Love and Rockets: New Stories #2 — Creators: Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez
100 pages of new Hernandez Bros. art, in a trade package with great production values, for $15 — that’s always going to be worth it, yes? They split the pages: Jaime offers the second half of Maggie, Penny Century and others in a superhero… well, “romp,” I guess, although it turns out to be a little more serious than that; Gilbert has two stories, neither with any of his “regular” characters; one’s an 8-pager about a high-school girl who (of course) ends up in a sort-of soft-core porn movie, and the other’s a long, hallucinatory ramble with the usual dreamlike imagery, beautiful women, images of decay and his other obsessions. I prefer Jaime’s more linear narrative (which is actually very carefully structured, and answers some major questions about the more fantastic elements of his characters), but all 100 pages have Los Bros’ amazingly-clear linework, deceptively simple panel composition, and beautiful use of the human figure and facial expressions, and, while tastes vary and blah blah blah, if you can resist this I don’t think you’re much of a comics fan.
Amazing Spider-Man #604 — Writer: Fred van Lente; Pencils: Barry Kitson; Inks: Rick Ketcham, Barry Kitson and Joe Rubenstein
This hits a couple of good beats, and I like Kitson’s way with female forms and expressions, but the whole cliffhanger resolution (how, exactly, did Spidey get out of the acid-room death trap?) turns out to make no sense at all (“Subconscious spider-sense”? Really? Miraculous acid-resistant webbing and spider-breath-holding powers? Really?), and, even in a title involving deals with the devil and JJJ as mayor of New York City, makes the story come off as cynically careless and illogical. *Sigh* — at least with the story rotation on this title, we can wait for Waid or Kelly to come around on the scripting again, and for Romita Jr. or Bachalo to show up on the art, to rev up the storytelling and get things back on track.
Kick-Ass #7 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Mark Millar; Pencils: John Romita, Jr.; Inks: Tom Palmer
Speaking of Romita Jr. (and Tom Palmer, who knows exactly how to enhance his pencils; compare that to the tag-team inking on Millar’s Ultimate Avengers this week, which, while it doesn’t ruin Pacheco’s art, sure doesn’t help it, either), his easy facility at depicting gritty warehouses, goombah mobsters and assorted carnage helps Kick-Ass considerably. This penultimate episode has many of the typical Millar tics: the slightly-off dialogue, the use of betrayal, the plot that makes sense until you start to examine it more closely (100 bullets, and nobody aimed at her head?), and the crowd-pleasing last few pages, leading up to the final splash designed to bring us all back for the conclusion — and, somehow, annoyingly, it all works; we do want to come back, and we want to be able to cheer at the end of it all. No wonder he gets all the movie deals — whatever his faults, Millar is a born pop storyteller.
Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #6 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Mike Mignola; Art: Duncan Fegredo
B.P.R.D.: 1947 #3 (of 5) — Writers: Mike Mignola and Joshua Dysart; Art: Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon
Two entries from the Mignolaverse; Hellboy makes the cut because it tells such a big, important story, one that clarifies our hero’s origins and destiny considerably, and unexpectedly (unless he’s being lied to, but let’s not go there right now…), and also offers Fegredo’s increasingly-precise and moody art. B.P.R.D.: 1947 has a lesser story (and less of Mignola’s influence on it, too) but compensates with the twin brothers Ba and Moon, and the way their art — originally influenced by Mignola, but now cleaner and sharper, and very much their own — works so beautifully to enhance and illuminate the spooky goings-on here.
Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1 (of 1) — Writer: Matt Fraction; Art: Mike Deodato and Terry Dodson with Rachel Dodson
The end of the most recent big X-crossover, and much better than most: things actually happen, the status gets un-quoed, and, between Fraction’s brainy plot (and skill at manipulating an enormous cast while remaining true to each of their personalities and worldviews) and Deodato’s and Dodson’s pretty, serviceable art, it all goes down smoothly and satisfyingly — there’s enough of a conclusion that even when, at the end, the reader is directed to pick up two new comics, it’s only mildly annoying, and feels less like a ripoff than just another chapter in Marvel’s ongoing superhero soap opera.
Dark Reign: The List: Avengers #1 (of 1) — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Pencils: Marco Djurdjevic; Inks: Mark Morales
Another facet of said ongoing superhero soap opera — and this one feels more annoying, just because, through Civil War and Secret Invasion, it’s now been three years of onrushing events without a break. The good news is that this “List” bit, where Norman Osborn and his assistant bad guys finally set out to eliminate their competition, methodically and chillingly, looks like an endgame; as I said in yesterday’s “Put Back” post, you’d think it would have to end with Peter Parker and Osborn on top of the Marvel equivalent of Reichenbach Falls, and, sure enough, the final “List” book features Spidey, and comes out in November. C’mon, guys, give us a Christmas present: end it satisfyingly and definitively, and put all the toys back in the box for a new game in 2010.
Stuff I read and liked enough to buy, but don’t have much to say about, so read previous reviews in the archives if you’re interested:
Ultimate Avengers #2 — Writer: Mark Millar; Pencils: Carlos Pacheco; Inks: Danny Miki, Dexter Vines, Crime Lab Studios, Martinez and Olazaba
Secret Six #13 — Writer: Gail Simone; Pencils: Nicola Scott with Carlos Roderiguez; Inkers: Doug Hazelwood with Rodney Ramos and Carlos Roderiguez
Wednesday Comics #10 (of 12) — Creators: Various
Phil Mateer
