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

Justice League International (2011 Series) #2

October 17, 2011

Title: The Signal Masters Part 2

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Pencils: Aaron Lopresti
Inks: Matt Ryan
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Aaron Lopresti & Hi-Fi
Editor: Rex Ogle
Publisher: DC Comics

The new Justice League International is having a tough first mission. While they go toe-to-toe with a ginormous robot in Peru, back in Washington DC the Hall of Justice is firebombed, robbing them of a headquarters. With Booster’s leadership in question already, the team begins to choose sides, and the future of the League is in doubt. The character conflict is really nice here. Guy Gardner leading the anti-Booster contingent is perfectly in-character for him, and this issue gives us a little bit of info as to the status of his and Ice’s relationship in the New 52 as well. Meanwhile, we see Batman and Godiva on Booster’s side, both for very different reasons of course, but for equally legitimate reasons from a character standpoint. The book, while not as slapstick as this title was in its most popular incarnation, is still mostly lighthearted and entertaining, which makes for some good light reading in the midst of a comic book landscape that too often treats fun comics as though they have no value. I really like Aaron Lopresti’s artwork – his characters look great and the giant robot is nicely menacing. This isn’t my favorite of the New 52, but I like it plenty.

Rating: 7/10

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #13

September 4, 2011

Title: 2011: A Space Oddity

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Pencils: Ron Frenz
Inks: John Dell, Marc Deering
Colorist: Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Cover Artist: Dan Panosian
Editor: Brian Cunningham
Publisher: DC Comics

DC sends off Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors with an old-fashioned locked-room mystery… in space! Guy is summoned to the International Space Station to investigate a murder that took place there, only to find Batman waiting for him. The victim was a friend of Bruce Wayne, it seems, and Batman aims to see to it he gets justice… but who among his fellow space explorers would have –could have killed him?

Guy Gardner isn’t particularly known for subtlety, and putting him in what amounts to a police procedural is actually quite entertaining. It’s a funny juxtaposition, the brutish Gardner and the cool-as-ice Batman, and Peter Tomasi even manages to throw out a callback to the most memorable moments the two characters have ever shared together.

Ron Frenz is one of those artists who looks good when combined with some inkers and not with others. John Dell and Marc Deering make him look as good as he ever has, with very rich, detailed pages that tell the story expertly without bogging things down with superfluous lines. The inks and colors compliment the art well, which is the hallmark of a good comic book artist.

It’s a nice way for Guy Gardner to go out.

Rating: 8/10

Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1

June 28, 2007

Quick Rating: Excellent
Title: The Second Rebirth

The greatest threat to the Green Lantern Corps rises!

Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Ethan Van Sciver & Dave Gibbons
Colors: Moose Baumann
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: Ethan Van Sciver
Publisher: DC Comics

For months now, a mysterious force has been going throughout the universe, recruiting beings with the ability to create great fear. In this exemplary special, the full power of the Sinestro Corps is known, and the DC Universe knows fear like never before.

While on Earth, the Justice League rounds up members of the Society to inquire about Sinestro’s whereabouts, in outer space, Kyle Rayner and a pair of fellow GLs encounter Sinestro rings spinning through the universe. The rings are only the first salvo, though, and before the book is halfway over it is clear that the Green Lantern Corps is in for perhaps the deadliest war it has ever known.

Geoff Johns does what he does best here – he pulls together disparate continuity threads to tell his story. It’s clear, reading this issue, that he has been planning this epic for a long time, as he picks up on story threads from his own Green Lantern: Rebirth, Infinite Crisis and 52, as well as several tales written by other writers (Ion, for instance), to create a story with a universal threat, but that is singularly unique to the Green Lantern titles. This is a story about fear – that’s Sinestro’s weapon. And to have any chance at victory, he has to find a way to create fear in a warrior class specifically chosen for its fearlessness.

And he does it.

Johns re-teams with his Rebirth partner Ethan Van Sciver on the artwork, and Van Sciver again proves just how good he is. His designs for the disparate aliens that make up the Sinestro Corps are the stuff of nightmares, and it’s easy to see on the faces of our heroes just how much hell they’ve been put through. They look like heroes who have already come through a war, and this is a war that’s just beginning.

Johns and Dave Gibbons team up for a back-up tale as well, re-telling Sinestro’s origin from his own particularly biased point of view. This works well as a nice primer for a newer fan who may not quite recognize Sinestro or understand what makes him such a threat.

If you haven’t read Green Lantern in a while, this is the book to come back for. Johns and Van Sciver have made magic together more than once in the past, and it’s a blast to see them doing it again.

Rating: 10

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

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #7

March 1, 2011

Title: Last Will: Seeing Red
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Pencils: Fernando Pasarin
Inks: Cam Smith, Oclair Albert & Fernando Pasarin
Colorist: Randy Mayor
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover: Rodolfo Migliari
Editor: Adam Schlagman
Publisher: DC Comics

Guy Gardner, Ganthet, and Bleez are left to battle Zardor, the rest of the Green Lantern’s having left him behind after the truth of his mission was revealed. Guy could use a little help, though – former Ion-avatar Sodom Yat is back, and he’s got a mad-on for the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps. It’s good to see just how events of the past year or two have been planned out. Guy’s temporary reversion to a Red Lantern comes back into play this issue, as does everything that happened to Sodom Yat during the time he was the host for Ion. Kilowog and Arisia’s anger at Guy is understandable and palpable. Fernando Pasarin is even more impressive this issue than he’s been in the past, with really exciting, energizing battle sequences, cool looking monsters and aliens, and real anger on Guy Gardner’s face. This book is part of the run-up to War of the Green Lanterns, of course, and it’s been incredibly exciting for that. I’m more excited than ever for that storyline to unfold.

Rating: 8/10

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #3

December 10, 2010

Title: Last Will: A Lie of the Mind

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Pencils: Fernando Pasarin
Inks: Cam Smith
Colorist: Randy Mayor, Gabe Eltred
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover: Rodolfo Migliari
Editor: Adam Schlagman
Publisher: DC Comics

Guy Gardner has led his team of Green Lanterns to Odym, home of the peaceful Blue Lantern Corps. As they speak to Brother Warth, though, they find themselves under assault by a Red Lantern whose fate seems to be intertwined with their own. Back on Daxam, meanwhile, Sodom Yat wakes up to a planet that has turned against him.

Peter Tomasi has done something very interesting with this title. He’s taken some of the threads from his run on Green Lantern Corps, mainly the Sodom Yat story but also some smaller threads involving Guy and Kilowog, and spun them off into their own series while leaving the parent title intact for Tony Bedard to play with. Guy was a main character in GLC, of course, but none of the plots Tomasi wrote revolved around him the way they do here. The way he’s going into a mission that seems destined to doom him, the idea that he can’t complete this mission unless he maintains the Red Lantern contamination in his blood – it’s cool, compelling stuff that really suits this character extremely well. I also really liked seeing Brother Warth used to such good effect in this issue. Visually, I’ve always thought he was one of the best-designed characters we’ve yet seen come out of the other Corps (besides Green, I mean), but this is the first time we’ve really gotten to see him used as a primary character, even if it’s just for one issue. I must say, I want more. I like what I’ve seen.

Fernando Pasarin, again, has turned out great artwork. His Brother Warth rocks, his other characters are strong, his faces are full of emotion and his layouts tell the story without fail. This creative team has really made me a fan of this book, with or without the Brightest Day label.

Rating: 8/10

DC Universe Halloween Special 2008

October 25, 2008

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Deadline: Halloween and other stories

Your favorite Ghost Detectives take us on a tour of spooky happenings in the DC Universe!

Writers: Dan DiDio, Mike Johnson, Eddie Berganza, Mikey Way, Harvey Richards, Brian Reed, Duncan Rouleau, Brad Desnoyer, Mark Verheiden & Eric Wallace
Pencils: Tony Shasteen, Matthew Clark, Trevor Hairsine, Mateus, Federico Dallocchio, Darick Robertson, Duncan Rouleau, Riccardo Burchielli, Dennis Calero
Inks: Don Ho, Jamie Mendoza, Marlo Alquiza, Norm Rapmund, Kevin Conrad
Colors: Allen Passalaqua, Hi-Fi, Cris Peter, Federico Dallocchio, Trish Mulvihill, Michael Atiyeh, Tony Avina, Dennis Calero, Guy Major
Letters: John J. Hill
Editor: Dan DiDio & Eddie Berganza
Cover Art: Gene Ha
Publisher: DC Comics

I’ll tell your right off the bat the best thing about the DC Universe Halloween Special: the hosts. Everyone favorite Ghost Detectives, Ralph and Sue Dibney, pop in to play Cryptkeeper in this series of Halloween tales from across the DC Universe. I love these two characters and seeing them at all is a major treat for me, so from the first page, I was happy.

After that, the book is like any other anthology – some good stories, some not as good. “Deadline: Halloween” features Clark Kent trying to make a late deadline at the Daily Planet, only to come face-to-face with a predecessor who never quite made it. It’s a cute story, and the punchline at the end is funny.

“Fear of the Dark” is next, and perhaps the best story in the book. As Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner try to bring a little Halloween to Oa, the more Hellish parts of Kyle’s past begin to assault him: the murders of his former girlfriends, the death of his mother, his possession by Parallax and the atrocities he was forced to commit… This is a really strong look into the dark places in Kyle’s heart, and it helps to appreciate what it takes for him to overcome them.

“The Ballad of Jonathan Crane” is a lot of fun – Mikey Way re-casts the Legend of Sleepy Hollow with figures from Batman’s universe. Until the last page, this really has the feel of a lost “Elseworlds” tale, and it’s nice for fans of classic ghost stories. “The Embrace” features Faust in a race to find the soul of a child who seems to have fallen victim to his father, and works as a character piece.

“One Last Halloween” is a riot – two kids who are just reaching that bubble where you get too old for things like trick-or-treating or dressing up wind up with some older, rougher boys… in Gotham City, though, there’s no telling what they may find in a sewer. “Hell Hath No Fury” is a really bizarre story of the Demon that kinda feels like it’s missing something, and “Scarred and Scared” takes us into the depths of Arkham Asylum and the madness that waits there.

Vixen gets a little time to herself in the so-so “Role Model,” and finally, the Dibneys themselves take center stage in “The Elongated Halloween,” in which they set out to solve a murder mystery, a fact made harder by the fact that they are, let’s be honest here, living impaired.

If nothing else, this book has totally convinced me that the Dibneys still have a place in the DCU. Their story worked really well, and they were even fun as hosts. Come on, DC – let’s see the Ghost Detectives miniseries in 2009!

Rating: 7/10