Thor: Man of War #1 (of 1) — Writer: Matt Fraction; Penciller/Part One: Clay Mann; Inker/Part One: Victor Olazaba; Artist/ Part Two: Patrick Zircher
This is the third of Fraction’s one-shots on the early days of Thor, and he’s presented in Young Butthead mode, fighting and kicking over both mortal and immortal anthills on the Nine Worlds, and generally trying to get Daddy Odin’s attention. As usual with Fraction, there are some good bits; the art, in both sections, is good at delivering both the dour Norse atmosphere and the mythological oomph that’s required. And yet, the plotting and characterization seem… off. Maybe it’s the way Thor switches out of the berserker fighter pose as soon as his buddies show up, and slides into fratboy partying instead; maybe it’s the fight between him and Odin, one that their absurd difference in power levels renders moot, and whose resolution (and speech about humility) we all saw coming long before. It’s a shame, because old-time fans of the title — the ones most likely to appreciate what the creative team’s trying to do with it — are also the most likely to be bothered by the problems, and end up not quite satisfied at the end.
Hulk #8 — Writer: Jeph Loeb; Penciller/Part One: Arthur Adams; Inker/Part One: Walden Wong; Artist/Part Two: Frank Cho
Continuing a split-book pair of stories, the first involving the Bruce Banner Hulk (two different versions of him, in fact) in Las Vegas against a bunch of Wendigoes (Wendigi?), as drawn by Art Adams; the second features the Red Hulk vs. Valkyrie, Thundra and She-Hulk, drawn (inevitably, considering all the women) by Frank Cho. I got the first part of this, because of the Adams and Cho art, but by now it’s clear that even their talents aren’t enough; the chopped-up nature of the narratives makes the stories hard to follow, and the characterization and dialogue just can’t deliver anything worth reading. Pretty pages to look at, though, and if your interests run more to the visual than the verbal, this might seem more attractive.
JSA Kingdom Come Special: The Kingdom #1 (of 1) — Story: Geoff Johns and Alex Ross; Writer: Geoff Johns; Penciller: Fernando Pasarin; Inkers: Mick Gray, Jack Purcell, Norm Rapmund and Fernando Pasarin
As with the “New Krypton” story over in the Superman titles, this Kingdom tale is one big narrative, presented through a series of one-shots and regular issues, so readers have to scramble to tell which order to read everything in, and to judge whether the one-shots like this are necessary. This one is; in fact, it’s like one long installment of the normal JSA book, picking up the story in the middle and taking it to a development/cliffhanger that always occurs at some point with big, powerful, creepily-grinning antagonists like Gog. Johns can deliver this kind of big, multiple-character event well, and he knows his DC Universe, but the predictability of the plot, and my fundamental lack of caring about the JSA cast and supporting crew (plus my lack of interest in exhuming the whole decades-ago Kingdom Come mythos), make this one that I’ll stay away from.
Madame Xanadu #6 — Writer: Matt Wagner; Penciller: Amy Reeder Hadley; Inker: Richard Friend
The attraction here is the Hadley art; she has a very clean, pretty style that’s a pleasure to look at, and she does a good job with the guest appearance from Neil Gaiman’s version of Death. You’d think the Wagner script would be good, too; he’s certainly demonstrated his talents in the past, both on his own titles like Grendel and on various work-for-hire assignments for DC. Here, though, the slow trek through history (we started at Camelot, and now we’re up to the French Revolution) doesn’t provide much of an edge, guillotines or no, and the constant appearances by the Phantom Stranger are threatening to become as annoying for the reader as they are to Madame Xanadu herself.
Unknown Soldier #2 — Writer: Joshua Dysart; Artist: Alberto Ponicelli
I feel kind of guilty for not liking this; it’s got some good press (including a pull quote from Warren Ellis on the cover), and its obviously well-researched African setting is at least a new take on the old DC war character. Something just doesn’t click, though; maybe it’s the art, which is sometimes effective but sometimes veers toward caricature, too, and finds it hard to deliver the required war gore realistically. Maybe it’s just too much of the same old Vertigo grimness and despair — although, who knows, by the time this origin is over the main character may have fought his way to optimism and a sense of purpose. Given the signs of potential here, that would make a satisfying payoff, but I don’t quite trust that that’s where it’s going; we’ll have to wait a few more issues and see.
Birds of Prey #124 — Writer: Tony Bedard; Penciller: Claude St. Aubin; Inker: John Floyd
A Joker-vs.-Barbara-Gordon fight; serviceable, with one good development, but otherwise it covers places we’ve already been (and the Joker silhouette on the cover looks way too much like Sideshow Bob). The rest of the book follows the BOP against the usual gang of super-powered villains: again, serviceable enough, but nothing we haven’t seen a hundred times before; less jaded readers may get more out of it than I did.
Phil Mateer
