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 Invincible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Invincible. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Pull List: 1 October 2008
Batman #680
Doktor Sleepless #9
No Hero #1
Invincible #25
Justice League of America #25
Trinity #18
Doktor Sleepless #9
No Hero #1
Invincible #25
Justice League of America #25
Trinity #18
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Six sentence comic book reviews
Offered without comment.
Trinity #8
The Brave and the Bold #15
Green Lantern Corps #26
Justice League of America #23
Superman #678
Ultimate X-Men #96
Invincible #51
Gravel #3
Black Summer #7
Green Lantern Corps #26
Mongul II, dead and dismembered? Don’t bet your life on it. In this issue Mongul goes head to head with almost the entire cast of the GL Corps. In a predictable battle, but beautifully drawn by Patrick Gleason, Mongul gets his ass handed to him after one of the Lanterns, Bzzd, sacrifices himself to bring down the new Sinestro Corps leader. A rock’em, sock’em, widescreen space opera that absolutely could not be any more enjoyable, highlighting just how much writer Peter Tomasi is on top of his game. Consistently one of the best comics being published right now, by any company.
Black Summer #7
Warren Ellis’ two year old blockbuster comic event comes to an end, and boy does this thing get talky. The surviving female contingent of the Seven Guns decide that helping keep their city safe is more important than taking revenge on the military for killing Tom Noir in cold blood. Horus, Blacksmith and a not-quite-as-dead-as-we-thought Noir then proceed to jaw at the reader for half a dozen pages in an attempt to justify their actions over the course of this series. A good, but somewhat anti-climatic, end to a better than average story. The incessant moralizing by three of the leads, in order to make their character motivations explicit, really pulled me out the tale. I would have preferred to let their actions speak for themselves and avoid spoon feeding me the unnecessary details.
Invincible #51
The Venom years, only without the sentient costume. For a Jim Lee cover I can’t help but feel like I’m not getting my money’s worth. Invincible’s right hand seems to be twisted into some kind of claw shape and there’s no background to speak of. It’s not a bad cover, just not what I’m used to from JL. Anyway, in this ish Invincible gets a new, darker toned costume, a kid sidekick and a girlfriend to boot. A series that continues to live up to the high standard of comic bookery that it has set for itself, if you’re an Invincible fan you’ll find nothing to hate here.
Superman #678
The latest attempt to repatriate a long lost Jack Kirby creation into the DCU proper continues. Atlas, a former hero type turned planetary dictator, shows up in Metropolis in order to challenge Superman for control of the city. The fists then proceed to fly. There’s a pair of obligatory shadowy figure types pulling various strings in the background and Atlas’ backstory is given an appropriate Kirby style visual treatment. There’s an unfamiliar cadence to some of the dialogue in this issue that’s neither good or bad, but pulls me out of the story nonetheless. An admirable attempt at varying the Superman formula a little bit that will keep me onboard with this title, for no other reason that to see how this story plays out.
Trinity #8
The Brave and the Bold #15
Green Lantern Corps #26
Justice League of America #23
Superman #678
Ultimate X-Men #96
Invincible #51
Gravel #3
Black Summer #7
Green Lantern Corps #26
Mongul II, dead and dismembered? Don’t bet your life on it. In this issue Mongul goes head to head with almost the entire cast of the GL Corps. In a predictable battle, but beautifully drawn by Patrick Gleason, Mongul gets his ass handed to him after one of the Lanterns, Bzzd, sacrifices himself to bring down the new Sinestro Corps leader. A rock’em, sock’em, widescreen space opera that absolutely could not be any more enjoyable, highlighting just how much writer Peter Tomasi is on top of his game. Consistently one of the best comics being published right now, by any company.
Black Summer #7
Warren Ellis’ two year old blockbuster comic event comes to an end, and boy does this thing get talky. The surviving female contingent of the Seven Guns decide that helping keep their city safe is more important than taking revenge on the military for killing Tom Noir in cold blood. Horus, Blacksmith and a not-quite-as-dead-as-we-thought Noir then proceed to jaw at the reader for half a dozen pages in an attempt to justify their actions over the course of this series. A good, but somewhat anti-climatic, end to a better than average story. The incessant moralizing by three of the leads, in order to make their character motivations explicit, really pulled me out the tale. I would have preferred to let their actions speak for themselves and avoid spoon feeding me the unnecessary details.
Invincible #51
The Venom years, only without the sentient costume. For a Jim Lee cover I can’t help but feel like I’m not getting my money’s worth. Invincible’s right hand seems to be twisted into some kind of claw shape and there’s no background to speak of. It’s not a bad cover, just not what I’m used to from JL. Anyway, in this ish Invincible gets a new, darker toned costume, a kid sidekick and a girlfriend to boot. A series that continues to live up to the high standard of comic bookery that it has set for itself, if you’re an Invincible fan you’ll find nothing to hate here.
Superman #678
The latest attempt to repatriate a long lost Jack Kirby creation into the DCU proper continues. Atlas, a former hero type turned planetary dictator, shows up in Metropolis in order to challenge Superman for control of the city. The fists then proceed to fly. There’s a pair of obligatory shadowy figure types pulling various strings in the background and Atlas’ backstory is given an appropriate Kirby style visual treatment. There’s an unfamiliar cadence to some of the dialogue in this issue that’s neither good or bad, but pulls me out of the story nonetheless. An admirable attempt at varying the Superman formula a little bit that will keep me onboard with this title, for no other reason that to see how this story plays out.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Six sentence comic book reviews
That’s right true believers, if I can’t review an issue of my weekly crack habit in exactly six sentences I’ll not only refund you all your money back, I’ll double it!
Action Comics #866
Hey, it’s the return of Brianiac: Version 833 squared to the fourth decimal place! Or at least that’s what Geoff Johns wants us to believe. Honestly, who knows anymore? Brainiac, to me, is one character who’s been changed so often that it’s impossible to have a definitive version of him anymore. Every time they settle on an interpretation I enjoy another writer comes along and revamps him. Gary Frank, you do gooooooooood penciling, a nice blend of pre-COIE Braniac influences with a modern touch.
Booster Gold #10
What the, Mr. Mind is back, again?! Reusing his own plot device from the somewhat successful weekly series, 52, Geoff Johns reveals that the evil genius responsible for forming the Time Stealers is a demented caterpillar. Either Johns is co-opting Mr. M as a Booster Gold villain or he's running a little low on ideas. But if ain’t broke don’t fix it. The next to last issue of Johns run on BG wherein our titular hero tries to fix time, rescue his pal Blue Beetle II and become a real superhero. I approve.
Trinity #2
You know what? I’m digging this series. I’ve always had a deep admiration for Mark Bagley’s art and Kurt Busiek is no slouch at writing a decent spandex slugfest. It’s nice to see Bags penciling something other than Spider-man for a change. My biggest beef so far is that for a title showcasing DC’s big three the cover art work, and series logo, falls a little flat. How about rotating in some high caliber cover artists to keep things fresh and coming up with a logo that does this series justice?
Invincible #50
I’m a late convert to this series. So I’m sure anything I’d have to add to an analysis of it has already been said elsewhere. But what the hell, it’s my g.d. blog. Reading this book feels like what it must have been like to read Spider-man in it’s early days. It’s always fun, fresh and absolutely free of the grim and gritty superheroes that seem to be populating my comic books. With Invincible’s upcoming costume change it almost reads like this series is a self-referential, tongue-in-cheek take on the traditional story arcs of decades old superheroes.
That’s round one in the bag. I’m hoping the six sentence review structure will force me to be concise and timely in my reviews. But then again, I hope that working out keeps me slim and in shape, instead of just giving me excuses to crummy foods. So, y’know, my standards are all over the place.
Action Comics #866
Hey, it’s the return of Brianiac: Version 833 squared to the fourth decimal place! Or at least that’s what Geoff Johns wants us to believe. Honestly, who knows anymore? Brainiac, to me, is one character who’s been changed so often that it’s impossible to have a definitive version of him anymore. Every time they settle on an interpretation I enjoy another writer comes along and revamps him. Gary Frank, you do gooooooooood penciling, a nice blend of pre-COIE Braniac influences with a modern touch.
Booster Gold #10
What the, Mr. Mind is back, again?! Reusing his own plot device from the somewhat successful weekly series, 52, Geoff Johns reveals that the evil genius responsible for forming the Time Stealers is a demented caterpillar. Either Johns is co-opting Mr. M as a Booster Gold villain or he's running a little low on ideas. But if ain’t broke don’t fix it. The next to last issue of Johns run on BG wherein our titular hero tries to fix time, rescue his pal Blue Beetle II and become a real superhero. I approve.
Trinity #2
You know what? I’m digging this series. I’ve always had a deep admiration for Mark Bagley’s art and Kurt Busiek is no slouch at writing a decent spandex slugfest. It’s nice to see Bags penciling something other than Spider-man for a change. My biggest beef so far is that for a title showcasing DC’s big three the cover art work, and series logo, falls a little flat. How about rotating in some high caliber cover artists to keep things fresh and coming up with a logo that does this series justice?
Invincible #50
I’m a late convert to this series. So I’m sure anything I’d have to add to an analysis of it has already been said elsewhere. But what the hell, it’s my g.d. blog. Reading this book feels like what it must have been like to read Spider-man in it’s early days. It’s always fun, fresh and absolutely free of the grim and gritty superheroes that seem to be populating my comic books. With Invincible’s upcoming costume change it almost reads like this series is a self-referential, tongue-in-cheek take on the traditional story arcs of decades old superheroes.
That’s round one in the bag. I’m hoping the six sentence review structure will force me to be concise and timely in my reviews. But then again, I hope that working out keeps me slim and in shape, instead of just giving me excuses to crummy foods. So, y’know, my standards are all over the place.
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