Exiles #79: 
Marvel Comics
Writer: Tony Bedard
Artist: Paul Pelletier
Once again the evil that is my never-quite-complete pull list rears its ugly head; I should have read and reviewed this last week. I really have been enjoying Exiles lately. Sure, one of my favorite team members was murdered/possessed at the beginning of this arc. But in exchange, readers have been treated to some nifty established alternate Marvel Universes (2099, The New Universe, Squadrom Supreme) and have managed to recruit a team member or two from them. As Spidey 2099 was easily the coolest thing to come out of that imprint, I am glad he’s now on team Exiles, even if it means continuity headaches for stories no one has read for a decade or two. And now, the transition into one of the coolest alternate timelines of all (the Future Imperfect) only makes a sweet deal even sweeter. We get two rampaging super-Hulks, a well-planned attack, and an excellent final splash page revelation. The art by Pelletier is peppy and well-rendered; it helps keep the issue kinetic and visually interesting. The next issue promises more of the same. The World Tour arc is shaping up to be one of the series’ best.
Score: A
JSA Classified #11:
DC Comics
Writer: Stuart Moore
Artist: Paul Gulacy
OYL means many things. There’s a big chunk of continuity missing. Situations and people have changed. This issue of JLAC deals with two people who have undergone nigh inexplicable upheavals since the end of mega-crossover Infinite Crisis. The immortal Vandal Savage (last seen by this reviewer on a meteor hurtling out of Earth orbit since I missed JSAC’s last issue but read Flash) is dying. He’s clearly losing his mind as well as his 37,000 year old life. His final obsessed last wish is to kill the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott. Why Savage has fixated on this particular member of the Justice Society is unclear, as he had fought damn near all of them for half a century. But the upside to that rather arbitrary choice is the opportunity to look in on Alan Scott OYL. Apparently, a few things have changed for him too. He’s missing an eye for starters! Rumors and interviews point to him being a member of two teams (Checkmate and the JSA). When an old (and very,very dead) friend appears out of the night to enlist Alan’s aid in thwarting a certain dying super-villain, all kinds of interior mental alarms ought to be a-ringing. Combine this puzzling yet intriguing action with two well-done interludes (one for Green Lantern, one for Savage) and there’s a lot to digest, even if it’s not all as straightforward as meat and potatoes. Gulacy’s art certainly meets the dramatic standards for a tale as complicated and varied in settings as this issue. His layouts are involving without being overly complicated or gimmick-ridden. Emotion effuses the faces of his characters. My only qualm is as specific and bland as it sounds: the man needs to work on his noses. Several shnozzes in this issue look either distorted, elongated, or just plain over-large. It never dominates the artwork, but it does distract from time to time.
Score: B
Robin #149:
DC Comics
Writer: Adam Beechen
Artist: Freddy Williams II
Truthfully, I haven’t had any interest in Robin as a character since before the latest incarnation of Teen Titans began. Figure once Tim Drake had progressed to thwarting whole Cobra terrorist cells and preventing civil wars in imaginary Middle Eastern countries single-handed, he became dull to read about. When Robin’s father was murdered as part of Identity Crisis I became worried as well as bored. Killing off the sole surviving parent of the only Robin not to become Bruce Wayne’s ward was a bad omen, rife with the possibility of falling into an all to familiar pattern.
Now it’s one year after the latest Crisis, and while Tim still hasn’t recovered from the loss of his father, he’s not in lockstep with the paths of the other Robins either. Combine that open-ended set of possibilities with this title’s return to smaller scale detective-based plots, and this is finally a book worth reading again. The interludes (one with a mysterious assassin, one with recurring Bat-character Lady Shiva) don’t really add much except the foreshadowing they overtly intend, but with Robin acting like a tough young detective instead of an unstoppable super agent, it’s worth letting them slide. Williams’ art is cartoony enough to be fun (his rendition of the new Robin togs looks better for its manga influences) and grounded just enough to make certain sequences gritty and suspenseful. I hope this creative team has a lot more stories to tell.
Score: A
X-Statix Presents: Deadgirl #4:
Marvel Comics
Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Nick Dragotta & Mike Allred
This miniseries has been a ridiculous escapade. We’ve heard about Doc Strange’s hemorrhoids, the Pitiful One’s numerous demeaning defeats at the hands of established Marvel superheroes, the many bizarre levels of Hell (the hell of bureaucrats is a nice touch), as well as advice from a goofy pianist superhero and an albino Western gunfighter. These characters could each headline their own wacky title, smashing them together in an effort to tell a multifaceted lark of a story is either psychosis or genius. The art by Dragotta and Allred certainly sells the outrageousness very well.
This issue is a bit slow moving. While Dr. Strange is actively imperiled, the pay-off was put off until the final issue of the story. Most of the book focuses on the ongoing soap opera proto-romances between Ms. America and Tike Alicar, Mr. Sensitive and U-Go Girl, and Dr. Strange and Deadgirl. While that’s entertaining in a Moonlighting meets Perfect Strangers sort of way, it’s not as clever, action-oriented, in-jokey, or overtly silly as the last few issues. It’s still fun, but not as much as the first three installments. And any time a story unnecessarily pushes a pay-off forward one issue, I deduct one grade.
Score: C
