Young Justice (2011 Series) #10

June 5, 2012

Title: Hot Case

Writer: Kevin Hopps, Greg Weisman
Pencils: Christopher A. Jones
Inks: Dan Davis
Letters: Dezi Sienty
Colors: Zac Atkinson
Cover Art: Christopher Jones & Carrie Strachan
Editor: Jim Chadwick
Publisher: DC Comics

Last issue, as the Young Justice kids got a little antsy with their lessons in espionage, Captain Atom decided to give them a practical assignment: prove the innocence of late Air Force officer Nathanial Adam, convicted of murder during the Vietnam era. This issue, the kids have tracked down some of the people involved in the case, only to find them being murdered one at a time. As they face a foe with a sword that can cut even Superboy, the team has to wonder just what they’ve stumbled into.

This has been a strong two-parter. It’s nice to see the team sent out on a different sort of case, a chance for Robin’s detective skills and Miss Martian’s stealth abilities to really come into play. The story is hurt slightly with familiarity – there’s a reveal at the end that isn’t a reveal at all if you’re familiar with the characters in the comic books, and probably isn’t that big a shock even if you have no idea who Captain Atom is and never read a story with him in it before. Building it like a mystery feels a little anti-climactic.

Christopher Jones does a good job of keeping the characters on-model with the TV show while, at the same time, providing strong, dynamic pages that hold up compared to any other superhero comic on the market. This book exists in-between episodes of the cartoon show, but the creators have done a good job of telling original stories that explore the characters without feeling like they’re just marking time until the next episode begins.

Rating: 8/10

JLA Classified #5

March 19, 2005

Quick Rating: Great
Title: Yadda Yadda Yadda Yadda (I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League Part Two)

The Superbuddies make nice with their new neighbor… and one of them makes a big mistake.

Writers: Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
Pencils: Kevin Maguire
Inks: Joe Rubinstein
Colors: David Baron
Letters: Bob Lappan
Editor: Steve Wacker & Michael Carlin
Cover Art: Kevin Maguire
Publisher: DC Comics

The return of the Superbuddies continues unabated! God help us all.

Guy Gardner, opening a new bar next door, meets with his former teammates about this new enterprise. In inimitable Guy fashion, he takes an opportunity to put moves on the young and innocent… in this case, Mary Marvel. Meanwhile, Mary gets into a fight with her brother, Captain Marvel, about her sharing an apartment with Fire, Ralph continues to suffer from the misapprehension that Sue is pregnant, Maxwell Lord sends Blue Beetle to try to lure Power Girl back to the team, and in an act of unrivaled foolishness, Booster Gold goes exploring.

I must say, I think this issue is a step up even from last issue, which I thought was pretty darn good. There’s some genuine character development here for Guy (of all people), and while there are some moments where Mary goes so far into the “sweet and innocent” routine as to become a caricature of herself, the writers come back and show real toughness out of her to balance it out. People wondering what happened to Captain Atom will get an answer this issue, and the dialogue is as crisp, funny and perfectly paced as ever.

Kevin Maguire and Joe Rubinstein come back for more of their stellar artwork. There isn’t much action in this issue, but that’s fine – it’s predominantly a comedy and doesn’t need a lot of punching and explosions (although there’s plenty of promise of that sort of thing coming up in this story arc). It isn’t easy to time a joke just right in a comic book, but he handles it with all of the skill and wit that he ever has. And how could you write even a paragraph about the artwork in this book without commenting about Maguire’s skill at facial expressions? He may well be the best face artist in superhero comics.

I loved the classic Justice League with this art team, I loved the Formerly Known As miniseries, and I’m loving this arc as well. This is a real winner.

Rating: 9/10

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

Booster Gold (2007 Series) #45

June 18, 2011

Title: Turbulence Part Two (A Flashpoint tie-in)

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Art: Dan Jurgens
Finished Art: Norm Rapmund
Colorist: Hi-Fi Designs
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Cover: Dan Jurgens
Editor: Rex Ogle                 
Publisher: DC Comics

Trapped in the world of Flashpoint, Booster Gold has been mistaken for an Atlanean invader. The military sends its greatest weapon out to take him in – the beast called Doomsday, controlled by the mind of General Nathaniel Adam.

Once again, Booster Gold is giving us out best look at the world of Flashpoint outside of the main series itself. Booster being the only person we know of besides Barry who remembers the real Earth, we get a good look at just how things have changed. The Doomsday/Captain Atom mixture is particularly interesting, and particularly harrowing for Booster, who now finds himself fighting his friend in the mind of a creature that nearly killed him once before. Booster also finds an interesting new ally this issue, one with a secret of her own.

Dan Jurgens, as always, owns this character. He writes and draws the most classic, heroic depiction of the character that anybody ever has, and uses his art to really tell the story, not just look pretty. Although I’m sad this title will come to an end during the DC Relaunch, I’m really happy that Jurgens will keep Booster in his stewardship in the new Justice League International title. With any luck, he’ll even be able to pick up some of the threads this title will leave hanging.

Rating: 8/10

Justice League: Generation Lost #21

March 16, 2011

Title: The Dark of Morning’s Light

Writer: Judd Winick
Pencils: Fernando Dagnino
Inks: Raul Fernandez
Colorist: Hi-FI
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover: Dustin Ngyuen
Editor: Rex Ogle & Brian Cunningham
Publisher: DC Comics

Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle, lies dead on a slab. As Booster Gold mourns the young hero – the second Blue Beetle to fall in recent memory, the rest of the team tries to pull it all together.

This issue the title went from solid to fantastic. Aside from a few very powerful scenes of Booster by Jaime’s side, we see the rest of the team struggling with recent events as well. Captain Atom, the man who the world believes is responsible for Magog’s death and the deaths of over 1000 people in a blast in Chicago, sits brooding over the course his life has taken, and Ice has to try to snap him out of it. Of particular surprise, Fire and Rocket Red share a tender moment that shakes things up in a very unexpected but surprisingly welcome fashion. This all rolls into a final sequence where one of our heroes faces a destiny that, in hindsight, has been coming since this series started, and one hell of a last issue that – I admit it – made me cheer.

Fernando Dagnino gives us good interior art – he tells the story and he backs raw feeling into the characters. Gavril, half-in and half-out of his armor, looks a little weird, but that’s not a really big problem. And the cover, by Dustin Nguyen, is the sort of thing that grabs you from the comic book shelf and demands you open the issue and read on.

In the past, Judd Winick’s superhero comics have had a tendency to peter out at the end. This book not only isn’t falling victim to that, it’s ramping up. It’s getting better. If the final three issues of this title live up to the last few, when it’s over Generation Lost may well stand as the greatest mainstream work the creator has ever done.

Rating: 9/10

Justice League: Generation Lost #11

December 7, 2010

Title: Heavy Metal Poisoning

Writer: Judd Winick
Pencils: Aaron Lopresti
Inks: Matt Ryan
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover: Cliff Chiang
Editors: Rex Ogle & Brian Cunningham
Publisher: DC Comics

Max Lord has tapped into the brains of the robotic Metal Men and set them against our makeshift Justice League, using them to keep our heroes busy as he carries out his own insidious schemes. Most of this issue is taken up by the battle between the two groups of heroes, and while that sort of thing often feels a little forced, here it works okay thanks to the whole reprogramming conceit. The different worldview Max forces into the Metal Men’s minds gives the book a nice added dimension that makes the fight a good bit more exciting as well.

I really like how the relationship between Booster Gold and the Blue Beetle is progressing. While the former Beetle, Ted Kord, was of course Booster’s best friend, the mentor/protégé dynamic between the two of them is working well. The two especially work in contrast with Captain Atom, who doesn’t quite have the respect for the two of them that he really should, but at the same time, he knows he needs whatever soldiers he can get.

The ending of this issue is interesting – it sets up a real conflict between Fire and Ice, without forcing the issue too much. Having read past this point (sorry the review is a bit tardy), we know that the setup is leading into a rather unnecessary retcon of Ice’s origins, and that rather weakens the story as a whole, but taken on its own the way they come together works.

Aaron Lopresti is one of the best artists never to get that “superstar” status. I love his depiction of the (sort of) human Metal Men. Design-wise, the book continues to inch towards Kingdom Come, even using the amalgam Metal Men creation that was featured in this story. Again, the next few issues go a long way to turn away from this potential future, but it’s fun to see the design regardless.

Good, action-packed issue.

Rating: 8/10

Justice League: Generation Lost #6

August 1, 2010

Title: Splitting the Atom

Writer: Judd Winick
Breakdowns: Keith Giffen
Penciler: Fernando Dagnino
Inker: Raul Fernandez
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover: Cliff Chiang
Editors: Ogle, Siglain & Cunningham
Publisher: DC Comics

Captain Atom got caught in an explosion last issue, which has a tendency to cause him to bounce around through time. This issue, we see what happened to him during that time he was lost, beginning with waking up on a rural farm in an era without any modern conveniences and where nobody recognizes the man with the metal skin as a superhero. What he discovers in this other time, though, turns out to be of crucial importance to what’s going on in the present day.

Judd Winick is doing a really good job with this title. The spotlight on Captain Atom is pretty solid, but the way he pulls off the reveals in this issue are just fantastic. This issue sets up the rest of the series very well. We’ve never had any doubt that Maxwell Lord was a bad guy, but this issue really drives home just how vital it is that this makeshift Justice League stop him from doing… well… whatever it is he’s doing. Winick also does a nice job of picking apart Captain Atom’s consciousness, delving into who he is and what’s going on beneath that shiny shell of his.

I’m not sure when Keith Giffen migrated from being co-writer of this book to doing the breakdowns, but the transition was smooth and the artwork remains solid. Giffen is really one of the all-time great layout artists, and the team of Fernando Dagnino and Raul Fernandez do very nice work, laying their own art over his blueprints. The book is sharp-looking and handles the different characters and eras very well.

This book has been quite a surprise – it’s not just good, it’s very good, and it’s been consistently good. Let’s just hope that it can keep this up for the next 20 issues.

Rating: 8/10

Formerly Known as the Justice League #5

November 2, 2003

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: The Wrath of Manga Khan

Captain Atom is in critical condition as the rest of the team faces the weirdest alien invasion of all.

Writers: Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
Pencils: Kevin Maguire
Inks: Joe Rubinstein
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Bob Lappan
Editor: Stephen Wacker & Dan Raspler
Cover Art: Kevin Maguire, Joe Rubinstein & Lee Loughridge
Publisher: DC Comics

Review: This series, for five months now, has proven that sometimes you can go home again. The Giffen/DeMatteis era of the Justice League was a great ride and a welcome departure from the grim, depressing, “gritty” comics that dominated the industry at the time. This return to form has been absolutely beautiful.

Over the last few issues the “Superbuddies” were kidnapped, brainwashed and sent into the arena with each other, where Mary Marvel beat Captain Atom within an inch of his life (reminding us that, even though this series is mostly lighthearted, we’re still dealing with some extraordinarily powerful individuals and, therefore, the potential for danger is always there). As some of the team tries to get him competent medical attention, the rest take to the skies where a massive alien spacecraft has arrived with one of their oldest and funniest foes – along with an ex-teammate that I’m sure many Green Lantern readers hoped never to see again, but that frankly, I’ve kind of missed.

This is a wonderfully funny title. The dialogue between Maxwell Lord and L-Ron comes across like a comic book version of Abbott and Costello, and even watching the Blue Beetle’s frantic effort to find scientists who can help the nuclear-powered Captain Atom cracked me up.

Maguire is a woefully underrated artist, possibly because he doesn’t do the massive overly-detailed scenes or shots of women spilling out of their costumes that a lot of artists make their names with these days, but he’s a good, solid storyteller and nobody, repeat, nobody drawing comic books today is better at drawing facial expressions. You can tell more story with one glance at Maguire’s Blue Beetle faces than you can in pages of even the best dialogue.

The real downside to this title? Next issue is the last one. Thankfully, DC has already announced a sequel for next year. I’m there.

Rating: 8/10