Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime #1 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Artists: Pete Woods & Jerry Ordway
Heh — they should have titled this Lawsuit Avoidance Comics, as DC scrubs this character of any reference to Superboy, Smallville, or anything else that the Siegel family might have a legal claim to. Now, he’s a comic-book nerd from a non-superhero Earth like ours, ironically named Clark Kent, who discovered his powers just before the “real” Superman showed up and his world was destroyed in the original Crisis. Nice art (Wood and Ordway are particularly good at showing the insane gleam in his eyes), and there’s lots of action, but there’s no hiding the story’s cynical corporate origins. Garbage in….
Madame Mirage #3 — Writer: Paul Dini; Artist: Kenneth Rocafort
You know, I think I liked Dini better when he wasn’t doing comics, when any story he wrote was a revelation (like Mad Love); now that he’s publishing regularly, we still get the good (most of his Detective run), but there’s also the bad (his “head writing” on Countdown), and, as here, the mediocre. This creator-owned book has some good ideas, and the near-future tech is worked out well, but the main character is vicious, and her world is violent and grubby — she spends an entire issue torturing another woman she’s tied up (in between recounting her origin), and then ends by shooting her in the head, and, frankly, it’s just not very enjoyable to read.
XXXombies #1 (of 4) — Writer: Rick Remender; Art: Kieron Dwyer
Over-the-top fun, starting with Zombies on a Plane, crashing the plane into the “Hollywood” sign, and then moving through the SoCal porn industry, mafia types, ghetto types, tough-guy fathers and other ’70s B-movie cliches. I really don’t feel the need for another zombie comic in my collection right now, but if I did, this fast-moving, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink, tongue-in-rotting-cheek romp would be a prime candidate.
Foolkiller #1 (of 5) — Writer: Gregg Hurwitz; Artist: Lan Medina
We’re back to depressing — the Foolkiller was originally Steve Gerber’s riff on the Charles Bronson Death Wish franchise, except that Gerber understood that that kind of violence wasn’t so much cathartic as soul-destroying; his protagonists eventually either were consumed by their insanity or rejected their dark path. Now, the title character is just a Punisher with different gimmicks (he’s got a badass dog! He’s got a sword cane!) who kills cartoony gangsters, rapists and sleazy corporate spokespeople. Maybe the rest of this mini-series will flesh him out and deal with some of those themes, too, but there’s not enough here for me to stick around and find out.
Blue Beetle #20 — Writer: John Rogers; Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
A Sinestro War crossover, and actually not bad — readers who haven’t been following Green Lantern get filled in on the essentials, and the focus is still firmly on Jamie and his cast (especially the former Peacemaker), as people follow understandable motivations, try to solve their problems nobly, and generally act like grown-ups. There isn’t quite enough here to get me to buy this book, but I’m happy to have read it.
The Authority Prime #1 — Writer: Christos Gage; Artist: Darick Robertson
Any book with Robertson art deserves a look, but here he’s so busy drawing super-heroes that we don’t get much of his appealing quirkiness; it’s an Authority/Stormwatch crossover, with all the standard character cliches and lots of punching and yelling and posing — just the kind of thing that he helps to satirize so slyly over in The Boys, but done straight. No, thanks.
Moon Knight #13 — Writer: Charlie Huston; Penciler: Tomm Coker; “3-D Models,” whatever that means: Don Cameron
Another of those inexplicable “extra-sized” books Marvel’s been throwing at us lately — it’s part of the regular numbering, but it’s an extra buck, and there’s 42 pages of new story. That’s not a bad deal, except that it could have been told just as well in the regular 22 pages — all that happens is that MK applies for and gets his Superhuman Act registration card. How? I’m not sure — both the art and the plotting are so murky, with shadows everywhere and occasional hallucinations gumming things up and characters hard to identify, that it’s too much effort to figure out what’s actually happening.
Robin #167 — Writer: Brandon Thomas; Artist: Freddie E. Williams II
One useful function of these 2nd and 3rd-tier DC books is that they’re good try-out comics — it’s easy for aspiring writers and artists to do a fill-in issue or two, and the core audience will buy them anyway. This one’s decent enough — it looks at Robin’s (and, by extension, Batman’s) motivations, and makes them suitably poignant and heroic — but by the last scene in the rain-swept cemetery, it’s been buried in cliches. Not bad for a beginner, though, and it shows potential — I especially liked the coloring, as Robin’s red/yellow/blue primary hues jump out against the otherwise-gloomy Gotham settings.
Phil Mateer
