7/20/11

AVENGERS #15—Bendis has been doing fine work throughout, but he really crushes this one, tells a perfectly contained story with a beginning, middle, and end, while advancing the main big event narrative just a little bit forward. And it’s all about Jessica Drew. Surely everyone’s loving the business between her and Hawkeye. Bachalo really makes it happen, to the extent that the ads annoyed me a lot more than usual, really just wanted some of those splashes to have room to breathe. I remain a fan of the 12-panel pages of talking heads opening up to crazy mayhem violence without dialogue, the Bendis talk-o-meter from wide-open to all the way shut. Rounding the corner here, FEAR ITSELF is looking to be one of my favorite events from the standpoint that there are several tie-ins per month that do exactly what they’re supposed to and really elevate the main series, which, it doesn’t really need much help, y’know?

And talking tie-ins . . .

INVINICIBLE IRON MAN #506—It’s nice when the writer of the main title also has a regular going and can fill in his own empty spaces elsewhere. This . . . man, this. It occurred to me while reading this that these same guys have been putting out this book month in, month out, since the Wednesday after Favreau and Downey, Jr. reminded us how much viability these characters really had in other mediums when done right. Over three years and counting. And it just keeps getting better. The rune-swearing was hilarious and really worked for me. As did Pepper stepping up to the plate, love Fraction’s work with her. Most shocking, though, is the way that he’s pulled the trick of knocking Tony off the wagon after all these years and still making us root for him. It always seemed to me like that could never, ever happen. At least not without just straight Leaving Las Vegas-style pity party. But, no, hell, I went and poured myself a shot for that last toast, never gotten to have one with my man T. Stark before. Another fantastic tie-in and, again, one of my favorite issues of this run. God help whoever gets the job whenever these guys finally bail. What a hell of a last issue THAT thing is going to be.

UNCANNY X-MEN #541—All right, I actually dug on some of Land’s pages, here. Does that obliterate my credibility? Well, it’s the truth. Predictably, nothing can stop the Juggernaut, still, only now when he’s got those runes in his word balloons, and all the rest of the Worthy or Mighty or what have you, for the rest of the event, I guess, I’m just going to hear dwarves swearing. Which isn’t that bad of a thing, I suppose. On to more Gillen!

GENERATION HOPE #9—Requisite Team Phonogram, I Heart You So Much mention. Seriously, in two years or whenever, these guys need to get the straight-up CASANOVA treatment, fold the first two trades into the Icon line and roll up with Volume 3 singles. Hell, we don’t even really need the first volume, that one night at the club ought to do it. But I digress. I can’t even be objective about this issue because I’m insane about these two guys working together, even without Matt Wilson coloring. McKelvie’s line is so sharp. Love his facial expressions. Perfect fit for this premise. What we get here is basically an update of the classic Claremont/Guice NEW MUTANTS #45 (Volume 1, True Believers!), the old humans-or-at-least-especially-teenagers-are-all-totally-shit-to-newly-manifesting-mutants-particularly-if-our-crew-is-the-least-bit-flatfooted-about-making-it-onto-the-scene number. Not nearly as crushing as the ballad of Larry Bodine, but hey, they only used maybe 25% of the words that Claremont did.

X-FACTOR #222—Emanuella Lupacchino returns! Thought we’d lost her. That third page with Guido and Monet has got to be the best non-Layla page of this entire run. Interesting developments, another great issue. Only complaint is that we really really don’t need Werewolf by Night quoting T2. Even, especially, if he drops the reference as a disclaimer. Sour note to end on, but otherwise, more greatness.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #15—Had a feeling that Cinar was about to move on. Levitz writes him up a hell of a swan song. Okay, but I have to talk about the Subway comic, the little 6-pg inset. Who’s producing this madness?!? Those names in the credits are fake. I mean, Adam Archer? The GODLAND guy? What’s bizarre about these things is that they’re not terrible, I mean, yes, they are DCU stories that exist only as vehicles for Subway product placement, so, a hell of a thing to overcome, and it’s not like Morrison JLA or anything, but, maybe it’s the celebrity factor, there’s enough wtf? going on to help me really enjoy making it through the six pages. And shoot me in the head if there isn’t honest-to-God sexual tension between Jared Fogle and Laila Ali in the last two panels. That final HEY! is straight Diceman, or I’m a pretty lady.

Oh, what, Legion? Levitz has done a good job, waited so long that the last-page about-face from the first issue is now finally a bit surprising. Enjoyed Cinar’s run.

BATMAN: GATES OF GOTHAM#3—Yeah, these guys are continuing to knock it down. Certainly not a bad idea to wait for in trade, but I’m glad I went ahead and picked up the singles. So cool that a bunch of guys I never heard of two years ago can show up and dig this deep into Gotham history to tell a story this good.

BUTCHER, BAKER, CANDLESTICKMAKER #1—Like pretty much everyone, I was expecting the serious greatness from this one, Robertson returns to the fold for the long awaited Butcher-centric. And it was even better than I was looking for. Hell of an opening scene, that page five splash is perfection. And the rest of this opening issue is as dark as it should be. Complete with the doomed brother we’ve never heard of and probably two dozen usages of the word “cunt.” Good job, this.

****BEST OF WEEK: ROCKETEER ADVENTURES #3—How can this anthology keep maintaining this level of quality? Some really talented people love them some Cliff Secord, and no two ways about it. Ryan Sook turns out to be almost as good of a writer as he is an artist, beautiful work. Then Joe R. Lansdale drops by with some straight pulp fiction illustrated by Bruce Timm, which sounds like a bizarre match, though it somehow works. The lads from TURF turn in this issue’s final entry. Nothing here still tops Busiek/Kaluta’s perfect gem at the end of #1, but Dave Stevens should be a proud, proud ghost, because his baby has been in very good hands. And, man, McCarthy next month. Just the best possible news, feels like.