Reading Comics 221 "Tampa Comic Con 2018"

This past Saturday I attended my first ever comic con, packed to the gills with geeky goodness.  I picked up a few comics and a bunch of collections (but I haven't gotten around to transposing any of my Goodreads collections reviews here, even though that's been a goal for a few years now).  Here's some thoughts!

The Couch Preview
A typical sketchy-art indy book featuring a twist on superheroes: the lead is actually a psychiatrist whose career is flatlining when he suddenly finds himself with an unexpected new clientele: Wrecking Ball and the Ultra Squad. 

Invincible Iron Man #600 (Marvel)
The last-forever-for-now Brian Michael Bendis Marvel comic!  I've been trying to track down a copy for a little while now, so it was great to find one in one of the vendors' discount bins.  The story wraps up "The Search for Tony Stark," and explains what happened to him, and how he used that to also revive Jim Rhodes.  Marvel also decided to stick with the whole adoption concept another writer introduced a few years back, and Bendis gives us a look at the birth parents.  We see Riri Williams joining a team that also includes Miles Morales, destined to be one of Bendis's lasting contributions to Marvel lore, and his epic Ultimate Spider-Man run.  He skirts the whole idea of Doctor Doom running around as Iron Man recently.  He spends a lot of time with the A.I. Tony ruminating on the nature of his existence, which might as well be considered allegorical for Bendis reflecting on his big transition.  In lieu of one final signature letters/hype column and/or farewell essay, he gives readers some photographs of important behind-the-scene moments from about the last ten years of his Marvel tenure.  It was worth having a look at.

Jupiter's Legacy 2 #4, 5 (Image)
The final issues of the second (technically fourth, if you include the two Jupiter's Circle series with a different artist) volume of Mark Millar and Frank Quitely's bid for a grand superhero generational statement.  It's sometimes hard to separate the hype from the emerging legacy of a Millar comic.  All I know is Quitely feels constrained compared to stuff I've seen him do with Grant Morrison (their Multiversity: Pax Americana is my favorite collaboration between them).  I do like the emphasis on generations, though by "generational," earlier, I was talking about a generation-defining comic like Watchmen. 

Kamandi Challenge #9 (DC)
Tom King's issue in the grand concept of new creators every issue for a year, with each new team finishing whatever cliffhanger the one before it left them.  I'm not sure if King's goal here was to do that or comment on the existential nature of the concept.  Not sure it's one of his better comics, but certainly interesting, as King always is.

Millarworld New Talent Annual 2017 (Image)
Two years running I entered this contest and lost, and it's always interesting to see the script that beat me.  (Two years running I'm not impressed).  The highlights from the results this time are more plentiful than the previous one.  The Empress story (that's the one I entered this time) features great art from Luana Vecchio, with watercolor coloring that helps it additionally stand out.  Simon James' Superior script is pretty great.  Martin Renard's Super Crooks script is pretty clever.  The whole Huck package, writing from Stephanie Cooke and art from Jake Elphick, sells the concept pretty well.  I'm glad I was able to catch a copy of this finally, too.

Nibiru and the Legend of the Anunnaki #1, 2 (Fat Cat)
This is exactly the sort of thing you hope to find at a convention, especially one with name creators (I went to one in Colorado Springs, much smaller, with a bunch of local talent).  Neal Adams was there, and Fabien Nicieza ("creator of Deadpool," his table said, with the only official line of all the creators), and Scott Lobdell!  But the one I stopped at was Pat Broderick's.  The Pat Broderick who spoke to me was actually his wife.  Pat Broderick the classic Marvel/DC artist didn't really do much talking and/or interacting in general, which was fine.  The Pat Broderick who was his wife was very, very eager to talk, constantly hyping Nibiru even after I'd said I would buy it, and even after I bought it!  That's exactly the kind of help you want at something like this!  The comic itself features landscape formatting inside and...fairly atrocious editing.  The art can be a little rough, too.  Still, I appreciated having a look and supporting a guy who's been in the business a long time and sometimes not had the easiest time staying in.  Apparently he's a Tampa local and has had some professional jobs around town, too.  I figured Nibiru was his bid to get back into comics, in the thoroughly modern sense (the project was launched via Kickstarter, naturally).  The storytelling is very much in the Prince Valiant vein. Two issues in and it's basically still setup, though the action picks up with naked men fighting each other in the second issue.  The Pat Broderick who was his wife assured me the third issue was publishing soon, and I've seen art from the next few issues.  These two were published in 2016. 

Scout Comics Presents #1 (Scout Comics)
For a small publisher, there's a lot of excellent art and even decent storytelling on display in the previews included.  The least successful concept is actually Stabbity Rabbit, which had its own table at the con, separate from the one where I picked this up, which is too bad, because something called Stabbity Rabbit sounds like it really ought to be awesome. 

Back Issue Bin 123 "Copra, Green Lantern, Milk Wars, and others"

The Brave and the Bold #23 (DC)
(from July 2009)

Dan Jurgens writes a fairly standard Dan Jurgens tale featuring his signature creation Booster Gold as well as Magog, from the time Magog wasn't just a signature Kingdom Come creation but rather a part of the ongoing DC landscape thanks to Geoff Johns' Justice Society of America and even, briefly, his own ongoing comic.  I don't think Jurgens was ever going to be someone who could sell Magog properly.  He could pull off Cyborg Superman, but Magog requires more subtlety.  I'm glad Jurgens got a full-fledged career renaissance in the pages of Rebirth's Action Comics, but Jurgens circa 2009 was a long ways away from feeling relevant again.

Copra #13
(from April 2014)

A pastiche on John Ostrander's classic Suicide Squad, Michel Fiffe's Copra is something I've long wanted to have a look at, and thanks to this random issue appearing on the eclectic shelves of Comics & Stuff, I finally have.  And it was worth the wait.  This issue features Fiffe's Deadshot analog in a classic revenge saga spotlight.  It seems that after the series hit 31 issues, Fiffe moved on to other projects.  No idea if that's it or if he's just taking a break.

Countdown Arena #1 (DC)
(from February 2008)

I read the Countdown weekly comic itself back in the day, but I skipped over some of the side projects like Arena, which now seems like it foreshadowed not only Marvel's similarly-named Avengers Arena but DC's own Convergence event.  Anyway, I picked this up because of the typically sweet Scott McDaniel art.  I never get tired of it, never understand why he's since faded into comics oblivion.  Hopefully he gets to emerge at some point

Green Lantern #11-16 (DC)
(from June 2006-February 2007)

I wasn't instantly a fan of Geoff Johns' Green Lantern.  When Rebirth began I was just getting back into comics after a near half-decade lapse, and I still thought of Johns in relation to some of the Marvel work he'd done that desperately sought attention.  I ended up liking Rebirth itself well enough, but I didn't feel motivated to dive into the subsequent ongoing series.  I caught up with it about a year into its run, and liked what I saw.  This is a reunion with that material, in which Hal Jordan reunites with some of the Green Lanterns he steamrolled in "Emerald Twilight," and they still hold a grudge despite magically surviving the rampage.  Now they're all trying to survive the Manhunters and their new master, the Cyborg Superman!  At some point I'll own the complete Johns Green Lantern run in collected edition form.

Hawkman #18 (DC)
(from October 2003)

Like his later Aquaman, Johns had a brief run on Hawkman, spinning out from the pages of one of his long runs, Justice Society, and it's something I like to catch glimpses of every now and then, when I come across it.  This issue is Johns doing the Hawkman version of Gaiman's Sandman.  Shocking that this isn't done more often. 

Justice League Canada #5 (DC)
(from December 2014)

I picked this up because I thought it featured Lemire's take on the Legion of Super-Heroes, as he's recently launched another Black Hammer spinoff features a Legion analog (The Quantum Age), but it's not.  Funny that there've been so many secondary League title launches in recent years, increasingly hard to keep them all straight, and that among them was this short-lived Canadian team.

Kingsman: The Red Diamond #6 (Image)
(from February 2018)

As a frequent contributor to the MillarWorld forums, I'm not actually a frequent reader of Mark Millar.  I've read a fraction of his output over the years, but I've liked some of it ("Old Man Logan," Starlight, Empress) quite a bit.  Kingsman is his version of James Bond, and Red Diamond the first time he's let a professional writer (Rob Williams) play in his sandbox, just the kickoff to a bold new era, perhaps thanks to his Netflix deal.  Williams holds pretty close to the Millar formula, as it turns out.  If you didn't know it wasn't Millar himself writing the comic, you probably wouldn't even guess.

Manhunter #27 (DC)
(from March 2007)

I'm pretty surprised that DC hasn't tried to revive Kate Spencer's Manhunter since her original comics, perhaps because Marc Andreyko has de facto creator rights to her?  I don't know.  Either way, in this issue Spencer's role as lawyer reaches its zenith as she defends Wonder Woman circa the second most famous DC neck-snapping, the Infinite Crisis death of Maxwell Lord.  The cover evokes Lord's murder of Ted Kord.

Mother Panic/Batman #1
Doom Patrol/Justice League of America #1 (Young Animal)
(from April 2018)

Part of the "Milk Wars" Young Animal event that featured familiar DC characters (notably Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman), not to mention Frank Quitely doing a cover version of his own art.  I guess I don't really get why Young Animal hasn't caught on.  I don't know if there's a cult-level appreciation I just haven't heard about or if the disappointment over Doom Patrol's erratic publishing schedule, or that Gerard Way heavily expected readers to be familiar with and fans of Grant Morrison's '90s run, or...Just another of the peculiarities of modern times, subverting expectations every step of the way...Anyway, Mother Panic finally meets Batman!  And Robotman figures out whether he's merely a comic book character who thinks he's Robotman!  Probably!

Mister Terrific #2 (DC)
(from December 2011)

One of the things I'll always credit the New 52 with, right from the start, was giving Michael Holt his first ongoing series.  To my mind, Holt was a signature creation of the early millennium, and I always want to see the dude find the breakout success he deserves.  In a lot of ways, he's the new Martian Manhunter.  Anyway, to my shame this is the first time I've read past the first issue of the New 52 series.  Granted, at the time I didn't have a lot of money to spend so I had to make a lot of brutal choices (thankfully I had enough to discover Tomasi and Gleason's brilliant Batman & Robin).  I didn't know what to make of the first issue, so I quickly gave up on the series.  If I'd read the second issue, I would've gotten a much better idea, it seems, and a much better impression of the series...

Teen Titans #100 (DC)
(from October 2011)

Just before the New 52 era, it seems, was this milestone issue of the popular Johns relaunch of the team.  I had to remind myself that Superboy was officially back a few years earlier, and star of his brief second ongoing series (third if you count Superboy and the Ravers, which I definitely do!), ahead of a New 52 reimagining. 

X-Nation 2099 #2 (Marvel)
(from April 1996)

One of my key memories of the '90s scene was this abortive 2099 version of Generation X, coming at the end of the initial push for Marvel's look at a century in the future, since collapsed mostly into the line's Spider-Man, Miguel O'Hara.  I remember the quick creator collapse in X-Nation itself, how Humberto Ramos provided the art for the first two issues and then left, back to DC (he'd eventually wind up back at Marvel), and subsequent issues wobbled wildly out of control.  It was mostly the Ramos art, it seems in hindsight, that I loved so much about the early issues.  I tried reading this again more than twenty years later (apparently I forgot who the writer was, Tom Peyer, convincing myself it was Mark Waid, mostly because Ramos and Waid made such beautiful magic together in the pages of Impulse), and the art was all I could still bring myself to follow.  Anyway, I was amused in later years to reacquaint myself with the exact details of what happened creatively.  Ben Raab and Terry Kavanagh took over writing chores, while none other than Ed McGuinness helped round out the art in the final issue (#6).  I remember being hugely disappointed with the series after Ramos and Peyer (apparently) departed, and only enjoying the series again with #6.  The art finally looked like Marvel cared about the series again, and I can see why.  It'd probably be interesting to revisit that issue...

Reading Comics 220 "Spotlight Nation...and a sort of Batwedding"

Picked up one of Marvel's Free Spotlight comics with Dan Slott's Fantastic Four on the cover, with four pages from this month's relaunch.  There's been a lot of talk that Marvel took the FF off the board as a bargaining chip (seems to have worked) to get the movie rights back, dating back to Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars, where Reed Richards and Doctor Doom had their most epic showdown to date.  Since then Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm have appeared in various team books.  And of course it's Johnny and Ben who appear in these preview pages.

There's also Gerry Duggan offering a look at Infinity Wars, which apparently will feature an Infinity Watch of heroes and villains protecting the various Infinity Gems.  Clearly calculated as an event to follow on the heels of Avengers: Infinity War at the movies.  Then there's Extermination, another X-Men event; a page detailing various Miracleman collections, including a Neil Gaiman volume called The Golden Age perhaps in the hope more material will eventually follow; various other one-and-two-page ads, including for Charles Soule's Return of Wolverine featuring the infamous new flaming claws; four pages of Cullen Bunn's Asgardians of the Galaxy, which is another cue from the movies, borrowing elements from Thor: Ragnarok; and finally four from Kelly Thompson's West Coast Avengers, which features both Hawkeyes and land sharks that do not try and pretend to be delivering things.

DC Nation #0 (DC)

Besides looks at Brian Michael Bendis's Superman and Scott Snyder's Justice League, this quarter-priced special released just before Free Comic Book Day this year featured a wicked Joker story from Tom King in anticipation of the Batwedding, in which the Clown Prince breaks into someone's home and he waits there, along with the poor guy, for an invitation.  It's as perfect a representation of Joker's twisted logic and sense of humor as I've ever seen.  A lot of fans swear by Alan Moore's Killing Joke, but I think that one speaks more to Moore's proclivities than it does Joker's.  King's Joker had a great spotlight in "War of Jokes and Riddles," in which he tries to figure out why nothing seems funny to him anymore, before realizing that Batman gives him bold new context, a challenge that will never get old.  Here he's just free to terrorize the poor guy, using his singular logic.

Batman #50 (DC)

The main event, though, the issue that promised the actual Batwedding, angered a lot of fans because the wedding...doesn't happen.  Instead, it proves an elaborate setup to the events of "I Am Bane," the earlier arc where Batman prevented Bane from attaining his Psycho-Pirate happy ending.  Holly Robinson, who has proven so crucial to King's Catwoman, turns out to be a stooge of Bane, and whispers in Catwoman's ear doubt about what a happy ending would do to Batman.  So the issue is instead really another caption character study of Batman and Catwoman's perspectives.  No one has done that sort of thing as well as King since Jeph Loeb's early Superman/Batman. 

Eternity #2, 4 (Valiant)

I went back and read #3, which I'd caught earlier, too, and that turned out to be a good idea, because it reads better in context, obviously, and is just a pleasure to read again in general.  Eternity is the fourth volume of Matt Kindt's brilliant Divinity suite, in which Kindt reimagines the idea of the omnipotent hero previously featured in Moore's Watchmen under the guise of Dr. Manhattan, this time as a Russian cosmonaut and his colleagues, one of whom became his wife and the other a foe, while he inspired a fanatic who has proven far more troublesome than he could've possibly imagined.  Eternity was pitched as beyond imagination, so its ending is apropos, the true consequences of Abram Adams's transformation far more wild than anything he discovers from the world that changed him forever.  Hopefully there's a fifth volume of this stuff.  The ending of this one certainly suggests that the story continues, anyway...

The Flash #50 (DC)

Josh Williamson continues his Rebirth buildup of previous lore by concluding the "Flash War" fight between Barry Allen and Wally West amicably and bringing back the classic Bart Allen in his classic Impulse costume.  Howard Porter's career renaissance continues, and that's great to see from a reader who well-remembers his JLA heyday.

Reading Comics 219 "DC's 100-Page Comic Giants"

Teen Titans 100-Page Comic Giant #1

News dropped suddenly that DC was publishing four titles of these things, exclusive to Walmart, replacing the three-packs they were putting together for a few years, and I couldn't have been happier.  Besides Teen Titans there's also Justice League of America and Batman, plus Superman, which I have also checked out, below.  These are mostly reprint editions, featuring material from the early millennium, New 52, and Rebirth eras, at least so far, plus lead stories of new material which in later months will feature work from Brian Michael Bendis and Tom King, so DC is definitely taking this project seriously.

The Titans are a team I've followed somewhat loosely throughout my comics experience.  My first one was a battered copy of The New Teen Titans #39, where Dick Grayson and Wally West walk away from the team (in Dick's case in advance of adopting his new Nightwing persona during "The Judas Contract").  I read Dan Jurgens' complete run from the '90s.

That turns out to be relevant for the new story in this issue, because Jurgens is once again the writer.  The lineup is more or less the classic one, insofar as there's Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven.  No clear indication which Robin, but the costume is classic Tim Drake.  I'm still baffled that there hasn't been a push for a live action Titans movie, but there's a TV version coming up, plus a movie version of the spastic cartoon coming up. 

The first reprint in the issue is Teen Titans #1 from 2003 via Geoff Johns, in which he finally gets to explore a concept he first breached in a famous letter that got published in the waning days of the '90s Superboy comic.  He uses the book as a way to reorient all the characters, streamlining them.  The core of the team had already teamed up in Young Justice, but the approach is totally different.  Peter David's comic was basically a DC version of the teen comics other companies were doing in the '90s, rather than the version DC itself did throughout the decade.  Johns used his Titans as a pilot program for his wider efforts later, expanding on things he was doing with the Justice Society.  Wonder Girl arguably got the biggest push.  Previous to Johns she was almost more of a cosplay superhero, even wearing a wig, for whatever reason, to achieve her blonde look; Johns keeps that hair full-time. 

Next up is a reprint of Super Sons #1, which is the first time I've had a look at it.  Peter Tomasi continues his Damian Wayne experience, this time with added Jon Kent, with Jorge Jimenez on art.  I don't think it works as well, outside of Superman, the adventures of the all-new and all-different Robin and Superboy, but these are fun characters, defining new ones of the modern era, so it's always worth having them in the spotlight.

Finally there's a reprint of Sideways #1, part of the recent Age of Heroes artist-first push, most of which are versions of Marvel characters.  Sideways is a kind of Spider-Man, visually and as far as his being a high school student trying to fit in.  I've been a fan of Kenneth Rocafort since Red Hood and the Outlaws, so I'm glad to see his work get a spotlight like this.  At least as this issue goes, Sideways actually spends more time as plain old Derek James, and Rocafort absolutely sells him that way.  His work looks better that way!  I hope DC recognizes this and finds, I don't know, a Vertigo project for him in the future.

Superman 100-Page Comic Giant #1

The lead new material from Jimmy Palmiotti (who seems to have been contracted to do a lot of the new material in these things) begs the suggestion: if the DCEU wanted a solid new direction for Henry Cavill's Superman, foregoing supervillains and merely having him confront one of those classic apocalyptic weather scenarios would probably sell him really well.  Here he confronts a slew of tornados in middle America.

The next segment is a reprint of Jeph Loeb's classic Superman/Batman #1, an update of the old World's Finest comics with the stars directly in the title, which DC has revisited a few times since, sometimes with Wonder Woman substituting (which was a nice development).  President Luthor!  Bet both DC and Marvel are kicking themselves that they already did their stories like that before Trump.

Then Green Lantern #1 from 2003, the series that followed Green Lantern: Rebirth, in which Geoff Johns works to redeem Hal Jordan.  Ironically few fans seem to realize how common it is for Jordan to need redemption, which works well for his cinematic future, should DCEU ever consider going in that direction.  It's still shocking to think how far Johns truly got to push Jordan.  If it had played out just a few years later, maybe the movie would've had more momentum behind it.  Or maybe just accelerate the Sinestro arc into that first movie.  Would've made a more obvious parallel plot.

Finally, The Terrifics #1, another Age of Heroes launch, this one a Fantastic Four pastiche, featuring a stretchy dude, a smart dude, a weird-looking dude, and a lady who can become transparent.  Some variations there, but pretty clear prototypes being followed.  Jeff Lemire has been one of the most fascinating writers of the modern era, and this is an excellent new showcase for him, hopefully one that will garner him wider acclaim.  Also another chance for Mister Terrific to shine, plus welcome new opportunities for Metamorpho and Plastic Man, plus the new Phantom Girl.

I certainly look forward to more!

Back Issue Bin 122 "The Batgirl of Burnside and other Throwbacks"

Batgirl #42 (DC)
(from September 2015)

The Batgirl of Burnside will be remembered as a turning point in DC lore, not only for permanently reviving Barbara Gordon's superhero career, but as part of the youth movement that also saw Marvel introduce Kamala Khan and a whole generation of young heroes, as well as inspiring the brief DCYou era.  I was already well into a more limited comics reading experience by the time Batgirl went to Burnside, but I appreciated the idea even if I didn't get a chance to read it myself.  (There's a silly notion that just because you haven't personally enjoyed something you somehow automatically count as uninterested; that's poor perception of economics.)  The Burnside revival began in Batgirl #35, and it was as much cosmetic as approach.  Babs suddenly looked youthful again, and she was given a bold new costume and art direction, the latter of which was another primary feature of DCYou.  This issue features a different redesigned member of the Batman family, namely Batman himself, or rather Commissioner Batman, James Gordon.  Y'know, Batgirl's dad.  Commissioner Batman was also a bold creative left turn, always meant to be temporary.  It was only fitting for Batman and Batgirl to team up during this era, so I'm glad it happened.

Batman #457 (DC)
(from December 1990)

Ah!  This was Tim Drake's costumed debut!  Tim Drake, otherwise known as the third Robin, after Dick Grayson and Jason Todd.  In the Rebirth era, continued efforts to distinguish Tim led to his "death" in Detective Comics, as part of the Oz arc that eventually revealed the mystery figure to be Superman's dad Jor-El.  Tim was originally designed to be a dynamic new Robin, a faithful partner of Batman in standing with tradition, but "Knightfall" and its aftermath actually shoved him into full-fledged independence.  He eventually assumed the mantle of Red Robin in an ode to Kingdom Come, even wearing the same costume Dick does in that comic.  In the New 52, even though he was the first Robin to have his own ongoing series, Tim had to make do with leading the Teen Titans while Dick starred in Nightwing and then Grayson, and Jason in Red Hood and the Outlaws while Batman's kid Damian Wayne costarred in Batman and Robin.  For a generation of Robin fans, Tim Drake is the Boy Wonder, so this is a landmark issue.  It's the first time the traditional costume gets a complete overhaul, too!

Captain America #698 (Marvel)
(from April 2018)

Okay, so this one's pretty recent, a victim of a cover tear and subsequent banishment to the cheap bin.  I love that stuff!  This is one of Mark Waid's early comics in the post-Secret Empire revival, Marvel's effort to redeem the character after spending roughly a year with him operating as a natural born agent of Hydra.  Waid kicks off an arc where Cap wakes up after having been frozen again, with America in the grip of tyranny.  Only Captain America can save the day!  Ironically!

Earth 2 #25 (DC)
(from September 2014)

After James Robinson set up the concept, Tom Taylor took over and got to use versions of Superman and Batman.  I loved the New 52 Earth 2.  The Society continuation wrapped up in the early days of the Rebirth era, but at that point really only the DC office cared, which was too bad.  The Earth 2 Batman was actually Thomas Wayne!  I don't know if this was inspired by the Flashpoint Batman, but it was fun to see DC revive the idea in some fashion.  Obviously Batman couldn't dominate the title, even if he makes the cover this issue, at least the Batman 75th Anniversary edition.  Because the issue also features Val-Zod, the Earth 2 Superman, finally decide to embrace being Superman, so he rates the standard cover.

And there he is!  Both the Earth 2 Batman and Earth 2 Superman had unique costume variants on the classic templates.  Thomas Wayne Batman had red where Bruce Wayne typically has white, and Val-Zod sports silver where Clark Kent has red, with a red substitute as the field behind the s-shield.  As events later developed, neither Thomas Wayne nor Val-Zod were adequate substitutes for the icons who died in the first issue, but Dick Grayson later assumes the mantle of Batman in Convergence and Earth 2: Society, marking a true progression in the lineage he only gets to temporarily fulfill in regular continuity.









The Flash #48 (DC)
(from March 1991)

With no offense to William Messner-Loebs (help him here!), Wally West didn't properly become the Flash until Mark Waid started writing him.  That may have something to do with the fact that I was introduced to Wally as Flash by Waid's comics.  So I like to look into Messner-Loebs' work when I get the chance.  Among the interesting guest-stars this issue include Elongated Man Ralph Dibney (as a Flash continuity nerd it's surprising that Waid never got around to that) and a severely aged Vandal Savage (really want to read that next issue now!).  Plus Wally learning new things about his mom.  Waid was definitely part of the mythology movement that came to dominate DC, whereas Messner-Loebs embodied the more grounded ideas of the receding era that came before it.  It's not surprising their takes on Wally were different. 

Gotham Academy #7 (DC)
(from August 2015)

Batman tends to dominate DC's publishing schedule, as he's been their most consistent seller for...fifty years?  That's about right.  So that gives him a lot of sway, and gives creators a lot of space to play in.  This concept takes place in Gotham but doesn't necessarily involve Batman, although I chose this particular issue because it features his kid, Damian Wayne.  At this point, really only Grant Morrison and Pete Tomasi had written Damian, so this was an opportunity for a fresh set of eyes.  The result is a much softer version, which stands to reason, as Gotham Academy was itself a much more kid-friendly Batman comic.

Grayson #11 (DC)
(from October 2015)

It's sometimes easy to assume Tom King ended up getting the Batman assignment because of DC's respect for his Omega Men, but it's really down to his work on Grayson, where he got to explore the Batman landscape with a writing partner (Tim Seeley, who later built on Grayson's legacy with his Nightwing Rebirth material).  And King even had Mikel Janin on art!  Janin later proved to be a signature collaborator in the pages of Batman, too, of course, which makes it all the more obvious how important Grayson was for both their careers.  This issue, with a typically fantastic cover from Janin, helps the title reach a culmination of the Spyral arc it continued from Grant Morrison's Batman Incorporated (first volume).  Really, even I sometimes underestimate the importance of this groundwork material for King.  Someday I hope to read the complete run, add it to my King collection.  I have pretty much everything else already.



The Adventures of Superman Annual #3 (DC)
(from 1991)

The Armageddon 2001 annuals arc was one of the early themed events DC did that helped set the precedent for what it would later make an annual tradition in the New 52.  In fact, this particular arc is not all that different from Futures End, a kind of fast-forward.  Waverider, a character who could really use a revival, peers into the future of every hero trying to determine who becomes the villainous Monarch.  DC lore has it that it was originally intended to be Captain Atom, who in fact does become a different Monarch years later in the pages of Extreme Justice, but in the meantime it was switched to Hawk of Hawk & Dove (soon to appear on television!).  At any rate, it was never going to be Superman, right?  This issue instead focuses on the then-recent introduction of Maxima as an alien who fancies Superman to be her ideal mate.  Ah...they're later in Dan Jurgens' Justice League together! 

Adventures of Superman #632 (DC)
(from November 2004)

There's a number of things Greg Rucka is known for in his first run with DC (Wonder Woman, Gotham Central chief among them, and eventually Batwoman), but writing Superman isn't one of them.  And yet here he is!  There are two things to know about the issue: one is that Lois has been shot and is possibly dying (hindsight says probably not), and that Ruin is trying to become the next great Superman villain (hindsight says probably not, possibly owing to the fact that he's basically Lex Luthor).  Please also note Paul Pelletier on art!

Marvel Knights: X-Men #5 (Marvel)
(from May 2014)

Industry observers hailed Marvel Knights, along with the Ultimate line, to be one of Marvel's creative saviors in the early millennium.  Somewhere along the way both of them petered out, the Ultimate comics with a bang, the Knights with a whimper.  This is one of those projects that just kind of happened.  It's an ambitious attempt by new creators to give the X-Men new creative relevance (which was the Knights mandate as a whole) without necessarily reinventing the wheel.  Maybe the results this time were a little too woolly to stick the landing, too caught up with the emerging indy aesthetic Marvel would come to try and embrace across its line.  So it didn't really stick out.  But for an X-Men comic it still looks unique.  I think the problem mostly was that it tried to introduce new characters but didn't trust them to guide the story.  The X-Men gained new life when new characters started guiding the story.  Maybe time to try that again?

Reading Comics 218 "Reading the Free Comics from FCBD 2018"

I never did get around to offering my thoughts on all the free comics I got on Free Comic Book Day this year.  Here we go!

Avengers/Captain America (Marvel)

This one previews Jason Aaron's Avengers as well as Ta-Nehisi Coates' Captain America.  Amusingly or not, but Aaron's idea closely parallels the Justice League movie, that same basic parallel it shared with Lord of the Rings, an alliance between disparate factions in the past to achieve an impossible goal that needs to be repeated in the present.  (I don't care what anyone says, I dig the Justice League movie.)  Coates, as always, leans pretty heavily into rhetoric you either agree with or don't, with hardcore American figures depicted as the bad guys.  I never understood how Marvel could've turned Captain America, of all people, into someone who represented anything less than the American ideal.  I get that the popular consensus turned toward cynicism in the Vietnam era, and that Captain America subsequently became a symbol of distrust in government, frequently on the run from the government, most recently in the original Civil War event and its movie version.  But shouldn't he also be capable of depicting a transcendence of such divisive thought?  Wasn't that the point of realizing Secret Empire probably went too far?  I don't know...

Barrier #1 (Image)
The latest concept from Brian K. Vaughan has had trouble connecting with readers since its FCBD preview.  A lot of them think the concept may just be too on-the-nose.  Vaughan attempts to tackle the current immigration troubles by bringing literal aliens into the picture.  He uses Spanish for half of the narrative to drive home his point, without translation, hoping the landscape format and Marcos Martin on art and the by-now trademark Image coloring filter will help sell everything.  What he doesn't seem to realize that all his biggest hits (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, Saga) have always depended on a sensational concept with strong lead characters to anchor them.  If he attempts to forge ahead without first establishing the appeal of the characters, above and beyond concept, he's always going to have a problem.

Marvel Rising #0
This one wasn't really a FCBD release, but it was still free.  Devin Grayson has finally staged her full-time comeback.  She's been drafted into writing girl comics since she started working on it, and that's what we have here, another extension of the G. Willow Wilson/Ms. Marvel era.  I think Grayson has much greater potential than being pigeonholed like this, and I wish Marvel would figure out how to do Ms. Marvel-inspired comics without trying so desperately to outright duplicate Wilson's comics.  But it's still nice to have Grayson back.

Maxwell's Demons #1 (Vault)
This was by far my biggest disappointment from FCBD 2018.  I know writer Deniz Camp from the MillarWorld forums.  He's a big Grant Morrison fan.  Maxwell's Demons is clearly his attempt to write a Grant Morrison comic.  But he's no Grant Morrison.  Sometimes there's a huge difference between being someone's fan and being able to emulate them.   There's a ton that goes into being Grant Morrison.  There's his many inspirations, his background, his early efforts, and how all of that combined to creating someone who thoroughly understands storytelling, even if it sometimes overwhelms readers.  In fact, if you really wanted to emulate Morrison, it isn't really a style but the idea of being so thoroughly immersed in a concept that it will overwhelm readers.  All Camp has is trotting after style.  When I first heard the title of the series, I hated it.  Apparently it plays off a philosophical concept.  But it still makes a lousy title for a comic.  I don't mean to bag on Camp.  I would strongly suggest he go back to the drawing board, come up with his own style, figure out what a Deniz Camp story looks like.  This is something he'd likely resent.  He's got a lot of people who've told him his current results are fantastic.  People lie. 

The Amazing Spider-Man/Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel)
Nick Spencer, hoping everyone quickly forgets the controversies of Secret Empire and how long Dan Slott wrote Spider-Man, previews his run by getting Peter Parker acquainted with his new roommate...the supervillain Boomerang.  There's also an outline of various Guardians of the Galaxy happenings.  For me it was a fun read, but other fans found an outline to be disappointing.

Starburns Presents #1 (SBI Press)
"Starburns" is a reference to Community, now Dan Harmon's second most famous cult creation, after Rick & Morty.  Given that comics came up as part of Community's vast tapestry of quirk, it seems inevitable that Harmon eventually got into them.  I had to see the results.  He and other creators, including Patton Oswalt, deliver what's essentially an underground comics anthology.  I guess that about tracks.

Baby Teeth #1 (Aftershock)
This one was one of the bonus freebies from a prior freebie event, in this instance Halloween ComicFest 2017.  Donny Cates is one of those writers who emerged after I stopped being able to read comics widely, so I never really got to experience him despite seeing his name referenced repeatedly.  Aftershock as a company has sort of been trying to become the new Image, but Baby Teeth sort of reads like a Vertigo comic, which I guess is appropriate, as Image turned into Vertigo after backing off superheroes...

Batman: Halloween ComicFest #1 (DC)
From the same ComicFest as the above, this one's a reprint of Batman #7, an issue written by Steve Orlando rather than Tom King, part of the "Night of the Monster Men" crossover event.

Hellboy and the BPRD 1953 (Dark Horse)
Another Halloween ComicFest 2017 comic.  Mike Mignola didn't just create Hellboy, he created a whole landscape, and a distinct genre of comics, and that's clear every time I read something from it.  I don't think I'd want to read it all the time, but it's always fun to dabble.

Injustice 2 (DC)
This is another freebie unrelated to FCBD, or any other specific event, just promotional material for the Injustice games and comics. 

Lady Mechanika Halloween ComicFest 2017
Joe Benitez is one of the early millennial Big Two creators who opted to go their own way.  He eventually struck on this self-published creation, which shares a lot in common with Mignola's Hellboy, and has been developing a similar cult status. 

Runaways #1 (Marvel)
Another Halloween ComicFest 2017 entry, this one reprints the first issue of Brian K. Vaughan's Runaways, the innovate title that saw young heroes emerge from the shadow of their supervillain parents.  Like the Young Avengers, the Runaways have struggled to move on from their high profile origins, which is kind of a shame.  Probably because it's hard finding the true standouts when you launch a whole team of new characters without singling out a lead character in advance.  For the Young Avengers, it turned out to be Kate Bishop's Hawkeye.   These guys?

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Mirror Broken (IDW)
This is a FCBD comic, but from 2017 rather than 2018.  I wish IDW had been able to maintain its tight creative focus from its first years publishing Star Trek comics.  Over time that focus slipped.  When I first heard there was going to be a Next Generation Mirror Universe comic, I immediately slapped my forehead; we know what this era of the Mirror Universe looks like, thanks to Deep Space Nine, and there really isn't much room for the classic Mirror Universe in it.  Humans have basically become outlaws and slaves.  Mirror Broken skirts this by suggesting there was some kind of Imperial remnant cut off from the rest of the galaxy.  But it feels like an excuse; this comic is clearly written to evoke the "Mirror, Mirror" concept rather than the greater Mirror Universe. 

Star Wars: Darth Maul (Marvel)
Another Halloween ComicFest 2017 comic, it features the dude who officially marked his return in Solo: A Star Wars Story (predated by the Clone Wars cartoons).  This comic uneasily attempts to reconcile the Darth Maul who serves Palpatine with a self-determined dude.

Star Wars Reads (Marvel)
A standalone free preview of various Marvel Star Wars comics.  It didn't take long for Marvel to try and add a major new character of its own to the saga.  But I still have no idea why I should care about Doctor Aphra.  Here she references that she used to work for Vader.  Don't really know how to take that.

The Mighty Thor #1 (Marvel)
One last comic, one last entry from Halloween ComicFest 2017, featuring classic reprint material from Walt Simonson.

Back Issue Bin 121 "DC 3-Packs Again"

As far as I can tell, DC quit its Walmart 3-pack initiative  sometime last year.  I kept hoping to find new packs, but they were eventually outright pulled from the shelves at my local store, only to recently resurface, all the familiar stock they had the last time the packs were available.  I figured I'd pick some of those up just for argument's sake.  Three more packs, nine comics, here's the results:

Batman #1 (Batman #9)

This is the start of Tom King's second arc, "I Am Suicide," and I really don't mind reading it again, as it's a great issue, a walkthrough of his recruits for a private Suicide Squad including Ventriloquist, Bronze Tiger, Punch & Jewlee, and Catwoman.  The issue holds a lot of nice little tidbits, including one of King's early Kite Man appearances, not to mention a direct reference to "War of Jokes and Riddles" (at that point two arcs away), an appearance by a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes (probably) locked up in Arkham, and of course the start of King's Catwoman arc, where readers were initially shocked to learn she was suddenly a mass murderer.  Of course, we later learn that she was covering for a friend, Holly Robinson, which itself becomes a running subplot.  The Legion arc is still a ways away, as evidenced by several months worth of advance solicitations here in 2018 still yet to feature a follow-up, not to mention that "Suicide" is also part of King's long-term plans for Gotham Girl, which likewise have seen no advancement with the focus shifting to Batman's upcoming nuptials to Catwoman.  "Suicide" was the start of Bane's appearances in the series, so far culminating in the later "I Am Bane" arc.  "Suicide" also features King's addition to Batman's origin that the young Bruce Wayne was in fact suicidal prior to making his vow of a war on crime.  This arc was actually the start of massive complaints against King's Batman, which have never affected sales.  I don't really get readers not appreciating all this, especially with such a strong kickoff.  Too many readers, I think, don't let the work carry its obvious momentum.  Then again, there are plenty of readers who do.  The wedding is a clear lure, and buzz is crucial for all forms of popular entertainment, usually crushing any immediate backlash.  And hopefully in the future all this will be duly appreciated for the landmark work it is.

I'm not sure whether this is the first time I've obtained the Walmart variant (minus the "I Am Suicide" arc dressing in the Rebirth banner, and the numbering as indicated), but it's at least the third time I've read the issue, including the original publication and the later I Am Suicide collection.

Batman/Superman #31
(from July 2016)

Part of Pete Tomasi's "Final Days of Superman," what turned out to be a New 52 Death of Superman arc, far less heralded in the media than the 1992 version. 

Bizarro #3
(from October 2015)

A humor title launched in the DCYou initiative inspired by the success of "the Batgirl of Burnside" and coinciding with, among other things, the launch of King's Omega Men.

Convergence: Harley Quinn #2
(from July 2015)

I loved Convergence as an event.  Turns out the whole idea was probably executed mostly to help DC move to California with minimal publication disruption (insofar as material was still be released, just not regular series material) for a couple of months.  Captain Carrot appears here, part of an unlikely revival for the character that included appearances in Grant Morrison's Multiversity.  The Divergence title previewed in the issue is Garth Ennis's Section Eight.  I remain uninterested in Garth Ennis comics.

Infinity Man and the Forever People: Futures End
(from November 2014)

This is another 3-pack alum I suspect I've gotten before but not in the past half-year.  Anyway, as with all Futures End specials, its story jumps five years into the future but not necessarily related to the events of the weekly Futures End itself.  Beautiful Dreamer finds herself cursed to try and escape the pain of the team's destruction.  With the right creative approach, all of Jack Kirby's New Gods concepts could have massive breakout appeal, including the Forever People.  I'm glad DC keeps plugging away at its periodic attempts.

Batman and the Justice League: Outbreak #1 (Justice League #10)

The lead comics in these packs all had altered covers to varying degrees.  Many of them were calculated to broaden their appeal, hence the League lining up with Batman's popularity.  This was part of Bryan Hitch's run, which recently came to an end in favor of Scott Snyder's revival.  Hitch was good for fairly standard League material, but the outsize quality Grant Morrison popularized and DC keeps chasing is definitely something Snyder is interested in delivering.  The whole Dark Nights: Metal event turned out to be a League story, demonstrating how wild they can be. 

Red Hood and the Outlaws #34
(from October 2014)

Scott Lobdell's work in this series and its sequels has never gotten the respect its due, mainly because of Kenneth Rocafort's early artwork, his depiction of Starfire, which was part of the renewed culture wars we're still enjoying today.  This later issue is a Starfire spotlight (no Rocafort in sight), featuring her backstory of having once been a slave. 

Swamp Thing #37
(from February 2015)

I've been amazed to find Charles Soule's reputation evaporate so quickly during his tenure at Marvel; at DC he'd been considered one of the fastest rising stars in comics, thanks in part to stuff like his Swamp Thing.  This issue features the birth of the Machine Queen, part of the tapestry of kingdoms that was the focus of the New 52 Swamp King mythology.  A lot of fans seem to have been turned off by the kingdom concept in the Dark titles, especially the "Rotworld" crossover arc and related material, thinking it took up too much attention.  But I consider focus to be a good thing, putting things into perspective, and I find the kingdoms fascinating.  I'm often at odds with the logic of other fans...

Batman: Trinity #1 (Trinity #1)

Here was the last of the headlining acts, as evidenced by the variable title.  This was, aside from all other considerations, the launch of Francis Manapul's title focusing on Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, offering his insights into their character at the start of the Rebirth era, all of them still trying to make sense of Superman's new status quo.  While Manapul's art had apparently once again begun to evolve, it's still his recognizable hopeful style, "hopeful" insofar as it invites the reader in as a friend of these characters, which is always, for me, a good thing.

Unless new packs appear, I think I'm probably done buying these things.  Fun ride while it lasted.