Comic Quickies: Re-imaging Origins

Action Comics #5: Grant Morrison gets another crack at telling Superman's origin story in this issue, and unlike his previous effort in All Star Superman, which only took up a single page, this one get's a full issue's worth of story.

It's a pretty damn good origin story too.  We get to see a little bit of the downfall of planet Krypton, and even some Ma and Pa Kent in their younger days.  (Good job stickin' it to the man Ma and Pa!) There's also some very cryptic foreshadowing going on here, pointing towards some epic stuff in the future for the title.  Which is about time if you ask me.

Morrison has spent the first four issues telling a cute little Superman story about his youthful struggles, but so far the story hasn't been nearly big enough for a character like Superman.  I'm not saying the first four issues weren't good, they were good, but Grant needs to really bring the thunder from here on out.  I have faith in the man.  Looking forward to seeing what he's got up his sleeves.

 Batman #5: I'll make this really simple.  This is the single best Batman comic I've ever read.

It's like this: Batman is stuck in a massive labyrinth, no bat belt, no food, no contact with the outside world, and the only water to be found is likely drugged.  Oh, and he's been in there for at least eight days so far.

Aside from an insanely tense story, what you get here is a journey through delusion and starvation with one of the normally most sharp minded guys around.  When all of Batman's mental walls start to break down due to exhaustion and hunger, it is a crazy trip, and an incredible read.

Accompanying the fantastic writing by Scott Snyder here is by far the best art I've seen from Greg Capullo yet.  I know, I haven't been so easy on the guy in the past, but he not only impressed me here, but pretty much blew my mind with his depiction of the events in this story.  Capullo does a fantastic job of showing the unhinging of Batman's mind, and puts the reader right there next to the big guy.

It's not easy to describe the amazingness of this issue, it really needs to be experienced, and I highly recommend, even if you aren't a comic reader, or a Batman fan, that you go out and give this issue a read.  It is quite amazing, and pretty fucking awesome to look at too.

All Star Western #5: I'm sad to say this, but I think I'm beginning to get tired of this title.  I've started to realize that there isn't much character depth to Jonah Hex, and each issue bears a striking resemblance to those that came before it: Jonah Hex gets in huge fight, and either A) kicks total ass or B) gets in life threatening situation with no feasible way out, and somehow survives to kick more ass.  Wash, rinse, repeat.

I think I failed to notice this routine for so long because I was enjoying Moritat's art so much, but sad to say, even that has begun to falter in the last couple of issues.  I wonder if he's having a hard time keeping up with the monthly schedule because it seems to me that his art is a little rushed looking these past months.  I don't know, hopefully this one will pull itself together, but right now this one is moving towards being dropped.

Prophet #21: Yes, this is technically the twenty-first issue of Prophet, but it is also the first in a new era for the title.  I guess this was a Rob Liefeld comic back in the day and ran for 21 issues, and has lain dormant like a Balrog for some years. Now it's back, freed from the dungeons of Liefeld-dur (Rob Liefeld's castle of shitty comic artistry and writing) and being written by one of my comic creating heroes, Brandon Graham.

It seems like a minor tragedy that Graham isn't doing the art here too, that is until you actually flip open this issue and see the amazing artwork by Simon Roy.  Graham gives Roy's art lots of room to breathe, and I found myself having eye-gasm after eye-gasm as I journeyed through this issue.  Roy's art is simply wonderful.

Graham's writing is pretty flippin' awesome too.  He took sort of a minimalist approach here, with little dialog, or narration boxes, but his scripting is great, and he works in some great fantasy and sci-fi elements that are as creative as anything China Mieville has cooked up.  I definitely wish I had a Dol Mantle (a symbiotic shawl-like creature that appears to have many versatile advantages).  There's plenty of other great ideas to be had in Prophet, and this issue definitely left me hungry for more.

More than anything else, this comic reaffirmed to me how wonderful and creative comics can be when done well.  Graham seems to be well on his way to creating a true gem of the medium.  This is one of the best single comics I've ever read. Check it out!

The Bulletproof Coffin Disinterred #1: Yay!  More Bulletproof Coffin!

The first arc of The Bulletproof Coffin was one of my favorite titles from previous years, so I'm thrilled to see new material hitting the shelves.  I'm a big fan of the David Hine and Shaky Kane writer/artist combo, so I have high hopes for this series.

The first issue seemed to mostly lay out the origin story for The Shield, and felt like it was mostly a stand-alone comic, but it worked in a few other angles that makes me think the six issues in this arc will interconnect in some way.

I'm hoping to see more of the strange pulp-style heroes that only played limited role in the last arc in this current arc.  So far, this one is off to a great start.

Welcome to the DCnU Issue #3 edition (Part 1)

Batman #3: Allow me to take a BIG  sigh of relief.  Why? Because I didn't hate the art in this issue.  Truth be told, this is the best issue of Batman so far.

Not only is there some sweet bat detective stuff going on, but I thought Greg Capullo's art was pretty solid in this issue.  I think what enamored me to it the most is that Capullo seemed to be experimenting with his "lens" and how the panels were viewed by the reader.  This led to some strange panel art, like the one where a conversation between Bruce and Alfred is viewed through the eye holes of the Bat-cowl sitting on a nearby table.  The technique worked best when Batman was doing his detecting and Capullo would highlight clues so that it felt like the reader was detecting alongside Batman.

This title is probably the best written title out of all the new DC stuff I'm reading, and for that reason alone, I will tough out Capullo's art.  Hopefully, this issue is a sign that he's growing into the job, and growing as an artist.

All Star Western #3: The first arc of this new series is tied up in this third issue, which was a surprise, and for my money, felt a bit rushed.  It was like, all of a sudden, boom, on to a new arc!  It looks like Hex will be sticking around Gotham though, and hopefully Amadeus Arkham will continue to be a character, because he's pretty much the only likable character in the title.  Don't get me wrong, Jonah Hex is fun to read, but the man's an asshole.

Aside from the weirdly rushed writing, I felt like Moritat's art looked a bit rushed in this one too.  The beautiful high detail that was prevalent in the first two issues wasn't there, and often there was little to no background art in the panels.  On the other hand, there were two sweet double page spreads, so it almost balances out in the end.  Hopefully Moritat can recapture the thunder in the next issue.

Action Comics #3: I was freaking out when I read the first few pages of this issue, because I thought that all of a sudden Rags Morales had gotten amazing at art.  I figured he must have taken some sort of magical elixir because if I wasn't mistaken, his art was looking a lot like it was drawn by Gene Ha...then I realized it was Gene Ha doing the art on the first few pages.

WOW.  Amazing.  His depiction of planet Krypton before the destruction is bee-yoo-tee-ful.

Back on planet Earth, things aren't going so well for Supes.  He's got the po-po breathing down his neck, some anti-alien animosity aimed in his S-chested direction, and from the looks of things, a showdown with a battalion of robots and a freaky cyborg dude in his future, oh, also the threat of an alien invasion.  Sounds FUN!  I know I can't wait.

Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #3: In this issue Frankenstein and his fellow monster buddies travel to a planet that is literally covered in monsters, and attempt to kill them all.  Then they discover that three other areas of the planet are monster infested as well, and have a giant epic monster to defeat in each of those regions as well.  Can you say "Boss Battle"?

It is almost silly how simplistic and straight forward this comic can be at times, but that simplicity is primarily what makes this a fun title to read.  Yes, this title is sort of a guilty pleasure for me, but so far it has been consistently fun, and highly entertaining.  Plus, as I mentioned before, I am a sucker for monsters, and this is pretty much the mecca of monsters.

Welcome to the DCnU Issue #2 Edition

Welcome to the DCnU second issue recap of all the DC comics I tend to read.  If you've been keeping up, you'll know that I liked some of the new DC titles I picked up last month, while some others left me sitting on the fence.  So how'd those titles fare the second time around?  Let's see....

Action Comics #2:  I wanna say that I'm really glad they toned down Superman's powers a bit for this comic.  He's still a strong dude, but Morrison has done a good job making Supes seem like he isn't an unstoppable force.  I also like the way they're handling Lex Luthor.  The guy is faced off against Superman, but for believable reasons: with the safety of humanity in mind...the guy's not wrong, he's just an asshole.

I think I'm officially not a fan of Rags Morales.  Superman is supposed to be a young man in this, but there are times he looks more like an middle aged going on towards old man.  (Just look at that cover)  Also Lois looks like a frumpy, worn out cougar on casual Friday in this issue.  Morales' character designs look totally different from one page to the next.  Not impressed.

Inconsistent art aside, this is a fun take on Superman, and Morrison makes the Man of Steel fun to read.  I'm definitely on board for the first full arc, and probably Morrison's entire run.

Animal Man #2:  A lot of people are totally in love with Animal Man.  I am not one of those people.  I was firmly on the fence after the first issue, and not a lot has changed after the second.

I stuck around for this second issue on the strength of the three page dream sequence at the end of issue one, and like that issue, a few cool things happened that got me excited, which helped balance out the other not so cool parts. For example: Animal Man's eyes bleeding a crazy map-tattoo onto his chest. Animal Man's daughter turning a neighbor's hand into a chicken leg.  However, I realize I can't just keep reading this issue for the one or two pages of thrills it provides each issue.  The whole issue needs to be worth reading not just a few pages.

A big hang-up I have with this title is that I don't like Travel Foreman's art.  He can draw some creepy and cool beasties, but most everything else looks flat and generic, or too clean and sanitized.  Because this is written by Jeff Lemire, I'll give it one more issue, but it needs to improve drastically.

Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #2:  Does Frankenstein bitch-slap a deranged and creepy old church lady who's been sacrificing children to monsters from another dimension? Hells to the yes.  Does Frankenstein do some underwater sword wielding against some crazy creatures?  Mmm hmm.  Does Frank and his crew travel to a planet completely covered in monsters?  Yes!

Unlike Lemire's Animal Man, which focuses on characters and their interactions, Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. is all about the balls to the walls action and monster slaying.  Yeah, there's some character development in there, but it's not the focus of the comic, nor am I inclined to care.

I do get the sense that the light/popcorn feel might not be able to hold my interest over time, but for now, it's pretty enjoyable, and this one scores high marks for sheer escapism.  My one gripe: Frank rocks some really dorky platform combat boots...what the hell is up with that?

Detective Comics #2:  I think Batman is supposed to be flying in the bat-plane or something on that cover, but I'm not so sure...he could be on the bat-toilet.

I wasn't instantly in love with this title after the first issue, but a shocker ending made  me interested enough to read more.  I wish I could say otherwise, but this issue felt like more of the same.  More bat-toys, a fight, and lo and behold, another shock-tastic ending.

Tony S. Daniel, who does both the writing and the art, seems to be relying on the cheap thrills approach with Detective Comics, and I'm not sure how much more I can take.  It doesn't seem like a sustainable form of story telling.  I can only take so many big shockers before they achieve mundane status, and lose their ability to make an impact.  I'm considering dropping this one from my pull-list.

Batwoman #2:  Batwoman is easily the best title coming out of the DCnU, and for my money, is one of the best buys on the shelf these days.  J.H. Williams III is probably the best artist in the game right now, and Batwoman is an amazing looking book, not to mention a compelling read.

Kate Kane/Batwoman is a really interesting character to read about both in and out of the bat-suit.  Her budding love interest with Detective Sawyer adds an interesting dynamic to the whole deal too.

On top of a budding love story, there's some strange wraith-like creature abducting Gotham's children, and a D.E.O. spook pulling rank all over town trying to figure out and unmask Batwoman.  Batwoman is great stuff, I highly recommend this very accessible series.

Batman #2:  Batman is the better of the two Batman titles, but it still has a major weakness.  The art.  I didn't like it in issue one, and I like it even less in issue two.  I wrote in my review of issue one that I hoped to grow accustomed to, and one day like Capulo's art, but I think I kinda hate it.  Not only is it fifteen years or so out of date, but it just doesn't work on multiple levels.

The first thing that drives me nuts are his action sequences, which are poorly planned out and confusing to figure out what the hell is going on. There was a really poorly executed action sequence where Batman jumped the bat-cycle onto an oncoming train (no ramp needed) in physics defying fashion that was just plain cheesy, but it gets much worse.

The other aspect of Capullo's art that drives me nuts are his character designs.  Simply put, the people look ridiculous.  Why is Bruce Wayne's head a fucking cinder block?  There's another confusing action scene where Bruce Wayne battles some assassin in an owl-combat suit.  Bruce tries kicking and punching the guy, both of which are easily blocked by the assassin, yet somehow, Bruce is then able to run up, and put the guy in a head-lock no problem.  There's then three increasing close up panels of Bruce trying to choke the guy out, then comes the worst panel of the entire comic:

Bruce Wayne has had some nutty work done to his face...or Capullo simply does not know how to draw lips.  Lips don't square off like that nor do they meet the teeth at a right angle.  What did the guy do, bust out a ruler to draw that panel?  That will not do.  By the way Bruce, those are some smooth-ass teeth you got there buddy.

What makes this story even more tragic is that Scott Snyder is a great Batman writer.  I really like the story that he's got going on with this first arc, too bad I can't stand the art.  Please get a new artist.  Soon.

All Star Western #2:  Last but not least comes the western that really isn't a western.  When we last left Jonah Hex he was investigating the plot of From Hell (Review coming on Halloween!). Now he's caught up in a brutal shoot-out at Amadeus Arkham's casa with minions of Gotham's own elite secret society.  When the gunsmoke and dust clears Hex is still standing, and in his no bullshit fashion, discovers the whereabouts of the bad-guys hang out.  With Arkham in tow, he heads off to deal out some more six-shooter justice.

Thankfully, it turns out this opening story arc isn't a total rehashing of the From Hell plot, Gotham's secret society is actually following the teachings of the "Crime Bible" a dark faith based on the story of Cain and Abel.

So basically this opening story arc is setting up to be Jonah Hex versus rich religious nut-jobs.

Amen to that.