Got a fair deal of feedback regarding last week’s column. You also might want to check out this rebuttal written over at the blog Tangled Up In Blue. I think Mary makes some good points, even though we don’t totally agree.
Anyway don’t have a big rambling essay or another parody piece lined up for you guys this week, so here’s a few quick thoughts on some recently released comics.
- The All New Atom has thus far proven to easily be DC’s most entertaining new title. This is somewhat surprising as in recent years John Byrne’s name has been attached to more busts than the entire history of Chaos comics. Still Gail Simone has provided readers with a truly engaging protagonist in the form of Dr. Ryan Choi and Byrne’s art is some of his best looking work in recent years. Not only does issue #3 continue the string of nude scenes from 1 & 2, but we’ve got a metric ton of bad guys running around including hostile aliens, a familiar Wonder Woman rogue, a new fiend named Dwarf Star, and even a monster from Len Wein’s original Swamp Thing run. The All-New Atom’s fresh, consistently funny, but filled with some genuinely frightening plot twists. It’s well worth picking up.
- Dwayne McDuffie’s “The Beyond” mini-series from Marvel has been a rather engaging ride so far teaming up B-list stars like Henry Pym, Medusa, etc alongside newer characters such as Gravity and The Hood. Throw in the return of Deathlok, Dragon Man, and a cameo by Terror Inc. of all people and it’s hard not to smile. I have no idea where this is going, but I’m really enjoying the ride so far. Personally I’d like to see McDuffie on some large-scale cast book not unlike his work on Justice League Unlimited, showcasing both well known and more obscure superheroes.
- Not to get too far into spoiler territory… but I didn’t care too much for the ending of Robert Kirkman’s “Freedom Ring” story arch. I’m not going to point fingers, but I do find it rather unfortunate that the plot twist of this issue comes so shortly after Marvel’s change in editorial policy regarding gay characters. Kirkman’s attempt at throwing in some comic relief at the end of story also seems extremely misplaced.
- On a technical level I’m still very much admiring Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti’s work on Jonah Hex, but I’m starting to feel a degree of fatigue about the character that I often feel with The Punisher and similar violent anti-heroes. There’s really only so many ways you can make shooting a bad guy in the face interesting. Things are livened up by a guest-appearance by El Diablo in this issue and I’d like to see DC play with their other western characters some more. I for one think we’re long overdue for a new Bat Lash series.
- I was very pleasantly surprised by the unveiling of dozens of new (and old) superheroes as replacement Titans in Teen Titans #38. Nice to see Geoff Johns putting some new things to play with in the toybox after Dan Didio’s Bodycount Of Fun the last two years have been.
- You know I’ve been out of the loop on Shonen Jump for about a year now, and wouldn’t you know it YuYu’s still on that damned Dark Tournament story arch. Which I suppose would be excusable if it wasn’t for the fact they have some 40+ pages of story each month. And people complain about the pacing in American comics these days…
- Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #19 has a cover by Cameron Stewart featuring FING FANG FOOM. It has a story by Peter David featuring FING FANG FOOM! Finally it’s got interior art by Mike Norton, featuring FING FANG FOOM! If this is not reason enough to want to read this comic well then I don’t know what to say to you.
- Just a reminder… Lea Hernandez could use your help.
