NCD #2: The good and the not-so-good

Green Arrow\Black Canary #7

Despite all the hate that Judd Winnick seems to inspire whenever he puts pen to paper I honestly don’t mind the majority of his work. Every now and again he can write a real clunker but for the most part he’s a capable writer.

Except for this week.

GA goes to London may have sounded great in theory put in terms of practical application Winnick blows it. The story is dry and dull. And except for an oh to short conversation between GA and Hal the humour is completely lacking.

Green Arrow is one of those characters that I have a blind spot for. I’m willing to give his title a lot of latitude. And over the years that flexibility has come into play, a lot. Unfortunately this week pushed my tolerance to the limit.

I found it incredibly difficult to get past the flat art and the muddy colouring. The solicitation may have said art by Cliff Chiang, but that sure as heck wasn’t Cliff manning the pencil. But it was the colouring that I really disliked. All the interior colours were either mud brown or pea soup green. I don’t know if they were in a rush to get this out the door, or if they were just doing it on the cheap, but there is no shading in this comic. It’s like the colourer put away his box of 64 Crayola crayons and decided to colour with the 8 colour econo-pak instead. And unfortunately, it shows.

This comic was a chore to read.

Booster Gold #8

I feel the need to add my voice to the chorus of disappointment that Geoff Johns is leaving this title. Hell, if Johns ever left DC the sucking sound that you’d hear is the utter implosion of half of DC’s current lineup.

But making me like perennial backup character Booster Gold is a feat worthy of celebration. Johns has completely revitalized this character in a way that keeps Booster true to his roots and doesn’t involve a complete re-think of his origins.

This week’s title is just as solid as the 8 that proceeded it, with appearances by Zero Hour era Green Arrow and Hawkman as well as Wild Dog, Anthro and Pantha. It says something that I’m actually curious as to how Anthro ended up in a modern era DCU story. How did that happen? Perhaps Johns just wanted to give a nod to his upcoming appearance in Final Crisis.

Only three issues left, so savour each one as it comes. It won’t be long for this world.

Green Lantern Corps #23

Finally, back in the saddle again!

Peter Tomasi returns to the Mongul\Sinestro plotline that he started just before we got pulled into the Alpha Lanterns arc.

The Guardians decide to send off a select group of Lanterns into a previously off-limits sector of space in search of some wayward Sinestro rings. While Mongul is out doing some recruiting of his own for the Sinestro Corps, with a coffin full of Black Mercys in tow.

Its always nice to see the Black Mercys being used, even if they are on the verge of being overused. It’s great to see that a one-off story concept by Alan Moore is still relevant to the DCU, some 25 years later.

Anyway, this is a long overdue return to form for this title with Tomasi and Gleason helping the Corps do the two things they do best, kick ass, and take names.

Fantastic Four #556

It may be Ultimates-lite but its still head and shoulders above what is actually being printed by Loeb and co. over in the Ultimates.

Essentially this story is all about Hitch doing what he does best, giant splash pages of fight scenes. Hitch throws in just about every major character he can think of currently knocking around Marvel these days.

There’s just enough ‘plot’ in this issue to justify the wall to wall face stomping that occurs, but I get the feeling that Millar is simply following his standard plan of attack, hinting at a greater plot just below the surface and hoarding all the cards until he plan his big reveal.

When Millar and Hitch are on their game, there’s nothing else I like to read more.