Ta-da!
Leading things off with JLA : Classified #3, in which Grant Morrison brings things back around for an amusing post-post-modern conclusion.
Speaking of…
We3 #3: Fantastic conclusion to this series. Could have made a great 6-parter, but I’m very happy. I was a little disappointed with the quickness and brevity of the fight - but then it had to be, right? Cybernetically enhanced war animal fights would last all of about 12 seconds. And Morrison does such a great job of showing the frenetic action of a split second with those little boxes. But thinking back, how do the animals remain alive? Aren’t they supposed to now be dependant on a certain drug?
Ult. Fantastic Four: Good. Not great. But it’s a set-up for the encounter, so that’s somewhat alright. The only disappointment is that it wasn’t funny.
Legion of Superheroes #2: REALLY good. The dialogue in this book rivals Astonishing X-Men. I’m so glad I started reading this. And you know what else I like? It’s a nice *long * read. The UFF suffers from its brevity. And what was the deal with the goats? Did someone do that just to prove to Braniac that he couldn’t predict everything?
JSA: Strange Adventures: Haven’t read it yet - had to get some KOTOR II in.
Ultimate FF : Yeah, we were short on humor this issue, but the communication set-up sequence felt very right, and very FF-esque.
JSA : Strange Adventures : Bad writer! You forgot to feature Mr. Terrific in the final battle almost entirely!
Legion of Super-heroes #2 : Hee. While the outcome of Val’s scrap with the Naltorian Precommandos initially irked me, the overall issue was excellent. The dialogue does indeed sparkle. As for the goats - I think that was just Cosmic Boy (or possibly Dream Girl) playing a little prank on Brainy, with regard to what he said to Cos earlier.
Regular Fantastic Four : Guess what? It rocks. Johnny’s term as herald of Galactus comes to a close. We get the funny dialogue over here, with some great lines by Johnny. “You replaced me already? Also, with Quasar?” And a genuine, slam-bang, WTF ending.
Legion of Super-Heroes #2: I love this book so far. A lot. It’s only been two issues and it’s already one of my favorite currently-running series. Can’t say enough good things about it. I cannot even stress how satisfying it is to have a funny, entertaining, well-written stand-alone issue. Which brings me to my next book…
Wonder Woman #212: Gah! Greg Rucka is absolutely maddening. We’ve been watching Athena and the other goddesses plotting against Zeus for at least six months now (it’s really more like a year, since it goes back to the whole Paradise Island crashing thing) and her big plan is to ask Zeus to step down as king and then get Wonder Woman to do her dirty work? Goddess of wisdom, my ass. At least some stuff actually happened in this issue, which is more than I can say for the rest of his run.
Flash #218: Wow! Another great read! And another stand-alone book for this week that actually took a while to read and had a very satisfying conclusion. I’d like to see more of these villain-profile books. And I like the fill-in artist more than Howard Porter.
Sonic the Hedgehog #145: Not bad. Ken Penders is a glorified fan-fic writer, so his dialog grates as usual, but there was some decent artwork (particularly in the last story). I’d really like to know why on earth Ron Lim pencils this book, since he really doesn’t do that well with the fuzzy animal thing anyway.
We3 #3 came out this week? Shoot. I didn’t notice it; I’ll have to go back.
Legion of Super-Heroes # 2 - This issue sold me on the series. Waid is amazing with dialog, especially Brainiac 5’s (“Cause first, then effect, Damn it!”). Dream Girl’s comment at the end had me ROFLing even before the goats.
JSA: Strange Adventures # 6. A very unsatisfying ending.
Army of Darkness : Shop Till You Drop Dead - this second Army miniseries finally moves into “new” territory, and as a consequence, is more interesting than the first, which felt rehashed.
Wolverine #24 - Daredevil kicks Wolverine’s butt.
Wonder Woman #212 - Wonder Woman kicks the JLA’s butt.
Nightwing #102 - Year one arc continues, with a flashback to the amusing days when Lois didn’t know who Superman was.
Flash #218 - Excellent issue, well-written. Geoff Johns and Mark Waid - best traditional comic writers in the business.
Richard Dragon #9 - Hey, it’s Neron!
KODT #99; The Witching #8; Authority : Revolution #3; Conan #12; Still have two Stormwatch TPBs, Sleeper Season Two, and Planetary to read.
Let’s see.
Invincible #19. Good development, nice bit of closure, nice bit of setup
City of Heroes #9. Plot’s beginning to light on fire now, things are happening faster.
LSH #2: I’m liking it. Tyr!
Nightwing #102 – I liked it a lot, only because of ONE line from a movie here. And shame on you, if you don’t know where it’s from. I don’t wanna spoil it for you.
Batman #636 – And if you want to see more of Nightwing (in the present), you’ll find him here, as well as an old JLA baddie.
Batgirl #60 – Cassandra gets a lair and a snitch in Bludhaven. Bonus points if you can ID the mystery villains in the last panel.
Robin #134 – Well, at least Tim’s stepmom isn’t being ignored. Bruce tries to adopt Tim, but we find out Tim has a long-lost uncle? (*readies for an ongoing subplot)
(Geez, Batman and the protege titles all out in one week? Gimme a beak.)
And, that’s alll I’ve read so far.
Made it to the store this weekend.
We3 #3 – Fantastic. I love the storytelling in this comic, and which this issue was a little more straightforward it still had the same vibe, esp. the fight between 3 and 4. And the covers to this series have been inspired.
Y - The Last Man #30 – Oh, how I’ve missed this comic. After a few weeks hiatus it’s back on form. The explanation for Yorick’s survival makes perfect sense, Hero’s trip was gorgeously illustrated, and the characterization is all top notch, as usual. (I love that even the new Yorick lashes out when he’s confronted with something challenging.) A nutty hospital indeed.
Legion of Super-Heroes #2 – About 8000 times better than the lackluster #1. The stories in this book are well crafted if pedestrian, but Waid’s dialogue makes the ride enjoyable. I think once we get a little more into the meat of the central conflicts of the book (whether that’s the upcoming war or the draft that will have to precede it) it’ll flow better, but it’s well constructed enough to stick around.
Also purchased – JLA: Classified #3, Futurama/Simpsons Crossover Crisis II #1, Ho Che Anderson’s graphic novel biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the DC/2000AD reprint A.B.C.Warriors: The Meknificent Seven, which I’m about a third into and enjoying so far.
–Cliffy
Sleeper Season 2 #8: I’m starting to lose interest, but I got spoiled reading Season 1 in big chunks. It seems like not enough happens in each issue to make reading the singles on a monthly basis rewarding, plus I’m having a major problem caring about these characters anymore. I stopped watching The Sopranos on HBO during the second season, when I realized what violent, depraved, evil people the characters were, and while I knew that all along about the characters in Sleeper, at least I liked them. Now I’m just not liking them as much. I’ll probably still stick around to the end, to support Brubaker and Phillips and let DC know they should collect the entire series in trade paperbacks. But it IS a good book, don’t get me wrong.
Guns of the Dragon #1-4: for 50 cents each, I figured I’d try something new. It looked like a pulp-adventure story, which I’m usually a sucker for, and this DC miniseries from 1998 has the benefit of being written and drawn by Tim Truman. It is set in China in the late 1920s and stars Enemy Ace (the German WWI flying ace), Bat Lash (the Maverick-like gambler hero of the Old West, now a much older man), and Biff Bradley (a typical square-jawed adventure hero I had never heard of before). There’s an ancient Chinese legend involving some swords and a prophecy, an island populated by dinosaurs, political intrigue, plenty of ninjas, and a familiar DC villain behind the scenes. This is no Raiders of the Lost Ark, but for $2 total, it isn’t bad so far.
WE3 #3 - A satisfying ending to what’s easily the best miniseries I’ve read in the past year. With the exception of an amazing 3-D isometric panel that breaks through the bottom of the page and onto the next page, not quite as formally inventive as the previous issues, but the wrapup is emotionally satisfying. Pirate the Bunny’s scat bombs funniest, most inventive bathroom-humor gag in quite a while.
JLA: Classified #3 - The other Grant Morrison that came out this week. I enjoyed it, but like a fair amount of Morrison a touch too chaotic for my tastes. (I’m also of the opinion that when Morrison goes into wild-and-woolly Silver Age riffs, he’s not helped by the hyperactive layouts that McGuiness & Vines indulge in.) Though any cover that has Batman being roasted on a spit is worth its weight in gold.
Amazing Joy Buzzards #1 - Fun, but I really don’t see this working too well over the long haul; there’s very little characterization here. Minor annoyance: the bassist is turned into a creature that our singer calls a “Gila monster”. It looks nothing like a Gila monster.
Legion of Super-Heroes #2 - Ah, much more like it. Legion #1 was OK (note: I’m not really familiar with the Legion), but if more issues are like this, I’m in for the long haul. Most of the Legionnaires who play big parts in this issue are given a strong sense of personality, with flavorful dialogue.
Beyond Avalon #1 - Arthur’s daughter decides to leave the isle of Avalon is search of Dad. Not bad, but rather generic fantasy so far.
Uncanny X-Men #454 - Decided to drop the book after last issue, but just wanted to complete the current arc. A little better than the last incoherent issue, but still terrible. Aguirre-Sacasa made much better use of most of this book’s cast in Nightcrawler #5; I’d like to see him replace Claremont.
Y: The Last Man #30 - Yorick’s reason for surviving the plague manages to be both wonderfully mundane and ridiculous. Apart from the reveal, an “average” issue of this series which serves to put Hero into Yorick’s entourage and set up the final issue for the current arc.
Also read and liked: Fantastic Four #522, Ultimate Fantastic Four #15 (giant space pteranodon skeletons are just cool), New X-Men #9, Ultimate X-Men #55, and the Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis II #1. (Fun parlour game: try to identify all the literary characters in the final panel.)
Still to read: Mystique #23, Planetary #22, and Black Widow #5.
I think I heard about this one a long time ago. Isn’t the art sort of reminiscent of Gorillaz (the animated “real life” band created by Jamie Hewlett)?
Ex Machina: The First 100 Days: I wish I’d hadn’t read the hype beforehand, because while I liked it, I would have liked it better had I come into it without preconceived notions. It’s one of those low superhero content books that might have been better off jettisoning all the superhero baggage. I’m not quite sure what to think of Tony Harris’ art in this one, either. Technically it’s every bit as well done as you’d expect from one of the best artists in the business, if not better, but stylistically it’s a bit bland. There are a few of the usual Tony Harris stylizations, but very few, and it makes me appreciate his later Starman and Obergeist artwork that much more. On the other hand, maybe the more realistic style is better suited to the material. Haven’t decided. It’s good enough I plan on purchasing the inevitable second TPB, but I’m not going to rush out and buy it in singles.
Sleeper 2.8 Unlike BBVL, I like the fact that everyone’s a bastard in this series, although I understand why it’s not to everyone’s taste. This issue definitely will read better as part of a TPB rather than a standalone. No big surprises, plot-wise.
Would anyone care to spoil me regarding Y? I dropped it two issues ago, but would like to know the big reveal.
Yeah, it’s quite similar.
Essentially, Yorick survived the plague because Ampersand survived the plague. Mann finally realizes that Ampersand has some kind of mutation that made him resisant to whatever caused the plague, and she realized this was passed to Yorick through contact with &'s feces. As Yorick succintly put it, monkey shit.
Thanks, CROdell!
Am I the only one who thought that We3 was a bit of a letdown? The great pacing of the first two was broken and the bum was…underdeveloped and random.
Apparently so.