Reading Comics 166 "Comics from 6/24/15"

Covered this week: E for Extinction #1, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #215 (plus #214), Green Lantern: Lost Army #1, Superman #41, and We Are Robin #1, as well as The Multiversity: Pax Americana Director's Cut.

E for Extinction #1 (Marvel)
Among the many, many Secret Wars spin-offs attempting to pick up the pieces of past Marvel stories is that incredibly rare title, E for Extinction, otherwise known as acknowledgment that Grant Morrison did, in fact, write X-Men stories for a number of years.  You may be forgiven to forget this happened, because Marvel has been trying to scrub history of this for years.  The minute Morrison left, for instance, Xorn was retconned far away from being Magneto.  Perish the thought!  To be fair, this run did have a fair impact on the future of mutants, but any and all associations with Morrison seem to have been severed as completely as possible, and everyone agreed that Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men was in fact the true watershed of the franchise, and that was that.

I confess to have played a part in this debacle.  Observers today might assume I've always been a hopeless devotee of Grant Morrison.  This is true to a point.  I became a fan through JLA, which is probably true for the vast amount of us.  But then I had to work my way back in.  I never read New X-Men, only a few issues here and there in later years (still working my way toward the complete run, as with Invisibles, Animal Man, and Doom Patrol, the titles the truly devoted would call the starting point, although this would be from a critical and not popular standpoint).  I was keenly aware of Morrison's mutants, so there's a kind of mythological element to the run, as with the fourth-wall Animal Man breakthrough, mostly what became of Xorn and how Beast became subject to a secondary mutation (to his present look).

All of which is to say, I'm glad E for Extinction exists.  Named after the opening arc in Morrison's New X-Men (in all, forty issues, with eight arcs), which along with several others features the art of Frank Quitely (the cover of this issue closely mirrors the famous art for the run), this is a wonderful reminder of how Morrison attempted to push the franchise forward.  Morrison himself isn't present, but Chris Burnham is.  Burnham is currently collaborating with Morrison on Image's Nameless and also did the art for the second run of Batman Inc., and as such has become associated with him enough that I guess he was a go-to guy for Marvel for this project.  That, I guess, and the fact that his art somewhat resembles Quitely's.  But he's not doing the art for this, rather another guy who somewhat resembles Burnham's!

Burnham himself has an issue of Batman Inc. in his credits as writer (#11, plus credit for #0 along with Morrison).  For most of this issue he's remarkably adequate, although he has instincts that one would not typically associate with Morrison material (although I could be wrong; I'm not familiar enough with New X-Men to identify all the characters in E for Extinction who come directly from it).  At any rate, he does an excellent job of conveying everything Morrison hoped to accomplish.  The representative panel in relation to that philosophy demonstrates how it's hilariously outdated to suggest today that minority groups in America haven't gained a certain mainstream credential (if not outright equality) that can no longer be denied with the simple moral equivalencies typical for mutant allegory.  Magneto (no mention made of Xorn, naturally) leads the new X-Men, with hopelessly dated Cyclops and Emma Frost used in counterpoint (the clearest connection to more recent material like how Bendis started out All-New X-Men).  Thrown in as well is Wolverine, because: Wolverine.

I'm just not a big fan of Burnham.  I don't like his art, and I think he tends to ruin what he does.  As a writer this is less so, but then there's the guy hired because he kind of draws like Burnham, so more or less, this is all Burnham all the time.  Unfortunately.  Fortunately there's plenty of Morrison present.  So as far as this first issue goes, I like this project.  I'm very glad it exists.  Clearly Marvel kind of desperately wants Morrison back in the fold (going back to the Marvelman annual that finally brought to life one of his old scripts).  I guess we'll see where that goes...

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #215 (IDW)
(and #214)
IDW did something somewhat remarkable when it acquired the G.I. Joe franchise.  It began publishing new issues of Larry Hama's Marvel run along with its own material.  This in itself was not hugely unique, since at the time Marvel itself was doing (or very near to doing) the very same with Chris Claremont and the X-Men.  But the Claremont experiment ended years ago, and Hama's G.I. Joe continues.  And it's just completed its biggest arc ever: "The Death of Snake Eyes."

And so apparently readers get to discover that when a publisher like IDW does a story like this, the rules are different, because the actual death occurred two issues ago.  I found that out because I was only reminded this was happening at all when I looked at the cover and saw the arc's title, so I flipped through the issue.  Seeing that the death didn't happen this issue, I went to see what other issues had to say about it.  Needless to say, #213 was not available.  I'd assumed it did occur in #214, but no such luck.  I decided to buy it even though it's a silent issue (appropriate) depicting full G.I. Joe honors for the body.

What this issue does is conclude a journey for the new Snake Eyes, someone Hama is careful to set up in the same mute mode as the original (seems somewhat convenient, but I'm willing to go with it).  So a little like "Knightfall," which ended with the new Batman defeating Bane rather than Bane's snapping of the original Batman's spine, the next chapter has already begun.

The issue also includes a tribute to Hama's original collaborator, Herb Trimpe, who passed away earlier this year.

Green Lantern: Lost Army #1 (DC)
I figured I'd give this one a shot because with the end of Red Lanterns I would otherwise not have been reading Green Lantern, and generally speaking, for as long as I've been reading comics I've been reading Green Lantern.  And I'm still not particularly interested in Robert Venditti's run (his revamp in the main title is something that looks radically...desperate to me).  And this does feature Guy Gardner, although the how and the why of his having a red and a green ring will apparently have to wait.

Otherwise, the most interesting thing about Lost Army is the inclusion of Krona, a traditional Green Lantern villain who for some reason or other is working alongside the heroes.  If anything, Lost Army reads like New Guardians crossed with Red Lanterns.  I have considerable doubts about whether I will be reading this long-term.  Why oh why did Venditti have to be given control...

Superman #41 (DC)
In Gene Yuen Lang's debut, quite unexpectedly "Truth" technically has not even begun yet.  Unlike the rest of the titles included in the arc, which have already released their first entries, anyway, the moment of, well, truth hasn't been reached yet.

Actually, thanks to the continuity of artist John Romita Jr., this issue reads as seamlessly with the Johns run as Romita's own issue, and I guess that's probably the point.  The other common link is Superman's apparent obsession with his new solar flare power.  It seems likely at this point that Superman will have probably used it once too often, and thus deprived himself of all his powers, which accounts for the other gimmick of the "Truth" arc.  The other being the loss of his secret identity.

And that is to say, I think the whole point of the arc is a complete deconstruction of Superman.  At this point, DC probably feels more than ready for something to dramatically shake things up.  Other than Grant Morrison's run in the early issues of Action Comics, nothing any creator has done since the start of the New 52 has really stuck.  This tends to make DC think there's a problem, and the answer invariably is a defensive one.  So: "Truth."

Given that he has managed to make himself at home in the Romita era, Lang already has my endorsement for being able to pull it off.  I'll be skipping the tie-ins from other series.  As far as I'm concerned, Superman is absolutely worth reading again.

We Are Robin #1 (DC)
For whatever reason, DC decided to be all mysterious about this series from writer (usually known as artist, but in Suicders, both) Lee Bermejo.  But to clarify, this series stars Duke Thomas, one of the many characters Scott Snyder has tossed off in the pages of Batman.  As depicted in a possibly unreliable Futures End: Batman and Robin #1, Duke at some point does in fact officially become Robin.  For now, he will have to content himself with a more unofficial distinction.

It's perhaps helpful to mention, as well, that Bermejo has made at least one thing official: finally, a connection between the concept of Robin and the legendary Robin Hood.  Traditionally, DC has attempted to make such distinctions with Green Arrow (most blatantly during the "Brightest Day" era just before the New 52).  In a nutshell, that's what the concept behind We Are Robin seems to be.

But really, it's just good seeing Duke again.  Featured in "Zero Year" and "Endgame" (the timeline seems a little muddled, but then as far as Batman's concerned that's been true throughout New 52, so it's just best not to worry about it), this is the first time he's gotten his own story (which is one better than the other Snyder castoff, Harper Row, who fans must be content to find in the pages Batman Eternal, apparently).  The artwork is nothing like Bermejo's cover, and it's easy to suspect that DC may have been thinking of Miles Morales with art that somewhat evokes Humberto Ramos (who has been identified with Spider-Man for a number of years now).

Also along for the ride is Leslie Tompkins, a Batman staple whom fans have been protective of over the years (she was tied up in the Stephanie Brown arc when the once and future Spoiler took on the role of Robin), so that's good to see.  Overall, I like this series quite a bit.

The Multiversity: Pax Americana Director's Cut (DC)
The local shop finally stocked copies of this, so I snapped one up.  As you can see, the crux of this is the entire issue reprinted with Frank Quitely's original pencil art, which I think actually looks better than the finished work.  There're also excerpts from Grant Morrison's script and looks at the art in development.  For some reason it always humbles me to see how much Morrison is involved in helping to visualize the art, since I stopped doing artwork of any serious nature years ago.  If I were to try what he does, it would not be fit to print.

To the extent that I've read any reaction to this release at all, it's griping that this is all it is.  "Director's cuts" in comics usually tend to include creator commentary if not outright added story (which is impractical in comics).  Morrison's script is represented only in part, his descriptions for panels, showing just how much he does in collaboration with Quitely to accomplish this ideological answer to Watchmen.  It begins with a full-blown description of intent, actually, which for the subsequent reader is also like an introduction-after-the-fact.

It was also an excellent excuse to read the whole thing all over again, by the way.  Still love it.

Also included in this polybagged issue is a larger version, in fold-out poster form, of the Multiversity map.

Reading Comics 164 "Comics from 6/10/15"

Featuring Batman #41, Descender #4, Earth 2: Society #1, Nameless #4, and Saga #29.

Batman #41 (DC)

This whole issue is Scott Snyder doing the hard sell for his new direction.  This can be seen as a good thing, even a smart thing.  But it might also be considered...an acknowledgment that maybe it's not such a good idea after all.  Veteran comics readers know how this game works.  Original character is replaced.  New character attempts to solidify their right to the role.  Original character returns.  Snyder has been playing a little fast and loose with the concept from the start, "killing off" Bruce Wayne while also making it clear (to anyone paying attention) that this didn't actually happen.  And this issue makes that clear, too.  He's sitting in a park on the first and last pages.  Some readers will wonder, is that really Bruce Wayne?  Of course it is.

And that's really Jim Gordon playing at being Batman, too.  Even he pokes fun at the new getup, by the way.  As I said, Snyder plays with fire in the issue.  And it's a little hard to swallow after a while.  I know what you'll say, you veteran of this blog.  I've acknowledged problems reading Snyder in the past.  The conclusion to "Endgame," I said, might have been the point where I put all that behind me.  But I guess it really doesn't work that way.

So this is Snyder trying to do his version of the replacement trope.  As you can see from the above panel, Snyder even gives lip service to all the reasons why this typically happens.  The oddest thing is that there's no one saying Batman needs this right now.  And so why is Snyder even doing it?  Because he's subverting even that part of the narrative?  Hey, since when was Scott Snyder even known as a guy who subverts expectations anyway?

So the issue is actually pretty uncomfortable, and once again I'm telling myself, I'm done with Snyder.  I won't be fooled again!  

We'll see...

Descender #4 (Image)

In strict contrast to Snyder and even to a comic I'll be talking about a little later is this one from the combined genius of Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen.  I happen to love comics, or stories in general, with a lot of moving parts, which is to say components that are being used not necessarily in direct conjunction with each other but that keep things interesting, and this has nothing to do with being simple or complicated, but a general awareness that the creator(s) have figured out what they're doing in an obvious, even if subtle, way.  This means, for instance, what's illustrated above.  What Snyder's done in Batman has sometimes seemed like it wanted to do something like this, but then it turns out most of that was geared toward Batman Eternal and not Batman itself, which is fine and all, but there's a clear difference, and the distinction is that Snyder himself didn't want to affect what he was doing in trying to create an iconic Dark Knight by introducing a lot of dynamic new elements (Court of Owls notwithstanding, or perhaps included).

The above illustrates the difference nicely.  The Driller is somewhat one-dimensional, but serves as a nice contrast to Tim, the little boy robot who's the heart of Descender.  Tim convinces Driller not to be a killer because that would be bad for its future.  But later in the issue, when more mayhem surrounds Tim, he releases Driller from this restriction.  Lemire writes this perfectly, and of course Nguyen is doing the same killer work he's done since Batman: Li'l Gotham.  While Tim's creator Dr. Quon remains about as one-dimensional as Driller, there's also Telsa to be considered.  This is the issue where we begin to find out what makes her interesting.  At first not only as one-dimensional as Driller but as function-centered, she's a reflection of what the series may ultimately be about, breaking away from what others perceive you to be (and hence a sign that Quon will likely receive similar treatment at some point).  Tim himself, especially to Telsa, is just a boy robot programmed to be a "real" boy's best friend.  

Anyway, while Lemire has been careful to keep the action and plot moving, he doesn't do that at the expense of character development, and not just development, but exploration, which is a concept that is usually ignored.  Snyder, for instance, constantly flirts with it, but only in the safest ways possible, which was he allowed himself, and was allowed by DC, to do such a radical Batman/Joker story as "Endgame" ended up being.  But he always backs away.  When other writers aren't backing away, they aren't even attempting it.  Lemire pushes boldly ahead.  Descender, this is to say, is looking like an all-around classic.

Earth 2: Society #1 (DC)

Speaking of character exploration, the thing I liked best about Convergence was how it took Earth 2 and made it better.  When James Robinson started that series, it was about as character-centric as anything DC was publishing at the time.  Convergence came around and took one of Earth 2's characters, Dick Grayson, and pushed him forward.  And interestingly, as with Convergence as a whole, the story clearly didn't end there.  This is to be understood as a hook.  If you care at all about the character, you will want to know how the story continues.  The debut issue of Society keeps that idea going.

The panel above once again is selected for illustrative purposes.  A lot of the successful comics these days are ones that feature a hook for the real world.  The paralyzed Dick Grayson will hopefully join those ranks.  Most of the issue he is in fact running around, but this is also an issue that jumps back and forth in time.  The hook, then, is for the reader to want to continue reading the series, see how exactly Dick reaches the point where he is running around again.  Likely for the same reasons he was in Convergence, because he has some sort of artificial support.  This should be no big problem for someone looking to him as a role model.  Amputees, for instance, are very familiar with this narrative.

So for me, my interest in Earth 2 was absolutely elevated by Convergence, which I believe was one of the main points of the event, and Society is an excellent way to keep that momentum going.

Nameless #4 (Image)

For those two panels (the rest of the page becomes much like the rest of this particular story), Nameless evokes Grant Morrison's own We3, which is one of the best things he's ever done.  The problem is, Nameless is otherwise hellbent on being the weirdest thing Morrison has ever done, The Filth taken to the next level.  Weirdest as in most disturbing.  It's very easy to interpret Nameless as the culmination of Morrison realizing his Batman Inc. collaborator Chris Burnham as being capable of this exact kind of story.

For some comics readers, the weirder is in fact the better.  Comics, in their view, are supposed to shock.  And they have been shocking readers for many decades, sometimes deliberately so.  And Nameless is also a culmination of Morrison's own basic instincts, by the way.

But it's still very hard to enjoy.  I didn't particularly like Burnham in the pages of Batman Inc. either, by the way.  He's a definite proponent of gross-out material. It's sad, because in those panels above, he is clearly capable of stuff that doesn't need to do that.  (Sometimes I assume people who specialize in gross-out do it because they think they need to.)  To link more of this edition of Reading Comics together, Burnham can perhaps take lessons from Fiona Staples.  (I've been leading toward Saga.  There.)  Staples can do a lot of things.  Saga in one sense is designed to let her do a lot of things.  Some of it is explicitly to let her shock the reader.  But it never quite seems as shocking as what Burnham has routinely demonstrated in Nameless.

And it gets in the way, too.  That's the thing.  It distinctly feels as if Morrison is letting Burnham sell most of the concept for him.  And Morrison is routinely guilty of letting the story sell itself rather than bothering to explain it himself.  And when this works, it absolutely works.  But sometimes it doesn't.  And I think that's ultimately why I backed away from The Filth, too, because the more I thought about it, the more I wished Morrison didn't rely so much on the actual filth.  Imagine how much more readers would have hated Final Crisis if it had done that!

So more and more, that's what I think about Nameless.  I wish it evoked Morrison's best instincts more often.  But I also think this whole project is Morrison working his worst instincts out of his system, or simply trying to prove that old image he created of himself was real after all.  Except more and more, I'm convinced it really wasn't.  But what do I know?

Saga #29 (Image)

This issue is something of a bloodbath for supporting characters in Saga.  If this were Star Trek, it would be the redshirt issue.

And there's an image that's not about that at all, and may be one of the defining gross-out images of the whole series, and that's all I'm going to say about that.  Visually, this is about the sum of everything anyone who doesn't like what they've seen could possibly fear to see throughout a whole issue.

Which is also to say, just another issue of Saga.  But really, this really is Saga to the extreme.  And this is definitely one of the odder things about the series.  It doesn't need any of that to be awesome.  Why Brian K. Vaughan has done it at all, and repeatedly, is probably just because he absolutely knows he can get away with it, or because he just really always wanted to see a sci-fi story do it.  There are plenty of people who like their stories like this.  I'm not necessarily one of them.  Usually it's kept to a minimum, one shock per issue, and usually with a bunch of issues that don't feature this sort of thing at all (mostly).

And the thing of it all is that Fiona Staples otherwise has some of the most lush art around, and could as easily sell itself without any of that as Vaughan could write Saga without any of these distractions.  And yes, at this point it has to be considered one of the primary elements of the series, so there's little use complaining about it, especially so many issues into the series, and from a reader who has read a majority of the series...

Anyway, some of this was absolutely inevitable.  And I suppose Vaughan's greater point is that sci-fi that isn't dirty is simply ignoring a great too many realities.  But the long-term potential of Saga is somewhat compromised if this sort of issue will be routine.  Walking Dead does this all the time.  And I've mentioned before that I absolutely think Walking Dead was ruined by making this sort of thing routine.  You can't do a long-term story where the same thing happens over and over again.  After a certain point, the idea becomes routine and therefore pointless, especially if the writer clearly has nothing to say.

The point of this particular issue is that the things that have been happening throughout the series really have been messy, and are doomed to messy conclusions until and perhaps even when the same mistakes stop being made.  We'll see if that's where Vaughan is actually going with this.  The important thing is, the important people are still alive.  For now.

Nameless # 2 & 3 (Image)

writer: Grant Morrison

artist: Chris Burnham

The thing that Chris Burnham brings out in Grant Morrison (which I will not demonstrate with an image) is the ability to cut loose.

The Morrison who exists in most of the material from JLA onward is completely safe for mainstream audiences, but the Morrison from a lot of his previous material (and the later The Filth) is kind of anything but.

For instance, the last page in the third issue of Nameless features a mutilated male corpse.  Notably, the nude corpse is missing one very significant piece of its anatomy.  And in a more general sense, Nameless also features Morrison's well-known interest in black magic, exhibited through grotesque imagery.

Burnham did this kind of work, to a lesser degree, in Morrison's Batman Incorporated, too, so there was every reason to expect stuff like this in Nameless.  I mean, why else bring this particular artist into another project, right?  Morrison has plenty of other well-known collaborators.  You bring along the one most suitable to the project.

Otherwise, Nameless, as the family-friendly image I've included suggests, is more or less like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Prometheus, Armageddon, a space adventure with a team of astronauts looking to solve what is essentially a simple problem: go in, get out.  Except there are always complications.  Above and beyond the problems the main character literally known as Nameless represents for working colleagues who understand all the occult matters as much as the typical reader will, this is very much a story that slowly unfolds its mysteries.

I get what Morrison is doing here.  But I'm probably not, all considered, the target audience.  Hey, as much as I enjoy reading Grant Morrison, these things can happen.

Nameless #1 (Image)

writer: Grant Morrison

artist: Chris Burnham

Sometimes there's no Grant Morrison.  Sometimes there's suddenly an explosion of Grant Morrison.  Last year Morrison launched both The Multiversity and Annihilator, both of which are limited series and counting down to their conclusions now.  Nameless has joined those ranks.  Is it as good as them?

And more importantly, because the actual subject is never clear from the start, what's it about?

Actually, the basic setup is pretty much Armageddon, the Michael Bay movie where Bruce Willis is charged with destroying an asteroid before it has a chance to destroy Earth.

But, Morrison being Morrison, it can't be that simple, can it?  Of course not.

The complicated setup is Morrison revisiting a particular aspect of his own mythology.  While writing The Invisibles, he was quite vocal about his personal dabbling in the occult.  It was a time in Morrison's career where he was known for Invisibles, Doom Patrol, and Animal Man, all extremely out-there material that not only helped define Vertigo comics at the time, but who exactly Morrison was, not just as a writer, but person.  This was not the mainstream-friendly Morrison later introduced for the purposes of JLA.  This was a Morrison who happily skirted controversy, helping to form a firm fan support group.

The last such work of this kind was The Filth early in the new millennium.  He's described this kind of storytelling as his effort to explain experiences he's actually had.

Fast-forward to the present, where there really hasn't been much of that talk in years.  Hence, the mainstream-friendly Morrison, the rough edges rounded off.  Almost.  Annihilator has gone a long way in bringing back the classic Morrison, but Nameless seems designed to bring the thing full circle.  Who better to illustrate the tale than Chris Burnham, the Batman Incorporated artist who brought the rough edge back?

Nameless evokes much of Annihilator while making the unusual more apparent.  Our main character, literally named Nameless, is hiding from things happened in the past, but the present is dragging all that back to the surface.  And yes, calling for Nameless to be a hero.

At this point, it's really a case of letting more of it play out, to get a feel of where Morrison is going with it, a little of how far down the rabbit hole he's really going.  At this point it doesn't seem like the kind of transcendent material Annihilator is, but Nameless is similarly interested in plumbing the depths of Morrison's own life for inspiration.  This is a good thing.

Reading Comics #124 "Reading FCBD 2014"

Atomic Robo (Red 5)
I'm on record for loving me Atomic Robo.  Earlier this year I read every other FCBD offering featuring the most awesome Tesla-inspired fighting robot in comics (recapped here).  In the eighth installment of this peculiar series, there is, alas, no Dr. Dinosaur (what's up with that?).  Maybe it's because I just read all those, but this time it seems a bit been there done that.  Although I still recommend Robo to any and everyone.  Red 5's other samples aren't very inspiring, either.  They be a small publisher for a reason, yo.

Bongo Free-for-All (Bongo)
Featuring nothing but the Simpsons (plus a weak nod to Futurama on the back cover that's actually nearly as much a nod to...Archie).  The first tale features Bart and Milhouse trying to accidentally gain superpowers, like they do in comics.  The one real result is Milhouse's hair becoming amazing.  Then there's a Spy vs. Spy (a classic feature of Mad Magazine) featuring Itchy and Scratchy.  Then there's a Mr. Burns story that has some fun with the idea of his being "the best boss in the world."  Then back to Bart and Milhouse, imagining the behind-the-scenes of Krusty Burger.  Then more superhero adventure-type things.  Then a "Where's Waldo" feature with Ralph from Sergio Aragones!  Simpsons comics are always good stuff!

(Help the CBLDF) Defend Comics (CBLDF)
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund helps you take comics more seriously than you every thought possible, and this handy special helps you understand exactly how!  Highlight, for me, is an excerpt from Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey's excellent Comic Book Comics (later reprinted as Comic Book History of Comics) featuring the (in)famous tale of Fredric Wertham, the man who declared war on the medium in the 1950s.  Although since it takes up the bulk of the issue, this isn't such a difficult accomplishment.  The other highlight features Sergio Aragones again, as well as Mark Evanier, Tom Luth, and Stan Sakai (a sequence originally featured in CBLDF Presents: Liberty Comics #1) in a series of examples of people being silly about comics (and not in a debating-who-would-win kind of manner).

The Dumbest Idea Ever! (Graphix)
Excerpted from a longer work, this is actually...kind of...a fictional account...of how this...thing...was created...in the first place.  Not greatly impressed, but maybe the whole thing is better?

Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel)
This one is basically, with the title feature, a primer on the comic book version of the team (likely comparable to the movie version hitting theaters this summer) from Brian Michael Bendis.  Not hugely inspiring, but I guess you don't expect a lot from something like this, especially since it doesn't even get the whole issue.  The next segment belongs to Jim Starlin and Thanos, two names that historically have gone very well together, and is an excerpt from the Thanos: The Infinity Revelation graphic novel.  Either it's not the greatest excerpt, or it's not the greatest pairing of these two.  Hard to say.  Then there's a silly Spider-Verse excerpt from Dan Slott.  I just don't know what to make of Slott's overall vision for Spider-Man.  This is how he chooses to follow-up Doctor Spider-Man?  I know I'm not usually Marvel's biggest fan, but this was not a hugely inspiring FCBD offering.

The New 52: Futures End #0 (DC)
I haven't been reading the latest DC weekly series, but it's an undeniably good idea, making a whole bunch of characters who don't necessarily have viable homes in the current landscape suddenly relevant, headlined by Grifter and, especially with this special preview, Batman Beyond in his official continuity debut.  I'm a DC guy, and it's always nice when there's full-issue new material from anyone for FCBD, so it's especially nice for new material for a major new project available.  This is the way it's done.

Previews: What's @ Comic Shops (Diamond)
Ideally everyone who wasn't already familiar with reading comics as a hobby picked this one up.  It's an excellent primer.

Project Black Sky (Dark Horse)
As part of Dark Horse's latest attempt at jump-starting a superhero franchise, this is possibly also its first ever major crossover event, featuring Captain Midnight and Brain Boy in starring roles (also involved are Ghost and X, both of whom have been part of past attempts).  The writer is Fred Van Lente, who was a considerable favorite of mine back when he was working at Marvel but another of those creators who've been floating around looking for ideal context again.  Captain Midnight, by the way, is a pastiche on Captain America.  That's the hardest thing to overcome with this story.  Otherwise probably a pretty smart gamble on Dark Horse's part.

The Rise of the Magi #0 (Top Cow)
I think this is an irredeemably terrible title for the project, but the actual comic isn't too bad, finally a Top Cow idea that doesn't have anything to do with the Artifacts concept cobbled together from characters like Witchblade and the Darkness (Think Tank is the other notable attempt for the publisher to break out of its bubble).  As for what it is, Magi is a fantasy concept.

Rocket Raccoon #1 (Marvel)
It is what it is.  Groot comes off best.  Hey, did you know he's Groot???

Shigeru Mizuki's Showa: A History of Japan (Drawn & Quarterly)
Excerpted from a larger work, this was one of the best things I read from all my selections.  This special features the best look at Japan during WWII from a sympathetic point of view since Letters from Iwo Jima.  Anyone still trying to reconcile the country we know today with the one that attacked Pearl Harbor ought to consider having a look.

Steam Wars #1 (Antarctic Press)
The biggest pleasant surprise of the whole bunch, one I hesitated a great deal picking up because I feared it would be terrible.  But it's awesome, it really is, a variant on Star Wars that completely nails it.

Teen Titans Go! #1 (DC)
Yes, DC and Marvel each get two selections, one for kid readers and one for whoever reads comics otherwise.  Based on the cartoon that was actually brought back a few years ago, this was another highlight for me, unexpectedly written by Sholly Fisch of all people, the guy who was doing all those excellent backup features during Grant Morrison's run on Action Comics.  Good fun.

The Tick (New England Comics)
Aside from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Tick is the most famous indy character in comics, having successfully (to a much more limited extent) completed the leap to television both in animated and live action (a series that starred Patrick Warburton).  This latest FCBD offering details every previous release in the free series.  In a just world, The Tick would be more famous.  Good stuff.

Valiant Universe Handbook 2014 (Valiant)
Dry reading featuring bios for a set of characters who've had a thousand chances to catch on (they were among Dark Horse's previous superhero attempts, for instance).  This was perhaps not the best way to go about FCBD, but it's at least a handy reference that can be looked through later.  Just not right-now-kind-of-later.

Worlds of Aspen 2014 (Aspen)
Looks at new series Zoohunters and Damsels in Distress.  Neither look like great, per say.

2000 AD (Rebellion)
One of the longest-running comics outlets is British and an anthology that's released every week (up to nearly two thousand issues!), known as the birthplace of Judge Dredd, who is coincidentally the star of the standout story from this special.  The creator responsible is actually Chris Burnham, the artist who collaborated with Grant Morrison during the final run of both Batman Incorporated and Morrison's long Batman run as a whole.  The last pleasant surprise, as I'd never really had an opportunity to fully appreciate Dredd before; Burnham's story did an excellent job explaining the character's appeal.