Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #11

Ion #12 (of 12) — Writer: Ron Marz; Artist: Fernando Pasarin
Um…what, exactly, was the point of this mini-series? Twelve issues of wheel-spinning: fights that didn’t go anywhere, relationships that didn’t go anywhere either, a death of yet another female close to the main character (leading to nothing but cheap angst), and plot developments with the Monitors and the Sinestro yellow rings that went unresolved — but hey, kids, buy the next GL mini-series and maybe then you’ll find out what’s going on! Geez, to think readers who shelled out $36 for this could have bought a Peanuts hardcover, or Popeye, or even Blankets or Fun Home, and still had money left over. DC’s sure banking a lot on the idea that their readers are going to be suckers forever….

Aquaman #50 — Writer: Tad Williams; Penciller: Shawn McManus; Inker: Walden Wong
OK, let’s stipulate that Busiek’s a hard act to follow, and that some of the plot twists here are probably his; this is still a disappointment, especially for a double-size fiftieth issue. McManus’s art doesn’t help — it’s not that he can’t draw action, but his little stock facial expressions are too cartoony to be effective in a book like this, and kept pulling me out of the story. This book was hurting for readers anyway, and I suspect that many of the ones left will leave with Busiek; it might be time to start the what-will-the-final-issue-number-be? pool. (Get it? Pool? Aquaman? Hello? Is this mike on…?)

Army @ Love #1 — Writer/Penciller: Rick Veitch; Inks: Gary Erskine
Veitch is one of those creators who always starts out strong — he has an underground sensibility that lets both his art and characterization skate close to parody and satire without quite going over the edge. However, he has a long history, for me, of blowing the conclusion, winding all the way from The One through Brat Pack and down to Aquaman (maybe that’s why his most successful book was the Rarebit Fiend one; that depended on dream logic, and so didn’t have to worry about precision plotting).
Anyway, this was a good read — it’s an intriguing near-future war book, with the US Army still in Afghanistan and the Middle East, and the higher-ups instituting a hush-hush motivational scheme for the troops involving lots of sex. I liked the way everything isn’t spelled out (it was only on the second read that I noticed one of the main characters has a closet stuffed with $100 bills that he spends the scene stuffing into a shopping bag, and it’s never pointed out or explained). Maybe this’ll be the Veitch story that has a satisfying beginning, middle and end, but for now I’m withholding judgment.

Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter Guilty Pleasures #5 — Writer: Laurell K. Hamilton; Adaptation: Stacie Ritchie; Artwork: Brett Booth
Since I’ve never read the novels, this is just about impenetrable: even with a recap on the inside front cover, there are just too many players to keep track of from issue to issue, and the end seems nowhere in sight. It’s possible to pace everything so that each issue of a series like this is a satisfying, self-contained story, but it’s not easy, and it’s not happening here; this is just 22 pages from the middle of the eventual graphic novel. If you haven’t been following this from the beginning, there’s no reason to pick it up now.

Flash #10 — Writer: Marc Guggenheim; Penciller: Paco Diaz; Inks: Art Thibert
To begin with, the cover makes no sense — it’s not a symbolic fight scene with the villain (which would be OK), but instead suggests a plot angle that’s never played out, or even suggested, in the book itself. That’s just confusing. Bringing in Professor Zoom proves to be a Good Thing, and leads to a well-staged battle scene. However, there’s too much going on — between Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Inertia (who quickly became annoying in Impulse, and is proving to be even more so here), and the Big Reveal Character at the end, it’s hard to achieve any storytelling rhythm, or sense of overall structure. This book could have used a few more well-crafted stand-alone stories before jumping into another multi-issue epic.

Wonder Man #4 (of 5); Writer: Peter David; Pencils: Todd Nauck; Inks: Rob Campanella with Pat Davidson
It’s not a good sign when a five-issue mini-series like this suddenly changes artists for its fourth issue. I wasn’t a big fan of the old art, because the cartoony style didn’t always seem a good match for the more serious story, but even so…. and you’d think it would play hell with any chance this had to be collected as a graphic novel, too. It’s not that Nauck’s art is bad, either; but the change is still jarring. The story itself looks like it’s going to end up depressing — you can tell David’s aiming for tragedy here, since instead of the normal fourth act, where things look bleak for the characters to help set up the fifth-act triumph, here we have things looking optimistic, presumably to set up next issue’s downer conclusion.

The Walking Dead #36 — Writer: Robert Kirkman; Penciler/Inker: Charlie Adlard
Another effective jump-on issue of this series for new readers to try — it’s a good showcase for Adlard’s art and Kirkman’s storytelling, with many of the characters getting some screen time, a few powerful scenes, and some interesting themes about morality and the compromises people have to make to survive. If you’re going to buy a book about zombies this month, this is definitely the one to get.

Runaways Saga #1 — Writer: C.B. Cepulski & Mindy Owens (summarizing stories by Brian K. Vaughan); Art: Adrian Alphona, Takeshi Miyazawa & Mike Norton; Framing sequence art: Humberto Ramos and Carlos Cuevas
The equivalent of a clip show — a recap of the book’s first two “seasons,” told through photographs in a character’s diary, with the framing sequence to tie it all together. Not needed if you’ve been reading all along (unless you’re enough of a Ramos completist to have to spend $4 for four pages of his art, plus the cover), but if you’re planning to get on board for the Joss Whedon express, this will get you up to speed on everybody’s background and relationships.

Ms. Marvel #13 — Writer: Brian Reed; Penciler: Aaron Lopresti; Matt Ryan: Inker
Mostly a companion piece to Mighty Avengers #1, as Reed fleshes out the scenes between Carol and Tony in that book, and indicates more motivation and explanation for them. He also tries to set up a way for Carol to have independent missions outside of that group (presumably so he’ll have something for her to do in this book), although how she’s supposed to chair the Avengers and run separate strike-force operations and, like, sleep and eat is never really covered. Not bad, but not particularly essential either.

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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3 Responses to Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #11

  1. Pingback: The Four Color Media Monitor

  2. Pingback: News and commentary about comics » I’m glad I didn’t read the Ion maxi-series

  3. James Meeley says:

    So, what was the point of the Ion maxi-series? Seems really obvious to me. It was to keep Kyle (the most powerful of all Green Lanterns right now) off-balance, as it sets up the upcoming Sinestro Corp event.

    Just look at what happened: Kyle’s name run through the mud by a manipulated Nero, so he gets attacked by folks like that Thanagarian bounty hunter and other GLs. Then, Effigy pops up out of nowhere to fight Kyle, for seemingly no reason, after he goes back to Earth to think thing out. Kyle comes upon those dead Weaponeers of Qward and before he can even think about the implcations, he’s attacked by his most powerful foe, Grayven. Grayven hints that a “friend” of his is behind all this stuff Kyle’s dealt with, inculding even making reference to his mother’s mysertious sickness. Then, after Kyle’s mother dies, how is he left? More alone, confused and isolated than ever before. In short, completely off-balance.

    Why is all of this happening? Because Sinestro wants to keep Kyle from figuring out what he’s up to. To keep him off his game, since it was Kyle who played such a major role in exposing his last great scheme and helping to clear the name of his hated foe, Hal Jordan. And now, with Kyle being even more powerful than ever, he is an even greater threat. So, what is the best way to lessen the threat of someone stronger than you? Keep them off-balance and prevent them from thinking clearly, which will stop them from utilizing thier power against you, which is exactly what Sinestro has done.

    Yeah, it didn’t end nice and neat, with a little bow on it, but then it wasn’t meant to. It was meant to show us what Sinestro is doing to Kyle while he brings his plan to bear, which is exactly what the last page of Ion #12 shows. Just like the Rann/Thanagar War, Secret Six, Day Of Vengeance and OMAC Project mini-series led into Infinite Crsis, Ion has been a lead-in to the Sinestro Corp.

    This was not a haphazard series. It has been, in fact, a calculated effort to bring us the next great big event in the Green Lantern mythos. The clues were all there. Unlike Kyle, though, we had the luxury of trying to piece the puzzle together.

    And that is what the point of the Ion maxi-series has been. I certainly don’t feel like a “sucker” for having read it. I enjoyed trying to figure out the clues.