Secret Six (2008 Series) #3

November 8, 2008

Quick Rating: Great
Title: A Run of Misfortune (Unhinged Part Three)

As the Six transport Tarantula, the truth about the card is revealed!

Writer: Gail Simone
Pencils: Nicola Scott
Inks: Doug Hazelwood
Colors: Jason Wright
Letters: Travis Lanham
Editor: Nachie Castro
Publisher: DC Comics

As Catman rejoins the team, they make plans to transport the Tarantula and retrieve the mysterious card in her possession. The card is more popular than they’d anticipated, though. Even as they race to get the card for their mysterious employer, half of the villains in the DC Universe are queuing up to snag it for their own. We also get a few flashbacks with Catman and the Tarantula that help to set the stage and the characters themselves.

Gail Simone again proves what makes her one of my favorite writers working in comics today. When we get to the reveal about what the card actually is, we get a moment that is really funny, but at the same time, makes it completely clear why this could well be one of the most valuable items in the world, something worth committing any number of atrocities to get your hands on.

The danger in any ongoing series starring villains is that it’s hard to make them protagonists without eventually turning them into watered-down heroes. (This was the fate that plagued Venom and Sabertooth in their ongoing comics, and the Thunderbolts only survived because turning into heroes was part of the plot.) We’re only three issues in, of course, but I’m really feeling good about Simone not falling into that trap. The Six (still technically five, but I’ve got a couple of hunches about who number six will be) are each very distinct, very individual personalities. Each of them has their own motivations and reasons for doing what they do, and none of them are coming across as compromised in this series. She has created characters that can be bad and likable at the same time, and that’s no mean feat.

Nicola Scott, as I’ve mentioned before, keeps proving her chops on this series with great character designs and high action. I recently heard that she was the one who got to pick Hazelwood and Wright to round out the art team, and she couldn’t have chosen better. This is one of the best-looking comics on the shelves.

Another great issue of a great series.

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

The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1

October 3, 2011

Title: God Particle

Writers: Ethan Van Sciver & Gail Simone
Art: Yildiray Cinar
Colorist: Steve Buccellato
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Ethan Van Sciver
Editor: Rachel Gluckstern
Publisher: DC Comics

Firestorm is one of the few concepts that DC is starting from scratch here in the New 52. Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch are seniors at Walton Mills High School, and after an unpleasant confrontation over a school newspaper article, they don’t get along at all. When a group of terrorists arrive at their school, though, the two of them are thrown together into something much bigger than them both.

I like almost everything about this book. Simone and Van Sciver have taken the two most popular incarnations of Firestorm and found a way not only to fuse them together (no pun intended) but to create something powerful and new as well. There’s clearly a very rich backstory to this series that’s barely been explored here, something that I have no doubt the writers will be able to mine for story for a very long run. The two main characters, similarly, have a great amount of potential. Jason thinks Ronnie is a dumb jock, Ronnie thinks Jason is a geek with a chip on his shoulder, and while neither of them are entirely right about the other, neither of them are entirely wrong, either. The dynamic between the two of them is very different from any previous incarnation of Firestorm, even the one we saw most recently featuring the two of them in Brightest Day.

I’ve called Yildiray Cinar one of comics’ rising stars in the past, and I think this may be the book that really puts him on the map. Working from an already-stellar script, Cinar puts out some very good artwork and presents the new versions of a familiar DC hero in a very bold, exciting, dynamic way.

It’s a whole new take on the character, but at the same time, feels very familiar. Some of the New 52 books that have me the most excited give me a feeling like I imagine any remaining long-time readers felt at the dawn of the Silver Age, when old concepts like the Flash and Green Lantern were coming back, but in different forms. This is that new era for Firestorm, and it’s an era I’m very excited to explore.

Rating: 9/10

Secret Six (2008 Series) #36

August 20, 2011

Title: Caution to the Wind Part Two: Blood Honor

Writer: Gail Simone
Art: Jim Calafiore
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Jim Calafiore
Editor: Rachel Gluckstern
Publisher: DC Comics

It’s time for the final stand of the Secret Six. Bane, who is finally beginning to understand emotion, decides that they will be the greatest weapon against the Batman. He plans a series of attacks against Batman’s allies – Red Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman, and (over Catman’s protest) Huntress. But when things go wrong, the Secret Six will have to go down fighting.

All credit to writer Gail Simone for making this series work for such a long time. She told a story about villains without turning them into heroes, but still making them perfectly believable and relatable characters. Even here, as they execute a plan that would be the antagonist’s plot in any other comic, as the Justice League, Justice Society and Teen Titans all line up to take them down, we somehow still feel for them. Even the three “bonus” members of the team seem to fill a role – the Penguin gloats, Knockout and Scandal have a bizarre moment of tenderness, and King Shark is ready to go down fighting with the team. The ending is harsh, because we’re watching our protagonists go down hard. And even though what they were trying to do was terrible, somehow, we’re still sad to see them fall.

These are stories that lesser writers would never be able to pull off, but Simone is at the top of her game. It’s a great issue and a great finale to this series.

Rating: 8/10

52 #14

August 9, 2006

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Sand and Rust

As Renee and the Question head to Kahndaq, John Henry comes from hiding.

Writers: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka & Mark Waid
Pencils: Dale Eaglesham
Inks: Art Thibert
Origin Story Art: Eric Powell
Colors: Alex Sinclair, Trish Mulvihill
Letters: Travis Lanham, Nick J. Napolitano
Editor: Stephen Wacker
Cover Art: J.G. Jones
Publisher: DC Comics

This is one of those quieter issues of 52 that has drawn scorn from readers who don’t seem to appreciate that they’re reading a chapter of a novel at a time – it’s low on the earth-shattering moments, but it does advance several of the ongoing plots, most notably the Montoya/Question storyline. As Renee and “Charlie” go to Kahndaq to investigate Black Adam’s possible ties to Intergang, they see firsthand what the rule of a god on Earth has done to the country, and it isn’t exactly what they expected. This is the first time two of our ongoing storylines have really converged like this (although the principal characters from the two still haven’t met), and I’m very interested to see what’s going to happen to these two next… and especially interested in the cryptic comments “Charlie” keeps making about Renee.

We also check in on John Henry Irons this week – the former Steel has been mostly absent since his niece joined up with Lex Luthor and he himself began a transformation into a creature of living metal. This issue we see what he’s been doing, and it’s clear he is reaching his limit as surely as Ralph Dibney did last week. This story really feels like we’re watching a metamorphosis, watching John Henry change from one kind of hero to something else. As he’s one of my favorite DC characters, I’m keeping my fingers crossed as to what form that transformation takes.

The series was initially discussed as involving six principal characters and/or storylines, but as Montoya and the Question immediately came together, we saw two storylines rush in to fill the gap – that of the missing space heroes and that of Will Magnus, who gets some spotlight time here. He’s working on rebuilding his greatest creations, the Metal Men, when he gets some unwanted pressure. As he makes his regular trip to visit his mentor, the mad scientist T.O. Morrow, he gets another surprise altogether. I find that the mystery of the missing scientists, which has been part of this book since the outset, is just as intriguing to me as everything else.

I didn’t check the credits to see who this week’s artist is at first, and it’s a credit to how popular Dale Eaglesham has become since Villains United that I recognized his style about halfway through the book. He brings that same style here, and although he doesn’t have as much action to work with, he does just fine.

The “Origin” back ups in this series have been a vast improvement over the disappointing “History of the DC Universe” storyline, and this issue’s spotlight on Metamorpho is no exception. Mark Waid, as always, manages to encapsulate the character’s story and abilities in a taught two pages, illustrated nicely by Eric Powell. It works.

This is an issue of 52 for people who appreciate development in their stories. You get it here in spades.

Rating: 8/10

Power Girl (2009 Series) #26

August 1, 2011

Title: Girl Power

Writer: Matthew Sturges
Art: Hendry Prasetya
Colorist: Jessica Kholinne           
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Sami Basri
Editor: Joey Cavalieri        
Publisher: DC Comics

Power Girl doesn’t make a lot of scheduled public appearances, but an actual “Power Girl Convention” turns out to be too great an opportunity for her to speak to other young women about potential and empowerment. And, of course, it turns out to be lucky she’s there, since an alien shows up with the intention of kidnapping Power Girl and stealing her powers to become a superheroine on her own planet. It’s a wild kind of tale, with an almost Silver Age feel to it, but Matthew Sturges manages to bring in a decidedly modern sensibility. It is, at its core, a story about women standing up for themselves and taking action against those things they know to be wrong, even when (maybe especially when) someone like Power Girl isn’t there to cover their back. The last panel has one of those moments that’s both goofy and hopeful all at the same time, and it’s lovely for that. Hendry Prasetya and Jessica Kholinne do an absolutely wonderful job on the artwork here, imitating outgoing artist Sami Basri so well I didn’t even realize he hadn’t done the artwork until I looked at the credit box. I don’t know if either of those creators have a gig lined up in the DC Relaunch, but damned if they don’t deserve one. This is probably the title I’m going to miss the most as we stride into the new DC Universe next month, but I’m going to enjoy its last few moments while I can.

Rating: 8/10

DC Comics Presents Metal Men #1

August 1, 2011

Writers: Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Bob Haney
Pencils: Kevin Maguire, Tim Levins
Inks: Mark Farmer, Dan Davis
Colorist: Guy Major, James Sinclair
Letterer: Nick J. Napolitano, Ken Lopez, Travis Lanham
Editor: Elisabeth V. Gehrlein, Dan Raspler
Cover Art: Kevin Maguire
Publisher: DC Comics

I do love the DC Comics Presents format – inexpensive collections of short story arcs, reprints of old original graphic novels, or in this case, collecting a series of back-up stories that would probably never fill out a graphic novel of their own. In fact, this collection of the Metal Men stories presented in the most recent series of Doom Patrol couldn’t even fill up the 100 pages, so DC tossed in a Metal Men story from 2000’s Silver Age event to fill up the book.

The Silver Age story, written by Bob Haney, is more a curiosity than anything else. In this event, the Justice League had had their brains forcibly switched into the bodies of their enemies, and the Metal Men teamed up with Batman (controlled by the Penguin) in a race to capture Felix Faust and Catwoman (really Green Arrow and Black Canary). This story, originally presented in Silver Age: The Brave and the Bold #1, is interesting, but seems to have been chosen primarily because it was drawn by Kevin Maguire, who drew most of the other Metal Men tales in this volume.

After that, we get into the short stories. The Metal Men have moved into a small town where they’re desperate to prove themselves assets to the community, despite the fact that nobody seems to want them there, they come under attack by the now-insane star of their favorite TV show, and none of them can seem to remember the name of their newest member (Copper). Giffen and DeMatteis, legendary for their comedic take on the Justice League in the 80s and 90s, bring that same comedic sensibility to these stories, and with their old artistic collaborator Kevin Maguire along for the ride, the comics couldn’t be better.

Were I judging this only on the basis of the story and art, the book would get a solid 9/10. But unfortunately, somebody made a drastic, terrible mistake. The page reproduction of everything after the Silver Age reprint is terrible. The pages are pixilated and blurry. In fact, the only thing that comes in clear are the words and text. This sort of production error would be disastrous even from a small press title, but in a book from DC Comics, it’s unforgivable. This should have been caught and fixed before the book ever made it to comic shop shelves, and the fact that it didn’t ruins what should have been an excellent reading experience.

Rating: 7/10

Elric: The Balance Lost Free Comic Book Day Edition

August 2, 2011

Title: The Balance Lost

Writer: Chris Roberson
Art: Francesco Biagini
Colorist: Stephen Downer
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Erik Jones
Editor: Matt Gagnon
Publisher: Boom! Studios

I’ve heard of Michael Moorcock’s Elric over the years, but I haven’t had too much exposure to him, either in comics or in novels. When this issue was released on Free Comic Book Day, I very much wanted to give it a chance, since the concepts I’d heard intrigued me. And there is some intriguing stuff here. We’re introduced to Elric, the warrior and possessor of Stormbringer. The cursed sword seems to drive him, drinking in the death of his enemies to propel him forward. It’s well-done, I can tell this, but the sword-and-sorcery genre simply isn’t one that really appeals strongly to me. I’m more interested in the multiverse stuff, which this issue does introduce in a few intriguing full-page spreads. The way that we see it, though, I get the impression that the multiverse elements are here more as a bone to throw to longtime fans, and not necessarily something that will be followed up on in the regular Balance Lost series. Still, Roberson is a very strong writer, and I’m impressed by Francesco Biagini’s artwork. While I don’t really feel compelled to read this series, I may take another look when the collected edition is released.

Rating: 7/10

Secret Six (2008 Series) #2

October 25, 2008

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Unhinged Part Two: The Way of the Traitor

Catman versus Batman! And the team strikes Alcatraz!

Writer: Gail Simone
Pencils: Nicola Scott
Inks: Doug Hazlewood
Colors: Jason Wright
Letters: Travis Lanham
Editor: Nachie Castro
Cover Art: Nicola Scott
Publisher: DC Comics

In Gotham City, Batman traces down Catman to talk to him about the Secret Six’s latest caper (to say nothing of their newest member, Bane). The rest of the team, meanwhile, begins their assault on Alcatraz Island (which, in the DCU, is evidently a metahuman lock-up instead of a tourist attraction) to break out the Tarantula. Only problem is, the Tarantula seems to agree with Batman – taking her out of prison would be tantamount to a death sentence.

Not that the Secret Six really care. They’ve just got a job to do.

It’s incredible how these characters can be so compelling and still so basically amoral at the same time. Although they’re all, technically, “villains,” none of them are written in a stereotypically “evil,” mustache-twirling fashion. They’re more rounded than that, and far more interesting. They’re in it for the money, right and wrong be damned. The confrontation between Batman and Catman is a blast, really helping to solidify Catman as a legitimate threat for this crew. As for the antagonist – man, Simone has created one of the most all-fired creepy bad guys in the DC Universe, and we don’t even know who he is yet!

Did I mention Nicola Scott? You know what there is to say about Nicola Scott? Her artwork is awesome, that’s what there is to say about Nicola Scott. Clean, classic lines, strong characters, dynamic action sequences – she’s got a look that is right up there with George Perez in terms of combining complexity, clarity, and quality.

Issue two? Just as much fun to read as issue one. I’ve got a good hunch about issue three, too.

Rating: 8/10

52 #8

June 29, 2006

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Thief

A new hero appears, old heroes reunite and John Henry Irons begins a chilling transformation.

Writers: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid & Dan Jurgens
Breakdowns: Keith Giffen
Pencils: Eddy Barrows & Dan Jurgens
Inks: Rob Stull & Andy Lanning
Colors: Alex Sinclair, Jeromy Cox & Guy Major
Letters: Travis Lanham & Nick J. Napolitano
Editors: Stephen Wacker, Eddie Berganza, Ivan Cohen & Jeanine Schaefer
Cover Art: J.G. Jones & Alex Sinclair
Publisher: DC Comics

Review: There’s an awful lot going on in this week’s issue of 52, and as much of it involves Steel, that makes me a very happy camper. John Henry Irons is beginning to exhibit symptoms of a very bizarre transformation, and a checkup at S.T.A.R. Labs proves his worst fears realized. At the same time his niece, Natasha, fed up with trying to build her own armor to replace the one John Henry took from her, begins to ponder Lex Luthor’s metagene project.

Meanwhile, Ralph Dibney recruits an old friend to help his investigation into the Cult of Conner, Booster Gold defends himself to the media, a new superhero appears in Metropolis and the space trio of Adam Strange, Animal Man and Starfire run across a new threat. It’s hard to imagine how any comic could pack more story into such a relatively short page length.

The Steel stuff continues to be my favorite aspect of 52. John Henry is one of my favorite DC characters, and seeing him face off against Lex Luthor in Superman’s absence is immensely satisfying. Natasha’s “teenage rebellion” story arc is working as well, and between the two of them it seems like Steel’s corner of Superman’s universe is in for some major changes.

Ralph’s storyline this issue also gives us a lot to go on, as we see the planting of some of one of the best “One Year Later” storylines so far. The new hero that arrives this issue only makes a quick, mysterious appearance that helps build up the drama surrounding him.

Eddy Barrows’s pencils this issue are quite an improvement over the last couple of issues – while Keith Giffen’s layouts help this book maintain a consistent look no matter who the penciller is, some will invariably be better than others, and I like what Barrows does here.

As for Dan Jurgens’s “History of the DC Universe” segment… well… I’m a Jurgens fan from way back, but I just can’t wring any enjoyment out of this feature. It’s just treading water, going over stuff that long-time readers already know and new readers will just be confused by. It’s wasted potential all around. I’m just glad there are only three weeks left before we finish it off and move on to the origin stories that will make up the rest of this title’s run.

Rating: 8/10