Monday, September 24, 2007

Comic of the Week (9/19/07)

Not a very stellar week for books I am afraid. Some hits but a lot of misses.

Countdown #32 felt like a fanboy attempt to write Black Canary's bachelorette party. I expected a bit more decorum from the DCU heroines. Sigh.

Countdown to Mystery #1 is the first of an eight-issue mini series. Veteran Steve Gerber is writing the Dr. Fate lead feature the gives the origin of the new helm wearer. Steve is known for his unique, bizarre kind of writing from the 70's which actually fits this supernatural character well. The back-up feature is of Eclipso, one of DC's more deadly and long last villains. This book could be a lot of fun.

Flash #232 disappointed me - two months in a row. I think Daniel Acuna's artwork is wrong for this book; it is too water-color and clunky. A book about a speedster needs to have sharp, moving artwork. And Mark Waid's writing seems very flat - like he's phoning this in. I may be dropping this title very very soon.

The Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special felt sophmoric at times. These are two seasoned heroes but the story felt like they were horn-dogs in their 20's. The artwork was okay at times but very cheesecake at others. And I was looking for a happy ending wedding - and the final pages were anything but. I hate when they do that - make you have to buy the first issue of the new ongoing series to see the continuation of the story. Thanks but no thanks. I'm passing.

Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents Parallax was a nicely written and beautifully drawn book. However, it was a stand-alone story in a much huger arc that could easily be skipped and not missed. Good but just an extra.

So, the winner of the week is the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #6 which is a tie-in comic to the Saturday morning cartoon starring these characters. The story was fun, well drawn and features a tie-in with the Green Lantern Corps in the 31st Century. Being a self-contained tale, it was easy for readers to follow and very enjoyable. Yes, this is from the kids' Johnny-DC line of books but sometimes simpler and straight-forward is a lot better. These remind me of comics of my youth, when comics weren't so dark and gritty.

2 comments:

Jim McClain said...

It's almost like Mark Waid is too comfortable with the character. He's making it look like it's easy for him. Who knows, maybe it is!

Martin Maenza said...

If this is the type of story he comes up with when it's "easy" for him, I wish Waid would start having a hard time so he has to deliver a bit better. This storyline is seriously weak, IMHO.