Joe the Barbarian #2 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Grant Morrison; Artist: Sean Murphy
With this second issue, the outlines of the story have become more clear: a kid, alone in a big rambling house, is going into what looks like diabetic shock, and has to make it from his attic bedroom to the kitchen downstairs, so he can drink a Coke, get some glucose into his system, and be OK. Complicating matters is that he’s hallucinating, so that the journey becomes epic, in a fantasy land peopled by his toys, his now-anthropomorphic pet rat, and various other entities, both good and bad. As he toggles between the real and the fantastic, it becomes clear that the fantasy land is in crisis, too. Is it merely reflecting his own medical emergency, or does the land itself actually exist, and need his aid? This is reminiscent of Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covenent books, and is a clever idea, playing as it does into Morrison’s obsessions with overlapping realities and the magical effects we all have in shaping our own destinies; it’s helped considerably by Murphy’s appealing art, which makes the boy seem “real” in both milieus, and handles the fantasy landscape as skillfully as the earth-bound one.
Marvels: Eye of the Camera #6 (of 6) — Writers: Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern; Artist: Jay Anacleto
What do regular citizens of Marvel-USA think about living in a place where 9/11-scale attacks occur every week? How do you make plans, or raise a family, in that kind of constant chaos? This series has involved Busiek and Stern trying to answer that question, very much in Astro City mode (and as, of course, in Marvels before that), focusing on an ordinary human photojournalist during the Marvel Age, and chronicling his life as earth-shaking events like super-villain threats and alien invasions occurred around him, usually off to the side. As we’d expect from these two writers, there’s a lot of heart to the simple, human stuff, while at the same time there’s a fanboy obsession with having all the “big” events be just right: even casual mentions on TV news all tie into past stories, with a timeline that exactly matches “real” Marvel history. Anacleto, like Murphy, is a good choice for a tale like this, since he can nail the small human emotions that it centers on, while still being able to provide the occasional double-page super-battle spectacle splashes, too. This has been a quiet series — and grim, in the way it acknowledges that all character stories have to end in death — but very well constructed for all of that, and a reminder that not all superhero stories have to be about the claws and the punching and the gritted teeth.
Battlefields: Happy Valley #3 (of 3) — Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: P. J. Holden
Ennis concludes his latest war story, this one involving the RAF’s bombing runs against Germany in the waning days of WW II. One of his lesser efforts, I think, just because it travels very well-trod ground — the casual, heroic responses of men responding to the sudden random violence of war, in a very stiff-upper-lip British (or, here, Australian) way, with the inevitable downer ending that we all saw coming about three pages into the first issue. Still, a second read confirms just how solidly-built it is — a trait that Ennis shares with Busiek, Stern and Morrison, and a reminder why all four are such well-regarded, dependable writers.
Captain America #603 — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Pencils: Luke Ross; Inks: Butch Guice
This book has been in the news lately, after last issue had a panel of right-wing-crazy protestors carrying “Tea Party” signs, and all the Tea Party people protested that, of course, they weren’t right-wing crazies (because believing that Obama is (a) not an American citizen, (b) a Marxist, and (c) setting up government-run “death panels” for senior citizens are all signs of middle-of-the-road rationality). In the event, the comic itself continues along its merry way, with Steve Rogers back but Bucky still Cap, and he and the Falcon battling the ’50s Cap and his new posse-comitatus friends, who make the likes of Orly Taitz look like Barney Frank. Being part two of four, this is the things-go-bad issue, as our heroes get captured by the villains, and it’s all just as smooth and entertaining as every issue of the Brubaker run has been, modern superhero comics putting its best feet forward.
Justice League of America #42 — Writer: James Robinson; Pencils: Mark Bagley; Inks: Hunter, Rapmund and Glapion
It’s probably for the best that Robinson started his JLA duties with Cry for Justice, and that the first few issues of that mini-series were so Godawful — clunky dialogue, cliches, inexplicable character interactions, etc. — because, now that he’s been knocked around a little and had the rust shaken off, he’s corrected most of the flaws and grown a lot closer to the decent writer he was in his Starman days. I have to admit, it’s fun to see the Dick Grayson Batman interacting with the Hal Jordan Green Lantern, with Starfire and with Donna Troy, and the handful of panels of wince-worthy dialogue were barely noticeable. There’s still a problem with overplaying the Obscure Character Card — the Challengers and Power Company and Darwin Jones and the Blackhawks? Really? — but Bagley handles the art chores well, despire the tag-team inking, and it’s easy to sit back and enjoy this as the smooth, superhero-stuffed adventure title it was always meant to be.
Green Lantern #51 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Art: Doug Mahnke
Blackest Night: Flash #3 (of 3) — Writer: Geoff Johns; Art: Scott Kolins
This week’s news that Johns was appointed DC’s new Chief Creative Officer will almost certainly mean fewer comics from him, so let’s appreciate the guy while he’s here: both of these books are effective BN tie-ins, with Green Lantern, especially, offering major story chunks that help to lead into the seventh issue of that mini-series (the Flash mini has been more limited to the Flash family, but it gets Barry a blue ring, and involves major development with both Bart and Boomerang’s kid — and, depending on your attachments to those characters, is a good example of either why you like Johns or hate him). Both books involve decent artists inking their own work, too; I like Mahnke more than Kolins because he’s quirkier, but both, along with Johns’ ability to keep his finger on the fanboy pulse, elevate these comics above standard crossover crap into good-to-buy status.
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:
Amazing Spider-Man #621 — Writer: Dan Slott; Pencils: Michael Lark; Inks: Stefano Gaudiano
Dark Avengers #14 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Art: Mike Seodato
Uncanny X-Men #521 — Writer: Matt Fraction; Pencils: Greg Land; Inks: Jay Leisten
Spider-Woman #6 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Art: Alex Maleev
Phil Mateer
