So, the DC Universe began anew this week with Justice League 1. I did not buy it. I wasn’t buying the Justice League from two months ago, and I’m not going to start now just because I can watch them all come together for the first time once again. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy it if you’re interested in that sort of thing. I’m trying to maintain as positive an outlook as possible concerning DC’s do-over, and the thought of buying JL 1 only to watch that origin story unfold one more time from a different camera angle made me feel negative. So I avoided it. I hope you liked it, especially if you’re one of the hundreds of new fans who came to the shop just to see what all the fuss was about.
I did buy The Mighty Thor 5, the Matt Fraction/Olivier Coipel book that I feel less interested in every month. Thor is still fighting Silver Surfer on behalf of Odin, who’s busy trading headbutts with Galactus (don’t ask), and Thor and Surfer have settled in to a nice rhythm of “thrown hammer/hit him with my surfboard, then shout tough-guy banter at each other for half a page.” I want to like this book — it’s Thor, after all — but Fraction’s choices baffle me. Odin just recently (like, past six months of real-world time) re-emerged from the Odin sleep, so of course he has to go back into his mighty cosmic sleeping bag now. A good rule of thumb for the modern comic creator should be, “Don’t bring someone back from the dead/parallel dimension/eternal nap time if you don’t have plans for them beyond the whole, ‘Hey, look who’s back issue.” That is all.
Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker 6 continues the meandering story of Bruce Campbell and Jackie Gleason from his star turn as Sheriff Buford T. Justice in Smokey and the Bandit as the former tries to kill all his world’s supervillains at the behest of Jay Leno and Dick Cheney, and the latter tries to catch him in the act. Mike Huddleston makes this book one of the best-looking things on the rack, but Joe Casey’s story continues to read like a “Hey, remember Charles Manson? Wouldn’t he make a great supervillain?” brainstorming session gone awry. So why have I bought six issues of this when I won’t even give a shiny new Justice League a shot? Because this story has no Batman in it.
Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente’s Herc is kinda the polar opposite of the preceding books. Pak and Van Lente have a clear idea about who Hercules is and how he should behave, and as a result their story so far has been focused and forward moving. I am also beguiled by the emergence of Man-Bull as a key figure in the book, if I’m being honest. This is issue 6.1, part of Marvel’s relaunch-free attempt at luring new readers, so it’s more a summation of recent events and character introduction than an actual story. But it has Mike Grell art, which always earns bonus points in my book, and the framing device at least tries to make things more interesting. What really is interesting is how much I’ve enjoyed this series so far. Pak and Van Lente depowered Herc at the end of Chaos Wars, and rather than sending him out in the world to mope and try to recover his powers, they’ve had him embrace being human again after long millennia. It’s a nice change of pace to see a superhero enjoying his life rather than lamenting the loss of his superior status.
Planet of the Apes is another series I’ve been greatly enjoying. Issue 5 here only costs $1 in an effort to entice POTA fans who saw the new movie and are looking for another ape fix, which seems like a pretty good idea. Daryl Gregory and Carlos Magno continue their tense stand-off between the Apes and the humans, with the humans being on the pointy end of the stick. Several key plot points change in this one, with the big one probably being suspicious religious guy Brother Kale’s announcement that he can provide the humans with advanced weaponry in their fight against the apes. This means next month’s issue should be a bloodbath. This incarnation of POTA has been quite the corker in many ways. I like it.
Warlord of Mars: Fall of Barsoom 2 is a little more opaque and more difficult to follow. Some of that is no doubt it is because Robert Place Napton and Roberto Castro have had to conceive entirely new characters, and some is because this is only issue 2 and the table is still being set. If you’re unfamiliar with Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom stories, I don’t know that you’ll understand why the atmosphere factory our hero, Tak Nan Lee, is trying to perfect is so vital. (I think if the main John Carter Warlord of Mars storyline hadn’t lagged behind schedule in the first few months, anybody who reads that series would understand the importance of Tak Nan Lee and his work right from the get-go.) Also, the exact nature of the conflict between the Red Martians and White Martians like Tak Nan Lee remains unclear. I know the natural state of things on ERB’s Mars is one of constant warfare, but you’d think the human-looking Martians would have some unity in the face of the savage, four-armed and big-tusked Tharks. I guess there’s no explaining racism, even on Mars. And why do the Whites wear full outfits and the Reds wear next to nothing? Are there differences rooted in fashion? The fact that Dynamite cans support three monthly titles based on the Barsoom stories is very encouraging, however. That Pixar movie isn’t even close to coming out yet, and here’s Dynamite way ahead of the curve.
And then along came a spider. Amazing Spider-Man 668 sees the Spider Island virus spread throughout Manhattan, and now everybody’s a Spider-Man, including almost all of NYC’s petty criminals and super-villains, and regular citizens, like Pete’s girlfriend, Carlie. It’s a cool idea, and Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos are really pulling out all the stops. I didn’t know how much I wanted Pete to have a female spider-partner until I saw the two of them racing each other to work via webslinging. There’s a real sense of joy in ASM these days, and I’m a huge fan of that. And also, *SPOILER ALERT* Slott has Peter deliver an impassioned speech on the basic decency of all humans, even NYC residents, that rallies the Spider-enhanced citizens to action. Not only is it a great comic book moment, but it’s the sort of speech someone like Peter — scientist, forward-thinker, optimist on the human condition — *should* make. Normally I avoid these multi-part crossovers, but Slott has made this whole ordeal so entertaining and heroic that I can’t wait for the next installment — it’s like I’ve been infected with something.
The verdict here is clear. Amazing Spider-Man continues its impressive run of being awesome and human, and also being most definitely about superheroes. ASM 668 is the best thing I read this week.
-Paul
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