Picks & Pans – April 16-23, 2008
Posted by: on April 25, 2008 at 6:22 pm
We’re getting a combined Picks & Pans this week– New York Comic-con managed to put the PCS gang out on its feet. So, enjoy these reviews of this and last week’s books, courtesy of Samantha of Neither Doormat Nor Prostitute, Ernie Estrella, Gavin Jasper of 4thletter!, David Uzumeri of Funnybook Babylon, and AHR of Geekanerd.
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Samantha: Well… at least Barbara got over herself enough that no one was forced to call her “Miss Gordon,” I guess? That’s honestly the only positive thing I have to say. Well, that and the art was pretty. The story? Was dreadful. Look, when you have to build up your heroes by proposing that Superman is a big, bad meanie who bullies people, it’s not the best foundation. The characters are worse than the story itself. “Miss Gordon” is a hysterical creature who needs external validation for all her actions, lets her ego get in the way of helping her team, and is generally the last person any sane adult would follow. She acts like a completely newbie and her “epiphany” makes no sense based on either her actions or the storyline as it was told to us. On top of it all, she can’t even do her job correctly. Her cohorts give off a similar air of “why should I care about these people?” In the end, one of them is in the hospital, and Helena and Zinda don’t even pause long enough to pretend to care before shrieking about how mean Miss Gordon was to them. Honestly, the only decent person in this storyline was Misfit, and that’s pretty sad. |
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Samantha: One of the things that makes Brubaker’s Captain America worth reading is that the tension between the characters – and there is plenty of it to spare – is always balanced by very human reactions driving those tensions. In the hands of a lesser writer, the Red Skull’s plot would seem very staid and overdone. But even the Red Skull’s actions are tempered by the very human motivation of revenge and hatred, not mere cartoonish superiority that drives some supervillains. On the hero side of things, the emotions are equally as complex. Both Sam Wilson and Clint Barton have reasons to not be happy with Bucky wearing the Captain America costume, albeit for very different reasons, and their reactions to the news allow Brubaker to reveal even more about Bucky, Cap, Clint, Sam, and Tony. All five men may not agree on the same path, but their reasoning is done so well that none of them can really be faulted for their reasoning, which is a pure love of the man they’ve lost. On a purely shallow note, anyone yelling for Cap to “look out for the internet” made me laugh out loud. |
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David U.: This review is, unfortunately, colored by the recent news that Catwoman is ending with August’s #82 (not July’s #81, apparently, according to Will Pfeifer). This is really sad, because Catwoman is a damn good comic, and despite the covers – especially the utterly ridiculous one for this issue, with actual lip-biting – it’s a solid example of how to portray a female character, and females fighting females, in ways that seem less like exploitation and more like natural character conflict. I’ll miss this book hardcore, and hopefully the replacement? on DC’s solicitation page, “Bad Girls of Gotham”, will… uh… fill the gap… maybe? |
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Samantha: You know what would be really sad? If I picked up a Superman comic and realized that Jimmy Olsen was far more competent and interesting of a character than Superman himself. Which is kind of how I feel about picking up a Catwoman comic and seeing that Slam Bradley is more competent than Catwoman. Also, “My god, girl. I hope nothing happened. I know you’re a match for anyone, for anything. But a kid…A kid changes everything.” So, it’s Helena’s fault that Catwoman has sucked since Pfeifer took over? Huh. And here I was, blaming the author for bad characterization and ridiculous plots. On a final negative note, while the art inside the issue is gorgeous, the cover is awful. Catwoman isn’t Mike Tyson. She doesn’t have to bite her opponent to win. No, not even if her opponent is a girl, and the artist can imply some wink-wink-nudge-nudge lesbianism in the shot. I’ll be willing to change my mind on this stance if they ever do a cover of Superman where Clark is biting Lex’s lip passionately. |
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PAN! Countdown #1 |
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Gavin: Well, I’m glad that’s over. Countdown is the Goofus to 52‘s Gallant, regularly doing wrong what the other series did right. The final issue of 52 gave us a real reason to check it out. Other than the epilogue stuff, we had a major climax to deal with and enjoy. Countdown is just a handful of quick scenes to show us where our characters have ended up. Some of them aren’t bad and I really like how one of the Atom’s first actions when entering his home is to stare at the Justice League group shot that they used as a cover for Identity Crisis. Great touch. Other than shoving most characters back to the status quo and another character getting a new power set, the only thing of note that happens isn’t exactly very exciting. I’m not even looking forward to where it’s going. I’m sure it’ll feel like a piece of this series refuses to die once it shows up in other books. |
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Ernie: The power of an election and the change brought by that change can be staggering. If you don’t believe that statement, look at how the world has changed four years ago, then look back four years from that. A candidate speaking for the common person promising change can be many things to many different people. It gets a rise out of people. Those who are in control, don’t like to lose it and in this second installment of Blood in the Game, Matty Roth understands how many people will listen if the right person is speaking. If jumping into a title nearly three years old deters you, then that’s a shameful reason not to be reading DMZ. Wood’s fast-paced storytelling brings newbies and regulars up to speed with an urban paradise napalmed by the world of control and greed. The roots of this story branch out to more than the passionate readers of grit and gristle. It’s is a universal story that will and should affect any reader who’s wise enough to suspect the world around them or to those who have ever felt lost. The DMZ is not a monthly posting of propaganda; it’s a blaring alarm clock to the sleepy and subdued readers who are numb with being fed the same costumed rhetoric month after month after month. |
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Samantha: Any comic where Roy Harper saves the day is a good one, although I am saddened to see more “Titans as a family” vibe in The Flash than I am in Titans thus far. I’m a little iffy on the characterization of the JLA here, as a whole. Roy’s the only one that seems to have any sense, the others are apparently too afraid to be “policing” Wally to step in when they think he is having problems. But that minor characterization flaw aside, I’m continuing to enjoy Peyer’s Flash. In this issue, Wally and his family continued to struggle with the demands of Wally not being employed, and both Wally and Jay Garrick dealt with the repercussions of mind control. What I loved most about this is the fact that, as opposed to genuinely pitting the two Flashes against each other, Peyer allowed Wally to be smart enough to know that something was wrong with Jay when he was under duress. For the second month in a row, I’m actually looking forward to the next Wally-as-Flash comic… this is a new and confusing thing, but one I could grow used to. |
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AHR: This issue centers loosely around a done-in-one plotline; a sharp, simple revenge tale with some occasional gore thrown in for color. Around this self-contained story, writer Tim Seeley blends in updates on what the various members of the book’s cast are up to, all of whom are interesting and appealing enough to keep this issue from feeling like an in-betweener. Emily Stone and Courtney Via (pencils and colors, respectively) do a fantastic job as usual, with some particularly good facial expressions for lead character Cassie, who has quite a lot of acting to do in this issue. The more personal thread of this book deals with Cassie’s two most pressing non-slasher-releated problems; the absence of her father and her feelings of sexual immaturity. While that first problem is nothing new in the pantheon of female asskickers, you rarely see sexual inexperience dealt with much in mainstream comics (there’s irony in there, somewhere). Female heroines tend to wield their sexuality as a weapon, in that faux-feminist sex-equals-power kind of way. This issue frames Cassie as someone who has never been in love, who doesn’t know who she desires, and this comic doesn’t make her out to be any less human for it. Complex, subtle stuff for a horror comic about hacking up zombie serial killers, but good writing cares not for genre restrictions. BONUS: The return of Pooch, the world’s ugliest (yet most adorable?) horse-dog monster. |
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Gavin: It’s a good thing Loeb’s comics depend on so many splash pages because it makes reading them that much faster. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one, but all I see is the potential realized in Greg Pak’s run being tossed away for Loeb’s usual masturbation. A-Bomb fights Red Hulk – who is either going to be Doc Samson or someone completely out of left field – and a bunch of robots show up for no other reason than to remind us of an older, better Hulk storyline. McGuinness’ art remains pretty, but still screws a couple things up. Like despite only having Iron Man’s helmet in two panels, he still can’t get it straight of what it’s supposed to look like. And why does Agent Hill look like she’s 12? I can’t wait for the next issue where there’ll be one page of talking, followed by a TOTALLY KICK ASS two-page spread of the two guys from the cliffhanger fighting. Then Bi-Beast will probably show up because who doesn’t like pointless throwbacks? Oh, and bad one-liners. I’m predicting something stupid like, “PAPA HULK’S GOT A BRAND NEW BAG!” |
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David U.: Well, it’s good to see this title’s high standard being maintained after the initial arc. I had a feeling this team on Hercules might make for a good comic, but I don’t think anybody predicted just how good or well-received this comic would be. What’s truly remarkable about this issue is how good it is while serving so many masters – it continues the plot of Hercules, serves as both a tease and a reminder regarding the upcoming Eternals series, and sets up Hercules’s role in the Secret Invasion. Top notch work. |
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Samantha: This issue was devoted to The Flash, and even though I am loving Wally over in his own book, and even though the Diana in this book was fantastic, this story just didn’t do it for me. The League’s dependence on the Flash is cute, but not really very believable. They already have a Superman, and this story told us that Wonder Woman was more than capable of keeping up with Wally … so why, exactly, does the League need Wally? Mostly, throughout Diana’s whole recruitment lecture, all I could think was “pity the League didn’t care that much about the Flash when Bart Allen was Flash. If they had, the boy might not be dead.” Which is probably not what I was supposed to be thinking. Overall, the story gets high points for making Diana every bit the great warrior and icon she should be to the rest of the League but gets very low points for Wally being overly smug and for having a rather boring story. The combination is enough to land it square in the middle of mediocre territory. Not horrible, but not memorable in any way, either. |
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Ernie: Hey, now we’re getting somewhere. For the first time reading The Mighty Avengers did I feel like I was holding a classic Bendis story. Great espionage, great character study of Nick Fury shortly after he lost his seat in SHIELD, and you felt the weight of Secret Invasion ever-present in the air. He’s clearly defined as a major player and Bendis, who has a knack for writing him, will no doubt cement him as one of the baddest Marvel Mofos this year. One thing’s for sure though, I never knew he and Star Trek’s Capt. Kirk shared something in common. Maleev’s pencils took you back to the fan-favorite Daredevil run with Bendis where the art and script were so equally in synch. There’s a neat bit of visual cool bottled with Fury’s cloaking in and out of people’s lives, and fact-finding. This issue really stepped it up, which is good, because it really needed it. |
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Gavin: Nick Fury makes his long-awaited return, showing us what he’s been up to since the end of Secret War. Shortly into the issue, we smile as good ol’ Nick reminds us of why we love him in the first place. The dialogue and characterization are top notch and the final pages will have people speculating for months, but what annoys me is that this isn’t right for the book. Nick Fury talking for twenty or so pages isn’t what Mighty Avengers is about. I mean, something like Blue Beetle #25 is awesome no matter how you cut it, but if that particular issue had been labeled part of Green Lantern Corps instead, I’d still have to call bullshit on it. Maleev screws up by putting Spider-Woman in Secret War. Probably nitpicking on my part, but when the storyline is partly about dissecting each panel and discussion, it’s somewhat annoying. |
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Ernie: In all good stories of revenge, knowing what fuels it is half the enjoyment. This flashback story fills readers in with plenty to chew on about Sven’s transformation into the warrior we’ve all come to revel in. To become an accomplished man, requires the conditioning of the boy. And behind every good man is woman of equal or greater stature. Sven’s has two women in his past that come to inspire what he has become and what was a forgettable weakling is now a man of great potential. This bloody march takes a brief but crucial stop in defining our protagonist, giving color to the pale and supplying readers with the satisfaction of what should be sweet revenge. If you value a story with calculated drive, bitter deceit, salty blood and guts, Brian Wood has bestowed you a gift. |
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David U.: Wow, this is such an amazingly huge waste of a solid concept. Supervillains on Lost – how do you screw this up? Well, first, by writing the most mindbendingly dull depiction of the Joker I can remember in recent memory. Not only is the Joker painfully unfunny, he’s not even sufficiently crazy – he’s just a standard shit-disturber, which is a pretty boring representation of the character considering the possibilities and avenues available. Sturges’s Luthor is alright, I guess, but the Vandal Savage let’s-all-fuck-forever plan is just distracting and the entire series seems like it’s going to end with a Countdownesque deus ex machina from another series. |
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David U.: Adios, Kurt Busiek. It was a good run, although I kind of wish you hadn’t done that Insect Queen thing. Regardless, although it got cut short, this final issue makes at least a halfway satisfactory attempt at resolving the ongoing moral quandry Superman was being faced since Camelot Falls, and it sort of ties up this story and Busiek’s take on Superman in a very cool way. He says this was a filler arc he wrote in a weekend, but honestly, I think this two-parter has probably been his strongest work on the book. Great stuff. |
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Samantha: Kurt Busiek’s Superman has been mind-numbingly boring since the start and while in this issue Clark finally managed to remember that things matter outside of his little nuclear family with its cookie-cutter Superboy “son,” it did not save the story from being ridiculously dull. Even the shots of Superman fighting are interspersed with Lois holding Chris tight and promising that it was going to be okay. Of course it will, Lois. It’s Superman. Those panels are completely unnecessary and add absolutely nothing at all to the story. What new development did it shed on Superman’s character? That his wife loves him and his kid wants to join him in battle? We already knew that. In fact, since “Up, Up, and Away,” both those messages have been hammered home with all the subtlety of the average anvil. All the right parts are present for this to be a good story. Superman says all the right things, the battles show both his might and his heart, and for two whole panels Busiek actually remembers that Lois has a real job outside of being Chris’ mom. But they’re just pieces put together with very little passion. As a result, the story is flat and lifeless. Quite frankly, the only actual redeeming quality of this story seems to be the art, which is gorgeous. |
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Gavin: Over the weekend, Daniel Way was announced as the new writer of the next solo Deadpool run. This entire story arc has been his audition for the role and as much as I’ve had problems with him over the years (I will point at Venom and shake my head at it for years to come), knowing that he won’t have Dillon with him on the book makes me optimistic. In this issue, after all the non-stop Warner Bros. action between Wolverine and Deadpool, we settle down for some simple discussion between the characters. You know, I don’t know if I recall seeing that ever. Logan and Wade have so much baggage with each other from over the years, but this is the first time I recall seeing them not stabbing each other for more than two minutes. Way shows he has a grasp on Wade Wilson, incorporating backstory from Nicieza’s Cable/Deadpool to great effect. Deadpool has become old hat over the last couple years, but Way introduces a couple subtle ideas to breathe fresh air into him. While I suppose they were saving something for the next issue, I feel that the Wade/Logan discussion could have gone slightly deeper. Still, it’s promising. |
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Samantha: I’ve been enjoying Young Avengers presents, more or less. It’s had some parts where it fell flat, but overall has been true to the Young Avengers as they were presented in their series. This issue completely failed on that level, making Cassie so completely out-of-character that it’s hard to believe Paul Cornell read so much as one issue of Young Avengers before writing some stereotypically witchy blond teenager that is usually more DC’s cup of tea than Marvel’s (see Wonder Girl and Supergirl for example.) While it’s feasible that her complete change in personality is due to the high amount of stress that she’s endured, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s hard to like stories where one half of the leads is completely unlikeable. I also don’t like being lectured to by comic book characters, and Cassie ranting about people who didn’t support “the right side” of the Civil War was in bad taste in both length and wording of the diatribe. The only redeeming virtue this book has is learning that Vision has been on a quest to “discover” himself, but honestly, that’s not enough to save the story. |
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