Comics: Week of November 16

This past week's haul of comics was a fairly mixed bag for me. It stuck to my pattern of "Mostly Good, Mostly DC", but there were a couple of things that really surprised me. Let's hit the rundown.

All-Star Superman #1
(Grant Morrison, words; Frank Quitely, art)

I'm still limiting myself to five sentences here, so let's start off with the following statement: All-Star Superman is almost wall-gnawingly good. Morrison and Quitely have taken what they feel are the essential elements of the Superman mythos (Superman is self-sacrificing and loves Lois, Lois is brilliant and witty, Lex is capital-E Evil, Jimmy is a keener and mildly annoying), distilled them and deliver it in super-concentrated form. After a deceptively simple one-page origin recap, he dialogue and plot run past fairly quickly, the near-absurdity of the story just another example of Morrison's "pharmaceutically-charged Silver Age" writing style. My favourite part of the book is the take on Clark: he's still as huge as Superman, but a slouching, clumsy, plain-looking guy that reminds me of Christopher Reeve's take on the character. It's not as strong a start as some of his Seven Soldiers #1s earlier in the year, but it's a breath of fresh air that makes me seriously re-examine some of my previous purchases of the past few months.
Expectation: 4
Rating: 4.5
Differential: +0.5


Birds of Prey #88 - "Perfect Pitch, Part Two"
(Gail Simone, words; Jack Bennett & Eddy Barrows, pencils)

I started picking this title up a few months ago after hearing nothing but good things about it, and after really enjoying Simone's work on Villains United, but this issue really left me with a bland taste in my mouth. The many plot threads are let to go a little slack, so it's more than a little disjointed: Calculator gets his buddies to torture one of the Birds' allies, Ollie & Dinah fight gangsters and discuss their love life, the Birds go shopping, Huntress works to get in with the mob...a number of interesting but there's no uniting thread through the issue. The art doesn't help matters any, as the looks change along with the scenes. I do like the way Gail Simone writes dialogue that's character-specific and makes for a number of cute little scenes. However, that's not enough to redeem this issue: it was spread too thin over too many stories, which I hope get tied a little tighter in the next issue.
Expectation: 3.5
Rating: 2.5
Differential: -1


Fables #43 - "Arabian Nights (And Days), Part Two"
(Bill Willingham, words; Mark Buckingham, pencils)

This issue sees the continued interactions between Sinbad & the Arabian fables into the mostly-European Fabletown, as well as some more interesting political maneuvering in the Mayor's office. I must say, even though I miss Deputy Mayor Snow White and Sheriff Bigby, the Prince Charming-Beauty-Beast dynamic is really starting to grow on me; Willingham allows more subtlety and less moral absolutism in their characterizations, which makes for more entertaining interactions as well as a better fit for a confused and conflicted Fabletown. Plus, King Cole has shown more ingenuity and intelligence in his limited role these past two issues than his previous tenure as Mayor. The clash of culture is played out quite well here, and although the ending didn't really catch me by surprise, it sets the reader up for an entertaining next issue. Combine that with the creativity of Willingham's page layouts and his iconic pencils (a good fit for the books fairy-tale characters), and Fables remains a book to keep your eye on.
Expectation: 3
Rating: 3.5
Differential: +0.5


Hellblazer #214 - "R.S.V.P., Part One"
(Mike Carey, words; Leonardo Manco, art)

This is the penultimate issue of Carey's run on the title, and it is rather obvious: he's setting a number of things up here that shout "It's the beginning of the end, folks!" Hellblazer #214 is characterized by the two main strengths of Carey's tenure: his John Constantine is intriguing because it's a Gestalt made from the interpretation of previous writers, and he effectively uses all the supporting characters, both living and dead. I'm not sure where John's going to end up after this story is over, but he rarely does either, so in that sense, I'm in respectable company.
Expectation: 3
Rating: 3
Differential: 0


Polly & The Pirates #2 (An October comic, but I got it this week)
(Ted Naifeh, words and art)

I picked this title up because, as an all-ages comic book about a sweet ten-year-old girl's adventures with pirates, it satisfies both my need for pirate comics, and Peach's need for sweet all-ages comics. I must say that I've really taking a liking to Polly Pringle, timid schoolgirl and dubious heir to a pirate empire, and root for her through all her adventures, be them with salty sea dogs or conniving classmates. Naifeh gains big points for humour, adventure, excellent dialogue ("Thank you for your kindness. You may keep the rowboat."), and the use of one of my favourite historical figures. He loses points for sometimes falling into clichés, although much less so than last issue, and for Polly's lack of feet (seriously, she runs around on peglegs). This issue takes all the great things of last month's and improves on them, and I'm really happy that I took the chance on this one, and you should too, especially if you are (or have) a comic book girlfriend.
Expectation: 3
Rating: 4
Differential: +1