When last we spoke, I was yammering on about how many comics I bought. Prepare yourself for even more yammering, because I ended up with even more single issues this week. This may take a while, so let’s get right to it.
The Mighty Thor 2: Olivier Coipel draws a great-looking Thor, there’s no doubt about it. All the Asgardians look great, in fact, and his layouts are visually arresting. Matt Fraction’s story is more of the same stuff we’ve been seeing in this book for the past couple years — the people of Broxton are at risk because Asgard is a trouble-magnet of a neighbor, and now something totally evil is heading their way — but with a touch more humor than I’ve come to expect from a Thor book. I’m fine with the humor, but the whole “Perils of Broxton” storyline is getting stale. Also stale — and I can’t believe I’m about to say this — is the arrival of Silver Surfer with Galactus in tow. I love Galactus, I love the Surfer, but Fantastic Four just recently did a story in which Surfer shows up and announces Galactus is coming and he’s cheesed off. I recognize that’s kinda what Galactus does for a living, but I’d like to see Marvel either space out the “coming of Galactus” stories or demand that writers come up with something slightly less formulaic for ol’ Purple Hat if they’re going to use him.
See You Next Wednesday: Mike Harvey, America’s Minicomics Last Great Hope, told me today that the recent storms (and attendant loss of power) almost forced him to miss an issue. He really had to put his head down and draw this one at the eleventh hour in order to meet his deadline — more comic creators should be so conscientious. Rac the Thief: Lucky 21 stars the buxom bandit Rac and her raccoon partner, Jasper, beating a casino through the use of chicanery and low-cut dresses. It’s not my favorite SYN issue — that would still be any issue of Gene the Cat Genie or the World’s Richest Hobo — but it’s a quick, fun story.
Power Man and Iron Fist 5: This wraps up the limited series, and after the way issue 3 and 4 meandered, I should have anticipated that this installment was going to connect the dots in a hurry; the last two pages are just Danny narrating how he put everything together and solved all mysteries. Would have been nice to see him actually do stuff rather than just have him telling us all about it, but maybe that’s just me. Danny Rand and Victor Alvarez fight some neo-nazis, somehow avoid any sort of confrontation with the Commedia Dell’Morte despite spending several pages standing in the same room with them and clear Jenny Royce’s name. Speaking of clearing names, I was slightly put off by the lead neo-Nazi using the pseudonym Joe Duffy to hide his true identity of Gerry Kammill. Jo Duffy and Kerry Gammill made some fine issues of original flavor PM/IF back in the 80s, so I assume this is both an inside joke for old fans like me and a sly nod to fellow pros (and possible friends) by Fred Van Lente, but it felt kinda gross. I don’t know too many people who are flattered when nazis — fictional or otherwise — appropriate their identities.
FF 4: I’ve been up and down on this title, but mostly up of late. One of my gripes has been the lack of any personal interaction between the characters, all of whom are family. Jonathan Hickman mitigates that complaint this issue with an extended scene between Sue and Peter Parker that shows her as a mother, a friend, a super-hero and an individual. It’s reassuring to see Hickman transition back to dealing with the people inside those suits, and he triples the joy by also giving us a surly Ben suffering through a conversation with Bentley, the pathologically evil kid, and Reed’s council of big-brain villains sniping at each other while figuring out how to kill all the alternate Reeds. This is the kind of stuff that brought me back to Fantastic Four after many years away, and it’s the kind of stuff that will keep me buying FF. Also, Barry Kitson’s art is fantastic. Nothing against Steve Epting, but Kitson is a nice change of pace.
Magnus Robot Fighter 4: And here ends the first arc, almost a year after it began. Magnus finally smashes the gang that’s been trying kill him, fights some robots, breaks up with one girl and gets with Leeja, his traditional soul mate from all previous incarnations of Magnus. Let me state clearly that I have enjoyed this series thus far, but I also felt disconnected from it at times. Four issues a year will do that to you. Jim Shooter specializes in dense stories, and it’s a plain fact that the more time between issues, the more difficult it is to follow the plot. I’d really like to see this book stick around for a while, and I’d also like to see it get on at least a bi-monthly schedule. A little regularity goes a long way to helping a book find an audience and keep it.
Butcher Baker Righteous Maker 3 is very regular — I believe this is the third issue in two months. Mike Huddleston’s art is pretty amazing and amazingly pretty on this one. He’s all over the place stylistically, often on the same page — it’s exhilarating, but I wish he had more to work with than Joe Casey’s Martial-Law-meets-Smokey-and-the-Bandit plot. The most entertaining element of Casey’s contribution is his five page (!) essay on comic book sales figures, content, artistry and, uh, “nothing.” I enjoy a rambling discourse as much as the next guy — (looks up and down this page) — more than the next guy, but come. ON. In three issues we’ve seen Butcher Baker negotiate a deal, detonate a bomb and drive a truck; if Casey put as much effort into the script as he does into the essays maybe I’d know what Butcher is all about. All I know for certain right now is he has a mustache.
Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command 5: Hayden Blackman’s story about a young Darth Vader — these events take place right after the film, Revenge of the Sith — pays some dividends in the form of Darth accepting responsibility for the death of Padme and their unborn child. It’s a good story that bridges the gap between Anakin and Vader, but after reading it I’m not sure I actually wanted that gap bridged. I know Anakin chose the Dark Side — that’s kind of what Revenge of the Sith was all about — so seeing him choose it again, even harder, isn’t really a shocker. Speaking strictly as a Star Wars fanatic, however, it’s nice to see Vader wreak massive amounts of havoc. So there you go: I claim to want deeper characterizations and better writing in my comics, but when it comes to Star Wars, I just wanna see people and places get jacked up.
Xombi 3: Speaking of characterization and better writing, check out John Rozum’s work in this one. It’s not often you witness a guy loaded with nanobot healing technology play punch out with an antediluvian monster while discussing the fleeting and frustrating ways in which humanity fails to appreciate being alive, so you should take luxuriate in it when it does happen. This is the first comic since Sandman that’s trying to tell you something about the real world; sure, the message comes wrapped in superheroic Asian Americans and punning nuns, but it’s still there.
The Amazing Spider-Man 662: Christos Gage’s “not a fill-in” two-parter continues filling in for Dan Slott. Spidey and the Avengers Academy fight Psycho-Man and one another while Spidey tries to convince them to not kill each other or innocent people. This leans rather heavily on the super-hero classic bit, “fight the evil power, you’re a hero.” It still works, but I’m buying this book for Dan Slott whizbangery, not guest stars working through developmental problems outside their own title; that’s cruel, but truthful. These days I just don’t enjoy Spider-Man’s voice unless Slott’s writing it.
Planet of the Apes 2: So, after Daryl Gregory and Carlos Magno show us the assassination of the Law Giver, they introduce the ape who’s going to find the killer and scotch whatever rebellion is brewing in the human part of town. Nix, a fearsome gorilla soldier, assembles his commando team to do the dirty work, but not before delivering a lecture on underestimating the humans. It’s difficult — maybe impossible — to not see the racial metaphor Gregory’s going for with this one, but that element is present in every version of the POTA universe. I know I’m supposed to empathize with the humans, but the apes were underdogs for so long (and still are underdogs here in the real world), that I’m pulling for Nix and his team to do a lot of damage to us smug humans. The fact that some of that damage is delivered as a down payment in this issue is satisfying.
Conan Road of Kings 5: I’ve complained about Mike Hawthorne’s pencils for four straight issues now. I don’t want to do it for a fifth issue, but I’m a stickler: I’m not enjoying his efforts. Roy Thomas’ script for this one is all right, but just all right. Now that Conan and company have made it Ophir, we get some bewitching of the king by a beautiful sorceress and a big executioner picking a fight with Conan. I’m pretty sure I’ve read this story before; I’m also reasonably certain that Thomas can make this better in the final issue.
King Conan 4: Yeah, that’s more like it. Tim Truman and Tomas Giorello close out their Scarlet Citadel adaptation with fantastic art and some keen plotting. I absolutely love Truman’s version of an old Conan regaling a scribe with stories of his early kingship all night long, and Giorello’s grizzled depiction of the monarch is perfect. I’m definitely on record as preferring original Conan comics over more adaptations of the REH stories, but the Truman/Giorello team does such a bang-up job at capturing the Hyborian tone and the fury that this one is the better all-around Conan book.
Kirby Genesis 0: It is impossible to overstate my deep and abiding love for the work of Jack Kirby. I admire the work of many writers, and I certainly have my favorite artists, but there’s never been anybody like Kirby. At his best, he transcended the restrictions of panels and costumes to spin stories about the unquenchable fire of the human spirit; at his worst, he was still Jack Kirby, meaning more inventive, more passionate and just plain better than pretty much everyone else who’s ever set pen to Bristol board. So I had grave doubts about Kent Busiek and Alex Ross being able to capture some of that glory. Sure, they’re using Jack’s ideas and concepts as a springboard for an impending armada of comics, but neither of them are Jack. Busiek’s prose doesn’t have the blunt rush of Kirby’s, and Ross’ pencils are too pretty and flashy to compare to the immediate, rough-hewn authenticity of Kirby.
And yet I loved this comic. Absolutely no reservations loved it. Being a zero issue, this is all set-up — those types of stories rarely feel like anything other than a commercial for the forthcoming series. We meet various super sci-fi characters, encounter the human beings who are going to have to deal with these alien visitors and then get some comparison pages of Alex Ross’ breakdowns with Jack Herbert finishes as a teaser for what the series will look like. And in all that, there’s an explosive optimism that resonates like Kirby. I don’t know if they can maintain it, but I intend to stick around to find out. Ross and Herbert have a combined penciling style that’s cleaner and less primal than Kirby’s, but that first image of Tiger 18 just about made me shout with glee — it was so immediately a Jack Kirby moment that I couldn’t help but be excited by it. It was a visceral response to a comic book, something I haven’t felt with that intensity in quite some time; probably not since the New Gods hardcovers came out. And that’s ultimately what I’m looking for in any comic book: I want to feel wonder and optimism in equal measures. It’s a Kirby hallmark, and it’s here in this book. It’s not really the best thing I “read” this week, but it’s certainly the best comic I felt this week. More, please.
-Paul
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