Batman and Robin #2 — Writer: Grant Morrison; Art: Frank Quitely
Very high-quality comics storytelling, and a reminder that good comics usually require collaboration: Morrison’s Batman: R.I.P was fine, but it wasn’t knock-your-socks-off wonderful, and it’s clear now that one big reason was Tony Daniels’ art — it wasn’t horrible, but it was average superhero rendering. Compare that to what Quitely brings to the table here (as in New X-Men and All-Star Superman): the composition, the expressions (on Damion, especially), the lithe athleticism — and then, with all the pleasure added by the art, we’re also set up to appreciate Morrison’s villainous carny weirdos, his carefully-considered supporting cast (like the fatherly Alfred, with his insight into how Dick needs to handle the Batman role), and the way his themes build off of and comment on the action. This comic is a pure pleasure to read.
Captain America: Reborn #1 (of 5) — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Pencils: Bryan Hitch; Inks: Butch Guice
One of the problems with Brubaker’s last two years on Cap is that he’s made the Bucky/Sharon/Falcon cast so compelling, and told such good stories, that we really don’t care if Steve Rogers comes back. Here he is, though, ready or not: the “unstuck in time” bit is too immediately reminiscent of Slaughterhouse-5, but at least everything’s based on prior clues in the regular book, so it comes off as part of an actual plan, and not some desperate corporate makeover (*cough* Mephisto *cough*). Too, the Hitch/Guice art is undeniably nice to look at, so it’s probably best to just accept this as the decent little comic it is, and keep reading to see what happens next.
Uncanny X-Men #513 — Writer: Matt Fraction; Art: Terry Dodson
Invincible Iron Man #15 — Writer: Matt Fraction; Art: Salvador Larroca
Your Matt Fraction weekly dose of superhero soap opera storytelling. The X-Men book is part of a mini-event, Utopia, involving the Dark Avengers and the X-Cast; it succeeds in spite of that, because Fraction has a good grasp on character, because he’s scribing the crossover too (so there’s no jarring shifts in tone), and because Dodson’s art is a welcome change from Greg Land (there’s still the sexy women, but without the wince-inducing pornsite tracing). Iron Man is a little better, because it’s able to focus on a smaller cast, one major storyline, and no crossover events: the “Tony’s mind is going” subplot threatens to descend into Flowers for Algernon-like pathos. but hasn’t yet, and the crisscrossing plots and “every man against him” bits make this feel like it could have come out of an old Tales Of Suspense Stan Lee run — high praise, in case that wasn’t clear.
Secret Six #11 — Writer: Gail Simone; Pencils: Nicola Scott; Inks: Doug Hazelwood and Mark McKenna
Simone continues to write the most intriguing bad guys in comics — she’s able to make them realistic, and even let us care about them, but never lets us forget that they’re villains (the division between the team this time comes down to Catman, Rag Doll and Deadshot’s casual attitude towards torture and murder victims — “Who cares?” — which is a textbook distillation of the self-centered world of the sociopath). Add the last-page cliffhanger, and this continues to be a worthy read.
Fantastic Four #568 — Story: Mark Millar; Script: Joe Ahearne; Pencils: Bryan Hitch with Neil Edwards; Inks: Andrew Currie and Cam Smith
This, on the other hand, is almost off the rails: it’s telling that Millar and Hitch aren’t even doing full script or art anymore, but instead turning the duties over to others. These big, loud, high-octane punchups get surprisingly boring surprisingly quickly (the bad guy is so bad that last issue he casually defeated and killed Doctor Doom without breaking a sweat? Yawn… yeah, whatever…); it’s ironic that the more small-scale British Isles two-parter a few issues ago (well, it involved a massive Lovecraftian monster, but for the FF that’s small-scale), was a lot more fun and successful.
The Boys #32 — Writer: Garth Ennis; Art: Carlos Esquerra
Not sure about the comic-book cliche used here — character who looked pretty conclusively DOA at the end of the previous issue turns out to be merely horribly injured — and then, at the end, there’s the old “He’s not trapped in there with them — they’re trapped in there with him” bit — and on top of that, I’m getting tired of the cover proclaiming “Garth Ennis/Darick Robertson,” and then the interior art being by someone else (even if it is old Ennis standby Esquerra). But, hey: there’s still the casual slaughter, the sly deconstruction of superhero conventions, and the game of “Which superteam is he making fun of now?”, so a few bumps in the road can be forgiven.
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:
The Sword #18 — Writers/Artists: Joshua and Jonathan Luna
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #26 — Writer: Jane Espenson; Pencils: Georges Jeanty; Inks: Andy Owens
Knights of the Dinner Table #152 — Creators: Jolly Blackburn, Steve Johansson, David Kenzer and Brian Jelke
Crossed #6 — Writer: Garth Ennis; Art: Jacen Burrows
Echo #13 — Writer/Artist: Terry Moore
Astro City: The Dark Age: Book Three #3 (of 4) — Writer: Kurt Busiek; Art: Brent Anderson
Phil Mateer
