The Collected Dork Tower Vol. 3: Heart of Dorkness

July 9, 2005

Story and Art: John Kovalic
Publisher: Dork Storm Press

John Kovalic’s “Dork Tower” series, since I discovered it a few years ago, has been one of the best treats I’ve enjoyed as a comic book reader. It’s the story of Matt, Igor, Ken and Carson — four average gaming geeks (average except that Carson happens to be a muskrat) who walk a balance between existing in the real world and escaping to a game world.

This volume, third in the series, offers some of the best plot advancement yet. For some time now Kovalic has danced around the fact that Matt and Gilly the Perky Goth would be kindred spirits if they ever actually met. In this book, he finally gives us that meeting — with a monkeywrench thrown in. Matt meets Gilly, all right… right after he gets back together with his game-hating, geek-intolerant ex-girlfriend.

“Dork Tower” is one of the few series that really makes you feel for the characters without ever resorting to sappy moments or losing the fact that it’s a comedy first. We want Matt and Gilly to get together, but the obstacles in their way are so funny we don’t want them to stop. Every page of this book is packed with laughs. I can’t imagine anyone not loving this book. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — if Charles Schulz had played “Dungeons and Dragons,” the result would have been “Dork Tower.”

Rating: 8/10

JLA #100

June 29, 2004

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Elitism

The Elite is back… and the world is theirs!

Writer: Joe Kelly
Pencils: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Tom Nguyen
Colors: David Baron
Letters: Ken Lopez
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover Art: Doug Mahnke, Tom Nguyen & David Baron
Publisher: DC Comics

Okay, credit where credit is due – I was fully prepared for Joe Kelly’s origin story of the new “Justice League Elite” to go in one direction that I was prepared to thoroughly dislike, and he didn’t. He actually came up with a fairly reasonable origin story for the new team, an explanation of how it could get Justice League sanctioning and a decent launching point for the miniseries.

The Elite, a team of bloodthirsty anti-heroes, is re-formed by Vera Black (sister of their deceased former leader), with an ultimatum – the governments of the world must turn power over to them, because clearly, humans aren’t fit to govern themselves. This, naturally, sends the Justice League to the battlefield for a brutal fight sequence that turns out to be much more than it seems.

Kelly seems to want this new Justice League Elite to be a conspiracy theory superhero story, but the conspiracy he sets up in this issue is really trite and the conclusion of it is naïve at best, unrealistic at worst, and hard to swallow in any case.

Doug Manhke’s artwork is fine, and well-suited to the sort of story Kelly is telling here. He does good action, and the literally gargantuan battle scene that climaxes the issue looks extremely well-done… it’s the story itself that falls flat.

In truth, I’m probably being more charitable to this issue than I should be, but that’s because I expected it to be much worse than it actually was. It’s still not a great JLA story, not one that justifies placement in the 100th issue of this title. All these years later, I can’t help but look back at the first issue of Grant Morrison’s JLA where he brought the title back to its roots… brought in the “Magnificent Seven…” gave us good old-fashioned superhero action and showed why these characters are worthy of being known as the greatest superheroes not just in this world, but in any world.

Then I see this issue, which postulates that the JLA is out of date and old fashioned and not good enough, and it makes me think two things:

1. This is the same guy who wrote the brilliant “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way?” in Action Comics #775?

2. (Sigh.) How the mighty (no, that’s the Avengers) – how the magnificent have fallen.

Rating: 6/10

Nova (2007 Series) #2

May 6, 2007

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Alienation (An Initiative tie-in)
Rating: T+

Richard Rider returns home to find a very different world than the one he left.

Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pencils: Sean Chen
Inks: Scott Hanna
Colors: Guru eFX
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: Bill Rosemann
Cover Art: Adi Granov
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Here’s a novelty for you, friends – an Initiative tie-in issue that actually has something to do with The Initiative. Hoping a little R&R on Earth will help him recover from the stress of the Annihilation War, Nova returns home… only to find that his friends have been killed and the world’s superheroes have been torn apart by a Civil War.

Abnett and Lanning do quite a good job tying together Marvel’s two recent events here. Nova has come home intending to warn Earth’s heroes about the Annihilation Wave, only to learn that things on Earth are just as bad. The reunion with one of his few remaining friends is great, and his interaction with his family is handled wonderfully. And although Marvel seems to have gone out of their way to turn most of their audience into Iron Man haters, the logic behind the proposal he makes to Rich this issue is perfectly sound. (That’s right, guys – those gearing up for an Iron Man/Nova fight based on the cover will be somewhat disappointed.)

The artwork by Sean Chen and Scott Hanna is really good too. I’m still not a huge fan of Nova’s new costume – the spikes and weird helmet shape make it a little too busy in my opinion – but they draw it very well, and everything else looks great too.

The original Nova series was before my time. I tried both attempts at giving him his own ongoing in the 90s, and quickly dropped both. I think I’m safe in saying, just two issues in, this is probably the best solo title Nova has ever had. In fact, at present, I’d say it’s one of the best books Marvel is publishing.

Rating: 8/10