LUCIDMEDIA

Lucid Comics – September 23rd

Written by Adam A. Donaldson Wednesday, 23 September 2009 09:30

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Lucid Comics – September 23rd
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This week in the latest comic book reviews and new releases

Reviews

Dark Reign: The List – Avengers
Brian Michael Bendis and Marko Djurdjevic
Marvel Comics

After months of plotting and scheming and appearing in every possible series from Avengers The Initiative to (Dark Reign) Zodiac, Norman Osborn’s next phase starts coming into play. Call it a hit list, call it a to do list, but Norman’s making it and checking it twice, and up first is Clint Barton, who finally snaps around the band and heads out on a suicide mission to kill Norman Osborn. There’s some compelling action, but this feels like the last several issues of the New Avengers comic have been space-holders waiting for this moment. Clint’s been talking about killing Norman for a while, so I guess the fifth discussion about it is the charm. Anyone else ready to get their old Marvel Universe back? I know I kind of am.

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus Conclusion
Matt Fraction and Mike Deodato
Marvel Comics

Finally, a real superhero team gets in a fight against the Dark Avengers and they kick the bad guys’ asses. Plus this is a BIG fight issue, and I can’t remember a recent comic where we’ve been promised a big fight on the cover and gotten a fizzle in the interior of the issue. Fortunately, Fraction doesn’t disappoint, and he doesn’t let down Cyclops by proving why he’s such a formidable leader and superhero: he’s a brilliant tactician. Cyclops and the X-Men make short work of the Dark Avengers, including Ares and The Sentry, and as they run away, the X-Men boldly proclaim themselves separate by setting up shop on Asteroid M island in the Pacific. Naturally, Norman spins his loss to the press as a victory, but we do here get a perfect set-up for The List. Fraction’s really got a handle on this crossover thing.

Red Robin #4
Chris Yost and Ramon Bachs
DC Comics

The bizarre espionage thriller that is now Red Robin continues briskly with Tim Drake finding a clue that his theory that Bruce Wayne is a live and well may not be as far fetched as everyone told him (and maybe sometimes thought to himself). Remember that bat shape being carved on the stone at the end of the last issue of Final Crisis? Well, Tim finds it buried deep in a cave in Iraq, which lends credence to the theory that Wayne ended up way back in time, and that may be the editorial staff at DC actually know what they’re doing. I don’t know about that, but one can’t shake the notion that there’s finite element to Red Robin, will the series follow the search for Bruce Wayne ad infinitum or is Tim going to give up and pursue other matters? Frankly, neither idea is rather appealing, so I certainly hope my own instinct that maybe there’s a plan at play pays off.

Dark Avengers #9
Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato
Marvel Comics

Thinks get back to normal, or at least the Dark Avengers’ demented version of normal with this issue, which also features the return of creator Bendis to the scripting chores. This story guest stars Nick Fury and his Secret Warriors as Ares follows his son and realizes that he’s up to a lot more than stealing candy bars from the bodega before school. Naturally, the story doesn’t go where you think it will despite the cover art. It actually turns out to be a nice father to “father” discussion between Ares and Fury. Plus there’s some interesting developments with The Sentry considering what happened in the final chapter of Exodus, and it was a twist I didn’t see coming actually. Say what you want about Dark Avengers, but Bendis is keeping the momentum up, throwing developments at us fast and proving that the DA is more than just a gimmick.

Unthinkable #5 of 5
Mark Sable and Julian Totino Tedesco
BOOM! Studios

The final issue of Unbreakable brings about just as many surprises as how it began as Alan finally confronts his brother Steven about all the bad he’s brought about thanks to the (supposed to be) speculative work of the Think Tank. The surprise is that Steven’s motivation is straight out of the James Bond villain playbook with a touch of Tom Clancy techno-thriller rubbed in for good measure. That’s not rally a complaint though, it’s really more of a surprise given how staggeringly original many of the first chapters read. But ultimately I do have to say that the conclusion is a satisfying place to leave the story, but at the same time it also opens some intriguing possibilities for a sequel. Either way Sable and Tedesco should be proud, because so far as techno-thrillers go, hardly any have gone down as easily as Unthinkable.

Beasts of Burden #1
Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson
Dark Horse Comics

If I told you that Beasts of Burden was about a group of talking cats and dogs that fight supernatural threats, would you be interested? What if I told you that it was wickedly violent as well? Once again, a writer turns talking animals into an allegory you can believe in, but Hollywood screenwriter Dorkin’s treatment of the material is surprisingly easy to get into, like something out of Aliens or Predator, but with everyday cats and dogs with names like Fluffy and Rex. Thompson’s artwork is equally subversive, drawing the book with pleasant water colours like some kind of children’s story about animals that play in the woods, but be warned, this book is not for the young or even the young-at-heart; once you get to the animals fight against a giant frog you’ll see why. Beasts is surprisingly spry and involving. It’s a great new original work that deserves to find a wider audience.

Adventure Comics #2
Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul
DC Comics

With issue #2, Adventure Comics remains a light-hearted and engaging new take on classic Superboy as the Conner Kent resurrection tour continues with a moonlit date with ex-girlfriend Wonder Girl. At the same time though Superboy considers his biological connection to Lex Luthor, just as the second of his so-called “parents,” old cue ball himself, stands poised to start making noise in the young clone’s life again. Again, I like the way that Johns is playing with notions of heredity and precondition, certainly Wonder Girl’s quick to catch on telling Conner that she doesn’t want to be his “Lana Lang.” As he has with other characters in the DCU, Johns finds a niche in that heroes head and is able to mine it for seemingly infinite new material. This one, I think, it going to be on my pull list for a while.