Green Lantern (2005 Series) #56

August 1, 2010

Title: The New Guardians Part Four

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Doug Mahnke
Inker: Christian Alamy, Tom Nguyen, Keith Champagne & Doug Mahnke
Colorist: Randy Mayor, Gabe Eltreb & Carrie Strachan
Letterer: Nick J. Napolitano
Cover: Doug Mahnke & Hi-Fi
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Publisher: DC Comics

Hector Hammond has always been one of those villains who drifts closer to the pathetic side of the spectrum than the really dangerous. Okay, so he’s a really powerful telepath, but he’s also a runt with a ginormously disfigured head, making it kind of hard to take him seriously as a threat. Fortunately for him, one of the things that Geoff Johns has always proven himself great at is taking loser villains and turning them into people to be feared.

This issue Hal Jordan goes in search of Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern, to find out how he managed to trap the Orange Entity inside his power battery. Some of the other Entities that embody the various Corps have been cut loose on Earth (or so Hal thinks) and he needs to track them down. Hal doesn’t know the Entities  have actually been taken prisoner by a mysterious figure who’s been having a conversation with Hector, and is helping him to really cut loose.

At the risk of an obvious pun, in this issue Johns really does run the entire emotional spectrum. We look into Hammond’s mind to discover what it is he really wants (which really isn’t much of a surprise, and in and of itself is a little sad), we shift to the scenes with Larfleeze – a character who never fails to bring the funny – and then we bounce into a final sequence that actually pulls out some genuinely scary moments. There’s a little hope in here as well, with Saint Walker finishing the mission he’s been on since Blackest Night ended, and giving him a really good scene with the Question. Although this issue has a lot of action and a lot of plot advancement, pretty much all of it is built on character, on who these people are, and most importantly, on what exactly they want.

Doug Mahnke’s art is perfectly suited for this issue, giving us some nice alien creatures, some Earthbound monsters, and some good character on the faces of our heroes and villains. The color and ink teams that work on this book deserve a lot of credit too – the artwork looks pretty consistent despite the fact that there are four different inkers at work, and the colors have really never been as important to this title as they are now.

This story feels kind of removed from what’s going on in the core Brightest Day title, but it’s telling a very solid story in its own right.

Rating: 8/10

JLA-Z #3

November 23, 2003

Quick Rating: Below Average

Profiles and pin-ups of JLA members, friends and enemies from the Martian Manhunter to Zatanna.

Writer: Mike McAvenie
Aritsts: Too numerous to list
Colors: Tom McCraw & Wildstorm FX
Editor: Ivan Cohen & Stephen Wacker
Cover Art: Phil Jimenez & Hi-Fi
Publisher: DC Comics

As a huge fan of the old Who’s Who and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe volumes, I was very excited when DC announced they were putting out this three-issue series as a companion piece to JLA/Avengers. My excitement is probably also the reason for my disappointment in this slim volume that’s mostly pin-up and short on information.

It’s a book of profile pages, which is exactly what I wanted, but each profile has less information than even your average Secret Files profile. How do you condense Superman’s history to one paragraph? I understand the need for brevity, but if this is meant as a primer for people reading the crossover that don’t understand the history and dynamics of the JLA, this book could have done much better. Why waste space on superfluous villains like the Weapons Master and the Royal Flush Gang? Why include a page on the Teen Titans? Even if you accept them as the next generation of heroes, as the JLA’s “farm team” if you will, why is the illustration of the Marv Wolfman/George Perez era of the team, with a little inset of the original team and nothing of the current Titans? And for Heaven’s sake, why does Hal Jordan get three profiles in this series – one as Green Lantern, one as Parallax and one as The Spectre?

The best, and almost only, reason to get this book is some of the artwork. As unnecessary as the Teen Titans profile is, Phil Jimenez does a great pin-up of the team (as well as a very nice triptych cover that I’d like to see a poster of). The same goes for Jerry Ordway’s imagining of the Weaponers of Qward. Other high points are a sneak preview of Jim Lee’s Superman, Jon Bogdanove returning to a character he co-created (and one of my favorites), Steel, Todd Nauck on the Red Tornado and Y: The Last Man’s Pia Guerra drawing Zatanna.

If you’re into this sort of book for the artwork, then it’s worth getting. If you’re hoping to pick up new information about DC’s greatest heroes, you’d be better off just asking a friend who already reads the book.

Rating: 4/10

Avengers/JLA #3

October 27, 2003

Dual Review By: Mike D’Alfonso & Blake Petit
Quick Rating: Great, Great
Story Title: Book Two: A Contest of Champions

JLA versus The Avengers – ‘Nuff Said!

Written by: Kurt Busiek
Art by: George Perez
Colored by: Tom Smith
Lettered by: Comicraft
Editors: Tom Brevoort, Dan Raspler, and Mike Carlin
Publisher: Marvel & DC Comics

With the fate of two universes in peril as a result of a cosmic gamble between Krona and the Grandmaster, The Avengers and the JLA are purposely drawn into battle amongst themselves to satisfy their whims. With both Universes at risk, will both teams realize what’s at risk? Reviewers Mike D’Alfonso and Blake Petit give their two cents on what they thought about the book.

BLAKE: Busiek and Perez’s epic crossover continues, and they’ve managed to completely shift the focus of the book from the first issue, while still throwing in all the fight scenes fans have been salivating for.

MIKE: To some extent, it is good to change the dynamic of power of some of the core participants such as The Flash and the Scarlet Witch. When The Flash enters the Marvel Universe, he loses his connection to the “Speed Force”, while Scarlet Witch’s “Hex” increases to godlike proportions in the DC Universe.

BLAKE: Which helped to balance things a bit — Quicksilver actually has a fighting chance against The Flash in his own universe, while the Scarlet Witch can hold her own against DC’s magical giants.

The Flash’s characterization in this issue also speaks to the strength of Busiek’s writing — it was spot-on. Almost all of them were, actually.

MIKE: Busiek’s interpretation sort of reminds me of how Mark Waid portrayed the character back when he wrote the character. It almost seems flawless.

BLAKE: Their styles are quite similar, you’re right.

Yet another reason I’d like to see Busiek writing some of the DC icons on a regular basis.

MIKE: Another point that needs mentioning is the focal point to this debacle. I think the whole cosmic melee scenario has been used a lot of late as the main catalyst to any conflict. It seems a little played out.

BLAKE: Perhaps, but with an event of this scale, something of such danger that you need both the Avengers and the Justice League, a cosmic-level threat is really the only thing big enough. Otherwise it would just seem like overkill.

MIKE: I suppose that is true in some instances, but I just don’t really like the scavenger hunt angle that much.

BLAKE: I can understand that, but I think this issue proves that the scavenger hunt is just a small part of the story. There’s a lot more going on, which boils down to a couple of great villains.

I must confess, I’m really glad to see Krona, one of my favorite old-school Green Lantern villains, getting used to such a great end in this book.

MIKE: In a way that is most appropriate considering the fact that he almost destroyed the DC Universe.

Grandmaster works as a great antagonist as well, and it’s kind of ironic that he acts as a protagonist as well.

BLAKE: That’s true — much of the action comes down to him.

Of course, there are a lot of good character moments as well — the scene with Captain America in the Bat Cave, for instance. Busiek draws on the parallel pasts of the characters to show how these heroes, even though they are a world a part, are in many ways bonded.

MIKE: Their methods of fighting crime may differ from one another; however, they both want to assure that they can safeguard mankind in anyway they can.

The parallel is similar to Superman and Batman.

BLAKE: Naturally, it is the two most clear-headed members of the teams that realize this while the others deliver the slugfests that so many of us paid the admission for.

MIKE: Which brings us to the art aspect of the book.

BLAKE: Yes — Perez, as we’ve said before, is the perfect choice to draw all of these characters, but he also draws some spectacular fight sequences as well, tracing locales all over both universes and nearly every living hero that’s ever been a member of either team.

Including three Fantastic Four members — a nice nod from Busiek.

MIKE: Well they were part of the team in one form or another over the years.

BLAKE: Except for the Human Torch.

Energy effects, magic, reflective surfaces, a beautiful fight in the rain — Perez gets to draw more varied kinds of scenes than I think I’ve ever seen in a single comic before.

MIKE: Yeah I would have to agree. Bar none he is quite adept to using visual effects to enhance the quality of any book he is involved in.

The one background that totally blew me away was the Grandmaster’s headquarters. This would totally give the readers an idea of what is at stake for the two teams.

BLAKE: Indeed — it makes you wonder exactly what his scheme is and how long he’s been scheming it. I think I even saw a few Vertigo artifacts in there.

MIKE: The one disturbing visual that stood in my mind was the “Infinity Gauntlet” in the hands of Darkseid. I truly believe that if he held on to it long enough and came over to the Marvel Universe, he would do what Thanos could not: destroy the entire galaxy and remake it in his image.

BLAKE: That was absolutely chilling. Even the Marvel characters recognized it — Hawkeye had a great line there.

And of course, the cosmic battle across the last few pages nearly seared the pages with the amount of energy Perez was throwing around. The scope of the threat is really made clear in this book.

MIKE: It just goes to show you that he is not limited by the restrictions that hinder a lot of artists in this field. Perez shows the readers that such restrictions should not hinder any artist at their chosen craft.

BLAKE: Yeah — there is no doubt that this is an artist who is deservedly an inspiration towards the current generation.

He’s been doing it longer than most people still in the game, and he’s still better than most of them too.

MIKE: All in all, the event that every fan has dreamed of is made into reality. With heart stopping action and superbly written dialogue and characterization, Avengers/JLA has everything in this book that people will not soon forget. However, as I’ve said before, the whole cosmic angle is good catalyst, but it has been too much of a theme for most of the books that are written today.

BLAKE: I think the cosmic angle is a necessary evil, and I think the strengths more than make up for it.

Mike’s Rating: 8/10

Blake’s Rating: 8/10

Sandman: Endless Nights Original Graphic Novel

November 13, 2003

Quick Rating: Excellent

Seven tale of the Endless from the most imaginative voice in comic books.

Writer: Neil Gaiman
Art (Chapter 1): P. Craig Russell
Colors (Chapter 1): Lovern Kindzierski
Art (Chapter 2): Milo Manara
Art (Chapter 3): Miguelanxo Prado
Art (Chapter 4): Barron Storey & Dave McKean (Designer)
Art (Chapter 5): Bill Sienkiewicz
Art (Chapter 6): Glenn Fabry
Colors (Chapter 6): Chris Chuckry
Art (Chapter 7): Frank Quitely
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Shelly Bond
Cover Art: Dave McKean
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

Neil Gaiman put his Sandman quill away after 75 issues about seven years ago. Since then, others have occasionally told stories of the Dreaming and the Endless, and some of them (especially Fables creator Bill Willingham) were rather good at it. But none of them had the same fantastic feel of Gaiman.

Now he’s back with seven new short stories about the Endless, all of which combine to make one incredible hardcover that is bound to be a favorite when people start handing out awards next year. In each of these he teamed up with a really fantastic artist, most of whom he never worked with before, and turned out a volume that any Sandman fan simply has to read.

Chapter 1, “Death and Venice,” is the Death story in this collection, and like so many of the best Sandman tales, the Endless play only a small role directly. An aristocrat has discovered a way to cheat time by reliving the same day over and over again (kind of a version of Groundhog Day by way of Gaiman instead of Bill Murray). The Count can die every day with no consequences, because he will wake up the next day and live the day all over again, so in cheating time, he is also cheating Death. And nobody can cheat Death forever.

Russell does a great job with this story, switching from a looser, more iconic style on the island to a much grittier style for the modern-day scenes. This is one of my favorite stories in the collection.

Chapter 2, “What I’ve Tasted of Desire,” is the tale of the androgynous member of the Endless who plies his/her talents for a farm girl in love with a Nordic warrior. This story, as short as it is, manages to keep an almost perfect three-act structure – the longing, the pursuit and the girl’s life thereafter. It was brilliant to have this story drawn by Milo Manara, famous in Europe for his exquisite adult-themed graphic novels. Manara creates some of the most striking, sensual women ever to grace a comic book page, and the marriage of his artwork to Gaiman’s words is flawless.

Chapter 3, “The Heart of a Star,” is the tale of the titular Sandman, but is also the only story in the collection to show all of the Endless together. Eons ago, long before life began on Earth, a gathering of the immortals was held, a gathering of the cosmic beings, the gods. Dream of the Endless was there with his lover, Killalla of the planet Oa. The tale is told mostly through Killalla’s eyes as she meets each of the Endless, including the earlier incarnation of Delirium, when she was still known as Delight. If ever there is any question of Sandman’s place in the DC Universe, this should dispel it. In this tale we see not only the groundwork for much of the Sandman epic, but also the beginning of ripples that would one day touch mainstream titles like Green Lantern and Superman.

Prado’s artwork is beautiful, with a elegant, fanciful quality that is perfect for this marriage of science fiction and fantasy storytelling. He is also good with expression, often telling as much of the story in facial features as Gaiman does through dialogue.

Chapter 4, “Fifteen Portraits of Despair,” is probably my least favorite of the seven tales, although that’s mostly because it just isn’t the sort of artwork I prefer. Rather than a coherent story, this is more like 15 assorted vignettes of the lost, the despondent, the hopeless, as different beings reach the point of ultimate agony in their own broken lives. Dark and disturbing, with harsh artwork both beautiful and terrible by Barron Storey, this chapter is difficult to read, but only because of how well it is done.

Chapter 5 is “Going Inside,” the story of Delirium. She has gone missing, and a group of people that belong to her realm – a homeless man, a delusional girl, several others, begin to feel a pull towards a place that may lead to her freedom. This is the first tale in the collection to take place, chronologically, after the run of the regular Sandman series, and is the only one to feature Daniel, the son of Dream. The a sequence that works very well. Bill Sienkiewicz was the perfect choice for this chapter – he has a scattered, almost mad style that matches the mindset of the main character and those that are called to her aid.

Chapter 6, “On the Peninsula,” is Destruction’s tale, and takes place right after Chapter 5. A group of archeologists have found a monolith off the coast of Sardinia, full of artifacts that could not have come from any culture on Earth – at least, not in Earth’s past. The scientists meet a tall, powerful man and his young, disturbed sister, who seem to know a great deal more about the monolith than they should. This is an interesting tale that delves into the member of the Endless we have seen least frequently over the years… and who ironically, often seems like the most human of them all. Fabry’s artwork is always good – strong, clean, and serving the story first and foremost.

Chapter 7, “Endless Nights,” is a quick portrait of Destiny that includes some of the greatest artwork of Frank Quietly’s career. The best way to describe this tale is as “A Day in the Life of Destiny.” There is no real conflict, nor any resolution… there is only the slow, plodding trek of a being whose own destiny is to follow the destiny of all.

People hoping to find, in this book, a new epic adventure or fantasy novel will be disappointed. What they will find instead is a series of short, wonderful tales, some better than others but all superior to many of the comics on the market today. This book is simply wonderful, and anyone who has ever found themselves wandering the paths of the Sandman will welcome this volume as a chance to briefly wander them again.

Rating: 10/10

Green Lantern #170 (1990 Series)

October 25, 2003

Quick Rating: Poor
Title: Greetings From Sector 2814

Kyle Rayner sends a message home to the friends he left on Earth, forcing Jade to decide exactly what she wants to say back.

Writer: Benjamin Raab
Pencils: Chris McLoughlin
Inks: David Roach
Colors: Moose Baumann
Letters: Kurt Hathaway
Editor: Bob Schreck
Cover Art: Ariel Olivetti
Publisher: DC Comics

In one of my favorite novels, The Princess Bride, William Goldman writes with the conceit that he is abridging another writer’s work. At one point, he “abridges” an entire chapter because nothing happened in it. The chapter was summed up as, “What with one thing or another, five years passed.”

The best way to sum up Green Lantern #170 is to say, “What with one thing or another, two weeks passed.”

Absolutely nothing happens in this issue. Lianna, the Amazonian Guardian of the Universe, comes to Earth with a message from self-exiled Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. The first half of this issue is Kyle’s message, during which he recaps everything that has happened to him in the past dozen issues or so. In the second half of the book, Kyle’s friends record their messages to him, in which they recap everything that has happened to them in the past dozen issues or so. At the end of the issue, absolutely nothing has changed. The one effort at development in the last three pages just hits the readers over the head with a point that anyone who has read the last two issues knew already.

McLoughlin’s artwork is passable, but many of the characters look way too old, particularly Jade and the Flash, whose costume was also off-model. On the plus side, we do get a beautiful cover by Ariel Olivetti, which is the only new thing in the entire issue.

Perhaps this was an effort to provide a jump-on point for new readers. Every title needs that once in a while. The trick is to do that in such a way that doesn’t make regular readers feel like they’ve blown $2.25 on 22 pages of information they already knew.

Rating: 3/10