Phonogram: The Singles Club #7 (of 7) — Writer: Kieron Gillen; Art: Jamie McKelvie, Nikki Cook, Becky Cloonan, Andy Bloor and Sean Azzopardi
The conclusion of this series, a look at one night in a club from the perspectives of multiple characters (most from Gillen’s previous Phonogram book, Rue Brittania), and it’s been a perfect little gem: insightful, funny, heartbreaking, and stuffed with observations on British pop song history and the immense power of music. The (almost) wordless first story is the standout, and ends the book on an up note, but the others are good too (Becky Cloonan classes up any book in which she appears), and while this comics’ low sales have spotlighted the stupidity of the direct market (fewer than 3,000 copies per issue, people? Really?), the collected trade should be a stunner — especially if they include all the musical footnotes.
DMZ #50 — Writer: Brian Wood; Art: Rebekah Isaacs, Jim Lee, Fabio Moon, Ryan Kelly, Lee Bermejo, Riccardo Burchielli, Philip Bond, John Paul Leon, Eduardo Risso and Dave Gibbons
This anniversary issue features a number of short stories and one-page portraits of the book’s various characters (Wood has compared it to the sort of enhance-the-setting issues of Transmetropolitan that Warren Ellis occasionally did), and if you want a gauge of his respect among fellow comics professionals, look at that list of artists (Lee, Bermejo, Bond, Risso and Gibbons all contribute one-pagers, and the omnipresent Moon has four). It’s hard to find non-cliched near-future fiction in comics (or anywhere, come to that), and this smorgasbord offers new readers a number of flavorful examples of why Woods is so good at it.
Strange #4 (of 4) — Writer: Mark Waid; Art: Emma Rios
This tale of a damaged Stephen Strange and his new, appealingly-real young apprentice has been fun (Rios’s attractive, mangaesque art has been a good match for the script), but it’s one of those annoying series that doesn’t so much end as stop; given Waid’s current duties at Boom! studios, it’s not clear if we’ll ever get to see the story completed any time soon, either, or whether other writers will even honor the sorcerer’s new status quo. However, considering how little we care about what happens to the people in most corporate comics, that annoyance might actually be a compliment: it’s a tribute to Waid’s skill at crafting characters whose fates we actually want to know about.
Ultimate Spider-Man #7 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Art: Takeshi Miyazawa
LaFuente isn’t the artist this issue (although Miyazawa’s style offers a smooth replacement), but he does do the cover, and it offers a perfect portrait of the current pleasures of this series: a harried Aunt May framed by mid-teenagers Iceman, Torch, Peter, Kitty Pryde, Mary Jane and Gwen, all brawling and bickering as if they’re in the super-teen boarding house from hell. Why hasn’t anyone based a cartoon on this comic yet?
Batman and Robin #8 — Writer: Grant Morrison; Art: Cameron Stewart
Continuing the arc set in England, and guest-starring Batwoman, as Bruce Wayne’s “body” gets thrown in a Lazarus Pit. This is, curiously, not-particularly-thrilling; you’d think that Stewart would be a good artist choice, given his past history with Morrison, but while it’s all smooth and competent there’s little startling or brain-bending, and of course we’ve come to expect that from this team. The reader is left to wonder “If this body is what they say it is, how does that fit with its use in Blackest Night? Was that before or after this book? Why do I care more about stupid fanboy continuity issues than what’s actually happening in this comic?”
B.P.R.D.: King of Fear #2 (of 5) — Writers: Mike Mignola and John Arcudi; ARt: Guy Davis
A good example of the pleasures of his series: not that much action, but most of the characters get some screen time (while some, like Lobster Johnson, even get a resolution), there’s lots of creepy and portentious scenes, and the Davis art, as always, is a perfect fit, and makes the book a lot of fun to read.
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:
Secret Six #18 — Writers: Gail Simone and John Ostrander; Art: J. Calafiore
PunisherMax #4 — Writer: Jason Aaron; Art: Steve Dillon
Amazing Spider-Man #620 — Writer: Dan Slott; Art: Marcos Martin and Javier Pulido
Groo: The Hogs of Horder #3 (of 4) — Writers: Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones; Art: Sergio Aragones
Ultimate Armor Wars #4 (of 4) — Writer: Warren Ellis; Penciler: Steve Kurth; Inkers: Jeff Huet and Scott Hanna
Phil Mateer
