Let’s get right into it! We’ve got, in no particular order, Jumpin’ Jason Michelitch, Amazing AHR of Geekanerd, Snazzy Samantha of Neither Doormat Nor Prostitute, Groovy Gavin Jasper of 4thletter!, and, as always, Evergreen Ernie Estrella hitting you with Picks and Pans… check below for a few Scans, too.
PICK: Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #12
Buffites or Scoobie Snacks of whatever they’re called need no recommendation to buy this book, but for those like myself who have only a passing acquaintance with the Buffyverse, this much talked-about issue represents a tempting chance to get on board. Spoiler alert if you don’t read the internet, but this of course is the issue where Buffy hooks up with one of the slayers, and by hooks up I mean lesbian sex, which, as a lesbian, I’m a fan of. But this shocking turn of events aside, writer Drew Goddard starts his run on this series by slipping into the ping-pong ball dialogue with ease and a light touch where relationship talk is involved. The nuts and bolts of the story’s exposition will be a little hard to grasp for the uninitiated, but that’s what Wikipedia is for. once the madcap comedy revs up, the grand design of the plot takes a backseat and the LOLs come free of context. It’s the funniest comic I’ve read in several months, bolstered by crisp artwork rich with personality. All this and some casual ruminations on the fluid nature of sexuality - book of the week, for sure. SHOCK VALUE: A+ -AHR
PAN: Countdown to Final Crisis #8
You know what would have made this storyline 500 times better? If the characterization was remotely consistent from week to week. Case in point, Jason has managed to go the entire trip and has only killed the Joker during that time. All of the sudden, now he’s back to being the blood thirsty psycho who kills first and asks questions later? Also, why are all these newbies acting like Ray Palmer has never been a hero (I mean, I know he was cowering and whining for the past two issues, but again, lousy and inconsistent characterization) when he’s been a member of the League? The best I can say about this story is that at least Kyle wasn’t a jerk this time around. SHOCK VALUE: D -Samantha
PICK: Detective Comics #842
When fighting alongside the other superheroes against their supervillain opponents on the Beyonder’s planet, Bruce Wayne tore up his Batman costume to the point that he needed to replace it with a living suit of armor that gave him extra strength and abilities at the cost of making him hunger for brains. Well, maybe not, but that’s what the story feels like. It feels like what the whole Venom symbiote story would have been like if the host wasn’t a humongous spaz like Spider-Man. I make fun, but it was quite good and one of the better things I can remember from Peter Milligan in a while.
SHOCK VALUE: B -Gavin
DOUBLE PICK: Echo #1
Excerpted from Jason’s full review… I was able to look at [Echo] on its own merits, and it’s pretty good. Not amazing, but solid work with an intriguing premise, sort of reminiscent of the kind of fun, smart adventure movie Hollywood used to produce when it remembered how. There’s a shadowy military project with a slightly crazy and ruthless leader, the female innocent bystander drawn into the mix by accident, and a charming park ranger who’s no doubt destined to become a helping hand or even a love interest (the female bystander/main character is shown to have something of a void in her romantic life). None of the characters really hint at any depth yet, but they seem perfectly likable in the ways their respective roles demand. … SHOCK VALUE: B+ -Jason
Woman on the cover pelted by silver rain? I’m game.
SPLIT VERDICT: Justice League: The New Frontier Special
I consider New Frontier to be perhaps the best comic I have ever read, so I was fully prepared to enjoy this comic. But no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t because the complexity and characterizations that made New Frontier such a joy to read were completely missing this time around. There are three stories: Batman versus Superman, Kid Flash and Robin team up, and a completely bizarre and offensive Wonder Woman and Black Canary take on feminism story. The first story makes me wonder how Batman and Superman ever developed the deep friendship they supposedly had in New Frontier, the second story is being better
told in Teen Titans Year One, and the last one features Diana protesting against Playboy by stripping her top (because not wearing a bra and going topless are the same thing…I guess?) and calling men pigs every other panel, something she managed not to do during the original New Frontier storyline. In sum, the entire exercise felt like an insane and unfortunate parody in which the only thing that matched standard of quality set by New Frontier was the art. SHOCK VALUE: C- -Samantha
Yes! More tricks in Darwyn Cooke’s bag! He just couldn’t stay away and thankfully so, we get three short team-ups featuring the World’s Finest, Diana and Black Canary, and the beginning of a TITAN-ic friendship, get it? *ahem* Cooke, J. Bone, and David Bullock (storyboard artist for the New Frontier animated movie) pump out a nostalgic reminder of the great maxi-series that preceded it. There’s a lot of tongue and cheek–Cooke style–and just great chemistry on panel and behind. This is hot off the heels of the fantastic release (get the 2-disc DVD) of the animated film. A perfectly timed one-shot that will have you heading back to your Absolute New Frontier collection or single floppies. Cooke’s vision of the last heroic age are timeless and definitive imaginations that sometimes the modern age versions fail to recall. Supplements in the back show the storyboards which Cooke raves about in the audio-commentary that he and Bullock do for the film and a breakdown of the Saul Bass-inspired opening credits. SHOCK VALUE: A+ -Ernie
PICK: Justice League Unlimited #43
As much as the cartoon ruled, due to legal mumbo jumbo, we were cheated out of getting any appearances out of Blue Beetle and therefore no Blue & Gold episodes. Even though Beetle and Booster got to show up here and there in the JLU comic, they did very little in terms of interaction. Now with the current reunion going on in Johns’ Booster Gold series, they’ve allowed Keith Giffen to finally write the JLU Blue & Gold story some of us have been waiting for. Taking place before the team become “Unlimited”, our two superheroes attempt to wow the Justice League by helping stop the Demolition Team. This leads to wackiness and a nice little story, but certainly not one worth the wait. As funny as their banter was at times, Giffen’s story still pales in comparison to the excellent Beetle-centric issue in JLU #5. SHOCK VALUE: B -Gavin
PICK: Logan #1
Take the man out of the costume and place him in his element: Japan. That’s what Brian K. Vaughan and Eduardo Risso did in Logan before he became an X-Man. Just a mutant and just a Canuck soldier. Moderately standard action affair compared to Vaughan’s more complex and creative-owned work. No, folks this is all about seeing Risso’s draw Logan, soldiers, and sexy Japanese women, and does so in delicious fashion. Dean White’s the colorist for the series and while there’s a beautiful water-colored look, the mood’s not established as well as Patricia Mulvihill’s work over his 100 Bullets art. He adds texture but no soundtrack to the panels. Besides the last four pages, there’s a rather pedestrian paint-by-color feel, in fact, you’re lucky enough, stab the black and white variant with no ads. SHOCK VALUE: B- -Ernie
PICK: Nightwing #142
This issue continued the standard set by Tomasi in his previous issues in making Nightwing the well adjusted, sane, and fun hero he always should have been. We see him working with the JSA, looking out for his little brother, and joking with Bruce about Jimmy Olsen. We also see him moving forward into the romance department, signaling a welcome growing up and beyond his teenage crushes, finally. But most telling of all are the panels working in Bones Gym and his disgust at digging up graves, where he makes it very clear that while he may be an adopted Bat, he’s still a Flying Grayson at heart, something his previous writers tended to miss completely. It gives the title a sense of fun and enjoyment that it should have had from the very beginning, and it brings me great joy to see Nightwing getting the treatment he deserves.
Also, that he can converse with Mid-Nite scientifically is proof that Tomasi remembers that Bruce’s training had to include more than just strapping him into some green panties and throwing the kid in harm’s way. SHOCK VALUE: A+ -Samantha
PICK: Northlanders #4
His irrational impulses, brass decisions and natural instinct as a warrior have kept him alive, but he’s plotting and scheming. Something’s about to break the damn and flood the Orkney Islands. Sven’s crusade against his uncle’s men has gone into the winter. The temperature dips below freezing in this issue and the heat needs to be turned up, way up. This series is turning out to be like a savage cross between Rambo, Conan, and Die Hard but at a satisfying slow crawl. I’m intrigued at Brian Wood’s pacing and patience in Northlanders compared to the frenetic, almost rhythmic ride that dominates his much recommended body of work. He’s making us wait and get inside Sven’s head and the few emotions he chooses to show, and that uncertainty keeps me waiting in line for more. SHOCK VALUE: B+ -Ernie
PICK: Punisher: War Journal #17
The last couple issues of War Journal have shown us the real difference between Matt Fraction’s “gun that shoots swords” superhero world take on Frank Castle and Garth Ennis’ “once upon a time there was a bunch of evil fucks” down-to-earth take. Fraction is willing to – at least for the moment – develop Frank Castle. Ennis’ run on the MAX series is fantastic and all, but his Frank is a hollow robot. Put some kind of potential character development in that version of Frank’s way and it’s the same as suggesting he might get killed in the next issue: nothing will ultimately happen to him and he’ll just keep on keeping on. Fraction, on the other hand, treats Frank as a character.
Only Frank isn’t the central character here. Instead, it’s Stuart Clarke, formerly the supervillain Rampage. For most of the series, Stuart has been shown as a likeable sidekick and decent enough guy. Even as the successor of Microchip, Stuart’s history adds a very interesting wrinkle to Frank Castle’s being. Micro and Frank were friends, only for Micro to turn on him and die soon after. With Stuart, it’s in reverse. He and Frank are buddies, but Stuart’s done things in the past that will likely make Frank end his life when he feels the time is right. Except Frank’s also the one hiding his secrets, as by killing Stuart’s innocent girlfriend several issues back, he’s tossed a wrench into his own moral code and it’s straining his relationship with Stuart from another direction. It’s great stuff. SHOCK VALUE: A -Gavin
DOUBLE PAN: Raven #1
The cover to this comic claims, “Finally in her own emo series!” Man, why did I agree to read and review this? Goddamn it… So Raven lives in this world where everyone is made of shiny rubber and everything is so blindingly colorful that it makes you feel ill. At least it’s written by creator Marv Wolfman, so it can’t be too bad.
The story has to do with Raven seeing a vision of a school shooting several days before it’s set to happen. She somewhat casually deals with that while spending more of her time whining about how she’s too weird around boys, how she doesn’t know what a Nintendo Wii is and how she’s possibly losing control of her powers and making other students crazy. This ties into a sympathetic scientist and potential villain who prepares to experiment on something that’s reveal would have made for a good cliffhanger if the cover hadn’t already spoiled it. I feel almost guilty for panning this, but I do like Raven enough to have given this a chance. It’s just not going to work for me. (And in case you were wondering, New Earth apparently uncreated Raven’s tramp stamp). SHOCK VALUE: C- -Gavin
To put it simply, this storyline seems a desperate attempt to merge the best of the Wolfman Raven with the Geoff Johns Raven, and instead winds up missing both by miles. This Raven has all the memories and psychoses of the original Raven, but none of her charm so that when she complains about not being able to love, I have no compassion for her. This Raven also comes full of all the annoying teenager melodrama that seems to be the rage over at DC these days so that when she complains about day to day high school problems, I roll my eyes and wonder why in the world she’s in high school in the first place. This comic manages to combine the worst of both worlds of a character that deserves better.
But it’s worth the buy just so that in ten years, you can open it up, point to all the out of date pop culture references, and laugh.
So…in ten years, it might be worthy of a “C+?” SHOCK VALUE: F -Samantha
PICK: Scalped #15
Dead Mothers continues and now there are fifteen reasons to buy this comic. Bad Horse Dashiell starts to shed some of that leather-tough skin in this issue, and just may have a heart as helps a young boy deal with his dead mother, or is it the other way around? Other characters start to unfold and if you’ve been around from the start, thinking you had characters pegged just get you in trouble because Jason Aaron is proving every month that he steers characters filled with the real complexities right to home. Even though these flawed characters reside in a South Dakota Indian Reservation, readers will be familiar with them. There’s always a bit of vulnerability in the thickest of walls, you just have to find the weak spot. It’s a joy to try and find out where we think that weakness is and where it’s going. But seriously, we all know who’s behind the wheel. Scalped is a ballet of cold-hearted stabs and jabs of heavyweights, Aaron and artist, R.M. Guera. I’ve got the bruises and the wounds to show for it. Step in the ring already. SHOCK VALUE: A+ -Ernie
PICK: Supergirl #27
I appreciated the way that this story tried to give a Kryptonian influence on Earth that went beyond just hitting things. I think that it’s a very realistic problem for Kara to face. My only real complaint was that the storyline seemed pretty rushed, and would have benefited to stay in the future for at least one more issue. The story also does a great job in highlighting the differences between Kara and Superman, while still trying to give them a family bond, which is a nice combination. SHOCK VALUE: B -Samantha
PICK: Teen Titans: Year One #3
Honestly, it’s possible that 1/2 of my love for this storyline may be the art. I continue to be in love with it, even though poor Garth is stuck looking like a zombie. He’s an adorable zombie, though. But the other half of my love comes from the team dynamics portrayed here. These five team members form an instant bond with one another that is obvious. Also, Robin is portrayed as a natural leader, despite Kid Flash’s comments to the contrary. Even the flirting with Donna and Roy is handled well, and considering the disaster that they go on to become romance wise, that’s saying a lot.
It’s not perfect and does have a few flaws. Noticeably, this version of Batman needs to be smacked a lot, if he’s not still under the influence of Antithesis at the end of the story. Donna is a little too stereotypical at times, as well. But it still comes highly, highly recommended. SHOCK VALUE: A- -Samantha
DOUBLE PICK! Young Liars #1
David Lapham’s return to comic long form is a refreshing one in a new ongoing, color-rich, and offbeat series that should congregate the Stray Bullets fans to their local comic shop. Unfortunately like some debuts, this falls into the trap of numerous character introductions. Comparisons to SB are inevitable where each issue was a sprint you were trying to catch up and get your bearings straight before getting tangled in the downward spiral of violence. We meet five people brought together by Sadie Dawkins, all of whom have their own selfish reasons to be connected to her but Sadie’s a wild cannon and there’s no telling what she’ll do. Sadie’s the classic Lapham character that does as much revolving as the world around her and before you know it, you’re sucked up in the twister’s pull. Now that introductions are out of the way, I can’t wait for this train to leave the station. There’s even a suggested soundtrack, this is going to be a cool. Though this is a slightly different approach–linear, for one thing–the wacky, ink-black world of Lapham’s head is worth a lifetime membership of head-trips, devilish grins, mistrust, and oh shit moments served on a dish called violence. One ticket please. SHOCK VALUE: A- -Ernie
Excerpted from Jason’s full review… I’ve been a fan of David Lapham’s self-published comic series Stray Bullets for a very long time now, and the goodwill engendered by that series has carried me into any other project of his that comes down the pike. The latest of these is Young Liars, published by DC/Vertigo, released this week. Unlike his previous Vertigo release, Silverfish, which looks and reads much the same as his self-published work, Young Liars more closely resembles other Vertigo books than it does other David Lapham books. The story and characters are intriguing enough but the style and storytelling are more than a little bland…. …All in all, the story is interesting enough that I’ll be buying the second issue to see what happens. But there’s no guarantee that the formal and aesthetic problems won’t drive me away in the long run. SHOCK VALUE: B+ for story, but a C for execution -Jason
PICK: Zombies vs. Robots vs. Amazons #3
The Chris Ryall/Ashley Wood project Zombies vs. Robots can best be described as a story thought up by a hyper 8-year-old who happens to have a really rad imagination. That being said, it was still an action-packed and entertaining downer that didn’t seem to have much point to it. That pretend storytelling child from two sentences back has just grown old enough to hit puberty and came up with this sequel miniseries. In this, the final issue, the Warbot and a handful of surviving amazons decide to enter a cave and have a final showdown with the zombie horde.
It’s ridiculous and again action-packed, but doesn’t feel quite as pointless as the end of the first series. Maybe because we’ve actually gotten to see Warbot used as a protagonist for more than several pages and play off of human characters. Or maybe it’s because we actually have a feeling of an overarching storyline now, including the predictable, yet unexpected final page. Either way, at least it’s a far better way to end a zombie sequel than whatever the hell Kirkman was thinking with Marvel Zombies 2.
Ashley Wood’s sloppy art fits the bill so well here, always giving that look where it appears like he scribbled it with his left hand while righty, yet somehow you can easily tell what’s going on. It’s a strange kind of talent where a comic filled with naked amazon ladies doesn’t feel so gratuitous and cheesecakian (I just made the word up and it looks like I spelled it wrong), allowing us to instead focus on the craziness of a large robot and a little girl with a slingshot fighting off a horde of battle-skilled zombies. SHOCK VALUE: A- -Gavin
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