JLA Earth 2:  Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. Two of my most favorite comic creators. This duo tends to really step their game up when they work together. They're a recipe for a golden comic.... right?  Well, that has been the case in the past.  See: Exhibit A, B, and C.

Uh, but there's been a couple less than stellar offerings from them too, see: Item One and Two.  But it's been awhile, since I've read ones that I would rate as a miss rather than a hit...until JLA Earth 2.

Not only does this one rate as a miss, I'd rate it as an all-around dud of a comic.  In fact, there's very little I can say positively about this comic.  Here's the premise:  The Earth that all our fave Justice League heroes live on is "good" planet. Good guys like Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Batman, and all the rest, take care of the people and the planet.  Well, what if there was another Earth out there in a parallel dimension where everything was the exact opposite?!?!  Whoa!

On this anti-matter planet bad dudes like Ultraman, Super Woman, The Owl, Power Ring, and Johnny Quick are part of the Crime Syndicate of Amerika and they pretty much rule their depraved and corrupt planet with an iron fist.  So when Lex Luthor, who is a good guy on this other planet, travels across dimensions to enlist the help of the JLA our heroes have to decide if they stand for justice in our world or on all worlds.

Maybe I shouldn't have based my purchase of this one purely on the creators...had I at least read the back blurb I might have let this one pass me by. But I didn't.  I read the whole damn thing too, despite this being a wholly uninspired work from two creators who appeared to be simply phoning this one in.  The fact of the matter is, there is nothing really special about this one at all.

Morrison's plot is entirely too predictable and lacking in anything that could be referred to as an interesting plot development.  The one twist, which came late in the game, seemed like it was just thrown in there as a way of giving the story a bit more life, but it didn't really work.  I guess I could interpret this story has having a somewhat hidden message about the nature of mainstream comics and how the good guys always win, how it is a pretty much pre-ordained thing that is taken for granted.  Yeah, that's great and all, but isn't that why people read superhero comics, so they can see their heroes win?

Though I was disappointed with Morrison, I was even more disappointed with Quitely. This is easily my least favorite work of his I've seen so far.  The whole time I was reading this I got the feeling that he must have been bored with the work, because even the characters in the comic seem bored.  There's little to no life in any of these characters.  Additionally, Morrison dials up a bunch of full page and double page splashes for Quitely, who responded by delivering some incredibly dull pages of art. There's Green Lantern creating giant hand constructs that hold the moon, a tombstone, a giant space base that looks silly, and the old burnt out stand-by: heroes flying through the air.  I love Quitely's art because he has the ability to make things look fresh and new, and he manages to breathe life into his characters, but that ability is completely AWOL in JLA Earth 2.  This stuff is just flat out weak.

I wish I could say something positive about JLA Earth 2, but I really can't.  I was completely let down by this comic, and the two creators who in the past have delivered some amazing stuff.  Based what I know Morrison and Quitely are capable of, and the lack luster product they produced here, I just can't recommend JLA Earth 2.  I've come to expect far greater things from this team, and they completely failed to deliver here.  This is one to pass by.

Grade: F

Graphic Novel Review: Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery

It is hard enough for me to resist anything that has to do with the team-up of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, so when Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery was re-released (in deluxe hardcover none the less) it should come as no surprise that I immediately bowed under the pressure and bought this lovely item the day of release.

On the surface, Flex Mentallo is about a muscly man named, uh, Flex Mentallo, who is living in the real world, and trying to solve a mystery that seems to involve a completely fictional character operating in real life.  This may sound far-fetched, but Flex himself was once nothing more than a work of fiction until he was somehow written to life.  While Flex is doing his detecting thing, we meet Wallace Sage, a suicidal writer/musician/artist who has recently taken a deadly overdose of drugs and is retelling his life story to a suicide helpline worker on the other end of the phone.

Though it is hard to tell exactly how in the early stages, it is clear that these two stories intertwine, and sure enough, as things go on, they begin to interact with each other.  The how, and why of it all are tough to explain, and equally hard to understand.  Frankly, I'm not totally sure I completely "get" everything about Flex Mentallo.  The story is so clearly about more than just a strange mystery and some guy committing suicide, but after one read through, I can't confidently say exactly what "it" is.

I've read a few other places that each of the four issues is meant to represent an era of comics: the golden age, silver age, modern age, and future. When viewing the story through this "era" lens, I can definitely see the distinction, but there are other layers to be had here as well; layers I hope to discover as I read though this thing a few more times in the future.  I don't often come across a comic that lends itself to such close scrutiny, but that sure is the case here.  This story pretty much flat out demands to be read a few times over.

As far as the writing goes, this is some primo Grant Morrison material.  It definitely lies on the weird side of things, but things aren't so weird as to be unpalatable or off putting.  Morrison managed to instill a strong sense of "what the hell is going on here?" in me as I read Flex Mentallo which made me want to read more in hopes of uncovering some secrets.  As I said, this is a story that will benefit from further readings, so even though I enjoyed my first read-through, I get the feeling I'll like this even more upon future reads.

On the artistic front, the art in Flex Mentallo is simply wonderful.  Frank Quitely is easily one of the best comics artists in the business, and one could make a strong case for him being the best period.  Like Flex Mentallo, Quitely flexes his artistic muscles here and delivers some absolutely beautiful art.  I am always impressed with Quitely's art, but there were a few panels in this one that stand out as some of my all time favorite Quitely art.  I always feel like I'm holding something truly special when I have a comic drawn by Frank Quitely in my hands, probably because it is special.  The guy can really make a story come to life.

It is typically a special occasion when I read a Morrison/Quitely comic, and Flex Mentallo is pretty damn special too.  I would have bought this and enjoyed it no matter what, but to be treated to something that is not only exciting to read, and lovely to look at but also demanding of the reader's scrutiny is a nice rare treat.  This is a truly special comic.  Highly recommended.

Grade: A-

Comic Quickies: War and Tights

Peter Panzerfaust #1: This one here is my surprise of the week.  Why? Because even though it is written by Kurtis Wiebe, (who is pretty much the shiz in creator owned comics lately) I hadn't planned on picking this one up.  However, when I made my weekly pilgrimage to the comic shop I decided to give this bad boy the flip check and it really caught my attention.

First off, the art here is pretty cool.  It's got this loose energetic feel to it that fits very well with the narrative. What you have here is a hefty helping of WWII action and mayhem with a bit of a re-imagining of the Peter Pan story.

Yeah, the concept sounded a little iffy to me too, (I mean Peter Pan isn't exactly the coolest guy in school) but so far things are looking pretty good.  I'm not sure yet if Peter is all that magical, or if his feats just seem magical through the eyes of the other orphan boys in his crew. So far the guy is an enigma.  All in all this was a pretty solid first issue, and I'm definitely looking forward to learning more about the characters and seeing what else Peter Panzerfaust has to offer.

The Activity #3: I'm on a bit of an espionage/war kick right now (which you'll see manifest itself around here in the from of reviews prolly in March) and it all stems from  this comic.  I wasn't totally sold on the first issue of The Activity but over the past couple of months, this comic has slowly grown on me, and now I'm pretty much smitten.

Nathan Edmondson has taken a very realistic, non-glorified approach to espionage in this title and the results are pretty great.  While his previous effort Who is Jake Ellis was an adventure-romp, this one is much more gritty, and character driven.

So far, each issue has been more or less a stand alone, and has centered around a mission where the team goes in and gets the job done in an incredibly professional manner. However, in this third issue, the shit hit the fan on their latest mission, and what we get is the aftermath rehash and finger pointing session with bits of the actual mission mixed in.  It is a pretty cool way to tell a story, and Edmondson pulled it off quite well.  This guy is pretty impressive.  Looking forward to seeing more of this title.

Batwoman #6: This title is still the best thing to come out of the DCnU, even with an artist switcheroo for the second story arc.  Taking over the artistic duties for the next five issues is Amy Reeder.  I was disappointed to hear that she and J.H. Williams III would be trading art duties for the story arcs on this title, but it turns out Reeder is a pretty solid fill in, despite the monstrously huge shoes she has to fill.

This issue takes a unique story telling approach as it delivers the story through six different POV characters.  This was a little bit confusing at first, but once I got the gist of what was going on, I actually thought it was a creative idea and it worked out pretty well.

Like I said earlier, Reeder's art is pretty great.  Sure, her art is a step down from J.H. Williams III, but just about anyone would be a step down.  Anyway, Reeder still delivered on series art specialties like changing art styles depending on the story, and delivered six or seven double page spreads too.  Her art felt a little more cartoony than I'd like for this title, but some of the pages here are quite impressive.  Out of all the DCnU titles I've tried, this is the only one I can say I love.

Action Comics #6: The last time I talked about comics, I mentioned that it looked like Action Comics was about to take a turn towards more epicness, and that Grant Morrison needed to bring the thunder to this title...Well, be careful what you wish for!

This latest issue definitely got more epic, and Morrison definitely brought some extra thunder to the story, but I'm not so sure the results are positive.

This was a strange and confusing issue, despite having some very familiar Superman plot moments.  What goes down is that Superman punches some shit, gets poisoned by kryptonite, almost dies, then at the last minute doesn't die.  However, why these things are happening is anyone's guess.  Oh, and from what I can gather, all this shit is occurring sometime in the future, but some of the people involved are from even further in the future and already know how shit will turn out.  Uh huh.  Part of me thinks that I'm missing something, part of me thinks I'm over-thinking things too much.  Maybe the next issue will clear things up.  I'm putting my faith in you Grant Morrison.

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.

Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and Shaky F@$king Kane!

Great news for my fellow comic nerds out there! Flex Mentallo is coming!  After years of being tied up in legal limbo, this never before collected work that combines the talents of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely is finally being printed here state-side for American consumption.

The story is spun out of Morrison's work on Doom Patrol, and follows body builder Flex Mentallo on a journey of self-discovery and meta-fiction weirdness...I'm down.

Not only does it feature the talents of my favorite writer/illustrator duo, but it comes in a snazzy hard cover OVERSIZED format.  Bonus!

From the looks of things, this beautiful piece of work will be hitting shelves sometime in February.  Something to look forward to.

Props to Multiversity Comics for helping me notice this...they got it from Vertigo: Graphic Content.

Another thing that has me quivering with excitement:  Coming in November we have a sweet looking work of mad-cap genius from Shaky Kane.

I've had Monster Truck on my radar for a while now, but Comics Alliance just released a sneak preview, and it looks insane, and insanely awesome.   


This uncouth graphic novel has a neat little twist to it: The art is 100% continuous; The edge of one page bleeds onto the next, so what you see at the right edge, will become the left edge of the following page.  Technically, this is an 108 page piece of sequential art.  I fully expect Monster Truck  to be one crazy hallucinogenic voyage.  Check out some of the preview pages below, and you can see what I mean about the sequential art.

Robots and Barbie dolls.

Clowns really creep me out.  

Preview pictures courtesy of Comics Alliance.  

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.

Comic Quickies: Welcome to the DCnU part 1

With DC comics spitting out 52 new titles this month, there's a lot to talk about in the comics world.  The problem with all these "new" titles, is figuring out which ones are worth reading.  For the most part, I had no problem saying "no fucking way" to the majority of "the new 52" but nostalgia, curiosity, and some great creative teams have peaked my interest enough to get me to add seven titles to my pull list, along with a handful of other titles that'll be getting the ol' flip check in store.

So without further ado, I give you part 1 of my DCnU Comic Quickies...

Action Comics #1: If you're a long-time reader of the blog, you'll know that I loved Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All Star Superman enough to name it one of my top 5 graphic novels of the year last year.  If you aren't long time reader, well, that's ok too.

Anyway, when I saw that Grant Morrison would once again be writing Superman, my inner nerd went wild.  Now, I'm not in any way a Superman fan.  I never even liked the guy that much as a kid.  He always struck me as far too over powered, and boring.  However, Morrison has this crazy knack for making Superman interesting.  Interesting to the point that he made me love a comic about Superman.  Believe me, that takes some skill.

So, how was Action Comics #1?  I was not let down.  The comic starts with Supes literally sniffing out corruption and dealing out some steel justice in a rather Batman-like way.  From there we learn that this is a story about Superman's early days in Metropolis, before all his powers come to full fruition.  The Man of Steel is more Man of Suspicious Interest as he's pursued by police, and plotted against by the government who enlist the help of Lex Luthor.

I got the feeling that Morrison is trying to take a back-to-basics approach to Superman, where he is truly a man of the people, fighting for those who can't fight for themselves.  That concept came across well here, and it is a concept I can definitely get behind.

Yeah, Superman's "costume" looks a little bit off with the patched jeans, and shoes he borrowed from Goofy, but I liked that he's a bit powered down.  I actually found myself caring about his safety and health a couple times, which is a new thing for me.

The art, which is handled by Rags Morales, was a bit hit or miss for me.  I think I read somewhere that Superman is supposed to be about 5 years younger than the JLA Superman here, but there were a few panels where he looked downright old.  Like, in his 50's.  Aside from that, I can't really complain, Morales' art is competent, but not astounding.

Aside from writing Superman in such a way that made me care about the guy and take interest, Action Comics #1 was also just a great fucking comic.  From start to finish it was a spellbinding read, and was easily my favorite, and least flawed, title I've read so far from the new 52.

Animal Man #1:  I was initially interested in Animal Man because it's written by Jeff Lemire, a guy who is right up there as one of my very favorite comic writers.    That initial interest skyrocketed when I got a good look at Travel Foreman's cover and some of the interior art.

That interest and excitement waned considerably once I got the actual comic in my hands and flipped open to the first page of art to see flat, texture-less, unattractive art.  This style prevailed for about two thirds of the issue while Animal Man, A.K.A. Buddy Baker is going about his usual family man/costumed hero day.  However, after an intense hostage situation at a children's hospital, where we get a glimpse at Buddy's powers, Buddy returns home, goes to bed, and proceeds to have one hell of a nightmare.

The dream sequence, is quite easily, some of the coolest art I've seen in comics.  It's got everything from rivers of blood, to fleshy disembodiment, to strange talking beasts.  This dream sequence leads to an intense real-world moment for Buddy and his family, and finishes off the first issue with a solid shocker of an ending.

After this first issue, I'm firmly on the fence with Animal Man.  If Foreman had been able to bring the thunder all issue long, and deliver 20 pages of great art, rather than 4 pages of great art, I'd be heaping praise on what is a well written comic, but for my money, is lacking consistency in the art department.

Detective Comics #1:  Without a doubt, Batman is my favorite superhero.  Probably because there is nothing "super" about him, he's just a regular guy, albeit incredibly fit, and a touch crazy.  Ever since I've returned to comics as an adult, I've been hoping for an opportunity to jump onto some Batman titles and read the adventures of my childhood hero.  That opportunity never presented itself, at least not without me having to read a few graphic novels worth of key back story from the last decade or so of Bat-history, until the relaunch.  Once the relaunch was announced, I immediately signed up for the two key Bat-titles, Detective Comics and Batman, to be added to my pull list.

Of the those two titles, I'm less excited about Dectective Comics mostly because Tony S. Daniel handles both the writing and the art.  I'd flip-checked some of his past bat-work and never been all that impressed with either his writing or his art.  I figured I'd give it a shot though, especially considering how much I've been wanting to read some Batman the last couple years.

The comic itself turned out to be a pretty solid, if somewhat standard Batman comic.  It's got all the usual Bat-stuff you've seen hundreds of times, like Batman sprinting/jumping/bat-grappling from roof top to roof top, Batman driving the batmobile through holograms into the bat-cave, Batman engaging in some banter with Alfred, Batman talking with Gordon, Batman disappearing on Gordon mid-sentence while his back is turned, and so on...I almost felt like Daniel was filling out a checklist of necessary, cliched bat-moments while interspersing them into the story.

The story, though somewhat juvenile, is pretty interesting; It deals with the Joker, so that is an instant plus, and has a pretty gruesome and shock factor-ish ending which could potentially lead to some cool plot lines down the road.  I don't want to be too hard on Daniel, his art in this issue is pretty strong, and reminiscent of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Batman art.  The writing is pretty decent too, I just think I hold any Batman comic to pretty high standards, and this one didn't quite reach those heights.  I'm definitely excited to see more of what Dectective Comics has to offer, but slightly on the fence about his title.

Joe the Barbarian Issues 5-8

Holy shit, I can't believe its been nearly a year since I did a review for the first four issues of this comic. This review for the second half of this comic series, is gonna an exercise in brevity compared to that earlier review.

Simply put, the second half of this series didn't live up to the set up of the first half. 

The first four issues introduce Joe, a young kid who is home alone and going through a life threatening hypoglycemic hallucination.  In his hallucination Joe is swept off to a fantasy world where his toys are real, and he has to save them from an evil being, who is taking over their world.  While going through this wild hallucination, Joe is also trying to maneuver his way through his house so that he can get some sort of sugar into his body  so he can live.  His movements through the house also correlate to his movements through the fantasy realm, and his actions in one place mirror his actions in another.

The first four issues also introduce the cast of characters that populate the series.  Unfortunately, in the second half of this series, these characters fail to really do much of anything or serve any kind of purpose.  Sure, Jack, Joe's pet rat, and samurai side kick is extremely useful, and saves Joe's hide more than once, but the other characters, namely Zxxxy, or whatever her name was, and Smoot the giant dwarf, don't really do much, or change throughout the series.  They sort of just seem to be there for the sake of it...Maybe Grant Morrison just thought every fantasy story needs some kind of fellowship.  I kept thinking Morrison would do more with them, or that, in some well delivered plot twist, they would turn out to be something more than they appear, either in the fantasy world, or in the real world, but that never happened. 

Most disappointingly, the ending didn't really deliver the goods.  I don't want to spoil anything, but the last issue wrapped things up way too nicely for my tastes.  It isn't that it was a bad ending, it's just that it didn't really seem like the right ending.

When I got my hands on the 8th issue, I re-read the entire series one issue right after the other, and things were going along pretty good, until I reached the final issue, and the connections between the two worlds got a bit shaky, and the plot seemed to lose it's way.  I don't know it Morrison was just trying to finally wrap up this series so he could move on, or if it is just an example of a good idea that didn't quite get executed to its fullest potential.  Either way, the ending left me feeling disappointed.

I have a little personal theory about what befell this series: I think what happened is that Sean Murphy delivered insanely awesome art that blew Morrison away, and as a result, Morrison kept writing crazy shit for the guy to draw that would also look insanely awesome.  But then Morrison sort of wrote himself into a corner and had to resort to less than stellar plot twists to properly wrap everything up.

Don't get me wrong, I really do think this is an pretty damn good comic, it's just that it didn't deliver given my high expectations for what the creative team of Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy is capable of.  Also, I should add that my disappointment lies at the hands of Morrison.  Murphy's art is great, and I'm pretty much at the point where I'd read any book with his name attached to it.

Despite not living up to my high expectations and failing to deliver as awesome of an ending as I wished for, this is still a very good fantasy comic and definitely worth a read.  I might have been a bit let down, but the journey is still great, and one that was almost perfect.  This thing comes out in hardcover graphic novel format sometime this summer.  Keep an eye out for it!

Overall 8 issue Grade: B-

Graphic Novels of the Year

2010 was the year of the graphic novel for me. I read 50 graphic novels in all, and had to retrain myself from reading more. After some serious flirting in 2009, I definitely fell in love with the comics medium this year. After a year of reading widely across the medium, I feel like I've covered many of the comics bases quite well. I read a few super hero tiles, I read works from the big names like Ellis, Ennis, and Moore, and I read some lesser known indie titles as well. Each read taught me a bit more about comics in general, while my interest in the medium mounted, my tastes became more refined. There's a mountain of comics reading ahead of me in 2011, but for now,I give you my Top 5 Graphic Novels of 2010


#1 Preacher: Until the End of the World: Such an easy pick for the top spot in my Graphic Novels reads. The second volume in Garth Ennis' masterwork is amazing on all levels. At the heart of this volume is the love story between Jesse and Tulip. Ennis does a great job portraying their shared love. There are some seriously lovey-dovey lines that might come across as extremely cheesy in any other setting, but somehow coming from the mouth of a tough-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside Texan it just sounds right, and genuine. These soft and somewhat sentimental moments only make the rest of the book better.

The graphic novel would fall flat if it only had a love story to stand on. Luckily, there is a great conflict as well. Is there a great conflict than battling the demons of your past? For Jesse these demons are flesh and blood. Jody and T.C. are their names, and they are just about the two most evil, sinful, despicable fuckers in the history of the world, and they want nothing more than to make Jesse's life as miserable as possible. The result is a story that is literally mind blowing and amazing. I'm a softy for a believable love story and a sucker for jaw dropping moments, and this graphic novel delivers both with style.


#2 Scott Pilgrim volumes 1-6:
For a week back in August, Scott Pilgrim took over my life. I had recently given up on a book I was reading, and needed something easy to get into. I picked up Precious Little Life and there was no looking back from there. Sometimes a book just strikes all the right chords with me, and that was the case here. The right graphic novels at precisely the right time.

It isn't just that I see a lot of myself in Scott Pilgrim, but to deny that would be a lie. Scott Pilgrim and I are similar in some alarming ways, which caused an instant connection to the character and the books. But, I was also able to relate to many of the other characters that populate these stories as well, and because of that I was able to connect to these books as a whole, and the themes represented in the story. In the end, the six part story was extremely engaging, and gave me things to think about and analyze about myself, which I think is part of the magic of reading.


#3 All Star Superman: As a kid Superman was always my least favorite hero. The guy was just too good, and too powerful. I'd take a darker more conflicted character like Batman, who relied on his own smarts to get by, over Superman any day. As an adult, I still think Superman is pretty lame. His character is just so boring and he pretty much represents everything I dislike about capes and tights comics. So what the hell is this title doing on my Graphic Novels of the Year list? Well, I guess miracles do happen every now and then.

It helps that this is a Superman story written by Grant Morrison who breathes new life into the character, takes a guy who is probably the most complex, loneliest, most difficult to understand person on the planet and uses those qualities to make Superman sympathetic, and a character the average reader can relate to. Not only that but Morrison creates a Superman story that you might care about reading. To add to the stellar writing, is the absolutely beautiful artwork by Frank Quitely. All Star Superman is lovely to behold. The artwork is great, and combines with the story seamlessly. This is really a beautiful package and my surprise read of the year.



#4 Street Angel: This is a graphic novel that is just sheer fun. First off, it stars a homeless 12 year old girl who is a bad-ass skater and kung-fu master...instantly different than anything else on the shelf. Street Angel also features some memorable bad-guys like Dr. Pangea, MegaPute, and hordes of ninja gangs. To make it all the more sweet, there's a character named Afrodesiac...he's pretty much how you are picturing him in your head: totally awesome.

Compared to some the other titles on this list, Street Angel isn't as flashy, or fancy to look at, but it has a bit of a diamond in the rough quality to it. The story telling is quick paced, and snappy, the stories are funny with a healthy dose of action and violence mixed in, and the characters are hilarious. Reading should be fun, life should be fun, and Street Angel is just that: lots of fun.


#5 Top 10: I had the first volume of Ex Machina lined up to go in this final spot, and then I remembered that I read Top 10 this year.

Top 10 features the perfect harmony of great writing and great art. The magical thing about this graphic novel is the cast of Police Officers that work at Top 10. Moore had a pretty large cast for this story, and instead of focusing in on one of two cops, he gave equal treatment to each, or more accurately, focused on characters when the story demanded it, as they reacted and interacted with the plot and the events of the overlying story. I thought this was a unique way to go about telling a story but it really worked out well.

There are some cool sci-fi elements at play in the story as well, and having it all take place in a city where every citizen has some type of super-power actually made it even more interesting. As far as police dramas go, this is a great story; add in the other elements like the superheroes and parallel universes, and you get something even better. It helps that it is expertly written and has some beautiful art.

Review: Batman Reborn

Did you know that Bruce Wayne is dead?

Well, I didn't until I picked up the first issue of Batman & Robin. The day-glo yellow cover with beautiful artwork by Frank Quitely caught my eye and I started to flip through the comic, and it turns out there is a different dude under the bat-cowl and Bruce's son (also a surprise to me) is Robin! Dick Grayson, the original Robin from back in the day, A.K.A. Nightwing, has taken over as Batman and along for the ride is Damian Wayne as Robin.

Ok, so now you are somewhat up to speed on what's been happening with The Caped Crusader. At the very least we're on equal footing.

Batman Reborn picks up on Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne's first day on the job as Batman and Robin. To make the first day all the more sweet, they have a brand new, pimped out Batmobile to cruise around in...or fly if they want, yeah, the new Batmobile can fly.

The graphic novel opens with a sweet chase as the Dynamic Duo pursue a Toad-like criminal through the streets of Gotham. Mr. Toad is eventually captured, but his apprehension and subsequent shake-down don't really give the detectives too many solid clues to go on. The Toad is part of an all new cadre of circus freak criminals infesting Gotham, who all appear to be connected to bigger and deadlier things.

The new Dynamic Duo soon discovers that the job of vigilante crime fighters is pretty tough, as they also have to contend with a nutty professor who performs nightmarish facial surgeries to his victims, and another set of deadly costumed vigilantes looking to clean up the streets of Gotham once and for all.

I want to make it clear that you do NOT need to know all of what has gone down in the Bat-world to enjoy this graphic novel. I haven't read an issue of Batman in years, and found that this was a pretty solid starting point. Granted, I sort of feel like I opened a very large can of worms, but this is definitely a place to start.

Not only is it a good, and logical place to start but it is also a very good looking, and well written place to start. The comic powerhouse team-up of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely easily smash the first three issues of this graphic novel out of the park. The plot and the new bad-guys are cool, and interesting, and Quitely's artwork is top-tier as always. Halfway through the book, the art duties shift to the capable hands of Phillip Tan. His art style is quite different looking in comparison to Quitely, but it is still very high quality. This is one of the better looking graphic novels out there.

All in all, this is a pretty enjoyable graphic novel. This volume has a bit of a cliff hanger ending and definitely foreshadows mysterious things to come, so there is a bit of a lack of closure. That's not a bad thing though, it will leave you wanting more.

Grade: B

Review: New X-Men: E is for Extinction

Hot off my successes with All Star Superman and We3, I thought I'd give another Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely collaboration a try. Emboldened by a capes and tights story that I actually enjoyed, I snagged a copy of New X-Men: E is for Extinction off the shelf at my local library. My thinking being that perhaps the Morrison/Quitely combo is just so damn good that they can make capes and tights not only palatable, but highly enjoyable. Well...this one came close, but it wasn't quite what I had hoped for.

For this X-Men tale, Morrison did a bit of revamping: Gone are the spandex uniforms and in their place are "stylish" leather ensembles that really only Wolverine can pull off...but I got sick of seeing that guy with his leather coat unzipped and no shirt on underneath. The X-Men team is also slimmed down, for reasons I'll get to in a bit, which is potentially nice because then there is no extra bodies clogging up the panels, or extra characters clogging up the narrative just because they are on the team.

The story goes like this: A creepy looking bald lady named Cassandra Nova has discovered an unknown Sentinel factory in the middle of the jungle. She uses that factory to create new, highly adaptable Sentinels that are hell-bent on terminating all the mutants of the world. And they damn near succeed. In a violent act of genocide, Nova manages to kill around sixteen million mutants, leaving a scant few hundred left on the planet. Too bad for Nova, but six of the remaining mutants just happen to be Proffessor X, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast, and Emma Frost. Six folks you do not want to piss off.

This concept initially struck me as one that I would enjoy quite a bit, but though the idea was there, I felt that the execution was lacking. Morrison didn't hit any emotional chords, which I thought, realistically, should have played a larger role. There were also times when I felt like the story jumped around in illogical ways which took away from the flow of events and made things feel sort of cobbled together.

Quitely's artwork was quite good, but it was decidedly lacking in eye popping moments. I never once found myself staring at a panel or a splash page in amazement. That doesn't mean that the art was bad, it just wasn't nearly as high a standard as I've come to expect with Quitely.

All in all, this was a pretty much a swing and a miss for me. The whole thing felt uninspired and lacked the magic that usually graces the pages when Morrison and Quitely team up. If anything it just goes to show that I've more or less grown past the super-hero tales, and left the spandex behind. As much as I wanted to like this one, it just didn't do it for me.

Grade: C-

All Star Superman 1&2

Let me start this by saying that I am NOT, nor have I ever been, a fan of Superman. I think he is boring. The guy is just too powerful. Nothing can really hurt him, he's the fastest, the strongest, and probably also the smartest. All of which makes him a blue and red bore. So why did I read All Star Superman? Well, it features my favorite comic creative team-up: Grant Morrison, and Frank Quitely, that's why.

Despite the creative team behind All Star Superman I was still a bit skeptical about reading a Superman story, but I'm happy to say: these two graphic novels are solid gold.

In the early pages of the story, we find out that Superman is dying. A space mission set to study the sun, is sabotaged by a genetically enhanced super-clone created by Lex Luthor. Superman, of course, saves the astronauts, but in the process totally overwhelms his cells with solar radiation. This overdose of sunlight causes Superman's white blood cells to start attacking and destroying his cells, a process which will ultimately lead to his demise. However, what with sunlight being the source of his powers, and getting such a heavy dose, Superman triples his strength and intelligence, not to mention gains a new power: the ability to emit electric pulses...pretty sweet.

Superman knows he is dying, and knows it was Lex that planned the whole thing, and he sets out to do as much good as he can for the world before he is gone. In the process he forgives Lex, while trying to convince the guy to do some good with his genius, cures terminally ill children, saves a suicidal girl, makes some scientific/genetics breakthroughs, and also battles beasts monsters and bizarros.

The moment where Superman saves the suicidal girl is probably my favorite moment from these two graphic novels. As she is gearing up to jump, Superman appears behind her, rests a mighty hand on her shoulder, and tells her: "It's never as bad as it seems." Then in the next panel he is gently pulling the startled girl back away from the edge and he says: "You're much stronger than you think you are. Trust me." Then the final panel shows Superman giving her a super-hug. This struck me as not only a very touching moment, but also a very heroic one too. With a few simple words Superman gave strength to someone who needed it badly. Not something you see everyday in capes and tights comics, and I loved it.

One of the reasons I think I liked All Star Superman so much is that it put more focus on Superman's more human qualities than his crazy powers. Free of those pesky DC Universe continuity rules, Morrison, instead of remaking Superman, origins and all, remodels Superman, and presents a stripped-down Man of Steel that focuses on his quietly noble qualities that make him a true hero.


Added to top shelf writing is Quitely's Amazing (capital A!) art work. Superman has never looked better. He isn't the most muscle-rippling superman ever, not by a long shot, but he looks relaxed and heroic and noble. It was the relaxed look that got me. Superman seems so chill in many of the frames, and then it hit me: if virtually nothing can hurt you, (not even kryponite, thanks to his sun overdose), you'd be one laid back person. I love the cover of the first graphic novel where Superman is just chillin' on a cloud looking out over Metropolis. I think that cover gives some good insight into the qualities Morrison and Quitely instilled in their version of Superman.

I can't believe I'm saying this: but I loved All Star Superman. I'm not usually a fan of the capes and tights comics stuff, but these books are definitely an exception. Superman has never been better, and possibly never will be. This is a must for any and all Superman fans, and a must for grumpy tights-haters like me too.

Grade: A

Review: We3

Animal Weapon 3 is a top secret U.S. Air Force project in cybernetics. They've taken three household pets, a dog, a cat, and a rabbit, and turned them into killing machines. These cyborg/animals have enhanced nervous systems, and sport mechanical exoskeletons complete with more firepower than some small nations. Each of the three animals are tweaked to be specialists within a team; The rabbit is a demolitions expert, the cat a stealth killing machine and the dog acts as the heavy artillery or tank.

The book opens with the team eliminating a terrorist leader, yet despite the success of the mission, this cybernetics project is nothing more than a prototype, and they are promptly decommissioned. Part of their enhanced nervous system is enhanced instincts, and their natural instinct for survival is greater than anyone could have expected. Soon the three animals are on the run from the might of the U.S. government, using all their cybernetic skills to stay alive, and to find someplace they can call "home".

We3 is unlike anything I've read before. Through life I've been a fan of anthropomorphic stories like the Redwall books, and Watership Down, and even Dr. Rat was a good read, however this is unlike any of those in many ways. I think the big difference is that the animals of We3 have only a few human qualities, and despite their cyborg shells, maintain a large degree of the cute, fluffy traits that make them animals we humans keep as pets. This was an endearing quality of the book, and while it felt kinda creepy to care about a cyborg animal, I did care, and like the soppy guy I am, and despite the odds stacked against them, I really just wanted them to find a safe, loving home.

We3 benefits from both fantastic writing and art. As a fan of Joe the Barbarian I was interested to read some of Grant Morrison's other works, and I was not disappointed. His writing and scripting is top notch, and this story packs a lot of punch on multiple levels. We3 has action, and explosions, but it also has some very touching and emotional moments.

Working in perfect harmony with Morrison's writing, is the eye-popping artwork of Frank Quitely. This book is full of great art. Each panel demands scrutiny because Quitely's art is so nice to look at. His illustrations have a simply clarity about them, yet are still extremely detailed. I really loved the occasional double-page splashes. There's also some less conventional pages where Quitely would draw a large illustration, showing the action at a basic level, then overlay it with smaller panels that show micro-shots of smaller aspects of the given scene. This was a really cool element, and it worked well within the story. Quitely is one of the best comics artists out there and he is on top of his game here.

We3 is a pretty short graphic novel. It collects only three issues, but there is a lot packed into book. Tight writing, great art and an interesting story make this a great read.

Grade: B+