Weekly Comic Round-Up

Every week (roughly) Aaron goes to the Laughing Ogre in Columbus, Ohio and spends far more money than his wife would prefer. He then comes back here and writes about the comics he reads that he thought were noteworthy. This isn't everything he picks up, just the things that he feels merit discussion - either for being really good, or for having something really wrong with them.

Death of the New Gods 1
Ok, I know that this takes away all of my geek cred, but I have to say it. I have never been that amazed with Jack Kirby.

I know. I know. Send in the hounds.

In all fairness, I admire his work. Kirby is to comic books what Orson Welles was to cinema. He revolutionized ways of doing things, and took the bare bones laid by those who came before him and redefined how things would be done forever after him.

But that doesn’t change the fact that since he redefined things, some folks have done it better. There are plenty of artists who I think are better, and certainly there are superior writers. So, with that said and upfront, let’s just start off by saying I’ve never been that impressed with the New Gods. In fact, the only reason I even looked at this book was because it ties in to Countdown, even if it doesn’t do so explicitly.

Man, I almost passed on a really good thing. The action is tightly paced, and the art is really crisp and clean. A device is used to show who is narrating each section with a small symbol placed in the narration boxes, and it works really well.

Case in point? I have absolutely nothing invested in any of the three gods who died this issue. But each death hit me.

And Darkseid getting one-step ahead of Metron? Priceless.

Captain America 31
Bucky is still my personal pick to be the new Captain America. But they’re sure doing their level best to make it hard for him. Having been captured in the last issue by the Red Skull and Dr. Faustus (remember, the guy who brainwashed Sharon Carter into shooting Steve Rogers, and to convince a huge percentage of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to quit?), they’re doing their best to break Bucky, by convincing him that Steve Rogers abandoned him.

The fantasies they create are interesting, though a bit unsubtle. And I don’t really understand why it is that the last one worked on Bucky when the others didn’t. (If it did at all – that’s still left to some debate, depending on whether or not next month’s issue opens up with a dead Agent 13.)

Meanwhile, Tony Stark is having a really bad month. We’ll see more of his bad month in the other books on the round-up, but having to deal with a S.H.I.E.L.D. organization he can’t rely on, and a Falcon and Black Widow who were stunned by a rogue Agent 13, to say nothing of the looming threat of the Red Skull, makes for a rough time for Iron Man.

Brubecker is quickly becoming my favorite Cap author, and that’s not an easy task to accomplish.

In other Captain America news, I picked up Captain America: The Chosen 3 this week as well. Just… don’t. And if they make that guy the new Captain America, I may be as done with Cap as I will be with Spider-Man once One More Day is finished.

(And yes, I know that the idea of using a perfectly new hero to replace the dead/missing/retired icon has worked well in comics before. I still really dig Kyle Rayner, Steel and Connor Kent. But Knightfall would’ve made me happier if Dick Grayson had become Batman, and I’m going to be really upset if the new Cap is a random soldier.)

Booster Gold 3
A comic book where a hero has disgraced himself in order to be able to save the timestream, but who will never be able to get the credit for it, is not what people would expect to be among the more “fun” titles out there today.

People would be wrong.

Booster, Rip and Skeets continue to bounce through time to make reality come together as it’s supposed to. And along the way (in this issue alone), Booster gets drunk alongside Jonah Hex, saved the doctor who will deliver Johnathan Kent’s father, deals with his ancestor Daniel and the double issue of discovering that the Supernova suit was stolen and the fact that he needs to get Daniel together with his future wife, and meets Barry Allen and Wally West – when Wally was still Kid Flash.

This book may be the best title published today. It’s fun, it’s fast-paced, the action is good, and it turns a character who had been little more than a joke into a major part of the DCU.

If you’re not reading this title, close your computer, walk or drive to your nearest comic book store, and pick up all three issues.

Now.

Marvel Zombies 2 1
I am so very, very, very torn about this book.

Why? Well, because on the one hand, I want to like it. And it had moments that I found absolutely perfect. The Galactus/Marvel zombies finding Ego, the Living Planet? That was so beautiful it brought a tear to my eye.

And there were other parts of it I enjoyed too. I liked the idea that Janet Van Dyne’s zombie head, now in control of her hunger, was still a part of the leading council. I liked the idea that, even after the zombie decimation, humans and mutants would still have differing opinions on how life should go on. It even worked for me that Cortez’s son would want to usurp T’Challa.

But the plot holes… dear god, the plot holes. If all it took was a week or so of the zombies not feeding for them to get back in control of themselves, then why did the zombie FF not regain control while they were trapped in the Baxter Building?

And of all the minds who are with the Galactus zombies, would it really be Peter Parker who first noticed that the hunger became less terrible with time? Really? Heck, if anything, I would think it would be Wolverine, with his heightened awareness of his body.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ll keep reading it. But I was really hoping for better from this series, and Issue 1 isn’t as promising as I’d have liked.

Birds of Prey 111
Another one-off issue, but one that I think hit the nail on the head a little better than last month’s. (Not that there was anything wrong with the Helena issue, it just wasn’t quite as amazing.) Barbara needs to get to a localized Intranet to recover information about her identity from when the Watchtower was destroyed. Unfortunately, the Calculator had the same idea, and so both of them have infiltrated a convention taking place at the company’s HQ.

At the convention, Oracle and the Calculator end up bumping into one another while each is trying to get to the intranet, and so they both decide to distract the other by going to lunch together. There’s some cute flirtation between the two, and then they go back to their attempts to hack the intranet.

As these things must, a fight develops, though due to clever writing about a supervillain’s blind spots, despite the fact that Oracle breaks the Calculator’s leg, he doesn’t believe that Barbara is Oracle. The way that Misfit and the Huntress send the cavalry in when Barbara gets in trouble is nothing short of brilliant either.

Booster Gold may be my favorite ongoing title at the moment, but it’s a close contest with Birds of Prey.

A few books which don’t deserve an entire write-up, but are worth picking up if you get the chance. Penance 2 continues on just as strongly as the first issue did, with Robbie going after the Robot Master, for one reason and one reason only. He wants to get Nitro. And the secret of the numbers he’s been writing? They’re revealed. This issue would be another part of Tony Stark’s bad day. In all fairness, this book does deserve a full write-up, but I didn’t want to spoil any part of it. Meanwhile, Justice League 14 continues the battle between the Injustice Gang (or Legion of Doom, if we want to be honest) and the League, and does so wonderfully. I only had two complaints with it – the first being that things are happening so fast that they lack some of the attention they deserve. A new Shaggy Man? Grodd trying to break Geo-Force? Kryptonite paint? They’re all great ideas, and I just would have liked them to get a little more attention. My second complaint, and this is minor, is that in the splash page where Luthor shows Superman and Black Lightning the captured League is a bit too overtly sexualized in how it shows the captured heroines. Trust me, I know that superheroines in bondage is a common nerd fantasy, and has been ever since the early days of Wonder Woman. But I don’t need to be beat over the head with it. Finally, Mighty Avengers 5 manages to earn a little bit of respect from me in how Ares’ handles Ultron. The problem is how flawed other elements of the comic were. Frankly, Ultron shouldn’t be able to stand up to a pissed-off Sentry. “Power of a thousand exploding suns”, remember? Going to be going toe-to-toe with the Hulk in a week or so. And Ultron just killed his wife (maybe). Ultron should’ve been pulped. And I still think that the thought balloons seem more reflective of an editorial voice than that of the character they’re attached to.

So, that’s what I found noteworthy this week in comics. And if you’re not reading over there already, keep up with the developments in the world of superhero film and television at Superheroflix.

Semi-weekly comics round-up

Amazing Spider-Man 542
Back in Black has always been about how far Peter can be pushed, and how far over the edge he’s willing to go. This issue capped that for me beautifully. His battle against the Kingpin was everything it should have been – intense and scary and personal. It wasn’t about Spider-Man and the Kingpin. It was about a superpowered Peter Parker going after the man who tried to kill his Aunt and wife.

Spider-Man really should be scary. For one thing, he’s a humanoid spider. That’s just scary and creepy. Most of us are scared of spiders – and there’s a good reason for that. A small spider can kill a man. Peter Parker is a 6’ tall spider, with a human’s reasoning. (And a smart human at that.) He also holds back most of the time, because he really doesn’t want to hurt anyone.

Wilson Fisk realized what kind of enemy Spider-Man can actually be in this issue. And I loved every bleeding second of it.

Teen Titans 49
I haven’t been reading Amazons Attack, and I really don’t feel like I’m missing much. This issue confirmed that for me.

The Titans, with the assistance of Supergirl and Wonder-Girl had to fight the Amazons while trying to rescue Cassie’s mother. The US military was involved too. I thought it was all a bit pointless, honestly. An attack against the Man’s World by the Amazons could be really interesting – doing it in the midst of Countdown was a waste of a good story idea.

Honestly, I wouldn’t even mention this comic in my abbreviated round-up, except for one thing.

Earlier in the new run of Teen Titans, Robin and Wonder-Girl has a brief hint at a romance forming between them. Cassie firmly pulled away from this. Both Cassie and Tim are seriously grieving the death of Connor (as am I, to tell the truth), but this issue ends with an impassioned plea for Wonder-Girl to remain with the Titans, and a big kiss between the two. I can understand that grief can bring people together – but it just feels too soon to me. Connor was Tim’s best friend. Connor was the one that Cassie lost her virginity to. Neither one should be moving on this quickly. And if (though I think when) Connor returns, this will end poorly for all three.

The Mighty Avengers 4
I’ve had issues with the Mighty Avengers – a fact which deeply disturbs me. I like the Avengers. I like Bendis as a writer. But the tone of this book has consistently felt off, something all the more disappointing since the New Avengers is going so well. I think it might be the thought balloons. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen those in comics, so that might be part of it. But I think it’s more the fact that the thought balloons seem to be editorial – the opinions and snide comments of the author – and not really appropriate to the character they are coming from.

I’m also not digging “Fembot Ultron”, for any number of factors. The idea that this thing was built out of Tony Stark is disturbing, and pointless, since it would affect continuity in every other comic being published by Marvel at the moment. It won’t last. The idea that Ultron would model its body after Janet Van Dyne is perhaps appropriate. But why make her bustier and run around mostly naked? It’s sexuality in comics for the sake of sexuality – something all the more pointless because Janet is already a sexual character.

The actual plot of this issue is hardly worth mentioning as well. Ultron is controlling the Iron Man armors as part of its plot to destroy humanity. And to neutralize the Sentry, who potentially is the most powerful hero in the Marvel Universe that routinely lives on earth, it personally and nastily goes after his wife. I want to care, but I just don't.

Green Arrow: Year One 2
I wasn’t thrilled about Issue 1 of this comic, and I still remain, at least mostly, unimpressed. The story is slightly more engaging, perhaps because of a stronger narrative voice for Ollie, something that made the latest run of Green Arrow very enjoyable. But it still feels a bit pointless and trite.

So far he's managed to learn to make a bow, keep warm, find bodies - oh, and alert the killers who use this island as a hideout to his presence. Not good.

I want to read this and feel like I’m seeing the evolution from spoiled rich fop into a hero. But I don’t. At most I feel like I’m seeing how he became a survivor. It did the job well enough for me to grab Issue 3 next month, but I’m still not loving this series. If I didn’t like Ollie so much, I suspect that I’d be ready to drop the comic as of now.

World War Hulk 3
A few posts back, I raved about how great World War Hulk has been. While some of the comics in the run have been less than fabulous (Gamma Force, anyone?), as a whole it still doesn’t disappoint. World War Hulk 2 continues the breakneck pace set with the first issue, and remains just as fun as ever. General Ross comes after the Hulk with the full US Military at his command, right up to using adamantium bullets. Dr. Strange continued to try to get into the Hulk’s head, and we got to really get an idea of how angry Bruce/the Hulk is. Interestingly enough, I’m beginning to think that this really is a merged personality of Bruce and the Hulk, despite never being claimed as such. Either that, or Banner has retreated into his own mind, and doesn’t ever want to really come back out.

Interestingly, I find myself approving of the Hulk’s use of the gladiatorial control discs on Earth’s heroes – especially those responsible for his banishment. I know I loathed Planet Hulk, and I still do, but considering what happened to Bruce, I think the punishment is only fitting. Now, I’m not quite sure what’s up with the potion Strange drank, and his conversion into “Strange Smash”, but I think this is only going to lead to more intense physical pain for the Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme.

New Warriors 3
I’ve always liked comics about teen superheroes finding their place in a world of established legends. While there have been a few that never drew me in (mainly anything tied to the X-Men), as a whole, if it was about teenage heroes dealing with teenage issues while saving the world, I was there. Teen Titans, Young Avengers, Young Justice, New Warriors – I was always there.

I’m not sure why this is, exactly. Maybe it’s because it was as a teen that my love for superheroes solidified (since I was able to regularly afford comics and keep up with storylines). Maybe it’s because superheroics really are an adolescent fantasy. It’s easier to cope with the idea of figuring out how one is a superhero if one doesn’t have a family to take care of. Or maybe it’s just because the figuring out how to be a hero is more interesting than already being one.

In any case, I love my teenage superheroes. But I’m really not caring for this run of New Warriors at all. It almost feels like it’s trying too hard to be “urban”. It’s also just so dark – and I don’t care for that at all. Furthermore, it just feels a little weird. Dwayne is a manipulative jerk, but he does ultimately care about folks. This doesn’t feel like that – it feels like it’s about ego. Both Thrasher’s, and the egos of those on the team. Jubilee was totally nailed by the accusation of what this was about, even if she didn’t admit it. And Logan’s talk with her reinforced it. I suspect we will see disagreement between Jubilee and Thrash over the direction of the team. And soon.

Now, what I’d really like to see would be for Penance and the Thunderbolts to be assigned to take out the Warriors. But more likely, we’ll see the Initiative sent after them in return for their vandalism of SHIELD. Or at least someone will see it. It may not be me. As with some other books this round up, they’ve got me for a few more issues, but I’m close to dropping this book already.

I actually did enjoy some comics these past two weeks, believe it or not. But with the exception of Amazing Spider-Man and World War Hulk, it seemed more pressing to talk about the disappointments than the ones that delivered.