Gaze upon the unholy terror!!!!!! Okay, let's break down this cover - I posted it large so you can soak in the awesomeness. We have the Tenth in the background (I know that's who it is because I've read the comic, don't you know), with a tiny, tiny head and a seemingly featureless face, gargatuan shoulders and pecs, and a tiny yet rock-hard abdominal area. His hands, note, are bigger than his entire head! That chain appears to act as suspenders, and he appears to be wearing MC Hammer parachute pants because they seem to stretch from one thigh to another without going anywhere near his crotch. Given the state of the ladies, the lack of definition in the Tenth's nether regions is somewhat chortleable. Then we have Espy, the dark-haired young lady. She's wearing a strategically torn Nine Inch Nails T-shirt and a bikini bottom. I'm not entirely sure what she's doing with her hands - either she's striking a dramatic martial arts pose or stretching after a good nap. Then we have Zorina, nestled in some kind of machinery sprinkled with blood. She's naked, but note how the tiny wisps of fabric covering her manage to obscure where her nipples would be ... if she actually had nipples, which doesn't appear to be evident from this drawing. I mean, the fabric isn't even in the right place, so I'm not sure why it's there. Lose the fabric and don't draw any nipples! She's sleeping, which seems to confirm my theory that Espy is waking up from a good nap. It can't bode well when your main characters find the action in the book that boring. And then there's the cat. We'll get back to the cat.

Before we get to the boilerplate, I'll link to the ground rules for these posts. That remains the question as we pore over the horror that is the fourth issue of The Tenth: Does this do enough to make a first-time comic book reader want to come back to our favorite pastime? Or does the sheer suckiness make people want to visit Dr. Destiny's diner and shove knitting needles into their ocular sockets?

The Tenth #4 (of 4) is created and drawn by Tony Daniel, "developed" and written by Beau Smith, inked by Mario Alquiza, colored by Paul Mounts, and lettered by Steve Outro. To their eternal shame, it was published by Image, and is cover dated June of 1997. If you thought Tony Daniel's art on Batman was bad, consider this: Tony Daniel drawing Batman is like your favorite artist in existence compared to Tony Daniel on The Tenth. I'm tempted to scan ever single page and leave it at that so you get a full measure of the horror of this book, but as this isn't scans_daily and I'm not a complete douchebag, I'll be selective in what I show you. Your sanity will thank me.

Let's delve into this, shall we? On the first page, we get all the recap we're going to. I'd like to quote the prose, if you don't mind (all of this, mind you, is [sic]):

It's all been set in motion. When the bombs go off everything will change ... Transformation in others have already been made. Ones that you wouldn't believe. Once the bombs have gone off, the ultimate metamorphous will begin. One that is global. One that will bring on -- Darkk Earth. From that a new race will be born. One built in his twisted image. The image of the madman -- Rhazes Darkk! The outside world believes him to be a great benefactor. The truth is he is the very core of evil. A core that lies in the supposed utopia called Springdale. In reality Springdale is the new gates of Hell. Gates that will open acorss the world and lead everything to a global genetic holocaust.

Well, Smith used the correct form of "lie." That's something, right?

After that, I just don't know what else to say. But there are still 23 pages left! Oh dear. So we reluctantly turn the page. We see a comely young lass who we learn fairly quickly is named Espy - yes, she's named after the annual awards that ESPN bestows upon athletes (to be fair, this came out before those awards existed ... maybe they named them after her?) and she's on the radio to the Pentagon, trying to convince them to send a "task force." The person on the other end of the radio demands proof. Espy tells him "This is a very serious thing here!" which, shockingly, fails to move him. He does tell her that "Ms. Bahareh" is on her way, but unless the woman at the end of the issue is Ms. Bahareh (and I think she must be), that's all we hear of that. I do enjoy that the guy on the line - we learn later that he's General Greer - has part of an American flag on the lens of his glasses. I assume it's supposed to be a reflection of the one in his office, but it looks like it's just painted onto the lens. That would make Greer a hell of a lot cooler, I reckon. In the middle of this call, Espy gets interrupted by Zorina, who tells her where she is. Espy apparently thought Zorina was dead. Espy tells Zorina she's coming to get her, and she and her cat, Arusa, spring into action. This is Daniel's drawing of the cat:

Excuse me? Now, to be fair, in the rest of the book the cat looks like a cat, but that one drawing is simply hideous. If I were a cat, I'd sue.

So Espy reaches Corridor 12, Room 17, where Zorina is holed up, and she "unlocks" the door by destroying it. Apparently, she's telekinetic, as Daniel helpfully explains in the letters column (oh, we'll get to the letters column). Unfortunately, inside she finds ... the bad guys! Yes, Zorina was forced to call her and lure her to the room! You know I have to show the entire giant spread:

There's poor nipple-less Zorina, somehow attached to the cloak of ... is that Slash? Sure looks that way. Although that thing has better hair than everyone's favorite Gun or Rose. His name, apparently, is Blackspell. Then there's the chick in the middle. Now that's an outfit! The chick on the right is, surprisingly, not terribly well-endowed. I'm sure that's Daniel's nod toward the feminists reading the book! And I enjoy Espy's strategically ripped clothing - is that due to all the action, or is it a fashion statement? In 1997, one could never be sure. The guy in the chair, who's apparently Rhazes Darkk, explains to Espy (who is Miss Del Torro occasionally and Miss Del Toro at other times) that her powers are "god-given" but not the god she thinks ... he is that god! Well, that blows. We turn the page and suddenly we're in a dungeon, with more fairly awesome narration: "The vines. They carry the strength, the Earth's blood ... that will be used to release my own ... and in turn release ... the POWER ... the monster." We get a picture of a dude hanging by chains and vines talking to himself: "Dark [sic] must be stopped. I'm the only one left. The Tenth. There can be no more." Well, at least that explains who he is, if not why he's called the Tenth (I assume Smith and Daniel had already covered it). The blood, apparently, turns him into a monster, and he easily snaps his bonds:

Then he tears into "the servants of the Darkk" with this awesome turn of phrase: "Too many to go around. But just enough to go through." Let the mayhem begin! Meanwhile, back in Room 17, Daniel decides to give us a full-page drawing of Espy:

I hate to point this out, but man, her breasts are doing some serious gravity-defying there. It's not like she's wearing a push-up bra or anything. Anyway, Darkk tells her that she'll join his ranks and now that he has the Tenth, he can take over the planet blah blah blah. She, of course, is defiant, but on the next page, Blackspell tells her that she "will slut [her] powers out to his every command!" I'm not sure you can use "slut" in that way, but whatever. The rips in her T-shirt, notice, have magically woven themselves back together:

I mean, seriously: If you're going to tear her shirt, at least make the tears consistent! Darkk calls her a "shapely little morsel," which is apparently the last straw. She uses her powers to force Blackspell to release Zorina. This, apparently, causes her shirt to rip more. Of course. Darkk, of course, loves her "anger, rage" and "will to punish." Because he's, you know, evil. He zaps her with lightning from his hand and says, "Now I must tame you. Like a wild beast ... you must be harnessed." That Darkk - he knows what the ladies like to hear! Meanwhile, under the complex, the Tenth is coming for Espy. Back in the room, Darkk is still torturing Espy when her cat leaps toward him ... and pees on him. Would I lie to you?

Suddenly, he has no control over those three hotties who were ringed around him earlier. They tell him they're not his slaves anymore, just like that. Cat pee - it stops evil in its tracks! Then some armored dude who we haven't yet seen in this issue thrusts two big spears through Darkk's back (yes, I am using "thrust" deliberately, loading that sentence up with all the connotations the verb has - believe me, if Daniel isn't subtle, why should I be?) and tells him that he's strayed from the original goal and that "Gozza" has remained pure. Who's Gozza? Oh, we'll find out, my good readers. WE WILL FIND OUT! Darkk goes down and the three girls check him out, getting grossed out by his blue blood. He calls them "bitches," which is important in a page or two. But he's not dead yet! We can tell he's about to power up for some big finale, and Espy and Zorina think it's a good time to skedaddle. Before they can get out of there, Blackspell grabs Zorina, and we get this charming image:

Luckily for our heroines (and the fine reputations of Ms. McCarthy and Ms. Electra), the Tenth finally reaches the room, and Daniel really goes all out showing us his entrance:

You'll continue to notice that Zorina is still naked, but what I assume are blood spatters are covering up her naughty bits. That's what we like to call "classy." The Tenth rips Slash apart until his "inner vortex" is disrupted, and Blackspell (I guess) teleports out. The guy who stabbed Darkk is still there, ranting about how he's going to blow the whole place up. The three hotties happen to have two motorcycles, so they also make a break for it. Then Gozza shows up (well, as a holo-projection). He's a little boy with huge dragon feet. I kid you not:

He tells Darkk that Darkk created him to succeed him, and now he, Gozza, is fulfilling that destiny. He disappears and then, on the next page, the Tenth separates the head of the dude who stabbed Darkk from the rest of his body. This does nothing to stop the countdown, mind you. Darkk claims that he can destroy the Tenth because he created him, which sounds reasonable. We switch to the motorcycles, on which the three hotties are about to run down our heroines. Espy stops the bikes with her mind, which causes the riders to fly through the air and renders them unconscious when they hit the ground. Zorina, who is, I'll remind you, naked but also, I'll remind you, trying to get out of there before a frickin' bomb goes off, notices that the redhead has a nice outfit on. Because Daniel knows that the women just can't keep their minds off of fashion! When next we see Zorina, she is actually wearing Redhead's outfit. So she stopped, took a tight-fitting spandex outfit with no visible zippers or snaps off an unconscious girl and put it on ... all while trying to escape before a bomb goes off. Comics are, indeed, awesome.

The Tenth, meanwhile, is strangling Darkk. He says, "It's this simple, Grandpa Munster ... I'm gonna #%@¢ you up!" So it's okay to call women "bitches" in your comic, but you can't say "fuck"? Man up, Image! Before our "hero" can indeed #%@¢ Darkk up, Darkk apparently uses his lightning powers on him (it's a bit unclear) and the Tenth throws him away, seemingly into a portal of electricity (unclear, remember?). As the bomb comes closer to the end of its countdown (the severed head is still ticking away), Blackspell returns from wherever he is and takes Darkk and the three hotties (one now naked, if you'll cast your mind back to the previous paragraph) away, telling the hotties, "You're due for some heavy spank time!" If you never sleep again after this, blame me for bringing this comic to your attention. I'm sorry.

The bad guys whoosh out of there (somehow; it appears they go down into the ground, but then we see a streak of red light coming from the top of the building) and then we're back to our heroines, who are trying to convince the Tenth to come with them. He wants to stay for some reason, but Espy, it seems (it's, shockingly, unclear), uses her powers on him. I guess he says he "can't" leave because he looks like a monster, but Espy uses her powers to turn him back into a human? That seems to be the way it's going, because the next time we see him he's human. I'm going to run with that.

So the building explodes and we switch immediately to the Pentagon, where General Greer is taking to a Mr. Cardon about Gozza. Wait, in this comic the government can't be trusted and is working with a demon? How novel! They believe no one survived, but then a purple-haired lady with scratches on her cheeks (is this Ms. Bahareh?) shows up and tells them that three made it out. She tells them not to worry, though, because everything they need is in a briefcase she brought them, and that they now have "their Oswald." I assume she means Lee Harvey. I sincerely hope she's leaving the office, because why would she talk to them in this pose?

You don't suppose it's so we could see both her booty and some of her boobs, do you? And look at that waist!

Our final image of the book is of our three principals, heading out of town. They hear on the radio that a "terrorist act" wiped out Springdale and that a "nation-wide hunt" is on to find the suspects, i. e. them. Zorina sets up the next issue (the first of the ongoing!) by telling us that Blackspell still has her mother, and Espy says they're going to find her. The issue ends with this tag: "The Beginning." Say it ain't so!

But we can't leave without looking at the letters! They're all extremely laudatory, of course, because this comic is so FUCKING KEWL. But Daniel gives us some interesting feedback, including this nugget about Espy:

Espy doesn't really have super powers. She has the ability of telekinesis, which basically means she has the power to move objects without using physical force. This is a very real, however rare, condition that has been known to exist in people. Who knows, maybe YOU are a telekinesis and don't know it!

Emphasis mine, by the way. I guess Daniel watched one too many episodes of That's Incredible when he was but a lad. We also find out that The Tenth is going to be an ongoing due to the runaway popularity of the mini-series. Well, thank God for that. I bet that series was awesome.

This is a truly terrible comic. It's extremely ugly, poorly written, offensive to women (and probably dragons), insulting to the intelligence of anything smarter than a potato, and, frankly, dull. I mean, the Tenth barely fights anyone - he dispatches Blackspell in two pages, beheads the armored bomb thing off-panel, and holds Darkk up by his neck. The big explosion that takes out Springdale ought to be a full-page KA-FUCKING-BOOM, but it's half a page and is obscured by a couple of panels laid on top of it. For the final issue of a mini-series, there's very little drama. I mean, when I pulled it out of the long box, I knew it would be terrible, but I didn't realize it would be so very, very boring. I remember when The Tenth first showed up, and even though I was still reading the X-Men at their Roger Cruziest, I still couldn't bring myself to buy this. And I'm certainly happy about that.

But what about the first-time comic reader, picking up issue #4 of a four-issue mini-series? Do the creators do enough to bring back the first-timer? Well, Daniel's art is enough to drive a reader into a monastery, where they would shudder in a corner and take a vow of silence, and Smith doesn't do a great job either. We get a bare bones outline of the story so far, which is fine, and we know who each of the characters are, but we don't know, for instance, what Espy is able to do. She obviously can do something, but Smith assumes we already know she's telekinetic. Similarly, the deal with the Tenth is skimmed - again, I assume Smith gave us the lowdown earlier in the series, but it would be nice to get some idea about who he is and what he's doing and why he's called the "Tenth." And then there's the armored dude whose head is apparently a bomb. The first time we see him he's stabbing Darkk in the back. We never learn his name, but he's apparently fairly important. I don't ask for great literature in a comic like this, but a rundown of the characters and where they've been would be nice. Is that so wrong?

And so we reach the end of another horrible comic book. Not only is this lousy, it doesn't even offer a new reader any reason to pick up comics as a hobby. Some of the bad comics in this series have at least done that. No, this joins our honor roll of eye-bleedingly bad books: Untamed #1, Cyberforce #1, Demonslayer #2, and Objective Five #3. This is less laugh-out-loud hilarious than some of those other ones, but it does have its merits. Sheesh. Note that four out of the five (including this one) were published by Image. It's hard to believe they publish excellent, brilliant comics these days.

Who wants to admit to owning this? Come on, we're all friends here!

Zorina: Asking what we're all thinking!

21 Comments

• At November 21, 2009, Mister Chris wrote:

  I can't remember if I own this specific issue, but I do own a few issues of this series, and ...

• At November 21, 2009, Mr. M wrote:

  I do not miss the '90s.

• At November 21, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Wow. Tony Daniel has gotten much, much better since those old days. I actually enjoyed his art on Batman, but ...

• At November 21, 2009, Beau Smith wrote:

  Greg,

  I'm sorry that we didn't manage to entertain you with The Tenth. To entertain is always the aim, I ...

• At November 21, 2009, Truth wrote:

  Yep, this one is pretty awful. The art seems to have filched everything that's horrible about Liefield-influenced art and taken ...

• At November 21, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Beau Smith, presuming (which I do) that's really you reading and replying here on the Comics Should Be Good blog? ...

• At November 21, 2009, Beau Smith wrote:

  It's really me. I read Greg's stuff all the time as well as the other fun stuff here at ...

• At November 21, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Quoted from my comment just a few posts below, in an eerie coincidence:

  "It's weird that, as bad as Liefeld's art ...

• At November 21, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Maybe the cat pee was blessed by a priest.

• At November 21, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " Maybe the cat pee was blessed by a priest. "

  Since it came directly from the cat, we have to ...

• At November 21, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Beau: I try very, very hard to not be personal, because most comics creators I meet are great people, and ...

• At November 21, 2009, Beau Smith wrote:

  Greg,

  "Even if I don't like everything creators do, I think it's great that people are always making the stuff. ...

• At November 22, 2009, fourthworlder wrote:

  Doctor Dee, I'm ready for those knitting needles now......

• At November 22, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  Civil discourse between a comic book writer and a reviewer over a negative review of the writer's work? C'mon people, ...

• At November 22, 2009, Andrew wrote:

  I'm not sure artists' stylistic quirks are fair game.

  Is it that different from attacking Quitely for his characters' puffy lips, ...

• At November 22, 2009, Michael wrote:

  To my mind, one of the most damning things about this book is how indistinguishable it is from so many ...

• At November 22, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  @ Michael: I agree with your assessment of this book's characteristics- however, I'm sure it was intentional. and can you ...

• At November 22, 2009, Daniel O' Dreams wrote:

  The cat must be magic or something right? Why else would you bring it into battle (or at least to ...

• At November 22, 2009, sgt pepper wrote:

  I've said it before, but the internet is a lot less fun when the actual creators show up, and I ...

• At November 22, 2009, bad_trotsky wrote:

  sgt. pepper you are very wrong. It makes my day when a creator shows up here and the polite discourse ...

• At November 22, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  Yep, I'm with bad_trotsky. I always think it's cool when the creators of a book pop up in the comment ...

Batman: Unseen #4 (of 5) ("Blur") by Doug Moench (writer), Kelley Jones (artist), Michelle Madsen (colorist), and Pat Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

I always love when Batman actually does some detecting, and although he doesn't do a ton of it in this book, it's still fun to see. Bats finally figures out how to make an invisible man visible (in a totally lo-tech way), and of course, Nigel Glass's "translux" serum doesn't last forever, so by the end of the book he's semi-visible again, but he still escapes, setting up the big finale. Unlike the previous issues, Moench reins in the purple prose a bit and lets Jones cut loose, and it's glorious to see. On the first page, we get a panel of Batman, sans cape and cowl, in the Batcave, working a gargatuan machine like Dr. Frankenstein, with said machine peppered with different colored bulbs and parts of it hanging from chains (and why the hell not?). This entire machine is ... to make new lenses for his cowl. Now that's efficient! And then there's the stained-glass window in the city morgue (which itself has kind of an Egyptian city of the dead motif going on, exterior-wise), the corpse in the river casually chained to a big rock (which, needless to say, has nothing to do with the story and just shows the danger level, generally, in Gotham), and Batman's bat-shaped and portable heart-monitor. And, of course, Batman's glorious cape, which seems alive when Jones draws it. I know that certain crazy people hate Jones's Batman, but we should pity those people, not scorn them. Moench and Jones doing a Batman comic is such a weird, wild experience, and despite the darkness of the script and the art, it's usually a tremendously fun read. This series especially.

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "It's supposed to look like a fit or a convulsion."*

* That sums up Jones's style, doesn't it? It's up to you if you like it or not.

One panel of awesome:

That contraption = awesome

The Black Coat: ... Or Give Me Death #3 (of 4) by Ben Lichius (story/writer/colorist), Adam Cogan (story), Dean Kotz (artist), and Chris Studabaker (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Ape Entertainment.

One week after the double-sized issue combining issues 1 and 2, we get the third issue, which is groovy with me. Lichius speeds things up in this issue, which is a tiny bit annoying, as our hero goes from freaking out at the end of issue #2 to Bellevue at the beginning of this issue, and then suddenly, he's all better! (Well, not suddenly, but he does recover rather quickly.) Also, Ursula gets the formula for the immortality serum rather quickly and easily, even though we have no idea how she does it. But that's okay. Lichius and Cogan continue to hurl all sorts of awesome stuff at us, from Ben Franklin guest-starring to the Gypsy assassin, and the Black Coat finally tumbles on the League's grand scheme, which is devious and dastardly, to say the least. And Kotz continues to be a decent replacement for Francavilla.

Even though the immortality serum makes this slightly more of a superhero book than the previous series (the Black Coat gets severely stabbed and shot, but nothing happens to him), it's still enough of a cool historical spy/supernatural story to balance that. The race is on next issue to start the Revolution yet thwart the League. I wonder if our heroes will succeed?

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "I'm sick wit dis, straight gangsta mack."*

* The Black Coat is indeed "straight gangsta mack."

One panel of awesome:

Note to self: Never let a crazed, knife-wielding Gypsy woman near me!

Hellblazer #261 ("India Part One: White Man's Burden") by Peter Milligan (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (layouter), Stefano Landini (finisher), Trish Mulvihill (colorist), and Sal Cipriano (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

I've been a bit critical of Camuncoli's and Landini's art on Hellblazer, mainly because I don't think Camuncoli's superheroic style fits John Constantine's universe, not because I don't like Camuncoli (which I do). Interestingly enough, all Milligan had to do was move John to India, and Camuncoli's/Landini's art looks a lot better - it looks less muddled, John looks seedier set against the wider vistas of Mumbai (having never been to India, I doubt if Mumbai is less packed together than London, but Camuncoli makes it look that way), and his monster (that dude on the cover) looks keen. Of course, the coloring helps. I've been critical of Mulvihill's murky coloring, which seems to be the Vertigo "house style," but here she cranks up the reds and yellows and blues and gives the book a clearer and cleaner look, making the dark parts even creepier. As two characters discuss a Bollywood movie at one point, I have to think some of the more technicolory parts are deliberate. It works.

Milligan takes John to India because John believes that's where he'll find the means to resurrect Phoebe. He meets up with an old friend who is now bilking tourists as a guru but who's also involved in some other, even less savory business. And that dude on the cover is murdering young women - of course he is! The one murder we see is actually quite well done - Milligan and Camuncoli do a nice job with the fact that only she can see her attacker. Milligan continues to do a nice job showing how very immature John is - Charles basically says it, and in that moment, we're on his side ... until we learn what he's up to. It's a nifty trick to get us turned against John and on the side of a different character, and then Milligan deftly switches it back.

I'm reserving judgment on the colonialism aspect to the story, because I want to see where Milligan is going with it. But it's a solid beginning to the arc, and I'm glad Camuncoli's art fits better here (he did a nice job on that Bangkok Nights story a few years ago; maybe he likes Asia?). It's good to see!

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "I'm the one who said 'Just grab 'em in the biscuits'."*

* Okay, so John doesn't do this, but he would, wouldn't he?

One panel of awesome:

Man, you don't ever want to see that darkening your door!

Phonogram: The Singles Club #5 (of 7) ("Lust, Etc." and "Ska Attack Squad") by Kieron Gillen (writer), Jamie McKelvie (artist/letterer, "Lust, Etc."), Dan Boultwood (artist, "Ska Attack Squad"), and Matthew Wilson (colorist). $3.50, 27 pgs, FC, Image.

After a long delay which had more to do with Image than Gillen and McKelvie being slackers, apparently (although I'm sure they've been busy eating Ring Dings, playing Donkey Kong, and violating the civil rights of several woodland creatures instead of, you know, working), Phonogram #5 comes out, a week after it showed up at some shops, therefore allowing those people who shop at those shops an extra week to soak in the Phonogram goodness while the rest of us went without. Where, I ask you, is the justice?!?!?!??!?!?!

As usual, an issue of Phonogram means I do less of a review than a paean to its greatness, and although I really, really want to savage an issue just so Gillen and McKelvie don't get swelled heads more than they are already swelled, I just can't. (Okay, I don't really want to savage an issue. It's only fun to do that when it's a Green Lantern gore-fest or an interminably dull Justice League story.) This would be the perfect issue to do it, because this issue focuses on Laura Heaven, the girl from the series whom everyone (the characters in the comic, I mean) seems to think is dull as dishwater. Not only that, she thinks and quotes large chunks of lyrics almost pathologically. Now, I suspect many, many people do that (long ago when I was in college, I could quote large segments of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, among other movies), but we usually do it when we're hanging around with friends who can also do it, and it's a bonding experience from a shared kind of gestalt. It's not done as a defensive maneuver to put people off and distance yourself from them, as Laura does it. (I could be wrong - maybe many people do that.) For instance, I never say, "The important thing here is that you ask me what kind of car it is" unless I'm 99% positive the response will be, "A BITCHIN' CAMARO!" (Or some variation thereof.) But Laura walls herself off with her quotes, and therefore she's the kind of person we should hate.

But we don't. Or at least I don't. Gillen and McKelvie make it so we can't hate her. We can't even pity her, which might be worse. I'm not sure we exactly like her, but we realize why she does what she does, which is almost as good. It starts early, when McKelvie shows Laura staring in at Penny, and the desire in her eye (we only see one, as she's peeping through a narrow aperture) is almost palpable. As she and Penny head to the club, we get the anger and longing from Laura when Penny goes off with her perfect boy, and her envy of the barmaid who seems to float above it all where she can't. Her encounter with Emily in the bathroom (which we've seen a few times in the series, always from a different perspective) is a sweet moment, even if Emily wouldn't think so, and then Laura's sadness at being Lloyd's second choice sums up the book perfectly. When she thinks of another quote and then crosses it out (a bit heavy-handed by Gillen, but still effective), we see her transformation into her own person completed. Gillen explains the issue in his end notes, which he didn't need to do (seriously, KG, we totally got it, and you need to trust your writing more), but if you just read the story and skip the end notes, you'll once again sit back, amazed at how the two creators can so sharply delineate these characters in such a short time. I mean, the tender touch of Emily's fingers on Laura's forehead or the second-to-last panel of the book, in which Laura is both beautiful and terrifying, have more emotion in them than most DC or Marvel books do in their entire issue ... and that's just the art. When you combine it with Gillen's brilliant dialogue, you get Phonogram. And once again, I can't just review it, I must sing its praises to the skies. That's just the way I am, man!

Oh, and the back-up story is cute, too. The cover promises the "most gratuitous double-page spread of all time." I'd have to agree!

Let us hope that Image has its production problems sorted out and issues #6 and 7 come quickly. Damn, I love this comic. But here's my savaging of it! In one panel (the one where Laura's at the bar, bored), I don't like how McKelvie draws her fingers. Ha! Take that, you smug Brits! Can you stand the withering criticism of how Laura's fingers look? I think not!!!!!

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "I'll eat up all your crackers and your licorice."*

* You just know those freeloaders Gillen and McKelvie would do that if they came over to your house!

One panel of awesome:

I love McKelvie's art

Spider-Woman #3 by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Alex Maleev (artist), and Cory Petit (letterer). $2.99, 20 pgs, FC, Marvel.

And then there's Spider-Woman, which I'm still trying to figure out. I really have no problem with Bendis's pacing, as long as the story is interesting. I think Alias and Daredevil are wonderful, for instance. And the story in this series, so far, isn't bad. I don't know where Bendis is going with it, which is okay, and although I'm not terribly jazzed by HYDRA, I don't have that big a problem with them. The issue I do have with it is the way Bendis writes the two female leads. I've come to grips with the fact that Bendis often writes his female leads in the same way (Rucka, the other man writing lots of comics these days who seems to write decent female leads, does this too). I don't mind it when that female is the only strong female in the book, but now that Viper is in this comic, it sounds like the exact same person is carrying on a conversation with herself. Viper is a bit more confident than Jessica, but they still sound the same. It's somewhat annoying. I know that Bendis doesn't necessarily have to do this - his Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy were sufficiently different, but perhaps that's because the book was more superheroic and not as focused on the characters - and that makes it more annoying. Jessica tells us that Viper believes that she's her (Jessica's) mother, but that doesn't explain it away. Oh well. I suppose I'll have to deal with it if I decide to keep buying the book.

As for Maleev ... I'm still not digging his art on this comic. I know he's done the photo-referencing thing for some time, and it never bugged me too much, but it seems like a few things are working against it here. First, Madripoor isn't a real place, and Maleev doesn't do much to make it feel real. The city is extremely vaguely-defined, and it hurts the general misc-en-scene. Second, as this book is a bit more superheroic than Daredevil, we get the various gadgets, and they don't fit together well in the book. The flying car looks really weird, for instance. Finally, Maleev seems to be taking some shortcuts in integrating the foreground in with the background. The flying car's battle with the helicopters looks like a badly-shot movie against a blue screen, with the background added later. I guess that could be how it was done, but with a comic, it seems like the foreground could be integrated better into the background. I like Maleev quite a bit, but this isn't working as well as it could.

Anyway, Bendis and Maleev have a couple of issues to win me over. This is still the kind of comic that Bendis seems to do well on, so I'm certainly willing to give him some leeway. We shall see what he does with it!

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "I'm spunky; I like my oatmeal lumpy."*

* I like to think this is how Jessica Drew likes her oatmeal, and she sure is spunky!

One panel of awesome:

If only my mother had given me that advice, it could have saved me a whole lot of heartbreak!

Super Friends #21 ("Happily Never After") by Sholly Fisch (writer), Stewart McKenny (penciller), Dan Davis (inker), Sal Cipriano (letterer), and Heroic Age (colorist). $2.50, 20 pgs, FC, DC.

It's a bit sad that when I'm in the mood to read a good, old-fashioned, single-issue superhero comic, often the best place to go is Johnny DC's line and Super Friends (or the Brave and the Bold title they also publish). There's nothing complicated about this issue, and it could easily be a single issue of Justice League of America, if those guys weren't so busy wallowing in angst. I usually buy these issues based on the covers, and that one's pretty awesome, isn't it?

As for the story ... Remember Waid and Hitch's "Queen of Fables" story in JLA #47-49? Well, Fisch does it in one issue, and it's more entertaining than that entire story! I love the set-up: the Justice League finds a book on their satellite, Superman opens it, and they're whisked away to the Queen of Fables' realm! One page, no worry about "explaining" anything, and they're into the story. Good stuff! Anyway, the queen wants the Super Friends to stay in her land because they're so good for stories, and she splits them up (in classic JLA style), sends them each to a different part of her world, and challenges them to get back. Of course they do, and Fisch does an excellent job (in limited space, remember) of showing how each character tackles the challenges differently based on their personality. Superman uses his strength, Batman his brains, Flash his speed, Wonder Woman her compassion ('cause she's a weak woman, don't you know), Aquaman his ... well, his intelligence too, in a different way than Bats, and John Stewart his ... well, his wisdom too. Dang, those Justice Leaguers sure are smart! They all use their brains in one way or another, and even though it's a kid's book so Fisch doesn't want to show them punching things out, it's more refreshing to see them being, you know, heroic instead of just bashing things because they can. And, of course, they solve the problem of being trapped in the Queen's world using their heads, too.

It's really a wonderful little story about heroes being heroes, drawn very nicely by McKenny, who adds little touches in the gutters that evoke various fairy tales and nursery rhymes. It's quite funny. There's really nothing "childish" about this comic, and it's too bad that a lot of comics in the "regular" continuity can't seem to get this kind of story right. Oh well.

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "Ya stare, ya glare, ya constantly try to compare me, but ya can't get near me."*

* Normal DC superhero books can't compare to this!

One panel of awesome:

I dig the Australian Rainbow Serpent - he looks so happy to be evil!

Underground #3 (of 5) by Jeff Parker (writer), Steve Lieber (artist), and Ron Chan (colorist). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Image.

I don't know how much credit Parker should get for this issue, as a lot of the dialogue deals with Wes and Seth getting attacked by the punks who were sabotaging the cave. If Parker had a lot to do with the layout of this issue, that's one thing, because Lieber does a fantastic job making this a very claustrophobic and even terrifying issue, as it takes place almost entirely inside the cave, even deeper than the principals have gone before, which means the characters have less knowledge of what's going on with the topography. Of course, there's no light, either, and Lieber does a wonderful job by bringing the "camera" in to focus on characters' faces, pulling out to show the emptiness that surrounds them, and it's quite disorienting, which is very keen. It feels like a movie, but because the images are static, we can concentrate on them a bit more and get a good feel for what's happening more than we can a movie, where the cuts come more quickly. The ending isn't quite as dramatic as Lieber's full-page drawing warrants, mainly because we don't care too much about the person in the drawing, but it does show the dangers of, you know, fucking around in a hole in the ground.

This continues to be a tense comic that looks great. If you've only read Parker's Marvel stuff, give it a look, because it does allow him to show some other strengths in his writing. And Lieber is always good!

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "I'm the new fool in town and my sound's laid down by the Underground."*

* Duh.

One panel of awesome:

There are at least two things wrong with fighting in this way

Zorro #17 by Matt Wagner (writer), Francesco Francavilla (artist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

I'm still loving this story arc, in which Wagner shows us all the reactions to Zorro from various people who have come across him. It makes Zorro a more mysterious figure - in the first two arcs, he was a large presence, and while they were very good, it made Zorro less of a figure of the night and more of a superhero. Wagner, in this arc, has lessened his presence and made him more dangerous, and it's neat. There's very little in these stories that surprise us - there's a bad guy, Zorro shows him what's what - but the way Wagner constructs them, we're on the edge of our seats as we wait for the inevitable moment when Zorro shows up. And the reveal of what Zorro does to Don Rafael - again, even though we anticipate what he's going to do - is excellent. A lot of this credit goes to Wagner, of course, but a lot goes to Francavilla, who is, as usual, marvelous. His pencil work is great, but his coloring (I assume he does it, as no one is credited) is as good, as he gives most of the book a rich yellow-brown color, evoking the windswept coast of California, until Zorro shows up, when the primary color switches to red, showing our hero's anger at Don Rafael's poor treatment of his workers. It's always nice to see artists thinking about more than just the pencils, and Francavilla (and the colorist, if he didn't do it) gives us that.

Anyway, it's another fine issue of Zorro. I'm completely unsurprised.

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "And all the rappers in the top ten; please allow me to bump thee."*

* The "rappers" in this instance are the fat landowners exploiting the proletariat. It totally works, people!

One panel of awesome:

Batman best take his badassery elsewhere!

I mentioned a while back that I'm busy indoctrinating my daughter into the ways of comics. I'm not being as aggressive with my other daughter, mainly because she can't read, but my lovely wife bought her a cool T-shirt recently, and I thought I'd share it with you:

That's Iron Man, Captain America, and Spider-Man on a T-shirt that reads "I Love Superheroes." Remember when they were all friends? Good times! Once Mia starts reading (which may be quite some time), I'll have to give her some comics! She'll be sure to dig Tony Stark trying to put Steve Rogers in jail! That's what the United States is all about!!!!

Let's get some totally random lyrics:

"'Twas 1659 forgotten now for sure
They dragged us from our homeland
With the musket and their gun
Cromwell and his roundheads
Battered all we know
Shackled hopes of freedom
We're now but stolen goods
Darken the horizon
Blackened from the sun
This rotten cage of Bridgetown
Is where I now belong"

Cheery!

Fire away with your opinions, people, about comics or otherwise! What do you think of the new format? I'm just experimenting. Yay or nay?

26 Comments

• At November 19, 2009, Michael wrote:

  I like the bit with the covers up front. Easiest way to tell whether there's a book I'm interested in ...

• At November 19, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  That was my evil plan, Michael. I'm glad it works for you.

• At November 19, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  I've never heard the song or for that matter the band (though I know them by name), but I'll bet ...

• At November 19, 2009, torpor wrote:

  I'll take that "gratuitous double-page spread" of ONE STEP BEYOND! anyday over Millar's ridiculously stupid "SNIKT!" in Old Man Logan.

• At November 19, 2009, Alex From T. wrote:

  Nice T-shirt I want one for my daughter, good news to hear that finally I can pick up a new ...

• At November 19, 2009, Deco wrote:

  love that t-shirt; if I could find one w/all girls my 4-year-old daughter would probably wear it non-stop. oh and ...

• At November 19, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  The real question is, which comic once got busy in a Burger King bathroom?

• At November 19, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Really liked the back cover of Zorro.

• At November 19, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Mike: I'm not sure, but I don't think it's one of these!

  Alan: Yeah, I liked the back cover too. ...

• At November 19, 2009, Steve Lieber wrote:

  Thanks for the coverage. For the record, Jeff Parker had a LOT of input into UNDERGROUND's layout. We're both part ...

• At November 19, 2009, Jack Norris wrote:

  I tried an issue of that Superfriends comic a while back, and the only thing that bugged me was that ...

• At November 19, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Sure. To the new format.

  BUUUUUUUUUUUUT, you don't win the parenting award of the year for the "indoctrinating your daughter into ...

• At November 19, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I give the format a thumbs up...

  And you nailed my problem with Maleev's art here rather well (before I could ...

• At November 19, 2009, Francesco Francavilla wrote:

  Thank you for enjoying the book, Greg, and you are correct: I am coloring this arc in addition to pencilling ...

• At November 19, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  Is Batman back now? I heard he was dead. (I knew, of course, that any such death would ...

• At November 19, 2009, Bright-Raven wrote:

  Hey Greg:

  Suggestion for a comic for your girls: ELECTRIC GIRL by Mike Brennan through AIT/PlanetLar

  http://www.electricgirl.com/

  I can't say I bought any ...

• At November 20, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  You don't need to be able to read to enjoy pictures of superheroes - I loved superheroes as a kid ...

• At November 20, 2009, Random Stranger wrote:

  I believe those lyrics are 'Tobacco Island' by Flogging Molly. You don't need a B.A. in history to enjoy the ...

• At November 20, 2009, Jamie McKelvie wrote:

  :(

• At November 20, 2009, Kieron Gillen wrote:

  :)

• At November 20, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Jack: That's very weird. I don't have that issue, but that's still weird.

  Mary: Batman: Unseen is a "lost" tale ...

• At November 20, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  Amen to the new format. I love the "One panel of awesome"! Really great post all around this ...

• At November 20, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  If you are a fan of comics, not buying Phonogram should be a criminal offense. Or at the very ...

• At November 20, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  Chalk up another fan of this great new format. Good job, Greg.

• At November 21, 2009, Drew wrote:

  Wow, you covered Underground (and got a comment from Mr. Lieber!) this week, S.W.O.R.D. last week, and JLI in between—I ...

• At November 21, 2009, onion3000 wrote:

  I enjoyed "Whenever Kelley Jones makes Batman's ears even longer, T. loses a bit more of his soul!"

Justice League International/America by Keith Giffen (plotter; penciller, issues #8-10, 13), J. M. DeMatteis (scripter), John Ostrander (writer, Suicide Squad #13), Kevin Maguire (penciller, issues #1-12, 16-19, 22-24; Formerly Known as the Justice League #1-6; JLA: Classified #4-9), Steve Leialoha (penciller, issue #14-15), Ty Templeton (penciller, issues #20-21, 24-29), Mike McKone (penciller, issues #25, 28, 41-42; Justice League Annual #3-4), Bill Willingham (penciller, issue #30; Justice League Annual #1-2), Adam Hughes (penciller, issues #31-35, 37-40, 43-45), Tom Artis (penciller, issue #36), Russell Braun (penciller, issue #45), Luke McDonnell (penciller, Suicide Squad #13), Bart Sears (penciller, JLE #7-8), Tim Gula (artist, Justice League Annual #3), Terry Austin (inker, issue #1), Al Gordon (inker, issues #2-18), Joe Rubinstein (inker, issues #19-31, 35, 38-39; Justice League Annual #2; Formerly Known as the Justice League #1-6; JLA: Classified #4-9), Dick Giordano (inker, issue #27; Justice League Annual #1), Art Nichols (inker, issues #32-37), José Marzan (inker, issue #35, 40, 42-45), Bruce Patterson (inker, issue #41; Justice League Annual #1, 3), Malcolm Jones III (inker, issue #45), John Beatty (inker, issue #45), Bob Lewis (inker, Suicide Squad #13), Pablo Marcos (inker, JLE #7; Justice League Annual #3), Bob Smith (inker, JLE #8; Justice League Annual #4), Dennis Janke (inker, Justice League Annual #1), P. Craig Russell (inker, Justice League Annual #1), R. Campanella (inker, Justice League Annual #1), Bob Lappan (letterer, issues #1-10, 12-27, 30, 32-36, 38-45; JLE #7-8; Justice League Annual #1, 4; Formerly Known as the Justice League #1-6; JLA: Classified #4-9), John Workman (letterer, issue #11), Albert de Guzman (letterer, issues #28-29, 31, 37; Justice League Annual #3), Todd Klein (letterer, Suicide Squad #13), John Costanza (letterer, Justice League Annual #2), Tim Harkins (letterer, Justice League Annual #3), Gene D'Angelo (colorist, issues #1-45; JLE #7-8; Justice League Annual #1-3), Carl Gafford (colorist, Suicide Squad #13), Lee Loughridge (colorist, Formerly Known as the Justice League #1-6), and David Baron (colorist, JLA: Classified #4-9).

DC, 64 issues (Justice League/Justice League International/Justice League America #1-45; Suicide Squad #13, which comes after issue #13; Justice League Europe #7-8, which come after issues #31 and 32, respectively; Justice League Annuals #1-4; Formerly Known as the Justice League #1-6; JLA: Classified #4-9: "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League!"), cover dated May 1987 - December 1990; September 2003 - February 2004 (Formerly Known as the Justice League); April 2005 - August 2005 (JLA: Classified #4-9).

Some SPOILERS, I guess. And click on the images to giganticize them! Some are totally worth it!

There's no way this comic should have worked. As Andy Helfer writes in the introduction to the first trade paperback, "We needed to come up with an idea for a book that would work regardless of which characters were featured in it. It sounded like a suicide formula - after all, a sure sign of a bad comic book story is one in which any character can be used as the hero." But then, of course, he and Giffen came up with the idea to focus on the Justice League as a "club" for super-heroes, meaning they would show the heroes when they weren't necessarily "working." Again, Helfer explains that, in the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC's "big guns" - Superman, Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan, even Wally West - were all undergoing "renovation," so they couldn't have a "return to glory" for the Justice League. If they had launched the book with the line-up they did - J'onn J'onzz, Batman (Denny O'Neil "took pity" on Helfer, he writes), Black Canary, Mister Miracle, Captain Marvel, Blue Beetle, Doctor Fate, and Guy Gardner - and tried to make it a straight superhero book, it probably would have tanked as badly as the just-cancelled first Justice League series did at the end. But Giffen, who when he only writes comics is usually deadly serious, went nuts with the plotting, and DeMatteis, who presided over the destruction of the previous team (and showed a few flashes of humor, even though it was mostly deadly serious), were allowed to flex their funny bones as much as they could. They also lucked into Kevin Maguire, who was just starting out in the business but immediately made an impact with the kind of book Giffen and DeMatteis wanted to do. And so one of the most influential comics of the past 20 years was born!

Giffen begins the series with a full-page splash of Guy Gardner, which is fitting (note: Giffen is often credited with breakdowns, but I didn't feel like listing those above, because I'm not sure how detailed his breakdowns were), as Guy has become one of the symbols of this incarnation of the League. If we consider the structure of the League after the first year, when the roster settled down to a core, we get a bit of a triangle: At the top is J'onn and Maxwell Lord, at one point is Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, at another point is Fire and Ice, and in the middle sits Guy, annoying and being annoyed by all (yes, other characters come and go, but those are the stalwarts). If we skip the fact that Giffen and DeMatteis decided to give Guy a serious head trauma in issue #7 and nobody seems to care about it (he gets better at the end of issue #18, when Lobo crashes into the embassy; this story has probably the best characterization of Lobo ever), Guy remains irascible throughout the series, but he also underscores the major theme of the series: redemption. All of the major characters are redeemed, even if it takes two mini-series fifteen years along to do so. With DeMatteis scripting the book, perhaps the redemption theme is not surprising, but it's interesting that in a book that is known for its comedy, Giffen and DeMatteis give these heroes heroic quests that ennoble them and make them much more interesting as characters than we might expect. Redemption is a common theme in superhero books, of course, given that the hero often has to fail before he can succeed, but when it's a single character book, it's less effective because it happens so often. In a team book, the writers can shift the redemption angle around in an effort to keep it fresh. With this version of the League, it went a bit deeper, because the cast was, to be charitable, not the A-list. The Leaguers needed to redeem themselves not only within the individual story arcs when the bad guys (such as they were) beat them up, but also in the eyes of their fellow heroes. This makes the book far more interesting, because so much of the humor is predicated on the fact that these characters are not, in fact, DC's big guns. But they are heroes, and over the course of the years, Giffen and DeMatteis were able to show that without ever making it explicit. At no time does a hero ponderously narrate about his or her search for redemption, which makes the quests fresher. Even many minor characters are seeking it. Consider: Wandjina, Blue Jay, and the Sorceress (in issues #2-3) are desperate to save the Earth from nuclear destruction because they failed to save their Earth. Mari McCabe is trying to redeem herself after the disaster that ended the previous League, and she's looking for it in the Suicide Squad, which leads to her reunion with and forgiveness by J'onn in Suicide Squad #13, which crosses over with JLI #13. In issue #28, Black Hand has gone straight, presumably looking for redemption for his evil ways. Irwin Teasdale (the mad scientist who turns people in vampires/zombies in "The Teasdale Imperative," the crossover with the European branch in JLA #31-32 and JLE #7-8) is, in his own twisted way, looking to redeem himself after Simon Stagg rejects him. Wally Tortolini, the reporter who writes a devastating exposé on the Justice League in issue #38 (which gets spiked by the Crimson Fox, who's the European distributor of the magazine for whom he wrote the piece), looks to redeem himself by befriending Sonar. The Injustice League goes straight in JLA Annual #4, the notorious Justice League Antarctica story. Even G'nort, perhaps the dumbest character in DC history (okay, maybe not, as there's a wealth of candidates), continously tries to make up for the mistakes he makes.

But it's the main characters who go through the most trials and are most in need of redemption. Let's check them out individually, starting with Maxwell Lord, the new creation for this book. Max is instrumental in bringing the new League together, from planning the terrorist strike on the United Nations in issue #1 (he does, however, take the firing pin out of the bomb the head terrorist straps to his chest, thereby neutering the threat even before the League shows up) to setting the Royal Flush Gang on the League in issue #4 as a way to get Booster Gold onto the team to allying himself with a machine to create a threat to the League in issue #7, clearing the way for UN recognition. We see some cracks in his façade throughout the first 12 issues, most notably in issue #11, when the League returns from space after fighting the Manhunters (in the "Millennium" crossover). Max expected that the "big guns" of the DCU who joined up with the League to fight the Manhunters - Superman, Hawkman, Hal Jordan - would stay in the league, but J'onn tells him they're not joining. Max freaks out, telling them he needs "raw power" and not a "bunch of weak-kneed second-stringers!" We don't know what he's talking about, but over the next two issues, we learn that Max is working with a super-computer built by Metron (of the New Gods) that achieved awareness at some point. The computer helped Max move ruthlessly up in the world of business, and then it conspired with him to achieve "world peace," mainly by manipulating the League and the United Nations into granting the League "super-police" status. But now the machine has gone too far, and Max rebels against it. He destroys the computer, but at great cost - in issue #9, he had been shot by a Manhunter, but the computer "repaired" him. When Max destroys the computer, his wounds re-open, and he spends several issues recuperating. But he has overcome his somewhat evil past and changed. He's not off the hook, however. Giffen and DeMatteis do this quite often - they reach the end of a story arc, and we think that the character will now remain static, but they continue to throw more challenges in front of the character. Max gains a "persuasive" power when the gene bomb explodes at the end of Invasion! He gives people "nudges" with his mind to get them to come around to his way of thinking. This is a potentially evil power, and Max must struggle with the ethical dilemmas he gets into when he does use it. In issue #41, he uses it to get a woman to talk to him at a party, then dreams that he uses it to fight crime, at which he becomes more and more unethical. He wakes up and realizes that he only gave the woman - Wanda - a little push, but the dream has scared him (mostly) straight. Finally, years later in Formerly Known as the Justice League, Max has been humbled in business and, although he's still arrogant, he's learned how to deal with people better, and he's much more a part of the team rather than the overlord. It's a fascinating character arc, one that could only be achieved over several years (in publication time, of course), because then we believe that Max is slowly learning how to be a decent human being.

The next person on the League totem pole is J'onn J'onzz, and although he was an established character and therefore had to conform to the way previous writers portrayed him (yes, this was back when writers actually tried to hew closely to established characterization), Giffen and DeMatteis still give him chances to redeem himself. Of course, DeMatteis was writing the prior incarnation of the League, so the continuity was there. In the first issue of this series, we learn about the guilt J'onn is carrying around with him when he purges the records of the previous League, wiping Steel, Vibe, Gypsy, and Vixen out of (computerized) existence. J'onn takes a paternal role in every version of the League, even when the "big guns" are involved, but definitely moreso in this version, where the members - after Black Canary leaves and Batman shows up only occasionally - are largely neophytes. J'onn's previous League was inexperienced, too, and the shadow of that League's disastrous ending looms over J'onn for the entire run, even if you didn't know what had happened to the prior League (and for years, I didn't know because I hadn't read it). J'onn's larger redemption comes from the fact that, through his example, the heroes in this League find their footing and become better at their jobs, to the point where he doesn't feel like he needs to babysit them. His biggest chance for redemption comes when Despero shows up in the excellent three-part story, issues #38-40. Despero is looking for the League, but the League he knows no longer exists - he finds Steel's body and destroys it, then kills Gypsy's parents and goes gunning for her. J'onn saves Gypsy, but Despero is too strong for the current League to handle, as he easily trashes them. The plot contrivance that Giffen and DeMatteis use so J'onn can defeat Despero is a bit annoying, but what makes it work is that J'onn believes in love - love for his home planet, his long-dead wife and child, his adopted planet, and his surrogate family - and he believes that love and forgiveness - a mirror of redemption - can save the world. Despero scoffs at this, but J'onn proves that it can. It's a brilliant arc because J'onn understands that he must change the way a hero fights a villain when the villain is too strong. J'onn's solution to the Despero problem is a perfect summation of who J'onn is. Giffen and DeMatteis give him a wonderful sense of humor throughout the series (and a love for Oreos), but he remains the emotional rock of the League.

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold get the most interesting redemptive story arcs, because for so much of the run, they're used mainly as comic relief. Beetle is on the team from the beginning, and we get hints about his desire for money, but we don't get the full story until issue #38, when we find out that as Ted Kord, he declared bankruptcy and "disappeared" into the Beetle identity. This is one of the interesting moments of "realism" in this book (as much as becoming a superhero to avoid creditors is "realistic") - Ted Kord lost his fortune and didn't know what to do, so he became a costumed hero. Throughout the book, Beetle concocts get-rich-quick schemes, culminating with the casino on Kooey Kooey Kooey (issues #33-35). The increasingly desperate attempts to regain his fortune make Beetle an increasingly pathetic figure, even as we laugh along with the goofiness. This ability of Giffen and DeMatteis to tinge the rampant goofy humor with some real-world pathetic behavior is what makes Beetle and Booster work - they're not complete buffoons, because we understand why they're so desperate to make a buck. It's interesting that even though Beetle and Booster want money, they're not willing to betray their principles - in issue #25, they take a "repo" job but discover that things are definitely not what they seem, and they walk away from the job much changed. Furthermore, the experience on Kooey Kooey Kooey seems to change Beetle to a certain extent, although this doesn't play out until much later. In the issues after #45 (which I'll get to), he and Booster remain figures of humor, but Beetle gradually lets himself go physically, and when Max puts the team back together in Formerly Known as the Justice League, Giffen and DeMatteis give him a heart condition. It's mostly played for laughs (the characters tend to mock it), but it's interesting to note that he's put his life back together, is running Kord Industries again, and is far more mature than we've ever seen him. Giffen and DeMatteis always made sure to portray Beetle as competent, yet with that one fatal flaw: greed. By the time the "sequels" occur, Ted has realized that get-rich-quick schemes don't work, and he's moved on. Booster's arc is a bit more complicated, because he often got involved in Beetle's schemes just because he was Beetle's friend. As he's from the future, he has niftier gadgets than Beetle and often, in the early issues, seems far more competent than his friend. This, subtly, drives Beetle's insecurities and makes him seek easy riches. Early on in the series, it seems as if Booster is simply humoring Beetle and is only friends with him because there's no one else on the team for him to befriend, but we see the depth of their friendship in issue #29, in which Beetle has to be "deprogrammed" from the Queen Bee's hypnosis and Booster has to wait while his friend is in a coma. There's a nice scene in which Booster sits alone, worried sick about Beetle. As this episode occurs a few issues before the Kooey Kooey Kooey disaster, it illuminates why Booster would go along with Beetle's schemes - they're best friends, and best friends help each other out. Booster isn't quite as obsessed with money as Beetle is, but he still goes along with his plans. Of course, this leads to Booster quitting the team because he's fed up with being treated like comic relief, which implies that he's a bit more grown-up than Beetle. He does return to the team, of course, and when we get to Formerly Known as the Justice League, he's married to a rich old woman and waiting for her to die so he can inherit her wealth. He and Beetle, to some degree, have switched places. Throughout the two mini-series, Beetle acts as the mature hero while Booster is somewhat childish - he's the one who sends the team to "Hell" in "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League," after all, in a fit of petulance. But he too redeems himself by saving Beatriz in the alternate universe and proving that he's a true hero. His arc takes a bit longer and shows how insecure he really is - not surprising for a man out of time - but in the end, he isn't just a figure of ridicule, he's a worthy member of the Justice League.

Fire, Ice, and Guy are inextricably linked throughout this run, and both Beatriz and Guy also get redemptive arcs. Tora, interestingly enough, is one of the few characters in the series who gets very little character development. She's most interesting when she's reacting to Bea and Guy, and by the time the sequels come around, she's dead. This, of course, is a key plot point in the second sequel, but it still doesn't make Ice any more interesting. What Ice does is bring out the best in people because she's somewhat saccharine and definitely naïve - she's the daughter of a god, so she knows little about the world - and this is most evident when she dates Guy, but also in her friendship with Bea. Much like Beetle and Booster (whom they mirror in some ways), Bea and Tora's friendship goes through different permutations, but Bea (like Ted) is usually the instigator of situations, with Tora (much like Booster) going along with them. We first see them in JLI #12, soon after the Global Guardians lose their United Nations funding, as they get their final (and puny) paychecks and try to figure out what to do next. Bea decides to join the Justice League! We don't see them again until issue #14, when J'onn, who initially dismisses them, realizes he needs warm bodies to deal with the threat of Manga Khan. They quickly become mainstays. Notice, of course, that they join the league for the same reason, it seems, that Beetle and Booster stay in it - the opportunity for a steady paycheck. This gets back to the "realistic" attitude Giffen and DeMatteis take toward the League - it's a job, and many of the members appreciate that. Beatriz transforms due to the gene bomb into a woman who can turn into fire - not unlike Johnny Storm - and they both remain powerful members throughout this run. Much like Beetle and Booster - to a lesser degree, however - they are part of the comic relief corps, as Tora is always there to deflate Bea's vanity ... to a point, as Bea is, to put it mildly, extremely self-confident. But like Beetle and Booster, their friendship helps anchor the book. It's telling that when Despero shows up, Beatriz faces him alone, furious that he's hurt her friends - even though those friends include Beetle and Guy, whom she often denigrates. Guy, of course, is the driving force of much of the comedy in the series, because he's so very unlikeable. But he's not inhuman, and this is, again, where Ice comes into the picture. She first meets him when his personality is altered, so she doesn't realize what a tool he is. When his "original" personality returns, she doesn't believe it at first, choosing instead to think he's masking his true, sensitive personality. In issue #28, their first date, he basically dares her to go out with him. Of course, Beatriz, who feels very maternal toward Tora, doesn't think it's a good idea. The night ends disastrously, naturally, as Guy does everything wrong (taking Ice to an X-rated movie, for instance) and eventually punches out Black Hand, who has surrendered after a brief fight. Guy, of course, thinks he still has a shot with her, and in issue #45, we see another one of their dates (not the second one, as Tora refers to a cockfight Guy took her to). Guy lets her choose where they go, she chooses the "Ice-Capists," and he promises not to lose his temper. Of course, Beetle pranks him and he loses his temper, but he still tries very hard to keep his cool. Ice has already begun to change him.

This becomes most evident in "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League," when Guy returns to the fold. If we look at the redemptive theme running throughout the Giffen/DeMatteis run, Beatriz has already begun to take another innocent under her wing, as Mary Marvel takes Ice's place in Formerly Known as the Justice League. Bea might not be the best influence, but she does know something about the world, and she and Mary have the same kind of dynamic that she and Tora had, with Bea teaching Mary something about the world and Mary teaching Bea how to be less cynical. Then Guy returns, setting up the emotionally devastating trip to Hell in issues #6 and 7. First, Guy proves how incredibly powerful he is when he spearheads the rescue operation and puts Power Girl in her place (he's still, after all, a jerk). Then, in issue #7, he sees Tora, who appeared at the end of issue #6. He snatches her away from Bea, who's trying to revive her (she's basically a zombie), and places a protective bubble around himself and her. Bea's anguish and Guy's tenderness is astonishing, especially because Guy is able to get through to Tora. Etrigan tells them they're allowed to take Ice out of Hell, but only if they don't look back at her. Of course. We know it's going to end badly, not only because Etrigan tells them that "they always look back," but because that's how these things work! But we're not sure if Guy or Beatriz will look back, and when Bea succumbs, Tora says as she disappears, "You always did care too much." In a beautiful moment, Guy and Beatriz, their hatred for each other forgotten, weep in each others' arms. What makes it more painful is that they return to an alternate universe, where Ice is still alive but is a stone-cold murderer who tries to slaughter Bea. Without the years of stories about this triangle, Guy and Bea's brief reconciliation wouldn't have the power it does. Tora has changed both Bea and Guy, as Bea has become more mature - much like Beetle - while Guy has learned that he had a chance at love and lost it. But we see that he has perhaps gotten a second chance at redemption. Giffen and DeMatteis aren't concerned if he'll take it, but they give him the chance, at least.

Of course, what everyone remembers about this series is the humor, but what makes it interesting is how organic the humor is. Helfer points out in the introduction that if they were going to make it a "club" for superheroes, why not make it funny? Friends crack jokes and throw insults at each other all the time when they're in an informal setting, so why wouldn't superheroes? This was a huge paradigm shift in superhero comics, because although Helfer says it was a reaction to the "grim-'n'-gritty" trend in comics at that moment, it was also different from pre-Crisis superhero stories, where the characters fought a villain and the only time we saw them at a headquarters was when they were discussing the threat. They weren't grim and gritty, but they were serious about the threat (as Hawkman hilariously points out many time during his brief tenure with this league). Giffen and DeMatteis dared to wonder what they did during the many, many hours when a super-villain WASN'T attacking the city, country, or planet. The humor flowed naturally from that, as personality clashes led to funny situations. What makes this such a wonderful look at superhero relationships is that the humor WAS organic, and therefore fit in with the general flow of the story. The worst stories in the series are those where Giffen and DeMatteis set out to write something goofy - the Manga Khan tales, the G'Nort and Scarlet Skier story in issue #36, even the Kooey Kooey Kooey epic. These stories, which are often funny, aren't as effective because they feel more like broad sketch comedy rather than the finely-honed situational comedy of the rest of the book. The humor also works best when we get a generous dose of action with it - Giffen and DeMatteis easily switch from the team bickering to fighting effectively, and again, it feels true - these people might argue with each over trivialities, but they're still superheroes, and they get the job done. What's also interesting is how Giffen and DeMatteis shift the effectiveness of the team to match the threat facing them - like most people, they underestimate things, and this gets them in trouble when they fight a doofus like Wally Tortolini in issue #44. They don't treat all villains with the seriousness that they do Despero, and this adds to the humor. But it also makes them more human. The old League would give the same amount of respect to Despero AND Wally, to the detriment of both stories. What makes the Tortolini story humorous is that Orion DOES take every threat very, very seriously, and that's bad news for the loser villains from whom Wally won all the gadgets. Giffen and DeMatteis know that this team is formidable, and they give them plenty of difficult threats to deal with, but they have the team deal with the threats in new and interesting ways. Batman going undercover in Bialya as "Bruce Wayne" (a fantastic idea) is one of those ways. Bartering with Manga Khan instead of fighting him is another. It's impressive that the writers don't simply give the League a threat and have them beat it up. They think about how this particular team (whichever characters comprise the team at that moment) would react to the threat, and go from there. It's part of what makes the book so successful, beyond the hilarity of many of the situations.

The run is anchored, artistically, by two stellar pencillers - Maguire and Hughes. In the original run, Maguire drew 19 issues (Giffen's pencils in issues #8-10 were back-up stories, so Maguire didn't draw the entire issue, but still) and Hughes drew 12 (both drew issues outside of this run - Maguire returned for issue #60, the final Giffen/DeMatteis one, while Hughes came back for issue #51). In between, Templeton, McKone, and Willingham did solid work. These artists share one thing in common - they were relatively new to the industry, and it's strange to see such new artists put on a flagship DC book. Of course, Maguire got the job because of his tremendous work with characters and their facial features, about which much has been made over the years, but it really is impressive. From the very first issue, he does a wonderful job, as when Batman cows Guy into stopping his shenanigans, and Guy's face, in three quick panels, goes from aggressive to thoughtful (he's wondering whether he can take Bats) to ashamed because he's backing down even though he has a power ring. This continues throughout his run on the series - Black Canary's absolutely devastated look on her face because she missed Batman punching out Guy in issue #5 is priceless. Maguire only got better, too - look at the cover of Formerly Known as the Justice League #1, as he captures the personalities of every character perfectly. His work in the two mini-series is much better than his work on the original series, which was already excellent. Mary Marvel's slow breakdown in Formerly Known as ... #5, when Ralph keeps bringing up the fact that she almost killed Captain Atom, is wonderful, and of course the magnificent scene in JLA: Classified #7, when Guy and Bea are trying desperately to keep from looking back at Tora, is simply beautiful. Maguire is a fine artist who has been good on other projects, but his sense of humor, combined with Giffen and DeMatteis's, makes this his most memorable work. Hughes is much more on a pin-up artist than Maguire (it's not surprising that Fire seems to be his favorite character), but his marvelously fluid style works well on the two big action arcs he drew, "The Teasdale Imperative" and the Despero story, and he's no slouch in the facial features department, either. The Despero story is a masterpiece of not only pacing and excitement, but Hughes does a marvelous job turning Despero into a true monster, and his United Nations "cape" (a flag he crashed through as he landed on Earth) is a nice ironic touch. It's stunning to think that Hughes's JLA issues are the most he ever drew on a series, and he finished it when he was 24. Covers pay the bills, I guess (well, that and Penthouse Comix, which he also drew for a time), but it's a shame that we don't get more interiors by Hughes, because he's so good at them.

The series went quickly off the rails after issue #45. The "General Glory" arc that led to issue #50 was terrible, and soon afterward Giffen and DeMatteis began the interminable "Breakdowns" arc, a 15-part story that destroyed both the American and European branches of the League. They were both revamped into normal superhero groups fighting normal supervillains, and the series staggered along for a while until DC mercifully axed it and paved the way for Grant Morrison and his "Big Guns" return to glory. It's almost impossible today to think of the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League without considering what DC has done to stain its legacy. In the past few years, Sue Dibny has been retroactively raped and she and Ralph have been killed (they weren't in the original run, but they were members of Justice League Europe), Ted Kord has starred in a one-shot in which almost every DC hero mocks him and then Maxwell Lord, who is now a bad guy, shoots him in the head, and Max himself has been killed. (This ignores the fact that Black Hand, who was trying to be a legitimate businessman in JLA #28, recently killed his entire family in preparation for being a Black Lantern.) It's as if DC can't stand the fact that they once published a series that bore the proud name "Justice League" and it didn't take itself too damned seriously. It becomes even creepier when we recall the now-famous panel in JLA #35 in which Beetle and Booster actually discuss Max shooting them in the head or the running gag about Sue's pregnancy in "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League" (which, of course, was published after Sue was killed in Identity Crisis, but who knows when it was written). But we simply have to put the subsequent events of the DCU out of our minds and enjoy these comics in a vacuum. It's much better that way.

The great thing about the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League is that it didn't rely simply on slapstick humor. It relied much more on creating interesting characters and allowing them to interact with each other, from which the humor sprung. Giffen and DeMatteis took the idea of the League seriously, but didn't take the idea of heroes hanging out together too seriously, and that made all the difference. There's a lot of action in this series, and because we know these characters as people, the fights become more personal. It's not a question of just having heroes show up and beat villains, it's a question of whether they will win or not and how. Giffen and DeMatteis understand that when you don't have DC's Big Guns, you need to be more creative about how the heroes triumph. This makes their triumphs much more interesting - as an example, we don't want Guy to be so effective with his ring, but let's face it, he is. It's annoying cheering for Guy, but we do. And that's part of the genius of this series. And when Giffen and DeMatteis get serious, the impact is greater because we feel like we know Ted and Booster (I know his name's Michael, but no one ever calls him that in this series), and Guy and J'onn and Bea and Tora and Scott and Oberon and Max a little more than we know a more stolid League. And so we care more about them.

DC has finally, it seems, committed to releasing this series in trades. The first 12 issues were collected years ago, and recently DC has been putting out nice hardcovers of the series. It appears that the first two years have been collected in four volumes. Eventually they'll be out in softcover, as DC's policy of releasing paperbacks is a bit ridiculous (the paperback of volume 4 is coming out a year after the hardcover, in other words). Formerly Known as the Justice League and JLA: Classified #4-9 are also in trade. I don't know how far DC plans to go with collecting the original series - perhaps all the way through issue #60, the final Giffen/DeMatteis JLA? Either way, this is a wonderful series that's as good as you've heard it is. And it's definitely a Comic You Should Own. And hey, if you want more - check out the archives! It's almost Christmas, and you need gift ideas!

54 Comments

• At November 16, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  Awesome AWESOME profile of these series. I agree with almost everything except The Breakdowns storyline, which I thought regrounded the ...

• At November 16, 2009, BrianHouston wrote:

  Great series.

• At November 16, 2009, Thok wrote:

  when Max puts the team back together in Formerly Known as the Justice League, Giffen and DeMatteis give him a ...

• At November 16, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Wonderful write-up, Greg. My love for this series (and its sister book, JLE) is one of the many reasons I ...

• At November 16, 2009, Dave wrote:

  Are they ever going to release the 5th Trade???

• At November 16, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I used to have all (or most) of this stuff.

  God DAMN those WERE the days.

  sigh

  What EVER happened ...

• At November 16, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Thok: Thanks. I didn't know that about Ted.

  Wesley: The reason I don't like Breakdowns is because of the ...

• At November 16, 2009, roberto wrote:

  you know, i have never think on the theme of the series as redemption

  and that is absolutely right.

  And that ...

• At November 16, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Sweet, sweet nostagia...

  Thank you...

  *sniff*

• At November 16, 2009, FuryOfFirestorm wrote:

  Your review of the JL/JLA/JLE/JLI era was so good, I look forward to your reviews of the Satellite and Detroit ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  While I doubt anyone will admit it for sure, it certainly does seem like recent DC folks have purposely been ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Hey, don't forget the post-Zero Hour JLA series headlined by Wonder Woman, with Fire, the old Ice Maiden, Nuklon, Obsidian, ...

• At November 16, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  You know, I never bought into that whole "Dan Didio hate's Giffen's League" business, but as I'm re-reading the old ...

• At November 16, 2009, Henry wrote:

  At the same time Ethan, the fans have to take some blame as well. I think we can both name ...

• At November 16, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  FuryOfFirestorm: You might have to wait a while. I don't own any of those issues, so I have no ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  First: your analysis is brilliant. Very good point. My only complaint is that I wouldn't exclude either Breakdowns and especially ...

• At November 16, 2009, Rob Bass wrote:

  Killer write-up, man, makes me want to go back and hit the whole run from "Wanna make somethin' of it?" ...

• At November 16, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Re: Volume 5 of the JLI collections.

  Checking over Amazon's listings, DC's trades and collections through June of next year are ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  RE: JLI trade program

  There is something that also has to be addressed: how to include JLE and JLIQ into this ...

• At November 16, 2009, Jeremy A. Patterson wrote:

  Some of these characters (and some of the short-stint members of this era) would fit right in if DC ...

• At November 16, 2009, Lupin Yonsei wrote:

  I agree with roberto above -- the JL* and Suicide Squad were mirror images of each other. They are also ...

• At November 16, 2009, Sallyp wrote:

  These are definitely comics that you should own...and I DO! It was, and remains, my favorite incarnation of the ...

• At November 16, 2009, Basara wrote:

  To me, the JLA/JLI & JLE era were the definitive version of the league.

  I started reading comics before CoIE - ...

• At November 16, 2009, John Trumbull wrote:

  Beetle gradually lets himself go physically, and when Max puts the team back together in Formerly Known as the Justice ...

• At November 16, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Classic series, but yeah, but by the General Glory arc it was going downhill, and Breakdowns was a bit of ...

• At November 16, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  What a great group of comics. These things were content-packed, too; it takes a while to read one. ...

• At November 16, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dan: I consider JLE a totally separate title, especially after DeMatteis left and Jones took over the scripting. I ...

• At November 16, 2009, Eric F wrote:

  Unfortunately, I think Volume 4 was the last one we're getting. See the comments to this article:

  http://blog.newsarama.com/2009/04/03/jm-dematteis-on-justice-league-international-vol-4/

  "RussBurlingame Says:

  April 5th, 2009 ...

• At November 16, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Part of the problem may be the wide availability of cheap back issues. I got the first two trades in ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  To Mike:

  Because trade market not necessarily has anything to do with the scarcity of a title: rather, it is directed ...

• At November 16, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Great piece; I love the idea that's it's all about redemption.

  But you'll break my heart if you don't do a ...

• At November 16, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Ricardo, I can't disagree with anything you're saying, just offering my opinion that getting the issues cheap would be appealing, ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  To Mike:

  I totally see your point, and that's probably relevant to DC in order to decide on whether putting out ...

• At November 16, 2009, Da Fug wrote:

  Read 'em once when they came out and bagged 'em. I should really reread 'em to see if I ...

• At November 16, 2009, Mxy wrote:

  I've been re-reading this stuff (recently completed the run), and I think Templeton and Willingham are great artists and all, ...

• At November 16, 2009, Shaq-fu wrote:

  KOOEYKOOEYKOOEY

• At November 17, 2009, Patrick C wrote:

  I would include that story from the JLA 80 Page Giant as well! Great article.

• At November 17, 2009, acespot wrote:

  Mister Miracle was another book written in a similar vein.

  In fact, it diverged from JL/JLI immediately after the Manga Khan ...

• At November 17, 2009, acespot wrote:

  Also, my love of this series is one of the main reasons that I HATE the Martian Manhunter "revamp" prior ...

• At November 17, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  Nice write-up, Greg. I agree that Breakdowns is less essential than the other stuff, but anyone who reads the ...

• At November 17, 2009, Brian Lockhart wrote:

  In my humble opinion this book/concept got old after about a year - around issue 12 which, if I recall, ...

• At November 17, 2009, Steven verbridge wrote:

  I have this whole run and just love it! One of the few runs I have kept over the ...

• At November 17, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Maybe it should be pointed out that we currently have an ongoing Booster Gold series. It's not in the vein ...

• At November 17, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  "I'd add there is an extra fact here: the paper in which comic books used to be printed in was ...

• At November 17, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Oh, and the best part of that second cover that's posted here? The tagline refers to the JLI as the ...

• At November 17, 2009, katefan wrote:

  I agree with Brian, it was largely over rated. Being unable to use the A-listers and forced to rely ...

• At November 17, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Well, I certainly disagree. The point is that the writing MADE the characters interesting. The "scrubs," as you ...

• At November 17, 2009, LouReedRichards wrote:

  Great write up!

  I came to the tittle midway - Adam Hughes' first issue, he's still my favorite artist of this ...

• At November 18, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Insightful, thorough, and awesome review/recap here. Nicely done.

• At November 18, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Releasing something in $25 hardcovers with softcovers not coming until a year later is not the best way to get ...

• At November 18, 2009, Chris Stansfield wrote:

  Nice article, though I disagree with some of your conclusions (and some of the assumptions they're based on) Blue Beetle ...

• At November 19, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Chris: Well, I'm going to read JLE next, so we'll see about that.

  This is an interesting comment - thanks for ...

• At November 20, 2009, Comics You Should Own – Jl/Jli/Jla #1-45 + Ancillary Comics … « debtconsolidationandcreditrating wrote:

  [...] The Despero story is a masterpiece of not only pacing and excitement, but Hughes does a marvelous job turning ...

• At November 21, 2009, Drew wrote:

  I guess I probably should have read the JLI trades I have before reading this (I currently have the first ...

Firestar #1 (of 4) ("Mark of the Mutant!") by Tom DeFalco (writer), Mary Wilshire (penciler), Steve Leialoha (inker), Tom Orzechowski (letterer), L. Lois (letterer), and D. Graziunus (colorist). Published by Marvel, March 1986.

Back in the early 1980s, I watched Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, just like all the cool kids (you know you did!). I did not, however, read comics back in those days, so I had no idea that Firestar was not an existing Marvel character. So here, years after she debuted on television, we get a mini-series showing her "origin" - mutants don't have origins per se, they have genes, but we still need to see the drama in their lives that make them turn to Professor Xavier or Emma Frost. This is issue #1, so it's probably more new-reader-friendly than issue #3, say, might be, but still - if you were a new reader, would you want to continue with Angelica's story?

We begin with a left hand. It's the hand of Angelica Jones, and two old hands are showing her that she has "the mark" because the lines on her hand converge to form an "M." Now, Angelica must not be too bright, because anyone who's ever looked at a hand can see that they all have "M"s on them, but Angelica believes her grandmother when "Nana" tells her she's special. We also learn this is Angelica's "thirteenth year." This becomes significant (well, to me) later on. Angelica's father - Bartholomew - tells her to get off to her new school, and once he leaves, we learn that Angelica's mother is "lost" - I'll assume she's dead, and not at the mall like Dilbert's father - and that Bartholomew's job keeps him moving. We don't learn what he does in this issue, unfortunately. We also learn that there's something wrong with Nana - in her words, she's "just an old woman who's starting to wear out." Gee, I wonder what's going to happen to Nana?

We switch to Angelica arriving at West Morris High School (which sort of exists) and deciding, without speaking to anyone, that she's a nerd. Of course, the older, trampier girls target her as a "loser," and Angelica doesn't dispell this idea because she keeps staring at her hand as if she's never seen it before. You NEVER noticed the "M," Angie? Really? DeFalco allows irony to creep into the story as the girl who's built like a brick shithouse has the nerve to call Angelica "fat." They quickly forget our heroine, however, because Cassie, the queen bitch (think Rachel McAdams in Mean Girls or, if you're old, Kim Walker in Heathers) has her sights set on Chuckie Belson, the blond football star - she tells her friends that she's devoted the entire semester to "putting [her] brand on that stallion." Okay, that just brings up a lot of weird images. She grabs Chuckie, but of course he sees Angelica, and because men in the Marvel Universe are POWERLESS when it comes to redheads, he ditches Cassie and says hello to our heroine. This is where I felt a bit icky. As I mentioned above, Angelica is in her thirteenth year. I'm sure DeFalco meant that she was 13, but her thirteenth year is technically the year that she's 12. We can argue that she oughtn't be in high school, but perhaps she's really precocious. Now, we don't have any idea how old Chuckie is, but he's a football star, implying he's not on the junior varsity, and he simply looks older - like 17 or 18. I know we're not supposed to feel skeevy reading as he puts the moves on Angelica, but it makes me uncomfortable. This was 1986, though, a (slightly) more innocent era, so I'll forgive DeFalco. It's just a bit weird.

We cut to Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, and DeFalco does a good job explaining what exactly Xavier is doing out there in Salem Center. If you're reading a mutant mini-series in 1986, you probably already know what Xavier is doing, but this was back when comics writers and editors didn't automatically assume everyone reading was a long-time comics nerd who could tell you if Mary Jan Watson was a natural redhead (she isn't, of course - didn't everyone read the original, suppressed Amazing Spider-Man #154, "MJ's Shocking Secret!", which was banned because it showed graphic depictions of MJ's bikini waxes?), so DeFalco makes sure that people reading this cold will know who Xavier is and why he's interested in Angelica. We also get a scene at Emma Frost's Massachusetts Academy, where Ms. Frost treats Hellfire Club guards poorly (she mind blasts a guy for getting some coffee because they might have missed the manifestation of a mutant, even though the entire process is computerized - her machine is called "Mutivac," which sounds like something to vacuum up any mutants it might come across - and therefore should probably be recording a manifestation) just to show how badass she is ... as if the dominatrix gear she's wearing didn't give it away. Then, with those introductions out of the way, it's back to Angelica!

In her class, the teacher has asked her about the Treaty of Versailles, about which Angelica knows nothing, as they didn't cover it at her last school. I again call bullshit, as if Angelica is really 13, she's just come from (probably) sixth grade, and I can't imagine any sixth-grade class covering the Treaty of Versailles. Even if she's transferred in from a junior high and she was in seventh grade before this, I still can't imagine a seventh-grade class covering the Treaty of Versailles. And why is she in a class with kids who are obviously so much older than she is (the evil girls again)? Oh well. She tries to make friends with the evil girls, but they shun her (like the Amish!) and as she sits there stewing, her mutant powers activate! We know this because Mutivac turns on just at that moment, plus we see red lines emanating from the carton of milk she's holding. The dude monitoring Mutivac tells Emma Frost that she's "emitting an incredible level of psionic energy for a first timer!" because she can't just be a garden-variety mutant - she has to be a super-mutant! DeFalco then gives us this deathless prose, accompanied by this image:

Yes, somehow DeFalco slipped a money shot past Ann Nocenti (the editor) and Jim Shooter (the editor-in-chief). And one involving a 12- or 13-year-old. Dear Lord.

The teacher who got, um, unloaded upon is the same one who put down Angelica because she didn't know about the Treaty of Versailles, so of course she's even lower in his estimation, even though she explained that the milk carton "just seemed to explode when [she] opened it." I'll bet. Anyway, Mutivac has lost the trace, but Emma's not worried - Angelica's psionic level will grow with each manifestation until they can find her. So a few months later, Chuckie catches up with Angelica and tells her she should enter the ice sculpture contest the school is having. Cassie, the queen bitch, watches this flirtation with narrowed, evil eyes. Later, as everyone sculpts happily, Chuckie runs toward the group, ignores Cassie, and bops on over to Angelica, complimenting her on her kicky beret. Cassie and her evil minions plot ... revenge!

The next day, right after Angelica leaves for school, her grandmother drops dead of a heart attack. We couldn't see that coming! Actually, we don't see her drop dead, we just see the beginnings of the fatal attack. Then we switch to Angelica being happy to underline the tragedy unfolding at home, but she's only happy for a panel until she sees that her ice sculpture has been destroyed. She stares at her palm, which causes Cassie to ask her why she's always doing that, and Angelica reveals that her "M" means she's special. The other girls, naturally, point out that they have "M"s too, which causes Angelica to believe Nana lied to her and also makes her angry enough to melt all the other sculptures. Chuckie shows up, tries to comfort her, but she runs away, leaving her hat behind. Oh, the hat! She tries to call Nana, but she melts the phone. This, of course, sets off both Cerebro and Mutivac. Xavier and Frost are on the scent!

Angelica hurries home, where she sees the ambulance taking Nana away. Man, she's having a shitty day. We switch quickly to her and her father standing over the grave, and Angelica tells him they have to talk. She shows him what she can do, and "sometime later" he sits in his room, head in his hands, thinking "My baby ... my angel ... is some kind of freak! A blasted mutie!" Hey, way to support her, Bart. Dialogue comes from off-panel, offering to help. It's Emma, of course. She goes into Angelica's room, tells her the "M" on her palm is special, and then tells her that her father has already arranged to send her to Emma's school. Just then, Xavier and Nightcrawler pull up in a "sleek limousine" and Chuck realizes that Emma is already there. "We arrived too late," he says. "We've failed!" He then says, as we reach the end of the issue, "That poor girl --! May God protect her!" Man, what a fatalist!

As a first issue of a mini-series, this does its job. It introduces Angelica fairly well, even with the holes in the story. DeFalco makes sure that we know who the opposing sides struggling for Angelica's loyalties are, and Wilshire's art is perfectly serviceable. I'm not terribly sure, if this was your first comic, that you would be back. It's pretty mediocre and does really nothing to showcase why comics are so cool. This feels like a prose story with some pictures, and really, the only nice blending of writing and art, unfortunately, is when the milk carton blows up. And that's (unintentionally, let's hope) hilarious.

Firestar #1 won't make you hate comics and everything they stand for, but it's also not the kind of comic that makes you think the artform is the greatest thing ever. But it sort-of introduces a cartoon character to the Marvel Universe (she first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #193, but this story takes place "before" that), so there's that. It could be a lot, lot worse!

29 Comments

• At November 14, 2009, Crusader k wrote:

  I was conflicted about this story. I believe in the Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends that it had been established ...

• At November 14, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Blllll-eccccccch, that sounds awful. I'm think Tom was a bit out of his element, here...

  Also, I think people unfairly ...

• At November 14, 2009, Crash-Man wrote:

  CLIMAX!

• At November 14, 2009, Omar Karindu wrote:

  As the ancient Mr. Burgas no doubt knows, "Mutivac" is a reference to the old "UNIVAC" computers of the real-world ...

• At November 14, 2009, Van GoghX wrote:

  Actually, I think 'Multivac' refers to Isaac Asimov's supercomputer in many short-stories he wrote. The 'vac' refers to vacuum tubes. ...

• At November 14, 2009, danjack wrote:

  Man, does Tom DeFalco write some of the most horrible comics EVER! This is just awful writing & the art ...

• At November 14, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Omar: My dad worked for Sperry Univac in the 1970s!

• At November 14, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Multivac was a reference to the real UNIVAC series of computers, which were named so as an abbreviated for of ...

• At November 14, 2009, fit2print wrote:

  An exhaustively detailed, 2,000-word review devoted to a mediocre 25-year-old comic from a consistently mediocre (albeit hugely successful) publisher featuring ...

• At November 14, 2009, Ed Buskirk wrote:

  fit2print, you summed up my feelings about this site in general. While I've enjoyed many features on this site, I ...

• At November 14, 2009, Fielding wrote:

  Get a life, Burgas.

• At November 14, 2009, Daniel O' Dreams wrote:

  Wow what's with all the vitriol? I remember quite liking this comic as an 11 year old. No surprise it ...

• At November 14, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Sheesh, people. The entire point of this exercise is that I want to see if random comics are easily ...

• At November 14, 2009, Ed Buskirk wrote:

  I wasn't just referring to you, Greg, and I apologize for sounding holier-than-thou. It's true I only started reading this ...

• At November 14, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Ed: Yeah, I don't know how well superheroes work in appealing to new readers. They did to me back ...

• At November 14, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  "An exhaustively detailed, 2,000-word review devoted to a mediocre 25-year-old comic from a consistently mediocre (albeit hugely successful) publisher featuring ...

• At November 14, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  I remember this mini. I thought it was OK, though I was underwhelmed by the story being so low-key until ...

• At November 14, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  The giant pink girl built like ten brick shithouses shouldn't be making fun of anyone's weight.

  This comic looks awful.

• At November 14, 2009, Brian D. wrote:

  Wait, Mary Jane isn't a natural redhead??

  Now my Sunday is spoiled...

  Nice review, Greg, even if this isn't a comic I ...

• At November 14, 2009, Van GoghX wrote:

  I still say 'Multivac' is a tip of the hat to Asimov. One author to another. Check wikipedia's entry for ...

• At November 14, 2009, chad wrote:

  this is the first i heard fire star got her own comic for she was created just for the cartoon ...

• At November 15, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I thought the 'AC' stood for 'Analog Computer' (some computers WERE analog in the early days). It even ...

• At November 15, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  Hey, maybe Ms. Brick Shithouse is all muscle.

• At November 15, 2009, sgt rawk wrote:

  I had this whole series. It gets weirder. It's half-romance comic, half superhero comic. And it's no worse than any ...

• At November 15, 2009, Tanzim wrote:

  Thanks for doing this column again Greg. I missed these.

• At November 15, 2009, Brian D. wrote:

  Mary, I love Hastings! The one we go to has an excellent graphic novels/TPB section, so I always end up ...

• At November 15, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  These weren't the three-in-a-bag books, although they had a ffew of those, too. These were single issues (in bags, ...

• At November 15, 2009, Bryan wrote:

  I like 25 year old superhero comics, even the mediocre ones.

• At November 15, 2009, LouReedRichards wrote:

  What the Mutt said.

  If you're bitching about Greg reviewing old comics maybe you should read the ground rules he posts ...

The Anchor #2 ("Five Furies Part Two: Bark and Hide, Bone and Root") by Phil Hester (writer), Brian Churilla (artist), Matthew Wilson (colorist), and Johnny Lowe (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

We continue the first arc, as we get a bit of backstory about "Clem" on the first two pages, hearkening back to when the Vikings roamed the seas and men lugging anchors crawled out of the ocean. Then we're back to the present, and our hero and his new pal, Hofi, head to Scotland to battle a half-man, half-elk, who, unfortunately, can't keep his mouth shut. Oh, and the ghost of a teenager joins the cast. And some mean United States government people show up, because the United States government just can't keep its grubby little paws out of things, can it? It's mostly plot-building, although Hester does a nice job with it, and Churilla does a great job with the fight between Clem and the Elkman. Churilla makes the Elkman really frightening and majestic - he's a formidable challenge for Clem. And Churilla has fun with the brief scene in Hell, too.

As always, I'll give this series an arc and see where we stand. It's still an intriguing idea, and Hester has a good idea of where he's going with it (or so it seems), even though I wish the United States government wasn't quite so sinister. But both the writing and art are strong in this book, and Hester has a lot going on here.

Batman and Robin #6 ("Revenge of the Red Hood Part Three: Flamingo is Here") by Grant "All right, you bastards, next issue you get Cameron Stewart - are you happy now?" Morrison (writer), Philip Tan (penciller), Jonathan Glapion (inker), Alex Sinclair (colorist), and Patrick Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 24 pgs, FC, DC.

I've been defending Tan on this book, and I still don't think he's awful, but he screws up the Flamingo, and it's a shame. It doesn't help that Quitely draws him on the cover and Tan draws the interiors, because we can compare a good version with a not-so-good version. Quitely's Flamingo is suave and dangerous, while Tan's is just nutty. He's just another somewhat dull Batman villain, and it's too bad. Batman's villains are often as well-defined by their look as by their characterization, and Tan's Flamingo lacks the flair that makes him a truly great Batman villain (I guess technically he's a Red Hood villain, but you get my drift). He's just a wacko. Robin's line, "I was expecting scary, not gay," doesn't work too well, because Tan's Flamingo isn't as "gay" as Quitely's. Tan does a few things well - his Scarlet lying on the ground, beaten to a pulp, is a tragic panel - but his biggest problem when teamed with Morrison on Batman is that he lacks the slight cartoony edge that Morrison's scripts seem to demand. Quitely has that, and so does Stewart, while his collaborators on his earlier run are more like Tan (with the exception of the ever-changeable Williams III). If this issue weren't quite as "brutal" in the way Tan draws it, Flamingo's abilities might feel more brutal, if that makes sense.

Because, for a fight issue, it's pretty effective. Flamingo's lack of speaking makes him more creepy, and Damian's slow journey to non-bastardness reaches an important signpost in this issue. Morrison also does a nice job at the end, when Jason confronts Dick about his feelings toward Bruce, because it's accurate. The entire epilogue of the issue is well done, from that confrontation to the fate of Scarlet to the scene with Oberon Sexton. I'm sure smarter people than I am can delve into the "W" on the back of El Penitente (I'm going to assume that's El Penitente), but I am unsure why the final page is supposed to be dramatic. Can anyone help?

Anyway, everyone who couldn't stand Tan's art can relax now. It's certainly not great, but for the most part, it did its job. And Morrison continues to have his moments of brilliance in a solid story. I'm glad he's doing something with Damian, because I'm still annoyed that Bruce is "dead." It's frustrating reading his take on Dick and Damian, because we know Bruce is coming back, so Morrison can't do too much with establishing them as the true Batman and Robin. This doesn't bug me as much as it does Jog, but it's definitely hindering the God of All Comics, it seems. When Morrison focuses on the good guys versus the bad guys, he does a good job, but the world-building isn't as strong.

The Black Coat: ... Or Give Me Death #1 and 2 by Ben Lichius (writer/colorist), Adam Cogan (story), Francesco Francavilla (artist, part one), Dean Kotz (artist, part two), and Chris Studabaker (letterer). $4.50, 44 pgs, FC (mostly), Ape Entertainment.

Man, I've been waiting for The Black Coat to return, and here it is! Life is good! Now, if only the next two issues could come out in a timely fashion, I'll be a happy camper!

For those of you who don't know, The Black Coat tells the tale of a mysterious vigilante in 1775 New York who fights the "tyranny" of the British (who weren't all that tyrannical, after all) as the colonies gear up for war. The Black Coat fights weird supernatural beings in league with the British and an evil organization called the League, and at the end of the first series, he battled a scientist who had created an immortality serum. They both ended up in the harbor, seemingly dead, but they both had ingested the serum, so of course they're still alive! At the beginning of this comic, the Black Coat's lady friend, Ursula, finds his body in the harbor (she's wearing a diving suit and traveling in a submarine, don't you know) and manages to get him home, where he eventually revives. Of course, he needs to keep taking the serum or he'll go nutty, and there's very little serum left. So he has a problem - he needs to create more serum, or all will be lost!!!!!

Lichius and Cogan not only give us a story about the Black Coat's quest for the scientist's brother, who may be able to synthesize more serum, but also a larger story about the beginnings of the war and what the colonists are doing to rebel. Lichius places it in a larger framework of supernatural evil, which doesn't work perfectly (it always bugs me when writers attribute war to grand machinations of the few when men are perfectly willing to kill each other without any nudging in that direction), but I don't mind in the context of the story. It's a terrifically exciting comic, with a giant gargoyle menacing our hero, back alley dealings, a creepy bandaged dude, and the Black Coat going slowly insane, which adds nice tension to the proceedings.

Francavilla started on art, but the delays in the book meant he moved on, which is a shame (although I'm certainly glad to see him on Zorro; it just would have been nice if he could have finished this). However, Kotz is quite good (I don't like him as much as Francavilla, but he's still good), and he's a good fit to finish the series, because he has a similar style to Francavilla. He draws a mean-looking gargoyle, too.

I know this is going to sell about 200 copies, which really stinks. It's an exciting, interesting, nicely-drawn comic that remains grounded in historical reality (sort of) even though Lichius and Cogan take it into supernatural territory. They don't go overboard, however, which is nice. The build-up to the war is as interesting as the supernatural stuff. If you've missed The Black Coat until now, it's time to rectify that oversight!

Comic Book Comics #4 ("Leagelese!") by Fred van Lente (writer) and Ryan Dunlavey (artist). $3.99, 40 pgs, BW, Evil Twin Comics.

Speaking of long-delayed comics, it's the fourth issue of Comic Book Comics!!!! Yay!!!!

I have no problem with this taking so long, because of a few reasons. First, it's 40 pages for 4 dollars. Second, Dunlavey packs the issue with detailed panels full of wacky sight gags, so if takes him a while to draw it, that's cool. Third, van Lente has to, presumably, do a ton of meticulous detail for these (I imagine he doesn't know all this stuff off the top of his head), which takes a while but makes each issue a blast-and-a-half to read. Fourth, given the fickle comics-buying public, I'm sure van Lente and Dunlavey make no frickin' money at all on this, so they have to earn a living somewhere and fit this in when they can (like, one of those nights when you've eaten too many Doritos to sleep and your subscription to Skinemax has been cancelled and you figure it's time to work on an issue!). Van Lente and Dunlavey can take as long as they want with this, in my opinion.

This might be the best issue of the series yet, probably because the Fifties through Seventies are a bit more documented than the early days of comics, and several people involved are still alive, so it feels like van Lente gets deeper into the dirt behind the creators, which makes it more interesting. It's funnier, too, presumably for the same reason. Dunlavey is also able to cut loose a bit, which again might have to do with my familiarity with the material, so I get more of the jokes. Maybe. But the subject matter, from crime comics of the 1950s to the Marvel explosion of the 1960s to underground comix of the late '60s and 1970s, lends itself to satirizing and weirdness a bit more than the earlier stuff. This certainly feels the most joyous of the series so far. Plus, it features Metaa, The Thing That Walked Like a Man That Walked Like a Thing That Walked Like a Man! Of course it did!

If you haven't been buying Comic Book Comics, there's no reason to find the first three issues, because each issue is pretty much self-contained. Seek this one out, because it's a wildly fun comic. And I do hope van Lente and Dunlavey can finish this (buy the new Action Philosophers! trade when it shows up soon, so you can give them some funds!), but they can take as long as they need to. I'll be here when issue #5 comes out!

Fables #90 ("Witches Chapter Four: Ozma") by Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (penciller), Steve Leialoha (inker), Andrew Pepoy (inker), Lee Loughridge (colorist), and Todd Klein (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

It's always so difficult to review an issue of Fables, especially when it's in the middle of a story arc. Willingham sets them up extremely well, often doesn't end them too strongly, but in between, he just lets the plot carry the characters along, and it's a pleasure to read. We get Bufkin figuring out how to defeat Baba Yaga, and it's quite nifty. We get the witches deciding that Ozma should take the leadership of the group because Totenkinder has disappeared, and for some reason, I don't trust Ozma. We get Geppetto plotting with an oak tree (come on, it's Fables - of course he can do that!). We get Totenkinder still helping the Fables even though she's ... elsewhere. We get the return of Dunster Happ! Yay! And it's all wonderfully drawn by Buckingham.

See? Willingham just turns the characters loose, and they do their thing. I love reading each issue. They make me happy.

Plus, there's a preview of Gabriel Bá's and Fábio Moon's Daytripper. Goddamn, it looks awesome.

Rapture #5 (of 6) by Taki Soma (writer/layouter), Michael Avon Oeming (writer/artist), Val Staples (colorist), and Thomas Mauer (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Dark Horse.

I'm fearing the final issue of Rapture, because the way Soma and Oeming set it up, it feels like it's going to be a superhero fight, and I'm really hoping it's not. The early part of this issue is actually quite good, because Evelyn finds Gil under the absolute worst circumstances, and their reunion is definitely not what she was hoping it would be. Of course, she did tell Gil that she needed "space," so she has only herself to blame, but the pages on which they argue, with a young boy who has turned evil insensate at their feet, are gripping to read. The art shows Evelyn's isolation nicely, too, from one panel that has her in a long shot to another where her eyes are black holes of despair. Even Gil's decision about what to do with the boy is handled well. Then the weird dude who gave Evelyn the spear shows up, and it goes sideways a bit. The art still looks great, but the set-up to the final issue indicates that Evelyn and Gil are going to fight it out, and that would be disappointing.

I will, of course, read it, and hope that Soma and Oeming have something up their sleeve. That would be nice.

Starstruck #3 (of 13) ("Mirage à Troi" and "Buy, Buy, Birdy!") by Elaine Lee (writer), Michael Wm. Kaluta (artist), Charles Vess (inker, "Buy, Buy Birdy!"), Lee Moyer (painter), Todd Klein (letterer, "Mirage à Troi"), and John Workman (letterer, "Buy, Buy, Birdy!"). $3.99, 27 pgs, FC, IDW.

There's a nice post about the history of Starstruck here, in case you're interested. The author wonders why this latest incarnation isn't getting the love he feels it deserves. Well, I'm trying, man! I'm trying!

I think the problem with Starstruck is that it's so extremely dense that it's very hard to judge it based on the individual issues. I can rave about Kaluta's art all I want (and I will continue to do so, because it's amazing), but as interesting as Lee's story is, it's obvious that each issue is a tiny part of a much, MUCH bigger whole, and she's not really interesting in telling a shorter story in each issue that leads into a bigger story, she's just interested in telling the large story and the issue ends when IDW doesn't want to put any more pages in it. (I should point out that because of the ways this was originally released, I doubt if Lee had any intention of making it fit into a 22-page format, so I don't blame her in the least.) I'm not even sure if this is how the book was originally released - a few things I've read about it (including the link above) seem to indicate that some of the Epic Illustrated stuff is not here. So there's that.

I'm not going to go as far as the writer of that post, who compares this to Watchmen - at least not yet. It is refreshing reading something like this, however, because Lee is throwing all sorts of interesting stuff in here, from sexual politics to space opera to a fairly standard rebels-vs-establishment kind of fight, yet with plenty of twists, to a critique of objectification. Plus, both the main story and the Galactic Girl Guides are really funny. Lee has created this entire insane universe from scratch, and it shows on the page, because she confidently writes about this made-up world as if she's lived there her entire life.

I still like reading it, but I have a feeling I'll appreciate it a lot more when it's all done. Until then, I'll just revel in the artwork. It's so damned gorgeous!

And in the back of the book, there's an advertisement for J. Scott Campbell's "Fairytale Fantasies" calendar. You know, I don't know if I can watch my daughters' Disney DVDs ever again without thinking of stuff like this:

I know that Zenescope has been doing this for years, but Campbell is a bit higher-profile than they are, so this will get more pub, I expect. Sigh. The IDW link has Ariel, by the way. Sigh.

S.W.O.R.D. #1 ("No Time to Breathe" and "Not Yet") by Kieron Gillen (writer), Steven Sanders (penciler, "No Time to Breathe"), Jamie McKelvie (artist, "Not Yet"), Craig Yeung (inker, "No Time to Breathe"), Matt Wilson (colorist, "Not Yet"), and Dave Lanphear (letterer). $3.99, 30 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Let's consider S.W.O.R.D. #1. I have been on the Kieron Gillen bandwagon since Phonogram #1 came out, over three years ago. I told you to buy it. I ordered you to buy it. I begged you to buy it. I bribed you to buy it. I blackmailed you to buy it. I offered sex, booze, and video games if you bought it. And none of it worked. You didn't believe me when I told you that Gillen (and McKelvie, of course, but he's a different subject) was awesome. Then he started writing for Marvel, and far hipper people than I like Chris Sims told you to read his Beta Ray Bill stuff (to be fair to Sims, he also recognizes the awesomeness that is Phonogram). I've accepted that you're not going to listen to me, because I'm, you know, square. But if you don't believe Sims, then I just don't know what to tell you. There's just no hope.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that S.W.O.R.D. is pretty frickin' keen. I've been skipping Gillen's Marvel stuff, not because I don't think it would be good, but because I really don't have a lot of interest in Thor and Thor-related stories unless Walt Simonson is writing and drawing them. But I was jazzed about S.W.O.R.D., not because I have a fondness for Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men, but because it sounds like the kind of series that Gillen can just go nuts on, probably because (as I mentioned when it showed up in Previews), no one will read it and the PTB will ignore what he does until the sales figures come back. You know, kind of like The Order. I certainly hope that it smashes sales records and Gillen gets to write it for the next decade (even though, as I pointed out at his blog, that would mean he'd be too big a star to talk to me next year at San Diego), but it's always a tough go with new series that don't star one of Marvel's big guns, and when your biggest gun in this issue is Henry McCoy ... well, I think that speaks for itself. But hey! it's a Marvel book, and maybe someone who avoids indies like the plague will pick it up and think, "I wonder what else that Gillen bloke has written ... Phonogram, you say? The next issue of which comes out next week? I'll give that a whirl!" That happens all the time, right?

Of course, I should probably write a bit about the actual issue, shouldn't I? Well, it's mostly set-up, but a very entertaining set-up, as we get the internal tension between Henry Gyrich and Abigail Brand, co-commanders of S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department). Gyrich wants Abigail out, obviously, and Gillen sets up a nifty sub-plot in which Gyrich wants to kick all aliens - all of them - off the Earth so that something like "Secret Invasion" doesn't happen again. Of course, that was secret, so how would it stop that? But we'll run with it. We get a quick look at the inner workings of S.W.O.R.D. - some aliens want tribute or they'll steal North Carolina - before Abigail learns that her half-brother is running from a bounty hunter and has requested sanctuary. When she gives it to him, the bounty hunter simply takes him and skedaddles, leaving Abigail, Henry McCoy, and Lockheed - who's drinking himself into a stupor because Kitty Pryde is "lost" (not dead, as we learn in the second story) - to go fetch him. Oh, yes, the bounty hunter is Death's Head. Oh, those wacky British writers and their love of Marvel UK characters! Death's Head is, of course, goddamned awesome. And he has a big motherfucking gun.

In the second story, Abigail explains to Lockheed how they're trying to save Kitty. Lockheed doesn't think she's doing a good enough job, so he visits the robot in the basement. This is the same robot who helped Abigail in the first story, and Gillen is trying (and, to be fair, succeeding) in making him kind of creepy. I can't wait to see what he does when he (inevitably) gets out.

It's been some years since I read Five Fists of Science, which is the only place I've seen Sanders' art, but it's quite good - his Abigail looks slightly less repressed than McKelvie's, with hair out of place and stylin' sunglasses on. His Death's Head is quite menacing, and he draws some other keen aliens, too. The only problem I have with the art is Henry McCoy. Frankly, he looks like a goat. It's not a good look. The second story is not necessarily built to show off McKelvie's strengths - he does a fine job with the Kitty Bullet and what it's doing out there in the universe, but that doesn't give him much opportunity to show off - but the final page, where Lockheed speaks to the robot, is a nice page, on which the robot looks even creepier thanks to the way McKelvie draws him (that is, cheery as hell). I'm always happy to see McKelvie's art, but I'll be much happier to see it when the next issue of Phonogram comes out, which ought to be (if that lying Brit Gillen can be believed) next week.

So S.W.O.R.D. is pretty cool. Gillen doesn't go for the one-and-done big crazy issue, deciding instead on a longer arc, but with established characters, that's not necessarily a bad way to go. And it features Death's Head, for crying out loud! Can Motormouth be far behind?????

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #3 ("The Bushman Cometh") by Gregg Hurwitz (writer), Jerome Opeña (penciler), Paul Mounts (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Man, Opeña is really good. I mean, I've known that for a while, but it's worth noting again. I just love his casual tiny Khonshu thing (whatever that thing is haunting MK these days) checking out the museum after our hero takes out the punks. On the same page, I love the panel showing enough of Marlene's face to let us know that Moonie's getting lucky tonight! This is just a beautiful issue, and the fact that Opeña switches easily from the big gaudy superheroics in issue #1 to the extremely dark invasion of Ravencroft Asylum in this issue is very cool.

As you might have heard, this is the beginning of "Knightfall," in which Bane breaks all of the inmates out of Arkham to soften up Batman before the coup de grace. Oh, wait a minute, no, this is where Bushman breaks all of the inmates out of Ravencroft to soften up Moon Knight before the coup de grace. You can see where I'd get things confused a bit! Seriously, Marvel and Gregg Hurwitz - you guys thought this would be a good idea? I realize "Knightfall" was almost two decades ago, but comics fans these days have really, really long memories, and when commentators for years have called your character a Batman rip-off (I've never been one of those people), it's probably not a good idea to mimic one of Batman's most famous stories from the past 30-40 years or so. I mean, it's just ... well, it's silly, even by the standards of comics, where stories get recycled all the time. It gets back to the tone of this series so far, where I'm not terribly sure if Hurwitz is satirizing superheroes in general. I mean, this reads perfectly straight, but I can't decide if Hurwitz is pointing out the idiocy of "Knightfall" and the revolving door policy of prisons and asylums in the Marvel and DCU or if he's not that subtle. I mean, this hews so closely to "Knightfall" that I can't believe Hurwitz isn't making some kind of comment on it. Bushman could easily get an army from any number of sources, but he deliberately breaks inmates out of an insane asylum. His freakin' face is tattooed like a luchador (despite the fact that he's an African mercenary), much like Bane's was, for crying out loud (yes, I know Bushman predates Bane, but work with me, people!). The Scarecrow is even in this issue! It's just ... odd. Hurwitz writes is fairly effectively, but it's still weird.

But damn, it's nice to look at. And it's an exciting issue, for all the ripping off of old Batman stories. So I'll stick with it and see what Hurwitz is doing with it, but that's just very strange, the way they've set up this story.

So there it is: the week in comics. Any thoughts?

And look! totally random lyrics!

"I'm gnawing on the knowledge
That I have been burned
And I'm learning things that I
Should've already learned
Everyone I ever knew
Was so kind and coy
I was with a girl
But it felt like I was with a boy"

Sing it loud! Sing it proud!

40 Comments

• At November 12, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Re: "J. Scott Campbell's "Fairytale Fantasies" calendar"

  Yeah, someone's going to Hell. And, since I clicked on the link, I suppose ...

• At November 12, 2009, sgt pepper wrote:

  Yay! Comic Book Comics is my favorite comic.

  And yes, everything Kieron Gellen has done is pretty much gold. ...

• At November 12, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  I don't know what the last page was supposed to signify either, but the password to open that case-- " ...

• At November 12, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  Good to hear about S.W.O.R.D. (and the last time I'll be using the acronym). I just got the Beta ...

• At November 12, 2009, bongoes wrote:

  I think the last page was Bruce's body. Zur Enh Arrh was just the password.

• At November 12, 2009, JP wrote:

  What, no The Unwritten #7? It was such an awesome issue!

• At November 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Yeah, I read somewhere that it's Bruce's body. I thought it might be, but then what the heck is ...

• At November 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  JP: I saw that The Unwritten was coming out, but I didn't see it at my comics shoppe. I ...

• At November 12, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Anyway, everyone who couldn't stand Tan's art can relax now. It's certainly not great, but for the most part, it ...

• At November 12, 2009, Capper wrote:

  Nice "Heathers" reference. "How would he have felt about a limp wrist with a pulse?"

• At November 12, 2009, Reno wrote:

  Wasn't the Flamingo a Joker pastiche in the Big Bang universe? In fact, he's the arch-enemy of the Knight Watchman, ...

• At November 12, 2009, StrongWall wrote:

  Batman & Robin = dead in the water. All momentum for this book was killed the minute Phillip Tan's name ...

• At November 12, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  The Violent Femmes are A W E S O M E. My s.o. was recently commenting on how freakin' ...

• At November 12, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  not sure how that jives with what we saw in Final Crisis

  Well, as Dick is acting on words from Jason ...

• At November 12, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Death's Head!? Why didn't anyone tell meeeeeee

• At November 12, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I've only been reading Marvel lately. That's not on any weird principle or anything, it's just that my funds ...

• At November 12, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " Yeah, I read somewhere that it's Bruce's body. I thought it might be, but then what the heck is ...

• At November 12, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Best case scenario; Zombie Batman. :)

  Which would make sense as #7 has to be held off until the next ...

• At November 13, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  Wait, is that story ACTUALLY called "The Bushman Cometh?"

  ACTUALLY?

• At November 13, 2009, Michael wrote:

  God dammit, J. Scott Campbell.

• At November 13, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>even though I wish the United States government wasn't quite so sinister.

  Same here, though at least it's not nearly as ...

• At November 13, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  s1rude: According to Gillen, some issue of Phonogram got out even though Diamond requested that they be pulped because ...

• At November 13, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  I agree, you're going easy on Tan. He's not a great artist to begin with, but his output has been ...

• At November 13, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  Violent Femmes!!! Yes!! Excellent to see one of my faves in that lyrics box every once in a while. ...

• At November 13, 2009, Tekende wrote:

  I really, really wish Tan hadn't been drawing B&R #6, because story-wise it's probably my favorite issue so far.

  I've ...

• At November 14, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  Damn you J. Scott Campbell. Only Alan Moore is allowed to sexualize children books characters!

  Though I have to admit he's ...

• At November 14, 2009, Bright-Raven wrote:

  Burgas:

  I don't know which is sillier. The notion that you think Chris Sims is "hip", or that you're using him ...

• At November 14, 2009, Bright-Raven wrote:

  I should say it undermines the credibility of his blog to my mind's eye, not in general context.

• At November 14, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Bright-Raven: I was joking, for the most part. :) I just figure if I can't get people to ...

• At November 14, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  "If you haven't been buying Comic Book Comics, there's no reason to find the first three issues, because each issue ...

• At November 14, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Well, yeah, that goes without saying. But the first three might be hard to find!

• At November 14, 2009, Ed Buskirk wrote:

  I don't think you're succeeding in spreading the Starstruck gospel, Greg, as not one comment so much as mentions it. ...

• At November 14, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I bought SWORD today, because you told me to. I hope you can deal with that sort of responsibility.

  Is ...

• At November 15, 2009, Kieron Gillen wrote:

  Mary: It's an ongoing, but we're using a pretty firm arc based format. In other words, you can totally treat ...

• At November 15, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  Wow. I've never had an actual author respond to my comments directly. (Except for two occasions with Peter David ...

• At November 15, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Mary: If you like Gillen, you should DEFINITELY check out Phonogram. It's his Image series, and it's great (don't ...

• At November 16, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>It features Jamie McKelvie on art (he drew the back-up story in SWORD)

  Damn. I wish you hadn't mentioned that, because ...

• At November 17, 2009, Kieron Gillen’s Workblog » S.W.O.R.D. 1 Out For Nearly A Week wrote:

  [...] O’Brien, House To Astonish: “The dialogue is great.” Greg Comics Should Be Good: “I certainly hope that it smashes ...

• At November 21, 2009, Drew wrote:

  Greg: Hey, thanks for your great review of S.W.O.R.D. #1—I'm glad I'm not the only one who loved the issue ...

• At November 21, 2009, Oeming wrote:

  Thanks for the review Greg- hope you also check out Powers next week!

  M!

I know it's out of context, but come on - that's funny stuff! "Oh, Bruce, what about those times when we would pull a train with Linda? And then, when she went home, we'd get to the really good stuff? WHAT ABOUT THAT, BRUCE?!?!?!?!?!"

Elva finds out that Bruce is playing her, and she goes on a crime spree. Elva herself has quit her job at the salon, so "the world's greatest detective" is flummoxed over how to find her (he says as much to Dick). Dick, never one to take his man getting stolen lying down, decides to go undercover himself, and one night, he gets into costume because he has a lead. Bruce asks him, "Where do you think you're going, youngster?" and Dick replies, "Oh, just after the Catwoman! Er ... I suppose you can come along, too ... although you might be too old to understand this sort of thing!" You see what he did there, turning the tables on Bruce? Well, that leads to this utterly bizarre panel:

A grown man spanking a young boy (what do we think Robin's age is here? 12?) while said boy is dressed in a spandex outfit. All I can say to Jack Schiff and Bob Kane, who are the credited writer and artist: Fetish much?

I know Batman and Robin gay jokes are played out, but I don't care! I'm just stunned it took Fredric Wertham another decade to decide comics were warping kids' minds. I guess the government had more important things to worry about in 1943!

35 Comments

• At November 10, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Greg, that was an awesome post.

• At November 10, 2009, Ro wrote:

  The fact that both speech bubbles seem to be coming from Bruces mouth makes the final panel even more bizarre.

• At November 10, 2009, Adam wrote:

  I wonder which modern comics will look weird or ridiculous in 60 years.

• At November 10, 2009, Fabio wrote:

  And THAT'S why I always say that Dennys O'Neil and Neal Adams really created Batman!!! Before them Batman was something ...

• At November 10, 2009, Craig B. wrote:

  Adding to the weirdness of that last panel - what's up with the plane flying by outside the window? ...

• At November 10, 2009, T. wrote:

  I think even out of context that first panel isn't that bad. I think there are much better examples ...

• At November 10, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  What, you've never been spanked by a wealthy playboy while wearing a cape, green briefs and Peter Pan booties?

  Is that ...

• At November 10, 2009, buttler wrote:

  Wesley: You mean TODAY, or just in general?

• At November 10, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  That is truly bizarre. For so many reasons.

• At November 10, 2009, Craig wrote:

  At least it wasn't part of the "Papa spank!" series that seemed to run rampant in vintage DC...

  ...but yeah, it's ...

• At November 10, 2009, Roman wrote:

  Fabio: I like your idea about Batman's creation.

• At November 10, 2009, johnny the boy wrote:

  creepy, out-of-context early batman panels should be a regular feature...hysterical.

• At November 10, 2009, chad wrote:

  that panel showed how crazy and different the early run of batman was not to mention how lax judging from ...

• At November 10, 2009, John Trumbull wrote:

  Part of the reason that last panel looks so weird to us now is that we don't hear too much ...

• At November 10, 2009, Fabio wrote:

  Roman: Ain`t that right? I remember when (a long time ago, about 25 years) I started to read the old ...

• At November 10, 2009, buttler wrote:

  I will not stand for any hate speech against the Zebra Batman.

• At November 10, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  It was a different time, and things seen in today's context weren't seen in that context all those years ago.

  For ...

• At November 10, 2009, Fabio wrote:

  Johnny the Boy: "creepy, out-of-context early batman panels should be a regular feature...hysterical."

  Oh, man you got my vote!

• At November 10, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  You know, now that DC is releasing these fairly regularly, maybe this will have to become a regular feature ...

• At November 10, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I love that the old DC books, despite only really getting funny when your looking back on them (ie. they ...

• At November 10, 2009, Corey wrote:

  Classic.

  Is there any explanation or acknowledgement in the story of the plane in the background? Or is that a painting ...

• At November 10, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Corey: Nope. It's completely ignored, so I have no idea if it's a window or a painting. It's ...

• At November 10, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Either Robin has a malformed bum, or Bruce is pulling pants and open...

• At November 10, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Well, now we know that Frank Miller's All Star Batman isn't completely different from the source material...

• At November 10, 2009, Corey wrote:

  @Greg Burgas - Even better!

• At November 10, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  I love how Bruce is all dressed up in a suit for the spanking...better than a smoking jacket I suppose...

• At November 10, 2009, Julian wrote:

  Just a quick question. How many of you guys have read Seduction of the Innocent?

• At November 10, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  Just a quick question. How many of you guys have read Seduction of the Innocent?

  I've tried to find it at ...

• At November 10, 2009, Corey wrote:

  I was able to read portions of it when in college but it was almost never available at the college ...

• At November 11, 2009, T. wrote:

  I've never read Seduction of the Innocent in its entirety, but I will say the parts I have read were ...

• At November 11, 2009, T. wrote:

  Let me add though that from everything I read, Wertham himself did not want the witch hunt that ensued. ...

• At November 11, 2009, andyh40 wrote:

  Our library had a copy of SOTI, so I was able to read the book 3 times. Some things, I ...

• At November 11, 2009, T. wrote:

  To me what was most interesting about Wertham is that a lot of what I saw him condemning is not ...

• At November 11, 2009, Thenodrin wrote:

  I read Seduction of the Innocent back in the 80s. As I recall, Wertham had good arguments, but also demonstrated ...

• At November 11, 2009, Jherek Carnelian wrote:

  In the British weekly comics I grew up with, characters such as Dennis the Menace (no relation to your US ...

The Authority by Mark Millar (writer, issues #22, 27-29), Tom Peyer (writer, issues #23-26), Frank Quitely (penciller, issue #22), Dustin Nguyen (penciller, issues #23-26), Arthur Adams (penciller, issues #27-28), Gary Erskine (artist, issue #29), Trevor Scott (inker, issue #22), Richard Friend (inker, issues #23-26), Jason Martin (inker, issues #23-26), Tim Townsend (inker, issues #27-28), David Baron (colorist), Ryan Cline (letterer, issues #22-23), Bill O'Neil (letterer, issues #24-28), Tom Long (letterer, issue #29), and Sergio Garcia (letterer, issue #29).

DC/Wildstorm, 8 issues (#22-29), cover dated March 2001-July 2002.

Minor SPOILERS below. Don't say I didn't warn you!

"What?" you say. "Greg doesn't consider Ellis's run on The Authority essential?" Well, first off, it's comics you should own, not comics you already own, and any comics geek probably already owns Ellis's 12 issues. Secondly (and more importantly), when you get right down to it, Ellis's run is pretty simplistic, with none of the political machinations or even interesting villains of his take on StormWatch. Yes, I love reading the issues, and yes, Hitch's art is magnificent, but if you really stop to think about it, it's all "Here's a bad guy - let's punch him in the brain." Worth the time, but nothing really ground-breaking (especially if you buy Rob Liefeld's latest [I wrote this in 2005, remember] assertion that he, not Ellis, invented "wide-screen" comics).

Then came Millar.

His first storyline is a fairly good arc, but nothing terribly amazing except for Quitely's art. His second arc, with the rogue Doctor, was weaker, and I suspect many people left the book during it, especially with the delays in printing. Then Doselle Young stepped in with, basically, a set-up for his title, The Monarchy (whatever happened to Young? - he was supposed to be the next big thing [Editor's note: this is still a pertinent question over 4 years later]). His issue (#21) was one of the weirdest comics I've ever read, and I still don't get it [Our main man Chad Nevett tried to make sense of it, though]. So by the time Millar began his "death of the Authority" arc in issue #22, I suspect the book had lost a good chunk of its audience. Add to the fact that Quitely suddenly left to go do X-Men and Millar had some issues with the censorship board at DC, and the final issues of the first volume of The Authority limped out in late printings, taking over a year to complete. By the time it was put out of its misery, it was a shell of its former glory.

Or was it? Sure, waiting for the issues to come out was interminable. But I submit to you that these latter issues of The Authority were just as good, and in some ways much better, than the sanctified Ellis run. No, the art wasn't as good. Hitch remains a master at the kind of art this book needs, although Nguyen, I would say, gave him a run for his money. I have my issues with Quitely's art (don't get me wrong, it's very good, but I still have issues with it), and I don't think Adams really works here, although I love his art, and the Erskine's art in the finale is just yucky. So the art is inferior, but not by too much. It doesn't take me out of the story, which is all I want in my comics [I still feel this way, although I'm much better at reviewing art than I was in 2005].

The stories, however, are more complex and far more interesting than Ellis's run. Ellis gave us a ridiculously stereotypical Asian terrorist who would have made people writing Fu Manchu comics in the 1930s pause, a silly alternative Earth with a straw dog as a villain (Regis doesn't really do anything, does he? I mean, Hawksmoor kills him by jumping through him!), and, well, yet another take on aliens returning to Earth to find out the annoying humans have taken over. Millar and Peyer give us the United States government. Sure, it's just as much a cliché as the aliens coming home, but it's still more interesting. It's something we can believe the government doing, since most governments are all about preserving the status quo. When the Authority gets too big for its britches, the government steps in. Who's to say they can't?

Issue #22 sets up the story. We get that eerie shot of the Midnighter's mask lying in the sand, and then Quitely slowly pulls back to reveal the downed Carrier. We flash back a week to Jack giving an interview to "Ed Bradley," and this gives Millar a chance to spout more of his "leftist-dictatorship" dogma that so many comic book writers enjoy. It's still good reading, but the shit hits the fan pretty quickly when Seth, the genetically-enhanced assassin sent by the government, gets onto the Carrier (in typically gross Millar fashion) and begins killing people. He's pretty stinkin' good at it, too, and the team is dispatched with minimum fuss, leaving the new Authority in charge. Exit Millar for four issues.

When Peyer takes over, the book really gets interesting. If you skip from issue 22 to 27, when Millar takes over again, the book really doesn't work as well, even though that was apparently how it was supposed to work. Of course, Millar may have completely changed his story after the censors got to work on him. But Peyer's interlude allows us a couple of things: it allows us to believe the old Authority is really dead, and it also allows us to see things from the villains' points of view. It's been noted other places that building a book around villains doesn't really work long-term (even Ostrander's Suicide Squad, as great as it was, had a good mixture of good guys and bad), but for four issues, Peyer makes it work. The key is, of course, to make them human beings and make us care about them. We don't like the new Authority because, after all, they're bastards, but we do care about what they're doing, and it's a good trick. They uphold the status quo and get away with being just as depraved as the old Authority because of who they represent, but they also have feelings for each other, although they hide them under a veneer of bastardness. The dynamics of the team make for interesting reading. Obviously, the relationship between Teuton and Last Call is the most interesting, as Teuton wants to be a crime-fighting team like Apollo and the Midnighter, but Last Call doesn't want to get too close to him because of the "couple" associations with the heroes they replaced. Peyer makes Teuton a weepy baby at times, which adds comic relief but also points out that he's not a complete villain, and Millar makes him a closet homosexual who wants to "experiment" on Apollo just before the Midnighter kills him (in a scene the censors got to, apparently). I'm not sure if Peyer knew Millar was going to do that, but it makes the scenes where he breaks down and sobs a little weirder than they would be otherwise.

Peyer's story arc is, of course, a none-too-subtle dig at other superhero team-ups in the "real" comic book world that DON'T fight the status quo. The Justice League and the Avengers would never dump a bunch of refugees out of their space station, but if the rich and elite of society suddenly lost all their money and the JLA found out who was behind it, you can bet they'd go punch them in the brains, just like the new Authority does. With more subtlety, I would argue, than Millar did with his Avengers stand-ins in his first storyline (I laughed quite hard when they showed up, I'll admit, but I doubt if "subtlety" is a word Millar is familiar with), Peyer shows us that superhero groups are ultimately about keeping things humming along the way they always have done, and the Colonel's line in issue #23, "But we have to rebel in our own way. We choose to do it within the system" is a perfect refutation of Superman's dictum that humans have to save themselves - those with god-like powers can't do it for them, an excuse that always bothered me. The Authority made the world better for humans who simply could not help themselves. Hey, Clark, tell the Tibetans and the Australian aborigines and blacks and Hispanics in this country that you can't help them because it's not in your code. They'd tell you to go screw yourself. The new Authority shows perfectly why the supergroups in the "real" comics' universes (the regular DC and Marvel ones) can't do a damned thing. Just when we think the old Authority is coming back and the "status quo" of everything being different will be restored, Last Call thwarts that because he's not gay. It's a very funny moment, and the new Authority is off again to uphold the ruling elite. Peyer doesn't give us the resolution we want, which is why this arc resonates - it's not the good guys winning, at least not our good guys. We want our old Authority back!

Which, of course, Millar does in issue #27. We find out that none of the team is dead, merely neutered. The Midnighter, of course, is going to save the day (even outside of the regular DC universe, Batman is always the last hope). In issue #28, he kills everyone in the new Authority, leaving Seth as the last bad guy to defeat. Issue #28 is another one where the censors took control, especially on the page where Rush and the Surgeon die, because you honestly cannot tell what happens. Apparently it was too graphic for DC, so they put panels over it. Stupid DC. Anyway, in issue #29 Jenny Quantum defeats Seth, Millar gets in some jokes about rednecks (ha, ha, Mark - it's not even as funny as when Ennis did it in Preacher, and it wasn't that funny then), and the status quo is restored. The Authority, interestingly enough, has become a stodgy, unchanging superhero group. And, in another interesting twist, they have lost all reason for being. I haven't read the title since issue #29 came out, but I can't believe it's any more or less good than JLA or Avengers. If you like it, fine, but if it's any more than superheroes punching people in the brain (yes, I'm running with that today), I'll be surprised.

What these final issues of The Authority did, ultimately, is expose the hypocrisy of superhero groups in a concise and entertaining way. Millar and Peyer exposed the reader to his (or her) own hypocrisy is supporting the status quo of superhero groups and superhero comics in general, and in a much less obnoxious and insulting way than Millar did in Wanted. This kind of thing is, of course, a Millar staple, and he does it with varying success. Here he does it well, and is able to subvert his own message of "change or die" with the subtext of "change is no good." While the Authority is creating a new world in which a different elite (but a "good" elite) is in charge, the comic is saying that everything has to stay the same. It's an entertaining read, sure, but troubling nonetheless because of what it says about our buying habits and our own relationship to whatever status quo we choose to acknowledge. Pretty heavy stuff from a superhero comic book.

As always, you can check out the archives. You don't have work to do, do you?

22 Comments

• At November 8, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Then came Millar.

  Who liked to raise political issues with snide one liners, and then have people punch people in the ...

• At November 8, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  FGJ: Because Millar's story was supposed to be published as four consecutive issues, I doubt he cared what Peyer did ...

• At November 8, 2009, Jeremy wrote:

  "Who liked to raise political issues with snide one liners, and then have people punch people in the head."

  Wait, how ...

• At November 8, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Wait, how is that different from Ellis Authority?

  They stayed away from politics.

  I may have understated the political talk, but go ...

• At November 8, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Ellis' Authority was more significant based on how it was done than what it was doing-- the Authority were ultimately ...

• At November 8, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I remember leaving the book when Quitely left the book to go to work with Morrison on the New X-men. ...

• At November 8, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Is Dustin Nguyen the only artist to draw two runs on Authority?

  He did Peyer's fill-in arc, of course, and then ...

• At November 8, 2009, Michael Rawdon wrote:

  I think the best way to view Ellis' run on The Authority is that he was basically doing what Grant ...

• At November 8, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  To me, the defining excample of Millar's failure to do more than hint at the shallows of actual politics occurs ...

• At November 8, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  The only thing I dislike about Millar's Authority work is that it pretty much wastes Frank Quitely's talents. I'd ...

• At November 8, 2009, chad wrote:

  Millars run on the authority proved that some writers as genius as Warren are not a good fit for ...

• At November 8, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I really liked the first issue of this story when it came out -- it was great in that 'watch ...

• At November 9, 2009, Julian wrote:

  While I agree with Omar for the most part, I did think that first four issue arc was pretty smart. ...

• At November 9, 2009, Dexter wrote:

  I don't quite mean it to sound quite as mean as the comparison really is, but to me, Millar is ...

• At November 9, 2009, Chad wrote:

  I re-read Millar's run last year and I didn't loathe it as much as I did when it was coming ...

• At November 9, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Count me in the crowd who prefer Millar's run.

  Ellis's run was quite fin and pretty to look at, but I ...

• At November 9, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Ellis' stories were a game of super-hero one-upping. The Authority fights an evil dictator, then an alternate reality, then a ...

• At November 9, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " I don't quite mean it to sound quite as mean as the comparison really is, but to me, Millar ...

• At November 9, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Never looked back except for the Planetary/Authority two-parter, but that was a Elsewhere project, if I remember correctly.

  What two-parter was ...

• At November 10, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  I liked the Jenny Sparks mini - though it was a bit like Forrest Gump

• At November 11, 2009, Sweeps Week « DarcKnyt wrote:

  [...] Comics You Should Own flashback – The Authority #22-29 (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

• At November 12, 2009, Fabio Ciccone wrote:

  Although I don't like the artist, the story is awesome. Very good comic indeed.

Assault on New Olympus (Prologue) by Greg Pak (writer), Fred van Lente (writer), Rodney Buchemi (artist), Guillem Mari (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). "Godmarked Part One: The Oldest One" by Jeff Parker (writer), Gabriel Hardman (artist), Elizabeth Breitweiser (colorist), and Tom Orzechowski (letterer). $3.99, 38 pgs, FC, Marvel.

I got the idea for this week's theme mainly from being obsessed with the bikini Aphrodite is wearing. I guess it's her goddessy powers that are actually keeping those things covered!

This is a fine "prologue" to the story that is coming up in the regular Incredible Hercules book, as it gets all the players into place, advances the story a little, but doesn't have anything too, too crucial that can't be covered quickly if you happen to skip this but read the regular title (but really, why would you do that?). If you haven't been reading the regular title (and really, what's up with that?) and just grabbed this because of that wallcrawler on the cover, Pak and van Lente do a fine job getting you up to speed. There's a nice fight between Hercules and Spider-Man (with more good sound effects), a funny reference to that Amazing Spider-Man issue where our hero was trapped under all that wreckage and the water was pouring in (you know the one!), another funny reference to when Spidey fought the Juggernaut, and some nice character moments, from Herc's reconciliation with Hebe to his reunion with Amadeus. Plus, we get an Agents of Atlas back-up (which is called "Godmarked," which is also what the second story in the X-Men/Agents of Atlas book is called), in which the Atlas gang fights a giant octopus god. You goddamn read that right - a motherfucking giant octopus god!!!!!

Damn, I love comics. I didn't even mention how frickin' terrifying Amatsu-Mikaboshi is.

Boobs? Of course!

There's also Jocasta, who's metallic but, well, naked (as young Zeus points out), a naked but demurely covered Gaea, Athena wearing battle armor that inexplicably doesn't cover her shoulders or upper torso, and Spider-Woman wearing her thing.

Atomika #11 (of 12) ("Relentless") by Andrew Dabb (writer), Sal Abbinanti (artist), Buzz (inker), Simone Peruzzi (colorist), and Dave Sharpe (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Mercury Comics.

Speaking of reasons to love comics, Atomika is still out there, speeding toward its conclusion, and I'm still loving it. There have been certain issues where Dabb takes a bit of a back seat, and this is one of them, but it's still stunning. Basically, Arohnir tells all his minions that Atomika is coming to kill them all and they need to fight, and then we get, I kid you not, eight (8) double-page spreads showing the forces arrayed against our "hero." Abbinanti draws the hell out of the armies, from the huge spiked one-wheeled dreadnaughts to the flying Harpies of the KGB, from the ornate bombers to the horrific demi-gods. Abbinanti even gives us a single double-page spread showing the war between Atomika and all his enemies, as if it's so horrible it can only be represented symbolically. Of course, it leads to his final confrontation with Arohnir (and a special guest!), but that's for next issue.

I've written this whenever an issue has come out, but gazing on Abbinanti's stunning art is really fun. With Dabb simply along for the ride on this issue (Dabb is a fairly good writer, but this issue simply isn't focused on the writing too much), Abbinanti can go more nuts than he usually does, and the sense of oppression and terrible magnificence that he's brought to the comic all along threatens almost to overwhelm the pages themselves. Atomika continues to be unlike almost every other comic, not because of the story (it's a good story, but it's basically a superhero battle), but because of the way Dabb has made it feel like a Soviet comic (if that makes sense) and the way Abbinanti has truly created a weird and unique world. I have a feeling a lot of people have missed this, but I greatly encourage you to get the trade of the first six issues and, of course, get the trade of the second six when it shows up. It's a dynamite comic.

Boobs? Of course!

For some reason, the female demi-god, who has that big fur on because she lives in Russia and understands how cold it is, feels the need to wear a low-cut outfit and expose her midriff. How's that going to help her fight Atomika?

Batman: Unseen #3 (of 5) ("Ghost-Killer") by Doug Moench (writer), Kelley Jones (artist), Michelle Madsen (colorist), and Pat Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

All right, so I skipped reviewing issue #2, because it came out two weeks ago, when I was really, really sick, so I missed that it came out and didn't get it until a few days ago. But I'm back with issue #3, and it's not like you don't know what you're getting from a Moench/Jones Batman comic, right? I mean, on the first page we see Batman working on some wacky, pseudo-scientific-but-also-slightly-Gothic machine in the cave, trying to figure out what's going on with the invisibility serum. Throughout the book, we see more and more weird contraptions, because that's the way Kelley Jones likes it, damn it!

Of course, Batman goes out and does stuff, beating up an invisible man (because he's the Goddamned Batman, man, so he doesn't need to actually see the bad guys like mere mortals!), making an appearance as Bruce Wayne (I always liked how Jones's Bruce Wayne was almost as scary as his Batman), and doing his Batman thing. Meanwhile, the invisible man kills again, Moench's favorite character Roman Sionis recounts his origin yet again, and it's another Moench/Jones instant classic. Don't listen to T.! Moench and Jones on Batman is always a blast of pure awesomeness! Come on - for one of the chapter breaks, Jones turns Batman's head into a candle! Who else would come up with something so wacky????

Boobs? Of course!

The invisible man tries to kill that dude, and of course his wife is sleeping in lingerie instead of sensible pajamas!

Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1 by Paul Cornell (writer), Tom Raney (penciler), John Paul Leon (artist/colorist), Scott Hanna (inker), Matt Milla (colorist), and Cory Petit (letterer). $3.99, 21 pgs, FC, Marvel.

I don't get this book at all. It's 4 dollars for 21 pages of story, which is a bad return. I know I said I wasn't going to fall for this from Marvel again, but it's Paul Cornell, and I really want to support his work, so there's that. But that's not what I don't get. The end of the book gives us a "Next," but which issue is "next"? Marvel's December solicits include Black Widow and the Marvel Girls #1 (God, what an awful title), which is a mini-series by a completely different creative team than this one (Paul Tobin and Salvador Espin, in case you're interested). Marvel then has issue #3 of this series up on their site for January, but I can't find where issue #2 is. Hmmm ... Then, issue #3 is still $3.99, presumably for the same amount of pages (21 or 22), so I think I will skip the rest of the series, even though I want to support Cornell. I'm sorry, Marvel, I'll pay 4 dollars for an indy book, but when you can slap a 4-dollar price tag on a 38-page book (see above) and on a 30-page comic (see below) but aren't able to sell a book featuring, let's face it, a middle-tier character in your stable for 3 dollars, why should I pay it? It will just come out in trade in a few months anyway.

It's kind of shame, because this is a decent comic. It's not quite as good as Rucka's work with the character at the beginning of the decade, but it's pretty good. Cornell does a good job jiving it with long-established "continuity" with regard to Logan and Natasha in World War II (Natasha seems a bit old during this section, based on what we discovered back in that great Uncanny X-Men issue, but I'll forgive it), and Leon, who is apparently the go-to artist when you need someone to draw something in Russia, does his usual fantastic job depicting the action. Raney's art is always good, even though I assume Milla "Marvelized" it by smoothing out the rough edges. There's plenty of action, a mystery to be solved, and Bucky Barnes! I didn't love this part too much, because Cornell falls back on simply listing who he is and what he means to Natasha instead of working it better into the story, but that's okay. It always seemed less intrusive when narrative boxes were more common. When they just show up occasionally and read "James Barnes, now a free man. And upgraded. Enough of a boyfriend to use her nickname," it's kind of jarring. Oh well.

I'd really like to get this mini-series, but I'm not gonna. I'd rather spend my four dollars on something like GrimJack. Come on, Marvel, you're flush with Mouse Cash - keep the prices on your regular-sized books at $2.99!!!!!

Boobs? Shockingly (in a book starring a character who often wears black latex), not really. On the credits page we get Natasha in her black latex, but it's surprisingly chaste. I guess that's a win for Cornell, Raney, and Leon!

Elephantmen #22 ("Dangerous Liaisons Part Seven of Eight: 7 Days of Smog Part One: Truth") by Richard Starkings (writer), Andre Szymanowicz (artist), and Gregory Wright (colorist). $3.50, 23 pgs, FC, Image.

As always, I have to thank Richard Starkings for sending this to me, and I hope it's not too late for you to still find it on the shelves if you're interested (it came out two weeks ago). Should you buy it? Of course you should! It's, what's the word ... oh yeah, excellent. I know I sound like a broken record and I really do tell Starkings that I would buy his comic if he didn't always send it to me for free, because it's so damned good! After last issue, when Ebony went a bit nutty thanks to the thing in his head (which allows humans to control the elephantmen), Hip and Miki show up at his place to find out what's going on, and of course he doesn't remember anything. His red eyes freak Hip out a bit, but he doesn't get a chance to explore that. Meanwhile, Vanity meets a man named Simm, who showed up a few issues ago and is a bit mysterious, and he tells her that Obadiah Horn is selling Elephantmen paraphenalia, which piques her curiosity. Of course, she shouldn't trust him, but he's so darned cute! What's a poor girl to do? (Remember the Golden Rule of Comics, kids: Never trust anyone who's attractive!)

Szymanowicz is another good choice for the art chores - his women are slightly different than we usually see, but Miki and Vanity are still, you know, smokin'. Szymanowicz has a nice indy style that seems to fit with the "Blade Runner" kind of world that Starkings has created - he throws in all sorts of nice touches in the street scenes that make Los Angeles two hundred years in the future feel like a foreign place even as Hip visits a normal neighborhood in Santa Monica. It's a really nice-looking comic, and the final page is gorgeous. It's nice to see Szymanowicz getting some higher profile work. Next for him: Selling out to Marvel!!!!

Elephantmen just keeps trucking along, with good issue after good issue. If Starkings didn't get new artists every few issues, I'd never have anything new to talk about with regard to it! I'd just write, "Ho hum, another brilliant issue. What else is new?" Thanks, Richard, for helping your poor reviewer out!

Boobs? Well, I guess, as Vanity and Miki are in the book, but they're wearing fairly normal clothing, so there's nothing too obnoxious about it.

The God Machine (preview book) by Chandra Free (writer/artist). $3.95, 36 pgs, FC, Archaia.

This is the first of three (3) Archaia books on the agenda this week, only one of which I bought on my own (this isn't it). It's always nice to get stuff in the mail, and I'd like to thank the fine folk at Archaia for sending these on to me. I'm also glad they're getting their books out a bit more regularly, and are doing new stuff (like this) as well as cleaning up their back catalog.

Of course, the problem with getting stuff in the mail is that sometimes you just don't like it. I can't really recommend The God Machine, not because it's a preview and doesn't tell a complete story, but because it's not really my thing. The art is very Johnny the Homicidal Maniac kind of stuff, which I'm not too keen on, although I appreciate the work Free put into it - this is very much a labor of love, and there's a lot of energy on the page, even though I don't really like the style. The story isn't my thing, either - seventeen-year-old Guy Salvatore is pining away for his (presumably) dead girlfriend, bitching about how his school sucks, and seeing things. He ends up in a cemetary, where two gods - the Good God and the Evil God - show up digging out a grave. Guy seems to know the Good God (she's a hot redhead, whereas the Evil God is a dude, natch), but before they can speak to each other, they disappear and Satan shows up. He tells Guy that his girlfriend is still alive in another dimension and only he can save her. And, of course, she's trapped because of the gods' messing around with reality. Guy, naturally, doesn't believe him. And thus the preview ends.

It's not a terribly bad plot, but Free sprinkles too much weird shit into it that drags it down, even though it's supposed to make things more manic. For instance, the book begins with Guy watching television late at night, and a show comes on starring "Everybody's favorite suicidal sock puppet, Mr. Insane Sock Puppet," who naturally tells kids to commit suicide. It's supposed to be funny (I guess), but I don't find it funny, and it sets the tone for the book, with Guy being kind of jerk to everyone (yes, I know his girlfriend just died, but it seems like he'd be a jerk even if she was alive) and everyone yelling a lot. Guy has a very keen creepy dream at one point, but that's about the only thing I really liked in the book. Maybe I'm just too old to enjoy something like this. I am pretty old, you know. It just never feels like Free does much to create interesting characters - she spins the clichés of Goth kids fairly well, but just because you twist those a bit doesn't mean you're creating an interesting character. I assume Guy's quest to find his girlfriend (whose nickname is "Sith") will be the crux of the book, and will intersect with the gods and what they're up to, but based on this preview, I don't really care if Guy succeeds or not.

I hate not liking this. Free writes in the beginning of the book that it's taken her ten years to get the book to publication, and you can certainly tell that she's put a lot of herself into it. You can check out her web site, her DeviantArt page, or The God Machine page to see more of her artwork, in case it's up your alley. It's just not up mine.

Boobs? Hmmm, the one book drawn by a woman features several attractive women, but none flashing a lot of cleavage. I'm stunned!

Greek Street #5 ("Book One: Blood Calls For Blood Part Five: The Anger of the Gods") by Peter Milligan (writer), Davide Gianfelice (artist), Patricia Mulvihill (colorist), and Clem Robins (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

I'm 90% certain I'm done with Greek Street, because this is the end of the first story arc, and it's just not doing it for me. The reason it's still only 90% is because in this issue, Milligan hints that the characters are actually the mythic characters themselves, not just people who happen to be living out lives that resemble characters from Greek myths. I'm not sure if he's hinted this before, but it's kind of interesting. Other than that, though, this is still a bit of a mess, and it's not really doing much for me. Milligan doesn't seem to have a clear idea about what he wants to do, even though I'm sure he has a long-term plan. The book just seems so all over the map, and it makes it very hard to get into it. Milligan has tightened the focus a bit as he's gone along, but not enough for me. I just find myself not caring very much about what happens next, which doesn't bode well.

I do like that Milligan seems to have a balls-to-the-wall kind of attitude about this book with regard to who lives and who dies, as it seems like nobody is safe in this book. That's always fun, because I get annoyed when a writer has a favorite character and obviously has no interest in harming that character. Suck it up, writers! Milligan doesn't seem to have that problem, and it makes reading this a bit jarring, which is actually kind of neat. But I don't think it's enough! We shall see, but I doubt if I will pick up the next issue. So sad!

Boobs? Of course!

This is the first panel in the book, and it's a boob. Greek Street features plenty of nudity, significantly none of it male frontal.

GrimJack: The Manx Cat #4 (of 6) by John Ostrander (writer), Timothy Truman (artist), Lovern Kindzierski (colorist), and John Workman (letterer). $3.99, 25 pgs, FC, IDW.

Speaking of why comics are great, Ostrander sends Gaunt back in time to discover the secret of the Manx Cat, and Gaunt inhabits the body of a vigilante monk who fights demons, is in love with a fellow monk (who doesn't know about it), visits the ruler of Cynosure's churches and has to get by three belligerent heads, and then fights ... battle cherubs. The fact that I can write that sentence and not have fellow blog readers think I'm snorting angel dust is why comics are goddamned awesome. It's not even that weird an issue! It is, however, brilliant as usual. Oh, and Gaunt/St. John of Knives ends up in a different dimension facing a mummified (but still sexy) cat goddess. Of fucking course.

Damn, I love comics. Yes, I already wrote that, but I don't care! It's still true!

Boobs? Of course!

You can't have a sexy mummified cat goddess without some boobs!

The Secret History #6 (of 7) ("The Eagle and the Sphinx") by Jean-Pierre Pécau (writer), Igor Kordey (artist), Carole Beau (colorist), Marshall Dillon (letterer), and Edward Gauvin (translator). $5.95, 46 pgs, FC, Archaia.

It's been quite some time since The Secret History saw the light of day, and while it might not be for everyone, I'm still loving it, mainly because (as I've written before) I'm a total sucker for history and alternate history, which we get in large doses in this book. Each issue moves the grand plot along (a plot, I'm sorry to say, that I'm extremely fuzzy on, mainly because it's been so long since I've read the previous issues, but it involves immortals manipulating humanity, to be as basic as possible), but each issue, because they're separated by hundreds of years, also tells a compelling story in its own right, which is a keen trick. In this issue, Napoleon goes to Egypt, but not for the reasons you might think. This gives Pécau the opportunity to give us some nice battle scenes, some nice creepy scenes in which sand creatures attack the French, and gives Kordey the opportunity to draw the mysterious Orient, and as usual, he draws the heck out of it. Whenever I read anything drawn by Kordey, I need to remind people who only know him from X-Men that he's very good and that his work on X-Men was compromised by the fact that he was churning out an issue a day (which may be exaggerated, but not by much). He does a wonderful job with a large cast of characters, a sprawling canvas of locations, from Toulon to Egypt to Syria, and some horrific violence. The book feels a bit crowded, with a lot of panels and a lot of narration and dialogue, but it flows very nicely due to Kordey's art.

I do hope the final issue isn't too late. I'm looking forward to the grand finale!

Boobs! Of course! It's European! Which means that the only boobs are naked ones, pretty much in the service of the story. There's nothing terribly gratuitous about it, which is nice. It's just there.

Secret Six #15 ("Control") by John Ostrander (writer), Jim Calafiore (artist), Jason Wright (colorist), and Travis Lanham (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

One of the things that's nice about the minor characters in the DC (and Marvel, of course) canon is that it's fairly easy to keep track of what's going on with them if you're so inclined. As they pop up not too often, they don't have years and years of backstory to incorporate. Of course, that's not always the case - I'm not sure what the hell is going on with Looker - but it does apply quite often, and if you happen to have read about the character a lot, you won't be too lost when someone like Ostrander writes about someone like Deadshot. Despite being in Suicide Squad for its entire run and being a fairly popular villain for 30 years, it's not too difficult for Ostrander to recount the major points in Floyd's life, and he even manages to update his origin for the hell of it. It's your typical excellent Ostrander tale, with Floyd feeling out of control (as he seems to be in Secret Six recently) and seeking the advice of John Ostrander himself, in the form of Reverend Richard Craemer, Ostrander's stand-in the DCU (and who, frankly, I'm surprised is still alive - why hasn't Geoff Johns slaughtered him yet?). He walks around with Craemer, explaining how he came to be and getting sound advice from the good reverend. Although there's not a lot of action and we are positive Floyd isn't going to kill Craemer like he claims he will, it's a gripping tale, because Ostrander gets Floyd better than anyone who's ever written him (including Steve Englehart, who brought him out of mothballs back in the Seventies), and Ostrander is also quite good at writing Richard Craemer. Calafiore, Bill Reed's favoritest artist EVAH, does his typical yeomanlike work on the book - if you hate Calafiore, you won't change your mind seeing this, but if you don't mind him (I kind of like him), this is more of the same.

As much as I dig this book, I really hate when Ostrander shows up in the DCU and starts writing stuff like this. It makes me miss Suicide Squad and The Spectre even more. Goddamn.

Boobs! Of course!

Bruce Wayne in his "Bruce Wayne" role? You know he'll have scantily-clad women near him!

Strange Tales #3 (of 3). "Cool Hand Uatu" by Nick Bertozzi (writer/artist) and Chris Sinderson (colorist); "Oni" by Stan Sakai (writer/artist) and Tom Luth (colorist); "The Fortune Full X-Man" by Corey Lewis (writer/artist) and Dylan McCrae (colorist); "Fantastic Fool's Day" by Jeffrey Brown (writer/artist) and Bill Crabtree (colorist); "La Querelle des Monstres" by Jay Stephens (writer/artist); "Cup Cake!" by Chris Chua (writer/artist); "The Abominable Peter Pepper!" by Max Cannon (writer/artist); "The Punisher" by Jonathan Jay Lee (writer/artist); "The Incorrigible Hulk" by Peter Bagge (writer/artist); "Let's Fight" by Michael Kupperman (writer/artist); "Nightcrawler Meets Molecule Man" by Paul Hornschemeier (writer/artist); "Look Out, Sub-Mariner! ... Here Comes the King Crab" by Becky Cloonan (writer/artist). $4.99, 48 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Ah, yes, Strange Tales. Has anyone - Joey Q, some other bigwig at Marvel - ever explained exactly why Peter Bagge's Hulk story was shelved? I kept waiting for Hulk to eat a kitten and rape General Ross - or, you know, the other way around - so that I could say, "Oh, so THAT'S why," but it never happened. It was a silly Hulk tale, but nothing terribly objectionable. Does anyone know what the backstory is?

Other than that, this remains a mixed bag. I still think the first issue was the best, and the second issue the worst, with this falling somewhere in between. I didn't get the feeling of mockery of Marvel's characters that I did from the stories in the second issue, but I also didn't get the feeling of revelry in the glorious goofiness of Marvel's characters that I did from the stories in the first issue. Sakai's Hulk story is fine, nicely drawn (not surprisingly), but kind of dull. Corey Lewis's Longshot story is dazzling to look at, but like The God Machine, it makes me feel old. Jeffrey Brown's Fantastic Four story cracked me the fuck up, I'll tell you that much. The Beast versus Morbius story was fun solely because of the odd juxtaposition of the two characters beating on each other while engaging in a philosophical debate. I don't know what the fuck is going on in Chris Chua's story, and I don't think I'm alone in that. Max Cannon's contribution was better than the one in the second issue, but still not too funny. Jonathan Jay Lee's Punisher story might actually get me to read a Punisher issue, if only for how different it looks. Michael Kupperman's Avengers story is funny until we get the worn-out Hostess Fruit Pies ending. Paul Hornschemeier's weird story also features philosophical musings, sans the punching. And while Becky Cloonan's story is ... strange, to say the least (fitting for the anthology, I guess), I can't not love her art, and Marvel should give her a Sub-Mariner mini-series, stat!

I'm probably always going to support this kind of thing from Marvel and DC, unless the quality is really, really bad. Unlike Brad Curran, I actually occasionally support these creators' independent stuff, and it's very neat to see them unleashed on iconic comic book characters. I mean, Uatu's comment about Kraven on the first page is almost worth the price of admission!

Boobs? There aren't a lot of women in this book, but the ones that are there are dressed normally and aren't showing anything.

Stumptown #1 ("The Case of the Girl Who Took Her Shampoo but Left her Mini Part One") by Greg Rucka (writer), Matthew Southworth (artist), and Lee Loughridge (colorist). $3.99, 35 pgs, FC, Oni Press.

There were two main reasons I purchased this comic:

1. Greg Rucka is writing it. I pick on Rucka when he's writing Detective because I just don't think the writing is that strong, but for the past decade, he's been one of the good writers in comics when he's able to do this kind of crime book, from Whiteout to Queen & Country to Gotham Central to Checkmate. So when I saw he was writing a private eye book, I was jazzed.

2. I fucking love Portland, where this book is set ("Stumptown" is a nickname for Portland). That may seem like a lame reason to buy a comic, and of course if the book sucks it won't matter where it's set, but I really would like to get across how much I fucking love Portland and wish I still lived there. There's absolutely nothing I don't fucking love about Portland, and that includes the crappy winter weather. Whenever goddamned Jeff Parker posts on his blog that he'll be signing his latest goddamned excellent comic at Clackamas Town Center or somewhere else in the greater Portland area, I leave a comment on his blog damning him for living in Portland. Damn you, Jeff Parker!!!!! So, needless to say, I was jazzed about Rucka writing a crime comic set in Portland. If someone told me I could move back to Portland and have a nice house in Alameda or by Mt. Tabor or down in Westmoreland or Oak Grove or up by the University or out in the Northwest or even a little further out in Lake Oswego or West Linn or even Tigard and all I had to do was kill Apodaca, I'm afraid he wouldn't be long for this world (sorry, Dan). Yes, I'd risk life imprisonment to live in Portland! (Although, let's be honest, who'd miss him? Oh, I kid, Dan, I kid!!!!!!)

Of course, now I have another reason to purchase Stumptown, and that's because Southworth's art, which I've never seen before, is very good, even when he's not drawing Portland landmarks. And, of course, Rucka's story is nice and twisty, as we're introduced to the unfortunately-named Dexedrine Callisto Parios (we learn that on the final page, and also that everyone - thankfully - calls her "Dex"), a private investigator with a big gambling problem. To get out of debt, she agrees to find the granddaughter of the casino owner (manager?). The girl disappeared, and it seems several people are looking for her. Of course, Dex is approached by someone else who's looking for, someone who scares the girl, apparently, because she calls Dex and says "he" wants to kill her. Dex arranges a meeting, it all goes pear-shaped, and she ends up in police custody. Just another day in the life of a seedy private eye!

Rucka keeps things moving along nicely, and he gives Dex a brother who has special needs (I'll guess Down syndrome, but it's not clear), which humanizes her a bit. There's also an implication about her relationship with Sue-Lynne, the casino owner (or manager), but we'll see where that goes. It's a solid first issue, with a dynamite beginning and a nifty little mystery.

And it makes me miss Portland even more. Damn you, Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth. And I wouldn't kill you, Dan. You're too neat a guy. Maybe I'd just have to maim you. We cool with that?

Boobs? There's one panel where a woman wearing a bikini steps from a pool, but it's not obnoxious at all.

Sweet Tooth #3 ("Out of the Deep Woods Part Three") by Jeff Lemire (writer/artist), José Villarrubia (colorist), and Pat Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Sweet Tooth remains an odd comic, one like Greek Street, in that I'm not sure if I'm really loving it or not (in pretty much every other way, it's unlike Greek Street). I dig Lemire's art, and he brings a true feel of the rural world to the book that you don't see too much in comics. It's a bleak world he's created, and when terrifying things happen, like Gus's dream, it's even more terrifying because of the setting, and when Gus and Mr. Jepperd show up in a town, we feel the tremendous emptiness, due mainly to Lemire's art. However, I'm not terribly sure if the story is all that compelling. I mean, there's nothing terribly original about a plague wiping out most of humanity, and Lemire hasn't done a lot yet with the fact that Gus is a human-animal hybrid (although the end of this issue might change that next time). I stuck with Wasteland, another post-apocalyptic story, as I waited to figure out what Antony Johnston was doing with it, and I was rewarded for my patience. From what I've read of Lemire so far, I think he knows what he's doing and will make this worthwhile, so I'm going to be patient for this too. But right now, I'm just not loving it. It hasn't grabbed me yet. I hope it will.

Boobs? There's only one panel with a female in this book, and she's wearing a simple dress. Does the Cinderella preview count?

Titanium Rain #1 and 2 by Josh Finney (writer/artist) and Kat Rocha (artist). $4.99, 48 pgs, FC, Archaia.

This is the third Archaia book I received in the mail, and like the first one, I'm not going to recommend it. I read about Titanium Rain when it was first solicited, but it didn't sound like something I'd like. In 2032, a civil war in China has brought in an international peacekeeping force. As there is a lack of good fighter pilot candidates, some of the wannabes have been injected with various nanomachines to make them better. So the story is about whether these people are still human. In the first two issues (which are combined here), it's a lot of fighting and not a lot of philosophical discussion, but Finney still brings it up nicely, all the while making sure the situation in China is fairly realistic. It's not a great story, but it's not a bad one, either.

However, I can't stand the art. It's done in that digital "realistic" style where the artists (both Finney and Rocha are credited) actually use models and somehow scan their faces into the computer. It's really, really creepy, because we get what looks like movie stills but in sequence, which makes this look like a movie that's not moving. Comics are a static medium, and trying to do this kind of thing never works. Using models is perfectly fine, but making the book look like it's a series of photographs robs it of any dynamism, and everything looks extremely plastic in this book. It takes me right out of the story, as I find myself staring at each face, wondering if the doctor in the book is the Bettie Page chick from NCIS, looking at the weirdly dead eyes of the characters, and it just doesn't work. With good art, this might be an interesting comic. With this, it's really unpleasant.

Of course, at the web site, you can check out some of the art and read some of the praise of the book. Don't let me stop you from buying it!

Boobs? It's a war comic! Everyone's in uniform! Although NCIS chick does have a tiny bit of cleavage going on, but not enough to be remotely egregious.

The Unknown: The Devil Made Flesh #2 (of 4) by Mark Waid (writer), Minck Oosterveer (artist), Andres Lozano (colorist), Javier Suppa (colorist), and Marshall Dillon (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

Waid's weird detective saga continues, as Catherine and Adriana head to Alabama to investigate some murders that an amateur detective told her about. It turns out the "amateur detective" is a kid who suddenly got really smart, which is strange enough. But someone really doesn't want Catherine to be in Alabama, and things get violent at the end, as one bad guy is revealed and the other ... well, he has an axe. The mystery continues, and as usual, I have to wonder what's important and what's not. Are the gloves important? ARE THEY????? Oh, the drama!!!!! Plus, Waid delves a bit deeper into Catherine's brain problem and why she doesn't get it operated on. It's a nice character moment in the middle of a weird story.

Oosterveer, of course, continues to dazzle, especially now that he has two hot women to draw instead of one. But he also does a really good job with the creepiness of Mountain Oak, Alabama, and he gives the climax a nice tense feel to it. He's the kind of artist whose earlier work I want to track down, because he's so talented.

I honestly have no idea where Waid is going with this, but it's a very cool read. What about James, Mr. Waid? Is there more to his story?!?!?!?!???!?

Boobs? Of course! Check out that cover!

Two well-endowed women solving crimes? Where's the FOX television show????

X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas #2 (of 2) ("The X-Heist Part Two" and "Godmarked") by Jeff Parker (writer), Carlo Pagulayan (penciler), Gabriel Hardman (artist), Chris Samnee (artist), Carlos Rodriguez (penciler), Jason Paz (inker), Terry Pallot (inker), Wilfredo Quintana (colorist), Veronica Gandini (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $3.99, 30 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Parker wraps up his nifty little crossover with more fighting, eventual reconciliation, and Namor not acting like a dick for once. Way to go, Namor! What's keen is that Parker does a nice job explaining just what the hell was going on with the Chris Samnee-drawn section of issue #1, which was, you know, kind of confusing. And although I'm not sure why Aphrodite gives Venus a tramp stamp, the endgame, drawn by Hardman, is pretty cool. Aphrodite even gets a joke in as the Agents of Atlas battle her!

This would have worked a lot better as part of the Agents of Atlas ongoing, because it's so obvious that the X-Men are here just to goose sales, but it won't help the ongoing now, will it? Unlike most crossovers, this is basically an Agents of Atlas story with the X-Men being there just because they're famous. I mean, it's commendable that Parker tries to make them important, but they're not, really. This is all part of the Agents getting involved in the Hercules world, and Parker does his usual fine job putting all the pieces in place and entertaining the hell out of us, but it doesn't feel like an important crossover, you know? I mean, like one where it's a story about both teams? Even though Parker tries to do this, it still feels like an Agents of Atlas story. That's not a complaint, by the way, because Parker's Agents of Atlas was better than pretty much every X-book, but it's a shame that Parker needed to bring in the X-Men to tell this story.

But it gets us to where we need to go, which is Assault on New Olympus, which directly follows this issue. See? This is the Möbius strip of comics reviewing! How's about that!

Boobs? Of course!

But not too much. I mean, Venus doesn't wear a lot in general, so of course there's going to be some. But there's nothing terribly gratuitous.

I don't really have a point with all the cleavage, but it's worthwhile pointing this stuff out occasionally. The last time I did this, it seemed a lot more gratuitous. That was a few years ago. Maybe we're making progress!

And hey, it's time for totally random lyrics!

"Once you take a hit of this
You won't ever wanna quit
You'll be so addicted
Said I'll have you spinning round and round
Crazy, making freaky sounds
You won't want to come down
And I'll have you seeing things and hallucinating
Even walking funny 'cause your legs are shaking
All night we'll be blazin'
I'll take you for a walk to the other side
We can get high and enjoy the ride
Hold tight we'll be all right"

We're still friends, Dan, right? Right?

21 Comments

• At November 5, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Question about the "Bruce Wayne" persona: has it always been around, or is it a more recent invention of the ...

• At November 5, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  This is a bit off-topic — sorry Greg — but you did review a Boom! Comics title, which reminds me ...

• At November 5, 2009, Aperture wrote:

  Irredeemable is a great book in my opinion so you should pick it up right away, Rebis. Then again, ...

• At November 5, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Man, I didn't read any of those books.

• At November 5, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  The Bruce Wayne persona is pretty much there in Detective Comics #27, where he yawns through the Commissioner's story about ...

• At November 6, 2009, JackKing wrote:

  You know, if we pooled our money together, we could buy that house for Greg...

• At November 6, 2009, Johnny P wrote:

  The Faith No More line was much more interesting than John Legend lyrics.

• At November 6, 2009, Manglr wrote:

  The gratuitous guest stars is one of the things killing Agents of Atlas for me. I thought the ongoing ...

• At November 6, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Rebis: Irredeemable is one of those things that I may pick up eventually, but I feel no need to rush ...

• At November 6, 2009, Craig wrote:

  Regarding "Irredeemable": I started reading it, and was blindsided by how uncompromisingly violent and brutal it was. The first issue ...

• At November 6, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I dropped The Secret History when I noticed that Igor Kordey wasn't drawing ALL of the series.

  I'm just of the ...

• At November 6, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  I think there is an Irredeemable trade out - 10 buck for four issues, which is a $6 savings over ...

• At November 6, 2009, Manglr wrote:

  @Greg

  You're right of course about trying to goose sales of Agents of Atlas, but at what point does oversaturation of ...

• At November 6, 2009, Chip Mosher wrote:

  Wow! What a bunch of IRREDEEMABLE haters. :P

  FWIW, this is our top selling book, with the latest issues outselling the ...

• At November 6, 2009, CW wrote:

  Writting this from the south waterfront downtown portland as we speak! Be thankful you're not up here this weekend, huge ...

• At November 6, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I haven't read any of these.

  Did the Black Widow really fight in World War II? I never heard of ...

• At November 6, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  1990's Uncanny X-Men #268 established Black Widow being around during World War II.

• At November 6, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  Thanks. I stopped reading X-Men in 1989, so I guess I just missed it. How did they explain ...

• At November 6, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Mary: I'm not sure if they've explained it before, but Cornell explains it in this very issue! Bucky gives ...

• At November 7, 2009, MikeCr wrote:

  Irredeemable isn't bad but it could be better. Even at its best I feel like it'd only be considered ...

• At November 7, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Widow probably takes the same stuff Nick Fury does, but she gets more beauty sleep.

2 Comments

• At November 4, 2009, Randy wrote:

  A sad day indeed. My condolences to his family.

• At November 5, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  To be fair to the others, he did not create the con all by himself.

I think Zan and Jayna are my favorite, although Batman's pretty funny too. And look whose signature is on it!

32 Comments

• At November 3, 2009, TomerS wrote:

  It was made for an issue of Wizard couple of years ago, I think to accompany a Last Man Standing ...

• At November 3, 2009, Josh wrote:

  Ummm ... Batman's not hitting on a girl ...

• At November 3, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Ah, thanks, Tomer. I'm surprised it was allowed - I guess DC has a sense of humor about some ...

• At November 3, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  Robin's doing some mad Amadeus Cho math in his head. I think he's going to come out of this with ...

• At November 3, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I only recognise one of the monkeys, from Space Ghost.

  Is that the Wonder Twins kissing in the background? It's ...

• At November 3, 2009, The Ugly American wrote:

  Zorak is actually IN the ring with the monkeys. I think he'll be eating the loser.

  And maybe the winner.

• At November 3, 2009, The Ugly American wrote:

  @Mary - How do you recognize the Wonder Twins but not their space chimp, Gleek? He used to sit ...

• At November 3, 2009, JoeMac wrote:

  This one is going to forwarded, oh yes, yes indeed

• At November 3, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Ha Ha! Incest.

• At November 3, 2009, chad wrote:

  love the thing. for rember the issue the orignal version was in . and the wonder twins seem to ...

• At November 3, 2009, John Trumbull wrote:

  They made a couple of edits when it ran in Wizard. There wasn't a condom sticking out of Batman's ...

• At November 3, 2009, Crowley wrote:

  I believe Robin was in the place of Jace originally.

• At November 3, 2009, TomerS wrote:

  Oops... For some reason I looked at the girl (never watched Space Ghost so I don't know the names of ...

• At November 3, 2009, Simply Awesome. » will.ph wrote:

  [...] (via CBR) [...]

• At November 3, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  This is going to have major consequences!

• At November 3, 2009, Derick wrote:

  Robin is staring at WW 's ass, not much of hard thinking there.

• At November 3, 2009, sgt rawk wrote:

  That's not Zorak, that's Brak? Know how I know? Cause Zorak's a Praying Mantis and Brak is the best show ...

• At November 3, 2009, JKWoodward wrote:

  this has been my desktop picture for more than a 2 years now. It still makes me laugh!

• At November 3, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  Zorak and Brak are both in the picture, guy.

• At November 3, 2009, Joe wrote:

  This better be in continuity! Johns, if you retcon this, I swear to god..... >=(

• At November 3, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  This is old, boring, and even disgusting. No-Thanks for having brought it back from oblivion. >:(

• At November 3, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  Check out Brak. He's just happy to be there.

• At November 3, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  To the Ugly American-- I watched Super Freinds back in the Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog days, but I had ...

• At November 4, 2009, Dave Ziegler wrote:

  Actually, in the original Wizard publication, Batman was hitting on Jan, not Jayce.

• At November 4, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  >>Actually, in the original Wizard publication, Batman was hitting on Jan, not Jayce.

  Does that mean Wizard "edited" it. Because, to ...

• At November 4, 2009, Nick Marino wrote:

  AWESOME! I especially love Gambling Addiction Aquaman. Think we could get an action figure of that? "Now with super gambling ...

• At November 4, 2009, Super Monkey Knife Fight - OnePegGenius wrote:

  [...] Via Comic Book Resources [...]

• At November 4, 2009, Super monkey knife fight » CrisDias weblog wrote:

  [...] monkey knife fight via goodcomics.comicbookresources.com ...

• At November 4, 2009, LouReedRichards wrote:

  @Sijo

  You must really live life in the fast lane if you find a super monkey knife fight boring!

  Thanks for bringing ...

• At November 4, 2009, comicbookreader wrote:

  This poster makes me miss Harvey Birdman, Attorney-at-Law, really bad.

• At November 4, 2009, Rene wrote:

  I'm also tired of gay Batman jokes.

  As long as we're talking the comics published in the last 40 years, I ...

• At November 4, 2009, CaptainHowdy wrote:

  Okay what does the poster on the far back left say? It looks to me like something about Tyler Durden. ...

This week I'm zipping through John Bierman's Napoleon III and His Carnival Empire, which is a fairly good if not terribly in-depth read. I've always had a soft spot for Napoleon III, because the Second Empire was such an odd creation led by an odd emperor. Plus, it's nineteenth century European history, for which I'm a bit of a sucker. Louis Napoleon is an interesting dude - he may not have been related to Napoleon at all (his mother tended to sleep around), he had a lot of liberal tendencies but ruled over an increasingly autocratic state (to be fair, he clamped down on civil liberties after Italians kept trying to assassinate him), and he apparently slept with every woman in Europe. I haven't gotten to his misadventures against the Prussians in 1870, but it's keen knowing how it's all going to end and what kind of ruler Napoleon was that led him to the disaster at Sedan.

I just started Tom Scioli's latest installment of The Myth of 8-Opus, "The Labyrinth." If you think Scioli's art is Kirby-esque on Gødland, you should check out The Myth of 8-Opus, which is a complete homage to the King. It's a wild space adventure with all sorts of strange things going on and all sorts of weird creations of Scioli's running around, and it really does read like a cosmic comic from the Sixties, complete with overwrought prose. It's a hell of a lot of fun, though, and presumably you can order the trades online somewhere. It doesn't disappoint!

What's keeping you company as my beloved Philles circle the drain and the most evil team in organized sports sits on the verge of another store-bought title?

22 Comments

• At November 2, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I just bought a huge pile of collections and graphic novels at bargain prices. So I've read Livewires, that cool ...

• At November 2, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Just started Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic stories.

• At November 2, 2009, Tom Scioli wrote:

  Anyone interested in The Myth of 8-Opus trades can order them directly from me. Drop me a line at sciolit@yahoo.com

• At November 2, 2009, sgt pepper wrote:

  The Road is great.

  Finishing up my David Foster Wallace book and just started James Dickey's To the White Sea for ...

• At November 2, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I'm re-reading Alan Moore's run of the Swamp Thing tpbs vol. 1-6, vol. 1 being the hardcover kind.

  Man-o-man, am I ...

• At November 2, 2009, Da Fug wrote:

  Just finished the 5th Jack of Fables trade, Ghost of Hoppers, and The Education of Hopey Glass. That means ...

• At November 2, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  The AVClub is all smart asses all the time (plus Bill Reed),

  I think you mean "especially Bill Reed."

• At November 2, 2009, Andrew Kennedy wrote:

  I actually got a large chunk of Peter David's Fallen Angel and X-Factor along with nearly half of DeMatteis' Dr. ...

• At November 2, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  The thing that really turned me against Napolean III was his takeover of Mexico. As far as I've been ...

• At November 2, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Rereading the death and return of Superman trilogy...

  Also reading V. by Thomas Pynchon. So far, it's my favourite work of ...

• At November 2, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Just finished By Royal Command, the last volume of Charlie Higson's Young Bond series, The Turquoise Lament by John D. ...

• At November 3, 2009, Dan K wrote:

  Hey, I read that Napoleon III a few years back as an offshoot of my Bismarck phase. It wasn't bad ...

• At November 3, 2009, Neil Cameron wrote:

  In honor of Charlie Browns Halloween, I broke out Automatic Kafka #4, the greatest Charlie Brown story not done by ...

• At November 3, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Also reading V. by Thomas Pynchon. So far, it's my favourite work of his -- not as technically impressive as ...

• At November 3, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Mary: Napoleon did that a lot, not only in Mexico. He wanted to live up to his uncle's legacy, ...

• At November 3, 2009, jjc wrote:

  finished Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman in a few hours on Sunday. Reading The Book of Basketball by ...

• At November 3, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  I finished Scalped, vol. 5: High Lonesome and then worked my way through a stack of singles that've been waiting ...

• At November 3, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  Just finished CBR's own Brian Cronin's "Was Superman a Spy" this weekend - it was even better than I expected ...

• At November 3, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Just finished CBR's own Brian Cronin's "Was Superman a Spy" this weekend - it was even better than I expected ...

• At November 3, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I'm mid-way through Peter And Max, Willingham's Fables novel.

  It's a nice light read - pretty good stuff to read on ...

• At November 4, 2009, Dan K wrote:

  "Dan: I read Taylor's book a long time ago. It wasn't bad. I like Bismarck too - have you read ...

• At November 4, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dan: I have Clark's book too, and as I read my books in alphabetical order by author (yes, I'm just ...

Dark Horse:

There's a new Solomon Kane mini-series on page 28 (13 January), if you're interested. According to the quote on the page, Kane is the "only Puritan" Ed Brubaker has been a fan of. What about Roger Williams, Ed? He was a pretty cool guy!

On page 34, we get a hardcover collection of Blacksad for $30 (24 March). I've heard plenty of good things about this - anyone want to reaffirm the kudos?

DC:

I have no interest in DC's "final issue" thing that they're doing (although it's a clever enough idea), but I suppose I'll have to buy Suicide Squad #67 (page 69; 6 January), as it ties into Secret Six. It's another issue to test Bill Reed's patience, as Ostrander and Simone write it, but Jim Calafiore draws it. Poor Bill!

As much as I'm jazzed by Batman and Robin #7 (page 71; 27 January) because it's drawn by Cameron Stewart and features the Knight and Squire, it appears to be a "Blackest Night" tie-in. Goddamnit, even the God of All Comics can't resist!

Why is Spawn guest-starring in Batman #695 (page 71; 13 January)?

So the solicitation text for Supergirl #49 tells us that Lana Lang dies (page 77; 20 January). That's not what concerns me, though. It's this: "She is survived by ex-husband, former president of the United States Pete Ross ..." I know why Pete was president, but stuff like this just reminds me how very, very stupid comics can be occasionally.

The Mighty gets cancelled on page 83 (6 January). I guess that's my fault.

Hey, look - Mike Grell draws Warlord #10 (page 86; 6 January). Will it be enough to save the book????

The second Hitman trade gets a new printing on page 88 (24 February). Buy it. It does not suck.

The fourth Planetary hardcover is offered on page 97 (3 March). Will there be a complete Omnibus (with the specials included) in the future?

Some dude named Grant Morrison has a book called Joe the Barbarian on page 108 (20 January). If you like shitty, non-linear, pretentious comics which probably don't feature enough ass-kicking, that is.

David Lapham draws an issue of Fables (page 113; 13 January). Look at him, getting work like that!

DC is re-releasing the first two volumes of The Losers as one book (page 114; 27 January). I was ambivalent about this book through the first trade, but it gets a lot better as it goes along.

Joëlle Jones draws an issue of Madame Xanadu (page 115; 27 January). Nothing against Amy Reeder Hadley, but they get some dynamite fill-in artists on that book. Speaking of which, Michael Kaluta's arc is collected in trade on the same page.

Image:

There's a new Jack Staff comic on page 140 (27 January). That monthly Jack Staff book worked out pretty well, didn't it?

If you buy Dynamo 5 in trade, the latest one is on page 145 (27 January). It brings us up to date while we wait for the relaunch.

Proof comes to an end with issue #28 on page 156 (6 January). I hope it was just a natural place and not because sales are terrible. That always sucks.

Marvel:

Max Fiumara draws an issue of Amazing Spider-Man (page 21; 6 January). I still won't buy it, but Fiumara is really good.

Geoff Johns' run on The Avengers is collected in trade on page 100 (20 January). Is this the arc where the Wasp and Hank Pym were having icky sex?

Continuing Marvel's policy to put out a trade for everything (which is a nice policy, even if some of their choices are head-scratching), we get the first seven issues of Iron Man from 1998, written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Sean Chen and Patrick Zircher. If you were jonesing for these issues, here they are!

That's some really unfortunate placement of that console there, Marvel.

More Visionaries volumes on page 116: Another Peter David Hulk one, collecting issues #383-389, and another Alan Davis Excalibur one, collecting issues #51-58 (27 and 20 January, respectively).

You know what time it is ... time for the back of the book!

SLG offers Animal Crackers, a collection of early work from Gene Luen Yang, on page 178. I imagine it's pretty good.

Over on page 183, Antarctic Press gives us ... Obamouse!

Dear Sweet Lord.

Hey, "Rob Liefeld's fallen angel, Avengelyne," returns to comics from Arcana on page 184. Did you miss her?

Also on page 184, Archaia offers Tumor by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon. You missed their last collaboration, Elk's Run - don't miss this one!

No Hero comes out in trade on page 191 from Avatar. I'm sure you're dying to see the dude tie someone's spine onto his crotch and brandish it like an erect penis, aren't you? (Isn't this the comic where that happened?)

I haven't been reading Swordsmith Assassin from Boom! Studios, but I've read some good things about it, and there's a trade on page 202. If you're in the mood to check it out!

I shouldn't point out anything to do with Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose (page 204), but Jim Balent makes it so tough with awesome covers like this:

Well, Dynamite Entertainment does it again, with Robocop #1 on page 214. I don't know if it'll be any good, but there it is!

Dynamite also has the second Zorro trade on page 219. It's a hardcover, so you might want to wait until the softcover comes out, but it's a pretty good story.

In case Chad Nevett wants a new edition of Hicksville, Drawn & Quarterly has it on page 223!

D & Q also has Adrian Tomine's first book, 32 Stories, in a new redesign (page 223). It's sure to be caustic!

IDW has some things you might be interested in. On page 242 they reprint The Wizard's Tale by Kurt Busiek, which isn't bad. On page 243 they have the trades of The Veil, which is quite good, and Fallen Angel: Reborn, which is pretty decent.

Rick Veitch and King Hell have Abraxas and the Earthmen and a new edition of Brat Pack on page 248. I've never read these, but someone has!

Chuck Dixon writes Airfighters on page 248 from Moonstone, which means it will feature kick-ass war stories featuring brightly-garbed heroes! Can you resist????

Oni has a new printing of the Local hardcover on page 252. It's very good. Then, on page 253, the first 13 issues of Wasteland (including the prose shorts) are collected in a giant hardcover. This too is very good.

Page 256 gives us another title from Radical Comics: Aladdin. I don't know if it's going to be any good, but Ian Edginton is writing it, and he's a fine writer.

And so we reach the end of another Previews. As usual, there's some good stuff in there, if you're willing to dig! So get to it!

19 Comments

• At November 1, 2009, Shaq-fu wrote:

  Those are awesome Rick Veitch comics!

• At November 1, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  I don't know that I'd call 32 Stories caustic. It's more maudlin,or contrived. It's Tomine's extremely early work. It's interesting ...

• At November 1, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  I know almost nothing abot Joe The Barbarian, other than it's written by Morrison.

  Can you tell me what it's about?

  I ...

• At November 1, 2009, Nawid A wrote:

  Proof isn't cancelled. Issue 28 is just the end of the first season (currently the plan is to have at ...

• At November 1, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  No one knows much about Joe the Barbarian. It's said to be a kind of Narnia-esque journey into a world ...

• At November 1, 2009, Joshua Long wrote:

  Joe the Barbarian is about a diabetic kid who, when he forgets to take his penicillin, hallucinates all of these ...

• At November 1, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I've read Rick Veitch's Abraxas and the Earthman waaaaaaaaay back in those days of EPIC ILLUSTRATED magazine. A futuristic ...

• At November 1, 2009, Zdenko wrote:

  Blacksad is very, very, very good. If it doesn't bother you that you have things like sex, racism, drugs, mafia, ...

• At November 1, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Tom F.--The One is still available from King Hell Press at http://www.rickveitch.com/store/ I just picked up a copy last ...

• At November 1, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Over on page 183, Antarctic Press gives us ... Obamouse!

  And also President Evil #4 (#4!) with a cover depicting Obama ...

• At November 1, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Oh, god.

  I found the solicit for Obamouse.

  And, this is real:

  The economy is crumbling like stale roquefort. We are at ...

• At November 1, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Heh, my dumbfounded-ness made me misspell "Penguin".

  Still. Wow.

• At November 1, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dan: I've only read one Adrian Tomine book, and it was caustic, so I just assumed they all were. ...

• At November 1, 2009, Joshua Fialkov wrote:

  Thanks for the kind words about Tumor and Elk's Run, Greg! Anybody who wants to check out the book ...

• At November 1, 2009, buttler wrote:

  Good lord. With names like that, Roy Thomas and Scott Shaw! should get some sort of royalties from Obamouse. ...

• At November 1, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  Blacksad is great, get it!

  And Mike Grell has been drawing Warlord for some time now. I fear that many others ...

• At November 1, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Whoops! I did not realize that Grell had been drawing it. The one issue I got didn't feature ...

• At November 1, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I don't know that I'd call 32 Stories caustic. It's more maudlin,or contrived. It's Tomine's extremely early work. It's interesting ...

• At November 1, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  Neat. I didn't know there was such a thing.

  Yeah, it is interesting to track his evolution as an artist throughout ...

Meh. It's a fun issue, as a reporter tries to figure out what the heck happened to issue #6 and Ambush Bug, but the fact that issue #6 actually existed but never saw the light of day seems like much more of an interesting story, but I guess we'll never learn what happened. It's fairly bizarre, and it gets back to the real insularity of the comics industry. I mean, we often hear about why movies don't get made - they may be bullshit reasons, but we often hear them - but in comics, books just disappear and we never learn why. There was obviously some reason DC pulped issue #6, but I doubt if we'll ever learn what it is. That's kind of disappointing.

Astro City Special: Astra #2 (of 2) ("The Gordian Knot") by Kurt Busiek (writer), Brent E. Anderson (artist), J. G. Roshell (letterer), Jimmy Betancourt (letterer), and Wendy Broome (colorist). $3.99, 24 pgs, FC, DC/Wildstorm.

This is kind of a strange issue, as Busiek channels his inner Warren Ellis or Alan Moore and gives us an issue of Astra simply wandering around with her boyfriend explaining things. It allows Anderson to show off a lot, and he's certainly up to the cosmic splendor that Busiek wants from him, but it's a weird issue, because we rarely get this kind of thing from Busiek. It's not bad, and Busiek always does a nice job with the throwaway concepts in Astro City, but it's also tough to care too much about Astra's problem, because she's way out on the other end of the universe and she's not dealing with a big threat or anything, just her future. The great thing about Astro City is always that Busiek keeps everything grounded, but in this issue, Matt isn't a strong enough personality to keep things from getting overwhelming. I don't mind the occasional misstep in this series, however, because it's a fun issue to look at, and in the grand scheme of things, it's always cool to check in on old characters. And that's a pretty cool cover, I must say.

Buck Rogers #5 ("Future Shock Part Five: The Caloric Standard") by Scott Beatty (writer), Carlos Rafael (artist), Carlos Lopez (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

The ending of the first arc is a bit anti-climactic, which is weird. It looks great, as Rafael gives us some nice space action as the humans battle the Pack, but it feels like Buck and his allies are simply going through their paces, and that there's no chance of defeat, which makes this a bit less exciting than it could be. There's a brief showdown with the mastermind, but it's over quickly and with little fuss. Even Ardala's scheme doesn't pan out terribly well. I understand that this initial arc was more about getting Buck introduced to the 25th century, but there could have been a bit more excitement to the bigger plot. Strange.

Days Missing #3 (of 5) ("September 19th, 2008") by Ian Edginton (writer), Lee Moder (artist), Imaginary Friends Studios (colorist), Troy Peteri (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Archaia/Roddenberry.

Edginton's contribution to this series deals with what happens when a person begins to figure out what the Steward is doing to time, and whether he will step in to stop that person from finding out his secrets. Of course the answer is yes, but Edginton does a nice job with how the drama plays out - the Steward tries to convince the physicist, Kate Prosper, that it would be better for all concerned if she stops her investigations on her own. He throws in a man whose son is dying of leukemia and who decides to destroy the Large Hadron Collider because he thinks it's a waste of money - money that could have gone to help his son. This becomes two nice love stories, as both Kate and Alain Maurais, the father, realize what's important in their lives.

Edginton is a good writer, and Moder, although drawing in a style I don't like as much as his older stuff, is a fine draughtsman. This continues to be an interesting, thought-provoking series, no matter which creators are working on it!

Detective Comics #858 ("Twenty Years Ago"/"Pipeline Chapter One Part Five") by Greg Rucka (writer), J. H. Williams III (artist, "Twenty Years Later"), Dave Stewart (colorist, "Twenty Years Later"), Todd Klein (letterer, "Twenty Years Later"), Cully Hamner (artist, "Pipeline"), Dave McCaig (colorist, "Pipeline"), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer, "Pipeline"). $3.99, 30 pgs, FC, DC.

I'm still buying this for the art, because Rucka just isn't bringing his "A" game to this book. It's not that the stories have been lousy, but they've been kind of boring and predictable, and in this issue, we get Kate's "origin," which means people are going to get shot in the head. Williams is dynamite as usual, changing his style in the sequences when Kate is a kid to such a degree that it looks like a different artist - it's very John Paul Leon. It still looks wonderful, and the few pages set in the present offer a glorious contrast to the rest of the book. It's a shame he's not getting a better effort from Rucka. And I really like Rucka. But he's just painting by numbers on this book.

Dynamo 5 #25 by Jay Faerber (writer), Mahmud Asrar (artist), Ron Riley (colorist), Charles Pritchett (letterer). "Eye of the Beholder" by Andie Tong (penciler), Kris Justice (inker), James Offredi (colorist); "Strong Enough" by Joe Eisma (artist) and Paul Little (colorist); "Just Another Pretty Face" by Tim Seeley (artist) and Kieran Oats (colorist); "Sky High" by Fran Bueno (artist); "Mixed Blessing" by Anthony Castrillo (artist) and Paul Little (colorist). $4.99, 46 pgs, FC, Image.

This is Asrar's last issue as artist on Dynamo 5, which sucks. Asrar is a great superhero artist, and it's disappointing that he's going off to Marvel to toil in anonymity for a while until he gets his own comic. He drew Thunderbolts #137, and while it's not bad art, I fear he'll get lost in the shuffle for a time while he toils away. I'm glad he got the attention of the big guys, but this is the way things work - the artist has to wait to get a big book, and in the meantime, he wanders around without a home. I wish him well, but I'm still depressed that creators can't make a living on indy books like this.

So the book is going on hiatus while the new artist (Faerber isn't saying who it is) gets some issues under his (her?) belt, and it's a good place for a break. The Dynamo 5 kids defeat the bad guys and switch powers thanks to a weapon the bad guy used on them. So the back-up stories are about the kids learning a bit more about their powers and introducing their new code names. It's a typically exciting issue, and it will be interesting to see where Faerber goes with it. I do hope the book returns when he says it will - I already miss Noble Causes (speaking of which, Yildiray Cinar draws the latest issue of Teen Titans, in another example of a good artist without a home at the Big Two) and I don't want this to go away. It will be nice to see it back.

Hey, Marvel - give Asrar a book I want to read! Would that be so hard?

Fantastic Four #572 "Solve Everything Conclusion") by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Dale Eaglesham (artist), Paul Mounts (artist), and Rus Wooton (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Hickman ends his first arc on the title kind of oddly, as basically these three issues were to show that Reed's not a dick. Well, we kind of already knew that, so I'm not sure what the point of this was. It's a pretty exciting story, and Eaglesham is marvelous on it, but it seems kind of pointless. It's not even that Reed realizes the cost of solving everything (as the cover proclaims, it's "everything") and makes the choice to reject the council. A member of the council tells him that he will give up everything to solve all the world's problems, and Reed says he won't. It's an odd way to get at the central tenet of the arc - another Reed lays it out for our Reed, and our Reed walks away. We don't really get a sense that our Reed was struggling with this at all. Shouldn't the choice have been more difficult for him?

Plus, Sue's speech to Reed when he's getting weapons together to fight the Celestials rubbed me the wrong way. She apologizes for what she said earlier, but she says it's not because she was wrong, but because she forgets what it's like to be Reed. Then she absolves him of being a dick and says she'll just wait for him. I don't know why it bugged me - probably because whenever I read a Fantastic Four comic (which, admittedly, isn't often), it seems like Sue's usually the one apologizing, and even when Reed does, he never seems to learn anything. Why is it that traumatic events are the only ones that seem to remind Reed that he has a family? Why does he take them for granted so much? I know it's "part of his character," but Sue is always making compromises for him, and he never seems to do so for her. This simpering Sue who stands outside Reed's lab and tells him she'll be waiting for him when he remembers he has a family bothers me. But that could be just me.

Anyway, although this wasn't the greatest arc, it's intriguing enough that I'm willing to stick around and see where Hickman is going with the book. I'm a tad disappointed Eaglesham could only do three issues and now needs a break, but that's the way it is, I guess.

Ignition City #5 (of 5) by Warren Ellis (writer), Gianluca Pagliarani (artist), Chris Dreier (inker), and Digikore Studios (colorist). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Avatar.

Ignition City finally concludes with the BIG SECRET coming out, and as far as secrets go, it's not bad. Ellis links the story to the true story of the Nazi scientists after World War II, which allows him to express some indignation about the way the real world works. Of course, this is an adventure comic, so we can ignore realpolitik and engage in some revenge fantasies, and so Mary gets a small measure of vengeance for her father's death.

There's a lot going on here, as usual for Ellis, and he pulls it off quite well. There's a tremendous sense of sadness in this book, because of the idea that mankind could reach the stars but doesn't, something Ellis seems to fret about quite often. This is also a bit of a western, as the inhabitants of Ignition City were promised brand new worlds but then the frontier closed and they don't know what to do with themselves. It's a nifty mini-series, drawn very well by Pagliarani, and I encourage you to check out the trade when it shows up. It's less horrifying than Ellis's Avatar superhero stuff, but it's definitely a bit more thoughtful.

The Incredible Hercules #137 ("Atonement") by Fred van Lente (writer), Greg Pak (writer), Rodney Buchemi (artist), Guillem Mari (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

As usual with the recent issues focusing on Amadeus rather than Hercules, this is a bit less insane, but no less good. Pak and van Lente explain a lot about what's been going on, and it leads back to why Amadeus needs to find Hercules again. It's really nicely done, and shows how tightly plotted this book has been for 25 issues or so. And it's always nice to see someone outthinking the bad guy, as Amadeus does here.

I don't really have a lot to say about this comic. It's consistently entertaining and probably the best book Marvel publishes right now. But you already knew that!

Northlanders #21 ("The Plague Widow Part 1 of 8: Seven Hundred on the Volga") by Brian Wood (writer), Leandro Fernandez (artist), Dave McCaig (colorist), and Travis Lanham (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Wood begins another long-term arc on this excellent comic, as a plague comes to a Viking settlement on the Volga river in 1020 and the inhabitants must figure out what to do. A priest, Boris, claims that the plague is spread by little organisms jumping from human to human (of course we know today that disease is spread when one is insufficiently patriotic), which makes a lot of the people angry. (Germ theory was in its infancy in the eleventh century, but Boris could have heard of it from the Arabs, who were futzing around with it at this time.) Meanwhile, Hilda, the plague widow of the title, loses her husband and decides to trust Boris when he calls for the infected people to be kicked out of the village. This leads to an unpleasant scene as the infected turn on each other.

Fernandez does an excellent job on the art, bringing the stark winter of Russia to chilly life. It's a harshly beautiful comic to look at, and Fernandez is also quite adept at showing the terror on the faces of the characters as they make horrible choices.

As usual, this is a very good comic. I always look forward to it!

Secret Warriors #9 by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Alessandro Vitti (artist), Sunny Gho (colorist), and Dave Lanphear (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

It's a big fight issue, with a bit of intrigue thrown in. Mostly it's Fury's Heroes fighting Osborn's Avengers, and Hickman does a good job showing that Fury's gang is a bit outclassed but are still able to hold their own. There's a really cool scene where Bullseye gets beaten up but enjoys it, and generally, Vitti does a good job with a lot of action. Then John Garrett has a confrontation with the Secretary of the Treasury, who turns out to be not very nice. It's somewhat annoying because that story is continued in Dark Reign: The List - Secret Warriors, which means I have to go buy it. Damn it, Marvel! (It came out three weeks ago, too, which is just ... well, moronic. Good move, Marvel.)

I'm still not jazzed by Fury's Heroes, but they're growing on me. We'll see how Hickman wraps this thing up next issue, as Ares looks for revenge!

Unknown Soldier #13 ("The Way Home Chapter One of Two") by Joshua Dysart (writer), Patrice Masioni (artist), José Villarrubia (colorist), and Clem Robins (letterer). $2.99, 23 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

This is a bit weaker an issue of Unknown Soldier, mainly because Dysart reverts to a completely polemical story, which ironically weakens his point. This is part one of two, so he sets up the story of a young boy trying to get back to his family and enlisting Moses to take him. Of course, the boy - Paul - has been recruited as a soldier in the guerrilla army, so he tells Moses about it as they travel, and it's typically horrifying. But it's so obviously horrible that it reads more like a press clipping, one we read, feel bad about, and then move on. Paul isn't real to us, and that blunts the horror he's gone through. Dysart has been quite good at making this book an action adventure that happens to take place in Uganda, and that has made the horrors of the war more real, but this issue doesn't really do that as well. It's notable for the presence of Masioni, a Congolese artist living in France. Dysart writes about trying to find an artist from the area to be a fill-in artist for when Ponticelli needed a break, and they found Masioni in France. Masioni writes about his life in the back of the book, and it's an affecting read. His art isn't great, but the fact that he has intimate knowledge of what's going on in central Africa helps make Paul's story a bit more powerful than it is from the script. It's what makes this an interesting comic even when the actual issue isn't as strong as the previous ones. We'll see how Dysart finishes this sucker next issue.

X-Factor #50 by Peter David (writer), Valentine de Landro (penciler), Pat Davidson (inker), Craig Yeung (inker), Jeromy Cox (colorist), and Cory Petit (letterer). $3.99, 32 pgs, FC, Marvel.

David wraps up his big storyline, and it's actually quite keen. I know that some reviewers have been frustrated with his sprawling tale, but I love that he does stuff like this. He takes a long view with regard to his titles, and while it's a bit annoying reading them in monthly installments (even though David is good enough to make the monthly installments fun to read), it's very nice to read them all at once, and this is no exception. David pulls everything together, explains Layla Miller's penchant for "knowing stuff" that fits in perfectly, explains the deal with Trevor Fitzroy (not that anyone was clamoring for it, but there it is), and while he tells and doesn't show what happens in the climax, it's still a nifty ending to the big epic. The art continues to be simply okay, but it's perfectly serviceable. It's always nice to read a story that sprawls over several issues and brings in so much from the history of these characters.

So next issue is issue #200, which makes not a lot of sense, but whatever. I don't know how long David plans on writing the book, but I'll keep reading as long as he's writing!

Well, that's the week. I apologize again for the lousiness of these reviews. I'm feeling much better but I'm still kind of in a funk. I just want to sit around and do nothing, which is driving my wife nuts, I'll tell you that much. I ought to be cleaning up the house, but I'm just sitting around watching The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and other shit movies (and yes, it's a shit movie, but it features Michelle Yeoh, so it's not completely worthless). Maybe next week I won't be in such a funk. Who knows? Until then, let's fire up some totally random lyrics!

"I just wanna live the life I please
I don't want no enemies
I don't want nothin' if I have to fake it
Never take nothin don't belong to me
Everything's paid for, nothing's free
If I give my heart will you promise not to break it?"

Have a great weekend, everyone! Enjoy that 70-degree weather! (Isn't it 70 degrees everywhere? It's 70 here in the AZ. Yes, the weather is finally getting nice!)

29 Comments

• At October 30, 2009, Frank Stallone wrote:

  So there was a real Ambush Bug #6?

  Because 6 total issues came out. I thought the "missing #6" was ...

• At October 30, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Comments...

  Detective Comics #858: Every time someone buys this title "just for the art," God kills a kitten. Or gives it ...

• At October 30, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  Hey Greg. You still sound awfully cynical to me when it comes to Detective Comics. I've enjoyed it so far ...

• At October 30, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  I hope Dynamo5 comes back sooner rather than later. That book is a joy to read. It's straight-up superheroes done ...

• At October 30, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Unsurprisingly most of The Lisdt one-shoits are essentialy just the next issue of whatever book's creative team is on them. ...

• At October 30, 2009, Joe wrote:

  Wraith:

  What's wrong with buying a book for the art? You don't really explain why you don't like it.

• At October 30, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Frank: I don't know how much of an issue #6 was finished, but Darwyn Cooke drew the cover (it's there ...

• At October 30, 2009, Adam Kirby wrote:

  The popular theory of Ambush Bug #6 seems to be that Giffen was told he'd have free reign on the ...

• At October 30, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Greg: now there's a very good question.

  To be honest I don't know if I can come up with a good ...

• At October 30, 2009, Joe wrote:

  Wraith:

  One problem I have with the "bad story is validated" argument is that the opposite holds true with the same ...

• At October 30, 2009, Craig wrote:

  Random lyrics: Lucinda Williams' "I Lost It". "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" is a fantastic CD. I used to ...

• At October 31, 2009, JackKing wrote:

  Ambush Bug 7 was possibly the worst comic I've ever read. I'm not usually negative about comics but good gods ...

• At October 31, 2009, Ant wrote:

  Secret Warriors gave a big hint, more like a flashing neon sign, about who the dad of oe of their ...

• At October 31, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Craig: Yeah, Lucinda Williams is pretty freakin' awesome.

  JackKing: I wouldn't go that far, but it wasn't very good.

• At October 31, 2009, brian wrote:

  I might just be noticing this, but do you always do your reveiws in alphabetical order?

  Cheers,

  B

• At October 31, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Yes, I do, Brian.

• At October 31, 2009, Adam Tyner wrote:

  "There was obviously some reason DC pulped issue #6, but I doubt if we'll ever learn what it is. That's ...

• At October 31, 2009, MCGroupy wrote:

  Hey how come nobody is making a big deal about Sergio Aragones' work on Bart Simpson #50? Now that he's ...

• At October 31, 2009, JackKing wrote:

  Greg: Out of curiosity, what would be the worst comic you've ever read?

  I'm not stating that Ambush Bug 7 is ...

• At October 31, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Jack: Man, I've read a lot of crappy comics. I read an issue of Demonslayer, for instance. That ...

• At October 31, 2009, Brian D. wrote:

  Interesting point about the anti-climax of the Reed arc (although I think I enjoyed it a bit more than you). ...

• At November 1, 2009, JackKing wrote:

  I've got to admit, those comics you linked to look horrible. I'd certainly like to read the bottom 10 comics ...

• At November 1, 2009, lilacsigil wrote:

  I recently reduced my pull list by about 90%, because I was sick of reading through/looking at offensive bullshit (yes ...

• At November 1, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Thanks, Brian. It's always cool to hear that from readers.

• At November 1, 2009, TimCallahan wrote:

  I buy ALL comics for the art. I wouldn't buy any of these -- even the Morrison ones -- if ...

• At November 1, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  Man, am I tired of the piling on of Rucka's scripts in Detective.

  It's a shame he's not getting a better ...

• At November 1, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  s1rude: Sorry about that. I've been banging on Rucka's scripts since he started this run, and I've been giving ...

• At November 1, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I don't really have a lot to say about this comic. It's consistently entertaining and probably the best book Marvel ...

• At November 1, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  FGJ: I wonder if the reason is twofold - Hercules has been around for a while, so "normal" Marvel readers ...

The Immortal Iron Fist by Matt Fraction (writer), Ed Brubaker (writer, issues #1-14, Annual #1, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), David Aja (artist, issues #1-6, 8-13, 16), Travel Foreman (penciler, issues #1-5), Russ Heath (artist, issues #3, 6, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), John Severin (artist, issue #2), Sal Buscema (penciler, issue #4), Leandro Fernandez (penciler, issue #7), Khari Evans (penciler, issues #7, 15), Roy Allan Martinez (artist, issue #8-9), Scott Koblish (artist, issue #9), Kano (artist, issue #10-14), Javier Pulido (artist, issue #12), Tonci Zonjic (artist, issue #13-14), Clay Mann (penciler, issue #14), Howard Chaykin (artist, Annual #1), Dan Brereton (artist, Annual #1), Nick Dragotta (penciler, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Lewis LaRosa (penciler, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Mitch Breitweiser (artist, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Derek Fridolfs (inker, issues #1-5), Tom Palmer (inker, issue #4), Francisco Paronzini (inker, issue #7), Leo Fernandez (inker, issue #7), Victor Olazaba (inker, issues #7, 15), Raul Allen (inker, issue #9), Mike Allred (inker, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Stefano Gaudiano (inker, issue #14, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Matt Hollingsworth (colorist, issues #1-6, 8-14, 16, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Dean White (colorist, issue #2), Laura Martin (colorist, issue #6), Dan Brown (colorist, issue #7), June Chung (colorist, issue #8-9), Edgar Delgado (colorist, Annual #1), Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic (colorist, issue #15, Annual #1), Paul Mounts (colorist, issue #15), Laura Allred (colorist, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), and Dave Lanphear (letterer).

Marvel, 18 issues (#1-16, plus The Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1, which comes after issue #9 and The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death one-shot, which comes after issue #12), cover dated January 2007-August 2008.

Minor SPOILERS below. I try to keep it vague!

One of the important reasons The Immortal Iron Fist is such an excellent comic is that it was published by Marvel. What I mean by this is that DC has a more sense of "history," as there are legacy heroes, elderly heroes, a history of different "earths" where the heroes grew old and had children, a strong history of war comics and westerns that stretch the days of the DCU further back in time to the nineteenth century, and a legacy of printing comics that don't "fit" into an official "continuity." Marvel, while they have published such books, doesn't have as much of a legacy in this area as DC does, with most of their comics fitting into a very rigid "continuity" that began with Fantastic Four #1 but has been extended back to include the early Marvel superheroes of the 1940s. Even with their "quirkiest" titles (until recently, that is), at some point someone fits it into regular Marvel continuity. For years, there wasn't much room at Marvel for comics like this, and even though Fraction and Brubaker place this firmly in Marvel continuity, they also create a strange world that isn't necessarily in sync with the Marvel Universe we've come to know. That's not to say it wouldn't be a great comic if DC had published it (difficult to do, as the book is full of Marvel characters), but the fact that it takes place in the Marvel U. but also expands that universe makes it a bit more interesting.

Of course, it's a great comic on its own, too, and Brubaker and Fraction make sure that the comic doesn't become too much of a regular Marvel Universe book. They acknowledge the post-Civil War reality, use Hydra as one of the evil forces, and ... well, that's it, really. Other than the fact that Iron Fist and his cronies are owned by Marvel, this is simply a pulp story with a veneer of superheroing on top of it. Brubaker, presumably, adds in the noir-ish elements, while things like The Empire of Hypothetical Science screams Fraction. The two writers blend their strengths to give us a giddy examination of a strange world full of possibilities. So we get crazy mechanical spiders, women who turn into cranes, pirate queens, airplanes with angel figureheads, hauntingly beautiful subway stations with pneumatic trains, floating trains packed with explosives, steampunk interdimensional tunnels, Lightning Lords of Nepal, gun-toting courtesans in Harlem, the Green Mist of Death, scantily-clad and buxom cowgirls, Frankenstein's monster, poet emperors, bloodthirsty folk legends, and all sorts of cool martial arts action. All of these elements could easily show up in a regular superhero book, of course, but the way Brubaker and Fraction blend it into one delightfully pulpy stew makes this comic a world-building exercise that's breathtaking to read. That it exists side-by-side with the rest of the Marvel Universe is just a nice cherry on top.

The big innovation that Fraction and Brubaker come up with, of course, is the idea of a succession of Iron Fists stretching back over the millennia. This allows them to tell stories that take place in the past without screwing up Danny Rand's established continuity while also, through Orson Randall, Danny's immediate predecessor, indulging in their desires to tell pulp stories set in the 1920s and 1930s. This not only gives us some great pulp stories, it puts Danny into a context and deepens his connection to K'un-Lun, the mystical city where he gained his powers. It's a nice twist to Danny's history, and although the concept of a legacy hero is a bit overdone, it's all in the execution, and Fraction and Brubaker are able to seamlessly create an alternate history of the twentieth century through these tales. It's one of the things that makes this comic so much fun.

Ultimately, the grand plot (the run is technically separated into two big arcs, but it's really the same plot) doesn't matter too much, because it becomes bad guys versus good guys very quickly, and when the bad guys include Hydra, it's tough to take them seriously. The plot is certainly exciting and interesting, but Brubaker and Fraction are much more concerned with the major theme of the series, which is family and how it affects our lives and the decisions we make. Yes, this is a family drama dressed up as a martial arts comic masquerading as a superhero story. But it's about what binds us together and what's important in life, and Brubaker and Fraction come down on the side of family, however that family is defined. This is evident from the first pages of the book, when Danny reminisces about how he arrived in K'un-Lun after his parents died. Almost immediately after that we're introduced to Danny in the boardroom and Jeryn Hogarth, his major domo. Hogarth is his friend, but he also treats Danny as if he's a child. In quick succession Fraction and Brubaker bring in Orson Randall, who acted as surrogate father to Danny's biological dad and will soon be a mentor to Danny himself; Luke Cage, Danny's "brother"; Davos, who was Wendell Rand's "brother" and therefore intimately connected to Danny; and Misty Knight, Danny's ex-lover. The comic becomes a tangle of familial alliances and obligations, driving the characters forward. Danny learns about his past and what it means to be an Iron Fist, and this drives him to join the tournament in the second arc. Davos feels the need to impress his father, Lei Kung the Thunderer, who trains the Iron Fists and becomes their mentors, making Davos jealous in more ways than one. Jeryn is forced to work for Xao and Hydra because they kidnap his mother and threaten her life. Luke, who operates outside the law, buries the hatchet with Misty and Colleen Wing, who are working for the government, because Danny needs them and they're family. Orson Randall's "Confederates of the Curious" form familial bonds as well, with Wendell Rand learning how to live from the older members of the group. In the excellent standalone story, issue #7's "The Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay," Brubaker and Fraction give us a wonderful and exciting story of martial arts that's ultimately a love story. In "The Capital Cities of Heaven" arc (issues #8-14), Danny learns of the champions of the other cities, and he forms sibling-type bonds with them, as well. And Orson Randall's daughter leads the revolution within K'un-Lun as a way to honor her father. In fact, the two main bad guys - Yu-Ti and Xao - are distinguished by their disrespect of familial ties, as Yu-Ti rejects his father's teachings and Xao drags Jeryn's mother into their business, showing a lack of respect. Davos, who is the other main bad guy, gains redemption by coming back into the family unit and asking forgiveness from his father.

This theme makes Iron Fist an interesting comic because unlike most other superhero books, there's a strong sense of history and generational conflict to it. Most superhero books, even if they adopt a family structure (team books do this a lot, but Spider-Man is very concerned with family, too), are locked into the present so much that the family structure never changes too much, and it's more of a sibling dynamic anyway. By expanding Danny Rand's universe into the past, Brubaker and Fraction are able to examine the way sons relate to their father figures and how this changes the way they live. Orson Randall's father crashed in K'un-Lun a century ago, and Orson struggled to live up to not only his biological father's legacy, but his adopted father's (Lei Kung) as well. Then, he became a father figure to Wendell Rand, and struggled with being a good role model to a boy who wanted to follow in his footsteps, even though Orson tried to dissuade him. Davos craves the approval of his father and tries for years to prove himself, only doing so when he lets go of his pride. By stretching these conflicts over the generations, Brubaker and Fraction give us a more complex characterization than we expect in a mainstream comic book, and they're also able to examine family bonds from many different angles. There's no one dominant way a person relates to his family in this comic, and it makes the nuances more subtle and varied. We can look at Orson's relationship with Wendell and see how Orson learns from it and applies those lessons when he meets Danny. We can see how the Thunderer treats his biological son, Davos, and how he treats his surrogate sons, Wendell and then Danny, and wonder whether he could have made different choices. We can compare Danny's life to Davos's or even Orson's and speculate how it would have been different if he didn't have Luke, Misty, and Colleen to lean on. That Fraction and Brubaker place this complex skein within the framework of a superhero comic is often a dazzling achievement.

The fact that Iron Fist is a terrifically good adventure comic shouldn't be overlooked, either, and a lot of the strength in that regard comes from the art. Aja is a wonderful artist for the book, with a noir-ish style that works well for the often gritty stories that Brubaker and Fraction come up with. Aja is also excellent at the martial arts in the book, creating the wonderful characters at the tournament and giving them each a unique look and style of fighting. He's also very good at the quiet moments, such as issue #16, in which he illustrates Fraction's final script beautifully even though there's very little action in it. The haunted look on Danny's face as he realizes the implications of it being his birthday is fantastic. Obviously, Aja had big deadline problems, which led to the ridiculous number of artists working on just 18 issues of the series, but the artists are almost universally strong on the book, and the selection of artists again shows how nicely this comic fits into a historical setting. John Severin illustrates a section during World War I. Daniel Brereton's funky style works perfectly for the mystical adventures of Orson Randall in the 1920s and 1930s. Russ Heath gives us a story set in the West. Khari Evans has a fine style for the tale of Bei Bang-Wen in the 1860s. All of the artists bring unique styles to the book, but they blend together very well, and although the lack of Aja is occasionally frustrating (at no time more so than in issue #14, the climax of "The Capital Cities of Heaven"), the fill-in artists do a marvelous job and, more importantly, are there for specific sections, so we know that when we see Kano's art, it's for the story of Wendell and Davos training together. By breaking the art chores into discrete sections, the book gains a consistency it would otherwise not have.

Ultimately, the reason this is such a good comic is because you can simply read it as a high-spirited adventure, but there's plenty going on underneath that deepens our appreciation for it. Fraction and Brubaker take a simple concept and broaden it to the point where they create a new world within the Marvel Universe. This is different from going back and "filling in the blanks" in the lives of current Marvel superheroes. They expanded the Marvel U. to make it a much more interesting place, full of crazy new characters. Danny Rand becomes a more interesting character simply by fitting into this universe. The Immortal Iron Fist is a wild ride that leaves you breathless, but it also makes you think about how people react to each other and how people can use the past to create a better future. Unlike many superhero comics that came out at the same time, there was a sense of freshness to this title that made you feel like anything was possible. And for 18 fine issues, anything was.

Marvel's policy of releasing everything in trade means that this is available. It appears like there are three trades collecting this run, although a single, giant Omnibus edition would look nice a shelf, wouldn't it? And be sure to check out the archives if you have some time to kill.

26 Comments

• At October 28, 2009, Punchy wrote:

  You should own #17-27 too, Swierczynski's run was good as well.

• At October 28, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I got the first Swierczynski story arc and thought it was okay, but nothing special.

• At October 28, 2009, buttler wrote:

  Agreed -- I read them all back to back in trades recently and noticed a sudden drop in my reading ...

• At October 28, 2009, Andy wrote:

  Easily the greatest Iron Fist stories ever told. Admittedly, it's a small mountain to climb, but there it is.

• At October 28, 2009, Dan Fleming wrote:

  Haven't read Swierczynski's run, but these few issues were amazing. My favorite book at the time. Now Marvel, lets ...

• At October 28, 2009, Chris McAree wrote:

  Comics you should own: Yes!

• At October 28, 2009, Philip Ayres wrote:

  Brilliant stuff. Everyone should own these.

• At October 28, 2009, Patrick Joseph wrote:

  Bought the Omnibus this Summer without ever having read an issue. They are some of the best comics I have ...

• At October 28, 2009, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  Worth noting that, unlike many of the characters listed, the Green Mist wasn't an original character, but a reinvention of ...

• At October 28, 2009, Dr-Strange wrote:

  Orson Randall and the Death Queen of California should have got a nod even if Swierczynski's run is being ...

• At October 28, 2009, Joe wrote:

  Issues #1 through #3 are impossible to find! Own the rest though.

• At October 28, 2009, Jeremy wrote:

  *Looks at IIF Omnibus on shelf*

  Ah yes, one of the best runs of the decade in one giant, pretty hardcover. ...

• At October 28, 2009, Darren Mac wrote:

  First time I've commented on this site, and JUST because it is this comic. I'm an Iron Fist fan from ...

• At October 28, 2009, Roman wrote:

  Really good series. Really though, Swierczynski's run is pretty much just as good (as others have mentioned). I ...

• At October 28, 2009, r wrote:

  I love this- my highlights of the book were the entire first arc, and whatever issue it was where Danny ...

• At October 28, 2009, dmor173 wrote:

  Terrific Run.

  One of the hardest things to do now in fiction is to come up with decent names but ...

• At October 28, 2009, JasonF wrote:

  This entire series was the best thing I have read in years.

• At October 29, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  I really don't get why everyone loves this series so much.

  It's probably just that I like my martial arts ...

• At October 29, 2009, Daryll B wrote:

  ..and the dark comedy notes during it just classic like Jeryn's line in #13:

  "GREEEEAAAT You know what the four ...

• At October 29, 2009, Rob Ocelot wrote:

  I kind of like that the book depicts a level of reality divorced from the mainstream MU but still with ...

• At October 29, 2009, c0ld wrote:

  This was an absolutely fantastic run. The names Bru, Fraction or Aja would put any book on my pull list, ...

• At October 29, 2009, Daryll B wrote:

  Rob O., speaking of books that need to be collected...Waid's Ka-Zar and Cap run after the skrull imposter are also ...

• At October 29, 2009, TomerS wrote:

  Only read issue #1 when it was released and been planning on reading the whole run for a very long ...

• At October 29, 2009, Rusty Priske wrote:

  Swierczynski had a nigh-imporssible task - living up to the previous arcs.

  He fell short, but still made good comics.

• At October 29, 2009, Ian wrote:

  #16 is the best issue released last year.

  That is all.

• At November 16, 2009, Comics Nexus | I’m Just Sayin’…#75 wrote:

  [...] with some news, I saw that COMICS SHOULD BE GOOD gave a more than deserved shout-out to the first sixteen issues ...

The upshot of this, of course, is that it's very late in the day, and although I thought about skipping a week, I did get a metric ton of comics, two of which I received for free and therefore ought to review, and many of which were very good. I can't say these will be the best reviews (keep your snide comments about how none of these posts are the "best" to yourself!), but I did want to point out some books that came out a week ago that you might have missed. Let's fire it up!

Beasts of Burden #2 (of 4) ("Lost") by Evan Dorkin (writer), Jill Thompson (artist), and Jason Arthur (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Dark Horse.

This issue is even creepier than last issue, which is saying something. It's pretty terrifying, and Dorkin does a really nice job with two things: Making these animals truly animalistic (they do a pretty nasty thing) but also tapping into some universal emotions that make their nasty actions more understandable. It's a tense, action-filled issue, stunningly illustrated by Thompson. It's nice that Dorkin is doing these as one-and-done stories, because you don't need to have read the first issue to enjoy this. So if you see this lying around, pick it up. It's totally freaky!

Chew #5 ("Taster's Choice Part 5 of 5") by John Layman (writer/letterer), Rob Guillory (artist/colorist), and Lisa Gonzalez (color flats). $2.99, 24 pgs, FC, Image.

Speaking of freaky, the first arc of Chew comes to a close with Tony solving the central mystery and getting in a lot of trouble because of it. Layman experiments a little bit with the format, giving us a first page with snapshots of Tony getting into deeper and deeper trouble, then going back in time and filling in the spaces that led him to those dramatic moments. It's as gross as ever, of course, but Layman still manages to bring his black sense of humor to the proceedings, which alleviates the sickening central premise. And the solution and the fallout from it nicely sets up the rest of the series. Guillory, naturally, is phenomenal, with a two-page spread of such shocking violence (even more than the rest of the book) that we feel the pain of the character intensely. It's a stunning comic artistically.

This arc will be out soon in trade. Check it out, because this is a very interesting series that's getting better as it goes along. I'm looking forward to the direction Layman and Guillory are going with it.

Ex Machina #46 ("Pro-Life Part Two") by Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Tony Harris (artist), JD Mettler (colorist), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Wildstorm.

You know the drill. Flashback; some politics; some violence; a cliffhanger that ties back into the flashback. I know that some people don't like the formula, but I do. It's keen. Plus, it's getting to the end, so we are getting some answers about the series. Good to see. Only a few more issues to go!

FVZA: Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency #1 (of 3) by David Hine (writer), Roy Allan Martinez (artist), Kinsun Loh (painter), Jerry Choo (painter), Richard Starkings (letterer), and Jimmy Betancourt (letterer). $4.99, 44 pgs, FC, Radical Comics.

As usual, the fine folk at Radical sent this to me, and I'd like to thank them. It's always cool to get free comics, even if I don't love them completely. And I don't love this completely, but that might be because of the subject matter. I'm just not the biggest fan of vampires and zombies, so a book about a federal agency that destroys vampires and zombies isn't really in my wheelhouse. Hine does only one nifty thing with vampires, when he points out that vampires might not actually enjoy being vampires, which is a pretty good observation. Other than that, the vampires and zombies aren't that distinguishable from any other vampires and zombies.

That's not to say the comic is bad, because if there's one thing Hine knows, it's horror. He does a very nice job setting up this mileau, in which the United States government set up the FVZA in the 1860s and almost eradicated them from the country, to the point where the agency was disbanded. Of course, now they're back, and two young siblings, Landra and Vidal, whose grandfather was a big wheel in the earlier incarnation of the FVZA, are tasked to instruct new agents. Hine does a nice job with the set-up, as Landra stands over her grandfather with a gun, presumably because he's been turned somehow, and then tells the story in flashback. Hine does a good job building the horror of both the vampires and zombies, and even though we know what's coming, he's still effective. Martinez's art is better when it's not painted because it's rougher, but he does have a few truly horrifying scenes that complement Hine's story pretty well.

As with a lot of the Radical comics, FVZA has a lot of positives in it. The production values are stunning, and to go back to last week, their books often have good "hand," because this feels like a good chunk of comics. I wish Hine would do more with making the vampires and zombies more unique, because the idea of the federal agency (which isn't his, of course) is a pretty decent one.

Hellblazer #260 ("The Long Crap Friday") by Peter Milligan (writer), Simon Bisley (artist), Jamie Grant (colorist), and Sal Cipriano (letterer). $2.99, 20 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

What's cool about Milligan writing this series is that he didn't even make any pretense about John being noble. Most of the other times I've read the book, the writer tries to set up John as some kind of damaged yet somewhat decent fellow who eventually gets tempted too much to meddle and it all ends horribly. Milligan has simply shown us, from the beginning, that John is a scumbag, which makes all the crap that is happening to him in this run kind of fun, because we indulge in a little schadenfreude and never worry if maybe, this time, John has changed. Milligan is making this a different kind of Hellblazer run, because nothing John is doing is noble, even tangentially. His proclamations regarding Phoebe in this book don't even ring true, because we saw how he treated her, so we know it's bullshit. Perhaps Milligan is going this way so that John can actually earn some redemption. Perhaps not. Either way, Milligan is writing a nasty little comic, and it's pretty cool.

Incarnate #2 (of 3) by Nick Simmons (writer/artist), Matt Dalton (inker), Dami Digital (colorist), and Rob Steen (letterer). $4.99, 53 pgs, FC, Radical Comics.

I still feel the same way about issue #2 of this series that I felt about #1 - Simmons is an interesting artist, with a ton of energy in his pencils and glee in his horror that's somewhat refreshing. The fight scene at the end of the issue is fun to look at, with lots of blood and crazy monsters and wacky choreography. Simmons does give us a bit more about the characters and what the heck they are, and presumably we'll learn all in issue #3. But the problems are still there, and they come from Simmons's storytelling abilities, which are pretty raw. In issue #1, there was no reason to care about the characters, and as we knew very little about them, no other reason for us to be involved. In this issue, Mot is imprisoned by Sibyl, who forces him to be her bodyguard. It's obvious that Simmons is building a romance between these two, but it's mainly because that's what they'd do - Mot is a Goth dude who has a secret, while Sibyl is a blonde Catholic schoolgirl. Of course they're going to be attracted to each other! But just because their "types" would be attracted to each other doesn't mean Simmons can skip the actual relationship between them, and he does. The writing in the book is strangely enervating, with Simmons simply doling out information without spicing it up too much. It jars with the art, which crackles along.

It seems like this would work better if Simmons weren't trying to be "deep." As a strange mystery about demons who slaughter humans, it's not bad. Simmons seems to want to deepen the emotional resonance of the book, but he's not quite as good at that. But, like FVZA, this is a huge chunk of comics for not a ton of money, and it's nice that Radical is giving us our money's worth!

The Last Resort #3 (of 5) ("Part Three: Surf and Safari") by Jimmy Palmiotti (writer), Justin Gray (writer), Giancarlo Caracuzzo (artist), and Chris Mowry (letterer). $3.99, 20 pgs, FC, IDW.

Now that is a keen cover. Darwyn Cooke cracks me up (yes, Tom, I know a lot of things crack me up, but come on - check out that cover!).

Here's another reason why I would not be a good character in a horror movie: If I were on a plane that exploded on the runway and then, when I reached the terminal, there was no one around, I'd stay with the group. I know that most of the people in this comic don't know about the flesh-eating zombies running wild on the island yet, but two pairs of people break off from the group to wander around alone, and not surprisingly, one person pays a pretty horrible price. People in horror movies (and horror comics, I guess, as that's what this is) are unbelievably stupid. The victim I'm talking about here (there are others in the comic, but they're not stupid) deserves what she gets, because she's so obnoxious that we're cheering for her to get eaten. Now, I might still get killed in a horror movie, but it wouldn't be because I'm stupid.

There's a bit of a lull in this issue, as the characters regroup and try to figure out what the hell is going on, but it's still sheer bloody fun. And yes, that cover does depict something that happens in the book. Very stylistically, of course, but still.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto #3 ("Born and Made") by Brett Matthews (writer), Jonathan M. Abrams (writer), Vatche Mavlian (artist), Marcelo Pinto (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $4.99, 32 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

We find our heroes at the circus, where the human cannonball has died under mysterious circumstances and the Lone Ranger and Tonto take it upon themselves to solve the crime. It's not a terribly good mystery, but that's okay, because Matthews and Abrams are more interested in examining the idea of outcasts and what binds them together, from the circus freaks who form the community to the Lone Ranger and Tonto themselves, who set themselves outside of society. It's not a terribly deep examination of this theme, but it's an interesting one, especially as our heroes peel back the layers of secrecy surrounding the carnival. Mavlian is fantastic, despite a few problems with clarity (which might be the fault of the colorist; I don't know). He has a nice rough style and the scenes where Tonto fights the bear are magnificently powerful.

I wish the regular series came out more often, but the specials are always pretty good. And they give you a nice single story, so there's no commitment to more!

Poe #4 (of 4) by J. Barton Mitchell (writer), Dean Kotz (artist), Digikore Studios (colorist), and James Dashiell (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

This turned out to be a pretty good mini-series, even if the idea of Poe-as-detective was abandoned quickly, mainly because he figured out the whole thing too easily. It turned into a spooky supernatural tale, much like one Poe himself would have written, which is somewhat interesting but a bit unfulfilling, because if we wanted a supernatural tale much like one Poe himself would have written, we'd probably read a supernatural tale that Poe did write. I would have liked Poe being more of detective, but oh well. What's best about this is the way Mitchell brings in aspects of Poe's life and fiction and uses them in the story, and he shows why Poe is not only a good writer, but a good man as well. Mitchell takes the tragedy in Poe's life and shows why it can be triumphant, and that's the interesting part of the tale. The action bits are fine, but not the best part of the book. Kotz, meanwhile, continues to do a good job on the art - this issue is far brighter than issue #3 (although it's still fairly dark), and we get some cool flaming skeletons and ghosts and whatnot.

Check out the trade when it shows up! It's worth a look.

Power Girl #6 ("Space Girls Gone Wild: Conclusion") by Justin Gray (writer), Jimmy Palmiotti (writer), Amanda Conner (artist), Paul Mounts (colorist), and John J. Hill (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

I usually give new series six issues to make a decision about whether to keep buying it or not, so we've reached the moment of truth with regard to Power Girl. I'm still torn, which means I'll probably drop it, because it's just not thrilling me. That pains me, because I simply adore the art, and it's almost - almost - worth the money. I do appreciate that Palmiotti and Gray aren't simply giving us dull hero-vs.-villain stories and that things get wrapped up in non-traditional ways, like the way PG takes care of the three alien hotties, and that the stories tend to blend into each other, but nothing is really wowing me. It's too bad.

Am I being too hard on the comic? I dunno. But damn, I love Amanda Conner's art. She needs to draw Grant Morrison's Adventures of Rogue and Psylocke. Now that would be a comic!

Robotika: For a Few Rubles More #3 and 4 by Alex Sheikman (writer/artist), David Moran (writer), Scott Keating (inker, issue #4), Joel Chua (colorist), and Norman Felchle (artist, "Dr. Agon"). $4.99, 60 pgs, FC, Archaia.

Boy, I really wish this series (and Archaia books in general) came out on a decent schedule. Sheikman's work deserves a much, much bigger audience, and it's not going to get it with the scheduling of the book. As always with Robotika, this is a visual feast, with beautiful individual panels and breathtaking choreography. In the second story, Sheikman divides the page into three long horizontal panels and tells two different stories that gradually converge, and it features stunning fight scenes. This is such a beautiful comic, and I would love to see Marvel throw a ton of money at Sheikman to draw a Dr. Strange mini-series. Or DC could let do some Jonah Hex. He'd kick ass at it.

The writing isn't great, although Sheikman and Moran do a good job wrapping up the story and setting up a new one. It gets the job done, and although it's still a bit messy, that's okay. Sheikman has such a strong visual sense that he's smart enough not to overwrite, allowing his art to tell the story. He needs to get better at writing, but he is getting there, so there's that.

Even without the best writing, this is totally worth the five dollars. Sheikman is that good. He's tremendous.

Spider-Woman #2 by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Alex Maleev (artist), and Cory Petit (letterer). $2.99, 21 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Another cool-looking decompressed mess. Come on, BMB, get moving!

As far as Jessica's abilities with secreting chemicals, remember when Gambit could do that? Sort of? Claremont brought it up in, I think, his first appearance, and I don't know if anyone's ever mentioned it again. It was kind of cool. Oh well.

Sugarshock by Joss Whedon (writer), Fábio Moon (artist), Dave Stewart (colorist), and Nate Piekos (letterer). $3.50, 24 pgs, FC, Dark Horse.

This is mostly impressive because of Moon's art, which is fantastic as usual. Whenever there's a chance to revel in Moon's art, I'm probably going to take it, unless he's drawing something by a writer I really hate, and I don't hate Whedon. Of course, I don't love Whedon either, and this is a good example why. It's a bunch of randon stuff strung together, some pretty good and some that doesn't work at all. I mean, the anti-Viking sentiment makes no sense and isn't funny. Dandelion ignoring Robot Phil's requests for his legs isn't all that funny. It's as if Whedon thinks he can make jokes by just saying the punchline, but yelling "Lemur!" in a crowded room isn't clever, and that's what a lot of this comic feels like. It's perfectly fine, and for the price you get a fairly packed story with a lot going on plus lots of sketches from Moon, but it's definitely not as clever as it thinks it is. That's an unfortunate by-product of a lot of Whedon's writing.

The saddest song in the world is kind of cool, though.

Underground #2 (of 5) by Jeff Parker (writer), Steve Lieber (artist), and Ron Chan (colorist). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Image.

What's interesting about this series so far is that Parker isn't taking the clicé-ridden route with regard to the story. Not that I thought he would, because he's too good, but it's kind of of cool that the bad guys aren't just gun-firing crazy people, and while they're not terribly concerned about Seth and Wes, they are concerned about doing their "job" correctly without killing anyone. And Parker shows that things aren't black-and-white even in little ways, which is always fun. And Lieber is great as usual, doing a tremendous job with the cave interiors and the claustrophobic atmosphere therein. When the characters confront each other, Lieber squeezes them into smaller and smaller panels, which is a neat effect. This continues to be a nifty series. Why wouldn't you buy it?

Zero Killer #6 (of 6) by Arvid Nelson (writer/letterer), Matt Camp (artist), and Dave Stewart (colorist). $2.99, 25 pgs, FC, Dark Horse.

I'll just link to my review of the entire series, okay?

I apologize again for the tardiness and brevity of these reviews. I'm feeling much better now! To prove it, let's check out some totally random lyrics!

"That's right here's where the talkin' ends
Well listen this night there'll be some action spent
Drive hard I'm callin' all the shots
I got an ace card comin' down on the rocks
If you think I'll sit around while you chip away my brain
Listen I ain't foolin' and you'd better think again"

Damn straight!

23 Comments

• At October 26, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Now, I might still get killed in a horror movie, but it wouldn't be because I'm stupid.

  It'd be because everyone ...

• At October 26, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Oh my God, that Beasts of Burden issue was the saddest thing I've read in years. Marvelously written and illustrated, ...

• At October 26, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Your weeklong illness perfectly summarizes my Sunday hangover. Awesome.

  Already ordered the Chew trade.

  You have to keep buying Power Girl! They're ...

• At October 26, 2009, buttler wrote:

  You have to keep buying Power Girl! They're bringing back Vartox! VARTOX!

  Bringing back Vartox???

  Sometimes I can't believe how beautiful this ...

• At October 26, 2009, Philip wrote:

  Greg, are you planning on doing any panel contests anytime soon. It doesn't even have to be for a prize ...

• At October 27, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  You lost thirteen pounds in a week?! Good lord, dude.

  That sounds like the worst crash diet ever.

• At October 27, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  "Come on, BMB, get moving!"*

  Mwa ha ha ha ha. Yeaaaahhhhhhhhhh no. Good one, though.

  (* Seriously, what's the tag in ...

• At October 27, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  < blockquote > < / blockquote >

  Without the spaces, of course.

• At October 27, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Thank you.

• At October 27, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Tomorrow I go to pick up more new comics, but I haven't started reading the ones from last week. Looking ...

• At October 27, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  If you're on the fence about Power Girl I'd keep getting it. A lot of series that I've bought ...

• At October 27, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  FGJ: It probably will read better in trade. And you get a gigantic dose of Conner's art instead of ...

• At October 27, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Hey Greg, that's why we're all here anyway, right? :-)

• At October 27, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  I have a bunch of those books waiting to be read as well. I have been ill, though nothing ...

• At October 27, 2009, Posts about Movie Reviews as of October 27, 2009 | Movie blog wrote:

  [...] was caught cheating on a test (he wasn’t really cheating but his dad doesn’t believe him). What ...

• At October 27, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  VARTOX!

• At October 27, 2009, JIMMY PALMIOTTI wrote:

  you should keep buying powergirl...I heard it's getting better.

• At October 27, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Who could have told you that, sir? :)

• At October 27, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I'm glad you're feeling better, Greg.

  I figured that was the reason for the delay, so it's nice to see you ...

• At October 27, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Thanks, sir!

• At October 28, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  VARTOX?

• At October 30, 2009, ryan s wrote:

  You got another thing coming!

• At October 30, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I'm glad someone got the lyrics, ryan!

I wasn't sure if I was going to pick this up, but I figured with Hester writing it and Churilla drawing it, I couldn't really go that wrong. I'm still not sure about it, but it's a solid first issue. It's a lot of set-up, as Hester introduces the Anchor, a dude who stands at the gate of Hell and fights demons that want to get out. Meanwhile, on earth, his actual body (in Hell it's his soul) wanders around, and in this issue ends up in Reykjavik fighting some kind of ice monster. The fact that whatever happens to his spiritual body manifests in his physical body helps him win. Yay! Plus, he meets a cute Icelandic chick and does something gross (not to her - ewwww - but in a different context - although, on second thought, something gross happens to her that is because of him, but not his fault). All in a day's work for "Clem," as the Icelandic chick - Hofi - dubs him, based on his wearing the cross of St. Clement on his belt (which just happens to look like an anchor - the traditional story is that Clement was martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown overboard into the Black Sea). As a set-up issue, it works perfectly fine - we get the basic premise of the story, two main characters, and a big fight. Hester is an underrated writer, and Churilla has a nice, cartoony-but-not-too-cartoony line that reminds me of Scott Wegener, and we get an ending that leads into next issue but doesn't change the one-and-done nature of the issue. As first issues go, this works fine. It doesn't dazzle me, but I'll probably check out the next issue, at least.

I did want to address something I read recently on The Savage Critics. Here's Retailer Extraordinaire Brian Hibbs:

As long as I'm talking about cover stocks, let me mention that last week's BOOM! titles also had a new stock that I liked very much -- one of the things that has REALLY hurt BOOM! sales, in my opinion, is that they've had lousy "hand" (that is to say, holding it in your hand, if you think "This feels flimsy, and not worth the cover price!", that's "hand").

I don't know if Hibbs has polled anyone about this, and I certainly can't compare to his expertise in the retailing arena. I have noticed the phenomenon with regard to Boom!'s comics, but I wonder if that's a reason for not buying their comics. I don't think it's a terribly good reason, but the reasons for not doing something, after you get past economic and taste, are often goofy ("It doesn't feature superheroes!" "I remain devoted to boycotting Mark Millar books!" "That movie doesn't star Rosamund Pike!"). So I wonder if you - yes, you! - have decided not to buy a Boom! comic because it wasn't "heavy" enough. Does that figure in your buying in any way? Consider: The Anchor has NO ads to break up the flow of the issue. The paper stock on Vertigo books is a bit heavier, but the glossy stock Boom! uses doesn't seem different than any other regular comic. In terms of pages, The Anchor has 14 (if we simply count the number of 8½-by-11 pieces of "paper" that make up the book, which includes the front and back cover) while a random Marvel book (this week's Incredible Hercules, for instance) has 18. Herc, of course, has eight (8) adverts in the course of the comic to break up one of the best superhero fights you're ever going to see (see below!), so there's that (in fact, I smell a theme!). I can't believe consumers would think a Boom! comic isn't worth the cover price because it's not heavy enough. Maybe because it's $3.99, people expect to get more for that extra dollar, and when the book "feels" thinner than a $2.99 comic even though the story is the same length, they feel cheated. That doesn't explain the 22-page comics that Marvel sells for $3.99, though, unless the presence of extra ads "fools" consumers into thinking the book is longer than it is. If you don't like Boom! comics because you don't like the stories, that's one thing. I hope Hibbs is wrong, though, because it would be depressing if he were right (in the comments, one person agrees with Hibbs, so I guess he's not completely crazy).

This issue: 22 story pages; Hester's introduction to the series (where a letters page will go); Boom!'s page about their current and upcoming comics.

Fables #89 ("Witches Chapter Three: Baba Yaga") by Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (artist), Steve Leialoha (inker), Andrew Pepoy (inker), Lee Loughridge (colorist), and Todd Klein (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, DC/Vertigo.

Hey, it's another gorgeously illustrated issue of Fables! That's a shock. And hey, it's another interesting and intricate issue of Fables! That, too, is a shock. Willingham continues to use these characters in marvelous ways, from Bufkin figuring out his strengths (with some help from the magic mirror) to Frau Totenkinder divining what's going on with the Dark Man. And Buckingham, who entered this comics world as Chris Bachalo's inker, moved on to aping him in his pencils, has moved on from that and doesn't get enough credit for bringing this fabulous world to life. His detailed art, page designs, sense of humor, and ease with which he draws flying monkeys and giant genies and small birds make each issue of Fables (well, the ones he draws) a pleasure to look at. Frau Totenkinder's new look is eerily exotic in an indeterminate way (she's not exactly Romani, but she's close), Baba Yaga is horrific, and Buckingham does a fantastic job showing the way the genie slowly comes around to Bufkin's way of thinking (to his regret). It's a tremendous book to gaze at, and it's nice to see Buckingham continuing to grow as an artist.

Plus, that's a pretty excellent cover.

This issue: Six (6) story pages, then an ad. Two (2), then an ad. Five (5), then a double-page ad. Two (2), then an ad. One (1), then an ad. Six (6), then the end of the issue. Adverts: Two movies available on VOD (?); the new Fables novel (Peter and Max); a video game; Luna Park, the new graphic novel from Vertigo; Jack of Fables; a three-page preview for that Cinderella series at the end of the issue; the "On the Ledge" column on the final page.

Gødland #29 ("Iron Black Moses") by Joe Casey (writer), Tom Scioli (artist), Bill Crabtree (colorist), and Rus Wooton (letterer). $2.99, 20 pgs, FC, Image.

I always hope a new issue of Gødland means that the book is back on track for at least a semi-regular schedule, and then, after it shows up, we wait another 3-6 months for the next issue, and I spiral back into a Gødland-free depression zone. Don't Joe Casey and Tom Scioli know what they're doing to me????? I mean, not only do we get a cameo by President Obama in this issue, the creators suggest we "clip and save this collectible portrait" and dot the lines of the panel. And the joke gets even better from there. Plus, Adam's cosmic adventure with Neela gets even cosmicker in this issue, and Scioli goes absolutely nuts with the art, from a giant single-page panel of Leviticus and Vayikra smashing R@d-Ur Rezz to the wackiness of the planet at the "very edge of universal reason." Every issue I can't imagine how Casey and Scioli will up the ante, and every issue they do. Okay, so the Universal Decimator goes into a cocoon stage early on in the book and doesn't bring the awesome, but that's okay, as every one else steps up their game. I mean, R@d-Ur Rezz makes a cat's cradle to escape his pursuers. Bow down before the excellence of Gødland!

Dang, I love this comic. I'm so excited to read it when I buy it, I'm so excited to read it as I'm reading it, and I'm so excited to flip through it while I'm writing about it. Then the long, cold winter of my discontent begins anew, and I must wait until the day, far in the future, when another issue comes out. Oh, how long I must wait!!!!!

This issue: 20 story pages; one letters page (on the inside back cover).

The Incredible Hercules #136 ("Thorcules versus Hercuthor!") by Greg Pak (writer), Fred van Lente (writer), Reilly Brown (penciler), Nelson DeCastro (inker), Guillem Mari (colorist), Ulises Areola (colorist), A. Street (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Okay, so not only is the recap page of this comic often more entertaining than the actual stories in most other Marvel and DC books (I've mentioned this before; in this one, Thor narrates about some of their fights and wishes that Hercules would wear some underwear), but in this issue, my campaign to get Simon Bowland an Eisner for best letterer resumes in full force. Yes, I know the debate last time was whether the writers come up with the sound effects and Bowland just implements them, but in the absence of any creator coming by here and letting us know for certain that Bowland didn't come up with them, I'll keep pimping him for an Eisner. Last time, I simply wrote the sound effects. This time, if you'll forgive the SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!, I'll scan them:

This is in the middle of one of the best superhero fights I've seen in a long time, as Herc (pretending to be Thor) battles Thor (pretending to be Herc) in order to keep Queen Alflyse from rampaging across Asgard. Pak and van Lente keep it clever, as Thor tells Herc he needs to lose, which Herc certainly understands but also certainly doesn't want to do, because his pride is at stake. Of course, it all works out in the end (I won't tell you how, especially with the way they deal with Malekith), but the writers continue to make very nice points about the characters in the midst of all the mayhem, as they do when Zeus tries to figure out why a buffoon like Hercules is considered a hero. Plus, as you can see, Brown's art is fantastic as usual.

What a wonderful comic. Come on - a purple nurple!!!!! Who doesn't love that?

This issue: Recap page; three (3) story pages, then an ad. Three (3), then an ad. One (1), then an ad. Three (3), then an ad. Three (3), then an ad. One (1), then an ad. Two (2), then an ad. Five (5), then an ad. One (1), then the "next issue" page. Adverts: Milk (with some dude named Ryan Sheckler; Kia; a video game; a video game; a video game; Punisher #11; The Incredible Hulk #603; Realm of Kings.

Scalped #32 ("The Gnawing Part Three of Five") by Jason Aaron (writer), R. M. Guéra (artist), Giulia Brusco (colorist), and Steve Wands (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

It's been a while since an issue of Scalped came out, which is a shame. It's always a gripping read, even one like this, which seems to fly by. It's not that this isn't packed with stuff, but the set pieces in this issue - the witness escaping both police custody and Dash; Dash returning to Carol's house and getting kicked out; Red Crow showing up at Carol's place; Dash visiting his mother's grave and making a deal with the proverbial devil - are notable by the fact that Aaron lets Guéra draw the hell out of them, and Guéra, perhaps not surprisingly, does a wonderful job. There's just not a lot of words in this issue, which is fine, because it's always nice to see writers and artists have such a good synergy that the writer trusts the artist to tell the story, which Guéra does. The jailbreak could be completely wordless and we'd know exactly what's going on. The same could be said for Dash's visit to his mother's grave and subsequent deal. We see from Dash's face that he's about to go straight to hell, and then we see his disgust when he's forced into his alliance. Aaron has gotten some good fill-in artists for this series, but no one captures the grittiness of this world like Guéra does. You can just feel the despair oozing off the pages when you read an issue of Scalped, and that's at least half due to the art. Aaron rarely has to tell us the characters have no choice when they do things, because we see it all over their faces. As we hurtle toward the end of this story arc (and wherever the hell Aaron is going with it, because it just doesn't seem like Dash has many options left), it's due in a large part to Guéra's art that we're so emotionally invested in the book.

This issue: Fifteen (15!) story pages, then a double-page ad. Seven (7) story pages, then a seven-page preview of Peter and Max. Adverts: A video game; the "On the Ledge" column on the final page. I can't remember if the Vertigo books from the past few months had fewer ads when they ran the preview of the novel; I assume so, which may be why there's hardly any advertising in this issue, which is late.

Secret Six #14 ("Depths Part Five of Five: Early Release") by Gail Simone (writer), Nicola Scott (penciller), Carlos Rodriguez (penciller/inker), Doug Hazlewood (inker), Mark McKenna (inker), Jason Wright (colorist), and Pat Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

As I always point out, I love the fact that this book makes me feel uncomfortable, as it's often really creepy, and Simone can do things in this comic that I wouldn't want to see in a more "straight-forward" superhero comic (even though costumed people abound in this book). Case in point: Grendel standing over a spread-eagle Wonder Woman and licking her palm with an extremely long and wet tongue (tentacle rape comes to mind, very deliberately, I'm sure) as he tells her he's going to "eat" her (he means it literally, but the sexual element is very strong). This is on the first three pages, mind you, so it's not like Simone eases us into it. I forgive it in this comic, even though if this thing took place in, say, Wonder Woman's own magazine, I might think it's excessive. It all gets back to tone and the "audience," I suppose, of the book - it's a standard DC comic, so theoretically it can be sold to kids, but Simone seems to understand the horror better than others writing for DC, and she addresses it head-on. It's an unpleasant comic, not in that it's not excellent (it is), but in that Simone is dealing with horror and, in a superhero way, she brings us the consequences of the actions. Wonder Woman is not a superhero in this book, she's a woman avenging as close a rape as we can see on the page, as well as the imprisonment of her sisters. Scandal does something in this book that makes the one person whose opinion she cares about lose respect for her. Deadshot shows, again, why he's such a cool guy, but his "betrayal" of the team has to have repercussions in the future, I'd imagine. This is about as intense a comic as you can get from the regular DC and Marvel universe, and Simone is brilliant at showing how depraved these people are without making them completely hateful. I mean, you have to love Ragdoll, right? But even someone as nasty as Lawton is a compelling character with a nice undertone of tragedy (this comes mainly from what I know about Lawton from when Ostrander wrote him back in the day - and I suppose I should mention that next issue is the one guest-written by The Man himself - but Simone has done a fine job building on that). Even Mister Smyth is oddly sympathetic, or at least comprehensible!

I love comics that keep getting better. This is one of them.

This issue: Four (4) story pages, then an ad. One (1), then an ad. Two (2), then an ad. Three (3), then an ad. One (1), then a double-page ad. Four (4), then an ad. Three (3), then an ad. Three (3), then an ad. One (1), then the end of the issue. Adverts: Kia; the movies available on VOD; Victorian Undead, the new Wildstorm mini-series by Ian Edginton and Davide Fabbri; The Great Ten, the new mini-series by Tony Bedard and Scott McDaniel; a video game; Lobo: Highway to Hell, the new mini-series by Scott Ian and Sam Kieth; Batman #692 (Tony Daniel's return to the title!); World's Finest, the new mini-series by Sterling Gates and Julian Lopez; DiDio's "DC Nation" column on the last page of the comic.

The Unwritten #6 ("Inside Man Part One") by Mike Carey (writer), Peter Gross (artist), Chris Chuckry (colorist), Jeanne McGee (colorist), and Todd Klein (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Carey and Gross get back to the main story, as Tom gets sent to prison while he awaits trial. Carey cleverly moves him from Switzerland to France by way of one of the victims of the massacre being French and the French wanting to try him, and this sets him down near where "The Song of Roland" is set, which apparently leads into the next section of the tale, as Tom suddenly begins acting very un-Tom-like but definitely more Roland-esque. Meanwhile, Lizzie is tasked to "undo the harm that's already been done," so we'll have to see what that entails. Oh, and Frankenstein's monster shows up. Well, of course he does!

To call this issue "efficient" might sound like an insult, but it's really not. Carey moves all the pieces into place for his next arc after the first one ended oddly, with Tom arrested for murders he didn't commit. Obviously, Carey is going for a slow burn on this title, which is fine (it might annoy people who buy the trade of the first arc, because its ending is so inconclusive, but fuck those assholes and their monthly-serial-killing ways, right?), so, much like Fables (with which this seems to share a sensibility), individual issues might have little cool moments, but in terms of advancing the plot, they might disappoint. A lot "happens" in this issue, but none of it pays off now, because that's not what Carey's going for. It's still an interesting comic, and as I happen to enjoy "The Song of Roland" a hell of a lot more than Shelley's band of whining Goths, I have high hopes for this section of Tom's journey.

Of course, even if the writing portion of the issue "disappoints" (to the extent that it does, which isn't much), we can still marvel at Gross's art. His style when he's drawing the portions of the book with Roland and Oliver is nicely different from his regular style, looking more "medieval," for lack of a better word, reminiscent not only of a manuscript but also of, say, Charles Vess's art when he was drawing Shakespeare for Gaiman back in the day. He also does a fine job with the dankness of the prison, and I don't know if he designed Lizzie's outfit when she goes into the police station, but it's pretty dang awesome (not as awesome as these outfits, but still pretty keen). And, of course, the image of the monster in the church at the end is chilling yet strangely tender. Gross is excellent on this book, and it mitigates Carey's desire to do a slow burn on the book a lot.

But I'm patient. And I do enjoy the cool conceit of the comic, so I don't mind that Carey is going slowly.

This issue: Two (2) pages of praise for the comic, with the second page adding a recap that also introduces the "Inside Man" of the title. Two (2) pages of story, then an ad. Two (2), then an ad. Three (3), then an ad. Three (3), then a double-page ad. Two (2), then an ad. Five (5), then an ad. Three (3), then the "On the Ledge" column. Two (2), then the end of the issue. Adverts: The two movies on VOD; Luna Park; The Dream Hunters adaptation by Gaiman and P. Craig Russell; a video game; Peter and Max; The Absolute Death.

The Veil #4 (of 4) ("Veil") by El Torres (writer) and Gabriel Hernandez (artist). $3.99, 24 pgs, FC, IDW.

As we come back around to the topic I was ruminating about in the first review, the commenter who agreed with Hibbs specifically mentioned IDW's titles, which cost the same as Boom!'s do but have more "hand" because their card stock is heavier. This comic is a good example - in terms of story, it's two pages more than The Anchor, but it feels substantially thicker. Is that enough to get people to buy it? I don't know. I do know that some IDW books that I buy might have better "hand," but the art is occasionally blurrier than on a Boom! comic - like this issue is. Some of the pages look less crisp than they could be, as if we're looking at a photograph of the art rather than the art itself (I'm well aware I'm never looking at original art in a comic, but I'm talking about the reproduction values of the actual original art). Therefore, even though I've been very pleasantly surprised by this series and I think Hernandez's art is a bit better than Churilla's (even though I think they're both good), The Anchor's interiors actually look better than the interiors of this issue do. I hope that people who think that the IDW book is worth the four dollars and the Boom! book isn't check out the interior work, too, rather than just making a snap judgment based on "hand." I wonder if IDW's commitment to heavier stock means that the art doesn't reproduce as well, because this isn't the first time I've noticed it.

That is, of course, a production issue, and it has nothing to do with the actual content, and The Veil is, for me, the most surprising comic of the year, because Torres took a fairly standard horror trope - a girl can see the dead - and crafted a truly terrifying comic that - and this is key - follows through on the premise. I don't want to give too much away, but too often in popular entertainment, creators rely on a deus ex machina to pull back from the edge just when things are about to get really unpleasant. This doesn't only happen in horror, of course, but in all forms. I've told the story of my experience with Dolph Lundgren's Punisher movie before, but it's worth repeating. As crappy as the movie is, it was goofily entertaining, and when the Asian villain takes those kids hostages, I told my friend, "This movie gets five stars if the kids die." It's not that I wanted to see kids get killed, even in a fictional setting, but if the director puts kids in jeopardy to elicit an emotional response from us ("Save them, Dolph!"), he should have the balls to acknowledge that the evil villain probably would kill at least one. I ought to have a name for this, in fine Cronin fashion - maybe I could call it the Independence Day Syndrome, because of that damned dog outrunning a fireball because whatever you do, you can't kill a poor dog! Torres sets up his story in such a fashion that his bad people really ought to follow through, and by God, they do! There are always casualties in horror, after all, and they shouldn't all be girls who had pre-marital sex. This is truly a horrifying comic, one of the better ones I've read recently, and I encourage you to go find the trade when it comes out. Hernandez's art is amazing and creepy, and Torres really gets under your skin with his story.

This issue: Twenty-four (24) pages of story, then eight (8) pages of ads, all for IDW products and including a three-page interview with the new creative team on Transformers.

Let's break down the advertising:
Video games: 7
Two movies available on VOD: 3
A Kia: 2
Milk: 1
House ads: 20

I don't know what that says about publishers' ability to sell advertising space, but that's the breakdown.

So that's the week. Quite excellent in terms of quality: A nice debut, a very good continuing series, a long-missed favorite, Marvel's best book, another great issue of Native Noir, DC's best book, a new arc of a promising series, and the terrifying conclusion of a very good horror comic. It's all about quality, not quantity here at the Burgas home! And now, it's time for totally random lyrics!

"Through all the cities and all these towns
It's in my blood and it's all around
I love you now like I loved you then
This is the road and these are the hands
From Mozambique to those Memphis nights
The Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights
Knock me down get back up again
You're in my blood I'm not a lonely man"

Once you get this song in your head, you'll never get it out! That's how insidious it is!

Oh, and GO PHILLIES!!!!! We can't let the damned Yankees win, can we?

36 Comments

• At October 15, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Incredible Hercules - This was a great story. I don't remember exactly what led me to pick it up, actually... ...

• At October 15, 2009, Monica Dickey wrote:

  Nice. My friend lent me Secret Six after I enjoyed Watchmen and I gotta say it was pretty creepy. The ...

• At October 15, 2009, GarBut wrote:

  If you really want to piss off your Canadian readers, tell them that the song is by Rascal Flatts (not ...

• At October 15, 2009, patrick wrote:

  GO YANKEES!

  ALL THE WAY BABY!

• At October 15, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Incredible Hercules and Invincible Iron Man are the two books right now that get past my Dark Reign embargo. ...

• At October 15, 2009, Rob Barrett wrote:

  Pak and Van Lente are having a Simonson-level run on Hercules, and in Brown they finally have a regular artist ...

• At October 15, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I don't really care if my comics give good "hand" or not. I prefer it when they give good "head."

  If ...

• At October 15, 2009, Ralph wrote:

  the only reason I havent purchased a Boom! comic lately, is that their trades come out soon after the first ...

• At October 15, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  it might annoy people who buy the trade of the first arc, because its ending is so inconclusive, but fuck ...

• At October 15, 2009, Nick Rini wrote:

  I hate to admit that I've picked up a bunch of Boom titles and then put them back on the ...

• At October 15, 2009, Mike Blake wrote:

  It's a good thing you had some stuff between comics giving good hand,and the depravity in SECRET SIX or it ...

• At October 15, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  I understand that a lot of people love The Incredible Hercules, but what you have posted here is just stupid ...

• At October 15, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I was hoping you'd mention the appearance of the butterfly in GODLAND... after all, we've seen a butterfly like this ...

• At October 15, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  patrick: BOO!!!!!

  Ralph: That's a perfectly fine reason.

  Nick: That's interesting that you feel that way. I do agree with you ...

• At October 15, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  A bunch of supposedly funny scenes all strung together isn't writing. What horrid tripe.

  Yeah man, where's the gritted teeth, bulging ...

• At October 15, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I've never read this Hercules series. I keep hearing about how great it is, but I've always hated Hercules ...

• At October 15, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  Maybe I missed it, but where is the opening quote about homeless people from?

  And again, maybe I missed it ...

• At October 15, 2009, San wrote:

  Alan: That seems to be unfair criticism. "A string of scenes strung together" is what Greg scanned and posted. It's ...

• At October 16, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  re: Hercules #136...After reading it, I'm not sure I will ever read another comic. Anything else is going to ...

• At October 16, 2009, And we’re done | The Veil wrote:

  [...] received a lot of good reviews. Greg Burgas, in “What I bought” has been reviewing every issue. Thanks a ...

• At October 16, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  Herc haters probably enjoy kicking kittens.

• At October 16, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  Stuff like Godland and Elephantmen are the reason why you're in my will, Greg! :-)

  I started buying them because of ...

• At October 16, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  By the way, you didn't buy Anna Mercury?

• At October 16, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  I have a distinct and indelible memory of listening to (and shout-singing along with) that song in my buddy's ...

• At October 16, 2009, brian wrote:

  I thought it was Tom Cochrane - Life is a highway?

  House ads I think are a sign of the economy ...

• At October 16, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Another installment of one of my fave GRAMMAR SHOULD BE GOOD columns! Even though roughly half the time I (a) ...

• At October 16, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  Greg,

  I read somewhere that the editor (Mark Paniccia, if I recall correctly) came up with the "sound effects". He apparently ...

• At October 16, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Ah, the butterfly reminded me of the one that guided Automatic Kafka from the Warrant's home to the comic shop ...

• At October 16, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Mary and jazzbo: I was just pointing out that when you judge a book by "hand," you're often thinking it's ...

• At October 16, 2009, Michael M. wrote:

  The Thor/Hercules fight, and the two pages where "Hercules" schools "Thor" in the ways of dirty fighting made me laugh ...

• At October 16, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>As a friend put it, the ONLY way it could have been better would have been if they went out ...

• At October 16, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  One thing about the ads in Fables this week, in the last panel on the page before the Peter & ...

• At October 16, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  Dan Bailey: I had the exact same reaction re: Hercules and PS238. PS238 is one of my favorite books, ...

• At October 16, 2009, The Cosh wrote:

  I've no idea what the problem is with UK distribution, but while I saw most of these titles in the ...

• At October 16, 2009, Michael Mayket wrote:

  I'm with Mary. I keep reading (especially here) how great Hercules is and think about trying it, but then ...

• At October 17, 2009, Fascination Place » This Week’s Haul wrote:

  [...] expressions (penciller Reilly Brown does a bang-up job on the art) and very silly sound effects (helpfully scanned by ...

The Intimates by Joe Casey (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (penciller, issues #1-8), Scott Iwahashi (penciller, issues #9-10), Carlos D'Anda (penciller, issues #10, 12), Alé Garza (artist, issues #11-12), Jim Lee (artist of random panels, issues #1-2, 5, 8), Sandra Hope (inker, issues #1-10), Randy Mayor (colorist, issues #1-5, 7-11), Wildstorm FX (colorist, issues #6, 12), Tony Aviña (colorist, issues #6, 8, 10), Johnny Rench (colorist, issues #9, 11), Richard Starkings (letterer, issues #1-7, 11), Rob Steen (letterer, issues #1-8), and Comicraft (letterer, issues #9-12).

DC/Wildstorm, 12 issues (#1-12), cover dated January-December 2005.

The Intimates is the third of three Wildstorm comics that, in the first half of this decade, made Joe Casey one of, if not the most, interesting writer of superhero books you could find. The trifecta began with his work on Wildcats (which spanned 2000-2004 and included the 2.0 and 3.0 version), continued with the hallucinatory Automatic Kafka (2002), and ended with this comic. The Intimates, to be honest, is the weakest of the trio, and one gets the sense that Casey was exasperated by the reception his attempts at recreating superheroes for a new millennium were getting and started to pull back (this is most evident with Gødland, which is a brilliant, brilliant comic book but treads no new ground in the arena of cosmic superhero comics). Thus, the brash youngster who toiled for Marvel in the late 1990s and then tried to re-invent the superhero with Wildcats has, in the space of a few years, become the bitter cynic who spends most of the final issue of The Intimates wondering why the book failed. (As an aside: I've met Casey a few times, at the past few San Diego conventions, and he's as jazzed as ever about writing stuff, and it shows in his work. You can be bitter about an experiment failing and then get back on the horse and fire off great stuff over the next few years. I'm speaking of Casey's apparent mindset during these years, based solely on what's on the printed page - the end of Automatic Kafka and the end of this series. He might have been yanking all our chains and wasn't sad at all that the books got the axe. You just never can tell!) It's part of this bitterness that makes The Intimates a Comic You Should Own, in fact. There's such tension between the things Casey wants to do with the series and the fact that it's just not going to last, and that's part of what makes this such an interesting comic.

Whereas Wildcats is a re-invention of superheroes within a superheroic framework (Grifter still kicked ass, in other words) and Automatic Kafka was more caustically satirical, The Intimates is neither a total re-imagining of superheroes nor a savage satire. In many ways, it's more subtle than AK, but it's also gentler. That doesn't mean it's not dripping with irony, though, beginning with the title. Given that the book is about teenaged superheroes, two groups with built-in intimacy issues, the title mocks our expectations before we even begin reading. Casey piles on the irony by adding layers between the reader and the character, deliberately highlighting the fact that we're reading a text about fictional characters. He does this in many ways. The storytelling is staccato, shifting quickly from one scene to another and back, never letting us get our bearings. This is especially evident in the scenes set in the school - the Seminary - where the cast is learning how to be superheroes. Casey jumps back and forth between cast members, forcing us to splice together the narrative, distancing us from the characters. Intercut between the "present" are asides showing secret origins, fantasies of the characters, the teachers in their superhero guises from years earlier, and built-in advertisements about the products the cast members use. Then, of course, there are the infamous "info scrolls" on the bottom of the pages, where Casey ruminates about any- and everything that strikes his fancy, as he either comments on the story in progress, gives us various "factoids" (all of which, he admits near the end of the run, are made up), explains and advises teenagers on how to interact with adults, or even narrates all of Kefong's summer vacation in Las Vegas. In the final issue, he writes about how the comic itself came together, comments obliquely on the industry itself, and makes meta-commentaries in the flow of the narrative: Punchy's favorite spy comic gets cancelled in issue #12, and he rants about "fill-ins" - once Camuncoli left The Intimates, the art went downhill - and reads on-line that the editor loved the series, but that it never found its place in the market - a commentary about every cancelled series, more than likely, who often have someone championing it until push comes to shove. All of these tricks are meant to keep us separate from the book, and Casey mocks the notion of "intimacy" with these characters. He does this for a specific reason, and it's not to make sure the inevitable cancellation of the book won't sting. All of these barriers to involvement with the characters make the true "intimate" moments stand out more and cut us deeper. The end of issue #3, when Punchy realizes that Empty Vee has been sending him text messages and not Destra and he cruelly rebuffs her, is a devastating portrait of teenaged emotions, both from Punchy and Vee. When Duke and Destra dance in issue #4, it's a wonderful moment, a true moment even, as these two people come together briefly for complicated reasons but do not become any closer. The kids' journey into Sykes' mind in issue #6 tears away their bravado, exposing their deepest fears, but what's interesting is that Casey refuses to allow this to become a cathartic moment - the kids do change after their experiences, but very gradually and very subtly. And Punchy's sexual encounter with Flora in issue #8 is beautiful because it reveals Punchy's insecurities and desires, something he can't admit to himself. All of these moments, and other brief ones like them, become more powerful because it feels as if Casey is simply taking down a barrier or two just for a moment before throwing it back up again. It's all manipulative, of course, but that's the point.

Casey's metaphorical use of teenagers makes The Intimates fascinating, too. As I noted above, teens and superheroes have/would have intimacy issues, but making the teenagers superheroes themselves allows Casey to tap into the idea of identity and rebellion that superheroes often grapple with. Identity, of course, is crucial to teens, as they often have a difficult time figuring out their own identities and construct ones to suit their peers. Casey belabors the metaphor with Empty Vee, the overweight character who must concentrate to become visible, but she also turns out to be one of the most interesting characters as the series progresses. Vee is a typical tragic figure, crushing on the brash Punchy until he destroys her emotionally in issue #3, and then twisting that crush into a sexual voraciousness over her summer vacation, when she beds first a bass player in an opening act before moving up to the lead singer of the headlining band. Of course, Vee's summer escapades are another construction, as she rebels against Punchy's rejection by becoming more of a predator (she initially sent Punchy the text messages, after all). Meanwhile, the other cast members deal with showing different facets of themselves to the world in much the same way that Vee does. Punchy, the obnoxious wannabe hero who speaks in "gangsta" slang (more than one character comments on the idiocy of him talking that way) and lies about his family and his prowess with girls, is rebuffed by Destra, rebuffs Vee, and hooks up with an old friend. When he leaves Flora at the end of issue #8 and immediately heads out on his grand adventure with Destra, it's a sad moment, because we get the sense that Punchy and Flora need to say more to each other, but Punchy can't or won't leave behind the image he's created for himself, even though no one likes him. The scenes spanning issues #8 and 9 are fascinating, as Punchy leaves Flora even though it's clear he doesn't want to, and then is accosted by Destra, who wants him to go with her. Destra, the epitome of cool in the comic, never really cracks except in two panels in issue #9 - when she asks Punchy to go with her and, a moment later, when there's an awkward pause. Iwahashi, unfortunately, isn't up to creating the right amount of awkwardness in the panels, but it's clear from Casey's writing how difficult it is for Destra to ask for help from Punchy (Duke had already turned her down). Of all the main characters (Kefong and Sykes don't really count), Destra has built a sturdy edifice, but even she isn't confident in her identity. This problem with identity is most obvious in issue #5, which focuses on Dead Kid Fred, who is, well, dead but still suicidal. That Punchy figures out what Dead Kid Fred is planning is another source of irony, as it's only because Punchy thinks Dead Kid Fred's melancholy on-line journal is written by a girl that he pays any attention to it. Punchy saves Fred almost despite himself.

It's not difficult to figure out why The Intimates failed. It really doesn't have much in the way of plot, with Casey only bringing in a rather desultory story about the food being tainted by the company that sells it to the school in order to keep the kids docile, but like everything else in the book, that got cut short when the book got cancelled. Casey is obviously not interested in plots, but when you're publishing a book under the Wildstorm imprint and you feature characters that are, after all, superheroes (not to mention cameos by the Engineer, Mr. Majestic, and Spartan), readers kind of expect it. With Automatic Kafka, we had the barrier of Ashley Wood's decidedly non-superheroic art, but Camuncoli is definitely a good superhero artist, so the fact that Casey is subverting our expectations may have been his downfall (I certainly can't definitely say that's why the book failed, but on-line chatter about it seemed to indicate that the main complaint was that "nothing happened"). Casey is far more interested in trying to figure out what makes teenagers and/or superheroes tick, and that's a tough nut to crack. What's best about Casey's writing in this series (and in his Wildstorm days as a whole) is that he confronts us with things that we don't usually see in superhero comics. With the Teen Titans or the New Mutants, to name a couple of teen superhero books, we got lip service to the anxieties that teens go through. Casey tries to show how insane it can be to be a teen, and he adds to it the oversaturation of twentieth-century advertising, which adds more pressure. This is a far more "real" teen book than we've seen in comics, showing teens as rebellious conformists, with all the contradictions implied in that phrase. Most teen books seem to portray them as adults with a few immature quirks, but Casey's cast is much more interesting than that. The lack of an overall plot is a deliberate choice by Casey, highlighting the lassitude that many teens (and, hell, adults) feel because they aren't "stars" in some grand narrative. It's pertinent that the most "together" of the teens, Kefong, is a supporting character whose big summer adventure is narrated in the info scrolls, while Punchy and Destra's significant (to them) but ultimately pointless trek to discover the big food secret takes center stage. Even Duke's work for the government is downplayed, because it's too "important." Casey cares more about showing Punchy and Destra's emotional growth on their journey rather than Duke's efforts to prop up the status quo. For this, plot is insignificant.

The Intimates plays with the idea of overturning that status quo, but unlike his previous two Wildstorm books, which actually challenged the way the world works, this one must fail, because the kids aren't fully formed enough to do it. Like Automatic Kafka, Casey gives the kids an extremely metafictional "out" at the end of the series, even if he doesn't show up in the book as he does in AK (he even calls the ending of issue #12 the "Kafka gambit"). It's an ending that shows that the kids are growing up, as they begin to work together as a team, but they retain their youthful exuberance and, yes, obnoxiousness. In a strange way, much like Casey's ending of Automatic Kafka, we feel as if the kids "escape" more than the Seminary, but the bounds of the comic book itself, even as Casey reminds us, via the info scrolls, that the characters exist only on the written page ... and in readers' imagination. That's where The Intimates triumphs, because Casey's blending of traditional narrative with metafictional commentary has reminded us again what kind of power stories have. That's what makes this series so good.

The Intimates, as far as I can tell, has never been collected in trade paperback. So sad! It's worth a dive into the back issues boxes, though. And, as always, I feel I must steer you toward the archives, incomplete as they are. Don't let my laziness in fixing them stop you!

24 Comments

• At October 11, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I remember trying this series out once.

  I do know I didn't really care much for this series at the time.

  Ah ...

• At October 11, 2009, Punchy wrote:

  I loved this book. I got my username from it. I think most people have forgotten it now, so people ...

• At October 11, 2009, Bill Burns wrote:

  It is ridiculous how much of Casey's Wildstorm work was never issued in trade.

• At October 11, 2009, Neil Cameron wrote:

  Iirc the interview Joe Casey did with Matt Fraction, the name intimates was a play on the Ultimates.

  Sadly much like ...

• At October 11, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Has anyone done a review of Casey & Wood's Automatic Kafka?

  Now, that was fun to read. ;-)

• At October 11, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Tom: Of course I did, as it was earlier in the alphabet than this! Sadly, it was been lost ...

• At October 11, 2009, Grico wrote:

  I picked up the middle of the run in a cheap bin but it never really did anything for me. ...

• At October 11, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  I wanted to like this book, but I really hated the art. It was just too hard to look at.

• At October 11, 2009, J.R. LeMar wrote:

  Got the whole series when it came out. I loved it! But I'm also not surprised that it didn't succeed ...

• At October 11, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  I'm not sure I got what Intimates was supposed to be, but I sure enjoyed the novelty of it. It's ...

• At October 11, 2009, agent_torpor wrote:

  Casey used to do some good stuff.

  Now, we get Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance. Heavens.

• At October 11, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  I really liked this one. I liked the tone, and it's so rare to get this kinda formalistic/structural experimentation ...

• At October 11, 2009, rodney wrote:

  its a shame Joe Casey has not done anything interesting after this. its like he gave up. godland fun and ...

• At October 11, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Casey used to do some good stuff.

  Now, we get Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance. Heavens.

  its a shame Joe Casey has not ...

• At October 11, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Well, I love Godland. And Zodiac was very good. And some of his graphic novels - Nixon's Pals, ...

• At October 11, 2009, Dean wrote:

  I really liked this. It's a shame it never got released in trade.

• At October 11, 2009, Bryan wrote:

  The Intimates, one of the many reasons Joe Casey is a far better writer than people give him credit for. ...

• At October 11, 2009, Ryan wrote:

  This series was fantastic. The final issue made me so sad. I do wish your review spoke ...

• At October 12, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  Casey is hit or miss for me. He does have interesting ideas sometimes, but I'd like to see him focus ...

• At October 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Ryan: I didn't speak too much about the art because Camuncoli left and the art went way downhill (D'Anda's wasn't ...

• At October 12, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  I'll have to track this down. I also need to track down a run of Automatic Kafka, as I ...

• At October 13, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  And one should note that Casey's running commentary on the bottom of the pages presaged FB/Twitter status updates.

• At October 13, 2009, Ryan wrote:

  Yes, but wasn't Tony Millionaire doing the same kind of thing in his strips before the intimates came out?

• At October 15, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I'm very conflicted when it comes to The Intimates, because it's not a good book if you're looking for a ...

Batman and Robin #5 ("Revenge of the Red Hood Part Two: Scarlet") by Grant "What other mild-mannered animal can I turn into a scary character name?" Morrison (writer), Philip Tan (penciller), Jonathan Glapion (inker), Alex Sinclair (colorist), and Patrick Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

Well, all the slack I gave Philip Tan last issue dissipates a bit in this issue, as we get a panel that is supposed to show the Penguin bouncing off the roof of a car but is almost incomprehensible, a two-panel shot of the Red Hood grabbing Robin and smashing his face down that makes me pine for a Quitely rendition of the exact same scene, as I still can't figure out the choreography in the scene, and some other really odd perspectives. On the whole, however, it's still not as painful to look at as something like Haunt, so I guess that's something.

I'm still not willing to let the God of All Comics off the hook, however. G-Mozz, I assume, wrote that Penguin gets chucked out the window. How, pray tell, is Oswald supposed to get to the ground? Did Morrison figure that out? Did he write, "Chuck Cobblepot out of the window and make sure he doesn't die" or was he more specific? The Penguin falls a tremendous distance and has no visible problems with broken bones or head injuries, after all. Do we blame Tan for that? Similarly, I understand that this is part of the greater Bat-universe and that the Mozzer doesn't necessarily have to clue us in on what's happening, but I do wish he would make it more clear that someone is impersonating Bruce Wayne (right? isn't that Hush guy pretending to be Bruce right now? gee, that's dumb). And even though Morrison rejects the grand retcon that is "Crisis on Infinite Earths," as far as I know, the Jason Todd who dyed his hair never existed. Right? Or did I miss something? Finally, as cool as the Flamingo is, I still can't get over the fact that this plot - "heroes" killing villains because the real heroes won't - is tired. It's interesting reading Morrison's dialogue, because he thinks of neat things (like Jason getting zits because of the helmet), but this is a boring comic redeemed by two things: Morrison's skill with making the characters interesting, and the fact that we know it ties into a bigger plot, which we pray will be better than this minor one. The way this book ends, it appears the final issue of Tan's arc might be something pretty cool, but let's not dump on Tan completely if you don't like this issue. Some of the blame must go to the Messiah, you know. As I usually do, I will trust Morrison to make sense of it all, but that doesn't change the fact that these two issues haven't been his greatest.

Batman: Unseen #1 (of 5) (Part One: Meat-Man") by Doug Moench (writer), Kelley Jones (artist), Michelle Madsen (colorist), and Pat Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

Now, I'm sure people will call me crazy (go ahead, I can handle it), but Batman: Unseen, even with Moench returning once again to his favorite villain, Black Mask, is a superior comic than Batman and Robin #5. Moench tells a story of a disgraced scientist who ends up working (without knowing it) for Black Mask, and his formula gradually turns him invisible and, well, insane. Batman gets involved because at one point, the semi-invisible man heads out for grub and things turn lethal. So while the first issue is mostly set-up, it still hums with energy, and Moench and Jones have such a wonderful synergy which makes this just zip along. It's totally ridiculous and pulpy, and Moench makes the scientist say such things as "I am the almighty face of biological shock and awe!", but what's great about a Moench/Jones Batman book is that a statement like that doesn't sound stupid, just bombastic. Moench's Batman villains talk like that because Moench understands that they're not supposed to be realistic, they're supposed to be larger-than-life bad guys, and they are. In the same way, Jones is close to the perfect Batman artist (I would say Breyfogle is, but others are in the running, of course), in that he understands that a man dressed up as a bat is a bit silly, so he makes him almost inhuman (this is why his and Moench's VampBats books are so neat) and puts him in a wildly Gothic city, the kind of place that looks kind of neat to live in when you're not scared out of your wits. Jones's Batman is a terrifying creature, well suited for dealing with the freaks who live in his city.

I do have an inordinate fondness for the Moench/Jones Batman of the mid-1990s, so I'm always glad when they hook up to give us another story, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a gloriously pulpy comic in the best sense of the word. If you're not a fan of Moench and his pseudo-scientific rambling or Jones and his ever-growing Bat ears, this comic won't change your mind a bit. But if you are a fan, this will just make you smile. Now, if only DC would let Moench and Jones tell us what was up with that puppeteer dude!

(Kelley Jones drew that cover in 2007, as you can see by his signature. That's strange. Has this been on the shelf a long time, or did it take them a while to get their schedules together? Inquiring minds want to know!)

Criminal: The Sinners #1 by Ed Brubaker (writer), Sean Phillips (artist), and Val Staples (colorist). $3.50, 29 pgs, FC, Marvel/Icon.

Criminal returns, and because this world makes no sense, a better comic than Incognito by the exact same creative team will automatically lose readers. Up next: goats with two heads will be born! Planetary will conclude! Glenn Beck will be a conservative voice of reason! It's topsy-turvy!

Not surprisingly, it's a very good issue. Tracy Lawless, who has become the nominal star of Criminal, returns, this time fulfilling his "contract" with Sebastian Hyde. He's knocking people off, but he's a lousy enforcer, as he always makes sure the guy really deserves it, which makes Hyde grumpy. Hyde, however, has a new job for Tracy - someone is killing "connected" people in his town, and Hyde wants Tracy to find out who it is. Off he goes!

We find out soon who the killers are (yes, plural), but not why they're doing what they're doing (although we can make some educated guesses). Tracy, meanwhile, is not exactly screwing Hyde's wife, just spending time with her, which will still probably get him killed if Hyde finds out about it. And, because Tracy's life isn't crappy enough, some dude rolls into town looking for a "deserter" - yes, Tracy. Oh dear.

As always, Brubaker doesn't re-invent the wheel in this book, but he and Phillips have done such a wonderful job creating this world that whenever they return to it, we just slip into it easily and go along for the ride. Tracy just moves through the plot, learning information, doing the best that he can, trying to get through another day. It's not surprising that Brubillips keeps coming back to him - he's a good character, and the situations he gets into challenge him to remain a decent guy. It's always fun to watch Tracy try to navigate this morally murky world in which he lives.

I don't know if you're one of those people who bought Incognito but won't buy Criminal, but don't be that person. That person probably thinks that Modern Family is much, much better than Arrested Development. You don't want to be that person, do you?

Days Missing #2 (of 5) ("September 12th, 1815") by David Hine (writer), Chris Burnham (artist), Imaginary Friends Studio (colorist), and Troy Peteri (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Archaia/Roddenberry Productions.

This unusual series, in which different creative teams are featured in every issue but the theme is the same - a weird dude erases days from human history that would have completely changed humanity for the worse - continues with the weird dude intervening to stop a scientist from re-animating the dead. He does so, but his experiment remains in the dreams of Mary Godwin (who witnesses the resurrection) and she comes up with her famous monster story. It's a decent issue, and David Hine is the kind of writer who can craft a good horror story. Burnham, who is usually quite good, suffers a bit from the poor coloring, which softens his pencils a bit too much. When John Galton resurrects a dead guy, we can see that Burnham is a good artist, because those scenes are full of power and terror. But the coloring job washes the sharpness out of his lines and makes it less distinctive than it might be otherwise.

I am a bit puzzled by the idea of the series, a problem I hope will be cleared up as we move along. The weird dude (who is known only as the Steward) can fold days away so that they never existed. Is this a last resort? Because it seems like that would be easy to do, but he tries to stop the resurrection by more conventional methods before he "folds" the day and erases it. I don't think it was addressed in issue #1 (although I could be wrong), and it's not addressed here. I know that he doesn't erase the days at the beginning of the issue because, well, then, the issue would be over