Review: Final Crisis: Revelations #5

(****)

Ah, Final Crisis: Revelations, I had such high hopes for you. Hindered by your promises and title and in the end, you really had nothing to do with Final Crisis. In fact, you suffered because of it. With a better shipping schedule, no tie-in obligations, and it all would’ve been more impressive if bigger and better things weren’t happening in Final Crisis. Seriously, could you imagine if this was just a usual in-continuity book? The zombie heroes and villains would’ve been much more impactful. Still, you were a pretty good mini, right?

I think your biggest claim to fame will be the recognition of newcomer, Phillip Tan. Fans (Including myself) were so impressed with his art that he already has a gig on the new Orange Lantern story. That’s pretty cool. Tan’s art was often the best part about Revelations. His skills were needed to capture the tone and scope of this biblical series. Though at times it looked like a 90′s Image book (Possibly because of his inker or colorist), Tan has established himself as an artist very much worthy of the big books in this medium.

As for Greg Rucka, this book was most rewarding for the fans of his earlier works. Those who’ve followed Renee and Crispus since the beginning were treated to some hard-hitting drama. Those who haven’t can still enjoy this thought-provoking epic. Though most of this series was knee-deep in oblivion, I’m happy to report that it all has a happy ending. Since Final Crisis’ conclusion is still very fresh in my mind, I have to ask Rucka to follow the story Morrison gave him, Montoya’s journey through the Multiverse. I believe it would challenge Rucka and such challenges often lead a writer to be the best he can be. After all, Crispus’ journey seems to have a nice conclusion for now. It’d be refreshing to see a new direction. At the end of the day, I think it’s safe to say that Final Crisis Revelations was not the story we expected. However, it was a fantastic tale that actually offered a positive, but not preachy, religious message.

Review: New Avengers #49

(***1/2)

Did you all notice that dollar missing in your wallet this week? That’s because of this book. The prices finally rose. It’s our fault. All ten of the top ten best sellers last year were four dollars. Sure, nine of them were big events and all of them had more than 32 pages, but you still showed Marvel you were willing to pay the extra dollar. Right now, Marvel only has their best sellers, mini-series’s, and a few others at four bucks, but I believe most if not all will cost four dollars (Or more) come 2010. I know some of you are boycotting these comics, but I still think the high prices will come.

If you follow my reviews regularly, you’re going to have a good time in the coming months. What you’ll see is a man desperately torn between logic and his inner thirteen year old. I should drop this book. I really should, especially with the price increase. I could even switch to trade, but I just can’t do it. I’ve had almost fifty issues with this book. The kid in me is still buzzing about the possibilities, but I really should quit. Anyway, you readers can view my abusive relationship on here.

At least Bendis is trying to give us our money’s worth. I would have almost bet money that after only two issues, Luke Cage’s daughter would still be missing. I would have lost some money. Bendis seems to finally be moving things along quickly. Luke Cage gets his daughter back (Or maybe she’s dead), the Osborn/Cage deal has already been settled, and things are all set for the predictable New/Dark Avengers showdown. On the bright side, if the solicitations are correct, it appears that battle will resolve quickly as well. Good for you, Bendis!

Billy Tan’s art continues to improve. I still don’t feel he’s worthy of such an important title, but at least things are looking better. He just needs to work on his facial expressions a bit. And as for the writing, it was pretty good except for the last two pages. The personal story between Cage and Osborn was handled very well. Once you get back to the team, the jokes fall flat and Hawkeye gives an uninspiring “Let’s go get em’!” speech. But I think I’ll be back next issue, maybe.

Review: Final Crisis #7 – Spoilers!

(*****)

Cover: I know a lot of you bought the Jones covers. For those who did, check the other covers out: one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven. Notice something? They get darker as they go along. It’s a nice Apocalypse Now trick. Cool, huh?

Pages 1-3: Anyone else get that Obama vibe? I’m sure that was intentional, especially with that Alex Ross thing. What’s funny is that Obama actually outsold Final Crisis #6. Can Morrison see the future?

Pages 4-5: Ok, if there was anyone who didn’t read Superman Beyond, GO READ SUPERMAN BEYOND! It’s great. It also features Mahnke art (Only it looks a lot better. This issue was VERY rushed and he had an army of inkers and colorists working with him) and it’s a BIG part of Final Crisis. Seriously, you will be almost lost without the knowledge of Superman Beyond. For those who did read it, remember all those Supermen Zillo Valla mentioned in the second issue? Some (All maybe?) appear here. Oh and Mahnke drawing Frankenstein again, total fanboy moment!

Pages 6-7: So this Lois scene is in the future. What do we see? Batman’s cowl (Shouldn’t someone be battling for that?) and he’s dead. Wonder Woman’s Furie plague thingy, so I guess she’s ok. Hawkman’s helmet, oh no, will something happen to Hawkman?! Lois sends a story (What Superman Beyond and now Final Crisis has been about) somewhere in a Superman rocket. That’s pretty cool. I wonder where that will end up. It’s been a while, but is this the same robotic JLA from that Classified Morrison story? I like how Luthor has an Anti-Superman ray.

Pages 8-9:“You turned your back and I wrecked your world.” Ooo, sick burn! That’s what you get for being selfish in issue #3, Superman! Punch him Superman! Rip out his…oh that’s Turpin, damn! “How can you hurt a foe made of people?” Darkseid is an evil bastard!

Pages 10-12: The Flashes are back, Darkseid! Here comes death! So this is when the time bullet is fired. Death comes to Darkseid. It appears to be normal Turpin here. Although “In all of us” is the last thing Orion said to Turpin. Could the son be reborn in the father? Arthur Curry is back and kicking ass as well. This is Morrison basically handing new stories to writers if they want it.

Pages 13-14: Superman is building the Miracle Machine (The culmination of the technology theme) we saw last issue with the help of others including the humorously disgruntled Luthor. Page 14 is a tip of the hat to Rucka. This is a reference to FC: Resist. The Black Gambit is failing. Rucka has something to work with including the Renee Montoya Global Peace Agent we saw on page 4.

Pages 15-16: Ollie and Dinah floating in space is awesome. Lord Eye is screwing things up of course. Carter and Kendra get the operatic lovers treatment. The Super Young Team and crew Boom away thanks to Sonny Sumo!

Pages 17-18: Yay! They all made it to Earth-51 and Kamandi is there too! Super Young Team, Shilo, Sonny and Kamandi is another story waiting to be told. Poor Overman, Morrison just had to get a Superman holding his dead cousin into this story. So Darkseid’s done, but what about the furies. And what about Luthor and an army of mind-controlled villains?

Pages 19-21: Yes, Frankenstein riding a big dog decapitating enemies and subduing Wonder Woman is very cool. The Luthor/Superman team-up where Lex takes all the credit is also sweet. Putting citizens in the “fridge” in the future is very…zany? Wonder Woman finally has a nice moment in this series. Read that Morrison interview at the bottom. He has some interesting things to say about this.

Pages 22-23: Even though he has no psychical body, Darkseid (Bastard!) continues to drag Earth down towards Mandrakk. Superman beats Darkseid with his voice. Again, you’re either on board with the creativity or you’re not. The lone Superman toils away on the Miracle Machine when suddenly…

Pages 24-25: Aaahhh! It’s Mandrakk! Again, go read Superman Beyond! He looks very creepy here, but Ultraman…not so much. But that bastard does have Kara. Why must the Crisis’s always pick on Supergirl? Hey, another tip to Rucka! Mandrakk has been snacking on the Spectre and Radiant. Actually, since Mandrakk feeds on stories, does this mean FC: Revelations was meaningless? It certainly didn’t have much to do with this book. Ha Ha! Mandrakk is screwed! The Miracle Machine works! The Green Lanterns can come in.

Pages 26-27: An Army of Supermen!!! Evil is toast! Oh and they’re apparently singing! “Let the sun shine in!” 

Pages 28-29: The heroes gather to thwart evil. And what a special gathering it is. Nix Uotan in his new badass glory, the Supermen, the GLs, the “Forever People of the 5th World” (Super Young Team) and three awesome animals that Mandrakk failed to eat. Man is that Rabbit hilarious! Those vampires get spiked!

Pages 30-31: I like the cowl, pyramid, and feather panels. To symbolize those we’ve lost (Except the Martian, but I guess he’ll be a Black Lantern). “Earth Endures. It’s as if we don’t know what else to do.” Aww, that’s nice to read in these dark times. It looks like the heroes are pulling (See the chains?) Earth out of oblivion. The Flashes are back and Nix Uotan wants to sever contact with our world.

Pages: 32-33: The New Gods are back! At least the New Genesis ones (Even Highfather). It almost appears they’re going to Earth-51 along with the new Forever People and even Kamandi I believe. All the Kirby characters alive and well. Kamandi even has a new tiger tribe. It also appears that this was the Final Crisis for the Monitors. They are gone now.

Pages 34-36: The Monitors end with the young lovers. Superman wished for a happy ending with the Miracle Machine. But it looks as though Nix is back on Earth. Hopefully he and Weeja can reunite. And so our tale ends the way it began. With the first boy, Anthro, who is now an old man. He was the original superhero and storyteller and as he dies, we see something else. The rocket sent in the beginning of the issue has landed. A utility belt lies gently on Anthro.

Page 37: Ah, this page makes me all warm and fuzzy. Batman is marking a bat on the wall.

For a very good reason, read Morrison’s interview.

Well, that’s it folks. I’ve already expressed what I love about Final Crisis. Morrison mentions more in that interview. It’ll be nice to not have to write these big articles anymore, but I had fun. Hopefully you did too. Final Crisis had some flaws (Mostly editorial), but it was the most dense, unique, and enthralling event I’ve ever read. It challenged the reader. You actually had to use your imagination. The birth of new characters, the death of old. The complete and utter shattering of current writing techniques. This series would have been forty issues long if Bendis had written it. Final Crisis is not for everyone, but I think the ones it was for, had a hell of a good time reading it. I know I did.

Review: Astonishing X-Men #28

(*****)

This is part four of Ellis’ first Astonishing arc, Ghost Box. It may appear that not much has happened yet, but I assure you it has. The story has progressed so naturally that you barely noticed. A mutant (Triploid) was murdered by another mutant (13). Those names are given because of all that fascinating Ellis science. The 13 was trying to open a Ghost Box (A gateway to another world). Why? Something to do with an annex (Big city word for Invasion. Wow, I would’ve loved it if Secret Invasion had been called Surreptitious Annex, wouldn’t you?) of course. The 13 committed suicide before he could be interrogated unfortunately. The X-Men then discovered that it all led to Tian, a five-mile dead zone located in China. Who was there? Chinese X-Men, what else? Yeah, that’s a lot of stuff and that was only in the first three issues. In addition, Ellis has been laying the groundwork for possibly his entire run while making us laugh hysterically along the way. Yeah, this book is good.

Ellis’ PIC is relatively newcomer, Simone Bianchi. Bianchi has only done interior work for three (Green Lantern, Shining Knight, and Wolverine) other comics I believe. I’ve read all of them and I’m impressed. This is his first team book and if you’ve seen his detailed work, I don’t have to tell you how difficult this task is. I’ve read about how it’s killing him. Sadly, this makes for a slightly uneven book. There are times when facial expressions can look a bit awkward and the lack of backgrounds can hinder the storytelling. Still, Bianchi remains one of the freshest pencils working today. His art is truly unique and when he does hit his mark, the result is staggering. I’m pleased that Marvel let a “Young Gun” on one of their flagship titles. As he’s proved, they made a good decision.

I haven’t talked much about this issue specifically yet, but that’s because it’s a continuation of quality and I don’t want to spoil anything. If you aren’t reading this book, you should start. If you are, you can look forward to a lot more action. There’s also a reveal of sorts on the last page that proves Ellis knows the X-Men. I read his scripts in those filler issues. He may be a foreign lunatic, but the man knows his X-Men.

Top Ten Movies of 2008

“But it isn’t related to comics?” I know that. It does have two comic book movies on it though, does that count? I love comics, but I also love movies. I saw quite a few of them this year and to be honest, it’s fun to voice my top ten on here. It doesn’t fit well on this site, but we do have a movie review section and a top ten fill in the blank section. So without further blabbing, I give you my top ten!

10. Iron Man

Finally, we get a superhero movie where the action and special effects are one of the worst things about it. In fact, that last action scene was one of Iron Man’s biggest flaws. Jon Favreau is not an action director. However, the big fight was better than most in the superhero genre because we were actually invested in these characters. Terrific acting, witty, and thoroughly entertaining, Iron Man is the perfect comic book flick. Oh, and Robert Downey Jr. is the man.

9. Milk

Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected public office in California. That sounds like the typical “socially aware” Hollywood film, right? But this is a great movie. Yes, Penn is magnificent as always. He creates a full portrait of Milk, flaws and all. It’s to be expected that Harvey is portrayed as a trailblazing hero, but we also get lines like “I have had four relationships in my life. And three of them tried to commit suicide, and it’s my fault…” Strong support from Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile Hersh and Gus Van Sant’s direction help make this an excellent film. And yes, this movie is powerful and important. Same-sex marriage is legal in only two states. That’s ridiculous, but this movie doesn’t try to convert you. It only tries to make you aware.

8. Doubt

“Sure the acting is great, but it’s not a good story.” That’s the usual complaint I hear about this movie. It’s hard to put this film’s “story” into words. As Father Flynn’s opening sermon informs us, it’s about doubt. When we view sessions of conversation, we don’t believe we’ve actually seen a story, but we have. Doubt is based on a play and perhaps it should’ve stayed on Broadway, but how else could we have seen the talent of Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis? There’s a reason every single one of them (Including Davis who only had a fifteen-minute scene at most) has been nominated for an Academy Award. What’s most important is that in every single scene, this movie gets us thinking. That is a rare thing.

7. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

It’s too bad this movie isn’t on many top ten lists, but I understand it. Putting this above films like Milk and Doubt seems weird, but it is appropriate. This is the funniest movie of the year. There’s not much more to be said about it. Comedy is the hardest thing to explain because it’s all about personal taste. All I can say is that this movie makes me really happy. Mila Kunis is adorable. Russell Brand is hilarious. Oh and who doesn’t love a Dracula musical with puppets?

6. In Bruges

A lot of people missed In Bruges because it was released around January. Nothing good ever comes out in January. This however, was awesome! Who knew Colin Farrell could act and be funny?! Ralph Fiennes is fantastic as always and an old favorite character actor of mine, Brendan Gleeson, proves to everyone else how great he is. In Bruges is the best hit man buddy picture since Pulp Fiction. It’s funny and it also features a borderline racist midget in a school uniform. This is a great flick!

5. Revolutionary Road

This is the horribly sad conclusion to Jack and Rose’s story. The traditional romantic couple trapped in a suburban nightmare. Revolutionary Road is a more modern take on the “Born in the wrong time” tragedy. Frank and April are caged within their 50′s Pleasantville surroundings aching to be free of each other. The white male is king and women are bound to the kitchen. Revolutionary Road captures these elements in painfully tragic detail. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio have grown so much since Titanic and it’s perfect that this was the next project they did together. Sam Mendes has crafted a brilliant movie that is hard to watch, but is also important and unforgettable.

4. Wall-E

Honestly, there are times when I think this is the best film of 2008. Wall-E is the best sci-fi movie in years. It may also be the best romantic film in years. Did I mention these are robots in love? Did I mention that this is a kid’s movie with very little dialogue within the first thirty minutes? This film tries to make us aware of our increasingly corporate, corpulent, sedentary, and wasteful society. Wall-E even makes me love an old throwaway musical like Hello Dolly. How the heck did this movie achieve all of this? Because Wall-E is endearing, it’s one of the riskiest and most lovable films of the decade. Wall-E is very special.

3. The Dark Knight

You’ve heard and know everything that’s positive about this film. There is no reason for me to repeat it. I will however, mention the fundamental flaw in Nolan’s Batman. Batman is the least interesting character in the movie! There’s a reason why Bale never gets any attention for this role. Oh sure, we know he’s there, but that’s all he is, there. It’s tragic because Bale is one of the hardest working actors today. He puts everything into a role. If Bale comes back, I hope whoever’s behind the camera uses his full potential. As for Heath, I really will miss that man.

2. Frost/Nixon

Maybe it’s my love of politics, but I found this to be an incredibly gripping film. This isn’t a biopic. It’s not some sappy nonsense about Nixon’s presidency. It’s about two men involved in a verbal duel. What I said about Christian Bale goes double for Michael Sheen. Sheen was actually given a great role and he absolutely nailed it and still, he was denied recognition, shadowed by his counterpart much like Frost himself was. But Langella was as good as you’ve heard. Howard’s best captures an important historical moment that will leave your mind buzzing. Frost/Nixon deserves the little bald guy this year because sadly, my number one, much like the character it’s about, is left outside the spotlight.

1. The Wrestler

I could go on and on, but I’ll try to keep it short. This is the best performance of Rourke’s life and the year. It’s partly personal for him, which adds to the wonder. This movie isn’t depressing.  It’s about performers in their winter years. It’s about mistakes and how it’s never too late to make things better. It’s about pursuing your calling at the expense of your health and loved ones. It glorifies wrestling in its realism. Sure it’s fixed, but that fall wasn’t. It’s about Randy “The Ram”. No, he doesn’t go the distance crying “Adrian!” But we do love “The Ram” through all his mistakes and flaws. And whether Rourke wins the Oscar or not, I’ll be cheering for him.

So there it is. Agree? Disagree? Please let me know. I’m not sure if I can say whether 2008 was a great year for movies or not. I do know that I liked most of the ones I saw. I hope that can continue in 2009. Anyway, thanks for reading even though it wasn’t about comics. Who knows, I may have a top ten comics list in me somewhere.

-Bruce Castle

Review: Uncanny X-Men Annual #2

(****)

In my review of the last Uncanny X-Men issue, I talked about how Uncanny has become Marvel’s answer to the current JLA. The series constantly services other titles. In the aforementioned last issue, the comic had to address nearly every other X-Book. This time, the title is hijacked by Dark Reign. But you know what? Fraction is a great writer and he makes the most of it.

This annual is two stories juxtaposed to create one awesome Emma Frost tale. One part is about Emma’s past that explores the events of X-Men #73 (Yes, someone remembers that comic) drawn by Daniel Acuna. Acuna captures the opulence of the Hellfire Club wonderfully. The other part is about Emma’s present situation with the Dark Illuminati. This is rendered by Mitch Breitweiser. He brings a gritty realism that properly demonstrates Marvel’s Dark Reign. The two artistic styles don’t mesh well at all and that works.

The story itself is all about Emma with a little help from Namor (Who’s properly rendered, thank God) and Sebastian Shaw. One would think that this is just about answering why Emma is part of the Dark Illuminati with a hint of what she might do next. The comic does cover both of those topics, but it’s so much more. It’s an intriguing tale about Emma and Namor’s (He likes blondes remember) history. It’s about Emma and Shaw’s relationship and how that changed her. This is an example of how a good writer can handle anything. So if you read this for the Dark Reign connection, you won’t be disappointed. If you read this for the X-Men connection, you’ll get an entertaining story featuring one of the most interesting mutants.

Review: Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #2

(*****)

Wow! This issue just blew me away. I find it interesting that so many people hate this comic because they “don’t get it”. Whereas others like me, love it. I can understand the complaints a little. Superman Beyond is a lot to take in. Heck, even the visuals (Does anyone else’s vision get weird after wearing the 3D glasses?) can be jarring. But I for one adore this book.

First off, just look at that art. It’s truly stunning. Mahnke produces the best work of his career. Morrison challenges him for sure, but he hits the right notes every step of the way. In a fantastic voyage (It even has a yellow submarine) such as this, the art is crucial. Mahnke captures both the epic (And boy are they epic) battles and the tender scenes beautifully. Even the 3D works better here. I read the 2D art with my normal vision and the 3D art with my funky (Can they seriously change the design of these things already) glasses. In the first issue, I had to constantly switch between the two, but here the first several pages were normal, then 3D, and then back to normal for the conclusion. It was more of a pleasant read and damn those 3D pages were awesome!

As for the story itself, it’s just packed with goodies. Some of the more subtle stuff (Although I don’t think it’s that subtle sorry) may be missed. But I would think that if nothing else this is a psychedelic journey about the original superhero trying to save his dying wife. This is the spiritual sequel to All Star Superman. Both portray Superman as the quintessential hero in new ways that don’t come off as cheesy.

Now, I’ll try to delve beneath the surface without spoiling anything. I love that the citizens of Limbo (Where forgotten characters go to rot. A concept that’s not only awesome, but also fits the book’s theme) fight the “yet to be”. I love that Morrison explains why these Supermen were chosen. Morrison acknowledges all the Supermen (Majestic, Icon, etc.) and even here he uses Captain Adam (Based on Captain Atom from Charlton Comics) and Captain Marvel (From Fawcett Comics). Hell, even Overman (The German word for Superman) comes from Friedrich Nietzsche’s original influence on Superman. I love the fact that Superman Beyond is a study of the story itself. It’s all about the pros and cons that stories bring to our society. I love that the villains are Vampire Gods. Vampires and Gods are two fictional (If God doesn’t exist. Just think of the Roman Gods. Please don’t hate me) creations that will outlast us all, much like Superman. And finally, I absolutely love the last page of this comic. Seriously, it’s the best last page in recent memory.

Review: Green Lantern #37

(****)

You can tell that Geoff Johns loves to write this colorful cosmic odyssey so much and hey, I enjoy reading it. As this issue proves again, this is a comic about Hal Jordan’s past, present and future. He has to deal with his tumultuous past, juggling a blonde and a brunette (Is that really a problem?) and the vicious purple bastard, Sinestro.

Everyone’s favorite Korugaran is one of the best villains. He’s not just a badass. We also understand his motivations and even root for him. In this issue he says to Hal, “You must rebel against the guardians. The Green Lantern Corps does not need them.” Who disagrees with that? The smurfs have made so many mistakes in this series alone. There’s a reason Ganthet and Sayd went off on their own. And yet, as I said earlier, Sinestro is a vicious purple bastard. The Parallax fiasco, the Sinestro Corps, Parallax again and so on. I don’t think I have to tell you that even in this issue, Sinestro tries to screw up Jordan’s life. It’s a very complex and interesting hero/villain dynamic that supports Johns’ color mythology. Fantastic art from Reis and one character gets another ring of a different color, this is a fabulous issue!

Review: Dark Avengers #1 – Spoilers!

(***1/2)

I was going to start with my opinion of Bendis and my struggle to drop his titles, but that’s not fair to you. This is a spoiler review because well, it’ll make things interesting. If you’re half as frustrated as I am about all the “mysteries” in Marvel right now (Who is the Black Panther? Who are the New Avengers? Who cares?) then you’re pretty upset. So, let’s get things out of the way.

Dark Avengers:

Iron Patriot=Norman Osborn

Captain Marvel=Noh-Varr

Sentry=Blonde Crazy Dude

Ms. Marvel=Moonstone

Ares=Big Jerky God

Wolverine=Daken (Or Dokken as I like to call him)

Hawkeye=Bullseye

Spider-Man=Mac Gargan

Is any of that shocking? If you’ve been paying attention, probably not. I was upset about this issue’s price tag of 3.99. I assumed I’d only get the usual 20-22 pages, but you get about ten more. That’s cool. Bendis also packs this issue with a lot of words (Shocking I know) and there are often nine panels on a page. Sadly, this is still mostly set-up. Who the team is, how did they get there, and who’s the villain of this arc are all answered here. Oh right, this is a spoilers review. The villain will be Morgana Le Fay. It’s an odd choice, but Bendis is a fanboy writer. He loves the old Micheline/Layton/Romita Doomquest story (And so do I) so he’ll continue writing about it. That’s the reason for the characters on this team. He loves the way other writers handled them.

Mike Deodato’s art is pretty spectacular. Sure, it’s gritty at times (Because that’s what the book is trying to be), but honestly, it’s the best his work has ever looked. A few years ago I didn’t think Deodato could handle a mainstream flagship spandex title, but I’m glad he proved me wrong. If you enjoyed his art on Ellis’ Thunderbolts, you’ll love it here. It looks similar, but better. Practice makes perfect.

I read somewhere that Bendis was upset about the cost of comics today. That’s the reason for his excessive wordiness. If that’s true, then I’m sure he dislikes the four dollar price as well. It took me quite a while to read this comic and that makes me happy. The art looks fantastic and I enjoy the characters on the team. But again, not much happened here. I know Bendis is great when it comes to details, but he often fails to tell overall good stories. I hope that changes.

Review/RANT: Final Crisis #6

So I read Final Crisis 6. Was quite looking forward to it, considering that I enjoyed issues four and five, and the buzz for six was pretty positive on the boards I frequent. I had heard vaguely about what happens to Batman, but in general I was going into this clean. Well guess what…this was a terrible issue. This thing was incomprehensibly messy in so many ways. Morrison isn’t even bothering trying to explain himself or his characters or his plot movements anymore. Things just happen because they have to. Case in point: The book opens with Superman and Brainiac 5.1 presumably in the 31^st century. So when did this happen? Superman Beyond? Legion of Three Worlds? Didn’t read ‘em, don’t care. Even still, wasn’t Superman supposed to be at Lois’ bedside using his heat vision to make sure her heart wouldn’t stop? Didn’t the crazy monitor chick from issue two tell him he’d be back from his journey nigh instantaneously? Wasn’t that the whole point of why he decided to go with her? So where the hell has he been in the past three issues? And why does Lois show up halfway through the book showing no ill effects of a building falling down on top of her? There’s no way enough time has passed for her to heal from her injuries. This is abjectly ludicrous storytelling.

To further compound things, we have Batman. This would be the same Batman that got put into Granny’s crazy machine thing in issue two. Like Superman, he shows up out of nowhere in this issue. But this is even worse, considering Batman was CAPTURED, somehow escaped, somehow found Darkseid, somehow got his hands on a time traveling God bullet firing pistol, AND somehow managed to hold onto the bullet from Orion’s crime scene. Did no one search his damned belt? And what the blue hell is the “Omega Sanction”? Is it different from his Omega beams? And why the fuck should I care? Then Superman shows up and unleashes hell, and we’re treated with another example of how bad this issue is. Ever read a book and feel like you’re missing some pages? The transitions in this book are DREADFUL, and one of the best examples of that is the move from the penultimate spread to the final page. Sure, it follows that Supes goes nuts because Batman died. But from a script and sequential art perspective, moving from Superman devastating everything in sight to suddenly holding Batman’s desiccated corpse Crisis 7 style is just badly done and jarring. But this isn’t jarring in such a way that helps the tone or aids some kind of a reveal. This just sorta happens.

These types of bad transitions happen throughout the book, which basically consists of various snapshots of everything that’s going on. But each scene is too short and chaotic, and it all boils down to a manic jumble of white noise. People do things, battles take place, Checkmate has some crazy Brother Eye thingie that may have something to do with the return of Superman. Both Luthor and the Flashes seem to have no problems overriding Anti-Life. Considering that all you have to do is scramble a signal or prove true love exists (or whatever the hell Barry Allen’s been doing), this diminishes the dread nature of Anti-Life a bit. I get that it’s basically just Apokolips on Earth, but I feel like the events are no longer justifying the tone. Especially considering how easily Darkseid was taken down by a mortal man (yet another example of Batman being written too strong, but this has gone on for years, so I can’t really grouse about it now). Does this mean that some crazy new villain is going to show up for half an issue? Is this finally becoming a multiverse story? I mean, we’ve seen the Monitors and a few other things, but this series has been contained on Earth so far. It’s a dangerous situation where Morrison might try and blow this up too huge for one issue to handle. Darkseid’s death didn’t really feel like a climax. I guess we’ll find out soon enough if they keep their new schedule, and get issue seven out at the end of the month.

Really, what we have here is a situation where Morrison just doesn’t have enough pages to cohesively tell the story he wants to. He’s probably getting his point across to the DC historians and die hards who know these characters and are reading the tie-ins (and Seven Soldiers), but this just does not work on its own as a mini series. It’s been a weird read, because he completely lost me with the first three issues, got me back with four and five, and lost me all over again with issue six. It’s incredibly frustrating.

Review: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter Laughing Corpse #4

(***)

If you’ve read more than thirty comics, you’re familiar with this type of issue. It’s a middle of an arc comic and it’s awful wordy. That’s a bit puzzling since this is part four of a five-part series. There aren’t any signs of things wrapping up soon so I guess they’ll be another mini? I hope so. I talked with Ron Lim about it and he said there’d be another series if this book sold. I really hope it has. It’s terrible when you can’t have a conclusion. I mean, I could purchase Hamilton’s actual books, but who wants to read something without pictures?

This issue is filled with talking heads. The test is always how entertaining those heads are. This was a decent issue. Sadly, due to the episodic nature of comics, I’m forced to admit that the writing here is mediocre. However, Ron Lim is there to save the day. Lim knows exactly how to draw this comic. Whether it’s the expressions or Anita’s movements, Lim nails it all. I only wish a better colorist were on this project. There are times when Joel Seguin made Anita look pale in one panel and tan in the next. It was a bit distracting, but this issue’s art is the undeniable star of the show.

SeventhSoldier Presents: The Christmas Haul!

 

So, rather than save my Christmas money*, I did what any sensible person would do – I bought comics!  Sure, I can’t pay rent for February, but I got some quality reading done in the meantime, so all is good, at least in my head.  Without further embarrassing personal detail, onwards!

 

Northlanders: Sven the Returned

 

While the adherence to modern slang and language might be off-putting, it soon becomes subsumed in the tale of a stubborn Viking who just wants people to quit fucking with him.  Entertaining and violent, with just a touch of the dramatic, the first trade nevertheless fails to surpass the standard Viking revenge tale.  Still, the hint of promise shown within make me hopeful for future offerings.

Grade: B-

Scalped: Indian Country

 

 

The hype from Jason Aaron’s reservation-life Native American noir is heavy, and this opening trade fails to deliver.  Standard art combines with a story that barely serves as more than an introduction to make a disappointing first volume.  There’s promise to be found in the filth the book revels in, but it takes some digging to find.

Grade: C-

Scapled: Casino Boogie 

 

 

Scalped: Casino Boogie

The second trade, however, delivers in all the ways the first one didn’t.  Introducing new twists to the story, the book does it in a creative and entertaining way, each issue taking place over the span of the same day, but from a different point of view.  Here we finally get in deep with the various players on the reservation, and here we finally have a reason to care.  Count me among the converted.

Grade: B+

Phonogram: Rue Britannia

 

 

I have trouble explaining how much I enjoyed this from relative newcomer Kieron Gillen.  Ultra-masculine Brit hipster David Kohl is forced to search for a dead goddess of Brit Pop music and find out just what it going on in the ether that’s causing him to change in drastic (to him and no one else) ways.  Even given my relative unfamiliarity with the bands and trends being mentioned, I nonetheless could relate to the sheer power music has in the lives of these people.  An intriguing story and a fascinating setting just a little to the left of our own work together with simple (but clean and gifted) art to provide a book well-worth your money.  A story about reinforcing why you love what you love, about coming to terms with it and its influence on your past.

Grade: A-

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wolves at the Gate

 

The Whedonisms of the book are beginning to grate, and while it is still an undeniably enjoyable book, some of the particular thematic and writing tics of the book are wearing.  Nonetheless, the book continues to excel at humorous, heartwarming, heartbreaking relationships, and fans of the TV show will continue to enjoy the rapid-fire wit and excellent dialogue.

Grade: B-

Hellblazer: Joyride

Andy Diggle, writer of The Losers and Green Arrow: Year One, seemed like an odd choice of writer to take over the Hellblazer writing chores after award-winning horror novelist Denise Mina, and Joyride is his first collection, a series of stories meant to bring John back from the brink where he’s been hovering through the last couple writers. The story is entertaining and suitably dark, a good set of arcs to set up what Diggle seems to hope to accomplish.  Expressive, dark art from Manco and strong ties to the recent Hellblazer run of Mike Carey combine to make a standard, but competent story.

Grade: B

Gotham Central: The Quick and the Dead

 

The fourth trade in the Rucka/Brubaker masterpiece bringing a refreshing bit of realism to the gritty uber-epic Batman mythos, The Quick and the Dead might be the weakest trade in the series thus far… but given the strength of the characterization and dialogue, it still serves the series well, and shows time and again how Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya got where they are today.

Grade: B

Casanova: Luxuria

 

 

Matt Fraction’s tiny little piece of insane pop action is well-introduced in this first volume.  While stylistic art takes a little adaptation to those of a more traditional bent, it nonetheless complements Fraction’s hyperkinetic action hero well. Fun fluff, well worth the shot for fans looking for a little something more from their action espionage comic books.

Grade: B

The Filth

 

 

Yet another obscure entry from Grant Morrison, the Filth almost delights in being obtuse.  Filled with crazy, creative ideas, it boils down to a cranky old man who just wants to be alone with his cat in its dying days.  Weston had his work cut out for him, but he steps up to the task admirably and delivers on many of the absolutely horrifying concepts Morrison bandies about with creepy ease.  Absolutely not for everyone – not even for most people – the Filth nonetheless may offer some readers a glimpse into the darker side of Morrison’s work, that they might better understand where he’s coming from in the lighter works.

Grade: B

Young Liars: Daydream Believers

 

 

The first disgusting trade of Young Liars is finally available, and well worth a gander.  Like Mike Carey’s so-so Faker, Liars focuses on disgust, betrayal and selfishness, but the refreshing blitz of Sadie, teamed with the self-loathing love of young Danny, make for far more compelling interactions.  The attitudes of the book may be a turn-off for many, and some bizarre stylistic choices in terms of background and dialogue can be confusing, but it is nonetheless worth a gander.

Grade: B+

Fables: War & Pieces

 

 

Willingham’s epic seems to move in waves.  Alternating between stories with a great deal of creativity, heart and action all laced together with a healthy dollop of bastardized mythology and a series of stagnant set-up arcs with a lot of introduction and even more nothing-really.  So, it should be no surprise that after that strength of The Good Prince and Sons of Empire, War and Pieces reads as a perfunctory conclusion to the first major conflict in the Fables-verse.  An important book plot-wise with (as always) impressive art, War and Pieces is nonetheless another dry spot in the ongoing story.  Not bad, just not up to the standard the book set for itself.

Grade: B-

DMZ: On the Ground

 

Brian Wood’s breakout hit about a the only on-location journalist at ground-zero of America’s second Civil War appears to be almost entirely a setting-building exercise that also happens to casually examine the horrors of war with which we are all pretty familiar.  Still, the excellent art provides a certain touch, and Wood’s story excels where many such stories fail in its compelling cast of supporting characters and slice-of-life stories, like the sniper romance.  Wood doesn’t let us revel in a single aspect of war atrocity on home soil, instead taking us through a series of small arcs to see the effect of the civil war and troop involvement in New York City itself.  Thanks to its easy familiarity with a cool cast, DMZ proves itself a consistently entertaining read with just a touch of the frighteningly familiar.

Grade: B+

 

 

 

*okay, admission time – it was actually just gift cards, so it wasn’t actually a waste, and some of these were bought before or after Christmas that I just never got around to reviewing.  I may begin to review some of my older trades as my pull list (and available cash) dwindles.

 

Review: Invincible #58 – Spoilers!

(****1/2)

Again, I have to make this a spoiler review because I would just repeat myself if I always have to just talk about how great it is. This issue had a 16-panel grid page structure so a lot was packed in. That made this is a fantastic issue!  So much so, I’m doing a page-by-page review. Enjoy!

Pages 1-2: I’m not the only one who thinks Oliver is going to go bad, am I? This first page provides another creepy moment. “You’ll be faster than me in no time” and then an interesting look on Kid Omni-Man’s face. Then a smoking hot Eve walks out of a prison. I wonder what she did for Mark. Stay tuned!

Pages 3-4: Man do I love Monster Girl! She’s so awesome! Robot may have found a cure? That’s great! The faster the disturbing thought of Robot and Monster Girl having sex gets out of my head the better. Immortal and Dupli-Kate are buying a place together and they may have children? Um, first of all, he’s really old. Does his plumbing still work down there? Second, what happens to Dupli-Kate and pregnancy? Do all of her dupes get pregnant too? Or if only one does, how many does Dupli-Kate want? I guess that’s an easy way to have two kids quick. But what if she has twins? I hope Immortal has the cash!

Pages 5-6: Wow, Eve looks hot again! Sorry, but Ottley’s art is fantastic and FCO’s colors make things phenomenal! Then we check up on Aquarus? Why was this here? I mean, I guess Kirkman is planning to do something with him soon, but this seems like Kirkman abusing the format. He could have made this page better.

Pages 7-8: Eve has a surprise for Mark (What is it already?) and Eve’s nemesis sucks (Which was kind of funny), moving on.

Pages 9-10: Invincible finds out about the surprise (And we still don’t know what it is). Shapesmith tricks Art the tailor. Now that was funny.

Pages 11-12: Darkwing feels bad about killing. So I guess we’re supposed to root for Cecil’s team too, Kirkman? Ah, finally, we learn what this surprise is all about. Invincible is now a hero for hire. Working for prisons and stuff he’ll get money to buy a place for his woman. That’s cool.

Pages 13-14: Mark lays Eve down by the fire. Does this mean we’ll see Allen the Alien? Damn it! No Allen on the next page, it’s just Oliver and his teacher. Was this moment creepy or do I just have a dirty mind? His teacher talks about how much she likes the kid and how she’ll never stop teaching him. That’s ok. He then says “I like you, too”. That’s still fine, but then she asks “Where is your mother?” Doesn’t that sound a bit perverse?

Pages 15-16: Invincible catches one of those Angstrom Levy balls. We then check up on the astronaut with all the squid-aliens. Heck, he even says “soon”. I told you there was a lot in this issue.

Pages 17-18: So this is where Monster Girl supposedly gets cured. But see, I always think of Robot as a villain. Remember when he was all sinister for a moment there? And maybe it’s also because I just read Secret Invasion where the Wasp got something that supposedly helped her, but it then almost killed everybody. I just have a feeling that something bad will come from this.

Pages 19-20: I love the page with all the alternate Mark’s. They all have familiar color schemes. So I guess we’ll always like the same colors no matter what reality? There’s a full on Viltrumite Mark, complete with a mustache. There’s like a burned one, and a non-superhero one, and an Omni-Man one. I think my favorite might be the Morrison/Quitely-esque Mark with the Travis Bickle (From Taxi Driver) hairstyle. And then of course we get the full-page-splash of Angstrom with a funky new costume and he says the classic villain line, “It’s a start”.

War of Kings: A Primer

Officially launching in March, War of Kings is the next Marvel cosmic “side event,” following in the footsteps of The Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire, Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest and continuing the general story of strife and upheaval that has hit all corners of the cosmic landscape. We are currently in the middle of the buildup for War of Kings, and I thought I would take the time to talk about what we’ve seen, what we’re going to see, and where you need to go to catch up.

If you want to boil things down to their absolute essential elements, the build for War of Kings can be found via two books: Ed Brubaker’s The Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire (as found in hardcover, trade paperback and issue form as Uncanny X-Men 475-486) and Joe Pokaski’s Secret Invasion: Inhumans (a four issue miniseries to be released in trade in April). The reason you don’t really have to go beyond these books is the fact that from what we’ve seen so far, it’s readily apparent that War of Kings will chiefly revolve around Black Bolt and Vulcan, the sovereigns of the Inhumans and Shi’ar, respectively. Now, I personally have not yet read Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire (I hope to soon now that I have a bit more cash flow than I have recently) or its follow-up series “X-Men: Emperor Vulcan,” so all I have seen involving Vulcan as the leader of the Shi’ar can be found on X-Men Kingbreaker #1 and Secret Invasion: War of Kings. Vulcan is the third Summers brother, following Cyclops and Havok. He seized power over the Shi’ar and proclaimed himself emperor after killing D’Ken and neutralizing Charles Xavier.

Black Bolt, as anyone who has followed the Inhumans knows, is the King of the Inhumans and has been ever since these characters existed in comics. Recently, after the events of Silent War, Black Bolt was replaced as king by his crazy brother Maximus (the Mad), but it is discovered that Black Bolt was in fact a Skrull, and once the original Black Bolt was rescued during Secret Invasion: Inhumans, it was decided that not only would Black Bolt and Maximus basically become co-rulers of the Inhumans, but they would stop taking everyone else’s crap and actually go on the offensive for once. Despite the fact that the Inhumans were created by the alien Kree race in order to be used as living military weapons, they have always rebelled against their creators and the rest of the world, content to live in peace and seclusion. However, no one else seems to be interested in actually letting this happen, and the Inhumans have been constantly set upon by humans, mutants (thanks, Quicksilver!), the Hulk, the Kree, most recently the Skrulls, and so on and so forth, that they’ve finally realized that they have to do something if they want to live their lives in their own way.

On the other side of the coin is the group of folks stuck in the middle, the Guardians of the Galaxy. They’ve recently been splintered into tiny groups, with Star Lord out on his own, Adam Warlock and Quasar beginning their assault on the Universal Church of Truth, Drax and Gamora trying to track down Cammy, and the rest of the ragtag bunch continuing their crusade under the name. The biggest part of this that relates to War of Kings is the Star Lord portions of the story, as Peter Quill was sent to the Negative Zone by the Kree (to get back at him for allowing the Phalanx to infiltrate Hala during Annihilation: Conquest) to find that Blastaar has proclaimed himself king of the Negative Zone and has aspirations to expand his dominion into Earth via the dimension gate in Prison 42. It sure seems like Blastaar is going to be right there alongside Black Bolt and Vulcan vying for power. And when you’ve got someone like Adam Warlock with his power level and history in the cosmic terrain, as well as the recreated Nova Corps headed up by Nova Prime Richard Rider, there is so much potential for where they can go.

That brings us to Secret Invasion: War of Kings, which is basically designed to lead into the event in the same way as the Prologue one shots for both Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest. Now, granted, 80% of that one shot was about the Inhumans with only a passing mention of Blaastar (which was a nice touch, because it reinforced events from Guardians of the Galaxy) and a short little back-up about Vulcan, but it still showed us exactly where we’re going. The Inhumans have decided to stop taking things lying down, and are officially on the offensive. They take out the rest of the fleeing Skrull armada (which presumes to be how they justified the Secret Invasion part of the title) and throw a full assault on the Kree homeworld of Hala, which culminates in the subordination of Ronan the Accuser at the feet of Black Bolt. The Inhumans portion of the issue ends there, and the rest of the book is dedicated to a quick little scene with Vulcan fighting in a gladiatorial arena, vanquishing his foe for the entertainment of the Shi’ar public. He then gets an update about what the Inhumans just did to the Kree, and decides that anything the Inhumans can do, the Shi’ar can do better, and this will be the perfect time to expand his territory. So you have the Inhumans reaching out on the one side, and the Shi’ar pushing out on the other side, and they are more than headed for a collision course. So this is the premise: Black Bolt versus Vulcan in a battle for space supremacy. Sounds pretty sweet to me.

I’ve also included a few lines that chart the flow of these characters through their major appearances over the last few years. I wouldn’t say all of it is essential, but it’ll give you everything you need going into War of Kings.

Vulcan
X-Men: Deadly Genesis -> The Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire -> X-Men: Emperor Vulcan -> X-Men: Kingbreaker -> War of Kings

The Inhumans
Decimation: Son of M -> Silent War -> Secret Invasion: Inhumans -> Secret Invasion: War of Kings -> War of Kings

Everyone Else
Annihilation -> Nova 1-8 -> Annihilation: Conquest -> Nova/Guardians of the Galaxy -> War of Kings: Darkhawk -> War of Kings

Review: Final Crisis #6 – Spoilers!

(*****)

I’m exhausted. My brain is mush. Yet I must press on because I love this book so much. It’s killing me.

Page 1: Why are Superman and Brainiac 5 here? Last time we saw Supes he was trapped in Limbo and Brainiac 5 was…well, the last Legion of 3 Worlds came out months ago. Who can remember? So, I guess this takes place after those two books?

Pages 2-3: Superman is “fading”. Probably because of that “time breaks down” nonsense Brainy was talking about. You’ll find a lot of techno-babble in this issue. I like Renee Montoya’s line later, “Enough of this sensory %$%@$ overload”. Anyway, Brainiac introduces the Miracle Machine. You like awesome technology right? Hmm, you can only think positive thoughts, who can do that better than the “Big Blue Boy Scout”?

Pages 4-5: Look out! Here come the baddies! Tattooed Man is an honorary JLA member? They’re really going for the old “Anyone can join the Justice League” maxim. I wonder how long any of this will last. Oh wait, it’s Morrison. All his continuity gets washed away once he’s gone.

Pages 6-7: Catfight! The Supergirl vs. Desaad Marvel fight continues! Beautiful action and good banter, let’s move on.

Pages 8-9: Hopefully Black Adam fans can calm down now. Yes he got hit hard last issue, but his power is fading and Desaad Marvel is very powerful. Oh and Mary is Desaad, it’s official.

Pages 10-11: The Tawky Tawny vs. Tigerbak fight continues! Desaad uses innocent people to attack Supergirl. That bastard! He’s so evil!

Pages 12-13: Whoa! Tawny guts Kalibak! Freddie and Mary go back to kids thanks to magic. Darkseid can’t control everything! Mary says, “I can never say it again”. Again, how long will this last?

Pages 14-15: Tawny gets respect! It’s the moment you never knew you wanted to see! Shilo explains more about that face paint. Mr. Terrific mentions “Black Gambit”. Will those OMACs ever come? Uh, if you’re not familiar with that reference, it’s just more evidence that the tie-ins have meant nothing. Unless of course reality is just really messed up. Hey, that’s a good excuse.

Pages 16-17: Ooh! A pretty New Furies splash! But that is nothing compared to that Super Young Team dialog. “Most of our powers are cosmetic!” and “I have the greatest power of all, Mister Miracle. I am so rich I can do anything” are pure genius. But there’s also the young love! So much awesome, I would be very happy with a Morrison Super Young Team mini.

Pages 18-19: Hero against hero, the soul mate and the person that showed a villain the light. This comic has everything! I’m still curious about Tattooed Man’s new tattoo.

Page 20: The Atoms together, more great stuff. “And here, our mystics attempt to contact the Spectre in the afterworlds”, but isn’t the Spectre Vandal “Cain” Savage’s slave?And Renee Montoya is in New York or something but she’s here too and…

Page 21: This is that “sensory overload” Montoya line I was talking about. Lord Eye, this is the whole Black Gambit business? Hmm it sounds like they’re preparing another Earth in case this one dies. I hope thatdoesn’t backfire.

Pages 22-23: I love that advertisement! You know, the one for the issue I’m reading. Way to go DC! Whoa! Calculator gets lynched! The villains unite to say “Fuck you aliens!” which is totally Luthor. Libra “dies”, but even Sivana says, “And that’s a classic “We haven’t heard the last of him!” if I ever saw one”. So, Libra will be back?

Pages 24-25: Did you forget about the Flash family? Will they stop Darkseid (If he hasn’t been stopped by the end of this issue)? Will Barry outrun the Black Racer (Barry has a new mini coming up so I’d guess yes)?

Pages 26-27: Batman pops up like a daisy! Ok, let’s just consider Batman #682-683 part of this issue. That’s where he broke free and got that nifty gun. Oh, so Darkseid shot Orion. Of course! Ah, but Orion caused Darkseid’s fall. “Wounded you beyond repair”, it sounds like it, right? Batman has the time bullet with him? That’s so Batman, but he wouldn’t use a gun would he? Hey that bullet looks familiar. Remember that weird thing from the last page of Final Crisis #2? I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was the time bullet. Anyway, Batman shoots Darkseid! Yay! Batman will be ok, right? He won’t get vaporized by Omega Beams like he was in JLA: Rock of Ages will he?

Pages 28-29: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Batman!!!! They took my buddy away, damn it! At least he got a two-page death that looks great (In a book with more artists than Batman: Black & White). I’ll talk more about this “death” later.

Pages 30-31: Is that Lois in the upper-left panel? Again, what’s up with that? The Hawkman/Hawkgirl scene may seem a bit random, but it continues the rebirth theme. I’ll talk more about that later. The GLs aren’t here yet. Metron is still around. Nix Uotan’s new look “inaugurates the Fifth World”. “These new humans face a greater menace than Darkseid if they breach the Bleed Wall.” Ah crap, that’s what this whole Black Gambit stuff is doing isn’t it? I knew it would backfire! Oh well, bring on Mandrakk (The Evil Monitor from Superman Beyond)!

Pages 32-33: Superman is blowing stuff up. Because of Batman I would guess. I wonder what he wished for. A lifetime supply of Popeyes Chicken? Or maybe it was to get back from wherever he was (The future?) and perhaps Lois’ good health as well.

Page 34: Ah, this image (From Doug Mahnke I believe. His name isn’t on the cover even though two inkers are) brings the Crisis trilogy full circle. Superman likes to hold cadavers.

And now for some more words. I want to talk about Batman’s death. I’m going to avoid the whole “This isn’t Morrison’s vision” and “Fuck Dan DiDio” stuff. I’ve covered that in my other Final Crisis reviews (You can read those, issue two, three, four, and five).

Again, I’m really tired so this won’t be as long as I planned (Which is good for you). Supposedly, Morrison’s original idea for this series was for the Magnificent Seven to all die and become New Gods. Do you remember those “Heroes Die, But Legends Live Forever” posters? Well that was the idea. Get the old guard out of the way (But still in the DCU) and make way for the kids. That idea was immediately shot down with the classic “Not the big three!” answer. Anyway the point is resurrection was on Morrison’s mind. Do you remember Superman’s Martian Manhunter eulogy in Final Crisis #2 and that hilarious “And pray for a resurrection” line? Well, Morrison talked about it on Newsarama (See it here) and said “This line foreshadows a major theme which will be played out as this series progresses”. He goes on to say “Now that I think about it, the whole story revolves around Superman’s (Pray for a resurrection) line”. So this may have been Morrison’s actual plan. We all know Batman will be back. Morrison certainly knows that as well. In fact, I believe his recent Batman run was all about how cool Bruce is and that no one could ever replace him. Heck, Batman could even be back in Final Crisis #7, but I doubt it. DiDio want his money. So we’ll go through all the Battle for the Cowl nonsense and filler crap. I just hope Final Crisis isn’t too compromised and that Grant (And maybe even Frank freaking Quitely) will be back on Batman soon.

Just for the hell of it, here’s what Grant Morrison thinks about this issue. Enjoy!

Review: Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #2

(*****)

2008 wasn’t that great of a year. We lost some fantastic people. Heath Ledger, Sydney Pollack, Charlton Heston, Bernie Mac, Paul Newman, Bettie Page, Michael Turner, Steve Gerber, Isaac Hayes, and George Carlin. Wow, I was going to do one of those “2008 was bad, but not for Hellboy” things, but now I’m just sad. We really did lose a lot of cool people this year. I didn’t even mention the guys and gals you may not know, Vampira (You watch Ed Wood movies, right?), Gary Gygax (Creator of D&D), Eartha Kitt (The Adam West Catwoman who was black), Roy Scheider (Jaws), and Dave Stevens (Creator of the Rocketeer). Man, Bettie Page and Dave Stevens died in the same year? At least I have this. Yeah, I’m totally sad now. Maybe I just love too many people.

Anyway, 2008 was a good year for Hellboy. Most importantly, it began the longest Hellboy epic yet! It’s Hellboy: The Wild Hunt! This is the second issue and it’s marvelous. It’s hard to talk about how great it is without spoiling things, but I’ll do my best. If you’ve ever been turned off by Hellboy because it esoterically wove fetishized tales of mythical creatures or artifacts, you may want to give Big Red another try. It’s quite a simple story on the surface, but like most Hellboy yarns of this nature, the magic lies in the details.

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt can fit into almost any category with this issue alone. There’s drama, action, comedy, romance and horror. Ok, I don’t think I saw anything sci-fi, but after unfortunately viewing the fourth Indiana Jones movie, that seems like a good thing. We’re even treated to an additional adventure featuring Koshchei the Deathless from Hellboy: Darkness Calls. Don’t worry new readers. I’m sure you’ll still find it entertaining. It’s sad that it takes pages away from the main event, but I’m glad Guy Davis (You may know his art from B.P.R.D.) let Duncan Fegredo take a break.

Speaking of Fegredo, if you weren’t sure he was a suitable substitute after the aforementioned Darkness Calls, I’m sure he will change your mind now. Duncan is a tremendous artist and although this may be some form of blasphemy, I have to say that his art may even work better than Mignola’s at times. Fegredo can achieve the epic scope that Mignola often lacks. Think about it, if Mignola were to draw an army, you would only see a few warriors and the rest would be shrouded in mist. However, with Duncan you’ll get the whole army. Wherever your allegiance may lie, it’s safe to say that the art looks fantastic in this series.

Month after month, year after year, Mignola and company (Who could forget Dave Stewart, the best colorist in the biz) consistently produce gold. Just when you think you’ve seen everything Hellboy has to offer, you’ll get another wonderful surprise. Honestly, who was not moved by Gruagach’s origin? Have you ever felt so bad for a pig-monster? I didn’t think so.

Review: Invincible Iron Man #9

(****)

Fraction continues to write the hell out of this book. It’s freaking fantastic! He’s bringing the Golden Avenger back in a big way. If you liked the movie, if you thought he was a dick during Civil War, or even if you love good comics, you should read this book. But I think you already knew all that. I want to talk about what you might not know in this issue.

Like all Dark Reign books, Norman Osborn, the new Skrull (In the sense that I will have to type his name an annoyingly large amount of times in the coming months), is the villain here. What’s funny is that this issue makes Dark Reign look far more interesting than Bendis’ comics have. Osborn is so terrifying. We are left chilled to the bone because someone that insane has so much power. Fraction achieves this in one damn page. Part of that credit goes to Larroca, but I’ll talk about him later.

This comic is special. I love the fact that the H.A.M.M.E.R. uniforms are green and purple. I love how Tony tricks Maria. I love the way Norman fights Tony. I love that the only combat we get in an Iron Man book is from Maria Hill. I love that for some reason we get a free five-page preview of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (It has beautiful Skottie Young art). I love this series.

Ok, about Larroca’s art. I’ve consistently complained about his work in this book. However, I’ve finally warmed up to him. I recently read an interview from Matt Fraction about what he thought of the photo-reference technique. He doesn’t like it any more than I do. It’s refreshing to hear a writer actually criticize his artist, right? Anyway, I always knew that I dug Larroca’s sci-fi look. His futuristic buildings, his armors and his gadgets all look fantastic. But Fraction demands more in his Iron Man. I still don’t like Larroca’s faces, but just about everything else he does is fine. I finally realized that this issue. He makes Tony’s whacky brain gizmo look cool. His fight scene was dynamic and engaging. So Mr. Larroca, I’m cool with you now. Although, did you make a continuity error in this issue? Maria clearly does not have handcuffs on the bottom-right panel of page 15. However, she does have them on page 21. What’s up?

Fraction handles these characters perfectly. He provides a selfless and heroic, albeit flawed, Tony Stark. Fraction has proved he is a master of mainstream comics with little action. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Review: Secret Six #5 -Spoilers!

(****1/2)

Again, this is a spoiler review. Sorry, but I’ve already written four gushing reviews about this series. I love this book. This issue is awesome as well. You should give it a try. Ok, people who haven’t read this out of the way? Then let us dive into the spoilers.

Oh no, Bane is getting tortured! Ah, those Junior guards used to be conjoined twins. Is that foreshadowing? Could there be some other sibling relationship coming up? Bane is tortured by brick pummeling? How whacky and cool! Deadshot gets his own narration now? That must be part of the Faces of Evil thing. It’s a bit jarring to have a format change mid-arc, but oh well. It works fine. Bane bites a guy’s neck! It’s funny that the first two comics I read this week feature neck biting. Is this the begging of some unsettling comics trend?

The Six (Minus Bane of course) finish off those villain bounty hunters. Poor Tiger Shark! We then get the Junior reveal. It’s Ragdoll’s sister, baby! Ha Ha! How insane is that? It even has breasts that are covered by a word balloon and a finger. Oh man that is good. Well, sorry for the whacky review people, but is there any other way to review this fantastically bizarre book?

Review: The Walking Dead #57 – Spoilers!

(****1/2)

I’m sorry that I have to make this a spoiler review, people. The fact is, I’ve already talked about how much I love this series so much. I’d just be repeating myself if I had to fill up a non-spoiler review. This book is great. Go read it please. The first trade is only ten dollars. There, does that cover whether this issue is worth reading or not?

We find out that Rosita and Abraham are a couple. That doesn’t completely ruin my Andrea & Abraham prediction, but it does look doubtful. The group is making traveling plans. We get some happy news as Rick wants to make a detour back to his house and the police station. They can get some guns and ammo, but that also means we may have Morgan and Duane Jones with us soon. Yay!

But as we often see in The Walking Dead and even in life, something bad usually comes after good news. The detour team consists of Rick, Abraham and Carl. Out of the blue, something really awful occurs. Carl almost gets raped. My God that’s creepy. Thankfully, nothing actually happens, but it was pretty scary and it leads to Rick fighting back. He does something terrible, but he had to right? The last page promises the story of Abraham’s family and the preview for next issue reads “The unthinkable”. What do you think will happen? I remember when I first read that, I thought Carl might die. Kirkman wouldn’t kill Carl after almost having him raped, would he? As always, like a fool, I can’t wait for the next horrifying issue.

Review: The Boys #26

(***1/2)

Aren’t those Darick Robertson covers awesome? They’ve had a guest artist do a variant on every issue of this arc, but I haven’t picked up any because Robertson draws such hilarious covers. But what’s sad is that for the first time, Darick Robertson’s art is absent on the interiors. What’s up with that? I don’t know, but what I am sure of is that John Higgins is a perfect substitute.

Wow, John Higgins, you may know that name from some Alan Moore comics. He did the colors on Watchmen and The Killing Joke. And now I see his art in The Boys, how cool? Anyway, if Robertson has the bubonic plague or something, Higgins should definitely take over. He keeps the same artistic tone so well that I didn’t even notice Robertson’s absence until I began writing this review. That should tell you something.

This is the longest Boys arc yet and so far it’s sadly been the worst. The series has kind of reached the superhero-bashing fart joke mediocrity that many think this book is without even reading it. That’s incredibly tragic. But we do have an improvement here. Sure it’s more making fun of the X-Men, but it’s also making fun of the way Marvel treats those characters. Comments on the ridiculous excess of teams and more like that make this issue succeed at least comedically.

Another thing that makes this issue special is the further exploration of Hughie and Annie’s relationship. Ennis has made them one of the most interesting couples mostly because of their secret identities. Annie gives a hint this issue and though these romantic moments are beautiful, there’s also the looming shadow of the terrible thing that will happen if the secret gets out. This makes the last page terrifying.

Garth Ennis is one of my favorite writers. I always want a title where I can get my monthly dose of Ennis goodness. Though The Boys may never be as good as something like Punisher, it is certainly very well done. It’s almost always a great read and I hope this arc ends with a bang. Ennis, I know you have it in you.