After the Surtur saga ends with Odin being taken off the board, this just keeps going with the epic storylines. We get considerably less Beta Ray Bill and considerably more Sal Buscema art, but neither's a bad thing, really.

I also wound up getting the Balder the Brave mini which tied in to the Siege of Hel storyline (which in turn gave us this classic story. I'd find the "buy another comic to get the full story!" trick annoying today (in fact, it's why I'm not buying Uncanny X-Men right now; I don't want to read Dark Avengers, even if it's written by Fraction. The $4 price tag doesn't help either).*

I had no problem with it in this case, though. It was nice that it wound up being more than just gimmickry, as Simonson picked up the plot thread in his swan song on the book, too. That said, I wonder how many people buying this off new stands were annoyed by the constant shout outs and call backs to it.

It kind of sucked to lose Simonson on pencils, but I've liked Sal Buscema's work since his days on Spectacular Spider-Man, so he's as good a replacement as you can get. Really loved the way he drew the Frost Giants, for one thing.

Simonson returned to do layouts for this issue. It was awesome. That's all I've got there.

The X-Factor crossover worked as well as it possibly could. That would make sense, given that Walt is pretty close to that book's writer. I also liked Iceman's brief involvement in Loki's scheme a few issues later.

Loved the Frog Thor issues. Just that they existed along with all the other issues of the series, really.

So, yeah, I'm pretty fond of this comic. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, it's the perfect Marvel comic. There's action, mystery romance, suspense, pathos, beautiful art, mythology, epic battles; face it true believer, it's pretty much everything that's great about Marvel in one broad shouldered, eventually bearded package.***

I also liked reading the Bullpen Bulletins. I often read them before the comics themselves. I hate to be nostalgic, but I kind of miss those. Hell, I liked it when they started running creator interviews last year. I also liked being able to read the reactions to the issues shortly after reading them.

I don't want to sound nostalgic, because that road leads to thinking that 1993 WWF**** was better than anything ever. That said, it's kind of sad that they don't exist anymore.

One last thing; I got a handful of issues that followed Simonson's run. Most of them are written by Tom Defalco, who'd have his own long run on the character. One is written by Jim Shooter, scripted by Stan Lee, and drawn by Eric Larson. This comes after Shooter lost his job as Editor in Chief (I think the announcement of that is in the same issue, but I can't be bothered to go and find it). So, that's a pretty crazy creative team.

I've only read Defalco's first issue, though. It's an inventory story set during Secret War, basically. It's as corny and bland as I've come to expect from Defalco, and features art from the painfully generic Ron Frenz (and I say that as a guy who likes Tom Grummett). That said, there's a solid idea there about the Enchantress almost changing her ways, so it wasn't as bad as I made it sound.

*Those really aren't comparable situations, I just wanted to bitch about the X-Men/Dark Avengers crossover. Even if I'll probably get the trade, because Jetpack Cyclops.

** So yes, I'm saying it's like the Spirit with Volstagg. Which makes it a better comic than the Spirt. That is a fact.

*** The debate over Thor growing a beard in the letter pages was hilarious. Of course, being overly fond of my own beard, so I may care about it more than I should. But seriously, people were freaking out because of the beard and the fact that he changed his costume. I realize this was happening around the same time that they were changing up a lot of the Marvel stalwarts (Rhodey as Iron Man, Black Costume Spidey, John Walker as Cap), but seriously; Simonson even worked in a line from Thor about how people occasionally change clothes, I assume with no evidence in response to the backlash.

**** I became a wrestling fan in 1993 and I'm not nostalgic for those shows compared to today's WWE! But then, growing up in the '90s made me pretty nostalgia immune.

18 Comments

• At July 29, 2009, Jamie Coville wrote:

  The issue with Erik Larsen (proper spelling BTW) was Erik's first work at Marvel. Shooter hired Erik and they worked ...

• At July 30, 2009, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  Sal Buscemi is a perfectly competent artist, but he seemed like a slap in the face following Simonsen's sumptious pencils. ...

• At July 30, 2009, Philip Ayres wrote:

  Doesn't Walt stopping drawing Thor roughly tie in with when he started drawing X-Factor ?

• At July 30, 2009, Paul G. wrote:

  DeFalco had the unenviable task of following Simonson on not just one, but two books, as he picked up Fantastic ...

• At July 30, 2009, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  Two asides:

  -Simonson would bring back one of his Thor characters, Justice Peace, in his great Fantastic Four run.

  -One ...

• At July 30, 2009, Ralf H. wrote:

  When Kirby left Thor, the stories became stale, like many other Marvel series. Uninspired. Boring. Rushed. When I got the ...

• At July 30, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  Hmm..I remember that Enchantress fill in...I always liked it, but then it featured Lorelai and the Enchantress, and I alwayus ...

• At July 30, 2009, Lupin Yonsei wrote:

  I think you could argue that Simonson's Thor run was Marvel's high point of the '80s.

  In fact, I would argue ...

• At July 30, 2009, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  Miller's Daredevil?

• At July 30, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Yes, I love Simonson's Thor run. I've also got every issue of DeFalco and Frenz's run, and I love that ...

• At July 30, 2009, Edo Bosnar wrote:

  Just wanted to comment on Bernard the Poet's first comment, about fans in the early '80s being put off by ...

• At July 30, 2009, sterg wrote:

  I really liked Byrne's FF run about then as well. That's got to be up there for contention as Marvel's ...

• At July 30, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  While I've only read a handful, Stern's Spider-Man has a strong reputation. His Dr. Strange & Avengers were very good. ...

• At July 30, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I haven't read many Thors from this time period. I've got some Surtur issues and a few early Defalco ...

• At July 31, 2009, Shawn Kane wrote:

  I personally thought DeFalco and Frenz's run on Amazing Spider-Man was great. The problem with their Thor run was that ...

• At July 31, 2009, Marc Kandel wrote:

  I don't mind Frenz at all as an artist- I loved his Ditkoesque fusion style in Spidey, and I liked ...

• At July 31, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  DeFalco's Thor run was good. Not great, mind you, but wouldn't be so reviled if, you know, it hadn't followed ...

• At August 2, 2009, brianobx wrote:

  Maybe a column/vote can be made on the greatest 80's Marvel comic runs.

  in no order,

  Simonson's Thor

  Miller's Daredevil

  Byrne's FF

  Stern's Avengers

  Claremont's ...

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 ...

Spoiler Disclaimer: I'm gonna go ahead and talk about certain plot details from this comic run that is almost exactly as old as I am. So, if you haven't read it yet (I can't act all that snobby, since I just started reading it last week), you may want to sit this one out.

I like Beta Ray Bill as much as the next hammer wielding space horse afficionado, which is quite a bit in case you didn't guess. That said, I wonder how many people would consider him a "Mary Sue" were he introduced today? He beats Thor in combat twice (although under mitigating circumstances) and Odin and Sif develop crushes on him almost immediately after meeting him.

Hell, I wonder how many people were up in arms over him at the time? I know that one of the reviewers in Amazing Heroes hated him, going by the Watchmen special issue I got off ebay, but what about the rest of fandom? Most of the token complaint letters they've printed so far are more about people not liking Walt's art.

Speaking of those letter, it was pretty funny that even before the internet became the place for comic fandom discourse, people would make melodramatic proclamations that a new creative team had ruined their favorite comic, and that they were dropping it forever after having followed it for decades. Nice to see some things are timeless!

Anyway, I think Simonson stays on the good side of making his pet character shine at the expense of everyone else in the cast, but I can see people not agreeing.

The use of "Doom!" during the build up of the Surtur storyline is highly reminiscent of Hellboy, even if Mignola uses it in a different way. John Workman's lettering on this book in general is a sight to behold. I'm not usually a lettering fetishist (not that there's anything wrong with that), but Workman's right up there Ken Bruzenak and Todd Klein as someone who adds something to every comic they work on with their lettering.*

As Harvey Jerkwater pointed out, part of Simonson's appeal is that he does not hesitate to put a cap in a plot's ass. His two examples are great, and you can see even some of that tendency in the early stages of his Thor. That said, I would have loved it if he'd dragged out Thor drinking Lorelei's Golden Mead for months, mainly because it amused me that she kept getting cock blocked by Thor running of to fight monsters for a couple issues. So, yes, I am saying that he should have played it more like a sitcom. That would have mixed well with Norse mythology and Marvel Comics bravura, right?

This isn't comics related, but man, there were a lot of ads for video games in these comics. It's quite an eye opener to see that, especially the ad for Super Mario Bros. on the Atari. I think I knew that existed and stored it as a bit of trivia that I buried somewhere deep in my subconscious along with the names of the characters on C.O.P.S. and most of my college education. It's kind of hard to believe there were so many consoles before the NES (and that Frogger was made for all of them). It's really a trip to be reminded that Nintendo's mascot appeared on someone else's console.** It's like Tucker Stone says; you miss out on these kinds of details when you buy old comics in trades.

I am kind of regretting not doing that, though. Although the comics are in great shape for their age, but the visual quality can vary pretty wildly. Also, there's the space and aesthetic reasons to get the trades (or just wait for the eventual Omnibus). That said, the guy who sold them to me on ebay did send them in two large shopping bags, and there's something very cool about grabbing another issue of them after I've finished one. And there are the ads and letter pages; those are nice extras.

One of the few things that didn't work for me is the joke about Nick Fury giving Thor glasses when he asked him to hook him up with a new secret identity. I'm not sure if that's because I've seen a lot of those jokes before, though, and I honestly don't know if Thor bumping in to Clark and Lois just to drive the point home made it funnier or lamer. Is it possible to find something half funny, half whince inducing?

And hey, did Simonson ever draw a SHIELD story? If not, why the hell not?

Bemusement at Superman allusions aside, that's pretty much it as far as complaints so far. When you have to go to the throwaway gag well to find something bad to say about a comic, I'd say it lives up to its reputation. Also, given that I wanted Simonson to make a running gag out of Lorelei's love potion, I probably shouldn't be picking on anyone's comedic chops, especially since Dr. McNinja*** is a part of his legacy.

*Stan Sakai and Dave Sim would be part of that list if I'd read enough of Usagi Yojimbo and Cerebus. Oh, and Chris Ware's pretty okay at it, too.

**Well, beyond CDI, but I like to pretend that never happened. Just like Nintendo. And all sensible people, really. And Donkey Kong also muddles things there.

***You really need to read the alt text to get the reference there. Or know that Walt Simonson was Chris Hastings' professor in art school.

22 Comments

• At June 29, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  I tried to read Walt Simonson's Thor once, since I heard it was really good. Pretty much every time Thor ...

• At June 29, 2009, Jeff Parker wrote:

  It's my all time favorite superhero run, I crack it open every few years and enjoy it all again. The ...

• At June 30, 2009, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  "I wonder how many people were up in arms over him at the time? "

  Near the end of Simonson's run, ...

• At June 30, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Insoasmuch as I love Simonson's run on Thor, I really liked his Starslammers series.

  I was wondering about his Fantastic Four ...

• At June 30, 2009, tucker Stone wrote:

  I haven't read much of Simonson's Thor stuff, but what I have i've loved. I'm a big fan of the ...

• At June 30, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  I agree!

  This is the greatest superhero run ever. It's chock full of those "Fuck Yeah!" moments that reminds you why ...

• At June 30, 2009, mckracken wrote:

  read that like five years ago. cant relate to all the praise though.

  except for the thor "horse" idea, fairly run ...

• At June 30, 2009, Roquefort Raider wrote:

  Hey Brad,

  The "bump into Clark Kent" joke was a lot funnier back then, precisely because this comic is pretty old. ...

• At June 30, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Simonson's FF run had a lot to like about it, despite the fact that it didn't make a terribly significant ...

• At June 30, 2009, googum wrote:

  I was just thinking one of the smarter things Simonson did, was to ditch the vestigal Dr. Blake secret identity.

• At June 30, 2009, Beta Ray Steve wrote:

  To really appreciate Simonson's Thor run you'd have to wade through years of shitty Thor comics..and not with trades either, ...

• At June 30, 2009, Elegance Liberty / Mek wrote:

  Clearly, I openly admit to being biased in favor of Beta Ray Bill.

  However, I myself have wondered that exact same ...

• At June 30, 2009, Tuomas wrote:

  I thought Beta Ray Bill was an interesting character at first, because the process that created him had made him ...

• At June 30, 2009, dhole wrote:

  I just read this run beginning-to-end for the first time a couple of years ago and really, really enjoyed it. ...

• At June 30, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Starts in FF #350. IIRC, #351 was a filler issue that had nothing to do with the story. #352 ...

• At June 30, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  I've always been a fan of Simonson's work and I enjoyed his Thor run. That said, there were a few ...

• At June 30, 2009, Nick Marino wrote:

  i am all about buying up cheap runs of back issues and reading them that way instead of buying trades. ...

• At June 30, 2009, Ben Herman wrote:

  But then I always spend the last ten minutes of CSI shouting at the screen – “Demand to see a ...

• At June 30, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I bought the whole run off ebay as well! Man, that was money well spent. Walt strolled onto the Thor ...

• At June 30, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  One thing that colors my reading of the book is that I have very little experience with Thor as a ...

• At June 30, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Oh, yes. In the DeFalco run which immediately follows Simonson's, the dialogue immediately goes back to pseudo-lofty Stan Lee verbiage. ...

• At July 10, 2009, Dean wrote:

  I am old enough to have read Simonson's THOR as it was coming out. My memory was that there ...