Picks & Pans - March 26, 2008

DOUBLE PICK! All-Star Superman
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciller: Frank Quitely
Inker: n/a
Colorist: Jamie Grant
Publisher: DC Comics

Ernie: Grant Morrison stories have a way of leaving your mind shattered in pieces. Everything he’s done in this series has been a fabulous trip down memory lane of what makes Superman, well, super. So what Superman does in this issue, knowing he is dying will… well, blow your mind. My only wish is that each of these issues contains enough material for dozens more to explore and DC would be justified in publishing each one. Leave us wanting more, right? I won’t say more about the contents of the story but will say that this has a good argument to be Morrison’s greatest mainstream work to date!

David U.: The quality of this book shouldn’t come as a surprise at this point, but somehow, I didn’t think it’d be this good. I’ll admit it kind of started having a downturn for me with the Bizarro arc, but this issue was nearly perfect. This is a short review because it’s almost redundant - everyone knows how good this book is. This might be the best issue.

PICK! Black Panther #35
Writer: Reggie Hudlin
Penciller: Cafu
Inker: Francis Portela
Colorist: Val Staples
Publisher: Marvel Comics

David U.: Finally, it’s a Black Panther comic again, dealing with characters, themes and concepts you’d expect to find in a Black Panther book. In other words, Hudlin is doing his best full-on Priest impression here, and much like it did during the World Tour arc, it elevates the book. After almost a year now of bizarre (and, in my opinion, poorly written) sci-fi action, we’re back to the intrigue, scheming and politics that made Priest’s run so great. It’s still an imitation, but a huge improvement.

DOUBLE PICK! Blue Beetle #25
Writer: John Rogers
Penciller: Rafael Albuquerque
Inker: Rafael Albuquerque
Colorist: Guy Major
Publisher: DC Comics

Gavin: This is the best kind of comic issue. Blue Beetle has already been an unbelievable series, filled with fantastic action, humor, art and characterization. It’s been consistently good for its first two years. This issue is one of those that tie everything together as a the main Jaime vs. Reach plot finally comes to a close. Closure is handed out all over like it’s Halloween, laced with crazy style. The cover acts as a bit of a spoiler, but you’ll be so enthralled that you forget about most of it until it happens. Had this been the final issue, I would be content on seeing it go. The fact that it’ll keep moving on is just the icing on the cake.
A little touch that pushes this issue over the edge is that Jaime’s had to deal with being a cog in the Beetle legacy. Not only has he proven himself by now, but this issue has his series surpass Ted Kord’s solo series in longevity. That’s cool.

AHR: The title of this issue indicates it’s the conclusion of a four part story arc. Not so. This is the conclusion of a story that began twenty-five issues ago; the transformation of teenager Jaime Reyes into the third Blue Beetle. Over the last two years John Rogers has given readers a nuts-and-bolts look into the makings of a young superhero, and in this climatic issue you can see past adventures reflected in every decision Jaime makes. It’s Continuity Heaven.
Rogers and artist Rafael Albuquerque flip smoothly between two massive action set pieces; a land battle between alien invaders and the book’s huge supporting cast, and a suspenseful escape as Jaime and the Scarab struggle to destroy The Reach’s space fleet from the inside out.
Rogers’ writing of the Scarab as a thinking, feeling character has never been more emotionally charged, and this issue expands on the artifact’s origins in a way that is both surprising and completely appropriate. We’re left with no doubt that this book is really about the transformation of two heroes, who by working together have realized who they are and what they’re capable of. Here’s to a long career of hero-ing for both of them.

PICK! Dan Dare #5
Writer: Garth Ennis
Penciller: Gary Erskine
Inker: Gary Erskine
Colorist: Parasuraman A.
Publisher: Virgin Comics

Ernie: The Prime Minister has sold our planet out to the Mekon and his plan has been discovered. Dare’s lost his last best friend and the Mekon has his fleet outnumbered and control a black hole that’s just swallowed up Pluto and its moons. Now Dare’s going to turn himself over to the Mekon? Think Dare’s finished? No way. I don’t know how the earlier incarnations of Dare were when Garth Ennis read them, but I do know that he’s writing a modern-day space/war hero I can get behind. Trust me if you’re not looking for a pair of boots to strap on and are ready to die for your country, hell, your planet after reading this, you have no pulse. These are ballsy guys doing ballsy things and there’s a rush of adrenaline in these types of Ennis adventures. Each issue you get the sense of patriotism, and heroism at its finest, if but just for 15 minutes each month.

PAN! Freddy vs Jason vs Ash #6
Writer: Jeff Katz/James Kuhoric
Penciller: Jason Craig
Inker: n/a
Colorist:
Publisher: DC Comics/Wildstorm

Gavin: This entire miniseries is a comic adaptation of a film script never meant to see the light of day. I tried to be excited about it, but it looks like the concept just doesn’t work like it should. I liked Freddy vs. Jason and I liked the Evil Dead movies, but Ash doesn’t seem to fit with his slasher brethren. When you have two unkillable monsters fighting each other, the only real enjoyment you’re getting is from the cool visuals. Those seem to be lacking here, with our sloppily-drawn main characters slugging it out in front of a bland, blue background in every panel. It’s a final encounter that doesn’t meet the build-up. Another problem is that Ash’s narration is really, really bad. I know Ash is supposed to be one of the coolest badasses to ever exist, but not every single sentence he says is meant to sound overly hip, especially when he has 17 narration boxes over the course of two pages.

PICK! Green Lantern #27
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Ivan Reis
Inker: Oclair Albert
Colorist: Randy Mayor
Publisher: DC Comics

David U.: In a very well-timed change of pace for the series, we now go back to Hal Jordan’s pre-Green Lantern life and lay out a lot of the background material Johns has been hinting at since the start of this volume. After a long few issues of nonstop action, the pace shifts completely to a down-to-earth family drama, and it’s kind of remarkable how well Johns and Reis keep the reader’s interest regardless. Reis is just as talented at everyday life as he was with cyborgs blowing up gods, and the last page promises that despite the change of pace Johns isn’t losing sight of what brought everyone to the book in Sinestro Corps War. Great stuff.

SEMI-PAN! Jack of Fables #21
Writer: Bill Willingham/Matthew Sturges
Penciller: Tony Akins
Inker: Tony Akins
Colorist: Daniel Vozzo
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

Ernie: English Literature hounds beware, this issue’s for you. The Pathetic Fallacy puts a Shakespeare play together, but like many of William’s plays, this one’s a tragedy. It’s a fun filler issue but in the end doesn’t hold up to issues past. I would have liked to have seen it stretched out to a two-story arc because it felt really rushed. The crowd reactions to the play work as a running gag and Jack’s weakness seems to prove time and time again to lie in his pants. More of the literary jokes will be bonuses for those who’ve been around a stage or two but it may also go over some heads.

SPLIT DECISION! Mighty Avengers #11
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller: Mark Bagley/Marko Djurdjevic
Inker: Danny Miki with Allen Martinez
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Gavin: When this series initially started, I wasn’t all that into it. This whole Doctor Doom adventure brushes those thoughts away. I love Doom and I love Bendis. Having Bendis write Doom is the comic equivalent of someone getting peanut butter in your chocolate. When you get right down to it, he doesn’t even seem to do all that much in this issue, yet he steals the show. I gasped when Doom snapped and ranted at Ms. Marvel, then laughed my ass off. I don’t care if it’s misogynistic, it was so over-the-top that I couldn’t help but lose it. When Doom slapped Ares, I had to think that no matter how top tier Doom is, he may had just signed his death warrant. When you look back at that scene and look at the ending, the old gypsy got off lightly.
Also in this issue, we finally see the Sentry get the rub he’s needed for a while to truly establish himself as the king of the superhero mountain.

Ernie: I’m one reader who sided with Captain America in the whole Civil War shebang, so perhaps that sours my disposition a bit on Mighty Avengers which is lead by Tony Stark. Ms. Marvel, Wonder Man, Spider-Woman, it all reminds me of the days of the West Coast Avengers which wasn’t necessarily a bad title in its day but it wasn’t great either. Bendis plays with the narrative in this series with the thought balloons and it’s a novel idea, but I don’t really need to know what everyone is thinking while they’re saying something else. It gets a little cumbersome at times. This is the conclusion of the Dr. Doom arc and in all of the great Doom stories you almost see his side, you feel the passion with which drives him and you almost feel like jumping on his side, but not here. There is a great finish but the problem of knowing what the next few weeks will bring in Secret Invasion is that you just want to get to it already.

PICK! New Avengers #39
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller: David Mack
Inker: David Mack
Colorist: Jose Villarubia
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Ernie: Brian Bendis and David Mack have collaborated before with the character of Echo in the pages of Daredevil and they get to do a little two-step dip back in showing how close Echo and the Skrulls got. The relationship and history of Echo and Logan is flirted with too but who hasn’t Wolverine had history with? I mean, really? Like I said above, knowing that Secret Invasion is looming this is a brief 4-way stop before getting there. What’s notable though is to just how much the Skrulls have adapted in way of their powers and abilities. Also by the end, one can wrap their heads around every possibility on who’s a skrull and who isn’t to the point of insanity.

PICK! Power Pack Day One #1
Writer: Fred van Lente
Penciller: Gurihiru
Inker: Gurihiru
Colorist: Gurihiru
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Ernie: I’m not a Power Pack fan, nor am I really the intended audience of Power Pack Day One, but this is a good comic for Marvel Zombies in training wheels. At $3 for a comic it’s childish fluff but for that transition from story books to comics, it’s still a fine price for keeping a kid motivated to read. The risk though is the draw of the Power Pack origin enough to get someone to try it cold? Well that’s for readers to determine but there are young comic readers out there, and those who still find it troubling to be inspired to read in school. Comics have always been a useful tool in encouraging reading. Most comic buyers will pass or you may have to beg your retailer to stock this, but for those searching for new, regular titles for their young ones, this is not a bad start.

PICK! The Spirit #15
Writer: Sergio Aragonés/Mark Evanier
Penciller: Paul Smith
Inker: Paul Smith
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Publisher: DC Comics

Ernie: Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier do a wonderful job keeping Will Eisner’s Spirit as a fairly light, new-reader friendly, all-ages read. The cast of colorful Eisner characters move each story forward with personality and charm until the crime is solved, or the bad guy is caught. Even though the story is self-contained, there’s enough to each story that one feels like it’s a cliff notes version of the story; you really do get a complete story. Unfortunately unlike the first year of this contemporary turn of the Spirit and DC’s other reader friendly title, Jonah Hex this lacks a bit of teeth and ever-so-slight edge to it that it once had. Does everything have to have that edge, no, but my preferences tend to lean towards ones that do.

PICK! Wolverine First Class #1
Writer: Fred van Lente
Penciller: Andrea di Vito
Inker: Andrea di Vito
Colorist: Laura Villari
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Ernie: If there weren’t enough mutant titles at Marvel, we revisit the early days of the X-Men and look into “untold secrets” of days past. For the debut, Wolverine is forced to take Kitty out on her first mission as an X-Men on a classic recon mission to fetch a mutant in distress. Almost like an episode of X-Men Animated, Wolverine: First Class is a brisk, light history treading that’s perfect for younger readers or those nostalgic for the fan-favorites in their most revered time period. The story, mostly told in Kitty’s point of view, is light on substance but captures everything that was fun about those early X-Men tales. (I never get tired of the X-Men playing sports on the manion.)I’ve read a lot worse X-Men titles. But my question is: does the modern day reader have enough money or care to revisit this time period, yet again? Why wouldn’t they pick up a trade paperback written by Chris Claremont? How much are we really going to learn? Questions aside, Fred Van Lente and Andrea Di Vito do a nice job on this niche title, but it may be too much back-stepping for hardcore X-Men zombies.

PICK! X-Men Legacy #209
Writer: Mike Carey
Penciller: Scot Eaton/Billy Tan
Inker: John Dell/Billy Tan
Colorist: Frank D’Armata/Brian Reber
Publisher: Marvel Comics

David U. What I find so remarkable about this comic is how together it feels despite the fact that by all accounts everything involved should feel thrown together and poorly constructed. It’s a book that revels in, rather than denying, the quirks of X-Men continuity, while also managing to make depictions of past events general enough that anybody could follow along. For old readers, it exposes and explores twists in what they new (that are logical, and don’t seem like retcons); for new readers, it gives them reconstructions of iconic X-Men events. Carey’s understanding and analysis of X-Men history is deft and pointed, cutting through the layers of artifice and bullshit to the core of these characters and the history of their conflicts. Way better than it should be.