Trials of Shazam #12 (of 12) — Writer: Judd Winnick; Art: mauro Cascioli
Some people find it easy to bring the hate on Winnick. I can’t, because Pedro and Me was an assured, heartbreaking first effort, and The Adventures of Barry Ween was a great, great independent comic, funny and snarky and full of heart. The talent’s clearly there; the problem’s that in corporate comics it doesn’t always shine through. Here, for example, we have a bloated 12-issue serial that repositions the Captain Marvel franchise as Shazam instead (yes, that’s the main character’s name now; there’s no “Captain Marvel” at all anymore), and it isn’t terrible, but, boy, is it generic. Four issues would have been plenty for this, but it just went on and on, and in the end the whole thing has less charm or appeal than any random two pages from Jeff Smith’s version from last year.
Supergirl #28 — Writer: Kelley Puckett; Penciller: Drew Johnson; Inker: Ray Snyder
Good first-page splash of the title character, but the rest of the art can’t quite live up to it; Johnson’s pencils are a little too angular to always make effective faces. The “mystery” cover character is revealed a few pages in, so it’s not much of a spoiler to say it’s Resurrection Man (the three of you who are fans can now go rush to buy the comic). The cure-cancer plot is OK (it does sound like just the project an idealistic 16-year-old would take on), but it’s marred by some awfully convenient developments (wait, the Amazon Purple Healing Ray can practically bring people back from the dead, but it can’t cure cancer? Really?), and the whole thing is competent, but never quite gels into a compelling narrative.
Walking Dead #48 — Writer: Robert Kirkman; Art: Charlie Adlard
Worth mentioning because it’s one of Kirkman’s everything-changes issues, with massive death involving just about everyone (he sticks to the effective idea that, in a world of zombies, the live people can still be more lethal to each other than the dead ones). It’s not a good issue for first-timers to try; this is a series that’s best read from the beginning, in trade form, so interested readers should back up and start there. Its one major problem is that, however well-told, it’s a zombie comic, and a traditional one at that — it’s shambling down a very familiar path.
Metal Men #7 ( of 8 ) — Writer/Artist: Duncan Rouleau
My problem with this book continues to be that, while it’s a frequently-interesting take on the characters, and gets points for being different, it’s so massively complicated that, in serial form, it just doesn’t work — trying to keep the characters and situations straight (especially after, what, two months between issues this time?) is impossibly frustrating. It’ll be interesting to see if it makes a better sit-down-and-read-it-all-at-once trade, although even then it might be too ambitious (or maybe just too busy) for its own good.
Countdown to Final Crisis #4 — Writers: Paul Dini with Sean McKeever and Keith Giffen; Pencils: Jamal Igle; Inks: Keith Champagne
Back to “our” Earth, with the whole Kamandi-origin thing being… well, kind of fun, to those with fond memories of the ’70s series, but nothing else; just a feint to take up a few issues before the end. The Mary Marvel developments try to be profound, but really are just repetitive (and having the characters in the story comment on their repetitiveness doesn’t make it better). You know, after 48 issues, the was-it-worth-it meter has barely moved on this series: its only major impact has been to lower my expectations for future Paul Dini projects.
Project Superpowers #2 — Writer: Jim Kreuger; Art: Carlos Paul; Covers/Art Direction/Plot: Alex Ross
Get beyond the Ross cover, and on the inside you have a competently-done but unspectacular revival-of-the-heroes story, something that we’ve seen dozens of times before. Even given that these were originally Golden-Age characters, they’re still knockoffs: you have your Superman type, your Batman type, your mystic, your daring athletic adventurer… it’s not that it’s bad, but it echoes so many previous books that it can’t get much traction with its audience.
The Twelve #4 (of 12) — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Art: Chris Weston
The other revival-of-the-Golden-Age-heroes book, and better than PS because it’s less generic; Straczynski’s a better writer, and able to hit his themes and give each character a more individual story/personality. He knows how to play to his artist’s strengths, too; Weston can do moody and pulpy, and hit the appropriate emotional beats. It still doesn’t quite appeal to me, though; maybe it’s because most of these characters still have “eventual cannon fodder” stamped on their foreheads, and seem to be heading toward bad ends. Too, it’s hard to care about concepts so lightweight that even Marvel, who’s always stripmining its past, has let them lie fallow for almost 70 years.
Phil Mateer
