DC REBOOT IN FULL EFFECT! 78 NEW NUMBER 1’s THIS WEEK, 96 MORE TO FOLLOW NEXT WEEK. Not really, but it sure does feel like it, don’t it? When I walked in the shop this week and saw all those shiny new number 1’s spread out into the new graphic novel shelves, I experienced a sense of … I don’t know what the word would be. I was relieved after the past 60 days of speculation and hand-wringing to finally see the comics at the center of the hubbub, but then I saw all those names — J.T. Krul, Tony Daniel, Judd Winnick — and I made the same face I did when medicine was forced down my throat in my childhood. And I’m not saying this to be a contrarian or just to fight against the current, but after flipping through a few of them, I finally made up my mind about this whole deal.
My decision is this: I don’t think this gimmick is enough to make me start reading books I wasn’t reading before. Listen, I’ve probably only bought ten Superman books in 30 years, so I’m not gonna commit effort and money towards him now just because his costume makes him look like Bruce Springsteen ca. 1977 on a lunch break. And I like Batman, but I like the Batman that existed in the 40s and the 70s through early 90s, not anything they’ve done with him in the last 20 years (and he’s in way too many books, but whatever). Instead, I ended up buying the books that star characters I like who haven’t had a title in a while. And that means Static Shock 1 and OMAC 1 this week. I don’t need or want the hype to check these books out — I want the stories.
Scott McDaniel and John Rozum do an OK job with Static Shock. There’s definitely a whiff of classic Spider-Man in Static, and that’s fine by me. And McDaniel and Rozum waste no time throwing you into Virgil Hawkins’ life — he’s the super-smart, sciencey high school student of your dreams who’s interning at S.T.A.R. Labs while superheroing in his spare time — but I felt a little lost. It’s been a long time since I read a Static comic; some more background would be nice (why’d the Hawkins family leave Dakota? What’s the deal with Virgil’s sister?), but overall this is a solid first issue.
OMAC was a huge leap of faith for me. On the one hand, I love OMAC, and I love Keith Giffen (that’s two fingers on the hand), but on the other, I hate Dan Didio as a writer; I couldn’t even stick it out for the third issue of his Metal Men, and that was Metal Men. OMAC’s been done a lot of ways, and the only one that works is the original Jack Kirby take, that of a reluctant hero who’s being lead around blindly by Eye in the Sky and starts to question if he’s doing the right thing. This version of OMAC is not only close to that conception, but the pacing is very much in the Kirby spirit, with a ton of forward momentum driving a streamlined plot at warp speed. It’s also impossible to understate the importance of Giffen’s art; this is some of his most Kirby-inspired work, right down to the layout of the panels. I love the look of this book so much. Simply seeing that Giffen cover was enough to make me buy this one. I suspect I’ll stay with it as long as Giffen’s involved — just like I would have pre-relaunch.
Elric: The Balance Lost 3, by Chris Roberson and Francesco Biagini, further confirms my suspicion that Roberson is trying to cram too much into this series. This issue features a lot of two-page chunks of the various characters moving closer to a convergence — Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon and Beck, if you’re keeping score at home — with none of them getting enough time to distinguish one from the other. Look, I’ve read a lot o Moorcock; I know these guys. Elric should be gloomy and morose, Corum should be vaguely optimistic, Hawkmoon is a haunted man who refuses to give up hope and Beck should be unflagging in his enthusiasm to defeat the odds. All of those characterizations flicker almost into sight at various points of this issue, but none of the characters get a moment where an unfamiliar reader could spot the differences. I applaud Roberson’s ambition and his commitment to telling a story more in the style of current Moorcock, but the title character of this book should be playing a more prominent role. If I’m a little foggy about what’s going on here, I can’t imagine what it’s like for someone who’s not read a lot of Moorcock.
Kirby Genesis 3 has fewer of those sorts of problems, but it also suffers slightly from sporting an over-large cast, few of whom are familiar on sight at this point. However, Kurt Busiek has a stand-in for us in the person of normal guy, Kirby, who’s trying to catch up to and aid the girl he loves (who’s currently possessed by the alien spirit of The Swan). Kirby’s confusion about the who/what/why of it all mirrors our own uncertainty, so the pervasive sense of “wait, what?” is actually a narrative device. Like Elric, this is another big, fast moving story, but Busiek is doing a better job of reminding us who every character is and what their status is within all the groups. Again, Jack Herbert is a fine, clever draughtsman when it comes to the pencils, but then Alex Ross punches up a page or two and it’s so much more vibrant and eye-catching that I — once again — ask him to take this on full-time as penciler. Or bring Giffen over to take care of this bad boy.
Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris 6 continues the extra-pulpy adventures of the future Mrs. John Carter by having her encounter the Pirate Queen of Mars and her underlings. One thing worth pointing out is that these (non-canon) comics star a much more active and competent heroine than the original Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novels. I believe it’s the second novel in which Dejah spends a year trapped in a slowly rotating prison because she just didn’t jump out the doorway when she had a chance. Arvid Nelson’s version of Dejah is much more capable and determined, and that’s the big appeal here. She’s never a victim in this book, and she’s never waiting to be saved — in fact, she’s the one doing the saving. I’m sure given another issue or two, she’ll turn the tables on the pirates and once again rescue her father and grandfather, and then save all of Helium through her bravery and intelligence. In fact, I’m counting on it. That’s the appeal of pulp fiction — you want the payoff, and the creators want to give it to you.
That sure sounds like the best thing I read this week, and it almost was. But Randy Stradley and Douglas Wheatley are doing such a phenomenal job with Star Wars: Dark Times (number 2 of 5) that they’re going to pip Dejah Thoris at the post. Haunted and hunted Jedi Das Jennir continues his race across galaxies with Darth Vader hot on his trail, but Jennir still finds time to protect and serve the public at large. After the very good but-fractured-by-scheduling-problems Blue Harvest series (five issues in 20 months), getting this issue six weeks after the first felt like a miracle. Stradley may be the finest Star Wars scripter currently working, able to work in the big characters like Vader and the Emperor while using expanded universe guys like Das Jennir to keep things fresh (John Ostrander is his only rival, but Ostrander doesn’t have a SW book right now). How great is it to see the Emperor scold Vader for continuing his vendetta against the remnants of the Jedi while there’s an Empire to consolidate and intimidate? Very great — this feels like the real Star Wars here. Jennir’s up to his beard in it again, as his traveling companion, Ember, has duped him into helping her with a great big fat lie. There’s drama, action, interesting characters, old favorites and — AND — some of the best sci-fi art going thanks to Wheatley (his Vader is one of the all-time greats). I’m admittedly biased towards Star Wars, but I’m also very demanding about what’s presented as being “Star Wars” these days, so believe me, I’m as surprised as you are that Star Wars: Dark Times is the best thing I read this week.
-Paul
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