I've had several Marvel dominated review sessions before, but very few have been DC-centric. This one takes it a step further as there are no Marvel titles here. Pretty much the only thing I picked up from Marvel was X-Force, but books like Nightwing and New Frontier one-shot had to be written about, so I didn't force myself to stick a Marvel book in just for the sake of it this time. I've got a couple books left over to do some reviews for tomorrow, so you can check that out there. Enjoy the reviews and don't be afraid to let me know what you thought of the books you read this week!Comic Book of the Week
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER SPECIALWritten by Darwyn Cooke
Art by Dave Stewart, J. Bone and David Bullock
I'm sorry I even hazard the thought that this might be a cheap movie tie-in rushed out to coincide with the New Frontier direct to DVD movie. Simply reading the opening pages with Rip Hunter explaining the setting for everyone (and debunking the entire 52 Earths nonsense at the same time) told me this issue was going to be just as special as the original DC: The New Frontier.
If you haven't read The New Frontier prior to this, there's nothing to fear, as this one-shot stands on its own and is merely set in the same universe as the previous series. It's more of a prequel in that it is set in the time just after the super heroes were being outlawed but before the events involving the Center and the other heroes in the first New Frontier. As such, these are just incredibly well done 'alternate Earth' stories involving Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and several other characters.
The book is broken up into three separate and unrelated stories. Each is written by Darwyn Cooke and, contrary to solicits, Cooke doesn't actually pencil any of the stories, as he did in the original series. However, it seems all three artists have either tried to mirror or, at least, draw in a similar style to the original material.
It's hard to call any one of the stories my favourite, as they are all excellent, but the first, which detailed the alluded to battle between Batman and Superman during the outlawing of super heroes, would be my pick as best of the bunch. It was also the story who's art was almost indistinguishable from Cooke's to the point I thought he actually drew that section.
The actual story for the opening story features, as I said, an epic battle between Superman and Batman. I'd rank it up there with Dark Knight Returns' battle. It's not as one sided as that battle, but it's just as satisfying and I'm sure it'll be an instant message board fodder for fans of both characters. The story wasn't all one big fight though. It made sure to show us the motivations for each of the characters and how the government manipulated Superman and tried to bring Wonder Woman under their sway as well. It also featured cameos from Lex Luthor and Catwoman, who was the one responsible for acquiring the kryptonite from Lex for Batman.
The second story was very close to the first in terms of art and the likeness to Cooke's original work. It's not as good, but it's definitely still great artwork and fit the story perfectly. This story focused on Robin and Kid Flash and laying the seeds for the future Teen Titans in this universe. With Batman not around and Robin wanting to make himself busy, Dick heads out to stop some local gang and ends up in a chicken race with Wally West while trying to earn the trust of the gang members. It turned out Wally's car was rigged and it skidded over the cliff after a busted tire. As Robin tried to save the man, he found the car empty. This leads Robin on a chase to find the criminals, who Kid Flash, fresh from his escape from the car, has already round up in a nearby warehouse. In the end, the duo stop a Communist attempt to sabotage the secret fuelling station for Air Force One. This earns the two a photo op with JFK and a scribbled remark about being saved by two teen titans.
The final story features some rather odd art. Not bad, though. It still captures a Silver Age art style, but I found the characters, specifically Wonder Woman, over stylized with far too much emphasis on rounded body parts, and no, not breasts. It's like the entire body is made up of cartoonishly rounded sections that are pieced together like Lego. Again, it's not bad looking, but it's definitely doesn't capture the same essence or tone that the previous two did.
However, this final story is a cute tongue in cheek affair featuring Wonder Woman and Black Canary on a girls night out that ends with them at a strip club to put a stop to the male tyranny and sexual exploitation of women in this era. It features Wonder Woman confronting Bruce Wayne, who is taking in the sights at the club, looking for "criminals" of course, and ends with Wonder Woman waving her flaming golden bra around over her head in a bra burning-like display. It definitely capped off an otherwise serious book in a memorable fashion while not degrading or at the expense of any characters. If the art were better, I would have possibly put this as my favourite story.
Verdict - Must Read. It's a one shot. You have no excuses about not understanding what's going on or missing the first 20 issues or other garbage. Best book you will buy this week, month or probably year. I can't be held responsible if you have to go out and buy DC: The New Frontier after reading this, though.
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #8Story by Paul Dini
Story consulting by Keith Giffen
Script by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by Carlos Magno and Rodney Ramos
This wasn't a bad issue, but nothing happens either. Darkseid talks to himself while the Monitor sends the heroes to Earth. Took 22 pages to do it. The ads had more substance than this if you ask me.
Another thing I found odd was the fact this issue must be in an alternate universe where Apokalips didn't blow up last issue, Donna wasn't trying to wake up the knocked out Kyle, who's flying around nilly willy here, and everyone wasn't going about to die in the vaccuum of space. That or the weekend bender I was on had me miss a week, which is entirely possible.
This issue even opened with Ray Palmer in his Atom costume, which came from no where. He was with the group and in his jacket and slacks. Now, he's off spying on Darkseid and Solomon's chess game (Kirk Note - where the hell did the other Monitors go? They can teleport, they didn't die during Monarch's explosion did they?) and waxing philosophical. It's also revealed that Monarch was created by Solomon who punctured Captain Atom's skin to manipulate him into becoming Monarch or some nonsense. Anyone who read that Bludhaven series able to tell me if this jives with that? Did Atom just come off panel with a gaping whole in him at one point or did it show what happened to him?
Finally, the rest of the issue consists of the heroes all arguing over what to do, either go to Darkseid, heal Karate Kid / let him die or try to find a way home. This is all interjected with Red Robin constantly asking if he can kill someone. He's seriously getting annoying now. He was bad about being "90's cool" as the Hood or Jason Todd or whatever he was calling himself before, but he's ridiculous about it now. His only lines consist of asking if he can kill someone.
In the end, Monitor zaps everyone and sends them back to Earth where I guess Karate Kid will infect everyone and wipe out the multiverse somehow. Seems Atom was infected with
Verdict - Check It. I bitched about it quite a bit, but I'm either becoming immune to Countdown's faults or I just don't care anymore and want to see this sideshow carnival end. Either way, I don't think it was an overly bad issue, but it's not exactly fine art either.
GREEN LANTERN #28Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Mike McKone and Andy Lanning
Apparently murder isn't that big a deal on Oa. Laira is found guilty of murder, which she did in fact do, and her punishment is being relieved of duty and sent home to her old life. No prison time, no community service and no death sentence or any other kind of accountability. You can murder people and get away with it if you're a GL. Good to no. Sinestro's the bad guy, right?
Despite my misgivings over the retarded justice system on Oa, a lot of groundwork was laid this issue. We are introduced to the first known Red Lantern. If you can't guess who becomes it (hint: she's not a Green Lantern anymore and is filled with rage over being kicked out and wants to kill more Sinestro Coprs members), it's not much of a surpise anyways. I don't know if I agree with it, as it seems to come out of nowhere. We also see someone complaining about the greatest GL ever and names him as Sinestro, making him an old 'friend' of his from long ago. His sequence ended with a blood covered red lantern. He's rather alien looking, but could be the new corps' creator.
On top of that, the Controllers (the guys that made the Darkstars) are off trying to create an orange corps. The don't look like the preview for that corps from the end of GL #25 and I thought it would be a sort of one-man army corps unwilling to share, but it's still early, who knows what happens.
Finally, the Guardians enacted the "second law". First one was lethal force on the Sinestro Corps. Second one is? Lethal force on everyone. What's the point of the first law if you knew the second law would be full lethal force? Retarded is what this build up was. Third law is lethal force on yourself in case you get tired of redundancy.
Verdict - Check It. Still nothing I'd write home about. Well, technically I am writing about it, but the point stands. There's some neat things here, but nothing really holding it all together or forming a cohesive plot or story.
NIGHTWING #142Written by Peter Tomasi
Art by Rags Morales and Michael Bair
I think it's official. If you aren't reading Nightwing, you're going to be missing out. Three issues in and I've enjoyed every single one from Tomasi. By enjoy, I mean were awesome must read issues that return Nightwing to his former glory, heights he hasn't seen since the book first launched way back when.
While there's a zombie / undead genetic engineering plot going on, it's almost like a second thought to the awesome interactions with Robin, Alfred and looks into Dick's personal life.
After a brief conflict opening the book, Dick ends up subduing the reanimated villain on the cover and takes the corpse back to Dr Midnite to have it examined. Yes, Dick has friends and can easily ask for help when he needs it. It such a simple thing, but no one seems to grasp it's a shared universe and Dick is friends with everybody. Turns out the corpse had some rare residue from a small African island, which Dick tells us is Ra's / Talia related real estate.
This leads to my favourite section of the book. Nightwing wants to pay a little visit to this island. He has no plane or means of transportation. He heads to the Batcave, chats up Robin, has a few laughs as he loads up the Batplane and, after inviting Robin, who obviously was dying to go with him, heads off in the multi-million dollar plane leaving only a note signed "Your pal, Jimmy Olsen" saying he only took a few things. Alfred puzzled opens the supply closet to find it completely empty. This is just a basic description and there's some great dialogue between Robin and Nightwing talking about a lot of random Grant Morrison related stories in general conversation, like the League of Batmen and how Dick used to know them and stuff.
Verdict - Must Read. It was just plain fun to read is the best way to describe it. Dick's capable, resourceful and not afraid to ask for help from friends and colleagues. Basically everything Batman isn't and it works perfectly for him. Hard to believe this is the same book from a year ago.
TEEN TITANS: YEAR ONE #3 (OF 6)Written by Amy Wolfram
Art by Karl Kerschl and Serge Lapointe
A few of us were talking about this title in the comments from the Post-Crisis Previews. This book is beautiful and one of the most expressive titles on the market. Kerschl is doing an amazing job and the colouring of the book deserves recognition as well.
However, the story is lacking. Wait, that's not right. It's a decent story, but it's a retelling of an old annual. On top of that, it's spread out over several issues with a lot of pacing issues stemming from that. This could have been told in one to two issues, tops.
I say that, but I think I still enjoy the book despite it. I'm not willing to drop it over it, at least. For every time I feel like I'm being ripped off or cashed in on, there's scenes like Aqua Lad's shaking fists as he "stands up to" Batman or Wonder Girl crying over Wonder Woman not liking her anymore. Many of these scenes cause me to uncontrollably smile as they are cute or perfect little moments. But the entire issue isn't made up of these moments and the rest is a fairly brisk pace that has me finishing each issue in maybe two minutes, give or take a minute.
That said, this issue actually wraps up the 'evil JLA' storyline and reveals it to be a demon / creature from another dimension that was possessing each member. By tagteaming each member one by one, the Teen Titans managed to take each one down. The creature feeds on the evil the JLA does and was weakened each time it happened resulting in it being freed. The last League member (actually, I don't know where Superman or Green Lantern were, I guess you need a side kick to be a JLA'er or be possessed) is Batman and being a one man Titan wrecking crew, he has a battle of will with the demon as Robin convinces him he's being bad. That ends the plot and we all go home happy.
I was confused as to how easily people like Wonder Woman were taken down. Robin used a little stun bomb or something and she was taken out permanently and tied up and brought to the old JLA base. Same for the Flash, who was surprised by an arrow and taken down shortly after. The Flash. Surprised by an arrow moving maybe a 100km/h or something if we want to be generous to the 12 year old. It surprised someone that can dodge bullets and time travel. It's a fun Silver Age story though and I guess applying more conventional storytelling methods doesn't hold water as well, so I can overlook something so trivial.
Verdict - Check It. Like I said, I don't hate the book, but I'm struggling to justify its purchase each month just for those random moments tied together by a rehashed plot and decompressed format.
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12 comments:
cable was ok. and uncanny was both hilarious and not nearly as bad as bru has been on it recently.
Just re: the Atom's costume, Kirk - another blogger mentioned that he always has it, but it only becomes visible when he changes size. I haven't read the issue yet, but is that what happens here or is he shown wearing it at normal size?
I haven't read Countdown in a long time, but this issue sounds like it was absolutely atrocious!
Actually, I'm mistaken on the costume. He did end the last issue in it. He switched into it when he saved Karate Kid last week. But the rest of it is still valid. He was in the group, now he's up with Darkseid spying this issue and floating about at atomic size until Firestorm grabs him up and brings him back to the group somehow.
@dberes - Like I said in the review, it grows on you I think. I can't find the energy to hate it anymore and even with this, it's better than it was 20 issues ago.
@sazyski - Cable was forgettable to me. If it wasn't for the atrocious art (well, it's not that bad, but I hate the copy and pasted "photo backgrounds" and arms bigger than football field drawings), there'd be nothing overly memorable from the issue. Cable walks around for the entire issue, kills a few thugs and goes toa diner. Very little story and a baby makes for a poor conversationalist, making this read very, very fast.
are you going to review the Logan miniseries? I'm to the point where I'll pretty much read anything BKV writes so I'd like to know what you think about it.
Ya, I'llb e doing a Logan review later today with the other 3 or 4 books I bought in the Quick Shot Reviews.
Cooke did do the art on the first story (if you look at the end credits, art and script are arranged on either side of his name). The art in the third is meant as an homage to a certain style of art used in Harvey Kurtzman's Mad stories in the 50s.
Ah, I see it now. I looked at that page and did a double take the first time as I read it as Script Darwyn Cooke Art Dave Stewart Color Jared Fletcher, etc.
Now that you point it out, there wouldn't be enough titles for everyone if it was the way I originally read it.
Phew, I thought I was going crazy with how earily I someone managed to mimic Cooke's style. Good to see it was actually him that drew it and just my mistake reading the credits.
After reading Green Lantern 28 I got curious. They made one of the Lost lanterns into a red lantern. I wonder, when Geoff Johns had Jack T. Chance killed off by Parallax, is he planning to have him return at Blackest Night as a Black Lantern of death?
1. I liked GL! Not the most important issue, but I think people underestimate the the Second Law. The 1st seemed obvious: The Sinestro Corps was created to kill the Lanterns. But killing any enemy makes them less of a Force-for-General-Good and more of a peacekeeping squad.
Should be cool to see Red Lantern vs. Sinestro vs. Green Lantern vs. Mongro.
2. Sucks that we also know how Kitty (most likely) dies -- phasing the Retaliator through Earth. Bet she's brought back, though.
3. Anyone think that Emma is either f'ing with Cyclops, or is a Skrull? She is the White Queen...
@parralax207 - I'd like to see the Green Lantern morgue / burial chamber that holds the bodies of many of hte GL's that died in battle end up taken over by the black lantern rings. That would assume the rings corrupt whoever they bring back. This would be an interesting source of members and provide some tension and apprehension from the living Green Lanterns. Jack T Chance could be brought back along with the rest of them in this way.
@andrewsaltz - I like GL, too! But I just find the recent issues a significant drop from the Sinestro Corps War. Like 8 months of best comic going kind of got my expectations raised with regards to future issue. This current issue had lots of cool little moments, but no real story or decent narrative linking them together. Maybe in a few months, these random acts will all link together and I'll look back and wonder why I doubted it, but right now, the book is good, but not one of my top 5 anymore.
Concerning Kitty, I can't understand bringing Colossus back and getting rid of someone with a personality. Kitty was a great foil for Emma and, if this issue was to be believed, killing her off makes no sense to me. Maybe it was just a Skrull that dies. =p
Emma has actually been 'good' longer than she's been bad. She ran Generation X for the longest time and has been with the X-Men for the last decade or so (forget when Grant brought her back to the forefront, think it was 2000 though). I don't see her being turned into a Skrull toe xplain her 'good guy turn' nor do I see it as a way to make her into a bad guy again. It just wouldnt make sense when she's one of the best things in the book currently.
However, I haven't agreed with many of the changes they've made recently, so I can see them turning her into a Skrull or having her be evil again.
I happened to really like this GL issue. Of course the typical post SCW issue won't be as high as those during the war. Perhaps some of us are going through postpartum depression? Just kidding. But I did enjoy this issue; I actually read it a second time.
I didn't care for that GLC issue with Boodika as she does nothing for me. IMO, you can't just tell any old story about a character and assume people will find it fascinating. It's either fascninating or it isn't. And if it's Hal Jordan you're dealing with, you have more freedom, but with someone as much a cypher as Boodika is, you really have to work harder at a background story for her to keep our interest. Excitement isn't automatic.
But overall, I really think GL and even GLC is really clicking. Johns owns DC right now. I actually went back and counted all the neat things in this issue, things that were either answers/revelations to questions we have (such as who will create the other Lantern Corps?), or really cool bits you weren't expecting (the head Red Lantern guy saying he wants revenge on the greatest GL, Sinestro- neat twist, so a bit of yellow vs. red here?), and new questions (what are the Controllers planning?)
I counted 8 different moments that I really enjoyed, and that's a lot for a non-event 22 page issue book. We see the origin or creators of two new Corps. We see the Red Lantern Corps started on Ysmault- and I love that place, and Qull of the 5 Inversions, but it looks like he's dead :( I hope not ); did anyone notice the connection with the blood spattered Red Lantern in this issue to the blood spattered Red Lantern from GL#25? I had the Alan Moore GL story, Tygers (with Ysmault and the prophecy) and GL#25 next to me as I read this issue, and that image of the red lantern covered in blood was the same in #25. I thought that was neat, so things are progressing with the multi Corps; We get the first Red Lantern (not counting the chief, Atrocitus, who is also in GL#25, on that Blackest Night splash page where all hell is breaking loose; And what was that deal with the Massacre of Sector 666? Did anyone else want to find out more about this? And there were a few other bits that got my attention.
I love how, with each GL issue, Johns keeps bringing at least one or two important things to it, where lots of writers seem to be satisfied with having one good issue out of every 3 or 4. I don't get that here.
Oh, and it's funny, I had the opposite response with Laira's punishment. I thought they were a bit too hard on her, not too lenient.
I agree about Nightwing. I really like that the bad guy story is more like background filler. But otherwise, this book feels like it's comimg from a fanboy who knows how to write as he's bringing in cool elements like the tower base (I love big bases like that, like the hotel on Angel), the awsome night-wing he's using, stuff that you see and think, that would be awesome if they showed more of it, yet most writers don't stretch their fun muscles, but Tomasi is. And like you, I thought that from the moment Dick gets to the cave till the end, it was gold. I love that whole relationship with Robin, that big brother/little brother thing, and that Robin got so excited he forgot his uniform. You know, I like this version of Tim more than the one we usually see. He takes himself too seriously and he never smiles. It's kind of dull on a 16 year old. And kudos to Tomasi for first having Robin making a joke of how Ra's tried to turn him to the dark side with promises of bringing back his loved ones, but then lets Dick take it beyond just a throwaway line by Tim. Dick chooses to make sure that Robin is actually ok with what happened. Tomasi could have just left it with Tim's joke, but he didn't. Nice. I liked this issue a lot.
I also agree about the Teen Titans. While I liked it overall for its art and sense of fun and whimsy, I had too hard a time getting over how easily the JUSTICE LEAGUE members got taken down. These are the guys that the best of the best measure themselves against. WW went down too easily, and stayed down. Flash went down too easily, just one punch. He heals super fast. Yet, somehow, Batman can taken 'em all on himself, even hitting Kid Flash at superspeed with his back towards him. You know, I love Batman, but sometimes you can go too far and it just doesn't make sense. Man, I wish more people had that type of fanrection for Superman. And what's up with Wonder Girl getting knocked out so easily? All Batman did was flip her over with her own lasso. That knocked her out? Oye. It seems the issue would have worked better had they spent more time on the fights to make them more realistic, rather than showing us a bunch of glass jaws on the JL. Oh well.
I loved the New Frontier stories, especially the Superman/Batman one, though the WW/BC one was really funny, but like you said, in a tasteful, tongue in cheeck kind of way. But the fight with Supes and Bats did have a bit of an epic feel to it for the time it lasted. And I'm a huge Superman fan, and I'm still saying this.
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