Phonogram: The Singles Club #2 (of 7) — Writer: Kieron Gillen; Art: Jamie McKelvie, Emma Vieceli and Daniel Heard
A twenty-something guy goes to a club and hears a song that reminds him of a former girlfriend. That’s all that happens, but boy, is it well done — haunting, even, and that’s the point. Gillen, who’s starting to get some mainstream US work (he did the Namor story in the Dark Reign: The Cabal anthology this week), isn’t afraid to trust his readers’ intelligence, and his quiet “music is magic” theme resonates with anyone who’s ever had a song transport them back to an exact place and time. The McKelvie art is sexy and perfect — he makes standing around at a club more interesting than most superhero fights — and, as with the first issue, the endnotes on British pop are worth the price of admission by themselves.
Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #4 (of 5) — Writer: Geoff Johns; Pencils: George Perez; Inks: Scott Koblish
Once you get past the late-for-the-party jokes (Really: the Final Crisis “event” was overhyped anyway, and it’s been over how long?) this is actually pretty good; certainly, any LSH fan, of any incarnation, should be grateful for the way Perez’s always-meticulous art and Johns’s deft hand with continuity combine to form a triple-universe-spanning story that’s not only entertaining but actually makes sense, with character deaths balanced by character resurrections, and a last-page cliffhanger reveal about the Time Trapper that’s either breathtakingly brilliant or mind-numbingly stupid (maybe both), but guaranteed to bring readers back for the final issue.
Battlefields: The Tankies #1 (of 3) — Writer: Garth Ennis; Pencils: Carlos Ezquerra; Inks: Hector Ezquerra
Ennis and Ezquerra have worked together quite a bit before; Adventures of the Rifle Brigade, especially, comes to mind, because it was a parody that skewered every convention of British war comics, and now here they are doing one straight. Both creators have a way with depicting everyday soldiers dealing with horrific carnage, and both have more than done their homework: this tale of WWII British tank crews battling German Tigers during the Battle of Normandy continues Ennis’s streak of producing the best war comics since Harvey Kurtzman.
RASL #4 — Writer/Artist: Jeff Smith
Still good. Each issue seems to just zoom by, although Smith points out on the letters page that he’s giving us 32 pages of story each time, and aiming for three issues — or about 100 pages — a year, about the same speed at which he produced Bone. The story’s so high-caloric, in its action and intensity, that those servings may be just about right; it’ll be interesting to see how this reads in bigger chunks in trade form.
Madman #15 — Writer/Artist: Michael Allred
Also still good; Allred continues to experiment with his storytelling, and here plays around with color and its impact on the page; much of the action takes place in what at first seems to be the Arctic, so the title character’s bright-red and yellow costume pops out against the whiter background of the “snow” and the monsters. Monsters? Oh, yeah — and a cable guy, too; read it and see, since it’s a self-contained story, and a good introduction to the pleasures of this title for new readers.
Fables: The Literals #1 (of 3) — Writers: Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges; Pencils: Mark Buckingham; Inks: Andrew Pepoy
Really just another issue of Fables — look at the creative team — and part 3 of the big 9-part crossover between that, this and Jack of Fables. The whole “Literals” idea — they’re the three generations of metatextural males who have been the antagonists in Jack for most of its run — leaves me kind of cold, although you have to love the sensibility that comes up with a character like Dex, a guy who looks like Terry Thomas, dresses in a yachting outfit and is, literally, a deus ex machina (he’s only here for a panel, since, as he says, “I can only help once per story. Traditionally more towards the denoument”).
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:
Batman: Gotham After Midnight #12 (of 12) — Writer: Steve Niles; Art: Kelley Jones
Dark Avengers #4 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Art: Mike Deodato
Green Lantern #40 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Pencils: Philip Tan; Inks: Jonathan Glapion
Runaways #9 — Writer: Terry Moore; Penciler: Takeshi Miyazawa; Inks: Miyazawa and Roland Paris
Uncanny X-Men #509 — Writer: Matt Fraction; Penciler: Greg Land; Inks: Jay Leisten
Phil Mateer
