Blackest Night #1 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Geoff Johns; Penciller: Ivan Reis; Inker: Oclair Albert
This book has already gotten some criticism, partly for its violence and partly for a perceived sloppiness in continuity (i.e., how can that be Bruce Wayne’s skull? What about some of the other “dead” characters?). I like it, though: let’s face it, the idea of a DC zombie attack is cool; we feel guilty about thinking so, because it’s such a teenage fanboy (or girl) thing, but then Johns has always been very good at knowing what will cut through comics’ grown-up pretension, and jazz up the adolescent sense of wonder in his audience. Here, the payoff page is probably a discussion between Barry Allen and Hal Jordan; Barry, startled that some friends are now dead, asks who else has died while he has been gone, and the answer is: a lot of people. Imagine all those characters coming back, as evil dead, and then killing other characters, who then rise themselves: that’s an intriguing idea, the inexorable math of the classic zombie tale, and it’s very hard to resist. Are there plot holes? Too early to tell, but I trust Johns a lot more than some writers (*cough* Jeph Loeb *cough*), and suspect everything will fit together in the end (I’m still waiting for a finale involving Hal wearing red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet rings, and merging them to become the White (or, maybe more PC, the Rainbow) Lantern, but the mere fact that this has occurred to me shows how much my inner 13-year-old likes this kind of slambang adventure stuff).
RASL #5 — Writer/Artist: Jeff Smith
Critics who see Blackest Night as childish fluff would probably point to a book like this as the opposite, and it’s true that it drips sophistication: Smith has gone out of his way to make this an anti-Bone, with his scruffy, hard-drinking hero, the smoking and the sex, a twisty, hard-sf plot, and some very Eisneresque panels. The thing is, though, it’s not a zero-sum game; readers don’t have to pick one book or the other. RASL is very good storytelling, more quirky and personal than a corporate superhero event like Blackest Night, but at its heart it’s a slambang adventure story, too, trying to push many of the same buttons in its audience, and there’s no reason, other than snobbery, that we can’t appreciate them both.
Wednesday Comics #2 (of 12) — Many, many writers and artists
If you really want to showcase different approaches to the comics medium, go for an anthology. This second installment wasn’t quite the revelation of the first issue, since now we know what to expect, and that’s probably why it seemed a little less entertaining; too, some of the creative teams still seem unsure of just how to handle the one-big-page-a-week format. It’s too early to write anything off, only one sixth of the way through each story, but ironically it’s the biggest guns — the Batman and Superman teams — that aren’t doing that much for me. Out of the 15 offerings, I’d say about a fifth are great: the Gaiman/Allred Metamorpho, the Paul Pope Strange Adventures, and Kyle Baker’s Hawkman — while the Kamandi, Wonder Woman and Sgt. Rock strips aren’t far behind, and all the others have some quality, either art or writing, to make them worth reading. Based on AABC’s experience — both issues so far have sold out, although more are supposed to be coming — I’d say this experiment can already be called a success.
Nexus #101/102 — Writer: Mike Baron; Pencils: Steve Rude; Inks: Gary Martin and Bob Wiacek
The last two issues of the “Space Opera” story combined into one book, and it’s just what the name suggests: planetary politics, cosmic intrigue and rebellion, all centering around the planet Ylum and its costumed guardian and friends. Rude has indicated that this might be his last comics work for quite a while — producing one book a year doesn’t pay the bills, and an artist of his talents can find more creative and monetary success (and considerably less headache) elsewhere — but if so, he and Baron have provided a fitting swan song, with slapstick satire, drama, religious commentary, and every line and color perfectly, exactly in place.
Captain America #601 — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Art: Gene Colan
The cover says “A Very Special Issue,” and I thought: oh, great, an afterschool special story where we find out Bucky’s babysitter molested him or something. But no… it’s much better news than that — it’s Bucky recounting a WWII Cap encounter with vampires, and it’s 40 pages drawn by Gene Colan. Colan first drew Cap in the 1940s, and he’s produced comics work in each of the last seven decades, and he’s probably my favorite comics artist of all time, so “special” covers this issue very well, thank you. In a week filled with good comics, he’s the old pro (well, Joe Kubert’s doing Sgt. Rock over in Wednesday Comics, but that’s just a page, even if it is an oversized one), and he holds his own with all of them.
Fables #86 — Writer: Bill Willingham; Penciller: Jim Fern; Inker: Craig Hamilton
Fresh from the big crossover, we’re back to the regular story (although with guest artists), and this offers the tale of how the new Big Bad Guy was originally captured by the Boxing League. Kind of a standard “Look how badass this guy is, and how much it took to bring him down before; what hope do our heroes have now?” issue, but if it’s inevitable, it’s also an example of how to do it with some freshness.
Amazing Spider-Man #599 –Writer: Joe Kelly; Artists: Stephen Segovia, Marco Checchetto, and Paulo Siqueira & Amilton Santos
The end of “American Son,” just in time for the 104-page issue #600 next week, and kudos to Kelly for making Harry Osborn a hero, and not a whiner or a loser or an afterthought. Yet again, one of these Spidey multi-part stories has offered solid plotting, consistent characterization and dependable entertainment. The art’s the weak link here — they apparently had to break the story into sections and piece it out to the listed teams to get it done — but it’s professional enough not to distract from the story, and considering that next week’s issue involves both Romitas, Alex Ross, Joe Quesada and others, it should all balance out.
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:
DMZ #43 — Writer: Brian Wood; Art: Ryan Kelly
Incognito #5 — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Art: Sean Phillips
Dark Avengers #7 — Writer: Matt Fraction; Pencils: Luke Ross; Inks: Rick Magyar, Mark Pennington and Luke Ross
Phil Mateer
