Weekly Crisis Comic Book Reviews for 12/03/09

This week's Weekly Crisis Comic Book Reviews is brought to you by the letter E for Event as all of the books reviewed in this first batch of reviews are event driven books, from Blackest Night: Flash and Wonder Woman to Siege: The Cabal, Dark Avengers Annual and Thor, all were event related in some way. You can read what I thought of each after the jump.

BLACKEST NIGHT: THE FLASH #1 (OF 3)

Written by Geoff Johns

Art by Scott Kolins

First things first, I suppose we should get the Flash: Rebirth comparisons out of the way.  As this is called Blackest Night: The Flash, as you should all be aware by now, "the Flash" is by default Barry Allen these days and, as Rebirth has not ended yet, it looks like he will continue to be the Flash for the foreseeable future.  If this issue is any indication of the future, I'm looking forward to it.

Yes, me, who has dropped Flash: Rebirth due to the extremely polarizing Saint Barry back patting from every character in the book, actually really enjoyed this.  What's odd is it's the same writer, Geoff Johns, handling this issue. 

For those wondering what the issue is about, it's a bit of a recap of Barry's return and the events of Rebirth, though there's nothing spoiled about the oft-delayed Rebirth's ending to my knowledge, and the rest handles the typical Blackest Night tie-in formula - people come back from the dead, do and say mean things and try to kill the hero.

What makes it work this time is that this is a more human Barry than the one shown in Rebirth.  Maybe it's due to the events of the delayed Rebirth or maybe just Johns getting familiar with the character, but Barry just seems more relatable as a character and not that guy whining about how crappy it is to be alive again like he did every other page in the opening Rebirth pages.  Add some great scenes with the Rogues and the character driven moments in the issue really worked.

Which brings me to the bad parts - this is still a stereotypical Blackest Night tie-in and no amount of work can really get around something we've seen in about twenty some odd books already.  It's the same formulaic story, this time with Reverse-Flash and Solovar, a talking gorilla Barry befriended before he died, playing the part of the dead person back and saying mean things to elicit an emotion.  I liked how Barry reacted to each, realizing what they are and trying to supress his emotions, but it doesn't change that it's the same story over and over again.

Verdict - Check It.  I liked the character work Johns did with Barry Allen here.  Much better than the work I've seen in Flash Rebirth. I could see myself reading a book about this Barry Allen.  However, that's not enough to warrant the same, repetitive Blackest Night formula for this story that every other tie-in has been based around. 

BLACKEST NIGHT: WONDER WOMAN #1 (OF 3)

Written by Greg Rucka

Art by Nicola Scott

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman interested me for the simple reason Greg Rucka would be returning to the character and she had just be turned into a Black Lantern in last month's Blackest Night.  I was curious as to how that would tie into this book, but it seems this issue takes place before the last issue of Blackest Night, so I was a little disappointed on one count.

On the Rucka side of things, I enjoyed his return to Wonder Woman.  At least, when it wasn't giving off the "AMERCA %&^$ YEAH!!" vibe with the soldiers guarding the tomb.  I realize these people stand there all the time, even during hurricanes, and I also realize the reasons behind it.  But the fact it focused on the Honour Guard so much, even going to lengths to show how strong their will was in the face of such overwhelming odds with their aura colours from the Black Lantern vision, just doesn't seem to have any purpose in progressing the story.  Wonder Woman even takes time on several occasions, even in the midst of the entire cemetary being raised as Black Lanterns, to commend the guards on their bravery.  It's just a "this is how awesome our military is" feeling I get from it, but I'm also Canadian, so this is from an outsider's perspective.  I don't speak for all non-Americans either, so this is also my own coloured perspective of how it's portrayed.

When the issue got down to the brass tacks of things, it's basically the same story we've seen before with every other Blackest Night tie-in.  However, I really liked how Wonder Woman approached it and her reactions to the situation.  She's much more proactive than other people and doesn't simply sit around and react to the Black Lanterns. She took the fight to Maxwell Lord and put a stop to it quickly and efficiently.  That may be because of what happened in the last issue of Blackest Night, which the next issue promises we'll see more of with a Black Lantern Wonder Woman tagline.  So while it's the same premise, it plays out much differently than other books.  Or, maybe, it just speeds up the story, taking what other miniseries did in 3 issues and condensing it to one.  Either way, it worked for me.

Verdict - Check It.  Another Blackest Night tie-in, though I felt this was flawed due to an overt pro-American theme with the setting and inclusion of the Honour Guard soldiers as well as Wonder Woman's constant praising of them.  Your mileage may vary.

DARK AVENGERS ANNUAL #1

Written by Brian Bendis

Art by Chris Bachalo

Hmm, so conflicted.  I liked Marvel Boy when it came out.  Grant Morrison and JG Jones did something unique and exciting there in a time when everyone was stuck doing the same old thing and just trying to keep their head above water post-specluator crash of the industry.  It was not a standard 616 Marvel comic and was actually referred to as the secret first Ultimate comic by Joe Quesada at one point or another.

How does that lead to me being conflicted?  Well, Bendis hasn't exactly been kind to the Noh-Varr I first read about back in 2000 or there abouts.  It's really like night and day reading the Morrison version compared to Bendis's take on him.

That's not to say Bendis is wrong for doing what he is doing.  I just don't agree with it.  To me, he's taken a character and completely changed who he was at his core.  Noh-Varr isn't Captain Marvel.  He isn't trying to be Captain Marvel.  He isn't even from the same universe as our Captain Marvel.  Yet Bendis is trying to put his square peg in the round hole and, in doing so, has been forced to change the character drastically.

If I look at it from the viewpoint of this is a whole new character that is just using Noh-Varr's name and basic appeal, then, yes, I can see this as a decent issue propelling Noh-Varr into a Captain Marvel Jr-like role.  But, then again, the question of why arises.  We have Genis-Vell, we have Phyla-Vel, we had that Skrull Captain Marvel - why do we have to take a character that isn't Captain Marvel and who's only link to the Marvel legacy is that he is Kree in origin (though not the same as the Kree in the 616 universe) being forced into the role of a new Captain Marvel, right down to his own version of the Nega Bands and a Space Ghost rip off costume?  Noh-Varr had a unique appearance and, when fully armoured up, looked alien while still having the military/protector look to it.  Why not play with the very things that made him unique instead of pigeon holing him into Captain Marvel-lite?  Personally, I just can't look past that nagging detail.

Looking past the whole Noh-Varr character issue, the issue is well put together.  Bachelo does some nice work on art, especially with the Sentry vs Noh-Varr fight, though his (and I'm assuming it's his design) new costume for Noh-Varr really didn't do anything for me. 

The biggest thing to come out of this issue, though, was the reveal at the end.  I don't usually avoid talking about spoilers in reviews, as people typically want to know what happens and I don't like skirting the issue, but this spoils not only this issue but another miniseries, so I'll hold off until the moments of the week to discuss it.  Just know that the final page of this issue has more of an impact on the upcoming Siege storyline than the Siege: The Cabal one-shot that came out this week did and is something I'm looking forward to seeing more of real soon.

Verdict - Check It.  If you like what Bendis is doing with Noh-Varr or have no feelings one way or the other about the character from Marvel Boy, you'll probably rate this issue a little higher than I do.  It's a pretty solid effort from both Bendis and Bachelo, but I just can't look past what they've done with Noh-Varr.

SIEGE: THE CABAL #1

Written by Brian Bendis

Art by Michael Lark

+ Michael Lark gets a big stage to shine on for a change and knocks it out of the park.  Glad to see him get the recognition he deserves and to see him do such a great job with it.

+ I was worried about how Bendis would handle Dr Doom for nothing.  He was great here, basically showing Osborn that no one is Doom's equal and Doom bows to no one.

- The conflicts between the Cabal members feel forced.  Even Osborn points out how he saved Doom's ass in Dark Avengers and even gave him a free pass out of a HAMMER jail cell and handed him the keys to his kingdom back, yet Doom is starting a fight with Osborn over calling a meeting and the fact Osborn is pissed that Namor and Emma betrayed the Cabal?  Dialogue-wise and how he struck back at Osborn, Doom was great, but the why for his doing this seemed lacking to me.
-  The mystery man that Norman Osborn has been using to keep everyone in line makes an appearance.  The problem?  He's a shadowy figure, even when fighting Dr Doom.  What the hell kind of copout is that?  The room is brightly lit, you can't be a shadowy figure in the middle of a fight.  He did destroy the Doombot Dr Doom in one hit though. He then disappears and doesn't save Osborn when Doom's Doombot initiatives its secret plan.  You can't have a mystery man and still have him doing overt things.  Either show it or don't use him at all.

- The second story deals with Loki and Osborn setting up a conflict with Asgard so they can invade.  They are going to do a Civil War 2 by forcing an Asgardian, in this case Volstagg, into a fight that would see a large number of civilian casualities, just like what happend with Speedball to kick off the SHRA.  It's disappointing to see the exact same flawed premise used yet again for a major event.  An assassination or some such might work in the real world, assuming other political or idelogical issues were boiling over already, but there's been no problems with Asgard shown so far, so a war on them because some super villains attacked an Asgardian and blew up a football stadium is not exactly compelling reason to declare war on a race of god-like immortal beings.  Just doesn't compute for me.

Verdict - Byrne It.  Give this a look at the shop or check a few scans in the upcoming Moments of the Week. There's nothing really to see here and all you need to know is the Cabal had a spat, Osborn and Loki caused a Civil War-like incident using Volstagg and some D-list villains and now we get another major event.  Lark's art and how Doom strikes back at Osborn are probably the only really good parts to this issue and not worth buying for.

THOR #604

Written by Kieron Gillen

Art by Billy Tan

+ Kieron Gillen's first issue on Thor is a worthy successor to JMS's and a very organic transition.  It's like we didn't skip a beat from last issue to this one.
+ Billy Tan's art is some of his best to date.  He seems to be mirroring Olivier Coipel's work a bit compared to his usual style and it really works for me.  There's some fantastic colouring here, too.

+ Gillen writes a fantastic Dr Doom.  I loved every bit of his dialogue and would kill to have him write a Dr Doom ongoing if it could always be like this.

+ That final page with Thor and Dr Doom was great and reminded me of the now classic Thor vs Ultron, "I would have words with thee", scene.  

- Some of the Asgardians are a bit overly theatrical in their dialogue.  It's not nearly as bad as some of the more wordy Ye Old English writing of the past, but ther'es the feeling that some of the dialogue is forced to sound more Shakespearean or regal than it need be.  Minor nitpick there and not something that is pandemic.

Verdict - Buy It.  Great first issue by Gillen.  I know he's only on for a brief arc here, but I look forward to future work on the book from him.  Tan's art was also a pleasant surprise.  Didn't expect it to be that good. 

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