Thursday, September 24, 2015

Comic Shop Comics: September 23

Wait, did I say "Comics," plural? I meant "Comic," singular. Yes, tragedy has befallen my local comic shop this week, as the vast majority of their shipment did not arrive, and will not arrive until next week, meaning there was only a single new comic awaiting me at the shop.

I don't know why exactly this depressed me so, as I was missing just three comics (Batgirl, Scooby-Doo Team-Up and the latest issue of All-Star Section Eight, which was on re-order for me), and it's not like me "To Read" piles haven't grown to precarious, potentially dangerous heights, meaning I do have thousands of pages of quality comics I haven't read yet sitting here waiting for me.
I have a system.
There's just something uniquely disappointing about showing up on the comic shop on a Wednesday afternoon, expecting new comics, and not finding them, I suppose.

Luckily, the one comic on my pull-list that did arrive was fantastic.

Batman '66 #27 (DC Comics) Regular writer Jeff Parker and the Batman '66 team have filled out the rogues gallery of the original TV show by transplanting villains from the comics that never appeared and '66-icizing them. Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, Clayface and Poison Ivy have made the trip so far, and now they're joined by Bane.

So, how do you make the luchadore-inspired 1990s archvillain into an era appropriate character? Why you make him an actual luchadore, of course.

In what reads a lot like a comic book created specifically for Chris Sims, Parker and artist Scott Kowalchuk have Batgirl and The Dynamic Duo follow a clue of The Riddler's regarding a plan to steal a ring to pro wrestling match. There, Gotham's champion The Hangman (another villain import, whose name is at least shared with the mystery killer in Batman: Dark Victory) is set to face off against Bane, who enters with his original running crew of Zombie, Bird and Trogg, all similarly decked out in luchadore masks.
(I never understood why those guys basically just disappeared after "Knightfall;" sure none of them were the mnost compelling of villains or anything, but giving Bane lieutenants made him seem like more of a leader type, and more of a Batman-like character).
Remember these guys?
Band, "The Bruiser From Below The Border," takes on Batman, and takes him down with his signature move (In one of my favorite gags, The Riddler declares that Batman can't prevail against a legitimate fighter like a pro wrestler, which the narrator also shouts about...apparently not only is wrestling not fake, it's the ultimate form of martial combat!).

Bane and his team return to the Mexican city of El Ciudad Del Craneo, seemingly victorious, but our stalwart crimefighters follow. There are a bunch of little in-gags in this book, and they come at a fast and steady clip. There's a tiny cameo by Dr. Alchemy '66 (look close!), Bane's distinctive Dark Knight Returns mask thingee, Mil Mascaras and El Santo and, in the perfect final panel, the definition of lucha libre.

The most inspired gag is probably that on the first pages, though, in which the Frank Gorshin version of Riddler is apparently wearing a John Astin mask as a disguise, although the one that made me laugh the most is the transition from the last panel on page 12 and the first panel on page 13, which I won't spoil.

I don't know for certain this was the best issue of Batman '66 so far, but it's certainly the best I can think of at the moment. It rewards one's knowledge of the TV series and the comics without ever actually mandating it, and is built around the same strange juxtaposition that made the show such a hit back in the day...and still funny in a lot of ways today. This story, like the show in general, gets a ton of mileage out simply putting its fantastical characters (and a few one-trait character actors) in mundane or otherwise inappropriate situations, and then acting like it's no big deal.

I'm sort of sorry to hear that DC's apparently canceling the ongoing Batman '66 after December's issue. But perhaps they can replace it on the schedule with a Bane '66 series by Parker and Kowalchuk...?

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Marvel's December previews reviewed

I was a little surprised to see that there was another Inhumans book launching in December, All-New Inhumans, which will join the in-progress Uncanny Inhumans. Obviously Marvel has been pushing the Inhumans concept for some time now, and maybe I'm not the best person to comment on the subject of Inhumans popularity (I've only ever liked their dog), but two Inhumans books seems like at least one too many to me.

The publisher is in a particularly weird place right now, having canceled just about everything to make way for Secret Wars and then relaunching everything, even books that were only a few issues old, with new #1s, but, with the Inhumans franchise, it seems like they're in a perpetual state of relaunching. Maybe I just don't pay close enough attention (although I do read the solicitations every month), but I never really hear anyone talking about any Inhumans comics; I can't name a creator that's been heavily involved, or a particular storyline or event that garnered attention. In fact, it seems like that long-ago Marvel Knight series by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee was the last time I actually heard any buzz about an Inhumans comic.

Nevertheless, Marvel will now have two ongoing Inumans titles as of December, not to mention a solo book for Inhuman Karnak (and written by Warren Ellis, no less!), plus various characters will be appearing in various books, from A-Force to Uncanny Avengers.

The size of the Inhumans franchise is nowhere near that of the Guardians of The Galaxy, another unlikely franchise that doesn't even seem like it should be a franchise, but, to put things in context, here's the shape of Marvel's franchise books as of December of this year.

AVENGERS: 4 (A-Force, All-New, All-Different Avengers, New Avengers, Uncanny Avengers)

X-MEN: 3 (All-New X-Men, Extraordinary X-Men, UNCANNY X-MEN, plus 1 solo title in All-New Wolverine)

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: 2 (Guardians of Infinity, Guardians of The Galaxy, 3 solo books in Drax, Star-Lord and Venom: Spaceknight)

INHUMANS: 2 (All-New Inhumans and Uncanny Inhumans, plus 1 solo book in Karnak).

FANTASTIC FOUR: 0

So while Marvel has been trimming down its ungainly Avengers and X-Men lines to something more manageable, they've also been publishing way more Guardians and Inhumans books than one might think are even sustainable. (Meanwhile, there are team books featuring The Ultimates and The Illuminati, but not The Defenders, Champions or Invaders! What a world, what a world...)

For a full listing of what Marvel intends to publish in December of this year, click here; if you've already read those, then hey, stick around here and let's talk about them, huh?


A-FORCE #1
G. WILLOW WILSON (w) • JORGE MOLINA (A/C)
...
A-FORCE, ASSEMBLE! From the ashes of Battleworld, Marvel's newest hero SINGULARITY has risen and entered the Marvel Universe. But she didn't make the journey alone. To combat the most fearsome threats from across the multiverse, Singularity will summon the world's mightiest team of Avengers to her side: SHE-HULK. CAPTAIN MARVEL. DAZZLER. MEDUSA. NICO MINORU. Together, they are A FORCE to be reckoned with!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99


I'm not entirely sure I understand what the solicitation is saying; are the heroes that Singularity is summoning the heroes from the "patchwork" world of Battleworld, or the "real" versions from the prime Marvel Universe (The "616" Universe)...? The Dazzler design seems to be the one from recent issues of Uncanny X-Men, rather than the first issue of A-Force (er, the last first issue of A-Force), while Nico looks way off of her 616 designs. And the bit about "fearsome threats from across the multiverse" makes this sound like the heroes might be from across the multiverse, and that this might be sort of Exiles-y, no?

In addition to her new style, I'm not too terribly comfortable separating Nico Minoru from the rest of The Runaways characters, either.


CAPTAIN AMERICA: WHITE #5 (of 5)
Jeph LOEB (W) • Tim Sale (A/C)
•This is it! The long awaited finale to Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's epic Captain America story!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

CAPTAIN AMERICA: SAM WILSON #4
NICK SPENCER (W) • PAUL RENAUD (A/C)
• Danger on Wall Street...
• It's the venomous return of THE SERPENT SQUAD!!!
32 PGS./Rated T ...$3.99

Ugh, putting the titles and cover images right next to each other like that doesn't help White seem any less...poorly-timed, does it?



CARNAGE #3
GERRY CONWAY (W) • MIKE PERKINS (A)
Cover by MIKE DEL MUNDO
VARIANT COVER BY YASMINE PUTRI
MARVEL '92 VARIANT BY MIKE DEODATO
• Trapped down in a mineshaft with Carnage, the situation for the FBI's symbiote squad gets HAIRY when John Jameson loses his cool.
• You won't want to miss th -- AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99


I am interested in a Carnage vs. Man-Wolf comic book. Don't judge me!


DAREDEVIL #1 & 2
CHARLES SOULE (w) • RON GARNEY (a/C)
...
Back in black and on his home turf, Daredevil begins again in New York City as a new enemy emerges. Meanwhile his alter ego, Matt Murdock, is on a new side of the law in the District Attorney's office. Fighting crime in the shadows, prosecuting bad guys in the light, it's a whole new chapter for our man without fear -- including the arrival of the devil's advocate. Welcome to Hell, Blindspot.
32 PGS. (each)/Rated T+ ...$3.99 (each)


I like the creative team individually and I like the costume (the Netflix series really should have used something closer to that, given the fact that Daredevil spent some 11-12 episodes in black; his dumb, red, Ant-Man-looking costume in the last episode or so was literally the only thing about the series I didn't like...even the Ben Affleck movie had a better Daredevil costume in it).

I've no idea how they're going to bring DD back to NYC, but then, I haven't been following the series after the first trade set in San Francisco, and I imagine it's possible Secret Wars will include some minor reboots, like un-disbarring Matt Murdock...? I don't know; I guess we'll see.


Say, should I know who this "Blindspot" person is...? Is he the guy on the cover who looks like a half-undressed Gambit...?


GUARDIANS OF INFINITY #1
DAN ABNETT & JASON LATOUR (w)
CARLO BARBERI & JIM CHEUNG (a)
COVER BY JIM CHEUNG
...
WHO ARE THE GUARDIANS 1000?!
Defending the galaxy is a good gig, but Drax isn't thrilled with the combat hours (not enough of them) and Rocket isn't thrilled with the compensation (not enough of it). They're off on an adventure to supplement both, and Groot is happy to come along. But instead of the perks they want, they're about to get more trouble than they can handle. Good thing the Guardians 3000 are on hand to help! But what about...THE GUARDIANS 1000??!!
Also in this issue, Latour and Cheung tell a one-off story of Ben Grimm and Rocket Raccoon, stuck on a planet where culture is based on Earth-style professional wrestling...but the stakes are life and death! THIS AIN'T KAYFABE, BROTHER!
40 PGS./Rated T ...$4.99


Oh good, another new #1 for a Guardians of The Galaxy-related book. That's exactly what that franchise, maybe the hardest to read in trade of anything Marvel's publishing these days, needs! This, by the way, isn't the relaunch Tom Spurgeon was talking about the other day when he wrote that "The whole thing seems exhausting to me...It's like carrying an umbrella when you know it's going to stop raining in 120 seconds." That comment was actually regarding the relaunch of Guardians of The Galaxy; this is apparently the launch of a sister title featuring a new-ish team that is made up of many of the same characters as Guardians of The Galaxy...?


It had to happen!


GWENPOOL SPECIAL #1
GERRY DUGGAN, CHARLES SOULE, CHRISTOPHER HASTINGS, VARIOUS (W)
DANILO BEYRUTH, LANGDON FOSS, GURIHIRU, VARIOUS (A)
COVER BY KRIS ANKA
...
• AN ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL!
• She-Hulk throws a holiday party and invites the entire Marvel U!
• Deadpool teams up with both Hawkeyes -- Kate and Clint -- to...stop a pickpocket?!
• Ms. Marvel takes on her most dangerous threat yet: the holiday blues!
• And then there's the reason for the season(al special): GWENPOOL!
• Yup, you read that right -- Gwen. Pool. C'mon, you know you're curious.
50 PGS./Rated T ...$5.99


That's a hell of a name for a holiday special...


HERCULES #2
DAN ABNETT (W) • LUKE ROSS (A)
Cover by CLAY MANN
...
• Creatures of ancient myth still linger in the world, but they are on the brink of extinction. The Modern Age has no place for them. But Hercules has moved with the times--only he can protect them against the crushing weight of the future. Except he is part of the old age too, born in ancient times before the risk of civilization, the world's first super hero, a champion through the ages. If he fails in this struggle, he dies with them. Forever.
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99


Well that doesn't sound very funny at all.


INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #4
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • DAVID MARQUEZ (A/C)
VARIANT COVER BY YASMINE PUTRI
• Tony is knee deep in trouble from enemies both old and new. But here comes MARY JANE WATSON AND HIS WORLD WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99


I like Putri's variant cover (above) over Marquez's. Putting MJ in an Iron Man comic is intriguingly weird, although I think this is an instance where it would be more dramatic had Marvel not re-booted the Spider-Man franchise, as putting Spidey's ex-wife in notorious lothario Tony Stark's orbit would likely incense Spidey more than putting his ex-girlfriend there, and I'm not sure if or how MJ and Tony's history has been affected by the Spider-Man re-boot. Like, she lived in Avengers Tower/Tony's Place with her husband for a while during the "Iron Spidey" phase of Spidey's career, leading up to Civil War and, as I recall, she wasn't that crazy about Stark during that time.

I'm pretty out-of-the-loop when it comes to Iron Man, having not read his book since Matt Fraction's run ended, and only seen him in Jonathan Hickman's Avengers and New Avengers and the crossover/event stories.

I suppose I'll be reading this in trade some day. I know I talk a lot of trash about Bendis, but his comics are usually worth reading. He's probably the best, most-talented writer who regularly produces bad comics working regularly for one of the Big Two.


PATSY WALKER, AKA HELLCAT! #1
KATE LETH (w) • BRITTNEY WILLIAMS (A/C)
Variant by SOPHIE CAMPBELL
Variant by GEORGE PERÉZ
Action Figure Variant by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
Variant by MARGUERITE SAUVAGE
Hip-Hop Variant by JAVIER PULIDO
PATSY WALKER has managed to escape her past, her enemies and Hell itself (literally), but nothing compares to job hunting in New York City! Between trying to make rent and dodging (literal) bullets, Patsy barely has time to deal with her mother's exploitative romance comics about her childhood resurfacing, much less how they start to interfere with her work and dating life. As she goes from living a double life to a triple, what the Hell is Patsy Walker supposed to do? Raise your (literal) claws for PATSY WALKER, AKA HELLCAT!
32 PGS./Rated T ...$3.99


I like Patsy Walker. And I like, no love, the work of, let's see...all of the variant cover artists listed above (with the possible exception of Christopher, who is just doing the goofy action figure variant they do for so many Marvel comics now), so it looks like if I buy this series it will definitely be in trade, where all those variants are likely going to show up. I mean, I'd be comfortable passing over George PEreze for Sophie Campbell, maybe, but you can't make me choose between those two and Marguerite Sauvage and Javier Pulido. I mean, that's some real Sophie's Choice shit.*



RED WOLF #1
NATHAN EDMONDSON (w) • DALIBOR TALAJIC (a)
COVER BY JEFFREY VEREGGE
...
ONCE UPON A TIMELY IN THE WEST...
Frontier boomtown Timely has more than its share of scoundrels: it takes a hero to keep them in line. Red Wolf -- the Cheyenne who crossed the desert and stood up to Mayor Wilson Fisk in Secret Wars' 1872 -- is the only man who can fill fallen Sheriff Steve Rogers' boots. As an outsider and an honest man, Red is going to need all his wits, and both his fists, to serve and protect. The tale of how Red Wolf wins the West starts in 1872, and will take him farther than he could ever imagine!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99


I like the first cover 1,000 times more than the second one. It looks like this is going to be set in the year/universe of 1872...? Is that so? If so, it's interesting, as neither DC nor Marvel really like to set ongoings outside of their core universes, as they don't seem to last that long (Well, I guess DC's Earth 2 has been going on for a few years now, but it also seems like it's been in a constant state of relaunch for much of those few years too).

Is there a reason we're not supposed to like Nathan Edmondson? I feel like there is, but I don't know what that reason is, as I've only heard people talking about the fact that he is or has done something bad, but not what the bad thing is.


SPIDEY #1
ROBBIE THOMPSON (w) • NICK BRADSHAW (a/C)
...
Think you know everything about Peter Parker's early days? Think again. It's action, adventure and a rip-roaring romp in classic Marvel style as SPIDEY swings onto shelves this winter! Featuring adventures from throughout the web-slinging wonder's younger years, it's a return to the days of overdue homework, not knowing how to talk to girls (or anybody, really) and just a plenty of danger. Witness some of Spidey's earliest tangles with the likes of DOC OCK, SANDMAN and a host of other unexpected guests!
32 PGS./Rated T ...$3.99


Like books set in alternate dimensions, book's set in the past of a character don't always sell so hot either. On the other hand, this is Spider-Man, and that's about as perfect a creative team as one could hope for on a superhero title.


SCARLET WITCH #1
JAMES ROBINSON (w) • VANESA DEL REY (A)
COVER BY DAVID AJA
...
VARIANT COVER BY KEVIN WADA
Witchcraft is broken - and the SCARLET WITCH is on a journey across the globe to fix it. From the back alleys of Manhattan, to the serene Greek Isles, to the bustling streets of Hong Kong, Wanda will have to face down her foes and find out who her true friends are. But as Wanda solves magical crimes and pieces witchcraft back together, the most important question remains: Who is the mastermind that broke it in the first place? Written by Eisner Award winner JAMES ROBINSON, with covers by Eisner Award winner DAVID AJA with the first issue drawn by fan-favorite VANESA DEL REY!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99


Well, I like Kevin Wada's variant cover showing off the new costume quite a bit. I don't care for the headdress, but then, I've never liked or even understood Scarlet Witch's headdress in the past. This, wile kinda dumb looking, at least looks like something that might exist in the real world, so I guess that's something.

I'm curious why David Aja is being name-checked as the cover artist, but Del Ray is only mentioned as the artist of the first issue. Are there going to be rotating artists, on an issue by issue basis? If that's the plan, then it seems like something the solicitation for the first issue would mention.


STARBRAND & NIGHTMASK #1
GREG WEISMAN (w) • DOMO STANTON (a)
Cover by YASMINE PUTRI
...
Two former Avengers with tremendous power -- and almost zero life experience -- are on their own, trying to find their place as HEROES, COSMIC ENTITIES and...COLLEGE STUDENTS? What meal plan will cover a cosmic metabolism? Can two all-powerful entities share a dorm room the size of roach motel? Can you safely teleport to Mars after partying all night long at your first kegger? Find out in Starbrand & Nightmask!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99


Probably the most unexpected new title from Marvel, at least from where I'm sitting. It really sounds like the superhero sitcom premise more than that of an ongoing superhero comic, so that alone makes it kind of interesting.


THE TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #1
GREG PAK (w) • FRANK CHO (a/C)
...
THERE'S A BRAND NEW HULK IN TOWN, AND HIS NAME IS AMADEUS CHO!
Get ready for the craziest Hulk story of the millennium as a kid genius decides he's gonna be the best Hulk ever -- and just possibly brings the entire Marvel Universe crashing down into chaos! Totally awesome beach day! Massive monster mayhem! She-Hulk and Lady Hellbender! Massive heart and ridiculous action brought to you by PLANET HULK writer Greg Pak and superstar artist Frank Cho! Is it possible for us to fit in one more exclamation point? YES!
40 PGS./Rated T ...$4.99


I really like the Amadeus Cho character from his days as Hercules' kinda sorta sidekick, and that's a great creative team; Frank Cho is actually a fantastic superhero comics artist, particularly when the story is light on female characters, and the cheesecake doesn't threaten to overpower the comic itself (I recently re-read the first story arc of Mighty Avengers he did with Brian Michael Bendis, and it was some very solid comics-making...except for the fact that there were like six characters who all looked like standard Frank Cho pin-up ladies, only with different costumes and hair colors).

That said, Cho's not a monthly artist, so expect a second artist to come on as soon as this first arc is over (if not sooner). This should be a lot of fun, and I look forward to reading it...in trade.

I do wonder where Bruce Banner is now. It seems like he's not The Hulk as often as he is The Hulk these days, doesn't it...?


UNCANNY X-MEN #1 & 2
CULLEN BUNN (w) • GREG LAND (a/C)
...
In a world that's never hated or feared mutants more, there is only one constant: BIGGER THREATS REQUIRE MORE THREATENING X-MEN. Refusing to accept one more mutant death, the most ruthless mutants on Earth have banded together to proactively mow down their enemies. But with a team populated by relentless killers, one question applies above all others: Can they stay away from each other's throats long enough to sever their targets'?
32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T+ ...$3.99 (EACH)


So this is basically going to be the new version of X-Force, only with the title that has most often been applied to the main X-Men book? Interesting.

I like Magneto's new costume, and–Oh, woah, woah, woah HOLD UP. Greg Land? Seriously? Man, fuck this book.


Huh. I don't think I've ever seen Venom look cool before.



*Er, no it's not. That's probably pretty offensive, huh? It's the first metaphor that jumped into my mind. If I think of a better one before I finish writing this, I'll insert it. If not, sorry!

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Comic Shop Comics: September 16

Bizarro #4 (DC Comics) I believe I've mentioned before what an inspired pairing Bizarro, the backwards Superman, and Zatanna, the sorceress who speaks her spells backwards, make for. Both are extremely comic book-y characters that may work okay in other media, but work best in their home medium of comics, where a reader can read their dialogue for themselves. Have they ever shared a comic before? It seems impossible that they haven't done so before this, but I can't think of another instance in which they've met one another.

In this issue, Bizarro, Jimmy Olsen and Colin the Chupacabra have arrived in Branson, Missouri to meet Chastity Hex, and while they're there they take in a show (Zatanna's poster design is by this issue's special guest-contributor, Darwyn Cooke). Bizarro turns out to be so backwards that he's able to master backwards spell-casting of the type Zatanna employs fairly instantly, giving him (and readers) a quick tour of various magical characters and planes of the DCU (and an opportunity for artist Gustavo Duarte to draw such unlikely cameos as The Wizard Shazam* and Warlord). Among Bizarro's uncontrollable spells are one that strips Zatanna of her own magical powers, and another that transfers his Bizzarocity to Jimmy, which has the effect of making B. completely normal. The two get to walk in one another's shoes for a bit.

This the quickest paced issue of the series so far, and thanks to the premise, maybe the wildest and most enjoyable issue as well. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Bizarro, but I continue to find 's particular take on his speech patters particularly amusing, like the consistent but weird use of the words "miscontrue" and "construe" in this issue, and the way Bizarro sets up his first magic trick, with the simple instructions to, "Ignore closely."

Bizarro is only two-thirds of the way over, but I'm already beginning to worry about how much I'll mis it when it's gone.


Black Canary #4 (DC) Regular artist Annie Wu is missing this issue, which focuses mainly on the archenemy of Black Canary (the band), their ex-singer Mo Baeve. Don' worry too much though; Wu's fill-in artist is none other than the great, too-little-seen Pia Guerra (Y: The Last Man) who does an excellent job with all of the characters, and provides some particularly fluid fight scenes. A bit more superheroic than the last few issues, between flashbacks to Mo Baeve's origins we get to see Dinah take on a would-be car-jacker, a mysterious blonde lady ninja who is not Dinah take on ARGUS and Amanda Waller (who Guerra draws with shorter hair and the sort of suit she used to wear. She's still really slim to be Amanda Waller, though. Maybe DC can just gradually have her put some pounds back on, like having her gain two pounds between every appearance or something...?).

I like the weird new take on the character in general, but this was by far the best-looking and most clear issue to date. I don't know if the change in artist alone is responsible, but I doubt it, since I do like Wu an awful lot too; I suspect it has more to do with the first story arc starting to come to a head.

There's also a one-panel appearance by Frankie, who has been acting as Barbara Gordon's own Oracle over in Batgirl. Here she's oracle-ing for Dinah too.


Doctor Fate #4 (DC) At the pace that Paul Levitz's origin of the new Doctor Fate I could probably just start cutting and pasting the paragraphs I wrote about the last few issues, as there hasn't been any real noteworthy story progression: Young med student Khalid is still trying to figure out how to use the hem of Fate to stop Anubis' plan to cleanse the Earth in a massive rain storm that is threatening to flood the world. Meanwhile, life goes on (?), as there doesn't seem to be any threat of evacuation or even canceled classes. I guess it's a very gradual plan to kill of humanity via flood.

There are a few dribs and drabs of new info in here, of course, but it's a very leisurely told story, of the sort that reads better in trade than in monthly, 20-page installments. As with the previous issues, the book's saving grace is the artwork of Sonny Liew, who here gets several scenes to really show off, as Khalid gets sucked into the helmet to have another trippy talk with Nabu and then an ancient Egyptian sphinx.


Lumberjanes #18 (Boom Studios) I think current artist Carolyn Nowak's character designs are a little off, as all of the characters seem to be blending together so that they're all roughly the same height and weight, but aside from that, I really like her much-looser take on them, as they now look and act more like comic strip or animated cartoon characters. This is especially effective given that most of the issue they spend in various reaction shots.

The first two pages are among my favorite sequences in Lumberjanes history, and were certainly my favorite of this week's batch of comics. To spoil it, the girls meet some real mermaids–"we PREFER merwomyn,"–and mermaid-crazy April insists that they get involved in trying to solve the problems between one of them and her best friend, who had a falling out after a conflict involving their band. These mer-people are apparently just like land people. Except for the fact that they live under a lake, of course.

I wonder if this story wasn't supposed to have taken place earlier or something, given that mer-people appeared on the cover for #16...or, more likely, one of the covers.


Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman #14 (DC) This issue contains a single, 30-page story written by Karen Traviss and drawn by Andres Guinaldo and Raul Fernandez. The stories in Sensation tend to be continuity-lite, but I prefer ones that can simply be slotted into different eras or runs; this is one of those confused ones that borrows elements from multiple runs so that it calls attention to the ways it relates to one or the other.

So, for example, Wonder Woman mentions being a demi-god (New 52) and another character mentions Themyscria's treatment of males (New 52...although I thought that was a big secret, that was news even to Diana when she first heard it?) and the fact that she lives in London (New 52), but she wears a version of her old costume, has an invisible jet and acts as Themyscria's ambassador to "Patriarch's World." That's all very post-Crisis Wonder Woman, as is the talk of Ares and Zeus and the political/diplomacy focus of the story.

Strife appears as Wonder Woman's main antagonist, but she looks nothing like she does in the New 52 redesign, which is a little strange, as the dialogue at one point sounds like it would be better-suited to New 52 Strife than any other Strife.

Anyway, Traviss' story is entitled "Nine Days," and sees Wonder Woman being called in to act as the broker of a peace treaty between two warring, fictional South American countries. Her half-sister Strife, Strife's other aspect Eris, complicate matters immensely, as they help discover oil in a stretch of disputed land between the two countries, upping the stakes of their talks. Night itself narrates.

Amusingly, Wonder Woman struggles to bring peace to the two hostile nations through diplomacy, but ultimately peace only comes when she throws the pair around, knocks their heads together, chokes them and threatens them with violence from the U.S. and U.N. I know peace through violence is kind of modern Wonder Woman's whole thing, but it is kind of funny here, as most of the 30 pages include mediations on the nature of struggle and the difficulty of peace.

Traviss' story and scripting is pretty evocative of the Greg Rucka era of the Wonder Woman title, and Guinaldo's designs are all pretty great. His Strife/Eris are pretty generic-looking, but I like his several Wonder Woman costumes, and his drawings of Night, an complicated abstract, organic-looking strand of swirling outer-space in a vaguely mandala-like form, is fantastic.

I'm really gonna miss this book when it's gone, especially since it's the most reliable source of decent Wonder Woman stories.



*It didn't occur to me while reading this last night, but now that I'm typing that name up, I realize that it was the "old" Shazam, rather than the New 52 version of the character, for whatever that's worth. Very little, I imagine, given the relatively loose continuity of the title, but interesting to note that when some people–like the artist and/or writer of this very DC comic book–think of The Wizard Shazam, thy think of the original version rather than the New 52 version.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Meanwhile, at Good Comics For Kids...

Snoopy meets Hachiko...and Gojira! That's probably my favorite panel of Vicki Scott's new original graphic novel, Peanuts: It's Tokyo, Charlie Brown!, for the obvious reasons. A Snoopy/Hachiko or Snoopy/Godzilla meeting would have made for a great comics panel, but both in the same panel?  One could hardly ask for a better panel in an original graphic novel about Snoopy, Charlie Brown and their human friends traveling to Tokyo.

I have a short review of the book at Good Comics For Kids, if you'd like to go read it; otherwise, stay here for a few more long seconds and drink in Snoopy's salute to Japan's favorite dog and his cowardly retreat from The King of The Monsters....

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

DC's December previews reviewed

There are no huge announcements in this latest round of DC Comics solicitations, certainly nothing on the scale or caliber of the previous round's Dark Knight III, with the two biggest books launching in December apparently being the previously announced inter-company crossover between Batman and IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a new, bi-monthly Harley Quinn ongoing team-up series...which, given how many one-shots and specials DC has had Harley writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner cranking out, doesn't seem like it will be more Harley comics as much as more organized Harley comics (Unless, of course, they plan to keep up the pace of the one-shots and specials and miniseries, while also publishing a second Harley ongoing; in which case, yeah, that's a lot of Harley comics).

Maybe the biggest news in DC's December solicitations isn't what they're planning on publishing that month, but what they plan to stop publishing after that month: About a half-dozen titles, including a hard shift in direction for Catwoman, pivoting from its current realistic crime drama format back to straight superheroics (Also, I notice two of the digital-first series I buy and read on a regular basis are also shipping their final issues).

None of the cancellations are too terribly surprising, although I did raise my eyebrow at the news that one of those titles being canceled would be Omega Men. Not because Omega Men is such a salable entity or anything–it's not, and was one of the many "Well, let's throw this at the wall" books that have characterized DC's output in the last few year–but because it's creative team was deliberately telling such a deliberately paced, slow-boiling story that it seems like DC would have (should have) either decided not to greenlight it as conceived at all, or to give it a year to find its audience. I've read each issue that's come out so far (three, I think), and it's still very much a story in-progress, with the characters still being introduced and the premise still being revealed. Everyone who has read it seemed to like it, though, and that's the sort of book that really needs to make it to trade before a publisher decides whether or not to keep publishing it. That DC is deciding to pull the plug on it after just three issues seems sort of insane; were they simply looking at the sales for the first two issues and, noting that it was already dipping below 20,000, decided to cancel it as soon as possible?

Looking at The Beat's latest sales chart analysis, Omega Men #2 moved about 17,000 copies in July (a huge drop of almost 50% from #1's 33,000-ish issues), making it one of DC's lowest sellers along with fellow cancel-ees Prez, Lobo, Doomed and Gotham By Midnight. In July, the also critically acclaimed Midnighter moved 19,800 copies, Justice League 30001 moved 21,300 and Gotham Academy 22,350.

One hopes that DC will be a little more judicious the next time they take the scalpel to their current line, and that they'll realize that books like Midnighter or Gotham Academy are different enough from the rest of their DCU line, and targeted towards different enough audiences that they may be worth keeping around even if they're selling slightly less than, say, Justice League 3001 or Secret Six or Sinestro or whatever.

Also of note this month is DC's variant program, which is...well, it's weird this month (What, no TMNT variants?). The theme is, once again, Harley Quinn (I lost track; is this the second time or the third time?), although this time the artists are of particularly superstar status and, weirdest of all, the variants are all coming polybagged. I can only assume this is because all of the covers feature nude drawings of Harley.

For DC's complete solicitations, you can visit Comic Book Resources. For my commentary–including a long summary of the fan-fiction I used to imagine as a high schooler, stay right where you are.


BATMAN BEYOND #7
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by STEPHEN THOMPSON
Cover by PHILIP TAN
On sale DECEMBER 2 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
RATED T
The sun rises on a new day in BATMAN BEYOND! With the threat of Brother Eye finally gone, Tim Drake is a man lost in time and without a mission. But now that he finally has the opportunity to explore this new Gotham City, he may find it just as dark as ever beneath its shiny new surface. And what Justice League secret does Matt McGinnis think will be unlocked with Green Lantern’s severed hand? Guest artist and FUTURES END veteran Stephen Thompson kicks things off in this prologue to “City of Yesterday”!


This book, for example, seems particularly ripe for cancellation. It's not selling horribly or anything, but the Batman Beyond concept was growing rather creatively exhausted well before the launch of this series, which puts the Tim Drake from the pages of Futures End into the Batman Beyond costume and sends him to the nightmare future of the earlier chapters of Futures End.

Not to be a jerk or anything, but I don't recall anyone really clamoring for more comics about the world of Futures End after the 52nd issue of that series shipped, nor for more featuring the Batman Beyond costume after the cancellation of the last few stabs at a Batman Beyond series, nor for more Dan Jurgens-written comics.


BATMAN ‘66 #30
Written by LEE ALLRED
Art and cover by MICHAEL ALLRED
On sale DECEMBER 16 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED E • DIGITAL FIRST • FINAL ISSUE
BATMAN ‘66 comes to a close as we unleash cover artist Michael Allred on the entire issue! Mobs of villains arrive in Gotham City for what appears to be a full-blown Criminal Convention. But one bad guy is not happy with how he’s being treated, and decides to tip off Batman and Robin. Will even this valuable bit of information be enough to help the Dynamic Duo overcome the overwhelming odds?


Based on the fact that this is issue #30 of the series, I think I have been wishing aloud that cover artist Michael Allred would also draw the interiors one of these days for almost 30 months now. And in December, I'll finally get my whish!

That's the good fantastic news. The bad devastating news? This is the last issue of the entire series.

I guess it couldn't have been 1966 forever, but I was hoping for at least a few more years...


BATMAN ‘66 MEETS THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. #1
Written by JEFF PARKER
Art by DAVID HAHN
Cover by MICHAEL ALLRED
1:25 Variant cover by JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ
On sale DECEMBER 23 • 32 pg, FC, 1 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
Two 1960s television icons cross paths for a groovy, globe-spanning adventure in this one-of-a-kind miniseries. The deadly organization known as T.H.R.U.S.H. has a new twist in their plans for world conquest—they’re recruiting some of Gotham City’s most infamous villains! Agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin bring this information to the one man who knows everything about these new enemies: Batman. Before you can say “Open channel D,” the Dynamic Duo and the Men from U.N.C.L.E. are jetting off to Europe to thwart the schemes of this deadly criminal cartel.


I've never seen a single episode of Man From UNCLE and know next to nothing about it, but after this and the Green Hornet crossover, I'm really hoping we're in for a whole series of Batman '66 crossovers, with the Caped Crusader teaming up with every TV show from 1966. I want to see Darrin Stephens invite Bruce Wayne to a dinner party at his house while he tries to land the Wayne account for his advertising firm; I want to see Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson summering in Collinsport, Maine; I want to see Batman and Robin helping Dr. Marsh Tracy to protect African big cats from getting recruited to a life of crime by Catwoman and Catman; I want to see the Dynamic Duo fighting Nazis with the Rat Patrol, visiting Hooterville, pursuing Richard Kimble and rescuing the castaways from Gilligan's Island



BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1
Written by JAMES TYNION IV
Art and cover by FREDDIE E. WILLIAMS II
1:50 Variant cover by KEVIN EASTMAN
...
On sale DECEMBER 9 • 32 pg, FC, 1 of 6, $3.99 US • RATED T
...
DC Comics and IDW team up for the crossover you never saw coming as two of the greatest entertainment icons meet for the first time! In Gotham City, a series of deadly raids leads Batman to believe he’s up against a group of highly trained ninjas known as the Foot Clan! Somehow, they’ve crossed over to another dimension and are determined to take advantage of the situation while looking to get back home. But they haven’t come alone: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo are hot on their trail. Get ready for excitement as heroes and villains from both worlds clash and team up in an epic battle that threatens the very fabric of reality!


This is one of those very crossovers that I actually used to fantasize about as a kid, spending God-knows-how-long in class or car trips or wherever day-dreaming about a comic like this (Daredevil/TMNT and X-Men/TMNT were among the others; I really liked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics, okay?).

Here was my version: Batman would be on patrol one night and run across Casey Jones savagely beating gang members in Robinson Park. Batman would intervene, they would fight, Batman would do his whole "This is my town; beat it vigilante thing!", there would be the requisite joke about Casey being the real "bat" man, and it would end with Jones hauled away by the cops. Casey would have been in Gotham scouting the place out for his allies, the Turtles, who were planning on joining him. A mysterious group of ninjas would have been slowly consolidating power in Gotham, taking down the Street Demonz (who might be introduced in a gang fight with the Purple Dragons) and The Ghost Dragons and Gotham gangster types like The Penguin, THe Ventriloquist and whoever was still alive to run the Falcone family.

The Foot Clan would have been seeking to branch out and take control of the Gotham City criminal underworld, and while they would be doing a bang-up job taking on and down most of the competition, they would repeatedly find attempts on certain targets foiled by Batman.

Meanwhile, the Turtles (who break Casey out of a police van en route to Arkham Asylum For The Criminally Insane, where he would have been sentenced to for being a crazy man in a hockey mask beating the hell out of people with sporting equipment) have followed The Foot to Gotham in order to thwart their plans of expansion. They try to set up shop in the Gotham CIty Sewer System, but find it an even more dangerous place than the New York sewers, and they have to deal with the likes of Killer Croc, Ratcatcher and maybe Solomon Grundy while down there.

Naturally all the fighting brings them to the attention of Batman, who is seeking the escaped Casey and puzzling over the ninjitsu in the supposed maniac's fighting style, and the mysterious group of ninjas he's allied with...especially since they use the same weapons and fight in the same style as The Foot Clan.

While the heroes remain in conflict, The Shredder is forced to come to Gotham City himself to remove The Batman as an obstacle. When Batman and The Shredder are engaged in their battle, Batman's getting torn to pieces, and likely wouldn't survive the fight without the timely intervention of The Turtles and Casey. THe Shredder's still holding his own against those guys when, ultimately, Lady Shiva arrives, swats the Mirage gang away and claims Shredder for herself, claiming his ability to defeat Batman makes him the best fighter in the world at the moment. They're fight would end with Shredder pulling out a thermite grenade and blowing the top off of the rooftop they are fighting on.

Neither Shredder's body nor that of Shiva are found when the Turtles comb through the wreckage, however.

Or at least, that's how I would have written it at 14. Now I'd do something completely different. There are two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles storylines I'd really like to write someday, one of which no one has really done with any version of the turtles before, but which lends itself to a crossover with the DC Universe at large. But that is, I suppose, neither here nor there.

...

Wait, what was I posting about...? Oh yeah, DC's December solicits! So yeah, Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is quite literally a dream come true for me, although I'm tempering my hopes. The creative team is a solid one, but it leaves a lot to be desired for a story like this, which really ought to be treated as a bigger occasion. Ideally it would have the biggest-name creators associated with the characters involved, so I would expect a team more along the lines of Geoff Johns or Scott Snyder co-plotting with Kevin Eastman, and writing the script, with Eastman penciling or inking or at least laying-out the art for a Batman artist. This would be a rare opportunity to let Batman creators do the Turtles, and Turtles creators do Batman (I'd prefer to see some of the old Mirage guys like Eric Talbot, Jim Lawson, Mike Dooney and so on getting to do covers or back-ups or something to DC guys, but let's get a Jim Lee cover in here somewhere at least, you know?).

Writer James Tynion IV is a Batman writer, although he's not the definitive one that his frequent collaborator Scott Snyder is, and, as far as I know, he doesn't have any Turtle experience (I'm actually a little surprised this isn't being co-written by whoever's currently writing the IDW series...the last volume I read was scripted by Tom Waltz from stories by Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow and Waltz). Freddie Williams' art is good, and seems like a good fit for both sets of characters, but, again, he's not exactly a definitive Batman or Turtle artist.

At least Eastman is doing covers. I can't tell you how excited I am to see a Kevin Eastman-drawn Batman...even in just that one image, with Batman in the background.

Beyond the team involved, the solicitation doesn't give us too much to go on. Given that crossing dimensional borders is mentioned, then I suppose that means this is going to be set in-continuity for probably both the Turtles and Batman...or at least the Turtles, who are wearing their color-coded masks, as they do in the current IDW comics, all of which revolve around their particular, peculiar take on the Turtles.

Part of me can't wait to read this as soon as it comes out, but I see the Eastman cover is a 1-in-50 variant, meaning it won't be on the already-too-expensive issue that will be for sale in my comic shop come September. But I should be able to wait for the trade on this one. I mean, I've waited like 25 years to read a Batman/TMNT comic, what's another year or so...?


CATWOMAN #47
Written by FRANK TIERI
Art and cover by INAKI MIRANDA
On sale DECEMBER 9 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
Catwoman is back in action! Leaving the mob behind, Selina is on the prowl again. When she gets wind of what might be the biggest score of her life, she’ll need to remind everyone just who is the greatest thief around.


This is a little disappointing. The current Genevieve Valentine-written direction of the book, in which Catwoman kinda sorta went into temporary semi-retirement as Catwoman in order to consolidate and run the Gotham mob (spinning out of events in Batman Eternal made for a fresh, new take, and about as dramatic a new direction for the character as she's taken since the launch of the previous volume, when her new, Darwyn Cooke-designed costume debuted and the book became a sort of cartoon noir crime comic.

The New 52 version looked to be straight superheroics, and I bought and read exactly zero issues of it (Wait, that's not right; I read the "Death of The Family" tie-in that was collected in The Joker: The Death of The Family. I may have also read a #0 issue or Futures End tie in. The fact that I can't even remember though is a pretty good indication of how generic the book was, though). I've read and liked all of the Vanetine-written issues so far though; it's not a great comic or anything, but I'm reading Catwoman. It also seems to be a particularly-easy-to-adapt-into-a-TV-show take on the character, something DC seems very interested in these days, but with Gotham already on the air, perhaps that's not a concern. The similarly-canceled Gotham By Midnight, which is basically just Gotham Central + Spooks, also reads like a based-on-a-comic book TV show waiting to happen.

At any rate, it's kinda disappointing to see that Catwoman is going back to being just another super-book. On the other hand: Inaki Miranda art. That ought to make this one of the better looking DC superhero comics.


Check out Ant Lucia's cover for DC Comics Bombshells #7, featuring "The Batgirls." I imagine they're all-new characters, given that none of them are blonde like Stephanie Brown or red-haired like Barbara Gordon, but I guess the girl on the far right could be Bombshell-iverse Cassandra Cain; her costume/uniform has the same color scheme as Cassandra's Batgirl costume did, anyway...


DC COMICS PRESENTS: ROBIN WAR 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS, GRANT MORRISON, TONY S. DANIEL and FABIAN NICIEZA
Art by ANDY KUBERT, TONY S. DANIEL and others
Cover by RYAN SOOK
On sale DECEMBER 2 • 96 pg, FC, $7.99 US
It’s Robin vs. Robin vs. Robin in these stories from TEEN TITANS #29, BATMAN #657, NIGHTWING #139 and BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL #3.

Interesting to see this book existing at all. It is apparently some Robin vs. Robin fights from recent-ish Batman comics history, collected together for no reason other than the fact that DC is doing a Robins-fighting-people crossover storyline called "Robin War."

The credits say that it will feature a cover by Ryan Sook, but the one above is by Andy Kubert (and from the Grant Morrison-written Batman #657, in which Robin Tim Drake comes to blows with Damian al Ghul, shortly after the latter arrived in the Batcave during Morrison's "Batman and Son" story arc.

The other comics are...well, they're all pretty bad, actually. Johns and Daniel's Teen Titans issue is a kinda-sorta Infinite Crisis tie-in, in which the resurrected-by-Superboy-punches Jason Todd, aka The Red Hood, infiltrates Titans Tower in order to fight Robin Tim Drake. I recall it having a pretty hilarious scene in which Todd rips off his Red Hood costume to reveal a Robin costume beneath it, but he does it all in one panel, so it appears as if he was wearing, like, another pair of boots under his Red Hood boots, another pair of pants under hps Red Hood pants, et cetera.

The Nightwing issue is by Fabian Nicieza, Don Kramer and Wayne Faucher and features Tim Drake fighting Dick Grayson. It's also part six of the seven-part, completely unintelligible "Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul" crossover.

Finally, the Battle For The Cowl story is written and drawn by Daniel, and it is probably the worst of the lot. That's the story where Jason Todd was trying to murder everyone to be Batman, and Dick Grayson reluctantly decided to become Batman while Bruce Wayne was dead/Omega Sanction-ed.

So not only are these comics all out of continuity now--like, way out--they're all parts of bigger storylines. I wonder how much sense any of them will make divorced from any sort of context...


DOCTOR FATE #7
Written by PAUL LEVITZ
Art and cover by SONNY LIEW
On sale DECEMBER 16 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
One of the most acclaimed new DC Comics series concludes its first amazing epic as Anubis defeats Fate and takes his body and soul on a surreal journey into the ancient and mystical House of the Dead.


If you look at this book's place on the sales chart in relation to the books DC is cancelling, then this looks like it could well be a near-future casualty. I certainly hope not. While Levitz's writing leaves a lot to be desired, and the book is paced for a trade (as is Omega Men), Sonny Liew's art is fantastic, and this is one of the relatively few DC books that is easy to recommend to young people and relative newcomers to the DCU, as you don't need to know anything about the characters, setting and their history that isn't contained in Doctor Fate itself.

Also, look at that cover.



EARTH 2: SOCIETY #7
Written by DANIEL H. WILSON
Art by JORGE JIMENEZ
Cover by ANDY KUBERT
On sale DECEMBER 9 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
As the fledgling society of new Earth threatens to disintegrate into chaos, can the raw power of the Green Lantern overcome the godlike abilities of Doctor Impossible? Or is Alan Scott just a man, after all?


I'm honestly surprised this wasn't one of the book's that was canceled. In addition to being pretty terrible, the entire premise just seems exhausted. Since DC launched Earth 2, this is the third or fourth writer, and it's already been renumbered and relaunched once. It's also a continuation of Convergence which, despite not being too terribly popular a series, has apparently spawned this on-going follow-up and 2-3 additional spin-off ongoings (I'm not sure how the upcoming Titans Hunt spins out of Convergence, but DC is saying it does.)


HARLEY'S LITTLE BLACK BOOK #1
Written by AMANDA CONNER and JIMMY PALMIOTTI
Art by AMANDA CONNER and a bunch of people who owe her favors
Cover by AMANDA CONNER
Variant covers by J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
On sale DECEMBER 2 • 48 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T+
...
It’s the sensational debut of a bimonthly, overstuffed, oversized team-up series in which Harley meets (and almost certainly annoys) the greatest heroes and villains of the DC Universe! First up? The incredible Wonder Woman! There’s a plot to assassinate Wondy, and Harley is convinced that only she could possibly stop it! (Hey, you want to tell her about all the other options? We tried.)

This issue features open-to-order variant covers by J. Scott Campbell that will be shipped in opaque polybags.


As I mentioned earlier, based on how much Conner/Palmiotti-written Harley DC releases, a 32-page bimonthly ongoing may not actually be much of an increase. I'm a little surprised by the title; I assume it has an in-story explanation, but it doesn't sound much like an ongoing comic book title. I would have expected something more like Harley Quinn Team-Up or Harley Quinn: The Brave and The Bonkers.

I'm not a fan of Connimotti's sense of humor, like, at all, but a couple of those anthology issues have featured some really great artists, so if the bunch of people who owe Conner favors includes the likes of Paul Pope and Darwyn Cooke, this book may be well worth keeping an eye on.


JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #16
Written by JEFF PARKER
Art and cover by TRAVEL FOREMAN
On sale DECEMBER 9 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T • FINAL ISSUE
Artist Travel Foreman returns for this “trippy” trip to the House of Secrets to reveal at last how Adam Strange came to be trapped in the Zeta Beam! And just what will that mean for the mysterious, reality-warping Breakers that have brought so many disparate heroes and villains to the team?


This isn't the first time DC has canceled a Justice League comic that was doing decently in sales since they launched The New 52; they previously canceled Justice League International and Justice League, the latter of which introduced one of this book's ongoing cast members, Stargirl.

The premise of this series, post-Convergence, seems to be that a handful of the characters from "Justice League Canada" (Stargirl, Animal Man, the new Equinox and the New 52 Adam and Alanna Strange) recruit random characters a la Justice League Task Force. The first two were completley unreadable to me (I really can't take Foreman's art; it hurts my eyes). The last issue, which I think came out just last week or so, was a great improvement (Paul Pelletier on art) and full of characters I know and/or like (Steel, Robot Man, Batgirl, Vandal Savage, Enemy Ace, Sgt. Rock), but since this is the NEw 52-iverse, I actually don't know most of them, and so it read a lot like an Elseworlds story to me.

I'm not surprised to see this getting canceled, therefore, as I imagine it has more to do with trying to keep the Justice League brand focused than actual sales. I expect Justice Leage 3001 to soon follow for the same reasons (well, that and the fact that its sales are so close to those of some of the titles that got canceled this month).


ROBIN WAR #1
Written by TOM KING
Art and cover by KHARY RANDOLPH
1:25 Variant cover by LEE BERMEJO
On sale DECEMBER 2 • 48 pg, FC, 1 of 2, $4.99 US • RATED T
...
THE ROBINS FACE THE COURT OF OWLS!
In part 1 of this new epic, it’s Robins vs. cops! Robins vs. Robins! Robins vs. Batman! And Robins vs. the Court of Owls?!
Damian Wayne returns to Gotham City, and he is not happy. There are kids all over the city calling themselves Robin, Bruce Wayne is no longer Batman and the GCPD, led by the new, armored-up Batman, is cracking down on anybody wearing the “R.” And things only get worse when Red Hood, Red Robin and Grayson all come back to Gotham City…


Oh good, The Court of Owls. I'm definitely not sick of those guys at all.


SENSATION COMICS FEATURING WONDER WOMAN #17
Written by TRINA ROBBINS
Art by CHRIS GUGLIOTTI
Cover by ANNA DITTMAN
On sale DECEMBER 2 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T • DIGITAL FIRST • FINAL ISSUE
Diana’s compassion is tested when Dr. Barbara Minerva appears, begging for assistance as she seeks out the last remaining source of urzkatarga, the plant that supplies the serum that transforms her into the Cheetah. And if she can’t use it to replenish her supply, she’ll die. But when the Amazon princess/super-hero and the scientist/super-villain make their way to the “Island of Lost Souls,” they find more is at stake than expected!


If DC was going to cancel a Wonder Woman comic, why did they have to go and cancel the good one...?

Well, I'm super-bummed about this, and of all the titles shipping their final issues in December, this will be the one I miss the most. It varied in quality from issue to issue, naturally, but some of the most fun comics I've read in the last year or two have been published within these pages.

Also, this is, like, the only DC-published comic book I could ever imagine writing a story for...


I'm very disappointed in Amanda Conner for drawing Starfire's butt rather than Dick Grayson's legendarily cute butt on the cover of December's issue of Starfire. Like, everyone always talks about how awesome Dick's butt is, but we never really see it looking all that awesome, you know? This is comics, people; show, don't tell!


SUPERMAN #47
Written by GENE LUEN YANG
Art and cover by HOWARD PORTER
Variant covers by LEE BERMEJO
On sale DECEMBER 23 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with a standard cover, as well as polybagged variant editions. Please see the order form for more information.
What would happen if the powers of all of Superman’s foes were contained in one villain? You’ll find out when you meet the Amalgam of Composite Superman Foes—and this is one nightmare a semi-powered Man of Steel may not survive! Join series writer Gene Luen Yang and guest artist Howard Porter for an unforgettable new epic!
This issue features open-to-order variant covers by Lee Bermejo that will be shipped in opaque polybags.


There are relatively few proper nouns that I like more than "Composite Superman," but I do believe "Amalgam of Composite Suerman Foes," which I've just heard for the first time, is now one of them.


SUPERMAN: LOIS AND CLARK #3
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by LEE WEEKS
Cover by STEPHEN SEGOVIA
On sale DECEMBER 2 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Who—or what—is Blanque? What is being held in this Superman’s Fortress of Solitude? And what is Intergang, and why is their discovery dangerous to Lois? Whatever the answers, neither Clark nor Lois want their son to learn the truth…


TELOS #3
Written by JEFF KING
Art by CARLO PAGULAYAN and JASON PAZ
Cover by STEPHEN SEGOVIA
On sale DECEMBER 2 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Telos battles Validus while his revolutionary allies—K’Rot, Captain Comet, Stealth and Techne—make a horrifying discovery about Computo. He’s creating a super-powered clone army! Techne asks Telos to fight alongside her team. But is Techne who she seems? And will Telos abandon his personal quest for his fellow prisoners’ cause?


Based on how quickly Omega Men was canceled, I believe we can expect the announcement of these two books' cancellations in late December, with their final issues shipping in April. That's just a guess, mind you. The book starring the alternate universe version of Superman and Lois Lane may last a few months longer than the book starring the generic character from the crossover no one liked, who will be teaming up with some characters from a quickly canceled series I've already forgotten the name of.

...Threshold? Was it Threshold...?


WE ARE ROBIN #7
Written by LEE BERMEJO
Art by KHARY RANDOLPH
Cover by JORGE CORONA
On sale DECEMBER 16 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
RED ROBIN VS. RED HOOD—TO THE DEATH! “Robin War” part 4 pits Tim Drake against Jason Todd in a steel-cage match—and only the Court of Owls can say who will escape the cage with his life!


Do they really fight to the death? Does one of them really die? Can we pick which one? Maybe vote on it? With a phone number or something? If so, I say death to Jason Todd. If both Todd and Tim Drake survive, however, perhaps they can at least kill off Red Robin's costume? I hate that thing so much.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Review: All-New X-Men Vol. 7: The Utopians

Imagine a big, red stick of dynamite the size of a grain solo, with an incredibly, almost unbelievably long fuse. Imagine someone lighting that fuse, and then imagine watching as the spark traveled slowly down the fuse over the course of, say, two and a half years. Then imagine the spark finally reaching the end of the fuse, disappearing as it came into contact with the impossibly large explosive and...nothing at all happening.

That should give you a pretty good idea of how Brian Michael Bendis concluded his 41-issue run on All-New X-Men, the last five mismatched issues of which are collected in the poorly-named All-New X-Men Vol. 7: The Utopians.

To say it fizzled at the end wouldn't even be accurate, as fizzling is something happening. Rather, Bendis' run just ends. To keep casting about for metaphors, his All-New X-Men wasn't a journey of any kind. Sure, the starting point might have been rather compelling, and yes, there was a great deal of movement, but there was apparently never destination in mind–Bendis just packed up his characters and readers and started driving in a particular direction until the car ran out of gas.

I honestly don't know how typical this is of Bendis' long-form comics writing, as I didn't make it to the end of his much longer tenure on the Avengers franchise or Ultimate Spider-Man, driven away from both by the price increases and constant rebooting that has made it difficult to find where I left off (His Ultimate Spider-Man run had at least three different titles and relaunches, for example; I would need a list of reading order and a lot of patience to find all those trades and read them...and that would be if I skipped all the Ultimate "event" comics, like that series where Marvel Universe Peter Parker first met Ultimate Universe Miles Morales).

This is particularly frustrating in the case of All-New X-Men, as the title launched with one of those big violations of the status quo that really doesn't seem as if it can or should last forever: After the events of Avengers Vs. X-Men, in which Cyclops and a handful of other mutants possessed or were possessed by the Phoenix Force and essentially went crazy and conquered the world for a while, a dying Beast used a time machine to bring the original, teenage X-Men to the present in order to remind Cyclops of who he (and they) used to be. But then they decided to stay in the present rather than go back and live their miserable lives full of death, horror and loss.

Such time-travel has been done on a temporary basis before, and this read an awful lot like a reversal of what DC did with Legion of Super-Hero characters a couple of times, but in the context of X-Men comics, it was was kind of clever, since the modern team travels to or otherwise interacts with nightmarish dystopian futures on a pretty regular basis (the twist here being that the nigmarish, dystopian future was actually our present...which has also been done before by the Distinguished Competition).

The fact that the past team wouldn't go back and then, eventually, couldn't go back was a pretty big deal, as it would violate all the laws of time travel known to man and mutant, in the Marvel Universe or otherwise. It was pretty much taken for granted that Bendis' run would end with either a restoration of the status quo, some sort of tweak, or, at the very least, an explanation. The fact that the end of his run was aligning nicely with Marvel's Crisis On Infinite Earths-like line-wide crossover story, the premise of which involved crashing alternate realities, suggested that Bendis could just take the easy way out and let Secret Wars hit the reboot button for him.

Well, to Marvel's credit, based on the books they've solicited post-Secret Wars, they don't seem to be using it as a way to un-do recent dramatic storylines, like the death of Wolverine, or the replacement of Captain America or Thor with new characters using their names and weapons. But the teenage X-Men all still seem to be hanging around after Secret Wars too, in a pair of books (most of them in a relaunched All-New X-Men, Jean Grey in Extraordinary X-Men), although Bendis is writing either. It really seems as if he's just passing the baton mid-story.

That's fine, I suppose; I'm sure the writers taking the baton aren't going to complain over-much since they're getting the paycheck associated with writing X-Men books, but it's unusual in these days of, a creator-specific runs on titles, which Marvel often talks about in terms of television-like "seasons," and certainly an unsatisfying pay-off to reading a book for so long.

It should be said that All-New X-Men does have the words "To be concluded...in Uncanny X-Men #600" at the botto of its last panel. Uncanny X-Men is the sister book to All-New, following the grown-up Cyclops and his allies at a rogue X-Men school, and also written by Bendis. That hasn't come out yet, nor will it...until after the conclusion of Secret Wars, which, evidence suggests will not put the teenage X-Men back where Bendis found them. (By the way, the last issue of Uncanny that Marvel published was #35, so they are apparently doing one of those random re-numbering stunts where big numbers are preferable to small ones, but only when they have two zeros in them.)

So if the final collection of the final issues of All-New X-Men doesn't include a conclusion, what does it include?

Well, nothing very good, that's for sure.

The first issue is by artist Mike Del Mundo, a rather prolific Marvel cover artist–one of their best–and it is a done-in-one story in which Emma Frost takes Jean Grey to Madripoor for some field training in the arts of psychic combat. She temporary blocks Jean's telepathy so that she'll have to rely solely on her telekinesis. Then she picks a fight with The Blob, who's been in Madripoor and addicted to Mutant Growth Hormone in the pages of Uncanny. There are a few, interesting and salient points about how Xavier and The X-Men turned out from the perspective of villainous mutants (including Emma, who is now at least more hero than villain), and perhaps something in a way of Bendis settling the "When is Jean going to freak out and become Dark Phoenix?" question for now. More annoying is his resolution of Cyclops' teams unreliable, "broken" powers. Emma declares that she fixed it off-panel, when no one was looking.

The art is predictably great.

That's followed by the two All-New X-Men chapters of the 13-part "Black Vortex" storyline, meaning that All-New followed the pattern of Legendary Star-Lord, and just stuck a few random chapters of the crossover into a trade collection. I've expressed my confusion at DC's habit of double-collecting crossover storylines like this in the past, but "Black Vortex" is the first time I've noticed Marvel doing it.

For an overlong aside, the problem is this. If you're an All-New X-Men reader following the book in trade, you're probably going to want to read all of "Black Vortex." Sure, there are a lot of wasted, pointless pages, but there are a few relevant bits to "your" storyline: Teen Cyclops is reunited with his team, Grown-Up Beast learns that the time-stream is irrevocably screwed-up and he can't return the kids home, Iceman and Angel get different designs, and their Professor Kitty Pryde gets engaged to Star-Lord. But here you just get 2/13ths of the story, and they are essentially unreadable in this form; I mean, you can read them, but they won't make a whole hell of a lot of sense. And if you then buy the "Black Vortex" collection, Guardians of The Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex, these issues will also be in there. So if you don't buy both trades, you're missing a chunk of story and getting charged for unreadable nonsense in All-New Vol. 7. If you do buy both All-New Vol. 7 and Black Vortex, you're paying for twice for the same 40 pages. (The solution? Just get your Marvel collections from the library like I do, I guess; it's still annoying to see the middle of this book full of Andrea Sorrentino's inappropriately realistic art, but at least you're spending any money on it!)

That, finally, brings us to the last two issues, "The Utopians" story from which the book takes its sub-title. Or, I suppose, I should say "story," as it's not really much of a story.

Back on earth after the events of "Black Vortex," the teen X-Men are just hanging out, enjoying not being in space, and eating fast food that Professor Magik brought them. Iceman Bobby Drake comments on how hot Magik is, at which point Jean pulls him aside and tells him he's gay. Yes, this is the Teen Iceman Is gay issue that you've likely heard about.

I can understand Bendis' intention, and it's not a bad one. The diversification of a superhero universe like The Marvel Universe is a noble goal, but, problematically, reaching that goal often involves legacy characters, which can boil down to simply giving new characters of color the  hand-me-down costumes and codenames of white characters...who almost always return to either reclaim or share the role with their one-time replacements (Think Green Lantern John Stewart, for example). This is because when the Marvel Universe was founded, there were few or any non-white, non-straight characters...and because it's extremely difficult to get a brand-new character to stick, regardless of race or sexual orientation. Even the legacy strategy doesn't always work, as readers simply don't embrace new characters or ideas or approaches in large enough numbers on a regular basis to guarantee success (Looking at recent books starring legacy characters that I personally enjoyed, Ms. Marvel sells well enough to stay in publication, but Ghost Rider did not, and was cancelled).

Outting a character previously thought of as straight is a little easier, since a reader can't "see" sexual orientation in the same way they can see race. Like, you can make The Punisher gay, but you can't make him black (Er, for very long, anyway). And if you're going to make a pre-existing, semi-prominent-ish Marvel character gay, why not Iceman? He seems pretty straight and all, having dated women (like Kitty Pryde, in the rather recent past), but, at the same time, he doesn't have, say, a Mary Jane Watson in his life or anything, you know? (Actually, has Beast had any long-term, serious, character-defining relationships with women? I know he's currently dating SWORD's Abigail Brand off-and-on, but before that? When Grant Morrison first took over the X-Men, he had Beast outting himself as gay, and Cyclops continually arguing with Beast that he's not gay, he's just trying to be provocative. Those were weird exchanges, and nothing ever came of them, either way, that I recall.)

The way Bendis handles it, however, is pretty problematic, from Jean telling Bobby he's gay and then arguing with him that he's gay, definitely not bi, but gay. More problematic still is the fact that they both seem to agree that grown-up Bobby Drake isn't gay (and Jean should know, if she knows teen Bobby is gay). That implies that being gay is a choice, and that grown-up Bobby chose not to be gay because he came of age in the 1960s (or, on a sliding timeline, is it the 1980s or 1990s now?) when society was less accepting of gays, but now teen Bobby is coming of age in a post-Obergefell world, so he can choose to be gay if he wants. I know there are still plenty of folks that do think it's a choice, and while I doubt Bendis is one of them, his story seems to imply that it's a choice rather than something determined at birth. (Also, with two Icemen running around the Marvel Universe, this isn't so much the same thing as Marvel's Iceman being gay as it is a Iceman being gay; technically they're the same person, but, looked at another way, this Iceman is an alternate version, and having him be gay isn't really as big a deal, in the same way Ultimate Colossus being gay wouldn't be the same as Colossus being gay, you know?)

Given the fact that this is Bendis' second-to-last issue of the series, it also seems somewhat mercenary. I hate to assign motivations to someone, so maybe it's unfair to say this is here simply to gain attention (and money), but it can seem that way, given the fact that Bendis is doing it right before jumping ship, rather than, say, 40 issues ago.

Anyway, a few other things happen in this first chapter of "The Utopians," although the Bobby conversation accounts for six of the 20 pages. The Utopian-related business lasts only six pages (two of which are a double-page spread).

Remember Utopia, the island nation the X-Men founded prior to the Cyclops/Wolverine schism? Well, it's been abandoned for a while, but recently seven completely random mutants wearing blue and gold uniforms (only one of whom I recognized on sight) have decided to make their home in the ruins of Utopia, and violently repel invaders.

Having attacked scavengers and then a SHIELD team, they appear to be trouble for the outside world. So, in part two, Maria Hill asks the teen X-Men to look into it for her, and they do. In this second issue, captions name all of The Utopians, and so I can name the ones who aren't Boom Boom: Random, Masque, Elixir, Karma and Madison Jeffries. So the All-New X-Men and The Utopians fight for a few pages. Then they decide to stop fighting, and the All-New X-Men take them back to their base, the recently-shuttered New Xavier School (the repurposed Weapon X facility), and the X-Men invite the other mutants to live there, and that doesn't seem any worse a place to live than the ruins of an island. At the very least, it ought to be easier to get food.

Jean wonders what they can change, since it's hard out there for a mutant, and then the issue, and thus All-New X-Men ends. Thanks for reading! I guess!

These last two issues were both drawn by Mahmud Asrar, who is very good at his job, and whose style is a nice fit with the general style of this title, although his are the only issues that look like they adhere to that style in this particular volume. I suppose we'll–well, I'll–have to wait until the final collection of Uncanny X-Men to see if Bendis does indeed have an ending in mind for his X-Men epic or not, and before Marvel publishes that, they need to publish Uncanny X-Men #600, but before they publish that, they have to publish Secret Wars, I guess.

But for now? Everyone out of the car; All-New X-Men is over. Not concluded, just over.