5/22/13

BATMAN INCORPORATED #11 — This seemed like an extremely dicey proposition going in. With three issues left on Morrison’s probably unsurpassable seven-year run, the writer ducks out altogether and leaves the artist holding the keyboard with a fill-in guy to draw the pages? Hardly the ideal configuration in the final movement of the last symphony, mm? That said, this could not have gone better. Burnham’s chops for Silver-Age dialogue and plot rhythms are right in line with the carefully-choreographed-though-seemingly-freeform madness that we’ve come to expect from this title, and Jorge Lucas shows up in a big way with a scratchy style that is reminiscent of Burnham’s hyper-detailed realism though still uniquely his own. This is a perfect example of what should be happening with DC all the time. I mean, Morrison is just constantly darting around, leaving behind all these immaculate little seed-concepts for anyone who dares to pick up and but I guess either folks are too intimidated to run with the challenge or maybe editorial’s just not down with it. I skipped BATWING because of Winick, which is I guess the only example of someone even attempting to capitalize on the obvious massive franchising potential of the INCORPORATED premise. Casey did it best a few years back on that SUPER YOUNG TEAM mini. And speaking of, really cool to see Burnham bring in the character Crazy Shy Lolita Canary from that book as partner/romantic foil to Jiro, the very first franchised international Batman to whom we were introduced back in the first issue of INCORPORATED. It was certainly a shame to hit pause on all of that exo-suit Man-Batman climactic madness but if we had to, and with a team that didn’t even involve Morrison, I don’t see how these guys could have done a better job. This one is entertaining both on its own merits and to readers who have been with Morrison since the beginning, and it serves as a final interlude and oasis of relative sanity before the whole mess comes crashing down.

GREEN LANTERN #20 — All right, I don’t feel like you can discuss this issue without at least qualifying it with discussion of the run as a whole, so, quick as I can: I didn’t jump onboard with REBIRTH because it frankly sounded like a pretty gimmicky set-up, but the nigh-universal acclaim made me regret that and I picked up #1 of the monthly series eager to see what was so great about this take on old Hal. Possibly the second Johns issue I ever bought (I picked up the first issue of his TITANS reboot, don’t remember if I got into JSA before or after this). Found the monthly engaging, terrific art, solid pacing, but then was really impressed, bowled over, even, by the way that THE SINESTRO CORPS WAR built and built, gathering momentum that always felt earned without contrivance. #25 of that previous volume was a cataclysmic reading experience, tying up so many threads that had gone before and suddenly declaring bold new narrative paths for years to come. I always stayed with the title but never again felt quite the same thrill. Was impressed by the status quo shakeup at the reboot with Sinestro but then as soon as Black Hand showed up and Carol put on the Star Sapphire suit, things I didn’t care about when they’d happened not that long ago, I dropped the title during a fairly alarming culling that also included quality books like Fraction’s IRON MAN, Brubaker’s CAPTAIN AMERICA, and Gillen’s JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY. But just a few months later, I heard that Johns was leaving, so of course I had to catch up on the relatively few issues I had missed and see how he was going to go out.

Which brings us to his final issue. The idea of using a far-future framing sequence worked for me and it’s an impressive bit of multi-colored compression that reduced Johns’s entire run to two pages worth of vertical panels, which really do read as hyper-manic madness when taken one after another like that. All of which brings us back to the beginning of the end of the story on Page Six. I do want to stop here and say that, while I think it was very cool of DC to recognize the end of this run by having all of those notables offer little blurbs about how great Geoff Johns is, I really wish they would have been grouped all together in a single section at the end of the book. It would have not only reduced the breaks in narrative flow, but it’s kind of hard not to have a backlash against what you’re reading when the ads are eloquently expressing its innate brilliance for you. Yes? A televisual parallel, as much as I love MAD MEN, I absolutely do not want to sit through commercials during the series finale declaring it “an utter triumph . . . the finest show of our time.” Even if I can completely get behind the sentiment. At any rate. I do have to say that Doug Mahnke and all those inkers absolutely blew it up on those 55 pages, really strong work throughout. Mahnke has proven over the course of his run on this book to be one of the most prolific high-quality purveyors of mainstream superhero art in the industry. Very impressive. And it was great to see all the usual suspects and former cohorts dash back in for a final splash or page.

If Johns is going to have Hal quote The Beatles, he should just go all the way. Changing “my” to “some” is just distracting. But then how about the charge of all the lanterns? That multi-hued blast issuing forth from Mogo was something else, what a splash! And I dig that there are no less than three full-on cavalry charges by some new colored contingent charging into the fray. Johns really brought it all crashing down in spectacular fashion, a fine end to a nine-year run by a guy who might just be Hal Jordan’s biggest fan.

FLASH #20 — This one read a bit denser than the previous issues, a good thing. Wonderful titles, as ever, but then plenty of compression to offset the rapid-fire action scenes that invariably send the pages roaring right by. This is looking like an entertaining arc, though I wish the book would stay self-contained, I’ve been actively ignoring Scott Lobdell’s work over on TEEN TITANS (as opposed to railing against it on the Internet) and don’t dig the notion of these reboot revisions for which I don’t care encroaching upon a title that I regularly enjoy.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #20 — Ah, I want to be onboard, really love Lemire’s work most of the time and Janin/Cifuentes/Cox turn in some beautiful, lush pages, but this one is not doing it for me on a monthly level. Even with the addition of Frank (and Flash & Swamp Thing thrown in for good measure, come to think of it), the total is less than the sum of its parts. The execution of this one never managed to draw me in as much as the premise and talent should have. It’s time to say goodbye.

THE UNWRITTEN #49 — Carey throws the myth of Orpheus into the mix, because why not, and we get a fairly serious shift to the status quo going forward (the whole gang is back together, complete with new breakout character!). Only, of course, Tommy has to twist the plot and hang the cliff at the last minute. Really really sorry they felt the need to reveal the upcoming crossover ahead of time, having not attended those conventions and just had it trumpeted at me from headlines, such a shame, can’t imagine how cool that last page would have played with me, having no idea what was coming.

THE MASSIVE #12 — Mmm, not sure that Danijel Zezelj’s style is a very good fit for this book, particularly capping off a schizophrenic arc opened up by Gary Erskine and Declan Shalvey. Actually, I’m sure that the shift is too jarring for my tastes. And it would be one thing if this was some kind of self-contained character-centric done-in-one Secret Origin of Lars-type of thing, but the events in this issue pack a fair amount of weight when taken in context with the rest of the narrative to date. Just a really strange choice that took me out of the story on more than page. Paging Garry Brown!

OCCUPY COMICS #1 — Well, with that list of talent, I had to throw down three and a half dollars and see what was happening here. Now, anthologies are always a mixed bag, but this one was much more miss for me than hit. I probably dug the Kot/Crook/Cox piece the most, “Citizen Journalist.” The Rushkoff/Haspiel page was, of course, brilliant. Templesmith’s was horrifying, no surprises there, either. I’ve read that Moore essay before, maybe in DODGEM LOGIC? The DeMatteis piece is the one that did the least for me, which surprised me because I invariably dig his words, but I didn’t actually need him to explain this to me. Overall, this is a good looking piece of work, well put together, wish the content resonated a bit more with me. The David Lloyd V piece surprised me with how nostalgic is made me for my childhood reading about an anarchist taking on fascist London in 1997.

THE BOUNCE #1 — I had to give this one a shot, if only because I love GØDLAND so much and was curious what Casey had in mind for what appears on the surface to be a Silver Age-level Spidey kind of super-hero. David Messina certainly brings some thunder on the art. This was entertaining but not quite enough of a hook to keep me around, judging by just this first issue alone. The premise is not very clearly stated, and I don’t think it’s a thing where the reader is supposed to be confused. What we have here is a high-grade dope-smoking guy who first turns out to be an acrobatic superhero who then turns out to be a ball-busting DA who then goes to the bathroom of a dance club to pay for some sort of ultimate high that turns out to be a character, maybe a villain or maybe just some shaman-type, who then turns into the drug that our hero inhales, which sends him spiraling across a series of psychedelic panels into what I suppose is a parallel universe. Like I said, the art is terrific, but there’s not enough of a hook here to engage me in any way, whatsoever, other than knowing that Casey is fucking crazy and in all likelihood holding all kinds of madness at bay for future issues. May or may not pick up #2 but will definitely make it through the trade eventually.

YOUNG AVENGERS #005 — And so that’s how HOUSE OF MYSTERY ended. Or the Gillen/Kid Loki portion, anyway. Really should have finished that one out before letting this one run as long as it has. Appropriately tragic and potentially undone, apparently. This is the grand climax to the first arc and suitably grand and climactic. Gillen murdered me with that line about the Kirby engines’ fuel, I’ve been going on about imagination engines for years now. Nothing else really new to report here, McKelvie/Norton/Wilson continue to dispense absolute sequential justice, Gillen has manufactured a reason for this team to exist that not only doesn’t contradict Heinberg’s conclusion but is actually a bit more cohesive than their original raison d’être. This series has thus far managed to meet my very high expectations and I look forward to more to come.  

UNCANNY AVENGERS #008AU — Huh, so this is just a weird thing, it appears to be inserted into the middle of the current UA arc, but this is what’s happening now suddenly that Logan Done What He Did? I guess we’ll reboot back to regular continuity next month when AGE OF ULTRON is done? This amounts to basically giving us some focused characterization on the Apocalypse twins with Kang kind of adopting their dad’s creed run through a segregationist filter versus alternate versions of the surviving members of our main cast. This time, it’s Havok’s turn to be Rogue’s husband. Big old trade up from the Age of Apocalypse.

UNCANNY X-MEN #006 — The reign of Bendis continues unabated. The two-page splash of Tempus and Fabio trying to quit is a real keeper. I love how Coulson is just in there all over the place now. His recommendation to Hill on a consulting mutant agent is . . . an interesting call. Angel’s one-bubble regret over his decision to bail on Logan’s school is perfectly timed for maximum comedic impact. I am really digging Frazier Irving rocking full art chores on this arc.

FANTASTIC FOUR #008 — Ah ha, the Godfathers, indeed. This is a terrific idea for Ben’s One Day In Human Form. Where else but Yancy Street? Fraction drops the small-print “That’s my favorite aunt’s name,” with surgical precision to devastating effect. Mounts does a tremendous job varying the color scheme between the vibrant blue-green hues of the team’s ship versus the muted tones down on Yancy. And I love how Fraction just folds the AU issue into main continuity here in the form of a shared dream between the kids. And but naturally Ben causes the entire feud here and now in the past. All these issues in, and everything’s still firing just exactly the way that I want it to be.

DAREDEVIL #026 — I really adore how Waid will in no way allow his pacing to be affected or controlled by the sort of external corporate-mandated nonsense that typically encroaches upon storied runs such as these. In this issue, Matt via Waid (and Foggy, I guess it must be said) begins to piece together what’s been happening to him since the very first issue of this volume, tying together all that has come before, and while it’s not really that much of a leap in logic, or even surprise almost, the fact that the events are allowed to play out in-story, not as part of a milestone oversized twenty-fifth special or whichever issue it was a few months back that this got folded into the MARVEL NOW! banner, every story beat occurs organically and (the reader suspects) right where Waid intended it to. And it’s always $2.99. And the art remains beautiful to an almost sickening degree. The beat goes on.

AVENGERS #012 — Oh oh, now I dig my MORNING GLORIES as much or more than the next bear, but if Hickman’s going to have to start needing a co-writer on this, maybe let’s not have it come out every two weeks, mm? Spencer’s spin on things seems most prevalent with regard to THOR, suddenly he’s the Hemsworth version. Deodato’s work continues to inspire. I should have guessed the ending based on Garokk the Petrified Man’s mid-issue appearance, there are only so many folks who are going to show up down there in the Savage Land. All told, though, this was a really interesting issue, with a couple of exceptions, there was virtually no action, just teaching this enigmatic new race of super-kids. Tony’s last line about the FF says it all, really, sums up the entire issue. These boys are out of their element.