When I walked into the shop yesterday, Ben asked me what I was going to write about for this blog post. “There’s nothing pulled for you this week, no viking comics, no Conan on the shelf — what’re you gonna do?”
What I did was end up buying close to 20 books this week. Even discounting books bought for the nephews and graphic novels, that’s still more than I can conceivably read and review in one night and still get a few hours sleep. So I’m gonna drop half of today’s haul from contention because they weren’t even in the running for best thing I read. Of those unmentioned books, I would like to note that while I really like the idea of Skaar and I want to like that particular comic, having characters constantly yelling “Skaar! Skaar!” is tiring. The appearance of Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy almost made up for it, but not quite. And as for Greg Pak’s Silver Surfer limited series, I’ve done some math: on the last page of issue 1, Silver Surfer was depowered; on the last page of issue 4, Silver Surfer regains his power. That means in a 5 issue series entitled “Silver Surfer,” we’ll get exactly 2 issues of actual Silver Surfer (assuming he retains his powers throughout the entirety of the final issue), which works out to a percentage of (checks abacus) NOT ENOUGH.
Herc 3 is also written by Greg Pak with Fred Van Lente, and it gives us quite a bit of highly enjoyable Herc action. Which is surprising, because this is a Fear Itself tie-in, and believe me, I’m genetically programmed to hate crossover tie-ins. Pak & Van Lente really have a handle on the nature of Hercules’ personality — likable despite being so supremely confident that he traipses into arrogance. Of course, if you give me a comic with a bunch of 70s-type super villains like Griffin, Basilisk and Man-Bull — c’mon, MAN-BULL — I’m gonna be into it. Herc beats up on everybody in sight, a villainess from Herc’s mythological past re-appears and Man-Bull declares his platonic love for one of his teammates. Fun, fun comic. It doesn’t make me want to read any other part of Fear Itself, but if the rest of these tie-ins are this painless I may not curse Fear Itself as much as I cursed Blackest Night.
Amazing Spider-Man 661 is not a fill-in issue, but it’s not a Dan Slott funfest, either. Christos Gage and Reilly Brown give us an interstitial story about Spidey teaching a class in superheroics to some of the more troubled Avengers youth, and it’s quite good. Gage sets up an interesting conundrum in that Spidey is an old-timer to these kids, and that the art of teen superheroing is much different now than it was way back in the Silver Age. The classroom stuff is fun, as is the kids’ eventual reaction to seeing ultra-Silver Age villain Psycho-Man — it’s part disdain, part disbelief. The meta-commentary in modern Spider-Man seems to be a recurring feature, and I really like it. I also like Mettle as a character; I may have to check out that Avengers Academy title. (You see, Marvel? It’s not multi-issue tie-ins jammed down my throat that pique my interest in other books I may not be reading; it’s the old Marvel Team-Up/Two-in-One format that gives me a single-serving taste of the character. Bring back MT-U.)
Tank Girl: Bad Wind Rising 4 is completely bonkers. We learn why Tank Girl and Booga had their big blow-out (not their fault) and we get a little lesson in both quantum physics and temporal theory (confusing and enlightening). Also, Rufus Dayglo’s marginalia gets so out of control that Alan Martin begins commenting on it, giving us a sideways behind-the-scenes peek at how they work as a team. Easily the most bizarre, unpredictable book coming out, and it must be noted that Alan Martin is a wizard of profanity — that’s a selling point as far as I’m concerned. Anyone can use vulgar language, but Martin makes vulgar language sing.
Paul Levitz, however makes superheroes sing. Not literally, metaphorically. His current run on Legion of Super-Heroes — the issue at hand is number 13 — is proof that complex, far-reaching plots can be done well and without dragging every book in the universe into their singularity. The Legion continues to struggle with figuring out who’s trying to destroy the universe this time (Oooh! OOOhhhh! It’s Saturn Queen!) and how they’re going to wreck the joint (with the aid of the magical powers of a little blue person — wait, is that little person from Oa? I hadn’t considered that ’til just this moment.), while the various Legionnaires continue to squabble amongst one another and nurse old grudges. And is one of them seriously considering going rogue and betraying the team? It sure looks like a possibility at this point. As great as Levitz is as a plotter and writer, when Polar Boy uses “dissing” casually in a sentence, it felt weird and anachronistic for the 31st century. It’s not a fatal misstep, but it is uncharacteristic.
Tiny Titans 40 was also uncharacteristic, in that Art Baltazar and Franco seemed to use the same joke over and over until it was worn out. “Here’s BLANK, here’s BLANK with Kroc,” just didn’t do it for me after the third time. I love Tiny Titans each and every outing, so I’m sure I’m holding this book to a ridiculously high standard — but that’s how it is when you’re phenomenally talented (or so I’ve been told). I laughed a few times, but not like I normally do when reading Tiny Titans.
Mike Harvey’s See You Next Wednesday comics is also a bit of a deviation from the norm, in that this issue — “The Game Of Life” — is more of an allegory than a set-up for a punch line. However, since about the third issue, Mike has prided himself on confounding expectations of what the book will be, so it’s interesting to see how he continues to find ways to do that. And I do like when Mike goes for the more experimental stories, such as this one about an angel and devil playing a game with human beings as pawns — humans that are as featureless and bland as the playing pieces in the board game, “The Game of Life.” As simple and straightforward as Mike’s stories appear on first reading, it’s the little details like that that make them stick with you.
Superman/Batman 84 is more problematic; this is the final issue of Cullen Bunn and ChrisCross’ Sorcerer Kings arc, and I really want this book to continue. I like the magic sun powered world Bunn has envisioned, I like the sci-fi/medieval feel of the art, I like this determined-yet-not-grim-Batman and I love the whole Superman with giant sword thing. If DC made this the de facto universe for the Supes/Bats book, this would immediately end up on my pull list for at least as long as Bunn was writing it. This is an action-packed, high-concept comic book that never forgets for an instant that it’s also entertainment. Batman rides a dragon and wields a giant Batarang sword — that’s more fun than Batman has been in 20 years. I don’t want to give anything else away, because Bunn has plotted a way out that exhibits a keen understanding of the Bats/Supes interpersonal dynamic and that also works well as a story — and it’s kind of surprising how many arcs end without incorporating one or both of those elements these days — so let’s just say that when Bats and Supes combine to fight the gathered evil magicians dominating this alternate history future Earth, some people die, some people sacrifice themselves for the good of others and the whole thing is eminently and deeply satisfying.
If you’ve missed all the previous issues, I feel bad for you. Definitely pick this up when it’s collected, because this is how comics should be done all the time. Superman/Batman 84 is absolutely the best thing I read this week, but more importantly, Cullen Bunn and ChrisCross have crafted a modern classic. This is the kind of comic book arc that people will remember with great fondness in a decade or two.
-Paul
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