52 #41 (DC Comics) Slow weeks like this one are exactly why I love this title—even when there’s relatively little else out, I can count on at least one book I’m excited about being there. This issue’s pencil art, by Giuseppe Camuncoli, is a little messy (I had no idea what was going on in some of the panels in the first space scene), and the storyline was split between the two I find the least interesting (the space thread and the Montoya thread), but it was still a solid read. There’s a very nice bit of dialogue from Adam Strange that delves rather deeply into his character, and other positives include no first-person narration during Montoya's scenes, Waid’s cute punchline at the end of Starfire’s origin story and a surprisingly strong list of suggestions in this weeks “Essential Storylines.” On the negative side, how is it that Montoya doesn’t recognize superheroine/ambassador/celebrity/war criminal Wonder Woman? And am I the only DC reader tiring of Mogo appearances? The first time Alan Moore told the joke it was kinda clever; now it’s getting to the point where you can’t leave Earth’s atmosphere without bumping into the big guy. He’s like the Wolverine of celestial bodies.
Batman #663 (DC) I’d seen a preview of this issue, so I went in with lowered expectations, and yet Grant Morrison and team still found a way to burrow beneath them. I’ll post a full review later, as the book demands more attention than these little blurb reviews allow, which, in and of itself, is something to reccomend it—it takes a special kind of talent to deliver a godawful comic that warrants more discussion than derision.
Darkman Vs. Army of Darkness #3 (Dynamite Entertainment) Like every Army of Darkness miniseries I’ve tried, the idea for this story sounded a lot better than the story itself actually was, and I began to lose interest half way through the second installment. I almost left this on the shelf today, until I noticed the George Perez version of the cover tucked behind a couple of Nick Bradshaw’s version. It’s so hard to resist Perez art.
JLA: Classified #34 (DC) Welcome to “The Fourth Parallel” part 2B. This chapter occurs simultaneous to the last chapter, only in a different reality, hence it being labeled part 2B instead of part 3. Cute. This reality differs from the previous one in that now Dan Jurgens’ lay outs are being finished by Jerry Ordway (multiple artists on a single story arc in an anthology series like this are kind of silly, but at least Ordway’s presence makes sense, since this is supposed to be an alternate reality). Oh, and here the Red King tries being a supervillain and blackmailing the League into submission with a doomsday device he accidentally sets off. That gives the JLA just 98 hours to terraform the planet Mars and evacuate all of earth’s people, animals, resources, cities and cultural achievements. It’s a big, crazy challenge worthy of the League, and it’s pretty fun to see things like Superman shrinking and bottling earth cities or Wonder Woman talking to the animals, plus one spread of Earth’s heroes that contains the likes of Ronnie Raymond, Ted Kord and Ray Palmer. The dialogue is pretty bad, but the story is definitely worth slogging through it.
Justice Society of America #3 (DC) Some random, unorganized thoughts on this issue: That’s the worst piece of Alex Ross art I’ve ever seen; Cyclone’s eyes and smile look creepy and dead, her costume seems to be made out of wrapping paper rather than cloth, and she forgot to wear panties, a must for all flying superheroines. The villains all look awesome (well, except maybe Blitzkreig); that’s by far the coolest and scariest Captain Nazi has ever looked. Hawkman is such a dickhead: “Do you know what you are, Swastika? Bleeding." Okay, Swastika is a Nazi murdering a kid, he probably deserves a mace to the face, but does anyone deserve Hawkman’s lame Thanagarian humor? The new Commander Steel has one of the grossest origins ever—he’s going to get his power thanks to a substance that a villain vomited up out of a mouth wound onto him? Ew. The caption said “Franklin County,” but clearly the Henshaws are in the heart of downtown Columbus, as evidenced by the big buildings in the background. Say Columbus, Johns, say it! (Also, Columbus police wear white uniform shirts, not blue). Did you see that ad for Justice League of America Action Figures Series 1? One of them is “Red Arrow;” which means Roy Harper’s new costume and codename have debuted in a house ad for a toy line based on his comic book before actually appearing in said comic book (Speed it up, Meltzer!). Um, excuse me JSA, but you should you guys really be taking Cyclone off to fight super-Nazis on her first day on the job? Holy crap, Wildcat III’s the dude form Kingdom Come! This book was so jam-packed with action, conversation, humor and drama I can scarcely believe it. Johns is totally on fire with this relaunch, and Dale Eaglesham rules. There, I told you these thoughts would be totally random and unorganized.
Thunderbolts #111 (Marvel Comics) The political analogies between Marvel’s “Civil War” storylines and our real, post-9/11 America have been somewhat strained since the beginning, but this is the title that completely breaks them. The closest real world analogue to the Superhuman Registration Act would be something along the lines of national registration (which was proposed after 9/11 but never got too far) combined with a military draft (a proposal that would be D.O.A.). Even if we believe that Stamford disaster would make the Marvel Universe’s U.S. pass such a crazy-ass law, the hiring of it’s scummiest super-killers to enforce said law is just silly, even in a universe where guys dress up like goblins and throw pumpkin bombs from bat-shaped hoverboards. In this issue, we see the ‘bolts and SHIELD spend many millions, if not billions, of dollars just to take down Jack Flag, a semi-retired vigilante fighting neighborhood crime in Cleveland, Ohio. Experienced in a vacuum, devoid of “Civil War”’s political allegories and press conferences about how it’s a story for our times, it’s much easier to enjoy this as super-silly superhero fiction written much more sharply than similar stories (like the above JLA: Classified, for example). Mike Deodato’s art is still too photorealistic for my personal tastes (particularly all the females’ faces, which seem to straight colored into existence rather than penciled or inked), but at least he’s laid off the obvious photoreference. If Tommy Lee Jones made a guest appearance again this issue, I didn’t spot him. Bonus points to Ellis for introducing me to a new word, “toyetic.” (Ironically, however, Bullseye does have toys made of him in the real world, while Songbird doesn’t).
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