So let’s end “Pandemic Comics” where it began, with a shipment from Midtown Comics.
One of the big geek stories to come out of the pandemic was DC’s decision to break from the distribution model the medium has used for the past quarter century and essentially ship its own comics rather than use a middle man. It was hugely controversial, but it happened and I figured there was no way I wasn’t going to be a part of this, so of course I ordered some of the results from Midtown, one of the unofficial replacement distributors. I guess Midtown was so eager for participation in the experiment they decided to chip in a free comic with these orders. Cool beans! The insane thing is that fans seem to have forgotten one of the principle features of this medium is the necessary evil of the collectors market. There have been people arguing that comics never had to take a break because they could have just gone digital, and...that’s the kind of myopic self-interest you can see anywhere, really, but still funny to see argued. The comics DC shipped for the week of April 28, 2020 are likely going to be big money in the collectors market. That’s not necessarily why I got some, since I’ve never participated in the medium this way (the shop in town I frequent most irritates me because it seems to think, and perhaps even function, as a collectors market first and foremost), but it seemed like an interesting prospect on the belief that no one was viewing it that way. I only ended up getting two comics from the releases, padding out the order with a few other purchases, but in the short-term they were rewarding (reading) experiences, so on that score I already feel vindicated, since I probably would never have read them otherwise. Anyway, read on:
Batman #89
One of the selections, a third printing of Punchline’s cameo debut. This is the first time I’ve read James Tynion IV’s Batman. Anyone who’s familiar with my recent comic book tastes knows I’m a Tom King guy. I didn’t decide to skip out on further Batman because of Tynion, but because it was always going to be difficult, in my eyes, to replace King. A lot of fans were clamoring for this, wanting to end the difficult reading experience that was King’s run. If I had reservations for Tynion, it was that he appeared to be as opposite of King as DC could possibly get. I had read a little of his Detective Comics, so I knew what some fans were wild about (he had basically taken the Batman Eternal approach, the Batman family approach), but again, I didn’t see how that could possibly satisfy me after everything King had done. Plus, I always saw Tynion as a Scott Snyder minion, Scott Snyder Lite.
Well, I was wrong. I actually really enjoyed the issue. Tynion alters his approach. It’s no King, but it’s not Snyder either. At this stage I would say maybe somewhere in between? He tosses villains new and familiar at Batman. Where Snyder never really seemed to see Batman in the iconic sense, the mythical “can rise to any challenge” Batman, Tynion sees his Batman, as he approaches the challenge of the Designer, as a challenge. And again, where Snyder constantly saw Batman as not up to the challenge, Tynion looks like he’s approaching Designer as a Moriarty, a worthy opponent. King frustrated fans, I think, most in that he heavily favored misdirection, where every expectation either felt inevitable or followed a logic King either waited to explain for later or felt like a disappointment after massive buildup. In short, you were invested or you weren’t. And this Tynion approach is fresh all over. And I look forward to reading more.
Bloodshot Reborn #2
This was the freebie, something I’d read previously, but didn’t mind revisiting, from Jeff Lemire, Bloodshot having previously purged himself of the nanites that had given him his powers, but realizing it wasn’t as good an idea as it had seemed. This was, at least for me, the best time to be a Bloodshot fan, and why I will be interested in watching the Bloodshot movie regardless of how it did in theaters earlier this year (when theaters were actually open, earlier this year). Valiant may not know how to keep the ball rolling indefinitely (its modular approach worked well short-term, but it resulted in short-term memories all around; there’s no reason why Valiant shouldn’t be flooding the market with the evergreen material it’s already produced, but with no momentum there’s no memory and therefore no way to keep the memories going), but that’s no excuse. I’m a Bloodshot guy.
The Multiversity: Pax Americana
I was trying to order the whole collection (and ended up doing so elsewhere) but had to “settle” for Morrison’s critique of Watchmen, via the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund variant cover (thus contributing to it during the pandemic, which felt right). There’s a big deal among fans concerning the “rivalry” between Morrison and Moore, with Moore partisans convinced Morrison is a pathetic wannabe, even to this day, compared to Moore. This is the first time I’ve revisited Pax Americana since its original publication. Morrison & Quitely obviously have a lot of fun commenting on Watchmen’s legacy, but I remain convinced that Morrison’s perspective is correct, that Moore was ultimately myopic in his conclusions, but Moore’s conclusions affirm where his career ultimately headed, and Morrison’s where his have led. And this might be the least controversial conclusion to be found.
Robin: 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular
Now I’ve read the Action Comics, the Detective Comics, the Flash, the Wonder Woman, and even the Marvel Comics anniversary specials, and finally this one. And Robin’s, I think, is the most rewarding. The special is completely in my wheelhouse, celebrating, most of all, the Robin era as I experienced it. Even though Marc Wolfman writes the first story, the art is from Tom Grummett, who embodies the iconic ‘90s moment when Robin finally starred in his own ongoing series. Chuck Dixon & Scott McDaniel reunite! The Grayson team reunited! Even Adam Beecher & Freddie Williams reunite! The whole thing is, well, spectacular. The only thing missing is new Patrick Gleason material (they were able to include a vintage Batman and Robin cover); Frank Miller and Carrie Kelley similarly only appear via a pinup, but I guess that’s okay. Gleason recently left DC after about a decade. It’s not surprising he didn’t return for this. Still remains the definitive Damian artist. The special was published after I’d made my previous Midtown purchases, but just before the lockdowns began, so I hadn’t had a chance to read it before. But there was no chance I wouldn’t include it in another order. Very glad I did so!
The Sandman Universe: The Dreaming #20
As it turns out, an entirely faithful account of the inner workings of the Dreaming from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Not the expansive storytelling model that was Neil Gaiman’s Sandman as a whole (but so little else is, much less Gaiman’s other material itself), but rewarding all the same, and apparently the final issue of this particular run. This was the other 4/28 release, original material, that I purchased. I was hesitant because the writer was Simon Spurrier, who in my only other experience with him to date (X-Club, from like ten years ago) came off as an insufferable hack. Here he came off much better! So I’m glad I gave myself the chance.
Showing posts with label Batman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Batman. Show all posts
Friday, May 8, 2020
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Pandemic Comics #4 “Twice the Two-Face!”
Here’s the next batch of conics from the Mile High mystery boxes: the Batman edition!
Detective Comics #580
Did you know there was actually a second Two-Face? Literally the most appropriate development in comics history, right? (Not as fun: an issue, or two [ahhh!] of puns on the number two.) And even funnier: Paul Sloane was the second imposter. His origin is kind of like the criminal version of Wally West’s. An actor, Sloane is portraying Harvey Dent in a production that goes horribly wrong at exactly the worst, or best, possible moment when some mook throws acid in Sloane’s face...Eventually of course Sloane goes on a crime spree, just like Dent before him, having copied all of Two-Face’s quirks...Sloane doubles Dent in every regard, including a wife waiting for him to recover and return to a normal life, and the possibility of plastic surgery being able to do just the trick, which of course works twice...(I would absolutely keep the second Two-Face in continuity. Too perfect.)
Detective Comics #581
Naturally I got these in separate boxes, but it’s the complete story. Are you wondering if a story published in 1987 has anything to say about Jason Todd’s time as Robin? Of course it does! Jason’s dad was murdered by Two-Face, so he spends most of it recklessly trying to exact payback, and Batman keeps stopping him. It’s basically exactly Batman Forever (with, Jason rather than Dick Grayson). But Jason seems pretty redeemable, and the whole story seems like an early attempt to reconcile the character to how he had been modified post-Crisis (originally he was quite indistinguishable from Dick), before, y’know, giving readers the option of, oh, killing him off a few years later. What’s really bizarre is how these comics look like they came from the ‘70s rather than ‘80s. It’s proof that Batman’s continuity (other than Jason) remained mostly untouched after the Crisis reboot, just as it would for the New 52 (one of the many pointless fan complaints about the New 52, as far as Morrison’s Batman and Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern were concerned). Funny enough, the letters columns in these issues are full of praise for Mike Barr (who wrote them) and his “Year Two,” which some said was “better” than Miller’s “Year One,” calling Barr’s work “a lot more fun to read.” And...history doesn’t really care about that, now does it?
Batman #433
Batman #433
Yes, two copies, one from each box. I didn’t really mind. It’s the only time anything doubled up, and given the Two-Face story, seemed more than appropriate to have happen with a Batman comic. This is a silent issue, the first chapter in “The Many Deaths of Batman,” and it’s a solid success. Anyway, speaking of Jason Todd, this was published in 1989, and his death was still fresh in the minds of readers. One fan in the letter column writes simply, “I am very, very sad that you made Robin die. I have been crying for a whole day. Why did you make him die?...You don’t kill heroes, you save them! Please change your comic book!” (Letter writer was 8 at the time.)
Batman: Gotham Nights #4
A Batman comic from the point of view of ordinary citizens who seem on the edge of very bad decisions, eventually converging in a moment where Batman essentially saves them in an intervention he didn’t even know he was making. Anyway, the great irony here is a 1992 letter column being saved by an early version of an internet message board (I included “internet” as “message board” itself is now as archaic as regular letters columns). So there’s that! By the end of DC’s use of letters columns at the turn of the century, it had in fact switched from traditional letters to electronic ones, with physical addresses replaced by email addresses. And today, the internet basically complains about every comic made. Yay progress!
Batman #498
This is the issue in which Bruce Wayne formally taps Jean Paul Valley to replace him as Batman, or as he would become known by fans: Azbats. “Knightfall” concludes two issues later with Azbats using his fancy clawed gloves to defeat Bane.
Batman #505
Azbats is in the midst of deciding which of his predecessor’s methods are still useful (the letters columns are savvy enough to conclude that the whole point of Azbats is to prove that those methods are as relevant as ever, as is the man who employed them). He uses detective work to track down Abattoir, who becomes famous later by inadvertently dying at the hands (claws?) of Azbats.
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #26
I never really read Shadow of the Bat unless it was relevant to a crossover, which, like and since I followed the same policy with Legends of the Dark Knight, was probably my loss. This is a good issue, focusing on this era’s version of Clayface (which I had only read about previously, and Lady Clayface, and, apparently, Baby Clayface...! Tangled up in it somewhere is Abattoir, and a neat citizens-reaction to the events of the above issue.
Batman: Odyssey #2
One of the out-of-continuity mini-series Neal Adams has done in recent years (this one’s from a decade ago, and I believe marked his comeback). I had a chance to meet him at one of the area cons, but foolishly passed it up. But he’s as likely to be at another one, which if people are able to do mass events by the fall would make for an even more memorable occasion. This issue’s great. Adams has a casual, conversational familiarity with Batman that breezes through the issue, and his art, with modern coloring, has never looked better. I’ve seen some fans complaining that his sensibilities don’t belong in today’s comics, which is absurd. If you have a master of the medium still capable of delivering at this level, you cherish him. Period.
Detective Comics #580
Did you know there was actually a second Two-Face? Literally the most appropriate development in comics history, right? (Not as fun: an issue, or two [ahhh!] of puns on the number two.) And even funnier: Paul Sloane was the second imposter. His origin is kind of like the criminal version of Wally West’s. An actor, Sloane is portraying Harvey Dent in a production that goes horribly wrong at exactly the worst, or best, possible moment when some mook throws acid in Sloane’s face...Eventually of course Sloane goes on a crime spree, just like Dent before him, having copied all of Two-Face’s quirks...Sloane doubles Dent in every regard, including a wife waiting for him to recover and return to a normal life, and the possibility of plastic surgery being able to do just the trick, which of course works twice...(I would absolutely keep the second Two-Face in continuity. Too perfect.)
Detective Comics #581
Naturally I got these in separate boxes, but it’s the complete story. Are you wondering if a story published in 1987 has anything to say about Jason Todd’s time as Robin? Of course it does! Jason’s dad was murdered by Two-Face, so he spends most of it recklessly trying to exact payback, and Batman keeps stopping him. It’s basically exactly Batman Forever (with, Jason rather than Dick Grayson). But Jason seems pretty redeemable, and the whole story seems like an early attempt to reconcile the character to how he had been modified post-Crisis (originally he was quite indistinguishable from Dick), before, y’know, giving readers the option of, oh, killing him off a few years later. What’s really bizarre is how these comics look like they came from the ‘70s rather than ‘80s. It’s proof that Batman’s continuity (other than Jason) remained mostly untouched after the Crisis reboot, just as it would for the New 52 (one of the many pointless fan complaints about the New 52, as far as Morrison’s Batman and Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern were concerned). Funny enough, the letters columns in these issues are full of praise for Mike Barr (who wrote them) and his “Year Two,” which some said was “better” than Miller’s “Year One,” calling Barr’s work “a lot more fun to read.” And...history doesn’t really care about that, now does it?
Batman #433
Batman #433
Yes, two copies, one from each box. I didn’t really mind. It’s the only time anything doubled up, and given the Two-Face story, seemed more than appropriate to have happen with a Batman comic. This is a silent issue, the first chapter in “The Many Deaths of Batman,” and it’s a solid success. Anyway, speaking of Jason Todd, this was published in 1989, and his death was still fresh in the minds of readers. One fan in the letter column writes simply, “I am very, very sad that you made Robin die. I have been crying for a whole day. Why did you make him die?...You don’t kill heroes, you save them! Please change your comic book!” (Letter writer was 8 at the time.)
Batman: Gotham Nights #4
A Batman comic from the point of view of ordinary citizens who seem on the edge of very bad decisions, eventually converging in a moment where Batman essentially saves them in an intervention he didn’t even know he was making. Anyway, the great irony here is a 1992 letter column being saved by an early version of an internet message board (I included “internet” as “message board” itself is now as archaic as regular letters columns). So there’s that! By the end of DC’s use of letters columns at the turn of the century, it had in fact switched from traditional letters to electronic ones, with physical addresses replaced by email addresses. And today, the internet basically complains about every comic made. Yay progress!
Batman #498
This is the issue in which Bruce Wayne formally taps Jean Paul Valley to replace him as Batman, or as he would become known by fans: Azbats. “Knightfall” concludes two issues later with Azbats using his fancy clawed gloves to defeat Bane.
Batman #505
Azbats is in the midst of deciding which of his predecessor’s methods are still useful (the letters columns are savvy enough to conclude that the whole point of Azbats is to prove that those methods are as relevant as ever, as is the man who employed them). He uses detective work to track down Abattoir, who becomes famous later by inadvertently dying at the hands (claws?) of Azbats.
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #26
I never really read Shadow of the Bat unless it was relevant to a crossover, which, like and since I followed the same policy with Legends of the Dark Knight, was probably my loss. This is a good issue, focusing on this era’s version of Clayface (which I had only read about previously, and Lady Clayface, and, apparently, Baby Clayface...! Tangled up in it somewhere is Abattoir, and a neat citizens-reaction to the events of the above issue.
Batman: Odyssey #2
One of the out-of-continuity mini-series Neal Adams has done in recent years (this one’s from a decade ago, and I believe marked his comeback). I had a chance to meet him at one of the area cons, but foolishly passed it up. But he’s as likely to be at another one, which if people are able to do mass events by the fall would make for an even more memorable occasion. This issue’s great. Adams has a casual, conversational familiarity with Batman that breezes through the issue, and his art, with modern coloring, has never looked better. I’ve seen some fans complaining that his sensibilities don’t belong in today’s comics, which is absurd. If you have a master of the medium still capable of delivering at this level, you cherish him. Period.
Monday, January 20, 2020
Reading Comics 241 "Batman Annual #4, plus a few more comics"
Yeah. Now I'm sort of glad that this was the last one I read. I had attempted to order a copy late last year, but got the numbering wrong and ended up with Batman Annual #2, which is itself also a great read, but it left me still needing to read this one. And now I've read it after the last issue of Tom King's Batman. And it works extremely well as a coda.
Basically, Alfred's diary, as the cover suggests, details the daily exploits of the Dark Knight. Big adventures (dragons! and not the first time he's fought them, as Alfred duly notes!), small adventures. Basically, as if Tom King really needed to prove to anyone he was capable of conceiving a Batman story well beyond the scope of his very long meditation in the main run. Or if he really needed to prove, yet again, how consistently great he is.
A lot of writers, and I've read a lot of comics, and a lot of comics over the course of years from the same creators, are not this consistent. They just aren't. Even those who can hit truly high notes once or twice or even a half dozen times in their careers, they just aren't this consistent. Sometimes it may simply be a matter of my disagreeing with their personal tastes. But I've never had a comics writer I've so consistently admired as Tom King, since his breakthrough in the pages of Omega Men. His co-writing work with Tim Seeley in Grayson, it's something I'll have to revisit in full at some point (though I repeat, I repeat, King's solo work in Grayson: Futures End remains the first time I realized how great he could be), but that's really the only time I haven't been able to say, Wow.
A lot of fans quibble (and I use the term liberally) over his creative choices, but King, as far as I'm concerned, has achieved his greatness through his consistent use of creative choices, never being satisfying in "just" writing a story, but figuring out the best way to tell it. That's what truly great writing looks like, that's what I love the most about a story, in any medium, how it's executed.
And so we get this, which on the surface is pretty simple: a litany of fairly routines situations. By the end, King isn't even writing anything the reader will see, and his perspective still dominates. It helps to have Jorge Fornes (and Mike Norton) on art. Fornes has quickly vaulted to the forefront of deceptively simple stylists, and this might end up serving as one of his calling cards. Both in story and art, this is the definition of evergreen, something fans will be able to turn to for years.
The Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child (DC)
In the tradition of the Last Crusade prestige format one-shot spin-offs, Golden Child focuses on Carrie, Lara, and Jonathan (the eponymous offspring for this comic) as they struggle to find their perspectives on the world and how they represent the legacies of their parents. It's a worthy addition to the saga, and really nice to see Frank Miller get to write solo again. The artist does a good job of embodying Miller's Dark Knight Returns work, notably with the Joker.
Event Leviathan #6 (DC)
This is something I'm going to want to check out in full, but had to read the final issue sooner rather than later thanks to the big reveal of who the new Leviathan is, one of the old Manhunters (not the robots, the several humans who have operated under the name over the years). I think Bendis has only further increased the value of his DC tenure with this one.
Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #2 (DC)
Even though the Bendis ongoing has since launched, I was pleased to be able to catch the second and final issue of the preview, Rose (and Thorn)'s tour of DC future history leading up to the Legion itself. Brian Michael Bendis basically achieved the Moira MacTaggert reveal from Hickman's X-Men before Hickman, with the new version of Rose (and Thorn) an immortal who gives an innovative (in superhero comics) approach to the idea, and begging that he revisit her. But at his best, Bendis does that with every character he touches. \
The Wildstorm #24 (DC)
Figured I'd check out the finale of the Warren Ellis reboot. But I'm still not much more interested in the characters, or Ellis, than I generally tend to be.
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Reading Comics 240 "Batman #85, Doomsday Clock #12, and more"
Because
there were a few comics I had to read
at the end of the year, I put in another order at Midtown, and this is what I
got:
Batman Annual #2 (DC)
This isn’t
the issue I was aiming for, but it was nice to revisit all the same, as it
demonstrates Tom King’s lyrical grace, a quality that seemed to have eluded
many of his readers, or at least his many critics. But if something like this escapes them, I
suppose it doesn’t matter whether or not they approve. At the end is a coda for King’s whole
conception of Batman, and Catwoman, and it is beautiful.
Batman #85 (DC)
Here’s
King’s grand finale, which splits time between defeating Thomas
Wayne/Flashpoint Batman, and tying everything up, how the whole thing flowed
from Batman’s theory of a “good death” at the start of King’s run, how he
finally reconciled the death of his parents and what that meant about the
existence of Batman, and his continued
existence, and how his relationship with Catwoman confirms all of it. I think it’s brilliant, but then I think just
about everything Tom King does is brilliant.
He has no contemporary equal. He
may in fact be the best superhero comics writer ever. And he has set the bar very high indeed.
Batman: Last Knight on Earth #3 (DC)
A Batman
finale of a different order, this is Scott Snyder and Greg Capulo’s
farewell. As I was reading it, it
suddenly occurred to me that if there’s any logic Snyder has followed all these
years, it’s probably Dan Jurgens’. Dan
is famously the guy who in the final analysis is responsible for the death of
Superman. He further contributed to DC
‘90s lore with Zero Hour, an event
that’s frequently overlooked but is probably one of the greatest event comics
ever written, a “Crisis in Time” that expanded on Hal Jordan’s fall from grace
to truly epic proportions and offered a plausible reshaping of continuity that
hit a very soft reset button. But Jurgens
more often writes his superheroes in broader strokes. His ideas are seldom as grounded in grace as
his best stories (sort of like Mark Waid), and so he’s kind of easy to dismiss
as the comics great that he ultimately is, at his best. Snyder, meanwhile, has so often leaned on the
assistance of cowriters it’s probably easy to forget that he has relied so often on them, when his
legacy has shrunk to the “one great thing to come out of the New 52.” He needs someone to temper his crazier
instincts. He’s the kind of writer who
looks at the examples other writers have set, and considered only that they
look like the most outrageous thing that could’ve been done, and so what he
needs to do is the most outrageous thing he
can come up with, and the logic will explain itself. And his ideas are sound, but the execution always beggars the imagination of the
reader more than convincingly tells a story.
His big finale, as he seemed to decide after coming up with the Court of
Owls in his original Batman comics, centers around Batman’s relationship with
the Joker. As far as the Joker is
concerned, everything he has ever done was meant to make Batman the best he
could be. But I don’t think Batman would
ever be comfortable with that assessment, even in a scenario where he’s
confronted with a version of himself that’s the worst he could be (and even there, Snyder doesn’t adequately
account for how Batman could end up wanting to take over the whole world;
that’s a story that would contrast Batman with Lex Luthor, not himself, much
less Joker) (and while we’re on the subject, Snyder really, really missed a
trick with his current projects when he called his upgraded Luthor “Apex Lex,”
when, since the rhyme is already there, the logic clearly dictates calling him
“Apex Luthor). As far as Snyder’s own
logic goes, I suppose this is as appropriate a finale as he could’ve
envisioned. This isn’t what I thought
the original cloning concept he introduced way back in Detective Comics #27 (the New 52 edition), but at least he did
something with it.
Doomsday Clock #12 (DC)
The second
grand finale I wanted to catch (the above Snyder was merely incidental, not
something I had intended to go out of my way to catch), or at least read for
myself, since I had allowed the internet to spoil it for me. Naturally, the internet was most interested in Geoff Johns outlining
the theoretical future of DC lore. I
don’t think anyone at DC seriously expects this material to be followed
(considering one of the stories referenced is apparently another crossover with
Marvel, a situation always fraught with complications, as the long development
of JLA/Avengers proved). The sentiment itself represents the central
thesis that DC follows Superman, that wherever he goes, his new continuity is
the foundation of DC’s new continuity, even going so far as to suggest that if
comics are still being made in 3020, a thousand years from now, the age of the
Legion of Super-Heroes, Superman’s origin will take place then, and continuity
will resettle around him once again, even though the Legion took its inspiration
from the exploits of Superboy a thousand years earlier. I think the whole project is justified. It gives Doctor Manhattan a far more
satisfying arc than he got in Watchmen
(although I think Zack Snyder corrected that in his movie, too), removing the
cynicism of Alan Moore himself and allowing a man who can see everything
(except his ultimate fate) to adequately comprehend it, given the opportunity
to make a decision, or in this instance, rethink a decision. Which may also have been the point.
Family Tree #2 (Image)
I wanted to
have a look at this latest Jeff Lemire project.
The guy is the most prolific creator in comics! The art is from Phil Hester, whom I always
love to see pop up with new work. A fine
variation on familiar Lemire themes.
Flash Forward #4 (DC)
I had
already read what happened in this one, too, but wanted a chance to experience
it for myself: Wally West meets Lightspeed, Linda Park! But, of course, a Linda Park from an
alternate reality, and who doesn’t particularly care what a counterpart made of
Wally. But the comic is also toying with
Wally reuniting with his kids, which is something I’ve become much more fond of
in the years since Mark Waid first introduced them in his return to Wally’s
adventures, which were sort of a soft launch of the Tomasi/Gleason Superman, which wasn’t as good as their Batman & Robin, but still well worth
existing. And I think most fans will
agree, if Wally is back, his whole family ought to get to join him, too. Hopefully this comic has a truly happy
ending.
Incoming! (Marvel)
Basically a
tour of the current Marvel landscape, another visit with the Masked Raider (I
don’t know if this guy, that name, and his gunslinging costume, is destined for
greatness, but he’s nice to hang these stories on), and the push for the
upcoming Kree/Skrull invasion of Earth!
The movies are probably headed somewhere in that direction, too, so it’s
nice for the comics to get there first, for a change (a lot of recent comics
belatedly obsessed over Thanos, which seemed way too obvious at that point),
picking up where a famous, but
forgotten-except-by-diehards-because-Marvel-can’t-keep-its-defining-stories-in-print
Avengers epic left off way back in the ‘70s (or ‘60s? but I think ‘70s). And central to all this? My 2005 inner Marvel nerd is excited that
it’s characters from Young Avengers!
Invisible Kingdom #8 (Dark Horse)
Lately I’ve
been feeling kind of bad about not caring that G. Willow Wilson has enjoyed so
much success in recent years, since Air
was such a favorite of mine from when nobody else cared, so I checked out an
issue of this project. It’s okay.
Joker: Killer Smile #2 (DC)
Jeff Lemire
and Andrea Sorrentino once again reunite for a tale of a psychiatrist’s descent
into madness when he believes he can figure out the Clown Prince. A bit obvious, but a sort of welcome
companion to Lemire’s brilliant Moon
Knight.
Klaus: The Life & Times of Joe
Christmas (Boom!)
I haven’t
had much luck reading the annual Christmas follow-ups to Grant Morrison and Dan
Mora’s original Klaus, so I was
pleased to order (because as I’ve come to understand, I just won’t be able to
find it in an actual comics shop) the latest.
This one’s sort of in the model of a calendar, which counts up from
December 1 and ends on the 25th.
And there is no dialogue, only a chronicle of the life and adventures of
Joe Christmas, who sort of becomes Klaus’s sidekick. I almost choked up when I realized the cat
had died. Great comic. Might singlehandedly justify Morrison’s whole
concept of making Santa Claus a superhero.
Years from now someone could write a whole series around Joe Christmas
based on this one comic, or maybe they could base a movie on it. (Hint
hint.)
The Old Guard: Force Multiplied #1
(Image)
I read the
original miniseries in trade paperback at the library, and was immediately
smitten, so I was extremely glad to discover this follow-up. Perhaps moreso than the story itself is value
of the Greg Rucka essay at the end detailing his thoughts about the origins and
emerging legacy of Old Guard,
including an upcoming Netflix movie version.
I’m glad things are working out this way.
The Amazing Spider-Man #36 (Marvel)
I was
suckered into buying this issue because the solicitation listed Pat Gleason as
the artist. He was not. But I subsequently picked up a slightly
earlier issue, and he was.
Superman Smashes the Klan #2 (DC)
Gene Luen
Yang writes perhaps his most important Superman and/or DC comic, at last,
detailing a group of kids’ experiences with Superman as he, well, battles the
Klan, centering around a Chinese perspective, not in the way Hollywood has been
catering to the massive Chinese market in recent years, but because Yang has more
immediate ties, the kind that stretch across American history. We tend to forget, except for all that
Chinese food that was actually invented in America, how long the Chinese have
been here, and how complicated their lives have been here. Thankfully Yang is here to help fill in the
gaps. Included is an essay detailing
Superman history that’s both familiar and also relevant to Yang’s perspective
and intentions.
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Reading Comics 227 "Ascender, Heroes in Crisis, The Green Lantern, Batman, DCeased"
Ascender #1 (Image)
The sequel series to Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's robot saga Descender, has already been compared to and/or described as Star Wars. I'm very glad to see the story continue. At some point I figure I will add the complete collected editions to my library. Among all the comics I've read from Lemire, it's my favorite.
Batman #70 (DC)
Tom King seems destined to anger and/or fascinate readers (see below!). His most recent arc in the series featured a series of nightmares. I've been adding every collected edition to my library, and have yet to be disappointed in reads or rereads. I haven't read the complete nightmare sequence; that'll follow in the collected edition (see above!). This issue sort of wraps it up and begins a new arc. Batman marches on Arkham!
DCeased #1 (DC)
Tom Taylor, who had some excellent material in the most recent Batman collected edition (Tyrant Wing), and has been toiling away in digital-first comics for probably too long, finally gets to seize the spotlight in a comic I think has been wrongly characterized as the DC equivalent of Marvel Zombies. But then, I haven't read Marvel Zombies and this is only the first issue of DCeased. But I like what I see. Besides Taylor, the coup here is art from Trevor Hairsine (Divinity).
The Green Lantern #7 (DC)
I've kind of officially become a trade-waiter. I haven't made an effort to read an issue of this Grant Morrison comic (!!!) since the first one. Issues like this are a surefire way to ensure I will get the trade. Morrison spends most of it in a literary disposition as he casually rewrites Green Lantern ring lore. Great issue.
Heroes in Crisis #8 (DC)
Well, it's official. Wally West did it. It's a Tom King comic, so of course it's controversial. A website I follow posted a bad review, which I'm inclined to take with a grain of salt, as it's admittedly a Flash site, and of course Wally West was the Flash, at least solidly in the '90s (most famously in the Mark Waid run, and how Geoff Johns first made his name writing Flash comics before solidly redefining it with Flashpoint).
Anyway, the site argued that King, who's made his career in comics drawing on his war experiences, somehow goofed the issue, which is clearly a PTSD story in an event comic about PTSD. Another site I follow gave the issue a poor review claiming it definitely betrays King having altered his original plans for Heroes in Crisis, which does have a documented history of change (first solicited as Sanctuary and as seven rather than nine issues).
Clearly I disagree with these negative reviews. I'm a fan of King, but I'm not a reader who uncritically accepts things. Every new project (whether a new comic, or a book, or a movie, or music, etc.) has to justify itself. Being a fan of a creator or franchise is merely a way to guarantee my interest.
King's thought process is clearly spelled out in the issue. He even goes back over ground he covered previously. This issue is mostly about explaining exactly how Wally did it. The Flash site claims the issue is a poor representation of PTSD. I respectfully disagree. I think everyone who suffers from it (or from anything) believes their suffering is unique. That's Wally's perspective throughout the issue. Believing a predicament is unique is intrinsic to human nature; believing any condition is unique is intrinsic to the species. We're often entirely bound up in our egos. But in pain it's worst, as we become despondent, and the pain only encourages itself to continue.
Wally reaches a breaking point. Interestingly, King actually explains it by expanding on Flash lore, the idea of the Speed Force and what it takes to use it, which has always been Wally's hallmark. His ability to command the Speed Force became Waid's ticket to a series of great stories. And yet, in his new circumstances Wally has been cut off from everything he once took for granted, the family Waid ultimately left him with. Even Barry, his famous "Trial of the Flash," endured considerable mental torment (with or without the intervention of Eobard Thawne). He loses control for a moment, and accidently kills a handful of heroes.
In panic, he deliberately takes more lives. At this point it becomes a Parallax situation. Parallax was the fear entity that took over Hal Jordan following the loss of Coast City. A momentary lapse of willpower compromised Hal for years. This is really no different. A Wally already suffering makes a terrible decision. That's it.
There's one more issue. And, folks, this is comics. Wally West will run again. He will be a hero again. And regardless, we have those great Waid stories. Hopefully, if nothing else, Heroes in Crisis will lead readers to read them for the first time. They're among the all-times great. I've listed "The Return of Barry Allen" as my all-time favorite in the past. One story can't change that. Why in the world would it? Could it?
This would be one thing if King were just mucking around. But King doesn't muck around. He tells compelling stories, that challenge, that go well beyond the scope other comic book writers typically conceive. Heroes in Crisis is no different. Fans heaped praise on King for The Vision. DC clearly expected that for Mister Miracle. He delivered, regardless of fan response, and he has delivered again with Heroes in Crisis. This guy's one of the all-time greats.
The sequel series to Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's robot saga Descender, has already been compared to and/or described as Star Wars. I'm very glad to see the story continue. At some point I figure I will add the complete collected editions to my library. Among all the comics I've read from Lemire, it's my favorite.
Batman #70 (DC)
Tom King seems destined to anger and/or fascinate readers (see below!). His most recent arc in the series featured a series of nightmares. I've been adding every collected edition to my library, and have yet to be disappointed in reads or rereads. I haven't read the complete nightmare sequence; that'll follow in the collected edition (see above!). This issue sort of wraps it up and begins a new arc. Batman marches on Arkham!
DCeased #1 (DC)
Tom Taylor, who had some excellent material in the most recent Batman collected edition (Tyrant Wing), and has been toiling away in digital-first comics for probably too long, finally gets to seize the spotlight in a comic I think has been wrongly characterized as the DC equivalent of Marvel Zombies. But then, I haven't read Marvel Zombies and this is only the first issue of DCeased. But I like what I see. Besides Taylor, the coup here is art from Trevor Hairsine (Divinity).
The Green Lantern #7 (DC)
I've kind of officially become a trade-waiter. I haven't made an effort to read an issue of this Grant Morrison comic (!!!) since the first one. Issues like this are a surefire way to ensure I will get the trade. Morrison spends most of it in a literary disposition as he casually rewrites Green Lantern ring lore. Great issue.
Well, it's official. Wally West did it. It's a Tom King comic, so of course it's controversial. A website I follow posted a bad review, which I'm inclined to take with a grain of salt, as it's admittedly a Flash site, and of course Wally West was the Flash, at least solidly in the '90s (most famously in the Mark Waid run, and how Geoff Johns first made his name writing Flash comics before solidly redefining it with Flashpoint).
Anyway, the site argued that King, who's made his career in comics drawing on his war experiences, somehow goofed the issue, which is clearly a PTSD story in an event comic about PTSD. Another site I follow gave the issue a poor review claiming it definitely betrays King having altered his original plans for Heroes in Crisis, which does have a documented history of change (first solicited as Sanctuary and as seven rather than nine issues).
Clearly I disagree with these negative reviews. I'm a fan of King, but I'm not a reader who uncritically accepts things. Every new project (whether a new comic, or a book, or a movie, or music, etc.) has to justify itself. Being a fan of a creator or franchise is merely a way to guarantee my interest.
King's thought process is clearly spelled out in the issue. He even goes back over ground he covered previously. This issue is mostly about explaining exactly how Wally did it. The Flash site claims the issue is a poor representation of PTSD. I respectfully disagree. I think everyone who suffers from it (or from anything) believes their suffering is unique. That's Wally's perspective throughout the issue. Believing a predicament is unique is intrinsic to human nature; believing any condition is unique is intrinsic to the species. We're often entirely bound up in our egos. But in pain it's worst, as we become despondent, and the pain only encourages itself to continue.
Wally reaches a breaking point. Interestingly, King actually explains it by expanding on Flash lore, the idea of the Speed Force and what it takes to use it, which has always been Wally's hallmark. His ability to command the Speed Force became Waid's ticket to a series of great stories. And yet, in his new circumstances Wally has been cut off from everything he once took for granted, the family Waid ultimately left him with. Even Barry, his famous "Trial of the Flash," endured considerable mental torment (with or without the intervention of Eobard Thawne). He loses control for a moment, and accidently kills a handful of heroes.
In panic, he deliberately takes more lives. At this point it becomes a Parallax situation. Parallax was the fear entity that took over Hal Jordan following the loss of Coast City. A momentary lapse of willpower compromised Hal for years. This is really no different. A Wally already suffering makes a terrible decision. That's it.
There's one more issue. And, folks, this is comics. Wally West will run again. He will be a hero again. And regardless, we have those great Waid stories. Hopefully, if nothing else, Heroes in Crisis will lead readers to read them for the first time. They're among the all-times great. I've listed "The Return of Barry Allen" as my all-time favorite in the past. One story can't change that. Why in the world would it? Could it?
This would be one thing if King were just mucking around. But King doesn't muck around. He tells compelling stories, that challenge, that go well beyond the scope other comic book writers typically conceive. Heroes in Crisis is no different. Fans heaped praise on King for The Vision. DC clearly expected that for Mister Miracle. He delivered, regardless of fan response, and he has delivered again with Heroes in Crisis. This guy's one of the all-time greats.
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Reading Comics 224 "King is King, and Morrison's Green Lantern, and Orlando's Wonder Woman"
Batman Secret Files #1 (DC)
Back in the day the Secret Files comics were more or less updates of the old Who's Who files, and they were more or less excuses to hype upcoming events in a particular series or family of books. They also contained short stories and other throwaway materials like diagrams and timelines, all of it fun little celebratory stuff. But in the final analysis, you could probably skip them. Some readers complained when they saw this updated take, which includes...nothing but storytelling. Why even call it Secret Files? But if I may...repurposing a title is perfectly fine, especially in an era that really doesn't have any other space for the kind of stories that appear in it. It's like a one-shot Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, or Batman: Confidential.
The lead is written by Tom King. It can be interpreted as a cheap way to get Batman thinking about the past, or as another way King ruminates on the cumulative toll being of Batman. Then a bunch of new creators have a shot at exploring Gotham, and that's pretty awesome. Ram V and Jorge Fornes set the tone nicely with a Brubakeresque tale of a cop who was caught in the crossfire of Scarecrow's latest caper, and can't shake the effects of his fear gas. Cheryl Lynn Eaton and Elena Casagrande offer fairly similar material, although they have a lot more space for Batman, and leave a lot more ambiguity to the aftereffects of a girl on the street being forced to defend herself with a gun. Jordie Bellaire and Jill Thompson help Batman spend time with himself, waiting to find out what Man-Bat's up to, and for someone like Batman that's almost as bad as confronting Man-Bat right away...Finally, Tom Taylor and Brad Walker revisit Dark Night: Metal's take on Detective Chimp as Batman acknowledges his skills and they try to help a former Riddler goon. It's a great collection of stories and showcase for these creators. Anyone who's begun to wonder whether King's the only creator outside of Detective Comics DC's willing to entertain in Batman comics should definitely check it out.
Batman #59 (DC)
After we learned that the Batwedding didn't happen thanks to Bane's manipulations, it was only a matter of time before Batman once again clashed with one of his most famous foes. This issue, solicited as part of Batman's unlikely team-up with the Penguin, is really all about Bane driving a wedge between Batman and Commissioner Gordon by pretending to be a vegetative inmate of Arkham, and even allowing the ruse to reach the point where Batman himself questions his conclusions. In the long run this will prove a highly crucial issue. Mikel Janin's art has apparently reached an evolution, meanwhile. He's begun taking on a more stylized approach as opposed to his cleaner look previously.
Green Lanterns #57 (DC)
The final issue of the series, Dan Jurgens completes a short run with another look at Cyborg Superman and whether or not his threat will ever be concluded, this time in the context of what he famously did during "Reign of the Supermen" to Coast City, and what effect that had on Hal Jordan. But the series ends with Jessica Cruz deciding to once and for all leave her comfort zone, and Earth!
The Green Lantern #1 (DC)
It's here! Grant Morrison is now writing the adventures of Hal Jordan! And of course, once again, he's managed to approach his subject as no one else has before! After more than a decade of storytelling dominated by the big ideas of Geoff Johns, Morrison grounds Hal back in a more personal context. In interviews he's described it as putting the focus on the effect Hal's life as Green Lantern has on him, which is something previous decades used to do all the time, how he went through a whole series of civilian jobs because he couldn't hold anything of them and have a power ring's responsibilities at the same time. And also the mundane oddities of being a space cop! Liam Sharp (I hate the composition of the cover image, which was available in poster form at the new location of Comics & Stuff, which I declined to accept on that basis, even though it would've otherwise been a great thing to celebrate on a wall) is great in the interiors, bringing a bright new vividness to Green Lantern. All I can say is, wow! Never expected this to happen, but am very, very pleased that it has, and that Morrison is clearly bringing all his celebrated wild imagination to it!
Heroes in Crisis #2 (DC)
A lot of fans have obsessed over the fact that Wally West died in the first issue. I just don't know how to make sense of that. Wally just returned. He's been gone for years! But...he just returned! You really think he can't, I don't know, do that again? Really? But we live in outrage culture these days. You really would think we'd never seen anything at all before.
Anyway, the idea of Booster Gold and Harley Quinn on the run, suspected of the massacre at Sanctuary, it's great, and it's a totally new story, and Booster and Harley are great choices as leads. Booster hasn't truly been relevant since 52 (anyone with even a fleeting grasp of my favorite comics knows how much I love 52, of which you can find an annotated commentary right here at Thought Bubble Comics). It's also crazy to think, and also funny that DC's event comics have slowed down so much, that since she became a significant corner of the DCU during the New 52 era, Harley has never been in this position before. This is acknowledging the changing landscape. This is helping legitimize Harley. I get that there's a certain style of Harley storytelling that's been the standard over the years, but allowing her to be seen in different ways, in more dramatic ways, in an important step in solidifying Harley's legacy.
Mister Miracle #12 (DC)
The end of King's epic mini-series (I also picked up a Director's Cut of the first issue, a rereading of which helped me understand this final issue) makes clear that the story was always about Scott Free coming to grips with life, basically, as a war veteran. It joins Omega Men and Sheriff of Babylon as a trilogy of King's experiences from the Iraq War, and as such an essential artifact of the modern era, in and outside of comics. Some readers, for any number of reasons, are just not going to be able to appreciate that. Fine. Good for them. Some of them are going to continue to look toward The Vision as King's definitive work, and Mister Miracle as a poor attempt to duplicate it for DC. A lot of them only discovered King through Vision. Having first encountered him as a solo creative voice in Omega Men, Vision for me was actually jarring, a slowed down version of what I already knew, impactful but at a scale that seemed small in comparison. Over the years I've come to appreciate Vision more, and have of course read a lot more King, and if anything, Mister Miracle helps put it in greater context. This is what he's been doing in the pages of Batman for three years. Just imagine if he'd done only twelve issues!
Nightwing #53 (DC)
What I liked about this latest installment of the amnesia saga was the cop who attempts to fill the Nightwing void. It's become a full-blown tradition for impostor Nightwings to pop up!
Adventures of the Super Sons #1-3 (DC)
With the dawn of Bendis Superman, Pete Tomasi was forced to vacate his space, and take his Superboy along with him, and also Robin, who he'd been bringing along since the last time he was asked to move on. This time he leaves with a huge parting gift! One grand adventure with Jon and Damian, and I think that's exactly the spirit of how he decided to approach this next generation World's Finest from the start. And just like that, his Superman has officially acquired its final context, just in case anyone was still wondering.
Wonder Woman #51-52 (DC)
I've spent a lot of time at the library over the past year reading comics. Most of them have been collected editions, but this particular branch also has a somewhat extensive collection of solo issues for Superman and Wonder Woman, which apparently began at the very end of the New 52, so that's how I ended up reading the majority of Tomasi's Superman, and how I eventually first read these two comics. The first was the one I definitely wanted to own. Steve Orlando's run is going to be more of a sprint, sandwiched between James Robinson and G. Willow Wilson, but as far as I'm concerned? It's going to loom large.
#51 is great issue. It's a one-shot in which Diana makes a series of trips across many years to visit a villain she randomly came across in someone else's story. It's a redemption arc, as the villain struggles to find peace with what happened, and Diana's insistence on the visits. It's a perfect encapsulation of what makes Diana different. You can't really picture Batman doing this, and for all the Superman stories that have been created over the years, I'm fairly certain he's never done it, either. Anyway, it was instantly one of my favorite comics of the year, and the reread confirmed that.
#52 is the start of an arc, and it features a new female Aztek, a character who debuted in the '90s, written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, who eventually joined Morrison's JLA. Kind of instantly became obscure, especially for having been a Justice Leaguer in an era where it was once again composed almost exclusively of all-stars. But Aztek was always a great concept, and Orlando instantly grasps it. He also brings in Artemis, who was recently part of Red Hood and the Outlaws, but who also comes from the '90s, the lesser known Wonder Woman replacement from a time when all the big characters were being replaced. It feels like a big Wonder Woman story in ways that rarely happen, and it's also kind of a comic book version of the allies she assembles in the blockbuster movie. Orlando's Wonder Woman will definitely be a collection I will add to my collection.
The Wrong Earth #3 (Ahoy)
Ahoy Comics launched to some amount of buzz in part thanks to landing a Grant Morrison prose backup feature. The company's whole thing seems to be another of those "we're bringing comics back to how you remember them!" deals. But these aren't comics as I want to read this. The Wrong Earth reads like a shallow parody. Nuff said.
Uncanny X-Men #1 (Marvel)
I haven't particularly cared about the X-Men since the Hope saga ended. Of course I've never been a dedicated reader. Still haven't even read Morrison's complete New X-Men! So to say I've been part of the legion (heh) of observers who've been wondering if the X-Men were ever going to be relevant again, it doesn't carry the same weight as fans who've spent more time with them. But I wanted to see what this latest effort was going to be like. I like Bishop being right there on the cover. Ever since I came across him in the '90s I've always thought this was a character with at least equal potential as Cable. Both of them were time-traveling mutants from dystopic futures, but Cable always hogged the spotlight. A number of creators working in converging narratives come together to explain the latest mutant crisis, another drug threatening to take their abilities away. But this time as a vaccine, that will prevent new mutants from ever knowing they were ever even mutants.
Now, this has a ton of storytelling potential. A lot of fans accused Marvel in recent years of trying to replace the X-Men with the Inhumans, whose major recent story was the roving Terrigan mists that randomly created new Inhumans. But this is something very different. This isn't people being scared that they're going to be victimized. This is a new twist on the familiar narrative of denying mutants a future. There's apparently going to be another Age of Apocalypse style event following the "X-Men Disassembled" arc, and Marvel fans, who complain about everything Marvel does these days (we're a long, lone way off from the old Marvel zombies days, which conveniently now exist in cinematic form), are complaining that Marvel is just piling event after event. But I suspect there's method to this madness, and I'd like to keep tabs on it.
Back in the day the Secret Files comics were more or less updates of the old Who's Who files, and they were more or less excuses to hype upcoming events in a particular series or family of books. They also contained short stories and other throwaway materials like diagrams and timelines, all of it fun little celebratory stuff. But in the final analysis, you could probably skip them. Some readers complained when they saw this updated take, which includes...nothing but storytelling. Why even call it Secret Files? But if I may...repurposing a title is perfectly fine, especially in an era that really doesn't have any other space for the kind of stories that appear in it. It's like a one-shot Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, or Batman: Confidential.
The lead is written by Tom King. It can be interpreted as a cheap way to get Batman thinking about the past, or as another way King ruminates on the cumulative toll being of Batman. Then a bunch of new creators have a shot at exploring Gotham, and that's pretty awesome. Ram V and Jorge Fornes set the tone nicely with a Brubakeresque tale of a cop who was caught in the crossfire of Scarecrow's latest caper, and can't shake the effects of his fear gas. Cheryl Lynn Eaton and Elena Casagrande offer fairly similar material, although they have a lot more space for Batman, and leave a lot more ambiguity to the aftereffects of a girl on the street being forced to defend herself with a gun. Jordie Bellaire and Jill Thompson help Batman spend time with himself, waiting to find out what Man-Bat's up to, and for someone like Batman that's almost as bad as confronting Man-Bat right away...Finally, Tom Taylor and Brad Walker revisit Dark Night: Metal's take on Detective Chimp as Batman acknowledges his skills and they try to help a former Riddler goon. It's a great collection of stories and showcase for these creators. Anyone who's begun to wonder whether King's the only creator outside of Detective Comics DC's willing to entertain in Batman comics should definitely check it out.
Batman #59 (DC)
After we learned that the Batwedding didn't happen thanks to Bane's manipulations, it was only a matter of time before Batman once again clashed with one of his most famous foes. This issue, solicited as part of Batman's unlikely team-up with the Penguin, is really all about Bane driving a wedge between Batman and Commissioner Gordon by pretending to be a vegetative inmate of Arkham, and even allowing the ruse to reach the point where Batman himself questions his conclusions. In the long run this will prove a highly crucial issue. Mikel Janin's art has apparently reached an evolution, meanwhile. He's begun taking on a more stylized approach as opposed to his cleaner look previously.
Green Lanterns #57 (DC)
The final issue of the series, Dan Jurgens completes a short run with another look at Cyborg Superman and whether or not his threat will ever be concluded, this time in the context of what he famously did during "Reign of the Supermen" to Coast City, and what effect that had on Hal Jordan. But the series ends with Jessica Cruz deciding to once and for all leave her comfort zone, and Earth!
The Green Lantern #1 (DC)
It's here! Grant Morrison is now writing the adventures of Hal Jordan! And of course, once again, he's managed to approach his subject as no one else has before! After more than a decade of storytelling dominated by the big ideas of Geoff Johns, Morrison grounds Hal back in a more personal context. In interviews he's described it as putting the focus on the effect Hal's life as Green Lantern has on him, which is something previous decades used to do all the time, how he went through a whole series of civilian jobs because he couldn't hold anything of them and have a power ring's responsibilities at the same time. And also the mundane oddities of being a space cop! Liam Sharp (I hate the composition of the cover image, which was available in poster form at the new location of Comics & Stuff, which I declined to accept on that basis, even though it would've otherwise been a great thing to celebrate on a wall) is great in the interiors, bringing a bright new vividness to Green Lantern. All I can say is, wow! Never expected this to happen, but am very, very pleased that it has, and that Morrison is clearly bringing all his celebrated wild imagination to it!
Heroes in Crisis #2 (DC)
A lot of fans have obsessed over the fact that Wally West died in the first issue. I just don't know how to make sense of that. Wally just returned. He's been gone for years! But...he just returned! You really think he can't, I don't know, do that again? Really? But we live in outrage culture these days. You really would think we'd never seen anything at all before.
Anyway, the idea of Booster Gold and Harley Quinn on the run, suspected of the massacre at Sanctuary, it's great, and it's a totally new story, and Booster and Harley are great choices as leads. Booster hasn't truly been relevant since 52 (anyone with even a fleeting grasp of my favorite comics knows how much I love 52, of which you can find an annotated commentary right here at Thought Bubble Comics). It's also crazy to think, and also funny that DC's event comics have slowed down so much, that since she became a significant corner of the DCU during the New 52 era, Harley has never been in this position before. This is acknowledging the changing landscape. This is helping legitimize Harley. I get that there's a certain style of Harley storytelling that's been the standard over the years, but allowing her to be seen in different ways, in more dramatic ways, in an important step in solidifying Harley's legacy.
The end of King's epic mini-series (I also picked up a Director's Cut of the first issue, a rereading of which helped me understand this final issue) makes clear that the story was always about Scott Free coming to grips with life, basically, as a war veteran. It joins Omega Men and Sheriff of Babylon as a trilogy of King's experiences from the Iraq War, and as such an essential artifact of the modern era, in and outside of comics. Some readers, for any number of reasons, are just not going to be able to appreciate that. Fine. Good for them. Some of them are going to continue to look toward The Vision as King's definitive work, and Mister Miracle as a poor attempt to duplicate it for DC. A lot of them only discovered King through Vision. Having first encountered him as a solo creative voice in Omega Men, Vision for me was actually jarring, a slowed down version of what I already knew, impactful but at a scale that seemed small in comparison. Over the years I've come to appreciate Vision more, and have of course read a lot more King, and if anything, Mister Miracle helps put it in greater context. This is what he's been doing in the pages of Batman for three years. Just imagine if he'd done only twelve issues!
Nightwing #53 (DC)
What I liked about this latest installment of the amnesia saga was the cop who attempts to fill the Nightwing void. It's become a full-blown tradition for impostor Nightwings to pop up!
Adventures of the Super Sons #1-3 (DC)
With the dawn of Bendis Superman, Pete Tomasi was forced to vacate his space, and take his Superboy along with him, and also Robin, who he'd been bringing along since the last time he was asked to move on. This time he leaves with a huge parting gift! One grand adventure with Jon and Damian, and I think that's exactly the spirit of how he decided to approach this next generation World's Finest from the start. And just like that, his Superman has officially acquired its final context, just in case anyone was still wondering.
Wonder Woman #51-52 (DC)
I've spent a lot of time at the library over the past year reading comics. Most of them have been collected editions, but this particular branch also has a somewhat extensive collection of solo issues for Superman and Wonder Woman, which apparently began at the very end of the New 52, so that's how I ended up reading the majority of Tomasi's Superman, and how I eventually first read these two comics. The first was the one I definitely wanted to own. Steve Orlando's run is going to be more of a sprint, sandwiched between James Robinson and G. Willow Wilson, but as far as I'm concerned? It's going to loom large.
#51 is great issue. It's a one-shot in which Diana makes a series of trips across many years to visit a villain she randomly came across in someone else's story. It's a redemption arc, as the villain struggles to find peace with what happened, and Diana's insistence on the visits. It's a perfect encapsulation of what makes Diana different. You can't really picture Batman doing this, and for all the Superman stories that have been created over the years, I'm fairly certain he's never done it, either. Anyway, it was instantly one of my favorite comics of the year, and the reread confirmed that.
#52 is the start of an arc, and it features a new female Aztek, a character who debuted in the '90s, written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, who eventually joined Morrison's JLA. Kind of instantly became obscure, especially for having been a Justice Leaguer in an era where it was once again composed almost exclusively of all-stars. But Aztek was always a great concept, and Orlando instantly grasps it. He also brings in Artemis, who was recently part of Red Hood and the Outlaws, but who also comes from the '90s, the lesser known Wonder Woman replacement from a time when all the big characters were being replaced. It feels like a big Wonder Woman story in ways that rarely happen, and it's also kind of a comic book version of the allies she assembles in the blockbuster movie. Orlando's Wonder Woman will definitely be a collection I will add to my collection.
The Wrong Earth #3 (Ahoy)
Ahoy Comics launched to some amount of buzz in part thanks to landing a Grant Morrison prose backup feature. The company's whole thing seems to be another of those "we're bringing comics back to how you remember them!" deals. But these aren't comics as I want to read this. The Wrong Earth reads like a shallow parody. Nuff said.
Uncanny X-Men #1 (Marvel)
I haven't particularly cared about the X-Men since the Hope saga ended. Of course I've never been a dedicated reader. Still haven't even read Morrison's complete New X-Men! So to say I've been part of the legion (heh) of observers who've been wondering if the X-Men were ever going to be relevant again, it doesn't carry the same weight as fans who've spent more time with them. But I wanted to see what this latest effort was going to be like. I like Bishop being right there on the cover. Ever since I came across him in the '90s I've always thought this was a character with at least equal potential as Cable. Both of them were time-traveling mutants from dystopic futures, but Cable always hogged the spotlight. A number of creators working in converging narratives come together to explain the latest mutant crisis, another drug threatening to take their abilities away. But this time as a vaccine, that will prevent new mutants from ever knowing they were ever even mutants.
Now, this has a ton of storytelling potential. A lot of fans accused Marvel in recent years of trying to replace the X-Men with the Inhumans, whose major recent story was the roving Terrigan mists that randomly created new Inhumans. But this is something very different. This isn't people being scared that they're going to be victimized. This is a new twist on the familiar narrative of denying mutants a future. There's apparently going to be another Age of Apocalypse style event following the "X-Men Disassembled" arc, and Marvel fans, who complain about everything Marvel does these days (we're a long, lone way off from the old Marvel zombies days, which conveniently now exist in cinematic form), are complaining that Marvel is just piling event after event. But I suspect there's method to this madness, and I'd like to keep tabs on it.
Friday, November 23, 2018
Reading Comics 223 "The DC Walmart 100-Page Giants, Month 5"
So I've continued buying DC's Walmart-exclusive (although someone...smuggled? them in, as I guess you should expect, to one of the comic cons I went to this fall) 100-page giants. I've caught every issue of the Superman giants, most of the Batman, and started buying the Teen Titans giants again. Haven't really gotten back into Justice League after the first issue.
World's Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special
The second holiday special, after the Halloween one, is Christmas-centric. The lead, original story is from Scott Lobdell and features the Flash and his Rogues. The real highlight of this particular giant is, however, is a reprint from two years ago, "Good Boy," a Batman Annual #1 reprint written by Tom King, his origin of Ace the Bathound, who starts out as a dog used by the Joker. Batman brings him home, not knowing what else to do, and Alfred spends the next four months taming him, exhibiting his infinite Pennyworth patience. The sequence, of course, ends on Christmas, with Batman noting wryly that Alfred didn't get him anything this year. One of King's great characterizations has been Alfred; it'd be great for an extended look at some point, although if this is the closest we get it'll still rank among the highlights of the run.
The other highlight is from Superman #64, originally published in 1991, as you can tell a little less than a year before "Doomsday." The writer is Dan Jurgens, but the artist is Butch Guice (as he was later known; here he's still known as Jackson Guice), who was later one of the key "triangle era" artists, best known for his Action Comics Eradicator "Reign of the Supermen" arc. The Guice in this issue is wonderfully moody (even if the inking could be updated to freshen it up), full of shadows, a marked contrast to his later work and not the kind of art you typically associate with Superman.
There's also a Supergirl tale that's similar to Jurgens' tale about answering mail and humanity; a Harley Quinn; and a Green Lanterns, Rebirth era tale featuring Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. Honestly, when that run began I was hugely excited for Baz and Cruz to step into the spotlight, but over time I've grown tired of the storytelling that leaned so heavily on their core insecurities, which of course this tale does, too.
Batman 100-Page Comic Giant #5
The lead is the third installment of Brian Michael Bendis and Nick Derington's all-new tale, which this issue finally reveals as featuring Vandal Savage as the big bad, after spotlighting an atypically muddled Riddler as Batman and eventually Green Arrow, too, trying to figure out his latest scheme. Bendis is clearly having a ball (a lot of DC fans expected him to jump into writing Batman, not Superman, when his jump from Marvel was first announced), while Derington has helped keep things lively, too. I was trying to remember where I knew Derington from, and figured out it was the Young Animal Doom Patrol, famously much-delayed in recent issues. Hopefully his collaborating with Bendis means Derington is gaining DC's confidence as one of its elite artists.
As has appeared in previous issues, the three reprint comics that round out the Batman giants are the "Hush" arc, plus the New 52 Nightwing and Harley Quinn. I was initially a fan of Kyle Higgins' Nightwing, but I find myself glossing over the material in the giants, and I have no real interest in Harley Quinn. "Hush" remains brilliant, although in hindsight it certainly seems obvious that Jeph Loeb's fixation on the previously-nonexistent childhood pal of Bruce Wayne, Tommy Elliot, is a dead giveaway that he was the mystery villain all along. The Jim Lee art equally remains spectacular. Honestly I think Lee's DC work will become his lasting legacy.
Superman 100-Page Comic Giant #5
But I'm really here to once again gush over Tom King. Like Bendis, he's now on the third installment of his giants tale, which features Superman's search for a little girl, and the increasingly desperate lengths he will go to in order to find her.
This issue features his most desperate moment so far in the tale. It's a kind of update on the classic Superman/Muhammad Ali boxing match from the '70s, only this time it's not Ali he's fighting, but an alien named Mighto. That cover image is from artist Andy Kubert, who unlike his brother Adam has stuck with DC since they jumped, like Bendis, unexpectedly from Marvel, ten years back. Until now Andy had mostly been associated with Batman material, but he's proving equally adept, and perhaps, ideally suited, to Superman, and this issue, as it for King's tale, might be the highlight of his DC work to date. It's really something you ought to go out of your way to track down and read for yourself.
As really only the classic "Doomsday" arc had done previously, the story is all about Superman's incredible endurance, his ability to absorb punishment. This is superhero comics storytelling usually reserved for Spider-Man (which always seemed fairly beside the point to me, other than Marvel's penchant for tortured characters), and seems counterintuitive for someone like Superman, who's usually thought of as overpowered to the point where an artificial weakness (kryptonite) had to be invented along the way. But Superman is best understood not by his powers but by his force of will, his humanity, and as such, King has rightly illustrated what putting him in a fight ought to look like. He takes an incredible pounding, apparently past his ability to endure, and yet he refuses to stay down.
When you think of DC going out on a limb with something like these Walmart giants, you don't really expect them to throw away exceptional material like this, much less have talent the caliber and prestige of Tom King, Brian Bendis or Andy Kubert. And yet these are bold decisions that are truly paying off, as these guys are massively delivering, and this installment proves beyond any doubt that truly great material is making its way into the giants.
Reprints include Green Lantern (the original Geoff Johns series), Superman/Batman (someone at DC no doubt finds it deliciously amusing to look back at President Luthor in the Trump era), and The Terrifics, which continues to prove, well, terrific. I hope Jeff Lemire can keep it going for a long time. It's at long last, perhaps, his DC breakthrough, and quite possibly Mister Terrific himself in his breakthrough moment.
Teen Titans 100-Page Comic Giant #5
Dan Jurgens, at his most generic, is about the level of what you'd expect from the idea of Walmart-exclusive storytelling. This is not to say that Jurgens can't rise well above that perception, but he seems uninterested in what I've read, and why I haven't read all of the Teen Titans giants.
But the reprint material is well worth the price of admission. Johns' Teen Titans is being serialized (last issue included the classic moment where Bart Allen officially reinvented himself as Kid Flash). I'd never really read it before; this introductory arc is kind of funny in hindsight, as Johns is clearly presenting a version of his later Reverse-Flash as a villain merely attempting to make the hero better, an idea that reached its zenith in Flashpoint. There's also Super Sons, which I likewise haven't previously had a lot of experience actually reading. I think Pete Tomasi is better suited to writing this than he was Superman. And then there's Sideways, which on a superficial level was always interpreted as the New Age of Heroes DC version of Spider-Man, but honestly, like the New 52 Doctor Fate before it is kind of more the DC version of the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel. And in two more issues I'll finally get to read the first appearance of the Seven Soldiers of Victory in the series. But I'll probably have to track down the annual separately to enjoy Morrison playing in that sandbox again...
World's Greatest Super-Heroes Holiday Special
The second holiday special, after the Halloween one, is Christmas-centric. The lead, original story is from Scott Lobdell and features the Flash and his Rogues. The real highlight of this particular giant is, however, is a reprint from two years ago, "Good Boy," a Batman Annual #1 reprint written by Tom King, his origin of Ace the Bathound, who starts out as a dog used by the Joker. Batman brings him home, not knowing what else to do, and Alfred spends the next four months taming him, exhibiting his infinite Pennyworth patience. The sequence, of course, ends on Christmas, with Batman noting wryly that Alfred didn't get him anything this year. One of King's great characterizations has been Alfred; it'd be great for an extended look at some point, although if this is the closest we get it'll still rank among the highlights of the run.
The other highlight is from Superman #64, originally published in 1991, as you can tell a little less than a year before "Doomsday." The writer is Dan Jurgens, but the artist is Butch Guice (as he was later known; here he's still known as Jackson Guice), who was later one of the key "triangle era" artists, best known for his Action Comics Eradicator "Reign of the Supermen" arc. The Guice in this issue is wonderfully moody (even if the inking could be updated to freshen it up), full of shadows, a marked contrast to his later work and not the kind of art you typically associate with Superman.
There's also a Supergirl tale that's similar to Jurgens' tale about answering mail and humanity; a Harley Quinn; and a Green Lanterns, Rebirth era tale featuring Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. Honestly, when that run began I was hugely excited for Baz and Cruz to step into the spotlight, but over time I've grown tired of the storytelling that leaned so heavily on their core insecurities, which of course this tale does, too.
Batman 100-Page Comic Giant #5
The lead is the third installment of Brian Michael Bendis and Nick Derington's all-new tale, which this issue finally reveals as featuring Vandal Savage as the big bad, after spotlighting an atypically muddled Riddler as Batman and eventually Green Arrow, too, trying to figure out his latest scheme. Bendis is clearly having a ball (a lot of DC fans expected him to jump into writing Batman, not Superman, when his jump from Marvel was first announced), while Derington has helped keep things lively, too. I was trying to remember where I knew Derington from, and figured out it was the Young Animal Doom Patrol, famously much-delayed in recent issues. Hopefully his collaborating with Bendis means Derington is gaining DC's confidence as one of its elite artists.
As has appeared in previous issues, the three reprint comics that round out the Batman giants are the "Hush" arc, plus the New 52 Nightwing and Harley Quinn. I was initially a fan of Kyle Higgins' Nightwing, but I find myself glossing over the material in the giants, and I have no real interest in Harley Quinn. "Hush" remains brilliant, although in hindsight it certainly seems obvious that Jeph Loeb's fixation on the previously-nonexistent childhood pal of Bruce Wayne, Tommy Elliot, is a dead giveaway that he was the mystery villain all along. The Jim Lee art equally remains spectacular. Honestly I think Lee's DC work will become his lasting legacy.
But I'm really here to once again gush over Tom King. Like Bendis, he's now on the third installment of his giants tale, which features Superman's search for a little girl, and the increasingly desperate lengths he will go to in order to find her.
This issue features his most desperate moment so far in the tale. It's a kind of update on the classic Superman/Muhammad Ali boxing match from the '70s, only this time it's not Ali he's fighting, but an alien named Mighto. That cover image is from artist Andy Kubert, who unlike his brother Adam has stuck with DC since they jumped, like Bendis, unexpectedly from Marvel, ten years back. Until now Andy had mostly been associated with Batman material, but he's proving equally adept, and perhaps, ideally suited, to Superman, and this issue, as it for King's tale, might be the highlight of his DC work to date. It's really something you ought to go out of your way to track down and read for yourself.
As really only the classic "Doomsday" arc had done previously, the story is all about Superman's incredible endurance, his ability to absorb punishment. This is superhero comics storytelling usually reserved for Spider-Man (which always seemed fairly beside the point to me, other than Marvel's penchant for tortured characters), and seems counterintuitive for someone like Superman, who's usually thought of as overpowered to the point where an artificial weakness (kryptonite) had to be invented along the way. But Superman is best understood not by his powers but by his force of will, his humanity, and as such, King has rightly illustrated what putting him in a fight ought to look like. He takes an incredible pounding, apparently past his ability to endure, and yet he refuses to stay down.
When you think of DC going out on a limb with something like these Walmart giants, you don't really expect them to throw away exceptional material like this, much less have talent the caliber and prestige of Tom King, Brian Bendis or Andy Kubert. And yet these are bold decisions that are truly paying off, as these guys are massively delivering, and this installment proves beyond any doubt that truly great material is making its way into the giants.
Reprints include Green Lantern (the original Geoff Johns series), Superman/Batman (someone at DC no doubt finds it deliciously amusing to look back at President Luthor in the Trump era), and The Terrifics, which continues to prove, well, terrific. I hope Jeff Lemire can keep it going for a long time. It's at long last, perhaps, his DC breakthrough, and quite possibly Mister Terrific himself in his breakthrough moment.
Teen Titans 100-Page Comic Giant #5
Dan Jurgens, at his most generic, is about the level of what you'd expect from the idea of Walmart-exclusive storytelling. This is not to say that Jurgens can't rise well above that perception, but he seems uninterested in what I've read, and why I haven't read all of the Teen Titans giants.
But the reprint material is well worth the price of admission. Johns' Teen Titans is being serialized (last issue included the classic moment where Bart Allen officially reinvented himself as Kid Flash). I'd never really read it before; this introductory arc is kind of funny in hindsight, as Johns is clearly presenting a version of his later Reverse-Flash as a villain merely attempting to make the hero better, an idea that reached its zenith in Flashpoint. There's also Super Sons, which I likewise haven't previously had a lot of experience actually reading. I think Pete Tomasi is better suited to writing this than he was Superman. And then there's Sideways, which on a superficial level was always interpreted as the New Age of Heroes DC version of Spider-Man, but honestly, like the New 52 Doctor Fate before it is kind of more the DC version of the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel. And in two more issues I'll finally get to read the first appearance of the Seven Soldiers of Victory in the series. But I'll probably have to track down the annual separately to enjoy Morrison playing in that sandbox again...
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Reading Comics 222 "Nightwing, Halloween ComicFest, Walmart 3-Pack Residuals"
Been lousy keeping up Thought Bubble Comics, I know, I know...
Halloween ComicFest 2018
Here's another free comics event, one I haven't really participated in as enthusiastically as, well, Free Comic Book Day, mostly because, well FCBD is a legit phenomenon and this isn't. It's just an excuse for some free comics! Not that there's a problem with that sort of thing, right? Of course, participating publishers also have a kind of themed mandate with this one where they don't on FCBD. As such, it was far harder, and conversely far easier, to make selections. I ended up with just two, DC/Vertigo's John Constantine: Hellblazer special edition and Marvel's Thor: Road to War of the Realms. I wasn't really interested in anything else (not even anything particularly relevant to snag for my three-year-old niece, alas), though I hemmed and hawed, because free comics, yo.
Obviously DC was most interested in selling the Vertigo brand itself, and Constantine is as reliable a selling point, as signature an element, as Vertigo ever had, sort of the last crayon in the box by the end, absorbed into DC proper eventually but never really feeling at home there. I mean, the whole concept was built for the original Vertigo mandate of the creepy fringe elements. I never really got into the character, mostly because he seemed to be used mostly as an excuse, a vehicle, more than for whatever he specifically brought to the table, or that his fans were not particularly vocal about his selling points. I mean, the concept, which became a Keanu Reeves movie at one point, and then a short-lived TV series and then featured player in another show. This issue was written by Neil Gaiman, who does Neil Gaiman at his most vague. What always made Gaiman's instincts work so well in the pages of Sandman was that it was always grounded in real human pathos. There's an attempt made in the story, but Constantine is inherently uninterested in what's most interesting in Gaiman's best material. And I'm not really much of a horror for horror's sake kind of reader. So anyway, still haven't figured out the guy's appeal, or waiting for a writer like Lemire, in the pages of I, Vampire, to figure out how to draw him out of his shell. What he needs is other characters to consistently react against.
The Thor issue was part of Jason Aaron's sprawling run, apparently somewhere near the beginning (third out of twelve volumes helpfully spelled out in the back pages). What's most annoying about Thor as a character, to me, is that he's so often, certainly in Aaron's hands, entirely limited to Asgardian business. It's like Aquaman only concerned with Atlantis court intrigue. You need to remember that this is a character who will thrive best as a fish out of water, not forever thrust in alienating context.
Anyway...
Batman #57
Tom King's latest successful outrage magnet was hobbling Nightwing (more on that in a moment) in the midst of a mini-arc with the KGBeast. I was perfectly okay with this for any number of reasons. One is that he previously made a very early career mark with the Beast in the pages of his seminal Grayson: Futures End, which of course featured Nightwing, years before King wrote an issue of Batman. Another is that this arc instantly further elevates the Beast's credibility by placing him, basically, at the same level as Bane, who in King's hands has finally reached his full "Knightfall" potential. And as he has so often demonstrated, King used this moment for another excellent character study.
But let's move on to...
Nightwing # 50-51
Between Ben Percy and Scott Lobdell, this is the start of a bold new era for Dick Grayson. Another bold new era. This is a character who has defined bold new eras in DC. Fans like to slake their need for nerd outrage by claiming Dan DiDio has long had it ought for Nightwing, but...the results? They kind of suggest the character has blossomed as never before under DiDio's watch. Whether it was in the pages of the New 52 Nightwing, where he was consistently presented as relevant to Scott Snyder's Batman, which never happened in the long-running first Nightwing ongoing (which went on for a hundred and fifty issues, no less), or the bold new era of his exposed secret identity, which led to the spy adventures of Grayson, which by the way introduced readers to Tom King, the character has had it good. For a character almost as old as DC itself, who went from a kid sidekick to growing up and claiming his own identity, who had his own team built around him, these have all been milestone events not just for Nightwing but DC and superhero comics in general.
So quit complaining already.
This time it's "merely" a story where he's temporarily forgotten all about having ever been Nightwing, Robin, any of that. As if that's going to last. In the meantime, there are going to be entirely new Dick Grayson stories. That's always a good thing. Too often, Nightwing stories are most worried about distinguishing him from Batman. And just as often, a new creative team becomes obsessed with returning the character to his roots. Somehow Kyle Higgins was the first one to do so as literally as taking him back to Haly's Circus.
Which means letting him experience something that's not comparing him to Batman or harking back to some previous era (which is not to say material that's done this hasn't been very good) or setting him up in some new territory...This is, once again, a great time to be a fan of Nightwing. That's the bottom line here, folks. And Percy and Lobdell in these issues prove they're capable of making it interesting, and good reading.
Walmart 3-Packs
Ah! So I've continued reading the latest DC gifts to Wallyworld, the 100-page giants, and while I wish I'd been talking about the King and Bendis tales now unfolding in them here, it's always fun to revisit the 3-packs that still haven't sold out and were trotted out when the giants' display boxes went up. So I started buying them again, of course, because someone has to...
Batman #1, 25, 34 - These are all from the New 52, and were fun to read. I was never the biggest fan of Scott Snyder's much-acclaimed and -read run, but I appreciated what it was doing. And the funny thing is, I always seem to enjoy reading it, too. The twenty-fifth was a "Zero Year" issue, while the thirty-fourth was written by Gerry Duggan, who later took his talents to Marvel (where the state of its zombies is such that they have no idea Duggan is a great talent they ought to be appreciating). It's a great issue.
Batman Eternal #1 - The start, all over again, of the weekly series that sort of allowed Snyder (and a host of collaborators) to play in the established sandbox a little more than he allowed himself in the main series. I'm still surprised that there's so little appreciation for the results.
Green Lantern Corps #34 - John Stewart is still trying to deal with the fact that he let a planet die in Cosmic Odyssey. It's just one of those late-80s things that has a longer shelf life than necessary. But it also gives Kyle Rayner-era villain Fatality more stories, and weaves into the complicated nature of the expanded spectrum. Good GL mythology snapshot (for an issue with a "selfie variant cover," ironically or not).
Trinity of Sin: Pandora - Futures End
Pandora is that signature New 52 character who kind of helped lead the charge of disappointment for fans, who ultimately found her underwhelming despite a massive amount of hype. But the funny thing is, and I'm pretty sure I've now read this issue through the acquisition of several copies enough times for it to finally sink in, that the fate of the New 52 era is spelled out, how it always seemed destined to lead to DC Rebirth. Because as far as this issue is concerned, apparently that was always the purpose of Pandora. Never mind how Geoff Johns later had Doctor Manhattan unceremoniously obliterate her, a kind of symbolic gesture on the whole New 52 era. Or maybe even that was intentional. Most fans are never going to care. But Pandora deserves a better fate.
Halloween ComicFest 2018
Here's another free comics event, one I haven't really participated in as enthusiastically as, well, Free Comic Book Day, mostly because, well FCBD is a legit phenomenon and this isn't. It's just an excuse for some free comics! Not that there's a problem with that sort of thing, right? Of course, participating publishers also have a kind of themed mandate with this one where they don't on FCBD. As such, it was far harder, and conversely far easier, to make selections. I ended up with just two, DC/Vertigo's John Constantine: Hellblazer special edition and Marvel's Thor: Road to War of the Realms. I wasn't really interested in anything else (not even anything particularly relevant to snag for my three-year-old niece, alas), though I hemmed and hawed, because free comics, yo.
Obviously DC was most interested in selling the Vertigo brand itself, and Constantine is as reliable a selling point, as signature an element, as Vertigo ever had, sort of the last crayon in the box by the end, absorbed into DC proper eventually but never really feeling at home there. I mean, the whole concept was built for the original Vertigo mandate of the creepy fringe elements. I never really got into the character, mostly because he seemed to be used mostly as an excuse, a vehicle, more than for whatever he specifically brought to the table, or that his fans were not particularly vocal about his selling points. I mean, the concept, which became a Keanu Reeves movie at one point, and then a short-lived TV series and then featured player in another show. This issue was written by Neil Gaiman, who does Neil Gaiman at his most vague. What always made Gaiman's instincts work so well in the pages of Sandman was that it was always grounded in real human pathos. There's an attempt made in the story, but Constantine is inherently uninterested in what's most interesting in Gaiman's best material. And I'm not really much of a horror for horror's sake kind of reader. So anyway, still haven't figured out the guy's appeal, or waiting for a writer like Lemire, in the pages of I, Vampire, to figure out how to draw him out of his shell. What he needs is other characters to consistently react against.
The Thor issue was part of Jason Aaron's sprawling run, apparently somewhere near the beginning (third out of twelve volumes helpfully spelled out in the back pages). What's most annoying about Thor as a character, to me, is that he's so often, certainly in Aaron's hands, entirely limited to Asgardian business. It's like Aquaman only concerned with Atlantis court intrigue. You need to remember that this is a character who will thrive best as a fish out of water, not forever thrust in alienating context.
Anyway...
Batman #57
Tom King's latest successful outrage magnet was hobbling Nightwing (more on that in a moment) in the midst of a mini-arc with the KGBeast. I was perfectly okay with this for any number of reasons. One is that he previously made a very early career mark with the Beast in the pages of his seminal Grayson: Futures End, which of course featured Nightwing, years before King wrote an issue of Batman. Another is that this arc instantly further elevates the Beast's credibility by placing him, basically, at the same level as Bane, who in King's hands has finally reached his full "Knightfall" potential. And as he has so often demonstrated, King used this moment for another excellent character study.
But let's move on to...
Between Ben Percy and Scott Lobdell, this is the start of a bold new era for Dick Grayson. Another bold new era. This is a character who has defined bold new eras in DC. Fans like to slake their need for nerd outrage by claiming Dan DiDio has long had it ought for Nightwing, but...the results? They kind of suggest the character has blossomed as never before under DiDio's watch. Whether it was in the pages of the New 52 Nightwing, where he was consistently presented as relevant to Scott Snyder's Batman, which never happened in the long-running first Nightwing ongoing (which went on for a hundred and fifty issues, no less), or the bold new era of his exposed secret identity, which led to the spy adventures of Grayson, which by the way introduced readers to Tom King, the character has had it good. For a character almost as old as DC itself, who went from a kid sidekick to growing up and claiming his own identity, who had his own team built around him, these have all been milestone events not just for Nightwing but DC and superhero comics in general.
So quit complaining already.
This time it's "merely" a story where he's temporarily forgotten all about having ever been Nightwing, Robin, any of that. As if that's going to last. In the meantime, there are going to be entirely new Dick Grayson stories. That's always a good thing. Too often, Nightwing stories are most worried about distinguishing him from Batman. And just as often, a new creative team becomes obsessed with returning the character to his roots. Somehow Kyle Higgins was the first one to do so as literally as taking him back to Haly's Circus.
Which means letting him experience something that's not comparing him to Batman or harking back to some previous era (which is not to say material that's done this hasn't been very good) or setting him up in some new territory...This is, once again, a great time to be a fan of Nightwing. That's the bottom line here, folks. And Percy and Lobdell in these issues prove they're capable of making it interesting, and good reading.
Walmart 3-Packs
Ah! So I've continued reading the latest DC gifts to Wallyworld, the 100-page giants, and while I wish I'd been talking about the King and Bendis tales now unfolding in them here, it's always fun to revisit the 3-packs that still haven't sold out and were trotted out when the giants' display boxes went up. So I started buying them again, of course, because someone has to...
Batman #1, 25, 34 - These are all from the New 52, and were fun to read. I was never the biggest fan of Scott Snyder's much-acclaimed and -read run, but I appreciated what it was doing. And the funny thing is, I always seem to enjoy reading it, too. The twenty-fifth was a "Zero Year" issue, while the thirty-fourth was written by Gerry Duggan, who later took his talents to Marvel (where the state of its zombies is such that they have no idea Duggan is a great talent they ought to be appreciating). It's a great issue.
Batman Eternal #1 - The start, all over again, of the weekly series that sort of allowed Snyder (and a host of collaborators) to play in the established sandbox a little more than he allowed himself in the main series. I'm still surprised that there's so little appreciation for the results.
Green Lantern Corps #34 - John Stewart is still trying to deal with the fact that he let a planet die in Cosmic Odyssey. It's just one of those late-80s things that has a longer shelf life than necessary. But it also gives Kyle Rayner-era villain Fatality more stories, and weaves into the complicated nature of the expanded spectrum. Good GL mythology snapshot (for an issue with a "selfie variant cover," ironically or not).
Trinity of Sin: Pandora - Futures End
Pandora is that signature New 52 character who kind of helped lead the charge of disappointment for fans, who ultimately found her underwhelming despite a massive amount of hype. But the funny thing is, and I'm pretty sure I've now read this issue through the acquisition of several copies enough times for it to finally sink in, that the fate of the New 52 era is spelled out, how it always seemed destined to lead to DC Rebirth. Because as far as this issue is concerned, apparently that was always the purpose of Pandora. Never mind how Geoff Johns later had Doctor Manhattan unceremoniously obliterate her, a kind of symbolic gesture on the whole New 52 era. Or maybe even that was intentional. Most fans are never going to care. But Pandora deserves a better fate.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Reading Comics 220 "Spotlight Nation...and a sort of Batwedding"
Picked up one of Marvel's Free Spotlight comics with Dan Slott's Fantastic Four on the cover, with four pages from this month's relaunch. There's been a lot of talk that Marvel took the FF off the board as a bargaining chip (seems to have worked) to get the movie rights back, dating back to Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars, where Reed Richards and Doctor Doom had their most epic showdown to date. Since then Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm have appeared in various team books. And of course it's Johnny and Ben who appear in these preview pages.
There's also Gerry Duggan offering a look at Infinity Wars, which apparently will feature an Infinity Watch of heroes and villains protecting the various Infinity Gems. Clearly calculated as an event to follow on the heels of Avengers: Infinity War at the movies. Then there's Extermination, another X-Men event; a page detailing various Miracleman collections, including a Neil Gaiman volume called The Golden Age perhaps in the hope more material will eventually follow; various other one-and-two-page ads, including for Charles Soule's Return of Wolverine featuring the infamous new flaming claws; four pages of Cullen Bunn's Asgardians of the Galaxy, which is another cue from the movies, borrowing elements from Thor: Ragnarok; and finally four from Kelly Thompson's West Coast Avengers, which features both Hawkeyes and land sharks that do not try and pretend to be delivering things.
DC Nation #0 (DC)
Besides looks at Brian Michael Bendis's Superman and Scott Snyder's Justice League, this quarter-priced special released just before Free Comic Book Day this year featured a wicked Joker story from Tom King in anticipation of the Batwedding, in which the Clown Prince breaks into someone's home and he waits there, along with the poor guy, for an invitation. It's as perfect a representation of Joker's twisted logic and sense of humor as I've ever seen. A lot of fans swear by Alan Moore's Killing Joke, but I think that one speaks more to Moore's proclivities than it does Joker's. King's Joker had a great spotlight in "War of Jokes and Riddles," in which he tries to figure out why nothing seems funny to him anymore, before realizing that Batman gives him bold new context, a challenge that will never get old. Here he's just free to terrorize the poor guy, using his singular logic.
Batman #50 (DC)
The main event, though, the issue that promised the actual Batwedding, angered a lot of fans because the wedding...doesn't happen. Instead, it proves an elaborate setup to the events of "I Am Bane," the earlier arc where Batman prevented Bane from attaining his Psycho-Pirate happy ending. Holly Robinson, who has proven so crucial to King's Catwoman, turns out to be a stooge of Bane, and whispers in Catwoman's ear doubt about what a happy ending would do to Batman. So the issue is instead really another caption character study of Batman and Catwoman's perspectives. No one has done that sort of thing as well as King since Jeph Loeb's early Superman/Batman.
Eternity #2, 4 (Valiant)
I went back and read #3, which I'd caught earlier, too, and that turned out to be a good idea, because it reads better in context, obviously, and is just a pleasure to read again in general. Eternity is the fourth volume of Matt Kindt's brilliant Divinity suite, in which Kindt reimagines the idea of the omnipotent hero previously featured in Moore's Watchmen under the guise of Dr. Manhattan, this time as a Russian cosmonaut and his colleagues, one of whom became his wife and the other a foe, while he inspired a fanatic who has proven far more troublesome than he could've possibly imagined. Eternity was pitched as beyond imagination, so its ending is apropos, the true consequences of Abram Adams's transformation far more wild than anything he discovers from the world that changed him forever. Hopefully there's a fifth volume of this stuff. The ending of this one certainly suggests that the story continues, anyway...
The Flash #50 (DC)
Josh Williamson continues his Rebirth buildup of previous lore by concluding the "Flash War" fight between Barry Allen and Wally West amicably and bringing back the classic Bart Allen in his classic Impulse costume. Howard Porter's career renaissance continues, and that's great to see from a reader who well-remembers his JLA heyday.
There's also Gerry Duggan offering a look at Infinity Wars, which apparently will feature an Infinity Watch of heroes and villains protecting the various Infinity Gems. Clearly calculated as an event to follow on the heels of Avengers: Infinity War at the movies. Then there's Extermination, another X-Men event; a page detailing various Miracleman collections, including a Neil Gaiman volume called The Golden Age perhaps in the hope more material will eventually follow; various other one-and-two-page ads, including for Charles Soule's Return of Wolverine featuring the infamous new flaming claws; four pages of Cullen Bunn's Asgardians of the Galaxy, which is another cue from the movies, borrowing elements from Thor: Ragnarok; and finally four from Kelly Thompson's West Coast Avengers, which features both Hawkeyes and land sharks that do not try and pretend to be delivering things.
Besides looks at Brian Michael Bendis's Superman and Scott Snyder's Justice League, this quarter-priced special released just before Free Comic Book Day this year featured a wicked Joker story from Tom King in anticipation of the Batwedding, in which the Clown Prince breaks into someone's home and he waits there, along with the poor guy, for an invitation. It's as perfect a representation of Joker's twisted logic and sense of humor as I've ever seen. A lot of fans swear by Alan Moore's Killing Joke, but I think that one speaks more to Moore's proclivities than it does Joker's. King's Joker had a great spotlight in "War of Jokes and Riddles," in which he tries to figure out why nothing seems funny to him anymore, before realizing that Batman gives him bold new context, a challenge that will never get old. Here he's just free to terrorize the poor guy, using his singular logic.
Batman #50 (DC)
The main event, though, the issue that promised the actual Batwedding, angered a lot of fans because the wedding...doesn't happen. Instead, it proves an elaborate setup to the events of "I Am Bane," the earlier arc where Batman prevented Bane from attaining his Psycho-Pirate happy ending. Holly Robinson, who has proven so crucial to King's Catwoman, turns out to be a stooge of Bane, and whispers in Catwoman's ear doubt about what a happy ending would do to Batman. So the issue is instead really another caption character study of Batman and Catwoman's perspectives. No one has done that sort of thing as well as King since Jeph Loeb's early Superman/Batman.
Eternity #2, 4 (Valiant)
I went back and read #3, which I'd caught earlier, too, and that turned out to be a good idea, because it reads better in context, obviously, and is just a pleasure to read again in general. Eternity is the fourth volume of Matt Kindt's brilliant Divinity suite, in which Kindt reimagines the idea of the omnipotent hero previously featured in Moore's Watchmen under the guise of Dr. Manhattan, this time as a Russian cosmonaut and his colleagues, one of whom became his wife and the other a foe, while he inspired a fanatic who has proven far more troublesome than he could've possibly imagined. Eternity was pitched as beyond imagination, so its ending is apropos, the true consequences of Abram Adams's transformation far more wild than anything he discovers from the world that changed him forever. Hopefully there's a fifth volume of this stuff. The ending of this one certainly suggests that the story continues, anyway...
The Flash #50 (DC)
Josh Williamson continues his Rebirth buildup of previous lore by concluding the "Flash War" fight between Barry Allen and Wally West amicably and bringing back the classic Bart Allen in his classic Impulse costume. Howard Porter's career renaissance continues, and that's great to see from a reader who well-remembers his JLA heyday.
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Back Issue Bin 121 "DC 3-Packs Again"
As far as I can tell, DC quit its Walmart 3-pack initiative sometime last year. I kept hoping to find new packs, but they were eventually outright pulled from the shelves at my local store, only to recently resurface, all the familiar stock they had the last time the packs were available. I figured I'd pick some of those up just for argument's sake. Three more packs, nine comics, here's the results:
Batman #1 (Batman #9)
This is the start of Tom King's second arc, "I Am Suicide," and I really don't mind reading it again, as it's a great issue, a walkthrough of his recruits for a private Suicide Squad including Ventriloquist, Bronze Tiger, Punch & Jewlee, and Catwoman. The issue holds a lot of nice little tidbits, including one of King's early Kite Man appearances, not to mention a direct reference to "War of Jokes and Riddles" (at that point two arcs away), an appearance by a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes (probably) locked up in Arkham, and of course the start of King's Catwoman arc, where readers were initially shocked to learn she was suddenly a mass murderer. Of course, we later learn that she was covering for a friend, Holly Robinson, which itself becomes a running subplot. The Legion arc is still a ways away, as evidenced by several months worth of advance solicitations here in 2018 still yet to feature a follow-up, not to mention that "Suicide" is also part of King's long-term plans for Gotham Girl, which likewise have seen no advancement with the focus shifting to Batman's upcoming nuptials to Catwoman. "Suicide" was the start of Bane's appearances in the series, so far culminating in the later "I Am Bane" arc. "Suicide" also features King's addition to Batman's origin that the young Bruce Wayne was in fact suicidal prior to making his vow of a war on crime. This arc was actually the start of massive complaints against King's Batman, which have never affected sales. I don't really get readers not appreciating all this, especially with such a strong kickoff. Too many readers, I think, don't let the work carry its obvious momentum. Then again, there are plenty of readers who do. The wedding is a clear lure, and buzz is crucial for all forms of popular entertainment, usually crushing any immediate backlash. And hopefully in the future all this will be duly appreciated for the landmark work it is.
I'm not sure whether this is the first time I've obtained the Walmart variant (minus the "I Am Suicide" arc dressing in the Rebirth banner, and the numbering as indicated), but it's at least the third time I've read the issue, including the original publication and the later I Am Suicide collection.
Batman/Superman #31
(from July 2016)
Part of Pete Tomasi's "Final Days of Superman," what turned out to be a New 52 Death of Superman arc, far less heralded in the media than the 1992 version.
Bizarro #3
(from October 2015)
A humor title launched in the DCYou initiative inspired by the success of "the Batgirl of Burnside" and coinciding with, among other things, the launch of King's Omega Men.
Convergence: Harley Quinn #2
(from July 2015)
I loved Convergence as an event. Turns out the whole idea was probably executed mostly to help DC move to California with minimal publication disruption (insofar as material was still be released, just not regular series material) for a couple of months. Captain Carrot appears here, part of an unlikely revival for the character that included appearances in Grant Morrison's Multiversity. The Divergence title previewed in the issue is Garth Ennis's Section Eight. I remain uninterested in Garth Ennis comics.
Infinity Man and the Forever People: Futures End
(from November 2014)
This is another 3-pack alum I suspect I've gotten before but not in the past half-year. Anyway, as with all Futures End specials, its story jumps five years into the future but not necessarily related to the events of the weekly Futures End itself. Beautiful Dreamer finds herself cursed to try and escape the pain of the team's destruction. With the right creative approach, all of Jack Kirby's New Gods concepts could have massive breakout appeal, including the Forever People. I'm glad DC keeps plugging away at its periodic attempts.
Batman and the Justice League: Outbreak #1 (Justice League #10)
The lead comics in these packs all had altered covers to varying degrees. Many of them were calculated to broaden their appeal, hence the League lining up with Batman's popularity. This was part of Bryan Hitch's run, which recently came to an end in favor of Scott Snyder's revival. Hitch was good for fairly standard League material, but the outsize quality Grant Morrison popularized and DC keeps chasing is definitely something Snyder is interested in delivering. The whole Dark Nights: Metal event turned out to be a League story, demonstrating how wild they can be.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #34
(from October 2014)
Scott Lobdell's work in this series and its sequels has never gotten the respect its due, mainly because of Kenneth Rocafort's early artwork, his depiction of Starfire, which was part of the renewed culture wars we're still enjoying today. This later issue is a Starfire spotlight (no Rocafort in sight), featuring her backstory of having once been a slave.
Swamp Thing #37
(from February 2015)
I've been amazed to find Charles Soule's reputation evaporate so quickly during his tenure at Marvel; at DC he'd been considered one of the fastest rising stars in comics, thanks in part to stuff like his Swamp Thing. This issue features the birth of the Machine Queen, part of the tapestry of kingdoms that was the focus of the New 52 Swamp King mythology. A lot of fans seem to have been turned off by the kingdom concept in the Dark titles, especially the "Rotworld" crossover arc and related material, thinking it took up too much attention. But I consider focus to be a good thing, putting things into perspective, and I find the kingdoms fascinating. I'm often at odds with the logic of other fans...
Batman: Trinity #1 (Trinity #1)
Here was the last of the headlining acts, as evidenced by the variable title. This was, aside from all other considerations, the launch of Francis Manapul's title focusing on Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, offering his insights into their character at the start of the Rebirth era, all of them still trying to make sense of Superman's new status quo. While Manapul's art had apparently once again begun to evolve, it's still his recognizable hopeful style, "hopeful" insofar as it invites the reader in as a friend of these characters, which is always, for me, a good thing.
Unless new packs appear, I think I'm probably done buying these things. Fun ride while it lasted.
Batman #1 (Batman #9)
I'm not sure whether this is the first time I've obtained the Walmart variant (minus the "I Am Suicide" arc dressing in the Rebirth banner, and the numbering as indicated), but it's at least the third time I've read the issue, including the original publication and the later I Am Suicide collection.
Batman/Superman #31
(from July 2016)
Part of Pete Tomasi's "Final Days of Superman," what turned out to be a New 52 Death of Superman arc, far less heralded in the media than the 1992 version.
Bizarro #3
(from October 2015)
A humor title launched in the DCYou initiative inspired by the success of "the Batgirl of Burnside" and coinciding with, among other things, the launch of King's Omega Men.
Convergence: Harley Quinn #2
(from July 2015)
I loved Convergence as an event. Turns out the whole idea was probably executed mostly to help DC move to California with minimal publication disruption (insofar as material was still be released, just not regular series material) for a couple of months. Captain Carrot appears here, part of an unlikely revival for the character that included appearances in Grant Morrison's Multiversity. The Divergence title previewed in the issue is Garth Ennis's Section Eight. I remain uninterested in Garth Ennis comics.
Infinity Man and the Forever People: Futures End
(from November 2014)
This is another 3-pack alum I suspect I've gotten before but not in the past half-year. Anyway, as with all Futures End specials, its story jumps five years into the future but not necessarily related to the events of the weekly Futures End itself. Beautiful Dreamer finds herself cursed to try and escape the pain of the team's destruction. With the right creative approach, all of Jack Kirby's New Gods concepts could have massive breakout appeal, including the Forever People. I'm glad DC keeps plugging away at its periodic attempts.
Batman and the Justice League: Outbreak #1 (Justice League #10)
The lead comics in these packs all had altered covers to varying degrees. Many of them were calculated to broaden their appeal, hence the League lining up with Batman's popularity. This was part of Bryan Hitch's run, which recently came to an end in favor of Scott Snyder's revival. Hitch was good for fairly standard League material, but the outsize quality Grant Morrison popularized and DC keeps chasing is definitely something Snyder is interested in delivering. The whole Dark Nights: Metal event turned out to be a League story, demonstrating how wild they can be.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #34
(from October 2014)
Scott Lobdell's work in this series and its sequels has never gotten the respect its due, mainly because of Kenneth Rocafort's early artwork, his depiction of Starfire, which was part of the renewed culture wars we're still enjoying today. This later issue is a Starfire spotlight (no Rocafort in sight), featuring her backstory of having once been a slave.
Swamp Thing #37
(from February 2015)
I've been amazed to find Charles Soule's reputation evaporate so quickly during his tenure at Marvel; at DC he'd been considered one of the fastest rising stars in comics, thanks in part to stuff like his Swamp Thing. This issue features the birth of the Machine Queen, part of the tapestry of kingdoms that was the focus of the New 52 Swamp King mythology. A lot of fans seem to have been turned off by the kingdom concept in the Dark titles, especially the "Rotworld" crossover arc and related material, thinking it took up too much attention. But I consider focus to be a good thing, putting things into perspective, and I find the kingdoms fascinating. I'm often at odds with the logic of other fans...
Batman: Trinity #1 (Trinity #1)
Here was the last of the headlining acts, as evidenced by the variable title. This was, aside from all other considerations, the launch of Francis Manapul's title focusing on Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, offering his insights into their character at the start of the Rebirth era, all of them still trying to make sense of Superman's new status quo. While Manapul's art had apparently once again begun to evolve, it's still his recognizable hopeful style, "hopeful" insofar as it invites the reader in as a friend of these characters, which is always, for me, a good thing.
Unless new packs appear, I think I'm probably done buying these things. Fun ride while it lasted.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Quarter Bin 119 "DC 3-Packs Strike Back!"
DC doesn't seem to have released new packs recently; these are just more from the last round I hadn't gotten yet (each one has a featured lead comic).
Batman Eternal #1, 16 (DC)
from 2014
I consider Batman Eternal to have been Snyder and Tynion's attempt to sprint through everything they were never going to get a chance to explore during the New 52 as they explored their own arcs, revisiting classic characters and even letting some new ones (Harper Row) a chance to breathe. The first issue is early DC Jason Fabok, who would later have his true breakthrough in the pages of Justice League. #16 is another one featuring art from Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs.
Batman #7 (DC)
from 2016
This was one of the featured lead comics, reprinted as Batman: Night of the Monster Men #1. As I've said before, I love that these are true variants. I have no idea if they'll ever be worth money, but I just love that they exist. "Night of the Monster Men" was billed as the first crossover event of the Rebirth era, and it seems positively tame in hindsight. It's also funny that Tom King bowed out as writer for the tie-in issues, allowing Steve Orlando, fast emerging as a new force in the company, a chance to step in.
Green Arrow #48 (DC)
from March 2016
It's downright baffling that DC didn't make a greater priority of Green Arrow once Arrow, the TV series, began and eventually expanded into a whole franchise. This late issue from the New 52 era seems to have left Oliver Queen a...werewolf?
Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse #10 (DC)
from June 2015
Injustice: Harley Quinn (DC)
from 2016
The later was originally published as Injustice: Ground Zero. But being reprinted with Harley Quinn in the title isn't merely gratuitous, it's also acknowledging that the story is all about her, plus a review of everything that's happened in the Injustice comics. I'm not a video game guy, so the Injustice comics, and the Infinite Crisis comic listed above, are as close as I'll get to those experiences.
The New 52: Futures End #13 (DC)
from September 2014
It's really shocking that fans didn't really care about this weekly series. The assembled writers were certainly impressive enough: Azzarello (synonymous with prestige), Giffen (synonymous with DC weekly comics at this point), Jurgens (still synonymous with "Doomsday," the biggest comics event of the modern era), and Lemire (now synonymous with the modern vanguard). I still want to catch up with it. This issue features part of the Superman arc, where he's been amnesiac about being Superman. It was also the mainstreaming of Batman Beyond. Terry McGinnis seems on his way to...involuntarily bequeathing the role to Tim Drake in this issue...
Convergence: Action Comics #2 (DC)
from July 2015
I still love Convergence. Maybe it's because it came at a dark moment for me, and it was a rare beacon of life. I didn't read the Action Comics two-parter at the time, and I'm not sure what I missed. Maybe not too much.
Trinity of Sin: Pandora - Futures End (DC)
from November 2014
I've written about Pandora often enough. This version of her story reveals an alternate explanation for the character (Geoff Johns had a different one during the Justice League "Trinity War" event, and a much different fate in DC Universe Rebirth). But it was certainly interesting to see this one, even if the art didn't really do it much justice.
Batman Eternal #1, 16 (DC)
from 2014
I consider Batman Eternal to have been Snyder and Tynion's attempt to sprint through everything they were never going to get a chance to explore during the New 52 as they explored their own arcs, revisiting classic characters and even letting some new ones (Harper Row) a chance to breathe. The first issue is early DC Jason Fabok, who would later have his true breakthrough in the pages of Justice League. #16 is another one featuring art from Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs.
Batman #7 (DC)
from 2016
This was one of the featured lead comics, reprinted as Batman: Night of the Monster Men #1. As I've said before, I love that these are true variants. I have no idea if they'll ever be worth money, but I just love that they exist. "Night of the Monster Men" was billed as the first crossover event of the Rebirth era, and it seems positively tame in hindsight. It's also funny that Tom King bowed out as writer for the tie-in issues, allowing Steve Orlando, fast emerging as a new force in the company, a chance to step in.
Green Arrow #48 (DC)
from March 2016
It's downright baffling that DC didn't make a greater priority of Green Arrow once Arrow, the TV series, began and eventually expanded into a whole franchise. This late issue from the New 52 era seems to have left Oliver Queen a...werewolf?
Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse #10 (DC)
from June 2015
Injustice: Harley Quinn (DC)
from 2016
The later was originally published as Injustice: Ground Zero. But being reprinted with Harley Quinn in the title isn't merely gratuitous, it's also acknowledging that the story is all about her, plus a review of everything that's happened in the Injustice comics. I'm not a video game guy, so the Injustice comics, and the Infinite Crisis comic listed above, are as close as I'll get to those experiences.
The New 52: Futures End #13 (DC)
from September 2014
It's really shocking that fans didn't really care about this weekly series. The assembled writers were certainly impressive enough: Azzarello (synonymous with prestige), Giffen (synonymous with DC weekly comics at this point), Jurgens (still synonymous with "Doomsday," the biggest comics event of the modern era), and Lemire (now synonymous with the modern vanguard). I still want to catch up with it. This issue features part of the Superman arc, where he's been amnesiac about being Superman. It was also the mainstreaming of Batman Beyond. Terry McGinnis seems on his way to...involuntarily bequeathing the role to Tim Drake in this issue...
Convergence: Action Comics #2 (DC)
from July 2015
I still love Convergence. Maybe it's because it came at a dark moment for me, and it was a rare beacon of life. I didn't read the Action Comics two-parter at the time, and I'm not sure what I missed. Maybe not too much.
Trinity of Sin: Pandora - Futures End (DC)
from November 2014
I've written about Pandora often enough. This version of her story reveals an alternate explanation for the character (Geoff Johns had a different one during the Justice League "Trinity War" event, and a much different fate in DC Universe Rebirth). But it was certainly interesting to see this one, even if the art didn't really do it much justice.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Reading Comics 216 "Kings Cross"
I'm about to relocate again. Don't know what kind of impact this will have on my admittedly at present sporadic comics reading, but it's certainly worth noting. This batch of comics represents what could be my last trip to Zimmies in Lewiston, Maine, which is a shop I've been visiting in its several incarnations since I bought my first comics nearly a quarter century ago.
Batman Annual #4 (DC)
This one's from 2015 and is set during Snyder's Commissioner Batman era, when Bruce Wayne has amnesia. It's James Tynion writing Bruce as he returns to Wayne Manor, which at the time had just finished being used as the new Arkham Asylum. It's interesting, story-wise insofar as it posits Bruce Wayne as a target for Batman's enemies, who may have mistaken him as the Dark Knight's financier. But it's the cover and the art that really interests me. The cover is from Sean Murphy.
Murphy has been a favorite since he collaborated with Grant Morrison on Joe the Barbarian, and I've tried to keep track of his work ever since, whether Punk Rock Jesus or the Detective Comics #27 (New 52 era) story he did with Snyder that rumor has it they'll be returning to soon. Murphy also has Batman: White Knight coming up, and that sounds fascinating.
The interior is from Roge Antonio, whose work looks like Snyder's American Vampire collaborator Raphael Albuquerque. Have a look at it yourself:
Apparently he's been on the Rebirth series Batgirl and the Birds of Prey these days. A career well worth tracking, too, I think.
Batman #30-31 (DC)
The first is "The Ballad of Kite Man Part 2," which is apparently hugely controversial, both parts, as it seems way too heavy for some readers. I just don't get that. This is literally the most relevant Kite Man has ever been. I don't expect Tom King is done with the guy just yet, sort of like Gotham Girl. The second is the penultimate chapter in "The War of Jokes and Riddles" itself, which promises an explosive ending (and apparently whether or not Catwoman accepts the proposal). I think the arc's been brilliant. This is a Joker who has been every bit the savage beast he's sometimes been depicted to be (The Killing Joke) but in a context where he's "lost his smile" (quotations thanks to Shawn Michaels). This is a Batman who has apparently been forced to ally himself with the Riddler. This is a story that once again feels, if Batman were every to be taken seriously, and his whole world around him, like this is what would actually happen. Too often these characters only exist one story at a time, or locked up in Arkham. What if Batman's foes were forced to take sides? What if Batman himself was forced to take sides?
Birthright #19 (Image)
This is from 2016, and is Josh Williamson's main interest outside of DC and The Flash, and I figured I'd finally have a look. Naturally it's a little difficult to know exactly what's going on, but it seems pretty fascinating.
Black Hammer #2, 13 (Dark Horse)
A kind of alternate DC from Jeff Lemire, in which the aftermath of a crisis left the heroes trapped in a kind of pocket dimension (wonder if Infinite Crisis will be reflected). These particular issues feature a kind of Shazam in a kind of I Hate Fairyland situation, the Skottie Young series where a young girl has been a young girl for far too long in a scenario she is well and truly over. I've been hearing that this is Lemire's best work. I'm a huge Lemire admirer, whether his recent Moon Knight or Descender, which I wish I were reading regularly. I'm not ready to declare Black Hammer in that league, but I suppose for fans wanting him to reflect superhero comics, in a way that makes sense to them, this is a good option.
Mister Miracle #2 (DC)
Like his Batman, King is finding readers who don't understand what he's doing in Mister Miracle. But I'm loving it. He is absolutely one of my all-time favorite comic book writers at this point, and I look forward to having this whole thing to relish.
Nightwing: The New Order #1 (DC)
I was quite happy when I heard this one announced. It's a Nightwing mini-series, the kind usually only Batman and Superman, and once in a while Wonder Woman, get. It's also Kyle Higgens returning to the character. He was the writer who launched the New 52 series and was at one time Snyder's running mate, the role Tynion later assumed. So I'm glad to see that The New Order was worth the interest. This first issue isn't really going to be able to explain how Dick Grayson ended up deciding superpowers are a bad thing. What it does instead is bring the focus to Dick's relationship with his son. This is a scenario previously featured in the Earth 2 comics, and an interesting continuing consideration for Nightwing's further legacy. We find out at the end of the issue that the mother is Starfire, which begs the question...is Dick's position based on heartbreak? Either way, I'll definitely want to read more of this.
Rise of the Black Flame #2 (Dark Horse)
This is another comic from 2016, part of the Hellboy universe. I bought it mainly for the Christopher Mitten (Wasteland) art. Always glad to see more!
Batman Annual #4 (DC)
This one's from 2015 and is set during Snyder's Commissioner Batman era, when Bruce Wayne has amnesia. It's James Tynion writing Bruce as he returns to Wayne Manor, which at the time had just finished being used as the new Arkham Asylum. It's interesting, story-wise insofar as it posits Bruce Wayne as a target for Batman's enemies, who may have mistaken him as the Dark Knight's financier. But it's the cover and the art that really interests me. The cover is from Sean Murphy.
Murphy has been a favorite since he collaborated with Grant Morrison on Joe the Barbarian, and I've tried to keep track of his work ever since, whether Punk Rock Jesus or the Detective Comics #27 (New 52 era) story he did with Snyder that rumor has it they'll be returning to soon. Murphy also has Batman: White Knight coming up, and that sounds fascinating.
The interior is from Roge Antonio, whose work looks like Snyder's American Vampire collaborator Raphael Albuquerque. Have a look at it yourself:
Apparently he's been on the Rebirth series Batgirl and the Birds of Prey these days. A career well worth tracking, too, I think.
Batman #30-31 (DC)
The first is "The Ballad of Kite Man Part 2," which is apparently hugely controversial, both parts, as it seems way too heavy for some readers. I just don't get that. This is literally the most relevant Kite Man has ever been. I don't expect Tom King is done with the guy just yet, sort of like Gotham Girl. The second is the penultimate chapter in "The War of Jokes and Riddles" itself, which promises an explosive ending (and apparently whether or not Catwoman accepts the proposal). I think the arc's been brilliant. This is a Joker who has been every bit the savage beast he's sometimes been depicted to be (The Killing Joke) but in a context where he's "lost his smile" (quotations thanks to Shawn Michaels). This is a Batman who has apparently been forced to ally himself with the Riddler. This is a story that once again feels, if Batman were every to be taken seriously, and his whole world around him, like this is what would actually happen. Too often these characters only exist one story at a time, or locked up in Arkham. What if Batman's foes were forced to take sides? What if Batman himself was forced to take sides?
Birthright #19 (Image)
This is from 2016, and is Josh Williamson's main interest outside of DC and The Flash, and I figured I'd finally have a look. Naturally it's a little difficult to know exactly what's going on, but it seems pretty fascinating.
Black Hammer #2, 13 (Dark Horse)
A kind of alternate DC from Jeff Lemire, in which the aftermath of a crisis left the heroes trapped in a kind of pocket dimension (wonder if Infinite Crisis will be reflected). These particular issues feature a kind of Shazam in a kind of I Hate Fairyland situation, the Skottie Young series where a young girl has been a young girl for far too long in a scenario she is well and truly over. I've been hearing that this is Lemire's best work. I'm a huge Lemire admirer, whether his recent Moon Knight or Descender, which I wish I were reading regularly. I'm not ready to declare Black Hammer in that league, but I suppose for fans wanting him to reflect superhero comics, in a way that makes sense to them, this is a good option.
Mister Miracle #2 (DC)
Like his Batman, King is finding readers who don't understand what he's doing in Mister Miracle. But I'm loving it. He is absolutely one of my all-time favorite comic book writers at this point, and I look forward to having this whole thing to relish.
Nightwing: The New Order #1 (DC)
I was quite happy when I heard this one announced. It's a Nightwing mini-series, the kind usually only Batman and Superman, and once in a while Wonder Woman, get. It's also Kyle Higgens returning to the character. He was the writer who launched the New 52 series and was at one time Snyder's running mate, the role Tynion later assumed. So I'm glad to see that The New Order was worth the interest. This first issue isn't really going to be able to explain how Dick Grayson ended up deciding superpowers are a bad thing. What it does instead is bring the focus to Dick's relationship with his son. This is a scenario previously featured in the Earth 2 comics, and an interesting continuing consideration for Nightwing's further legacy. We find out at the end of the issue that the mother is Starfire, which begs the question...is Dick's position based on heartbreak? Either way, I'll definitely want to read more of this.
Rise of the Black Flame #2 (Dark Horse)
This is another comic from 2016, part of the Hellboy universe. I bought it mainly for the Christopher Mitten (Wasteland) art. Always glad to see more!
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