See?

Dark Horse:

Ugly Cover Alert! Page 22 gives us this:

Usually, I'd be all for two nude ladies on a comic book cover, but Willow looks ... really terrible. Oh well.

There's an Empowered one-shot on page 26 (2 December). I imagine I'm a bad person because I just wasn't impressed with the first volume and I haven't been back since.

The final volume of Rex Mundi is offered on page 33 (3 February). I'm really hoping for a giant Omnibus or two.

The latest B.P.R.D. series comes to an end on page 36. I mention this only because I just heard that Dark Horse isn't planning on doing for B.P.R.D. what they've done for Hellboy; that is, releasing them in those big ol' "library editions" (the third volume of which just came out this past week). That's unfortunate; I suppose I just have to go get the trades, as I've been holding off buying them until I could get the fancy library editions.

DC:

The cover for Green Lantern #49 (page 60; 23 December) shows John Stewart looking through a scope as he's aiming a rifle. There was a cover in last month's Previews on which he was looking through a scope as he's aiming a rifle. What the hell?

Hey, look at the cover of Booster Gold #27 (page 66; 9 December):

Classy!

I like the solicitation for Arkham Reborn #3 (page 76; 23 December): "[I]t's starting to look like the new Arkham Asylum is one big joke." Really? As opposed to the fine security at the old one?

So the DC Holiday Special 2009 is coming out on 9 December (page 83). B'wana Beast stars in it! Remember, 20 years ago, when a certain God of All Comics pointed out that maybe, just maybe, that's a bit racist? But it's so kitschy! Good job, DC, bringing the name back!

There's a Steve Ditko Creeper hardcover on sale on page 91 (24 February). It's 40 bucks, but I would assume it's totally worth it. Of course, I like how it includes stories that were written by people who weren't Ditko and drawn by people who weren't Ditko. That's rather weird.

DC is releasing the Doc Savage mini-series from 1987 in trade paperback (page 92; 13 January). It's written by Denny O'Neil and drawn by the Kuberts (Adam and Andy, not Joe). Anyone want to chime in with a recommendation for this?

Vertigo has Daytripper #1 (page 107; 9 December) by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon. Yeah, that's going to kick much ass.

Hey, Peter Milligan's Human Target gets a new trade on page 113 (13 January). It collects the original mini-series by the much-missed Edvin Biukovic and the graphic novel Final Cut by Javier Pulido. Is it worth it? For 15 bucks, you better believe it!

Jamie Delano writes a new John Constantine graphic novel, Pandemonium, on page 114 (10 February). Not only that, it's drawn by Jock. So you know it will look awesome.

The third (and sadly, final) trade of Young Liars is out on page 116 (20 January). Pick it up and have your mind blown!

Image:

The latest "next issue project" is offered on page 143 (9 December). It's Silver Streak Comics #24, and it features Erik Larsen and Paul Grist, among others.

The second Elephantmen trade is offered on page 148 (16 December). Excellent stuff, and it's 312 pages for 25 bucks. Not bad.

Speaking of second trades, the second trade of Phonogram is offered on page 149 (16 December). Considering three issues have yet to come out, I wouldn't hold my breath. I get sad whenever another week passes and an issue of Phonogram doesn't come out. Please tell me they'll come out, Mr. Gillen! (Mr. Gillen reads the blog occasionally, and although I can probably call him Kieron, I don't want to take the chance. He'd probably get McKelvie to beat me up.)

Speaking of tardy comics, Gødland #31 is offered on page 157 (16 December). I miss Gødland.

Marvel:

I won't be buying Avengers: The Initiative #31 (page 4; 23 December), but that's an awesome cover:

Here's the solicitation text for X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain #1 (page 14; 2 December):

"In the dark and steamy jungles of Madripoor, the flashing claws of Logan, the blazing bullets of Cyclops, and the dashing fists of the Angel met with wave after wave of beserk [sic] headhunters, all willing to protect the secrets of the Temple-Tomb of Cytorrak with their lives! The ancient treasure map of mercenary Cain Marko, with its siren-song of the priceless gigantic ruby of the fabled god-king, had lured them only into the icy claws of Death!"

Now, it's written by Fred van Lente, so I'm sure it will be good, but that doesn't really sound like noir, does it? And how nice that these stories sold so well they're getting sequels.

So last month, in the solicitation for Dark Avengers #11, the text claimed, "[A]s the world gets turned upside down and no joke ... someone dies. For reelz!! This month, for Dark Avengers #12 (16 December), they use the exact same text. I guess no one cares what's in the actual book, as long as it's, you know, kewl.

Okay, I don't have much to say about the two Fall of the Hulks specials on page 34-35 (2 and 23 December), but the fact that there's a "Hulk family" is, well, stupid. There. I said it.

Ugly Cover Alert! New Avengers Annual #3 (page 45; 2 December) is drawn by Mike Mayhew, who's fairly decent, but his cover looks like this:

Blech. Really, blech.

So Bushman is back and is letting all of the crazy people out of some asylum in the latest issue of Vengeance of the Moon Knight (page 46; 16 December). If you want to convince us that Moon Knight isn't a Batman rip-off, you probably shouldn't steal ideas from a famous Batman story.

Ugly Cover Alert! What. The. Bleep. (Page 51, by the way.)

Even though we all must love Warren Ellis, in the latest issue of Astonishing X-Men (page 57; 9 December), we learn that there's an "attempt to remove mutantcy from the planet Earth entirely." Sigh. Good plot, there. I realize it's all in the execution, but still.

X-Factor #200 is offered on page 70 (16 December), and the team is back in New York (God forbid a Marvel book take place outside of New York or some fictional location; the X-Men bailed on San Francisco for a fictional location, and now X-Factor has skipped out on Detroit). It's an odd solicitation - the issue is 104 pages, with the listing "new and reprint," but there's no mention of what's reprinted. Usually Marvel makes a big deal about what they're reprinting, so I wonder what's going to be in this one.

Ed Hannigan: Covered is a cool project (page 80; 2 December). It features some of Hannigan's Marvel covers from the 1970s and '80s, and proceeds go directly to Hannigan himself, as he multiple sclerosis. What's interesting, though, is that there will be only one printing of this book EVER (as the text loudly proclaims). I guess Marvel doesn't want Hannigan getting too many proceeds through multiple printings, do they? Still, it's a cool thing to do.

Marvel Masterworks: X-Men vol 8 (page 83; 10 March) is a keen collection: all the X-Men stuff from between the cancellation of the original series in 1970 to Giant-Size X-Men #1 in 1975. That's kind of neat.

For 20 dollars, you can get the Mini Marvels Ultimate Collection trade paperback (page 100; 23 December). I don't know if I can handle all the awesome that this collection will surely have.

Okay, it's time to head into the back of the book. Fear not the lack of superheroes!

Jim Rugg draws Afrodisiac from AdHouse Books on page 188. I don't know if this will be any good (it sounds like a parody/pastiche of 1970s blaxploitation movies, so I'll probably skip it), but Rugg is a damned fine artist, so it will look good.

As you recall, I'm not a big fan of Eric Powell's writing (although I love his art). But many people are, so check out Chimichanga #1 on page 188 from Albatross Exploding Funny Books (which means it's self-published), which is Powell's new series. It's the story of a bearded girl in a circus. Presumably, because it's Powell, there will be gross jokes that I won't find funny.

I would recommend getting the Secret History Omnibus on page 196 from Archaia, because it's a very good series. I'm wondering, however, if Archaia is ever going to finish publishing the original issues. I've been waiting for the final two issues, and don't want to spend $35 to get two new issues. It's vexing. If you haven't bought any of the individual issues, however, this is a very cool series, and the $35-price tag is for a 336-page comic, so it's a fairly good value.

I'm kind of bothered by Avatar's new layout in Previews. On page 205 they offer "Ignition City #5 Auxiliary" edition. I don't know what the hell that's supposed to be. But Ignition City #5, the "regular" edition, hasn't come out yet. This can't be replacing it, so when is it supposed to arrive? These are titles shipping in December, and it's not on their list of books coming out in November. I loathe "convention" specials and "variant" crap - I just want to read the damned book! (That last rant wasn't aimed directly at Avatar, as other companies do it too. Don't worry about the exclusivity of the book, worry about people reading it!)

There's a new printing of the Mysterymen Adventures trade for $20 on page 210 from Bob Burden Studios. I've never read anything by Burden. Tell me, good comics aficianados, should I purchase this?

Com.X has the softcover version of Cla$$war volume 1 (a second volume of which will probably never appear). It's actually not bad - the art quality goes down when Hairsine leaves and the fact that it's incomplete is annoying, but it's pretty good. That's on page 227, right next to a strange offering: 45, in which one man interviews forty-five super-powered individuals because his unborn child might have the gene that makes one superhuman. That's a decent idea, but here's the twist: each page is drawn by a different artist, and according to the solicit, they have some good ones lined: Liam Sharp, Jock, Charlie Adlard, and Dan Brereton, to name a few. Interesting.

Garth Ennis has a new Battlefields series coming out on page 235 from Dynamite Entertainment. This time, we get a young Australian joining a bomber squadron that's about to start runs over the Ruhr valley. It's drawn by PJ Holden, who's quite good. It's always nice to see an Ennis war story, although it would be nice to see him do other wars than WWII. It's called "Battlefields," not "World War Two Battlefields"!

On page 239, Dynamite gives us Dreadstar: The Beginning, which collects the stuff from before the ongoing series began. Yes, it's $30, but I can't wait to get this, as I've never read them.

I doubt if I'll get Death Valley #1 from Desperado (page 242), but it's a Western, it's written by Keith Champagne and drawn by Shawn Moll, so if you really dig Westerns, this might be something to check out.

Fantagraphics brings Ho Che Anderson's King back into print on page 252. Is this as good as I've heard it is?

I probably won't get Borgia (volume 3) from Heavy Metal on page 255, mainly because it's volume 3 and it's $15 for 56 pages, but it features artwork by Milo Manara, who's tremendous. And he likes drawing naked women, which is never a bad thing.

IDW keeps bringing these old comics back into print, and I certainly appreciate it. On page 263 they have Winterworld by Chuck Dixon and Jorge Zaffino. I don't know if it's any good, but it sounds like the kind of action comic that Dixon knocks out of the park, and Zaffino is a fine artist. I'll have to check it out.

You can also get a trade of The Life and Times of Savior 28 (page 267), J. M. DeMatteis's deconstruction of a superhero who decides he wants to change the world by becoming a pacifist. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good.

Abby and the Crusader get married in Love and Capes #12 (page 269, Maerkle Press). I should get this series more. It's quite charming.

Justin Gray and Lee Ferguson bring us Mr. Keen: Tracer of Lost Persons on page 270 from Moonstone. It's the story of a woman who hires Mr. Keen to find a man who is "sheer evil." Oh dear. It's a good creative team, and I might have to give it a whirl.

The second volume of Chris Schweizer's "Crogan" series, Crogan's March, shows up on page 274 from Oni Press. The first of the series, Crogan's Vengeance, was quite good, and now we get a story of a different member of the family in the French Foreign Legion, fighting bad guys and creatures that like to eat people! Man, that sucks.

Atomic Robo and the Shadow From Beyond Time gets a trade paperback on page 284 from Red 5 Comics. You shouldn't wait for the trade on this awesome comic, but if you do, now's your chance to pick it up!

Mercury by Hope Larson is offered on page 285 from Simon & Schuster. Hey! I already reviewed this!

On page 294 we find The Apocalypse Plan from Transfuzion Publishing. Writer Rafael Nieves imagines Heaven and Hell as corporations that track souls instead of sales. It could be a clever idea, and Dan Dougherty draws it, so it will look pretty good.

I'm sure you're dying to get your Zan and Jayna T-shirts (page 330):

The question is: would wearing the Zan one and promising that you have a Jayna one for her repel a woman or attract her? The mind boggles! (Considering they're brother and sister, perhaps it's best not to think about it.)

This figure features "cast-off clothing." Ewwwwwww (page 376).

Page 385. Blood Energy Potion. We're in hell:

Okay, maybe going too far into the back of the book isn't that good of an idea. But you can still stop before you get to the truly creepy stuff! Grab that Previews and start digging! You know you want to. Who wouldn't?

38 Comments

• At October 4, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Damn, that's a lot of goodness in one month, even without comics shipping the last week.

  I seriously did not ...

• At October 4, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I dunno, if I saw a Zan shirt at Kohl's for like ten bucks, I might go for it for ...

• At October 4, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Damn, that's a lot of awful in one month. Greg, I gotta share just about every criticism you made in ...

• At October 4, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I thought Detroit was fictional. Didn't they invent it for Robocop?

• At October 4, 2009, T. wrote:

  Mike Mayhew is usually pretty good but he really seems to have channeled his inner Greg Horn for that cover. ...

• At October 4, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  Mr. Burgas, you have a REALLY strange sense of what an ugly-looking cover is. Especially since you didn't seem to ...

• At October 4, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Yet Warren Ellis' Astonishing X-Men has been, for all its delays and status quo irrelevance, the best X-Book on the ...

• At October 4, 2009, Jack Cheng wrote:

  I like the MysteryMen, but I don't think it's Bob Burden's best work. If you've never read anything by Burden, ...

• At October 4, 2009, Dean wrote:

  Jim Rugg draws Afrodisiac from AdHouse Books on page 188. I don't know if this will be any good (it ...

• At October 4, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  That Buffy cover reminds me of a question I've always had about comics licensed from TV shows: given that the ...

• At October 4, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Also, Nitz, no: I'd say X-Factor is more consistently good than Ellis's Astonishing. Ellis has superior technique in his ...

• At October 4, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " This isn't to say Alyson Hannigan or Buffy are necessarily someplace I'd expect this, givent he show's attitudes and ...

• At October 4, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  I never could figure out the racism in B'Wana Beast's name. I've googled and searched and have never figured ...

• At October 4, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  It's always nice to see an Ennis war story, although it would be nice to see him do other wars ...

• At October 4, 2009, funkygreenjerusalem wrote:

  T'was me.

• At October 4, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bwana

  "Bwana" is sort of like "sahib" in India: a word the natives were expected to call the guys in pith ...

• At October 4, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Scavenger: "bwana" is a "respectful term of address" in parts of Africa, but I believe it's usually associated with natives ...

• At October 4, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  D'oh! Too quick for me, Omar!

• At October 4, 2009, funkygreenjerusalem wrote:

  FGJ: I was thinking of his Spanish Civil War story in "War Stories," which was very good. I wouldn't mind ...

• At October 4, 2009, TimCallahan wrote:

  You will like Burden. Read his stuff.

  You will not like the O'Neil/Kubert(s) "Doc Savage" mini. Unless you like stuff that's ...

• At October 4, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " 'Do other wars'... just say what you mean Greg - we want him to do Nam! "

  He has done ...

• At October 4, 2009, funkygreenjerusalem wrote:

  He has done it, twice, and excellently, during Preacher. John Custer's experiences in Vietnam show that he's done more war ...

• At October 4, 2009, Michael wrote:

  I see no problem with the Buffy cover; then again, my Hannigan crush is well documented.

  X-Men: Noir sounds more like ...

• At October 5, 2009, Jamie McKelvie wrote:

  Issue 5's been done for almost a month, but unfortunately has been held up on the production side of things.

• At October 5, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  The Doc Savage mini wasn't awful by any means, but it does suffer a bit from "Scrappy Doo" syndrome. The ...

• At October 5, 2009, Craig wrote:

  Eric Powell's Chimichanga looked like it would fit in the vein of Goon... until I noticed that the solicit says ...

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

  [I]in Punisher it was about Castle and how he was destined to be The Punisher well before his family were ...

• At October 5, 2009, Kieron Gillen wrote:

  Hi Greg

  Issue 5 has been held up at Image for the last four weeks due to a production bottleneck, which ...

• At October 5, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  KG and Jamie: This is why I can't imagine being in your shoes, when you've finished something and it's still ...

• At October 5, 2009, Gianluca wrote:

  Greg. There must be some Radical hate going on since even Stevie Wonder would have caught the The Last Days ...

• At October 5, 2009, Jay Potts wrote:

  Greg,

  Trust me, you WILL want Jim Rugg's "Afrodisiac" collection. Here's why: http://worldofhurtonline.com/tag/jim-rugg/

• At October 5, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Sorry, Gianluca! I did see the book, but Remender is usually hit and miss with me. I'll have ...

• At October 5, 2009, Gianluca wrote:

  Sweet. Steve Pugh and myself greatly appreciate that. I'm obviously biased on Last Days so please excuse my rant. It ...

• At October 5, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  That Buffy cover reminds me of a question I've always had about comics licensed from TV shows: given that the ...

• At October 5, 2009, sgt pepper wrote:

  Kieron and Jamie, that all DJs issue (was that #4? anyway) was masterful, and easily one of my favorite comics ...

• At October 5, 2009, Stefan Wenger wrote:

  Mm, I'd have to say Ellis' Astonishing X-Men has been the least inspired and least exciting core X-Men book (though ...

• At October 7, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=289815

  Beau Smith has no problem with B'wana Beasts name!

• At November 9, 2009, Drew wrote:

  I know I'm joining in on this conversation way late, but I haven't been a fan of Ellis's Astonishing X-Men ...

Agents of Atlas #11 ("Terror of the Jade Claw Part III and the Final Issue for the Foreseeable Future Because it Didn't Star Wolverine and God I Hate Consumers Sometimes") by Jeff Parker (writer), Dan Panosian (artist), Gabriel Hardman (artist), Elizabeth Dismang (colorist), and Tom Orzechowski (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Okay, so maybe the title of the story isn't quite as listed. I don't know.

Agents of Atlas will be back, of course, as they fight the X-Men for two issues and then back up the Incredible Hercules for a time, and maybe that's good enough for now. I don't know if these back-up stories (in both DC and Marvel) will help the lesser-tier characters get more leeway, but it would be nice. I'm not sure why Marvel and DC are so eager to rush into an ongoing series anyway - the sales on the original Agents of Atlas mini-series apparently didn't burn up the charts, so why not produce a couple more to see if the buzz grows? It would have helped to keep a regular artist around - this book had at least four artists draw this, from what I can recall.

I certainly don't mind too much that the regular series bit this dust, even though this issue feels a bit rushed. I'm always happy to get 10-15 issues of a really good mainstream comic even though they bite the dust with stunning regularity. At least DC and Marvel try these things. I wish they gave them more time to build an audience, but at least they're giving them some life. I mean, if the Big Two wanted things to sell like they did in comics' heyday, EVERYTHING would be cancelled, so I guess the fact that they let some of these titles tell a nice story or two is okay. I guess. But what do I know? I'm still bitter that Major Bummer died an untimely death.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Something explodes, but it's not really gross. But that's our theme this week!

Atomic Robo: Shadow from Beyond Time #5 (of 5) ("From Beyond") by Brian Clevinger (writer), Scott Wegener (artist), Ronda Pattison (colorist), and Jeff Powell (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Red 5 Comics.

The great thing about Atomic Robo, the comic, is that Clevinger is always pointing out the silliness of comic books while still wallowing gloriously in the silliness. Whether it's pointing out that those giant ants couldn't exist or that dinosaur shouldn't be able to talk, Clevinger does a nice job deflating standard comic book clichés but still managing to make this a wonderful, pulpy comic book. Like this issue: How many times have we seen someone build a machine like those guys on the cover build (the dude on the left is named Louis; the dude on the right, sadly, doesn't get a name) and no one thinks twice about it? Robo shows up and points out, logically, that it's an evil computer. "Computers that are evil have all kinds of unnecessary ornamentation," he says. "This thing's venting steam!" Of course it's evil! It's funny because it's true, as Homer Simpson might say. And Clevinger, of course, shows that it is, indeed, evil. Why won't they listen to Robo?

This is the big finale to the big fight against the thing from outside the universe, so we find out what was going on at the end of last issue. It's a twisty time-travel sort of thing, which means it makes my head hurt, but Clevinger, showing how good he is, makes it at least funny and somewhat plausible. And Tesla's reaction is pretty awesome.

I don't know if I can express how joyfully kooky this comic is. Clevinger and Wegener knock it out of the park every time, and it's just one of those books where each issue is a slice of greatness. Long may Atomic Robo reign!

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Robo fights that thing from beyond space and time. He likes bombs and guns. You do the math! (Yes, math! In a comics post! You should never have skipped algebra to hang out in the smoking alley trying to get into that goth girl's pants! Just because you listened to the Cure and had a Robert Smith haircut doesn't mean she really liked you, you know! Sorry to burst your bubble. She was really into preppies. Man, those goth girls - always teasing you with those ripped fishnet stockings and that black lipstick!)

Batman and Robin #4 ("Revenge of the Red Hood Part One: Red Right Hand") by Grant "Come on, this guy isn't bad, right?" Morrison (writer), Philip Tan (penciller), Jonathan Glapion (inker), Pete Pantazis (colorist), and Patrick Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

Now, I know Tim Callahan a little bit. Not a lot, mind you, but I have met him face-to-face on two separate occasions, which is a bit of an anomaly out here in the wilds of the comics blogaxy in Internetland, and he's a pretty cool guy who has a lot of interesting thoughts about comics. I do wish he would blog more often and turn his face away from the seductive wiles of Twitter, but if he's comfortable with the Dark Side, so be it. I mention this because this year at San Diego, he told me that Philip Tan would be a drop-off from Frank Quitely on this title, an opinion shared by many around the comics blogosphere. Now that the product is here, I wonder if Tim is changing his mind. I'm not saying he needs to change his mind, but if he liked the art, would he step up and admit it? Because although I wasn't as scared of Tan taking over as most, I will admit I thought the art wouldn't be nearly as good as it is in this issue. It's not quite as good as Quitely, but it's very close. Yes, I just typed that. I'm totally serious.

Where Quitely shines is in his inventive page design, something that Tan apes a bit and, while he's not quite on par with Quitely, he does a nice job mixing things up with regard to the design. The second and third pages, where Lightning Bug runs from the Red Hood and leaps between buildings, is laid out very well, with the gap between the buildings bisecting the splash page and the smaller panels scattered along the edges. Similarly, when the Red Hood crashes the hoods' meeting and slaughters them is nicely done. The biggest problem with the art layouts is on the credits page and on the final page, where the position and the way the Red Hood and Scarlet are drawn are very weird and awkward. But Tan does a good job with the art, and on some pages there's a bit of a Tom Mandrake vibe, and I like Tom Mandrake. So there. I'm not as concerned with the art now, even if I'd rather see Quitely or Cameron Stewart doing it. But that's not Tan's fault. Those dudes are seriously good.

As for the actual story, it's a testament to the God of All Comics that he can make a dull plot like someone taking Batman's schtick up a notch (killing bad guys instead of incarcerating them) and giving it some zazz. Of course, he came up with the plot, so maybe we shouldn't let him off the hook too much. As usual in superhero comics, it's all about the details, and the creepy author and the Red Hood's conversation with Scarlett, for instance, make this a decent read, even if it feels stale. Whenever you put plot in superhero comics above everything else, you're going to hit some dull spots. Witness a couple of Marvel books below this, one of which hinges on the depiction of a character and overcomes a (deliberately) goofy plot, while the other hinges on a plot and therefore feels a wee bit stale (even though I still like it). Whenever Morrison puts words that don't have much to do with the overall plot in his characters' mouths, we get neat stuff. But acknowledging that the plot is a bit shopworn ("But mostly ... I guess this is about the revenge of one crazy man in a mask ... on another crazy man in a mask") doesn't make it less shopworn.

Still, it's a good, solid superhero comic. And Tan is better than I expected, which is neat. (Not surprisingly, I've been reading negative reactions to Tan's art across the Wide World of the Web. Only one I've read so far as done any kind of analysis of why it's bad, preferring instead to wax nostalgic about Quitely. I certainly don't mind people preferring Quitely to Tan, but it would be nice if they gave some reasons. End rant. I promise.)

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Why, yes! Lightning Bug's neck counts, right?

Beasts of Burden #1 ("The Gathering Storm") by Evan Dorkin (writer), Jill Thompson (artist), and Jason Arthur (letterer). $2.99, 23 pgs, FC, Dark Horse.

I'm fairly certain I've never read anything by Evan Dorkin before. I know I have to turn in my "Indy Comics Nerd" card for admitting that, but that's the way it is. But now I have! Can I have my card back?

I mentioned that I saw Thompson's pages for this entire issue at San Diego, and I was totally jazzed to check out the first issue, because her paintings were, typically, fan-freakin'-tastic. She does an amazing job with the animals, making them real animals even as they're speaking to each other. The frogs that fall from the sky, for instance, are really keen-looking, but of course they remain frogs, who are slightly icky, setting up the crisis that develops later in the issue. Thompson does a wonderful job with the battle in the forest, showing how, well, animalistic these animals really are. It's an unsettling comic visually for two reasons: the darkness of the subject matter is contrasted nicely with the gorgeous surroundings; and Thompson makes the animals so real (and often cute) that when they turn vicious, as they must, it's disturbing. You could get this book based on the art alone and not be disappointed.

I missed the first few appearances of these characters, but Dorkin does a nice job introducing them all and alluding to the previous stories without making it necessary to go back and check them. This is a nifty one-and-done issue, so if you want to give it a try without committing to the entire mini-series, you can. Dorkin does set up the rest of the series nicely, but it's still a complete story in its own right. It's a terrifically weird and creepy story, too, with a nice touch of tragedy and a good climax in which ... well, the characters win, but do they really? Maybe something weirder is going on around Burden Hill ...

This is a very good first issue, because it introduces the characters well, introduces their situation well, has a disturbing plot that resolves in this issue but also sets up the rest of the mini-series, and features Jill Thompson's art. If you had any brains at all, you would have seen the listing of Jill Thompson as artist and immediately shut off your computer and run out and bought this! And you have brains, right? I know you do!

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Most assuredly! And it's strangely beautiful. Such is the power of Ms. Thompson! (Who, by the way, gave the best acceptance speech at the Eisners. She's talented and hilarious!)

Ex Machina #45 ("Pro-Life Part One") by Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Tony Harris (artist), JD Mettler (colorist), Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Wildstorm.

The wheels are in motion. The BIG! PLOT! is dull (yeah, I'm harping on that this week), but that's not the point, of course. The point is that Mitch will, presumably, find out what exactly is going on with this alien thing. Vaughan does some nice things in this issue - he shows, once again, how difficult politics are to navigate, even when, like Mitch, you're not worried about re-election; and he starts tying earlier story arcs into the main arc more than usual, which is neat. Other than that, it's business as usual on Ex Machina, which means it's a good story and it shore looks purty!

There's a bit of a preview for the last issue of Planetary in the back, and as it involves time travel, it made my head hurt a little bit. I'll probably address this more when the actual issue comes out, but Ellis brings up a problem with time travel that, weirdly enough, was recently discussed in the Penn State alumni magazine (which my parents get, so I was reading it at their house in June). It's the zeitgeist, man! Oh, and I CANNOT FREAKING WAIT FOR THE LAST ISSUE OF PLANETARY!!!!! I just thought I should point that out.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Surprisingly, no. There's some blood and violence, but nothing going BOOM! and spraying guts everywhere.

Fables #88 ("Witches Chapter Two: Totenkinder") 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.

I really like that cover. I think it's the word balloons that aren't actually on the page. I don't know why I like that. But I do. Don't judge me with your dead eyes!

Frau Totenkinder finishes her knitting, and if that doesn't scare you, it should. As usual with this book, something as innocuous as an old woman (who is, after all, a witch) finishing her knitting is loaded with portent, both for the other Fables and for her herself. Basically, this issue is her transforming from the old woman sitting around into ... something else. Something not quite as grandmotherly. It's one of those issues of Fables that is extremely fun to read, mainly because threads from earlier in the book are still weaving their way through it and because there's a sense of great evil lurking around every corner. Willingham's track record on this book with regard to resolving his arcs is decent if not spectacular, but the way he builds to those resolutions is usually very good, and this is just one example. Buckingham, as usual, is wonderful - Totenkinder's look as she disappears is haunting. And Baba Yaga is still hanging around being a nuisance.

Very cool issue, as most of them are.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Not really, although Baba Yaga's weapon explodes, sort of, and slices and dices some demon things. I guess we'll count that!

The Lone Ranger #18 ("Resolve Part Two") by Brett Matthews (writer), Sergio Cariello (artist), Marcelo Pinto (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

As usual with this title, it's difficult to review an individual issue. Matthews has done such a nice job with getting the slow rhythm of a Western down that this is "decompressed" to the extreme, but only in the sense that The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is decompressed (to use a movie I saw recently) - that is, the violence on the frontier was often short and brutal and somewhat out-of-nowhere, and in between, there was a lot of riding. So in individual issues of this title, very often not a lot happens, but Matthews is often more concerned about one scene illuminating the moral fiber of the characters, or allowing Cariello to draw bleak scenes of the American West. In this issue, the plot moves along slowly (the Lone Ranger framed for murder!) but three scenes in particular are what Matthews is trying to get across: the sheriff wants to arrest our heroes but shows that he's a decent man because he gives them a chance to view the victim and explain what happened; there's love in the air between John and, well, his sister-in-law (Linda?); and Cavendish buys weapons and makes an unusual statement when he tests a Gatling gun. It's small moments like this that Matthews is going for, and he just allows the plot to take care of itself. I imagine that makes it read better in trade format, but I do like buying those singles, don't I? Still, Matthews and Cariello are doing their typical good job, and even though this takes its time coming out (another example of decompression?), it's a marvelous comic book.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Cavendish doesn't test the Gatling gun on animals or humans, so no.

M.O.D.O.K. Reign Delay by Ryan Dunlavey (writer/artist/colorist/letterer). $3.99, 20 pgs, FC, Marvel.

When this appeared in Previews, I smiled a big fanboy smile and waited eagerly for this week. I mean, come on - Dunlavey, famed for Action Philosophers!, doing a M.O.D.O.K. story in which he moves back in with his parents in Erie, PA? How can that not be awesome?

Well, it can't. Not be awesome, that is, as this is quite awesome. The only thing that gets my goat slightly is that Marvel is charging 4 dollars for this, and the story is only 20 pages. There are two text pages about how awesome M.O.D.O.K. is, but let's face it - we've just read 20 pages with glorious Dunlavey art (in full color!) about how awesome M.O.D.O.K. is, so do we really need someone writing about it? Marvel should have lowered the price on this (especially as it showed up first on-line) or added more material to justify the cover price. This is one of those "fool-me-once" things - I willingly plunked down 4 bucks for this, but next time Marvel does something like this, I really will have to consider my purchase more carefully. The nice thing is that Dunlavey really packs this story with very funny scenes, and it actually feels meatier than your standard Marvel/DC fare, so I didn't feel ripped off. But it's a slippery slope, Marvel!

Anyway, in terms of funny, this is. M.O.D.O.K. wants to get into Norman Osborn's Cabal, so Osborn sends him to Erie to clean things up. Hilarity ensues when M.O.D.O.K. (aka "George") is invited to his high school reunion. Before you can say "Grosse Pointe Blank," M.O.D.O.K. is getting bullied by the same guys who did it in high school, fighting Box of Alpha Flight, and yelling at people at the mall. It's, you know, funny. I don't really know how to explain how funny it is without ruining the jokes, but it is. In the first panel, Osborn's answering machine message tells people to make it quick because he has "28 cameo appearances this month." Box (the Madison Jeffries version, that is) is "Kitchener, Ontario's greatest super hero!" and his wife gets him to fight M.O.D.O.K. by claiming he said that the Maple Leafs suck. For example. Despite Jeffries' rather sad state (hiring himself out to make ends meet) that doesn't jive with his current appearances in Hank McCoy's little X-club, Dunlavey even makes this "in-continuity" by referencing Fred van Lente's M.O.D.O.K.'s 11 mini-series. If you care about things like that. Oh, and Erie is not "the mistake on the lake." Everyone knows that's Cleveland. Erie's rather nice, actually.

It's funny, is what I'm saying. And Dunlavey is a really good artist. And I'm disturbingly turned on by Jeffries' hot wife. Oh, did I type that last part? Never mind that bit.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? No, but there's a lot of brain blasting.

Poe #3 (of 4) by J. Barton Mitchell (writer), Dean Kotz (artist), Digikore Studios (colorist), James Dashiell (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

Mitchell moves everything along, bringing in more and more tropes from Poe's fictional work, which isn't as annoying as you might expect. It's kind of clever, actually. We've moved past the "Poe tries to figure things out" portion of the book and on to the "Poe tries to stop the bad guy" portion, which is fine but less moody than the first issue-and-a-half. Kotz's art is good, but this book is really, really dark, and it's pretty annoying. I mean, sure, it takes place at night in a pit with no good lighting, but just because the scene is dark to the participants doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to see everything. Or maybe my eyesight is really horrible. I'm old, remember. And those years in the monastery copying ancient texts didn't help. Plus I think I got diphtheria there. No wonder I'm always cranky.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Sadly, no. Or maybe it did and I didn't see it!

Unthinkable #5 (of 5) by Mark Sable (writer), Julian Totino Tedesco (artist), Juan Manuel Tumburús (colorist), Ed Dukeshire (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

I've said it all along, this is a really weird mini-series. It seemed to zoom along, slow down very briefly in issue #3, and then suddenly speed up again to finish. Sable really tried to pack a lot into this series, and I wonder if it might have been better served by six issues, but then I think there really wasn't enough for six issues and maybe he could have cut some of the stuff and still had enough to get into five (or even four) issues. It's very weird. I mean, Alan Ripley thwarts the bad guys in this issue, but Sable leaves some things hanging in case he gets a sequel, so he pulls everything together nicely, but it still feels weird. Things speed to the climax, and then speed through the climax, and in between panels the entire group, at one point, changes into hazmat suits without, apparently, any significant time passing, and it's all very rushed. It bugs me, because Sable seems to have this issue with his writing - his last mini-series, Fearless, suffered from the same problem with pacing. He does some things very well - the ideas in this series are marvelous, and he obviously keeps a lot of balls in the air competently - but then he doesn't seem to be able to make things fit in the space allotted. I'd really like to see him get better, because he writes some interesting things.

The big find on this series is Tedesco on art. Like Minck Oosterveer on The Unknown, he's quite the find. Good job, Boom!

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? I'm going to count the immune systems of a few people as a "yes."

The Veil #3 ("Evil") by El Torres (writer) and Gabriel Hernandez (artist). $3.99, 24 pgs, FC, IDW.

Dang, I love that cover. Cool use of negative space.

Anyway, Chris Luna discovers what's really going on in Crooksville, and while it's somewhat a standard horror plot, the way Torres and Hernandez present it is really well done. I've mentioned this with regard to the other issues of this series, but it's hard in comics to get the "shock value" of horror movies, which don't scare as much as they surprise you with things leaping into the frame from out of the frame. Hernandez instead works hard to make the images he puts on the page, which never move, really creepy, and therefore this stays with us longer. And he does a nice job building the sense of dread that Chris feels as she gradually figures out what's going on. Torres doesn't do anything too surprising with the story, but we do get an interesting twist at the end that takes our expectations and subverts them just a bit. We think we know what happened to certain characters, but it's possible something completely different and far more disturbing is happening. It's also neat that Torres hasn't been afraid to show Chris as someone who really doesn't have her shit together, even though she's the heroine. We'd expect her not to have her shit together, but if this were a crappy horror movie, her weaknesses would be briefly mentioned and then ignored. Here, it's part of her life, and she struggles with it all the time.

This continues to be a really cool comic. Check it out if you see it on the shelves!

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? I don't know if "explode" is the right word, but there's quite a bit of blood on a few pages.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #1 ("Shock and Awe Chapter 1") by Gregg Hurwitz (writer), Jerome Opeña (penciler), Dan Brown (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer). $3.99, 24 pgs (plus a 24-pg reprint of Moon Knight #1 from 1980), FC, Marvel.

So this is technically the FIFTH volume of an ongoing series starring Moon Knight, plus the two mini-series that Doug Moench wrote in the late Nineties. Someone at Marvel reeeeeaaaaaallllllllly likes the character, I suppose. I swear, I'm not the person who keeps greenlighting these! I'm not entirely sure why the previous series got cancelled - it just ended earlier this year, and this story simply follows that one rather logically, so I guess the lure of a new number one was too much for Marvel to resist!!!!!

And I hate to stir up a shitstorm surrounding an Alex Ross cover, but I do enjoy where your eye is drawn in that cover. I asked my wife about it, and she went right to it, too, so it's not just me being scared I'm suddenly going to like Neil Patrick Harris and Right Said Fred all of a sudden if I stare too long at that cover! I just wonder if the people who pose for Ross know they're going to be ... featured ... so prominently when they show up on a cover.

So we get a continuation of the theme of the previous series - namely, that Moon Knight is a bit bonkers. Except that didn't work commercially (even if I thought it worked very well artistically), so Hurwitz pulls back on it a bit while still teasing it. But it's hard to suss out what Hurwitz is doing otherwise with this particular issue. If I'm hopeful, he's satirizing the notion of superheroes quite subtly, playing this as straight-as-he-can superheroing while mocking the entire notion of both Osborn's corporate superheroes and really, the entire notion of pervert-suits as something healthy. While we've seen that before, ad infinitum, Hurwitz does it rather well, and it's never a theme that gets too old. That is, if I'm hopeful and that's what Hurwitz is doing. I've never actually read anything by Hurwitz (prose or comicky), so I don't know anything about his take on superheroes. Because if he's playing it straight, it's kind of odd. Moon Knight narrates as if he's a whiny teenager, desperate to be taken seriously and thinking the only way he can be is by making a big splash in New York. There's something charmingly smug about Moonie's New York-centric narration as he wings his way through Times Square, which is why I'm somewhat hopeful. And the idea that talk radio would debate Moon Knight so vigorously, despite what he did in the last series, is kind of goofy as well ... unless it's deliberate. You see the conundrum? The fact that Mr. Knight is still certifiable (even though he claims not to be) is what makes me hopeful. But we'll see.

Meanwhile, like Jill Thompson above, Opeña's art is almost worth the price of admission. I guess we'll never know how the Big Two shift creative teams, but Opeña was apparently taken off of Punisher to work on this, even though I have to assume Castle is a bit higher on the Marvel pecking order than Spector (or Lockley, as he's apparently still calling himself). So did Opeña lobby for it because he loves the character so much? Or did Marvel decide that he's a big enough artist now that they really want to give this book a push? I'm not sure, but he blows the doors off on this, in what is really two extended action scenes, one in broad daylight and one at night. The one that opens the book, where MK thwarts a robbery, is a ballet of violence and verve, with the highlight being Moon Knight surfing on a van (which gets back to Hurwitz's intentions, as it's almost too giddy to be taken seriously). Opeña gives us one beautiful panel after another, culminating in two splash pages summing up the first issue: Moon Knight destroying property to announce his presence with authority and the appearance of the Sentry at the end to challenge him. He's having a grand time drawing this, you can tell, and even though Marvel breaks up his symphony with advert pages (how annoying!), it's still a wonderful-looking comic. Who knows how long Opeña will last on the title; who knows how long the title itself will last?

As long-time readers know, I'm a big fan of the character, and I want his series to sell. However, I want them to be good, too, which is often mutually exclusive to a book's position on the sales chart. I thought the last Moon Knight series was excellent, and although I'm uncertain about Hurwitz's ultimate intentions (if he turns MK into just another superhero, this will get boring), I'm happy that he's back. We shall see, won't we?

(Oh, and the cover price is almost worth it for the reprint of Moon Knight #1 from 30 years ago in the back. That particular issue isn't the best of the series, but it's neat seeing Sienkiewicz's art before he became, you know, BILL SIENKIEWICZ - he's obviously ripping off Neal Adams, but he's also channeling Frank Miller's early Daredevil stuff. It's interesting to consider how different and unique Miller and Sienkiewicz became when you consider how much they both were patterning themselves after Adams.)

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? No. This is in marked contrast to the previous Moon Knight series, where things seemed to get gross quite often!

Wednesday Comics #11 (of 12). $3.99, 15 pgs, FC, DC.

I ought to have more thoughts about this, but I'll save them for next week, when the grand experiment comes to an end. I will say that Fletcher's page design on the Flash strip is just amazing, and as neat as Baker's computerized art was early on, it's looking sloppier and sloppier as we go along. What's up with that?

X-Factor #48 ("The Cortex Equation") by Peter David (writer), Valentine de Landro (penciler), Pat Davidson (inker), Jeromy Cox (colorist), and Cory Petit (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

I don't know if you guys have heard this, but David recently confirmed that the book is being relaunched with issue #200. Meh. I don't really care, but the book did go on hiatus for some years, plus there was that four-issue (underrated, in my mind) X-Factor mini-series that came out back in the Jemas days that had those non-mutant government agents doing their thing which won't count in the numbering. Whatever.

David continues to tie everything together in anticipation of issue #50, with a revelation about the big, bad villain behind everything and a funny Doctor Doom moment and Shatterstar showing up at an opportune moment. There's a bunch going on, naturally, and it's fine and dandy. And it's kind of interesting to see De Landro pencil an entire issue. Wait? An artist doing the entire issue of an issue of X-Factor? Holy crap!

Oh, and David wants to forget the 2009 Mets season. Even if my beloved Phillies don't win the World Series again this year, they've still had a better season than the Mets. Suck it, Mets!!!!!

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Surprisingly, yes. It's not too gross, but it's still fairly gross for a mainstream Marvel comic, even if it is rated "T+."

So that's the week. Wegener, Thompson, Harris, Buckingham, Cariello, Dunlavey, Tedesco, Hernandez, Opeña, Risso, Sook, Bullock, Allred, Pope, Conner, Garcia-Lopez, Kubert, Fletcher - dang, some good art this week! Let's hit the totally random lyrics!

"That thunder in your heart
At night when you're kneeling in the dark
It says you're never gonna leave her
But there's this angel in her eyes
That tells such desperate lies
And all you want to do is believe her"

Let's bring it home where we began:

"This is a Pershing missile, Chip!"
"Chet. My name is Chet. And I didn't think it was a whale's dick, honey!"

Classic. CLASSIC!!!!!

33 Comments

• At September 18, 2009, Joe wrote:

  As soon as I saw "...where Tan really shines is his inventive page-layout" I had to skip the rest of ...

• At September 18, 2009, dmor173 wrote:

  'shes the one' bruce springsteen.

  track 6 off born to run(which by the way is way is the greatest album ever ...

• At September 18, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  "This is one of those "fool-me-once" things - I willingly plunked down 4 bucks for this, but next time Marvel ...

• At September 18, 2009, TimCallahan wrote:

  Because of work and illness I haven't even picked up my comics this week. But I AM reviewing Batman and ...

• At September 18, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  Yeah, I'm bummed that ATLAS is going on hiatus, but on the other hand, ATLAS as a back up in ...

• At September 18, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  I actually got MODOCK for I believe $0.99 from DCBS. I had no idea the cover price was so ...

• At September 18, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  You have nothing to worry about. It is biologically impossible for any human being to like Right Said Fred.

• At September 18, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Geezola .... 8 count 'em 8 comics on your list that I should be receiving no later than Monday & ...

• At September 18, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  Since we're talking about Dunleavey, does anyone know if there'll every be more Comic Book Comics?

  And, on a kind of ...

• At September 18, 2009, Ted wrote:

  You have nothing to worry about. It is biologically impossible for any human being to like Right Said Fred.

  And similarly ...

• At September 18, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  Sorry, Dunlavey.

• At September 18, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  Actually, I think I may go download some Right Said Fred.

• At September 18, 2009, Manglr wrote:

  I highly recommend the earlier Beasts of Burden appearances in the "Dark Horse Book of..." anthology series. Each story ...

• At September 18, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Joe: Yeah, I knew that would be a controversial statement. I thought the pages 2-3 spread was nicely done; ...

• At September 18, 2009, jccalhoun wrote:

  I had never heard of Beasts of Burden before so I looked on Dark Horse comics for something about them ...

• At September 18, 2009, Tekende wrote:

  I disagree about Tan's art. His page layouts are awful. There were quite a few pages I found really confusing ...

• At September 18, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Gotta remember to pick up the Veil trade.

• At September 18, 2009, Derick wrote:

  Agents of Atlas, Cable, Guardians of the Galaxy... a lot of Marvel books are having rotating art teams. That´s really ...

• At September 18, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  "Why are you such a wanker, Chet?"

  "Because I get off on it!"

• At September 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Unthinkable was pretty damn good. I loved the art especially. I still think the final issue suffered by not giving ...

• At September 18, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Thanks, Tekende! That's all I ask for!

  Chad: Yeah, that's part of why the book feels rushed. I just ...

• At September 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Well, another issue or tighter pacing up to this point could have helped. Even just devoting a little bit of ...

• At September 18, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Good stuff, sir! I disagree with your comment about the first page, ignored the bird (no, it doesn't say ...

• At September 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Like I said, I think this issue relied on subtle nuane between characters at times... which is a flaw in ...

• At September 18, 2009, jccalhoun wrote:

  Darkhorse.com is back up. Here's a link to the ecomic of the older Beasts of Burden stories http://www.darkhorse.com/Features/eComics/1090/Beasts-of-Burden

• At September 18, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Very cool, sir. Thanks!

• At September 18, 2009, Duff McWhalen wrote:

  While nothing makes me happier than thinking "Opena on Moon Knight" I really wonder what the hell is going on. ...

• At September 19, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Y'know, I own a Right Said Fred single with something like 7 mixes of "I'm Too Sexy." Also their (only?) ...

• At September 19, 2009, TimCallahan wrote:

  Luckily, the "Batman and Robin" #4 Philip Tan is not the Philip Tan of the mid-to-late "Final Crisis: Revelations," but, ...

• At September 19, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  I will say that Fletcher's page design on the Flash strip is just amazing

  ...Fletcher - dang, some good art ...

• At September 19, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Whoops, my bad. I could have sworn Fletcher was drawing it. Sorry, Misters Kerschl and Fletcher!

• At September 19, 2009, TimCallahan wrote:

  You can tell them apart in this simple way: Kerschl draws the hell out of anything. Fletcher doesn't draw.

• At September 19, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Ah, I see. That's a good way to do it!

  No Moon Knight hate, Tim? You're slipping!

Okay, so I applied the patented Burgas Awesome-O-Meter™ to this comic (the Burgas Awesome-O-Meter™: Gauging how awesome your comics are since 1988!) and here's what I came up with:

Page 1: 4 awesome things.*
Page 2: 4 awesome things.
Page 3: 0 awesome things.
Page 4: 2 awesome things.†
Page 5: 2 awesome things.
Page 6: 4 awesome things.
Page 7: 4 awesome things.
Page 8: 3 awesome things.
Page 9: 0 awesome things.
Page 10: 4 awesome things.
Page 11: 5 awesome things.
Page 12: 4 awesome things.
Page 13: 4 awesome things.
Page 14: 4 awesome things.
Page 15: 2 awesome things.
Page 16: 1 awesome thing.
Page 17: 4 awesome things.
Page 18: 4 awesome things.
Page 19: 3 awesome things.
Page 20: 1 awesome thing.
Page 21: 4 awesome things.
Page 22: 1 awesome thing.‡
Page 23: 2 awesome things.
Page 24: 2 awesome things.
Page 25: 2 awesome things.
Page 26: 1 awesome thing.

* "Thing" is here defined as a panel, some drawing within a certain panel, or words on the page which may or may not form a conversation. For instance, on page 1, the giant bolt is awesome. The conversation on page 2 counts as one awesome thing, even though several individual sentences within it are, indeed, awesome. Such is the precise measuring capability of the Burgas Awesome-O-Meter™! It's science, people!
† One of the awesome things on this page is Robo's hat. Given that he wears it the rest of the issue, I didn't count it again, but it remains awesome.
‡ It's only a splash page, so I counted all the awesome things going on in it as one giant awesome thing.

Okay, that's 71 awesome things in a 26-page comic. That's 2.73 awesome things a page. I challenge you to find a more Awesome-Thing-to-Page Ratio in any comic you're currently reading! Go on, check it out! The Burgas Awesome-O-Meter™ does not lie!

So, yeah. Atomic Robo is pretty freakin' awesome. Look, this issue guest-stars Carl Sagan. And the gorilla with the robot head is in this comic just to make a cameo appearance, and yet the book loses none of its awesomeness when it leaves. So there's that.

Come on, "let's do some science!" You know you want to!

Ex Machina #44 ("Ring Out the Old Conclusion") by Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Tony Harris (artist), JD Mettler (colorist), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Wildstorm.

As Vaughan ratchets up to end this series, we get a seriously good issue that alludes to several things that will, presumably, be explained over the next few issues and rock Mitch's world to the very core. His "mission," I mean, as he learns some things he didn't know and probably didn't want to know, but which it's probably good to know. The feces is about to strike the air-moving device, and however long it takes for the final six issues to come out, I'm looking forward to them.

I do want to comment on the stupidity of some characters. It's a common occurrence in fictional entertainment that people do stupid things which are justified by the fact that their passionate natures overcome them. We usually see this phenomenon when people on television jump into bed with the first thing that crosses their path after they have a tiny (and usually idiotic) spat with their significant other, thereby causing more problems than the original tiff ever would have. But Bradbury does something extremely stupid in this comic, and it just doesn't ring true. It actually annoyed me enough that I'm writing about it rather than the actual plotline of the issue. He does something in the "heat of the moment," but Vaughan doesn't quite sell it enough, because Mitchell told Bradbury how very important what he destroys is, and the thing that prompts his reaction doesn't seem quite enough to make him go a bit nutty. The only explanation I can think of is, based on what happens afterward, that he was somehow being manipulated by an outside agency. Is that the impression everyone else got? Because it's a weak way to release whatever it is that gets released if we don't see Bradbury as being controlled by something else. What are your thoughts?

Anyway, yet another cool issue of Ex Machina. I'm keen to read the conclusion.

Hellblazer #258 ("Hooked Part Three: Epiphany") by Peter Milligan (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (layouter), Stefano Landini (finisher), *Jamie Grant (colorist), and Sal Cipriano (letterer). $2.99, 24 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Quite a bit happens in this issue, and I don't feel like spoiling it, but I will say that after a few issues in the beginning of the run that were decent but nothing great, Milligan has really done a nice job with this short story arc. Sure, everything that happens in this arc is because of John being an asshole for no good reason, and I would like him to be an asshole while he's actually stopping something horrible from occurring, but that's a minor quibble. Everything that is said about John in this issue feels right (even though I don't buy Chas telling John he's more into Phoebe than he was into Kit), and the conversations between John and the other players in this book are very well done. If I don't like how it ends, it's not because I don't like what Milligan is doing, it's because he's done a good job getting me to care what happens, so the ending is more devastating that way. Milligan has always been good about making his characters bastards realistically, and although there's a lot of magic in this arc, it's John being a dick that drives things. I don't like John very much in this arc, but he's certainly compelling.

I still don't think Camuncoli is a great fit on this book, but his crisp lines help counterbalance the generally murky colors that is a staple of Vertigo books. I think Bisley is doing the interiors next issue, so we'll see how that works. (Speaking of Bisley, I like how on the cover, even with an emotionally devastating moment like that one, John manages to hold onto his cigarette. Good stuff!)

It's taken a little bit for Milligan to get going on Hellblazer, but he seems to have found his voice. Let's hope it continues to get better!

Poe #2 (of 4) by J. Barton Mitchell (writer), Dean Kotz (artist), Digikore Studios (colorist), and James Dashiell (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

As usual with mini-series that have a good first issue so I'm sure I'll keep getting them, I don't have much to say about the second issue unless it's really bad, and this isn't really bad, so I don't have much to say about it. Poe continues to investigate the mysterious deaths linked to the strange coins, our bad guy makes an appearance and explains some things about the coins and Poe susses out what they can do, and the our hero quits the case, not surprisingly when you think about it. Kotz does a good job with the art, Mitchell keeps the plot moving, and it's generally an exciting and interesting read. That's pretty much all I have to say about it.

Power Girl #4 ("Girls' Night Out!") 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'm not sure if I should write about the thing that really, really bugged me in this otherwise pretty-good issue of Power Girl first to get it out of the way, or last so I can lead up to it? I'll ask the dog.

Okay, he's not answering, so I'll save it until later. I've been ambivalent about PG so far - on the one hand, Amanda Conner rules, and on the other hand, the first story was kind of dull - but I'd like to give it some time to grow on me, and although this issue isn't the one that's going to change my mind, it does go a long way toward it. It's quite a bit of fun, with Kara and Terra (whose real name, I guess, is Atlee, although no one has ever called her by that name in the series so far) going to see a horror movie (which Terra doesn't quite get), briefly fighting a collection of monsters brought to life by someone who looks like a fairy queen but is really just an environmentally-conscious teenager who got hold of a magic book, and then, the next day, Kara hangs out at her work and finds an apartment. As a "slice-of-life" issue, it certainly works, although it was kind of strange to not see the teenager again (Kara gets her a job at her company, so I assume we'll see her again, but I thought she might show up later in the issue) and the fact that people don't realize Kara is Power Girl cracks me up - "Wait, you're blonde and built like a brick shithouse and you know someone who's blonde and built like a brick shithouse? What are the odds?" Gray and Palmiotti do a nice job with the dialogue in this issue, which can make or break a story like this, and Conner, of course, is dynamite. She's still the reason to buy this book, although the writing is certainly better in this issue than it has been.

I'm still not completely sold on the comic, but the aliens from last issue have landed on Earth (conveniently, in Brooklyn), so I'll probably stay on board until that story arc wraps up and then make up my mind.

Of course, there's the little thing that made me upset. What, pray tell, might it be? Well, when the monsters attack, Kara and Terra are leaving the movie theater. Terra is a bit freaked out by the horror movie they just saw, and Kara says she doesn't like the "watered-down" stuff. Terra is incredulous that what she just saw was watered-down, and Kara tells her that she doesn't want to take her to an R-rated movie. Terra is, in other words, under 17 (she can't be 17, because then she could go see an R-rated movie by herself). On the same page, they see the monster attacking New York, and Kara takes off her clothes to reveal her costume underneath. Terra isn't wearing her costume because she didn't know she'd need it. So she takes off her pants. I was a bit bothered by this. I know that her actual costume doesn't leave much to the imagination, but it was still a bit disturbing (to me, that is) to read several pages of a 16-year-old girl fighting monsters in her black panties with a ladybug on the ass. Maybe I'm square, maybe I'm thinking about my daughters too much, but there was no reason for Terra to ditch her pants and go into battle wearing panties. I've mentioned this with regard to the violence in this comic - it has a very weird tone occasionally, as if it wants to be a light-hearted superhero comic but then there are weird moments of horrible violence. Now there's this. It's not the end of the world, of course, but it just seems like a weird choice by the creators. Maybe I have too many memories of my 15- and 16-year-old female students dressing provacatively and winding up pregnant. Who knows. I was just put out by it a bit.

Go ahead, call me a square. I can take it!

Unthinkable #4 (of 5) by Mark Sable (writer), Julian Totino Tedesco (artist), Juan Manuel Tumburús (colorist), and Ed Dukeshire (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

Unthinkable is a really odd comic. Last issue, I thought Sable was finally slowing down a bit after the breakneck pace of issues #1 and 2, and I appreciated it. But then we get this issue, which speeds up again and is all over the map, both literally and figuratively. I understand that we have to accept the fact that people in entertainment can blithely move through the world without encountering the problems we lesser mortals have (why can people in movies always find plane tickets at the last minute and never worry about paying gigantic sums for first class?), but the characters in this comic zip everywhere without even breaking a sweat (and yes, they make reference to the fact that it takes some weeks to move around, but I'm talking about the pace of the comic, which, interestingly enough, a caption box reading "three weeks later" seems to make faster even as it's indicating passing time). They seem to do a lot of stuff with ease, as well, and I'm not quite sure what happens occasionally, because it feels like we're rushing past stuff. How do they thwart the mass demonstration in China? Who is the guy who blows up at the end (I thought it was one dude, but he's alive later)? How does Ripley nab his father so easily? Arrrgggghhhh!

I may have to sit down and re-read the series once issue #5 comes out to make more sense of it. I want to like the series, because it's an interesting idea and Tedesco's art is fabulous, but it's a bit of a mess. We'll see how Sable ends it!

Wednesday Comics #7 (of 12). $3.99, 15 pgs, DC.

Which English monarch is this week's strip? Play along!

Batman = Mary I. Teetering on the edge of insanity, willing to go too far for justice, unable to stem the tide!
Kamandi = Charles II. Sumptuous, depraved, beautiful, and ornate.
Superman = Richard II. Ineffectual, simpering, powerful but unused to using power.
Deadman = Henry VIII. Brilliantly staged, excessive, good-natured in youth, gorged in senescence, obscenely powerful.
Green Lantern = Richard III. Arrogant and overreaching, brought down by poor planning.
Metamorpho = Edward IV. Lustful, fun-loving, disrespectful of tradition.
Teen Titans = Henry III. Banal, weak, indecisive.
Strange Adventures = Victoria. Formal yet mystical beneath the surface, raging against modernity.
Supergirl = John. Officious, cocky, and concerned more with minutiae than the big picture.
Metal Men = Richard I. The classic portrait, with darkness lurking beneath.
Wonder Woman = Stephen. Wandering, unsure, beset by chaos, losing the way.
Sgt. Rock and Easy Co. = Henry VII. Unifying but brutal.
Flash/Iris West = William III and Mary II. With, you know, apes.
The Demon and Catwoman = Elizabeth I. Quintessentially British, full of legends and misinformation, power-hungry and vain.
Hawkman = William I. Neglected, pompous, warlike, triumphant. Also, a little-known fact: Duke William and his retinue rode dinosaurs into battle at Hastings!

This is off the top of my head. Forgive me if it's a bit off. Next week: Which Hollywood star corresponds to each strip?!?*

* Maybe. Or something else. We'll see.

X-Factor #47 by Peter David (writer), Valentine de Landro (penciler), Pat Davidson (inker), Jeromy Cox (colorist), and Cory Petit (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Two different characters in this book tell Jamie to stop whinging. I have only ever heard "whinging" used by Australians, back when I lived among them as one of them!* I have never heard an American use it, yet both the characters who use it (granted, 80 years in the future) are, presumably, American. Why does David use it? I don't know. It does lead to a funny moment with Dr. Doom, but that's it.

Anyway, it's Tim Callahan's favorite comic ever!, so you should check it out. (Tim is too cool to blog anymore, preferring instead to distill his thoughts into 140 characters or less, but when he did blog, he pointed this out, which is quite humorous.) David does something very odd, which is give away a somewhat crucial piece of information in the recap page (mitigating by explaining that we should have figured it out by now, which I didn't, but as we all know, I'm not that bright, so maybe others did), but otherwise continues with this epic (some would say dragged-out) storyline about the Summers rebellion and what's going on in the present that ties into it. It's the usual blend of action and humor, with interesting revelations and character development, with a "shocking" ending (which has already been ruined - at least I think it has been - in the Marvel solicits for upcoming issues). It's yet another solid chapter in this very solid book. I just enjoy reading it to see what David comes up with next.

I should point out that De Landro is back, and the art feels more stable than it's been in a while (even if there was a different artist last issue). Pat Davidson and Jeromy Cox have been on the book for a while, so the pencils have retained the same feel to them even when De Landro isn't drawing it. Longshot looks like he has a porn mustache on one point and Monet looks truly freaky at another point, but other than that, the art looks fine. It would be nice if it could stay consistent.

I'm not really sure what the cover has to do with the issue, but it has the (probably unintentional) phallic action going on, so there's that! Remember: tell your retailer that Tim sent you!

* Meaning I drank lots of beer and shagged wombats. Oh, wait a minute, ignore that last part. We shan't speak of it.

Zorro #15 by Matt Wagner (writer), Francesco Francavilla (artist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

Yay! Francesco Francavilla is back on Zorro! As much as I got into Rezak's art on the previous arc, it remained a tiny bit too polished, while Francavilla's rougher art works better with a book like Zorro, which ought to be a bit dusty and unrefined, because I imagine that life in early nineteenth-century California, despite the attempts of the colonists to make it like Old Spain, probably was a bit shabby. If it wasn't, Francavilla makes us believe it was, and it works.

Wagner gives us a story about the perception of Zorro, as the new military ruler of California has a dinner party and tries to find out what Zorro is all about. This is why we have Skeletor Zorro on the cover - one guest thinks Zorro must be a "phantasm from beyond the grave!" We get four different versions of who Zorro is, with one being the truth, and it leads to an nice twist at the end, when the general decides that something must be done with one of the guests who told a version. It establishes General Mancado as a good foe for Zorro - he's ruthless and cruel, but willing to find out what's what before he rushes in. Then, Wagner continues the subplot of romance that he began last arc, as Lolita gets a call from Diego and rushes off like a lovestruck school girl. Which, I guess, she is.

Zorro continues to impress, and Wagner does a nice job catching us up with what's going on (that is, if you have no idea who or what Zorro is, and that's unlikely, isn't it?). It's a great place to jump on board!

Well, hey, look at that! We're all done. What say we fire up some totally random lyrics!

"Oh, sweetheart, put the bottle down
You've got too much talent
I see you through those bloodshot eyes
There's a cure, you've found it

Slow motion sparks, you've caught that chill
Now don't deny it
But boys will be boys, oh, yes, they will
They don't wanna define it"

Own those lyrics, fanboys! Sing along with me!

32 Comments

• At August 20, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Re: "whinging"

  I have to admit, when I first encountered "whinging" a few years ago I was baffled, just by the ...

• At August 20, 2009, Palomides wrote:

  I can understand Power Girl's disguise working. Most men are never going to bother to notice that she even has ...

• At August 20, 2009, pg wrote:

  Maybe she meant she doesn't want to take her to an R-rated movie cause she couldn't handle it cause she ...

• At August 20, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I wanted to switch to trades on everything, but I may have to keep getting Atomic Robo in singles-- it's ...

• At August 20, 2009, KCViking wrote:

  I can understand the feeling of "weirdness" at Terra fighting in her panties since it seems awkward to me as ...

• At August 20, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  "Terra is incredulous that what she just saw was watered-down, and Kara tells her that she doesn't want to take ...

• At August 20, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  KCViking: Yeah, I missed that it was the cast of the show. I don't watch it regularly, so I ...

• At August 20, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  Dude, Burgas: If you thought that was icky, then the average manga would DESTROY your sense of decency :P

• At August 20, 2009, Dean wrote:

  Greg, you were told never to mention the wombat-shagging. Please turn in your honorary akubra and slab of VB ...

• At August 20, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  It's a common occurrence in fictional entertainment that people do stupid things which are justified by the fact that their ...

• At August 20, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Chris: As usual, it's all about the tone and what kind of book it is. I'm creeped out by ...

• At August 20, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  but many of the girls I taught had poor self-esteem and dressed that way to get attention of a boy, ...

• At August 20, 2009, Michael M. wrote:

  Sadly, I found Terra going into battle in her panties to be far less disturbing than several other comics this ...

• At August 20, 2009, TimCallahan wrote:

  X-Factor: "It has pages!" -- Comic Book Resources.com

• At August 20, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:

  Does Kara wear glasses in her secret identity? If she does, it would be impossible to recognize her as ...

• At August 20, 2009, Stephen wrote:

  "First, we had "Peter Parker" taking advantage of his roommate ... before systematically hurting and/or offending almost all of his ...

• At August 20, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  Man, FGJ, you just summed up my feelings on the Metamorpho strip without me even realizing those were my feelings. ...

• At August 20, 2009, ZZZ wrote:

  In reference to not taking Terra to R-rated movies being a "legal thing": MPAA ratings have no legal weight. Even ...

• At August 21, 2009, acespot wrote:

  I think the point of Terra taking her skirt off was that it's tough to fight in a tight skirt.

  I ...

• At August 21, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I like how there are people who are, like, "How could Marvel mislead us by quoting Tim there?" or "Why ...

• At August 21, 2009, HammerHeart wrote:

  Square!

  (Hey, you SAID you could take it)

• At August 21, 2009, KCViking wrote:

  ZZZ- Wow.Good memory.I'd forgotten about that.Of course now it will bug me for days.

• At August 21, 2009, Dean wrote:

  On the same page, they see the monster attacking New York, and Kara takes off her clothes to reveal her ...

• At August 22, 2009, Fascination Place » This Week’s Haul wrote:

  [...] one awkward thing in all this, as Greg Burgas noted, is that Terra strips down to her panties to ...

• At August 22, 2009, acespot wrote:

  again, I'm pretty sure that the reason she takes her skirt off is that it would be tough to fight ...

• At August 23, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Along the same lines, as much as I found the idea of a board game in this weeks episode cute ...

• At August 24, 2009, Lee wrote:

  Whinging is a very English word originating from the north. Don't give that honour to the Aussies.

• At August 24, 2009, Atomic-Robo.com » Blog Archive » Hot & Sweaty in New York wrote:

  [...] -CBR’s Comics Should Be Good applies the patented Burgas Awesome-O-Meter™ to see just how great Atomic Robo just might ...

• At August 24, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Lee: I didn't mean to give credit to the Aussies, just that it's been many, many years since I've been ...

• At September 1, 2009, Comics Nexus | I’m Just Sayin’…#69 wrote:

  [...] right into my last few purchases of late, starting with my favorite new character of recent memory; Greg Burgas ...

• At September 7, 2009, Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » Box of Comics: August 2009 wrote:

  [...] reviewed this last month and found there to be "2.73 awesome things per page" over the course of the ...

• At September 27, 2009, Girl Comics! - Pink Raygun.com wrote:

  [...] What I bought – 19 August 2009 (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) ...

Once again, thanks to the Discount Comic Book Service for being such nice chaps.

Amazing Spider-Man #600 by Dan Slott, John Romita Jr, Stan Lee, Marcos Martin, and about 100 other people (Marvel)

I haven't bought a Spider-Man comic, since, I dunno, Ultimate Spidey started. And if we're talking the "in-continuity" stuff, since Mackie and Byrne were dealing in the single digits. Now we're back in the triple digits, and here I am purchasing a Spider-Man comic. Why? Well, I just can't pass up a deal. What we have here is over 100 pages of brand-new material, with no ads, for a cover price of five bucks. And DCBS was selling it at half price. How could I refuse? It's a lovely, thick wad of comics-- this baby took me about an hour to read (I had to stop twice for snack breaks)!

Slott, Romita, et al. have produced the best Spider-Man comic I've read since I was eight years old or so, and they've done so by creating a comic that eight-year-old me would unabashedly love. It also evokes all the feelings of a classic Stan-Lee-and-company Annual from days gone by. Look at what we get for our paltry dollars: A 60+ page main story with fight scenes and guest stars galore, a wedding, classic villains, and a cast of dozens. The spirit of Spidey's 60s heyday still lives, vibrantly bursting forth from every page. And let's face it-- at this point, Spider-Man flows so mightily through John Romita Jr's veins that he doesn't have to draw anymore, only bleed all over the page; when it dries, it looks like this-- which is to say, amazing. Or perhaps spectacular. Or maybe "Web of." Okay, not that last one.

I was truly surprised-- and pleasantly so-- at how good this comic was. It's Spidey as you like him: In college! In trouble! In action! action! action! Okay, maybe not that first one, but everything else. We've got Spidey cracking jokes (I quite appreciated the reference to Family Guy's "everybody gets one" and the someone-else-remembers crack about Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place), we've got the umpteenth Doctor Octopus story (with a twist), we've got J. Jonah Jameson officiating his father's wedding to Aunt May-- it's like Stan-Lee-a-palooza all up in here. Then The Man himself stops by to pen a quick ditty (with Marcos Martin art!) about a Stan Lee stand-in chatting with Spidey about all his freakish transformations and continuity mishaps, until he's driven mad by it all and seeks out a shadowy Steve Ditko for guidance. And then the rest of the Spidey-writing crew stops by for back-up strips, and those go about how you'd expect: Waid and Doran do an obvious but still moving Uncle Ben story; Gale and Alberti deliver a pretty but empty story about how Spidey's life sucks; Guggenheim and the Breitweisers do the same Aunt May story that everybody does every 100 issues or so; Wells and Donovan poke some fun at the Spider-Mobile's expense; and Kelly and Fiumara get to be all portentous and stuff with a Madame Web flash-forward. Throw in some one-page gags and even a letters page (gasp!), and you've got yourself an epic comics package that makes everything 1965 all over again. Or 1976. Or 1987. Or 1994.

Will it get me to follow Spider-Man on a regular basis? Well, no-- but it was nice to stop by and see what some old friends were up to. Eight-year-old Bill(y) gives it his highest recommendation.

Atomic Robo: Shadow from Beyond Time #3 by Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener, Ronda Pattison, and Jeff Powell (Red 5)

I believe I've figured out why I enjoy Brian Clevinger's writing on this book so much. Oh, you may think it's for the face-rocking action or the hilarious banter-- and well, it is-- but it's also for his unwavering commitment to verisimilitude. Recently, he's spent some time on the Atomic Robo site explaining why giant robots and aliens aren't gonna show up in the Roboverse anytime soon-- because, naturally, a world with giant robots and aliens wouldn't be a world exactly like our own. You may find this a bit hypocritical, considering the comic is about a talking robot that fights giant bugs, Lovecraftian beasts from beyond this dimension, and Nazi war machines, but I enjoy seeing everything fit into an uber-context, rather than a patchwork universe like DC or Marvel, where God is a known quantity, space travel's a piece of piss, and extinction events occur every two weeks without daily life being affected at all. That's why the back-and-forth dialogue between Robo and the supposedly time-traveling super-smart raptor Dr. Dinosaur in the Free Comic Book Day special was so awesome. But that's me.

Anyway, the comic. This issue jumps the story ahead by a few decades, as 1950s Robo reencounters the aforementioned Lovecraftian beast from beyond this dimension in a cross between an Atomic Age B-movie and the Left 4 Dead video game. It's as funny, cool, and exciting as every other issue of Atomic Robo, which just goes to show that this is probably the most consistently enjoyable comic on the stands. And you should buy it.

Also, Scott Wegener's art is as lovely and fluid as your favorite lager. The overlooked team of Pattison and Powell does an excellent job, too; every aspect of this comic is just damn pretty. Now buy the damned thing or I'm going to come to your house, use your bathroom, and leave the toilet seat up.

Batman & Robin #2 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and let's be honest, you're not reading these credits, are you? (DC)

Can a comic be too good? Is such a thing possible? I'm afraid Morrison and Quitely may have discovered the alchemical formula to such a thing. Seriously, everything in this comic is so perfectly tuned: every word so considered, you can literally taste each line of dialogue; every panel so meticulously laid out, every image so precise, that the pages exist as modern architecture more than drawings on a page. Morrison and Quitely bring out the best in each other, of that there's no doubt, but their collaboration is such a well-oiled machine that the work almost feels rote and mechanical-- lifeless, by being too lively, or somesuch paradox. The rich art and seemingly minimalist scripting techniques that I've enjoyed so completely since I first saw them in concert on New X-Men in 2001 have perhaps oversaturated me; they hold less impact. Perhaps I'm just insane.

Anyway, the comic. It's a fast-paced sucker, this one, with a gorgeously laid-out fight scene taking up the bulk of the plot, though G-Mo and F-Qui crisscross these sequences with trademark after-the-fact Dick Grayson despair, though Alfred, of course, saves the day, as he always does. My biggest problem comes from Alex Sinclair's coloring, actually; the backgrounds shimmer like a pool of oil left floating in a parking lot. I'm not sure if it's a fluke of the printing process or a stylistic choice, but it is slightly off-putting to my eyes, at least. But that's a good thing. If this comic was any better it would probably suck-- going so far up one end of the scale that it appears at the other end, like a mighty Ouroboros.

Captain Britain and MI13 #15 by Paul Cornell, Leonard Kirk, Jay Leisten, Brian Reber, and Joe Caramagna (Marvel)

I have awfully heavy hackles, let me tell you, but several things still manage to raise them. Take the cancellation of this series, for example. I'm used to comics I like being canceled, as it's something that happens to me often. The unfortunate demise of this series could've been prevented, however, if someone in editorial took the unwieldy title-- and the fact that the good Captain is probably the least interesting character in his own book-- and changed it to Avengers U.K., or something similar. Avengers: England, BBC Avengers, The British Avengers, Wait, No, Not the Steed and Peel Ones. Whatever. That's what this comic's all about, after all-- England's Mightiest Heroes, defending queen and country. Those Avengers comics are pretty hot, these days. Maybe a different title and an occasional cameo from a sneering Norman Osborn would've given us another ten thousand readers or so. Who knows? The praise of the blogosphere clearly doesn't seem to have an effect on sales, otherwise the Top Ten would have stuff like Seaguy, Young Liars, Scalped, and this.

Anyway, the comic. This is the grand finale of my favorite Marvel series of the past, oh, 15 or so months. It gives us everything we could expect, in a Joss-Whedon-y "season finale that could totally be a series finale, and oops, it is" way. Tables turned, lost loves reunited, vampire torpedoes from space, a gratuitous Death's Head appearance, swordfights with Dracula, and probably the coolest final page from anything in a while. Paul Cornell writes the hell out of it, Leonard Kirk draws the hell out of it-- it's good comics. It's British comics.

Love 'em and leave 'em-- that's the British way. At least, that's what I've learned from James Bond and short-but-satisfying British television seasons. The nigh-paltry sum of 15 issues and an annual is certainly less than Cornell intended for this series, but I'm glad we got that much, at least.

(I would love Cornell to write a Blade series. He is the only one to ever make me care about Blade.)

Dethklok versus the Goon by Eric Powell and Dave Stewart, with some help from Brendon Small, and hey, they didn't credit a letterer, did they? (Dark Horse)

I've tried Eric Powell's Goon before, and it wasn't to my taste. I initially thought the same thing about Metalocaylpse, however, but giving it a few tries on Adult Swim eventually won me over completely. So when I saw that my favorite fictional animated heavy metal band, Dethklok, was crossing over with the Goon, I knew I had to give it a try. And so I did. And I didn't like it.

This reads like bad Metalocalypse fanfiction, which is weird, because creator Brendon Small was brought in to script doctor. Lines that might work in a late-night cartoon, however, fall completely flat on the page, but most of the dialogue just doesn't ring true as what the Dethklok characters would say, or perhaps how they'd say it. "Flat" and "untrue" describes the art, as well. I love Powell's art-- and when it comes to the Goonverse characters, he's right on. But when he draws the Dethklok gang, he does so in a flatter, less-defined, 2-D style, as best to ape the look of 2-D animation; it all just looks off somehow, contributing to the lifelessness of the whole thing.

I can see why they didn't credit a letter, though-- because the lettering is terrible. Maybe Augie De Blieck and I are the only folks who notice this kinda thing, but the first-- okay, maybe the third-- rule of lettering is (or should be) "don't cross your i's in the middle of a word." Down with the serifs! It makes the whole thing look ugly. The choice of font isn't exactly a winner, either. The writing was probably half-killed purely because of the lettering, which is, of course, antithetical.

So yeah, I'll stick to the cartoons.

Doctor Who: Room with a Déjà View by Rich "Bleeding Cool" Johnston, Eric J, Kris Carter, and Neil Uyetake (IDW)

If all time travel stories give Greg Burgas a headache, this one would probably kill him outright. Our hero, the Doctor, receives a distress call (or does he?) and investigates, landing in a isolated space station in the literal middle of nowhere (or is it?). There's been a murder (or has there?) and the prime suspect happens to be an alien fellow called a Counter, who lives his life backwards in time (or does h-- yes, yes he does), answering the Doctor's questions before he asks them. So, naturally, to unravel the mystery, the Doctor travels back in time-- over and over and over again-- to work out the chap's story. Because of this, a few sequences in the comic have to be read backwards to get the full poop, a clever little trick we'd probably never see on the TV show.

Rich Johnston nails the tenth Doctor's voice down pretty well, as the script sparkles with jokes, asides, and one-liners, but the emotional moments sell the whole story. The backwards interrogation scene is the central showcase, and the main conceit of the plot plays those clever tricks with time travel that we all like seeing. Eric J's art is often rough-hewn, but tells the story well enough; the script's clearly the star here, though.

I've praised a lot of comics to the hilt in this post, batting my eyes at them until they buy me one drink too many and whisk me off to their respective hotel rooms, but I have to say that this little book here is my comic of the month. I wouldn't mind seeing Rich get another crack at the Whoniverse. This is a really great little one-shot, doing the exact kind of thing these comic spin-offs should do: telling a good story in a manner the televised parent can't get away with.

Greek Street #1 by Peter Milligan, Davide Gianfelice, Patricia Mulvihill, and Clem Robins (DC/Vertigo)

I give every new Peter Milligan comic a chance, because Milligan's delivered a lot of my favorite comics over the years. This is not one of them. The premise, which adapts classic Greek tragedies to a dark, edgier, modern HBO setting is okay enough, sure, but the execution leaves me cold, and I liked Davide Gianfelice's artwork more in the first arc of Northlanders. It's worth picking up if you see it lying around, because it's one measly dollar for an oversized first issue, meaning everyone should give it a try, as it's bound to be the perfect comic for somebody. I'm not that guy, though.

My biggest gripe with this issue comes from the coloring, however. I guess it adheres to the standard Vertigo color palette, but it looks more like Patricia Mulvihill never met a shade of brown she didn't like. Browns, mauves, anything generally dark that bleeds well together with other tepid tones, making the art look more muddled than anything else. I picked up the second trade of Scalped, from the same colorist, and I could barely tell what was happening on some of the pages. Nothing really stands out; the characters on every page look like action figures sinking into mud. I don't know if it's the fault of the colors, or the paper stock, or both, but this is probably the drabbest comic you will see this summer.

Ignition City #4 by Warren Ellis, Gianluca Pagliarani, Chris Dreier, Digikore Studios, and why don't these comics credit letterers, darn it? (Avatar)

Ever notice the indicia in Avatar's books? "All characters as depicted in these stories are over the age of 18"? I'm sure that's left over from Avatar's, er, less savory publishing days, but since they've become the go-to place for original work from Ellis, Ennis, and even Moore, among others, it seems like something they could do away with, no?

Anyway, the comic. Ellis brings the goods here, giving us my favorite issue of the series thus far. The reason? It's almost all down to Doc Vukovic; every line he spews is absolute gold, from the bit you see above to "Science will fuck you!" and "They are stupider than mud that's been fucked by a donkey." What Vukovic really brings to the proceedings, though, is heart. Our protagonist Mary Raven is finally able to let her guard down, allowing Ellis to reveal the emotional core of the characters. The series works in detailing a place where all the glorious, forward-looking, optimistic pulp science fiction of old has a cynical shadow fall over it. The Buck Rogers analogue reveals the horror of the future that turned him into a broken man; a thug, spending all his time in the engine rooms of those old shiny ships, laments never having seen space; the old Doc has stopped wondering, stopped being curious, and it's ruined him. Cracks begin to show in the dark veneer, however, as Ellis lets a bit of hope and redemption leak through; the mad bastard is, of course, a big softie.

Gianluca Pagliarani's artwork looks less like lines on paper and more like woodcuts, or perhaps etchings on the side of a big metal spaceship that's starting to rust over. It's a fitting aesthetic for this book.

Lightning Round!

Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2 by Kieron Gillen, Kano, Álvaro Lopez, Javier Rodriguez, and Nate Piekos (Marvel)

This book's likely to fly under the radar of most "mainstream" readers, I'd imagine, except for the completists (get all those space horse comics!), and that small sect of comics aficionados who enjoy "quality." And yet, this probably sells five times or more than Gillen's baby, Phonogram.

Anyway, the comic. It's cleverly written, with some fine character work for comics' favorite Bill, and well drawn by Kano. And it still has that snazzy Simonson reprint in the back, complete with eye-singing primary coloring.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #26 by Jane Espenson, Georges Jeanty, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen, and Jimmy Betancourt (Dark Horse)

Joss Whedon has a strong pimp hand. This is why I'm still buying this series, which had, at one point, some forward plot momentum, but which took a year off to wander around and "find itself," like a pretentious teenager. And now Jane Espenson is kick-starting the plot again and throwing the whole cast in a room together because bloody hell, it's #26 and we haven't really done anything! When season nine-- which I'll probably buy, because pimp hand--  inevitably hits, I hope the cast shrinks considerably. We just can't care about faceless hordes of teen slayers getting impaled by faceless hordes of demons. The cast needs some serious trimming, and the thematic focus needs to go back to what it once was-- high school/college/growing up is hell. Not "my army is bigger than your army."

Anyway, the comic. Oz is back. Yay, Oz! Now can we get more racist Dracula?

Doctor Who #1 by Tony Lee, Al Davison, Lovern Kindzierski, and Robbie Robbins (IDW)

Here's the debut of the new Tony-Lee-driven ongoing Doctor Who series, and the last place we're going to be seeing the Tenth Doctor once David Tennant's final stories air at the end of this year. But even when Matt Smith graces our screen, we can still turn to IDW for more Doc Ten goodness. This issue's got the atmosphere of a 1970s episode with the gob of the Tenth Doctor, as he stumbles into old-timey Hollywood and runs into Charlie Chaplin-- oh, I'm sorry, Archie Maplin. That's the biggest problem with the issue-- the fact that something legal popped up at the last minute and turned Chaplin into Maplin. But that's what white-out is for. Meanwhile, Davison's art is solid, with some good facial work in spots, but the occasional awkward figure here or there. This crew seems to really "get it," and this series will sate Who fans' hunger as they wait for the next special to air.

I have no idea how Burgas does this reviewing thing every week. It took me two weeks just to write this.

16 Comments

• At August 13, 2009, Red 5 Comics » Blog Archive » Reviews for Red 5 Titles wrote:

  [...] Comic Book Resources It’s as funny, cool, and exciting as every other issue of Atomic Robo, which just goes ...

• At August 13, 2009, Joe wrote:

  The only problem with calling Captain Britain & MI13 would be that the internet would be complaining about "yet another ...

• At August 13, 2009, Matt wrote:

  Buffy Season 8, I want to love you, but you're taking waaaaay too long to do anything. We should already ...

• At August 13, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Isn't Chris Dreier the letterer on Ignition City?

• At August 13, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  You said it was funny, so I sincerely hope that Spidey 600 had more than just tired pop culture jokes. ...

• At August 13, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I got all excited thinking you had #3 of Batman And Robin to review... where is that thing?

  Also, it weirds ...

• At August 13, 2009, onion3000 wrote:

  'Captain Britain & MI13' should have been called "The Blighty Avengers."

• At August 13, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  "‘Captain Britain & MI13? should have been called..." the Cancelled Avengers. Buh-Bye.

• At August 13, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I'm glad you finally read a Spider-Man issue again. the fact is, despite all the complaints from the professional ...

• At August 13, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  .) But it seems half the guys on the internet refuse to even look at the book anymore, so they ...

• At August 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  (Two Guys, A Girl, & A Pizza Place? Yeah, that’s on-topic!)

  It is an outdated reference, but I loved that sitcom. ...

• At August 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Spider-Man is finally being done right again, even if they had to really screw things up to get it there. ...

• At August 14, 2009, Kieron Gillen wrote:

  Thanks, Bill. And, yes, it does.

  KG

• At August 14, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Greg -- Avatar books don't credit the letterer, so who it is is unknown... unless you just ask them.

• At August 14, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  For some reason, even though I clearly recognised the psychiatrist as Stan immediately, it never occured to me that the ...

• At August 15, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Chad: Yeah, I saw that Dreier was the inker after I posted. I always assumed the artist lettered the ...

Not as laugh-out-loud funny as usual, but with some quality humorous lines ("New plan. Drive away forever."). However, it's still ridiculously entertaining, surprisingly touching, and Wegener, not surprisingly, draws the crap out of it. I hope you're getting the trade if you're not getting the single issues.

Battlefields: The Tankies #3 (of 3) by Garth Ennis (writer), Carlos Ezquerra (penciller), Hector Ezquerra (inker), Tony Aviña (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

I guess there's not much to say about this. I like Ennis's war comics, so I like this. It's not as good as "Dear Billy," but that's okay. It does have a nice moment with a German talking to the Brits - Ennis does these kinds of things, with soldiers on different sides meeting and understanding the horror the war, very well - and it looks nice. It will be keen to see the new series next year.

Captain Britain and MI 13 #15 ("Vampire State: Conclusion") by Paul Cornell (writer), Leonard Kirk (penciler), Jay Leisten (inker), Brian Reber (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Well, thank God that's over. Now you can all be happy buying yet another shitty Avengers or X-Men comic and not feel guilty about skipping this. Let's hope Marvel never tries this shit again, because we all know well-written, well-drawn comics full of awesome moments, excellent characterization, brilliant plots and plot twists, and appearances by freakin' Death's Head can't sell at all as they don't star Wolverine. Now, if everyone can just stop buying Agents of Atlas, that would be super.

Fuck.

(Oh, I don't mean you guys, who are generally pretty discerning about what you buy - even if you weren't buying Captain Britain, you're buying something like Kramer's Ergot to make up for it. Let's just blame ... those mouthbreathers at the Jinxworld forums, okay? That'll work!)

Detective Comics #855 ("Elegy Part 2: Misterioso"/"Pipeline Chapter One Part Two") by Greg Rucka (writer), J. H. Williams III (artist, "Elegy"), Dave Stewart (colorist, "Elegy"), Todd Klein (letterer, "Elegy"), Cully Hamner (artist, "Pipeline"), Laura Martin (colorist, "Pipeline"), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer, "Pipeline"). $3.99, 30 pgs, FC, DC.

I like how Williams manages to work what happens in the comic into the work of art of the cover. In a world where we get far too many freakin' superhero pose covers, that's pretty nice.

As with the last issue, the art is the reason to buy this book, as Williams does his usual unbelievable job. I don't really have anything to say about his layouts and panels and the way he shifts styles throughout the book - Jog has probably already written all you need to know about the art, because he's smarter than I am. But it's a shame that Rucka isn't stepping up his game a bit more - I read a tiny and short preview of Stumptown at San Diego, and in about five pages, Rucka was better than he's been on two whole issues of this story. It's not that either story is bad, it's just that, like much of DC and Marvel's output these days, it's bland. Williams (and even Hamner) cover up most of the flaws, but it's still kind of dull. Batwoman even comments how ridiculous it is to have a second villain in Gotham City who takes their schtick from Alice in Wonderland. So Rucka is even aware how ridiculous "Alice" is. Frankly, the idea of Alice in Wonderland as creeped-out drug trip has been done so much in comics that it's a horrible cliché, so "Alice" is more idiotic than anything. I mean, I guess it wouldn't be as "iconic," but wouldn't it be cool if a Bat-villain modeled themselves after ... Kurtz in Heart of Darkness? Or Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (man, that guy is a tool)? Or the first Mrs. Rochester? Or Titus Andronicus from the Shakespeare play (man, that dude was nuts)? Or Warren Harding, the avatar of all that's evil in American history? Come on, comic book writers, get creative!!!! Going straight to Lewis Carroll betrays a lack of imagination, if you ask me.

Anyway, you know how, at least 213 times a year, Batman has to reminisce about his parents getting killed?* Well, apparently we can't have a Batwoman comic without our latest alternative-lifestyled heroine reminiscing about her origins either! Yay - she has some trauma in her past! That's why I always liked Tim Drake before DC decided to start, you know, slaughtering his family - he just wanted to be Batman because he thought it was the right thing to do, not because he had some childhood trauma. Couldn't our Indigo Girls-listening heroine been inspired by Bats to do the right thing? I guess not, and so we must cue the traumatic event from her childhood.

But at least someone gets shot in the head! Good times. Man, I can't wait for Stumptown to come out.

I will say that the final panel really looks silly, art-wise. Williams isn't perfect, apparently. It's so poorly-drawn that it looks goofy, and given the context, it's not supposed to look goofy. It's still better than the writing, so there's that.

* It's part of Bob Kane's diabolical contract with DC! Look it up!

Elephantmen War Toys: Yvette ("Nightingale") by Richard Starkings (writer), Moritat (artist), and Wright (colorist - Jason, probably, but it could be Gregory). $3.50, 29 pgs, FC, Image.

Starkings returns to Yvette, his protagonist from last year's War Toys mini-series (which was brilliant, by the way) and shows what happened in between the panels in a crucial moment from that series. We get to see Yvette and how she began to change from a typical resistance fighter to someone who could actually hunt and kill elephantmen. This is a brutally harsh story, one that fits well into the mini-series, and Starkings does his usual excellent job giving us a character who is pushed to the brink and tries desperately to hold onto her humanity. It's fascinating comparing Yvette's transformation to the struggle of the liberated elephantmen to become more human in the "present" of the book. Just as Yvette needs to find her inner animal, so to speak, so Hip and his cronies need to find their inner human. It's tragic watching Yvette become something else even as we realize that this will make her a more efficient enemy of the hybrids and perhaps allow her to help her fellow humans. We always feel for this kind of character in fiction, an outsider who does what needs to be done in order to help her fellows but loses something in the process, and Yvette is no exception. That Starkings does it so well in such a short time speaks, again, to his ability with these characters. Moritat's art is staggering, and I should have asked him if he's doing anything different with it. When he was the regular penciller on the book (and he's going to be back soon, apparently), his lines were much crisper, which befitted the feel of a futuristic epic. His black-and-white work on War Toys was much rougher, however, and in this issue, which is colored, is also rougher. It feels like a war story, with Yvette trying to overcome the terror she feels as she desperately kills her enemies. It's magnificent art, and it's interesting to see the shift in style from Moritat.

As usual, I struggle to find new ways to praise this comic. But it's richly deserved. And this is a one-shot (even though it ties into the mini-series), so you can get a good feel for the comic from just this one issue!

Gemini #4 (of 5) by Jay Faerber (writer), Jon Sommariva (artist/colorist), Fares Maese (colorist), E. Bola (colorist), Fco Plascencia (colorist), and Rus Wooton (letterer). $3.50, 26 pgs, FC, Image.

Boy, it's been a while, hasn't it? I'm not sure I should even review this, because it's been so long that those who were buying it may have given up and decided to wait for the trade. I certainly can't fault them for that. It's a pretty good issue, though, as Gemini fights Dynamo 5 and Faerber, like he's been doing for most of this decade, twists the superhero cliché of two heroes fighting just enough to make it interesting - in this case, the kids from Dynamo 5 don't know who Gemini is, but they quickly begin to figure it out because they listen to him and his former handler instead of just mindlessly fighting. Wow, imagine that!

I guess the final issue is on track for release, so that's cool. Of course, you're probably waiting for the trade, right?

Hellblazer #257 ("Hooked Part Two of Three: Temptation") by Peter Milligan (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (layouter), Stefano Landini (finisher), Jamie Grant (colorist), and Sal Cipriano (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Dang, I love Phoebe. Milligan better not fuck with her!

Ignition City #4 (of 5) by Warren Ellis (writer), Gianluca Pagliarani (illustrater), Chris Dreier (inker), and Digikore Studios (colorist). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Avatar.

I'm really enjoying this series, as Ellis is really doing a nice job balancing the wackiness of pulp science with the mystery of what happened to Mary's dad. Pagliarani shines in this issue, too, as Mary finishes her gunfight with the bad guys and we get more glimpses of the future, which is typically horrible. As this is the penultimate issue, Ellis gives us some answers, although he cheats and deliberately withholds the big secret - boo, Ellis! That's okay, because Ellis has fun with Dr. Vukovic. Mary tells him his house smells weird, and he says "It smells of SCIENCE!" Then he calls the men who destroy his stuff "stupider than mud that's been fucked by a donkey." I'm not sure why getting fucked by a donkey makes mud stupider, but what the hell, right?

I suppose I'll have to wait until the final issue comes out to see if Ellis pulls this whole thing off, but right now, it's really going well. I just wish Ellis would make scads of money off of this so we didn't get yet another Iron Man mini-series from him. Oh well.

The Incredible Hercules #131 ("The Harrowing") by Greg Pak (writer), Fred van Lente (writer), Ryan Stegman (penciler), Terry Pallot (inker), Raúl Treviño (colorist), Chris Sotomayor (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Reasons why Simon Bowland should win an Eisner for lettering based solely on this issue:

1. When "mortal" Hercules hits "immortal" Hercules in the mouth, the sound effect is "jawcrack."
2. When "our" Hercules kicks "their" Hercules in the gut, the sound effect is "crackajammatu."
3. When "their" Hercules flies through a strangely familiar hellish landscape, the sound effect is "bosch."
4. When "mortal" Hercules kicks back, the sound effect is "ardhisdoree."
5. When "immortal" Hercules flies through the air into a boulder pushed by a certain Greek king and smashes it, the sound effect is "powdah."
6. When said Greek king celebrates because his ordeal is over but then another boulder magically reappears, the sound effect is "sisy-poof."
7. When "our" Hercules backhands "their" Hercules, the sound effect is "bichslapp."
8. When "mortal" Hercules rips away a flaming wheel from some dude, the sound effect is "ixion."
9. When "our" Hercules busts up the wheel, the sound effect is "splintuh."

I get joy out of such strange things, don't I? Seriously - give that man an Eisner!

The Life and Times of Savior 28 #4 ("Enemy Combatants") by J. M. DeMatteis (writer), Mike Cavallaro (artist), Andrew Covalt (colorist), and Neil Uyetake (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, IDW.

You want a review? You got one!

The Lone Ranger #17 ("Resolve") by Brett Matthews (writer), Sergio Cariello (artist), Marcelo Pinto (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

I'm glad that Dynamite decided to stop releasing this book until an arc was done, because the delays between issues was really annoying, even though I'm much more willing to cut books like this some slack. I just hope they're right and that we'll get a few consecutive months with this title, which continues to be a very entertaining book. Matthews tells straightforward stories, Cariello illustrates them very well, and you can almost hear the theme music as you read. Even the brutal parts of the book - Cavendish is still hanging around, and doing horrible things - are not as awful and graphic as you might find in any random superhero comic these days, but they still have an impact. It's refreshing to read a comic where the heroes do heroic things, the villain does evil things, and the woman isn't simply waiting around for the hero to come home. Take a break from heroes tap-dancing on villains' brains and check this out!

Madame Xanadu #13 ("Exodus Noir Part Three: Ware Not the Dead") by Matt Wagner (writer), Michael Wm. Kaluta (artist), Dave Stewart (colorist), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

After reading the trade of the first ten issues (13 bucks for 10 issues - why would I buy single issues?) and the first three issues of this arc, I'm not sure if I'm ready to start buying this series once Kaluta leaves, but this is shaping up to be a fairly nice story. Wagner is giving us a nice pulp mystery with weird Moroccans and demon dogs and guest appearances by Wesley Dodds (Wagner, remember, wrote most of his adventures back when he had his own series) and terrible magic, plus the flashback to 1493, where Ms. Xanadu is still getting it on with a hot young redhead and the Inquisition is starting to think there's something fishy about two hot women sharing a room. I mean, what could be weird about that?

It's a sumptuously drawn book, to be sure, and the story fits Kaluta's skills in a way that it might not Amy Reeder Hadley's, so it's a nice shift in the storytelling of Wagner. I'm still reserving judgment on it, obviously, until it's finished, but so far it's pretty good.

Northlanders #19 ("The Shield Maidens Part 2 of 2") by Brian Wood (writer), Danijel Zezelj (artist), Dave McCaig (colorist), and Travis Lanham (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Wood, as he always does with these arcs, starts off with violence and uses it to examine other aspects of society and culture, in a way that's kind of sneaky but much appreciated. Like the two-issue story about Lindisfarne, this story has an element of the pagan culture of the Norse clashing with the Christian culture of the Saxons, but it also gives us a glimpse into the way women were viewed in this era. It's interesting that Grettr, one of the Viking women, is familiar enough with Christianity that she can make value judgments about it (whether she's right or not is inconsequential - ninth-century Christian culture was far more complex than she thinks, or indeed could be discussed in a 22-page comic book, but that's neither here nor there, really), as it implies that the Norse women, at least, were more involved in their world than we might expect. We've seen this throughout the series, and Wood makes it explicit in this story. It's also interesting that later, Grettr narrates that they are spinsters, and "well-regarded," implying that Norse women weren't quite as "independent" as they'd like to think - what if they had been younger and still marriageable? Would they have been able to live independently? Quite a few Christian widows were able to live as Grettr, Lif, and Thyra could. What's nice about this series is that Wood, for all his seemingly black-and-white pronouncements, is usually much more subtle when it comes right down to it. History is far more subtle than we like to think, and Wood gives us both the big, bloody battles and the more interesting societal forces working upon these characters.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't get lots of people getting killed, and Zezelj does a magnificent job with that, along with McCaig, who changes colors to highlight the battle. The full page of the ocean across which the ladies must swim is beautiful, evoking the fear that even those accustomed to the water have of it.

As always, this book is very good if you don't know the history, but knowing it makes things a bit more ironic. At one point, Thyra tells a priest, "We own nearly this whole island ... only your sickly king in Wessex remains." The king at this time was Æthelred, and while he was a lousy king, his death in 871 paved the way for his brother Alfred, the only English monarch called "the Great," who was quite good at beating the Danes later in his career. I know people like Bill Reed don't care about this, but I think it's neat.

Phonogram: The Singles Club #4 (of 7) ("Konichiwa Bitches"/"Roses"/"Theory and Practice") by Kieron Gillen (writer), Jamie McKelvie (artist/letterer), and Matthew Wilson (colorist). "Roses" by Kieron Gillen (writer), David LaFuente (artist), and Christina Strain (colorist); "Theory and Practice" by Kieron Gillen (writer) and Charity Larrison (artist). $3.50, 27 pgs, FC, Image.

If I were to tell you that this entire comic book (well, the main story) features a six-panel grid with the same two people in said panels for 13 of its 16 pages, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's boring. If I tell you it's not, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Alan Moore wrote it and it's all about the power of sex magic, and it's not possible that the art could be any good. Well, my friends, in my increasingly futile attempts to remain objective about Phonogram, I can tell you this is not only written brilliantly, but drawn wonderfully as well. Gillen gives us Seth Bingo and Silent Girl (who talks quite a bit in this issue) DJing at the club where the book occurs, and the dialogue is astonishing. It's simply Seth griping about the musical tastes of everyone in the room and Silent Girl undermining him, and it builds to a double-page spread that summarizes pretty much what this mini-series is about. As the middle issue of the series, it provides the fulcrum of Gillen's theme, and he gets there so naturally that we excuse and even embrace the bombastic and wee bit pretentious idea that he's toying with. And if you think McKelvie can't draw the same two people standing at a turntable set for almost the entire issue, well, you've never read a McKelvie comic before. Just looking at the way Seth and Silent Girl interact in this book is wonderful, and you can do it without the dialogue and know exactly what each is feeling. The two pages where Silent Girl breaks out Blondie's "Atomic" are masterful - Seth is determined to pump the party up, and his face is set to do just that. When Silent Girl gets the disc out, we get the holy light of Blondie bathing the two (literally) and Seth must look away while Silent Girl, who's wearing protective goggles (seriously), gazes in wonder upon the glory of the disc. When the track starts playing, they both affect disinterest until the music starts, and then they sing along, building to a glorious shout of "Atomic!" It's this kind of attention to detail that makes both the writing and art on Phonogram such a joy to look at. McKelvie does this throughout, and as usual, I'm not sure how these two gentlemen manage to create such brilliant stories in 16 short pages, but I'm certainly glad they do.

Power Girl #3 ("Gorilla Warfare") by Justin Gray (writer), Jimmy Palmiotti (writer), Amanda Conner (artist), Paul Mounts (colorist), and John J. Hill (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

As I mentioned, I'm going to buy the next two issues based on Palmiotti's recommendation (and the final pages that set up the next issue look pretty keen), but I wish the first three had been better. This issue is somewhat anticlimactic, and when your star is reduced to a supporting role in her own book, that's not good. I guess DC editorial wanted the JSA in this to tie it to that book a bit, but let's hope PG gets to go solo next issue. And it would be nice if the bad guys, who have been fighting female heroes for decades, wouldn't fall back on the "fragile and weak-minded female" cliché. As we saw in this arc, Ultra-Humanite was allied with a strong and totally evil woman, so even if he doesn't respect women, would he really think they're fragile and weak-minded? I don't know why that bugged me, but it did. Oh well. You know who's awesome? Amanda Conner, that's who. But you already knew that.

Rapture #3 (of 6) by Taki Soma (storier/layouter), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Val Staples (colorist), and Thomas Mauer (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Dark Horse.

You know who else is awesome? Val Staples. Okay, discerning readers have probably already figured that out, but he doesn't get to cut loose all that much on the Brubillips books (Criminal and Incognito), so it's occasionally hard to see why he's so good. But here, he turns Soma and Oeming's odd post-apocalyptic superhero/horror epic (Geoff Johns should read this to see superhero horror done right) into a truly bizzare and almost surreal comic, with too-bright colors on some pages, too many magentas and blues on others, almost sickening reds on some pages - none of it should work, really, but Staples chooses just the right hues to make this a horrifying yet richly textured superhero comic that nevertheless unsettles us. Soma and Oeming do some gore, sure (not as much as a certain space cop/zombie story), but when they do, it's fairly shocking, and Staples's bright red blood against the red brick makes the whole scene even more disturbing than the buckets of black blood being spilled elsewhere. I'm sorry to keep bringing up that comic, but Soma and Oeming do a very good job showing the gore judiciously, and Staples's coloring makes it feel worse than William Hand shooting himself in the head, even if that was more graphic. This is an odd yet very effective comic, and part of it is due to Staples. Celebrate the colorist!

Secret Warriors #6 by Brian Michael Bendis (storier), Jonathan Hickman (storier/scripter), Stefano Caselli (artist), Daniele Rudoni (colorist), and Dave Lanphear (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

So I'm reading this, trying to decide if I want to keep buying it or not, because the superpowered people just aren't that interesting so far, and most of this issue is those same superpowered people beating up other superpowered people and who cares about that, really? but then Nick Fury turns to Dum Dum Dugan and tells him he has one month until they get serious and Dugan responds, "You give me a month and I'll deliver to you the baddest bunch of evil bastards this world has ever seen. I'll give you Howling Commandos ready to bark at the moon and bite at the sun. Nick, you give me a month and I'll raise a damn army" and I had to stop myself from saying aloud, "HELL FUCKING YEAH!!!!!" So yeah, as long as Hickman does that and maybe, just maybe, kills off all the superpowered people in the next few issues, I'll be on board. Sheesh, I may even start buying Fantastic Four based on that page.

Unknown Soldier #10 ("Easy Kill Chapter Three") by Joshua Dysart (writer), Alberto Ponticelli (artist), Oscar Celestini (colorist), and Clem Robins (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Once again, Dysart manages to get some socio-political commentary into his book, which is nice to see as he's not being so terribly overt about it like he was early on. Moses's rant comes from the character and what he's been through, and it's a shocking moment because we thought Dysart was going one way with the story, and now suddenly it's back to where it started, which means trouble. Because the politics comes from Moses's guilt (which it does, as he does something horrible early in the book for which he can't atone), it's more forceful. It also comes from his "programming," for lack of a better word, and is a violent manifestation of something he discusses calmly with his wife earlier in the book (in a dream sequence, that is). So it works very well within the book.

I don't know if this book is doing well or not, but I hope it is, because every issue is getting better, and that's always good to see. I'm curious to see where Dysart is going with this.

And I can't help it, but Moses's dream of himself at the opera (which is different from the one where he talks with his wife) didn't work as well because when I saw the red bull, I thought of this movie, which we own on DVD and which my younger daughter likes quite a bit. So I chuckled at a point in the book where I probably shouldn't have. But that's really my problem, isn't it?

Wasteland #25 ("Planet Caravan") by Antony Johnston (writer), Christopher Mitten (artist/painter), and Douglas E. Sherwood (letterer). $5.99, 44 pgs, FC, Oni Press.

When the Big Two claim something is "double-sized," they tend to lie, as we've often seen. However, this comic is 44 pages of solid story! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Joey Q and Danny D!

If you've never read an issue of Wasteland, despite this being six dollars, it's not a bad place to start. Johnston steps back from the regular story to give us a tale from a decade earlier, in which one of our main characters (Michael) has dealings with one of our minor characters (Sultan Ameer). It's a story that shows why the two men don't really like each other, and it gives us a very nice background of the world Johnston has built. And you don't have to know all the various people and the way they relate to each other, as they don't appear.

Mitten's art, however, is why this book is so stunning. The book has always been in black and white, and while that works well for the post-apocalyptic landscape in which the book takes place, the painted colors in this book are amazing. Mitten does a magnificent job using various shades of tan, which sounds boring but really gives the book a "desert" look (believe me, if you move to the desert, you'll be amazed at how many different shades of tan there are) and also makes the brighter colors (when they occur) pop wonderfully. When night falls in the desert, Mitten gives us gorgeous yet slightly creepy purples and blues, so that the landscape itself looks bruised. It's a harsh world these characters inhabit, and while Mitten usually shows this through the starkness of the landscape, in this book he's able to do it through the coloring. And there are a couple of double-paged spreads that are brilliant. Johnston's story is solid (as usual), but Mitten's art is staggering.

Johnston told me the book is back on track, which is nice. I don't mind waiting for issues that deliver, as this does, but I like the book so much that I really want to read the next issue. Man, I don't know how some people wait for the trade on some comics.

We Kill Monsters #1 (of 6) by Christopher Leone (writer), Laura Harkcom (storier), Brian Churilla (penciller/inker), Hilary Barta (inker), Ronda Pattison (colorist), and Jeff Powell (letterer). $3.50, 32 pgs, FC, Red 5 Comics.

The folk at the Red 5 booth gave this to me for free at San Diego, so I figured the swell thing to do is review it, right? I wasn't going to order it based on the preview I read, because it seemed okay but nothing great. If I read good things about it, I could always get the trade, right?

Well, I'm still of that opinion. I actually like it more than I thought it would, because Leone does a nice job establishing the characters of Jake and Drew, two mechanic brothers who accidentally get caught up in monster-killing. While we think Drew is a bit of an idiot for choosing his brother over a girl, Leone does a nice job showing why he does so. Churilla does a good job with the action, which takes up quite a lot of the issue. Drew and Jake get attacked by a monster, kill it, and then get chased by another when they drag the corpse of the first one home. Along the way Jake gets injured, but some strange monster brain juice heals him - well, it then turns his arm into a monster arm, so maybe "heal" isn't the right word. Of course, they soon discover that one of the monsters was pregnant, so there will be more of them!

It's a pretty good first issue, establishing the characters, giving them a reason to do the things they do, and setting up the rest of the series. Leone keeps the monsters' origin a secret, of course, because Drew and Jake don't have time to figure that out right now. Churilla has a good solid line, and his style helps create a "real"-looking world that helps us accept the presence of a big three-eyed monster or two. I'm still pretty sure I'm going to wait for the trade, unless I happen to see the second issue and like what I see, but this is a solid debut.

Wednesday Comics #3-4 (of 12) by many. $3.99, 15 pgs, FC, DC.

Let's review these all using one, count it, ONE word for each story, okay?

Batman (Azzarello, Risso, Robins, Mulvihill): Skeevy!¹

Kamandi (Gibbons, Sook): Valiant!

Superman (Arcudi, Bermejo, Ciardo, Lopez): Emo-tastic!

Deadman (Bullock, Heuck, Stewart): Awesome!

Green Lantern (Busiek, Quinones, Brosseau): Kennedy-esque!

Metamorpho (Gaiman, Allred, Allred, Piekos): Mysterious!

Teen Titans (Berganza, Galloway, Napolitano): Vexing!

Strange Adventures (Pope, Villarrubia): Pulptacular!

Supergirl (Palmiotti, Conner, Mounts, Hill): Goofy!

Metal Men (DiDio, Garcia-Lopez, Nowlan, Lopez, Mulvihill): Good?²

Wonder Woman (Caldwell): Skippable!

Sgt. Rock and Easy Co. (Kubert, Kubert): Decompressed!

Flash Comics (Kerschl, Fletcher, Leigh, McCaig): Headache-inducing!³

The Demon and Catwoman (Simonson, Steelfreeze, Wands): Rhymeless!

Hawkman (Baker): Aqua-diss!

¹ Because of Bruce coming onto the widow, don't you know. Ewwwww.
² I'm not questioning that it's good, I'm questioning that I don't know how a Didio-written story is good.
³ Because of the time travel. Dang, I hate time travel stories.

As this is two weeks' worth of books, let's get two totally random lyrics!

1.
"You say your protection
Is proof of your affection
If I need security
I'll keep a gun on me
Don't barter with me
Don't barter with me

Little sacrifices
Go straight to heaven
But hunting season's over
This is the twentieth century
Don't barter with me"

2.
"Let's go outside to a dark place
Where the kitty cat hides
Put on your fake wings
Give the moon a ride
When you're lonely for the angel inside

Three-thirty in the morning is too easy for you
But when it comes without a warning
What are you gonna do this time?"

The only clue I will give you is that, in accordance with Seth Bingo's rules, "female vocalists only." Although I doubt if he'd approve of the selection.

Man, it's good to be back. Now I just have to read a ton of comics!

32 Comments

• At July 30, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  You know, lots of people think that Warren G. Harding was the worst president, but everybody forgets that Grover Cleveland ...

• At July 30, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  And I do know who Aethelred and Alfred are! I took a Medieval Lit class. I did not enjoy it, ...

• At July 30, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  And I love time travel stories, and am never confused by them. Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey. Suck it, Burgas!

• At July 30, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  I like that you're trying to give colorists love. Also, I'm thinking we should start a petition to get Bowland ...

• At July 30, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  "Wake me up when they do a Neil Diamond issue."

  I think the Earth ending will do that for you, but ...

• At July 30, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  Okay, I really need to write a movie script about Grover Cleave-land, the only President to serve non-consecutive terms and ...

• At July 30, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  You guys are weird.

  That's okay about Phonogram, Bill, we know you're soulless anyway!

  Man, a lot of presidents were evil. ...

• At July 30, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  "You guys are weird."

  When Grover Cleave-land becomes a franchise, you will choke on those words. Well, about me. Bill's pretty ...

• At July 30, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I actually like Britpop, by which I mean Pulp is one of my favorite bands. Are they Britpop? I know ...

• At July 30, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Anyway, I figure that dude just writes in whatever sound effects the writers tell him too, you know? And don't ...

• At July 30, 2009, Joe wrote:

  (Oh, I don’t mean you guys, who are generally pretty discerning about what you buy – even if you weren’t ...

• At July 30, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Hey, if you buy them both, Joe, more power to you!

• At July 30, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Bill: Well, I hope whoever did those sound effects gets a special Eisner for Awesomeness.

  And I love Neil Diamond. ...

• At July 30, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  The Demon may not be rhyming, but he *is* speaking in blank verse. And I'd include a wiki link to ...

• At July 31, 2009, Chris McAree wrote:

  I felt like a fanboy when DH showed up in Captain Britain. One small caveat is I always preferred the ...

• At July 31, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  I've bought every issue of Phonogram so far purely because of the art. It's just beautiful stuff but I can't ...

• At July 31, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Michael: He's speaking in iambic pentameter, isn't he? At least some of the time.

  Dude: The funny thing is, I ...

• At July 31, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  I thought that too when Gillen talked about The Smiths last issue as a "seminal band". God, I hate them ...

• At July 31, 2009, Brian Wood wrote:

  "Quite a few Christian widows were able to live as Grettr, Lif, and Thyra could."

  Names, Greg, I want their names.

  b

• At July 31, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Let's see, Brian, there was ...

  Oh, sure, like I can give you names! As I'm sure you know, sources ...

• At July 31, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  Blank verse *is* unrhymed iambic pentameter.

• At July 31, 2009, Ethan S wrote:

  Having recently acquired that hardcover of Kirby's Demon, I have to say I love the Wednesday Comics version. Sure, Etrigan ...

• At July 31, 2009, Brian Wood wrote:

  Sure, 'rich' being a crucial factor, but the Church was forever trying to devise ways of separating people from their ...

• At July 31, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  "Also: Neil Diamond’s sequins are totally part of some magic spell. For serious. You’ll see when I write my epic ...

• At July 31, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  That's true, Brian. I would argue that ninth-century Christianity (Christianity up until the early 13th century, in fact) was ...

• At July 31, 2009, Keith wrote:

  I haven't read Hellblazer yet, but it's on my list to pick up, eventually.

  Does anyone think Milligan makes ...

• At July 31, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Wow, I totally forgot the Coach character ever existed.

  I need to reread X-Force. And X-Statix.

• At July 31, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  Oh wow, I completely missed all those Hercules sound-effects, that's brilliant! Eisner, definitely.

• At August 1, 2009, Stephen wrote:

  "That’s why I always liked Tim Drake before DC decided to start, you know, slaughtering his family – he just ...

• At August 2, 2009, Random Stranger wrote:

  A Harding-themed Batman villain could finally return Gotham to a state of villaincy.

• At August 6, 2009, 3 million Years » Blog Archive » Captain Britain & MI:13 #15 wrote:

  [...] think this from CBR says it [...]

• At August 13, 2009, Red 5 Comics » Blog Archive » Reviews for Red 5 Titles wrote:

  [...] Comic Book Resources Still ridiculously entertaining, surprisingly touching, and Wegener, not surprisingly, draws the crap out of it. I ...

Atomic Robo: Shadow from Beyond Time #2 by Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener, Ronda Pattison, and Jeff Powell (Red 5)

This, my friends, was my favorite comic from June 2009. Mark it in your ledger!

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener have perfected their shared wavelength and created the most entertaining comic on the stands. Clevinger's plotting is perfectly pared down to the essentials-- after all that fun banter and exposition in part one, this episode's all action, but not without its fair share of hilarious dialogue, be it Charles Fort's mixture of eagerness and incredulity ("Edison would never allow the likes of you or I near his necrophone"), or Robo's carphone conversation with Nikola Tesla, in which he tries to act like nothing's wrong and he's not chasing down a giant Lovecraftian (literally!) beastie with a carful of lightning guns. Meanwhile, Wegener's artwork is crispier than fried chicken, his facial cartooning brilliant-- it's marvelous how he can eke so much emotion out of a character who, by all rights, doesn't have a face.

It's in the last handful of pages, however, where Clev and Weg (as they shall now be known) really hit me, as Robo literally turns things up to 11 and the reader is handed the most badass, exciting comic book moment I've read in ages. It's flawlessly paced, the epitome of action storytelling. "There's one underlying scientific principle common to all existence. ... Everything explodes." That's the best way to describe Atomic Robo-- explosively awesome. And not in the "Taco Bell put the fear of God in me" way.

Batman & Robin #1 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Alex Sinclair, and Pat Brosseau (DC)

I suppose the title is technically "Batman and Robin," but I enjoy typing ampersands. What can I say about this comic that hasn't already been said? Nothing, probably. Heck, reviews of the second ish are already out and I've just sat down with the first! Egads, Bill, get with the times! Batman & Robin #1 is so last month!

G-Mo and F-Qui have this thing down to a literal science by now. They have become such a well-oiled machine that one expects nothing less than perfection from their collaborations, and we pretty much get that here. I loved the hell out of this thing, from the vibrant yellow background on the cover to the flying Batmobile to Quitely putting the sound effects into the art to the decrepit remnants of the giant mechanical dinosaur to the cutaway of the Bat-Bunker (which I did hope would be a bigger drawing, I admit), to Damian calling Alfred "Pennyworth" to the paracapes to the brilliantly disturbing new baddie Pyg. And now I'm out of breath. But yes, absolutely gorgeous and electric, giving me the same chills I got with Morrison and Quitely's first issue of New X-Men. You might as well call this New Batman, because that's what it is. I didn't think I'd care about Dick Grayson in the Batsuit, but I'd read it forever if these two Scottish blokes were in charge. Really, there is no need for another Batman comic besides this one.

So there, I've just repeated what everybody else said. But man! What a cool comic! Why couldn't Morrison's whole run to date have been like this?

Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #1 by Kieron Gillen, Kano, Alvaro Lopez, Javier Rodriguez, and Nate Piekos (Marvel)

Kieron Gillen writing pop comics about hip music and the cool cats who dance to it? I can't wrap my brain around that. Kieron Gillen writing an action comic about a space horse with the power of a Norse god who decides to kill an unstoppable force that devours planets? Hell yeah, sign me up.

I get the feeling that Gillen's going to be a big name in a couple years, one of those go-to guys at Marvel who follow the same path as Matt Fraction or Jason Aaron-- they'll wow you with their early creator-owned work and then start spinning cool superhero yarns, but they gotta start by paying their dues. And so Kieron Gillen gets to write a mini-series about one of my favorite characters, the noble alien warrior with a face like a dead horse who shares my name and flies a talking spaceship named Skuttlebutt. I'm surprised to see Beta Ray Bill getting the spotlight as regularly as he has been, what with the mini-series and one-shots and team books he's appeared in over the last few years. What once was maybe a novelty pet character of Walt Simonson's is apparently a favorite of some editor out there, and so we're blessed with books like Godhunter, which is about the titular Bill deciding Galactus needs to die, and going about the mission. It brings him into contact with SWORD, which puts him in the path of of a being who disintegrates folks with his cosmic organ music-- yes, that happens-- and then into a smackdown with one of Big G's heralds. And yeah, the story is pretty groovy, and it could be going places, so I'll be looking forward to the second issue.

Kano should probably be a star by now, but it seems he keeps getting overlooked for the big assignments, and that's a shame, as he really bridges the gap between a looser, cartoonier line, and more of what's the Marvel house style, but it gives the art a real verve.

This puppy's a whole lotta pages for four bucks and has no ads! What it does have, though, is a reprint of Thor #337, the first appearance of Beta Ray Bill, written and drawn by Walt Simonson. I've got this issue in my collection already, but what really struck me in perusing the reprint were the colors, especially when compared to the new story. George Roussos provided the original coloring to this old story; on newsprint, it looked cool, rife with Benday dots, but on these slick magazine pages, the bold flat colors throttle one's retinas-- in a good way, of course.

Take a look at the two panels above. Which ones excites you more? Yes, coloring is far more of an art in comics these days, and I do enjoy the various digital brush strokes you can see in Thor's face on the opening pages, but these bombastic colors in the back half of the mag really command my attention. A lot of coloring these days feels really over-rendered, which gives the pages a muddled feel, and certain contributes to the "sameyness" of Marvel art. Loads of careful attention is paid to the comics page these days, but I can't help be more enchanted by the almost violent, done-by-hand work of Simonson, Workman, and Roussos in some old issue of Thor.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Vampires by Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, Dave Stewart, and Comicraft's Jimmy (Dark Horse)

I made sure to buy the one that had the Moon-n-Ba cover, because those two gents are awesome.

What Cloonan and Lolos give us here is something only tangentially related to the Buffyverse, but I'm glad that Buffy logo is on there, because that means a lot more people are gonna buy this comic, which is superbly crafted. Cloonan works away at the periphery of the Buffy mythos-- folks know vampires exist now, sure, and slayers are out there, but Nashua, New Hampshire is far from the Hellmouth (well, closer to the one in Cleveland), and dull teenage life is still dull teenage life. Jacob yearns for more, and he gets it-- at a price, of course. It's about choices, and bad ones, specifically.

Cloonan's known for her art, but she really sells the script here, especially with the mother character. Lolos' art is excellent as always, deftly cartooned, letting the primary characters be almost swallowed by the empty backgrounds, until the vampires bring everything into close-up.

Dave Stewart's colors are magnificent. There's a reason he's the best in the biz, and it helps that he falls more in line with what I talked about above. Many of the colors here are subdued-- lots of mauve, surprisingly-- but that works to the art's advantage. I dig Stewart's play with light, whether in the panel above with the parking lot lamps, or with the shadow that so often appears on the protagonist's face for the first half of the book.

So yeah, it's a good book, probably more akin to Demo than any issue of Buffy, and I hope the usual Buffy audience picks it up and responds well to it.

Lightning Round!

Astonishing X-Men #30 by Warren Ellis, Simone Bianchi, Andrea Silvestri, Simone Peruzzi, Morry Hollowell, and Chris Eliopoulos (Marvel)

A lot of folks rag on Simone Bianchi's art, and I'll say this: I really dig it. It's not the most dynamic, and the storytelling isn't necessarily brilliant, but my word, look at those ink washes! Every page of this looks like it wasn't sullied by mere human birth but instead brought down from Olympus by the god of storks himself and raised on pure, massaged Kobe beef. Other than that, the story finally decides to go places in its last chapter and the X-Men become dark, mean, genocidal maniacs. Maybe this is the beginnings of a dark, longform plot from Mr. Ellis, but it takes a lot to make me enjoy an X-Men comic, and I don't feel I'll be back for the next arc. Sorry, chaps.

Captain Britain & MI13 Annual #1/#14 by Paul Cornell, Mike Collins, Adrian Alphona, Leonard Kirk, Ardian Syaf, Livesay, Jay Leisten, Craig Yeun, Jay David Ramos, Christina Strain, Brian Reber, and Joe Caramanga (Marvel)

You know, I read the Annual, and still I feel that I don't know anything about Meggan or the game of cricket. There's not much in here to excite me or make me really care about the characters. Sorry, Paul! But I did very much enjoy #14. Yes, the opening negates the previous issue's balls-to-the-wall cliffhanger, but it does so using pieces earned from previous stories. Things are heating up for the big finale, and I'm looking forward to it, though I'm saddened that the end is near.

Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye #3 by Grant Morrison, Cameron Stewart, Dave Stewart (no relation), and Todd Klein (DC/Vertigo)

I was going to write about this here, but I'm now considering saving my thoughts for a larger standalone post. But it may just have redeemed this mini-series for me; I'll have to reread the series and get back to you later. Promise!

Two-in-One Review!

Doctor Who: Autopia by John Ostrander, Kelly Yates, Kris Carter, and Kubikiri (IDW)

Thor: The Trial of Thor by Peter Milligan, Cary Nord, Christina Strain, and Joe Caramanga (Marvel)

I try not to buy comics whose titles don't start with A, B, or C, but sometimes I make exceptions.

I've lumped these two comics together because they both provoke the same feeling in me, which is that they feel like comics you'd find in a three-for-a-dollar bin in the back of a comic shop, wedged between unloved issues of Dan Jurgens' Justice League run. By which I mean they both exude the less-than-sexy aroma of the dreaded "filler." This Thor book is not unlike a random Thor annual you'd find in the early 80s, only with better coloring, and the Doctor Who comic lacks any of the more interesting or exciting ideas and developments you'd find in the show; it's just what one fears when they open a licensed comic.

I know Ostrander and Milligan are good writers-- I've read their good writing! I feel they're more capable than this. Both comics just kinda go through the motions, shuffling towards the inevitable when they happen to run out of pages and the plot decides to stop. The artists do their best with the material-- Kelly Yates' cartooning is quite polished, and he storytells the hell out of a plot that mostly consists of guys and robots standing around; Cary Nord draws a mean fantasy barbarian comic, and this issue is no exception.

Neither book, however, thrilled, intrigued, or otherwise truly entertained me. There's nothing inherently wrong with these comics-- everybody does a professional job, nothing stands out as an eyesore-- but they're just kinda there. A mediocre comic from good creators is the most depressing comic of them all.

5 Comments

• At July 2, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Trial of Thor is almost worth it just for the whole CSI: Asgard element. I would totally buy a comic ...

• At July 2, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Wegener’s artwork is crispier than fried chicken

  If Red 5 doesn't use that as a pull-quote and slap it on the ...

• At July 3, 2009, Cass wrote:

  SPOILERS: I hated that it was the dwarves at the end of Milligan's Thor. I'd read Ages of Thunder and ...

• At July 3, 2009, Scott! wrote:

  I agree with Ian =D

  Gonna email this one to the bosses right now.

• At July 3, 2009, Philip Ayres wrote:

  > You know, I read the Annual, and still I feel that I don’t know anything about Meggan or the ...