American Dream #1

May 9, 2008

American Dream #1 (Marvel Comics)
By Tom DeFalco, Todd Nauck, Ron Frenz

The latest Spider-Girl spin-off focuses on the heir to the shield of Captain America. Shannon Carter, a.k.a. American Dream, is starting to feel a litte disconnect from the world. Her teammates in the Avengers all have normal lives in their secret identities — other friends, other interests — and she’s stuck wondering if she has any identity behind her mask. Complicating matters, however, are Red Queen and Ion Man, the remnants of the Revengers, who plan to destroy the Avengers starting with their “weakest link”: the non-powered American Dream. This is a nice start. Shannon’s dilemma is very evocative of problems Steve Rogers has had over the years, as is the idea of villains underestimating our hero just because she doesn’t have any super-powers. Todd Nauck, of WildGuard fame, is a perfect choice for this miniseries — he does teen superheroes and sci-fi tech extremely well, and the characters fall just perfectly into his style. Good first issue, enough to make me look forward to issue #2.
Rating: 7.10

 

Somebody’s First Comic Book: What If? (1989 Series) #108

Wondering what Somebody’s First Comic Book is all about? The explanation is on this page!

TITLE: The Greatest Sacrifice

CREDITS:

Writer: Tom DeFalco
Pencils: Sergio Cariello
Inks: Keith Champagne
Colors: Kevin Tinsley
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Frank Pittarese
Cover Art: Sergio Cariello
Publisher: Marvel Comics

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: The Avengers… they’ve got that movie coming out, right? And… I guess Spider-Man is one of them, too?

IMPRESSIONS: Maybe not… the story kind of starts in the middle, with the Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and three people I don’t know) throwing down against Spider-Man’s enemy Carnage, who somehow has taken possession of the Silver Surfer. (Wait – Silver Surfer… wasn’t he in the Fantastic Four movie?) Evidently, we learn later, Carnage is some sort of alien slime that has been bonded to a serial killer, but left the killer and possessed the Silver Surfer.

We also find out, somehow, that these guys aren’t technically Avengers, but that they’re about to pick a new team. I’m not sure exactly how this works, but I like to imagine it’s like gym class, with Captain America and Iron Man taking turns picking from a line and the last one (I’m guessing the dude called “Justice”) being stuck with whoever picked second. Anyway, “Cosmic Carnage” nearly destroys the Avenger called the Vision and whips up on the rest of them until Spider-Man decides to clue them in that the monster is usually vulnerable to loud noises and fire, and maybe this girl called Firestar could do something? In the end, though, all she does is weaken the alien enough for the Surfer to exert control, fly into space, and kill himself and, presumably, the alien too.

I’m… lost here. The story itself is kind of straightforward, but what on Earth are they talking about – they’re not “really” the Avengers, they went and killed the surfer, and… and the title of this book. “What If?” Is that supposed to tell us that this is a “fake” story? It didn’t really happen? And if that’s the case, why the hell am I reading it?

GRADE: C-

[Meta-Note: I’m going to drop the usual pretense of this feature for a moment here to explain my commentary. The old Marvel What If? series, for a long time, was hosted by the Watcher, who explained that what we were seeing was a story set in a world very similar to the “real” Marvel Universe, but where something happened differently and the whole world changed as a result. Kind of a superhero version of Ray Bradbury’s Butterfly Effect theory. At some point, they dropped the Watcher as the narrator and, not being a regular reader of that book at that time, I didn’t really think much of it. Looking back for the sake of “Somebody’s First Comic Book,” I realize the lack of explanation makes this confusing as hell.

On a more amusing note, the letters page for this issue features letters for issue #105, the first appearance of Spider-Girl. The letters absolutely gushed over the comic, although the editor answering the letters initially says “Every story is only meant to be a glimpse into that particular reality. So don’t count on any more trips to see Spider-Girl!” Ah, hindsight.]

Betty #193

September 4, 2011

Title: Fantasy Flair and other stories

Writer: George Gladir, Mike Pellowski, Tom DeFalco, John Rose
Pencils: Pat Kennedy, Tim Kennedy
Inks: Mike DeCarlo
Colorist: Digikore Studios
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Cover Artist: Fernando Ruiz
Editor: Victor Gorelick
Publisher: Archie Comics

This issue of Betty brings us a whopping four all-new stories, which is pretty much the formula for some of them to suck. The first one, “Fantasy Flair,” is okay. Betty is lounging about reading back issues of Pureheart the Powerful, and begins to imagine life as the girlfriend of Archie-as-Pureheart. Being a superhero’s gal pal sounds like it’d be a blast, but Archie’s essential… “Archieness” begins to encroach on Betty’s fantasy, showing it to not quite be all it’s cracked up to be. Many of the weaker Archie stories across the board suffer from the same problem this one does – a lack of an actual story. There’s no plot here, no conflict, just Betty daydreaming for eight pages.

The second story, “Just Relax,” looks like it’s going to escape that trap, but quickly falls into the same problem. Betty’s summer job is wearing her out, and her father’s job isn’t much better. The Cooper family decides to take a vacation, and Betty invites Midge to come along. (I’m assuming either Veronica was on a ritzy vacation in Europe or – perhaps a little more entertaining – Betty is currently angry with her over some Archie-related shenanigan.) It’s a good set-up, but from there it’s just several pages expounding upon how Betty’s definition of relaxation differs from her father’s. Not… not really a story.

The third story, “Love the One You’re With,” is a bit better on this front. Written by Tom DeFalco, who has shown he knows a thing or two about writing teenagers, this story features Betty getting jilted (again) by Archie for a fancier date with Veronica. She turns to Dilton for a comforting shoulder, which leads Moose to make an observation about his little buddy that Betty would never realize and Dilton would never admit. You know that any time somebody tries to add a side to the Betty-Archie-Veronica love triangle it’ll only be temporary, but this is one time I think it may actually be interesting to play with it for a little while. If nothing else, it’s fun to see a story where Moose gets to be the smart one for a change.

Finally, we have “Shell Belle,” in which Betty and Jughead take a group of brownies to the beach and then help them out with an arts and crafts project. You know what, I take back what I say about the first two stories in this issue, this is a story with no plot. For heaven’s sake, the biggest word balloon in the story literally says “LET’S CLEAN UP OUR MESS!” Seriously. I suppose there’s an attempt here to give kids a project they can do at home, and you can probably use Betty’s instructions to copy their project if you really want to, but for those of us actually reading the comic, it’s unbearably dull.

Honestly, this isn’t a great issue, but it’s helped by good art throughout and a very interesting Dilton story.

Rating: 7/10

Archie #622

July 17, 2011

Title: Prisoners of the Prehistoric (King of the Los Land Part Two)

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

Archie and the gang have taken a trip with Mr. Lodge to the mountains of San Montana. As the archeological expedition began, though, the kids fall into a mysterious lost land full of rampaging dinosaurs and Amazon women. Archie, as you can imagine, is pretty happy about this. Betty and Veronica, not so much. The girls get separated, make a discover of their own, and… well… there’s an implication here of some decidedly un-Archie behavior. I’ve been impressed lately with the ways that Archie Comics have been working to create new, different comics that push the boundaries of what you expect from them… but man. The end of this issue feels like it’s virtually handing things over to fanfic waiting to be written. Aside from that rather shocking finale, it’s a pretty standard Archie comic. Tom DeFalco understands these characters very well. The one thing he’s not doing is pushing the envelope with them. For the most part, this is the sort of stuff we always get out of Archie, and while there’s nothing wrong with it by itself, I’m kind of reaching the point where I want to see more. That’s a compliment for the rest of the line than it is an indictment of this fair-to-middlin’ issue.

Rating: 7/10

Richie Rich: Rich Rescue #2

July 17, 2011

Title: The Pursuit of Pesos and other stories

Writers: Buddy Scalera, Tom DeFalco, Matt Anderson, Patrick Rills
Art: Marcelo Ferreira, Armando Zanker, Amy Mebberson, James Silvani
Colorist: Dustin Evans, Jake Myler, Amy Mebberson
Letterer: David Hedgecock
Cover: Jack Lawrence
Editor: Matt Anderson    
Publisher: Ape Entertainment/KiZoic

Rich Rescue’s latest gig sends them to the depths of the jungle, hired by a museum to find a legendary diamond. The gem turns out to be magic, the team gets hurled back in time, and soon Richie and company find themselves being chased by dinosaurs. The fun starts here, folks! It’s not a bad little story, but it’s a bit unfocused. There isn’t even anything there to tell us where it takes place – they unearth a pretty generic old temple and go back to face a bunch of generic old cavemen. The adventure sequences work well. It seems like Buddy Scalera and Marcelo Ferreira are doing their best to conjure up some classic adventure tales, the likes of which we got from Carl Barks back in the day, and that’s all to the good. They just need a little work.

The back-up features are of varying quality. The first one, where Reggie “wins” the use of Irona for 24 hours, is really very funny, and a nice way to give Richie’s arrogant cousin a little comeuppance. On the other hand, Cadbury steps up next for a terribly trite story where a bunch of terrorists invade a concert screaming gibberish about the band’s “pro-environment” agenda. The villains of the piece are soulless cutouts, almost lacking even in a second dimension, let alone a third, and while you don’t expect a story of this nature to be Shakespeare, there could be at least a little thought put into giving them a motivation that has at least some form of internal logic. The funniest part is when Cadbury throws out the line “I will take formal over cliché any day.” Congratulations, Cadbury, you’re both.

I like this title, and I’m glad that Richie Rich and company are back. But there’s definitely room for improvement.

Rating: 7/10

Amazing Spider-Girl #7

April 9, 2007

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Revenge!
Rating: A

With one of the Ladyhawks in a wheelchair, her sister wants revenge… will Spider-Girl stop her, or help her?

Script & Plot: Tom DeFalco
Plot & Pencils: Ron Frenz
Inks: Sal Buscema
Colors: Gotham
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Molly Lazer
Cover Art: Ron Frenz
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Now that May has come clean with her parents about her excursions as Spider-Girl, she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. Will they ground her? Will they forbid her from going out in costume? Does anyone actually think they’ll stop her, in the long-term?

That’s the big problem with this issue, really. DeFalco seems to be trying to milk a lot of drama out of the question of whether or not May is going to be allowed to go back to being Spider-Girl full time. The only thing is, as future issues have been solicited and the book hasn’t been renamed The Amazing May Parker, we know she’s eventually going to get to that point. It’s kind of like stirring up questions over whether a character is going to die when you know full well he won’t. That sort of thing only works if the story itself is a knockout, and this one is just okay.

The A-plot of this issue is much stronger, fortunately. One of the twin sisters who shares the identity of Ladyhawk has been in a wheelchair since her battle with the Hobgoblin some months ago. Now her sister is on a tear, bent on revenge, and Spider-Girl has to seek her out. She wants to help, but Ladyhawk’s rage may push her too far. The result of this whole plotline, ultimately, is to teach May a little something about what it’s like to be related to a superhero. It’s a good story, but the last page again falls a little flat, since there really can’t be any doubt what the ultimate result is going to be.

Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema have been working on this title for so long it’s hard to figure out what’s left to say about it. They’re as good as ever – either you like their artwork or you don’t.

This title has been a little lackluster since the relaunch. DeFalco, to his credit, is trying to build up the family drama inherent in the concept, but the road he’s taken to a given destination isn’t quite exciting enough. Hopefully he’s got some new twists coming up.

Rating: 7/10

Amazing Spider-Girl #6

March 13, 2007

Quick Rating: Good
Title: The Hobgoblin and the Hostage
Rating: A

The Hobgoblin crashes Spider-Girl’s comic book premiere!

Writer: Tom DeFalco
Pencils: Ron Frenz
Inks: Sal Buscema
Colors: Gotham
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Molly Lazer
Cover Art: Ron Frenz
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Now that she’s pulled her candidacy for class president, May Parker can concentrate on the other two great challenges in her life: cracking the coded disc that holds the former Kingpin’s files, and trying to figure out how to tell her parents she’s Spider-Girl full-time again. It’s not all bad, though – her friends Jimmy Yama and Wes have made their own Spider-Girl comic book, and they’re going to have a grand premiere with Jimmy’s girlfriend in the costume. Unfortunately, not everybody knows that she’s not the real Spider-Girl.

This was a quite enjoyable issue – May’s situation is very old-school Spider-Man, struggling with her family, struggling with school, a villain out to get her and a case of mistaken identity. The Gene Thompson subplot only gets a cursory glance this issue, but it’s enough to have me questioning his involvement with May even more than before, and her confrontation with Davida is really strong. This book really feels much more like a true extension of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko than anything else on the comic book shelves these days. That goes not only for the character stuff (especially the great scene at the end), but also for the action. May’s battle with the Hobgoblin, trying to take him down even though she’s out of webbing and he’s got a little bundle of hostage – this is the stuff Spider-Man does best, and it’s great to see that he’s passed it along to his daughter.

Again, this is a fun book, and that’s not something the Spider-family really has much of these days. Thank goodness Marvel saw fit to give it a new lease on life.

Rating: 7/10

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

Somebody’s First Comic Book: Marvel Team-Up (1972 Series) Annual #5

Wondering what Somebody’s First Comic Book is all about? The explanation is on this page!

TITLE: Serpent Rising

CREDITS:
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Breakdowns: Mark Gruenwald
Embellishment: Jim Mooney
Letters: Diana Albers
Colors: Bob Sharen
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Cover: Ed Hannigan & Al Milgrom
Publisher: Marvel Comics

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: I know Spider-Man, of course, and I remember the Thing from that Fantastic Four movie. Don’t know the other two heroes or the guy riding the giant snake.

IMPRESSIONS: Ah, apparently the snake guy is actually a good guy, Quasar, who also happens to be the head of security at an “energy project,” Project Pegasus. Evidently, the whole project is being invaded by a magic snake-god from ancient times. Quasar gets out a distress signal to the Thing, who comes to the rescue, and Spider-Man and the Scarlet Witch (both of whom evidently have had encounters with the thing before) get some sort of psychic wave alerting them to the danger. Spider-Man recruits Dr. Strange for help, but the Scarlet Witch dumps off her red-skinned husband and tells him to call the Avengers if she doesn’t come back. Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to call the Avengers now and have him come with her? Eh, anyway.

This book was kind of hard to figure out, at first, but about a third of the way through Dr. Strange conveniently provided us with a complete history of the Serpent Crown and all the different characters that have encountered it over the years. (Including, apparently, Conan the Barbarian.) That, plus the character beats we get throughout the story, make it possible to get into the story eventually. Ya gotta feel bad for Quasar, though – he gets billing with the rest of the heroes, but he really comes off looking like a chump in this issue.

All things considered, in the end, this book wasn’t bad. I pieced it together and the story made sense.

GRADE: B

Somebody’s First Comic Book: Journey Into Mystery #505

Wondering what Somebody’s First Comic Book is all about? The explanation is on this page!

TITLE: What Power Is This?

CREDITS:
Writer: Tom DeFalco
Art: Deodato Studios
Letters: Jon Babcock
Colors: Marie Javins & John Kalisz
Editor: Mark Gruenwald & Terry Kavanagh
Publisher: Marvel Comics

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: “The Lost Gods?” Um… gods that are lost? But Spider-Man is in it – so I can recognize him, right?

IMPRESSIONS: It seems this comic is about a couple of people who found magic weapons that gave them super powers. They’ve also got other weapons that don’t give them powers, so they assume that they’re meant for other people than themselves. I’m guessing those “other people” are some of the folks we see elsewhere in this issue, who seem to be imagining themselves in forms other than their own. Regardless, Spider-Man gets called in to throw down with some villains called the Wrecking Crew, whose powers appear to come from the same place as the “Lost Gods,” who wind up joining the fight.

I thought knowing who Spider-Man is would help me to understand this story, but no such luck. Am I supposed to know who these Lost Gods are, or are their identities intended to be a mystery to the reader as well? And how did the Wrecker find this “Yggdrasil”? And what is it? The artwork isn’t much better. The characters all look pretty much the same, as far as faces and body type go, and the coloring hurts too. One character actually seems to change race during the comic. What’s up with that?

Weak sauce. I’m not going to be reading any more of this one.

GRADE: D+