Summer Reading, pt. 6

by Brandon

This is it. This is the end. I start back to work in two days. Students start back a week thereafter. I would lying if I said I wanted to go back to work. Let me state emphatically that I do not. This summer has been crazy busy and I don't feel like my brain has had enough time to defrag from last school year. Like it or not, though, my days of freedom are dwindling. Luckily, I have been able to read a ton of comics this summer and have been able to catalogue my new comic book experiences here for all to read on the big, bad Internet. In this last edition of summer reading, I review new books from the Batman reboot, a milestone for Savage Dragon, the awesome Unwritten, and several Star Wars books.

Captain America: Reborn #2
I know I reviewed my latest batch of Marvel books last week, but I decided to give Captain America: Reborn another shot. The first issue fell kind of flat for me for two reasons: the same two reasons this issue fell flat for me. What a coincidence? My first major reason is that I am an outsider to this title. I'm one of those people Marvel roped into buying this through the hype. I'm probably a chump for doing so, but impulse buys can sometimes pay off. I'm the type of outside person Marvel is hoping will buy this. Yet, an outsider is all I feel like. I have no real connection to the characters or events outside of the larger context that the event/non-event Dark Reign that is going on and Norman has some kind of mad-on to make sure he gets Cap first. Which brings me to my second problem. This just doesn't feel real to me. This can't really be how Marvel is bring Captain America back? It seems to out there for Brubaker's reputation. This second issue did little to clear up the mechanism of how a magic bullet is able to bring Captain America back by sticking him in time. It's weak for a return that surely have been planned from word one when they decided to kill Steve Rogers off at the end of Civil War.

Batman & Robin #2
Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely are probably the best creative team in comic books working past, present, or future. They just hit the ground running with whatever they do together, a synergy that clicks. The second issue of the new Batman & Robin series has some great character moments with just about everyone in the book. Alfred is comfortable in the mentor role and Damian is too in his role as the would be jerk. The dynamic between the new Batman and Robin is still tense. And while I think it's a bit too early to play the "Robin runs off on his own" card, it just seems to work here. The editorial bigwigs over at DC should pat themselves on the back. The Batman books haven't been this blessed with this caliber of creative talent in a long time, if ever.

Detective Comics #855
Speaking of talent on the Bat books, another one of the titles that is currently blessed is Detective Comics. While Rucka's story here is weaker than the last issue, it still plays off well. A large part of that is due to the gorgeous artwork provided by J.H. Williams III. Batwoman spent a large part of this issue tripping, which works more towards the artist's strength rather than the writer. If Morrison and Quitely are the best team, then Williams is the best stand alone artist. Each page is a joy to look at. The second feature with the Question was still "meh" for me.

Fables #85
Now back on regularly scheduled programing, this issue of Fables stands out as one of the better single-issue stories in the run thus far. That may be in large part due to following up the so-so crossover of the last few months. Mr. Dark is a menacing villain and we get a slight peak here of what he was like and where he came from. Willingham's story almost reaches new heights here, while guest penciller Jim Fern does an outstanding job of providing artwork worthy of any regular issue out of the series. This new, yet darker era for Fables looks like it is going to be fertile for new stories. Some fans wondered if Willingham was going to be able to continue to write great comics for Fables once the Adversary was out of the way. It's issues like these that prove Willingham can actually out do himself.

The Unwritten #3
Holy crap! This is the best new series on the stands now. To use an over-used baseball analogy, Mike Carey and Peter Gross are hitting the ball out of the park with every issue. This title is everything you want out of a Vertigo title. It's literary and edgy, smart and funny, mysterious and fantastical. Carey manages to keep the story of Tom Taylor dealing with his alter ego of Tommy Taylor going strong without really focusing on the fictional Tommy Taylor this issue. Instead, we get an examination of Frankenstein and a solid argument between assembled writers on why horror works. This is such a well-written series that it's hard to find fault with anything Carey and Gross have done thus far. Could this be the best book out now? Possibly, but if you haven't gotten on board yet, what's your excuse?

The Savage Dragon #150
Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon hit a milestone few independent comics ever reach with this 150th issue. It is such an achievement for him and not just in term with numbers. Savage Dragon isn't the best book on the stands. I don't think it ever will be. However, it is one of the most entertaining reading experiences a comic fans can have. The amount of zany ideas per square inch here beat out any comic book being published right now. It's hard to read a Savage Dragon comic and not catch a bit of Larsen's infectious love for this character. The title on the cover states that this issue was the biggest bargain in comic." 100 pages for $5.99? Yeah, that's awesome, especially when many Marvel and DC books cost you just two bucks less for barely 22 pages worth of story. For that, fans get a ton of extras on top of the regular story for this issue. Included here are Savage Dragon #0, Lev Gleason Publishing's Daredevil #18 (not that Daredevil), a Vanguard story, and several small strips just for fun. And I shouldn't forget the always interesting letter column. For fans old and new, this issue is great for someone wanting to scratch their comic book itch. I can promise it's not going to be the next Watchmen, but does every comic need to be? Just have fun reading this one. I did.

Conan the Cimmerian #12
I gushed last month about how awesome Conan has been since the rebooting to Conan the Cimmerian. I don't have that much to add this month in terms of praise because this book is still very entertaining. "Black Colossus" is one of those classic Robert E. Howard stories that is hard to mess up. It has everything you would want from a Conan story: love, war, and lots of kick ass art. Though I'm already familiar with the story, Truman and Giorello inject so much life into this story that is fresh once again.


Star Wars Extravaganza:
I'm going to be dorky and write a review haiku for each of these issues. It's a) something different and b) risk free because no one is reading.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars #7
So pedestrian
Can anyone make this good?
Not even the Jedi

Star Wars: Invasion #1
Based on book series
Why not follow Yoda's lead?
Please do or do not

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #43
John Jackson Miller
Must Zayne always save the day?
Isn't he clumsy?

Star Wars: Legacy #38
Poor Cade Skywalker
Trapped real drunk on Tatooine
Look, bounty hunter
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DC Comics -- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

by Chris

With all the talk of DC comics in the news lately, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at what they're doing well and what they're not doing so well. Most of the press recently has been negative, what with Chuck Dixon leaving, Warren Ellis making comments on his Bad Signal e-mail, and other creators complaining in general in regards to the editorial direction or lack thereof. After Doug's article last week about the company, I figured I'd throw in my $0.02. Are DC's comics these days really that bad? Does this reader have anything good to say about the company? Read on and find out!

The Good:

Batman -- Sometimes, I have no idea what Grant Morrison is doing with a story, but then, a few issues down the road in a different story arc, he'll pull stuff in that he introduced six months ago and make it awesome. He did it with New X-Men and he's doing it now with Batman. Combine that with Tony Daniel putting in the work of his career and you've got an awesome book.




Detective Comics -- Paul Dini's one and done (sometimes two and done) stories are refreshing in these days of story arcs that take six months to get to the payoff. Then there's Dustin Nguyen's moody and gorgeous artwork. Put them together and you've got something stellar. Month in and month out, these
guys put together an engaging, well drawn story.





Justice Society of America -- Okay, I have no idea whose legacy half these new characters are carrying on, but I'm still enjoying this book immensely. The passion that Johns (and Ross) have for these characters just bleeds onto the page, which translates into some amazing stories. With so many characters, there's just a ton of stuff going on in each issue, which is so much the opposite of a lot of books these days. Dale Eaglesham doesn't get a lot of mention when talking about this book, but his artwork is very good.


Action Comics -- While I was pretty underwhelmed by Richard Donner's run on the book, Johns has really taken the bull by the horns, so to speak. No one has ever gotten me interested in the Legion of Superheroes, but that arc was amazing. Johns really made me care about them and really got me emotionally attached to their relationship to Superman. Now I'm really looking forward to the Brainiac story.




Sinestro Corps War -- Now THAT is how you do a crossover. I didn't even buy the Green Lantern Corps issues and still was able to follow the story and enjoy it thoroughly. Great character moments, plenty of action, and engaging storytelling, much unlike the rest of Johns' run on the book (see below).






The Bad:

Green Lantern -- Aside from the Sinestro Corps War storyline, this book is pretty boring. Why do they feel it's necessary to take six issues to re-tell Hal Jordan's origin? I can maybe see three with all the seeds they're planting for upcoming storylines, but six seems excessive, especially when nothing's
really happening. And don't get me started on the arc early in Johns' run with Hal getting shot down in Chechnya. Put me right to sleep. The one redeeming quality in all of this is Ivan Reis' gorgeous artwork.


Kurt Busiek's Superman run -- I love me some Kurt Busiek. He's one of my favorite writers. How does he turn out almost two years' worth of boring Superman stories? I wasn't engaged by any of it. I enjoyed the Carlos Pacheco artwork on the few issues he was on, but aside from that, I can't believe Busiek wrote these issues. I'm looking forward to seeing what James Robinson will do with the book.




Wonder Woman -- When Greg Rucka took over this book before Infinite Crisis, it was the first time I'd bought more than three issues of the book. Rucka had such brilliant ideas and such a grasp on the character that it was an amazing read each and every month. Then Infinite Crisis came along and the book sunk right down into mediocrity and it hasn't pulled itself out yet. Allan Heinberg's run was a train wreck from the start. Jodi Picoult's arc was unbelievably cheesy and felt like it was written in the 70s. Now Gail Simone is writing it and I'm surprised at how un-engaging the stories are. I have faith in her storytelling abilities and Aaron Lopresti is doing an excellent job, so I'll stick around for a while, but how hard is it to get this book right?

Flash -- This book had been awesome for 10 years. Mark Waid, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, and Geoff Johns had elevated this book to one of the best superhero books on the stands. As soon as Johns left, it died. The last few issues before it ended was painful to read. The series with Bart was mediocre at best. Even Waid couldn't re-ignite the magic he had. Now Peyer has come on and we're again at mediocre. I think DC has had problems relaunching a lot of their books post-OYL in general, which points to bad editorial planning.


The Ugly:

Supergirl -- Okay, the first year and a half of this book were usually a bit confusing as to what exactly was going on, but it was crystal clear compared to what the new creative team is doing. I dropped the book after two issues because I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The story wasn't explained, it was just Superman sending Kara after some aliens into another galaxy or some such and then all of a sudden she was back on Earth. There would be panels with no dialogue and no narration and the artist didn't help us understand what was going on. I gave up. I'm still upset they canceled Peter David's version of the book. The new creative team of writer Sterling Gates and penciller Jamal Igle takes over in October. It will be tied in quite closely with Robinson's and Johns' books. Hopefully, they can make the book interesting and relevant.

Crisis of Infinite Mini-Series Tie-Ins When you have to read three or four different mini-series to understand what's going on in an additional crossover or even your favorite monthly book, there's something wrong. Teen Titans, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman all became unreadable during the Amazons Attack story unless you were buying the mini series. Ditto Superman and Action Comics at times during Countdown. If you didn't read the four tie-in mini-series, Infinite Crisis was difficult to follow. And now I've seen at least six mini-series tying into Final Crisis. I'll tell you this: I won't be buying any of them.

the whole Chuck Dixon thing -- So we don't know the whole story behind this, but when the guy who made Robin readable again and was doing a very good job on Batman and the Outsiders suddenly leaves the company, something isn't quite right. The man was a major force in the Batman family of books throughout the 90s, wrote Robin, Nightwing, and Birds of Prey for years, and has a fairly large fan base. I figure you would find any way possible to keep a guy like that working for you.

Late books and fill-in creators -- I was going to write something about how bad it is to have to have a fill-in artist on the second issue of Titans, but I was informed that Ian Churchill injured his hand and physically couldn't do the work. However, there are plenty of other places where DC has dropped the ball, with Action Comics and Wonder Woman post-OYL being the worst offenders. Then we've got fill-in art on Final Crisis, entire fill-in creative teams on Batman and Detective Comics last year, and don't get me started on yanking Tony Bedard off of Batman and the Outsiders before it even got started. They seem to be getting better with this type of thing, though.

So, while there are some areas where DC could improve, there are definitely some good books begin put out, too. I haven't been reading Countdown, so I can't comment on that book as far as editorial direction goes. I also haven't been following the whole thing with Grant Morrison and his complaints about how the editorial team has handled some of the stuff for Final Crisis. They do have a handful of books that are extremely good right now and a few that could become
very good once they find a solid direction. I'll be sticking around for the foreseeable future.
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