Hey Kids! Comics!
Jun. 13th, 2007 11:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierHaven't done one of these in a while. I've been trying to cut back a bit on my comics purchases, and also trying to transition from singles to trades. But today I was in the mood for some funnybooks, so I indulged myself:
ARMY@LOVE #2
Rick Veitch, Gary Erskine
Vertigo/DC Comics
The problem with satirizing the current administration and it's military-industrial entanglements is that the reality is already so absurd, it's hard to top it. I have to give him props for that cover, though: Lynndie England transformed into a pin-up girl (with pink poodle sitting in for the leashed prisoner) is a wickedly clever inversion. The rest of the book isn't quite that on-the-nose, but Veitch's conceit of a war run by corporate middle-management seems scarily plausible. Your mileage will no doubt vary according to your political leanings, but this is a pretty solid bit of satire.
ASTONISHING X-MEN #21
Joss Whedon, John Cassaday
Marvel Comics
I can't point to anything really startlingly original or innovative about Whedon's run; it's just good, solid adventure comics with strong characters and clever dialogue. It's a sad commentary on the rest of the industry that such a thing is so rare and remarkable. This issue is jammed full of great moments: Armor trying to assert herself as a full-fledged team member. Beast and Agent Brand's banter ("And right now you're looking at me like a Taun-Taun."). Scott and Emma trying to work out their relationship in the middle of a dogfight. Poor befuddled Colossus trying to cope with being the destroyer/savior of a world (not to mention a hot-and-cold running Shadowcat). And of course that troubling cliffhanger with Emma. I'll be sorry to see this run end, but it's sure been a blast.
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #3
Mark Waid, George Perez, and Bob Wiacek
DC Comics
After two excellent issues, this one is merely ok. This is my first exposure to the new Blue Beetle, and boy is he annoying: Constantly whining and apologizing for his own incompetence. Cowboy up, you pansy. Plus I can't figure out what his powers are supposed to be, and that is one seriously ugly costume. The Fatal Five turn up out of nowhere; I hope this isn't some tie-in to the Legion shenanigans going on in some of the other titles, but I'm afraid it probably is. I'm actually looking forward to next issue, though. Waid clearly enjoys poking fun at Supergirl's skanky reputation, so her interactions with Lobo should be... interesting.
DETECTIVE COMICS #833
Paul Dini, Don Kramer, Wayne Faucher
DC Comics
Dini's run has been consistently enjoyable, but this issue kicks it up a notch. We get a new villain, a stage magician who's stunts have turned deadly. And the inevitable guest-appearance by Zatanna. She's become a problematic character, thanks to that Identity Crisis nonsense, but Dini manages to acknowledge and acommodate that continuity without it getting too heavy-handed. We get a classic Batman death-trap, and then a genuinely unexpected and completely awesome twist at the end that really made the issue for me. Very much looking forward to seeing how the cliffhanger resolves.
THE ENVELOPE MANUFACTURER #2
Chris Oliveros
Self-Published
Hadn't heard anything about it, but this square-format book caught my eye as I was browsing the shelf. It reminds me a lot of Seth's work: Businessmen in a 1920s setting leading lives of quiet desperation. The art's not quite as slick as Seth's, but it's attractive, and the low-key, black humor comes across well. I'll have to try and track down #1.
FELL #8
Warren Ellis, Ben Templesmith
Image Comics
Not quite as tightly-focused as the previous issues, this one gives us a series of snapshots, showing what a typical night is like for Detective Fell in the miserable world of Snowtown. There is a loose sort of over-arching plot tying it together, though, and it ends on a note that's not quite hopeful, but sort of doggedly defiant. "None of you are nothing to me." I am not a big "crime noir" fan at all, but this series with it's eccentric characters, stripped-down narrative style, and surprisingly strong moral center, has won me over.
MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #2
Michael Allred
Image Comics
Freaky, even by Allred's standards. A good chunk of the issue is taken up with weird mind-games, with Madman questioning everything from his own identity to the nature of the universe. Eventually it settles down into more conventional hero vs. villain territory in time for the cliffhanger ending. Not bad, but a lot of it amounts to Allred just showing off. I suppose it does serve its purpose, highlighting the character's fragile mental state and so on. Plus it's really beautifully drawn, so I can't gripe too much. Hoping for more plot progression next issue, though.
OPTIC NERVE #11
Adrian Tomine
Drawn & Quarterly Publications
I tend to have mixed feelings about Tomine's work. There's no doubt he's a terrific artist, precise and expressive. And he certainly has a knack for creating authentic, vivid characters. Unfortunately, those characters are inevitably a bunch of self-involved assholes, so it can be hard to really care what happens to them. In this issue we have Ben creepily spying on his ex-girlfriend, who sort of passive-agressively dumped him without ever actually saying she was dumping him. Ben's spying is encouraged and enabled by a female friend, for reasons that aren't really clear. Ben finally works up the nerve to confront his ex (and her new boyfriend), they yell at each other for a while, and Ben finally leaves. And that's it. As I said, it feels very realistic, and there's some interesting stuff in there about race and identity (Ben and his ex are both Asian, but both find themselves attracted to white partners). But ultimately it feels like a vignette without much purpose. Does Tomine have a point to make, beyond "Whoa, people are sure fucked up"? Maybe that's enough, but it does make his work a chore to read sometimes.
SHAZAM! THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #3
Jeff Smith
DC Comics
This is turning out to be a really strange book. I was expecting something closer to the '40s style, but this is a complete reboot, with a slightly harsher edge. It still maintains that sort of fairytale logic and sense of whimsy that informed the original series, but we also get a thoroughly modern jaundiced view of the government and the media. I really like Smith's take on Mary Marvel, who remains a kid in both identities and seems to have a slightly different power-set than Cap. And he draws really cool monsters; can't wait to see what his version of Mr. Mind will be like.
SPIRIT #5 & 6
Darwyn Cooke
DC Comics
Cooke's artwork is never less than gorgeous, and the stories are clever enough, but after reading a bunch of these, it feels like something is missing. It's probably not fair to compare this to the old Eisner strips, but this version is lacking both the sense of formal experimentation and the grubby, inner-city authenticity that made the original so memorable. Cooke's Spirit is slick, shallow, and sometimes a little smarmy. Next issue is supposed to have 3 short stories, which is closer to the format of the old newspaper supplements, so I will probably check that one out before deciding if I want to keep reading.
X-MEN FIRST CLASS SPECIAL #1
Jeff Parker, Kevin Nowlan, Nick Dragotta, Mike Allred, Paul Smith, Colleen Coover
Marvel Comics
I missed the First Class miniseries, but it's been getting a lot of good buzz, so I decided to pick up this special. It's pretty fun, but a lot of these short stories seem underdeveloped -- good ideas that aren't completely worked out. For instance, in "The Soul of a Poet", the X-Men encounter a "neo-mutant", who's presence causes them to freak out (and vice-versa). So we get a couple of pages of weird hallucinations, then Professor X comes in and makes it stop. The end. Eh. The best story is also the longest -- a cute and sweet bit about Jean Grey bonding with Dragon Man (with deliberate parallels to Kitty and Lockheed). The artwork is terrific throughout, and I do like the overall tone and the handling of the characters, so I'll be checking out the regular series when it starts.
ARMY@LOVE #2
Rick Veitch, Gary Erskine
Vertigo/DC Comics
The problem with satirizing the current administration and it's military-industrial entanglements is that the reality is already so absurd, it's hard to top it. I have to give him props for that cover, though: Lynndie England transformed into a pin-up girl (with pink poodle sitting in for the leashed prisoner) is a wickedly clever inversion. The rest of the book isn't quite that on-the-nose, but Veitch's conceit of a war run by corporate middle-management seems scarily plausible. Your mileage will no doubt vary according to your political leanings, but this is a pretty solid bit of satire.
ASTONISHING X-MEN #21
Joss Whedon, John Cassaday
Marvel Comics
I can't point to anything really startlingly original or innovative about Whedon's run; it's just good, solid adventure comics with strong characters and clever dialogue. It's a sad commentary on the rest of the industry that such a thing is so rare and remarkable. This issue is jammed full of great moments: Armor trying to assert herself as a full-fledged team member. Beast and Agent Brand's banter ("And right now you're looking at me like a Taun-Taun."). Scott and Emma trying to work out their relationship in the middle of a dogfight. Poor befuddled Colossus trying to cope with being the destroyer/savior of a world (not to mention a hot-and-cold running Shadowcat). And of course that troubling cliffhanger with Emma. I'll be sorry to see this run end, but it's sure been a blast.
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #3
Mark Waid, George Perez, and Bob Wiacek
DC Comics
After two excellent issues, this one is merely ok. This is my first exposure to the new Blue Beetle, and boy is he annoying: Constantly whining and apologizing for his own incompetence. Cowboy up, you pansy. Plus I can't figure out what his powers are supposed to be, and that is one seriously ugly costume. The Fatal Five turn up out of nowhere; I hope this isn't some tie-in to the Legion shenanigans going on in some of the other titles, but I'm afraid it probably is. I'm actually looking forward to next issue, though. Waid clearly enjoys poking fun at Supergirl's skanky reputation, so her interactions with Lobo should be... interesting.
DETECTIVE COMICS #833
Paul Dini, Don Kramer, Wayne Faucher
DC Comics
Dini's run has been consistently enjoyable, but this issue kicks it up a notch. We get a new villain, a stage magician who's stunts have turned deadly. And the inevitable guest-appearance by Zatanna. She's become a problematic character, thanks to that Identity Crisis nonsense, but Dini manages to acknowledge and acommodate that continuity without it getting too heavy-handed. We get a classic Batman death-trap, and then a genuinely unexpected and completely awesome twist at the end that really made the issue for me. Very much looking forward to seeing how the cliffhanger resolves.
THE ENVELOPE MANUFACTURER #2
Chris Oliveros
Self-Published
Hadn't heard anything about it, but this square-format book caught my eye as I was browsing the shelf. It reminds me a lot of Seth's work: Businessmen in a 1920s setting leading lives of quiet desperation. The art's not quite as slick as Seth's, but it's attractive, and the low-key, black humor comes across well. I'll have to try and track down #1.
FELL #8
Warren Ellis, Ben Templesmith
Image Comics
Not quite as tightly-focused as the previous issues, this one gives us a series of snapshots, showing what a typical night is like for Detective Fell in the miserable world of Snowtown. There is a loose sort of over-arching plot tying it together, though, and it ends on a note that's not quite hopeful, but sort of doggedly defiant. "None of you are nothing to me." I am not a big "crime noir" fan at all, but this series with it's eccentric characters, stripped-down narrative style, and surprisingly strong moral center, has won me over.
MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #2
Michael Allred
Image Comics
Freaky, even by Allred's standards. A good chunk of the issue is taken up with weird mind-games, with Madman questioning everything from his own identity to the nature of the universe. Eventually it settles down into more conventional hero vs. villain territory in time for the cliffhanger ending. Not bad, but a lot of it amounts to Allred just showing off. I suppose it does serve its purpose, highlighting the character's fragile mental state and so on. Plus it's really beautifully drawn, so I can't gripe too much. Hoping for more plot progression next issue, though.
OPTIC NERVE #11
Adrian Tomine
Drawn & Quarterly Publications
I tend to have mixed feelings about Tomine's work. There's no doubt he's a terrific artist, precise and expressive. And he certainly has a knack for creating authentic, vivid characters. Unfortunately, those characters are inevitably a bunch of self-involved assholes, so it can be hard to really care what happens to them. In this issue we have Ben creepily spying on his ex-girlfriend, who sort of passive-agressively dumped him without ever actually saying she was dumping him. Ben's spying is encouraged and enabled by a female friend, for reasons that aren't really clear. Ben finally works up the nerve to confront his ex (and her new boyfriend), they yell at each other for a while, and Ben finally leaves. And that's it. As I said, it feels very realistic, and there's some interesting stuff in there about race and identity (Ben and his ex are both Asian, but both find themselves attracted to white partners). But ultimately it feels like a vignette without much purpose. Does Tomine have a point to make, beyond "Whoa, people are sure fucked up"? Maybe that's enough, but it does make his work a chore to read sometimes.
SHAZAM! THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #3
Jeff Smith
DC Comics
This is turning out to be a really strange book. I was expecting something closer to the '40s style, but this is a complete reboot, with a slightly harsher edge. It still maintains that sort of fairytale logic and sense of whimsy that informed the original series, but we also get a thoroughly modern jaundiced view of the government and the media. I really like Smith's take on Mary Marvel, who remains a kid in both identities and seems to have a slightly different power-set than Cap. And he draws really cool monsters; can't wait to see what his version of Mr. Mind will be like.
SPIRIT #5 & 6
Darwyn Cooke
DC Comics
Cooke's artwork is never less than gorgeous, and the stories are clever enough, but after reading a bunch of these, it feels like something is missing. It's probably not fair to compare this to the old Eisner strips, but this version is lacking both the sense of formal experimentation and the grubby, inner-city authenticity that made the original so memorable. Cooke's Spirit is slick, shallow, and sometimes a little smarmy. Next issue is supposed to have 3 short stories, which is closer to the format of the old newspaper supplements, so I will probably check that one out before deciding if I want to keep reading.
X-MEN FIRST CLASS SPECIAL #1
Jeff Parker, Kevin Nowlan, Nick Dragotta, Mike Allred, Paul Smith, Colleen Coover
Marvel Comics
I missed the First Class miniseries, but it's been getting a lot of good buzz, so I decided to pick up this special. It's pretty fun, but a lot of these short stories seem underdeveloped -- good ideas that aren't completely worked out. For instance, in "The Soul of a Poet", the X-Men encounter a "neo-mutant", who's presence causes them to freak out (and vice-versa). So we get a couple of pages of weird hallucinations, then Professor X comes in and makes it stop. The end. Eh. The best story is also the longest -- a cute and sweet bit about Jean Grey bonding with Dragon Man (with deliberate parallels to Kitty and Lockheed). The artwork is terrific throughout, and I do like the overall tone and the handling of the characters, so I'll be checking out the regular series when it starts.
