ACTION COMICS #36 — All right, I have to got to say that I
was eyeing these widescreen Darwyn Cooke covers for close to a full ten minutes
before finally opening this one up, feeling a bit of the old bittersweet at the
sure-to-be massive gap in quality between the stories implied by these covers
and their actual interiors. And while it is true that I would pay a
considerable sum to see Mr. Cooke just for one month take over these books that
he’s providing variants for, all three of these creative teams really elevated
their already considerable game and banished those melancholy thoughts. None
greater than Pak/Kuder here, who have got a nice little rhythm back after
getting jostled around a bit by fill-ins and a couple of small crossover
events. Smallville is still having a case of the Octobers, and the situation
escalates dramatically by issue’s end. My favorite part of this issue has to be
the three-page flashback to when Clark and Lana were in third grade. Really,
not much is better than the first panel of that, but I am a fan of how Kuder
relaxes the tight inks on his lines and lets some just straight pencil shading
stand. It gives this short scene a really different atmosphere and has you
longing for just a series of Young Superboy adventures with Kuder tearing it up
throughout.
DETECTIVE COMICS #36 — Man, Manapul & Buccellato
continue to be turn in some of the most dramatic vibrant panelwork on the rack
today. They are both masters of their craft who have refined their talent
through years of collaboration, and the resulting pages are always a wonder to
behold. Every page truly is a standalone work of art. And now that I’m not
expecting the Eisner title pages, I’m blown away by them when they hit, still
packing plenty of visual punch. What keeps this from being a great issue,
though, is still the writing. It isn’t bad, but it’s average and always seems
to manage a couple of missteps that take me out of it. Alfred ever referring to
something as “Bruce time” is horrible. Having Bruce point that out does not
mitigate the damaging effect it has upon the reader. And then I was able to
dial back in to the exchange between Bullock and the ridiculously named Yip
until that wacky splash of Batman peering in through the broken window to
answer Bullock’s question. Surprise! The art on that splash is absolutely
gorgeous, but the narrative beat made me laugh out loud and completely diffused
the gravity of the content. This book is certainly worth it for the art alone,
when these guys aren’t getting fill-ins, but I would love the scripting to
tighten up a bit, see: the following issue.
GRAYSON #5 — Predictably, another incredible issue. And
easily the most dramatic opening page of the week, yow! Talk about the in medias res. It doesn’t matter what’s
gone before, Dick and Midnighter are trying to deliver a baby and save the
mother’s life while Helena tries to keep their plane from crashing. The baby
makes it, at least. Then, it’s nothing but a slow-burn done-in-one as the three
survivors+baby try to survive the impossible two-hundred mile walk to the next
settlement as the days add up and the characterization thickens. Dick Grayson
really is just the best guy. I could also do an alternate series of him deliriously
stumbling through a desert telling a newborn increasingly fragmented and
nonsensical dreams about him and Batman. That sounds incredible. As much love
and hype as this book is getting, it isn’t enough. Tom King’s scripts are
razor-sharp, and Mikel Janin has elevated his already considerable game to a
ridiculous level. And they’re really still getting started, I can’t imagine
what the long-term plan for this book is. Am certainly going to be around to
find out though, hey.
BATMAN ETERNAL #35 — That “THREE HOURS FROM NOW” caption is
kind of a confusing way to open when just a “THREE HOURS EARLIER…” on the next
page would do the same deal just fine. Otherwise, this is a pretty solid issue.
Relatively taking things at a slower pace, but that’s to be expected after the
blow-up last week. Fernando Blanco turns in very solid work, and I can’t
remember the last time that Tynion was actually scripting. It’s been quite a
while.
FUTURES END #31 — Where was Merino last issue when we needed
him? I love how Lois is blowing the whistle on Cadmus and trying to make them
eat it for Ollie’s murder even though she knows good and well that he is alive.
And that’s before dropping the emboldened term “Secret War.” Really, Lois?
Really? And who can resist the fun of Lemire writing the Bakers cavorting about
with Island Ollie? Give us THAT shit every month, DC. Two pages is not enough. One
single line of dialogue and the look in her eyes really slams home how much I
missed Maxine. And was anybody else thinking of Booster & Beetle rocking it
on the isle of Kooeykooeykooey when Buddy & Ollie toasted the latter’s
retirement? (fun fact: I drop in and write these reviews only a couple at a
time, seldom all in one sitting, but here we are at the third time that I’m
clamoring for an alternate DC series implied by some short-term set-up; so,
this is the week for that). Okay, but then what the hell was that with the
Midge creature? Are we supposed to know what’s going on with her? She came out
of nowhere, but Constantine acted like we were supposed to already be familiar
with her. And the whole deal with Firestorm/Madison/Jason/Tim certainly took an
interesting enough twist, but it is an ironic inversion, Madison getting so mad
about Tim not telling her about his heroic past while straight-up shutting him out of the
situation the very minute that the same sort of thing erupts for her in the
present.
GOD HATES ASTRONAUTS
#04 — This opening is pretty straightforward as far as this series goes.
Flashback to King Tiger Eating A Cheeseburger back when he was a prince playing
a game with his friend Crabigail. He pretends to be his father and has poor
Crabigail be the enslaved population of Crabulon. The king commands his
worthless crabs to eat a passing sentient toad. Cut to the actual king and
queen being told that the queen’s previous pregnancy with this charming little
fellow has rendered her barren. The king has the messenger disintegrated. The
little prince comes in and lies about Crabigail’s toad consumption being her
own idea. The reason for this is because the toad was apparently poisonous.
There is a sound-effect entitled “Croad.” Cut to Croad the unfortunate landing
on earth to quote Darth Vader and eat a native crab, producing a sound-effect
of “Cronch.” Okay, actually, this one was pretty weird, too. There’s something
profoundly wrong with Ryan Browne, but it is such a delight to watch unfold.
LOW #5 — This book is worth the cover price just for the
introduction of the term “quantumologist,” alone. With what Remender’s been up
to over in the merry Marvel universe and then also in BLACK SCIENCE, you
certainly can’t take the survival of the protagonists for granted, which lends
an immediacy and gravitas to that battle in the arena that most other books
wouldn’t have. And just when it was going so well . . .
BEST OF WEEK: CHEW #45 — Yes, what an utterly shitty ending!
Goddamn you, The Mighty Layman. I can’t believe I queued this up to be the last
book of the night. What a fucking terrible last page. You’re all evil, evil
bastards. The end.
No comments:
Post a Comment