The Sunday Open: Astonishing X-Men Hardcover Vol. 1 and the Eternals

Alright, fuck, shit, I have got a headache, so this may be briefer than I want. I got a couple of Marvel hardcovers over the past week, so let's do this.

The Eternals

Yeah, yeah, what was the fucking point of this series and haven't I read this whole "gods tricked into being human until one of them remembers and begins gathering them together" stuff before? Yes, I did, in a little series called Journey into Mystery, which spun out of the then-cancelled Thor book when Heroes Reborn happened. And then it's happening again in the current Thor book. Fuck, people.

Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1

I read these comics when they came out and wasn't that thrilled. Seemed like Whedon was just playing to the fan(boy)s with various classic-type moments meant to push the right buttons, but not actually signify anything. The comic was cute and who gives a damn about a cute comic featuring the X-Men really?

I've got to say that the issues work better when read together like this, but not by much. Still cute and lovely and blah blah blah, but still not getting why it's so great (or so the people tell me). Geoff Klock has some great write-ups on the book and I reread 'em last night, but still not seeing it. But, I'm not loving All-Star Superman the way everyone else is either, so maybe I'm broken inside.

One thing that did bug me: the giant sentinel they encounter at Genosha--I thought it was made into that Magneto monument in Morrison's run. I could be wrong, I don't have Morrison's stuff here, but I remember it as that. Anyone else with me?

I would go on, but headache and apathy win the day.

Tomorrow, we jump right into some more Jim Starlin comics. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah.

The Sunday Open: Pre-Christmas Books

Well, home for the holidays means lots of new comics. Before I get to that, I just want to mention that I won't be posting my usual Jim Starlin and Joe Casey stuff tomorrow and on Tuesday (possibly Wednesday either). Now, let's get to it...

The Immortal Iron Fist #11

"Hydra guy, Hydra guy, old lady, Hydra guy." I love Brubaker and Fraction's little bits of humour on this book. They manage to balance that stuff with things like the fight between Tiger's Beautiful Daughter and the Steel Phoenix, Davos' past, Jeryn's mom's ear, and the intrigue of the Thunderer and the August Personage in Jade. Plus, Heroes for Hire shit, too. Not to mention David Aja's fantastic art. I am really amazed that Marvel hasn't pulled him from this book and stuck him somewhere else, because this guy is fantastic and looks like he can draw anything better than 99% of the artists working right now. Well, maybe not 99%, but a pretty large number.

Mighty Avengers #6

Um, alright, that's it? That's the end of this story? Ares flies into Ultron and turns her back into Iron Man? Um, 'kay. There is the nice moment where Tony is told that he was turned into a girl, pauses and then checks to make sure everything (meaning his penis) is where it should be. I'm back on board with the thought balloons, too. Bendis seems to have gotten a better handle on what to do with them and they're working better.

Punisher War Journal #14

I like how Kraven calls Frank "Tiny Monkey." The ideas here are good, but something about the execution just isn't doing it for me.

Detective Comics #839

The finale of "The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul" is... this? Wow, some lame fights, some explosions, and then a retarded final scene where it's all "Forget about what just happened, because it's Christmas! YAY!" What the fuck? I am really glad neither one of the stores I stopped by had copies of the latest issues of Robin and Nightwing, because, fuck it, I don't want to know what happened in parts 5 and 6 of this piece of shit crossover. I am amazed--AMAZED--that these writers churned out such horrible, bland, mediocre crap. Eight issues where NOTHING. REALLY. HAPPENS. Holy fuck, I spent,like, twenty bucks on these comics. My god. My god. I hate myself right now. I really do.

The Death of the New Gods #3

You know what I loved about this issue? When Mr. Miracle bitch-slaps Darkseid with the Anti-Life Equation. The rest of it is kind of meh. I just can't get into the mystery here, because I'm betting the person responsible for killing the New Gods will be some character I've never heard of. But, I do love me some Starlin, so...

Green Lantern #25

I read somewhere that if I didn't love this comic then I probably shouldn't be reading superhero books. I guess I shouldn't be reading superhero books then, because I couldn't get through this comic. I'm sure that has a lot to do with not having read the previous ten parts of this story, but, seriously, I just couldn't get into this comic. I tried, but my mind kept wandering and I found myself skimming the dialogue and I just don't care. Fuck Green Lantern. I've never dug the character or the Corps or any of these idiots. And while I think Geoff Johns is a really nice guy, I can't get into his writing. Wow, there are now seven Corps and I should care why? I'm more disturbed by the odd rhyme in "The Sinestro Corps War." It weirds me out.

Also, having a horizontal double-page spread followed immediately by a vertical double-page spread is stupid. Just saying.

Black Summer #4

Probably the weakest issue of the series yet as little happens. The only thing of consequence is the introduction of a tactical group that can oppose the Seven Guns, but I suppose we won't see them until next issue.

What If...? Civil War #1

This issue contains two stories, plus a framing device by Ed Brubaker. The first story, "What if Captain America Led All the Heroes Against Registration?" had potential, but soon devolved into meaningless fights like the real Civil War. Also, I'm sorry, but the art is horrible. Horrible. My god, they published this art? It did give them an excuse to use that red, white & blue Iron Man armour, though. The second story, "What if Iron Man Lost the Civil War?" could be retitled "What if All of the Heroes Who were Good Buddies Before All this Shit Went Down Actually Talked it out like Civilised People, Not the Blood-Thirsty Morons that Mark Millar Seems to Think they are, Because Why Let Characterisation get in the Way of Fanboy Orgasm Moments?" In that story, things get talked out, the Registration Act stays, but is run by the Avengers, specifically Captain America and everyone is happy.

I'm actually mystified why Marvel would publish a comic like this, because the second story is so much better than what really happened. I mean, Captain America and Iron Man actually talking shit out--what a novel idea for two guys that are supposed to be great friends. Like I said above, the second story seems more aimed at showing why the original series made no fucking sense than anything else. Very, very odd.

Midnighter #14

Um, I thought Krigstein ended up working with the Authority. And the guy in the Iron Man suit went off to have his own life. Or, were those things retconned when the Wildstorm universe was rebooted (but only when it was convenient to the story at hand)? Or, how about taking control of his weird invisible bases in the middle of cities? Weird little stuff like this bothers me in comics, because, let's be honest, not many people reading Midnighter haven't read The Authority. So, come on, make sure it matches up.

As for the actual issue, there's a whole lot going on between Mindy and Jenny Quantum about Midnighter's past that doesn't make a whole lot of sense yet, because we haven't had the big reveal yet. Midnighter is offered a chance to join Anthem, but slaughters people instead. I did like the little bit with the British woman with the Union Jack on her face going "Bloody pathetic." Aside from the little continuity shit, I am enjoying this book. Giffen seems to know what he's doing and where he's going. Too bad the art is shit.

Deathblow #8

Yes, this book is still around, but not for long as issue nine is the last of the series. Can't say that I'm that disappointed. This series has been more fucking around than mindfuck and part of the problem is that Azzarello wasn't given an artist up to the task. Carlos D'Anda is one of those Wildstorm house artist types and, holy shit, I hate their stuff. I hate that style so fucking much.

But, I do love the dinosaur cyborg. This is a darker version of that playful Azzarello we all loved in Doctor 13. Here, the dinosaur gives us some weird rant about a dream where you grow breasts that your best friend wants to touch and you secretly want him to touch, too. The rest, though, is kind of meh. We'll see how it finishes and reads as a whole, though.

The Order #5-6

I had my reservations about this series after the first couple of issues, but it's turning out to be pretty damn good, you know? Complex characters, people trying their best to be heroes, giant radioactive lizards... awesome. My favourite scene in these two issues has to be in issue six when Henry, Pepper and Katie are questioning Mulholland about the Black Dahlias--if only because that has Fraction showing how well he does characters--and it leads right into Tony Stark being Tony fucking Stark. Fraction's Stark isn't quite like the Stark seen elsewhere, but it works. I don't know why, it could be the nature of the book, which is about this flashy, surface, celebrity type of world where Stark isn't Iron Man or director of SHIELD, he's a playboy billionaire. If there's a book that shows that Fraction will one day be writing the franchise books, it's this one.

Casanova #11

Why must I continually come up with new ways to say this book rocks my world? It does. Fuck it, that's all.

The Programme #6

Another book that I wasn't sure about at first, but I'm really digging on. Milligan seems to know what he's doing. That, and this issue is titled "The President of the United States is a Dangerous Psychopath," which is my favourite issue title of the year. Mark it down, rock and roll. There's also a fantastic moment where Max is looking for a clean t-shirt to confront the Russian superpeople in (after they'd been nuked by the US--that didn't work so much) and all that's left is a Steely Dan tee and his pure frustration/mortification that he'll have to save the United States from Russian revolutionaries in a Steely Dan t-shirt. If you haven't been getting this book, you should--or wait for the trade. Whatever, your call.

Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #1-4

I really do love "Joe Casey fills in Stan Lee's plot holes" comics. This is the book for anyone who misses the Iron Man they knew and loved once upon a time. He's heroic and tough and noble and takes on evil. Plus, there's Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan being all original versions of those characters. These are some fun, well-written, well-drawn, just solidly awesome superhero comics. Eric Cante draws less like math here, more cartoony, but it's still great.

I want to take this chance to mention that I am looking forward to The Last Defenders. About damn time Casey's gotten another book set in the contemporary Marvel universe, even if it's only a six-issue mini. It should be good, so demand your retailer order you a copy of each issue right now.

The Pulse: Thin Air, The Pulse: Secret War, and The Pulse: Fear

Got these three trades for seven or eight bucks each and, well, they didn't do much for me. I think the problem is that the concept of Jessica Jones and Ben Urich teaming up for a weekly feature of superheroes for The Daily Bugle is great. Except. Except it never actually happens. I kept waiting for it to happen and it didn't, so fuck it. It seemed like a book designed at integrating Jessica Jones into the Marvel universe proper and not much else.

I did enjoy the Green Goblin stuff in the first arc, but not much else. Oh, there was the odd moment, but not much else. I did notice something that often bothers me about Bendis comics: layouts that extend over both pages, but are done in grids where you can't actually tell if it continues onto the next page or is just on a single page. This is especially problematic with Bendis' dialogue that jumps around so much that you can actually read these pages both ways and have them make around the same amount of sense. What the fuck?

I'm really disappointed with these books, because I'd been digging most of what Bendis has done so far, but these just did little for me. Ah well.

***

That about does it for me. Have a merry Christmas, happy holidays, whatever. I'll be back on Wednesday or Thursday.

It's my mom's birthday, so let's celebrate with new comics!

It is indeed my mom's birthday today. Not really important to any of you, but there it is. I bought some new comics on Friday, so let's get to it.

Batman #671

So, this whole R'as al Ghul story is pretty shit, eh? I'm very tempted not to pick up the remaining three parts. But, as my roommate, Adam says, I'm a horrible completist, so I'll most likely do that this week when I buy comics here in London. Maybe it will turn out decent. Please?

New Avengers #37

Adam bought this comic, too, and hated it. I, on the other hand, enjoyed it. He didn't like Spider-Man's crack about his black costume and the art. I agree about the art--Yu has been not producing his best work on this title and I've gotta wonder what happened.

Criminal #10

I'm not sure about the ending. It works to set up more stories with Tracy Lawless, but I'm not sure it works as an ending to this story. But, otherwise, typical great issue.

The Boys #13

I also suspected Vlas of being a traitor, so Hughie shouldn't feel too bad about it. I rather enjoy this book and find myself always finishing an issue wanting the next one right away. That's a good sign, right?

Sensational Spider-Man #41

You know what? The Mephisto stuff doesn't read as bad as it could. When I read the spoilers for this issue online, I thought it was a pretty retarded idea--still do, actually--but the issue itself presents the idea in a better light than the spoilers let on. There's at least some logic at work here. Is it great? No. Not even good or average, but it's better than it could have been. That's what I took from this issue: better than it could have been.

Wolverine #60

This is one fucked up story--and not in a good way. I don't know what the point of this story is or where it's going. First Wolverine is fighting terrorists, then he's brain dead, then he's fighting an archangel, then he's getting revenge and then he's confronted by a dead man? Seriously, not getting it. But, there's something strangely compelling about this story. It's so odd and weird (in a bad way) that I can't help but see it through. I want to see if Guggenheim will somehow pull a rabbit out of his ass and make it all worth it.

Infinity, Inc. #4

Speaking of fucked up stories... Milligan got me with this issue. He's managed to sell me on the weirdness of these characters. The whole exchange between Kid Empty and his girlfriend was really fucking messed up. I mean, wow, that was some harsh shit right there. Milligan is starting to let the freaky shit come out and I'm loving it.

Omega the Unknown #3

An odd comic that is compelling in its own way. It reminds me of an indie film in a lot of ways. It exists in that strange, quirky little space that the yearly "indie success" occupies (Garden State, Little Miss Sunshine, Napolean Dynomite are all good examples of this). Strange to see Marvel publishing it, but it's a nice read.

That does it. Not much I wanted to say about these books, really, I guess. Next up is another week of Jim Starlin and Joe Casey goodness. Does anyone really care? Nope? Ah well, no worries, I'm going to do it all anyway.

Four books, two of them superhero-related, none from the big two

Since the other six days of the week are taken up with Jim Starlin and Joe Casey currently, I figure Sunday is a good day to look at whatever is on my mind comic-wise. This week, I bought a couple of books: I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! and Acme Novelty Library #18.

The first is a collection of Golden Age comics by Fletcher Hanks that are pretty damn weird. While I've since proven (to myself) that Hanks actually existed, I still can't shake the feeling that this book is really just a hoax. I don't know why, but something about it just has the feeling of a modern cartoonist doing a book that is seemingly a collection of comics by an unheard of cartoonist from the late '30s. Maybe I'm just distrustful and afraid of not being in on the joke.

The comics contained the volume are strangely what you would expect as they tell stories about bad men with little motivation trying to destroy civilisation and the good people with equally little motivation stopping them. The interest lies in the sheer odd ways Hanks goes about telling these stories. The "main" character (or the one with the most stories) is Stardust, a human-looking alien wizard that stops crime on various planets--but we only see him do it on Earth. He usually does it in a pretty stupid way where he knows ahead of time what the criminals will do, let's them do part of it and then fucks them up with oddly ironic and cruel punishments.

Fantomah is a blonde, white woman who protects the jungle. What jungle I can't say, but she turns blue and has a skull-like face when she does her thing. There's also a story about a lumberjack beating up other lumberjacks and another about space secret service agents.

The volume is edited by Paul Karasik who also writes and draws an epilogue about his search for information on Fletcher Hanks where he meets Hanks' now elderly son and learns this great cartoonist was a world-class scumbag.

***

I didn't even know Acme Novelty Library #18 was out until I saw it in the bookstore. I know #18 1/2 came out a few weeks ago, but when it did, I remember reading that 18 hadn't yet. I've yet to see much said about it online, but maybe a new volume by Chris Ware doesn't get much notice--if you like his work, it's assumed that it's great, what else need be said; if you don't, why pick it up?

Volume 18 breaks from the "Rusty Brown" story the two previous volumes told and begins another story about a one-legged woman who is very, very lonely. She has a job at a flower shop that she doesn't seem to mind, but doesn't seem to like either. She has a cat. She's only ever had one boyfriend. We get the story of that relationship and a job she once had as a nanny. It's a really depressing story in many ways.

But, I also found it rather engaging. Sometimes, Ware's style can be a little off-putting, especially with his intricately crafted layouts, but the story here is engaging. It's a lovely little character study and I liked it a lot. The fact that I was listening to a lot of Lou Reed while reading it seemed to help, somehow.

I'm a little disappointed that the wait for more "Rusty Brown" is even longer, but I'm also looking forward to more of this story.

***

This week, I also spent an hour during my time in the department writing centre rereading Eightball #23, or, "The Death-Ray" issue. I bought this a couple of years ago and this was my first time rereading. It's basically the story of Andy, a guy whose father messed with his genes, so he gets super-strength when he smokes and also has a gun that can make anything disappear (but only works for him). Most of the story is him as a teenager, hanging out with his friend Louie, the one who pushes him to be a superhero and get revenge of the people who pick on them.

There's obvious parallelisms to Peter Parker, right down to a costume that echos that of Spider-Man. The idea of power and responsibility is big, as well. Especially in the framing events that take place now where Andy sees his role as one benefiting society by eliminating assholes from the world. It raises the question of where the line is drawn for superheroes "protecting society." There's also a lot of teenage angst and difficulties--it almost reads as a what if Peter Parker grew up in the late '70s rather than the early '60s.

Something that's always bothered me is that in a year-end edition of "The Basement Tapes," Joe Casey and Matt Fraction discussed the issue and Fraction mentioned a panel near the end of the issue that can be read two ways, each that give the story very different meanings--and I don't know what panel or the two ways to read it. Damn you, Fraction, explain it. I've looked and looked and looked and I don't see it. Dammit.

***

Last Saturday, I bought the first issue of Dan Dare and it's a decent read. Nothing much to say beyond that. I have no experience with the character, so I can't compare it to other versions. Seems simple enough. It's a solid read and it's Ennis flexing muscles we don't often see used.

I also purchased the year-end issue of Wizard, but it really isn't worth discussing.

Until next Saturday.

Who am I?

While in London last week, I picked up three Human Target trades: the four-issue mini, The Final Cut graphic novel and Living in Amerika, the second collection from the 21-issue series. I already owned Strike Zones, the first collection from the ongoing (but cancelled after 21 issues) series. And, let me tell you, these books make for some pretty damn good reading.

The basic plot is that Christopher Chance is the Human Target, a man who not just impersonates but becomes others--usually people in danger and in need of someone who can react to said danger. In the process of being these people, Chance himself gets a little lost in the shuffle. Who is Christopher Chance if he spends all of his time as others? Is there a real Chance? Was there ever?

In the first story, Milligan has Chance confront this more directly when his assistant and protege faces the same problems. He has a wife and child, but he can be ANYONE but himself. The burden of living his own life is too great and he loses himself in other lives, including that of Chance. There's a wonderful scene where the fake Chance is having sex and requests not to be touched, for her to be on top so he can watch with minimal contact--something that Chance demands, but how did the faux Chance know this?

Again and again, Chance (or his protege in the first story) discover personality traits and secrets in the process of being these people, which raises the question of how much is given away by all of us everyday? How much of us is in the way we walk and talk and eat and whatever other mundane tasks we perform? Is it all there? And if it is, does mimicking those actions actually cause someone to become that other person?

Basically, these books are about what makes a person unique. Most like to believe it is something inate or even the soul, but Milligan seems to argue that it isn't. We are just the sum of our superficial activities.

The plots of the stories aren't that important. They're all very interesting and provide Chance with opportunity to examine himself, but they're secondary to the examination of humanity.

Of course, Milligan doesn't have any answers, so the same questions get posed again and again and again. Subtextually, the series remains at a standstill for the most part, but that's only because there is nowhere to go, really. Chance never advances, so how can we?

***

Next week, I'll resume my look at Jim Starlin's work at Marvel. I'm waiting on a shipment that contains the bulk of his Silver Surfer run (the remaining issues arrived this week) and the issues of Thor and The Silver Surfer from the "Blood and Thunder" crossover that linked with the two Warlock titles. But, that story is far enough down the line that there shouldn't be any problem. I will do these posts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I will do an issue-by-issue analysis of Joe Casey and Leonardo Manco's 11-issue Deathlok series from the late '90s. I finally completed my run of the book and these posts will go along with my issue-by-issue looks at other Casey-written series. And, perhaps, when I've finished this series, I will finally get to Automatic Kafka, which is a type of sequel to Deathlok (in a thematic sense).

Brief Words on The Black Dossier

My copy of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier arrived yesterday and I finished it this evening. It's a fun read--well, fun in that weird English geek sort of way. The narrative is light, but it's still worth a look. Moore and O'Neill do some interesting things with the Dossier, jumping from style to style, giving a large picture that weaves in and out of various fictional and factual events to create a familiar yet different history. My only real complaint is the lack of long 'S's in the Shakespeare folio. It's supposed to be a reproduction and there's not a single long 'S' to be found? It's a minor quibble, I admit, but one that bothers me. Of course, I imagine some would probably complain had they included the long 'S' and I wouldn't mind because of the three years I spent transcribing texts from 1640-1660 England for an online database and am not slowed down by the long 'S' at all. I actually wish they'd even gone further and done some of the things that those old texts did like interchanged 'U' and 'V' or used two 'V's for 'W' sometimes. OR, used the italicised version of a letter if they had run out of the standard one.

Okay, I'm weird.

I was also bothered by the 3-D bit at the end, mostly because the point is pretty simple and it doesn't add a whole lot--beyond giving me a headache. Of course, I could have removed the glasses, because I wanted to do it proper and all.

The most interesting parts for me were the excerpts from Campion Bond's memoirs, which set up the first volume of the series, and the stories about the French and German versions of the League. Or or or, the wonderful bit in the Fanny Hill sequence where she recounts the story of being in the giantess' vagina and saved from certain death when her husband decided he was in the mood for anal instead. Alan Moore is a dirty, dirty man. I read that part aloud to my roommate and had a good laugh.

The Black Dossier is a fun, dense read that any fan of the series must get, literature fans will love, and newbies will... I don't know actually. I'm rather looking forward to Volume 3 of the series after this little taste.

I've got 52 problems... (Volume 4)

On Friday, I picked up 52 volume 4, so I've now read the entire series and, yeah, um, hey look at that, I've read the entire series.

This final volume is a strange beast as the writers seem to devote entire issues to wrapping up or pushing storylines in a more obvious way. Here's a breakdown:

#40--All Steel except for 2 pages of Black Adam
#41--Space heroes, Ralph, Montoya (okay, this issue balanced things a little, shut up)
#42--Ralph with 2 pages of Montoya
#43--Black Adam except for 5 pages of Animal Man/Lady Styx
#44--Black Adam with 4 pages of Montoya that tie into the Black Adam stuff
#45--All Black Adam with an appearance from Montoya and tying into the mad scientests
#46--Black Adam/mad scientists except 4 pages of Steel/Luthor
#47--A little bit of everything
#48--All Montoya with 1 page of Black Adam
#49--Black Adam/mad scientists
#50--World War III
#51--Animal Man/DCU/lead-in to end of the series
#52--Mostly Booster Gold, plus a page or two for the other stories as a wrap-up

Only two issues that really had more than two stories for a significant amount. Granted, stories converged as things went on, but ignoring certain stories doesn't work at times because this is supposed to be a book taking place in real time. Like, why do we see Animal Man in #47 viewing his wife and then not actually joining her until #51 even though it's the exact same scene? Why the six week gap between Steel taking down Luthor and Luthor getting taken into custody? Little stuff like that bothers the fuck out of me--I know, I know, I'm being picky.

Another thing that had me scratching my head: Wonder Woman's scene with Montoya--I didn't know that was Wonder Woman until I read Greg Rucka's commentary for the issue. Maybe I'm just a blind reader who should have figured it out, but why would I even think of Wonder Woman? The only clues are her appearance and the reference to killing someone--except the appearance isn't singular enough nor is the killing of someone. In retrospect, I see how it works, but at the time, it fell flat.

I did enjoy the resolution of Animal Man and Ralph's stories, though. Both were handled well.

Still couldn't muster up interest in Montoya or the crime religion whatever the fuck they are story.

Black Adam's story was decent, but mostly mediocre.

The ending of the series left me just as cold as when I read it the first time--mostly because it was a lot at once and I had totally forgotten about Booster Gold by that point. As well, I stand by my assessment that the whole 52 worlds is an unnecessary gimmick because of Hypertime, which was a much better tool. The new status quo is just a smaller, more limited version of Hypertime that seems to be servicing a story ("Countdown") that most people consider really fucking abysmal. Also, something about a Kingdom Come Earth bothers me.

The art in this volume was solid.

Still disappointed that there's no commentary by Grant Morrison in these trades. Also, I really wish they would have included the Newsarama interviews conducted with the creators after the conclusion of the series. It's not unprecedented and would have been a fantastic complement to the commentary.

52 has been a worthwhile read in that it lays out a pretty good model for what works and what doesn't in a weekly, real time series. I think it would have worked better with a smaller amount of stories (maybe three at most), more awareness of how things would unfold time-wise, and even a few more "real life" moments that I don't think we saw enough of because of the amount of story that had to be told. Part of the charm behind a series like this is seeing some mundane bits--that day where nothing really happens. Or even what happens between plot points--which would have definitely made the gaps between them seem less annoying. They were smart to focus on some of the "lesser" characters, but, really, there were just too many of them. Having the stories cross over helped that, at times, but not enough.

And that's that. Maybe someday, I'll sit down and read the whole thing in one sitting, see how it reads that way.

Even with a list, I'm a forgetful moron (Or, many many many comics)

I'm at home in London and I have a rather large stack of comics to discuss/review/whatever it is I do. I hit two shops yesterday with a list in hand that I update with each week's shipping list. Despite the list, I somehow came home without Criminal #10. It's on the list. My regular shop didn't have it and the one I stop at to pick up what my shop doesn't have may have had it, but in all the excitement of getting other comics and their awesome sale, I skipped it. I am filled with shame and, well, self-anger. What the fuck? It's Criminal, dammit! And I forgot! *lowers head in shame*

Ah well. Let's get on with this anyway...

New Avengers: Illuminati #5

Alright, so Black Bolt is a Skrull and revealed himself why exactly? I read the issue and I can't figure out the logic in that revelation. There's some half-assed shit about wanting to make them not trust one another, but really. Come on. Really? That's lame. Why do that when you could do the big reveal at a better time? Or never reveal and work on the inside to make shit worse, which is what we're to assume the Skrulls have been doing? But, hey, that's me.

As well, I have to admit that the magic eight ball was wrong as it said Black Bolt wasn't a Skrull. Damn you, magic eight ball.

Finally, this issue doesn't seem like what was supposed to happen. For some reason, I remember Bendis saying in an issue of Wizard a year ago that it was more about everyone else in the Marvel universe finding out that the Illuminati exists and being pissed. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. Not that that's a problem really as plans change--just something that occurred to me.

The issue itself was passable and pushed the story forward, albeit in a really dumb way.

New Avengers #36

Alright, so we can skip the second Mighty Avengers arc, right?

I'm amused that the two Avengers teams are working together so quickly. The Venom virus situation was a necessity, but that last page--and the little hints to the Skrull stuff--suggests that we're in for a united front. An undoing of "Civil War" so soon? Probably not, but interesting.

All-Star Superman #9

Wow, because this issue wasn't lame at all.

Some great ideas here, but the ending was a cop-out. It was a cheap as fuck cop-out that has deus ex machina written all over it. The two Kryptonians' bodies are poisoning them with Kryptonite? Yes, yes, we all see the mirroring of Superman because he's being poisoned by his body as well, but... come on. This is an issue where the subtext and themes are given more importance than the basic plot--something Morrison is usually pretty good at avoiding.

Meh.

Thunderbolts #117

No offence to Paul Jenkins as I haven't read his work with Penance, but why is Marvel bothering with a mini-series devoted to that character when Ellis is actually making him interesting? Not just interesting, but actually providing actual reasons for his behaviour? He's taken a joke of a character and suddenly gives him motivation and depth and reasons for being a whiny little emo kid.

Ellis continues to use this book to show exactly why the idea is an incredibly stupid one, logically. It almost reads as a satire of various ideas from "Civil War" and why they were half-baked. This book is a demonstration in why aiming for those "fanboy orgasm" moments doesn't work, really.

Batman #670, Robin #168, Nightwing #138, Detective Comics #838

Half of "The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul" and... wow, there isn't a lot here. Lots of fighting and talking, but it leads to this: Ghul is back, his current body won't last, needs a new one, and is either going to use Damian (his grandson and Batman's son) or Time Drake. Shouldn't more have happened in four issues written by Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Fabian Nicieza and Paul Dini?

What If... Annihilation Reached Earth?

This issue was a lot less interesting than I hoped, but it does outline how the heroes will unite to fight the Skrulls. I don't know what I expected, but this issue does pretty much the bare minimum in imagining what would happen: the Annihilation wave is heading for Earth, the heroes unite, they fight together, they finally overcome it with Nova, Iron Man and Captain America sacrificing themselves in the process. It all makes logical sense, but... I don't know, it's just too basic. I wanted more.

The Boys #12

Not quite the direction I thought this story was taking. But, Ennis does some nice bits of dialogue and further develops Hughie's character as he adjusts to his new line of work. I enjoyed this issue, because I really like Ennis' writing. At this point, you know what to expect (in general, not specifically).

Captain America #31-32

The post-Steve Rogers world continues and we begin "Act 2" of the story. Like with the previous stories in this series, individual issues are difficult to discuss as it's about the bigger picture. Things progress, basically. Great book.

Velocity: Pilot Season #1

A nice little done-in-one story by Joe Casey with Kevin Maguire on art. I never really read Cyberforce, so I don't really know much about Velocity. Picked this up because of Casey and it's a decent read. Typical Casey dialogue--a sort of hipster casual (if that makes any sense). A story with a clever solution. A slightly downbeat ending. I haven't read any of the other "pilot season" books, but this could be a fun superhero series if it gets enough votes. Oh, and Maguire's art is excellent.

Infinity, Inc. #3

I really don't know where Milligan is taking this book. This issue moves a very quick pace, jumping forward a lot, just hitting the beats we need, never giving the reader a chance to really catch up or get a handle on what's going on. There's the potential for interesting stories with the former members of Infinity, Inc. getting new powers and, well, being kind of crazy. We'll see.

Thor #4

I love how Straczynski recognises at the end of the issue that his pacing is slow as fuck and needs to be quickened. The first three issues felt like what the first issue should have been. This issue should have been eight pages. I'm giving it to issue six and then I'll assess if it's worth it. So far, it's just been so slow and mechanical, in a way.

Annhilation: Conquest--Starlord #4

A nice ending to this series that always left me a little underwhelmed. I did notice how the Uni-Force acts a lot live the Hivemind that Nova has in his head. Used differently here, but found that interesting. Giffen also does something clever by having the Uni-Force assist the group by joining with a member of the Phalanx for a short period of time. I'm thinking about getting the three volumes of the first Annihilation, so maybe I'll pick up this entire story in trades at a later date.

Midnighter #13

This storyarc is lasting a little longer than it needs to. Midnighter ups the stakes against Anthem and gets his ass handed to him. Plus, looks like his support system is gone. Giffen's done things here that I didn't expect, honestly. I expected the story to stay closer to Midnighter's home town, but taking it into the world at large has been interesting. I just wish the pace would pick up a bit.

Punisher War Journal #13

Okay, I really enjoyed this issue. The opening bit with the Rhino doing it "OLD SCHOOL" is great. The inclusion of Spider-Man is always a plus as Fraction has him nailed. The Punisher is more of a supporting character here, which works. My favourite bit is after Kraven has kidnapped Rhino and Spider-Man is talking to a webbed-up Frank:

S-M: SO TELL ME THE TRUTH. IF I LET YOU GO, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HUNT KRAVEN DOWN AND KILL HIM, ARE YOU?

P: ...

P: NO?

S-M (adding more webs): PSH. LISTEN TO YOU.

I dig it.

Wolverine #59

Um... what? An entire issue where Wolverine fights himself, except not really himself and not in any physical sense, but he does come back to life despite not really being dead as only his soul was missing and now he knows who to kill except why we don't know so we better read next issue. Ye-ah.

Doktor Sleepless #3

This is the first issue I've really dug. It's got lots of nice moments, it advances several stories and gives a hint of the big picture. It doesn't seem aimless like the previous issues. Or, at least, not in the same way. We all knew I was going to keep buying this book no matter what, but this issue has me in as a fan.

Gødland #20

Do you think Casey killed off Crashman because of Captain America's death? Something about the opening scene of this issue just reminded me of that. America's hero dead, everyone freaking out, etc.

This book is some good fun. Lots of action and thrills and good guys and bad guys and army guys and, yeah, you should read this book. It's good. And the Earth is doomed. Fuck.

The Order #4

It looks like Fraction has a plan for this book. I'm liking it more with every issue. It comes across as the most "mainstream" of his work--and it IS--but it's not as "mainstream" as it seemed when it began. It's subtle in its subversions and deviations. I have a feeling that it could all fall apart at any time now and that's pretty cool (and, wow, that sounds weird).

Omega the Unknown #2

This continues to be weird and mysterious, but compelling. It's offbeat in all the best ways. Plus, the end where Omega works at a church and as a fry cook--that's just funny. I think this will turn out to be a fantastic read. Or, I'm hoping.

The Programme #4-5

And I'm really liking this book, too. CP Smith's art is still a little too unclear at times, but the story is beginning to cohere and advance. The Senator Joe bit was nice and not overdone, which many writers would have fallen prey to. Another book that will be judged as a whole, but after a few issues were I was unsure, I'm in 100%. Now, watch Milligan fuck it up next issue...

Casanova #10

Hells yes. We secretly watch Quinn who secretly watches Benday who secretly watches Toppogrosso who secretly watches many people. Asa Nisi Masa. Lots of sex. When is Casanova Quinn? BLUE! I love this book.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that does it for the singles. I also picked up 52 volume four, which I've got to read still; Thanos: Epiphany, which fits into the Starlin stuff; and the three Human Target trades I need in an awesome sale--I've read one of them, but will discuss them all later, maybe after I buy the uncollected issues. Oh, and I also managed to find Infinity Crusade #6, so when my last eBay order arrives, we're back on track with Mr. Jim Starlin up through to his most recent work--the only thing missing will be his Silver Surfer run.

I'm tired.

True love waits (Or, come back Monday for "The Infinity Gauntlet")

The sixth part of my look at Jim Starlin's Marvel cosmic work will have to wait until Monday as I've got newer comics to discuss.

The shop here in Windsor's debit was down, so I had to rely on the cash I had on me. Thankfully, there were only five books that I wanted and I managed to walk away with seven cents in change. Really just a coincidence that I had just enough cash on me to cover it.

The Immortal Iron Fist #10

Wow, the cover price for this issue is $2.99US/$3.05CAN... Marvel adjusted it. Sure, the prices should be reversed now, but I must say I'm impressed. Of course, that's the only thing about the cover that impresses me as they only had one copy left and it was the zombie variant.

As for the issue, Danny Rand doesn't appear at all and it's still an awesome comic. I'm loving this tournament and the characters Fraction, Brubaker and Aja have created. And, as... someone noted elsewhere, Fat Cobra is a great character. Okay, not really a great character as all he does in this issue is demand that he be given ten--no, TWENTY--women that he can have sex with while drinking Davos under the table. Nice little bit there.

Mighty Avengers #5

If I learned one thing in this issue, it's this: superheroes are assholes to one another now that they work for the government. They're snippy and sarcastic and generally "fuck off, you don't know shit the way I know shit." Government work is evil.

My favourite part was how Cho subtly altered the Sentry's appearance to suggest the Void having an influence over him.

The Boys #11

Ennis writes Russians well. Funny part where Hughie drinks insane vodka while everyone else (save the giant Russian) dumps it out--the Russian's reaction of "UIQTE A KICK, LITTLE HUGHIE! WILL PUT HAIR UP THE SHAFT OF YOUR COCK!" makes me giggle.

The Death of the New Gods #1-2

And you thought you would escape Jim Starlin today. Silly, reader. The writing is pretty average, but I'm a sucker for those moments of Starlin just doing what he does. The final two pages of the first issue where Mr. Miracle reacts to finding Barda dead is such a moment. Over-the-top narration, lots of panels, hints of madness--that's what it's all about. He does it again in the second issue with Mr. Miracle sitting there as the JLA investigates. He just repeats the same panel over and over again, throwing some narration over them. Scott's struggle to resist using the Anti-Life Equation to bring her back is well done.

The story itself is interesting enough. I do like how Starlin references Cosmic Odyssey, a story he wrote and Mike Mignola drew that, well, only he remembers probably. I'll probably discuss this entire series when it's over in more detail.

Secret War

Got this trade a week or two back as part of my attempt to get all of Bendis' Avengers-related stuff. It's a fine story, but didn't really wow me. I think I wanted more of the fight in Latveria. The story seemed to suffer from the attempt to create a mystery about the whole thing when a more straight-forward story about the same events could have been better. I do like how Bendis points out that a plane containing Steve Rogers, Luke Cage, Matt Murdock, Peter Parker and Logan looks suspicious to us, but wouldn't to anyone else because who the fuck are half of those people?

Doctor 13: Architecture & Mortality

Got this on Tuesday with the Gødland "celestial" edition hardcover. This collection was subject to a lot of discussion when it came out, because it has lots of goofy fun, metafiction and questions about what characters work, etc. All sorts of fun for bloggers. Eh, it didn't wow me as much as I thought it would. It had some nice moments, but... well, I hate to be nit-picky, but the Grant Morrison stuff bothered me. It shouldn't since it wasn't meant seriously or anything, but is there any writer more devoted to using any and all characters no matter how stupidly lame when possible than him? Just saying. (Sure, he JUST killed Doctor 13 in the first issue of Zatanana, but, er, shut up.) It's a nice little story, but just didn't do it for me.

On Monday... The Infinity Gauntlet.

JLA V. Avengers

I miss my shop in London. I took a walk to the shop here in Windsor, hoping to get at least one of the FIVE new books I want that came out this week (being The Boys #11, The Programme #4, Captain America #31, Death of the New Gods #1 and Mighty Avengers #5). Yeah, I walked away with none of them. This is what we call a quality shop, people.

However, I did manage to drop a big chunk of change by grabbing some trades I've wanted for a while, but avoiding buying because of the damn Canadian price. But, I gave in and paid the full Canadian cover price for them--another reason why this shop sucks ass compared to the good ol' Comic Book Collector in London where prices are altered to reflect the current exchange rate. I also picked up a few comics because, ah what the hell.

Justice League of America #13-14

First off, whoever it is at DC that thinks these split covers is a good idea needs someone to smack him/her in the face. Hard. This is the cover of the copy of issue 13 I have (minus logo, etc.):



Wow, what a shitty looking cover! Half of a picture of a bunch of people standing around! GEE, THIS MAKES ME WANT TO BUY YOUR COMIC, DC, IF ONLY BECAUSE I'M DAMN CURIOUS AS TO WHAT THE OTHER HALF OF THE PICTURE IS SHOWING BECAUSE GOD FORBID YOU ACTUALLY GIVE THE READER ALL OF THE INFORMATION NECESSARY!

Oh, and the comic itself? Sucks. The Injustice League is beating on the new, shitty Justice League. I don't care, I really don't. Maybe it could be the fact that McDuffie has inherited a League full of loser heroes that don't inspire me with any confidence of winning. Of course these pathetic losers have been taken down with ease! Oh no, Geo-Force is getting beaten up! *yawn!*

The writing itself isn't good. The dialogue is unnatural and the efforts to create little "character moments" don't really do anything. Jon Stewart and Black Lightning have some banter about the latter's old afro. Yeah. Uh... moving on...

I don't know, I'm just getting sick of this shit, I really am. An army of super-villains against this loser League and I'm expected to believe that in the next issue, the JLA will win? I'm sure it will be clever as all get-out and Lex Luthor and the Joker will get away and oh ho ho, isn't it all so much fun? Except how am I supposed to buy this shit after Morrison's Injustice League stuff? No, really, how am I supposed to believe this shit after reading a more intelligent, well-written take on the idea where the JLA was a much better and powerful team, and the villains acted in a more ruthless and sophisticated manner? I can't look at Lex Luthor in his purple and green armour anymore without simultaneously having the urge to laugh and vomit at the sheer stupidity of it.

The most frustrating part of these issues is in #14 where Luthor hints at what makes him great: Superman always wins, so the only way to get him is to act outside of his comfort zone. EXCEPT ALL HE DOES IN THESE DAMN ISSUES IS ACT LIKE A TYPICAL FUCKING SUPERVILLAIN, WHICH IS EXACTLY THE SORT OF ENEMY SUPERMAN IS USED TO FIGHTING AND KICKING THE CRAP OUT OF!

Er, sorry. I... I think I've got some problems...

I picked up these issues on a whim because when McDuffie was announced writer of the book, the entire internet seemed to cream its jeans in sheer joy that after Meltzer someone of quality was taking over.

Oh, and the art is the sort of shit I'd expect to find in some Wildstorm book where they're using some horrible Jim Lee-inspired house artist.

I can see why this book is the flagship title of DC--but that's more a statement about DC right now than anything else.

New Avengers: Secrets & Lies, House of M, and New Avengers: The Collective

Well, now I have all of New Avengers in some form or another. I acually really enjoy Bendis' writing on this book, but, my god, the art--the art is horrible. Maybe it's me. Am I just out of step with what everyone else considers to be quality art? Are David Finch, Olivier Coipel, Steve McNiven and Mike Deodato really that good and I'm just not seeing it? Oh, I liked Frank Cho's two issues that were in there somewhere, but the rest... it must be me. That's the only explanation.

Anyway...

These volumes were pretty decent. We get the introduction of Ronin and the whole "what side is Spider-Woman on?" thing that hasn't actually gone anywhere really, but let's assume Bendis will do more with that in "Secret Invasion" and her ongoing title. House of M was entertaining, but... I don't know, it just seemed like it skimmed along the surface of the story--the same way Civil War did. Like there was SO much that had to be fit in that we just get the highlights.

The Collective was an interesting story just for the dynamics between the Avengers and SHIELD. At one point, Spider-Man is knocked unconscious and then his brain is picked for details about "House of M" by telepaths. And there are no consequences. What happened to the days where doing that would at least warrant a punch in the face?

Mostly what these volumes reminded me of was the "something is wrong with SHIELD" plot, which, again, I'm assuming is coming back in "Secret Invasion," but, Christ, what a slow as fuck storyline. Shouldn't there be some mention of it now that Stark is in charge of SHIELD? But, yes, let's assume that the evil entities fucking shit up are Skrulls. Whoopie.

The weirder thing is looking at these issues in the light that they lead directly into Civil War and the fact that the division of the heroes into those two factions makes less and less sense. At least, the huge fucking brawls between them do. I've always had a problem with the immediate jump from best friends to kicking the crap out of each other over politics--and reading these issues where you have these characters all working together, it makes less and less logical sense. But, that is a problem when you work so hard to create more mature, complex and intelligent characters and then try to push them forward in a similarly mature, complex and intelligent manner--but do so with old superhero comic cliches and plot points that don't quite mesh with the current reality of the comic book world.

But, hey, that's me. The whole "immediately beat the shit out of each other instead of having a conversation" just seems a little juvenile and, well, stupid to me by this point. And that's mostly because of the last decade of writing or so. Strange that. I'll have to think about this some more.

Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick BOOM

And to finish things off...

The Programme #3

This is one of those series that will require a full reading before a complete judgement is passed. Things are progressing and it seems like it could be interesting with old Soviet supersoldiers fighting old American supersoldiers. I trust Milligan.

Casanova #9

My roommate Adam doesn't like Casanova. All those in favour of me smothering him in his sleep? Kidding.

I love the bright blue colour of this album. My only complaint about this issue is that I didn't realise it was Ruby with Kaito right away. I wasn't actually 100% sure until Fraction's back matter commentary. Everything else? Awesome. One of my favourite books.

Criminal #9

And so things are set up before issue 10's finale of "Lawless." Tracy does some interesting things here and I'm wondering where it will go. Particularly his confrontation of Simon at the end. We'll have to see. No doubt the end will be well done.

Black Summer #2-3

Okay, so here's Ellis' sequel to The Authority. Hell, it explores one of the major plot points for that book after Ellis left: superhumans executing the president. In this case, John Horus doesn't take over the country, but still, the similarities are there. These superhumans aren't the Authority, though.

I'm slightly thrown off by the fact that we've barely spent any time with Horus. The majority of the series has focused on the other members of the Seven Guns. I do love how they say they won't kill soldiers and then kill soldiers when attacked. Lovely.

I'm really enjoying this book.

Doktor Sleepless #2

But, on the other side of things, we have Ellis' sequel to Transmetropolitan. Is it fair to compare a writer's current work to his or her past work? I don't care, because I do it anyway. Where Black Summer seems like a natural follow-up to The Authority and ably does the job, Doktor Sleepless isn't doing it for me. Where Transmet began a compressed, dense, information-heavy book, Sleepless kind of meanders. Like the Shriky Girls bit in this issue: that would have been a couple of panels, maybe a page AT MOST in Transmet, but here it's three, four, maybe five pages depending on how you count the pages that discuss it.

Now, of course, Transmet and Sleepless are two entirely different books about crazy guys who come down from the mountain and have female assistants and rant a lot--but, oh wait. Oh ho ho.

In all seriousness, I recognise that Transmet was more focused, with more purpose and a much narrower message. It was ultimately a book about the truth. Spider Jerusalem became a cartoon over time, but not on purpose. Sleepless begins a cartoon with no clear purpose beyond a vague idea of changing things. And maybe that's what I miss. I have no idea what this book is about--what it's really about beyond some vague words about how we all live in the future and need to take advantage of that. Fantastic, sign me up.

But, I trust Ellis. This is his newest longform sci-fi series, I trust the guy to deliver some goods. I guess it's unfair of me to lament that Sleepless isn't Transmet. Is it?

Alias and Alias: Coming Home

Got the first two trades of Alias for 35% off... the American price because my shop actually honours the exchange rate. Actually, if I got 35% off the Canadian price, I would have been paying the American cover price basically. Fuck you, Marvel. Assholes.

My only experience with Jessica Jones is in New Avengers, so it's interesting to see where she began. Some interesting stories. No idea what she did to fuck things up with the Avengers, but these stories do turn the old idea that everyone who was ever an Avenger could just show up at the door and they'd all drop whatever they were doing to fix things.

...and did Bendis suggest that the Juggernaut fucks dead bodies? Awesome.

I'll be picking up the final two trades of the series, plus whatever collections exist of The Pulse. Good stuff. Didn't blow my mind the way it seems to have others, but that's okay, my mind isn't blown easily.

Hellblazer: The Gift

Aside from the two issues between Ellis and Azzarello's run on the books, I pretty much own a hundred straight issues of Hellblazer in trade, running from Ennis' Son of Man through Ellis, Azzarello, Carey and ending with Mina's Red Right Hand. Weird.

Anyway...

The Gift finishes off Mike Carey's run on the book with some odd choices. Like killing off the demon bitch who bore Constantine's three evil kids--plus the kids (except for the daughter?). Those characters were some of the more original things about Carey's run, which actually left me pretty cold until issue 200 where Constantine lived out three lives, spawning those three kids. That was some cold shit and Carey took it off the table. Goddamn.

He did fuck up John's life some more, though--which I could see in Mina's run, but wasn't spoiled too much there, thankfully. I love how Carey ends the run with John pissing off a bunch of magicians and facing the fact that he's a douchebag--again. It is a little tiresome to see him do that over and over again. And Carey seems to do that a few times over the course of his run. One of the positives is that each time, he is able to make the reader believe that this new low IS lower than the last. It's probably good he got off the stage after killing John's sister and alienating Chas--where else could he go?

I see that DC has solicited the first collection from Andy Diggle's run and I'm looking forward to that. In the meantime, I should begin buying up the Ennis and Delano trades. Hopefully, between current trades, DC will begin collecting the other stuff that remains in singles only. Even if it doesn't sell the best, Hellblazer is Vertigo's Superman and Batman lines rolled into one book--and it deserves a nice, fat library that is complete.

And that does it for everything I bought while in London. Oh, except for a copy of Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White, which I'll read sometime this week. I've heard good things and a blurb by Fraction was what put it over when I was in the bookstore. That, and the cover price was the same as Secret War, except the page count was MUCH higher. Again, fuck you, Marvel. (I will never let that go, I think.)

Baby, won't you keep me happy

Continuing...

Deathblow #7

Okay, I love the cybernetic dinosaur that Azzarello writes here. I still have no fucking idea what's going on in this book really (well, there are various sides and they all want Deathblow to do something for them it seems, but who is who and what is what is still unclear), but any comic that has a horribly evil cybernetic dinosaur is alright in my book. The art is still shit.

The Order #2-3

This book is the natural successor to Milligan & Allred's X-Force/X-Statix, but with a more straight-laced, mainstream sensibility. And it works. Some fun superhero stuff, lots of melodrama, and so on. It does suffer from the fact that the cast is large and I don't really have any idea who these people are. The technique of having a different character talk to the camera each issue works, but even then, you don't necessarily get a good sense of who these people are. In the second issue, I couldn't quite connect the Becky talking to us with the Becky fighting the bad guys. Granted, people act different in different situations, but, somehow, it didn't work. The third issue was much better for that, though. I'm interested in seeing where this goes and whether Fraction has anything new to say or not. So far, it could go either way.

New Avengers #34-35

About damn time Bendis moved on past the whole "who can we trust?" bullshit. It made sense, in a way, for a bit, but doing it beyond a few issues wouldn't make much sense. The cover to ssue 34 had me excited with the alternate team, but that stuff only shows up for a page. I love me some alternate realities. One major problem with these issues is that the whole Venom virus story seems to rely on Mighty Avengers, which still has two issues of the first arc to go before we'll see any of that story.

The other plot involving the Hood and his little supervillain mafia is interesting in that it provides a natural fallout of Civil War. I've read complaints about the characterisation of the Hood, but since this is my first encounter with the character, I can't really comment on that. It works for me.

Another thing I saw mentioned online was the portrayal of Tigra in issue 35 and the manner in which she is dealt with. And, you know, it is pretty fucking harsh. I'm not sure if it crosses a line necessarily--especially as the point of the scene is to demonstrate the power of the Hood and the weakness of heroes. However, I am interested in why Bendis picked Tigra and not some other hero for that scene. And, um, why were the cops assholes to her earlier? She's a registered hero.

I also noticed in issue 34 that characters had little captions saying their names. Perhaps recognising that Yu's art is so stylised that you can't always recognise who is who.

Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1

Um, what was the point of this issue? I know, I know, some back story on Orson Randall, but beyond that--why these stories? I'm assuming what we're told here will have specific meaning in future issues, but I kind of walked away from this book wondering why I should care. It's an alright issue and I think part of my reason for not digging it quite as much is that it's Iron Fist stuff, but with no Aja on art. The random tales nature does fit what an annual SHOULD be, though. I dunno, I just prefer the actual series. While I like the idea of past Iron Fists, getting anything more than a few pages here and there that relate directly to the main story leaves me cold.

Punisher War Journal #11-12

I found it weird to see Leandro Fernadez on art in issue 11 as he's done several issues of Ennis' MAX series. Having an artist from that series here just increases the tension between the books, a tension that doesn't make War Journal look good. This isn't a bad book by any stretch of the imagination, it's just one I can't take seriously in ANY way, because it's so fucking retarded when compared to Ennis' book. Thankfully, with these two issues, Fraction seems to be getting that and isn't trying to be serious with his portrayal of Castle. By giving up his Captain America costume and the mask he took, Castle moves into the World War Hulk crossover issue where he's a cartoony superhero character that looks out for the average person. The Captain America stuff was a bit too heavy for the book, although it was cartoony--just in a serious way. Does any of this make sense? I hope the book maintains a very light tone and never tries to take itself seriously, because it doesn't work.

Question: how does Jigsaw at the end of issue 11 fit in with the Jigsaw in New Avengers?

Batman #669 and annual #26

I think I need to reread the three-part mystery story before I can comment for sure. But, did Batman kill someone here?

The annual was kind of blah. But, it acts a nice prologue to the upcoming Ra's Al Ghul crossover, which I will be buying. The first crossover like this I'll have gotten in a long time. Although, I may end up doing the same for that Secret Invasion storyline at Marvel in 2008. Weird.

Make the beats go harder

Wow, I have read a shitload of comics this past week. Last week, an eBay order containing all seven volumes of The Invisibles arrived, which I devoured over Tuesday through Thursday. I have no idea what I could possibly say about that work that hasn't already been said. I'll do some reading this week, think on it and see if anything comes up.

This weekend was spent visiting home in London, which meant a trip to the shop on Friday. Walked away with 20-someodd singles and a trio of trades. So, let's begin with some of the comics:

Midnighter #12

Um, wow, way to take an interesting storyline and waste an issue on boring boringness. Instead of more on Midnighter's spooky hometown, he fights something and there's a lot of posturing about how metahumans are bad. They really have nothing new to say with these characters, do they? They get the Authority to take over America, realise "Oh no, we have no idea how to make this work" and immediately dismantle that. They do a relaunch of titles and nothing exciting happens. Like Ennis' issues, Giffen's aren't bad per se, they're just not anything amazing. Goddamn, Wildstorm is just a reminder of all that wasted potential, isn't it?

JLA/Hitman #2

Ennis sure can write superheroes when he wants to. In the concluding half of this crossover series, Tommy solves the problem and saves the JLA--with methods they don't condone. What I find most interesting is how Clark Kent explains what happened and that you can tell he really struggles with judging Tommy simply because he was a killer. He recognises that maybe there's more to people than looking at them in such superficial ways. And, yes, judging Tommy here simply based on the fact that he is willing to kill is superficial. The JLA was powerless, Batman was taken over by an alien and all that stood between them and getting nuked were Tommy's guns. He did what he had to and while Batman and the others may be quick to judge, Superman can't do that, because he knows that Tommy had to make the tough call--and while others would have acted differently, it was just Tommy there. A very mature and nuanced portrayal of Superman--which is weird, because the rest of the JLA is pretty flat (except for maybe Green Lantern).

Infinity Inc. #2

As I said with the first issue, I wish Milligan were given the freedom to run with the interesting idea of the book (namely, the psychological damage done to these people who were famous superheroes one day and powerless nobodies the next) without forcing in this utterly boring supervillain plot. Fucking genre conventions can be a pain sometimes. I'm still waiting for someone to point out how Steel was given powers by Luthor like them, but is the same as he always was, basically--especially as it's suggested that maybe the Everyman process itself fucked up their heads. But, then again, maybe he isn't fine. Who knows.

Wolverine #56, 58

I read a lot of good stuff about Wolverine #56, a self-contained issue written by Jason Aaron with art by Howard Chaykin that focuses on a man whose job it is to shoot a guy trapped in a pit. Turns out the guy is Logan, who then turns it all around on the guy and we see just how sad and pathetic his life is. It's a solid issue.

Issue 58, on the other hand, is pretty damn shitty. Marc Guggenheim pretty much fucks up Wolverine's healing factor with some bullshit about him not dying because while his body heals, his soul goes off and fights the angel of death--and wins everytime except for this one, which is why Wolverine is braindead. Um. Yeah. What really fucks it up is how half the issue is Dr. Strange messing with Tony Stark--and then the other half is Strange just telling us all of this information. It comes off forced and breaks the whole "show, don't tell" rule. Big time. Wow. Bad, bad comic.

Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man #24

What the fuck happened in this issue? I know nothing actually happened, but is it just me or was that nothing really fucking confusing? What the fuck?

Omega the Unknown #1

When this came out a couple of weeks back, I think nearly every blog I read had a review or two of it up. And all of them said basically the same thing: cool art, quirky writing, where will it go?, let's wait and see, etc., etc., etc. I have nothing new to add to my fellow bloggers' opinons.

Tomorrow: more comics. Yay.

52 Problems, Etc. (Volume Three)

So, 52 volume three.

Week 28 has two pages of brilliance in space. One page is a splash of Lobo towing the ship containing his dolphin buddy, Animal Man, Adam Strange and Starfire. The following is six panels that barely make any sense, cutting in and out of the scene with no rhyme or reason. But, it follows along with the concept of the real time storytelling moreso than any other bit in the entire series. It's week 28, days two and four and we check in on the space story for a bit to see them fleeing a giant one-eyed green head and Animal Man ranting about how the situation sucks.

Still don't care about Montoya or the Question.

Booster Gold as Supernova doesn't make sense, mostly because it involves time travel, which while a reasonable possibility does preclude many of the so-called clues dropped. The fact that the solution is revealed along with the method of pulling it off and it doesn't cause me to go "Oh, now I see!" means it was handled poorly and is not a good mystery. Ideally, seeing how it was done should have made it all Make Sense. It didn't. And I knew already that Booster Gold was Supernova. And still didn't see anything that pointed to that.

Wow, Lady Styx sure was a giant threat--what with being killed quickly in week 36. Although, the Captain Comet bit was also another lovely moment.

In week 32, it seems that Ralph has decided to kill himself. In week 33, he gets a gun. He is not seen again until week 39 where he's getting something in Atlantis. Not sure how much logical sense this timeframe makes. Probably the thing that annoys me personally the most about this series. The number of stories combined with the limited amount of space makes the passage of time very problematic. Especially when you take into account how time passes in regular comics. Regular comics operate in a very compressed sort of time where numerous events take place in very short periods of time, while in this series, very little takes place over longer periods of time. Perhaps a weekly realtime book involving more than two or three plots can't work. Hell, maybe it should focus on one single plot to work properly.

The Black Adam family bores me. So utterly typical. The rise and fall. It would have been much more creative to sustain these characters and push forward.

The mad scientists bore me as well when they're not all mad and doing crazy shit. The serious elements of that plot don't work for me. The Egg-Fu stuff was fantastic, though.

Clark Kent was kidnapped and interrogated for a page? What the fuck? That was a moment where I literally said "What's going on now?" Especially because the artist had neither the skill nor the inclination to make Lex Luthor look like Lex Luthor. Instead, we're treated to generic bald guy who looks kind of Asian.

Lex Luthor is a condemnation of the general public and the fact that we continue to trust people we know for a fact to be evil, corrupt and utterly devoted to their own goals at the expense of everyone else.

That said, Luthor gaining superpowers? Lame. But, as I've often said, I prefer for him to operate on an entirely different level than that of the average supervillain. He's the guy who pushes a button and kills hundreds only to go "Oh no! Something went wrong! Why god why?" Luthor does not get his hands dirty with fisticuffs. How utterly common.

For some reason, I love any comic that has young people telling the founding members of the JSA to fuck off to the old folk's home. I just can't get behind the idea of geriatrics fighting crime. Nor am I a fan of teenagers or kids doing the same. Stories about either seems like an absurdist comedy where lurking beyond the next panel is a broken hip or some horrible mistake from a lack of experience (or memory). Oh, I'm such an ageist.

...they stole Animal Man's jacket! Fuckers.

Oh, and Batwoman is a lesbian, but Dick Grayson doesn't know that. I smell a crazy mix-up coming up!

All in all, this was a lacklustre collection of lacklustre comics with the odd shining moment. There were, like, four. Maybe five.

In November, I'll get volume four and we can see how the entire saga works as a whole.

The State of Things

On Friday, my roommate Adam and I walked downtown to buy comics. I bought a bunch, while Adam bought three. As we walked from the store to Bubble Tea to sit and read our purchases, he lamented the state of comics these days. At one point, he asked if I was a saddened by the state of things since I'm more tuned into what's going on.

And, yeah, at times I am. But, I also think it was a matter of the shop we were at since its selection is rather paltry and limited. I do wonder if there's something wrong with comics (and by comics, he was talking about the more "mainstream" stuff--although, he is strangely anti-DC, so...).

Is there something wrong? Well, let's look at what I bought and see.

The Immortal Iron Fist #9

One of my favourite monthly books, in this issue, Danny Rand gets his ass whooped. Oops. The writing an art are both top-notch. As well, in opposition to most other comics, all you need to understand what's going on is this book.

For some reason, Adam didn't dig this as much as I did. Maybe there's something wrong with him?

Captain America #30

Things progress in the post-Cap storyline and nothing earthshattering happens, but this issue doesn't exactly read like filler either. Strangely subtle in that way. We're so trained to think of issues as either taking monumental steps forward or simply acting as padding for a storyarc, when this issue is neither.

Adam liked this, but wondered about Iron Man's armour being all liquidy and shit.

Batman #668

Yes, somehow, after this issue came out, I visited the shop and they didn't have any copies. Now, I visit on the week #669 comes out and they do--just no copies of 669.

The murder mystery continues. Williams' art is still amazing. I love the character bits between Robin and Squire. Jog apparently discusses issue 669 (and maybe the whole arc) in detail, but since I haven't read 669, I've saved the link. I'll talk about this in more detail when I've read the final part.

Adam didn't like this.

Starlord #3

Wow, this series has been disappointing. Some nice character moments, but the story bores me. Actually, many of the characters bore me. In this issue, one of the characters comes back to life (which is a cool moment) and things go to shit. Even more so. I have no idea what's going on elsewhere in this crossover, but where the first Annihilation story's mini-series seemed to tell solid stories alone, this one just isn't doing it for me. Which I find odd since normally Keith Giffen's writing wows me. The art on this book is very well done. I'll pick up the final issue, because I want to see how it turns out (or, semi-concludes so it can lead into the rest of the crossover).

The Boys #10

That's not quite how I expected the story to end. I can't actually see the point of this arc beyond namecalling and giving Hughie some great moments. I hope future stories expand on the other members of the group a bit. So far, it's been 10 issues of Butcher and Hughie mostly.

JLA/Hitman #1

I never read Hitman, but figured I'd check this two-parter out since I do love Ennis' work. It's a nice little story with some nice little character moments, going back to Morrison's JLA line-up. My only beef with the characters is that Wally West is a fucking asshole here. Whenever he opened his mouth, it wasn't the usual friendly bashing of Kyle that I remember but him just being a giant jackass. Wow.

Overall, not a bad bunch of books. Adam picked up an issue of Fell, the first issue of Ennis' Streets of Glory (or whatever it's called) and an issue of Fables that he couldn't finish because it sucked so much--and then left at Bubble Tea.

Tomorrow, I'll post on the third volume of 52, which I also bought.

52 Problems, Etc. (Volume 2.714285714285, etc.)

Okay, so I'm a horrible blogger, you've got me. I quit in the middle of the post to watch a DVD of a TV show I've already seen. However, in my defence, I offer two words:

Denny Crane.

I've still got two plots from 52's first two volumes to look at plus maybe a few words on various minor bits that technically tie into the main plots but are still worth noting.

Evil Genius, Inc.

Another plot that didn't do much for me until it got going was the whole Will Magnus visiting Professor Morrow in prison, which lead into mad scientists all being kidnapped. My lack of interest could be that I've never given a second thought to the Metal Men. Wow, robots made out of a specific metal, colour me don't-give-a-fuck. I did like that Magnus visited Morrow, though--and that the fact he did it once a month allowed for this story to only show up every four issues without people wondering where it went. A smart little technique that worked with the format of the series.

When Magnus is finally kidnapped, I wish they had had the room to push his mental breakdown further and have it more drawn out. I love the part where he accuses his kidnappers of trying to unhinge him and they respond that they only want MAD scientists. Given more room to breathe, this plot could have been far more interesting.

Where volume two ends, we're not entirely sure what's going on, just that the scientists are on an island and given the freedom to do as they will--well, and the funny as hell scene where a woman scientist arrives. That scene is made by the exchange between Magnus and Morrow where Morrow says he knew a woman once, Magnus responds "...and?" and Morrow goes "...I just knew one, once..." I love it.

Really, this is a story that could have carried a series. The first four issues detailing the kidnappings and Magnus' breakdown and then just a monthly book of mad scientists doing fucked up shit on an island. I would buy that.

August General in Iron on Black Adam: "Wwwhhhhhhhhhhhh-PSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!"

Black Adam's arc over just these two volumes is interesting as he goes from extreme, Authority-esque ruler of a nation to an attempt to be Captain Marvel basically--which works now that Captain Marvel is the new Shazam wizard. Again, only half of the larger arc, but an interesting one.

However, one question does come up: is this story a subtle commentary one how women--and, more specifically, marriage--change men?

We have Black Adam, fucking asshole who shows little mercy for evil scum, bent on creating a world that works who then meets a girl, gives her magical powers and is talked into being nicer and friendlier and giving up his coalition of Asian superheroes. What's even more surprising is how quickly it all happens. In, what, three or four months, his entire attitude and outlook changes. All of which is purposeful because they need to set up Black Adam as the patriarch of his own little family so it can be taken away and he can go even further than before.

But.

Is it also a commentary on women?

It sure seems like it, because it does read like one of those overnight transformations we've all seen where a buddy meets a girl and, suddenly, he's an entirely different guy. August General in Iron says that when Black Adam quits the coalition (well, he says something more like "What the hell? YOU started this whole thing and now that you're married, you're quitting? PUSSY!").

I'm not sure how I read this, though. Is it sexist or simply reporting something that DOES happen? Or is it more a romantic take where it's about how family and love can change a person for the better? While Black Adam's buddies are all "You changed! You used to be cool!" he's in a loving relationship, which could very well be an improvement from who he was before.

My only complaint is that, come on, did they have to make Isis' little brother paralysed to DIRECTLY copy Captain Marvel, Jr.? They couldn't have had him seriously wounded in ANY OTHER WAY? It's just a little bit too cutesy for me. Another injury would have had the same parallelism, but not been so fucking obvious.

Please God Tell Me That's NOT the Justice League!

A few thoughts on other bits:

* one of my favourite parts of the second volume is Mark Waid's inclusion of the script for the Justice League issue where he makes a note that asks Grant about Bulleteer.

* that, and just how shitty that League is.

* The part where Alan Scott gets Mr. Terrific to join the new Checkmate confused the fuck out of me. It wasn't until halfway through when I realised who these guys were. And, even then, why I should care.

* The Martian Manhunter as a presidential aide is an awesome idea. THAT should have been the new series. Leave it to DC to ignore the awesome, mature, complex idea in favour of something typical and lame. (*cough*lexaspresident*cough*)

* Hey, the heroes who came back from space kind of disappeared, didn't they?

And that does it for this round. I'll continue when I get volume three--whenever that is.

I've Got 52 Problems but a Bitch Ain't One (Volume Two)

One of my biggest complaints about the technique used in 52 is that for a comic that takes place in real time, some stories just disappear for weeks without there seeming to be any time passage. Which is, in a way, more realistic as things shouldn't be constantly on the go, because who lives that sort of life? Oh wait, superheroes do. But, then again, if Ultimate Peter Parker was a real kid and the first hundred issues of that series really was JUST a year in his life, he would probably kill himself, so maybe not having these people have such hectic lifestyles is a good thing.

Then again, there's a seven week gap between when the trio of space-heroes (more on them soon) escape from that New God trapper guy and then show up again to escape from the planet. Are we to believe the New God guy didn't do something? Hell, that entire plot is stretched out waaaaaaaaaaaay too much when you look at it in real time.

The ironic thing is that Countdown's big problem from the issues I've seen is that while it doesn't take place in real time, they feel the need to cram every story into every issue. That's a weekly series where devoting an entire issue to one or two stories would work, while it doesn't always in 52.

But anyway . . .

Today, I'm supposed to look at volume two of 52, but I'll discuss volume one as well as most of my problems with the series in general from yesterday still apply in volume two--and while I do love Phil Jimenez's work, it stands out like a sore thumb here and only serves to make the rest of the art look like shit.

So, the plots. Let's address them one at a time:

Booster Gold Sucks Ass

Basic synopsis: Booster Gold tries to be a hero, his sidekick Skeets fucks up, he's shown to be a selfish fraud, is shown up by a new hero called Supernova, falls hard and then dies. Skeets it turns out is evil and he kills Booster's ancestor because he's evil.

If there is a "main story" for 52, this would be the strongest contender, I think, but that's also based on the fact that I know how the series ends. But, beyond purely plot reasons, is it worthy of being called the "main story" of 52?

No. Booster's story in these two volumes doesn't actually progress much. That's definitely purposeful in the sense that Booster isn't supposed to learn from his mistakes or become a better person (especially since this is only half of the story), but it's also strangely stagnant. This is an arc I have a hard time seeing taking place over this long a time period. What we see here is six months and, really, it seems like a month's worth of activity. That is a subjective view, though. We don't see Booster do many heroic acts nor much of his downfall. Because of the nature of the series, we hit the important beats, but skip over the small moments (for the most part) that would give this story more meaning and depth.

The two exceptions are Booster's encounters with Fire and Ralph, especially the former as its only purpose is to develop Booster's character and show what he spends his time doing when he's not out trying to play hero and sell ad space on his costume. The encounter with Ralph does that, but also segues into Booster's public shaming and fall.

The Supernova subplot is interesting, but not really, because you never get the sense that the character actally matters. He's a plot device--which is the risk with a mysterious character like this. We know nothing about him, he only shows up to advance other characters' stories and that's it. It's hard not to perceive him as a plot device. The sad thing is that the design of the character is fantastic and I would have preferred he turn out to be entirely new and become part of the DCU in his own right.

And Skeets being evil is kind of cool, I'll admit.

Irons V. Luthor

Steel once claimed to be Superman; therefore, he and Lex Luthor are enemies. I love that logic. And this storyline is one of the ones that interests me the most, because it's a great idea: Lex Luthor finds a way to turn people into superheroes and looks like a great guy to the public, while the heroes all know he's a douchebag doing it for his own gain.

Playing Irons against his niece is great, because it's another example of the brilliance of Lex Luthor as a character: he is a supervillain who doesn't act like a supervillain. He fights the heroes on completely different terms and he wins more often than not. Anytime I see him in that awful green and purple suit or actually fighting, I cringe, because it's so fucking typical. This is the guy who became president just to fuck with Superman, he does not resort to brawling like a common thug.

There is a big whole in this story (although is may be rectified) is that if this is a year where Clark Kent is just Clark Kent, he should be in there, being the Spider Jerusalem to Luthor's Smiler (which still bugs me about Lex as president, by the way). Obviously not the exact same, but that is how he can fight Lex on Lex's terms. That's the beauty of that relationship, because Lex ony thinks of Superman as the superhero, never realising that Clark Kent is there to counter him in that non-traditional sense. It's how Morrison approached the "Rock of Ages" arc in JLA where it's Bruce Wayne's skills that take down Luthor, not Batman's.

But I digress.

The idea of anyone getting superpowers and using them is really well done--and Luthor creating his own superteam is a classic way for him to give Superman and the rest the finger.

Why Should I Care about Renee Montoya????

As I said yesterday, the Montoya/Question storyline does nothing for me. I don't care. They're fighting Intergang, yay. They stop a suicide bombing, yay. They introduce a new Batwoman who Montoya used to sleep with, yay. None of it grabs me.

Lost in Space

This storyline sucked me in more than I expected. Actually, I expected to hate this story as it's three characters I'm not that interested in (okay, I do love Animal Man like everyone else who's read Morrison's run) in space where they encounter Lobo who I really don't care about. Not much there initially, but, somehow, it turned out to be really engaging.

And yet there's very little character development here. We have Animal Man, Starfire and Adam Strange on a planet, trapped. They have to get off. They find out there's a bounty on their heads when Devilance the Pursuer, a New God, captures them. They escape, use his weapon to power their ship and are then rescused by Lobo, who has found religion. That's actually pretty cool.

This storyline is actual the most minor one, I'd say, as it gets ignored a lot. Like I said earlier, there's a seven week gap where these characters don't show up at all. Most of the time, this plot gets skimmed over until Lobo shows up and then more emphasis is given--although, still, little development. But, it works.

Ralph Dibny, PI

This story is interesting in that the first half interested me, but the second half didn't. The first half, as Ralph uncovers what the cult of Kon-El or whatever wants with him and his dead wife, culminating in his attempt to bring her back to life is excellent. We see a desperate, depressed man gain a new purpose, given hope and then left a wreck.

Only to have him become the new Dr. Fate maybe? Yawn.

Aaaaaaaaaand my roommate is watching Boston Legal on DVD and I want to join him, so I'll finish this up tomorrow. Until then.

I've Got 52 Problems and a Bitch Ain't One (Volume One)

I can't remember how many issues of 52 I actually read cover to cover back when it was coming out. My dad bought it weekly, but I'm pretty sure sometime within the first month I went to skimming, if not during the first week itself. Honestly, the book didn't really interest me beyond my general desire to know what's going on in every book Marvel and DC publishes (which I usually do--even when I don't actively try to know what's going on).

But, hey, the trades are now coming out, so, fuck it, I'm on board the 52 bandwagon for these four collections. On Friday, I got the first two from the campus bookstore. Although, the bookstore tends to get most trades a few weeks after the comic shops, so no idea when I'll get the third one. May go to the local shop later this week, but that's no guarantee. But, today and tomorrow, I'll discuss the first two volumes of this "groundbreaking" series and judge it harshly because that's just the way I roll.

My first complaint, which is a minor one and not something that annoys me THAT much, but I'll mention it right away as it segues into praise: why no Grant Morrison commentary? After each week, there's a page of commentary by one of the writers, Keith Giffen, maybe an artist or Dan Didio--usually, it's Greg Rucka or Mark Waid, though. But never Grant Morrison, which kind of sucks.

Now, that said, the commentary and bonus art pages are a very nice addition to the trades. Commentary doesn't always work, but for a weekly series like this, it's fantastic to see what was going on behind the scenes a bit, especially once they get past the first month or so and the lead time shrinks gradually.

Another minor complaint is that JG Jones' covers are stuck at the back of the trade, most shrunk down so four can fit on a page. Now, this is probably because DC has (or will) releas(ed) a collection of the covers, but still kind of annoying. It would have been nice to have each cover WITH the text to begin each week--if only because the commentary often mentions the cover of that particular week.

Okay, that does it for the little stuff unique to the trade (oh, and JG Jones' covers for the trades are lovely, too), let's move on to the actual content of the series . . .

It's not that bad, actually.

It's not that great either, but it's not as bad as I thought it was while skimming.

Of course, certain storylines do nothin for me. The Question/Montoya one--who cares? Which is weird because yesterday I hyped this as a follow-up to Gotham Central with Montoya's story. But, yeah, I don't care. I've read two volumes and it really does nothing for me. I don't find any of the banter amusing, the characters engaging or what they're doing interesting.

But, that's to be expected. There are, what, a half dozen (maybe more, maybe less depending) storylines? What are the odds that I (or anyone) would enjoy every single one?

In all honesty, I didn't begin liking any of them until week four or five, at least. Momentum is a big part of the appeal here--which is why I think I'm more into the book while reading it in trade-form than I ever was while trying to read individual issues each week. Because of the weekly format and the inability to explore each story fully each week, reading the series in 13-issue chunks gives each story more depth and draws them out more. Where two pages for Booster Gold one week makes that story look small and lame, drawn out over 13 issues, it seems much more akin to the sort of story you'll read elsewhere.

Which is a strange irony of this book: a series that's whole gimmick was reading it weekly reads better in trade than individual issues.

One of the surprising strengths of the first volume is the lacklustre, medicore, middle-of-the-road art. It's not bad, but it's not great. And despite different artists coming in and out, they're all at around the same skill level with Keith Giffen providing a consistent guide on layouts. The storytelling is clear and does the job. Which, for a book like this, is obviously the main goal of the art. If they wanted showy art, they wouldn't have had Giffen on layouts or used these artists. They do bring in some bigger names as the series progresses, which actually bothers me, because that disrupts the flow. But, I'll leave that for future volumes, because the art in this volume is wonderfully mediocre and workmanlike throughout--one of the few times that will be a giant compliment, I know.

Wow, I haven't really discussed the plots, have I? Well, I'll get into that tomorrow with volume two as I can't really remember what happened in which volume since I read the first one on Sunday night and the second one today.

So, tomorrow, I'll discuss each storyline in some detail, covering the first two volumes, plus a few things specific to volume two.

Batman Thinks Your Favourite Hero is a Loser

I have been given a substantial amount of money from OSAP (government student loan). Far, far more money than I should have, really. What the fuck were they thinking?

But, that means I can now buy things. Many, many, many things. Like trades. Hey, look, I bought some trades on Friday and today I will discuss the first of the bunch:

Gotham Central: Dead Robin

The fifth and final collection of the series features three stories over eight issues. The eponymous lead story begins with the body of Robin found in an alley. Oh shit, not again! What is it with Batman and not being able to keep Robins alive? This new one means that only one is still alive and he's not Robin anymore! What the fuck, Batman?

Oh, it's not Tim Drake apparently.

But, the police have no way to know and they don't exactly believe Batman when he tells them that it's not the real Robin and to fuck right off, he don't abuse no kids. Except, of course, it is hard to trust him, because we all know about that girl Robin that died a few months before this story. But, then again, the police don't know that. Oh, the dramatic irony is so thick, you can eat it with a spoon!

That's actually something that I find I enjoy more and more about shared superhero universes: we, the readers, like to see all of these characters living in harmony with one another, knowing everything we know, but they don't. Most of them haven't even met--and if they did, it was just at some big megacrossover meeting where the important people planned stuff and the losers did the grunt work and probably got hurt, because, let's face it, most of these people suck. Like I'm supposed to believe Batman gives two shits about . . . I dunno, Beast Boy or Supergirl? No, he doesn't, because he's Batman and they're losers who fight loser villains that aren't even worth Batman's attention. He only cares about them in that they deal with those loser villains so he doesn't have to. He looks at them the same way he looks at the garbageman (now, don't get me wrong, I respect people who pick up garbage--more than I respect a lot of people like lawyers--but Batman doesn't, see--he's a rich motherfucker who can't help but think those guys are scum).

What was I talking about again?

Oh yeah: Batman only has time for, like, a dozen people and he even hates all of them. Even Superman. Especially Superman.

"Dead Robin" is actually a pretty entertaining story, but the ending left me yawning. It was just so . . . mundane. Dead Robins showing up all over the city (okay, in two places) and that's it? I would have actually preferred it turning out that Batman was training dozens of teens to be his unholy Robin army and a few just, you know, died. It happens. Whatever. Move on.

Then there's a self-contained issue that ties into Infinite Crisis that is about as good as you'd expect an issue that ties into a giant crossover to be.

The final three issues deal with Jim Corrigan, the corrupt CSU officer, killing Montoya's partner and walking, setting up her story in 52. It's a really well done story and ends in a way that leaves a bad taste in your mouth--but in that good way.

One thing I should mention is how great the art is. Kano and Stefano Gaudiano handle the art for "Dead Robin" and "Corrigan II" while Steve Lieber does the Infinite Crisis issue. It's all dark and pseudo-realistic, reminding me of Sean Phillip's art (who provides the covers). It works perfectly with the tone of the series and plots, heavy emphasis on mood and storytelling. Especially impressive is the fact that with a large cast of characters, I was rarely confused over who was who. That's something that a lot of artists can't pull off, but they do here.

Tomorrow, we follow-up Montoya's story in the first volume of 52.