Fables #113

March 4, 2012

Title: In Those Days

Writer: Bill Willingham
Art (Prologue): Rick Leonardi & Ron Randall
Art (A Delicate Balance): P. Craig Russell & Lovern Kindzierski
Art (A Magic Life): Zander Cannon & Jim Fern
Art (The Way of the World): Ramon Bachs & Ron Randall
Art (Porky Pining): Adam Hughes
Letters: Todd Klein
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Cover Art: Joao Roas
Editor: Shelly Bond
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

One of the best things about Fables is that, even after all these years, Bill Willingham keeps finding ways to mix up the formula of the book. In-between longer stories, he often does one-off issues that may set the seeds for future storylines, or tie off past storylines, or maybe just stand on their own. This issue feels like it does at least two of those at once, as we see a magical travelling performer weave several short stories about Fables both new and familiar.

Among the stories, we see a tale of a faithless queen and the punishment she brings upon her kingdom, a sorcerer whose downfall led us to the background of our more prominent Fables, a sailing clan unaware of the true nature of their world, and a hysterical story of a porcupine with an inventive curse. Of the four, it’s the longest (Cannon and Fern’s “A Magic Life”) that seems least complete in and of itself, ending up as it does off to the sidelines of our regular cast. The text itself implies that this story may not be over yet as well, but it stops far short of promising a return. “A Delicate Balance” and “The Way of the World” are tied together in an interesting way and create a world I’d like to see the title return to one of these days. And “Porky Pining”… well, it’s just funny as anything, and it’s got some rare, gorgeous interior art by Adam Hughes.

It’s an offbeat issue, but it’s exactly the sort of thing that Fables needs once in a while. I’m glad that the title has the freedom to do things like this when the creators see fit.

Rating: 8/10

World War Hulk: Frontline #1

June 26, 2007

Quick Rating: Average
Rating: T+

Ben Urich and Sally Floyd need a big scoop for their paper. Will the Hulk’s world war do the trick?

Writer: Paul Jenkins
Art: Ramon Bachs
Colors: Matt Milla
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Bill Rosemann
Cover Art: John Watson
Publisher: Marvel Comics

It’s been a few months since Ben Urich and Sally Floyd launched their new alternative newspaper, and they’re struggling… until a mysterious benefactor gives them the funds to stay afloat. Now all they need is a story to make their mark. Then, on cue, the Hulk arrives on Earth with an ultimatum.

The big problem with this book is that the writer is trying to do too much in one comic. There are no less than five separate storylines going on at once. You start out with a newsroom drama about a struggling paper. You throw in a mystery about who would give them the money – anonymously – to help the newspaper succeed. Then the Hulk arrives and the story shifts to being about how a reporter will cover such an event. Then we have two additional, connected stories that seem totally out-of-place, a story about an envoy from the Hulk’s Warbound attempting to establish diplomatic relations with the city of New York (the city, mind you, that they just invaded), which is further compounded by a murder mystery. And unlike the previous Frontline miniseries, this isn’t divided up among various stories in a single issue, this is all ostensibly in one story.

Ramon Bach’s art looks good. He handles the talking head stuff at the beginning just as well as he does the sci-fi/alien encounters in the second half of the book. The problem, as I said, is that there’s simply too much going on here. The book feels like it’s trying to do everything at once, and as a result, it isn’t doing any of it as effectively as it could.

Rating: 5/10

Sensational Spider-Man (2006 Series) #36

March 26, 2007

Quick Rating: Good
Title: The Strange Case Of… Part Two (Back in Black)
Rating: A

Someone is creating fake Spider-Men – can the real one round them up in time to save their lives?

Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Pencils: Ramon Bachs
Colors: Paul Mounts
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: Warren Simons
Cover Art: Clayton Crain
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Freed from the shackles of not talking about why Spider-Man is in his black costume again, part two of “The Strange Case Of…” is considerably better than part one. Still waiting for word on whether or not May is going to survive being shot by one of the Kingpin’s snipers, Peter is confronted with another bizarre threat. Someone is kidnapping teenage boys, granting them approximations of his powers, putting them in versions of the costumes he’s worn over the years and sending them out into the city. As Peter rounds them up, he finds out that some of them are transforming even further, becoming more spider than man, and unless he and his big brained friends can figure out what’s happening to them and how it’s happening, they may all die.

It’s amazing, but just being able to say “Aunt May has been shot” is remarkably freeing to this comic book. No more pretending we don’t know why he’s in black, no more avoiding the subject of why he’s so gloomy – not only can Aguirre-Sacasa say it, but he can deal with it, and that small thing is remarkably freeing. The villain’s plot in and of itself is fairly interesting – it plays off the unmasking fairly well, but still remains a solid old-school mad scientist story.

I’m also a much bigger fan of the art this issue. I know a lot of people were in love with the Todd McFarlane-style art that Angel Medina brought to the book last issue, but this issue Ramon Bachs comes to the plate with a style that very much evokes Mike Zeck and Kraven’s Last Hunt. When reading this story in collected form, the shift in style will likely be quite jarring, but looking at this issue in and of itself, I consider it a significant improvement.

This is a pretty good issue. Unfortunately, three of the four in-continuity Spider-Man titles are unable to really develop the character right now – they’re all marking time to see what happens in Amazing, but Aquirre-Sacasa is taking the circumstances handed to him to tell a story that, while it probably won’t turn out to have any lasting importance, is at least interesting.

Rating: 7/10