February 18, 2012

Title: When We All Lived in the Forest

Writer: Grant Morrison
Art: Chas Truog & Doug Hazlewood
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: Tatjana Wood
Cover Art: Brian Bolland
Editor: Karen Berger
Publisher: DC Comics

Animal Man has tracked down the rampaging B’wana Beast, whose grief-fueled rage has pitted him against S.T.A.R. Labs and, in the process, infected the hero with a genetically manipulated strain of Anthrax. This issue, the two face off – but how hard can Animal Man fight against a hero whose cause he agrees with?

The hero-fights-hero trope was even overdone in 1988, but Grant Morrison at least found a way to make us sympathize with both characters, making for a more compelling story. While B’wana Beast’s rage is justified, he’s a danger not only to himself but could potentially infect the entire state of California if the anthrax he’s carrying is transmitted. Morrison uses an interesting application of Animal Man’s powers here, something we haven’t seen too much of in recent years, and that’s probably to the good. If you followed this to its logical conclusion, Animal Man could theoretically be the most powerful superhero in the DC Universe, and that doesn’t really fit the perpetual B-list, underdog tone of the character. (Even now, when he’s once again become a critical darling, he seems farther removed than ever from the likes of the Justice League.)

Chas Truog’s wildly inconsistent art swings back to the good end of the spectrum in this issue. The fight between Animal Man and B’wana Beast is exciting, with some great action. It weakens when B’wana takes off his helmet – his unmasked face looks simply bizarre – but that’s not a big problem in context of everything else. And the last two pages, an epilogue to this opening storyline – are absolutely haunting, some of Truog’s best work on the title to date.

Now that Animal Man has been reintroduced and we’ve got a clear sense of his place in the DC Universe, I’m anxious to see what Morrison did with him next.

Rating: 8/10

December 30, 2011

Writer: Erik Burnham
Art: Dan Schoening
Letters: Neil Uyetake
Colors: Luis Antonio Delgado
Cover Art: Dan Schoening
Editor: Tom Waltz
Publisher: IDW Publishing

The first story arc of the new Ghostbusters series comes to a fine conclusion. Ray has been taken by the minions of Gozer, and is being asked (again) to choose the form of the Destructor. But Ray’s spectral buddy has a little advice for him, even as the Ghostbusters continue to seek their missing comrade.

Erik Burnham has really nailed this title. He knows the characters very well, playing on Ray’s gentle naivety, Venkman’s cynicism and the character traits we love from the films to have them act in a way that’s consistent with what we expect, but still set in a very fresh story. Even going back to the villain of the first movie hasn’t made the book seem stale. Instead, Burnham has approached Gozer in a different way and used it to tell a different kind of story than the first film. Burnham also manages to end this issue with a nice hook that will lead us into a second story arc that seems to have a premise utterly unlike anything we’ve seen done with these characters, even (as far as I can remember) in the cartoon.

Speaking of which, I again have to praise Dan Schoening for finding a style that’s very animated, very evocative of the actors that created the characters, but doesn’t mimic the cartoon or any other style that we’ve seen the Ghostbusters depicted in.

The book is a fine, fun title and I’m really happy to see it doing as well as it is.

Rating: 8/10

April 10, 2004

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Bad Seed Part Two

Tefé finds help in strange places, while the Swamp Thing declares his separation from humanity.

Writer: Andy Diggle
Art: Enrique Breccia
Colors: Martin Breccia
Letters: Phil Balsman
Editor: Will Dennis
Cover Art: Enrique Breccia
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

As Tefé’s body literally gets up and walks out of the morgue, Swamp Thing and Abby share a tender little moment where he announces his disdain for humanity.

While I do enjoy this title more than Andy Diggle’s work on Losers, I have a similarly blasé reaction to it. There doesn’t seem to be anything exciting, anything that pops and makes me want to keep reading. The elemental who hates humankind scheme has been done and done and done some more, and Tefé’s plotline is just plain confusing. I do, however, give Diggle credit for bringing back an old character that was pretty well forgotten – that’s something I’m always in favor of.

Enrique Breccia’s artwork has both its high and low points. He does a fine job with the otherworldly elements like Swamp Thing himself or the reanimated corpse of Alex Hammond. His human characters don’t work as well, though, including a few police with blank faces that look like they were peeled right out of an old John Severin Mad comic book.

This is a book that will mostly appeal to old Swamp Thing fans, and while most people will find something or other to like, the casual reader probably won’t find enough to come back month after month, not necessarily because there’s anything wrong, but because there’s a lot of other stuff out there that’s a lot better.

Rating: 6/10

February 18, 2012

Title: Chapter One-The Thief and His Apprentice

Story: Robert Kirkman
Writer: Nick Spencer
Art: Shawn Martinbrough
Letters: Rus Wooton
Colors: Felix Serrano
Cover Art: Martinbrough & Serrano
Editor: Sina Grace
Publisher: Image Comics/Skybound

Meet Redmond and Celia, two expert thieves – or, at least, one expert thief and a thief in training. This issue not only introduces us, but flashes back to the day they met, and how they began their odd journey together, with Redmond teaching her how to become a master thief. But despite the allure of his lifestyle, just how satisfying a life does Redmond really lead?

I tried this first issue for several reasons. Foremost, I like the creators involved. Nick Spencer is a fantastic writer, Shawn Martinbrough a great artist, and Robert Kirkman has proven himself to be an important creator behind-the-scenes of the comic book world, trying harder than anybody else I can think of to expand the boundaries of what the medium can offer in terms of different kinds of stories, not just doing the same thing over and over again. For that, if nothing else, I’m inclined to at least sample anything he’s willing to lend his name to.

Thief of Thieves #1 isn’t bad. It’s got wonderful art, and interesting characters with a dynamic that doesn’t feel like most other comic book partnerships. The fact that these are criminals instead of heroic characters further places this book outside of the norm, and the way the two of them meet is funny and entertaining.

That said, I’m not sure I’m sold on this book’s longevity. The first issue is good, but I have trouble seeing what’s going to happen long-term. At the moment, it feels like the beginning of a miniseries (which is actually what I thought it was when I read it, until I got to Kirkman’s text piece at the end). And it could be a great miniseries. But it’s a harder sell as an ongoing, and instead of simply finishing the story, the next few issues instead will have the task of convincing me to devote three dollars a month to this title long term. Fortunately, this is a creative team good enough to do that. Hopefully, they’ll pull it off.

Rating: 7/10

December 17, 2011

Title: The Dark Side Part Four

Writer: Paul Cornell
Art: Miguel Sepulveda
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Cover Artist: Miguel Sepulveda & Alex Sinclair
Editor: Pat McCallum
Publisher: DC Comics

A monster has fallen to Earth from the moon and absorbed the Stormwatch team. On the outside, Apollo and Midnighter are left to face the creature, while the team inside struggles for freedom. Some interesting stuff in this issue. Paul Cornell begins the hinting at the future that readers already know is waiting for Apollo and Midnighter, while showing off the rather strange abilities some of the characters have. All of the heroes are used well, here, particularly Apollo and Jack Hawksmoor, whose basic premise (being the “God of Cities”) makes him a far more interesting character than I would have expected. He’s the sort of character that can be really handy to explore a universe, and with the New 52 being so relatively uncharted, there’s a lot of potential here for him to do exactly that.

I like the artwork here a lot. Miguel Sepulveda can do sci-fi action really well, and Alex Sinclair’s work on the colors is outstanding. He does a few different effects here, but doesn’t take it overboard. The last page in particular really stands out – a very nice piece of work.

I’m sorry to hear Cornell will be leaving this book after the first story arc. He’s given it a solid start. But whoever takes over, I hope they can keep it going strong.

Rating: 7/10

February 4, 2012

Title: The Iron Age: Alpha

Writer: Rob Williams
Art: Rebekah Isaacs
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Colors: Andres Mossa
Cover Art: Ariel Olivetti
Editor: Thomas Brennan
Publisher: Marvel Comics

While attending a reception for a library he helped fund, Tony Stark is abducted by a squad of robots, and not even Luke Cage and Iron Fist can save him. Spirited away, he finds himself in the clutches of an old villain he fought once, years ago, who has a new agenda. The Phantom wants to end the world, and all he’ll need to do it is Dr. Doom’s time machine and one of the most powerful threats the Marvel Universe has ever faced.

Rob Williams kicks things off with an interesting concept – a villain who uses time travel to destroy the world, and Iron Man tossed back in time with a chance to prevent it. The format is rather odd – why this was structured as a three-issue miniseries with two “Alpha” and “Omega” bookends rather than just a five-issue miniseries is beyond me. But it’s easy enough to forget about that and just get into the story. Considering what Marvel was working on when this was released last summer, one has to wonder if the reintroduction of Dark Phoenix in this time-travel story wasn’t a warm-up of sorts for Avengers Vs. X-Men. It doesn’t necessarily feel that way, at least not in this first issue, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t weighing on the minds of the creators when they put this book together.

Rebekah Isaacs and Andres Mossa are a good art team, telling the story easily enough and finding ways to visually distinguish between “present” Tony and “past” Tony. All in all, it’s a good set-up. I look forward to reading the rest.

Rating: 7/10

Wondering what

TITLE: The Trouble With Toons & Good Neighbor Roger

CREDITS:
Writers: Kate Worley & Doug Rice
Art: Rick Hoberg, Dave Simons & Bill Langley
Editor: Len Wein
Publisher: Disney Comics

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: I know Roger Rabbit! He was framed, if my memory serves me correctly.

IMPRESSIONS: The comic seems to pick up shortly after the end of the movie. Roger Rabbit goes down to the Ink and Paint Club to find that it’s been trashed and rushes to his buddy, Detective Eddie Valiant, for help in solving the case. But Valiant has been swamped with business ever since he and Roger defeated Judge Doom (in the movie), so he sends Roger to his buddy Rick Flint. Roger and Flint set out to find the man who destroyed the club, and a new partnership is born.

This comic book felt like the first episode of a movie-spinoff TV show where the producers couldn’t get the original actors in for more than a cameo. Flint isn’t really that interesting a character – he’s a generic old-school detective who doesn’t seem to bring anything to the story that couldn’t have been served just as easily by using Eddie Valiant. I can understand how, if this had been a TV show, getting Bob Hoskins would have been rather difficult. But we’re looking at a comic book here. Why couldn’t they draw Valiant instead of coming up with a low-rent substitute?

The second story, “Good Neighbor Roger,” is much better. This one is set in Toontown, where Roger is upset to learn his new neighbor is a weasel. (Remember them from the movie? Roger, understandably, has a bit of an aversion to weasels.) Roger decides to make nice, though, and hilarity ensues. This one feels like an old-fashioned cartoon with more modern writing, and I liked it a lot on that level.

Not a bad comic book, I guess, but I’d be more interested in reading more of Roger’s Toontown adventures than the Adventures of Rabbit and Flint.

GRADE: B-

February 18, 2012

Title: The Nature of the Beast

Writer: Grant Morrison
Art: Chas Truog & Doug Hazelwood
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: Tatjana Wood
Cover Art: Brian Bolland
Editor: Karen Berger
Publisher: DC Comics

The reveal which was pretty obvious from the first issue is made here – the strange man who is wreaking a horrible vendetta on S.T.A.R. Labs is the old DC hero B’wana Beast. For those unfamiliar with the man with the goofiest superhero name of all time, B’wana Beast was a white man who protected Africa with the power to merge different animals into a single organism, combining the characteristics of both, and then separate them again. It’s actually kind of a cool, unusual power when you think about it, but that doesn’t excuse his terrible fashion choice or superhero name.

Anyway, while Buddy Baker tries to recover from the rather violent way he was disarmed last issue, B’wana flashes back to the devastation he recently witnessed in Africa, the death of a friend that pushed him over the edge, and how it all led to his targeting S.T.A.R. Labs in the here and now. B’wana Beast’s story is, actually, a little pedestrian for Grant Morrison, a little too by-the-book, a little too much of what we’ve seen before. Of course, this was still an early stage in his career, and the story isn’t over yet, so I could see him putting a twist on the formula, but it doesn’t make this issue as compelling as it could be. Far more interesting is the story of Buddy’s wife and daughter, who have fun across a group of hunters in the woods and now find themselves in the midst of a brutal confrontation. All things considered, this is a fairly straightforward subplot, without the sort of wild mysticism one expects from the writer, but it’s handled here in a well-reasoned, compelling fashion.

Chas Truog, whose second issue was a marked improvement over his first, seems to be going back in the opposite direction in issue three. B’wana Beast shows off some markedly impossible anatomy throughout the issue, made all the more obvious as he’s naked save for his loincloth, boots and helmet. The scenes with Buddy’s family, which are among the best written in this issue, feature the weakest artwork, with flat poses and bizarre proportions in the faces, especially Maxine’s.

The germ of the brilliant story to come is evident, but hopefully the artwork will pick up soon.

Rating: 7/10

December 27, 2011

Title: The Death of Optimus Prime

Writer: James Roberts, John Barber
Art: Nick Roche
Letters: Shawn Lee
Colors: Josh Burcham
Cover Art: Viktor Deak
Editor: Carlos Guzman
Publisher: IDW Publishing

With the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons ostensibly over, it should be a time of peace on Cybertron. Instead, the planet is being overwhelmed with “NAILs” – Non-Aligned Indigenous Lifeforms – in other words, Cybertronians who took no side during the war. And as Bumblebee and Rodimus Prime struggle to bring peace between two factions of Autobots, Optimus himself begins to wonder just what his role is in a world without war against the likes of Megatron and Galvatron.

Despite the hyperbolic title, this is just an okay issue. James Roberts and John Barber are here basically to draw the lines between the upcoming “Schism” (to borrow an X-Men term) between the two ongoing TransFormers titles, one showing Autobots under Bumblebee’s leadership, one under Rodimus. They’re also out to explain why Optimus has been taken out of the equation, although the conclusion isn’t as simple as one might think.

The new Status Quo here is interesting enough. The writers have changed things up considerably for this franchise, placing familiar characters in a new situation that neither they nor the readers are used to. If you’re going to do a relaunch of such a classic property, this is a good way to do it, even if this issue itself is a little lackluster.

Nick Roche’s artwork helps a lot. He’s got a good feel for the robots, something that is a little more stylized than the classic cartoon, but not so far as to hit the nigh-incomprehensible “realism” we get from the Michael Bay movies. He makes the characters his own, using them to tell stories instead of sell toys.

Okay issue, but it does pique my interest for what IDW has planned next.

Rating: 7/10

November 6, 2011

Title: In the Dark Part Two: Dark Matter

Writer: Peter Milligan
Art: Mikel Janin
Colorist: Ulises Arreola
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Cover Artist: Ryan Sook
Editor: Rex Ogle
Publisher: DC Comics

The Enchantress is growing more unhinged, her power more unchecked, and Zatanna know she’s going to have to draw together a team to fight back. Across America, though, the likes of Constantine and Shade the Changing Man are dealing with issues of their own. The book is coming together slowly, but not in a bad way. Like a lot of team books, this first story arc feels like it’s all about bringing the group together for the first time. We see their connections here to Zatanna, we see why they may be needed, and the slow convergence is entertaining to me. The big surprise is just how big a role Dove seems to be playing in the book. Considering her relationship with Deadman, I expected her to show up once in a while, but this issue really makes it feel as though she’s going to be a regular cast member, which would be just fine by me. In addition to a good story, the artwork by Mikel Janin is nothing short of gorgeous. His ability to blend superhero characters with a book that feels like high fantasy is absolutely uncanny, and his faces are very expressive and energetic, telling the story of the characters’ emotions as neatly as the speech balloons convey their words. The “Dark” corner of the New 52 has really turned out to be one of its finest.

Rating: 8/10