So”¦as of Sunday, I turned 25 years old. A quarter century. My depression is thick and overbearing.
On that note, enjoy the NEWS!
Product Placement”¦to the Extreme
DC has provided Newsarama with five black and white pages of July’s Rush City #1, a new miniseries which will introduce a new hero (Rush) to the DC Universe, as well as introduce his car, the Pontiac Solstice GXP, to readers.
Drive the car all the heroes want to drive at Newsarama
I’m conflicted about this book. On the one hand, it is written by action comic guru Chuck Dixon for whom I have much love. On the other, it just sounds”¦bad. And I mean that regardless of the product placement thing. The fact that it is essentially a product comic is cheesy, sure, but read the plot and be honest with yourself. If it was not advertising a car, would you be interested. The answer is: no, no you wouldn’t.
The enemy here is not product placement. The enemy here is bad story. Just like usual.
Up and Atom
This June, six new “One Year Later”/post Infinite Crisis DC titles officially kick-start in the $1.00, 80-page DCU: Brave New World one-shot special.
Earlier Thursday we took a closer look at one of the upcoming limited series launching from Brave New World – Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters. Now we’re going to take a closer look at the only ongoing “BNW” title – the July-debuting The All-New Atom by writer Gail Simone and artists John Byrne and Trevor Scott (with covers by Ariel Olivetti).
Newsarama caught up with series editor Mike Carlin Thursday for a brief chat about the new title, and DC sent along some preview pages to gussy the whole thing up.
Aagh, my eyes, the goggles do nothing at Newsarama
Because of all the hate for the new Atom’s costume (which, by the way, I don’t think is all that different or worse than Ray’s. It’s just fine, if you ask me) the one thing that seems to get lost in the shuffle is that Byrne’s work here looks good. Very good in fact. Better than I thought he was capable of doing any more. I can’t say how I feel about the book yet (though I like the Twin Peaks-esque hook), but I will say that I am happy that it marks a bit of a return to form for everyone’s favorite artist/writer to hate. Heck, if you peek the page below and squint, you might almost think that Quitely did the penciling (it is in the faces, I think).
I’m also impressed that, buy in large, no fan has pulled the ol’ “I don’t get this. If DC couldn’t sell a ________ book with Mr. Already Established Character why do they think they can sell it with Mr. New Character?” argument. You may recognize this argument from such high profile gigs as putting down the choice of Jason Rusch as the new Firestorm. It drives me up a wall because it makes no sense at all. It’s like me arguing that because people don’t like George Bush as President they also would not enjoy Barack Obama as President. Sure, they are completely different people with different personalities and viewpoints. Since they are both the “President” though, they will both be unlikable. But, as I said, the message boards have been blessedly free of that sort of bizarre logical reasoning.
If you are the type of person who enjoys a good message board car crash (and I admit, every now and again, I do) the talkback section of this article has a doozy of a back and forth between a poster called Joe Zhang (who is actually not the REAL Joe Zhang who many of you might know as big Byrne fan Rod Odom, but rather someone who posts under Rod’s real name to point out theâ€â€oh, who really cares) and writer Gail Simone herself. No quarter is asked for and none given. It is pointless and silly and thus, a quintessential internet debate about comics.
Fighting for Freedom Over Land and Air
You’d think they’d just give up.
After being decimated in Infinite Crisis #1 in an attack by the Society which saw several team members killed, you’d think that no one would ever want to re-form a team called the Freedom Fighters ever again.
Never say die.
In July, Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters get a fresh go of it at DC, this time in their own series, nonetheless, courtesy of Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and artist Daniel Acuna.
Uncle Sam wants you to click this link to Newsarama
I was kind of considering picking this series up. Then came Battle for Bludhaven. Now”¦not so much.
Ion the Prize
He’s one of the mysteries to come out of Infinite Crisis – Kyle Rayne’s latest (re?) evolution, Ion.
First appearing in Rann-Thanagar war Infinite Crisis Special, and then in Infinite Crisis #6, Ion’s next appearance was as the star of his own series, launched last month, written by Ron Marz, a guy who knows a thing or two about Kyle, and illustrated by Greg Tocchini.
As with the rest of the line of DCU titles, Ion is set one year after the end of the Crisis, during that period, Kyle has mainly been sticking close to earth, being active as Ion as needed, but mostly – looking to once again ground himself after an extended run in space.
As for what’s been going on while he’s been Ion? Still kinda hard to say. Issue #1 began with Kyle having visions about destroying an entire fleet of spaceships, as well as a couple of Green Lanterns. The Guardians are no help – only enigmatically standing behind the scenes, dropping only the most mysterious hints and clues when we do see them.
In an attempt to find out more before this mont’s issue #2 his, we caught up with Marz for the inside look.
I’ve used the title joke before, haven’t I? Well, that’s okay because Newsarama has interviewed Marz before on Ion so this is all about repeating.
While I am not one who focuses on the art first in a comic, I have to admit that I found the art in Ion #1 to be off putting. Off putting enough to make me wonder if the story was really as mediocre as I felt or could I just not get past the art enough to appreciate the story?
Well, if this page”¦
“¦is any indication, I shall soon have my answer. The art here looks miles cleaner (perhaps the inclusion of an inker on the book helped?). The background work, in particular, is a step up from #1. Hopefully, it was just the art that left me unimpressed with the first issue and I can enjoy Kyle’s adventures from here on out.
BEWARE THE FUTURE’S AWESOME MIGHT
Solicitations are here!
Batman #656– Fifty ninja Man-Bats. Because 49 just would not be enough. Is it wrong that if this plot was being written by anyone not named Grant Morrison I’d be groaning in doubt?
Detective Comics #822– Riddler as crime fighter? Intriguing.
Man Bat #5– Wait”¦so Black Mask isn’t dead? And Hush is here, too? Joyous.
Robin #153– This cover is almost McDaniel-esque.
Action Comics #842–
Awesome.
Supergirl #9– You heard it here first. Her new boyfriend: Jamie Hatton. No wonder no hero will condone it.
Superman/Batman #29– Hal Jordan goes mad? Wow”¦that might be a little too ground breaking.
Birds of Prey #97– Black Alice in the house!
Checkmate #5– Another great Berjemo cover.
The Flash #3– Is Keystone’s newest hero Shroud?
Oh, and that is most definitely a white Flash behind him. So much for the cover to #1 depicting a Black Flash, eh? (As in a Flash of non-Caucasian race, not the Black Flash, Death Incarnate for Speedsters everywhere).
52– If Lobo sticks around, I’ll be upset. And I’ll take it out on all of you. Be forewarned.
JLA Classified #26– Finally! Kid Amazo! Yay for Milligan goodness.
Justice League of America– Does that story’s title promise some Red Tornado action? Or is it all just a big tease? And goodness, this book has a lot of covers, doesn’t it?
Manhunter #25– No. I don’t believe it. No.
Nice cover though.
The Next #2– I recognize all these words and yet this solicitation makes no sense to me.
Solo #12– Disappointing that this is the end. A shame, really. By the way, Manhunter, not ending. Nope.
Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #2– I don’t care what anyone says, I am so not comfortable with Uncle Sam being portrayed as a flasher.
Ex Machina #23– A very different Ex cover, but I like it.
TIM’S TIRADES
So, Was Infinite Crisis Good?
Yay, that’s a loaded question. And probably a bit unfair since I’m not going to answer it. Well, not really anyway. I will tell you that I liked it, but, as with any project this size, it was hardly anywhere near flawless. Thus, I have decided that the best way to deal with this is via lists. That’s right. If you can’t manage to build a coherent argument through full sentences, why not use bullet point? In other words, I am a hack. That acknowledged, let’s do this thing.
What Made Me Smile
“¢ Batman’s character arc- Batman had gotten about as paranoid and unpleasant as you could take him in a comic not written by Frank Miller (oh snap!), but he was dragged back across the line by a collection of key scenes, the best of which being his near nervous breakdown. Powerful (and necessary) it paved the way for a surprisingly quite and effective Batman/Nightwing scene where Bruce acknowledges how far gone he has been and Dick reassures him how much he loved being Robin and allowed Batman to shin as a consummate team leader when he brought his ragtag bunch into space to take on Brother Eye.
“¢ The next generation shines- Nightwing, Wonder Girl, and Superboy step up to save the day while two Supermen and Wonder Woman are too busy hanging out in Earth 2.
“¢ Superboy pulls himself out of his self imposed funk- I’m a sucker for a redemption storyline and Conne’s transition from “I’m part Superman, part Luthor, what does it all mean” to “You will not hurt anyone else” was a goodie. I only wish we could have gotten the satisfaction of seeing him take down his psychotic goodie two shoes doppelganger.
“¢ A sense of scope- The whole thing did feel world shattering and make the heroes seem so small in front of the encroaching doom. If anything, Johns did too good a job with it as the heroes’ eventual (and inevitable) victory on all fronts felt too easy. Even given the number of faceless (possible) causalities, the cost did not quite seem equal to the task.
“¢ In the whirlwind of it all, there was still time for little moments- Some of my favorite things from this series that will stay with me are some of the smallest. Mr. Terrific and Ragman’s conversation outside the church, Mr. Terrific and Black Lightning discussing their hero names, Batman telling Green Arrow that he invited him on the Brother Eye expedition in part just to see if he came (although that did make Batman seem a little”¦well, odd, I guess. It’s a big mission, is now really the time to see if you and Ollie are still buddies?), and Tim Drake’s one panel reaction to his fallen friend Superboy.
“¢ The Villains United Special- It actually connected to the story and it was good”¦huzzah!
“¢ Alex’s final fate- Comeuppance to the extreme!!!
What Made Me Cringe (or, At the Very Least, Failed the Smile Test)
“¢ The Supermen and Wonder Woman- Batman got a great arc. These guys”¦not so much. Wonder Woman reverses her position on killing, one that was intelligent enough to allow for shades of grey, to a black and white: “It’s not worth it,”? Lousy. All the worse because it feels less like a moral thing and more like a “it’s not worth it because it is such a pain in the neck afterwards that you might as well not do it.”
The Supermen favored worse though. Kal-L, the first superhero EVER, is brought back to show us the way, right? Ummm, not really. He’s brought back to essentially judge what he does not know and punch Kal-El in the face, near as I can tell. Even his potential as an accidental villain striving to bring about a utopia, damn the consequences, was derailed early and stolen by Alex, more or less.
As for our Superman, Kal-El, yes, he eventually acted. But was his actions in #7 really equal to his virtual no show in the six previous issues? Not for me, they weren’t. And I still have a hard time swallowing that the only way for Superman to inspire heroes is to make huge sacrifices. If his arc began when Batman pointed out that Superman had only inspired through his death, does plunging through a beltway of Kryptonite and a red sun and losing your powers in the process really resolve that problem? Or is it just a sacrifice of a different stripe? Can Superman not remain upright and mobile and still inspirational? I say that yes, he can. But I don’t see that on the page here.
“¢ Donna Troy and the Space Brigade- For a series that was so fastidious about tying up loose ends, the fact that this rather large one slipped through is a bit of a mind boggle. Two and a half minis (since Andy Diggle did not know Adam Strange would feed into DC’s big event when he started, I only count half that mini) and a special were created to lead to one defining moment”¦distracting Alex Luthor. That’s it. Now, the space team was the least interesting part of the story for me. I had avoided all the minis that spotlighted them and cosmic stuff in general is not my cup of tea. That said, I know plenty of folks who did pick it all up because they bought into it being important. That kind of bait and switch is not cool.
“¢ The art- Too many cooks spoil the soup. Too many artists, same deal. The excuses piled up over time: Jerry Ordway was always going to draw the Earth 2 stuff, George Perez has to draw CoIE related flashbacks. I bought those. Sure, makes sense I thought. By the end, though, there were no more excuses being made which, I suppose, is just as well. I mean, what excuse could’ve proved acceptable for an art team that literally reached double digits?
“¢ The OMAC Project Special- I’m sorry, I just didn’t really like it.
“¢ The deaths- I’m okay with the “a high body count equals an important story” approach, but you’ve got to make those deaths count. I’m not if it was a failure of art or what, but a lot of the “deaths” in IC are framed in such a way that it would be easy to later say, “No, he was just badly injured, not dead.” Zauriel being knocked out of the sky, Breac’s pop out of reality, the disappearance (maybe) of the people near Breach at the time, etc all leave lanes and lanes of plausible deniability room. The first time Superboy shows up and makes mincemeat of a bunch of Titans, it hurts because you can see the damage, you know it’s real. In #7, it is like we are fast forwarding through it all. There’s no hurt, no shock because there’s really no there there.
“¢ Breach- Seriously, DC, you could’ve thrown me a bone here.
A Personal Theory that Is Probably All Sorts of Crazy
“¢ Anyone else really like the idea that this whole series is about how wrong we are to want to bring comics back to the past and how hideously that sort of move would go awry? It probably isn’t true, but I think that sort of subtext would be excellent. Especially since it would be espousing that point of view while doing exactly that. So very meta.
Overall, as you have noticed from my other reviews, I liked the series. I think, much like its predecessor, it is going to be hard to judge the scope of this series for a year or so. Also much like its predecessor, I think, with time, it will be one of those things we look back on and say, “I appreciate what it accomplished, but I’m not sure if it’s “good” or not.”
Of course, if they had given Breach some real action, I might be playing a very different tune right now.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
MANHUNTER #22
Cancellation? Bah, I don’t hear that. It is going to be like Spider-Girl, forever cancelled, never ending.
Well, I can dream at least.
Anyway, I’m not going to let a little bad news drag me down. I love the book and I’m going to continue to until it ends. Whenever that might be.
ROBIN #150
Reunited and it feels so good.
That pretty well describes how I feel about this book these days. If you are not picking it up, you are missing out on the book that probably burst best out of the OYL gates. A new writer, a new artist, and a new outlook on life for Tim have spelled a great two issues so far and I’m expecting that this one will maintain that momentum nicely.
SHADOWPACT #1
Day of Vengeance sort of flamed out for me after being surprisingly good in the first three issues. However, the quality of the first three has stuck with me so I can’t help but remain optimistic about this.
Willingham on art duties as well is a treat that I am looking forward to. I’ve heard he is pretty good so I’m excited to judge that for myself.
OPINIONS ON THE WORK OF PEOPLE FAR MORE TALENTED THAN I
52 WEEK 1
DC’s lost year begins here and”¦it’s a mixed bag. At this point though, I have a hard time saying whether it is me or them. I suspect it is a bit of both. I have to get used to the rhythm of the book, in which conversations are cut into and out of abruptly and nothing (save Booster Gold’s revelation about time travel) gets to really build into a big payoff. I suspect that the writers have to get used to it as well though. Just because we are only tackling a week at a time with multiple characters does not mean that characters cannot be developed. As such right now, characters are more archetypes than anything else. Steel is a by the book hero who believes in earning your keep, Montoya is an alcoholic in a tailspin who cannot pull out of it, Ralph is a man in mourning who’s pretty sure he can’t go, and the Question is a cipher. Only Booster gets a personality in his slow build revelation that this hero-ing thing may not be as easy as remembering his history (or rather, being told it by a floating future robot).
There are also small glitches in the story’s progression that seem to point toward a need to grow used to the format. For example, did Montoya really drink three days in a row, in the same bar in the same outfit? I mean, yes, I know she’s a woman on the edge who’s drinking because she’s angry (or perhaps she’s angry because she’s drinking. Or maybe, like Fat Bastard, she’s angry because she drinks and she drinks because she’s angry. Oh, and is it cool to quote Austin Powers again or is that still comedy poison? Just wondering), but three days straight, sans a change of clothes or a shower? I just don’t know about that. This, of course, does not detract from the story (unless you are a nitpicker) but it does point towards a kind of evolutionary process when it comes to dealing with how 52 will flow.
Overall, there is some potential here. I’m giving the whole thing the benefit of the doubt when I grade it because I think both I and the creative team will quickly embrace the feel of this “real time” tale. Thus, I award it a low B.
BATTLE FOR BLUDHAVEN #3
Take a look at the front page of this comic. See all those characters? There’s like 21 of them. 21 “leads” in a miniseries! If you think that might be overkill, you might be right. Nay, you most certainly would be right.
But overkill can be okay sometimes. Pointless overkill though? Never good or right. And that’s exactly what Battle is. Pointless. Loud, slapdash, bitter, and pointless. I defy you to care about one character, just one!, in this whole mess. Not to care about them because, “hey, I like Robin in Titans and his own book,” or “man, they cancelled Monolith way too soon,” but because of what they actually do in the book. It can’t be done.
This book has been so disappointing, it has persuaded me not to buy Freedom Fighters. That’s right, it is a book so bad, it has made me not buy another book.
It may only be a miniseries, but I’m to the end of my pre-ordering. Thus, I’m done. Get me off this sad, useless ride.
SUPERMAN #652
HOLY S#!+!!!!! Clark got his powers back?! I thought, for sure, he’d be powerless forever! I can’t even believe this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alright, sarcasm mode off. Obviously, Clark’s return to the cape is no surprise, even without last issue’s cliffhanger. Just like when he died, we all knew Superman would be back in Metropolis’s sky some day. That doesn’t mean it still can’t be a good story. And you know what? This issue is a good story.
Superman owes some gratitude for that to his supporting cast, specifically Jimmy and Lois. Their reactions to Big Blue’s return are great reflections of their personality and a window into what Superman means on a personal and citywide level. Jimmy’s transition from shock to smile in a Daily Planet under siege is a pinnacle of this, telling you all you need to know about the importance of Superman in two panels.
My only complaint is how quick the still re-powering Kal-El bests the super powered posse that has come for his head. It feeds the problem that always comes into writing Superman. If he’s so good, how do you ever really threaten him? By taking down some of his noteworthy villains before he’s “kicked into letting it all back” it shows off Supes’ clever side, sure, but it also underlines how little of an issue they are to him. It’s a minor issue in the context of this story, perhaps, but as it points to something that has often kept me off from Superman, it is something I noticed.
Pete Woods, who I am somehow failed to mention in my reviews of previous issues, is very very good. I liked his stuff on Robin a few years back and I think he’s only gotten better since then. He’s a quiet artist that I hope gets a lot more attention in the years to come.
EX MACHINA #20
Wow”¦that sort of speaks volumes, doesn’t it. Mayor Hundred spends three issues convinced that this terrorist attack is all about him, about his past. As it turns out, it’s not. It was a terrorist attack. It was random and brutal and about spreading fear. But it was not all about him. This was not some grand battle between Hundred and a terrorist. There was no one, really, to defeat. There was a criminal, to be certain, but when the goal is just to spread fear, that’s not something you can combat in the old fashioned ways.
You don’t think Vaughan is dealing in analogy here, do you?
Even if analogies aren’t your thing, this is a good issue. Read it twice though. It is much stronger the second time through.
That’s it for me this week. See you back here next week for the usual plus letters from the readers, and, I don’t know, me and Jamie Hatton engaged in mortal combat. You won’t want to miss it.
Un Gajje is Old Now. So Very Old.
