9/10/14

FOREVER MAN AND THE INFINITY PEOPLE: FUTURES END #1 — Well, this was some TWILIGHT ZONE shit, right here. Or actually more THE OUTER LIMITS, I guess. A very ominous and gripping done-in-one, from the first splash of Mark Moonrider waking up, we know that something is very very wrong. I’m not crazy about Philip Tan’s work; it’s hit-or-miss for me. The Moonrider splashes are rendered in this overstylized way that works given the context of the issue’s premise, but then the main sequentials, the workman panels where bodies are actually moving from one place to another, that’s where that Kirby dynamism that Giffen so routinely knocks out of the park is missing. Very cool of Didio/Giffen to actually write their issue of this event and not farm it out to fill-in talent, though, it must be said. Consequently, this is one of the better issues of this I’ve read, owing a great deal to being in line with the regular team’s vision for the long arc.

BATMAN: FUTURES END #1 — This is a pretty solid effort. Like last week’s offering, it’s kind of another issue of ETERNAL that’s just getting thrown out under this other banner. Ray Fawkes holds it down on script that he co-plotted with Snyder and someone or –thing called Aco is responsible for the art, and it looks great, kind of a scratchy European vibe. Does that Lexcorp logo look like a Legion flight ring to anybody else? Also, charming to get Bizarro in the mix. It’s weird how they’re scattering this out, this issue seems to be the origin of all of the crazy stuff that that last story in the latest DETECTIVE #27 montaged over. This is one of the better issues of this month-long premise that I’ve read, with probably only GRAYSON doing a better job.

BEST OF WEEK: SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #8 — This business right here continues to ramp on up. It almost seems unfair comparing this to anything else anybody else is putting out. You have Lee/Williams/Sinclair firing as hard as they ever have, escalating toward a peak that is still nowhere in sight no matter how hard you squint, except instead of Loeb hacking it up all over the place, Snyder is hitting every single beat of character and motivation while still providing the slugfest fodder that we all frankly are expecting here in the penultimate round and managing to make it mostly clever while he’s at it. This whole thing really is going to be a crushing single-sitting read here in just the next little bit.

BATMAN ETERNAL #23 — All right, I still love those guys on art. This is a transition issue. It certainly seems time for Catwoman to be the Gotham Kingpin, and good on her. That centerpiece ad about GOTHAM the reality show on Fox with the eight head shots is really pumping me up in a way that hasn’t been happening until now.

FUTURE’S END #19 — Yes to Ray Palmer leading Stormwatch, that’s almost the best idea out of this thing yet. And that was a real dick move, Lois.

CAPTAIN VICTORY AND THE GALACTIC RANGERS #2 — This one’s not nearly as batshit Kirby crazy as the first issue, but is still terrific fun. Nathan Fox & Joe Casey continue to display some serious synergy while Michael Fiffe drops in and somehow finds a way to elevate the krackle quotient from what’s gone before. This remains an interesting set-up and I’m certainly on the hook for what comes next.

MORNING GLORIES #40 — That was a real PKD move, Spencer! This kind of thing can come across as overly didactic and clogging up the narrative, but I had a lot of fun with it. Especially with everything in the world veering in such a multiversal direction all of a sudden. And kudos to Eisma for staging, keeping it all interesting even when Superman isn’t destroying Metropolis with collateral damage like he always likes to do. Slightly more related to the text at hand, I think the content of this issue was a cool nod to the tenth anniversary of L O S T, but I’m still holding out for Hurley just to ex machina in out of nowhere and feel like this would have been a great month for that.

PROPHET: STRIKEFILE #1 — Now, that is a cover. This entire issue is, if possible, a little bit more batshit insane than the previous volume. You can even hang out with Joseph Bergin III’s cover by itself for about five minutes. It’s cool to get Simon Roy back on gorgeous interiors, very much a feeling of full circle here as we start up another volume with nothing less than the secret origin of the Prophets. And it actually clears up quite a great deal. And that’s just the first ten pages. The rest of this glorious thing is kind of a Handbook of the Prophet Universe-type situation, dropping lots of expository backmatter that we’ve had to guess at up until now. And, man, come on. Diehard. When are we going to get a Diehard book. Admittedly, half of the fun is that there’s so much pregnant potential implied that we only get these little fragmentary glimpses of, well okay, that’s MOST of the fun, but I know that these guys would deliver if we could just get those units front and center. I can’t believe I’m begging for a Diehard book. These guys can do anything.

EAST OF WEST #15 — Wow. Babylon is the Sensational Character Find of 2014! This issue’s a pretty good trick, right here. It really does a good job of ramping up my affection for this book. Dragotta/Martin continue to absolutely knock every page out of the park and Hickman’s imagination is approaching escape velocity. For the first time, I’m wondering what sort of endgame might or might not be planned for this monster. It just keeps getting crazier and crazier.

MPH #3 — Shit got real, y’all! Millar is not coasting on the decompressed plot, I will give him that. Fegredo remains a master sequential assassin, good lawd.

VELVET #8 — Interesting move to change POV from our lead, but it’s good idea to dial in to some other characters just to balance out the narrative a bit. And frankly, you know, Epting/Breitweiser are still doing all the pages, whoever Brubaker feels like writing about, it’s going to look beautiful. Creative does a good job of pushing the overall narrative forward, at first making us think that we’ve kind of hit Pause on the main deal and are just getting to know the other dudes, then pulling the rug out from under us at the end because of course our girl didn’t stop running around and kicking ass just because we couldn’t see her. Terrific cliffhanger. Terrific book. 

FANTASTIC FOUR #010 — Man, old bashful Benjy certainly does get slapped around by his ex. That’s half of the issue. Then Wyatt tells Johnny off and Reed has a pretty good fight. This script and art is all solid enough but for a little while now hasn’t quite been providing the heavy lifting of the Mighty Marvel Double-Shipping $3.99 Price Point. Which is kind of terrible, I want to simply judge this on its own merits, but the fact that it’s coming at me at twice the velocity to which I am acclimated causes me to expect it to provide something that it is not at this time. I guess we’ll see how it goes in two weeks.

AVENGERS #34.1 — Okay, hell, I got tricked. Pretty sure that if I had noticed that Hickman did not write this $5 Point-One issue of a book that already double-ships, I more than likely would have given it a pass, Keown interiors or not. I mean, what’s with the narrative captions on the PREVIOUSLY? That’s not supposed to be the deal. But overall, it’s all right. Not great but not too offensive, either. I mean, I don’t need Hyperion inner-monologue about how he needs to stay away from metaphors. Keown has really simplified his linework over the years. Which I guess is par for the course. At the end of the day, yeah, this isn’t terrible, but I can’t really recommend it, particularly at that price point. Real dick move, Marvel! I need to pay closer attention.

HAWKEYE #20 — A very satisfying conclusion to Kate’s west coast adventures. Annie Wu really delivers on every level: layouts, composition, your basic sequential storytelling, but then also body language, facial expressions, the whole deal. Looking forward to her rushing in to Clint’s rescue at a pivotal moment next issue in a few months or whenever that turns out to be.