Comics of the Week (1/28/09) part 2

Teen Titans #67 - this "Faces of Evil" issue focuses fully on the return of Brother Blood and ties in, loosely, to the events from Reign In Hell. McKeever appears to enjoy writing for the villains of this book and it shows in this issue. The Titans really only appear for a battle and to help rescue Kid Eternity from Blood's grasp. The issue sets up plot lines for upcoming issues.

Faces of Evil: Kobra - this one-shot really takes a lot of the history of the Kobra character, all the way back from its debut in the 70's, and brings it all up to speed. The villain is relaunched with a new take on things, one that should prove to be very interesting in 2009 as the character will be surfacing in other DCU books. Again, a nice focus of the villains.


Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1 - this kid-friendly title is based on the new cartoon of the same name. Like the show, it features Batman teaming up with other heroes. It is written in that same tone - fun, four-color, classic - and even mimics the show in that the first few pages start out with the tale end of some other adventure. This issue the Caped Crusader teams up with Power Girl in London. I also like a feature in the end where there is a half-page bio of the guest hero and guest villain, to bring young readers up to speed on characters they might not know. I hope they continue this as it is kind of fun. The art style is sort of like the show's, but with a little twist too. It is good that books based on the animated shows have their own visual style and this one should work well for the book.

Comics of the Week (1/28/09) part 1

Trinity #35 - we get some more details about the past of the E-3 Edward Nigma which really helps provide the motivation for this character in the series. Meanwhile, the "remembering six" (Alfred, Dick, Donna, Nemesis, Lois, Supergirl) learn more of the tribal legends. The story keeps moving which is what a weekly needs to do. It is like reading a novel and we're smack dab in the middle of the second act. Things should pick up again nicely as we get closer to the final issues.

Final Crisis #7 (of 7) - well, that was an unenjoyable conclusion. The appearance of the deux ex machina last issue played out this issue as expected. All got cleaned up nice and neatly, making the mini series have very little lasting effects. The only things changed were a) the New Gods getting a new home even if it totally ignored the Death of the New Gods mini, b) Batman being "away" for awhile - you know he'll be back, c) the return of Barry Allen (for which I am very happy), d) the death of J'Onn remained in place and e) the return of the Zoo Crew (which needed to be reversed). I think my big problem with this issue and this whole mini in general is how Grant Morrison presented his narrative. There is a lot of jumping about - mostly to get reaction shots. There is little exposition, little narrative to explain things. Things just are - with no details on what happened. They just did. I expect a writer when they tell me a story to tell me the story, or at least give me enough details so I can figure out how we got from A to B to C. He also spends too much time on "cool scenes" when he could have used those pages for provide clarity. In hindsight, I wish I would have skipped this main mini and only read the tie-ins. I would have gotten all I needed from them and save $28.


Final Crisis: Revelations #5 (of 5) - now this was one of the tie-ins I really enjoyed. It featured the Spectre, the Question and a battle against Vandal Savage/Cain. In five issues, it told a story of the rise of darkness, of sacrifice, of redemption and of triumph. It told it in a clear, concise manner and evoked the mood that the main mini should have as Darkseid's reign over Earth took hold. It filled in details via dialogue and narrative what a reader might have needed from other books so that the story could be enjoyed if one just read these five issues. It focused on characters and allowed the reader to feel for them, understand them and experience what they experienced. Greg Rucca knows how to tell a good story, and the artwork fit well with the tone and mood of the book. This is the type of stuff Final Crisis should have been telling, just like Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge and the couple one-shots did.

Comics of the Week (1/21/09) part 2

The January "Faces of Evil" event continues...

Justice League of America #29 - guest writer Len Wein brings a classic retelling of the origin of Starbreaker, the cosmic vampire, and his battle with the classic JLA line up (original tale from back in 1972). This was a fun issue and it is good to see Wein back doing more work for DC.

Green Lantern #37 - Johns and Reis continue the "Rage of the Red Lanterns" arc with Hal Jordan having to try to save Sinestro and former GL Laira from the grip of Atrocious and his angry ring-weilders. The ending is pretty cool, and I am loving that this arc is keeping me guessing as we build toward the "Blackest Night" event.


Faces of Evil: Deathstroke - I was pleasantly surprised that writer David Hine pulled this issue off. Clearly he can write a nice, gritty tale about one of DC's coolest villains to come out of the 80's. This issue was a great read and a great new chapter for the villain. I can't wait to see where he turns up next.

Comics of the Week (1/21/09) part 1

Brave and the Bold #21 - part three of Hine's cosmic tale, and I am still not thrilled with it. I just don't get his writing of the Phantom Stranger at all, and his GL doesn't stand out very well either. Surprisingly, the scenes with Green Arrow seem to work well. Maybe cosmic isn't his genre. He gets the urban stuff a lot more. Of, and misleading cover - GL and GA don't team up in this issue at all. I think it was a marketing way to give this tale some variety. At least the arc ends next issue.

Tangent: Superman's Reign #11 (of 12) - I am so glad this one is almost over. I usually love Jurgens' writing but this has been a long, drawn out story that could probably have been done better and cleanly in eight issues.


Trinity #34 - the weekly runs hot and cold. Last week was cold. This week was much better. I know the writers have the luxury of fifty two issues but that doesn't mean things should drag. Each issue should have some good action, which this one does provide. This might be one that would read better later in a collected edition(s).

Inauguration Moment...

In watching the inauguration festivities today, one thing that struck me - and it always does for some reason - is seeing the former Presidents come together at events. It is nice to see them at something more positive than say a funeral for one of their own. I realized that these were, for the most part, the men who led this country for most of my life - the time for which I knew what the President was or did. Carter, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. - all that was missing was the great, late Ronald Reagan. It just struck me as a very important piece to an already historic day. That they can all come together, despite political differences and personal differences, to be present at the inauguration, really says a lot about this country in which we live. Makes me proud to be an American.

Comics of the Week (1/14/09) part 2

DC's January 2009 "theme event" is in full force this week, with various Faces of Evil covers and specials.

Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy - this one shot by Johns and Kolins, the great team behind revitalizing so many Flash Rogues, work their magic on that muck monster from the golden age. This one-shot special recaps who Grundy is, how he came to be, and serves as a prelude to the mini-series starring Grundy that comes in a few months. It was a pretty good start and makes me want more.

Faces of Evil: Prometheus - this one-shot really tells the origin of the villain that once trounced the whole JLA (twice) in the 90's but who since appears to have become more of a joke. The book rectifies these differing portrayals, shows again why Prometheus was such a bad-ass villain and sets him up for an appearance in Justice League of America later in 2009.

Action Comics #873 - part 10 of the New Krypton storyline, and Luthor is the villain on the cover. Sadly, Luthor does little in the issue, so it is sort of false advertising. Ah well. All the event tie-ins can't work. The issue reads okay, but having missed some of the earlier chapters in books I don't buy or can't read in the library, I fell like I am constantly coming in on the middle of a program. Time to drop this title, especially with Johns leaving as writer.


Booster Gold #16 - a cool cover featuring the Enemy Ace heralds Booster's adventure in the World War I era. Our hero gets himself involved and breaks some typical time travel rules (first one: don't get involved!) and it leads to a twist of consequences in the end. This is part 2 of a 4 part tale, so of course Skeets and Goldstar still need to find Booster and help him return to his proper time.

Comics of the Week (1/14/09) part 1

So, I was at the library last night for my regular Wednesday visit (while my son is at Faith Formation class at the church) and I decided to take advantage of the few comics they get regularly that I don't (they get four: Superman, Batman, an Archie title, and Amazing Spider-Man). Anyway, last night's reading was the end of the R.I.P. arc from Batman. I'll explain why in a moment.

Now, I have to say for all the grief I've been giving Grant Morrison as a writer, the story line running in Batman seemed to be pretty good (it certainly had some ideas more fully explored the way a story should). Not sure if it was the artwork that helped, but I could see it held together fairly well and it was fairly clear for a reader to follow. I especially enjoyed issues 881 and 882 which were titled under a "Last Rights" banner. These were the issues I wanted to check out especially since they told of events that spun out of Final Crisis #2, when Batman was made captive by Darkseid's scientific crew. Parts of this was touched on very briefly in Final Crisis #5 last month, but I was lost then because the events were told outside of the main mini-series. That was a problem for me. As a reader, I don't get every title. So, the main mini had me lost and there was no reference to point me to the right place to fill in the gap. I had to figure it out on my own (or go online and read someone's biased review of the issues). That brings us to...


Final Crisis #6 (of 7) - this was a much better issue for me. Two reasons: first was the artwork which was clean, concise and easy to follow; it wasn't all dark and confusing as some previous issues were (I could tell who was who, what was what, and what was going on). Second, I actually read the above mentioned issues of Batman, so it made the major event of this issue make a lot more sense. Overall, Grant's writing seems to have gotten slightly more focused with the penultimate issue. Maybe with the finish line approaching, he realized he had to pull it all in and make it make sense (though if that opening scene was any indication, it might turn out to be a cheap-out resolution to make it all "go away"). It is getting there, but there is still some areas of weakness. So far, Barry Allen has been back but done very little. Green Lantern is also prominently absent. Superman was shunted off for most of the time in a tie-in mini Superman Beyond and then in Legion of 3 Worlds (which also gets a sort of reference this issue - I really wish Perez could draw faster to get that mini out, but I am willing to wait for the goodness). Wonder Woman has been corrupted and very unheroic. All of this is a major problem. These are the big guns, the characters the readers care about! They needed to be prominent in the mini. That's what made this "crisis" suffer compared to others, for me. And even though Batman gets a big moment to shine before his "fate", if one is not a regular reader of Batman where Grant clearly was telling an epic tale, they could easily be lost because they were missing a part of the picture. The main event mini needs to give the readers all that they need. They should not have to go to the Internet or other places to fill in the gaps. It should tell the whole story clearly, and allow the tie-ins to add additional texture and subtext. Lastly, I'm not feeling the emotional connection in this story. It is like we're getting just reaction shots that could easily involve most any character (just switch them out). I want more than that. Along with plot depth and clarity, I want to feel connections to the cast. I think that is why this one has fallen very short for me. We'll see if issue #7 can tie it all together without going for a cop-out ending. I'm not holding my breath.