11/14/12

BEST OF WEEK: LOCKE & KEY: OMEGA #1—Roaring back this week amidst a very crowded field of thermonuclear contenders and just wiping up the floor with them, this book doesn’t let little things like the last issues of THE BOYS or Brendan McCarthy’s latest slab of glory or Snyder/Capullo and company’s sustained white-hot Gotham brilliance get in the way of being the very best book on the rack. Hill plays fair with his readers and doesn’t in any way hit the brakes on the promise of the final page of the last volume, refusing to contrive a bunch of obstacles to stand in the way and instead advancing our antagonist pretty much just a few feet from the threshold of total victory by issue’s end, juxtaposed opposite a B-plot that is a magnificent characterization device, Scot Kavanaugh filming several supporting players on the eve of graduation expressing what advice they would give their younger selves were the option available, which of course leads to all these really perfect little three- and four-panel blasts of strong strong work. Hill maybe gets the most mileage out of Jordan, I would say? If you don’t count the Locke kids, of course there’s aren’t as much vignettes as milestones in their long overall arcs. The Kinsey resolution kind of broke me down. Gabriel Rodriguez and Jay Fotos continue to produce absolutely jawdropping work page after page after page. This is my favorite story currently being serialized certainly on the rack, possibly in any medium. Though I sure do like HOMELAND, TREME, and MAD MEN. And BREAKING BAD is pretty okay. But I don’t know. I feel like I think about this one more when I’m not directly experiencing it. Todd, you should really.

(NOTE: attached image pulled from a previous issue, #4 of Volume 5, but too perfect not to lead with here, at the beginning of the end)

THE BOYS #72—And so it ends. It’s been so long, but it seems like this was also the case with PREACHER, the main dramatic narrative came to an end before the final issue, which was pretty much an epilogue. Which makes sense. This is a worthy sendoff to those still standing. Great to get Robertson back, though it is a shame that he has so few original characters left to draw. All of the beats fall in places that feel right after six years’ serialized immersion in this world. Ennis pulls a great trick at the end, ramping up the potential for absolute heartbreak and horror in the very last pages. If any writer, if any book has the potential to just completely and explicitly disembowel the remaining protagonists on the cusp of a happy ending right there on the last page, it is this book, and I honestly could barely even spare the art a glance on the first pass, so enthralled and concerned was I for our potentially star-crucified couple. Of course, I’m not going to talk about the last page, but I will say that I really wish the opposite page had been all black out of respect for the conclusion of the run, as opposed to a pin-up of a character who I, in those first heartstopping instants before turning the page all the way and arriving at the final page of a 90-issue run, thought had somehow inexplicably returned. Which kind of messed with the momentum of the entire experience. Upon repeated viewings, I can kind of look at it as him watching over whatever’s happening on that last page. Tremendous tremendous long run, though. We shall not see anything like it again. Much gratitude to Ennis for never ever compromising, Robertson for every bit of hyperdetailed linework and exploding gore horrah, Braun for showing up two-thirds of the way through and turning in monthly work so excellent that it improbably kept me from walking off this title with the exit of Robertson and concurrent price-bump, quite the audacious step on Dynamite’s part. Really grateful for such a compelling longform narrative that kept me company for so many Wednesday nights.

BATMAN #14—This monster keeps rolling. It looks like Joker just grabbed Alfred as an incidental until we make it out to that bridge and he lays the entire premise on us and the comlink-assembled Batkiddies combined. Of course, everything is perfectly written and drawn, the in-panel staging and composition is some of the very best in comics today, the colors are lush and all of the captions are pitch-perfect. Even the lettering for Joker’s dialogue is a perfect fit. This is still, no question, the best of the New 52. And we’ll see how it all plays out. But right now, it’s hard to get too worried over the idea that Joker’s going to off any or all the sidekicks. Or that if he does, it’s going to stick. I mean, at this point are we supposed to get all worked up over the idea of him taking out the Red Hood with a crowbar? I’m sure it will still be a gripping yarn, but those are not the stakes that keep me on the edge of thrill and wonder.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #14—Ah, sorry not to get Gleason for the full twenty pages, nothing against the other fella but you can really tell. We still have several iconic images. Tomasi continues to mine all kinds of emotional depth from the dynamic between father and son as mentor and sidekick. Really beautiful last page there, man.

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #14—This one’s kind of running out of gas for me a bit. Still good fun, but I miss Lemire. And Villarrubia this time out, what the hell?

THE NEW AVENGERS #33—Wow, Oeming dropping in I bet messes up some dyed-in-the-wool Marvel Zombies who are not down with the POWERS. Quite a bit more stylized than the great Carlos Pacheco, mm? The art really works for me, though, Oeming’s a singular talent. It kind of felt like Ba/Moon dropping in to play. So, yeah, apparently the Hitch Ultron thing is just going to be next year’s big event, kind of a shame not to let that play out as the climax of this Bendis run, but I guess we can all just hold our breath for four or five months and pretend the gap didn’t happen.

FANTASTIC FOUR #1—This was really excellent, much better than I dared hope. Very much more the CASANOVA/HAWKEYE Fraction showing up rather than the fellow who phoned in those couple years of UNCANNY. And I couldn’t be happier, regular readers will recall that there is a Hickman-sized hole in my heart that cannot be filled by all the creator-owned Image series he can throw at us (though we must give him credit for trying). But we get to keep colorist Paul Mounts (continuing his record-breaking stint on this book) for continuity and Fraction, Bagley, and Farmer drop us right in the thick of it, a Page One ONE YEAR FROM NOW . . . flash-forward that’s pretty much straight Morrison (the exact same trick as R.I.P., now that I think on it) and then we’re off to the races with some in medias res action from the mouth of a T-Rex to all over the breakfast nook at the Baxter Building. Kirby Krackle at the bottom of Page Four, we’re good, check. Fraction doesn’t quite nail Valeria’s voice, but it’s a nuanced thing, I’m sure he’ll get it. Or have hopes. The two-pager with Johnny & Darla in The Negative Zone is priceless, as is the bit with the Yancy Street Dummies. I’m also a fan of the premise of taking the entire Future Foundation aboard the deweaponized hyperdimensional warship for Adventures Across Space & Time. Why reveal who the replacement team is on the cover for FF? What ever happened to silhouettes and question marks? An auspicious debut. Looking forward to the Allreds clocking in.

THE ALL-NEW X-MEN #1—All right, I was planning on passing this up in general protest of the new Merry Marvel Double-Shipping-40-pgs/month-for-$8 policy, but that cover looked too good and I had to see how Bendis kicked off his run in this corner of the 616. It’s pretty solid. The art is magnificent. This Marte Garcia came out of nowhere, a serious force on colors. I was pretty taken with this the first time through, but it does seem a bit skinny on the second pass. Especially when you put it up next to Fraction’s FF. Or certainly LOCKE & KEY, though maybe that isn’t fair. Much has been made of Hank’s plot-driving decision being out of character, but it works for me, particularly in light of the fact that he’s dying and desperate. I would totally be on-board for this if it was single-shipping, I think I heard that it’s going to shift to that soon? Haven’t decided whether or not to pick up #2. I do want to support Local Boy Made Good David Marquez, so will probably have to at least snag his issues when he rotates in.

SAGA #7—All right, this one is the first since #1 to pretty much do it for me. I’m still not a fan of the choice to have every single character using an up-to-the-bleeding-minute sort of twenty-first century tone, very much not digging on a baby from the future narrating the sweeping space opera with bits like, “So yeah, that happened.” But the characters are punching through into my heart, regardless. Or I’m at least developing empathy for them. I guess I didn’t just adore Yorick, 355, and the gang by #7, to be fair. Fiona Staples’s art is majestic. And the last page is perfect, probably the most perfect beat of the entire thing thus far, and that’s all down to Vaughan. Cautiously optimistic about this thing, going forward.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #10—We welcome a fourth artist to the fold, Declan Shalvey, and while his (his?) lines are even looser than Lolos’s, I’m finding myself able to acquire the taste a bit faster if I simply don’t expect everyone to just lay waste to every single page the way Cloonan and then Harren managed to. Appreciate the art on its own merits, not in relation to what’s come before. The plot thickens for our warrior pirate royalty couple as they head into their third act under the shadow of plague. Almost a year in, this one’s still holding my attention. Wonder how long Wood’s planning to hang out, whether or not he’s leaving with Bêlit.

THE MASSIVE #6—And speaking of Mr. Wood, it has proven a rewarding double-shot to get his other $3.50 periodical every week along with CONAN. Just the Dave Stewart colors alone justify yer seven-dollar cover price, no problem. This series is still exploring various corners of the globe while providing gripping done-in-ones, this time featuring Mag. I’m a fan of this pace, really tight little three-issue arcs with individual issues that all stand alone pretty well. Garry Brown continues to do a fine job drawing everything that Wood throws at him, and the backmatter is consistently the best on the rack at the moment, all kinds of efficient world-building going down just four pages of text at a time.

THE ZAUCER OF ZILK #2—What a mad phantasmagoric ride! Having never experienced ROGAN GOSH, this is the closest I’ve come to pure undiluted McCarthy. Some seriously resonant themes are tucked in amongst all the surging bleed of every technicolor known to man, age and accepting one’s mortality and adulation or lack thereof. Highly recommended to fans of the slipslide psychedelic and particularly Morrison’s more hyperdimensional fare.