Archie #621

June 1, 2011

Title: The Lost Land Part One

Writer: Tom DeFalco
Pencils: Fernando Ruiz
Inks: Rich Koslowski
Colorist: Digikore Studios
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Editor: Victor Gorelick     
Publisher: Archie Comics

Mr. Lodge takes Veronica and her friends off to an Archeological Expedition on their summer vacation. While this isn’t exactly the sort of summer vacation they had planned, the crew quickly learns to make the best of it, as Jughead finds the catering table and Archie finds the young college lasses working on the dig. Dilton, of course, is ever the scientist, and soon makes a discovery that tosses everything into upheaval.

Interesting issue. Tom DeFalco really does have the voices of these characters down, and he plays with their vices just as you would expect. The whole “lost land” concept isn’t original at all, but that’s okay. Archie adventure stories have never really been about breaking new ground, but about giving an Archie twist to an established story type. The book has moments of excitement mixed in with the comedy, and that’s all good. The new character Raj is fun, and works with the rest of the gang. It does seem a little pandering, though, to find a “lost tribe” in the center of the Earth that happens to be perfectly ethnically diverse. Come on, guys, I know there’s a mandate to make the world of Archie more multicultural, and that’s all well and good, but this just strains credulity too much.

Despite that, it’s a fun issue, and I very much like Archie’s new cover treatment. It’s a classic look that works for the characters – giving an old-school flavor to the book while still allowing room for modern art on the covers. Nice.

Rating: 7/10

Recent Reviews: June 8 Releases

As you may or may not know, in addition to the tons of reviews I post here at the Back Issue Bin, I also write reviews of new comics over at CX Pulp.com. I thought I would start making it a habit to link BIB readers over to those other recent reviews on Tuesdays… y’know… when I remember. And have time. And feel like it.

Anyhoo, here are the comics released on June 8 that I’ve reviewed over at CX. These links (as well as all of my CX reviews) can be found right here on the archive page as well.

• Doctor Who: A Fairytale Life #3
• Donald Duck #367
• Echo #30
• Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #1
• Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #1
• Green Lantern Movie Prequel: Kilowog #1
• Green Lantern Movie Prequel: Tomar-Re #1
• Love and Capes: Ever After #5
• Morning Glories #10
• Space Warped #1
• Supergirl #64

Green Lantern: Rebirth #2

December 5, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Enemies Within

As the powers of the few remaining Green Lantern go haywire, the Justice League prepares to have words with Hal Jordan.

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Ethan Van Sciver
Inks: Prentis Rollins
Colors: Moose Baumann
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: Ethan Van Sciver
Publisher: DC Comics

Before I get into the review proper, I should disclose that I’m one of the voices that wasn’t too happy about this project. I like Kyle Rayner. I think he’s earned his place as a Green Lantern and I feel like DC capitulated to a vocal minority by backtracking this way.

That said – man, if you’re going to bring back Hal Jordan, this is the way to do it.

A wounded Kyle Rayner lies in the desert, his spaceship in wreckage, with a mysterious, but very valuable cargo. Meanwhile Hal has come back to see his old girlfriend, Carol Ferris, who has moved on with her life in Hal’s absence. Elsewhere, virtually everyone who has ever wielded the power of a Green Lantern is suffering odd symptoms – John Stewart’s control is eroding, Alan Scott is weakening and Guy Gardner is on the verge of death. And somehow, this all spirals back to the different aspects of Hal Jordan.

Geoff Johns is the man for this project without a doubt. As he proves every month in Flash, JSA and Teen Titans, there are few if any writers who can pull together continuity and weave an exciting, engrossing tale the way that he can, and he puts all of his skills to work on this issue.

Ethan Van Sciver has been considered an “up and coming” artist for some time – with this series I think it’s safe to say he has arrived. Every character in the book is spot-on perfect, with great action and some really beautiful high-energy pieces that seem to reply on good classic art instead of computer tricks the way a lot of comics do these days.

A lot of people were dying for Hal’s return. I was not one of them. But since it is an inevitability, I have to admit, this is about the best way to bring him back one could hope for.

Rating: 8/10

Wolverine: Origins #13

April 10, 2007

Quick Rating: Below Average
Title: Swift and Terrible Part Three
Rating: Parental Advisory

Logan finally faces his son.

Writer: Daniel Way
Art: Steve Dillon
Colors: Matt Milla
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: Axel Alonso
Cover Art: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Marvel Comics

After setting up a ridiculously over-the-top distraction, Wolverine breaks into the vault that he believes holds Black Widow’s stash of C-Synth, the element which can be refined into the power-negating Carbonadium. What he didn’t know, though, is that Daken has set his sights on the same prize.

The centerpiece of this issue is the long-awaited and entirely lackluster battle between Wolverine and Daken. As he’s been doing since he introduced the character, Way tries really hard to convince the writer that Daken is a character to be reckoned with instead of just a plot device. He even goes so far as to add new claws in completely improbable areas (hey, it worked with X-23, I guess) to amp up the “cool factor.” The result is a story that feels like one of those tales that gets conceived in a comic shop, when someone says, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” Unfortunately, in the comic shop there’s usually someone to say, “No, it wouldn’t.”

Steve Dillon continues to do competent work on a misplaced book. His style is ok, it’s always good. It’s just completely wrong for this book.

There isn’t much else to say here – this series, frankly, is totally superfluous, and not even entertaining to make up for it. How long can they keep this up?

Rating: 4/10