Last Week in Comics
Right, back to work, then. I’ve been spending most of the last week at Edinburgh Festival stuff so haven’t been concentrating on the vital business of funnybooks but I’ve got a spare hour before going to the cinema so let’s see what we’ve got here. This pile’s actually got some books from two weeks back, due to a mix-up with postal stuff, so a few of these are a bit dated, but we might as well take a look at them anyway, eh?
INCREDIBLE HERCULES 132 – This is the first part of the split direction the book’s taking over the next three months, with bi-weekly shipping. Every alternate issue (like this one) will be Herc-centric, focusing on his temporary secondment to the office of Thor, with the intervening issues (like next week’s) being Amadeus Cho-centric, following their acrimonious split at the end of the previous story. This isn’t a bad idea, to be honest – part of the traditional ‘buddy story’ is always the bit where the buddies fall out and go their separate ways, to be reunited later when they realise how thick-skulled they’ve both been. I look forward to the scene where Amadeus rides around on a bike with Delphyne sitting on the crossbar and Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head plays. Anyway. The story of Herc taking on the role of Thor in order to lay the smack down on the dark elves is a neat conceit, giving Herc the chance to break out his mace for the first time in a while, and the interplay between Herc and his newly-young father Zeus is clearly written in such a way as to make the reader predisposed to dislike the little brat, all the better for us to welcome Amadeus back when he eventually returns. Art is by Reilly Brown, ex of Cable & Deadpool and a guy with a style which now appears to fall halfway between Andrea DiVito and Ben Edlund. Great stuff as always, and I can’t wait to see what the Amadeus story will be like.
X-FACTOR 47 – A bit of a cheat, this one – the portentous cover, featuring Madrox and Layla discovering their joint grave, doesn’t actually happen anywhere in the story. Still, there are some nice twists for all that, with Cortex’s identity being one of these neat little loose-end tie-ups that David is so good at. Monet and Siryn both get to kick some butt, and there’re some intriguing character bits with Longshot that make the reader think “No, seriously, he’s not going there, is he?”. The only complaint I have with this at the moment is that it’s effectively been one story that’s been going on since some point in the paleolithic era and it would be nice to be able to regroup the team and start off on a new storyline.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 602-603 – If there were some kind of way you could adopt a comics writer, the way you can adopt a penguin at the zoo, where you get some photos of them and a note each year which purports to be from them letting you know how they’ve been that year and whether they’ve laid any eggs or whatever, then I would definitely want to adopt Fred Van Lente. I honestly don’t remember a bad comic the man’s written. This Spidey story, for example, makes the Chameleon into a creepy and dangerous villain in a way that he hasn’t been for years, has some classic Spider-slugfests with the NYPD’s anti-spider squad (and what looks like a return of the original Spider-Slayer, of all things), and Mary Jane being used effectively and intelligently. If you haven’t read Spider-Man for a while, whether because of the OMD hoo-hah or whatever, you might want to think about picking this up and giving it a go, because it really is very good. As with X-Factor, though, I’ve got a couple of little complaints, one being that JJJ is being largely reduced to a cartoon character now that he’s become the mayor of New York, and the other being that the ‘comedy’ Boston accents really need to be given a rest. In fact, if the Reilly family are only there to provide high-larious Bostonia then it might be worth just shuttling them back off to Massachusetts.
X-MEN LEGACY 227 – I’m picking this up because it ties in to Utopia, which I’ve been quietly enjoying, but it’s actually not a bad story in and of itself, for all that it’s basically a big slugfest. It would have been nice to have seen a little more made of the fact that Rogue is fighting Ms Marvel for most of this issue, which is a pairing that carries some baggage (you’d have expected Rogue to have been more angry that Karla had usurped Carol, given that Carol lived in Rogue’s head for a few years) but it’s good to see Cyclops give Rogue the respect she’s earned over the last few years of Carey’s run on the last page, and I’m actually quite looking forward to the new Rogue-and-the-New-X-Men direction the book’s moving in now, and may even pick it up on a regular basis.
UNCANNY X-MEN 514 – Speaking of Utopia. Fraction’s doing a better job of juggling the large X-cast in this story than he has in some of the other recent issues of UXM, but that has, to an extent, come at the expense of marginalising the Dark Avengers. Yes, the Dark X-Men are getting some decent face time (although Cloak and Dagger are still woefully underused), but this is meant to be a crossover between the X-Men and the Dark Avengers, and it would be nice to see a little more balance in the emphasis. Art by the Dodsons is of predictably high standard, but isn’t quite enough to carry what has so far been a slight, if entertaining, crossover all the way. There are three or four sub-plots that kick into gear in this issue, which makes me feel like it’s worth continuing with the story, but it might have been a good idea to introduce them earlier than part four of a six-part story.
ADVENTURE COMICS 1 – I’m not a huge Super-books follower, but the World of New Krypton series has been good, solid stuff and this looks like it could hit the same spot. Connor Kent goes back to Smallville to live with the Kents, ostensibly with the aim of learning how to be a hero like Superman by doing the same things he did. There’s an intriguing twist at the end which makes perfect sense when you think of how Connor’s been portrayed since the relaunch of Teen Titans, and it’s one which sets up an interesting dynamic for the series to explore. Francis Manapul’s art is really seriously gorgeous here, with pastels and fuzzy lines and a general sense of down-home nostalgia that suits both the relaunch of this long-running series and the theme of Connor going back to the way Superman did things in the old days. DC really should just choose one set of numbering, though. It was irritating when Marvel used to do it a few years ago, it’s no less annoying now. All it does is show a lack of confidence in a new series to stand apart from its predecessors, and a lack of confidence in a brand name to launch without a new first issue. Get off the fence! The Legion back-up, though, is a bit disappointing after the lead story. All it really convinces me of is that a) I’m never, ever going to learn all these guys’ names and b) Starman hasn’t gotten any less annoying since he was in JSA.
BRAVE AND THE BOLD 26 – And so the run of three issues featuring Milestone characters comes to an end, with Xombi and the Spectre teaming up. In a way, BnB is the ideal place to reintroduce characters like the Red Circle or Milestone guys, because by definition anyone can turn up in this book. I haven’t got much familiarity with the Milestone books, owning as I do about 15-20 scattered back issues of various series, but I do like what I’ve seen of the characters so far, and John Rozum’s Xombi is one which those in the know always say was one of the best of the bunch. On this evidence, I’m not completely convinced. Both Xombi and the Spectre are pretty cold fish, which doesn’t really give a whole heck of a lot for the reader to latch on to, and the threat of this issue drags on for so long without anyone actually doing anything about it that you just want to reach into the comic and give the heroes a good shake and tell them to get on with it. The character of Xombi is one I wouldn’t mind seeing more of, though, so if Rozum’s able to wangle a miniseries out of DC then I’d be interested in giving it another chance.
DARK REIGN: MR NEGATIVE 3 – The final part of this ancillary Spider-book is, as you’d expect, pretty essential if you want to know more about the new crime boss that’s been making Spidey’s life misery for the past year and a bit. Marvel’s decision to tackle this in a separate Mr Negative series rather than in the main Spidey book seems a little weird until you see just how much there is to Negative’s backstory – the story by Fred Van Lente (for just five pounds a month you can give a comics writer the food and care he needs) ties Negative’s origin into that of a couple of other Marvel characters in a fairly neat way, while still giving Spidey and Betty Brant enough on-panel time to avoid making the reader sick of the titular villain. Gianluca Gugliotta’s art appears to have gotten sketchier as the series goes on, which isn’t great, but for anyone following the Amazing Spider-Man book this fills in some gaps in a generally very satisfying way. Bizarrely, a lot of these Dark Reign minis have been better than I would have expected them to be – Elektra, Hood, and now Mr Negative. Good work, Marvel.
EX MACHINA 44 – The final part of Ring Out The Old, and the stage is now well and truly set for the final arc of the series, with the reasons for Mitch Hundred’s powers being explained and the various cast members being slotted into position for the last act of the story. It’s going to be a shame to see this series go, but it feels pretty much right that it would end now – any longer and it would just have been over-extending what has been a story that has grown organically over the last few years to lay out all of its various strands. Vaughan must be kicking himself for not getting that ‘spectrum of colours’ thing on the stands a bit faster, though, poor chap.
Right, so that’s what I read this week. What about you?
Last Week In Comics
Apologies for that brief period of silent running just then – I’ve been out of town, going to the pub and writing poetry (yeah, that’s right! POETRY! ROCK AND ROLL!) so comics blogging (and reading, in fact) has kind of taken a back seat. I’m two issues behind on Wednesday Comics, although I can confidently predict that Wonder Woman is unreadable, Superman complains, Deadman is gorgeous, Flash is clever and charming and Neil Gaiman is having just a little tiny bit more fun than his readers are. Am I right?
Anyway. I did get to read last week’s books while travelling the length and breadth of the country (well, a bit of the length, not much of the breadth. Well, a bit of the breadth. Edinburgh to York and back, whatever that is). It was a huge week of releases, and we’re not going to be able to cover all the bases on the podcast, so here are a few reviews of stuff that came out this week that I read.
(OH DEAR GOOD GRIEF. Catwoman is on TV. As is It Could Happen To You. And About a Boy. And The Princess Diaries. What are we going to have on in the background while I’m writing this?)
GHOST RIDERS: HEAVEN’S ON FIRE 1 – It’s a shame that this miniseries is coming out. I don’t mean that it’s a shame that it’s coming out at all, I just mean that it’s a shame that it has to come out so soon. I know that by the time it’s wrapped up, Jason Aaron will have done nearly two years on Ghost Rider, but to be quite honest I could read his Ghost Rider until the leather jackets that used to be cows come home. It’s partly because it’s an old-school Marvel horror book of the like which we haven’t seen since Ellis’s Hellstorm series, with which series it shares a number of characters such as Jaine Cutter and Damon himself. It’s also because it’s a flat-out slice of gonzo grindhouse lunacy with skull-headed dudes taking on a rogue angel and his army, trying to save the anti-christ with the help of a heavily armed ex-nun in the culmination of a run that has featured heavily tattooed giant religious maniacs, haunted stretches of highway, cannibal townsfolk, Ghost Riders of many nations including one who rides a shark, and an army of nunchuk-wielding nurses on motorbikes. This is the best Ghost Rider has been in years – possibly ever, in fact. It’s going to make a heck of an Omnibus at some point, but for the moment if you have the slightest interest in awesomeness then get this book.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 601 – Mario Alberti, fresh from the Spider-Man/X-Men miniseries, (beautifully) draws this Mark-Waid-written prologue to this week’s big Chameleon story. It’s a fairly fluffy and light issue, which isn’t a bad thing given how poorly things have been going for Peter Parker lately – Pete gets drunk, (possibly) beds his new roommate, then manages to nearly miss a date with Mary Jane, who’s just swept back into his life. Waid’s one of the best of the current stable of Spider-writers, and Peter is at his quiptastic best in this issue. The only disappointment comes towards the end of the issue, with a last-page gag which ties itself in a knot trying to make itself work, but by that point all the readers are probably still fizzing in the brain over the implications of Mary Jane’s revelation a page or two earlier. The main story is followed by a Bendis/Quesada short, which is a little out of place to say the least, given that it sets up developments that are to be followed up in the pages of New Avengers. Why it’s in this issue is anyone’s guess, although if I had to take a stab at it I’d wager it was originally intended for issue 600 but ran late. Still, it’s extra content for free, so it’d be a little churlish to complain about it.
DETECTIVE COMICS 855 – The Bat-relaunch has been a mixed bag, to say the least. For every Batman & Robin there’s been a… well, any of the others, really. Thankfully, Rucka and Williams prove with this issue that their first Batwoman issue of Detective wasn’t a fluke by producing a second intriguing, action-fuelled, hugely gorgeous installment. Kate Kane is turning out to be just as interesting in her own way as Dick Grayson, and her ties to Satan’s Intergang or whatever they’re called is a story that pretty much demands the reader come back next month. If you’re a DC fan, an art fan, or an action fan, this book is pretty much essential at the moment. In the backup strip (sorry! Co-feature!), Kate’s ex Renee Montoya gets beaten up some more in the seedy crime drama Rucka and Cully Hamner have dropped this new Question into. It’s a great package all round, and it’s bizarre to think that this is coming out of the same office as things like the misfiring Red Robin series.
CHEW 3 – You know all the great things you keep hearing about this series? They’re all true, and they’re not exaggerations. This book really seriously is that good. Layman and Guillory lay on the grotesquerie with a heavy trowel but never tip the balance too far into self-parody. This is a book that is serious about what it does without taking itself seriously, and while I can’t go into all the immensely odd plot developments that this issue contains, I will say that Guillory manages to make a splash page of a thug projectile vomiting into Tony Chu’s face into one of the most sweetly romantic things I’ve seen in a comic for a good long time.
THE MARVELS PROJECT 1 – We had considered this for the podcast, but we did Captain America 600 recently and Marvel have the Ultimate relaunch books out this week so it didn’t make the cut. Anyway, this is the purportedly definitive Secret Origin of the Marvel Universe, as told by Brubaker and Epting, the architects of the Cap relaunch, and it starts off right at the beginning, with the beginning of the origin of the Golden Age Angel. It’s actually kind of cute – the revelation that the Angel’s mask and pistols were handed down to him from the dying-of-old-age Two-Gun Kid is the kind of touch that would only work in the Marvel or DC Universes, where that kind of history is so lacquered on to the firmament that these kinds of incidental details can be woven into the ongoing tapestry without anyone raising too much of an eyebrow. Using the Angel as a narrator to show us the emergence of Namor and the Human Torch works in a way that using one of the more prominent or well-developed characters wouldn’t – the Golden Age Big Three have all had their experiences of WWII fairly well documented, but Angel’s never been as fully explored and so Brubaker is able to build more of a character out of whole cloth for him. There’s not a huge amount of plot here yet, though, and given how enjoyable this first issue is it might be best to wait for the inevitable collection so you can have a nice edition for the shelf.
CITIZEN REX 1 – Mario Hernandez has never had the same cachet as Jaime and Beto, possibly because he’s never done anything on the scale of Palomar or Locas, but he’s quietly plugged away on an occasional basis throughout the history of Love & Rockets and occasionally beyond. His ‘Me For The Unknown’ in L&R v2 (drawn by Beto) was a slow-moving thriller, but Citizen Rex, which is also a Mario/Beto production, is tonally similar but in a fantastical science fiction setting rather than the grounded world of Me For The Unknown. This issue is an intriguing story of robots who don’t realise they’re robots, beaten-up society columnists and soup, and while it’s visually a typically accomplished affair, the story suffers from a lack of focus that makes it hard for the reader to latch on to any character as the protagonist. As with a lot of Hernandez Bros miniseries, it’s likely that this will read far better in a collected edition, but on the basis of the first issue Citizen Rex is a faintly puzzling and not terribly compelling curiosity, and far from the strongest work either Mario or Beto has produced.
So, yeah, that was this week’s books. Did you read anything interesting?
(It was The Princess Diaries in the end. What can I say, Anne Hathaway is charming.)
