JSA Classified #12
DC Comics
Writer: Stuart Moore
Artist: Paul Gulacy
This Savage arc of JSAC is still not exactly what one would hope. For starters, it’s not set in the past at all but in the OYL present of the DCU. Second, it doesn’t involve the JSA very much, just Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott. That’s not to say this book is worthless on its face either. The segments showcasing a dying lunatic Vandal Savage have been excellent, and the video flashback sequences have held interest. This whole arc is simply a change of pace and it risks alienating the JSA fan base. This issue’s latest risky move is a bait and switch of one character for another; it’s not the implausibility of the charade that might irk longtime fans, it’s that Alan (new White King of Checkmate and all) wasn’t suspicious enough to even try to see through it. And though the final plot twist piques reader interest in the next issue, it also is very reminiscent of the last week’s Green Arrow. So while the art rocks hard, and is very consistent, the story just isn’t what one would expect or hope for the DCU’s premiere superteam.
Score: C
Blue Beetle #3
DC Comics
Writer: Keith Giffen and John Rogers
Artist: Cynthia Martin
This book continues to impress with its fresh and substantive take on superhero adolescence. The idea to render our hero and narrator Jaime as clueless to OYL as the readership at large is brilliant. The confused Blue Beetle becomes instantly more relatable as he and the readers share the same dislocation. The fact that none of his family has died by the third issue certainly marks this apart from most superhero origins (Spider-Man et al) and their knowledge of his dual identity is a great vein for future stories. While the superhero street gang element of this series still doesn’t resonate, it’s good to know that they might be less thuggish OYL, and the hinted at friend-against-friend conflict would certainly liven up the supporting cast.
The fill-in art team wasn’t recognizable as substitutes, and that’s a high compliment even given the fact the book’s aesthetic is still evolving. The Blue Beetle armor may be an acquired taste, but the common touch infused into all the other visual aspects of this title makes it seem special and otherworldly by contrast. It’s a solid technique and makes the book much more visually appealing.
Score: B
Checkmate #2
DC Comics
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Jesus Saiz
This book has the multi-layered plot and overlapping characters of either a soap opera or a potboiler thriller depending on which aspect of it you respond to better. People want other people’s jobs. People are sleeping around. People lie to entrap other people. While that’s happening, covert military operations are planned, executed, and evaluated by some of the DCU’s smartest and more ruthless characters. Meanwhile, unfriendly governments are planning the end of the agency and terrorists are plotting their revenge. This book is most likely going to shoehorn every single bit of plot possible into each page. It’s a lot to keep straight; luckily the cast makes the bookkeeping more of a lark than a chore. The art from Saiz seems to be clarifying as the book matures, which is a necessity given the title’s scope. This series might not ever be a breezy fun read, but the scope, character interaction, and mature treatment of serious adult issues may eventually make it a great grown up experience.
Score: B
Batman #653
DC Comics
Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Don Kramer
Face the Face continues in this issue. While no forward motion at all in the mystery occurs, readers do get a Cliff’s Notes version of Harvey Dent’s time during the missing year as well as a not-exactly-reliable denial of the the B-list killings by his alternate personality. It’s a character tour de force and explains quite neatly why Harvey Dent will never really heal. If the reader already knew that (and there are lots of great Harvey/Two-Face stories out there) this issue could have been a three-page flashback and maybe twenty new pages of content. So, the success of this installment really depends on the taste of the reader. In either case, Kramer’s art supports the story brilliantly, everything from Harvey’s destroyed flophouse apartment to the page splash of him as the temporary heroic avenger of Gotham city just leap off the page. Mystery junkies lost out this week, but horror fans probably feasted on Harvey’s psychological stresses.
Score: B
X-Factor #7
Marvel Comics
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Ariel Olivetti
The only in continuity sensible well-rounded mutant book published by Marvel Comics has another excellent installment. Readers learn more about Singularity Investigations, Siryn deals with the death of her father, and I suspect one more name gets added to the 198. The entire issue has the emotional feel of the best of David’s work, all the different beats not only feel genuine but mesh together very well. His humorous dialogue really can’t be topped, and readers get several zingers in this one comic. Olivetti’s art seems more specific than whatever readers got last issue and it just brings all aspects of the book into crisper focus. This book might not have tried to impress the reader with blockbuster moments and giant fight scenes, but it probably is the week’s most well crafted issue.
Score: A
Exiles #81
Marvel Comics
Writer: Tony Bedard
Artist: Jim Calafiore
The penultimate installment of World Tour occurs on Counter Earth, AKA the Heroes Reborn Earth, across from the regular 616 Earth. Readers get caught up on the Young Allies including JOLT!, Proteus tries to finally put an end to the game of cat and mouse he’s been playing with the Exiles for several parallel Earths now, and suddenly two gods appear out of the sky and completely alter the status quo. Well, ain’t that a bitch? If this were the very last installment in this epic tale, it would have to rate an automatic D, for deus ex machina. Since there’s still a chapter left, and one subplot involving behavior modification technology, the door’s still open for a satisfactory conclusion, but I really hate how the team was saved by an external agent here. Still, the Calafiore art rocks, Blink’s internal monologue is true to character, and the utter romp of an Atlantean nuclear missile takes some of the sting out of this, one of the WT’s weaker chapters.
Score: C
52 Week Three
DC Comics
Writer: Johns, Morrison, Rucka, Waid
Artist: Giffen and Bennett
52 is really starting to pick up (groan!). The main characters, especially Black Adam and Booster Gold, are moving in definite arcs. Black Adam is becoming a political force to be reckoned with, complete with object lessons for the media while Booster Gold is beginning to understand that the facts he so casually relied on to make the best of his time-lost situation are in flux. That’s great contrast. Combine that with the ongoing parenting subplot faced by John Henry Irons and a decent reason Alexander Luthor got punk’d at the end of Infinite Crisis and this week of 52 offers some big thrills. The art continues to put storytelling ahead of spectacle without sacrificing great visuals. It’s a tightrope and 52 is proving mighty dexterous. If the plots can advance at the same speed without muddling each other or reducing to sound bites, this series may be the great chronicle that readers were promised months ago.
Score: A
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl
Marvel Comics
Writer: Peter Milligan
Artists: Nick Dragotta and Mike Allred
The final episode of this mini-series reminds readers what was great about it (humor, surrealism, character moments that one normally wouldn’t associate with certain characters) while tying up all the ends that ought not to hang loose. For those of you who hate to learn every secret, be content to know that the Pitiful One’s identity is never revealed. For those of you into bodily fluid humor, many fart jokes are told. The love triangles resolve themselves. The McGuffin is suitably destroyed so these events cannot recur in the same fashion. It’s a satisfactory conclusion, and it satisfies by not leaving anything out that ought to be included. But this issue lacks the zany anything goes flavor of the early and middle issues of the series, mainly because the story must end. These characters deserve much more attention under capable hands. Someone should find another way to resurrect the X-Statix franchise…
Score: B
