2004-12-01
Capsule Comic Reviews - 12/01
By: Harold Bloomfield
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Writer: David Lapham | ||
Well this is more like it. It’s no secret that the Bat-books have been floundering for practically the last two years. When they’ve had top notch talent the results have been less than what we hoped (Hush, Broken City) and the rest of the time the books have seemed meandering and lacking focus. Now here comes David Lapham and while he failed to impress me with last months back up story, too vague and pretentious, here he’s off to an impressive start. While War Games (this takes place before the woe begotten event) stripped Batman of most of his allies Lapham remembers and focuses on an often neglected character, Gotham City. This is one of the most literate comics in quite a while as Lapham is not afraid to use words in something other than dialogue. On a typical night we see many citizens of Gotham and the choices Batman must make. Lapham’s Batman is a shadowy creature of the night and Lapham provides more insight into what makes him tick than all of War Games. Ramon Bachs works from Lapham’s layouts and the depiction of Gotham is rich and detailed. The only drawback is it’s all relentlessly depressing. And the back up story ain’t too bad either.
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(click here for preview pages) Writers: Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir Art: Michael Ryan | ||
This series reminds me of Spider-Girl and as such it would make a nice introduction into the world of comics for new young readers, if any actually exist. Unlike Spider-Girl, New X-Men has to deal with current X continuity and writers DeFilippis and Weir do a good job of navigating those ever tricky waters to the point that this book can be enjoyed without any prior knowledge of happenings in the other books. This issue neatly uses the old view of the setting and characters through the eyes of an outsider trick. The technique allows this to be a good jumping on point as the reader is introduced to everyone and everything the same as the newcomer. Even with that there are plenty of characters with plenty of subplots but it’s never overwhelming or confusing. Of course sooner or later the plot has to enter the picture and it’s of the literally haunting variety. There’s nothing particularly compelling about that but the settings, the characters and the ease of the storytelling make for an attractive package that you should consider recommending to any pre-teens you know who may be interested in trying out comics.
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(click here for preview pages)
Writer: Robert Rodi | ||
Word of the cancellation of Mystique makes me wonder how long these other solo X-books will be allowed to continue. While I know sales, not quality, will be the deciding factor, it’s hard to think that Rogue, Gambit and Nightcrawler, et al will maintain their books while a fine one like Mystique goes down. This book, which had a surprisingly strong premiere issue, while not approaching the level of Mystique, may be worth sticking around for awhile. Robert Rodi seems to understand the potential Rogue presents as a character ripe for exploration beyond one note or a gimmick. This issue is a little too Gambit heavy for one and has way too many instances of the blind Cajun walking into things. I hope that isn’t meant to be funny which would be in poor taste. As it is the repetition just comes across as stupid. The story, though, takes an imaginative and interesting turn and sets up a potentially big pay off for Rogue and the reader next issue. Cliff Richards continues his strong artwork and should be setting himself up for more high profile work.
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Writer Jeph Loeb | ||
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After a strong opening issue Absolute Power’s second part is a definite mixed bag. Parts of it degenerate into a Chinese fire drill with a plethora of non-descript costumes lining up on both sides of a conflict that went from barley an idea of Wonder Woman’s to an all out war in a heartbeat. Meanwhile Uncle Sam dons Green Lantern’s ring and speaks like a combination of Clint Eastwood and Andy Griffith. Still there are big ideas at work here and effective scenes throughout such as the Green Lantern skeleton, the Batman-Wonder Woman fight and the out of control Superman of the last few pages. The ending ain’t too shabby either as I can be a sucker for multiple timelines and repeated disastrous attempts to right things.
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Writer: Mark Millar Art: Bryan Hitch Ink: Paul Neary
(click here for preview pages) | ||
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The big one finally drops and it was pretty much worth the wait. Surprisingly for me the weakest part of the book is the opening trademark widescreen action piece. The art is stunning (as usual) but the idea of Captain America bullying a large group of armed terrorists into dropping their guns and running is too much of a macho over-the-top fantasy for me. The rest of the book delivers what you’d expect from Mark Millar and these characters as things pick up a year from the end of the last story. The relationship of Captain America and the Wasp has deepened and things are set in motion for major developments for Thor, Hank Pym and Bruce Banner. Best of all Millar has imbued the book with current and relevant political overtones along with a sly commentary on the nature of celebrity adding greater depth to the previously established stylish high voltage action.
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