Justice League. Wonder Woman. Astonishing X-Men. So big books, highly awaited, that seem to have taken forever to get her. Plus, 52, Daredevil, Birds of Prey, Ultimate Spider-Man and more.
Has it been worth the wait? In a word, no. Let’s take a look to find out why.
Astonishing X-Men 16
Published by: Marvel
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: John Cassaday
Colorist: Laura Martin
This one reads like issue #15b and suffers for it. Everything you loved about 15? Yeah, there’s more of it here. Wolverine is a scared little boy, Kitty Pryde is bad ass, and Cyclops is sleeping. Oh, and the enemies from the previous two arcs are cooperating to come to earth to further complicate the plot.
It’s good, but what was fresh and cool and funny an issue ago feels a bit stale here. It was satisfying to finally see Kitty put a hurting on Emma, but otherwise everything is in a holding pattern. A pretty, wittily penned holding pattern to be certain, but it’s a holding pattern nonetheless.
Grade: B
Daredevil 88
“The Devil in Cell Block D” Finale
Published by Marvel
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: David Aja
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
David Aja does a suitable Lark/Gaudiano impression here (and it gives hope for the upcoming Iron Fist mini) as we dive into the mind of Daredevil’s Sancho Panza, Franklin “Foggy” Nelson. Apparently, as the attorney lay dying, the FBI offered him an escape and, without Matt around to lend him some courage, Foggy took it. Now, being largely healed and news of Matt’s prison escape rattling in his head, Foggy realizes the mistake he’s made and is working like crazy to get out of it.
Unsurprisingly, given Brubaker’s track record on the title, it is very good. Foggy sounds like Foggy and the revelations of his character are nothing particularly shocking or new, but they perhaps strike a bit deeper. The bond of Nelson and Murdock takes on some shading and depth here as we’re able to see that Nelson does get something from his partnership with the Man Without Fear besides almost getting killed several times.
Grade: B+
New Avengers 23
“New Avengers: Disassembled” Part Three
Published by: Marvel
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Olivier Coipel
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Typically, Bendis is rather easily able to convince me that the characters he loves are worth loving (teenage Peter Parker, Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Cage, etc). However, he’s never really been able to pull off that trick when it comes to his favorite Spider Woman, Jessica Drew. That might explain why this issue largely failed to engage me.
From my perspective, it was little more than an excuse to see Jessica roll around in a fetching white baby tee/ bikini cut panty set while avoiding getting shot by this organization or that. It’s a pretty, if chaotic, affair that hardly seems worth the 22 pages.
Grade: C-
Ultimates Annual 2
Published by: Marvel
Writer: Charlie Huston
Pencilers: Mike Deodata, Jr and Ryan Sook
Inkers: Joe Pimentel and Wade von Grawbadger with Scott Koblish
Colorists: Rain Beredo and June Chung
I’m having a hard time reviewing this one. There are some things about it that I like very much. For instance, Captain America’s frustration about America’s progress in race acceptance or Falcon’s rather jaded attitude towards the whole thing. I would have liked to see that more thoroughly explored.
On the other hand, the book often felt like it was jumpy from action scene to action scene without really going anywhere. There was no sense of danger or weight to the fate sequences despite the amount of bullets fired, vehicles blown up, giant flesh robots defeated, and punches thrown. The distance from it hinders the story. This is best shown when Armin Zola faces his “betters”. It should have been a searing, patriotic moment. Instead, it was an ugly pig pile that passed too quickly to be savored.
Part of the problem is, admittedly, Deodata’s artwork. He seems to be going through an “ugly” phase and thus I often breeze through his work quicker. No reason to focus on art that is not pleasing to look at, right? Also, he makes some odd choices when it comes to panel layout and focus. Again, during that Zola sequence, Deodata zooms so close up, the battle loses all context. It’s hard to imagine whether or not Huston’s script would’ve been a bit stronger if the art was equal in both sections (I have no issue with Sook’s work).
A final peeve concerns coloring. In an issue all about a dust that turns black people white as it kills them, why do we only see one black person in the present day (Falcon) and about three in the flashbacks? It has the creepy subtext of Zola winning; the black people have, in fact, become invisible.
Grade: C
Ultimate Spider-Man 99
Published by: Marvel
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mark Bagley
Inkers: John Dell & Drew Hennessy
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
What the hell is going?
No, seriously…what the hell is going on?
Judging by this issue alone, black is now white, up is down, cats are dogs, and other assorted inverted relationships. Bendis throws so many twists into this issue you never have a chance to react to any of them. In the span of 22 pages, we meet a possibly(?) resurrected Gwen Stacy who might also be a killer (the doc with the broken neck), Aunt May also meets her, Aunt May finds out Peter is Spider-Man, Aunt May kicks Peter out, Peter’s dad returns, Aunt May acts like she always knew he was alive, Peter’s first clone (Carnage, right) is back, scarred, and fully convinced he’s Peter, and Nick Fury has Spider Slayers at the ready.
Like I said, what the hell is going on?
My guess?
Nothing.
Why?
Because there’s just too much here and damn near none of it makes sense. I’m tempted to point towards Mysterio as being the root cause of it all, but it is hard to reconcile that with Fury’s actions or Mary Jane’s kidnapping (as, if it was Mysterio, we’d never be privy to anything Peter was not around for first hand). The best I can come up with is that the Fury and Mary Jane stuff is real and that somewhere along the way, after stopping Scorpion, Peter tripped down the rabbit hole (perhaps set by Mysterio) and is stuck in a horrible nightmare scenario while someone (Osborn?) is tearing down the rest of his life.
But really, I have no idea. In the end, the storyline will probably justify this issue. As of now though, it feels like overkill.
Grade: B-
52 Week 16
“Uhebbuki”
Published by: DC
Writer: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid
Art Breakdows: Keith Giffen
Artists: Joe Bennett
Colorist: David Baron
The book makes an odd choice this week as it lends a basically full length stage to the story of Black Adam and Isis’s wedding. The question is why and “52” has very little to offer by way of a satisfying explanation. Montoya and the Question’s search for a suicide bomber is interspersed as a means of building tension, but it never quite works and the wedding itself is largely uninterested. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy those crazy kids have found one another. But happiness an interesting wedding does not make.
Grade: C+
Batman 655
“Man-Bats of London”
Published by: DC
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Andy Kubert
Inker: Jesse Delperdang
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Morrison’s “new” Batman finally, truly arrives this month and boy, is it a kick.
(A kick? Who am I?)
Between Bruce getting his playboy on, his bizarre, amusing inner monologue (bat wings= an overcooked Thanksgiving turkey), hoards and hoards of Man-Bats (best line: “Not Man-Bat. Man-Bats. Ninja Man-Bats. Alarming twist.), and well placed pop art, the issue is chock full of winking, knowing satire, true blasts of humor, and furious, overblown action that still has weight. Morrison may just be reinventing the wheel here, but can anyone complain when the wheel is this much fun?
Grade: B+
Birds of Prey 97
“The Piper Must be Paid”
Published by: DC
Writer: Gail Simone
Penciller: Paulo Siqueira
Inker: Robin Riggs
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Huh.
I have to admit, I’m a touch surprised. I really like Black Alice. I think she’s one of the best new characters DC has introduced in, let’s say, the Didio era. That has everything to do with Simone’s characterization of her creation. So it’s odd that Alice seems so…off here.
Perhaps there is a yet untold story in the intervening year or so, but, based on what we know, Alice’s paranoia about superhero types (especially after teaming with Shadowpact during the Day of Vengeance miniseries) feels false and forced. With that being the basis of this arc, the rest of the thing suffers because of it.
However, the undeniably creepy, Pet Semetary feeling ending that sees Alice walking off into the sunset with her heart’s desire while her father trails behind sickened, scared, and, perhaps, a bit happy, goes a long way toward saving the whole thing. Ahh, and the growth of Alice’s control over her powers also holds the possibility for some interesting developments to come.
Grade: B
Justice League of America 1
“Life”
Published by: DC
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Penciller: Ed Benes
Inker: Sandra Hope
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
I’ve been looking forward to this for awhile. Meltzer’s previous comics excursions, while roundly lambasted by some, sat nicely with me for the most part. Plus, Morrison’s JLA was the first title to truly make me a comic book reader week-to-week, so I have an affection for the title. I was fairly sure that while this would be the same JLA as Morrison’s or have the same feel, it would still elicit the same kind of enjoyment from me.
Alas, no dice.
It’s not bad, to be sure. If the rumored team is the real one (I’m not convinced the Turner cover is playing straight with us), I think it is a good one. A nice mix of A-list with B-list meaning that we can have iconic action and character development. The sense of friendship and fun within the Trinity might be going a bit too far after the combustion of them during Infinite Crisis, but I like it for the most part. Dr. Impossible is a great name with a strong design that nicely reflects his rival.
However, the whole thing is just too busy. Meltzer did great things with dueling narratives in Identity Crisis and he tries the same thing here. Unfortunately, however, the narratives don’t complement one another as they did in IDC. Instead, they crash into one another, robbing the story of internal cohesiveness and flow.
Another problem is the art. The same overly scratchy inking that hurt a lot of Morales art in IDC is present here as well (Why, I can’t say. It’s not like Meltzer inks his projects). It’s not there all of the time (which makes it worse in some ways) but when it is…it is just no good. It is especially noticeable in the Roy/Hal sequences.
Rereading what I’ve written, I’m being harder on it than I mean to. As you’ll see from my letter grade below, I did like the issue, I do think it is worth a read. It is not, however, as assured a launch as I would have expected.
Grade: B
Wonder Woman 2
“Who is Wonder Woman” Part Two
Published by: DC
Writer: Allan Heinberg
Penciller: Terry Dodson
Inker: Rachel Dodson
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
I really liked the first issue of this book which came as a welcome surprise as Wonder Woman (as a book) has largely failed to engage me for long spans of time.
Sadly, this second issue fails prey to this disorder.
It’s not fatal, not yet certainly. I’ll finish off reading this storyline and see where am I in my interest then.
However, as of now, things don’t look good.
The “why” of it I’m having a hard time pinning down right now. I like supervillains wearing unconscious heroes as necklaces as much as the next guy. I love crazy supervillain team ups (this one has two for a total of six supervillains!). I don’t mind throwback pastiche like Diana needing to spin around really fast to become Wonder Woman.
However, after reading the book, I put it down and felt like Alec Baldwin in “State and Main”.
“Well, that happened.”
It’s very pretty and has some cool guest stars, but it just washed over me. It was like a Twinkee. Sweet, but not satisfying in any way.
Grade: B-
