Blasphemy Reviews

quick takes 10/02/06

This month's big comics shipment has just arrived, plus last week was a huge week for new comics from the regular store. Let's dip in, shall we?

Loveless #10...The cover shows Wes Cutter holding a sword, standing next to a severed head on a pike. Thankfully, the implied atrocity does not take place in these pages. Unthankfully, the only thing Cutter does with a sword in this issue is stick it into a table for emphasis during another speech. Really, what is going on here? It's not like Reconstruction America lacks for heroes and villains. The KKK was forming. There were black men elected to offices and appointed to the bench in counties where they would soon be lynched. There were bands of rebels acting like the war wasn't over. Ex-generals were making millions from the government promoting railroads, including some former confederate generals. There was a lot going on. Why can't we see some of that in this book? Why do we get nothing but flashbacks, speeches, and more hiding in the woods? Sigh...Marcelo Frusin's art continues to be gorgeous and perfect for the book. They need Mat Johnson to write it, though, not that Azzarello will be giving it up. Bad.

Shadopact #5...There's no doubt that Bill Willingham has a broad and fertile imagination, but sometimes I wonder about his focus. The Day of Judgment miniseries was good because it presented a serious problem and allowed the oddball, ragtag Shadowpact try to deal with it. Now, with the regular series, the characterization remains strong, and certain plot elements, like Nightmaster's troubles at the bar, are engagingly odd. But Willingham has not been successful in articulating the goals of this team, establishing any real conflict, internal or external, beyond having to beat up bad guys, or even in making us laugh at the absurdity of hard-bitten Detective Chimp as we did in the mini. And the parade of fill-in artists has not helped. I'm afraid I have to rate this one a misfire. Eh.

Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways...Speaking of misfires, Zeb Wells wrote the funniest Spider-Man story I've ever read, the MTV beach house parody. And he wrote the recent terrific, and also quite funny, New Warriors miniseries. The man has talent. Like the equally hilarious Gail Simone, he's trying to move into more serious writing. Unlike her, he seems to think that "more serious writing" means leaving his sense of humor behind entirely. Thus we have this miniseries. Now, he has not been helped by the dreadful art of Stefano Caselli. But Caselli has improved with this issue, and it's still not great. Instead of a riff on the high concept premise of Civil War, all we get is a bunch of young heroes taken prisoner by a sadist. Now, I didn't necessarily expect great times and hijinks from a Serious Crossover Event that speaks about Important Issues, but I did hope there would be something more than reheated villainy. No luck. I admit that it is interesting to bring back Grant Morrison's Marvel Boy, but so far he's just another weapon the aforementioned sadist uses to punish the kids. And us. Bad.

Justice League of America #2...Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have been sitting around a table talking for three issues now. Nevertheless, the conversation is enjoyable, because the reader certainly cares about what they're discussing (who does or does not get to be in the new JLA). It's interesting to hear superheroes evaluating each other's strengths and weaknesses. Brad Meltzer does not appear to be shooting for Art here, which is a good thing. He's writing a story that feels like sort of a classical take on the JLA. (I wouldn't know, because I've never read those stories.) It's got a lot of simmering subplots, which offer an action counterpoint to the bigtime heroes sitting around a table. The decision to make Red Tornado the focus of the story still strikes me odd, but at least Meltzer is comfortable writing a large cast, which is critical on a book like this. Ed Benes on art is very conventional, but certain pages, like the spread of Red Tornado's damaged cranial unit, are quite effective, if not actually beautiful. Good.

American Virgin #7...I've realized for the first time how critical the art is to telling this story. Beck Cloonan makes all these characters so fleshy and tactile, emphasizing freckles, sweat, errant tresses of hair, and piercings. It emphasizes the sexuality, and in some cases sexual conflict, that drives the book's action. Cloonan deserves some kind of award, really, because Steve Seagle needs help to keep the focus on the sex, as he's much too oddball a writer to forge ahead in a straightforward way; if the story involves a repressed American evangelical virginity advocate, you can bet he's going to find a way to involve an international leather club sex cult serial killer, which is what we get in this issue. But Cloonan keeps our minds on the sex. Good.

Civil War: Frontline #6...Speaking of oddity, what's with the backup strips in this series comparing a comic book storyline to World War II? I mean, come on. The main storyline, however, is still serviceable, with Ben Urich revealing that he may, in fact, be the real hero of this crossover. The Speedball subplot is barely believable, because this Negative Zone prison is so awful that it's hard to square its creation with the Reed Richards we know. But you can sort of see how Reed would get caught up in the scientific challenge of creating it. And Speedball is going to end up a villain after this, or something, which would be kind of cool. The Atlantean story, on the other hand, has yet to connect to the overall narrative in any way, but we will see. OK.

Jack of Fables #3...The closing panel is probably the funniest thing I read this week. The exact goals of Mr. Revise, the villain, remain amorphous, but the storytelling is rock solid, with strung out fairies, a hilariously self-centered protagonist, and an always-compelling jail break storyline. Good.

Ultimates 2 #12...Big, big, fight. Really, I am amazed by the bigness of this fight. Every time you think it can't get any bigger, it gets bigger. That's how big it is. Only one more issue of bigness left. Should be out by next August. OK.

Eternals #4...Four issues in, we're finally moving beyond a series of character pieces and into a cliffhanger that should inspire dread in anyone who knows their Third Host from their Fourth Host. Not that the character pieces were bad. And of course the whole thing has beautiful John Romita Junior art. He can do know wrong, except Uncanny X-Men #306. Good.

Teen Titans #39...The parade of difficult personalities and downright jerks continues, as the Titans continue interviewing the people who decided not to stay on the team during its lost year. As far as I can tell, every hero in the DC universe must have a sidekick, but, as is often the case, Geoff Johns manages to be somehow respectful of this hoary cliche in the same moment that he draws our attention to it. Tony Daniel is off his game a little this month on art, but it's still Good.

Batman #657...Now this is more like it! Grant Morrison writing Batman sounded like a chance for some first-rate playful weirdness, and three issues in, playful weirdness has finally arrived. Batman's son by a supervillainess turns out to be a holy terror; who would have imagined? Hilarious and scary at the same time. All drawn by Andy Kubert, whose work I adore. Excellent.

Hellblazer #224...Huh? I thought this was a new storyline. Nope, it's the same old one, despite a breather last issue to kill off an interesting character Warren Ellis created. Can you tell I'm getting a little impatient with this storyline? Seven issues of "Empathy", and now we get...more empathy. But some old friends arrive at the end to provide some needed humor, and the art is still fantastic, though it might behoove Vertigo's flagship character to get an artist who can turn on the lights a little, once Manco is done. Contrast is good. This issue is OK.

Justice #7...I get the feeling that Alex Ross' complicated values and feelings about the DC Universe have been deeply offended by the direction its characters have taken in recent years, and this maxiseries is the result. I confess it's all the same to me; put Dale Eaglesham on this, and it's another chapter of Infinite Crisis, as near as I can tell, but then I'm not a habitual scholar of DC's canon. Nevertheless, the art maintains Ross' usual grandiosity; he seems to make a small story bigger by sheer force of will. Good.

Fables #53...There's no doubt about it; Gepetto is a psychopath. What a weird thing to write, but Pinnochio's daddy is planning to exterminate the world, and that's all there is to it. I guess creating life from lifeless wood does weird things to your head. Excellent.

Cable & Deadpool #31...A George W. Bush cameo. Duct-taped Deadpool. Hercules in a skirt. Nicieza is the most underrated writer of the past fifteen years. Good.

Astonishing X-Men #17...Huh? I really need to reread the beginning of this storyline, or maybe go back to the beginning of this series. (1995, wasn't it?) I really don't remember how we got to the point of Ktty Pryde mistakenly believing a slimy moth chrysalis is her baby. Nevertheless, Whedon continues to make this (for me) incomprehensible story compelling, with betrayals, doppelgangers, mind control, and impersonators turning this into a romp through our poor damaged X-Men's lives. Still looks like John Cassaday is rushing on art, though. Good.

Ultimate Spider-Man #99...Speaking of impersonators...whoa, that's a lot of clones in this version of the Clone Saga. Is Aunt May a clone too? I really can't tell, and that's what I dig about this comic book. Excellent.

Secret Six #4...They fight the Doom Patrol, in a sort of more-freakish-than-thou contest. Winner: Mad Hatter. Excellent.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #21...I suppose it should not be surprising that a character called Brainiac appears to have lost his mind. Scary, plus: politics. I've always loved the Legion, even when it was being written by its colorist, but I have to say that this might be the best Legion in a long, long time. Excellent.

Daredevil #88..."I'm not a coward. But I'm not very brave." By giving those words to the protagonist of this standalone issue, Ed Brubaker captures Foggy Nelson's character perfectly, and holds up a mirror to the audience as well. Brilliant. Contains some not-too-shabby fill-in art from David Aja. Excellent.

Thunderbolts #106...Is Baron Zemo still evil? Or has he really changed? No clue. Really, no clue. Excellent.

Runaways #20...Art is still excellent, Molly is still hilarious, and someone is still scheming, though this time it's the heartbroken lunkhead. Excellent.

She-Hulk #11...How good is Don Slott? He makes us care about the broken heart of a character called "Awesome Andy." I'm less infatuated with the main John Jameson plot, and I sort of wish we could have Juan Bobillo back on art, but so long as the laughs keep coming, I'll be here. Good.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #34…I was uneasy with this storyline at first, as Mike Carey introduced so many new characters that were so strange all at once that the whole thing threatened to become incomprehensible. But he’s got me back now, with a surprisingly straightforward explanation of who they are that does not detract from their weirdness. Which is what the Fantastic Four is all about, anyway. I liked the zombies okay, I guess, but this is a step up. Marvel should keep this guy around and buy him however many protein bars he needs to keep writing like this. Excellent.

Checkmate #6…Amanda Waller is one of the more unlikely long-lived characters of the DC Universe: a portly black single mother from Chicago who also happens to be the most dangerous practitioner of espionage on the face of the earth. In this issue, everyone spends a lot of time talking about how she has been sidelined, shut down, etc. Somehow this all seems to make her stronger. Excellent.

Fallen Angel #9…OK issue, but terrific cliffhanger which I did not see coming at all. Peter David is good at those.

Nextwave #8…The Mindless Ones do Bernstein, Elsa’s bad education, hilarious captions, fantastic Immonen art…pure joy and Excellent.

Punisher #37…Another storyline, and we’ve got…a recurring villain? OK, to be fair, the Punisher was not trying to kill this guy last time. But I think he will this time! It’s interesting how large a percentage of the Punisher’s adversaries have been Slavic in origin since Garth Ennis started writing him. Excellent.

New Avengers #23…Probably the best issue of this series so far, as Jessica Drew crawls her desperate way out of her status as a triple undercover agent. Bendis may not be able to bring the big crossovers together, but man can he write these character pieces. For him, the destruction of the Hydra base is properly relegated to the background; the important thing is the determined look on Jessica’s face as she drives away. Excellent.

100 Bullets #76…The storm that has been gathering for 75 issues is…still gathering. But as usual, it gathers beautifully. Excellent.

X-Men #190…Misleading cover, even though the cover art is reprinted exactly inside. Still rocketing ahead just like it should; I can’t believe the X-Men are Good again.

All-Star Superman #5…Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, probably the best writer and best artist of this young century, are doing their best work so far. All stars, indeed. Excellent.

Captain America #21…Ed Brubaker writes little in the way of memorable dialogue, and his Big Twists and Revelations tend to be letdowns. But I always want to read his books more than just about anyone else’s, and I’m still trying to figure out why. He’s got good plot mechanics, but are they really that much better than, say, Chris Claremont, who I rarely read? He’s definitely good at making characters sympathetic, and this goes all the way back to Scene of the Crime; but again, is this really so remarkable? There must be something else. I guess I’ll just have to keep reading until I figure it out. Good.

Y: The Last Man #49…Brian K. Vaughan’s strengths, on the other hand, are self-evident: no one around creates so many effortless twists and turns in a story. He throws them off like they’re nothing. Good.

Ultimate X-Men #74…Underwhelming conclusion to an underwhelming storyline. I did enjoy the Invincible collection I checked out from the library, but so far Kirkman’s not doing it for me here. (I won’t read The Walking Dead because I am afraid of zombies.) Eh.

posted by Mr. Blasphemy @ 12:10 PM