5/28/14

BATMAN #31 — I believe that I’ve gone on a bit previously about how I found this ZERO YEAR a bit of a slow burn initially but one that’s reaping serious payoff here as we head into the homestretch with it. Capullo/Miki/Plascencia somehow manage to keep improving the caliber of their work so that a simple page of The Riddler monologuing and berating Gotham citizenry is suddenly one of the most gorgeous things you’ve ever laid eyes upon. Who knew Eddie Nygma was such a badass in the days before there was a Batmobile? Speaking of wheeled transport, that is one hell of a page-turn onto the no dialogue shot of Batman jumping over the crowd on the motorcycle. Some business just sells itself! Snyder goes on to craft a very tense action set-piece masterfully executed by the art crew in which our hero has got to keep the bad guy talking for nineteen minutes through escalating dangerous circumstances that results in a pretty iconic scene overall. I just hope these guys have got a lot of stories to tell when we finally make it back to the present, because it’s going to be rough going on this title without every single member of this creative crew involved.

FUTURE’S END #4 — This is as much Frankenstein as I need in my life! Really glad about this plot, particular when they’re dropping in Ray Palmer and The Phantom Zone. This can never be a bad thing. The writers also do a great job of establishing that Madison Payne as a pretty intelligent individual right off the bat, her third panel tells you all you need to know about Gotham. Just don’t do it!

BATMAN ETERNAL #8 — This one is really going for it, Guillem March is not letting anyone down. And you knew the signal was a trap, but that’s still just the worst thing. Of course, Forbes is disgusting to al of us. Once again, interesting enough shenanigans unfolding throughout, but then they leave us in a place that has me looking forward to what’s about to unfold next week, the very definition of getting the sequential job done.

BEST OF WEEK: TREES #1 — Well damn, that is how you do it. Terrific opening sequence, throw us into the middle of the situation and then torch our apparent protagonists one by one with death rays and alien waste as they run for their doomed lives. The remainder of the issue is spent meeting our actual protagonists who presumably won’t all be murdered by faceless anonymous aliens, at least until Uncle Warren has had a proper chance to make us invested in their lives and daily struggles. There’s the mayoral candidate from Lower Manhattan, the young artist from the Chinese village who just moved in next to the hermaphrodite (transgender?), and the cranky research team getting to the bottom of things on the somewhat frosty Svalbard archipelago in Norway. What really puts this over the top, though, is the stunning level of cartooning from artist Jason Howard. I’m familiar with him from his work with Kirkman on the first few issues of ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN and SUPER DINOSAUR, but he has really upped his game for this. His body language retains that sense of dynamism and color palette is intelligently chosen, but what’s really cranked up from him are the backgrounds, the expansive cityscapes rendered in greater detail from what I’ve previously seen from him. Which is important in a comic with a premise that hinges on these eponymous massive unknowable columns of alien origin. This is a very strong opening, but these gentlemen are just getting started and will in all likelihood quicken our hearts and minds to an even greater extent next time out.

SOUTHERN BASTARDS #2 — Now we are getting down to it! The debut of Coach Boss! Who has to be one of the best named antagonists ever. I dig the way Jason Latour depicts him on the cover, very much rocking that shorts-tucked-in high-school-coach vibe that always brings to mind the guys from DAZED AND CONFUSED. But yeah, what we have here is more of the goodness we’ve already come to expect from #1, Earl Tubb finishes packing up and makes the fateful decision not to just drive the hell out of town immediately and we all know that he’ll never make it now or if he does, it will be at the end of a bloody mess of killing and just about being killed himself, instead decides to do what everybody else does on Friday night and go watch the Runnin’ Rebs whup some ass, which is the issue’s centerpiece. Latour drops some serious justice in depicting Craw County’s pride and joy tearing it up on those poor Wildcats before someone who should have been murdered in the woods staggers back in to ruin it for everyone. And that old tree doesn’t last quite as long as I thought it would. But now Earl’s got a big stick. These boys are surely building something great, and you would do well to pay attention now.

FANTASTIC FOUR #005 — Well, this is a pretty cool deal, right here. It’s one of those artjam issues that they look to put out from time to time, a framing story that’s usually an excuse for a bunch of folks who either aren’t normally associated with the book or haven’t been around in a long time to jump back in the pool and contribute a page or two to the glory of the good work. However, as you might expect, most of the time these come off as kind of haphazard and unfocused events. It’s cool to see Simonson or someone like that pop back in, but overall, the result lacks an overall unity. That is certainly not the case here. This trial of the FF feels like an organic extension of all that has come before and so there’s no speedbump in terms of the overall narrative, but then editorial really knocked the lights out getting these great people in to jam out these flashbacks. Leonard Kirk blows up the main sequences and cover, as has been his wont for five issues running, but everybody else knocks it out of the park, as well. We get the rare treat of seeing Matt Wilson’s colors over Samnee channeling Kirby, the great Dean “Dino!” Haspiel gets to experience a dream come true and channel more Kirby with a page of straight Thing vs. Hulk brawling action (and special points to James Robinson for working in the “ever-lovin’” adjective, there), Paul Rivoche draws a riveting Atlantean invasion, Phil Jiminez throws down justice with that Inhumans splash, Samnee & Wilson are back with the FF vs. Doom with of course Daredevil thrown in, the Allreds return to the fold with a serious Galactus/Silver Surfer/Uatu splash delivered as only they can, but then we get the glory of Jim Starlin drawing a splash split of Annihilus & Blastarr that might take the cake, that is some serious business there, Ordway gives us Sue in that horrific Malice costume, before someone called Derlis Santacruz turns in some pretty cool sequentials of Val & Doom (of course, I am a sucker for Val & Doom), before last but never least June Brigman herself drops back in to illustrate the latest wrinkle in the lives of the Future Foundation, and it did my heart good to see her pencil produce Alex Power once again. All full of the obligatory krackle, of course. Like I said, these things can usually veer off into being a big old mess, but this was nothing but a pleasure, and the best part was not knowing who was coming next on art and receiving so many pleasant surprises. Terrific fun for one and all. As shitty of a time as the team is having, I guess it must be said.

AVENGERS #30 — And then Hickman Avengers just goes batshit wonderful! What a way to escalate the standoff. Send them 48.3 years into the future for immediate eyewitness proof that all of Tony’s filthy clandestine lies yield three moon colonies and a data field containing helobytes of knowledge. In your face, Rogers! As great as all that big-picture business is, Clint’s standoff with himself and, upon realizing that that’s really his older self, immediately asking whether or not he ever gets the dog back, man, that really cut into me in a way for which I was unprepared. And but then poor old Tony Stark just cannot catch a break. EVERYone wants to beat the shit out of him in any and all time-zones. Lots of interesting hints dropped here in a compressed amount of time, the future death of Kevin the Star Brand, Hyperion into The White, and Clint getting separated from the group already with this very next jump? Hickman has accelerated the excitement level of this book into exponential proportions and Yu/Alanguilan/Gho keep all of the madness beautifully grounded,. Incredible work, all.

UNCANNY AVENGERS #020 — But then if you want the actual batshit wonderful craziest of them all, look no further than this monstrosity that Remender’s been chipping away at for almost two years, already. This issue does everything it’s supposed to, pits the amalgamated team of X-Men led by Havok & Wasp against the evil X-Men led by Magneto & Cyclops with Kang’s ragtag group of the worst bad guys across time and space caught in the middle, and everybody’s got some scenery-chewing questions of morality and loyalty and betrayal that need to play out, or really be screamed out at each other, in the middle of an ensemble superpowered confrontation. In short, vintage Claremont in action, and it is glorious. Almost the funniest part is that old-school dudes like Ahab and Doom 2099 are indeed in the mix, but there’s so much going on, they only have time for one line between them. Both Avengers and X-Men franchises have been absolutely slamming since the NOW! relaunches, but you can make a really strong case for this title being the most consistently excellent of the batch whenever it shows up. I am terribly curious if Remender has a plan for following up this arc or if they’re just going to crash the series after the next couple three issues, because I really can’t see them taking it anywhere else after unkilling Rogue and Wanda and Simon and unblowing up the Earth, etc. A terrific ride, to be sure.