Captain America (2005 Series) #7

June 24, 2005

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: The Lonesome Death of Jack Monroe

How did Nomad spend his last days?

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Art: John Paul Leon
Colors: Frank D’Armata
Letters: Randy Gentile
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Steve Epting
Publisher: Marvel Comics

This issue Ed Brubaker steps back from the ongoing Captain America storyline to fill in the last year in the life of Nomad, who was shot dead a few issues ago. A year ago, he got some terrible news – the tainted version of the super-soldier serum that he was treated with is breaking down, and the other things that have happened to him over the years are taking their toll. He’s sick… dying, and his death is liable to be a painful one, liable to drive him mad in the process. He decides to spend his remaining days finding his adopted daughter, now a first grader with a new life of her own.

This is a really heartbreakingly sad issue, as we follow Nomad, a broken man, marching through his last days, the reader knowing all along how the issue is going to end. Brubaker also takes advantage of the interlude to fill in the reader on his origin and fill in some of the blanks of his first six issues. What’s intriguing here is that every instant of the last year isn’t accounted for – there are significant gaps, which give the reader reason to suspect (or, in my case, desperately hope) there are hints here that suggest that the big “revelation” of last issue isn’t all it seems.

Even if you aren’t really familiar with Jack, Brubaker gives you what you need to understand who he is (was?), where he’s coming from and what is happening to him. It’s a portrait of a man disintegrating before our eyes, and for people who’ve been fans of the character in the past, it hurts. Even for neophytes, you begin to empathize and feel for him.

John Paul Leon pinch-hits for the regular artists this issue, and I’m sorry to say he’s not really up to snuff. While the layouts and composition are okay, artwork looks uniformly flat. The pages are inked too heavily, and even the sharp colors of Frank D’Armata don’t help out. The cover, by regular artist Steve Epting, is a different story – it’s a great piece, one suitable for framing.

Is this the real end of Jack Monroe? Hey, it’s comic books – especially after last issue, never say never. But if it is, it’s really a shattering note to end on… and I mean that as a compliment. Very well done.

Rating: 9/10

Birds of Prey (2010 Series) #10

March 18, 2011

Title: The Death of Oracle Conclusion: The Gristle and the Ghostly

Writer: Gail Simone
Art: Inaki Miranda
Colorist: Nei Ruffino
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover: Stanley “Artgerm” Lau
Editor: Janelle Siegel
Publisher: DC Comics

The Calculator has struck, capturing Huntress, Lady Blackhawk, and Dove, and launching what he believes to have been a fatal attack on Oracle. But Barbara Gordon is still kicking, still on the attack, and ready to change her entire world to save her friends.

I hope it’s not too big a spoiler to say that Babs doesn’t actually die in this issue (you would have heard the internet exploding), but Gail Simone does something very interesting. She’s addressed a problem I don’t think most of the readers really even noticed. Oracle, by becoming the 911 operator for the entire DCU, has kind of drifted away from the original concept of the character. She’s found an intriguing way here to get that particular genie back into the bottle, one that will have repercussions for the whole DC Universe, without having to resort to any sort of massive restructuring of the characters or continuity shoehorn. It’s simple, it works, and it changes the status quo of this title just enough to be interesting without changing what makes it tick. Brilliant.

Inaki Miranda is a new name to me – the artwork here is really just okay. The story is told cleanly and without any really confusing segments, but some of the generic henchmen look way too much like a certain mercenary from a certain other publisher, and when the Batman family makes their appearance at the end the look is a little off. Some of them – Dick Grayson in particular – look a bit too sharp, too angular. There’s a beautiful cover by Stanley Lau that helps boost the art score, though.

Great issue, hurt only by so-so artwork.

Rating: 9/10

Futurama Comics #42

April 11, 2009
Futurama Comics #42 (Bongo Comics)
By Patric C.W. Verrone & James Lloyd

There’s been a rash of theft and vandalism around Planet Express, and for once, Bender isn’t responsible. The theft of Fry’s late dog, Seymour, leads the crew to a planet of Canines who have come to worship the petrified pup as their god… and God is telling them to invade the planet Earth. This is an okay issue. The story is pretty good, the sort of thing you could easily imagine being done on the TV show. Verrone‘s script is extremely pun-heavy, which starts out funny, but kind of wears thin by the end. I’m a big fan of really bad puns, don’t misunderstand, but there’s such a thing as moderation. Lloyd‘s art is strong, on-model, and full of nice little visual gags, especially the two-page spread that shows the humans being dominated by the Canines. An improvement over last issue, but I’ve seen better.
Rating: 7/10