UNCANNY X-MEN #539—Just a hell of an issue. Ibraim Roberson absolutely burns up this done-in-one starring Logan and Hope, a beautiful character study that sees Wolverine burned to a crisp and makes you slap your forehead at the obvious reason that he’s been kind of a dick to her all this time instead of just letting her fall into the role of Teenage Girl Sidekick #8, whatever number he’s up to. That dialogue at the end is pitch-perfect. Loving loving Gillen on this, don’t even mind that we’re suddenly bi-weekly at $4 a pop. Quality mutant merriment.
ROCKETEER ADVENTURES #2—Another solid outing, though not quite as devastating as the first issue. Waid delivers a tonally perfect script that maybe winks at the reader once or twice too often in its eight pages. Cooke nails it, I particularly love the recap page and the cliffhanger. Add Rocketeer serials to the long list of something this guy could knock out of the park for as long as he wanted to. The Geof Darrow double-splash is breathtaking and has the requisite 295 bullet casings spilling out all over the place. And then Lowell Francis and Gene Ha, who I want to say also put out a FLASHPOINT: SUPERMAN issue today, did a perfectly serviceable job on the last story, though, yeah, Busiek & Kaluta from last month are still the team to beat, thus far. Oh, and tremendous work from Dave Stewart, throughout.
SUPER DINOSAUR #2 & 3—Mm, I like the idea of this, but the execution in serial form is not making me feel solid for the long haul. Twenty pages, no ads, all ages, brand new characters and story. All right, I’m in. Jason Howard’s art looks great, at least one wonderful double-splash per issue, and Kirkman’s still rocking his ear for dialogue, but the thing is . . . I don’t really like Derek Dynamo. I’m not rooting for him at all, more getting excited when the ice breaks and he starts falling. Then, he fires a Bat-grappler and says “Bottomless pit? NO PROBLEM!” and I just want to smack his smarmy little face. The same goes with the Kingstons, the inventor family who just moved in. “Did somebody say cold weather gear? Well, it just so happens…” I swear that exact beat has happened in every single issue, now. I don’t know. This book is already so convinced of its own super-awesomeness, it’s kind of having a hard time bringing me along for the ride, even though I’ve already bought my ticket.
AMERICAN VAMPIRE #16—The Ghost War ramps up for the home stretch and it looks like it’s going to be, as ever, a bloodbath. All respect to everyone nominated, but Albuquerque not pulling a Best Penciller Eisner nomination this year is patently ridiculous. Cracking this book open every month, I always get the sensation that he’s spoiling us. It just should not look this good, month after month. And the slow burn on the relationship between Sweet and Pearl remains the most compelling aspect of the book for me, nudged forward ever so slightly by the former’s reaction to Henry talking about sleeping next to her. Really looking forward to what I imagine will be the conclusion next month, it’s going to hit pretty hard from Page One.
DETECTIVE COMICS #878—Snyder and Jock bring their second arc to a close and it’s pretty much perfect, tight and right and everything that you could want from a Batman OR a Dick Grayson story and, while they’re at it, they go ahead and perform that alchemical magic of words+pictures right out there where you can see it, like a magician who explains the trick while he’s doing it, but then hits that last sleight of hand at the end to still make everybody gasp. That last page of Dick jumping, locking in with the preceding panel, and the first page of this issue, and all the way back to the first time he met Sonia two months back, the content of the text, the anatomic symphony of just Jock . . . really, really an amazing thing. To say nothing of those final two pages. I wish Jock could alternate arcs or done-in-ones with Capullo here, post-relaunch, if he’s going to need a pinchhitter. The bar is so high at this point, they’re really going to have to stop serving absinthe.
****
BEST OF WEEK: BATMAN INCORPORATED #7—I was really interested to see how Morrison was going to follow up last issue, which is easily my favorite single released here in the first half of the year. It turns out the answer was to take it to the rez. This done-in-one focuses on Man of Bats, the doctor turned vigilante who’s returned to his Native American roots in order to do good on a grassroots level. There is so much to like about this issue, really memorable beats and lines on pretty much every single page. Rather than go through and list each one, I’ll say that right at this moment my favorite two things about this comic are the way that Morrison leads us along with this guy, teasing our expectations to think that maybe he really is just a lunatic straight out of the Frank Miller Academy, but then the trap springs and we’re all of a sudden heartsick and all Is This The End For Man of Bats? with maybe only a page or two left before it’s all over and our hearts up in our throats. The fact that we already care so much speaks to the hyperdense character work Morrison is able to lay down in just a few pages, a master class in creating reader empathy. Another kernel of perfection is Bruce’s entrance, his opening line. It totally has the effect on the reader that it does on Little Raven, while also being perfect characterization. He’s always just out of sight, watching. Knows all. We were already enjoying the hell out of simply The Man of Bats & Little Raven Power Hour and then Bruce Wayne walks out of the dark and now even the shadows are crackling with excitement.And that Chris Burnham. What a force. My favorite new artist, DC really made a find with this guy. Really really hope that he’s on board for the duration, no more fill-ins, just 13 more glorious issues of Morrison & Burnham, all the Dynamic Duo we need for 2012. Man, I am going to be just a caricature when that last issue of LEVIATHAN comes out.
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