually doing something again. Looks like he has one more issue for that.

DETECTIVE COMICS #844 (DC) – 4 whiskers – Forget all that schmazola about the Ventriloquist and her origins – it was longwinded – and let’s get to the heart of the matter: Bruce and Zatanna. Hate to be so dramatic but Dini made my heart hurt for Bruce. First it was that incredible conversation between Zee and Bruce last issue – one that I’d hoped for – and now this follow-up in #844. Wow. It’s a case of wanting it to happen yet knowing that it would mean the end of Batman, possibly for good. I wonder if and how this will play into Morrison’s “Batman R.I.P.”? Extra credit to Dini for tying Peyton’s back-story into the events of the original Ventriloquist’s demise.

THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT #1 (DC) – 3 whiskers – A good, solid beginning and a pace that never once let up. Al Barrionuevo’s art was pleasing and Bruce Jones' script was smooth and honestly, I think if people can get over the fact that it’s devoid of superheroes and can dig the plethora of DC’s war/historical characters, we might just have a sleeper hit on our hands. I’m imagining DC’s imagining this might go over well with “Lost” fans and I’m hoping they don’t stray too far into that territory, i.e., drag mysteries out to the point that no one gives a damn anymore. This is a twelve-issuer; they could sink this puppy of float it home. Overall, I’ll be sticking around, most likely.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #558 (Marvel) – 4 whiskers – I’m not ashamed to say I’m a huge fan of Brand New Day (didn’t read One More Day) and the consistency that Marvel has maintained on this series is incredible. Bob Gale’s proven to be adept at a rolling plot with interesting characters and enough action and humor to satisfy anyone. My one quibble with this issue is that we’ve reached a point where the humor is being laid on a bit too thick for my tastes. Gale writes a funny Spidey but he tends to insert one too many one-liners in Pete’s mouth which tends to undercut the drama, in my opinion. I think he’s going use up every funny line in his repertoire and a few issues from now Spidey’s going to risk being very unfunny. Barry Kitson’s art was very, very nice and I look forward to his return on the series.

AVENGERS/INVADERS #1 (Marvel) – 3 ½ whiskers – The wait is over and this much-heralded series finally begins. It was good. Very good, even. Not great-great, but I think it has the potential to get there. So far its fairly standard stuff but I’m guessing the sharp turns and dangerous curves are yet to come. I really got a kick out of the Invaders’ personalities and their immediate views of the “Nazi trick”. Now let’s get to the real meat-and-potatoes: the impact of the real Captain America in a time when he’s dead. Steve Sadowski’s art was a welcome sight and I have to say that perhaps this is how it was always meant to be published. Combined with the vibrant coloring of inLight Studios, Sad’s art gives this wonderful dream-like quality to the proceedings, one that I think sets this series a notch above others in visual terms. Welcome back, Canuck!

SECRET INVASION #2 (Marvel) – 2 ½ whiskers – Well, it’s no home-run – yet. In fact, I was pretty disappointed in this second issue. Why? Mostly because there were almost no “holy crap!” moments, the kind of moments you expect in one of these Marvel event-events, the kind we got like gumballs from a gumball machine in WORLD WAR HULK, for example. I really liked the whole Mockingbird thing; that was interesting and engaging, especially her comment about Cap. But some of Bendis’ dialogue is so clumsy here that it committed the unpardonable sin of taking me out of the story and making me reflect on its badness. What the hell is “I know you Skrulls are looking to start some. I know. And I wish I was a strong enough man to walk away from your disrespect…”? Huh? And they say the original 1970s Luke Cage rattled off bad “street-lingo”. Sheesh.