This is normally the space Ben would use to talk about his college graduation last week, his girlfriend, his dog (if he had one, Ben hates dogs) and all the other stuff you don’t care about and usually skip over…but since he hasn’t done a column in like a month, Ben has decided to smile upon you, the reader, and not make you waste your time by getting straight to the good stuff…provided you didn’t waste your time reading this.
Is anybody else as pleasantly surprised as me at the quality of Action Comics under Chuck Austen (reviews seem to indicate yes)? I would even go so far as to say it is far and away the best title of the Superman revamp.
The Jim Lee art on Superman is gorgeous and Brian Azzarello’s scripting is clever, but I find the plot sluggish and lacking. I’ve only browsed through Adventures of Superman, but nothing grabbed my attention (other than the fact that Matthew Clark is one of the best artists I’ve never heard of).
But with Action Comics, Austen has not only written a Superman who is fun and witty (I don’t think he’s being Peter Parker-level quippy, he’s making the wisecracks any guy with as good a job as he has would), but he keeps the plot moving and gives you plenty of (pardon the pun) action in 22 pages. I can read too many comics these days in the course of about 5 minutes and never have any desire to re-read them, but Action Comics does not fall under this category.
As long as I’m doing the “give Chuck Austen praise for once†thing, let me also commend him for his part of “X-Men Reload.†I enjoyed his first issue on (Adjectiveless) X-Men and was more interested in what was going on with the characters of Havok and Iceman than I think I have been in years (decades in Havok’s case). In his x-tenure, Austen has shown a real flair for some neglected characters like Havok and Juggernaut, and I think he’s got a good team dynamic for his new book with the characters he’s selected (the challenge will be to see how well he can write fan favorites like Rogue and Gambit). Salvador Larocca’s art can’t be praised enough and he seems back up to X-Treme X-Men levels after slipping a bit in his initial issues on Uncanny X-Men.
Speaking of the longest running x-title, Chris Claremont & Alan Davis have set an interesting table, but I’m going to have to wait a few issues to pass judgment on the meal. It was a fun issue with lots of nice little touches and I’m glad Claremont is incorporating so many characters. Davis is always good, but I think he needs a few issues to re-familiarize himself with the characters (he obviously spent a lot of time on Justice League of America: Another Nail because it is some of his best work). I also found myself far more intrigued by the first issue of Excalibur than I expected to be; I want to see what happens next.
I’m sorry to say I found the debut issue of Astonishing X-Men to be the weakest of the bunch. Joss Whedon, whose work on television I can’t say enough good things about, definitely stuck out like a sore thumb as a guy who is making an awkward transition from another medium. His dialogue was classic Whedon, very witty, but the plot didn’t really go anywhere and felt rushed (Astonishing #1 would be one of those books I mentioned earlier that I went through in five minutes). I don’t know if this is a case of Whedon having to tell the story by himself without actors and other writers to play off of, or if it’s just first issue jitters. Regardless, Whedon has more than earned multiple chances to get it right, in my eyes, and I’m hopefully his work will get better as it goes, actually I’m pretty confident it will.
A month in, I think it’s safe to say old school x-fans and people who enjoy straight super hero fare like JSA or The Legion will enjoy Reload while fans who came on board with Grant Morrison and Joe Casey will hate it. What that will do for the bottom line I can’t say for sure, but I’m enjoying it.
I liken the Green Lantern debate (Hal vs Kyle) to a car wreck: you know in your heart you should keep driving, but a morbid curiosity forces you to slow down and take a peek.
Truth be told, I like both characters. In my perfect world, the Green Lantern Corps would be returning and Hal and Kyle as well as Guy Gardner, John Stewart and all the kooky aliens with malleable bodies and fins on their heads would be getting rings again (and Alan Scott gets to keep the name Green Lantern as well).
But if you hold a gun to my head and say “…there can be only one,†I’m going to go with…Kyle.
I say this because just about every Hal story I like is either a flashback or from years ago. I love Hal Jordan, the cocky young test pilot from JLA: Year One, The Brave & The Bold and DC: The New Frontier; he was a fun character who wasn’t so much an every man as the cool kid you’d want to be friends with, but who you had no idea had so many insecurity issues. The Hal Jordan who was active when I started reading comics, the guy with the graying temples who people saw as being nearly as responsible and stable as Superman…eh, not so interesting.
I think GL Hal Jordan had run his course when he was put out to pasture and the sales figures from the time back me up. Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t think the guy deserved “Emerald Twilight,†but I don’t think it was the wrong idea to replace him with a new character.
Kyle Rayner is endearing and still has a lot of stories left in him. He’s just now after ten years reached an interesting point in his character development where he’s not quite the new kid on the block anymore but is still in awe of the icons he’s surrounded by. He also has a great supporting cast, a cool job and lots of other stuff going for him. I see him as being a slightly hipper Wally West, a character comparable to him in terms of the whole legacy business.
At this point, I think Kyle has a lot more potential for stories set in the present than Hal does.
But again, I’d rather have ‘em both.
The Austen praise ends with his recent run on Avengers. Not only has he written many characters in ways that sets back their development years (Henry Pym specifically devolving from the development Kurt Busiek & Geoff Johns have spent years on for no good reason, and, to a lesser extent, Captain America as a throwback who still hasn’t adjusted to living in the modern era), but he’s created a thoroughly unlikable character in the new Captain Britain. Having spent time living in England, I can say that the new character is a horrible British stereotype both in speech patterns and attitude. Beyond that, the character was shoved down fandom’s collective throat as a metaphor for battered women and, more importantly to me, just doesn’t have a personality that makes me want to enthusiastically welcome her to the ranks of the World’s Mightiest. I’m having trouble putting my disdain for the character into words, but she just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If pressed and given some time to think about it, perhaps I can better explain my opinion.
In related news, Olivier Coipel continues to be the biggest artistic disappointment of the last couple years, in my opinion. His work on Avengers has ranged from overwhelming to just sloppy looking. I’m enjoying the current Avengers arc much more than the last just on the strength of Scott Kolins’ superb work.
Staying on the subject of Avengers, let’s talk “Avengers Disassemble.â€
I’m hopeful and nervous; hopeful because I have faith in the abilities of Brian Michael Bendis, nervous because of the rumors that Marvel’s “big guns†will be incorporated into the team. I would love to see BMB’s take on the classic Avengers squad, but shoe-horning the likes of Daredevil, The Hulk and especially Wolverine in there crosses the fine line of suspended disbelief comics must walk. The Avengers is not and never will be the JLA if only because the personalities of Marvel’s big guns are such that they function better on their own. No matter how well written a “big guns†Avengers might be, it will still reek of cheap marketing stunt.
Spider-Man on the team, maybe I can buy…and I really hope beyond hope they are not foolish enough to kill off the Scarlet Witch.
So the Chris Claremont/John Byrne reunion on JLA has come and gone and left me with mixed feelings. Overall, the arc wasn’t painful to read and told a fairly entertaining story, but the dialogue was wooden (Batman especially sounded as though he was being written as his Silver Age equivalent), the villains were disappointing (Crucifer was just…lame) and the story as a whole did not come anywhere near the level of quality of the duo’s older work or the potential I saw in the previews.
The art was good, I will give John Byrne that, but nothing in the way he handled the “new†Doom Patrol convinced me to pick up that series. I didn’t find the “new†versions of The Chief, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man and Robotman anywhere near as likeable as their predecessors and the new characters didn’t excite me in the least. Were this a new group of characters altogether, I could let it slide, just not buying the series but not raising a fuss, but given what we’re going to lose in order for this series to take place, countless classic stories from the previous DP series, New Teen Titans, JLA: Year One, etc., I’m heartily upset. At WizardWorld DC made some allusions to the fact that the continuity wipe would be addressed, but I don’t see this new series justifying what is going on without some major changes.
It says something that in one issue of Ultimate X-Men, Brian K. Vaughan has managed to get me more interested in the title than Mark Millar or Brian Michael Bendis has been able to since the second arc of the series. This guy is a real talent.
Speaking of talent, month in and month out, The Flash remains the best comic on the stands if you’re looking for the most bang for your buck. The latest issue had about five different storylines I’d rather read three pages about than entire issues of most other books.
After stumbling initially, I think Geoff Johns has hit his stride on Teen Titans as well. I’m still not thrilled by the new Kid Flash, but every other character is being written well, the villains are scary and cool, and stuff is actually happening.
Titans’ sister title, Outsiders, is very hot and cold. I’m predicting good things from this Fearsome Five arc based on the first issue though.
Secret War is great…why does it only come out every three months?
Finally, once again, my latest predictions in the Identity Crisis dead pool (dedicated to Tim Sheridan):
-After seeing recent preview images by Rags Morales at The Pulse, I’m pretty sure Sue Dibny is a goner.
-I still think the original Firestorm won’t see the end of the series, even if he is slated to play a role in the new series.
-I will continue to maintain that the new Robin will bite it.
-Here’s one out of kinda left field: Jesse Quick.
And that’s a wrap. Please send me your thoughts on these words I write and I’ll do my best to reply to you either here or via e-mail.
