Teen Titans Lost Annual #1 — Writer: Bob Haney; Pencils: Jay Stephens; Inks: Mike Allred
This story, set during the early ’60s, was originally done as an Elseworlds book in 2003, but for reasons known only to DC, they sat on it, and are only now releasing it in this “lost annual” format. For longtime Titans fans, the over-the-top Haney script, cover by Nick Cardy (with six pages of his sketches of the characters inside) and Stephens/Allred retro art should be reason enough to buy it. It guest-stars John F. Kennedy, and… well, you’ll have to read it; Haney (who died in 2004; this was his last script) always wrote stories that were hard to explain. It’s certainly entertaining enough, though, even charming, and the fabulous faux-nostalgic art is reason enough to pick it up.
Spirit #12 — Writer/Pencils/Inks: Darwyn Cooke; Inks: J. Bone; Color: Dave Stewart
Cooke’s last issue, and one of his strongest; Sand was always one of Eisner’s best female characters, her toughness and amorality made poignant by her childhood connection to Denny Colt, and Cooke’s able to hit all the emotional high points in her story here. It’s a masterful conclusion to a great run, one that deserves more mention on all the Best Of 2007 lists that have come out so far.
Evil Dead #1 (of 4) — Writer: Mark Verheiden; Art: John Bolton
An expanded adaptation of the film that introduced Sam Raimi’s character Ash (who’s since, of course, become so famous that he’s even hanging out with the Marvel Zombies). That’s enough for Raimi fans to jump at this book, but for the rest of us it’s worth buying just for the art — Bolton doesn’t do comics work often enough, and here his photorealistic style and effortless storytelling are able to drive home the horror effectively, even for those who’ve never seen the movies.
Amazing Spider-Man #546 — Writer: Dan Slott; Penciler: Steve McNiven; Inker: Dexter Vines
The first of the 3-times-a-month “Brand New Day” storyline. Putting aside the stupid, stupid circumstances that brought Spidey to this point (since this creative team had nothing to do with them), the payoff isn’t bad — Parker unmarried is even more of a guilt-obsessed, good-hearted loser in his civilian identity, but as his costumed alter-ego he’s… well, actually, we don’t know yet, because Spidey doesn’t quite show up in this introductory episode, but it’s clear that both the writer and artist are having fun exploring the character’s new status quo, and that enthusiasm is infectious enough to carry the reader along, however reluctantly. I still give it two years, tops, before everything snaps back to normal, but until then this isn’t nearly as bad as it could have been; that’s a small victory, but it’s a start.
JLA Classified #50 — Writer: Roger Stern; Penciller: John Byrne; Inker: Mark Farmer
The first of what is presumably a six-part story by the Stern/Byrne team (I mean, it doesn’t say how long it’s going to run, but they have to be planning on this as an eventual trade, right?), set on the moon as the JLA confronts a mysterious villain from their past. Good, straight-ahead superhero stuff from one of the better mainstream writer-artist teams of the last 30 years, despite (or maybe because of) the infrequency of their work together.
The Twelve #1 (of 12) — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Penciler: Chris Weston; Inker: Garry Leach
Twelve of Marvel’s obscure (but actual) Golden-age heroes get the accidental-suspended-animation treatment while fighting the Nazis near the end of WWII, and end up in the present. OK so far, and the creative team is nothing if not smooth and competent in setting up the backstories, establishing character, etc., but it’s all pretty much by the numbers, with nothing particularly startling or awe-inspiring yet. Worth giving some time to see what develops, though.
The Mighty Avengers #7 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Penciler: Mark Bagley; Inks: Danny Miki, Allen Martinez and Victor Olazaba
Jessica Drew finally gets Skrullectra to Tony Stark, which leads to inevitable suspicions and conflict; meanwhile, an accident in space results in Manhattan being taken over by symbiotes — something we’ve already seen in passing in New Avengers, but that’s what happens when you try to get Frank Cho to do an in-continuity title. Bagley’s a good antidote, both fast and seasoned enough to draw dozens of characters effectively and still get the titles back in synch, and it would be nice to see him and Bendis (who demonstrated their compatibility in over 100 issues of Ultimate Spider-Man) stick together for an arc or two here.
Stuff I liked and bought, but don’t have anything new to add to previous reviews, so go look them up in the archives if you’re interested:
Bat Lash #2 (of 6) — Writers: Peter Brandvold and Sergio Aragones; Artist: John Severin
The Boys #14 — Writer: Garth Ennis; Artist: Darick Robertson
The Goon #20 — Writer/Artist: Eric Powell
B.P.R.D.: 1946 #1 (#39 of the overall series, according to the inside front cover) — Writers: Mike Mignola and Joshua Dysart; Art: Paul Azaceta
Phil Mateer
