Earth 2 #1

May 6, 2012, 2012

Title: The Price of Victory

On Earth 2, a different trinity of heroes fights… but what happens if they fall?

Writer: James Robinson
Pencils: Nicola Scott
Inks: Trevor Scott
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Dezi Sienty
Cover Art: Ivan Reis, Joe Prado & Rod Reis
Editor: Pat McCallum
Publisher: DC Comics

The Multiverse is back with this new title, the first book set in a world outside of the universe of the New 52. Five years ago, the Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman of another universe fought fiercely to save their world from an invasion by Steppenwolf and his Parademons. The world survived, but at an incredible price.

This issue is a lot of set-up, but it’s the most action-packed set-up you could possibly ask for. It’s clear that the classic DC trinity, although they’re in center stage here, will not be the stars of this title. Their appearance, in fact, is mostly here to set up the return of some other classic characters, albeit in new forms. It works nicely for that. This is the sort of all-out war you probably couldn’t get away with on “New Earth” (or whatever they’re calling the universe of the New 52 these days). Plenty of devastation, plenty of death, too much to deal with in 50 or so titles linked together in a single, current continuity. But as this book takes place on an alternate universe, and there are no other books set there (Worlds’ Finest is a spin-off, but that’s not quite the same thing) James Robinson could theoretically have a pretty free hand to go nuts, make major changes, and drastically alter the world as the story dictates. He’s done it before, but in things like The Golden Age. I’m really looking forward to seeing what he does with a book like this on an ongoing basis.

I’ve been a fan of Nicola Scott for some time now, but with Trevor Scott and Alex Sinclair joining her on the art for this book, we’re seeing some of the greatest work she’s ever done. The battle scenes here are incredible, and she gives us depictions of DC’s three biggest guns that look very familiar, but just different enough that we accept them as alternate versions of the characters.

This first issue was great, even if it felt more like a “zero” issue. It doesn’t really matter that much what the number is, though. It’s a fine way to start, and I can’t wait to see where this newer universe is going to take us.

Rating: 9/10

JLA #107

November 8, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Maintenance Day (Syndicate Rules Part One)

The Justice League is taking a day for general maintenance, unaware of a growing threat from another world.

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Ron Garney
Inks: Dan Green
Colors: David Baron
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover Art: Ron Garney
Publisher: DC Comics

I’m a little biased here, I’ll admit that up front. New writer Kurt Busiek is one of my favorite scribes working in comics today, and moreso, this is a title in serious need of improvement. The book hasn’t been good on a consistent basis since Mark Waid’s all-too-short tenure ended nearly 40 issues ago.

As the issue opens, the JLA is basically spending the day doing preventative maintenance. Several of them are keeping their eyes on the Cosmic Egg that contains a new universe ready to hatch. (This egg, of course, was a leftover from Busiek’s JLA/Avengers crossover, although he has to be careful never to mention any copyrighted properties of that other publisher by name.) As they do that, Martian Manhunter and The Flash do their regular sweep of various contacts around the globe, making sure no crisis demand their attention, and pay a visit to an old menace they have in containment.

Right off the bat Busiek is doing one of the things I think he, along with writers like Waid and Geoff Johns, do incredibly well. He picks up on the history of the League, tapping into old stories to create the new. Some readers may find things a bit daunting, but the particular threat that occupies our two heroes this issue (although not the main threat of this story arc) is one even I was unfamiliar with, but Busiek gives us everything we need to know to comprehend the story.

Ron Garney’s art is usually very good, but it appears somewhat unfinished here. Just as the last six issues, released biweekly, looked as though he rather raced through them, so did this first issue with his new writer. There’s nothing really bad about the artwork, but it’s not as strong as anyone who has seen his Captain America run knows he’s capable of. It’s possible he just needs time to rest and then get back onto a normal monthly schedule.

After a truly abysmal last story arc (which, admittedly, started with a strong first issue then spiraled into cliché and tedium), this issue is a breath of fresh air. Busiek has said he wants to join the small club of writers who has had long tenures writing both the Justice League and the Avengers. Hopefully this issue is just the start of great things to come.

Rating: 7/10

Somebody’s First Comic Book: Superman (1939 Series) #299

Wondering what Somebody’s First Comic Book is all about? The explanation is on this page!

TITLE: The Double-Or-Nothing Life of Superman

CREDITS:
Writer: Cary Bates & Elliot S! Maggin
Art: Curt Swan & Bob Oksner
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Publisher: DC Comics

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Superman I know – but why is his suit empty? And who are these guys surrounding him?

IMPRESSIONS: Evidently, Superman’s next-door neighbor is an alien. But not a nice one, like Superman is. He’s the sort who is planning an invasion or something and has gone about it in a ridiculously roundabout way – somehow he’s found a way to remove Superman’s powers whenever he changes to Clark Kent. Superman has decided to test this out by spending an entire week only as Clark, then a week only as Superman. After his time is up, he’s about to decide on which life to stick with full-time (for some reason), when his alien adversary rounds up nine of – as Superman puts it, “the most fearsome super-villains [he’s] ever fought!” I don’t know about how fearsome they are. Lex Luthor, sure. The Parasite and Brainiac look pretty formidable too, and I’m sure I can understand why he’d be afraid of someone named Kryptonite Man. But we’ve got a dwarf in a derby hat called Mr. Mxyzptlk, a chubby guy in a plaid coat called the Prankster, a weirdo called the Toyman, a goofy cowboy called Terra-Man, and someone named Amalak who doesn’t do much but stand around looking purple. (A lot of Superman’s enemies seem dedicated to a purple-and-green color scheme for some reason. Five of the nine wear those colors exclusively, and only Toyman doesn’t have any of them at all.)

Anyway, Superman goes out to round up these guys in a fashion that comes so easily one must seriously question how tough the rest of the criminals in Metropolis are, if these are the most fearsome of the bunch. Then we get an explanation for Superman’s power loss that makes you wonder why the hell it took him three weeks to figure it out, and then he beats the alien using an even more convoluted series of events.

There’s a bold proclamation on the first page of the issue: “The greatest hero the world has ever known in his most magnificent adventure of all time!” I’m hoping this was mere hyperbole, because as far as adventures go, this wasn’t particularly magnificent. I understood this just fine. That didn’t make it less silly.

GRADE: C

Man of Rust: The Retold Story #1

February 11, 2012

Title: The Retold Story

Writer: Cliff MacGillivray
Art: Rick Burchett
Letters: Craig Cobert
Editor: Mike Friedrich
Publisher: Blackthorne Publishing

Back in the 80s, there were a few publishers for which parodies of other comics were their lifeblood. Blackthorne was one of the independents that mixed together parodies with a few more legit properties, but the ones I’ve read in the past have all been so-so. This one-shot, produced during the run-up to the John Byrne Superman relaunch in 1986, was somewhat different than the rest of them.

Instead of being a straight-up parody of Man of Steel (which hadn’t been released yet when this book was written), Cliff MacGillivray puts together a story of a Superman pastiche in the far future who, in front of an adoring audience, is forced to confront the many different, contradictory versions of himself from throughout history. Somehow, rather than simply parodying the stories of Superman, MacGillivray weaves a humorous – yet somehow effective – story about the way the Superman legend has evolved over the years. These days, with metatextual comics being all the rage, this same story could be published as an official Superman story simply by stripping a few jokes. And in fact, it would be a pretty good one.

A lot of the humor comes through Rick Burchett’s artwork. Burchett works in lots of little bits and sight gags that work much better to make the book funny where it needs to be, without detracting from the commentary that exists throughout.

When I grabbed this comic from a bargain bin at a convention, I thought I’d just be reading another goofy parody, but I was impressed by what I read.

Rating: 8/10

Animal Man (1988 Series) #2

February 11, 2012

Title: Life in the Concrete Jungle

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

Animal Man is called in by STAR Labs to investigate a break-in of the most unusual sort: someone has fused all of their laboratory apes into a horrible mass of bioflesh. IF that wasn’t bad enough, he seems to have escaped in the form of an eight-foot-tall cockroach. Buddy starts his investigation only to get an unexpected pep talk by Superman himself.

When Grant Morrison is on his game, nobody can pull together different parts of continuity like him. We’ve seen this in recent years with All Star Superman and his remarkable Batman run, but it’s interesting to go back in time to see this relatively young writer beginning to do the things he would later be great at. Although the presumed antagonist in this story is relatively obscure, people who are well-studied in DC Universe lore have more than enough clues at this point to piece together who he likely is, and with it, turn to the obvious questions about why he would suddenly be taking on this sort of role. The story is already rewarding people with a history with these characters, but it does so in a way that doesn’t feel inaccessible if you haven’t spent years learning the ins and outs of the DCU.

Chris Truog, whose work I thought was lacking a bit in the first issue, has developed considerably in issue two. A lot of the facial problems I had before seem to be fixed, and the increased emphasis on the monsters really plays to his strengths. The last couple of pages are particularly good – very nice layout, interesting use of the grid, and some pretty good, shocking images on those pages. I’m impressed here.

The series is picking up steam pretty quickly.

Rating: 7/10

Comic Book Comics #1

December 27, 2011

Title: Funnies Get Famous                                               

Writer: Fred Van Lente
Art: Ryan Dunlavey
Publisher: Evil Twin Comics

The team of Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey made names for themselves with the bizarre, entertaining, bizarrely entertaining comic Action Philosophers a few years back. With their follow-up series, Comic Book Comics, they turned their unique blend of education and comedy to the very medium that they were using to present their stories.

In Comic Book Comics #1, we see the birth of the comic book – not as an art form, really, but as a business. Van Lente and Dunlavey begin with the Yellow Kid, typically regarded as the first “Comic strip,” and from there show how his evolution influenced the creation of other strips, how this led to comic book publishing, and how the publishing practices of the industry led to things like the creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s Superman, and why Jack Kirby chose a pseudonym in the first place instead of continuing to work under his birth name. Will Eisner makes an appearance as well, and there’s a wonderful piece about the early rivalry between animators Walt Disney and Max Fleisher.

The comic book isn’t a narrative, exactly. It isn’t portrayed as a straightforward story in any way, but rather as an ongoing lecture by Van Lente’s narration, illustrated and sometimes acted out by the characters drawn by Dunlavey. In presentation, it actually reminds me quite a bit of Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics and its sequels, although the subject matter is somewhat different.

Regardless of how it’s presented, the book is wonderfully fun to read. The artwork is sharp and funny, the writing and dialogue is entertaining while still giving the reader plenty of useful information. I managed to get my hands on the entire six-issue run of the series at once, just after the final issue was released, and I’m glad I won’t have to sit through the long wait many readers did between issues. Now that I’ve done issue one, I can’t wait to get right into issue #2.

Rating: 8/10

Action Comics (1938 Series) #517

December 17, 2011

Title: The War For Peace

Writer: Gerry Conway
Pencils: Curt Swan
Inks: Dave Hunt
Colorist: Gene D’Angelo
Letterer: Ben Oda             
Cover Artist: Ross Andru
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Publisher: DC Comics

The cover of Action Comics #517 bills the issue as “the strangest Christmas story ever told.” I don’t know if I’d go quite that far, but it is rather out of the ordinary. Superman is called away from the Daily Planet Christmas Party when he spots an out-of-control alien spacecraft about to plunge into Earth’s atmosphere. Saving the alien, it begs Superman’s help in recovering a strange artifact called the Grayl, an ancient religious totem stolen from his people by another alien race who seeks it for its monetary value. Superman gets caught up in a strange sort of holy war in space.

This is not, to be frank, a subtle comic book. Gerry Conway really lays on the story thick, without shying away from the real-world parallels to the middle east. In the end, it may go a little too far, with any specific Christmas message being lost in an overall plea for Peace on Ea… well, peace in the universe. It’s an okay story, but it strays from its claim of being a Christmas story early and never really comes back.

There’s also a back-up story here that has nothing to do with Christmas, but what the heck, let’s look at it anyway.

Title: Brother Rat

Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Art: Don Heck
Colorist: Jerry Serpe
Letterer: Ben Oda
Editor: Len Wein

This second tale stars Aquaman, in a desperate battle against his old foe Black Manta… or so he thought. Turns out this Manta was merely a robot. Aquaman and Mera set off for New York to investigate the corporation that was supposedly behind Manta’s efforts, only to find an even more unexpected foe – Aquaman’s half-brother, the Ocean Master.

The story is perfectly serviceable, but it doesn’t really grab me. Aquaman is a character who gets too much crap from the mainstream, but he’s also one that doesn’t work except with certain writers. As well as he’s being handled right now, this book reminds us that it wasn’t always that way.

All in all, this comic really could have been better.

Rating: 6/10

Trinity #2

June 12, 2008

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: A Personal Best at Robot Smashing & It’s Gonna Throw the Car

The members of the Trinity face a bizarre attack – and so does one of their teammates.

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Inks: Art Thibert
Colors: Pete Pantazis
Writers (Second Story): Kurt Busiek & Fabian Nicieza
Artists (Second Story): Tom Derenick & Wayne Faucher
Colors (Second Story): Allen Passalaqua
Letters: Pat Brosseau
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover Art: Carlos Pacheco
Publisher: DC Comics

As the three members of the Trinity return to their respective homes, each of them is faced with an unexpected challenge. A miniature solar system (including a familiar-looking sun) is threatening Superman’s Metropolis, Batman’s Gotham City has been plunged into another century entirely, and Wonder Woman has to stop a group of giant fighting robots from destroying Washington, DC. But what does any of this have to do with Morgaine Le Fay’s “anti-Trinity” and the mysterious dreams that afflict them?

While the first issue of the new weekly focused on bringing the three heroes together, issue two shows each of them dealing with a threat in their own style. What makes this work is that Busiek gets a chance to show us the real difference between our three heroes and how they handle a threat. There’s a nice little scene between Wonder Woman and Superman as well, which is also needed. As the least-popular member of the trinity (let’s be honest here), it really helps to remind us not only how capable she is, but how much respect she commands from her friends.

Mark Bagley’s artwork, of course, is as cool and polished as ever, although I do think his Superman looks a little too young. It’s a small complaint, however, and once I can easily live with.

In just two issues, the function of the second story in each issue has become clear: it’s not merely a space-filler, but a chance to show scenes that are relevant to the main plot, but that don’t feature our three heroes. This issue, we see Green Lantern John Stewart facing the bizarre double-threat of Konvikt and Graak. In terms of plot development, the most interesting thing here is that apparently they are of a species that John’s ring doesn’t recognize. Mostly, though, it’s just an action scene, but a good one. Tom Derenick’s artwork makes this second story look leaps and bounds above the artwork last week, which also helps quite a bit.

I also need to take just a second to point out how cool the naming convention of this series is – apparently each story will take its title from an amusing or pertinent snippet of dialogue. I dunno, I just think that’s neat.

Two issues down and fifty to go, but so far, this has been a really strong story. Busiek and Bagley have made legendary comics together in the past, and it looks like they’re on the right path to do it again.

Rating: 8/10

Super Friends (2008 Series) #20

October 17, 2009

Super Friends #20 (DC Comics/Johnny DC)
By Sholly Fisch & Dario Brizuela

It’s Halloween, and the Super Friends are called out to take place in a parade. The fun is disrupted, though, when the scientist who called them directs them to a menace that’s out to ruin the fun — the Shaggy Man. Super Friends, of course, is a book for younger readers, and the content here works pretty well for that audience. Shaggy Man isn’t nearly the enemy he is in the mainstream JLA book, of course, and the ending is a tad anticlimactic, but the story is solid enough. Dario Brizuela stays on-model with the toy line fairly well, but I’m not a fan of his Wonder Woman at all. I don’t have the toy itself for reference, but just taken on her own, she looks entirely too bulky and solid, with very little femininity. I’m not suggesting that the kid’s version of the character be sexed up, of course, but there’s certainly a middle ground. For the little ones, this book is fine.
Rating: 6/10

Recent Reviews: September 21 & 28 Releases

I’m just realizing I neglected to do a “recent reviews” post last Tuesday. It was a busy day, sorry about that. So here are my recent reviews from CXPulp.com for the past two weeks, including a lot of New 52 and several other goodies.

• All-Star Western (2011) #1
• Avengers Academy #19
• Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #7
• Batman (2011) #1
• Blue Beetle (2011) #1
• Captain Atom (2011) #1
• Darkwing Duck (2010) #16
• DC Universe Presents #1
• Doctor Who (2011) #9
• Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz #1
• Fables #109
• FF #9
• Ghostbusters (2011) #1
• Green Lantern Corps (2011) #1
• Green Lantern: New Guardians #1
• The Guild: Clara #1
• Justice League Dark #1
• Legion of Super-Heroes (2011) #1
• Nightwing (2011) #1
• The Red Wing #3
• Star Trek (2011) #1
• Supergirl (2011) #1
• Superman (2011) #1
• Teen Titans (2011) #1
• Voodoo (2011) #1
• Witch Doctor #3
• X-Men: Schism #4