As you no doubt have guessed by now, Brendan has more or less replaced Laura here at the vaunted halls of Picks, Pans, and Scans. Don’t worry, I didn’t kill her or anything, and she’s totally not stuffed in the trunk of anybody’s car. She’s just decided that she doesn’t have enough time in her life to be writing this column weekly. We wish Laura luck in all her future endeavors, and she says she’ll drop by periodically for a guest spot when she finds the time. But with Brendan’s full-time entrance, we now welcome you to Brendan and Adan’s Picks, Pans, and Scans! Enjoy the show.

Batman: The Mad Monk TP

Brendan: Matt Wagner’s Dark Moon Rising series continues in the magical Batman land of Year 1.5. Where the first installment, Batman and the Monster Men, revisited Hugo Strange, the first recurring rogue of Batman’s history, Mad Monk is an homage to the Crusader’s first two part story, (shriek! decompression!). And as Monster Men centered on the first time Bats was drastically and scientifically outmuscled, Monk shows us the first time he was up against a foe beyond the everyday cowardly and superstitious lot. Vampires push the boundaries of a young Bruce Wayne only accustomed to drug dealers and muggers. With this tale, Wagner manages to expose horror as an underutilized genre for the Dark Knight to explore.

In many ways, Batman-in-training is the perfect setting to tell fun stories in ways that continually ground the character. With the benefit of hindsight creators can add tons of wrinkles that serve as winks to the character’s history. Things can change, so long as the change rings true to the mythic continuity. Of course, this is obvious for the mere fact that the Year One format is the most revisited trope of the last two decades. The other is the inner monologue caption. Mad Monk manages to utilize both storytelling methods in an effective way, and proves to be one of the most satisfactory Batman stories of recent memory. The average Batman comic plays him so many steps ahead of the reader, so it is a trip to actively watch him piece together an impossible situation and continue in denial. There is growth in this story for Batman, and the voices throughout reflect that journey. Between the still dangerous and corrupt Gotham backdrop, the pulpy and charming supporting cast introduced in Monster Men, and the eerie villain Mad Monk, this story proves to be a Batman story that makes a worthwhile addition to the bookshelf. Wagner strikes some truly iconic Batman poses and moments, and this vision of the Dark Knight feels like the 1930s creepy monster Batman movie you never saw.

Also, I believe we have our first in continuity non-prostitute Selina Kyle appearance!

Adan: Eh, I’m not so excited as the Coach. It was fun and pulpy, but I personally enjoyed Monster Men more. The supporting cast that Brendan finds charming, I find tepid and two-dimensional. Norman Madison spends the entire mini-series afraid of his own shadow and we have to wait until the very end to see anything come of that, throwing the pacing all off. His daughter, Julie Madison, is vapid and annoying, and again, this doesn’t change until the very end. This Mad Monk villain isn’t as engrossing as Hugo Strange was in the first mini. I don’t know, maybe it’s as simple as the supernatural and Batman don’t mix well for me, but I don’t like it so much. Except for the art. That Matt Wagner sure can draw pretty.

And yeah, yay for Selina not selling herself and stealing stuff instead. Woohoo!

Death Dealer #1

Adan: If you like Conan, Red Sonja, or any other swords and sorcery book, then you’re probably going to like this because it’s really just more of the same. I kind of dug the Death Dealer’s back story, but the main story fell flat. There’s a woodman’s son and Duke’s daughter in love, and some crazy demon soldier things, but not much else. I give this another issue before I drop it altogether.

Brendan: Yeah, I agree with Adan. It was pretty standard. I will say I thought the art was a step up from the Red Sonja stuff, but probably below Conan standards. Too much talking, too many characters, not enough dealing of the death.

Girls #24

Adan: The final issue of the series makes sure it goes out with a bang! More townspeople deaths (some quite surprising), more survivors than you originally thought, and way more naked chicks than you could shake a stick at. When this series first came out, I took one look at the cover and passed. I thought it was just another T&A book. But last month, when issue #23 came out, I decided to read it all in one sitting (three trades and five floppies). This book grabbed me and held on tight. A survival horror story with elements of science fiction and sexual group dynamics should be an intriguing premise to damn near everybody, and I promise you it delivers. I understand that at its most basic, Girls is just another zombie book, only the zombies are hot, but its so much more than that, it’s ridiculous. If you like The Walking Dead (or did when it was still good), then you have to pick this up. Start at the beginning and then grab this issue which serves a very satisfying ending. Go ahead, I’ll wait here for you.

Brendan: Far be it from me to scoff at “just another T&A book.” After reading an issue or two of the Luna Brothers’ previous series, Ultra, it was clear the guys had talent. I skipped Girls for the most part, but still found the ultimate chapter to be a satisfying read. I got a more horror movie feel than a pure zombie one, not so much for the threat but rather the panicked manner that the townspeople interact. My main complaint is one that I think permeates all the Lunas work- it can be REALLY hard to tell the characters apart. I like the streamlined look of the book, and appreciate the simplicity and conservation of the line they employ, but without truly standout features even the men and women seem to blend together. It was a solid ending, which leads me to trust in Adan’s recommendation. Finally, it’s reassuring to know that there are other people in the world whose nightmares are haunted by giant zombie spewing sperm. I was deeply concerned that I was the only one.

Negative Burn #10

Brendan: There are some great stories in this recently revived anthology series. The lead story, “Aces,” is a great time travel romp, complete with conspiracies and paradoxes (paradoxi?). The art can be a little hard to follow at times, but it has enough adventure strip feel to it that all is forgiven. Ira Singerman and Harsho Mohan Chattoraj’s “The Twelve” is an eerie vignette about the underworld. It is Chattoraj’s art that really stands out in that story, the inking in particular. “Wings of Juano Dioz” feels like the best kind of independent comics, a tearfully poetic story about two lovers. There are more good works in here, and I wholly recommend it to anyone who likes to dabble outside of what qualifies as the “mainstream.” That isn’t even in regards to Big Two superhero titles, but also with concern to story length, format, and subject. Anthologies are like great buffets, you can just pick and snack until you feel full.

Adan: Yeah, but unlike buffets where you can pick and choose, an anthology makes you eat everything contained therein, even crappy artichokes. I didn’t like “Aces,” but that might be because this was the last part of a five part story. I didn’t know what the hell was going on and the art really didn’t help me out. My three favorites in this anthology were “To Feed the Monster,” “Wings of Juano Dioz,” and “The Mennonite at the 7-11.” The first two are kind of sad and poignant and made me think about stuff I’d really rather not think about, and the third one was just funny as hell. I don’t know if it’s worth your $5.99, but if it’s just burning a hole in your pocket, then go ahead and pick it up.

Simpsons #129

Brendan: First of all, Lenny’s hair is WAY too light in this issue. That really irks me. Hold on, I’m gonna need a minute.

Okay. I picked this book up because I wanted to laugh. Bongo comics can be really fun stuff, and I thought it would be nice to show some love. But this issue just wasn’t funny. It had the pace and pieces of any Simpsons episode, but without any unexpected moments or jokes. Instead, it just felt like we were watching the people of Springfield acting like themselves. That just isn’t enough. The plot had potential, reaching its peak with an unexpected gang, but usually an episode of this type takes a turn after about eight minutes and focuses on some other entertaining “B” story. No such luck. The illustrations were clear enough and everyone looked right, the story just came up lacking. This is doubly disappointing as it was scripted by Weapon X creator himself Len Wein. I thought you were the best there was at what you do, bub!! You lied to me!

Long story short- Homer is lazy, but in the end he has a good heart. Who knew. Roll credits.

Adan: Actually, I think the ‘A’ story was the eating too much and the ‘B’ story was the scooter thing. The ‘A’ story just ended too quickly and that’s why you were confused. But the Coach is right about everything else. It just wasn’t funny. It was like any episode of the show after about the sixth season. Un the up side, the movie is coming out soon, and did you hear this? Eleven 7-11s across the country are getting remade into Kwik-E-Mart’s, complete with products like Squishees, Buzz Cola, and Krusty-Os Cereal stocking the shelves. That sounds fantastic!

World War III (including 52 Week #50)

Adan: I swear to God I thought there was going to be continuity error after continuity error in this event, but the timeline in 52 actually matches up with the timeline in World War III, the only exception being that the final battle takes place at night in 52 and during the day in World War III. That’s not too bad. However, explaining away almost all of your much ballyhooed “One Year Later” changes in the span of one week (which is only two weeks before “One Year Later” is supposed to start) was not done so well. You’re telling me China closed its borders, Manhunter went all badass, the old JSAers decided not to quit, Supergirl came back from the future, the Red Hood donned the Nightwing duds, Donna became Wonder Woman, the Titans changed their entire line-up, Cassandra joined up with Deathstroke, Father Time changed bodies, Harvey Dent started patrolling Gotham, Aquaman became some kind of fish monster, and Manhunter became an agent of the DEO all in the same week? That’s some fine, fine needle-threading there. I will say this, I am quite excited by how Booster Gold, Rip Hunter, and Professor T.O. Morrow will take out Skeets in the next two issues. All in all, not horrible, but not awesome either. Fairly middle of the road, and frankly, that’s not good enough.

Brendan: Yeah, but it was a really shitty week that caused all that stuff. 52 #50 serves as a great payoff to my favorite storyline, Black Adam. Justiano, who shot to stardom after his work on the magic and Shazam centric Day of Vengance, delivers one of the best looking issues yet. The war feels epic, but stays centered enough to hit home a major blow at the end. With so many of the storylines dovetailing together here, it feels very much like the work of the entire writing team. Even the coloring of the issue seemed to be as vibrant and standout as the very first issue. This series was a huge risk, and the fact that the entire series sold well, shipped on time, (so far, and perhaps to the detriment of the rest of the DC publishing line), and remained the most consistently entertaining title all while staring characters that likely couldn’t sustain their own titles is a masterful feat. There are two issues left, but with this week’s massive payoff, it is time to acknowledge the accomplishment.

The World War III issues themselves, though, don’t hold up as well as the main title. Though the timeline matching over all five books is impressive, the ‘purpose’ of this book feels suspect. While the art teams are all up to snuff, and even manage to maintain the visual beats of 52 without Keith Giffen’s layouts, and the story of Martian Manhunter is entertaining, it doesn’t feel as though it warrants four issues, all essentially vital if you have followed 52. Of course, you don’t need to read them to understand the journey of the chief protagonists, but chances are if you’ve gone so far as to buy fifty issues of one story, the four issues are a small price to pay for the entire story. Basically, and Executive Editor Dan Didio admits as much in his DC Nation column, 52 ran too long as a story, and so was unable to fit all the explanations left after the Crisis. There were fifty two issues to tell one cohesive story, one of the most ambitious experiments to date, but it wasn’t quite long enough. I agree with Adan that too many of the explanations seemed forced through the event, and personally would have rather left the stories explained in the titles themselves.

Overall, it was entertaining, and well put together, but felt too much like a continuity band-aid. I will say that One Year Later was never meant to be a hard date, but rather a buffer for each book to find its’ own story, there is no reason that each OYL would start on Week 53, Day 1. Ironically, it is this week’s Nightwing Annual that proves to be the most entertaining explanation of the OYL gap.