Aetheric Mechanics
Final Crisis #4
Final Crisis: Submit
Hellblazer #248
Invincible #54
Trinity #21
Superman: New Krypton
Ultimate Spider-man #127
Final Crisis #4/Final Crisis: Submit
I’ve been watching Final Crisis: Submit appear and disappear off the publishing schedule for a couple weeks now. I don’t know the reason for its perpetual vanishing act, but if someone with any brains at all intentionally decided to release these two titles on the same day, I give them well deserved kudos. FC: Submit reads almost like an exceptionally long Prologue, yet the events that take place within it dovetail nicely into the more opaque goings-on of FC #4. Weighing in on the J.G. Jones controversy, I think it’s a shame that he won’t be finishing the penciling on the lead series. With so much riding on the success of this crossover event I don’t think DC comes off particularly well in their ability to adequately plan and co-ordinate the whole thing. When the series penciler is publicly questioning his own role with the project you can tell something has gone wrong behind the scenes.
Invincible #54
Still not feeling the new costume. It’s not just that I’m notoriously resistant to change (I am) but the new threads feel like a generic re-tread of so many of the superhero costumes currently out there. The original Invincible look was clearly punching above its weight, borderline iconic, representative of the wearer’s personality and it makes an instant impression on the reader. Black and blue and a darkening personality is an overused gimmick I’ve seen in too many other places to really care about it. Yes I know Kirkman and Ottley are making a point here, but I think they’re being self-referential about an era in comic history that’s better left in the pass. I hope this Dark-Mark bit will be finished sooner rather than later.
Showing posts with label Hellblazer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hellblazer. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Six sentence comic book reviews
Six sentence comic book reviews. Where I try to summarize and analyze what happened this week in comic books. And you try to pretend you give a damn.
Trinity #3
I want my Gangbuster, Gangbuster, Gangbuster back.
I want my Gangbuster, Gangbuster, Gangbuster back.
I want my Gangbuster, Gangbuster, Gangbuster back.
It’s telling that the element I enjoyed most about this issue is the probable return of a decade gone supporting character from the Super-titles. I could sit and watch Bags draw the entire DC Universe and not complain. But right now I don’t feel that this title has a clear identity and direction beyond ‘this is our trinity and they are important.’
Anna Mercury #2
Um, WTF? Despite evidence to the contrary I’m not a stupid man. But Ellis has thrown out so much techno-babble in this issue that I barely have any idea what’s going on. Apparently there are other worlds in orbit around Earth and Anna Mercury’s job is to hop between them and make sure that everything is going along just tickety-boo. I’d tell you more but I had to re-read the obligatory exposition scene so many times that I just kind of zoned out trying to make sense of it all. When I came to again I had apparently broken my keyboard by trying to repeatedly force my forehead through it.
Hellblazer #245
I have some fairly significant holes in my Hellblazer collection. Which means that, while I understand the broad strokes of what happened in John Constantine’s past, I’m sometimes a little short on the specifics. This issue follows “Behind the Music” as they explore Constantine’s old stomping grounds from his time fronting the punk band Muscous Membrane. The whole thing comes across like a stereotypical horror movie. The TV crew engages in sex, drugs and rock and roll and one by one, like so many Star Trek red shirts, their minds begin to fall prey to the machinations of some unseen monster. It’s an interesting enough idea but unfortunately the execution is a little below the standards I’ve come to expect from this title.
The Brave and the Bold #14
Deadman and Green Arrow team up to take on some disembodied-skeleton terrorist types hell bent on world domination. Mark Waid and Scott Kolins turn in a respectable effort at what feels like a filler-plus story. I find that the greatest strength of team-up titles are also their biggest weakness. It’s all about finding a convenient excuse to slap two disparate characters together in an adventure that is guaranteed to have no effect on either’s current status quo. On that note, what’s up with Deadman these days? I think he’s a vastly underused character that would fit in particularly well on a team like JLA or JSA who may be looking for a hero with some sort of affinity for magic and the underworld.
Justice League of America #22
Vixen? Full frontal chest shot.
Black Canary, Chairwoman of the JLA? Ass shot.
Reading comic books shouldn’t make me feel like I’m trying to peak at the centerfold of a nudie mag. I don’t even know how Wonder Woman’s body can contort like that on the cover anyway, showing both her chest and her butt.
That’s it for this post. Now go forth, read comics and lets all agree to meet up here at the same time next week.
Trinity #3
I want my Gangbuster, Gangbuster, Gangbuster back.
I want my Gangbuster, Gangbuster, Gangbuster back.
I want my Gangbuster, Gangbuster, Gangbuster back.
It’s telling that the element I enjoyed most about this issue is the probable return of a decade gone supporting character from the Super-titles. I could sit and watch Bags draw the entire DC Universe and not complain. But right now I don’t feel that this title has a clear identity and direction beyond ‘this is our trinity and they are important.’
Anna Mercury #2
Um, WTF? Despite evidence to the contrary I’m not a stupid man. But Ellis has thrown out so much techno-babble in this issue that I barely have any idea what’s going on. Apparently there are other worlds in orbit around Earth and Anna Mercury’s job is to hop between them and make sure that everything is going along just tickety-boo. I’d tell you more but I had to re-read the obligatory exposition scene so many times that I just kind of zoned out trying to make sense of it all. When I came to again I had apparently broken my keyboard by trying to repeatedly force my forehead through it.
Hellblazer #245
I have some fairly significant holes in my Hellblazer collection. Which means that, while I understand the broad strokes of what happened in John Constantine’s past, I’m sometimes a little short on the specifics. This issue follows “Behind the Music” as they explore Constantine’s old stomping grounds from his time fronting the punk band Muscous Membrane. The whole thing comes across like a stereotypical horror movie. The TV crew engages in sex, drugs and rock and roll and one by one, like so many Star Trek red shirts, their minds begin to fall prey to the machinations of some unseen monster. It’s an interesting enough idea but unfortunately the execution is a little below the standards I’ve come to expect from this title.
The Brave and the Bold #14
Deadman and Green Arrow team up to take on some disembodied-skeleton terrorist types hell bent on world domination. Mark Waid and Scott Kolins turn in a respectable effort at what feels like a filler-plus story. I find that the greatest strength of team-up titles are also their biggest weakness. It’s all about finding a convenient excuse to slap two disparate characters together in an adventure that is guaranteed to have no effect on either’s current status quo. On that note, what’s up with Deadman these days? I think he’s a vastly underused character that would fit in particularly well on a team like JLA or JSA who may be looking for a hero with some sort of affinity for magic and the underworld.
Justice League of America #22
Vixen? Full frontal chest shot.
Black Canary, Chairwoman of the JLA? Ass shot.
Reading comic books shouldn’t make me feel like I’m trying to peak at the centerfold of a nudie mag. I don’t even know how Wonder Woman’s body can contort like that on the cover anyway, showing both her chest and her butt.
That’s it for this post. Now go forth, read comics and lets all agree to meet up here at the same time next week.
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