Comics I’ve Read Over the Past Two Weeks

My apologies for the delay, I'd meant to post this a couple of days ago but I've been incredibly busy at both jobs this week. I solemly vow to get these up in a more timely manner. Maybe even on a weekly basis! Anywho, on with the reviewing.

Green Arrow-Black Canary # 21
Let’s just get this over with; this issue, as with all other issues since Judd Winick left the series, was pretty terrible. A bad guy’s come along and put up a sound bubble all around Emerald City. Black Canary’s having flashbacks of a childhood origins pretty much directly ripped off from (Marvel comics’ X-Men heroine) Rouge. The annoying crazy red-head from out of the blue remains an annoying crazy red-head from out of the blue, but with annoying monologue captions to replace her standard annoying dialogue bubbles. Ugh. Suck, your table is ready. The Suck Party, your hostess will seat you now.

The Trial of Thor #1 (One-shot)
Writer Peter Milligan continues his series of Thor one-shot stories looking back at the god’s past with “The Trial of Thor.” CBR’s Chad Nevett called it when he described this issue as “CSI: Asgard.” Basically Thor is set up to take the fall for a series of murders but is exonerated thanks to the mythological forensic skills of the Warriors Three. It’s exactly as weird as it sounds. Points for novelty, I suppose, but this is, thus far, the weakest of Milligan’s steadily above-average Thor one-shots. The one factor that saves this issue from mediocrity is the art; “Conan” artist Cary Nord did all the pencils for the book, making it more than worth picking up just for the art. Like artist Frank Quietly, comic book readers tend to either love or hate Nord. I for one think he’s amazing, as is evident in “Trial of Thor.”

The Mighty Avengers # 26
Okay, I’m starting to warm up to this new Mighty Avengers line-up and creative team. The whole Pym’s-Avengers/Fantastic-Four-beef storyline was actually a lot of fun. It was fast-paced, witty and engaging. And let’s not forget some of the better one-liners I’ve heard in non-Greg Pak comics in quite a while (my favorite in this issue was when Hercules called the Thing a rock troll. Ha!).
It’s a testament to a writer’s ability to focus on an intellectual character and keep him interesting, like writer Dan Slott’s done with Hank Pym. It’s even more impressive when a writer can introduce complex scientific or philosophical ideas and interweave them into a story coherently and in a way that doesn’t make the readers’ eyes cross. Writer J. Michael Straczynski pulled it off in “Thor” with his use of the “Schrodinger's Cat” paradox. Slott does it again here with Reed borrowing from Zeno Elea’s concept of a half-life room. All in all, I like what this comic is doing and I like what it seems to be building up to. And I like over half of the team.

Captain America # 600
Remember in the early 90s when Superman died? We all knew he’d be back. There was no point in even fussing about it. Simply put, there’s not another DCU hero that could ever fill his shoes. No successor could ever do him justice.
I thought the same thing about Captain America. There’s no one in the MU that could step up and wield the shield. When Cap was killed I felt sure that it was all a big fraud, something drummed up by Quesada and the rest of Marvel Editorial to simultaneously capitalize on shock value and try desperately to inject some sort of ramification to that lame duck called “Civil War.” I’m happy to say writer Ed Brubaker changed my mind. At least about anyone else being Captain America. Brubaker’s transformation of Bucky Barnes from his then-status as the butt of every bad sidekick joke into a badass ex-Russian hit-man and finally into a worthy and plausible heir to Captain America was a thing of beauty. He took his time, he did it right, and told a story that made Buck not only the best choice, but really the only choice in becoming the next Captain America.
And now Brubaker’s apparently bringing back Steve Rogers, the original Captain America. In other words, the significance of the past two years, of Buck’s evolution as a character, of countless fucking funeral issues and scenes with Tony Stark crying into his O’Doules and of me slowly learning to appreciate the new Captain America, are all for naught. I hope Brubaker knows what he’s doing, here. I hope he’s not about to sacrifice a really good story because Quesada wants to sell more variant issues and be interviewed by the AP again. He’s proven me wrong before, maybe he’ll do it again here.

Red Robin #1
Not really sure what to make of this one yet. Tim’s no longer Robin; in a strangely awkward scene with Dick Grayson (former Robin himself and now current Batman), the mantle of Robin has been passed on to Damien Wayne, leaving Tim to fend for himself. Why he decides to don that stupid Red Robin costume and accompanying moniker is beyond me. I suppose someone at DC (maybe DiDio?) really loved the Red Robin from “Kingdom Come,” but c’mon. Let’s break away from the endlessly-recycled personas. Tim Drake is the best detective since Bruce Wayne. He could pull off being a completely different character.
Anyway, Tim’s now donned the stupid Red Robin costume, and is on the hunt for Bruce Wayne. Or a way to bring him back to life. Something. This title has potential. I generally like writer Chris Yost’s stuff, his run on “New X-Men” in particular. And I want to like this series, too. But it’s gonna have to step it up for me to keep reading.

Wolverine #74
This issue wraps up both short stories started by writers Jason Aaron and Daniel Way, with pencils by Adam Kubert and Tommy Lee Edwards. As with #73, the first half (the Aaron/Kubert half) carries the second. There’s gorgeous Kubert art, a humorous general tone, a Spider-Man cameo, and an almost-decent explanation as to why Wolverine’s on almost every damn super hero team in the Marvel Universe (he’s overcompensating). Great read. Part two focused on the lame biker story, delivering an equally lame and rather convoluted second half. I really, really wish Aaron and Kubert would stick around, but it’s not going to happen. Next month, “Wolverine” is replaced by “Dark Wolverine,” which will now focus on Logan’s son, Daken. Not sure about who the creative team will be on this one, but I’m not optimistic.

Green Lantern Corps #37
Yep, I called it. Sodam Yat few into the red Daxamite sun and went all ‘splodey on it, causing it to turn yellow. The consequence? Every single Daxamite on the whole planet instantly finds themselves in possession of Superman-esque powers (super strength, flight, invulnerability, heat vision, freezing breath, and an ironic but deadly allergy to lead). Side note: Most Daxamites are also extremely xenophobic and hysterically mistrustful of anything alien. This could be an awesome thing down the line.
I’m not sure why the remaining Green Lantern on Daxam wants to hole up and train a chunk of the populace to properly fight back against the occupying Yellow Lanterns, though. Unstable or not, it’s suddenly several billion supermen against several thousand bad guys. Just point them in the right direction and let the havoc ensue, I say. Also in this issue; green lantern vampire hunters, Hal and Guy work to quell the prison riot on Oa, and the creepy scarred guardian gets even closer to activating the Black Lanterns. Funfunfun issue.

X-Factor #44
X-Factor is the best X-[Noun] team in the Marvel Universe, and also currently the best of the mutant team titles on the stands. This is due pretty much totally to writer Peter David. He’s got a great team, a great premise (a collection of black-sheep mutants tapped by Jamie Maddrox, the Multiple Man, to be a part of a mutant-orientated detective agency), and some of the best plot twists in comics. And best of all, “X-Factor” is relatively estranged from the rest of the X-Men world. Sure, the book gets roped into the unavoidable crossover now and again, but generally speaking this is about the only mutant book out there that doesn’t feature Cyclops brooding, Wolverine slaughtering someone with his claws, and Emma Frost showing off her rack. David’s got a pretty intricate back-story going on, so this title might be a little intimidating to new readers, but some initial confusion is well worth the treat of a comic book featuring Maddrox and Strong Guy.

Batman #687
Yes. Yes. This is exactly what I wanted to see from writer Judd Winick. Morrison gets the Dynamic Dou adventures over in “Batman & Robin,” while Winick focuses on the more nitty-gritty solo Batman stories. And the opener was quite a doozy. Billed as an epilogue to the horrible “Battle for the Cowl” miniseries, this issue did something none of the other Bat-titles have done since Bruce died; it let the characters grieve. In the excitement of Bruce’s demise and the ridiculous “battle” to see who would be next in line to don the pointy ears, no one ever took the time to allow the characters more than a fleeting reaction to the death of one of the most iconic characters in comics. Sure, Gaiman did “What Ever Happened to the Caped Crusader,” but that was more akin to Bruce’s internal swan song than anyone else actually dealing with his death. Winick did just that with this issue, and in a particularly poignant manner. I’m not ashamed to admit that the exchange between Alfred and Superman made me a bit misty-eyed.
Overall, this was a great initial effort by Winick. It’s apparent even this early on that his version of Dick as Batman will differ pretty broadly from Morrison’s, but as of one issue, the two titles seem complimentary of each other. I’m really optimistic about this title.

Worst title of the past two weeks: Green Arrow-Black Canary #21

Best title of the past two weeks: Batman #687

What did you guys think of the past two weeks' worth of funny books? Anything good coming up on the horizon?

Comics I read over the past two weeks (May 13 and 20, 2009)

Sorry for the delay, a strange mix of time and money issues kept me off the computer and away from the comic book store for a while. But here’s a look at what I picked up over the last couple of weeks:

Green Lantern Corps #36
Hey, did you hear? There’s going to be this huge event over at DC which focuses on the Green Lanterns! It’s ripped out of an old Alan Moore GL story and will focus on not just one, not even two, but seven (I think?) Lantern factions in the ultimate battle royal! The last lanterns standing will thereafter be known as the “Best Color in the Universe!” DC’s latest summer event seems to be made out of equal parts superhero police force, World Cup Soccer teams, and WWE No Holds Barred Something-or-Other. Like all events at Marvel and DC, the hype for the books has actually eclipsed the books themselves. Darkest Night is still almost a month away and I’m already feeling vaguely disappointed. This issue wasn’t so bad, though. Kyle and Guy try to quell a riot the Science-Cells, while Sodam Yat (another character/idea stolen from Moore) gets thrown around by Mogul and does something drastic and possibly really cool at the last minute. GLC has become my favorite of the two ongoing Lantern books, mostly because I’ve always liked the other GLs more than Hal. Sodam’s fight with Mogul was okay, but I’m more interested in what happened in that final panel. Did he just pull a Parallax?

RASL #4

The pace has begun to pick up with this issue. Sal the Camel guy is blackmailing Rasl by essentially saying that if Rasl doesn’t hand over a pair of mystery journals, Sal will devote all his time traveling to different parallel worlds and killing Rasl’s special lady friend in each of them. A strange threat, considering that there are potentially an infinite number of parallel worlds, but whatever. Jeff Smith’s begun incorporating some actual historical events into RASL, starting with the Navy’s botched attempt at influencing electromagnet waves, a la the Philadelphia Experiment, or Project Rainbow. My one complaint with this book is the shipping schedule. This is the first issue of RASL to come out in 2009. Trying to remember what happened in a book whose last issue came out over five months ago is a lot to ask. I know Smith likes to take his time on this stuff, and I can respect that, but c’mon. What else is he working on that could make RASL, a black and white comic of standard length, take so long to get out?

Kick Ass #7
The more I read from Mark Millar’s latest soon-to-be-a-shitty-movie-comic, the less I like. Big Daddy and Hit Girl are Ruby Ridge holdovers who set themselves up to fail, and Red Flame is even more of a douche. Kick-Ass the character is still entertaining, but the honeymoon’s over as far as the series is concerned. Gratuitous violence and nonstop profanity by themselves do not a good story make, as Millar has proven with Kick Ass.

Wolverine # 73
Wait… Seventy-three? Where’s #72, the conclusion to “Old Man Logan?” In an effort to milk its current movie for all it’s worth, the Powers that Be at Marvel decided to push Wolverine #73 out a month early, as it’s a stand-alone story that would be a good jumping on point for the three people in the U.S. who actually liked the new Wolverine movie and were motivated by it to buy the latest comic. Lame.

What’s even more lame is the fact that I really, really liked this issue. Adam Kubert’s back on Wolverine! Even if it’s just for one issue, Adam Kubert’s back on Wolverine! And Jason Aaron’s writing! This is, in my opinion, a dream-team pairing for this title. Although their collective story was only half of the issue, it was well worth the $2.99 I threw down for this issue. I particularly loved the content of the Aaron story, an almost satirical look at how absurdly popular and in-demand Wolverine is in the Marvel Universe. And Adam Kubert’s back on Wolverine! The second half of the book, by Daniel Way and Tommy Lee Edwards, was shit. Something about a biker that looks like John Goodman, and his traitorous son. Hopefully this won’t be the ongoing story once “Old Man Logan” wraps up.

Green Arrow-Black Canary #20

Since his resurrection several years ago at the hands of the dubious Kevin Smith, I’ve absolutely adored Green Arrow. Olliver Queen is cocky, pretentious, womanizing, pig-headed, egotistical, arrogant, and painfully flawed. AKA, me if I could be a superhero. The series had been consistently well-written since its relaunch, and included great writing stints by Brad Meltzer, Judd Winick, and even Kevin Smith (arguably the only decent thing Smith’s done since “Mallrats”).

That said, I’m probably going to have to drop Green Arrow-Black Canary soon. Since Winick left the title, the book’s been on the highway to cancellation hell. Worst of all, the current writer’s just casually destroying the Emerald City sandbox that Winick and company spent years building up. He had a psychotic homemaker kill Brick, for God’s sake. Gah! This issue sucked. I hated it. Moving on.

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3

What a lousy miniseries. Tony Daniel, stick with the penciling in the future. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, since you penciled Morrison’s amazing Batman run over the past few years. I’d hoped against hope that some of that Morrison-y goodness had rubbed off on you. But lo. Battle for the Cowl has been nothing but an amazing waste of money. Dick’s Batman. Damien’s Robin. That was easy enough to figure out from the end of R.I.P. The entire Battle for the Cowl event has been a colossal waste of time, with no memorable moments or redeeming factors whatsoever. I never thought I’d read a Batman story that made me yearn for “Hush” until I’d read Battle for the Cowl. Now Tommy Elliot doesn’t seem so bad in comparison.

Oh well, Morrison’s back soon with Batman and Robin #1! And Winick’s back on Batman (which will be great as long as he doesn’t try to bring Dick’s parents back from the dead or something)!

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910
I have no idea what just happened or who most of these people are, and I love it. Alan Moore has once again thrown the reader into his Steampunk dystopian version of England, this time in 1910. As before, Moore’s England serves as a meeting ground for any and all characters of English literature from past to present. As with previous volumes, this current incarnation of the League is made up of both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Some survived the Martian invasion, some showed up in Moore’s Black Dossier, some are new to the world. But the great thing is, all (and I do mean absolutely every one) of the characters in League can be traced back to their origins in English literature. The context this gives Moore’s work is staggering. Not only is this great as a stand-alone work, but it becomes even better as the reader delves into the history of these characters. Work like this really challenges the reader to read between the lines and work to find out the full story. I loved it with the previous volumes of League, I loved it with Morrison’s Batman, and I love it with this new installment of League. I can’t wait for issue two.

Best comic of the past two weeks: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910.
Worst comic of the past two weeks: Tied between Green Arrow-Black Canary #20 and Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3.

What did you guys think? Did I miss anything great? Am I totally off-base? Anything I should keep an eye out for?