“Tremble before the fury of the MON — what’s that? I’m just supposed to introduce this schmuck? Oh, all right: Here’s that guy with the long reviews. There. Happy?”
Thanks for the intro, Monarch. Star Clipper received a shipment of Venture Brothers action figures, and it took a lot of willpower not to buy all of them. They look fantastic. But we’re not here to talk toys — we’re talking comics.
Well, it was a week of the unexpected. Issue #2 of Baltimore so soon after the first issue? A one-shot Sgt. Rock story? The conclusion of a Hellboy series without a gap of several months? Speaking of months-long waits, how ’bout a Mouse Guard book, the third one in 2010 — that has to be a record. All this, plus Conan, Uncle Sam and Thor, too? This is not even taking into account the two volumes of Thor: The Eternals Saga some kind soul re-sold back to the shop, allowing me to pick them up for half-price. (Note to self: try not to gloat about finding great deals on the used comic rack). I proclaim this the greatest comic book bargain of 2010! (Note to self: remember to read the notes to self).
“Sure,” you say, “that’s the greatest *bargain* so far — but what was the best thing you read this week?” Dive one line below and we’ll begin our journey of discovery together, amigo/a.
Knowing my penchant for vikings, medieval fantasy and the whole sword and sorcery magilla, it should come as no surprise that I’m a serious fan of David Petersen’s Mouse Guard. It’s a thrilling book with beautiful art, a well-developed world and great characters, and it’s also a book I can share with my oldest nephew. However, my excitement about issue three of Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard finally arriving was slightly diminished after reading it. The set-up for this anthology series is a storytelling contest with only the framing sequences done by Mr. Petersen; The first two issues were overwhelmingly excellent in art and story, and this installment just seemed a little “meh.” Katie Cook’s story was too Saturday morning cartoony in look, Guy Davis’ story was too short and Nate Pride’s tale — a ballad — was well illustrated but hampered by a dodgy rhyme scheme. Jason Shawn Alexander’s rendition of Poe’s “Nevermore” was fantastic in execution and art, but it seemed tacked on and had no bearing on the storytelling contest. What I’m saying is, “Expectations after two issues and a long wait for number three were high, and they were not met.”
Let’s tackle Baltimore and Hellboy together, since they seemed to be traveling down the same path and then radically diverged this month. Fire up the SPOILER ALERT warning system, I’m feeling revealing. Hellboy: the Storm #3 concludes this arc, and as far as I can determine, two things happened. First, Hellboy made the decision to return to the B.R.P.D. with his new love interest in tow (she has a name, but it’s not used in this issue and I can’t remember what it is; it’s the grown up version of the baby Hellboy saved from the wee folk changeling way back in The Chained Coffin collection), and he rejected his demonic heritage/legacy as destroyer of the world. One is a new development and one is an old development and if you don’t know which is which, you ain’t been reading Hellboy for long — he’s always rejecting his satanic majesty’s request. It’s Hellboy’s thing, along with the cigar and trenchcoat that looked pretty cool 20 years ago and now seems kinda cornball. Beautiful art, though.
I’m less keen on Ben Stenbeck’s art for Baltimore, but the overall tale feels “less Hellboy” and more “weird adventure” this time around. It’s all flashback, with Lord Baltimore regaling us all with his WWI experience, which was terrible, thanks for asking: senseless death in the trenches, giant bats, mystical smoke from the bullet holes in his body being anathema to the aforementioned bats — it’s getting good, folks. It’s not great, but it’s trending in that direction.
For reasons I’m not even sure of myself, I’m a Sgt. Rock fan. Oh, I know why; Robert Kanigher’s plots are eight-page, pocket-symphonies of drama and action, and Joe Kubert’s economical and expressive art captures every note. Pick up either of the Showcase presents reprints and see for yourself. I don’t know that I’d recommend this Mike Marts/Victor Ibanez parallel story experiment, “War is War,” if you’re into Sgt. Rock. I get what Martz is going for with it; we have a typical WWII grunt’s life on the left pages of the book compared/contrasted with the modern American infantryman on the right-hand side. I’m personally uncomfortable with images of the World Trade Center on fire as a plot hook in a comic book, but not nearly as much as I am with images of people jumping to their deaths from a flaming WTC — it is, in the parlance of our times, “too soon.” Sgt. Rock works best in a WWII setting because most people can agree that that war was for a greater good, that the Allies were clearly on the side of the angels and that it was all a very long time ago — this last point allows for a safe remove from modern life. Bumping Rock up against today’s politically complex war is jarring, and Rock is barely in the thing. Couple that with some stilted dialogue and a ridiculous wildcat mercenary team that’s supposed to stand in for Easy Company and … you know, I could go on and on about this book’s failings. Just buy Showcase Presents Sgt. Rock vol. 1 and see how good it could have been.
You know what was really good? Conan #23; very suspenseful, well-illustrated adaptation of a story featuring one of my all-time favorite characters.. But I say that about Conan all the time, so I’ll say Freedom Fighters #1 instead. I bought it because Uncle Sam is on the cover, and that’s a DC superhero we just don’t see often enough. It’s a Jimmy Palmiotti/Justin Gray script, which means fast action, slick if somewhat over-the-top dialogue and a strong goofy streak. Navajo superhero Black Condor gets to beat up some Nazi punks in an Indian casino, and that’s so very wrong it becomes right.
There’s some X-Files business with the Ray and Phantom Lady, Human Bomb gets to do his thing, Uncle Sam is assembling a superhero strike team in the interest of national security, and best of all, there’s not even a one-panel attempt to explain who these folks are or what they’re doing. I like a first issue that throws you into the story and let’s you catch-up on the way. Please note that Blackest Night/Brightest Day/Softest Hair/whatever has forced me to drop many DC titles, so if the Freedom Fighters’ origin story happened in one of the 498 pieces of the puzzle I didn’t buy, mea culpa. If you didn’t buy ‘em either, definitely don’t let that stop you from buying it. It’s a fun, intriguing story and it’s a good superhero book.
Good in a very different way is the first issue of the Robert Rodi/Simone Bianchi Thor limited series, “For Asgard.” Taking place after the death of Balder — this is the first step towards the fall of Asgard if you’re not up on your Norse mythology — we find Thor ruling the land while Odin goes looking for a solution to the problem of the seemingly eternal winter that has settled over everything. Thor’s not finding the responsibility of leading the nation to his liking, Sif is publicly agitating for him to find a solution to the increasing insurrection of Asgard’s vassal-states other than all-out war, Thor’s been killing giant children (read: “children of giants,” not “really big children”) and now he can’t get his hammer up (not a euphemism)– it’s a mess. Remember when all Thor’s existential dilemmas arose from him wondering if Jane Foster could ever love him and his gimpy leg? I am admittedly a devotee of the more complex, true-to-the-mythology characterization of Thor, but this truly surprised me with its quality. And it must be noted, Bianchi’s art has a moody, fairy-tale quality that suits the story perfectly. Dramatic layouts, epic poses, heroically-rendered heroes and heroines — if you’re a fan of classic illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and Howard Pyle, you’re going to love Bianchi’s art.
I tell you what, I’ll offer you a bonus. If we’re talking about traditional cape ‘n’ cowl superhero comics, Freedom Fighters is the best thing I read this week; if we’re gonna go just by the strict rubric of comic book that made me most happy, then Thor: For Asgard is the best thing I read this week. So, if you’re not me, keep that distinction in mind. (Note to self: find out if you’re you.)
-Paul
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One of my favorite bookstores in St. Louis. Star Clipper offers not only the best selection of comic books and graphic novels in the city, but also a cornucopia of art, design and pop-culture related books and magazines. 
