Wolverine Annual #1 — Writer: Gregg Hurwitz; Artist: Marcelo Frusin
What a strange conceit: the writer’s built this story around echoes of the T.S. Eliot poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” with the title now “The Death Song of J. Patrick Smitty,” and small quotes from the poem referenced in the captions and dialogue (“There will be time,” “Do I dare disturb the universe?,” etc.). However, none of the themes of the poem show up in the story, and there’s no other reference to it; in fact, it’s one of those “gang kills people and Wolverine picks them off one by one” plots, with enough pointless violence and mindless cliches (the old lady who says something nice to Wolvie and immediately gets killed; the factory with vats of glowing, molten metal that has one person working in it; the splash of Wolvie in silhouette, his slitted eyes and bared teeth glowing) to have Eliot spinning in his grave. Here’s another Eliot title that sums up this book: “The Wasteland.”
Supergirl #22 — Writer: Tony Bedard; Penciller: Renato Guedes; Inker: Jose Wilson Magalhaes
Imagine you’re the parent of a girl who likes Supergirl (having seen her in the cartoons), and she brings you this book. Note the ugly cover, with Supergirl in a cringe-inducing micro-miniskirt. Note the confusing story inside, which requires knowledge of three or four other titles to make any sense. Note the violent imagery, with the villain getting an arm severed and waving the bright-red, bloody stump around. Note your vow to never let your daughter read this trash, or possibly any comic, again. Way to build an audience, DC.
Howard the Duck #1 (of 4) — Writer: Ty Templeton; Penciler: Juan Bobillo; Inker: Marcelo Sosa
Having grown up admiring the original Gerbar-Colan Howard, it’s hard for me to warm to other versions. This one at least has the advantage of imaginative art, as Bobillo completely reimagines Howard visually (it’s as though he’d never even seen the character before, and was just asked to draw a humanoid duck; the result is both grotesque and, oddly, compelling). Templeton’s script has the requisite social satire and sarcasm, but it’s still just echoes of concepts that had a lot more oomph 30 years ago. Since The Essential Howard the Duck offers a cheap reprint of the original, there’s no compelling reason to buy this new version instead.
Metal Men #3 — Writer/Artist: Duncan Rouleau
Rouleau has imagination, and he can draw; the little science facts, the “Death-Metal” Men, and the splash of the looming Chemo menacing the unsuspecting heroine are all high points here. However, the book’s got flashbacks, flashforwards, alternate timelines, Will Magnus duplicates and no conclusion, making this single issue an unsatisfying story. There’s still hope, though, if we can ever make it through this written-for-the-trade origin and into some kind of regular, more-reader-friendly continuity.
Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society #1 — Writer: Sean McKeever; Pencils: Jamal Igle; Inks: Rob Hunter
Same scam as the last issue: no Ray Palmer, and in fact no actual team searching for him; instead, we get the origin of the good-guy, crime-JLA-Earth version of the Joker, who then tags along with Our Heroes. The end. Competent writing, standard art, and no reason to exist, other than to introduce another pawn to be moved around in the big Final Crisis runup.
Exiles #99 — Writer: Chris Claremont; Penciler: Clayton Henry; Inker: Norman Lee
Remember when Claremont came on board this title, months ago, and I warned you that it was going to devolve into endless subplots, meandering alternate-universe storylines, and stock situations and characters? I hate to say “I told you so,” but….
Metamorpho #1 (of 6) — Story/Layouts: Dan Jurgens; Finishes: Jesse Delperdang
Not a bad updating of Rex’s origin (Jurgens is more than competent at this sort of thing, and the reality-show conceit actually works), but I’ve read maybe a dozen versions of the story of Simon Stagg, Java, Sapphire and Rex Mason, so I think I’ll pass on this one.
Phil Mateer
