Phil’s Reviews — Stuff I Bought #172

Batman #700 — Writer: Grant Morrison; Artists: Tony Daniel, David Finch, Andy Kubert and Frank Quitely

One look at the credits should be enough to get you to buy this: it’s a past/present/future time-travel tale involving Bruce/Dick/Damian as Batmen, chasing after the Joker’s notebook and encountering ’60s super-villain team-ups, locked-room mysteries, future Two-Faces and Joker babies. Morrison throws out his Bat-ideas like sparks, and it all hangs together and does everything an anniversary issue should; even that Neal Adams Batman preview that’s been in all the other DC books this month makes a pitch-perfect little coda.

Buzzard #1 (of 3) — Writer/Artist: Eric Powell

This shows Powell in his shadowy comfort zone much more than the weirdly-pitched, uneven Chimichanga: an undead, solemn preacher/ghoul on a rotting horse, traveling through the mists and reluctantly saving villagers from monsters, like some kind of demonic Clint Eastwood, gives him exactly the kind of grim, darkly gorgeous pages to draw that he’s best at. Throw in a Powell/Kyle Hotz weird western tale involving Billy The Kid, and you’ve got one cool-looking comic.

Spider-Man: Fever #3 (of 3) — Writer/Artist: Brendan McCarthy

This was one of the most offbeat Spidey stories ever (with a plot that was mostly just an excuse for weirdness), and yet McCarthy also grounded it in an obvious love for the Lee-Ditko era, especially the Spider-Man Annual #2 team-up with Dr. Strange; at the end here, a character echoes the last line of dialogue of that issue, and there’s a sly, affectionate last-panel tribute to Ditko’s signature style of drawing hands. With its bright psychedelic colors and tongue-in-cheek, anything-goes atmosphere, it should make a great, if bizarre, stand-alone graphic novel.

Nemesis #2 (of 4 ) — Writer: Mark Millar; Art: Steve McNiven

As always with Millar, I feel a little guilty liking this (and won’t be surprised if the ending is typically cynical and downbeat), but boy, do the action sequences zip right along, adrenaline-fueled and cinematic (you can tell why this guy’s books so often end up with movie options), and there’s no denying that a book about a Batman-like, can’t-be-beat criminal versus his top-cop counterpart is, in this team’s hands, a whole lot of evil fun.

Rawhide Kid: The Sensational Seven #1 (of 4) — Writer: Ron Zimmerman; Art: Howard Chaykin

This is a sequel to the Kid mini-series from 2003 (my God: the Bill Jemas/nu-Marvel era was seven years ago?), and, while it mines the same joke as before (the Kid is gay; we readers get his sophisticated guppy comments about it, while most of the old-West folks he meets are too stupid to know what in tarnation he’s talking about; he’s also   absolutely unbeatable in any kind of gun- or fistfight), it’s a little more subtle about it this time, to the benefit of the story. Substituting Chaykin for Severin is a good choice; both are master artists, and both are good at combining detailed Old-West stylings with just enough humor and caricature to suit the book’s style. With the promised appearance of just about every Marvel Western character (and a gorgeous full-page Ghost Rider splash in this issue), this is a very hard title to resist.

Captain America #606 — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Art: Butch Guice

Settling into the post-Siege status quo, as the new Main Bad Guy for a while looks to be Baron Zemo, and he’s setting up the chessboard and gathering his pieces. Very very smooth storytelling as always from Brubaker, and Guice is in top form too, with one dream-sequence splash panel that’s channeling Jim Steranko, and some others that are reminiscent of Paul Gulacy. If you want mainstream superhero comics at a high level of craft, here’s one of the most dependable.

Secret Six #22 — Writer: Gail Simone; Art: J. Califiore

… and here’s another, although “superhero” isn’t the right term for any of this group of damaged, ethically-challenged and very dangerous misfits (and, in fact, this arc has taken Catman, the closest in the group to a sympathetic “hero,” very far away from that standard). The cool part is that Simone makes us care about them anyway; even though this is a Catman story, the B-story interplay between Scandal, Doll, Deadshot and Alice makes the book, and reminds us that, at bottom, this is a book about friendship and family, however twisted and dysfunctional.

Jonah Hex #56 — Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray; Artists: Phil Winslade and C. P. Smith

This comes bagged because it’s got a folded poster from the movie in it. The main story, drawn by Winslade, is only ten pages, but manages to distill a typical Hex encounter down to its grim-but-satisfying basics; the second story is an origin recap of sorts, at eight pages, and then there’s a four-page interview with the movie director, liberally illustrated with still shots. Add the Darwyn Cook cover, and for $3 this is an effective, attractive issue of the comic for people who’ve seen the movie and want to know more about the character.

Stuff I liked enough to buy, but don’t have much to say about — you can read earlier reviews of the titles in the archives, if you’re interested…:

PunisherMax #8 — Writer: Jason Aaron; Art: Steve Dillon

Ultimate Spider-Man #11 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Art: David Lafuente

Uncanny X-Men #525 — Writer: Matt Fraction; Pencils: Terry Dodson; Inks: Rachel Dodson

Echo #22 — Writer/Artist: Terry Moore

Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis #2 (of 5) — Writer: Warren Ellis; Art: Kaare Andrews

Invincible Iron Man #27 — Writer: Matt Fraction; Art: Salvador Larroca

Ultimate Avengers 2 #3 — Writer: Mark Millar; Pencils: Leonil Yu; Inker: Gerry Alanguilan

Phil Mateer

About Phil

With 40 years of experience in comic reading, collecting and reviewing, English Professor Phil Mateer has an encyclopedic mind for comics. Feel free to ask Phil about storylines, characters, artists or for that matter, any comic book trivia. He will post your questions and answers on the AABC blog. His knowledge is unparalleled! He is also our warehouse manager, so if you are looking for that hard to find comic book, ask Phil!
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