Supernatural Caledonia #4 review, Action Comics #4 review, Detective Comics #4 review

Comic Book Wednesday

Issue #30

Part Two of Two

Unfortunately, things are crazy. On the teaching side of things, we're in crunch time and looking down the barrel of Finals Week over at Five Towns College. On the writing side, I'm getting gigs, which is good. On the day job side, I'm working at a bookstore during the holiday season. So I don't have much time for comic reviewage. Instead of the normal posts, I'll do a bit of a bullet point list of things I dug or didn't dig in these issues.

Supernatural: Caledonia #4

Emma of the Isles - Part 1 of 4

Written by Brian Wood

Art by Grant Bond

DC Comics

+ Picks up years after the last two issues, but the tone is consist with them.

+ The horror gets pumped up a bit.

+ Fun research scenes.

+ Art is stylized and great. Likeness fiends may hate this kind of stuff, but it adds something very different and very cool to this property.

- Sam is really the only character this time around, so we don't get the fun banter and exciting romantic connection that we did last time.

- The cover made it seem as if Dean would be a part of this, but he's only referenced. I don't mind the attention to Sam, but you can't tease Dean if you're not gonna deliver.

I left the issue wishing this were an ongoing. And that I were writing it. But that's a different story. You should own this if you even have a passing interest in Supernatural. It's great.

Action Comics #4

DC Comics

MAIN STORY: Superman and the Men of Steel

Written by Grant Morrison

Pencils by Rags Morales

+ Lex Luthor is more interesting than he's been in a long time. He has a certain nervous power that permeates every scene he's in.

+ The dichotomy of the police needing Superman to save them while wanting to arrest him was great.

- The action is a bit hard to follow.

- Not as many cool character moments as you'd expect from Superman's first big battle.

- Not as much intellect as you'd expect from a Grant Morrison comic.

- To be continued in Issue #7. Really?

BACK-UP STORY: Hearts of Steel

Written by Sholly Fisch

Art by Brad Walker

+ Sholly Fisch, whose whose work I haven't read before, takes a simple fight and, through clever narration and an even cleverer solution, turns it into the highlight of the book.

+ The introduction of Steel was cool.

- Steel is almost indistinguishable from Cyborg.

Detective Comics #4

The Main Event

Written & drawn by Tony Salvador Daniel

DC Comics

+ There is an incredibly emotional and well-crafted scene between Gordon and the captured Olivia that made this comic worth reading.

+ The interaction between the folks at GCPD is well done.

- The story itself just isn't compelling enough. Batman isn't particularly interesting in this title, unfortunately. And that is almost never a problem. I don't understand. The story doesn't add anything new or interesting to the Batman mythos. If it weren't such an iconic title, I'd consider dropping this.

+ Had to end on a plus. Back to the first reason... TSD has to chops to make this book work. If he can pull off a scene that moving, he can make this book something to look forward to. I hope it just keeps getting better from here on out.

NEXT TIME: Batgirl #4, Batman & Robin #4, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Nine #4, Green Lantern #4, Ray #1

Action Comics #2 review, Detective Comics #2 review, Batwing #2 review

Comic Book Wednesday

Issue #21

Part Two (of Two)

And the week of judgment has arrived! Let’s see which New 52 books have improved with the second issue, which have gotten worse, and which have managed to maintain the same quality as the first.

Action Comics #2

Superman in Chains

Written by Grant Morrison

Pencils by Rags Morales & Brent Anderson

DC Comics

Whoa.

The first issue of Action Comics received a hell of a lot of praise, but I found myself in the “it’s pretty good” crowd. I was a bit more impressed with Superman #1, which I also didn’t think was great, but found it to be closer to what I was looking for in terms of character development and an introduction to this new world. It’s safe to say, though, that Action Comics #2 is easily the best Super-book of the reboot so far. This thing is good.

Readers might not like that there are only twenty pages of story and the book is priced at $3.99. However, there are eight pages of extras (character designs with notes from Grant, Rags, and also Gene Ha) that make this book well worth the charge. But if the storytelling stays this good, I’m willing to shell out that extra dollar, because Grant Morrison spins quite a yarn with this issue.

I got a lot clearer picture of who this new Superman is in this issue. While the opening scene of the first Action was great, this is a whole issue of that excellent. Luthor is a calculating bastard, and the stuff that Grant and Rags say about him (and the choice to make him a bit heaver) in the extras makes his scenes even more powerful. This is just the book that’s necessary to get people excited about Superman again.

And man, how about that Action Comics #1 homage on the second to last page?

Detective Comics #2

Playtime’s Over

Written and drawn by Tony S. Daniel

DC Comics

While Action Comics #2 greatly improved on the first issue, the second installment of Detective Comics only serves to highlight the flaws inherent in the writing, which sadly takes the first issue down a few notches in hindsight. The writing is just all right (with often stilted dialogue and clichéd exchanges), the art is pretty good when it’s not trying its hardest to gross the readers out, and the plot is so dark and gritty for the sake of being dark and gritty that it sadly delves to a Frank Miller-esque self-parody. It wasn’t a completely awful issue, but it’s so damn violent that it completely severs any emotion connection that I’ve had to the story. Which is sad, because I love these characters, and I think they’re put to great, great use in Scott Snyder’s Batman.

This could be a good read if it dials down the violence and shock value, concentrating more on building story and character. I’ll follow it through this story arc and see how it ends.

Batwing #2

First Blood

Written by Judd Winick

Art by Ben Oliver

DC Comics

I have to be honest. I was two seconds away from dropping this book after the first issue. I was about to submit my pull list for this week without Batwing #2 on it, but then I paused. I figured I’d give David, the Batman of Africa, one more try. All in all, I’m glad that I did. This is Winick’s best effort of the New 52 so far, standing head and shoulders above the first issues of Batwing and Catwoman. It’s violent, maybe as violent as Detective, but there is a strong emotional center here. David cares about the people being murdered, and it’s written in a way that we, the readers, do as well.

The art is beautiful, just as it was last time. If Ben Oliver stays on pencils/inks and Judd Winick keeps improving this story from issue to issue, I’m in for the ride. I’ll certainly pick up this book next month, because the story of Batwing vs. Massacre is admittedly pretty interesting. Let’s just see if, after this battle is over, Batwing can support a book of his own.

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NEXT WEEK: New York Comic Con! Reviews for Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Nine #2, Batgirl #2, Ghostbusters #2, Batman & Robin #2, Green Lantern #2, Joe Hill’s The Cape #2, CBLDF Liberty Annual 2011 #4, Suicide Squad #2. That is a lot of books, but I’d expect no less the week of the convention. These might be a bit late, what with me prepping for NYCC, but I’ll do what I can! There will definitely be big con reports, though, pictures ‘n all.

REVIEWS: Action Comics #1, Batgirl #1, Detective Comics #1, Static Shock #1

Comic Book Wednesday

Issue #17

Part One

Due to lack of time, this blog seems to be nothing more than another comic book review site. Not for much longer. I'm still going to do my weekly reviews, but I want to keep bringing you guys more content as well. It's rough, as I have a full plate on the freelance writing side of things, but I've got some ideas cooked up of things I want to do with this blog.

Today, however, we're all comics all the time. It's a big week for DC, as more of their New 52 titles start hitting the stands. I'm missing out on Animal Man #1, Men of War #1, Omac #1, Storm Watch #1, and Swamp Thing #1. I plan to follow Animal Man and Swamp Thing in the trades after I catch up on the classic stories by Grant Morrison and Alan Moore, respectively. The others, I'm taking a pass on until I hear reviews. I'm sure they're great books, but a freelancing check only goes so far.

In fact, I feel like reading DC's NEW 52 titles is sort of like the comics version of Survivor. Since it's hard to commit to reading so many titles monthly, a book has to either play a biiiig part in the DCU (Justice League #1) or impress me to keep me hitting the shop monthly.

Let's get to it.

Action Comics #1

Written by Grant Morrison

Pencils by Rags Morales

DC Comics

I've never read many comics written by Grant Morrison. I tried and gave up on his New X-Men run, but I have a collection of his trades (We3, Kill Your Boyfriend, and other) waiting to be read. Despite of how unfamiliar I am with his larger body of work, I am fascinated by him as a person. Every interview he does is gold, whether he's talking about being abducted by aliens, sigil magic, or (most relevant in this case) Superman. He's brilliant, he's captivating to listen to, and I've been hungry to give his work another try.

...And it's a good comic. I enjoyed it. It was exciting, funny in parts, and very busy with introducing the readers to the cast. In fact, so much happens in this twenty-nine page comic that it evokes the exact opposite feeling that last week's Justice League #1 from Geoff Johns did. While JL#1 felt like it lingered on one scene for the entire issue (Hal Jordan is being insufferable and Batman puts him in his place, wash, rinse, repeat), Action Comics #1 can't seem to stay still. The one moment when it does slow down, letting the reader take a breath and get to known Clark through a conversation he has with his landlord, Mrs. Nyxly, is the strongest scene in the book. While I enjoyed the feeling that the book's pace mimicks Superman himself never gets a breather, I really wanted to take a step back and get to know this new Superman for a minute.

Variant cover by Jim Lee

Grant Morrison succeeds in his promise to make Supes a bit more badass. As you must have noticed, this version of Superman wears a t-shirt, jeans, and a cape (which, it's important to note, sets this before Justice League #1 which is itself set five years before the other books in the new DCU). He is at once the everyman and the outsider. It's a cool dichotomy that Grant definitely plays up, and you can see how much fun he's having as a writer as Superman kicks the shit out of corrupt business men, turns the public to his side by saving them, and laughs as cops think they can take him down with bullets.

It's all a fun read, and its successful in updating the iconic hero for the modern age. For now, I'm sticking around to see how Grant Morrison will further develop these characters into people that I want to root for.

Batgirl #1

Written by Gail Simone

Pencils by Ardian Syaf

DC Comics

Now that's what I'm talking about.

I was so prepared to hate this book. Last week, I read the final few issues of Bryan Q. Miller's Batgirl and loved it. And not casually loved it, but thought-it-was-the-best-thing-ever loved it. Stephanie Brown is an amazing character, who is light and funny but has such a colored history and a darkness that hangs over her. I know Barbara Gordon was the original Batgirl, but Stephanie Brown is too damn wonderful to lose. Even going into this book with that prejudice, though, I loved the shit out of this book.

Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl, was the victim of a home invasion three years ago. The Joker rang the doorbell, shot her, and left her paralyzed from the waist down... until now. This story starts off in a time that seems to be shortly after her full recovery. She's back, she's badass, but the incident still powers every moment of her page time. She doesn't look at herself as a victim by any means, but the idea that she can lose her ability to walk again, especially considering what she does, is a big force in this book.

The issue introduces a creepy, mysterious villain. It sets up Barbara's character arc, letting us get to know her as a person without skimping out on the action and badassery. I may miss Stephanie Brown, and I hold out hope that she will show up in this new DCU, but this is such a great comic that I can't help but strap in for the ride.

Detective Comics #1

Written by Tony S. Daniel

Pencils by Tony S. Daniel

DC Comics

With this issue, Detective Comics knows just where it needs to start: with a Batman/Joker story. The relationship between these two has been iconic for years, and it's only right to start the new numbering of this classic series with the characters who define the title more than anyone else. Batman, the world's greatest detective, has been contemplating how many murders the Joker has committed and how he feels guilty for not having stopped his nemesis. Most of the issue shows Batman barely missing the Joker, before they finally have a big confrontation that sets the stage for what it seems like will be the main story arc of this title. I'm not going to give the big spoiler at the end (mostly because it's too gross to type), but the issue very much deals with the idea that it's impossible to guess what the Joker is going to do next, because one has to be truly insane to operate on his wavelength.

It's a cool first issue, kicking off the storyline better than both Justice League and Action Comics. Folks who are fans of the so-dark-you-can't-see-a-damn-thing-in-front-of-you Batman will love how quickly this book gets nasty. It's as much a horror comic as it is a detective comic, operating well in both genres. It's not an A+, but it's something worth picking up.

Static Shock #1

Written by Scott McDaniel and John Rozum

Pencils by Scott McDaniel

DC Comics

I've never read a Static Shock comic before, nor did I watch the show. This was a great read, though. There was a whole bunch of sciencey and techie jargon that went right over my head, but it's written so that it doesn't matter. It's a fun, light book that offers a different tone than the other new DCU books. The story simply starts off with a killer action scene, introduces Static, shows how his family life as a normal kid named Virgil is, introduces the villain, and ends on a big cliffhanger. It's a very standard first issue, but its one of the funnest DC books I've read in a while. The banter is clever, the relationships are solid, and it left me eager to read the second installment in a series that I bought on an impulse.

The art is the best of all the New 52 books I've read so far, which helps this action packed issue flow. While I enjoyed Jim Lee and Rags Morales' work in Justice League and Action Comics respectively, both books had a few instances that I had to stop and re-read a page to follow the sequence of action. Not so with Static Shock. McDaniel's art has a great sense of movement, and it's dynamic as all hell. It may not have as much hype behind it as Action, Detective, and Batgirl, but this is not a comic to underestimate.

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Unfortunately, that's it for today. A guy's gotta work, so I am off to the mines. Metaphorically. I'm not even close to manly enough to work in a mine. Jeez.

TOMORROW: Batwing #1, Green Arrow #1, Hawk and Dove #1, Justice League International #1, Mystic #2