Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #47

Speak of the Devil #3(of 6) — Creator: Gilbert Hernandez
This is one of Hernandez’s “B-movie” stories, where he’s “adapting” the films of one of his “real” Love and Rockets characters (yeah, it’s complicated; it’s part of a 20-year, multi-generational storyline). These are grindhouse movies, exploitive and lurid by design, and none of their characters are tied into all that complicated backstory; he can do whatever he wants with them. Consider this issue’s last page — exactly halfway through the story — which offers the moment when the set-up is over, the roller coaster tops the hill, and the real face of the movie reveals itself (although the cover has hinted at it). What a great storyteller!

All-Star Batman and Robin #8 — Writer: Frank Miller;  Penciller: Jim Lee;  Inker: Scott Williams
See, just stuff like the cover — the Joker with that dragon tattoo — is so startling, and yet looks so perfect, that it makes this whole sprawling mess of a story worth the trouble. As with DKR2, it’s best not to think about the overall plot;  instead, enjoy the small setpieces, like the opening Joker scene (even with its hammer-home-the-irony dialogue), or the encounter with a hotdog-munching Hal Jordan.  Lord knows how all the dozens of characters and situations that have been set in motion can possibly resolve themselves, but sometimes, as with Hernandez, it’s the chaotic, breathless B-movie rides that stick in the memory the most.

Marvel Zombies 2 #2 (of 5) — Writer: Robert Kirkman;  Artist: Sean Phillips
Kirkman, against all odds, keeps earning his “Guilty Pleasure” award, by making this overhyped and overextended franchise worth reading. The sudden new zombie rule — if you can keep from eating anyone for some unspecified-but-long period of time, the urge goes away, and you can act “normal” again — is a little, um, narratively convenient, let’s say, but hey, once you’ve turned most of your characters into galactic flesh-eating zombies, there’s not much you can’t do, and that freedom is invigorating.

Death of the New Gods #3 ( of 8 ) — Writer/Penciller: Jim Starlin;  Inks: Matt Banning with Mark McKenna
Starlin’s hitting his stride, as both the art and story get ever more cosmic (lots of splashy fights with various demons, and portentious predictions of the End of It All, and Mr. Miracle’s costume even gets the sparkly-starry in-tune-with-the-universe treatment). The obvious fun he’s having with it is contagious. The mystery of who’s actually killing off the cast gets a lot of attention this time, and isn’t yet revealed —  a great big exclamation point seems to be hovering over Himon, of all people, but maybe it’s a feint. After all the crappy DC books this week, I hope they’re paying Starlin double, just for his professionalism and sheer storytelling panache.

Sensational Spider-Man #41 — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski;  Penciler: Joe Quesada;  Inker: Danny Miki
Part three of the four-part “One More Day.”  Both the art and the script manage to generate some good effects (and Quesada, finally, shows some chops), although they pop like soap bubbles if you stop to think about them. *sigh*  You know, if this had actually come out weekly or bi-weekly, like it was supposed to, the reveal of the villain, and the situation that it sets up, might not have seemed as, well, slapdash and arbitrary as it does after waiting two months for it.  I don’t want to make too much fun of this yet, because there’s still a chance the finale (after yet another month) will resolve everything satisfactorily, without screwing up Peter and Mary Jane’s characters, and we’ll all talk about how great it turned out, and how they really had us going there for awhile.  I don’t think the odds favor that outcome.

Batman #671 — Writer: Grant Morrison;  Penciller: Tony Daniel;  Inker: Jonathan Glapion
This continues to be the only readable Bat-title involved in the Ra’s Al Ghul crossover, largely thanks to Morrison, although Daniels adds competency throughout, and a couple of really nice pages. The fight between Batman and the Old Sensei Assassin Guy is startlingly brutal, and the last-page splash has to be a deliberate echo from one of the original O’Neil/Adams RAG stories (the sword-duel-in-the-desert one). If this arc had been just a Morrison two- or three-parter, instead of seven parts spread over four titles, it would have seemed a lot less bloated and unnecessary.

Titles I bought and liked, but don’t have anything to say about other than that they’re still as good as the last time I reviewed them, so go back to the archives and read those reviews instead:

Ultimate Spider-Man #116 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Penciler: Stuart Immonen;  Inker: Wade von Grawbadger
Madman #5 — Story and Art: Michael Allred
Usagi Yojimbo #107 — Story and Art: Stan Sakai
Jack of Fables #17 — Writers: Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges;  Pencils: Russ Braun;  Inks: Andrew Pepoy
Daredevil #102 — Writer: Ed Brubaker;  Artists: Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano

Phil Mateer

About Phil

With 40 years of experience in comic reading, collecting and reviewing, English Professor Phil Mateer has an encyclopedic mind for comics. Feel free to ask Phil about storylines, characters, artists or for that matter, any comic book trivia. He will post your questions and answers on the AABC blog. His knowledge is unparalleled! He is also our warehouse manager, so if you are looking for that hard to find comic book, ask Phil!
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