Reading Comics 244 “Tom King, Geoff Johns, and other familiar faces…”

This year the local shop, South Tampa Comics, went out of business but the location was quickly snapped up by a chain called Coliseum of Comics, and until a few weeks ago continuity was maintained by Randall Armstrong (known on the internet as Randall Begins for reasons I will probably never know) as head clerk. But Coliseum sent him packing. I made weekly trips to the store when it opened, but then scaled back, and my visits have become sporadic, just enough to keep in touch with what interests me. Over the course of three recent trips I scooped up a bunch of interesting comics, in the process of which learning Randall’s fate. I figured I could share the results on this old blog.

Animal Pound #3 (Boom!) One of the things Randall never quite caught onto was that if he just set aside Tom King releases for me I would buy them. It’s not the business of sales clerk to set these kinds of things up (hold files set up by customers being the preferred method), but it happened frequently enough that we talked about Tom King and how one other customer was buying Tom King releases out from under me (stores with low sales have little incentive to invest in more than single copies of some things), and leaving me often with nothing. I don’t like to special order from a store. There’s this thing called the internet. I go to a store for the convenience, and it was also fun to talk with Randall. Anyway, so Animal Pound is Tom King’s update of Animal Farm, only instead of communism he’s commenting on democracy. It’s another great comic from Tom King. This post will have several more.

Batman #s 148-150 (DC) Chip Zdarsky has been one of the best writers in comics for a number of years at this point, and his Batman is up there, for me, in modern runs with Grant Morrison, Tom King. And the longer he writes it, the better he gets. But you don’t have the guy who did a fantastic run on Daredevil because you expect anything less. #148 concludes Batman’s war with Failsafe, #149 is like the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Similitude” (for me high praise in every connotation), and #150 is at last a pause for a more human-level story. I can’t wait to see where he goes next.

Batman and Robin #10 (DC) Notable not just for the return of Bane but, for me personally, Damian’s old pal Goliath, from the pages of the highly underrated Robin: Son of Batman.

Gotham by Gaslight/Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age #1 (DC) DC reprinted the original Elseworlds graphic novel alongside the return of the imprint with the first issue of the follow-up.

Blood Squad Seven #1 (Image) Joe Casey in an essay at the back of the issue is not legally allowed to call this Youngbloods: Thirty Years Later! But of course, that’s exactly what it is. He’s also hopeful it’ll spark a renewed interest at the company for a shared superhero landscape that isn’t just Spawn or Savage Dragon or Radiant Black. Good luck with that, pal.

Blue Beetle #10 (DC) A title soon to be cancelled (but it’s still Jaime Reyes’s third ongoing series, which is impressive, for DC, in this era). Bought mostly to support Josh Trujillo, who put together such a great tribute to Keith Giffen a few issues ago.

The Boy Wonder #2 (DC) Another great little standalone spotlight for the legacy of Robin(s).

Geiger #3 (Image) Geoff Johns finally split (mostly) from DC and set up his own landscape with Ghost Machine, and I hope he gets to play in this sandbox for a while. This lead creation is surprisingly durable, clearly inspired by the Atomic Knights post-Infinite Crisis but also its own thing. 

Green Lantern #12 (DC) Jeremy Adams made his mark with The Flash and then got to segue here. He’s settled in nicely. This issue sees Carol Ferris possibly finally, finally commit to a relationship with Hal. And a backup featuring Guy Gardner, Kevin Maguire, and Bottle City Czarnians. Adams would be absolutely perfect for a JLI revisit.

Helen of Wyndhorn #2 (Dark Horse) In yon olden days, DC would’ve had the Vertigo imprint for Love Everlasting, for Animal Pound, for Helen. Now they’re all at different publishers. Tom King never settles. He remains just as ambitious as ever. Helen is yet another contender, as it turns out, for a true career highlight. I didn’t really know what it was, before reading this issue (my first of the series), other than a reunion between King and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow artist Bilquis Evely. Turns out it’s kind of a Victorian novel crossed with Conan, kind of The Unwritten (for those interested in a Vertigo deep cut).

Justice Society of America #10 (DC)  Currently looking like Johns’ last hurrah at DC, the much-delayed JSA epic just went deeper by adding in the Legion of Super-Heroes. There’s still no one at DC who can do what Johns has done. He doesn’t just love what’s been done before him, he’s consistently tried to build on it, keep it evolving.  Like his Ghost Machine he truly sees it as a mythology.

The Penguin #11 (DC) Here’s Tom King again, penultimate issue of this story trying to help Oswald Cobblepot navigate the extremely complex legacy he’s left for himself. Can he truly leave his empire behind without dying in the process?

Redcoat #3 (Image) I’m not all in on Ghost Machine, but I love what Johns has come up with in Redcoat, a welcome modern popular entertainment take on the Revolutionary generation.  It may be batshit crazy, but it’s the good kind of batshit crazy! And that’s the whole point!

Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #6 (DC) The oldest comic in this pile, it’s the final issue. Robert Venditti earned a huge amount of respect from me in the pages of Hawkman, which I thought might be reflected here. I’m happy to report I was right. The surprise was seeing Riley Rossmo somehow evolve his work into Tim Sale proportions. Someone take note at DC!

Spider-Man: Reign 2 #1 (Marvel) I adored Kaare Andrews’ original story, which for me was absolutely the webslinging take on Dark Knight Returns, and I am keenly aware I am in a tiny minority. So I’m very pleased that somehow a follow-up has somehow happened anyway.

Star Wars #47 (Marvel) Charles Soule has proven surprisingly hit or miss with me, but one of the things I absolutely loved back in the day was his Lando Calrissian miniseries. This issue is Lando getting out of a spot of trouble in the days leading up to Return of the Jedi.

Wonder Woman #10 (DC) I am keenly aware that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for Tom King in recent years. I follow a blog that said this issue was yet another abomination. Wow. It is not. It is the opposite of that. Plus more Lizzie! I’m just eager to see how long King can stick around. I want the adult Trinity we were promised, too!

Uncanny X-Men #700 (Marvel) It’s the coda to the Krakoan age. It fits the bill. I love how Apocalypse is used to illustrate it.

William of Newbury #1 (Dark Horse) For fans it’s really hard not to see this as Michael Avon Oeming on a spiritual sequel to Mice Templar.

Zatanna: Bring Down the House #1 (DC) For the life of me I’ll never understand why DC has never pursued her in more solo tales. But we have this! Finally! Worth the wait!

Pandemic Comics #5 “DC Comics...Presents!”

Here’s another batch from the Mile High mystery boxes:

Birds of Prey #96
Wow! Had no idea the series lasted so many issues. But, I was never a regular reader, even when the concept launched in the ‘90s. Of course, it finally became a movie (after being a TV series), earlier this year (if there’s been anything this year besides pandemic) (beginning to doubt that). Written by Gail Simone, writing just as if literally all her logic comes strait from comics, and art to match, impossibly uniform women, even Black Alice, a tormented teenager whose only distinguishing physical feature is her hairstyle. Otherwise the “impossibly perfect body” of her mean girls rival...is exactly the same one she has...

Black Condor #4
You know, the concept of Black Condor rejecting the idea of being a superhero might have been more convincing...if he didn’t dress exactly like a superhero...Otherwise, he’s a lost character I still wish were found.

The Comet #8
DC’s Impact Comics line, which this was a part of, circled back around some twenty years later as Red Circle, and then ended up at Archie Comics, where they began some sixty years earlier. The object lesson here perhaps is that DC and Marvel endured because they were able to persist against all adversity, and didn’t treat superheroes as a fad. There were and have been plenty of other publishers over the years doing superhero lines, but none of them have the longevity. Even Image somewhat rapidly abandoned superheroes, in the grand scheme. Spawn has pushed past three hundred issues, but mostly because it wants to continue, not out of anywhere near the demand there was in its heyday. Anyway, Mark Waid, here in 1992, the same year he took on writing chores in the pages of The Flash, supplies the dialogue.

Connor Hawke: Dragon’s Blood #4
After Oliver Queen died (ah, temporarily), his bastard son Connor Hawke took over as the Emerald Archer, and like Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern, it seemed to be a permanent role at the time. So Connor had his own comic for years, and yet because Green Arrow isn’t near the sales force Green Lantern is, which isn’t near the sales force Batman is, Connor has never even sniffed at another ongoing series. This one’s a mini-series, of course, resuming the sidekick continuity of the ‘90s and featuring Connor teaming up with Shado, a character who better survived the transition to the New 52 than he did...

DC Comics Presents: The Atom #1
After legendary editor Julius Schwartz passed away in 2004, DC put out these one-shots in tribute to him, asking modern comic book creators to take cracks at covers Schwartz had dreamed up in the Silver Age to spur on the creative juices of his writers. The wonderful thing about this particular one has less to do with the Schwartz tribute (an obituary by Alan Moore appears in the back of these issues, with a copyright notice indicating Moore’s ownership) and more the historic art pairing between two ‘90s Superman legends: Dan Jurgens and Jon Bogdanove. Jurgens of course is the writer/artist of Superman #75, while Bogdanove was the longtime artist of Superman: The Man of Steel. Seeing Jurgens inked by Bogdanove is truly surreal. At times it’s distinctly Jurgens, and at others distinctly Bogdanove. One of the greatest comic book discoveries I’ve made, folks.

DC Comics Presents: Superman #1
With this issue the standout is the lead story, as it’s written by Stan Lee, at that time a few years removed from Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating...various DC heroes, and a relative few years away from regularly creating new comics at publishers other than Marvel, and of course thousands of cameos in Marvel movies.

DC Nation #0
Fun to read this again, and by “this” I mean “Your Big Day” from Tom King and Clay Mann, the Joker-waits-for-the-wedding-invitation story that’s among the many best things King has ever written...

Pandemic Comics #1 “A Fortuitous Midtown Order”

By sheer coincidence, just as the lockdowns were beginning, I had placed another order with Midtown Comics. A decade back I dug myself into a steep financial hole recklessly ordering comics every week through their website. Longtime readers of my blog (through its many names and locations) know I spent years putting together an annual listing of the fifty best comics I’d read. The Midtown addiction allowed me to expand it to a hundred one year. So it was a long time before I ordered from them again. The first time back it was to help complete my Stuart Immonen Superman collection (which was finally completed last year when I rectified one last oversight). Then last year I began an irregular comeback. This most recent order was deliberately patterned after the old days, when I’d comb the weekly release lists and see what looked interesting. In recent years my comics reading has been drastically limited. The only sequential reads I’ve done have been limited series. I gave up trying to catch Tom King’s Batman in every individual issue (though I’ve collected all the trades), even.

Well, anyway, these are, at the moment, not only some of the last new comics I personally have read, but that got to be released at all...

The Argus #1 (Action Lab)

I found the art to be kind of shoddy, but the familiar concept of time travel being filtered through a single person pulled from various points of his life is still a good one. Could absolutely be salvaged. Kirkman’s Walking Dead, after all, had a different tone and even different art at the beginning.

Billionaire Island #1 (Ahoy Comics)

The latest from Mark Russell is another biting satire skewering privilege. The end of the issue teases the badass who will help find some justice for victims who’ve been locked up. To be clear, involuntarily. Not because, y’know, of a pandemic.

Birthright #42 (Image)

Randomly checked in with the Josh Williamson epic fantasy. Would probably get more out of it with having read more than, oh, the first issue in an Image dollar reprint.

Daredevil #19 (Marvel) 

Checking back in with the excellent Chip Zdarsky run.

Doctor Tomorrow #1 (Valiant)

Valiant may have finally gotten a big screen adaptation (horribly timed though it turned out to be), but in the comics its boon period has officially ended. Would really love for another creative resurgence.

Far Sector #4 (DC’s Young Animal)

Another fine issue in this Green Lantern maxi-series. 

The Flash #123 (DC)

A facsimile edition of the famous “Flash of Two Worlds” issue, one of the truly legendary moments in superhero comics. It’s interesting to have finally read it. Just the recaps of Jay Garrick and Barry Allen’s origin stories, as they were told then, was interesting. 

Flash Forward #6 (DC)

The final issue of the mini-series saw Wally West take on a new destiny. Just had to read it.

The Flash #750 (DC)

One of several big anniversary comics DC was able to get in before all this happened (I was a little too soon for the Robin 80th anniversary celebration). Geoff Johns probably had the highlight. Real shame that Mark Waid seems to have totally rejected his DC past(s) at this point. Should have been a part of this.

Folklords #1 (Boom!)

This was a fourth printing or so (otherwise the series was up to its fourth issue, I think), another fine argument that Boom! may actually be the most consistently excellent alternative publisher of the past decade, still working with Matt Kindt, launching another excellent concept. It may have a lower profile than Image, Dark Horse, or IDW, but it’s consistently reinvented itself over the years and, hey, still boasts Grant Morrison’s Klaus on its release calendar, and is probably the only publisher that would do so.

King of Nowhere #1 (Boom!)

Here they are again. This one looks like it could’ve been published by Image, Dark Horse, or Vertigo, and that’s not something you can say for just any publisher. Was worth a look.

The Last God #5 (DC Black Label)

The shuttering of the Vertigo imprint didn’t mean its aesthetic was dead. This is clearly DC’s biggest bid for old school Vertigo in years. But ended up not being my cup of tea. High fantasy, as it turns out.

Omni #5 (H1)

Pretty annoyed that Devin K. Grayson, who launched the series, was still listed as a creator when, as of this issue, she’s not really an active member of the creative team anymore. Kind of felt like a bait-and-switch.

Plunge #1 (DC/Hill House)

The end of the Vertigo imprint came at the same time as an incredible flowering of new DC imprints, from the Sandman family to the Bendis line, and now Hill House, from Joe Hill (Stephen Kong’s kid). But what brought me here was the Stuart Immonen art. Immonen has once again elevated his game. After he went over to Marvel I thought he was allowing himself to lose what made him distinctive, but it led to, well, this. I love his Superman, always will, as it was, but of course, now I’d love to see him return, with this more detailed approach.

Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy #3 (Dark Horse)

The best thing Dark Horse has done post-Mind MGMT has been Jeff Lemire’s Black Hammer universe. At some point I want to read all of it. This latest installment is basically its Dark Knight Returns.

Stealth #1 (Image)

By far the best surprise in scanning through the releases was discovering Mike Costa had a new series. Costa is an all-time favorite thanks to his G.I. Joe/Cobra comics. In recent years he’s had a small resurgence at Marvel, so it’s nice to see him getting another crack, even if once again it’s someone else’s concept, in this instance Robert Kirkman’s. But, as Costa explains in a postscript, he’s more than capable of internalizing the idea. And he executes it perfectly.

Strange Adventures #1 (DC Black Label)

The latest from Tom King, starring Adam Strange, in Mister Miracle mode with Mitch Gerads and “Doc” Shaner. Love love love that Mister Terrific pops up at the end of the issue. Might be the breakthrough Michael Holt’s been waiting twenty years for...

Wolverine Through the Years (Marvel)

This was a freebie promo for the new ongoing series (which I decided to skip). There’s a code in it that I unscrambled: “Who is the Pale Girl?” Hopefully someone interesting!

Wonder Woman #750 (DC)

Could’ve read this for free at the library, but the pandemic shut those things down before I could get around to it. Ironically still open when I ordered this. Historically speaking, the first time Wonder Woman topped the sales chart. Also the soft launch for DC’s G5.

Reading Comics 241 "Batman Annual #4, plus a few more comics"

Batman Annual #4 (DC)

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. 

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 25^th.  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.

Reading Comics 238 "Flashpoint Batman, Far Sector, Second Coming, & more"

I haven't been to an actual comic book store in about half a year, so I decided it was time to visit one, given the opportunity, and found some good stuff:

Batman #84 (DC)
And now there's one issue to go.  Ironically or not, but the longer Tom King's run went, the less fans really cared.  The obvious tipping point was when the wedding didn't actually happen.  Fans felt cheated.  They wanted something truly big to happen, and King seemed to promise exactly that.  Instead the reaction has solidified on...pretty much how all of King's DC material has been received, as so much awkward navel-gazing.  The irony here is that when he did it for Marvel (The Vision), everyone lauded him as a new genius, perhaps because Marvel so seldom publishes reflective material, let alone seems to realize that it has, and that it's worth celebrating. 

I still can't think of any comic book writer I've so consistently admired, who has so often grasped the potential of DC's landscape.  His accomplishments go far beyond anyone else's for the fact of delivering on nearly everything he's done, dating back to Omega Men, when he was entrusted with his first spotlight work.  That goes back to 2015.  Half a decade of excellence, and one long stellar run on a major title.

This particular issue harkens back to his first standout mainstream accomplishment, Grayson: Futures End, where I first came to discover King's remarkable talents.  Grayson was a series he typically wrote in conjunction with Tim Seeley, but for the Futures End one-shot, he wrote solo, and even beyond the clever coding gimmick, it was brilliant character-based storytelling. 

So in the issue, he basically extrapolates the Flashpoint Batman's complete story, which is all the more remarkable because that story was already brilliantly told in Flashpoint itself and the acknowledged best mini-series that spun out of it.  And in doing so, explains his whole purpose for the Batman run he's been doing all along.  This is a master class, not only in itself but in the fruitful extension of someone else's ideas.  When all is said and done, it's something that will need to be included not only in the legacy of Batman, but Flashpoint, and superhero comics in general.

Collapser #5 (DC/Young Animal)
I like to try and discover interesting new material, too, when I visit a comics shop.  Granted, this was far easier when I used to spend far more money on comics (money that I, ah, didn't technically...have?), but now I have to use the old "it looks interesting" approach, or even risk taking recommendations (these don't always pan out, naturally, but then, it's how I discovered Young Avengers).  And Collapser #5 had an interesting cover, and it was a Young Animal comic.  I love the Young Animal imprint, even if fans in general seem strangely apathetic about it.  Such is life.  The results this time were adequate, if not sensational.  I didn't regret buying and/or reading it.  Yay!

Copra #3 (Image)
Ah!  So Copra is being published by Image now!  The last time I can think of that Image picked up a popular self-published comic was Bone.  Probably not the only example, but the only one I really care about.  And Copra is another great acquisition!  It may look crude, compared to the slick packages of virtually every other Image comic (but that goes with the name, right?), but Copra remains a good read.

Doctor Mirage #4 (Valiant)
I've sort of let Valiant's comics slip from my radar in recent years, but I like to keep tabs.  Apparently they finally continued Doctor Mirage's adventures!  Sadly, not under the title The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage, much less written by Jen Van Meter, but it's still nice to see!

Far Sector #1 (DC/Young Animal)
Ah!  It's almost like reading King's Omega Men all over again!  Insofar as it's another Green Lantern tale, without "Green Lantern" in the title, that turns out to be a brilliant new interpretation of what a Green Lantern comic can be!  Far Sector features yet another new human Green Lantern, but N.K. Jemisin doesn't linger (at least in this debut issue) on that aspect so much as the murder mystery she's tossed into, in about as grand a miasma as King's Omega Men featured.  Some readers might complain that Jemisin tries to be too hip, but I think it works, and it makes me want to not only keep tabs on Far Sector, but read some of Jemisin's books.  It doesn't always work, but finding talent outside the usual comic book circles has the potential to find a Jemisin or a Tom King.  And apparently awesome new Green Lantern comics.  Love it!

Flash Forward #1 (DC)
After all the complaints about Heroes in Crisis, I loved when DC announced Flash Forward, a new Wally West tale.  Several issues have been released at this point, but I figured I should see how it began.  And I love it.  Scott Lobdell, who has quietly become one of DC's one reliable character writers, captures a Wally who's even more traumatized than readers by his actions, but thrust all the same into a wild new adventure.  Juxtaposing Wally's arc with another wild ride into the multiverse is itself another interesting choice, but I think Lobdell can avoid duplicating what ultimately happened to Booster Gold when he attempted a career revision in similar fashion (and in the process helped form the foundation of the TV series Legends of Tomorrow, which he inexplicably has never factored into).

Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (DC)
I've never been a devoted Legion fan, but I've read enough Legion comics to have built up an interest, and this is Brian Michael Bendis, still firing on all cylinders in his new DC digs, so of course I dig it.

Second Coming #5 (Ahoy)
Wow.  So I haven't read anything but this issue, but I'm glad this comic exists.  It's exactly what Mark Russell should be writing.  The guy made his name writing stuff like this, so I'm glad he returned to the well.  This particular issue is God and Satan having an awkward attempt at reconciliation, which is itself brilliant, plus the Second Coming Superman analog struggling at another kind of reconciliation, whether or not he'll ever have a child, which '90s Superman (in the comics and Lois & Clark on TV wondered about, too) was also concerned about, although since then we've gotten two versions of Superman's son.  I'm in love with Russell again.  I continue to hope that, even as his profile has risen greatly in recent years, it can go higher still.

X-Men #1 (Marvel)
Jonathan Hickman, riding high from great acclaim for his X-Men universe relaunch, begins to settle in, and I still enjoy the results.

Young Justice #11 (DC/Wonder Comics)
Here's Bendis again, integrating Naomi into the greater landscape.  I love that he's helped Tim Drake finally follow in Dick Grayson (and Jason Todd's! and even Stephanie Brown's!) footsteps and assume an identity that doesn't have "Robin" in it.  I know some fans complain that it's...Drake, which is...already his last name.  But realistically, his secret identity is still firmly intact.  And at the moment, his adventures are so wild, he's far removed from the common element, so it hardly matters.  But I want it to stick.  I want a Drake comic.  (And a comic for everyone in this book!  I wasn't totally committed to the Peter David version of the team.  But I'm glad it's made a comeback.)  And I'm glad Naomi is getting a chance to expand her emerging legacy.  I hope she sticks around for years.

Watching the Walmart Giants 3 "October 2019"

Now, the title of this feature is obviously becoming an anachronism (and it was from the moment I decided on it), since these giants are going to begin appearing in the direct market (comic book shops), but I will continue to pick them up at Walmart.  October's releases were late in my local store, and I guess the release schedule has changed, with apparently a bimonthly scheduled in effect, which means three titles I didn't see last month finally appeared this month, and the final installment of Superman Giant, and King & Kubert's arc.

So here's what I'm talking about:

Aquaman Giant #1

• Original story from Steve Orlando & Daniel Sampere featuring Aquaman battling Black Manta.  Somewhat standard material here, though Orlando introduces the "tether of Amphitrite," and possibly the concept of the mermazons, which alone was worth reading.
• Original story from Marv Wolfman & Pop Mhan featuring Aquaman battling an organization called Scorpio (unrelated to the pseudo Bond villain from The Simpsons, probably, and thus featuring far fewer hammocks).
• Prologue to "Throne of Atlantis" from Aquaman #14 by Geoff Johns.
• Mera: Queen of Atlantis #1.
• Teen Titans #14, featuring the new Aqualad.

DC Super Hero Girls Giant #1

• Original story from Amanda Deibert & Erich Owen.
• Original story from Amy Wolfram & Agnes Garbowska.
• Excerpts from Hits and Myths, Summer Olympus, and Past Times at Super Hero High.

I originally wasn't going to get this one, but I figured I could later give it to my niece. 

Superman Giant #16

• "Up in the Sky, Part 12" from Tom King and Andy Kubert, the conclusion, featuring Superman and the little girl on their eventual journey home, depicted as a conversation they have along the way.  It may not be the flashiest installment of the epic tale (which, as I think I've emphasized previously, has become another of King's many, many highlights for me), but it's a nice way to ground the Man of Steel, as the story has done all along, in his more human qualities, even as he's constantly asked to use his superhuman skills.  This is a far trickier task than it seems, and King has just provided a master class.
• Superman/Batman #50, featuring the improbably team-up of Jor-El and Thomas Wayne (it works, although I wish more of the story focused on them and less on the present-day and extraneous Justice League activities).
• A Superboy tale from Superman80-Page Giant 2011.
• The Terrifics Annual #1, featauring a Tom Strong tale but more importantly a Java flashback written by Mark Russell.  You may remember me talking about Russell's work in the September giants.  He seems to have effortlessly refuted me in advance, because this one's a wonderful narrative that somewhat knowingly takes a note from Russell's own Flintstones but imbues real poignancy in its observations.  It's the best thing I've read from him, personally, since my original impressions of him in Prez. 

This was also the final issue. 

Teen Titans Go! Giant #1

• Original story from Sholly Fish & Marcelo DiChiara featuring Tamaranian hiccups.
• Original story from Ivan Cohen & Sarah Leuver.
• Reprints from Teen Titans Go! and Teen Titans Go! Digital, featuring far more art from Jorge Corona (whom I previously encountered in the pages of We Are Robin) than I expected.

Reading Comics 233 "Superman Giant #15"

Having now read Superman Giant #15, I actually ended up getting another copy so I can hopefully include it among the stuff I'm bringing to my sister's wedding in December, which will hopefully include most of my family (I already know my oldest brother won't be able to make it), including my two nephews based in Maine.  I had already planned on giving them duplicate copies of other Walmart giants I'd gotten, but this one's an opportunity to give them something truly special.

The penultimate (eleventh) installment of Tom King and Andy Kubert's "Up in the Sky" is yet another excellent example from the pair of Superman's unwillingness to give up (as is the whole story) despite unrelenting odds.  In a lot of ways, this is the conclusion of the story (he even finally finds the girl he went into space to save).

Among the other material is a reprint of a Lex Luthor story from 2018's Beach Blanket Bad Guys Special.  Without having read it, I initially thought it would be a throwaway story, but it's actually really excellent, from writer Jeff Loveness and David Williams.  In it, Lex's car has broken down on the side of the road (this version of the character seems inspired by Elon Musk), and a kindly stranger stops to help.  (No, it's not Superman.)  Lex of course rants about Superman in his traditional fashion, as the embodiment of everything that prevents someone from reaching their full potential.  The kindly stranger, though, gives Lex a different impression, of Superman's selfless heroism, and even a portrait of just another guy with regular problems, who'll stop and share s chat and even a burrito with you. 

You'd probably expect at this point for Loveness to have Lex at least consider changing his tune about Superman, but the great thing he does is pivot away from Lex, and just let regular joe, and Superman, end the story.  We glimpse Lex, but he's no longer really relevant.  It's a great bit of storytelling.

Between them, King's and Loveness's takes on what being Superman means encompass not only his abilities but his humanity.  They're a perfect way to explain the character.  Which makes the comic itself a great way to introduce the character. 

I really hope my nephews can make it.  I know I want to see them again, but it would also be nice to be able to give them some interesting gifts.

Watching the Walmart Giants 2 "September 2019"

This month saw the latest revision of the Walmart DC 100-Page Giants line.  I haven't had a chance to read them yet (and it's worth noting that my store apparently wasn't carrying the Aquman, Teen Titans Go or Super Hero Girls Giants), but I figured it was worth outlining the contents:

Batman Giant #1

• A new story from Michael Grey & Ryan Benjamin featuring Clayface.
• A new story from Steve Orlando & Tom Mandrake featuring Batwoman.
• Batman #1 from the New 52 (Snyder & Capullo).
• Detective Comics #23.2 from the New 52 featuring Matt Kindt's brilliant Harley Quinn origin.
• Nightwing #1 from Rebirth.

The Flash Giant #1

• A new story from Gail Simone & Clayton Henry.
• A new story from Jeff Parker & Miguel Mendonca.
• The Flash #13 from the New 52 (still featuring the sweet art of Francis Manapul.
• Green Arrow: Rebirth #1.
• Blue Beetle #1 from 2006, the first of several ongoing series featuring the Jaime Reyes version of the character  Still ashamed to admit I stopped reading after this series ended.

Ghosts Giant #1

• A new story from Dan Jurgens & Scott Eaton featuring the Spectre.
• A new story from Keith Giffen & Priscilla Petraites featuring Gentleman Ghost.
• A new story from John Layman & Andy Clarke featuring John Constantine.
• Various shorts from Cursed Comics Cavalcade, DC House of Horror, DCU Halloween Special 2010, and Justice League #35.

Superman Giant #15

• The penultimate chapter of Tom King & Andy Kubert's twelve-part "Up in the Sky" series.
• Superman/Batman Annual #2.
• Beach Blanket Bad Guys, featuring Lex Luthor.
• The Terrifics Annual #1 featuring new writer Gene Luen Yang.

Swamp Thing Giant #1

• A new story from Mark Russell (!) & Marco Santucci featuring Swamp Thing.
• A new story from Andrew Constant & Tom Mandrake.
• Swamp Thing #1, the 2016 miniseries from Len Wein & Kelley Jones.
• The Hellblazer #1 from Rebirth.
• Zatanna #1, a Paul Dini miniseries from 2010.

Villains Giant #1

• A new story from Mark Russell (!) & Victor Bogdanovic featuring Batman and Joker.  Russell's involvement in these things is a further example of DC's expansion of his visibility, and a good thing, in my mind, in establishing him as a future lead writer for the company.
• A new story from Tom Taylor & Daniel Sampere featuring Deathstroke.  Taylor's profile has risen considerably thanks to DCeased, so his presence in these things is also a sign of confidence from the company.
• A new story from Gail Simone & Priscilla Petraites featuring Harley Quinn.
• Justice League #23.1 featuring the New 52 version of Darkseid's origin from Greg Pak.
• The Flash #8 from the New 52, featuring the origin of the Reverse-Flash.
• Secret Origins #10 featuring Poison Ivy.

Wonder Woman Giant #1

• A new story from Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti & Inaki Miranda featuring Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn.  (Knew Conner & Palmiotti would turn up somewhere.)
• Wonder Woman #2 from Rebirth, the Year One arc.
• Green Lantern #29, skipping the Sinestro Corps War to "Secret Origin."
• Sword of Sorcery #0 from the New 52 featuring Amethyst.

Reading Comics 231 "Midtown Comics"

I had a bad habit of spending money I didn’t have, a decade ago, ordering comics from Midtown.  When I placed my most recent order, it was money I did have, so it was a fine thing to revisit the old habit.  Here’s what I got:

Doomsday Clock #11 (DC)

The penultimate issue, leading to the much-anticipated encounter between Superman and Doctor Manhattan, lays out what exactly Geoff Johns was doing all along, including finally explaining what Saturn Girl has been doing in the Rebirth era (somewhat ironically, for her).  This is probably some of the best stuff Johns has ever written.

The Green Lantern #11 (DC)

Back when I was at my blogging height, I collected a number of blogs I thought would be worth reading on a regular basis, but more often than not I was wrong.  One of them is a comics blog that has continued to review new comics every week, and…I just don’t give a wit about the guy’s opinions.  He seems positively allergic to any real ambition in comics.  So: he doesn’t like Grant Morrison’s Green Lantern.  I think you have to be an idiot not to like a Morrison comic, especially when he’s obviously applying himself and having a great old time.  And he’s clearly doing exactly that in this comic.  And in this issue alone, he does what no one since Geoff Johns has really been able to nail and that’s introduce another forgotten element of Green Lantern lore, and it doesn’t hurt that he deliberately draws on Don Quixote to do it (this has sort of been my Year of Don Quixote).  Anyway, while I don’t love everything Grant Morrison has ever done, this whole run is going to sit very proudly alongside my collection of his works.

Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #1 (DC)

Wow.  So, Brian Michael Bendis, folks.  The dude has been a tireless creative dynamo since coming to work for DC, not just with the creator-owned material he either brought with him or began, but the stuff he’s been imagining with familiar characters, and everything fans expected him to do, he just keeps coming up with curveballs.  This comic, for instance, actually centers on Rose & Thorn, a concept I came across in ‘90s Superman comics, but which Bendis makes his own, brilliantly.  Now I want to read a comic based on her, forget about the returning Legion!  But I’ll take the Legion, too, because I’m pretty convinced that if anyone can pull off a relevant new Legion, it’s Bendis.  I’ve never enjoyed him as much as I am now.  I haven’t always been a fan, per say, but I’ve enjoyed him in the past.  But he’s operating on an entirely new level now.  It’s, dare I say, amazing…

Section Zero #6 (Image)

Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett are basically reprising their old Superboy comics, which to my mind is a very good thing, with this one.  I bought the Stuart Immonen variant cover, naturally.

Spawn #300 (Image)

I’m pretty sure the creator-owned landmark Spawn is matching this issue and passing with the next one is Cerebus, which was much-celebrated in times past but much-criticized today.  Now, given that there’re 300 issues of Spawn to be accounted for and maybe the first few years that most fans are actually going to remember, someone had the bright idea to reboot back to the continuity, basically, of those early years for this occasion.  It’s only just occurred to me that Spawn as a concept seems to have copy-and-posted almost directly from Venom, as far as being a symbiotic costume thing.  Todd McFarlane explains how he came up with the character in the ‘70s, obviously before Venom or the black Spider-Man costume ever existed, but I wonder how much of what ended up being Spawn was envisioned back in the day and how much when McFarlane went off to help found Image on the back of all the money he and his fellow pirate artists were making at the time.  In fact, reading (or sort of reading) those Demon Etrigan comics from Forbidden Geek sort of put Spawn further in perspective: He’s sort of exactly Venom, but envisioned by DC. 

Star Trek: Discovery – Aftermath #1 (IDW)

I’m a fan of the series itself, so I didn’t mind revisiting it in comics form, and this comic is a good way to do so, and even harkens back to the best of IDW’s Star Trek comics.

Superman: Up in the Sky #3 (DC)

This is the comic book store reprint series of the Walmart Superman Giant material from Tom King and Andy Kubert, which I thought I’d get at least one issue of, calculating (correctly, as it happily turned out), that this one would feature the “controversial” installment featuring the many deaths of Lois Lane.  And rereading this material was as equally pleasurable as the first time, as I hoped, so that was also good to see.

Reading Comics 229 "Tom King, Vertigo, Recent Comics"

Okay!  If I'd written this earlier, I'd be talking about less, but here we are and now there's more...

Apparently it was DC's decision for Tom King to leave Batman itself to finish the story in Batman/Catwoman?  Or maybe there's an explanation that doesn't sound sinister?  But, in news that's only relevant to people who aren't on the internet (yay troglodytes!), King's work is still appearing in the Superman 100-Page Giants found at Wal-Mart.  I confirmed this (but have yet to read it) with the recently released Superman Giant #12. 

Apparently DC has cancelled the Vertigo imprint.  There will be a lot of fans freaking out over this, how DC's killing a part of its soul or whatever, but really...I don't see a real problem here.  Vertigo hasn't really been Vertigo since Scott Snyder backed off of American Vampire, which was the last major series launched under the imprint.  And in that regard, the big send-off for trade-friendly Fables might be considered the real end of the imprint, getting a trade-size (and published in trade format, no less) final issue.  Fans will say it's because Karen Berger was released as managing editor, but Fables and the most recent issue of American Vampire were released in 2015.  That's a long time for the imprint to linger in irrelevance.  Meanwhile, times changed.  The Walking Dead, which in a lot of respects was a Vertigo title published by Image, was a game-changer.  Image itself transitioned into a Vertigo mentality after pushing the superhero format in the '90s.  And there are dozens of smaller publishers now operating that also follow the Vertigo template, which itself began by collecting a number of existing DC titles that were intended for mature readers, which...

And that's the new plan, by the way.  The new DC Black Label will now be the destination of anything that might've once been Vertigo.  There's also Brian Michael Bendis's Jinxworld, which is its own DC imprint, which in earlier times would have been part of Vertigo.  (Bendis was operating more or less this way with Marvel, too, which never made a serious move to expand into other creators producing creator-owned material.)

So again, I say there's nothing to complain about here.  Paul Cornell was able to retrieve the rights to Saucer Country, which for all intents and purposes was a post-Berger Vertigo series, and continue it at IDW as Saucer State.  The Vertigo mystique did nothing to salvage G. Willow Wilson's seminal Air, which sputtered under little critical or fan attention under Berger's watch from 2008 to 2010.  What Fables did was itself signal the end of an era, in which Vertigo was previously known for dark genre instead became home to light genre material, which couldn't sustain the same cult following.

Anyway, here's some comics I read recently:

Batman: Last Knight on Earth #1 (DC)
Here's Snyder and Greg Capullo reuniting for one last grand Batman story.  As suggested previously and as I hoped to see since Snyder's contribution to the 'New 52" era Detective Comics #27, it's finally an extended look at the concept of Batman producing a series of clones to continue the crusade past his original lifetime.  I'm not sure this debut entirely squares with the concept, but I do love that Snyder heavily leans into his concept that Batman and the Joker are essentially an odd couple, having progressed well beyond hero-and-villain status.  The idea of Batman carrying around the disembodied head of the Joker is the best thing I've come across in a Scott Snyder comic, where he's finally and truly gone as wild as he could imagine.

Daredevil #6 (Marvel)
Chip Zdarsky's wonderful run continues.  I hope fans are registering its existence.

Ascender #2 (Image)
Lemire and Nguyen's Descender sequel continues.

Doomsday Clock #10 (DC)
I made sure to buy this issue (I committed to tradewaiting the series after missing too many previous issues, including the first one) after coming back to the Geek Twins, a break that corresponded with the death of my mother and the exploding of what had been a regular blogging habit, and finding that they heartily recommended it as a unique way for DC and/or Geoff Johns to once and for all reconcile the multiverse by redubbing it the metaverse.  This issue sees Doctor Manhattan explaining his journey post-Watchmen by, in part, revisiting all the times DC has rebooted its continuity, starting well before the famous Crisis on Infinite Earths.  And my fears that Doomsday Clock would duplicate what Johns had done previously in Infinite Crisis were alleviated.  Basically the pivotal issue of the series and a landmark in DC lore in general.

Heroes in Crisis #9 (DC)
There ended up being a lively discussion as to what exactly this series accomplished over at Speed Force, and then DC solicited Flash Forward, which will act as a sequel and spotlight for Wally West, and I wonder if any of the fans upset over what Tom King "did to him" will begin reconsidering.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.  Me, as I tend to, I thought King's work was brilliant.

The Immortal Hulk #2, 18 (Marvel)
Al Ewing put himself on the map with this one.  Essentially an in-continuity of the classic Hulk TV series, Bruce Banner's back as the Hulk, but he's skulking around the country trying to keep the beast at bay, and stumbling into horror stories along the way.  Anyway, it's good reading, and fans have certainly noticed, and I'm glad I had a look.

Naomi #5 (DC)
The other Bendis imprint at DC these days, Wonder Comics, launched Naomi with the promise that eventually it would seem important.  Well, I finally got to have a look, and with exactly the right issue, in which we learn that she comes from an alternate Earth, which is an idea that surprisingly hasn't really been done before, even though DC has visited dozens and dozens of alternate realities over the years.  The closest is Superman, probably, who in current continuity is actually a survivor of a previous one (which is something you don't need to know to enjoy his latest adventures, but sounds exactly like the insanity that led to Crisis on Infinite Earths to begin with).

Sasquatch Detective 64-Page Special (DC)
Originally a back-up feature in Mark Russell's Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, this is essentially DC allowing itself to have some family-friendly fan with something that isn't based on an existing franchise.  If it were Marvel, there'd already have been an ongoing series and several dozen more concepts exactly like it.  DC restraint!

Superman: Leviathan Rising (DC)
Originally previewed in Year of the Villain, this intro to the Bendis event conveniently called Event Leviathan was most appreciated by me for its preview of Matt Fraction's Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, which was a real treat to read.  And for those wondering, the Bendis Leviathan is the same as the Morrison Leviathan, this time with (seemingly) less Talia.  So yeah, Morrison's Batman is the gift that keeps giving. 

Turtlepop! #4 "Tom King Pulled From Superman Giant???"

Drunk on tequila and lust for world conquest.

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMICS: Is it true that we're apparently breaking a world exclusive?
TURTLE: Insofar as nobody chatters about the Walmart 100-Page Giants?  Yes.

THOUGHT BUBBLE READER: So when you performed a search, you came up with the same results?
TURTLE: Are we circling around to explaining what we're talking about?  I hope so.  This format is weird.  And used too infrequently.  Apparently the last one was in 2017.  Also, yes.

THOUGHT BUBBLE READER: Okay, so to quit burying the lead, I just picked up the latest issue of Superman 100-Page Giant, #11, at Walmart, and discovered that Tom King's serialized "Up in the Sky" wasn't in it.  What's up with that?
TURTLE: Can only speculate, dude.  Walmart and/or DC might've decided that the controversial "Lois Lane died a million times" installment was too much bad publicity.

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMICS: But will King's story get to be completed?
TURTLE: Maybe?  DC's releasing a version of it in comics shop beginning in July.

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMICS: Basically you don't know?
TURTLE: ...Basically I don't know.

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMICS: Crazy that one of the hottest commodities in comics is writing something that nobody is chattering about?
TURTLE: Totes crazy, dude.

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMICS: Weren't you originally designed to be crazy sarcastic?
TURTLE: Yes, Steve Orlando writes the comic replacing King in Superman 100-Page Giant #11.

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMICS: That has nothing to do with what I asked.
TURTLE: It was still relevant.

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMICS: True.  Thoughts?
TURTLE: Steve's become a favorite of mine, so I guess I'm happy, if anyone has to unexpectedly replace King, in the middle of a story (a great story), it might as well be Steve Orlando.

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMICS: Is it true that Andy Kubert accidentally shot the inker and that's why the King comic didn't get published?
TURTLE: This has taken a strange turn.

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMICS: Can you just answer the question?
TURTLE: Yes.

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMICS: Yes, as in, "Yes, Andy Kubert shot the inker," or "Yes, I will answer the question?
TURTLE: Yes.

THOUGHT BUBBLE COMICS: Helpful as always, Turtle!  Thanks for stopping by!
TURTLE: My pleasure! 

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.

Reading Comics 226 "Detective Comics #1000, Chip Zdarsky, Tom King, & More"

I've gotten really bad about documenting the comics I read on this blog, but I figured this latest batch was worth talking about.  Let's dive in!

Batman #67 (DC)
I've been collecting all the trades in Tom King's run (actually, pretty much every Tom King trade in general, as he's beyond any doubt my favorite comic book writer working right now).  I haven't been as diligent reading the individual issues.  Once I fell off that track, I figured it was okay, since the trades (I have officially become a trade waiter, I guess).  But I still check in with the odd issue, such as this one, which reunites King with Lee Weeks (they get in another nod to the famous Batman/Elmer Fudd special, don't worry), and it's Weeks in the spotlight (well, I guess not anymore than usual), as this is a mostly silent issue, a chase sequence.  I dig it.

Detective Comics #999 (DC)
The final issue before the big one, Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke conclude the improbable tale of Thomas and Martha Wayne's second murder.  Because it's a dream sequence, essentially, a training program Batman has run for years, this time in virtual reality.  I know there will be readers who feel cheated by that big reveal, but Tomasi has become a reliable interpreter of Batman's psychology.  I think it tracks.

Detective Comics #1,000 (DC)
(Incidentally, I learned from the 80 years hardcover collection that "DC" doesn't stand for Detective Comics, as the popular story goes, but rather Donenfeld's Comics.)

Here's the reason for the most recent visit to the comics shop!  I got the Frank Miller '80s cover.  Like Action Comics 1000 last year, DC put out covers for each decade of the title's existence, and I figured I'd give Miller the nod.  Here's some quick thoughts on the stories:

"Batman's Longest Case" (Scott Snyder/Greg Capullo)
Snyder and Capullo, the much-celebrated New 52 team, again reunite (after Dark Nights: Metal) for a tale that sees Batman ultimately join a team of famous detectives.  Seems about right, for a Detective Comics anniversary tale.  The detective aspect of the Dark Knight hasn't really been emphasized much in the modern era.  Amazing, Brad Melzter has never been asked to do an extended Batman adventure.  Seems like an oversight.

"Manufacture for Use" (Kevin Smith/Jim Lee)
Smith and Lee are high profile collaborators, about as high profile as the issue gets.  The tale is maybe a little lightweight, and never gives Lee a chance to highlight his work, but at least it gives Batman a chance to finally reconcile the gun that was used to shoot his parents.  It's also nice to see Matches Malone.

"The Legend of Knute Brody" (Paul Dini/Dustin Nguyen)
This one was a highlight for me, even if the twist at the end seems to diminish it.  The gag is that there was an all-time terrible henchman named Knute Brody who worked for most of Batman's enemies.  The reveal is that Knute was actually a disguise Batman's allies used to get insider information.  Seems like something that could fill out a longer story.

"The Batman's Design" (Warren Ellis/Becky Cloonan)
I'm not sure Ellis nails this one, a sort of spiritual sequence to "Knute Brody," in which we learn Batman doesn't just dismiss and brutalize all those henchmen, but rather thinks of them as individuals worth a kind of sympathy, even a chance to walk away.  He spends too much time away from the particular henchman at the end of the tale to really sell it.

"Return to Crime Alley" (Denny O'Neil/Steve Epting)
One thing is certain to rankle fans: for a story not to automatically side with Batman.  But that's exactly what O'Neil, the oldest Batman creator in the issue, does, as a sequel to the first appearance of Leslie Thompkins, as she again questions whether or not Batman's crusade is healthy for him.  It's a more than fair question, and more than fair to bring up again, the rare pessimistic beat in another upbeat issue.

"Heretic" (Christopher Priest/Neal Adams)
What's interesting about this one (other than art from another long-time Batman creator, Adams) is Priest remembering that the League of Assassins doesn't begin and end with Ra's al Ghul, but rather also includes, y'know, the League itself, all the fanatics who comprise it, including one who decided to leave not later known as Batman.  It's a worthy subject, especially in the age of Islamic terror. 

"I Know" (Brian Michael Bendis/Alex Maleev)
Before I reached the credits with this one, I thought it was the Tom King entry, as it heavily features a vocal tic, which is kind of a King trademark, but no, it's Brian Bendis helping Penguin along, as an old Penguin meets with an old Bruce Wayne, confessing he knew Wayne was Batman all along.  And the twist in this one is much more satisfying, thank you.  Bendis apparently should've been writing for DC all along, as he's a complete natural.

"The Last Crime in Gotham" (Geoff Johns/Kelley Jones)
Here's perhaps the highlight of the whole thing for me, in the subtle way Johns uses the issue to establish his Joker credentials, ahead of his much-anticipated Three Jokers.  In this future, Batman and his extended family are investigating a murder scene, trying to figure out who did it.  Turns out it was the Joker's son, who wanted to end the cycle of violence the old man helped perpetuate for years, sacrificing himself in the process.  Some readers will lump the results in with the Batman-family-friendly vibes of the whole issue, but it's really someone else's triumph.  Maybe the impact is thrown off by Jones, who will always dominate whatever he works on (by the way, nice for him to represent the veterans, too), but the story, if you follow it, carries its own weight.  It's one of the best things I've read from Johns.

"The Precedent" (James Tynion IV/Alvaro Martinez-Bueno)
Tynion likely got the nod to contribute thanks to his early Rebirth era run, which helped jumpstart the significance of the series after drifting back into relative obscurity, in the New 52 era, when all anyone could really talk about was Snyder's Batman.  I like what Dick Grayson (it's his tale) says in one of the final panels: "I'm not the precedent.  You are.  And you're just the start."  It's easy to get caught up in the Batman craze, and dismiss all his allies and so many sidekicks, but if Batman achieves anything at all, it's his ability to inspire others, not in fear but hope.  That's something Christopher Nolan concluded, in a different way (but with a Robin figure, too) in The Dark Knight Rises.  It's just nice to see someone else notice.

"Batman's Greatest Case" (Tom King/Tony S. Daniel/Joelle Jones)
King, as always, seems to have bewildered his readers.  But really, he's coming to the same conclusion Tynion does above, that Batman's legacy won't ultimately be about what Batman himself can achieve, but what he's been able to inspire in others.  So this is a tale about his many current allies coming together and talking, and eventually, someone realizes that "Batman's greatest case" was about solving that original problem of having lost a family and thinking that was always going to define him.  But it really didn't, and the appearance of the original Robin, so soon after Batman himself first appeared, was kind of proof from almost the very start.  He's just needed reminding every now and then.  This time he reminds himself, by taking a picture, and leaving it on the graves of his parents.  That's what King's Batman has been concerned about all along.  I think this will make an excellent addition to King's collected Batman tales, wherever DC might slot it in eventually.

"Medieval" (Peter Tomasi/Doug Mahnke)
Current Detective Comics creators Tomasi and Mahnke (see above!) get to introduce video game character Arkham Knight to continuity in this one, and it's great to see something new(ish) in all the reflective splendor.  Hopefully another villain worth remembering years to come.

Great issue.

Books of Magic #6 (Vertigo)
Part of the Sandman Universe corner of the Vertigo corner of DC these days (...), I thought I'd have a look, as I've always been interested in the concept of young Tim Hunter learning how to be a wizard.  Yeah, Harry Potter later made the concept much, much more popular, and Vertigo in turn had The Unwritten (which didn't star Tim) (maybe should've?).  But the existence of Harry only increases Tim's shine, not diminishes.  And this issue proves it.  Glad at least for this revival.

Daredevil #3 (Marvel)
Holy crap.  So Chip Zdarsky just rocketed into the upper echelons of Marvel lore.  His take on the traditional Daredevil's-life-is-being-ruined! tale not only involves the cops (amazingly, very few comics seem to understand this maybe would be a...natural element to any superhero story) but finally addresses the element in the room.  If this were happening to a superhero, especially a very-well-established one like Daredevil...wouldn't the rest of the superhero community have something to say about it?  Turns out that someone is...Punisher.  Hell yeah!  The fans like claiming that Marvel has nothing much to boast about these days, but they're really just feeding perceptions.  Zdarsky has been working toward this moment, and I'm glad to witness it.  He's going to be in that echelon hopefully for years.  Unless DC gets to benefit.  Just sayin'!

Dial H for Hero #1 (DC)
Part of the second Bendis imprint (after Jinxworld) at DC, Wonder Comics, this is Sam Humphries kicking down the door to once again establish himself as a writer worth taking seriously, owning a familiar if somewhat obscure DC concept.  I have a blogging acquaintance who's gone over all the heroic identities to emerge from the H Dial over the years.  I'm sure he's paying attention to this, too.  And I hope he's as impressed as I am.  The superhero conjured this issue is a stereotypical '90s archetype, which is pretty fun in and of itself.  But Humphries manages to make the H Dial itself more interesting than anything else.  I don't know if he's covering new ground or not, but I love it.

Doomsday Clock #9 (DC)
I began tradewaiting this series almost immediately.  The shop I went to for the first issue was already upcharging for it (dick move, Banner), so I...lost the motivation quickly, and just started randomly checking in.  This was my latest check-in, in the apparent mistaken belief that the Legion ring on the cover belonged to Saturn Girl.  But the issue still has a major revelation worth reading, involving Firestorm and a patented Geoff Johns character revision.  He always seems to know exactly how to do that.  It's his superpower...

The Forgotten Queen #2 (Valiant)
The last time I checked in with a new Valiant title I wasn't impressed, but this time I was.  Valiant remains the best-kept secret in superhero comics, it seems.

G.I. Joe: Sierra Muerte #2 (IDW)
When I realized that was Michel Fiffe art on the cover, I snapped it up.  Fiffe, of course, is the creator of Copra, the best-kept secret in indy comics these days, kind of the official insider handshake.  But the showstopper in the issue is an essay details the history of Snake Eyes, one so intriguing it makes you wonder if Snake Eyes is the best kept secret of the best creators in comics.  Did Alan Moore have him on the brain was conceiving Rorschach?  Now I'm pretty convinced!  Was Snake Eyes responsible for Wolverine's incredible ascent?  Now I'm pretty convinced!  All hail Snake Eyes!

Heroes in Crisis #6-7 (DC)
Well, did Wally crack?  King tackles head-on whether or not Wally himself was capable of viewing himself as that mythical "symbol of hope" fans thought he was starting in DC Rebirth, while Booster and Harley continue to compete against each other as the sole survivors.  Two more issues.  I think King has once again produced magic.  Can't wait to see how it ends.

Meet the Skrulls #1 (Marvel)
Having seen and enjoyed Captain Marvel, when I saw Meet the Skrulls referred to s Marvel's successful attempt to finally recapture that Tom King Vision magic, I thought I knew what to expect.  But someone seems to have misinterpreted another family intrigue with the same kind of storytelling, because what King did, what King always does, is reinterpret family intrigue.  This story merely follows it, perhaps finding another character who'll fit the classic Marvel tragic model, but it would have to significantly upgrade itself to even begin to resemble King's Vision properly.

Spider-Man: Life Story #1 (Marvel)
Here's Zdarsky again, with Mark Bagley, revisiting the life of Peter Parker, one decade at a time.  It'll be interesting to see how things develop.  This issue almost seems standard, but it's also part of Marvel's current initiative to reintegrate its characters into historic moments, in this case the Vietnam War, with Spidey struggling to reconcile his absence from the battle field with his famous mantra about great responsibility.  Iron Man is depicted on the field, and then Captain America makes some bold choices.  Well, like I said, it depends on what happens next.  But Zdarsky is quickly proving that there are few things he's unwilling to breech, and he's been proven right in his instincts so far.  I'm willing to bet that trend continues.

Marvelous X-Men #1 (Marvel)
This is a kind of sequel to Age of Apocalypse, which is pretty great to see.  This issue, meanwhile dithers most of its space, but still brings up some interesting points. 

Young Justice #3 (DC)
Another Wonder Comics entry, this title famously brings back classic '90s teen heroes Impulse (yeah!), Superboy, and Robin, the heart of the original team and backbone of DC's '90s teen heroes in general.  This issue follows Superboy's journey to Gemworld, which was featured for a hot minute in the New 52, and I'm glad it's back.  This is a whole dream come true.  I guess that's the other reason Bendis was allowed to take the Rebirth Superboy off the table, to make room for the other one.  Hell yeah!