Comics: Playing Catch-Up, Volume Two

I may have been down, folks, but I am certainly not out. Not even a broken computer can keep me away from writing pointlessly about comics!

December 21, 2005

Birds of Prey #89 - "Perfect Pitch, Part Three"
(Gail Simone, words; Paulo Siqueira, pencils)

Compared to last months' mediocre offering, this issue has much more cohesion and thrust; all the plot threads tighten and the story really picks up. Simone handles both emotion and action with ease, and that's one of the great things about Birds of Prey: strong women with well-defined characters, comfortable whether their sharing their feelings, kicking ass, or hanging out. The book's been criticized for furthering female supehero clichés (e.g. unrealistically sexy women in spandex and fishnets, being defined by their sexuality, behaving too 'girly'), but I think that this title effectively uses those aspects of superheroines - and women in general - when the characters demand it. New penciller Siqueira draws a good knock-down fight scene, and his facial expressions add a lot to the story without Simone having to spell things out. A marked improvement over last month, and the two special guests that show up at the end have me eagerly anticipating issue #90.
Expectation: 3.0
Rating: 3.5
Differential: +0.5


DMZ #2 - "On The Ground, Part Two" (Late from previous week.)
(Brian Wood, words; Riccardo Burchielli & Brian Wood, art)

There aren't many comics that have a journalist as the main character (I can only think of one off the top of my head), but it seems like a really smart idea: if you're going to be exploring a strange new place, a journalist would be a good guide. DMZ's journalist (Matty Roth) is thrust into the new Manhattan with little information and he has to explore it for himself, which puts him on the same level as the reader. This issue introduces a few new and interesting characters (I hope to see more of the ex-Marine sniper) and is convincing when showing how people live and die in the Demilitarized Zone. I'm not buying the notion of Manhattan as the middle point between warring groups of states as particularly believable, but I am enjoying the series enough to suspend my disbelief for a while. A good comic that tells an old story in a new way.
Expectation: 3.0
Rating: 3.5
Differential: +0.5

Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #3
(Dave Gibbons & Geoff Johns, words; Patrick Gleason, pencils)

I'm not going to lie to anyone here: I picked up the new GL Corps book because I loves me some Kilowog, and when Patrick Gleason gives me a splash page like he does on Page Five, I'm a happy camper. This book keeps throwing adventure and excitement at us: Kilowog helps two bickering Lanterns work as a team while Kyle and Guy rescue reluctant new recruit Sorak Natu from the Spider Guild. While the "strong men rescue a pretty girl in distress" plot irks me a little, I get past it because Gibbons is telling an interesting story in the bigger picture (much better than I was lead to expect from The Rann-Thanagarian War). Gleason and inkers Prentis Rollins & Christian Alamy put in some great work here, handling both intimidating space vistas and intimate personal touches (I love Guy's face on Page Three). I'm a little confused by all the people that appear in this title; I don't know any of the bounty hunters that pop up this issue, and I don't know if the Spider Guild is a brand new threat or something that's been thought up for this issue - but that really doesn't matter, because GLC: Recharge is good space opera and a good team book.
Expectation: 3.0
Rating: 4.0
Differential: +1.0


Hellblazer #215 – "R.S.V.P., Part Two"
(Mike Carey, words; Leonardo Manco, art)

England's premiere magic association the Tate Club is having its bicentennial and the organizers have wrangled Constantine into making the keynote speech, despite the traumas of his recent past (amnesia, hunting his demon children, a death in the family, busting up with his mate, and so on - really, par for the course for John). You just know he's got some surprise cooked up for the crew, but just what it is was actually surprising. John's speech is remarkable for its vitriole and appropriateness, and the ending flourish was classic Constantine. This is Carey's farewell issue, and like Azarello he ends his run with an unexpected twist that is likely going to be undone by the new writer, mystery writer Denise Mina. This issue, like most of Carey's run, got back to what I see as the roots of the character without adding anything to the mystique, and although it was good I would like to see this title be great again.
Expectation: 3.0
Rating: 3.5
Differential: +0.5


Infinite Crisis #3
(Geoff Johns, words; Phil Jiminez, art)

The first time I read this issue, I was nearly stunned at what happened; so many things in so many pages, it boggled my mind. Upon a re-read, however, the story simplified itself a lot. It's not as complicated as I once thought: a lot of "big things" happen, but most of them are part of one larger theme (destruction & reconstruction). There's a nice character moment in Batman and Earth-II Superman's meeting, and a whole lot of mysteries are finally revealed. It's not a bad issue, it's just not as great as I was hoping. The fact that this issue didn't seem as stunning on re-reading puts me in a gloomy mood when I think that it may just be the same for the series as a whole.
Expectation: 4.0
Rating: 3.0
Differential: -1.0


Seven Soldiers: The Bulleteer #2
(Grant Morrison, words; Yanick Paquette, pencils)

Issue Two of this miniseries is a little better than the first, but it's still (to me) the weakest of the entire 7Soldiers experiment. The Bulleteer is where Morrison starts really tying the series together and connects them with the Seven Soldiers #0 one-shot, so it's doubly disappointing that I'm not right behind it. Alix is still drawn Super-Cheesecake, but it's less out-of-place and more story-driven when she's put beside Agent Helen Helligan: part of The Bulleteer's power (and her curse) is that her husband saw her only as a sexual object, the same way many comics readers view their superheroines. This issue seemed disorganized and out of sync as well, which was the most frustrating thing of all. It may not be fair to compare it to six other series, but The Bulleteer is the weakest for both art and writing, although its growing importance to the overall storyline is more than I'd initially expected.
Expectation: 2.5
Rating: 2.5
Differential: +0


Testament #1
(Douglas Rushkoff, words; Liam Sharp, art)

The Bible isn't just a religious document, but rather, a collection of archetypal stories collected by a number of authors (in an "open source" collaboration) that keeps repeating over and over again through time, even in a military-industrial future America. This is the kind of book that appeals to me right from the beginning: lots of potential, with mature ideas of both kinds ("mature" as in "thoughful and self-reflective" and "Mature" as in "sex, drugs, and violence"). This first issue is pretty dense in both story and art, and if this is any indication of the overall quality of the book, then I'm in for a real treat. The art is a good fit for this book, I think: Liam Sharp does Biblical past and dystopian future equally well, but his conception of the mysterious Dinah seems hyper-sexualized (then again, that might be the point; see The Bulleteer). Testament has a lot of potential, and the creators seem to have the talent to back it up.
Expectation: 3.5
Rating: 4.0
Differential: +0.5

December 28, 2005

JLA Classified #15 - "New Maps of Hell, Part Six"
(Warren Ellis, words; Butch Guice, art)

This story just ran out of steam about halfway through last issue, and it never really recovers. I understand and appreciate making Z, the Martian god of Fear, nothing more than an old artificial intelligence that can't possibly begin to compete with the JLA, but it takes all the air out of the final conflict; it needed some tension and had none. This series slowly became Ellis re-hashing a lot of his superhero ideas that he did better in Stormwatch & The Authority: working together as a team, each member contributing their own skills, and each member is incredibly smart (almost too smart). The last three issues of this series could have been combined to make two and then the story beats would have seemed less drawn out, and the ending would have had more of an impact. At the beginning, I finished every issue excited for the next one; now I'm just glad it's over.
Expectation: 2.5
Rating: 1.5
Differential: -0.5


Revelations #5
(Paul Jenkins, words; Humberto Ramos, pencils)

The cover of this issue spells out what's going to happen inside, which spoiled a major plot point for me - not a great idea in a murder mystery. Still, Jenkins and Ramos are leading up to a hell of a closer if this issue is any indication. The mystery surrounding Detective Northern becomes even more labyrinthine, leading both him and the reader to doubt all the suspects' motives, while his character becomes even more clear. With supporting cast dropping left and right, we're moving into endgame, and I can't wait to read issue six, where (I hope) everything's made clear.
Expectation: 3.5
Rating: 4.0
Differential: +0.5