Salutations, dear readers, and welcome to Billy Superstar’s late November comics round-up! My reviews have felt a bit stale as of late (at least to me) largely in part because I’ve only been following a small number of books… Well, as luck would have it, I just had a long, long flight so I indiscriminately bought a big ass pile of comics to see what I’ve been missing and pass the time. So here it is, without further ado, my reactions to what’s been coming out in the past few weeks (chock full o’ SPOILERS, as always):
Blackest Night #5: Wow, it’s almost like Geoff Johns read my reviews of this series so far and put the whole ROYGBIV lantern crew on the first page of this book just to make me look like a dumb jerk! Honestly, I’ve never been so happy to be proven wrong. This issue pretty much had everything I’ve been waiting for, securing Blackest Nights’ position as a true comics event, not just a sprawling spectacle made to vacuum our pocket books. I can’t wait to see where the story goes next now that the Lanterns’ plan already failed and the JLA heavy-hitters have all become Black Lanterns. And is anyone else more than a little suspicious about Necron referring to “Bruce Wayne” with quotation marks? There are sure to be major revelations down the line as to what exactly is up with ol’ batty bats, but I’d wager they’ll be revealed in Morrisons’ Batman and Robin series… But I digress… bottom line, Blackest Night is a great story with spectacular art and universe-altering relevance. Highest Recommendation!
Green Lantern # 48: One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is that this book rocks even harder than Blackest Night. This issue gives us some really nice character moments between the different Lanterns as they form an uneasy alliance. Between my fascination with the various Corps leaders and my love of Doug Mahnke’s art, this is easily my favorite book coming out these days.
Flash: Rebirth #5: Well at least something finally happened. I’m marginally interested in the new Impulse, but other than that this series has failed to sell me on the Flash. This was the best issue so far in a mediocre series that successfully sets up a new status quo for more Flash comics that I wont bother to read.
Detective Comics #859: I think Greg Rucka actually outshines J.H. Williams in this issue. Batwomans characterization throughout this series has been pretty darn great, but as of this issue I love her. Comics first tactfully conducted gay superhero continues her origin here in a story that pretty much demands I buy the deluxe edition hardcover the day it comes out. Instant classic, no joke. People will still be talking about this run in 20 years.
X-men Legacy # 228: I haven’t followed this book since it became a journey into the mind of Professor X after that cross over that I can’t remember the name of. After reading this issue, I’m not really sure what the current focus of this series is at all. The art was pretty decent but the story was inconsequential. If you ask me, it’s a pretty lousy time to be an X-fan. As for me, I’m an ex-fan.
Wolverine: Origins # 42: I guess since this book started out crappy it’s no surprise that it still sucks 40 issues later. Wasn’t this series supposed to chronicle Wolverine’s past now that he remembers who he is? I’ve read a handful of issues and I’ve never learned a new thing about Wolverine other than that you could release a book called Wolverines Runny Turds and it’d still sell. I guess they finally revealed Romulus while I wasn’t reading this book and yet somehow I don’t feel like I missed anything at all. This issue features the Hulks stupid son and the Silver Samurai and I can’t be bothered to write another word about it.
Hulk #17: I read the first ten or so issues of this series on a loooooooong train ride a year or so ago and couldn’t believe how bad it was. Well, guess what? Now it’s even worse! How they got 17 issues out of a series that’s all action and no content is beyond me. The new big mystery surrounds the identity of Red She-Hulk, but I don’t even care who Red Hulk is anymore (although I’m still sure he’s Clay Quartermain). This series lone saving grace used to be the art of Ed McGuiness, but now we’re stuck with Ian Churchill. Ick! Not only have I always despised his scratchy doo doo renderings, but now he’s “experimenting” with his style (or more likely following editorial commands to ape McGuinness) which results in something unintentionally resembling a Mad Magazine-esque satire. Churchills incompetent renderings more closely resemble Hilary Barta than Ed McGuiness, making this book even more of a self-parody than it used to be.
New Avengers #59: I quit reading this book after feeling burned by Secret Invasion and being bummed by the loss of Leinil Yu, and yet somehow I read this issue without feeling like I’d missed anything. Luke Cage is in trouble and the outlaw Avengers band together to save him, just like they did last year and the year before that. Like most of Bendis’ work, this series is easily digestible but ultimately unsatisfying, but at least Stuart Immonen turns in some very lovely drawings.
Ultimate Spider-Man #4: So I’ve got this kind of love/hate thing going with Ultimate Spider-Man. Given that it’s (relatively) self-contained and maintains creative teams for significant periods of time, I always wish I liked it enough to follow it, but every time I read it I feel so damn annoyed. Like New Avengers and everything else I’ve ever read by Bendis, it’s got a nice, page-turning pace and some interesting story points, but it’s just trying so hard to be hip and clever that I can’t get with it. Can Bendis write ONE conversation that isn’t full of quips, repetition, (parenthesis), and a continuing back-and-forth exchange of tiny word balloons? Can someone tell the artist that teenagers are no longer sporting baggy jeans and long bangs (just once I’d like to see an artists attempt to draw hip youngsters do something else than point out that he himself is neither young nor hip). Will this series last now that Ultimatum has turned off even more members of the Ultimate Universes dwindling fan-base? I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but I don’t really care, either. The only thing I really want to know is why Ultimate Spidey’s head is drawn so big. It’s REALLY weird looking!
Spider-man Clone Saga #2: After all the hooting and hollering I did over issue #1, I didn’t even see this issue when it came out. Ronald Rosebud kinda ruined it for me when he hit the nail on the head with his observation that this series is a re-visitation of something that wasn’t worth reading in the first place. Maybe if it was kitschier or more self-aware it could be worth the price of admission, but it’s a little too uninspired to successfully exploit my love of crappy ‘90’s comics. Speaking of which…
Image United #1: Talk about your guilty pleasures! The all-flash-and-no-substance crew from ’92 returns to do comics first creator owned jam book in an experiment that is sure to gradually lose everyone’s interest over the course of its 6-issue run. Other than sporadic check-ins with Savage Dragon, I haven’t kept up with any of these characters in over ten years (have they even been publishing these guys in that time?) but apparently I haven’t missed much. A lack of backgrounds and disinterest in storytelling muddy up what little narrative there is: When the heroes are gathering to team-up against Overtkill, are they standing right near him or are they somewhere else entirely? I can’t tell because everyone is always hanging out in empty parking lots or hatchy color fields. Apparently there’s a new Shadowhawk and a new Spawn, and yet somehow I do not miss the old ones. The real winner here is Jim Valentino, the most untalented idiot to ever cash in on crappy comics. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! This guys drawings feature the same lack of schooling in anatomy and perspective as the other “artists”, but with none of the flair. Naturally, this book features several soulless cash-in gimmicks, with like 9 different covers and comics current worst trend, a $3.99 price tag in exchange for a lousy back-up story that no one will even read. I love to hate this book, but will I buy #2? Stay tuned!
-Billy Superstar
