6/5/13

LOCKE & KEY: OMEGA #5 — This is the first one of these that I’ve read in singles (which, admittedly, there have not been that many, relatively speaking) that didn’t just cripple me with how much greatness was compressed into its twenty-two pages. Maybe it’s got something to do that this was the final issue of an arc called OMEGA that ends a bit . . . well, things trail off to a pretty significant degree. Dodge doesn’t even make an appearance. Neither does Rusty, for that matter, which, it’s not like either of those are dealbreakers, I was just expecting maybe the least bit more resolution than a pretty-much-literal cliffhanger (catwalk-hanger, if you want to split hairs, but of course that sounds terrible) from, again, the final issue of an arc entitled OMEGA. You know? Joe Hill’s writing is still master-class characterization all the way, Gabriel Rodriguez and Jay Fotos’s art is still breathtaking and glorious. Actually, being completely honest some amount of days after reading it for the first time, I guess my reaction is more than a bit influenced by the apparent death that takes place off-panel at the end, there. This book is only going to ever get two more chances to cut out my heart, but I’m positive that it’s going to make a damn serious go at it both times out.

BEST OF WEEK: 

DAREDEVIL: END OF DAYS #10 — With last issue’s death, the focus understandably shifts a bit for this final issue as the narrative winds down and we finally finally learn the secret of Mapone. I was honestly ready to be a bit let down, really couldn’t see how anything could actually live up to these months of speculation and escalation, but these boys pulled it off to perfection, that last page hit me like a volley of body-blows in the gut from Battlin’ Jack Murdock himself. Poetry. A couple more times back through hasn’t lessened the effect, I’m getting choked up just writing about it now. This mini-series has wildly succeeded at everything that it set out to do on both a narrative and artistic level but my favorite part is that this final installment manages to simultaneously bring the adventures of Matt Murdock to a definitive conclusion that is earned and tonally exactly what anyone who has ever loved the character believes “should” or “would” have happened, that feeling of absolute verisimilitude, it couldn’t have ended any other way, but then the simultaneous part kicks in that of course nothing ever really ends and life keeps on happening, The Falcon & Green Goblin are still somehow running the country and, oh, Kitty Pryde finally wound up with Peter Parker, as revealed by one of my favorite Easter eggs of all time, but just think on all of the rhapsodic storytelling implied by that particular coupling alone, none of these stories ever really end but continue to play out just barely off-panel in scenes where our eyes can’t take us but our hearts and imaginations can, cycling over and over, the circle never closes, mentor and student, stick and devil all through the years, making at least Hell’s Kitchen or even some small part of it a better place, one rescued victim, one more fearless leap out into the city spires at a time. These men have crafted a masterpiece for which I shall be forever grateful.

AGE OF ULTRON #9 — Haha, wow, everybody dies again again! Old Ultron has really gotten the situation pretty boogered up and it does not appear that Logan and Sue’s wacky time-traveling murder hijinx have done much to correct the course of the ship. Of course, that’s just all the more reason for everyone’s favorite hairy Canucklehead to go all Marty McFly-in-the-back-half-of-BACK-TO-THE-FUTURE-II if for no other reason than we can have an excuse to get back to that swell one-two retro combo on art from Pacheco/Villarrubia. And it is a thing of wonder that we all now definitively know the name of the lass who took Logan’s virginity. The final mystery revealed! Da Q’s work is done. But I really do love the point where the convolution of the time-travel shenanigans escalate to the point that Sue is like, “Fuck it, we just really need to call Reed.” That rings so true. And a pretty dark though perfectly in-character scene in the cave, there. Bendis has done fine work juggling all of this madness, am very interested to see where it all winds up next issue. Perhaps Neil Gaiman and Hank Pym will break the fourth wall to explain it to us over afternoon tea!

ALL-NEW X-MEN #012 — This head-to-head with the Uncanny Avengers plays out exactly the way it seems like it should, every character beat detonating in exactly the right place. Of course Jean would go apeshit right at that instant over the “No More Mutants” thing. It seems as though my man Bendis is never going to stop getting mileage out of that! Though the prize gem of the encounter has to be Cap’s “I see you have your hands full here,” that one pretty much says it all. Which lulled me into a sense of calm that enabled Alex’s simple “I love you, man” to straight-up suckerpunch me. I have a brother, too! That one really worked on me. Twelve issues in and these guys are showing no signs of fatigue, roaring great guns harder than ever.

DETECTIVE COMICS #21 — I was a bit concerned to see that brother Fabok needed the month off, even though that’s perfectly understandable, but Scot Eaton carries the torch well and of course Layman’s script and Cox’s colors ensure continuity. This one feels pretty much like a placeholder in terms of the overall narrative but it’s executed well enough that it’s still worth cover-price. Maybe I just miss the artist-formerly-known-as-Emperor-Penguin, it should probably be said.

ASTRO CITY #1 — What a very fine thing it is to have this gem returned to us. The years slipped right on by, yes they did, it’s hard to believe how much time has passed since a new issue. The in-caption reference to how long it took THE DARK AGE to come out was laugh-out-loud good times. And, as ever, here we have a first issue that welcomes readers both new and old. Busiek really does that so well, hitting the reader with a wide-ranging span of his ensemble but never enough to make anyone’s eyes glaze over. The Mr. Myxlplyx-type fellow is both an engaging tour guide and compelling new plot device. The best news is that ten of these are already in the can. With both Morrison Batman and LOCKE & KEY winding down and causing the overall quality of my monthly consumption to naturally take a pretty serious dive, it is reassuring to have this stalwart title roaring up off the bench to pick up some of the slack.

KICK-ASS 3 #1 — More of what we’ve come to expect from this Millar/JRJr juggernaut. I don’t think it’s going to end very well for young Dave Lizewski.

FASHION BEAST #10 — A strong finish. It worked for me on every level, down to the last shot. Fine job, all around. What a shame that this couldn’t have been Danny Boyle’s first movie in the late eighties a few years ahead of SHALLOW GRAVE, somehow, across time and space. He’s the guy I’d want behind the camera on this.

EAST OF WEST #3 — This book is still half a dozen flavors of batshit and twice as crazy with stunning art. I think I’ve about got my head wrapped around exactly what’s going on, at least.

AVENGERS #012 — This one’s kind of sweet. Cold, impersonal Hyperion gets a new purpose in life and the best drinking buddy in all the Nine Realms, a new Terminus rears his massive no-neck head because of course The Savage Land, Spider-Man cracks wise and even a little bit grumpy, and poor old forward-thinking Herbert Wyndham gets his arm ripped off. I particularly dig Hickman’s take on that outside-of-time Doctor Manhattan perceiving-all-time-as-one deal by explaining Hyperion’s memory as a nonlinear photonic array that can be observed in simultaneity. Heady business!