52 Week Twenty-Two
DC Comics
Writers: Waid, Johns, Rucka, Morrison
Artists: Giffen, Barrows
This week, readers get yet another subplot? Now, I’m all for new characters, cool winks to prior heroes, and even the occasional tough love/euthanasia of a loved one, but did we have to read about it in this yea’s most crowded title? It’s admittedly interesting, but does this title really need another lens to reflect the changes of the missing year? Beyond that, the Mad Scientists’ plot takes a giant leap forward, Luthor does his kooky obsessed thing, and the hero community at large is beginning to take steps towards outing Lexcorp’s metahuman program. This book was breezy excitement, if you ignore the rather pap retelling of Hal Jordan’s origin. (Side note: why do these origins all have to be told in the third person omniscient? Why couldn’t readers have been treated to Guy Gardne’s retelling of Hal’s heroic start? That would have made for more entertainment and less info-tainment.) The art is still rocking, despite having to switch settings every five or so pages per issue and draw half the characters of the imprint.
Score: B
Outsiders #41
DC Comics
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Clark and Randall
With the series’ villain finally revealed, the backlash has begun. Several big things happen, including a nuclear meltdown. The team’s biggest immaterial asset (aside from Rex Mason) is taken away. The rest of the issue is spent regrouping from such a large shock to the status quo. In several intentionally repetitive interludes, readers learn exactly what the cast thinks of all this upheaval. The narrative device is a bit heavy-handed, but this book still manages to entertain. The art in this series continues its run of aggressive elegance, with lots of cool things depicted including a shadowy love scene and a red fez!
Score: A
Nightwing #125
DC Comics
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist: Jurgens and Rapmund
The new creative team debuts and the results are decidedly less awful. Nightwing’s actions, internal monologue, and dialogue make sense. The current plot is a bit odd (the science-fiction equipped assassin trying to hunt down the people who have hurt him isn’t really detective fiction or urban thriller exactly) but it’s straightforward enough. The odd impeding death subplot feels a bit tacked on, or maybe just a lead-in to next mont’s Will Ferrell movie. Still, this is so much better than the sloppy nonsense readers had to put up with from the last scribe that a bit of leeway seems deserved. The art, while not spectacular, could tone down the giant eyes and cheerful color scheme a bit. This book is supposed to appear more urban than an Archie comic; making things too pretty is just as large a sin as indecipherable art!
Score: C
OMAC #4
DC Comics
Writer: Bruce Jones
Artist: Guedes
Didn’t I promise you linkage? Go read my long review already!
