DC Universe Special: Justice League of America #1 — Writers: Len Wein; Gerry Conway; Jack Miller; Artists: Dick Dillon/Dick Giordano; Dillin/Frank McLaughlin; Jor Certa
Reprints featuring the first appearances of two of the obscure characters that are part of Final Crisis — Libra and the Human Flame — plus the three-part JLA story from #s166-168 where the super-villains switch places with the heroes, and eventually get mind-wiped (the main hook for Identity Crisis, of course). It’s nostalgiac fun to see so much Dick Dillin art (even though some of the reproduction is too shadowy); he was the JLA for many fans in the ’60s and ’70s, and his clean, deceptively-simple style handles the big cast and multiple settings with a storytelling grace that’s hard to find nowadays (and, come to think of it, wasn’t all that common back then, either). Like Curt Swan and Dick Giordano, he was one of those artists so dependable, and so much a part of the fabric of the DC books, that it was easy to ignore his contributions — until he wasn’t there any more.
The Man With No Name #1 — Writer: Christos Gage; Art: Wellington Dias
Featuring the Clint Eastwood spaghetti-western character. The setup is solid enough, although the title protagonist is a mite too chatty, compared to his taciturn screen counterpart; the art is OK (it’s hard to screw up a western setting), but doesn’t particularly distinguish itself. If you love westerns, you probably won’t mind this one.
Avengers/Invaders #1 (of 12) — Plot: Alex Ross and Jim Krueger; Script: Jim Krueger; Pencils: Steve Sadowski
The Invaders time-jump into the present Marvel Universe (post-Civil Wars, pre-Secret Invasion, it looks like), and get confronted by the Thunderbolts, whom they naturally assume to be bad guys. Part one of twelve, which seems at least eight issues too many for what appears to be a very standard story. This has been pushed as an Alex Ross project, although that’s mostly bait-and-switch, since he only contributed the cover and co-plotting duties; someone needs to tell the publishers that Ross’s pseudo-realistic style isn’t so remarkable that just having him discuss the story with Jim Krueger over lunch will sprinkle magic over an otherwise-bloated, mediocre project.
DC Special: Raven #3 (of 5) — Writer: Marv Wolfman; Pencils: Damion Scott; Inks: Robert Campanella
This book’s been late, but it sure doesn’t look like the extra time went into the art, a faux-manga mess that’s badly drawn, badly laid out and garishly colored. Wolfman provides the professionalism, but the story’s the familiar Raven-tries-to-interact-with-normal-kids stuff he’s been doing for 25 years, and the art makes it impossible to follow anyway. Avoid, even if you’re a Titans fanatic — maybe especially then, because this book will just make you sad.
Cable #3 — Writer: Duane Swierczynski; Artist: Ariel Olivetti
Three issues in, and it’s a mess — the story, with its beefy, impossibly-built characters and grim future setting, plays to all of Olivetti’s weaknesses, and the plot, after 60-some pages, has moved forward about a half hour. It’s reminiscent of one of those interminable Heavy Metal serials that used to move forward, glaciar-like, each episode providing a few panels of offbeat visuals but never getting the characters anywhere; you could check in a year later and they’d still be trudging through the same post-apocalyptic landscape, doing the same grim punching and gritting their teeth in the same grim way.
Thunderbolts: Reason in Madness #1 — Writer: Christos N. Gage; Artist: Ben Oliver
This fooled me into thinking it was, finally, another episode in the Warren Ellis regular title. No such luck; it’s one of those inexplicable one-shots Marvel’s been providing while we wait for the real thing, featuring a few of the Masters of Evil trying to blackmail the Max Gargan Venom into helping them set up Norman Osborne, with predictably-disastrous results. It’s a mildly-entertaining story, if you squint a little and don’t think about it too much.
Logan #3 (of 3) — Writer: Brian K. Vaughan; Art: Eduardo Risso; Watercolors: Dean White
Nice art and coloring, with its shots of flaming spectral skeletons stalking through Japanese landscapes, but the story is mostly there for the art; its one of those plots where even the characters admit that it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Some memorable panels and bits of scenes, but an overall plot that doesn’t coalesce or leave any kind of satisfying conclusion: now I remember why I stopped reading 100 Bullets, too….
Action Comics Annual #11 — Writers: Geoff Johns and Richard Donner; Artist: Adam Kubert
This is the conclusion of the Phantom-Zone criminal/son of Zod story from a year ago, notable mostly for its weird combination of current Superman continuity with the second ’70s movie, and for how it knocked DC’s scheduling to hell and back. It’s not particularly worth the wait, although it at least resolves the fate of a character who’s been left hanging for a year, one that the regular Superman writers won’t have to treat like an unwanted distraction any more. Question of the week: who had less actual creative input into the book they’re credited with helping to “write” — Donner here, or Alex Ross over with Avengers/Invaders?
Phil Mateer
