Comics for 8/23/06
Retro-edit engage!
Let’s break this down into a list of the titles for the week and with the individual issue comments off the main page. You know, in case I ever have anything else worth reading here and don’t want this taking up all the space. For the week of 8/23/06, we have:
- 52 #16
- Astonishing X-Men #16
- Batman #656
- Eternals #3(of 6)
- Justice League of America #1
- New Avengers #23
- The Ultimates Annual #2
- Wolverine #45
Continue reading for my impressions.
52 #16
That went better than expected. I was worried we’d go the obvious route, with a horrible tragedy snapping our bad-guy-gone-good back into his old ways. Cliché averted! 52’s art remains simply functional, but the layouts weren’t as bad as they’ve been in some past issues.
Astonishing X-Men #16
Admitting you have a problem doesn’t solve it. A bi-monthly schedule for this title, even if planned, takes its toll on the excitement from issue to issue. That said, this was pretty solid, other than how out of place the Danger-Room-Bot seems in all of this. Kitty got a bit of revenge, there was an interesting development in the Hellfire club, and Cassaday’s art, backgrounds in particular, looked more complete than in the past. The Danger-Room-Bot though, ugh. It’s just hard to take such a goofy looking character seriously. She/it was still goofy looking when it was kicking the X-Men all over Genosha in the last arc, but at least it was kinda interesting. It knew everything about the X-Men, and that made it a decent adversary. Watching it sneak around a spaceship and stage a prison break for an alien is borderline comical, pun more or less intended.
Batman #656
Whimsical probably isn’t how anyone’s described a Batman title in a while, but I don’t know what else to call Morrison’s run. Last issue kicked off with a psyche-out Batman death, followed immediately by a psyche-out Joker death, moving quickly along toward big reveal at the end of the issue, Batman has a son. Ok, so that’s a little over the top. But how about this issue? Ninja-Man-bats, followed by recycling last issue’s big reveal. It’s not played for camp or laughs, but come on. Ninja Man-Bats! I expect next issue we’ll see Batman fight the Riddler in a giant robot on the surface of the moon to save Robin, who’s been turned into a wise-cracking monkey. I guess it’s a pretty fun issue, with some very clever ideas slipped in with the art gallery fight, but it doesn’t feel much like Batman. Maybe Morrison accidentally sent his All-Star Superman script to the wrong artist. Actually, that would still make this better than All-Star Batman, but that’s another problem entirely. DC’s holding up on the promise of ditching the angry-no-fun Batman of recent years, but I’m not really sure if this is better. It’s not exactly bad, but it’ll definitely leave you scratching your head. Go read Detective comics if you want a good Batman story.
Eternals #3 (of 6)
It’s hard to know what to make of this. I love Romita Jr.’s art, and the writing is solid, but we’re already on issue #3 out of 6 and we’re still just being introduced to characters (or their powers). At this point I can’t recommend jumping into this series; better to wait and see how things turn out and pick up the trade if it ends up being worth it. I really hope it all comes together though, because by itself, this is still a great issue. The blue/red shift was a particularly clever addition to the traditional “character with the power to go real fast.”
Justice League of America #1
I’m hooked. Never followed a JLA book before, but I feel like I’ve learned enough about DC over the past couple years I can appreciate it now instead of wondering who the green guy is operating the teleporters. A relaunch seems like as good a time as any to jump in, and it’s off to a promising start. Batman, Superman, and Wonderwoman are going over proposals for the new roster, set against a plot developing involving the Red Tornado. I’m still no comic veteran, I’ve never read anything about Red Tornado, but I got enough from this issue to feel like I was up to speed. It worked well to set up both the league and the direction their first “adventure” is heading together, and Ed Benes art is certainly up to the task of showing off the new league lineup. He’s like a slightly less polished Jim Lee, which is no insult. This was probably my second favorite comic this week.
Minor nitpick: I realize on paper (figuratively), opening with a nice shot of our lead trio’s symbols is iconic or whatever, but someone should’ve pointed out that a closeup of the golden-eagle-bustier Wonder Woman is sporting sends a different message than the closeup of the bat symbol or a big red S.
New Avengers #23
Continuing the Civil War Avengers issues, highlighting one member per issue, we get to Spider-Woman. She’s a double-triple secret S.H.I.E.L.D./Hydra super agent blah blah whatever ok I’m bored. Never cared about her, being on the Avengers doesn’t change that. The double-cross angle has been exploited to its full potential, so I guess I’m glad to see that’s probably over (I doubt Hydra will take her back again, but who knows), but it wasn’t worth a whole issue. Oh well. Coipel’s art’s pretty good, that’s about the best this issue can offer. I think next issue is the Sentry story with Granov’s art though, I’m definitely looking forward to that.
The Ultimates Annual #2
If I made any claims about my weekly impressions* being actual reviews, I’d have to pass on this one. I can’t give a real review of a book I found myself skimming, and I really don’t have any plans of reading it again. I picked it up cause hey, Ultimates! But it’s only Captain America and the Falcon, and I can’t think of a more boring character than the Falcon. I don’t know much about his original version or his ultimate version, (which isn’t to say that there’s any excuse for failing to flesh out a more well known ultimate character), but he just doesn’t seem to have a good reason to exist. He’s just a guy with some mechanical wings in a backpack. Sure Batman’s just a guy, Iron Man’s just a guy (or was, in the 616 universe at least), but those are characters with some real depth beyond their suits and gadgets. There’s nothing wrong with gimmicky powers or abilities (to a point) if the people using them are developed and intresting. Falcon (can’t remember his real name, not a good sign) is a black guy. That’s about all the characterization we get, because that’s the defining theme in all his conversations. I can’t even figure out his relationship with Cap’, are they friends? Just two soldiers working together? Look, Cap’ said something outdated, quaint, and white, Falcon sets him straight! What banter! What interplay! What a snooze. Oh, then they fight a big Nazi/KKK thing. Weeee.
Wolverine #45
If your favorite publisher’s big comic events are going to take over all the main titles, your only hope is that they turn out as well as the Civil War issues of Wolverine. Really, the Civil War arc is nearly the most fun I’ve had with Wolverine since the current volume’s kick-off 45 issues ago (Millar’s Enemy of the State/Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. run being the other pretty much awesome run). It gives Wolverine something to do, which already puts it well above most Wolverine stories. Where do you go with this character at this point? New revelations about his past? Again? Stick him in the Avengers for…wait, why did they stick him in the Avengers? Oh, let’s bring out the old man-vs-animal debate! That’s what we need, more tired angst and self-loathing! Wolverine’s one guy, he doesn’t want to argue about the politics of the situation, he doesn’t want to join either side and fight for a cause, he’s basically the ultimate “man” here. He just wants a simple (not to be confused with easy) problem with a straightforward solution that he can tackle head on. He finds one, and off he goes. It’s perfectly in line with what little is consistent about his character from title to title and writer to writer, and it plays to his strengths in this case, because it involves tracking someone down and (maybe) killing him.
I love the art as well. Ramos has an exaggerated but appealing style. It’s not realistic, but too often that translates to sloppy or just plain goofy work. This is tight and clean, beautiful work, like a wilder Ed McGuinness (another personal favorite). Everything works here, this is my pick of the week.
*this blog’s not even a week old, but that’s the plan, weekly impressions of the comics I buy.