Hellboy #4 (of 6) — Writer: Mike Mignola; Artist: Duncan Fegredo
Fegredo’s art keeps getting better and better, as the story moves beyond the claustrophobic spookiness of the last few issues, opening out to a long fight and pursuit (when your opponent is called “Koshchei the Deathless,” you know you’re in trouble). Hellboy’s always been an acquired taste, but he’s such a great character — a stubborn splash of color against all of Mignola’s undercurrents of grimness and dread — that once he hooks you, you want to keep reading his adventures forever.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #5 — Writer: Joss Whedon; Pencils: Paul Lee; Inks: Andy Owens
Having wrapped up the first new episode of his “season” last issue, Whedon offers a smaller, self-contained story here, focusing on one of the many new Slayers we haven’t seen before (Buffy herself never shows up, although her influence, on both the good guys and bad ones, drives the plot). It’s a poignant tale of heroism and sacrifice, with the usual deft touches of humor and characterization, and an effective breather before the next longer episode starts (with Brian K. Vaughan on scripting duty) next issue.
All-Star Batman and Robin #6 — Writer: Frank Miller; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Scott Williams
I suppose most readers have made up their minds about this series by now — they either find it immensely irritating, or hail it as tongue-in-cheek, snarky parody. I’m kind of in the middle — first, there’s no question that the art is pure superhero fun, and that the book’s worth it just for that. As for Miller’s script, I don’t think that the story is just supposed to be a joke; he’s trying for a raw, early version of these characters, and it’s possible that sometimes the dialogue is wince-worthy because they haven’t themselves figured out what to say, or how to act (at least this time the “goddamn Batman” comes from someone else…). Anyway, between the Black Canary, the Barbara Gordon Batgirl, and Batman himself, there’s more than enough to pull the story forward, and energize the book, so as a reader I’m not complaining.
Black Summer #1 — Writer: Warren Ellis; Artwork: Juan Jose Ryp
This is Ellis with his superhero suit on, offering a tale whose starting point is that the leader of the main U.S. super-team (the Captain America/Superman surrogate), has just assassinated the President, for getting the country into a war in the Mideast and lying about it. Now what happens? Here, we focus on the tough guy/Batman avatar, who’s been out of the game and a falling-down drunk for a long time, and watch as he deals with vengeful government troops and starts reconnecting with the other heroes. Part of the fun is that Ellis seems to have put a lot of time into the backstory and the technology, so there’s plenty to keep the readers interested, and Ryp’s obsessively-detailed art (he lovingly renders each piece of rubble and splatter of blood or bone, in a style reminiscent of Geoff Darrow) is a perfect match for him, leading to a fast-paced, smoothly-told story.
Doktor Sleepless #1 — Writer: Warren Ellis; Artwork: Ivan Rodriguez
This is Ellis with his science-fiction suit on — more in the mode of Transmetropolitan than of, say, The Authority, as he explores a near-future dystopian city based on extrapolations of current Internet/information technology. The world doesn’t seem as well-realized as in Black Summer — maybe because the sleepless mad-scientist protagonist and city-gone-wrong setting seem so derivative of Dean Motter’s Mr. X — and some of the dialogue sounds like Ellis doing a parody of Ellis (“I am science genius now…. Electricity can only be replenished by whisky. This is actual physics. Do not argue with me. I am a doktor”), but it’s just the first issue of an ongoing series, and I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, at least for a while.
Love and Rockets #20 — Writer/Artist (1st story): Jaime Hernandez; Writer/Artist (2nd story): Gilbert Hernandez
As usual, Jaime contributes a Maggie story, while Gilbert uses Venus, Fritz, Luba and some of the other former Palomar characters; by coincidence, each story, while set in the present, also looks back at, and is informed by, past events. Jaime uses a new technique: each page is set up like a Sunday comic strip (with an “extra,” Peanuts-inspired strip running in black and white along the bottom), so we see what a weekly newspaper dose of L&R would look like. As always, both stories offer near-perfect design, composition and character.
Speak of the Devil #1 (of 6) — Writer/Artist: Gilbert Hernandez
One of Gilbert’s solo stories, unconnected to his regular characters or continuity, which makes it looser and more free (it has more room to breathe, without all those years of previous stories pressing down on it). It’s a story of voyeurism, exhibitionism and obsession (not exactly new topics for Hernandez), and it’s as high-quality as everything else he produces.
Annihilation: Conquest: Starlord #1 (of 4) — Writer: Keith Giffen; Penciller: Timothy Green II; Inker: Victor Olazaba
The only comic from this crossover event that I’m buying, partly because I like Giffen, and his offhanded, realistic touch with dialogue, but mostly because of the assault team that he assembles here — a tribute to ’80s Marvel characters (some obscure and some… really obscure) whose names I won’t reveal, since half the fun is watching as each is revealed. Bill Mantlo and Steve Englehart fans, especially, should check this out.
Amazing Spider-Man #542 — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Penciler: Ron Garney; Inker: Bill Reinhold
Straczynski avoids most of the usual cliches in this will-Spidey-kill-the-Kingpin story by not so much resolving it as postponing it. The beatdown part is satisfying enough, I suppose, although listening to Peter mouth tough-guy dialogue just cannot be convincing, despite the skill evident in the script. All of this, somehow, feels more like winding down than revving up, as though the once-fresh creative team has become old and more than a little tired, and is taking its last few shots before the inevitable new blood arrives.
Batman #666 — Writer: Grant Morrison; Penciller: Andy Kubert; Inker: Jesse Delperdang
In honor of an apocalyptic issue number, Morrison offers a future tale of a Gotham where Damian has grown up and taken over the Batman’s… well, not “cape,” since he doesn’t use one, but mask, anyway, and now must try to fend off Armageddon by fighting the son of Satan at Gotham’s Hotel Bethlehem. These kinds of mythic dark doings are Morrison’s specialty, and he and Kubert deliver the kind of fast-paced, fun ride that readers should expect of them by now.
Usagi Yojimbo #104 — Writer/Artist: Stan Sakai
The conclusion of a two-parter that never involved Usagi at all, but turned out instead to be the origin of one of the major villains of the book (and a look ahead to the looming Big Confrontation with that villain, presumably). It offers the usual clear, precise, entertaining and thought-provoking storytelling that Sakai’s been providing for better than 15 years now.
Phil Mateer
