Comics: Playing Catch-Up, Volume One

A combination of 25% schoolwork, 25% holidaying, and 50% laziness has led me to stop reviewing my comics for...good lord, two months? That can't possibly be right! No, I guess it is. Very well then; as I think that this is an important exercise in writing, deadlines, and critical-thinking skills, I will go back through eight weeks of comic releases and put five sentences down for every single one of them. This doesn't include this Wednesday's newest batch, though...oh, help me Jebus....

November 30, 2005

Fell #3
(Warren Ellis, words; Ben Templesmith, art)

Fell was just voted the #1 series in the Comics Blogger Poll, and although I think a lot of it has to do with the price, the comic itself is very impressive. This issue's probably the weakest of the three that've been released so far, although that doesn't mean it's bad. Ellis & Templesmith take Detective Richard Fell to a different part of Snowtown and introduce us to more interesting and damaged characters, plus: more Evil Nun Nixon. The conflict's supposed to be high-tension and low-key, and the nine-panel format really helps set the tone, but the energy slowly bleeds out because the scene drags on a little too long. Another interesting story about how the city ruins its inhabitants, and gives us a little more information about the central character.
Expectation: 4.0
Rating: 3.5
Differential: -0.5


JLA: Classified #14 - "New Maps of Hell, Part Five"
(Warren Ellis, words; Butch Guice, art)

In this out-of-continuity JLA story, our heroes confront the Martian god of Fear, who spends this issue torturing them in their own individual Hells. Unlike Fell, Ellis's other offering this week, JLA: Classified is filled with widescreen panels that give us a more cinematic feel (the polarizing decompression) that is appropriate for this larger-than-life story. The "hells" that are custom-made for each character range from cliche to startling to surprising, and some of our heroes deal with them better than others. Batman is suitably...Batman, and my man J'onn J'onnz has a great F*@% YEAH! moment in this issue, but those are the only real story highlights in this issue; plus, the way Guice draws Superman really irritates me. After a really great first two issues, this story's hit a stumbling block.
Expectation: 3.5
Rating: 2.5
Differential: -1.0

Revelations #4
(Paul Jenkins, words; Humberto Ramos, pencils)

This issue marks the beginning of the end of this 6-issue miniseries, and I'm still terribly confused. Everyone's favourite lapsed Catholic English detective is still trying to solve the murder at Vatican, and he's knee-deep in Catholic bureaucracy as well as a few story clichés. Jenkins is telling a really interesting story here, with a number of twists popping up in this issue alone, but the romantic development was telegraphed and out of story necessity rather than story telling. Ramos continues to impress: his cartoony style isn't an obvious fit for the dark murder mystery, but that makes it especially off-putting when things get really gruesome. I think I'm going to like the story when it's all said and done, but right now I'm in a bit of a quagmire - which is what Jenkins & Ramos want, I think.
Expectation: 4.0
Rating: 3.5
Differential: -0.5


December 7, 2005

Jonah Hex #2
(Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, words; Luke Ross, art)

Jonah Hex is an old western serial; every month you pick it up, you get a brand new story with the continued adventures of everyone's hideously disfigured bounty hunter. And if the creative team keeps up the level of quality that the past two issues have had, I'm going to be one happy cowboy. Palmiotti and Gray set up a good story of greed and revenge, complete with a sexy lady sidekick, a two-faced lawman, and a dynamite caper. Usually I focus on a book's writer (or writers), but this title just wouldn't be as good withouth Luke Ross's art; he tailors his panel layout to fit the mood of every scene, and his art is wide in scope with good attention to detail. DC could have a runaway hit on its hands with this one; it's much better than some of the in-continuity titles it's putting out.
Expectation: 4.0
Rating: 4.0
Differential: 0


Powers #15
(Brian Michael Bendis, words; Michael Avon Oeming, art)

Powers is a frustrating book for me; it's usually pretty good, but a few weeks after an issue comes out I get apathetic about it. Although there some titles that only have a couple of issues a year can get me chompin' at the bit, I never shout, "All right, Powers is out!" There's a really good story here, and I don't know where Bendis and Oeming are going with it except possibly to Awesometown. I don't want to 'spoil' anything, but there are some shocking developments in this issue, and after reading this issue I got really excited for Issue 16. Let's see if that feeling lasts until it comes out.
Expectation: 3.0
Rating: 4.0
Differential: +1.0


Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle #2
(Grant Morrison, words; Billy Patton & Freddie Williams II, pencils)

A child of the 80s, the Mr. Miracle I knew was a white guy named Scott Free who hung out with the Justice League and had a sexy giantess for a wife, but I knew very little about the rest of the New Gods aside from a few guest appearances. Morrison's Mister Miracle is a different guy, and the New Gods are nowhere to be found - or are they? In this issue, we're re-introduced to a number of New Gods, re-imagined Morrison-style for this seemingly brand-new universe, and there's plenty of zany action in the form of a drive-by smash-up derby. There are a lot of ideas bouncing around in this issue's but because nothing's really made of them, it's more confusing than entertaining (I'd say a 60/40 ratio). With two artists doing work on this issue, the shifts are noticeable but not distracting, and I'm looking forward to seeing Williams take the rest of this series home - I just hope that the next issue is a little less obtuse.
Expectation: 4.0
Rating: 2.5
Differential: -1.5


December 14, 2005

Fables #44
(Bill Willingham, words; Mark Buckingham, pencils)

For one of my favourite titles, Fables has been letting me down lately. First, Willingham telegraphs the Adversary's true identity almost 20 issues in advance, and then in a flash of misdirection reveals it to be exactly who we thought it was; now, we have the worst case of blocking (in improv terms) I've ever seen. There's a lot of set-up in this issue: Prince Charming and Boy Blue discuss the fallout of Blue's adventures, the D'jinn goes crazy in Baghdad, and the Fabletown residents continue to protest their new Mayor's rule. But it's all for naught as the ending is terribly disappointing, and I'm left to realize that very little actually happened. Buckingham and Leialoha hold up their end with another beautiful-looking issue, but ultimately it's a meringue: looks good, but it's basically empty.
Expectation: 3.5
Rating: 2.0
Differential: -1.5