Black Panther Is Awesome Part 2: Wild Kingdom

2009-02-25 8:38:59 pm

X-MEN/BLACK PANTHER: WILD KINGDOM
(Black Panther #8-9, X-Men #175-176)
Written by Reginald Hudlin & Peter Milligan, drawn by David Yardin & Salvador Larroca

X-Men/Black Panther: Wild Kingdom isn't exactly the best example of why Black Panther is awesome. As I mentioned last time one of the big reasons I like this book so much is that it feels like it's firmly entrenched in the Marvel U without getting too detailed or confusing. That all gets hindered when you bring in the X-Men. I know a lot of people are all about the X-Men, but I still find them to be the most difficult franchise to get into thanks to the incredibly dense history. It's not even that Milligan's story is all that confusing, I just have a hard time placing this story in the long history of X-Men. You've got Gambit and Rogue on the same team, but what's their deal? Emma's there too, but is this still when Astonishing was going on? None of this really matters to the story, but it is distracting. I do like how both writers handle Storm and Wolverine though, two characters who will be important in their own ways coming up.

The story of this book is that the Red Ghost wants to start a new commie ape society in Africa. There's something about mutant animals, which gets the X-Men interested. BP of course gets involved too because this is his turf. For those of you unfamiliar with the Red Ghost, he's a communist scientist who can turn intangible and has created super powered apes who talk. There's another scientist guy in the story who can absorb mutant powers.

I'll be honest, the larger story here isn't all that interesting unless you're a huge Red Ghost fan (and I know some people out there are). What is cool about this story is seeing Storm and Black Panther together. Like I said before I don't know much about either character aside from what I've read in this book, so I'm not sure if there were any previous hints of their relationship or if this is the first readers saw of it, but I like how they are around each other, especially considering how adversarial they tend to be towards one another. It's cool to see the beginning of their love story (even if it's not the chronological beginning).

Oh, Dragon Man's in the book too which is pretty cool, but, again, the overall story isn't all that interesting. As far as my collection goes, I'm not all too concerned about adding this one to my collection, unless I can get it on Sequential Swap (a great site to get rid of some of your old trades as well as get some cool new ones). But, don't let that deter you from checking out my future installments of Black Panther Is Awesome, as Part 3 will focus on Bad Mutha, the arc that got me interested in this book in the first place.

Black Panther Is Awesome Part 1: Who Is The Black Panther?

2009-02-19 4:00:36 am

I've gained a bit of a reputation around the hallowed halls of Wizard as the dude who LOVES Reggie Hudlin's Black Panther comic. I came into it a bit late in the game (somewhere around the early teens I think), went back, got caught up and have been reading ever since. And, while I think the book got a bit weak in the over-long Fantastic Four issues (I might get to those eventually), I still think it's a pretty great series overall both because it made me care about a character I didn't really have any feelings toward one way or another (I never read the previous series') and because it felt like Reggie was really utilizing the vast resources of the Marvel Universe without getting too bogged down in said history.

So, in this semi-recurring feature called Black Panther Is Awesome, I'll be taking a trade by trade look at why this book rocks my world. So here we go with the first trade, Who Is The Black Panther?

BLACK PANTHER: WHO IS THE BLACK PANTHER?
Written by Reginald Hudlin & drawn by John Romita Jr.

Collecting Black Panther 1-6

Okay, right off the bat, I've got to say that this is one of the few cases in which I've really liked John Romita Jr.'s art. Usually it's a little too boxy for my tastes, but for some reason it really works on this book.

Anyway, the crazy thing about the first issue is that it doesn't even feature T'Challa, the current black panther, but instead focuses on three different Black Panthers from times past repelling foreign invasions, including a pretty rad fight between T'Challa's pops and Captain America back in World War II that looks even more vintage thanks to Romita's pencils (not sure how that works, but it does!). We're made aware of these past battles thanks to a small group of American politicians and military dudes trying to figure out if Wakanda poses a threat. We're also treated to a few small scenes of bad guys talking to each other, one of which turns out to be the Klaw, who, even I know, is the guy that killed T'Challa's dad back in the day. I do have one complaint about these flashback scenes, though. The dialogue seems way to modern at times. It's not a huge deal, but it is the kind of thing that could pull someone out of the story.

All of this sets up a few interesting scenarios. Who's the bad guy recruiting Klaw? What will the U.S. government try and pull? And most of all, who is the current Black Panther? We've seen these past ones, so what's T'Challa like? We'll get the answers plus more questions as things move on.

Also of interest, the footage we've seen of the Black Panther cartoon, which will be on BET, looks like they just animated this first issue like those old motion comic cartoons from the 70s. As you can probably guess, I'm pretty excited about that series whenever it comes out.

You know what's crazy about the second issue? Still no T'Challa as Black Panther. We get to see T'Challa challenge his uncle for the title of Black Panther and win which is pretty rad. Along with the scenes we also get some background about Wakanda where we find out that the Panther is the god of the people and also rules them as a king. We also get treated to some more pretty cool and sometimes brutal fight scenes between T'Challa's uncle and the challengers.

There's also an interesting set-up in the character of Shuri, T'Challa's sister who also wanted to try out to become the Black Panther, but was stopped by a falling opponent of her uncle's just as T'Challa jumped into the fray. There's some more U.S. government stuff that gets a bit old as the series moves on, but it's still pretty interesting here. Plus, Klaw recruits a bad guy/girl named Cannibal who seems to take over bodes based on physical contact. The seeds are planted.

The third issue is kind of an origin issue with some more team building on the bad guy's side. It seems as though Rhino and Batroq the Leaper (minus the silly costume, but still sporting the accent) have joined Klaw's cadre of evil somewhere in Africa. It turns out that Klaw is related to one of the dudes who we saw trying to invade Wakanda and getting killed. Klaw became an assassin hired to kill T'Challa's dad, killed him and T'Challa's brother only to get shot by a young T'Challa. Klaw went back to Belgium where they turned him into a cyborg killing machine. We also get a glimpse of what fueled T'Challa to become the badass dude we will eventually see in the book and got a glimpse of when facing off against his uncle.

The issue is capped with a few more additions to the villain crew in the form of the Vatican's Black Knight, who even sports an ebony blade and a ruler of a neighbor of Wakanda who is on Klaw's side. I'm not exactly sure how this fits into the actual Black Knight's continuity, but they did a call out to it in the most recent issue of Captain Britain (a really great book, highly recommended to all).

Finally, in issue four we get to see T'Challa in his Black Panther gear as the bad guys finally begin the assault. I don't want to get in too many of the details because they're pretty cool, but we get a great look at how the population of Wakanda looks up to T'Challa and how he, in turn, respects them. We also get treated to an example of the Rhino's toughness and an aerial dog fight with the Black Knight, plus the reveal that Radioactive Man is also on Klaw's Crew.

Issues five and six really display the throw down between BP and his people and Klaw's Crew (I like that name, they should get uniforms made up). The U.S. government even gets involved by deploying a group of cyborg soldiers that seem to have an awful lot in common with Deathlok, though the connection isn't made on the page. Oh, the Panther also has a freaking flight cycle. Awesome!

In the end, Panther faces off against Klaw, while his sister takes on Radioactive Man and Cannibal takes over his cousin in America (he's a diplomat of some kind). So, even though the good guys (and girls) prevail in their own way, there's still some lingering trouble.

So, what do I like about this book (aside from what I already mentioned)? Well, I'm pretty fascinated by Wakanda as a setting and Hudlin sets things up really well. You get to see both its technologically advanced side but also it's older, warrior and honor based culture. It's a really cool setting that really serves T'Challa later on and shows how he truly is a product of his environment.

I also really like this collection of somewhat classic Marvel villains. You've got Rhino, Klaw, Batroq the Leaper and Radiative Man all teaming up in a way that doesn't seem forced at all. Plus, I didn't even realize it until just now how little Black Panther is in the series and I was still really really into it. It's pretty cool.

Okay, this was a really long post, but I had to get in why I think BP is so awesome. Look for more installments later as I've read the first four Black Panther trades, but haven't read the X-Men/Black Panther trade in a while (I might just skip that one to save some time).

Trade Post: Thor & Dark Phoenix Saga

2009-02-13 4:45:30 pm

Today we've got a pair of Marvel trade reviews for your reading pleasure:

THOR VOL. 1 (Marvel)
Written J. Michael Straczynski & drawn by Oliver Coipel
On paper, I didn't think I'd like JMS's Thor. I've never been a big fan of the character and JMS disappointed me with Rising Stars after which I kind of stopped reading his stuff (also because I'm not a big FF or Spidey fan, though his Midnight Nation is rad). Also, I remember reading in Wizard a bunch of years back (I think right before I got my job) that Mark Millar and Steve McNiven were going to work on a Thor book where all these different Asgardian weapons started falling to Earth and new people were picking them up and becoming Don Blake/Thor-like pairings. That sounded pretty rad, but it never happened. Then that Thor clone thing happened in Civil War, so I was pretty much done with the idea of Thor.

Even with all that, I still started reading Thor when it came out and I was shocked to realize that I really liked it. I can't even really describe why I like it so much. I think it's the basic simplicity of a character that's been around for decades. Even though Thor's trying to find his fellow Asgardians in human form, it doesn't feel too bogged down in continuity. I also really like how he just decided to set up shop in Oklahoma as a floating castle-city. It's a really cool visual which is made all the cooler by Coipel's slick art. I can't remember if I've read any books he's drawn before, but I'd definitely make a point from here on out.

Unfortunately, I missed one issue in the first six and got off the story, which is a bummer because now I'll either have to find all the issues in the Wizard library (a veritable wasteland) or just read the trades as they come out which will take a while. Oh well, I'm still down with the book and from what I hear it's still doing well, so hopefully it'll be around for a while.

X-MEN: THE DARK PHOENIX SAGA (Marvel)
Written by Chris Claremont, co-plotted and drawn by John Byrne

I've talked a lot of X-Men trash over the years. Partly it's because I'm a dyed in the wool DC fan. Part of it is that I'm not a big Chris Claremont fan because of his run on Gen 13 (I was a HUGE fan of that book back in the day). And partly because I'm kind of sick of people saying how great it is.

But, all that being said, I figured I should at least give it a shot and see how it is so I can make an educated argument as to why I don't like the book (if in fact I don't). Well, I was surprised that I didn't hate the book. I don't think it's anywhere near the level of Dark Knight or Watchmen, books that I've heard it compared to before, but it's pretty good for a comic from 1979-1980.

Part of the problem is that I knew exactly what was going to happen and there were very few if any surprises. I guess I can thank my beloved X-Men animated series and reading various reviews and write-ups in Wizard for that. Anyway, sometimes you know how something's going to end, but the ride is still fun. Unfortunately, I kept getting let down by moments that I've heard were supposed to be awesome. The one that really sticks out in my mind is the couple of issues in which Wolverine gets knocked through the floor of the Hellfire Club and then comes back and kicks ass to save his teammates. Sure there are a couple of cool moments, but most of the issue is spent watching a Revolutionary War era Cyclops fighting in mind space or something. The final fight with the Imperial Guard is kind of boring as well. Plus John Byrne's very pretty art is often covered with dialogue that explains exactly what you're seeing the characters do on the page.

Like I said the story's not bad, especially if you haven't had nearly every beat of the story ruined for you and also if you have a predilection for Silver Age-type stories, but it doesn't really make me want to read the rest of this era of X-Men, though X-fanatic and Wizard World guru Brett White suggested I read From the Ashes which is on my list. We shall see I guess.

Iron Mongering: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. & Secret Invasion War Machine

2009-02-03 9:09:57 pm

In my ever-expanding quest to read more Iron Man comics I decided to give a few recent trades a shot, which brought be to Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Secret Invasion: War Machine. I wanted to read all of the post-Civil War Iron Man books, but couldn't find them in the library, so this will do.

IRON MAN: DIRECTOR OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
Written by Daniel and Charles Knauf, drawn by Roberto de la Torre
As some of you may know, I was involved in the weekly Civil War Room review column on wizarduniverse.com lead by former Wizard staffer Rickey Purdin. I enlisted thinking it would be a seven week commitment (that's how long it was supposed to take to come out right?). Well, it turned into an over year long commitment in which I read 99% of the Civil War related comics (thank you vacation). Anyway, because of all this, I feel pretty confident in saying that Iron Man was not a well handled character at the time, at least in my opinion.

So, with that in mind, I was pretty apt to skip Iron Man's post-Civil War comic which saw him in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. an organization most well known for being lead by one of the coolest characters in the known universe, Nick Fury. But, alas, that didn't keep me away forever.

This trade is a pretty interesting one. The writers Knauf spin an intriguing yarn with plenty of espionage and superheroics all the same. I really like how Tony has built Iron Man-like armor for his S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. That's a cool touch that really makes sense. Also, I like how Dum Dum Dugan doesn't like Tony's way of running S.H.I.E.L.D. (like a business instead of a military organization). There's some pretty cool moments between the two of them as their relationship grows over the issues.

The book, which collects Iron Man #15-18, also features the return of the handless Mandarin who gets the alien power rings surgically inserted into his spine. I really wish I had the next few volumes to read between this and Secret Invasion to see how that played out. Some day I guess...

All in all, good stuff. Maybe not an easy entry point for new readers, but it's a good read for the initiated and also reprints two older stories, one starring Nick Fury, the other Iron Man. There's also reprints of some Marvel Spotlight: Civil War stuff and Marvel Handbook stuff, so that's a good deal.

SECRET INVASION: WAR MACHINE
Written by Chris Gage and drawn by Sean Chen
This book collects the repurposed Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. issues (#33-35) which were dubbed War Machine: Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D. while Iron Man was stuck in the Savage Land for six months.

I actually really dug this story. It's one of the cooler Secret Invasion tie-ins, far as I'm concerned. What you get is Jim Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine, getting a distress call from Tony telling him that StarkTech had been compromised by the Skrulls, but luckily Rhodey (who's apparently a cyborg who looks an awful lot like Cyborg now) doesn't have StarkTech inside him, so he's cool. Tony also leads him to a satellite that's shielded from everyone that also transforms into a giant robot that Rhodey can control.

The story also has a pretty good tussle with the Winter Guard, some cool Super Skrulls that actually get identified (why couldn't they tell us who made up ALL the Skrulls?!) and a character by the name of Suzi Endo who is apparently known, but not by me. I wish this book would have come with some kind of intro or a Handbook entry on some of the characters to let me know what's up with them, but I got the gist of it. I haven't read the new War Machine book, but this definitely makes me want to, especially if it has a satellite that transforms into a giant robot!!!

Trade Post: Marvel Mania

2009-02-02 5:46:11 am

Time for some merry musings about a myriad of Marvel's most moving...comics. Wow, that's harder than it looks. Stan Lee should write an alliterative dictionary. Anyway, I've been catching up on some recent Marvel stuff that I missed out on the first time around, so here goes:

GHOST RIDER: HELL BEND & HEAVEN BOUND (Marvel)
Written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Roland Boschi & Tan Eng Huat
I've been hearing about how awesome Jason Aaron's Ghost Rider run has been, that it kind of takes a grindhouse approach to a character whose book wasn't exactly setting the world, ahem, aflame. Maybe it's because it's been hyped up so much, but I didn't find this volume, which collects Ghost Rider #20-25, all that awesome. Sure it was cool seeing Ghost Rider get mixed up with some ghosts on a highway and crazy nurses, but for me it never went beyond being just cool. I also couldn't help but feel like these were all Hellblazer stories bounced to another universe and used on Ghost Rider. That's probably not a fair comparison, but I do like the general approach to the character. Hey, I wouldn't be reading the book otherwise.

Also, I'm generally not a fan of the art, but I think it works in a book like this. It's kind of like how I wouldn't normally like some of the artists who do BPRD or Hellboy minis, but in the context of that kind of book the art really works well. It's pretty much the same thing here. All this being said, I will give the next volume a read, just to see how it goes, hopefully I'll be surprised.

THE INCREDIBLE HERCULES: AGAINST THE WORLD (Marvel)
Written by Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente and drawn by Koi Pham and others
Man, this is a good book. I loved Planet Hulk as it was happening but wasn't all that thrilled with World War Hulk (I'm not a fan of Romita Jr.'s). After all that I was kind of mad that Jeph Loeb was writing a Hulk book while Greg Pak, the guy who made Hulk awesome again got relegated to a Hercules book. I later found out that this was how Pak wanted to do things and heard good things about Herc, so I'm giving it a shot and unlike Ghost Rider, I'm 100% sold on Incredible Herc.

The book is great. Hercules is a pretty fascinating character, not just the wine swilling rogue we've seen in issues of Avengers past, but a really complicated dude who's lived an amazingly long life. The writers really dig deep, but don't pile things on too heavily and bury the fun. And there's plenty of fun.

Herc's chum in all this is Amadeus Cho, the seventh smartest person (first smartest kid) on Earth (I'd like to see the list in ranked order), a character I've grown to like in his few appearances leading up to and including WWH. Cho's obsessed with shutting S.H.I.E.L.D. down because of how they treated Hulk, but Herc doesn't want to destroy the good with the bad. Meanwhile, Ares is attacking Herc a lot, trying to put his arrogant, famous brother down.

My one complaint about Incredible Herc is that I'm not a big fan of Ares' characterization. I really really liked Michael Avon Oeming's Ares miniseries from a few years ago, but I feel like the character he set up there hasn't really been used as much beyond "big huge bad ass" in later appearances. Here he's a crazy, jealous dude who just wants to put Herc down. It's kind of strange and maybe that's how his character has been developed in books I haven't read, but it just feels a little off to me and took me a bit out of the story.

I can't wait to check out the next trade, which, I think, will be Secret Invasion stuff. I read one issue when it came out and really liked it, but it was part 2 or 3 and I missed the rest.

Trade Post: Brave & The Bold 1 and 2, Silverfish

2009-01-28 5:27:33 pm

Hey gang, still having trouble getting more than one post up per week, but hopefully they're worth your while when they do pop up. I've been reading a lot of trades lately, even started fully going through the Wizard comic library again, so hopefully I'll get more than the aforementioned one post per week. So, let's jump in shall we?

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD VOL. 1: THE LORDS OF LUCK (DC)
Written by Mark Waid, drawn by George Perez
When this book first came out I was pretty excited, but it wasn't the kind of book I wanted when it actually came out. I was looking for simple one-off stories featuring two great heroes put together in a strange situation drawn by one of the few, great living comic book artist legends who actually keeps upping his artistic quality in my opinion. So, when I found out it was actually an ongoing story I wasn't really interested. Later on, I heard good things about the book and decided to give it another shot in trade form. Enter the trades.

I really enjoyed this book and am glad I read it in trade form actually because there's a lot going on and I'm not sure if it came out on time, which would have meant I'd have an even harder time keeping track of everything. Waid really nails all of the characters, which include Batman, Hal Jordan, the current Blue Beetle, Supergirl, Lobo and others. It's great to see a writer who I loved growing up still having the chops to write intricate, fun stories that both play off of and add to the rich DCU, especially when others don't seem to be able to keep up as well anymore.

And speaking of keeping up, Perez kicks ass. This guy continues to blow me away with each new issue that comes out. I can't be certain, but I think I first saw his art in Avengers when he relaunched it post-Heroes Return with Kurt Busiek. And even now I'm enjoying Legion of Three Worlds when it comes out. So, yeah, Perez kills it in the first six issues of B&TB. You get everything from great covers to gorgeous splash pages and even great faces. The man's a master and he's the perfect match with Waid for this book.

The story itself follows the heroes trying to get a hold of the Book of Destiny on multiple fronts at various times throughout the DCU. It's the kind of story I want to read in my Justice League comics, not weird Tangent and Milestone stories forced upon the writer.

Oh also, bonus points for the annotations section in the back in which Waid lets the reader know where/when each of the characters appeared for the first time and a few other little tidbits, like the fact that Perez didn't actually know how to play blackjack before drawing a scene involving the game. I love extras like this and it seems like a pretty simple and easy addition that only takes up a few extra pages.

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD VOL. 2: THE BOOK OF DESTINY (DC)
Written by Mark Waid, drawn by George Perez and Jerry Ordway
As much as I loved the first volume, I can't quite say all the same great things about Volume 2, which takes an opportunity to tell great silver age-type stories by having the Challengers of the Unknown reading through the Book of Destiny. I really like these stories, which feature the Silent Night, Hawkman, the new Atom, the original Teen Titans as kids, the Metal Men and others. But they're not just random stories, they all have to do with the big villain of the story Megistus a new villain who could be pretty cool in the future.

My main problem with this volume is that Waid uses the old "two heroes team up, have different ways of doing things and then learn from each other by the end" storyline a time or two, which, normally wouldn't be so bad, but in a collection like this it gets a little tired. The other problem is that Perez doesn't do all six issues. I've got no problem with Jerry Ordway and he even does a great job on his issues, but I love me some Perez and it would have been awesome to see him draw the 12 or so character battle against Megistus in the last issue. Also, on the subject of Megistus, I felt like his character wasn't really explained well.

Also, this collection earns no bonus points for extras because there are absolutely none. I'm guessing it's because Waid had moved over to Boom by the time the book came out, but an editor could have done the exact same thing. Oh well, I'm still keeping this one in my collection, at least until I have a few beers and clean out my bookshelf again (it cuts down on the sentimentality).

SILVERFISH (Vertigo)
Written and drawn by David Lapham
I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to think about David Lapham's Silverfish, mostly because I could not stand his City of Crime story in Detective Comics from a few years back. But, I've heard great things about his other work, so I wanted to give something else he wrote a shot and Silverfish is pretty short, so it worked out pretty well.

And, I really liked it. It's got a thriller/horror vibe to it as some kids in the 80s dig into the main girl's new step mom's past and find out she was into some pretty heavy stuff. I don't want to get into the story too much for fear of spoilers, but Lapham keeps a really good pace up throughout the whole story and I read it in one sitting. I like that.

My one problem with the book is the whole idea of the silverfish. They pop up from time to time, but are never really referred to or mentioned by anyone. I've got no problem with certain things not getting explained in stories, but this seems like a pretty big element to not get at least a mention. Oh well, like I said, I dug this book and would actually like to see it made (well) into a movie. I assume one of you is a big Hollywood person and can make that happen (if it's not already in the works).

Trade Post: The Authority Vol. 1-5 (Plus The Monarchy Vol. 1)

2008-12-23 4:10:25 am

So, as I'm sure I mentioned before in my post about loving Wildstorm, but I recently re-read Warren Ellis' Stormwatch which naturally leads into The Authority. I'm not going to get too in depth on these reviews.

THE AUTHORITY: RELENTLESS (VOL. 1)
Written by Warren Ellis
Drawn by Bryan Hitch
I really dig what Ellis started here. It's kind of hard to remember reading these books now, but this was one of the first times we ever saw "heroes" take matters into their own hands and change the world how they saw fit to make it a better place. This trade collects two storylines, one introducing the team and pitting them against Kaizen Gamorra and his crazy superpowered kamikaze clones, and the other pitting the team against aliens from an alternate universe. That's a lot of action in one trade. It's also a lot of information, especially when it comes to exactly how the carrier works.
I'm not usually a big fan of Ellis', but he really was dipping into a very cool well of ideas when he was putting this book together. But he doesn't get too wrapped up in the small details as the big ideas are balanced pretty well with big action. I'd recommend this book to pretty much anyone who's not easily offended (I love how, every time Jack Hawksmoore, who may be my new favorite superhero, he knocks their jaw or head clean off, that's awesome). My only negative is that I don't really get what the big deal about Hitch's art is. Yeah, he's pretty good and there's some killer splash pages in there, but I don't understand why people would wait so long for him to finish Ultimates (I have no idea how late, if at all, Authority was when he was drawing it, but I'm still waiting for that last issue of Planetary...). But, again, it's a really great book, which obviously leads into...

THE AUTHORITY: UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT (VOL. 2)
Written by Warren Ellis & Mark Millar
Drawn by Bryan Hitch & Frank Quitely
Warren Ellis' last arc, which featured the creator of the Earth coming back to terraform Earth for his own fiendish purposes. Plus SPOILER, the death of Jenny Sparks (she was the spirit of the 20th century after all). Again, I've got to say how impressed I am by these characters that Ellis created, whether it's Midnighter or the limited Superman in the form of Apollo to The Doctor and The Engineer. So, yeah, Jenny goes out with a bang, which leads to Mark Millar and Frank Quitely's arc, which isn't quite as good.
This is the famous arc that has the Authority facing off against Avengers proxies. The problem is that the story doesn't quite measure up to memory as it seems to take a really long time to get to the point (the Authority kicking the crap out of the Avengers). There's also a pretty big jump between Ellis and Millar's runs where the Authority become celebrities which brings up a point I want to make. In both Ellis and Millar's arcs, things happen that are explained but never shown and it's a little annoying. For instance, why the heck are they so famous now? We're never really told. Is it just because Jenny saved the world? If so, they did that before and we never heard about how the general populace reacted. We're also never really treated to much in the way of origins for The Doctor or the Engineer beyond what we're told. I'm not the kind of reader that needs everything laid out for me, but it would have been nice to see at least a flashback or something at some point.
Anyway, this arc is still pretty cool, as the Authority does eventually kick the crap out of the evil Avengers. Unfortunately, this trade reminds me of why I didn't like Frank Quitely until All-Star Superman. This trade has some of the ugliest faces I've ever seen and not just the ones that are supposed to be ugly, Shen's particularly bad looking. There's still plenty of interesting ideas like the New X-Men-like Hive-Mind, HeadMailing and the Avenger-like group's invisible hideout in the middle of NYC. Volume 2 is definitely worth buying if you liked the first villain and even though Millar's arc doesn't quite match up to Ellis', it's still a valiant effort that fits well within the post-Authority Wilstorm Universe.

THE AUTHORITY: EARTH INFERNO & OTHER STORIES
Written by Mark Millar, Joe Casey, Paul Jenkins & Warren Ellis
Drawn by Frank Quitely, Chris Weston, Cully Hamner & Georges Jeanty
With Volume 3, Millar definitely steps his game up. This arc focuses on the Doctor's drug problems along with a rogue Doctor from the 60s who's wreaking havoc on the Earth (or something, I'll be honest, I didn't quite get it). Wheston handles some of the art chores, which don't even look as good as Quitely's not-quite-there-yet art. But, the story makes up for it as we get to see the scale the Authority is working on (they evacuate the entire planet to alternate universes). I also really like how the Doctor comes back and defeats the old Doctor (this whole thing is kinda like Dr. Who isn't it? I've never seen the show, but, it seems similar).
Anyway, this is another good book and we get our first look at Midnighter out of costume (at least in Authority). Apparently he's blond (but only in this issue, as he appears as a brunette in every other out of costume appearance I've noticed). There's also a few shorter stories here from other writer/artist teams. There's an annual where Midnight and Apollo have to face off against zombie versions of their old Stormwatch teammates, a short story about the Engineer's non existent sex life and one starring Jack Hawksmoor (love that guy). Good stuff.

THE MONARCHY: BULLETS OVER BABYLON (VOL. 1)
Written by Doselle Young
Drawn by John McCrea
Authority #21 was written by Doselle Young as a way of spinning Stormwatch's Jackson King and Christine Trelane off into their own world-changing group The Authority. There's a lot of cool, Authority-like ideas in this book (and the use of Union, one of the few Image characters I have fond memories of as a kid getting comics from a grab bag), but the problem is that this trade only collects the Authority issue and the first four issues of the 12 issue series, so you don't really get to see how things play out. Hopefully DC and Wildstorm will put the rest of the series out at some point. Oh, I also really like John McCrea from his work on Hitman, one of the best in-universe mature reader titles of all time.

THE AUTHORITY: TRANSFER OF POWER (VOL. 4)
Written by Mark Millar & Tom Peyer
Drawn by Dustin Nguyen, Art Adams, Frank Quitely & Gary Erskine
And now presenting the trade where everything goes off the rails. Apparently there were some scheduling problems or something that pushed the stories in this book (half written by Millar, half by Peyer) back and made things screwy. I'm not sure if a regular schedule would have saved things as the Authority are seemingly killed and replaced by a new version of the team. It could really have been a 2-3 issue story, but ended up as eight freaking issues. The book really just seems to be spinning its wheels the whole time. Even art by one of my all time favorite artists Art Adams can't save the issues he drew. I ended up just skimming them, waiting for these new jerks to die and for the Authority to kick some butt, which they eventually do (of course), but it and the marriage of Midnight and Apollo doesn't save this book. Skip this one if you can.

THE AUTHORITY: HARSH REALMS
Written by Robbie Morrison
Drawn by Dwayne Turner & Tan Eng Huat
So, the Authority took some time off, but eventually came back under the stewardship of Robbie Morrison (don't be fooled by the cover, which only cites "Morrison and Turner" as the creative folks, very tricky Wildstorm). This particular volume sets the Authority against Reality Incorporated, a group of jerks who use other realities for their own gain. It's not a very memorable story (I read it over the past two days and still had to go back and see what happened in the issues I didn't read today. It's not bad stuff by any means, but it does make one think that the Authority is the kind of team that should maybe just hang out in limbo until someone has a really cool idea for them.

So, I know I haven't read all things Authority yet, but I did have a lot of fun with the book. I love the characters, especially after this second reading where I've gotten a better idea as to who they are and what they can and can't do. I'd like to check out the rest of the trades, especially the one where they actually take over the world, I'm curious to see how that played out aside from the obvious. I also like how they're being handled now in the post-apocalyptic playground of the current Wildstorm U. They're no longer the "we can do anything we want" team, they've got problems of their own, though I'm not a big fan of Hawksmoor being city-less. Oh well, we're see where things go and if I'm able to snag the rest of the trades.

Trade Post: Abe Sapien The Drowning & Nightwing Freefall

2008-12-19 8:02:27 pm

A few more trade reviews for your reading pleasure, BAM:

ABE SAPIEN: THE DROWNING VOL. 1 (Dark Horse)
Written by Mike Mignola
Drawn by Jason Shawn Alexander
Like I said the other day, I love the Hellboy-verse and a big part of the world is Abe Sapien. This trade collects the very first Abe mini which also recounts his first Hellboy-less mission back in 1981. Remember how I said that even stories like this that take place in the past refer back to other stories? Well, there's a quick look at Abe's origin, but again, you don't need to know anything about that to enjoy this story. It's really fun trying to work everything out because, while this story came out after the B.P.R.D. trade which explained Abe's past, The Drowning, chronologically speaking, comes before that. I'd like to see a huge Hellboy timeline laying everything out (maybe even with the order you're supposed to read them in).

I've got the same complaint about this trade as the B.P.R.D. Vol. 9, though, in that we don't get treated to a Mignola intro (though there still is the requisite sketchbook). And speaking of the art, Jason Shawn Alexander is awesome. I have no idea what else he's done, but the way he draws the creepy little ghost things with the writing all over them is pretty damn creepy. Well done Jason, someday I'd like to have you contribute to my Green Lantern or eventual horror movie themed sketchbook.

I guess I haven't really talked about the story, so here goes. Abe's on an island looking for a magic spike in a demon, but soon enough these short demon dudes show up and everyone on the island dies! So, it's up to Abe to save the day. I don't want to get too much more into it without giving stuff away, but it's another great Hellboy-verse story that any fan or novice can pick up and love.

NIGHTWING: FREEFALL (DC)
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Drawn by Rags Morales & Don Kramer
I'm not the biggest Nightwing fan in the world, though I did enjoy most of the Devin Grayson and Chuck Dixon issues I read back in the day. Of course, things haven't been so great in recent memory. But no more! I've been loving former editor Tomasi's run on the book. Tomasi has boiled the character down to his essence, added his own spin and really cemented him in his post-One Year Later setting of New York City. In this book we get to see Dick taking up skydiving, getting a new job and home and trying to track down a villain who's stealing super-corpses. What Tomasi does that I love is, he shows how much a part of the DCU Nightwing really is (remember, he lead the JLA at one point when they were stuck in the past). Not only does Flash (Wally) stop by for a beer, interact with Batman and Robin and confab with Superman on a case, but he also ha the JSA help set up his new pad (they're not too far away, also being located in NYC).

I also have to admit I'm fond of Peter's use of the New York area. I'm not as familiar with the city itself, but I totally geeked out when Nightwing flew under the Bear Mountain Bridge, which I pass every day on my way to work. There's also a few other locations that I think I recognized (hey, I'm still learning). Aside from the locations, I appreciate the writer's creativity and logic when dealing with the superhero world. Nightwing flies around on a 'Wing wing (a kind of jetpack with wings), but he also asked Bruce Wayne to purchase various buildings placed strategically throughout NYC to give him plenty of places to get to if he needs to hid out. Brilliant! Does Batman even do that?

There are a few downsides though. There's a bit of wordiness int he first few pages of the trade explaining how much Dick loves skydiving. It's not poorly written by any means, but it's a little bit dense and I know it turned a few guys at the lunch table off from reading the book (though I convinced them too soon enough). I'm also not sure what's up with Rags' art. I much prefer Don Kramer's work in the book. It's a lot cleaner and crisper and I kind of hope he becomes the regular artist.

So, if you're even a cursory fan of Nightwing or Batman, you should definitely check this trade out as it, in my opinion, greatly represents the character as well as the logical standing he has in the DCU as one of the very first sidekicks who has literally grown up in the superhero world.

Trade Post: B.P.R.D. 1946 & Catwoman Crime Pays

2008-12-17 1:37:54 am

Okay, time for another installment of trade post:

B.P.R.D. 1946 Volume 9 (Dark Horse)
Written by Mike Mignola & Joshua Dysart
Drawn by Paul Azaceta
I love me some Hellboy, you guys and, of course, that includes B.P.R.D. I didn't get into the Hellboy-verse until a few years ago, which was pretty good timing because I was able to read all the trades at Wizard and I was able to hop over the long gap when there weren't any new books and Hellboy was spending a few years under the ocean. I'm a big fan of how intricate the history is. There's elements in 1946 that resonate later on, though I can't point all of them out, because it's really hard to keep everything straight in my head. I do like to re-read the books every year or so, but I haven't done that in a while and even right after I do it's hard to remember.

This story follows Hellboy's adoptive pops Trevor Bruttenholm in one of his post-WWII adventures with a group of soldiers in a bombed out Germany. This one's got everything from vampires and werewolves to little girls in white dresses leading the Russian version of the B.P.R.D.

One of the great things about Dark Horse's Hellboy and B.P.R.D. trades is that you can pretty much pick any of them up, understand what's going on and enjoy a great story with a beginning, middle and end. Sure there are smaller elements that you might not pick up on, but might also drive you to check out other books. The other thing I love about these books is that they almost always have extras. Usually that includes an intro by Mignola along with a sketchbook with commentary in the back by Mike and whoever else is drawing the book. Unfortunately, this volume lacks the intro, which usually has Mignola explaining the genesis of the idea (where the mythology came from, that kind of thing). I really like those and was bummed to see there wasn't one. There was, however an Afterward by Dysart explaining his first 1946 meeting with Mignola and the sketchbook.

Oh, one more thing, I really dug Paul Azaceta's art. Like a lot of the non-Mignola or Dan Davis Hellboy/B.P.R.D. it took me a while to get used to his style (what can I say? I'm used to my superhero artists), but Azaceta seems like the perfect artist for this project. I look forward to seeing him on future B.P.R.D. projects almost as much as I'm looking forward to all the other Hellboy-verse books.

CATWOMAN: CRIME PAYS (DC)
Written by Will Pfeifer
Drawn by David Lopez
Catwoman's one of those characters that I have an on-again off-again relationship with. I actually had a subscription to the Jim Balent-drawn version for a year which I dug. I'd also grab whatever crossover issues came out. I completely missed out on Brubaker's relaunch and still want to go back and read it, but I have read a few of Pfeifer's trades, this being, I believe, the second to last of the current run (it's getting canceled right? I'm super behind).

Anyway, this story follows Selina's attempt to start a new life with her baby, then get rid of the baby and finally waking up in her empty apartment which then explodes, leaving Cats on the run in Gotham without her mask or whip. There's a character called The Thief who disappears due to Catwoman's involvement in the Salvation Run storyline which feature supervillains being sent to a crazy planet far far away.

I was actually pretty interested in the Thief storyline and seeing Catwoman stripped of everything and on her own, but it got cut off by the Suicide Squad getting the jump on her and sending her to the prison planet. I wasn't a big fan of the whole Salvation Run storyline, partly because it seemed a bit too close the Marvel's Negative Zone prison (did they even really flesh that out? All things Civil War are a blur thanks to the Civil War Room column), even though it's a pretty sound idea in theory. I don't even know how that mini-series ended and this trade doesn't offer up much insight. You get an issue of Cats wandering around from faction to faction only to end up with Luthor's crew, but then she ends up in this weird world where's practically SuperCat and runs everything. Once she's out, she presumably rejoins the Salvation Run storyline. I feel bad for Pfeifer because it doesn't feel like the Salvation Run stuff was very organic, probably more dropped on his plate. But he handled it well, though the story itself doesn't hold much consequence (even though it's pretty cool).

I've liked Pfeifer's writing in the past, his Aquaman Sub Diego stuff was rad and HERO is one of the coolest books from the past five or six years not yet collected (seriously, what's the deal with that? come on DC, where's my omnibus?!), but for whatever reason Catwoman hasn't really absorbed me yet, though I'll probably grab the next trade when it makes its way into the Wizard office. I also like David Lopez, he's a solid artist with a distinct style that makes him stand out. He seems equally adept at drawing grim and gritty street-level stuff as huge superhero group shots, which he also gets to do in this book.

I can't really recommend Crime Pays to non Catwoman readers. There's a lot going on in this book that's not only connected to past Catwoman continuity, but also a part of DC's last year that seems generally ignored (seriously, I read a ton of DC books, how did the villains get back?). Hopefully the next volume will wrap things up with The Thief (I'm seriously interested in that storyline, as well as what the heck Catwoman's supposed to do with all her stuff gone).

Trade Post: Swamp Thing, Fourth World, Scalped and Wonder Woman

2008-12-11 5:32:55 am

Doesn't look like things will be letting up any time soon and seeing as I've been falling asleep pretty early these days, I haven't been able to watch many movies. I will get around to the second part of that Thanksgiving weekend round-up though, because I want to get to my Squirm and Return to Sleepaway Camp (love that movie!). But, I've got some time now and I've been doing some trade reading so here we go.

SCALPED: DEAD MOTHERS (VOL. 3) (Vertigo/DC)
Written by Jason Aaron, Drawn by John Paul Leon, R.M. Guera & Davide Furno
Scalped is one of those books that I got to late in the game and have yet to actually catch up to the monthly issues, so I'm mostly grabbing the trades from the library as they come out. I dig the story for the most part, especially because it takes me to a world that I'm otherwise unfamiliar with in the form of an Native American reservation. Plus, there's all kinds of action and intrigue and some great names (I especially like our main character's Dashiell Bad Horse).

This particular trade focuses mainly on Dashiell working on a dead hooker case because he promised her son that he would while others investigate his own mother's death. There's obviously a lot of history between Dash and pretty much everyone else on the reservation and Aaron does a good job of giving just enough details as we read to keep us from getting completely lost but also not overwhelming the reader with needles detail. It's a harder balance to achieve than you might think. I also like how the villain of the story, Lincoln Red Crow (the guy that Dash, an undercover agent is trying to pin a murder on) is more interested in finding his mother's killer (they used to be lovers) than Dash himself. But even he's got problems of his own as various outside forces are trying to push and pull him and the casino he runs.

Really, that's what I like about the series as a whole: there's a lot going on, but not too much. Aaron's got a great sense of pacing and knows when to throw in some kick ass action scenes to balance all the other personal aspects of the book. I'm really curious to see where the series goes (they introduced a new character in the form of honest reservation cop Franklin Falls Down who seems like he'll have a lot of potential). I'm also looking forward to seeing how Aaron writes a long form story like this one. I'm not sure if there's an end point in mind that he's working towards, but I've only read a handful of his other books, some I liked, some I didn't, so I hope he ends this one with a bang.

SWAMP THING: LOVE AND DEATH (DC)
Written by Alan Moore, Drawn by Stephen Bissette, John Totleben & Shawn McManus
This is the second Swamp Thing trade collecting Alan Moore's run on the book that helped launch his career and shoot comics to whole new levels. To me, it's one of the last few epic comic runs that I haven't read yet, so I'm glad to finally get to it (though I don't have any more of the trades, so we'll see how that goes), which is too bad because I really dug this book and am curious to see where it goes.

Most of the trade follows the developing relationship between Swamp Thing and Abigale including her short-lived death. There are all kinds of horror elements bouncing around these pages, including Swamp Thing's visit to the afterlife which boasts guest spots by Etrigan, Phantom Stranger, Deadman and the Spectre. I really like how firmly Swamp Thing takes place in the DCU, proving that you can do Vertigo type stories in the same world that Superman flies around in (Sandman also did this on a few occasions).

I've also got to mention the semi sex scene between Swamp Thing and Abigale at the end of the last issue. It's not as gross as it might sound as Abby eats a fruit that Swamp Thing grows from his chest and then they go on a super-trippy ride that we become voyeurs to.

But I didn't like everything about this collection. There's a story called "Pog" which featured some tiny cartoon-like aliens landing on Earth hoping to find a new home to call their own. The story itself is interesting, but the problem is the dialogue. These aliens talk different, making up words that seem and sound an awful lot like English, but took me way too long to read as my brain kept trying to read the words I'm used to. Props to Alan for coming up with this new language, but it drove me a little crazy. Oh well. I'm probably going to ditch these trades in favor of the hardcovers they're putting out shortly (or is it out yet? I dunno).

DIANA PRINCE WONDER WOMAN VOL. 2 (DC)
Written & drawn by Mike Sekowsky
Man, I love these swinging Wonder Woman issues, each one is like a Roger Corman movie starring my favorite Star Spangled Amazon (missing her stars of course). For those of you who may not know, these Diana Prince tales follow Wonder Woman around after losing her powers and becoming a kung-fu boutique owner hanging out with blind martial arts master I Ching.

This volume not only collects Wonder Woman issues, but also a Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane issue in which the constantly swooning Lois gets jealous of Superman spending so much time with Wonder Woman who appears to have regained her powers. There's even this hilarious scene where Wonder Woman takes Superman to a club and he starts dancing so intensely that he almost sets the floor on fire, after which he thinks to himself: "Did I goof! I can't forget myself for an instant! That's the trouble with being super! I can't relax like ordinary people!" I don't want to ruin the ending, but it's your average cheesy silver age stuff (which is pretty different than the rest of the trade, because this particular story was written by Robert Kanigher).

There's also an issue of Brave and the Bold with Wonder Woman and I Ching in another country (though I don't think they ever say which one) in which a big car race is happening. It just so happens that Bruce Wayne is also there racing along with some bad dude (his name's not really important). Well, the bad dude tries to kill Bruce because he's such a good driver so Bruce calls Gotham and gets his buddy Batman to come race for him. There's actual panels with Batman driving and his cape shooting out behind him flapping in the wind. I had literally just watched a Roger Corman movie with similar themes that I had just watched (Young Racers). Man, that movie was boring (hey, look, a movie review!), but this comic is great.

The rest of the trade involves the return of Dr. Cyber along with an adventure to Hong Kong and the addition of a new young lady who Diana saves from THEM (always written in big red block letters) and then gives a job in her boutique. I really love how the series bounces around from somewhat typical superhero stuff to all kinds of other genres without missing a beat. There's also something fun about seeing Wonder Woman mingling with Superman and Batman even back in the late 60s/early 70s. These are great books for anyone even remotely interested in Wonder Woman or movies and TV from that time period, these are the books for you.

JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS (VOL. 4)
Written & drawn by Jack Kirby
I've had a very on again off again relationship with these New Gods Omnibi (Ominbuses?). Sometimes I'll get really into them but then I'll put the book down for weeks or even months at a time, which was the case with this, the last in series. The main reason is that, for reasons that are probably explained in the intro by Mark Evanier that I haven't read yet, Jack's books weren't doing so well and were canned, which means this book collects the last issues of The Forever People (which I liked a lot more than I thought I would), New Gods (my personal favorite of the ongoings) and then a bunch of Mr. Miracle issues (it lasted longer than the others), the new stories Jack created for the reprints and finally the Hunger Dogs graphic novel. The problem is that it's like watching a TV show that you know doesn't have a real ending, one that got canceled before it's time; all the pieces are good, but you're not sure about the pay off.

I read the FP and NG issues completely but ended up skimming the Mr. Miracle stuff as it wasn't really my favorite of the books. I did enjoy the final two stories though, because it felt like Jack was finally able to tell the story that he intended to tell years before. But, man, just think of how cool it would have been to see Jack get to do his thing for real. It's too bad because it feels like that's a huge missed opportunity, a story only preserved in the library of unwritten books. Oh well, I really like Hunger Dogs, especially the big huge collage spread that Jack did in the middle of it. Check it out and see how many Star Wars pictures you can find (I spotted the rear end of a Star Destroyer first).

Anyway, there's a pretty interested ending to Hunger Dogs that I'm not really sure how it was resolved later on when the New Gods re-entered the DCU. I did have a basic history explained to me by Rickey. He said that, basically, Jack created the New Gods, but after he left they just kind of sat around and no one used them until the Super Powers cartoon came along and was looking for a villain. They dug up Darkseid and he's been a dominating force of evil in the DCU ever since. For someone who's been reading comics since the early 90s, it's pretty crazy to think that there was a time when Darkseid and the rest of the New Gods weren't a big deal.

And finally, if you're like I was when I first started reading these books and think that these older stories don't really offer up much to a modern, more sophisticated reader, give them a try. Sean Collins helped me realize what I liked about these stories even when I wasn't quite sure if I actually liked them. The true art isn't in the words (the dialogue boxes are pretty easily skipped for the most part in my opinion), but in the art and the emotions and gut punches that Kirby is able to convey with his trademark pencils. Plus, if you can't find a certain amount of giddy joy in tracing the lines of a Kirby machine, I feel bad for you.

Okay, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll get another post in this week, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you (seriously, that'd be crazy).

Iron Mongering Part 4: The Many Armors of Iron Man

2008-11-11 2:54:44 pm

As I've mentioned in previous Iron Mongering posts, I really want to see a Michelinie and Layton Essential, Visionaries or even an Omnibus or two. Many Armors is nothing like that. Instead it's a grab bag of issues by different creators introducing various Iron Man armors (a space armor, the stealth, etc.). Sounds like it could be fun right? Well, it really isn't unfortunately. My biggest problem with the book (which collects Iron Man #47, 142-144, 152, 153, 200, 218) is that, like with Demon in a Bottle there is no indication as to what's been going on with Iron Man around the time these issues came out, so you're just thrown in and have to figure it out on your own. And while the stories themselves may be kind of interesting, I really felt like I was missing a lot.

Generally I don't like trades like this with various issues from various teams about various stories, but the ones that I think did it best was the Green Arrow/Black Canary For Better Or For Worse which did the above, but also included little prose paragraphs before each story to explain what had happened in the years between the stories. Maybe if MAOIM did that for a later edition it would be a more enjoyable book, but as it is, it really isn't. It does REALLY make me want to see some Michelinie and Layton trades collecting their epic runs. I've got my fingers crossed. Maybe in time for the Iron Man sequel.

Oh, which reminds me, reading the first issue in this trade, which retold Iron Man's origin spurred me on to watching the Iron Man DVD, so, that's a least a point in the plus column. That movie's rad.

To My Astonishment

2008-11-09 10:16:13 pm

Wow, I was going through my posts and found this one that never went life for some reason. I think I wrote it originally back in August, but it could have been even further back than that. Enjoy!

I realize it's been a while since I did an actual comic review. I've been reading mostly newer stuff lately and trying to catch up on more recent books that I missed, but I did grab all four Astonishing X-Men trades from the library the other day after. I had read the first three and part of the fourth, but wasn't really seeing what all the fuss was about and got pretty displeased with the incredible lateness of the book, so I stopped reading. And while I did like the series a little bit more the second time around, I'm still not blown away like everyone else.

Now, don't get me wrong. I think Whedon crafted a good story and I like Cassaday's art enough. But neither one of those excuse the lateness of the book. I know it doesn't matter now that the whole thing is out in trade (and probably an omnibus at some point), but it still bugs me when creators make a splash with a book, get fans excited and then keep you waiting for four years to finish a 25 issues story. It's the kind of book I would have dropped if I was buying it and didn't get to read them for free at work.

Okay, aside from that, I did have a bit of a hard time not seeing shades of Buffy in every issue of the book. Em and I just finished watching the series again (look for something Buffy-related coming soon) right before I started re-reading the first trade. Sure these characters stand on their own and maybe Cassaday even took some of his cues from the show (the way he draws Beast with his glasses, instantly makes me think of Giles). But, after the first few pages of the first issue, all that kind of fell away. I still saw elements of his Buffy characters in the X-Men, but it's obviously not a direct lift or transference. Even though certain bits of dialog brought me right back to Buffy episodes. It could also be argued that the Buffy characters were influenced by the X-Men. Who's to say?

Also, I do have to say that I'm not much of an X-Men fan. As my faithful reader(s) know(s), I was a DC kid growing up, so my experience with the X-Men were the occasional grocery store comics I'd pick up and the cartoon (and reading Wizard back in the day). Because of this, I find their history nearly incomprehensible at times. That being said, I think this is probably the most accessible X-Men book I've ever checked out. Whedon and Cassaday both boil the characters down to their basic natures, both in content and appearance, so that you can figure out what they're all about in just a few panels. I even handed it to Em after the first two trades were out and she loved it, though I did have to hear her continually ask about the next trade for like two years. She has also re-read them and, with the exception of a few questions about the Legacy Virus and Cassandra Nova, didn't have any trouble with the plot.

I also appreciate the whole "let's make the X-Men a real life superhero team" idea that gets a bit lost in the middle of the series, but then comes back later on. One of the many things that has bothered me about the Marvel Universe is how bigoted the general citizens can be toward mutants and not towards the Avengers. How do they know that Cap isn't a mutant? Come on, get over it already. And for his part, Whedon tried to get people over it, by getting the "feared and hated by those they've sworn to protect" bit out of the way after the first arc. Kudos for that. And double extra kudos for leaving guns all over the different issues and firing them off in the end (most specifically, the big giant weird sentient Genosha-killing Sentinel). And super kudos for putting some genuinely funny moments in the book. The scene with Kitty falling thrown the floor into the TV room while her and Pete...celebrated his return, made me actually laugh out loud (yes, that an LLOL, a literal LOL).

I also appreciate how Whedon adds to the mythology without muddying up the already cloudy world of the X-Men and the Marvel U in general. You've got Danger, the Breakworld, Agent Brand, S.W.O.R.D. and maybe Armor? I'm not sure if Morrison invented her in his New X-Men or not, but Whedon obviously took a shine to her and gave Wolverine another Kitty Pryde/Jubilee girl partner to pal around with when X-23 gets to be too much of a psychopath.

All in all, like I said above, I think this is a good X-Men story. It almost reads like "All-Star X-Men" because it basically glosses over everything that happened in the Marvel U in the four years it took to tell the story. There's no mention of the Decimation and only one line about Civil War. Now, I'm not one to say that these big events MUST interfere with a big-time writer's story, but it would at least make sense to get a mention of the 198 or something. And, I'm sorry to say, but I don't see what the big deal about Cassaday's art. My friend Rickey Purdin has promised to sit down with me and go through the trades to try and change my mind, so we shall see. And really, I'm only disappointed in that because I think Whedon could have done some really fun things with those events AND I think the Marvel U and the X-books could have benefited from a more timely involvement.

We (Comic Book Detective Matt Powell and King of the Internet Jim Gibbons) were all talking about this book at lunch the other day and came up with the idea that it would be cool if Whedon "executive produced" X-Men the way he does TV or the Buffy comic, writing the important stuff, letting other writers flesh things out and approving everything that gets done. We all felt that, given a more regular shipping schedule, Whedon's run would feel a lot fuller and more well-rounded like our favorite seasons of Buffy.

Halloween Scene: Batman Comics

2008-10-05 3:49:45 pm

A year or two ago the folks at Wizard decided to do a story of the 25 scariest moments in comics. I kind of had a problem with this because I've never really been scared by a comic, I'm not sure if it has to do with the format or what, but it's never happened. But that doesn't mean I haven't read some generally creepy stories in comic book form. Recently I've read some pretty cool Batman-related stories that had a good horror elements. For the ongoing series' I'm probably still an issue or two behind, so take that into account, but here we go.

BATMAN: GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT

This is a 12-issue series written by Steve Niles and drawn by Kelley Jones. I'm not a big fan of Niles, so Jones was the big draw for me here. His art on Batman around Knightfall was the first time I realized that artists had different styles. No one draws a more over-the-top, creepy Batman then him in my book. And that's basically what this book is, crazy and over the top. #3 was the last one I read in which the creepy zombie-looking villain convinces Clayface that, if he actually consumes people, he can grow to giant size. It's a pretty cool concept that I haven't seen done before but really makes sense. There are all kinds of over-the-top moments in the first three issues (Jones' Batcave looks like a smelting factory, Batman's building a giant robot suit just in case). Some people find it ridiculous, but to me that's part of the fun.

JOKER'S ASYLUM

A little while ago DC put out these one-shots under the Joker's Asylum banner showcasing Batman's biggest villains, probably to tie into the movie because they came out so far ahead of Halloween. I read all of them, but I particularly liked the Scarecrow and Penguin issues.

Scarecrow was written by Joe Harris and drawn by super awesome fantastic artist Juan Doe. With Joker taking on the Crypt Keeper role in all these books, we get presented with a slasher-like tale of a young, nerdy girl getting invited to the popular girl's sleepover with nefarious intent. It turns out that the girl's shrink is actually the Scarecrow, who convinces the nerdy girl to go to the party. While she's there, Scarecrow hunts down the teenagers and poisons them with his fear toxin. It's probably the best slasher-movie-in-comic-form story I've ever read and it's all done concisely in one issue. And boy oh boy is Juan Doe's art fantastic. It's a kind of angular cartoony style that still captures the eeriness of the scene. He also does some really cool little things like taking the old Joker face from his early appearances and using them as decorations on the Joker's pajamas in the opening scene. Harris also sets up a possible future villain in the form of Lindsay, the nerdy girl. And one last thing, bonus points to Harris for referencing Mean Girls and Heathers (Heather's the mean girl and Lindsay is the nerdy girl, after Lohan I assume). Well done all around.

The other Joker's Asylum story I really dug is the Jason Aaron written and Jason Pearson drawn Penguin one-shot. It's more of an EC revenge tale than a horror story, but it offers probably the best representation of the Penguin I've ever seen. If you think that he's too ridiculous of a character to be a good villain in the next Batman movie, just read this issue and you'll see what I mean. Instead of being an active threat to people we find that Penguin is much more behind-the-scenes in how his revenge plays out. There's also a fun nod to one of the most over-done elements in Batman comics that I loved. Penguin's day dreaming about his new lady friend while Batman's beating up on his bodyguards. When he's done Batman says "Just remember that I'll be watching" to which Penguin responds "Yes, yes...see you next week." As anyone who's been reading Batman comics for a while, Penguin currently owns the Ice Berg Lounge where he's considered a legitimate business man, but Batman still routinely comes there, knocks his guys around and tell Penguin he's watching him. It's gotten old fast for us Batman fans and this was, to me at least, a way of poking a little fun at that.

SIMON DARK VOL. 1 TPB

Like I said above, I'm not a big Steve Niles fan, but lately he's been writing some pretty good comics, so maybe my tune is changing. What I first thought was a retelling of the Frankenstein tale has kind of morphed into something much more involving dark magic and other craziness all set in the backdrop of Gotham City. But don't expect Batman to pop up every issue, in fact, I don't think he shows up in this trade at all. I've read most of the issues after this one and still dig the story, even if it does drag out a little. A big, big part ambiance of the story definitely comes from artist Scott Hampton. Looking at it actually makes me feel cold. That's really the best way I can describe it. Crisp. I think Simon may be my favorite new, non-legacy character from last year, especially as he finds more and more out about his weird past.

BATMAN FACES TPB

Really the only reason I even picked this book up is because of Matt Wagner. I'm a big big fan of Mage and really hopes he does the third and final miniseries. So, while waiting for that I decided to give this Batman/Two-Face story a while and I really enjoyed it. Basically Two-Face is trying to take over an island that Bruce Wayne wants to buy and start a new country with a bunch of European sideshow freaks. I laughed as soon as I saw them because I had JUST watched Freaks. It's another one of those great coincidences like when you're flipping through channels, stop on a History Channel or Discovery show about something you've never really heard of and then it comes up in conversation the next day. I love when that happens. The story itself isn't all that surprising, but Wagner does some great thing with his art (like a Family Circus-style dotted line splash or the page consisting of a track). The big draw is Wagner's art, especially his interpretation of classics like Batman and Two-Face and the freak characters. It's more about the smaller moments, like how the freaks react at the very end of the story than the big plot stuff, but all in all it's a really enjoyable story.

The Book of Oa: Sinestro Corps War

2008-09-19 2:22:10 am

Wow, I completely suck for not posting in so long, hopefully this long-ish post will make up for it. This one's for you Farooq.

I recently reread the entire Sinestro Corps War saga in the three hardcovers that DC has put out (Vol. 1, 2 and Tales of the Sinestro Corps) and dammit all if this isn't one of the best comic book stories of all time. Geoff Johns helmed this epic with the help of fellow GL writers Dave Gibbons, Pete Tomasi and Ron Marz while artists like Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason and others drew the heck out of it.

GREEN LANTERN: THE SINESTRO CORPS WAR VOL. ONE

Johns and Gibbons both seeded elements of this tale in both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, but this is where all that craziness goes on, starting with one of my favorite one shots of all time the Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War one-shot which shows the Sinestro Corps waging war on the Green Lantern home world of Oa. There's even a super patient Yellow Lantern who hid in an asteroid field just so that he could bust out and snipe the crap out of some GLs. There's a real sense of "how the heck are the going to get out of this?" But before all that, the GL that will always have a soft place in my heart, Kyle Rayner, gets sucked the Qward where he gets infected with Parallax, the embodiment of fear (oh yeah, whereas the GLs represent willpower, the YLs represent fear on the emotional spectrum).

But the craziness doesn't stop there (and neither does the issue). As the Sinestros slaughter the GLs (who can't kill anyone with their rings) we find out that Superboy Prime (yeah, I called him SuperBOY Prime and I'm not gonna stop) and Cyborg Superman are on Sinestro's side. And, as readers of GL will remember, Cyborg's actually in charge of the Manhunters, the Guardians' first crack at a police force (though robotic instead of "human"). But that's not the biggest kicker. That boot belongs to the fact that their guardian is actually the Anti-Monitor. Now, they don't really get into an explanation as to how the heck AM is still alive after Crisis on Infinite Earths, but they do mention something like "When the universe redid itself, we found him." Hey, it's good enough for me.

Okay, that's the end of the first issue. Personally, I think the set up for all of this, which was inspired by Alan Moore's BRILLIANT "Darkest Night" story which you can find in one of my favorite trades of all time: DC Universe:The Stories of Alan Moore. Bringing back Cyborg as leader of the Manhunters and incorporating Superboy Prime (who was involved with Countdown, but seriously, who was reading that?) just made so much sense. I love when creators actually do something with older characters that have been forgotten that were important at one time (like Prime was prior to Infinite Crisis).

And Ethan Van Sciver's can't be ignored. Like with Green Lantern: Rebirth, Ethan just kills it. He also continues one of my favorite elements of Geoff and Ethan's reboot: the different ways the the GLs use their rings. Kilowog and Guy are like forces of nature, Kyle's very artistic and John Stewart, the engineer that he is, designs all of his constructs from all their parts. Additionally, you've got nine splash pages and spreads that blow my mind, especially the spread of the Yellow Lanterns on Qward. Just sick.

Okay, so it's not all one issue. After fending off the SC's first attack, the Guardians decide to destroy the Blackest Night chapter of the Book of Oa which carries the prophecy of how the Corps will fall, causing a rift between Ganthet and Sayd and the other Guardians. Ganthet and Sayd appear to Hal Jordan via his ring and tell him he needs to be the leader of the Corps again, Hal doesn't know how the others will take that, but he doesn't really have time to think about it as the Parallax being (who was reinserted into the main battery) grabs Hal, Guy (my second favorite GL) and John Stewart to Qward where Hal rumbles with the Parallax-possessed Kyle.

There's also a quick aside in the GLC book where Sinestro visits his homeworld of Korugar, the planet that he ruled with an iron fist when he was a GL (which is exactly what he got banished for) to meet Soranik Natu, the current GL from Korugar. Though it seems like kind of a throwaway issue, it's not because we get more insight into Sinestro's motives. He's actually challenging the GLs with his Corps in order to make the GLs more effective. The big storypoint in this issue is that GL partners-but-not-really Stel (a robot) and Green Man realize that the Sinestro Corps is leading an attack against Mogo, the living planet GL. Holy crap!

From here on out the story is split between Hal fighting Kyle, trying to free him from Parallax, the Lost Lanterns joining in and the other GLs fighting on Mogo. But we also find out why Cyborg's involved in all this: he wants to die and the Anti Monitor claims he can make it happen. We also get a creepy page of Superboy Prime sitting on the moon just waiting and watchign Earth. More on that later. The moments where Hal's trying to help Kyle are really great to me because I actually started reading GL when Hal went crazy and destroyed the Corps and Kyle was the one and only. There's something really cool about the two characters that a lot of fans never thought they'd see together (and definitely not on the same side) in reversed roles: Kyle's the bad guy and Hal's trying to help him. I also really like the Lost Lanterns because I really liked those guys and it makes me feel better about watching Hal's exploits when I know that he didn't really kill the only other GLs I knew about.

Of course, the Lost Lanterns don't really see it that way as most of them still hold a grudge against Hal who they're now forced to work with as they run for their lives on Qward as their batteries run out of juice and they try to find Guy and John.

Now we move on to the crazy fight on Mogo as the GLs defend him against an evil living city with a mad on for Guy (even though he's nowhere near Mogo) full of 100 Yellow Lanterns which starts off with just Stel and Green Man standing between Mogo and the Sinestro Corps. Of course, Kilowog and company join up with them and put up a heck of a fight. The living city is actually pretty hilarious as it continues to whine about Guy Gardner, demanding his presence and death. There's a whole lot of craziness going on, most of which I don't want to get into, but the Sinestro Corps is basically trying to kill Mogo because he figures out where the rings go to after a Lantern dies. He's also the soul of the GLC and, of course, the biggest member.

Another subplot I forgot to mention is that the Guardians tasked Arisia with keeping Sodom Yat safe. They're not sure why he's important, but anyone who read Alan Moore's story knows that Sodom will be the savior of the GLC. Awesome! There's also a big fight between Kilowog and his opposite member in the SC Arkillo, a weird toothy monster. They duke it out pretty bad, but they don't finish until later.

The last issue of the first hardcover ends with Guy and John free, Hal sucking energy out of yellow lanterns, Ganthet and Sayd getting banished from the Guardians, the Anti-Monitor killing Lost Lantern Ke'Haan (Jack Chance got killed in an earlier issue) and the kicker of the Guardians telling the GLC about the first of the new ten laws: they can kill memebrs of the Sinestro Corps. There's a lot I like about this issue. Of course, John and Guy getting back in the game is awesome. Also, Hal conquering the yellow lanterns is rad because it proves that he's over the fear that poisoned him. The deaths of these characters also really got me. I'm not sure if it's because of the older GL stories I've read or because Geoff had made them such interesting characters or if I just freaking love Green Lanterns so much that the death of any recognizable one gets me. I'm a softy that way. Finally, the first new rule makes a lot of sense. I mean, the Green Lanterns are cops, they should be able to ice the bad guys when necessary. Of course, there's more to it than that as we'll find out later on.

GREEN LANTERN: THE SINESTRO CORPS WAR VOL. TWO

So this book starts with the Green Lanterns saving Mogo in a cool way that, again, would take a while to explain and seeing as how this is already a pretty long post, I'll skip it, but add that it was really cool (living planets who are GLs are always cool). From there we find out that the Yellow Lanterns actual target is Earth, the base of them multiverse. I've probably used the word "craziness" more than I should, but this is when the sh!t really hits the fan (it's all kinds of craziness).

Oh man, I haven't mentioned the other artists. Ivan Reis and Patrick Gleason do amazing jobs with the big splash pages and smaller moments. My facorite Reis spread in the whole series is the one in GL #24 as Superboy Prime leads Sinestro, Cyborg and a legion of Yellow Lanterns over the moon with a huge yellow Warworld behind them. I get chills. You could do a whole poster book out of Sinestro Corps War and I would cover my walls with it.

Okay, so the war has hit Earth in full force which means the superheroes we (at least I) all know and love get involved in the war. But before he can get into it, Hal's got to save his brother's family from Kyle-Parallax who actually switches to a crazy yellow version of his costume (this story has great costumes). But you just can't keep my favorite lantern dawn as he finally fights his way out of Parallax's grasp and shirks the fear-thing.

Then, BAM, Ganthet and Sayd are there and trap Parallax in Kyle, Hal, John and Guy's lanterns. There's a great moment where all four Earth Lanterns light themselves up and they're ready to rumble. The GLs who were fighting on Mogo finally get to Earth as lead by Kilowog Salaak who has a great bit of business where he tells everyone to fix the damage done to their uniforms. "Use the time to regenerate your uniforms. We're CORPS. Be PROUD." After reading that I pumped my fist and shout "[EXPLETIVE] YEAH!"

And it wasn't the last time as Arkill and Kilowog face off AGAIN, this time it's even more brutal. Oh, this is a great time to mention this, even though the GLs can now kill the YLs, it doesn't mean that they all do. Some go crazy Rambo-style, which is all well and good, but others, like Kilowog, choose not to, using their rings in other ways to incapacitate their enemies.

Oh, remember that Sodom Yat guy I mentioned? Well, he became the new Ion, which is a Lantern that doesn't need to wear a ring. He's also extra powerful. Plus he's from the planet Daxam which means he's got Superman-level abilities. Well, he's the dude that throws down with Prime. We get some history about Yat while Superboy pummels him, but our hero doesn't give up, he keeps fighting until Prime almost kills him.

Which brings us to the last issue. Damn, it's another beauty. In the middle of this huge war, we get a look at the other colors of the emotional spectrum and what they represent, drawn by Ethan while Ivan handles the rest of the art chores.

As far as conclusions go, this is one of the best as it keeps the insanity going to the very end as the insanity ramps up continuously. You've got the Anti Monitor and Prime wreaking havoc on Earth's heroes and the GLs, Guy getting sick with Despotellis the living virus whose killed entire planets, the Guardians jumping in and fighting the Anti-Monitor, dozens and dozens of Yellow and Green Lantern deaths, Hal and Kyle throwing down with Sinestro, using Warworld to destroy Cyborg and Anti-Monitor, Anti-Monitor coming back only to get supposedly killed by Prime (he's still pissed about AM killing his home world, go figure), one Guardian giving his life to destroy Prime and finally Hal and Kyle defeating Sinestro in a fair, no-ring fist fight. Whew, it's crazy awesome and I'm tired just explaining it all.

But even THAT'S not the end as we got some more Van Sciver-drawn bits. We see Superboy waking up somewhere saying "Oh my gosh. It's really back." Sinestro in GL jail, proud of the changes he caused in the Corps. His goal was to get the GLs to actually instill fear and thus be all the more effective against the evils of the universe. THEN, we see Ganthet and Sayd become the Guardians or something for the Blue Lanterns which represent hope and they create the first blue ring. After that those damn Manhunters find Cyborg's dead body and reboot it, resulting in a heartbreaking tear trickling down his face. And FINALLY, we see the Anti Monitor's corpse landing somewhere and getting trapped inside the black lantern.

Jeez, I forgot there's a-whole-nother GLC issue that acts as a prologue. This is mostly a clean up issue that stars the featured players of the GLC book, which you should definitely check out. I'm especially partial to the scene where Rannian GL Vath takes a shot for each of his fallen comrades which number more than 432. It's a touching moment that shows how one warrior deals with the loss of so many of his friends and fellow soldiers.

As if that weren't all there's also an interview with the creators in the back accompanied by sketches from the artists. I haven't read it yet, but I'm always in support of beefing up trades with extra stuff you couldn't get in the single issues. Otherwise, what's the point?

Oh jeez, I completely forgot a few things. First of all, Natu used a sentient smallpox GL to defeat the evil virus Sinestro Corpsman inside of Guy. I was actually pretty nervous during this whole scene because it wouldn't have surprised me if Geoff killed off one of the big GLs (I'm really glad he didn't).

Now, like I said in the very beginning I love this story. Some people say that Geoff doesn't end stories well and I can't agree with that, especially when it comes to TSCW. The War definitely ends, for now at least, while still leaving the threat out there. It's like in Star Wars, just because Vader and Palpatine are dead, doesn't mean the Empire just crumbles. You also get to see Sinestro in prison again, which seems to be exactly where he wants to be. There's all kinds of other lead-ins to future stories as well. I know that Geoff has said the he considers Rebirth the first chapter of his GL epic, this is the middle and then there will be Blackest Night when that hits next year (I think). But that doesn't mean the regular series post-TSCW is boring. Geoff and Co. have gone into further development of the characters as well as the emotional spectrum and the new lanterns. Personally, I can't wait to see where the rest of the story goes and what happens with the Blackest Night.

Finally, I know there's also a Tales of the Sinestro Corps book, which I also read, but that with be another review because I'm tired.

Whew.

Over The River and Through The (Brian) Wood(s)

2008-09-09 2:24:12 am

Parentheticals are fun aren't they? Yeah it's the best I could come up with after I realized I had just read two Brian Wood books one after the other. As far as I know DEMO and The New York Four were actually the first of his comics that I've ever read. What did I think? You know the drill...

DEMO

Written by Brian Wood
Drawn by Becky Cloonan

About two years back now (maybe more) I remember some of the more indie-minded guys at Wizard talking about DEMO, it even made its way into the mag if I remember correctly. Anyway, the recently released Vertigo trade collects the 12 original issues which were originally published by AiT/Planet Lar in all their black and white glory, though apparently not the back-up stuff that was in the original issues. Each issue has a single, self-contained story about people with powers.

For the most part, I dug this book. The individual issues are pretty quick reads, Cloonan does a good job of mixing up her art style with each issue, ranging from cartoony to real and more mainstream comics to manga. I especially liked "Bad Blood" which follows a pair of reunited step-siblings as they mourn their father and learn about their powers. I don't want to give anymore away.

I think for someone who hasn't read a lot of superhero comics, this collection will seem like a huge departure from what they think of as superhero comics. There's stories about people dealing with their powers after accidentally killing or hurting people, super powers and relationships, dealing with dead loved ones, even a girl who looks like the most beautiful girl in the world to whoever's looking at her. I gotta say, I've seen these kinds of stories, not that that takes away from them, just that it's not the first time I've seen them. Overall I liked the book, though I'm not sure if I would recommend it to everyone.

THE NEW YORK FOUR

Written by Brian Wood
Drawn by Ryan Kelly

I would however, recommend The New York Four from DC's Minx line to anyone and everyone. I really dug this story about a super-shy, text-obsessed freshman at NYU who finds herself becoming social for the first time in her life, making friends and reuniting with her long lost sister just before getting into a relationship with a guy she's never met in person.

I can't quite relate to the girl as far as all the texting stuff goes (can't stand the stuff myself), but I could definitely relate to her shyness. I was pretty shy when I went to college not knowing anyone, though nowhere near as bad as Riley. Of course, I didn't go to college in New York, I'm nearly positive I would have gone insane, so it's nice of Wood to actually include little NYC 101 facts as the story progresses giving details along with his opinions on a lot of places I've heard about but still never been to.

I also really liked Ryan Kelly's art. He deftly combines the emotions of each character (quite a feet, considering Wood's populated this graphic novel with plenty of distinct, unique, yet familiar characters) with the background of a city that we've all seen in hundreds of TV shows and movies (or was that Toronto?).

The New York Four is about more than just one girl's battle with shy-ness. There's also the mystery of whether she'll actually ever meet her cyber boyfriend, why her parents disowned her older sister, what will become of the house that she told her newfound friends they can rent to get out of the dorms and why Lona keeps taking pictures of her professor. All of those are answered except the last one, though the book ends with "See You Next Semester" so hopefully Wood and Kelly will team back up to tell us the further adventures of The New York Four.

I do have to say, for the people that read the book, I called the twist ending a few pages before it happened, though that's the best place to call it, isn't it? It means that he seeded it well enough throughout the story, but that you didn't figure it out too soon. So either Wood did some very good pacing with the right hints at the right time or I'm super smart. Let's go with both.

Seriously, go buy this book, it's 152 pages of story for $10! Plus, you can hand it to a norm* and they'll enjoy it too.

*norm=non geek

Yo Joe!

2008-08-24 11:21:35 pm

Okay, I'm not a huge G.I. Joe fan. I know that might sound sacrilegious considering I work for ToyFare, but I was just too young to really absorb who was who and I completely missed out on the Marvel comics by Larry Hama and company. That being said, I did LOVE the cartoon and the action figures. I still have a shoe box back in Ohio filled with those little dudes (most of them whose names I'm just really learning now).

So, why did I read G.I. Joe: World War III? Well, because it's a darn good comic book. A few months ago, while the story was still coming out and G.I. Joe's move from Devil's Due to IDW hadn't been announced yet, guys in the office were raving about this story. So I checked out the first few issues and then completely lost track (it happens a lot, even when you're surrounded by comics on a daily basis).

Well, the fine folks at Devil's Due (mostly my former roommate and Wizard-intern-in-arms Brian Warmoth) sent a few copies of the Omnibus to the offices and so I blazed through it. And I mean blazed. I basically sat down and read right through the whole 12-issue story in one sitting (though I did shift around quite a few times as I'm wont to do).

The book was written by Mark Powers with Mike O'Sullivan and drawn by Mike Bear, Mike Shoyket, Pat Quinn & Jean-Francois Beaulieu and stars all of the still-surviving G.I. Joes getting together to try and stop Cobra Commanders near takeover (and later destruction) of the Earth. I'm not sure if it's because I knew that this is the last DDP G.I. Joe story or just because Mark Powers is a fantastic write (which he is), but I really thought that Cobra just might win. Of course, I didn't want him to, but the way the Powers sets things up, you really don't know how the good guys are going to win. Cobra takes over the White House for Flint's sake.

And while the overall story is incredibly compelling, Powers does a great job of juggling smaller stories taking place literally all over the world and not one of them feels like a dropped ball. You've got a double agent coming in out of the cold, trouble in the ranks of Clan Destro and way more, but probably my favorite part was seeing Storm Shadow and Snake-Eyes fighting side by side together and kicking ass.

I did have a few question marks when it came to some of the relationships and the continuity that has been set up since DDP got the license back in the first round of '80s nostalgia books, but that's what Wikipedia's for, right? The gaps didn't even bother me that much and mostly made me want to go back and check out the previous volumes of Joe comics (including the Marvel books) and has peaked my interest in the upcoming IDW launch.

In the end, I highly recommend checking this book out if you like wide sweeping events, G.I. Joe (duh), military intrigue, espionage, ninja anticts and just plain old action stories. Also, it's cool to see pages filled with the toys I used to play with as a kid, like a big set up battle in my living room.

Theatre Hopping

2008-07-19 4:17:52 am

Hey Gang, sorry about not posting recently. I've been falling asleep pretty early (cause I'm getting old) which cuts my viewing and reading time sufficiently. But, I have been reading a few things here and there. I've had a copy of Sandman Mystery Theatre Vol. 3 in my "to read" pile for a while now. I was hoping I'd get Vol. 2 (I'd already read 1 and 4) so things would make a little more sense, but I decided "what the heck" and jumped in anyway. I had actually forgotten I had 4 on my shelf, so it was fun to go back and re-read that after 3.

Okay, so here's the deal with Sandman for anyone who doesn't know. In the way-late '30s Wesley Dodds comes back from a trip to "the Orient," he's having these crazy, prophetic dreams and decides to become a Mystery Man called The Sandman. Armed with a gas gun and a gas mask, he helps solve crimes in a pre-WWII New York City. The book was co-written by Matt Wagner and Steven T. Seagle and drawn by Guy Davis and launched from the Vertigo imprint in 1993.

Volume 3 is entitled "The Vamp." Basically, the members of a gentlemen's social club are getting aced and it all comes back to a pretty nasty fraternity "prank" they played back in the day. Interestingly enough, the mystery isn't what really draws me into this Sandman story. I had a pretty good idea of who the killer was part way through the book and that was fine because I was really swept up in the world of the late-'30s NYC. Like I mentioned in the Batman: Thrillkillers review, I'm a sucker for certain time periods and this is definitely one of them. There's this really interesting mix of British upperclassness, but with a very American twist to it. Plus you've got the building tension about what will be called World War II and on top of all that you've got the dawning of the Mystery Men in the DCU. This was back when Vertigo books could still have ties to the DCU. Wagner and Seagle also tackle some bigger issues like racism and homosexuality in ways that seem familiar even today.

The great thing about this volume is that it's told completely from the perspective of Dian Belmont, Wesley Dodds' girlfriend (and future wife). She's a real smart cookie who fancies herself an amateur detective (here dad's the DA). The story really follows her more than anyone else and we get to see why she's one of the coolest unsung characters in comics as she navigates the worlds of jazz clubs and high society functions all the while trying to figure out how her friend from college is related to the killers.

"The Scorpion" follows a killer who uses a whip as he goes after the members of a particular oil company. Again, the killer's identity is pretty obvious right off the bat. If you're paying attention, you'll be able to figure out who it is pretty quickly. But that's kind of how some TV procedurals work too right? You get a pretty good idea of who did what, but it's the process of watching Wesley figure out for himself while trying to keep Dian in the dark about his dual identity and really get a hang of this whole superhero game. What's more interesting here is the why.

I've talked to some of my friends about this book and while some have read it, others couldn't get into it because of the art. Davis' art does come off as sketchy at times, but I highly encourage you guys to give it a shot. Once you get used to it, it's like you don't even notice anymore (like watching a movie in black and white nowadays). Davis does an amazing job of putting you in this, most likely, unfamiliar world and grounding you and the characters in it. And then he'll throw some pretty wild dream sequences at you that look completely different, but really capture that dream quality that's so hard to put on the page.

So, if you're solely looking for a mystery book, I don't think this would be the best pick. But if you're looking for a great look at a group of highly complex and interesting characters in the unique setting of the 1930s DCU, I can't make a higher recommendation. Let's just hope DC keeps putting out the volumes. They're up to 6 now, which I have, but I still need to get my hands on 2 and 5.