Betty #174

By Barbara Slate, Kathleen Webb, George Gladir & Stan Goldberg

CAPSULE REVIEW

School’s out in Riverdale, and Betty and company are taking advantage of it! In the first tale this issue, Betty is down on an overcast day, and decides to boost her spirits by painting her room — but making a color choice isn’t as easy as she would have thought. It’s a cute little story, if not a spectacular one. “The Late Late Show” features a Betty whose sleeping patterns are being disrupted by staying up late reading books (do teenagers still do that?) and watching movies — something that seems unimportant, until it impacts her love life. The final story, “Weather Tether,” is the best in the issue — Archie and Betty decide to defy the overcast skies and spend the day at the beach, but when they get there, the sand is deserted. Of course, the benefits of an empty beach aren’t lost on Betty. I guess I’m just an old softie — I like stories like this one, where Betty gets to put one in the “win” column of the neverending battle for Archie’s heart. Good issue, overall.

Rating: 7/10

(2010 Note: in 2007, Comixtreme began to host shorter capsule reviews in a once-a-week column. As those, too, have been purged, they’ll be re-presented here as well.)

She-Hulk (2004 Series) #2

April 16, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Class Action Comics

The She-Hulk gets her first case at her new law firm. Her client? Danger Man!

Writer: Dan Slott
Pencils: Juan Bobillo
Inks: Marcello Sosa
Colors: Chris Chuckry
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Adi Granov
Publisher: Marvel Comics

In a highly entertaining done-in-one issue, Jennifer Walters tackles her first case at a new law firm that wants to employ her and not her world-famous alter ego, the She-Hulk. What she didn’t know when she took the job, though, is that the firm wants her to handle superhuman law, and her first client, “Danger Man,” wants to sue the Roxxon Corporation for making him “larger, stronger and more powerful.”

While the comedy in this issue isn’t in the vein of the She-Hulk’s previous series, Dan Slott has managed to maintain a “winking at the audience” feeling, with lots of inside jokes (for example, the law firm of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg and Holliway, established 1961) and tons of cameos from the likes of old villains and a certain master of the mystic arts. I didn’t expect this title to turn into a “workplace comedy,” but if this issue is any indication, that’s what we’re in for – a comedy about She-Hulk working at a law firm for superhumans. And frankly, I think that’s a very clever angle to take. Slott manages to work in all sorts of tidbits, from Jennifer invoking some of her cases with the Fantastic Four as case precedent and the fact that most Marvel Comic books, in the Marvel Universe, are legal documents admissible in any court of law. The solution to this first case has a sort of sweet touch, but doesn’t lose the comedy or the smarts that Slott brings to the table, and he actually manages to tell a whole story in just two issues (a trait most Marvel writers have lost).

Juan Bobillo and Marcelo Sosa have a very interesting style, unusual for a superhero comic. Even though the action in this title is minimal and not as important as the human interaction, the style is much softer than one normally expects in a comic book. There are fewer hard lines and shades are achieved through Chris Chuckry’s coloring with minimal pencil and ink lines, especially in faces and body structure. It’s a style that suits the book very well, however, with the only complaint being that many of Bobillo’s faces tend to look alike, particularly with women (such as in a scene with Jen and the Scarlet Witch).

With all of the Avengers-related books under scrutiny as that franchise prepares to “reload,” this I a book I really hope makes the cut. Only two issues in I am already finding myself highly entertained and eager to see what wacky stuff Slott can come up with next.

Rating: 8/10

Birds of Prey (1999 Series) #61

November 18, 2003

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Feeding the Game Part Two

Black Canary and Oracle both try to figure out Oracle’s behavior, while Huntress helps them out on another mission.

Writer: Gail Simone
Pencils: Ed Benes
Inks: Alex Lei
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Lysa Hawkins
Cover Art: Ed Benes & Alex Lei
Publisher: DC Comics

This issue really shows off why Gail Simone has become such a hot commodity in the comic book world. She writes some of the best, most human characters in spandex, and although she’s more well-known for writing comedic stories, she gets in some really good character moments in this issue as well.

Last ish, Oracle fired Black Canary from the team, citing her recent injuries and capture by Savant – she doesn’t want to put her friends in danger anymore. This of course seems a tad hypocritical for an ex-Batgirl who, once she could no longer wipe up the streets directly, started pulling strings for half the superhuman populace of the DC Universe.

Simone puts things in perfect perspective, however, playing Barbara Gordon’s behavior off of the events of last week’s issue of Nightwing to put it all in perfect context. I don’t know how much communication there is between Simone and the Nightwing writer, Devin Grayson, but they seem to be very much on the same page, and although I’m not 100 percent sold on Grayson’s book, Simone is turning Birds of Prey into one of my favorite titles on the racks.

Ed Benes continues to impress with his artwork, drawing realistic female characters that are still believable as action stars. It’s not easy to place his style – it’s somewhere between Jim Lee and Tom Grummett, but it works beautifully. Either Benes or Hi-Fi, the coloring house, does some great energy effects in the fight scene in this issue, making use of the potential behind computer coloring without making it seem like a gimmick.

This is one of the best superhero comics on the market these days, and I’m anxious to see where Simone takes it next.

Rating: 8/10

(2010 Note: Funny to think that Simone and Benes’ first run on Birds of Prey was seven years ago, huh? Boy, am I glad to have them back.)