6/18/14

BATMAN AND RA’S AL-GHUL #32 — The team behind my favorite DC book turn in yet another humdinger of a finale to yet another best arc so far. Batman and Frankenstein beneath Nanda Parbat battling for the corpses and very souls of Talia Al-Ghul and Damian Wayne. No more really need be said. This is crushing material on every page. We get a history lesson from Frankenstein, which earns him the respect of Ra’s, another Frankenstein-is-a-monster joke that still somehow manages not to fall flat but be wonderful, yet another masterful shot of Frank hurling himself into battle, Batman blasting his way out of the subterranean Lazarus Pit carrying his dead son’s sarcophagus on his back, Titus even, that terrific six panels on Page Fourteen of the camera just zooming in as Ra’s closes in on Batman followed by the close shot of that threat on the opposite page, climaxing with of course four pages of the two daddies scrapping in the snow like they never picked up a sword in their lives, and then just when Batman is set to go all Mountain-on-The-Viper with old Ra’s, we get a shocking surprise that was so terrific to not see coming. I mean, that bottom panel, the BOOM, I was thinking to myself, “Well, surely not,” but then what a last page! I was very very dubious when I heard that something called ROBIN RISES was coming down the pike, but I trust these creators right down to the marrow of my bones and can’t wait.

FUTURE’S END #7 — And Editorial scores Aaron Lopresti, another very talented fellow on sequentials. Opening with the first third being nothing but Phantom Zone conflict is just fine with me. But, tragically, they moved that aerobics Comedy Bang Bang! ad to the interiors, so you never know when those mostly hairless dudes are going to sneak up on you. SO MUCH WORSE. It’s cool that Lois is one of our protagonists for this series, interested to see where she winds up in her quest to unmask Tim. It’s hard not to read any scenes with Slade Wilson now and not think about ARROW. How could he not call her “kid” one single time? And sorry to see Terry blow his element of surprise. He’s kind of been a putz since he got here, I’m sorry to say.

BATMAN ETERNAL #11 — Ian Bertram is a revelation. I didn’t recognize his name and was the least bit worried, but wow. Seeing his pages reminds me of the first time Chris Burnham came in and blew the doors off the fourth issue of BATMAN INCORPORATED, or of how I felt the first time I laid eyes on Pope or Grampa or Quitely or Darrow. This guy has such a unique and singular vision. Thrilling. That panel on Page 10 of Barbara slamming Gonzolo against the wall is the very real deal. But that’s nothing compared to what happens a few pages later when young Stephanie Brown first lays eyes on Batman doing the same thing with her father and we see the Caped Crusader through the filter of her young terrified mind. Bravo. I love his Starfire. Thank you thank you so much. Just when he couldn’t kick ass any harder. She is an A-cup and still magnificent. And of course we have to have El Gaucho. I do wish Selina wouldn’t call him Bats. That kind of drives me crazy like it does John Byrne. At any rate, I dearly wish that Bertram is already hard at work on #19 or some such. This series has been clipping along very well so far, but the injection of his style that is so far afield from what we usually expect from mainstream superhero art is a very welcome and exciting turn of events.

WONDER WOMAN #32 — Once again, all Cliff Chiang has to do is show up for the cover and his presence is devastating. Though of course Goran Sudzuka holds the interiors down very well. Azzarello is definitely ramping up his endgame. Hard to believe that there are only going to be three more of these. I do love how the krackle presages Orion’s triumphant charge on the last page. Of course, I love those little dots any time they come seething right up, don’t I?

FABLES #141 — Wow, that is a really really dark place to begin the final arc. The final Big Bad will just be every single one of the other boxed horrors all taking up residence inside of Rose? That is certainly one way to burn it all down, Mr. Willingham. The council of the thirteenth floor folks is an interesting and well-crafted collision of characters. Of course Lumi the Snow Queen pops up in conversation, how could she not? Fucking Elsa. And Grimble! I love the second-person in the captions about him. It is always nice to be acknowledged as a reader. And a solid pair of closing scenes. Oh dear, I am not ready to say goodbye to any of these people. Can’t Mike Carey just take over when he finishes up THE UNWRITTEN? I apologize for the blatant segueway.

THE UNWRITTEN: APOCALYPSE #6 — All right, we’re ramping it up now. As much fun as it is to read Carey connecting the dots from maanim/graal/grail, I think my favorite part of the series remains the Tommy Taylor prose business. Just really love that voice. Gross continues to throw down thunderous stylistic changes by the page with all the nonchalance of the wind changing direction. What a cruel place to leave off this month out. I hate the tradewaiters. This thing, this story of all stories, is rearing up from deep in the heart of all the tales and getting ready to reach out and crush my heart, I can already feel it.

THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS #21 — Part of the greatness of this book is that every two or three issues, it implies a spinoff series that seems like it would be at least as good as the main deal. I don’t know if this was just a well-timed convergence with the mounting GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY hype, but I would certainly tune in to the monthly adventures of this wacky band of interstellar irregulars. Ryan Browne continues to excel at one of the roughest fill-in gigs in the business while constantly tightening up his already ridiculous linework.

THE WICKED + THE DIVINE #1 — Oh, Team Phonogram, when will you quit batting my heart back and forth between your ravenous maws and produce the long-awaited Volume 3? Surely that Jamie McKelvie has eaten enough by now. He sounds like sort of a skinny fellow, anyway. But, we are all fortunate any time that Gillen/McKelvie/Wilson can synch up their schedules to produce glorious pages and of course expectations on another creator-owned by this crew have spiked to new highs on the heels of that crushing bit of YOUNG AVENGERS that season-finaled up last year. The lads are still very comfortable with their protagonists’ previously established demographic, telling the story of a bunch of teenage gods who are really really awesome and sing so good that basically everyone has epileptic seizures and comes their brains out every song and then also they can snap their fingers and make peoples’ heads explode. Wait, IS this the third volume of PHONOGRAM? Because that actually sounds about right. This thing is gorgeous, McKelvie and Wilson have one of the best blasts of synergy going on the rack today, and the narrative voice is razor-sharp. A debut that lives up to massive expectations.

SEX CRIMINALS #6 — Well, we’re back and of course things have to be on a down-swing. But whaaaaat a down-swing. Things were just getting to be so fun! Now, bro is like a eunuch! Was that supposed to be one of those metaphorical type things? Like, are his colors all faded to Suze when she looks at him? I don’t know. I just want the best for these kids, and it looks like things are veering off into an even darker place. Chippapotamus makes lines and colors so pretty just like McKelvie and Wilson. Maybe someone should snap their fingers and try to make KegelFace’s head explode?

FATALE #23 — Wow, Brubaker always of course carries more than his share of the narrative load, this Lovecraft noir half-breed springing more from his noggin than anyone else’s, I suspect, but Phillips and Breitweiser absolutely blow the doors off this month in a tour-de-force performance that does its very best at convincing a non-participating reader exactly how awesome it is to have sex with Josephine. They hit hypercosmic Starlin levels of greatness as no less than ten pages of the book are dedicated to five double-page spreads of our protagonists screwing across time and space while we finally get more than a glimpse into the secret origin of the eponymous femme. Like the rest of this series, none of it is that much of a surprise, it’s just the level of execution and mastery of craft that make it such a pleasure to behold, everyone involved well into years and years of firing at the top of their game and slinging out justice by the page because that’s the only thing they know how to do by now. The finale is going to be a hell of a thing.

MPH #2 — Superspeed is so fun and awesome, you guys! I’m pretty sure the pendulum is going to have to swing the other way pretty soon for our happy band of misbehaving crusaders from bad old Detroit finally taking some back for themselves. Millar’s characterizations are a bit more one-note than they have been lately but Duncan Fegredo’s dynamic art and detail certainly gives you everything you want from a book with this subject matter. This is good inoffensive fun. Which from Millar is pretty much a triumph at this point.

SAVAGE DRAGON #195 — Larsen once again makes the strong case that he is enjoying his job more than about anybody else on the planet right now. That’s the way he’s drawing this, at least. There’s a very palpable joy visible in every page, every layout. That first double-page spread is yet again a thing of beauty and exemplifies the reason I show up every Wednesday. But I certainly hope there are additional models of that red suit of armor that soared in at the end, there. That character design is too banging to waste on just a few pages. This title remains essential for the lover of all things Kirby in your life. And if you don’t have one of those, please strongly consider acquiring or becoming one immediately. It will make everything so much better, I promise.

AVENGERS #31 — Well, we’ll spare no suspense about how Hawkeye got split up from the team. That shit was disturbing. Of course, this is nothing but great fun throughout. Our intrepid band of timehoppers winds up 422 years in the future and are captured by future Avengers who turn out to all be Ultron-bots because of course, except for Thor and Hyperion who are just really old and broken now. Hickman is doing tremendous work keeping both of his AVENGERS titles so compelling while excelling and conquering at two creator-owneds. I mean, not counting INFINITY, dude has already slammed out more than fifty Avengers scripts alone. I feel like more people should be making a big deal out of this run, every issue is terribly compelling in its own right while slotting in seamlessly to a pretty immaculately plotted long-term game, the full shape of which has barely begun to make itself known thus far. Impressive business. Now, if we can just get Yu to stop drawing Natasha’s cans the size of her head, we’ll be golden.

UNCANNY X-MEN #022 — This is certainly the first time I’ve turned to a credits page, seen six inkers credited, and then wanted to high-five myself. It’s worked out so well before with Bachalo! And further tremendous news to get Jose Villarrubia assisting on colors. Nothing can stop the Bendis Juggernaut! Nice of him to finally clear up the deal about Scottie’s eyeblasts always going crazy at the end of every issue for the last little bit. Though I think I’ve already said that that was only getting better for me with time. Ripening like the fine Summers vintage that it is. And now it’s the Secret Xavier School? Maybe we can have a different cool name every issue now. It can be a thing. And but that Hijack fellow is pretty indispensable after all. This is a very solid end to all of the Dazzler/Mystique, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D./helicarriers vs. the mansion madness. Bachalo is a monster throughout.

DAREDEVIL #004 — Leland Owsley gets a serious upgrade that definitely sets him up to be the ultimate antithesis/nemesis to San Francisco’s newest arrival that was foretold in #50NOW or whatever the hell that was a little while ago that came out like the week after #001. This is nothing more or less than Waid/Samnee/Rodriguez continuing to kick ass on this title just like they have been for the past few years now. Hell of a cover, too.

SILVER SURFER #003 — I tell you what, that Dawn Greenwood is just the pluckiest Companion that the Doctah never had. Slott keeps things moving along at a brisk pace. These three issues amount to the season premiere and we’re now set up for ongoing adventures. It will be interesting to see how it goes next month once our duo is into their rhythm. The Toomie gag on the last page is a good sign of initial chemistry. But the Three Stooges gag seemed like an odd bit to shoehorn in there a few pages back. We’ll see how it goes! The Allreds have no problem bringing down the cosmic justice, as ever.

ORIGINAL SIN #4 — Deodato/Martin are shredding from the get-go. That Page 3 shot of Bucky doing nothing but showing up on the moon with a severed head is slamming. Aaron does efficient work bringing the far-flung characters and plots together here with a minimum of fuss. I love Logan’s line about Bucky. And you’ve got to give Aaron the elbow for having Dr. Strange quote Millar’s tagline for Civil War at T’Challa. But that’s got nothing on Bucky’s shot at poor old Frank. Low blow, Buck! But man, those cute introductory character captions remain just painful, as Rocket Raccoon’s illustrates. In whose mind does that business improve the reading experience? I’ve got to hand it to Aaron, though, for that last-page reveal. It’s the kind of retcon that makes too much sense and has been floating around the collective fanboy subconsciousness for quite some time now, and this is a hell of an elegant way to execute the concept into continuity. The entire first half of this thing was very good looking set-up and preamble, but I am very interested to see what is about to break loose now.

BEST OF WEEK: ESCAPO — It seems like Paul Pope is incapable of turning in anything that doesn’t hit somewhere between being a breathless tour-de-force and a masterpiece. Even way back when. I was previously unaware of this project that he jammed out over a broken up six-month period in 1998, but it is thrilling to see both the height of jaw-dropping talent that Pope had already reached sixteen years ago and also now be able to somewhat gauge how far he managed to push his longform sequential work over the course of just the next few years with HEAVY LIQUID, 100%, and BATMAN: YEAR 100. This book consists of two chapters starring a reluctant escapist* dealing with first love/rejection, and then death. The writing is sparse on characterization, hinging upon the protagonist’s voice coming through the dynamism of his kinetic on-panel action in large part juxtaposed with the rhapsodic barking of the ringmaster. But the art is more than enough to carry the show. Everything is much tighter here than what I’m used to seeing. In a closing essay that I might even have dug more than the pages themselves, Pope shares that he cranked out these pages at night while working for Japanese mega-publisher Kondansha by day, and the kind of trademark wildness with the brush that becomes such a trademark of his later on is only hinted at here. Aerobella’s appearance, in particular, manages to simultaneously veer over toward being more mangaesque but also suggest a far greater deal of time spent at the drawing board and careful consideration than later work, which oftentimes explodes from the page in its immediacy and crackling sense of the now. Of course, every hero is only as good as his antagonist, and young Pope spared no effort here designing our boy’s death-traps, a plummeting automobile and a locked waterwomb and Le Pinceur and the old Bizarre Box, all of which are convoluted and fantastic enough to do Kirby’s heart proud. This is not the book you want to put in someone’s hands to make him or her a Pope acolyte for life, but it is a fascinating document of one of the great talents of the medium in a nascent and formative time, not so much one of his deep cuts but more like an unmastered demo from a garage recording that doesn’t, can’t, punch you in the face with its production value but that still manages to just about bring tears to your eyes because the song is so good and everything you love about the band is right there amidst the crackling hiss of the tape and it’s obvious to everybody listening now and then that these guys are really going to make it, one of these days, sooner or later, these guys are going to be huge.

*and this just triggers, didn’t Pope spend a couple of years working on the trapped-in-development-hell film adaptation of Chabon’s THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY? That is an interesting convergence, given that he self-published this comic of a hero escapist probably right around the time the idea must have either been percolating in Chabon’s head or more likely by the time he had already moved on to interviewing folks like Eisner and actually writing the damn thing. The world is a latticework.