11/26/14

BEST OF WEEK: G.I. JOE VS. TRANSFORMERS #4 — Every page of this series really is so much more insane than what’s gone before. Scioli’s starting to really loosen up on this now that he’s got almost a hundred pages under his belt. I dig Duke’s crazy color scheme on Page Two, and for that matter, the completely fluid status quo with Duke already getting discovered rather than spending issues and issues undercover. There’s no time in this book for anything remotely resembling a slow burn, shit is blowing up constantly. The two-panel Snake Eyes hit on Page Three is a magnificent summary of the Soft Master’s and the Hard Master’s diametric philosophy. Sciloi’s reverence for and deference to the original Hama and Budiansky runs of these series in the eighties is the main reason that this book fits together as well as it does. Basically, add Krackle and you’re good to go (incidentally, the Kirby Krackle/pg ratio starts off at an all-time high, pulling twelve pages out of the first thirteen before slacking off at fourteen out of twenty, still perfectly respectable, but you hate to see it fall off to that degree after such a strong start). I really have to read this thing through twice to fully grasp the plot points, there’s just always so much insanity erupting, it can be hard to follow. For instance, I had no idea that Duke and Snake Eyes were jumping into the portal on Page Four until I made it to the end of the issue. This is followed by the mandatory Dr. Venom appearance, which in most books would be crazy enough, but that’s actually a slight dip before the bottom completely drops out and we are introduced to the Joes’ interstellar battle-pet squad. I really can’t believe that this happened, both that there even were so many pets already created and that Scioli thought to supercollide them together in this way. Fascinating and horrifying. I love that he calls them U.S.7, that is some serious Morrison/Quitely love, right there. But then Fortress Maximus just devours them all on the next page?!? My brain can’t handle this. I love the Psych Out monologue over the Kirby map. Methinks the North Pole of Cybertron is more than a bit reminiscent of some certain Fire Pits on planet in another continuity, mm? At first, it was great to see Hot Rod on the following page, but then awful that he is a turncoat! And isn’t that actually the Rodimus Prime vehicle that he turns into? That is a clever deal about hot rods being “ultra-dense energon cylinders,” that is a new one on me. And we’ve got the Smelting Pits! #s 17 and 18 were classics of the original run, no question. The tonal shift is pretty hilarious, we go from Bazooka cradling Scarlett’s apparently lifeless body all DC-style to everybody being okay to straight-up two pages after that tragic shot, an Autobot/Joes dance party. And then Bazooka tripping balls on Cybertronic vegetation. And then why not a FOREVER PEOPLE reference before Grimlock’s insane cave-painting storytelling. And finally topping It off with Prime ex machina. Scioli is absolutely kicking all kinds of ass here, I keep thinking that there’s nowhere crazier he can take it, and then but then here come all the G.I. Joe battle-pets in space. Magnificent.

BEST OF WEEK, TOO: ODY-C #1 — I don’t want to live in a world that I have to decide which is better, this comic or all of that Scioli insanity, so. This sounded like a cool concept to me when they first announced it, but holy shit. Matt Fraction & Christian Ward absolutely knock it out of the park! Between this, SEX CRIMINALS, SATELLITE SAM, and CASANOVA coming back next year, I hope that Fraction doesn’t get romanced back into the fold of merry Marvel monthly sequentials pretty much any time ever. His strongest work is, by far, creator-owned. This issue starts hammering you as soon you open that cover just from a design aspect. What we have here is a five-page gatefold that gives a massive ages-long timeline of a gender-bent Greek mythological narrative all the way from the time of the Titans to that old Iliad, brilliantly conceived in blinding white-hot science-fiction revision. The level of ambition and degree to which it lands with perfect execution is nothing short of astronomical. Then, it turns out that there’s a second five-page foldout that’s got a star-chart map of all these celestial doings, and then when you unfold both sets, you get a goddamn ten-page splash of three Achean soldiers amidst the devastation of the Fall of siegeworld Troija-VII. And the comic book hasn’t even actually started yet. It turns out we still get 26 pages of ad-free bleeding-science insanity on top of that opening nonsense. Pretty serious value for your four American dollars. What plays out is the first step of a journey that we know is going to last a very long time. There’s very much a Morrison/Hickman vibe permeating these pages, the deal with the swiftships almost directly recalling the way that Nohvarr and his doomed crewmates were getting around right before MARVEL BOY got going there too many years ago. I guess Ellis/Hitch were doing all that right around the same time with STORMWATCH giving way to THE AUTHORITY, now that I think about it (see: above image). Running Homer through all of those filters is a really wonderful thing. The narrative captions also manage to be pretty evocative of the tone that Brandon Graham and friends have been striking since they took over PROPHET. Letterer Chris Eliopolous does commendable work, eschewing word bubbles in favor of captions that have different colors based on the speaker. This keeps the whole thing flowing and really gives the whole affair a feeling somewhere between the kind of lyrical poem that serves as source material and a children’s book. We’re basically just getting our bearings in this insane set-up, but there is a charming action scene in which Christian Ward rocks a side-scroll set-up with panel inlays recalling JHWIII or Quitely zoom-ins when opponents make physical contact. It’s interesting to note how many elements of the original that Fraction directly cribs and then how many get clever reworking, like the deal with Circe or the reveal about Odyssia and Penelope’s offspring. Maybe the most interesting tweak is that instead of being all lustful for the fairer sex, this version of the character so far all but ignores her sexual plaything in favor of brooding over what it is about battle that she loves so much, putting her over more in Thor’s camp than the Odysseus that we know and love. This is a very impressive beginning, and I can’t wait to see how they escalate things once that swiftship Ody-C really starts working up some momentum and cruising up at faster-than-Zeus thought-travel.

PROPHET STRIKEFILE #2 — Wow! Roy/Sheean/Ward drop about as ambitious of a headlining feature as it’s possible to throw down. By the last couple of pages, I was picturing Kirby averting his eyes, muttering, “Too much, guys. Scope . . . too vast!” Strike me dead, but only two issues in, I almost prefer these massive backstory installments to the incredible run that this whole beautiful crew was putting out prior to this. The scale is so wide, it beggars belief and you can just barely wrap your brain around it if you squint really hard. The pastel palette recalls Moëbius and is a terrific fit for a story so fundamentally alien, or really, universal is probably a better term. And how fantastic to get Liefeld on the double-page Youngstar splash! I threw a character called Doc Rocket in the backstory of my master’s thesis, but the universe is probably big enough for both of them. My favorite piece of art in the back half is not a very controversial pick: A-team Roy & Bergin’s shot of the Crystal Blessed. This series is a serious value, not even an ad to be found on the back cover and about half a dozen more brain-expansions than I’m licensed to fully experience. Special mention to Darrow for the typically gorgeous inside front cover, and respect to Bergin for the 36-character cover.

THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS #25 — Whoof-duh! I queued myself up quite the frontloaded section of science fiction to open up the evening. Thought I could anchor it with Hickman’s Avengers batting clean-up, but it’s getting pretty heady up here in front. Pitarra’s got me trained to be looking for cameos in every wide ensemble shot. Like, I don’t think that’s Joe Eisma there right at 9 o’clock in that second panel, but I can’t be sure. Jesus, though, that last page of the opening scene with LBJ is strong material. And terrifying. On the other side of things, very very cool to see Feynman finally writing Clavis Aurea on-panel. But those Einsteins are so madcap and zany with their violent ways! But oh, ha ha ha, the line about the “poorly drawn tractor beam” is the winner for the night, man. Hilarious. And but it turns out all of this has been only the beginning? I’m really excited about that. Seems like tightening up the format and expanding the page count could make this book even better. Onward into evil science!

TREES #7 — Well, it’s certainly all coming to a head now, isn’t it? This has been an interesting read in singles, but it’s going to be far more engrossing in one single sitting with a spine. The answer about the mystery of Blindhail Station is enough escalation for me. Seems like this is ramping up toward the conclusion of the first arc here probably next time, right? Jason Howard, again, I can’t say enough things about how much incredible work he’s doing here. I have a feeling this entire thing is going to be a lot more crushing going back through after seeing how it all shakes out in the end.

THE UNWRITTEN: APOCALYPSE #10 — Matters escalate to a predictably horrific degree as this series roars right up into its final cliffhanger. Once again, Tommy Taylor & his amazing friends just about steal the show, and I wish that we could be treated to nothing less than a thirteen-book series starring their charming selves. Of course, instead they meet dire fates. Carey seems to pick up that Sue is a breakout supporting character and so reserves the most horrible conclusion for her. This final page is the only thing that would have done for the final cliffhanger for this series. It’s just going to take quite a feat of narrative magic to come back from, though of course, Carey & Gross are up to the challenge. Very interested to see how we make it to The End.

GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #1 — Well, I should have realized this ahead of time, but it doesn’t take until Page Three before I realize that as great as this series might turn out to be, all it’s really going to be doing is just about but not quite scratching that itch for more FELL. Ben Templesmith is a force unto himself with a completely idiosyncratic style that makes every page feel like an alternate phantom Gotham that is actually a little bit darker and scarier than the one we have come to know and love over the years. Ray Fawkes has been turning in solid work over on ETERNAL and has the makings of a cool serial here, building up his cast starring Jim Corrigan with the requisite Dark Knight cameo, and the overall atmosphere chilling as hell. I’m definitely hanging out to support this book that is about as off the beaten path of Gotham mainstream as you can get.

INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE #5 — Going for it! That is one hell of an opening page. I was very sorry to see Giffen drawing such a serious first scene, but Tom Grummett really does good work, it must be said. Young bearded Uxas is terrifying. Terrific climactic double-splash page. The only thing is, it was so fierce, it made me not really care about checking in with the present-day adventures that much. “The Oath” is an issue-length spectacle, you know! Though I can totally get behind our guys beating up on a red-lantern-vomiting Guy Gardner. And Green Lanterns to send us off are always welcome. Though I am most intrigued by the concept of “Mecha-Darkseid.” As we all should be!

FUTURES END #30 — As much of a fan as I am of bopping around and checking in with everybody, I’m digging these issue-long arc climax issues. This one is devoted to the Ollie/Barda squad storming Brohter Eye’s stronghold on Cadmus Island. The cover totally faked me out. I don’t know if Ryan Sook was going for it on purpose or not, but that sure as hell looked like the silhouette of a massive Despero looming behind our heroes, there. I guess I should have realized that he didn’t have a third eye. I wasn’t crazy about Tom Raney’s art on this. His static character work is passable, Lois in the jungle there just talking, but he’s really lacking that dynamic flow of body language that’s really crucial in an all-action issue such as this. Now, I’m getting lost in all the Earth-2 folks. Have been thinking for a while that the guy in the Red Arrow outfit was Roy, but that might just be because of ARROW. Ollie calling the other guy Ollie on Page Six is I’m thinking maybe not a typo. Same deal with the Barda/Fury lady who’s been on the island with Scott, I wasn’t getting that she is from Earth-2 but am now thinking that she is. Brutal business with old Slade, there! Seems like she stole Miss Fifty-Sue’s thunder a bit. It’s not super-clear what happened on the last page. Is that Brother-Eye transferring from Ollie’s phone to the female Red Tornado-Loisbot? Or vice versa? Kind of a pivotal end-of-issue deal to be ambiguous from a craft standpoint.

BATMAN ETERNAL #34 — Some strong work here throughout. I really thought Julia was a goner, still a sucker after all these years. That four-panel exchange at the bottom of Page Ten is a powerful piece of characterization, a crazy kind of inversion on Alfred & Bruce’s father/son relationship made stranger by the fact that Alfred is trying to get his daughter out of the life and Bruce is just like, “It’s far too late for that, we’re all fucked.” And is that an Iron Throne of weapons that Hush is sitting on? It’s almost enough to make me start liking the fella. And does his battle helmet remind anyone else of The Knight’s? It seems to come to a bit of a conclusion here, but of course, there are many more horrible things left to happen.

SUPERMAN #36 — It’s getting pretty serious now. I was digging how the big guy and Ulysses weren’t immediately coming to blows in their opening encounter, but then of course Johnny Rom, Jr. has got to take some pages of dudes just wailing the hell out of each other before all is said and done. So, it looks like maybe old Ulysses has got to do something like suck up the life-force of six million souls in order to save the place he calls home? To the fourth dimension!

NEW AVENGERS #027 — In hindsight, totally should have seen the reveal with the big eye guy coming. They put it right there in the PREVIOUSLY . . .  for you and everything. I’ve never heard of these folks Szymon Kudranski and Dono Sanchez Almara, but they’re a terrific fit for the action here, lending a very European aesthetic to the pages. Suitably heady shit with Dr. Strange as the head of the “field surgeons of the multiverse” by means of replacement ciphers as spoken magic words. Naturally, Hickman. This shit obviously writes itself. Kind of a strange beat with Kevin the teenaged Star Brand looking stupid there on the next to last page, but sign me up for Multiversal Avengers action for as long as it lasts, no problem.