The Savage Critic: October
16th, 2002
By Brian
Hibbs
Welcome
back, my friends, to the show that never ends.
I’m
behind schedule this week (writing this Sunday at 11 am!), so no fancy
intro...
AMERICAN
CENTURY #19: I think I’m enjoying this arc better than any of the others,
but there’s still something.... oh, I dunno, Shrill? about the all of
the leads? OK
AUTOMATIC
KAFKA #4: Nice to look at, but I didn’t understand what was happening,
or why, or what this had to do with the first 3 issues (which I liked).
Eh
BATMAN
GOTHAM KNIGHTS #34: Yuck, I can’t believe they’re stringing this stupid
plotline on for at least another issue. Awful
BLACK
SUN #2: Quite possibly the worst storytelling to grace a WS book. The
story itself is fine (if a smidge cliché) but the stiff and non-flowing
art makes my eyes water. Awful
BLUE
MONDAY DEAD MANS PARTY: Cute, I suppose, but retelling several horror
movies is, at its core, a dull idea. Eh
BTVS
TALES OF THE SLAYERS: Nice to see Gene Colon art in whatever quantity,
and that story was fine, but the framing sequence left me cold. Still,
nice to see Colon art, so Good, just for that.
CAPTAIN
MARVEL #2: The Punisher was pretty wildly out of character, but this
was still an interesting story. OK
DAREDEVIL
#38: Wait, a new storyline? But the old one wasn’t resolved yet....
*grumble*. Another solid Bendis issue, though I find it a little weird
that the Max version of Luke Cage is apparently now the “real” version
in the regular MU. I’d call that a tactical mistake, myself. Anyway,
Good
ELECTRIC
GIRL #10: Cute and fun, although I disliked the switcharoo at the end
of the fake knife and the hypnotism. OK
ENNIS
& MCCREAS DICKS 2 #1: I laughed and laughed and laughed some more.
Can’t ask for much more from funny books. Very Good
FATE
OF THE BLADE #2: Dreamwave’s “mature readers” book – reads mostly like
a set up for an I Spit On Your Grave-style story to follow. Eh
FILTH
#5: Mental. Fucking mental. Very Good
INCREDIBLE
HULK #46: This storyline has dragged on far too long. Bored now. Eh
JSA
#41: That was fine – a bit clumsy of a setup to get some JSAers in the
past, but overall enjoyable. I think the real problem here is the JSA
has too many members, and far too many threads spinning out and around.
OK
LIKEWISE
#1: Ariel Schrag returns, and while I found her narrative voice to be
jumpy and disconcerting, it’s certainly a narrative voice which there’s
not enough of in comics. This is really the way to do autobio comics.
Good
LONE
WOLF 2100 #4: I liked this story better when Matt Wagner did it in Grendel:
War Child. Eh
LUCIFER
#31: I’ve said it before: Lucifer is the best book Vertigo is producing
these days. I like the characters, I like the politics, I give this
issue an Excellent
MARVILLE
#2: It’s not funny, at all. AT ALL. Crap
MIDNIGHT
MASS #7: Lots of sitting around and talking, which is fine, but maybe
a little less fine in a 8-issue mini-series. There’s just no sense of
focus here, despite the basic quality of the work being strong. OK
NEW
X-MEN #133: Not really sure what’s going on here with the formerly dead
heroes popping up like that, but whatever – I’m still enjoying the ride.
Good
POWER
COMPANY #9: Jeff mentioned in the store that he didn’t like this – but
I sure did. If this had been the second or third issue (rather than,
effectively, the 15th), then I think this book would have
a good buzz and a growing readership. Good
ROBIN
#107: I really like Jon Lewis’ handling of the “normal teen” stuff,
but I’m less enamored when Tim gets into costume. Since this is mostly
the former, I’ll say Good
SHANG
CHI MASTER OF KUNG FU #2: All middle. Nicely done middle, but all middle,
nonetheless. OK
SIMPSONS
COMICS #75: Ian Boothby hits one out of the park – consider this an
unofficial Treehouse of Horror issue, back when each story in
the book was, y’know, funny. Excellent.
SOJOURN
#16: Wonderfully beautiful art, and eye popping color. But the whol
“she falls through the floor and JUST HAPPENS to find the thing they
were looking for” plot was pretty damn sad. Average it out to an OK
SPIDER-MAN
BLACK CAT THE EVILTHAT MEN DO #3: Little too much padding (heh) here
to get to the overdose scene. OK
SUPERMAN
THE MAN OF STEEL #131: Without a doubt this was the single worst issue
of Superman I’ve ever read. Defying any logic or reason, or really,
good taste whatsoever, this issue points to the drastic need to revamp
the super-books. Fuck, even reboot them again. Oh, and look at the last
page, then read the “next issue” blurb in “DC in Demand” and tell me
your stomach didn’t churn. I’m really sick of the fight-packed issues
where Superman wins BECAUSE he’s Superman, and not because of anything
he DOES. Crap.
THOR
#55: Nice art, and a fun twist with Crusher Creel – but I don’t know
how they can possibly get out of this storyline (and that’s not meant
in the “good” way of “oh ho, they surprise me”) OK
THUNDERBOLTS
#73: Marking time to the “last” issue of #75. Whadevuh. Awful
ULTIMATE
SPIDER-MAN #29: Poor Peter. *sad face* Very Good
ULTIMATE
X-MEN #23: Now this is modern comics – having Instant Messages being
the plot device is clever and smart. Very Good
YOUNG
JUSTICE #50: I was liking it until Peter ran out of pages and the story
just suddenly stops dead cold. 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.
10TH
MUSE #2A
ALICE
IN SEXLAND #6
ARCHIE
AND FRIENDS #63
BETTY
#118
BETTY
& VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #110
BONEYARD
#8
CALL
OF DUTY THE WAGON #3
CANNON
EXAXXION STAGE 2 #10
COMIC
BOOK HEAVEN VOL 2 #7
DECOY
#4
DOGWITCH
#1
GI
JOE FRONTLINE #1
GOON
#1
GROWING
UP ENCHANTED #2
HOLIDAY
FUN DIGEST #7
INFERNO
HELLBOUND #3
INU
YASHA PART 7 #3
KNIGHTS
OF THE DINNER TABLE ILLUSTRATED #15
MICRONAUTS
#3
NEGATION
#11
NETHER
AGE OF MAGA #2
POWERPUFF
GIRLS #31
SHOT
CALLERZ #4
SIGIL
#29
SPACEHACK
#1
TICK
AND ARTIE #2
TRANSFORMERS
ARMADA #3
WITCHBLADE
#1/2
ZENDRA
VOL 2 #4
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.
3
TP
ANIMERICA
NOVEMBER 2002 VOL 10 #11
AUTHORITY
TRANSFER OF POWER TP
BIG
O VOL 1 TP
BIZARRE
COMIX #4 (A)
CHICAGO
VOL 1 GN
COMIC
BOOK MARKETPLACE #94
COMPLETE
JACK KIRBY VOL 4 1947A TP
DANGER
GIRL THE ULTIMATE COLLTP
GARLANDS
OF MOONLIGHT GN
GENETIC
GRUNGE HC
IVE
GOTTA LIVE WITH THIS GUY TP
JEREMIAH
GUN IN THE WATER HC
LEES
TOY REVIEW OCT 2002 #120
MORGANA
BOOK 1 HC HEAVENS GATE
NEGATION
VOL 1 TP BOHICA
ORCHID
TP
POOR
BASTARD SC 2ND PRTG
POWERS
VOL 3 LITTLE DEATHS TP
RAVENS
CHILDREN VOL 1 GN SHADOW OF SNOW FOX PART 1
SPIDER-MAN
TANGLED WEB VOL 3 TP
STAR
TREK MAGAZINE #43
STARLOG
#304
TOWERS
OF BOIS MAURY VOL II ELOISE DE MONTGRI HC
This
Week’s TP recommendation is:
I was going to give it to Authority: Transfer of Power, but
then I actually set down and read it again, and it is a disjointed muddled
mess when put between two covers. I’m not going to even keep my copy
for my own collection. So, I decided to give this week’s rec to Powers
V 3: Little Deaths
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