Lucid Comics – July 15th
Written by Adam A. Donaldson
Thursday, 16 July 2009 12:14
Reviews
Green Lantern #43Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke
DC Comics
Finally, after months of teasing, we’re getting to the most important event to hit Green Lantern since that whole “Emerald Twilight” thing that no one seems to like anymore. As far as primers go, Green Lantern #43 is both gross and disturbing, with the shocking origin of the first Black Lantern, the Black Hand, being recounted in shocking detail. You see, young William Hand’s family owns a mortuary, and the kid ends up developing an unhealthy fascination with the dead, which naturally leads to super-villainy. Johns and Mahnke handle the gory details of the Black Lantern’s rise quite deftly creating a fascinating page turner that’s part-Dexter, part-Preacher and has just nearly enough deviant imagery to make the Comics Code Authority have a nervous collapse.
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36Marc Guggenheim and Pat Olliffe
Marvel Comics
If your Aunt getting married to the father of one of your most persistent nemeses isn’t already a galactic pain, imagine how the Wall-Crawler feels when he’s introduced to some hot cousins before being attacked in the middle of Aunt’s engagement for something he didn’t do. It’s a typical Spider-Man celebration in this annual, but with a twist: the either welcome or unwelcome return of Ben Reilly. Or make that the implied return of the Spidey-clone. So what’s the deal, I ask myself? Is Peter supposed to be aware of all that clone crap following the Mephisto mind-wipe, or isn’t he? I hope this is cleared up in a hurry because after the initial twistiness, my head started to ache. And the issue’s villain was a little too Extreme Comics circa 1997 for my taste.
Captain America Reborn #1Ed Brubaker and Bryan Hitch
Marvel Comics
I was not immediately against returning Steve Rogers to the fold (and the living) as Captain America, even if the timeline seems a little condensed and a little forced. But the espionage and conspiracy angle worked by Brubaker for much of the last three years in the main Captain America comic would seem to disavow anything terribly ridiculous like, say, the weapon that killed Cap having a bizarre side effect wherein Cap’s consciousness is bouncing back and forth through time. Basically, his mind is dislodged in time, which kind of sounds like something from the last season of Lost, but nope, it has to do with Captain America and the return of Steve Rogers I’m now hoping is one of those “What If…” books Marvel seems to be doing more of.
Batman #688Judd Winick and Mark Bagley
DC Comics
Growing pains. That’s what this latest issue of Batman is about, the second for both Judd Winick as writer and Dick Grayson as the Caped Crusader. Several scenes are about how everyone’s adjusting to the new normal and the new Batman, and yes, it is in some people’s minds that a new Batman has come out to play, and Winick cleverly plays up both sides of that. Commissioner Gordon subtly hints that maybe he’s due to stand down, while Two-Face watches new footage of the Caped Crusader and says, “Yes, I want him going after Penguin. […] But he’s not Batman.” Who would know Batman better than the guys he’s whomped on repeatedly for years? This could have some great implications for the new Batman as we go along and the teaser at the beginning of the book gives us a hint of that. Mark Bagley, for the first time on Batman, hits it out of the park with a slick simple cover and interiors that pop and flow well.
Uncanny X-Men #513Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson
Marvel Comics
“Utopia” reminds me of one of those 90s crossovers where they get two cool teams together for the sake of getting two cool teams together. Remember when they replaced Captain America, Thor and Iron Man with US Agent, Thunderstrike and War Machine? Well, the “Dark X-Men” are starting to remind me of that too. I’m more interested in seeing the Cyclops/Emma confrontation because you got to figure that the normally cool and crisp leader of the X-Men is going to want fast answers about why his co-headmaster/girlfriend has thrown in with the likes of Norman Osborn. (Imagine how surprised he’ll be when he finds out about the Cabal.) And what’s Emma’s game? She knows Norman’s no good, so what’s the gag? Oh well, it’s only Part 2.
Dark X-Men: The Beginning #1 of 3Various Writers and Artists
Marvel Comics
This is one of those books that’s designed to capitalize on the hype of a given event, but not really offer anything new to the main story. In this issue we get the back story of how and why Namor, Mimic and Dark Beast joined the team for reasons that are actually pretty self-explanatory, I think. Really, this issue is only for those so enraptured by the whole Dark X-Men saga that they must devour every last morsel of it, otherwise you can stick to the main show.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #26Jane Espenson and Georges Jeanty
Dark Horse
It’s been a few issues since I’ve actually sat down to read Buffy, but I was able to pick things up rather quick in this new story arc which plays up the ongoing role reversal of the Slayers being seen as bad guys and vampires being seen as good. Under siege from all sides, the whole gang reunites including Giles, Faith and Andrew, whose disturbing vision of what it means to be a god is remarkably specific. Anyway, it’s nice to finally have the whole Scooby Gang together again, it feels like it’s been too long a time in coming. This issue was written by the Espenson, who was probably the second most talented Buffy writer behind creator Joss Whedon, and maybe she’s rusty, but I thought that the old Buffy style of dialogue was kind of jarring in this one. But the story is fast-paced, it features a submarine and a character we haven’t seen in awhile makes a return appearance in the end.
Angel #23Bryan Lynch and Franco Urru
IDW Comics
Like Buffy I haven’t been keeping up with Angel nearly as much as I like, but in an odd act of syncopation this issue also proved an adequate place to become reacquainted with the book and the characters. This is an epilogue to “After the Fall” where we see what happened to Gunn and Illyria after Los Angeles was returned from hell. Gunn struggles to heal after spending his “time abroad” as a vampire lord, only to be healed by Illyria thinking that she’s doing a good thing when all Gunn wants to do is die. There are some interesting character beats in the story and the ending with Gunn and Illyria driving off into the sunset to try and reclaim their lost humanities, really is a perfect ending for both characters. It’s a very satisfying Angel comic despite conspicuous absence of Angel.
Justice League: Cry for Justice #1 of 7James Robinson and Mauro Cascioli
DC Comics
This new Justice League miniseries starts off typically as these books sometimes do. The cyclical pattern of miniseries or arcs like this usually comes around to a point when someone says, “What are we fighting for? We should be more proactive. What does Justice mean when our fellow heroes keep getting picked off?” All good points, but are there any new answers? Apparently Green Lantern thinks the way to go is to go it alone. I guess he’s going to form a more proactive Justice League with Green Arrow in tow. I don’t know about the story, it’s kind of prosaic for one of those taking-it-in-a-new-direction arcs. I do love the art though. Cascioli does some truly original work with a rich and detailed look that doesn’t remind me really of anything else in mainstream comics right now. It’s too bad that a book this tangible, falls so short on the writing side.
Star Wars: Invasion #1Tom Taylor and Colin Wilson
Dark Horse Comics
I have no idea what the Yuuzhan Vong are, or how they fit into the Star Wars expanded universe and all the rest of that stuff that if I started reading today, I might be caught up with in about 25 years. Taken on its own, Invasion is perfectly average. The Yuuzhan Vong are rather gruesome alien creatures that obviously make worthy target practice, and while no one would ever accuse a Stormtrooper of being multi-faceted, as compared to the Predator-like Yuuzhan Vong they’re a lesson in subtlety. The story is fine with the aliens invade and a good king tries to save his people before the advancing horde. The art’s good though, but I miss some old fashioned Stormtrooper bashing, and the only lightsaber battle happens off screen. Bit of a let down actually.
B.P.R.D. 1947 #1Mike Mignola & Joshua Dysart and Gabriel Ba & Fabio Moon
Dark Horse Comics
A sequel to the delightfully original B.P.R.D. 1946 sounded like a good idea to me, fortunately the Hellboy team decided to keep expanding the universe with an original story and new characters. Four new officials are sent by Professor Broom to investigate the deaths of Nazi POWs, and each has really no supernatural acumens but are instead survivors with their own improbable World War II horror stories. A new mystery based on an obscure cultural reference begins this B.P.R.D. adventure, but the past setting really refreshes the formula a lot. Additionally, these stories defy the traditionally accepted belief that prequels can’t bring anything new to the table. The issue also gets bonus points for the inclusion of a cameo by a very young Hellboy, as in when he was actually a boy.
Drafted: One Hundred Days One ShotMark Powers and Chris Lie & Junaidi & Faisal
Devil’s Due Publishing
In his first six months in office, Barack Obama’s probably been in more comic books then his last three predecessors combined. But aside from this biographical graphic novel, he’s been mostly there to give the local superhero a slap on the back or words of encouragement. In this special edition of Drafted, we see a different hundred days for Obama, who’s one of the leaders of a team charged with rebuilding Chicago after an alien war. The big difference, aside from the obvious, is that in this world an injury has forced Obama to sideline his voice, and thus his renowned stirring rhetoric plays no part in how he’s regarded as a leader. It’s interesting that in a comic book, we probably get more insight on leadership generally and Obama’s appeal specifically, than you can out of a week’s worth of American cable news. Drafted reads really well, and is one of the books about Obama that feels like it has something to say beyond being exploitative of the President’s popularity.
Wednesday Comics #1 of 12Various Writers and Artists
DC Comics
One thing that DC has done well lately is experiment with the medium. Whether its year long, weekly comics or large-sized, hardcover graphic novels, the DC editors seem to like re-inventing the wheel, and usually succeed at it. Well they’ve done it again with Wednesday Comics, a weekly, 12-issue broadsheet made up of stories told on one page in either a serialized or one-and-done format. Brilliant! At a time when the weekly newspaper funnies are less than satisfactory, as if all the really great strips are gone, DC fills a niche with this throwback. Beside that, the creative forces brought to this are great: Brian Azzarello on Batman, Paul Pope on Adam Strange, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner on Supergirl, the list goes on. Not only does it get you thinking about comics in a new way, there’s also a great novelty just in the way you read it. Highly recommended.
New Releases
ARCHIE COMICS
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Pals N Gals Double Digest #133
ASPEN ENTERTAINMENT
Soulfire New World Order #3 (of 5)
BONGO COMICS
Simpsons Comics #156
BOOM! STUDIOS
Caped #4 (of 4)
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep #1 (of 24)
Fall Of Cthulhu TP Vol 5 Apocalypse,
Farscape Dargos Lament #4 (of 4)
Incredibles Family Matters #4 (of 4)
Poe #1
Unknown #3 (of 4)
Unthinkable #3 (of 4)
DABEL BROTHERS PRODUCTIONS
Dog Eaters #3
DARK HORSE
Creepy Comics #1
Star Wars Clone Wars #7
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #43
Werewolves On The Moon Versus Vampires #2 (of 3)
DC COMICS
Action Comics #879
Air #11
Astro City The Dark Age TP Book 1
Batman Streets Of Gotham #2
Batman Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader HC
Blackest Night #1 (of 8)
Blackest Night Tales Of The Corps #1 (of 3)
Brave And The Bold #25, $2.99
DMZ #43
Fables #8
Final Crisis Aftermath Escape #3 (of 6)
From Eroica With Love TP Vol 14
Heroes Of The DC Universe Darkseid Bust
JSA Vs Kobra Engines Of Faith #2 (of 6)
Madame Xanadu TP Vol 1 Disenchanted
March On Earth TP Vol 2
Preacher HC Book 1
Scalped #30
Super Friends #17
Super Friends Calling All Super Friends TP
Superman And The Legion Of Super-Heroes TP
Superman Batman #62
Titans #15
Vigilante #8
Wednesday Comics #2 (of 12)
World Of Warcraft #21
Young Liars #17
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
Buck Rogers #2
Dan Dare Omnibus TP Vol 1
Sherlock Holmes #3 (of 5)
IDW PUBLISHING
Angel After The Fall HC Vol 4
Angel Not Fade Away #3
Doctor Who Ongoing #1
Dreamer TP Vol 1 Consequence Of Nathan Hale
Fallen Angel Reborn #1
From The Ashes #2
Ghost Whisperer The Muse TP Vol 1
GI Joe Best Of Storm Shadow GN
GI Joe Movie Adaptation #3 (of 4)
GI Joe Origins #5
IDW The First Decade HC
Last Resort #1
Star Trek Crew #5
Star Trek The Next Generation Last Generation TP
Transformers Maximum Dinobots TP Vol 1
World War Robot TP Vol 2
IMAGE COMICS
Dead At 17 Afterbirth #2 (of 4)
Descendant #1 (of 3)
Olympus #3 (of 4)
PvP Awesomology Deluxe HC
Walking Dead #63
MARVEL COMICS
Agents Of Atlas #8
All Select Comics #1
Amazing Spider-Man #599
Annihilation Classic TP
Beta Ray Bill Godhunter #2 (Of 3)
Captain America #601
Captain Britain Moore Davis Omnibus HC
Dark Avengers #7
Dark Reign Mister Negative #2 (of 3)
Deadpool #12
Doctor Doom TP Masters Of Evil
Enders Game Premiere HC Battle School
Essential Marvel Two In One TP Vol 3
Franklin Richards Schools Out (One Shot)
Guardians Of The Galaxy Premiere HC Power Of Starhawk
Incognito #5
Incredible Hercules HC Smash Of The Titans
Iron Man Armored Adventures
Lockjaw And The Pet Avengers #3 (of 4)
Marvel Adventures Avengers #38
Marvel Illustrated TP Three Musketeers
Mighty Avengers #27
New Mutants #3
Punisher #7
Spider-Man Premiere HC Torment
Thunderbolts Premiere HC Burning Down The House
Timestorm 2009 2099 #3 (of 4)
War Machine Premiere HC Vol 1 Iron Heart
X-Factor #46,
ONI PRESS
Resurrection Vol 2 #2
TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS
Welcome To Forest Island HC
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