1. "Wonder Woman" by Ben Caldwell. You people tired of whining about how tiny the panels are? Well here you get a wonderful, big picture of Fenris, long a gigantic killer wolf of Asgardian lore, I think (and therefore a supporting character in Thor whenever Ragnarok comes around), shown here trapped by the magic lasso that we know Wonder Woman has to procure. We also get an introduction to a whirring toy-lady whose name and function I can't recall. Seriously, though, I wonder if this comic will get a bit more respect not that Caldwell has given in to including a money shot like Ryan Sook does. It's still really good fun, though. By this point Caldwell has laid out the tone and the mission fairly consistently, and doesn't take odd gimmicky corners the way other strips seem to ("Metamorpho"). The lasso-tied Fenris is going to stay with me for a really long time, however, in part due to Caldwell's always excellent use of white space, which he seems to just be getting the hang of. I wasn't aware that the magic lasso can also force a person to agree to binding oaths after the lasso is no longer on said person. Whether or not this is true in the regular books, the fact is that Caldwell has done more to interest me in Wonder Woman lore than I ever thought possible, even as I always liked her in Morrison's JLA series. Since Morrison is rumored to be working on some sort of new-feminist Wonder Woman project, I have a humble suggestion for an illustrator right here...
2. "Flash Comics" by Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher. Still confusing, still kind of delightful. I'm not even necessarily waiting for dual-strip comeback at this point, nor am I particularly interested in seeing Gorilla Grodd again. I just like the mad way Kerschl has all these different Flashes running around making things worse for themselves. The benday dots make a few appearances here, but it seems like Kerschl and Fletcher are gradually trying to emphasize the more action and superhero-oriented plotline, which, considering the intended audience, makes sense. Kerschl also gets points for what is possibly the most terrifying parting shot of any strip yet, although I can't really tell if all the different Flashes are disassociating or what, exactly. It was odd enough with the evil lush chimpanzee last issue, but this is even more intriguing. I know Kerschl has a lot to answer and wrap up in these next fours issues--on average, more than I think the other artists, who seem to already be moving towards an ending. As I stated last issue, I support the right of Kerschl and Co. to keep doing their science-time travel mumbo-jumbo and not make any sense for as long as they want.
3. "Metal Men" by Dan DiDio, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Nowlan. Am I committing heresy by giving such props to an unabashedly old-school superhero strip, written by Dan DiDio? It may not have the cutesy parlor tricks of "Metamorpho," but it does provide some solid superhero action with good dialogue, which is actually a rarity in this collection. I can't understand why Garcia-Lopez and Nowlan aren't considered art superstars, considering how consistent and modern they manage to keep the tone in spite of increasing ridiculousness. I suppose that they haven't really done anything very innovative, but in a crowded hall of artists all trying to out-innovate each other, sometimes the freshest point of interest is a work of art like this, in which the Metal Men continue their battle against Chemo. You'll remember that last issue Tin was dissolved by Chemo's corrosive acid (and may actually be dead, considering he didn't show up in this issue). While Platinum finally gets angry at Dr. Pretorius, who for a normal guy has managed to escape death quite a few times, Iron goes after Chemo but turning into a big iron ball and cracking Chemo's outer shell. Obviously, this is a stupid idea, the same thing everyone does when they fight Chemo (or Captain Atom, actually). I love the way DiDio sets this up almost like a silent comedy: intrepid heroes do their best to be heroic, and end up making things worse episode after episode. How are they going to get out of this jam? What was Dr. Pretorius thinking during all of this? My advice: put lead on the case, and contain the radiation. This comic makes me feel like a nerd. This week, that's a good thing.
4. "Supergirl" by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner. Maybe it's that I'm happy to see Dr. Mid-Nite. Maybe it's that we are finally done with the all to obvious Aquaman jokes. Maybe it's because the end actually promises some sort of explanation for Krypto and Streaky's behavior (can I guess red kryptonite?). Whatever it is, "Supergirl" has never looked better or been more satisfying. In fact, I was more pleased to see the opening image, which has Dr. Mid-Nite on a computer showing Streaky and Krypto wearing ill-fitting helmets to measure their brainwave patterns, than I was to see anything else this week. Supergirl has never appealed to me very much as a character (never really liked to whole legacy aspect of DC's parade of corporate logos), and this comic doesn't really change that for me. Palmiotti seems to like the aspect of the character that allows her to be a heroic superhero but otherwise a normal teenage girl, which heaven forbid means she would ever read a book, or even watch a television show without vociferously changing channels. I guess Palmiotti has his finger on the pulse of a generation. Sigh.
5. "Hawkman" by Kyle Baker. You got Hawkgirl, Batman (who Baker draws to look kind of like Bela Logosi) and a Tyrannosaurus Rex, plus a portent that Aquaman may be joining the action next issue (which is what I thought several issues ago, before he ever showed up in "Supergirl"). Like most of the strips this week, this is pretty plot-oriented, and there isn't some central, gorgeous image to latch onto (the dinosaur itself looks kind of tiny, actually--I bet Katar could take it down himself with his sword). Hawkgirl looks great, murdering the remainder of the alien fleet, while Batman looks a bit sickly and alien himself. By counterpointing the slightly larger threat of an alien invasion with what is happening on Dinosaur Island, Baker covers a lot of ground, and I give him a lot of credit for that. Baker's art continues to be great--stylish and yet realistic, and he does a great job giving personality to the other nameless survivors of the plane crash from several issues back. I'm looking forward to some Katar on dinosaur action, and if Baker is so inclined, I wouldn't mind a little Aquaman in there as well, as long as they stay away from the easy jokes.
6. "Strange Adventures" by Paul Pope. I think this is probably the least interesting Pope strip to date because he isn't really offering anything new, visual-wise, in any of these panels, and frankly it's just not a busy strip in general. Still, there's nothing really wrong with it. While I'm pleased to see the return of Pope's Mandrillus Sphynx Monkeys, I'm sad that Pope didn't bother to draw some new alien race into the action. It seems that the upcoming war will be between two factions of blue space monkeys covered with piercings. Well, we have that to look forward to at least. It's nice to see Alanna again, who I thought for a while would actually turn out to be the hero of "Strange Adventures" while her husband was back on earth. With the reconciliation inevitable, I await the battle that will ensue, and I am particularly excited to see how Pope will draw it.
7. "Batman" by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. One of these neatest artistic tricks I've seen thus far is in this strip, where Commissioner Gordon is shown reading a newspaper. From his point of view you can see certain words reflected in his glasses, which seem to spell out "cimo son was casino outsid ing The sry pers ound for mportant." I believe Azzarello that this will turn out to be 'mportant later. Otherwise, though, this strip continues to take the same predictable tack, with a few odd tricks thrown in. It's not too uncommon to see Gordon yelling at Batman for being an irresponsible vigilante beholden to no one, but it's still nice to hear someone talk some sense into him occasionally (it's one of the things I always liked about Batman R.I.P., when other people started asking Bruce if he really thought what he was doing was healthy). It's also cool when we see Gordon throw his newspaper into the Gotham River, and watch it float over to where Luna and the recently released Hardy Stone discuss their nefarious doings. Predictable as mud. The only thing that will surprise me is if Batman decides to cut in during the middle of their coitus, which would certainly be a new thing for Batman to do (if anyone can prove me wrong, please name me the comic and issue number). This comic is going places, I'm sure of it.
8. "Sgt. Rock and Easy Co." by Adam Kubert and Joe Kubert. Wow, it is odd that this comic is so consistently at #8. I feel like that is where this belongs. This is one of the hardest strips to evaluate critically due in part to its consistent art as well as to the fact that so little of consequence seems to be happening. After seven issues of almost Bressonian austerity, Sgt. Rock has been set free by Good Nazi Gustave, but before he can go anywhere he finds himself in a middle of a standoff! Sgt. Rock has a pistol, but a regular Nazi is threatening to cut the Good Nazi's throat! This can only play out so many ways, all of them well-worn, and Adam Kubert doesn't seem like the kind of writer who's really going to go on a limb at this point. The art continues to be good. I'm not sure if I would like Joe Kubert to shake the format up a bit--this doesn't seem like the kind of strip that needs it. Still, I can't help but feeling this is going to go nowhere and end in a most unsatisfactory manner. And it will still look pretty good.
9. "Deadman" by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck. I have my problems with this week's strip, but it is nice to see Boston Brand kiss a girl. Peter Parker always had problems, but being incorporeal was rarely among them. The actual image of the Boston/Julianna kiss is kind of awkward, actually--their faces don't seem to line up. In general, you don't get that facility for great images you normally get from this strip, in part because it breaks the mold in this case by simply moving along panel by panel. For "Deadman" this is a let down. Remember the last issue that had that had image of Kalak lording over his bleeding harem? Certainly, there's nothing like that this time. There are some good things here, though. While the art isn't as good, we do get what will probably turn out to be some vital information, in that there is a rune-stone. Does that seem to sound important to you? Rune-stones usually are. Let's hope Bullock and Heuck haven't come to the point where they've run out of ideas.
10. "The Demon and Catwoman" by Walt Simonson. I may consider putting this higher at some point. This strip and "Metal Men" are the two that I think are probably the most constantly underestimated in that they seem to be trying nothing more than self-contained superhero stories. Given its subject matter, it's not too surprising that "The Demon and Catwoman" seems to be full of more plot holes than the average narrative, but sometimes I wonder if Simonson isn't just making a series of odd mistakes. He certainly doesn't seem to be interested in building the same sort of rich mythology that he did with his Thor comics. As I stated earlier , Morgaine Le Fay is an overplayed villain (she bears the distinction of being a Marvel Comics bad guy as well, actually), and neither her motivations nor her powers continue to make any sense. Now that Selina Kyle is back, I don't know why they bothered having her return to normal only to see her disappear again. And part of the beauty of Jason Blood is that he almost always seems to be in control--he's done nothing but get destroyed here. Still, we are promised the return of Etrigan again next issue. I have hopes for this strip, and I think it will end up doing its job.
11. "Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth!" By Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook. This is hardly Sook's best work this week, either--everything is dark and murky, befitting the morbid subject matter, but you don't really see why anyone should be excited about the Lion tribe, how they differentiate themselves from the tigers, and how this is going to end up being a very interesting battle three or four weeks from now. The girl introduced so early on continues to not do very much except act as a MacGuffin of sorts that could lead to nothing. Meanwhile, Gibbons' prose continues to not be very revolutionary, plodding along with the same sort of dry style which would have bored me were it not connected with such brilliant images. So there's that.
12. "Green Lantern" by Kurt Busiek and Joe Quinones. I think I get points for predicting that Green Lantern's escape from an alien death trap would turn out to be wholly unoriginal and cheap. I had no idea. Hal Jordan tries to appeal to Joe Dillon's emotions by stupidly revealing his secret identity, as if he had no choice but to do so. This allows Dillon to momentarily gain control (how does Hal know this? Whatever) and he tells Hal to get away. How does Hal respond? "That's all I needed, Dill. You pulled free from it--just a little bit! So hang on--while I do the rest!" Cue gigantic green beam of energy. Whatever. Last issue we were promised Hal Jordan falling to certain doom. This issue it seems like that part didn't really happen. And Busiek, who seemed to be induced to providing all sorts of back story before, is suddenly silent on how Hal Jordan thinks what he does is a good idea. It does seem as if Busiek is going to have to stretch in order to find new material, if Jordan does indeed cleanse this alien spore like he says he will. Shades of Scientology? I wish. I am continually disappointed by this comic.
13. "Metamorpho, The Element Man" by Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred. Oh lord. Maybe other people found this more enjoyable to read than I did. It looks kind of cool, but the insufferable and uninteresting dialogue kind of kills a lot of the fun, and surely a wordsmith like Neil Gaiman can combine words in more interesting ways to fit the periodic table than "YuM. No problem." (Manganese). Of course Java continues to be sort of a delight, but considering the fact that we are more or less promised another issue of this, I am not excited. Gaiman isn't usually the kind of guy who sticks to puns like this, I always thought. And I never read the old-school Metamorpho comics from the 70s, but even if they were like this, there are just some parts of the Silver Age that you would be wise not to touch. Me, I'm tired of the gimmicks, at least for now, because they've crossed the threshold from novel to pedestrian. What a wildly uneven strip this is.
14. "Teen Titans" by Eddie Berganza and Sean Galloway. Now it kind of looks like the team is back underwater, or maybe in space, although I don't remember how they decided to find the captured Blue Beetle or where they were when they found out he was alive. This strip has all the consistency and logic of a badly sequenced dream. I can't tell who is fighting who, who is supposed to be real, who is dead, and how these things are supposed to be happening. What I think is happening is that Trident has resurrected some dead bad guys, including Arthur Light, but maybe this is some sort of illusion. That would probably be a more pleasing and logical solution to this deeply troubling narrative. I would be grateful to the team of Berganza and Galloway, if they just stuck with Robin and Trident fighting each other, no words or anything, so at least I would have a better vantage to see if I am actually capable of enjoying the art apart from the confusing narrative it is meant to serve.
15. "Superman" by John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo. I was willing to give this book the benefit of the doubt for a while, but it doesn't seem to be improving, and even the art is grating on me at this point. Even as far as mindless superhero action, we get shockingly little in the way of payoff. Bad alien punches Superman. End of comic. Meanwhile, Superman insinuates that the reason he may be so depressed is because of these wacky aliens, which sounds like it could be intriguing if Arcudi would maybe ease on the decompression a bit. Seriously, how long do you think it took Arcudi to write something like this. Six panels total, one brief thought-balloon monologue, and a few one-word exhortations shared between Superman and his antagonists. Not that long, unless I'm missing something.
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