Comic Reviews from March 3, 2010

A lot of comics came home this week… 13 titles (7 Marvel, 5 DC/Wildstorm, 1 Indie and 1 DC Trade Paperback), but not nearly as many wound up read. A whopping six (almost half!) got shelved for later. In the mix though there were two really exceptional books and a few mediocre, to the point of bad titles. Enjoy!

The Reading Order

March 4, 2010

WOLVERINE: WEAPON X #11

JUSTICE LEAGUE CRY FOR JUSTICE # 7

MIGHTY AVENGERS # 34

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN # 24

ULTIMATE COMICS - NEW ULTIMATES # 1

ULTIMATE COMICS: AVENGERS # 5

For Reading Later…

AMAZING SPIDERMAN # 623

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #42

CINDERELLA FROM FABLETOWN # 5

DETECTIVE COMICS # 862

FIRST WAVE # 1

CHEW # 9

PUNISHER-MAX: BUTTERFLY

SUPERMAN: BRAINIAC TPB

The Extraordinarily Good!

WOLVERINE: WEAPON X #11 (w: Jason Aaron/w: Ron Garney) is fantastic. It’s a Wolverine/Captain America (and Nightcrawler!?!) buddy-story and Deathlok the way he ought to be. Garney’s artwork is spectacular. Okay, no more superlatives. Wolverine: Weapon X #11 is a rare gem. Alright, seriously no more superlatives. Wolverine: Weapon X #11 harkens back to the “first meeting” between Logan & Captain America way back in Uncanny #268 and while Garney is certainly “no Jim Lee”, there isn’t anything lacking from his art in W:WX #11. Grade: A+ (story: A/art: A+)

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE # 7 (w: James Robinson/ a: Mauro Cascioll, Scott Clark & Ibraim Robenson) is a classic reminder that DC comics can be really, really good. Forget Rebirth: Whoever, Blackest Plot and Crisis in Imagination, once in a blue moon, DC hits one out of the park. Think about the Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Kingdom Come or Identity Crisis (sheesh, was that really a Crisis book?). These stories are the cornerstones of the DCU, the strange, grown-up shapes that the heroes take in these books echo throughout the DCU for years. If you’re old enough, think about what Batman was like before Dark Knight. Or Superman even. And Kingdom Come, how much of that “imaginary” future has bled into the modern DCU (too much). Then there is Identity Crisis, which turned the icons back into people. Justice League: Cry for Justice #7 is the perfect sequel to Identity Crisis. The characters are brilliantly written and masterfully drawn. The diabolical plot is tremendous. This book was late. So late that ramifications of this story have already hit the DCU shelves. Unfortunately that has become a pretty common problem for the major publishers. However, where some stories (say Captain America: Reborn) are made irrelevant by the missed deadlines, Cry for Justice is strong enough to transcend the goings on in the DCU. Unfortunately, part of the problem is that the rest of the DCU is such a wreck, but that too makes Cry for Justice stand-out in its excellence. Grade A+ (story: A+/art: A+)

The Good

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN # 24 (w: Matt Fraction/ a: Salvador Larocca) is better. “Stark: Disassembled” has been a huge step down from the work that Fraction/Larocca have been turning in for Invincible Iron Man (IIM) for the past two years or so. IIM #24 wraps up the languishing storyline gracefully, if not with merciful efficiency. For the past three months, IIM has seemed out of sync. Captain America returned here first (chronologically, books on the shelf, real-time) and that was weird. Last time (before IIM) I saw James Rhodes he was half transformer (apparently, he got better). All this to turn back the proverbial clock, ah well. All is ready for the Age of Heroes. Grade: B (story: B/art: A)

MIGHTY AVENGERS # 34 (w: Dan Slott/ a: Neil Edwards) was borderline unreadable. The Thor intro is absolutely horrible, in a bad way. Mighty Avengers has been a genuine treat for the last few months, not so much with Mighty Avengers #34. The premise of this story is not good, not slightly rationale or logical. It reads like someone let the air out of Slott’s balloon and with the “cancelation” of all the Avenger titles maybe someone has. Grade C- (story: C--/art: B-)

ULTIMATE COMICS: AVENGERS # 5 (w: Mark Millar/a: Carlos Pacheco). The thin thread of familiarity and nostalgia that connects this series with the pre-Ultimatum Ultimate storyline is starting to snap. The Red Skull story is interesting but has gone on too long. The Cosmic Cube is a hard story to tell, and wouldn’t you rather see it somewhere other than the Ultimates Universe? The worst part of the UC: Avengers is, unfortunately, the Avengers themselves. As a group they aren’t very interesting (they’re kind of like that group that Millar spun out of the Fantastic Four a few years ago) and the Cap that is running around is so (deliberately) out of character that there is no one to really captivate the audience. Grade: B- (story: B-/art: B)

The Bad

ADVENTURE COMICS # 511 (w: Sterling Gates, James Robinson & Eric Trautman/ a: Travis Moore, Julian Lopez & Pier Gallo) is a disappointing segue or prequel for the upcoming Superman: Last Stand of Krypton event. If you’re into that this is a decent companion book. All three stories are interesting and well crafted, but if you were looking for a new “Adventure Comics” story (you know, because it’s “Adventure Comics #511”) then you’re bound to be a little disappointed. While the stories are readable, they require knowledge of the current going-ons in Action & Superman to be really good. And that has not been the case for Adventure previously. Grade: C (stories: C/art: C)

ULTIMATE COMICS - NEW ULTIMATES # 1 (w: Jeph Loeb/ a: Frank Cho). If you read Ultimates vol. 3 and Ultimatum, you already know that Loeb un-Ultimated everything thing that made the Ultimate Universe that Bendis & Millar created. The Ultimate line hasn’t been the same since in its place, a shallow husk of the Ultimates and a strange fun-house mirror image of the Marvel U. Ultimate Comics: The Avengers was starting to find the way back. The New Ultimates is (unfortunately) just like the old (vol. 3) Ultimates. This isn’t a good Avengers story, it isn’t a good Iron Man story and it seems to be out of place (publishing-time wise), in case you were trying to follow a contiguous storyline through the Ultimate Universe. Grade: D (story: D/art: B+)

Comic Book Reviews from February 24, 2010

It was a pretty good-sized week, 16 titles (8 Marvel, 7 DC/Wildstorm and 1 Indie) with some really good titles and some really bad titles that should have been better (yes, I’m talking to you Geoff Johns).

The Reading Order

February 24, 2010

FANTASTIC 4 # 576

BLACKEST NIGHT: JSA # 3

BLACKEST NIGHT # 7

NEW AVENGERS # 62

BATMAN AND ROBIN # 9

AVENGERS INITIATIVE # 33

February 25, 2010

THOR # 607

AMAZING SPIDERMAN # 622

FLASH REBIRTH # 6

February 26, 2010

THE WEB #6

“To be read later”

IRREEDEMABLE # 11

DARK TOWER: BATTLE OF JERICHO HILL # 4

ENDERS GAME: MAZER IN PRISON SPECIAL

MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ # 4

SUPERMAN # 697

THE GOOD

BLACKEST NIGHT: JSA # 3 (w: Tony Bedard & James Robinson/a: Eddy Barrows, Marcos Marz & Eduardo Pansica). Following last week’s disappointing (Robinson effort) JLA, it looked like a tall order for BN: JSA #3 to step-up and deliver a win. “I am the ultimate American Success story: an immigrant who came here for a better life than the one I left behind.” – Superman. With that opening line, Bedard and Robinson deliver a knock-out win for the hard to swallow Blackest Night saga. BN: JSA #3 capitalizes on the rich history of the Justice Societies and actually makes some headway against the ridiculous zombie hordes. The characterizations of Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Mr. Terrific, Jessie Quick, Power Girl and their zombie antagonists round out three stories with great depth. And did I mention the story actually affects Blackest Night? Nicely done. Grade: A (story: A/art: A)

THE WEB #6 (w: Matthew Sturges/a: Roger Robinson) It is no longer fair to say the Web is a “good Red Circle” (DC’s label for the former-Archie titles). The Web is just a good comic. Sturges picked up after Robinson and the title hasn’t missed a beat. The Web is a flawed version of Batman/Iron Man, with a little Booster Gold mixed in. It might be easy to forget that and just tell a “costumed guy” story, or get caught up in his network of “Web Hosts”, but to the creators credit, the Web’s alter ego is an ever present part of this story which adds a requisite element of humanity to the character as he grows on the reader. “Stunned” (Web #6) introduces two new antagonist elements and is full of the inner monologue and snappy dialogue that has made the Web an entertaining read. Grade: A (story: A/art: A)

AVENGERS INITIATIVE # 33 (w: Christos Gage/ a: Jorge Molina) is a home run on all accounts. Avengers Initiative is chock full of characters who have no business being interesting, but are. From Taskmaster’s point-of-view of the Siege of Asgard to the Constrictor/Diamondback subplot and there’s even room for a character that is on the verge of finding redemption (Penance). The Night Thrasher/Hood framing sequence is the least compelling of the myriad of entangled plots, but is not a bad story on its own. As a Siege tie-in, Initiative #33 does a great job telling what’s going on in the Siege mini-series and keeping a handful of its own subplots in the air. Grade: A (story: A/art: A)

AMAZING SPIDERMAN # 622 (w: Fred Van Lente/a: Joe Quinones) is the comic you want to read if… you’re tired of what Twilight is passing off as vampires or if you want to read a good story with a guy named “Flash” in it this week. Amazing #622 wraps up the vial of Spidey-blood storyline. The Black Cat makes an (unclothed) cameo and Spidey takes on an old fr-enemy, Morbius the Living Vampire! Alright, it’s true Morbius is a stretch if you’re looking for honest vampires, but fear not there is more than one blood-sucker to be found in Van Lente’s addition to the inexplicable “Gauntlet”. The main story is kitschy and it really is a relief to see some homage paid to actual vampire legends, but the Flash Thompson back-up feature (w: Greg Weisman/a: Luke Ross) steals the show. Grade: A (stories: B+/art: A)

THOR #607 (w: Kieron Gillen/ a: Billy Tan) is a win, despite a distinct lack of the title character. A siege tie-in, Thor #607 approaches the Marvel Mega-event from the Asgardian point of view. Gillen delivers a well written account of Volstagg’s unfortunate trip to Chicago, the events directly leading up to Siege (like the night before for the Asgardians) and sets the stage for the Thor vs. Clor battle we’ve all been clamoring for. Grade: B+ (story: B+/art: B)

NEW AVENGERS # 62 (w: Brian Michael Bendis/a: Stuart Immonen & Daniel Acuna) New Avengers continues on an upward trend. The Spider-people (man & woman) vs. Griffin & Mandrill story is still good, though if you didn’t see it start last issue it moves along without much connection to the main goings on. The Captain Americas and the Avengers vs. H.A.M.M.E.R. also goes fairly smoothly, if not too quickly. The Steve Rogers-Nick Fury reunion is terribly anti-climatic. Then as Bendis weaves this story into the Seige story arc you are left (again) wondering how the Captain America appearances (particularly in Invincible Iron Man) from last month (and before) fit into this timeline. All that being said New Avengers #62 was a decent bridge from the malaise of whatever the Avengers were doing to reuniting for Seige and the Heroic Age. Grade: B (story: B-/art: A)

THE BAD

THE FLASH: REBIRTH #6 (w: Geoff Johns/ a: Ethan Van Sciver). Turn open the cover and you realize why you never see tiny red text on yellow backgrounds. It is hard to read! Perhaps bad design is a metaphor for Flash: Rebirth. Turn the page, Wally: “Altering the past is supposed to be impossible.” Barry: “According to every rule we know, but he can do it.” Welcome to the DCU fellas. Overall, Flash: Rebirth (much like Marvel’s Captain America: Rebirth) is mostly pointless. A story looped sort of out of continuity (because it has taken so frickin’ long to tell), that we’ve already gotten used to Barry being back in Blackest Night. A hardcore DC fan, from back-in-the day (which for me is the early 70’s), Iris’ death and then later Barry’s were truly classic and (pardon the expression) heart-felt. For all these years, Barry was the one character that DC could leave dead and gone. He died a hero’s death, he left a rich supporting cast that not only could survive in the DCU without him, but could carry on the Flash Legacy. But now, everyone comes back. And there you have it. Flash: Rebirth, because the DCU needed one more Flash (three, now that Bart is back too, wasn’t enough apparently). The Flash is coming back, can’t fight it, but it would have been nice if the mini-series had more to contribute. On the other hand it looked nice. Thanks Van Sciver. Grade: D (story: F+/art: B)

BATMAN AND ROBIN # 9 (w: Grant Morrison/a: Cameron Stewart) is baffling. It is a good thing Damian is a fast healer, coming back from spinal regeneration (or whatever) from last issue and fighting the non-Black Lantern zombie Batman this issue. And it is great that there is a non-Black Lantern zombie running around and so awesome that of the two zombie Batmen that this is the one that helps Dick realize that Tim is (still inexplicably) right, that Bruce is still alive and trapped by the Red Skull in the past. Wait, not the Red Skull… uhm, oh yeah, by Grant Morrison and Darkseid in the past. Let’s not even address the Batwoman and the Pit storyline. On the bright side, the dialogue between the Knight and Batman is hilarious. The rest of this comic is truly forgettable (if you’re lucky). Grade: D- (story: F/art: B)

FANTASTIC 4 # 576 (w: Jonathan Hickman/ a: Dale Eaglesham) There has been a lot of hype around the Fantastic Four of late. Of course, most of it is Marvel advertising, but shiny is shiny, so it was time to give the new FF a look. One look is probably all you’ll need. Hickman does a good job of capturing the nature of the characters – in their actions and dialogue, but the overall plot isn’t very interesting and the cute little “Anti-Bendis” gimmick (11 pages without text) would work better if could actually tell what was going on. It is interesting that Sue Storm is once again in the middle of an Undersea/Land triangle of sorts, but not that interesting. Certainly the plot is not interesting enough to jam a telepathic sea-creature to the dome of one of the five smartest men on the planet (and keeper of many dangerous secrets) without some knowledge of the folk offering it. Then again, the FF #576 kind of (exactly) skips over the part where they figure out that’s what these are and jam them (somehow?) inside their helmets underwater. It doesn’t get any better after that. Grade: F

BLACKEST NIGHT #7 (w: Geoff Johns/ a: Ivan Reis) “Warning. Emotional Spectrum Detonation Imminent.” – a black ring. What does that mean?!?! And there you have it, Blackest Night in a nutshell. What’s it all for? Blackest Night is like a bad Elseworlds that has taken over the DCU. Another example of inanity, a legion of multicolored lanterns are blasted into the battle. United? No, of course not, fighting each other. But at least there’s a recorded message sent through their rings to set them straight. On the other hand, Sinestro continues to be the bright spot (pun intended) in Johns’ very dismal mega-event. Not even Reis’ above average artwork can save this title. Grade: F

Comic Book reviews from Feburary 17, 2010

Our regularly scheduled program from last week was interrupted by the onset of the flu. So here is a quick recap of last week’s titles. The comic haul consisted of a 15 titles (DC/Wildstorm: 6, Marvel: 8 and one Indie). This week was hit and miss, the good books were pretty good while the bad books were pretty bad. Only JLA fell somewhere in-between. Less abbreviated reviews will return this week.

Reading List

February 23, 2010

AZRAEL # 5
CAPTAIN AMERICA # 603
GREEN LANTERN CORPS # 45
GREEN LANTERN # 51
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 42
BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM # 9
DARK AVENGERS # 14
SPIDER-WOMAN # 6
BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN # 4
AMAZING SPIDERMAN # 621
OUTSIDERS # 27
INCORRUPTIBLE # 3

In the “read me” queue

TALISMAN # 4

ENDERS SHADOW: COMMAND SCHOOL # 5
STAND: SOUL SURVIVORS # 4

Good

AMAZING SPIDERMAN # 621 – Despite the “Gauntlet” Amazing continues to shine, even in this Black Cat-centric transition issue. Grade: A

CAPTAIN AMERICA # 603 – The Two Captain Americas storyline is better than the previous Bucky-Cap storylines. Grade: B

SPIDER-WOMAN # 6 – Bendis at his masterful best. Jessica Drew takes on the Thunderbolts. Grade: B

INCORRUPTIBLE # 3 – A more character-driven story than the main “Irredeemable” storyline, this title is getting better with each issue and is adding to the core story by fleshing out some interesting backstory for the Plutonian Universe. Grade: B

GREEN LANTERN # 51 – A surprisingly well done installment of the Blackest Night saga. Grade: B-

BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM # 9 – Still misses Paul Dini at the helm, the story is a barely decent detective team-up story for Commish Gordon and Batman. The real prize in Streets is Nguyen’s artwork and the superbly executed Manhunter backstory. Grade: B

Bad

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 42 – JLA #42 should have been better, but winds up being another transition issue. Grade: C

BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN # 4 – This mini-series tells both the (original) Black Widow’s origin and also a modern day tale that is supposed to reflect back on the origin. The origin is well written and illustrated. The modern story lacks in imagination and the art is poorly executed. Grade: C-

DARK AVENGERS # 14 – This issue is so out of time (takes place before Seige and the last issue of Dark Wolverine) that it is basically pointless. Add to that it is a Sentry-centric story and you may as well skip it. Grade: C-

GREEN LANTERN CORPS # 45 - The best Blackest Night stories are character driven (mostly because the whole intergalactic-rainbow-zombie war is ridiculous). GL Corps #45 is character driven and still ridiculous. Grade: D

AZRAEL # 5 – Azrael is a title on the brink. Azrael #5 is preachy and subtracts from the title character more than it adds and at this point, this title needs all the help it can get. Grade: D

OUTSIDERS # 27 – Following the exciting revelation at the end of last issue, Outsiders #27 reverts to what you might expect from an Outsiders title without Batman. Not very interesting at all. Grade: D

Aquaman – the Unaired Pilot (DVD review)

Director: Greg Beeman

Writers: Alfred Gough/Miles Millar (the Smallville guys)

Starring: Justin Hartley, Lou Diamond Phillips, Denise Quinones and Ving Rhames

Original Release date: June 2007 (The pilot was never aired in the States.)

Availability: iTunes and as a Special Feature on the JLA: Crisis on Two Earths BluRay.

Aquaman

Released on itunes a long time ago, I have had this pilot on my ipod for years. I wanted to wrap up my review of Superman/Doomsday before I started JLA: Crisis on Two Earths and I came upon the pilot on the special features of the BluRay, so I put it on. I didn’t expect to pay much attention to it. I certainly didn’t think I’d like it.

The origin

The pilot begins telling a re-imagining of Aquaman’s origin featuring a young Aquaman, his mom and Lou Diamond Phillips (already a winner, right?). Now as re-imaginings go, this was excellent. If you’re going to re-imagine a character, start the process with one that everyone might recognize, but only true zealots (uhm, die hard fans…) might know his origin. Probably a better idea than bastardizing the most iconic character of all time, but I digress.

You don’t need to know Aquaman’s origin to like or even get this version. And if you do know one of the few origins that are floating (pun intended) around out there in the comic jetsam (again), then there are some nice shout-outs to those in this origin as well.

The character

Aquaman is an iconic character. Who doesn’t know the scaley orange and green wetsuit? He was a Super Friend! For most people, that’s about all there is (again, not going to talk about Smallville, it would only make you hate me). But outside of a few fantastic stories here and there, Aquaman has always been a back-up character. Someone in Justice League, he swims really fast, he’s sort of strong and has some fish-telepathy. And he certainly isn’t Marvel’s Namor, the Sub-Mariner, totally different guys.

Again, this modern re-imagining does a good job capturing the essence of Aquaman and re-crafting him into a young twenty-something just coming into his destiny. The character “A.C.” (as in “Arthur Curry” for those of us in the know) is well played by Hartley, though sometimes he looks a bit older than he should.

The Story

There are two stories with a number of sub-plots introduced in the pilot. There is the mystery of Atlantis and the Bermuda Triangle, which is (understandably) designed to permeate the entire series and there is this thing about AC learning about his destiny – sort of kicking off the whole “Aquaman” thing.

Both of the storylines hold together nicely and are inter-connected. Both storylines have some conclusion, but leave enough mystery or straight out set-up to leave you wanting more. Neither leaves you wondering why there is a polar bear on the island (which you know will never be adequately explained). The Atlantis storyline has ties to a government agency investigating the strange happening in the Bermuda Triangle, in a very nice X-Files fashion. While the destiny story, is clearly the one that will drive the series.

The Supporting Cast

We get to meet five (or more) characters who are both interesting and are well introduced in the pilot: AC (of course), Tom Curry (Diamond Phillips), Lt. Rachel Torres, the mysterious FBI agent and “McCaffery” (Rhames). The senior Curry is not-exactly a new character to the Aqua-mythos,, but updated from the familiar ol’ lighthouse keeper, he is now a Coast Guard Search & Rescue Guy (I think) and “McCaffery” is very reminiscent of a Vulko, a mentor from the Aqua-Mythos canon.

The best part of these characters is that none of them (except maybe Torres) seems like they are being crammed into the show. These characters exist ergonomically in the story.

Overall

I wish I’d never turned on this pilot. It was like watching a new (Sci-Fi) genre show on Fox. You know you’re going to love it and you know they’re going to cancel it. Only this time, it never got the chance. For the record, this was a WB pilot, not Fox. But Fox will still get no apology from this blog.

The special effects were above average (maybe too much for a weekly budget), especially some of the swimming scenes: especially the jet & swimming scene.

Whether this show would have worked long term or not, we’ll never know. But if you’re looking a for a good way to spend 40-50 minutes, check out this pilot. Then file it next to Firefly, Briscoe County Jr., Dark Angel and all the other shows that died too soon.

Grade: A (Plot: A/Execution: A)