AVENGERS #1 – Oh. Bendis has just been fucking with us for the past seven years. He knows exactly how to break and script a story that feels just like classic Avengers, he just wanted to do his own thing first. I never imagined that the entire NEW AVENGERS run would basically amount to a tangent that, now fully explored, can just be folded back into what the naysayers think of as canon. All of which to say, all of a sudden this book feels like I think it’s supposed to: the most important book that Marvel is publishing, the one starring your favorite characters in which anything can and will happen. JRjr turns in strong work, as well, I swear that guy’s been peaking for coming up on a decade now. I bought most of NEW AVENGERS but bailed when they hiked the price and I realized the single installments weren’t really doing it for me, but man, I really loved everything about this one. Great hook in the opening scene, followed by hilarity when Thor clocks Kang rather than wait for him to utter his Doc Brown warning. I guess paying $4 a pop for this book makes me part of the problem, but it’s simply worth it.
THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #26 – Fraction/Larroca/D’Armata move Tony a few paces further into his non-weapon-mongering heroic age. Another solid issue from what’s turning out to be one of the most consistent team in the monthly periodicals department. Not too much stands out about this issue, it’s just quality work. Of course, now Robert Downey, Jr. is reading Tony’s lines in my head now, but damn it, he sells them!
ATLAS #1 – Retailers should have a copy of that first page torn out and sitting next to the register. Seriously, show that roll call/premise to anyone and if they don’t say, Yes, please, then you know, maybe they’re not really in the right kind of store. This is why I buy the comics. Parker makes an interesting decision to bring back some old character most folks haven’t heard of for this first issue, looks like he’ll be using him as our POV gateway character (not unlike Rogue in that first Singer flick, say)(and just now wondering if TRUE BLOOD has retroactively ruined all those scenes for me, certainly hope not, but just thinking about them now, not the best taste in my mouth)(“Suckie!”). But the story is well crafted enough, we don’t really mind that the eponymous team is barely even in the book. Hope this relaunch sticks, glad Marvel didn’t give up on this book.
These first three taken together are a serious blast of fresh air and even seem to feed off of each other, subsequent issues heightening the buzz from what came before (not unlike the Lone Stars consumed while reading them) and did about as much as a single week’s worth of books could to wipe away the cynicism I’ve felt toward the bulk of old #1s output for some time now.
X-FACTOR #205 – Oh, Peter David, bring back YOUR recap pages! Before your little girl’s in high school, for God’s sake, I don’t want to miss all the magical moments! As for the story, PAD is a champ for incorporating yet another event into his milieu, but I’ll be glad to get back to this book dealing with just it’s own unfolding soap opera without having to contend with four other books crashing in once or twice a year.
So ends the Marvel portion of the program.
WAR OF THE SUPERMEN #3 – This one was a bit of a dip from last week. If only because there’s really not too many places you can go after turning Earth’s sun red for a cliffhanger. Most of this issue is dedicated to reversing that, which kind of makes you feel like it was a waste of time (though certainly an effective place to leave us last week). The names CAFU and BIT on the cover puzzled me, but I was so glad to see my old friend BLOND (the adjective) from ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR. I think all these people are from the future. Or maybe just another country? At any rate, their work is serviceable but a bit of a dip from the guy last week (Dagarin, maybe?) who was himself a pretty serious hop down from Eddy Barrows, who killed #0 and #1. If this was like a six-part event, I might have jumped off after this issue, but will pick up the last one next week to see how it all shakes down.
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1 – Levitz Returns! And the man simply annihilates me with the amount of craft that goes into this script. I mean, the elegance with which he introduces such a huge ensemble and all these disparate plot points. I’ve never made the comparison between writing and massaging before, but that’s the first thing that popped into my head while reading this, the way he kneads just the right beats out of every page at the right moment. The man has a deft touch. Love what he did with Earthman, what an effective way to run with Geoff Johns’s villain. This is fantastic work and I hope that this is the version that finally, at long last, catches on with all the kids down at the playground.
BRIGHTEST DAY #2 – It’s hilarious and a bit tonally confusing to have the patented Johns Gore still a part of the program. I mean, that scene with the housewife taking out her family fits right in with Pantha’s arm getting torn off or BLACKEST NIGHT, it’s presence here doesn’t make sense to me. I do like to imagine that she’s saying “JOHNSSSSSSSSSSSS” in that last panel, though.
Don’t know what the light source in Erdel’s grave is supposed to be. Also, shouldn’t maybe J’onn have been on the cover? Aquaman was in a grand total of one panel this week without dialogue.
Killer final splash, though. Reis!
JLA #45 – You know, it’s kind of funny, when Bendis launched NEW AVENGERS, the pitch was that they should kind of be the JLA of the Marvel Universe, the varsity squad, as opposed to the colorful ensemble that had comprised the Avengers for the past 40 years. Now, it feels like this book is slowly shifting toward that classic Avengers paradigm, certainly not the A-team of the DC Universe, but a group of heavy hitters who can hold their own and whose interaction is at least as important as whoever they’re fighting. It’s not bad, and Bagley’s still doing great work, but something about this isn’t gelling for me the way that I want it to. If they don’t roll off that $4 tag, I might have to drop it.
AMERICAN VAMPIRE #3 – Man, those American vampires are attack! Funny how, in this medium, that basically translates to them being Wolverine with fangs. Albuquerque continues to dominate here, his style clearly conveying the story while contributing character development just from the way they’re drawn. Snyder’s no slouch, but I love how over the top King’s lines are. “I DIDN’T COME BACK FROM THE GRAVE JUST TO STARVE IN A CANDY STORE!” is certainly a combination of words that has never been uttered, by a vampire wearing only cowboy boots, no less. Though the line about payback was possibly too much of a groaner even for me. Mitigated by Skinner’s use of the verb “palaver” on Page 11, forever Roland’s. It will be a shame when King’s tale is told, but I think I’ll be sticking around, even so.
DC: LEGACIES #1 – Okay, yes, Len Wein basically scooped up the MARVELS premise and subbed young hoods for Phil Sheldon (or, really, it’s just as much an ASTRO CITY swipe. Definitely Busiek country, though). But it’s probably the best script of his I’ve read in years, and the Kuberts show up and knock it clean out of the park. Don’t guess I’ve seen any of Andy’s work since his career-best on the Gaiman Batman two-parter last year, but he carries that immersive style over onto this project. And it only helps the cause to have his living legend father on inks. This story isn’t setting the industry on fire, but it’s top-drawer work all around. The eight-page backup with J.G. Jones feels a little bit pointless, but Jones draws the hell out of it, as ever. I’ll probably keep picking this one up, depending on who’s drawing it.
EX MACHINA #49 – Too bad they couldn’t have #50 ready for finale week here in May, but I don’t mind waiting. Tony Harris’s style has evolved so much since #1, never mind going back and looking at those early issues of STARMAN. My God, the layout of Page 6, the Superman “Changing” moment, perfection, all of a sudden maybe the best page of the entire series. Which I suppose is a good thing to be happening in your penultimate issue. I really do wish they wouldn’t have put that follow-up splash on Page 8 opposite an ad, it really really killed the effect. And such a huge moment in the series. The trade-waiters win again!
“The island that is not” is clearly going to freak out fans of Vaughan’s other huge gig, regardless of the fact that he took off here in the home stretch.
This issue is the last one of the arc and seems to wrap up a great deal. Only we know from the first pages of the series that things are in a much worse place than this, so I guess the shit’s going to hit the fan next month? (or whenever #50 finally drops)
It’s been quite a ride, hope I can find time to hit all 49 issues in a few sittings before the final curtain comes down.
****
BEST OF WEEK: JOE THE BARBARIAN #5 – Morrison and Murphy and Stewart and Klein maintain their ability to perfectly straddle the line, giving us plenty of GoshWow in the glider escape and subsequent aerial battle while managing to keep the more fantastic elements grounded in the reality of the stark danger in which Joe finds himself, with a wild dog attack resulting in a substantial alteration to the status quo of this story as we head into the back half, here. To say nothing of the looming hypoglycemic shock. I could have stood an issue’s worth of Smoot and Zyxy actually flying around with Joe and Jack, getting just a little taste of that team dynamic, was looking forward to that all month, but I guess there’s no time for such things. This is nothing but gorgeous comics, folks. Morrison holds out the heart of wondrous imagination then suckerpunches you with blasts of hard reality. This Sean Murphy fella is hurling thunderbolts and shows no signs of letting up. Dave Stewart and Todd Klein continue to display the industry gold standard. Beautiful, beautiful work, and I have a feeling it’s only going to get better.
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