Comics of the Week (9/17/08) part 1

Brave and the Bold #17 - the first time since this book relaunched I found an issue I was not thrilled with. This issue was part one of a two part story teaming up Supergirl and Raven. It is written by Marv Wolfman and has art by Phil Winslade. The art didn't thrill me much and that didn't help Wolfman's script either. Marv used to be a writer I loved. His work on Tomb of Dracula in the 70's and New Teen Titans in the 80's was awesome. I think though of late he just has kind of lost that spark I enjoyed in his earlier work. Ah well.

Batman and the Outsiders #11 - Chuck Dixon has left the writing chores, and Frank Tieri has picked them up (for now at least). I liked Tieri's work on Gotham Underground as he showed an affection for Batman's villains there. He brings that to this issue as well. The problem with this issue for me was it is part of the "Batman R.I.P." storyline running through all the Bat-titles and I don't read any other ones. So, it is kind of like being an outsider (no pun intended) here. The issue is okay, just not great. The art didn't thrill me much either. Depending on who gets the permanent creative chores, I might be dropping this title soon.


DC Universe: Decisions #1 (of 4) - this is a mini series timed to coincide with the current US Presidential election. In this book, someone tries to assassinate a presidential candidate and the heroes of the JLA decide to do some protective measures. What happens though is Green Arrow ends up getting into a position where he openly, publicly endorses a candidate he would back anyway. The concept of the series is an interesting one - that is which heroes have what kind of political beliefs.

It is a tricky topic to handle. You have to make their views consistent with past portrayals - and so far the writers are doing okay with that. Green Arrow has always been portrayed as a liberal, as far back as the 70's. So, positive points there. How the rest of the series plays out will be interesting to watch. The other thing that is tricky is for the writers to avoid getting preachy or pushing their own political agendas. With Judd Winick being one of the writers on this book, I tend to worry a little about that. We'll see what happens with the next three parts.

It almost makes you wonder though - how would these characters back the true candidates (as in the book you have fictional ones). Who would back a McCain-Palin ticket? Who would back an Obama-Biden ticket? This would make for some interesting debate indeed.