Number of the Beast #1 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Scott Beatty; Pencils: Chris Sprouse; Inks: Karl Story
Another long series touting the no-fooling, this-time-it’s-real end of the Wildstorm Universe. Jim, dude, I know you’ve had a good run with these characters, but everyone stopped caring ten years ago. For the love of God, stop trying to reanimate the corpse, and just pull the plug.
Batman: Death Mask #1 (of 4) — Writer/Artist: Yoshinori Natsume
DC’s teaming up with CMX for this title, and it’s done straight-up manga style: read “backwards,” in black and white, by a currently-hot Japanese creator. If you’re a superhero fan who’s resisted the form, this is a good introduction — it’s a regular Batman story, with a couple of effective shots of our hero, a cool villain, and some jolts. It’s as disposable as any Batman mini-series, but hey: the kids, they love the manga; you should at least check out the form that, in the American market, currently sells roughly ten times as many books as Marvel and DC combined.
FX #2 — Writer: Wayne Osborne; Art: John Byrne
If you loved Byrne’s straight-ahead superhero style in the ’80s, here it is today, too. One of this week’s Internet comics debates has been about the Waid-Perez Brave and the Bold, and why a book that would have thrilled readers 25 years ago doesn’t sell very well now. FX offers the same puzzle: at what point does yesterday’s cutting-edge style become old-school boring (in 1980, that would have been Wayne Boring)? Theoretically, this should be a great kid’s comic, with charm, energy and clear storytelling — but can it connect with young fans, or is it too much like their parents’ comics?
Titans #1 — Writer: Judd Winick; Pencils: Ian Churchill; Inks: Norm Rapmund
Eh. OK, but just kind of lazy, from the cover (if you’re just going to draw hands, at least pick an artist who can actually draw hands), to the lack of editorial explanation (this is part two of the story, but there’s nary a hint that part one was that “Titans East” special from almost half a year ago, and none of the minor characters are particularly introduced; they’re just there, and if you’re a new reader tough for you), to the absence of any actual story (the original Titans get attacked individually, and hook up, and the “mystery” villain is revealed. With nine splash pages and two double-page spreads, the narrative flow is practically non-existent). The big selling point is the art — Sprouse can deliver in those big panels, and if you come to comics mostly for the superhero visuals this has some fizz. Otherwise, though, it’s an introduction, without much hint of whether the eventual story will be worth it.
Justice Society of America # 14 — Writers: Geoff Johns with Alex Ross; Pencils: Dale Eaglesham; Inks: Prentice Rollins
One of those stories where most of the book involves various characters hitting the Big Unstoppable Bad Guy, and then at the end more characters are getting ready to hit him, but we’ll have to buy next month’s issue to see what happens. Oh, and the cover has nothing to do with the story; it looks like it maybe should have been next issue’s cover instead. Um, no thanks.
Countdown to Final Crisis #3 — Writers: Paul Dini with Sean McKeever and Keith Giffen; Art: Freddie Williams II
Accelerating toward the… conclusion? beginning?… , with lots of fighting between Darkseid, Superman, Mary Marvel and Jimmy Olsen. The Mary Marvel stuff continues to be stupid (I don’t think the beating-Donna-with-Kyle scene is supposed to be funny, and it’s interesting that the once-again bad-girl Mary still uses words like “freaking” — she’s evil, but she still can’t swear?), and even the appearance of Giant-Turtle Olsen can’t quite move this book into the “buy” column.
Phil Mateer
