ACTION COMICS #7—After a superior two-issue interlude, we jump back into the opening arc with Morales and Bryant. Cool opening scene getting 1930s-power-level Superman into space. The best bit by far is the multi-planet origin of Brainiac, makes all kinds of sense. Chilling. I enjoyed the main feature well enough, but hope it wraps up after the next issue. Which I bet it will, now that he pulled his new costume out of nowhere. The back-up feature was pretty weak, filler. I’ve enjoyed a few of Sholly Fisch’s stories, but this one fell flat for me. I’ve got to say, why aren’t these a lot cooler? Is this the best DC can do to back up Morrison On ACTION? You know? If a Steel feature is it, it needs to be handled by at least B-list talent. But why not Giffen on Jimmy Olsen? Kelly Sue DeConnick & Emma Rios on Lois Lane? Busiek penning a Perry White feature? These Steel tangents are frankly boring. Though I appreciate them at least offering additional pages for the higher cover price.
O.M.A.C. #7—Superman! In the finest Kirby tradition, we open with a wall-smashing punch-up! And Giffen even gets to draw the big guy’s face and S. Can’t believe I didn’t figure out the bit about the tiger. Though maybe I was just bummed that the talking animals didn’t all find a way to work their own names into dialogue in the group panel in which they first appeared. I guess Didio’s setting up a Kamandi feature at some point? I’d be delighted to see this creative team carry on with that. This remains a lot of fun, will be sorry to see it go after next month.
ANIMAL MAN #7—Going to miss Travel Foreman, but Pugh shows here that he’s got more than enough chops to keep steering this book along in the disturbing direction to which we’ve become accustomed. Strange glimpse of the future, there, little Maxine and Constantine seemed older but was Buddy’s mother-in-law still the same age? Or just still really really old? I’m still digging this, but it feels like it’s spinning its wheels a little bit after all of this time. Enough driving around, I crave Beast War!
SWAMP THING #7—I guess this is the end of the first arc? It’s quite a powerful image to go out on. This feels like the climax and culmination of the first movement. Unless there’s more of a definitive ending next month, but it’s a great beat to go out on, very reminiscent of the definitive oft-referenced Moore run. Snyder has taken his time, not as much rolling with a decompressed pace a la Bendis, but really investing the months and pages in enough character groundwork that when Alec makes his inevitable and only decision, the reader can see how far he’s come. And, my God, Paquette. I don’t understand why more people aren’t freaking out about him. Innovative layouts, an unreal amount of detail in his linework, the man has been knocking it out of the park for quite some time now. This one has swung up on the old Green/Red seesaw, I’m now much more invested in seeing what’s going to happen in this book vs Lemire’s. Though it will be neat-o when they finally intersect.
BEST OF WEEK: THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS #1—Good lord, I was expecting quite a lot, have been since I first heard about the book and got to see some pages last November, but this blast of madness exceeded my expectations by far. I thought Hickman was swinging for the fences as hard as he could during these past three years of FF, but the amount of crazy he manages to pack into this debut issue can only be compared to Morrison. Several great ideas that he just tosses off like they were mundane. Divergence engines mining imaginary weapons, sentient origami, a kamikaze killing machine Zen-powered by Death Buddhists, this is why I show up every Wednesday, ladies and gentlemen. And Pitarra turns in somehow better work than what we got in last year’s THE RED WING, rock-solid composition and masterful detail that belie his years. His style is an engrossing amalgamation of Quitely, Darrow, and Burnham. And Cris Peter’s tones not only support the story but lend it considerable narrative depth. This is top-shelf comics right here, creator-owned or otherwise. Really delighted to be getting started with this crew. Especially if Feynman is narrating, I mean, my God.THE BOYS #64—Yas yas, I keep saying it, but it keeps being more and more true, Ennis is clearly ramping up here to the endgame. We are not getting a latebreaking announcement that this series will now be running until #80. Butcher gets a couple of sentimental beats here before the awful end, that line about wanting to toughen Hughie up was great, but the bit about Mallory came so far out of nowhere that it really did a number on me. What is the mystery of Black Noir?
FATALE #3—Yeah, the plot keeps thickening and I find it hard to believe that Brubaker says he needs a full 15 issues versus 12 to tell the story. Got no problem with it, just can’t imagine how far we’re going to go. Nice to open up with the present day, I was wondering when we were going to get back to that. This is fine work again, again, just installment # one-hundred-something of Brubaker/Phillips in perfect tandem, with Dave Stewart certainly not hurting the cause, never.
FAIREST #1—Huh. If there was one book that was not going to fail the Bechdel test this week, I would have put up good money that it would be this one. I was kind of furious when I made it through the first pass. This is ostensibly a spinoff from FABLES featuring the considerable female cast that make up half of that book’s ensemble. Jimenez and Lanning’s pages look better than ever. The pages are still on that really cheap newsprint that only some Vertigo books seem to get saddled with, but I can live with that. The ridiculous part is that this pilot issue is all about Ali Baba and a bottle imp and a lone wooden soldier still running around tearing shit up even though the war has been over for 40 issues now. The only women that appear in the entire issue are asleep. One of them gets a line on the last page. If you remove the context, there’s nothing wrong with this on a narrative level. It’s as good as your average issue of FABLES. But as the debut issue of FAIREST, I find it extraordinarily lacking from someone I’ve come to respect and trust as much as Willingham. Here’s hoping for something much more substantive from the XX corner next month.
THE DEFENDERS #4—No Dodsons! Well, at least we’ve got monsters like Lark/Guadiano to carry the weight, fresh off their excellent issue of Ellis’s SECRET AVENGERS. This is pretty much a solo Dr. Strange issue, but there’s nothing wrong with that, I almost liked it better than the first arc. A bit less action from the advertising/surreal non-sequiturs this time out, or maybe I just didn’t know the song lyrics? Still can’t get over the logic of Marvel charging $4 for this and $3 for Hickman FFs and Waid DAREDEVIL, but enjoying it as long as it lasts.
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