The Savage Critic: February 12th 2003
By Brian Hibbs
Welcome back, my friends, to the show
that never ends.
I’m totally behind schedule this week
because of the NY trip for the deposition. Man, was that a goofy waste
of time. I’d love to tell you just HOW goofy and HOW much of a waste
it was, but I suspect that this ain’t the forum for it. Buy me a drink
at a convention some time and I’ll give you the lowdown.
I think I’m safe giving you this much:
at one point one of Marvel’s lawers asked me about “Marvel’s alleged
contract.” Heh. It was everything I could do to not laugh out loud in
their faces. “Alleged” contract?!?! Sheesh!
Anyway, short on time, long on annoyance
this week, even though there was a ton of great stuff. Let the crankiness
begin!
ACTION COMICS #800: OK, so I lied,
I’ll be cranky soon. This one was pretty decent, actually. It’s almost
not fair – this type of “look back at Superman’s career” would be, I
think, pretty difficult to screw up, and the team did a solid job all
around. If I had to quibble, it would be the B&W “flashback” scenes
often seemed like they had just forgot the coloring, rather than being
in “B&W”, if you see what I mean... but that’s just looking for
something to complain about. Good.
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #613: On the
other hand, I was bored to tears with this one. I can’t imagine a world
without superheroes where a non-profit charity hasn’t been set up to
deal with JLA licensing. That wouldn’t mean there wouldn’t be a significant
amount of bootlegging or whatever, but it would still completely undercut
the whole plan of Funky Flashman. And this wasn’t even good use of Flashman,
really. Which is strange, because in a way, he could be a far more satirical
character in today’s climate than he was in the 70s. This almost felt
like someone in DC’s legal sent a memo up that said “Huh, we haven’t
used the character in a long time, and we’re on the edge of losing our
trademark, someone feature him in a story, please!” Eh.
AQUAMAN #3: The more I read this series
the more I begin to think it might have been better to start off as
a new character without all of the baggage and backstory that needs
to be explained. We have a decent turn on the Arthurian legend, and
a nice try at recreating Mr. Curry as a healing, compassionate hero,
but it almost seems to me that we’ve spent 3 issues getting to a place
where “Ultimate Aquaman” could have gotten to in 1. Hey, and since when
have Atlanteans have had actual fins on their legs? Was that always
there and I never noticed? Anyway, a very solid OK, bordering
on a low Good.
ASTRO CITY LOCAL HEROES #1: We’ve waited
SO long for this it might have worked against it for me. 2 years off
the market and Kurt felt like he needed to do another “AC 101” story,
and while it was super-solid, I think my own expectations worked against
it. I was absolutely expecting an Excellent, but I can’t actually give
it better than a Very Good.
BATMAN LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #164:
Maybe it’s just me, but I would think that Batman’s handwriting (the
narrative conceit) would be block-letters, not cursive. And certainly
not the “girly” cursive on display here. That kept me at arms length
the whole issue. Hey! I told you at the top that I was cranky this week!
Eh
BIRDS OF PREY CATWOMAN BATGIRL #1:
Nice art by Darick Robertson, but a pretty nowhere story – especially
for (gah!) $6. Thank god I’m not a Canadian. Then I’d be the Savage
(and Poor) Critic. Eh.
BLACK PANTHER #54: Don’t know why,
but I just don’t care. Maybe it’s because I read this after Gotham
Central and as “Cop Stories” go, this was sad in comparison. Why
would anyone ever believe that a long-haired white guy would be the
Panther, anyway? Eh.
BRIAN PULIDO LADY DEATH #1 MEDIEVAL
TALE: I guess her complaints about lower back pain were finally listened
to – this book is no longer about improbably large breasts. Somewhere
Jim Balent is crying, I think. I never liked LD before, so color
me surprised when I actually thought this was decent. I’d never spend
actual cash money on it, but as something to read while on the john,
it works fine. OK
CAPTAIN AMERICA #9:
Jarring difference in storytelling as Reiber gets booted in mid sentence
and Chuck Austen comes in to save the deadline. If you had been waiting
for more superpowered fight scenes, then here’s the Bold New Direction
for you. Eh
CHIMERA #1: First off, the obvious
joke: Someone call Brian Pulido, they’ve found Lady Death’s extra breasts!
But despite the ludicrous top-heaviness (and the large amount of incredulity
I had that such a “hot” woman would be doing MINING of all things),
I thought this was a solid start to this new Science Fiction series.
Brandon Peterson’s art is amazing. Totally drool-worthy. And the world
and milieu seem seamlessly thought out. I liked it quite a bit, and
while I personally will wait for the trade, Brando’s art is so utterly
fabulous the only thing I can give this is a Very Good.
DAREDEVIL #43: All middle, but the
dressing down from Cage was superb. I still think Cap would have come
along long before now, but here maybe Matt will listen. Very Good.
DARKNESS VOL 2 #2: Nice art, but I
don’t care that much about supernatural gangsters. OK
DOMINION #1: Giffen’s return to art.
Unfortunately, like a lot of Giffen comics, I felt like I was listening
to a conversation where I could only hear one of the speakers, and where
it’s less that crystal clear who is doing what to whom, and especially
why. Eh
ENNIS & MCCREAS DICKS 2 #4: The
cover alone is worth it. Inside the book, Garth and John show that,
as we’ve all long suspected, they’re actually gayer than the day is
long. (Honestly, you should see some of the art on my bathroom walls
at the store from the Mad Bastards tour) – there is hardcore gay sex
all over this book. In fact, getting on my retailer high-horse, it’s
pretty shitty this wasn’t solicited as Adult’s Only, because this is
exactly the kind of book that would get some Texan retailer busted.
It was pretty funny though. OK
FABLES #10: While this is technically
part 5 of 5, it read more like an epilogue. Perfectly serviceable in
all ways, but I found myself saying, “bring on the next issue, already!”
OK
FIREBREATHER #2: Some cute and amusing
stuff here, I think this is one of the “new” Image “superhero” books
that probably doesn’t belong in the a hero line. There are clever ideas,
but there’s nothing “heroic” about any of the characters, and I think
if it fails to take hold in the market it will be more a function of
being mismarketed. OK
GOTHAM CENTRAL #4: Great solid cop
drama. I very much liked the batarang scene, and the false leads generated
from it. Good
GREEN LANTERN #159: Not at all what
I expected it to be, but it has the return of a “fan favorite” character
(Fans of Moore, at least), and despite it getting too chatty there
at the end, I like this character being around. However, it’s not high
art, and it largely pales to the original, so a mild OK from
me.
GRENDEL GOD & THE DEVIL #1: This
one is almost not fair – 10 year old reprints, and (he said, spoiling
the End of the Column) it’s absolutely the best book of the week. This
is Wagner’s strongest turn at writing Grendel and the density
and complexity of the narrative is an astonishing thing to behold. This
reads better in one gulp, but here’s one of the very few cases I would
state that DESPITE that, get it now rather than waiting for the Trade.
It’s that good. This is work that largely deserves to be recognized
up there with its contemporaries of Watchmen and Miracleman.
Excellent, and a high one at that.
GRRL SCOUTS WORK SUCKS #1: I love Mahfoods
work, and this ain’t no exception. Very Good.
HARLEY QUINN #29: Wow, I officially
don’t care any longer. Eh.
HELLBLAZER SPECIAL LADY CONSTANTINE
#3: Solid, but nothing special – All Middle, really. I was less than
thrilled by the big reveal at the end, and I thought that this depended
too much on retelling continuity ideas from Moore’s Swamp Thing, while
at the same time making a certain amount of hash of that continuity.
Eh.
HERO #1: Strong debut from Will Pfieffer,
the writer of the best Vertigo mini-series you didn’t read (Finals,
with Jill Thompson), of a character concept I just adore (those Robby
Reed House of Mystery issues was the first series I ever decided
to collect out of back issues), and while I have quibbles (finding the
H-dial in a pile of ice cream is... stupid, and, last time I looked
the dial ALSO had [at least] a V,I,L,A, and N on it, not just four big
idiot-proof buttons... though I guess we could retcon that to “Dial
H for Horror!” or maybe “Dial E for Error!”) they’re just quibbles.
And, get this, it sold out nationally BEFORE being released. Anyway,
yup this is a great book, and Geoff Johns won’t be having to pay anyone
$2.50, I don’t think. A very strong Very Good.
HUNTER THE AGE OF MAGIC #20: Pages
turned too quick – not from being so gripping, but because pretty much
nothing happened. Bored now. Eh
INCREDIBLE HULK #50: Ah, sweet sweet
coincidence: I think it’s Bruce Jones’ favorite tool. Sure, JUST AS
they try to get the abomination on their side, Banner JUST HAPPENS to
wander into the stock diner-in-the-middle-of-nowhere containing Emil’s
wife, where there JUST HAPPENS to be a confrontation that ends up driving
them into bed. Sheesh. Let me also observe that if MY husband had been
turned into a huge radioactive homicidal monster that was either in
reaction to or the fault of (I don’t remember the details of the Abominations
origin all these years later) Bruce Banner, I think I would have every
line of that man’s face memorized, regardless of what superficial changes
he made, and I certainly wouldn’t sleep with him, unless it was to plunge
a pair of scissors into his throat while he slept. Plus, I say again,
Banner having the Hulk’s strength, basically negates most of the underlying
drama of the concept. In short, this was Awful, saved only from
the Crap by incoming artist Mike Deodato’s work.
IRON MAN #65: Not an improvement from
Grell (though, I’ll give the new guy the benefit of the arc since it
was at least partially based on/done from Grell’s plot) – and I thought
the dialogue to be much weaker. Eh.
JSA #45: Lots of Yadda, not much matter.
I like these characters, I like some of the plot threads, but this was
a weaker issue. A very low Good.
KILLRAVEN #5: Alan Davis knows how
to tell a heroic action story. Very Good.
MEKANIX #5: But Chris has forgotten.
Eh
MY UNCLE JEFF: This was getting a lot
of raves, and I can somewhat see why – nice package and the art is strong
– but ultimately my grade will be low because I wanted a stronger reason
why this vignette was being told. Basically all it is, is “I like my
Uncle Jeff”, which is nice and all, but I’m not sure, exactly, why I
should care. Still, a strong OK, bordering close on a Good.
NIGHTWING #78: I don’t know what drugs
Devin Grayson likes, but if I were to speculate, I’d say Meth. This
issue is the equivalent of comics A.D.D. where every 2-3 pages the story
jumps to something unrelated to the previous scenes. I felt like I was
grinding MY jaw, y’know? And is it just me that thinks it is kinda...
strange that they unceremoniously killed off Dick’s “equivalent” of
the Joker in basically an off-panel way? Soames didn’t have a good bad-guy
name, but he was the strongest new baddie in a bat book since, probably,
the Ventriloquist. A very weak Eh
NODWICK #19: Good punchline, which
is really what you want from a comic like this. Good.
PALOOKAVILLE #16: Seth is one of the
strongest yet most sensitive cartoonists working today. I love his work,
and his ability to connect timelessly to a moment or a place. So it
pains me to not give this issue the top rating for the week. Part of
it was so much time has passed since the last issue that I found it
difficult to “get up to speed” before the book was half done, and part
of it was the heavy use of narrative caption, which seemed like twice
as many words as Seth has ever used. This is great stuff, though, and
in a year or three I’ll be raving about the collected edition, but as
a single read (ow, and $4.95 to boot), I can’t go better than a mild
Good.
POWERS #28: Another Very Good
issue (and, y’know, there goes the last shreds of my indie cred, I think,
to rate what is a Hero book above Seth. *sigh*)
SOJOURN #20: Damn nice art. I very
much liked the attempt in the first few pages to make the baddie sympathetic,
but some of my good will was washed away towards the end with the “He’s
not really dead!” following the conversation with the plot chick. Still,
Good
STAR WARS A VALENTINE STORY: It is
just adding a moment or two between movies, but this was a nice vignette
for Han and Leia, with scrumptious Paul Chadwick art. Good
STORMWATCH TEAM ACHILLES #8: I think
we had decided to drop this from reviewing, but I’m glad I read this
issue. It probably adds a little too much alternate history type backstory
to the WS universe to actually be plausible (Finland has hundreds upon hundreds of SPBs, led by a charismatic
dictator and this is the first we’ve ever heard of it? What?), but turning
off that part of my brain, I enjoyed the story itself just fine. OK
SUPERMAN & BATMAN GENERATIONSIII
#2: Huh. The 100 year jump might be a bit much to eat every month, but
this is Byrne doing what Byrne does well. OK
TOM STRONGS TERRIFIC TALES #6: Hot
Lesbian Action by Art Adams. Who cares about the rest of the book? What
you have to ask yourself is “Is 8 pages of Art Adams worth $2.95 to
me?” It’s not that the 2 TS stories suck or anything... but they’re
basically forgettable an hour after you read them. Me, I’m just barely
on this side of “yes, 8 pages of Art Adams is worth $2.95 alone.” If
you’re not, adjust my Good sharply downwards.
VENTURE #2: A bit slow developing,
but I’m liking it modestly. OK
For Sake
of Completeness, here’s a list of all of the OTHER comics that CE got
in this week, that I did NOT read (and, therefore, am unlikely to review!).
Note, that in most cases this is limited to 1) Manga, which I try to
read as it is collected; 2) “Kids” comics like most of the Archies;
3) titles that were subs-only, either by design or accident; 4) Porno
[oh, like you need me to REVIEW it!], 5) Things that looked SO bad on
the racks that I didn’t bother, and 6) stuff that I’ve assessed before,
and I care so little about that I don’t want to waste my time reading
anymore. You decide which is which
ALAN MOORES THE COURTYARD
#1
ARCHIE DIGEST #196
AZRAEL AGENT OF THE BAT #99
BONEYARD #9
EDENS TRAIL #4
GEN 13 #6
GI JOE #14
GOON COLOR SPECIAL #1
INU YASHA PART 7 #7
JUGHEAD #149
KISSING CHAOS NONSTOP BEAUTY #3
LITTLE WHITE MOUSE OPEN SPACE#2
LOUIS RIEL #9
MAGE KNIGHT STOLEN DESTINY #4
NEGATION #15 KEY ISSUE
OH MY GODDESS #95
SCOOBY-DOO #69
SIGIL #33
SKAGGY THE LOST #2
SPAWN #122
TRANSFORMERS WAR WITHIN #5
VICTORIAN #17
WARREN ELLIS STRANGE KILLINGSBODY ORCHARD #6
WITCHBLADE #61
And, for
even MORE completeness sake, here’s a list of books, TPBs, GNs, magazines,
and other things that CE got this week. I generally haven’t read any
of this by the time I post these reviews. Though I generally attempt
to give at least one recommendation amongst the TPBs each week, since
I HAVE read the material at SOME point.
2000
AD #1323
2000 AD #1324
ALIAS VOL 2 COME HOME TP
ANIMERICA EXTRA MARCH 2003 VOL 6 #3
ART OF MATT HUGHES METAMORPHOSIS TP
ASIAN CULT CINEMA #38
BATMAN DYNAMIC DUO ARCHIVES VOL 1 HC
BECKETT YU GI OH COLLECTOR #4FREE SAMPLES
CARTOON HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE III RISE OF ARABIA TO RENAIS
CINESCAPE MAR 2003
CLUB 9 TP
DAREDEVIL VOL 5 OUT TP
FARSCAPE NEWSTAND ED #11
HAWKMAN ENDLESS FLIGHT TP
JLA RIDDLE OF THE BEAST SC
JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #202
LEES TOY REVIEW FEB 2003
LOEG II BUMPER EDITION VOLUME2 PARTS 3 AND 4
LUPIN III VOL 2 GN
MAD XL #20
MY OWN LITTLE EMPIRE GN
SERPIERI SKETCHBOOK II HC
SHADES OF BLUE VOL 1 TP
SHOT CALLERZ TP
SILVER AGE BATMAN & ROBIN DLXACTION FIGURE SET
STEAMPUNK DRAMA OBSCURA
STORM RIDERS GN #9
SUPERMAN CRITICAL CONDITION TP
TOMARTS ACTION FIGURE DIGEST FEB 2003
WIPEOUT GN
This Week’s TP recommendation is:
It is Bendis (Alias v2) versus Bendis (DD: Out) this week,
though Cartoon History III comes pretty close. I think I’ll give
it to Alias Vol 2: Come Home because fewer people are
reading it to begin with.
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