The Savage Critic: June 22, 2001 By Brian Hibbs

Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends.

If this edition of the Savage Critic seems a little wonky, it's because I'm doing it at the very last minute (must open the store in...under 2 hours), and on almost no sleep -- Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal was ALSO released on Wednesday, and it sucked me in. Yah, yah, computer games, I'm a geek. Best damn CRPG ever, and there's no sex and drugs for Ian until I finish it.

Anyway.

Pretty decent week, all things considered. Let's see if I'm any more Savage without sleep.

AMERICAN CENTURY #4: Eh. I don't know... the first two issues of AC sold out pretty much immediately nationwide, and I can't really figure out why. It's not bad or anything, but it reads like just about every other Chaykin comic -- why, this time, has it seemingly touched a chord? I've only read this six or seven times.

BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #18: OK. Now, that's a nice cover. Batman Is Moody And We Find Out What Happened To The Giant Penny, but it wasn’t really all that exciting.

BATTLE POPE MAYHEM #1: OK. I liked the original mini-series, just because it was a reasonably "original idea" (well, sure, and it was funny)... but I feel like I've gotten the joke now, and this may have worn out its welcome. We'll see.

BIZARRO COMICS HC: Good. I SO much wanted to give this a VG or Excellent... but I really can't. It's not that there isn't some excellent work in here (there is! there is!), but it almost seemed... shit, I dunno, incestuous? Not as many creators are involved as I would have liked, and they're all working together, trading back and forth on script and art. And I think it was a HUGE mistake to have that looooong section (10% of the book? More?) that, effectively, tries to justify the book as continuity. Who the fuck cares about continuity in a book full of alternative creators? Still, there's some dead-brilliant work here, and it's really the best book of the week, and I recommend it, even with the flaws. Even if you don't buy it now, DEFINITELY buy it when/if it comes out in SC (not that I'm positive DC WILL do a SC, given the whole "we don't want people to mistake this for a regular DC comic" and all)

CABLE #94: Eh. Considering the last issue was my "Pick of the weak" the week it came out, that's quite an improvement... the story actually seems to be GOING somewhere this time... too bad I don't give a fuck.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #44: Awful. Wednesday morning Jeff Lester and I played "who is Marvel going to kill in September?" I took the Thor position, while Jeff opted for Cap. Based on this issue, Cap might deserve it more.

CAPTAIN MARVEL #20: Good. I actually found this quite amusing... especially the comic shop bit, which I can't describe without spoling the story in a way I don't want to. If you're looking to read a Peter David comic (and, really, who isn't?), give this issue a read -- it's not high art, but it's light fun superheros.

CEREBUS #267: Very good. If Sim keeps this pace, the last "phonebook" is going to be an amazingly dense read. Plus there's a cogent text piece (no, really) at the back of this one.

CRUX #3: Eh. The only CrossGen book I like... but almost nothing happens, and I'm already starting not to care too much about the characters.

FANTASTIC FOUR WORLDS GREATEST COMIC MAGAZINE #7: Awful. At least prior issues had "good" Kirby... homages. This one looked hacked together and rushed.

GEN 13 #66: Good. Jesus, am I slipping? First Capt. Marvel, now this... really, nothing happens this issue, but the art was scrumdidiliumptious, so it's worth checking out.

INCREDIBLE HULK #29: Awful. This is the peril of my writing this on Friday morning -- all the comics are back at the store, and I can't pick it up to quote some of the yucky dialogue. But, no sir, I din't like it.

JETCAT CLUBHOUSE #2: Very good! I thought the first issue was a little weak, actually -- but this one kicked much ass. Charming and fun and childlike... I liked it a whole lot.

JLA GODS AND MONSTERS: Crap. A huge fetid stinky pile of crap, in fact. Quite possibly the worst DC comic I've ever read. Jesus. $6.95 for this nonsense? Fucking YUCK.

LADY DEATH ALIVE #3: I have no idea what possessed me to read this, and I'm terribly sad I did. Awful.

LITTLE RED HOT BOUND #1: Eh. Nice art (color this time around... and with an interesting style and color pallette), but not so much of a story.

MURDER ME DEAD #6: Good. I liked it.

ORION #15: Eh. Content-wise, I don't care too much... I really don't like the New Gods as a concept... but what has Simonson done with his art? Suddenly, it's got... hrm, I dunno, maybe a stronger European influence or something (those curlicues), but I really enjoyed this new style.

OUTLAW NATION #10: Eh. Not Working For Me as Single Comics.

PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN #32: "And it was all an illusion". Yoikes. I expect better from Jenkins. Crap.

RING OF NIBELUNG GOTTERDAMMERUNG #1: Very good. This is class class work.. and it even makes me appreciate The Ring...even if I can't stand opera. P. Craig Russell is one of the true treasures of comics, and this issue only underlines that.

RISING STARS #15: OK. Too way too much time to get to its unexciting, and "been there," point.

ROBIN #91: Eh. Dunno what else to say, really.

SANDMAN PRESENTS DEAD BOY DETECTIVES #1: If I give this a favorable review, then maybe Ed Brubaker will stop sending me all that threating e-mail, and stop standing in front of my house with that strange glassy look in his eyes. God, I hope so at least! (I'm kidding, I'm kidding, Ed sent me a JOKE e-mail about DBD...but you know what's weird about Ed? I've recieved three e-mails for him in the last 2 years... and not one of them had a topic. This disturbs me.)

Also, I have to say this whole "Sandman Presents" thing is wearing super-thin. The hard-core sand-fans pretty much departed comics en masse (well, some stuck around for JTHM) when Neil completed Sandman. So, not only is it crass, but it's pretty damn stupid. PLus it makes alphabetical listing like this one look dumb.

Huh? Oh, right right, the comic.... ("Put DOWN the E-mail, and step away from the computer, Mr. Brubaker. This is your only warning.")

Good.

Had to deduct points for accents (work on that brit, Ed!), and another one or two for plausibility (right, they're ghosts, but they're scared of getting hit by a train?), but this was a solid book.

SERGIO ARAGONES ACTIONS SPEAK#6: Just how DO you review a pantomime book of one-page strips? Something very much like "Sergio Aragones is a master of the form" I imagine. Still, it's way too fast of a read for $2.99, so pricing knocks it down to "OK". Plus, I would have ended the issue with the flasher joke.

SCION #13, SIGIL #13: West coast shipping error brough both of these this week (which is why I fudged the normal alphabetical to list them together)... and I have to tell you, I read them both not even 16 hours ago, and I can't remember which is which, or any specific detail about them, or anything. So, I'll cheat, and call it Awful (x2)

SOJOURN PREQUEL: Yikes, TOO MUCH CROSSGEN THIS WEEK. How can they keep adding book-after-book-after-book, don't they know that's what destroys ALL young companies? Anyway, this comic... don't care. I just don't. I think I'm going to stop even reading the CrossGen books, or at least, most of them -- they're taking up too much valuable space in my brain: the part that could be storing "Flash Facts" or the varieties of Kryptonite or something. Life is too short to waste on bland comics. Review: Eh.

STAR WARS JEDI VS SITH #3: I don't think I read #1 or 2 of this, yet I was able to follow it easy enough, and thought the characters were somewhat interesting. That's a nice trick, so OK.

STAR WARS TALES #8: Worth it just for the Andi Watson story. It's weird that DH's Star Wars line has a "experimental/humor" title, but I kinda like it. OK.

SUPERBOY #89: Eh. Whatever.

SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #58: Awful. Just about the most cliche-ridden script I've read... well, this week. Nice-ass cover though.

SUPERMAN THE MAN OF STEEL #115: Um.... no, don't buy the premise. Jesus, there's nine more weeks of OWAW. Now, where did I put that shotgun? Awful.

THUNDERBOLTS #53: Eh.

TITANS #30: Eh. Yes, I'm running out of time before I have to leave the house to open the store!

USAGI YOJIMBO #49: Very good. But, then, when is it not?

YOUNG JUSTICE OUR WORLDS AT WAR #1: Awful. Could this be MORE padded, and LESS pointless? I think not. Jesus, 9 more weeks...

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

AQUA KNIGHT PART 3 #4
ARCHIE #511
ARCHIE AND FRIENDS #49
DOUBLE IMAGE #4
EDDIE CAMPBELLS BACCHUS #60
EL HAZARD THE MAGNIFICENT WORLD PART 2 #5
GALACTIC GLADIATORS #1
GUNSMITH CATS MISTER V #9
JADE #3
JEZEBELLE #6
LITTLE GLOOMY #5
POWERPUFF GIRLS #16
PURGATORI THE HUNTED #1
RANMA 1/2 PART 10 #3
SCOOBY DOO SPOOKY SUMMER SPECIAL #1
SEXY SYMPHONY #2
SILENT MOBIUS LOVE & CHAOS #7
STAR WARS UNDERWORLD #5
VERONICA #115

And, for even MORE completeness sake, here’s a list of books, TPBs, GNs, and magazines 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.

AQUAMAN WATER GLOBE (This is really really cool looking!)
BANANA FISH VOL 5 TP
COME IN ALONE TP
DEADMAN ACTION FIGURE
DEMON ACTION FIGURE
DISNEYS ATLANTIS THE LOST EMPIRE
EAGLE VOL 3 TP
FIFTH NAME GN
GEN 13 LONDON NEW YORK HELL COLL
GOLDFISH THE DEFINITIVE COLL TP
HOW TO DRAW MANGA #6
INCREDIBLE HULK THE DOGS OF WAR TP
KING CAT COLLECTION
LOWLIFE COMPLETE TP REVISED ED
MAGE THE HERO DEFINED VOL 4 TP
MARVEL BOY TP
NEW VAMPIRE MIYU VOL 5 GN WRATH OF MIYU
OH MY GODDESS THE DEVIL IN MISS URD TP
PROMETHEA BOOK ONE TP
R CRUMB SKETCHBOOK REPORTS
RARE CREATURE TP
SPECTRE HAL JORDON ACTION FIGURE
SPOUTNIK VOL 2 FRENCH W TRANSLATION BOOK
SUBMISSIVE SUZANNE VOL 1
TOMARTS ACTION FIGURE DIGEST #88
TRANSMETROPOLITAN VOL 5 LONELY CITY TP
TROUBLETOWN #7 MANIFESTOS & STUFF

This Week’s TPB recommendation is: a very very very hard call!!!!! Damn, way way too many good things to pick. Favoring the under-exposed... I throw the prize to Eagle V3. Buy it.

Average Rating for the Week: 3.41 (of 7.00)

Pick of the Week: *grumble* Even though its final rating was lower than some others.... I really need to give it to Bizarro Comics HC. Even with its flaws, it’s ambitious, and filled with neat stuff.

Pick of the Weak: JLA: Gods and Monsters. $6.95 for THAT? Fucking criminal. Go stand in the corner.