New Books for 12-21-05: Potential Spoilers in White Text, use cursor to read. Overall, it was a fair week for comics.
Batgirl #71 Pop Mhan’s layouts, while better this issue, quite quite match the dramatic potential of the story. In fact the layouts seemed to drain all the potential excitement from the script in places, something I found frustrating. If the title’s gonna’ get cancelled, I’d’ve liked it to go out on a bang.
Birds Of Prey #89 Decent issue. My favorite part was Barb’s conversation with her father (though I would’ve enjoyed it a bit more if he’d figured out almost EVERYTHING by now). After the events of the past year or so, I’m not quite sure where Bats gets off telling the Birds what they can and cannot do, in Gotham or anywhere else, but I guess the moment lent the ending some drama. Can’t say I care for the guest artists pencils.
Captain America Vol 5 #13 Brubaker’s story picks up speed again as Cap, the Falcon, and, for a while, Iron Man, take the initiative in the hunt for the Winter Soldier and the Cosmic Cube.
While Eptings’ art is as strong as ever (though there are times I miss the loose-er inking that graced his work on the Avengers some years back, and made his work look like the dear departed Big John Buscema’s) the real strength of the issue were the conversations between Cap and the Falcon (one of the few times they sounded like old comrades-in-arms) and Tony Stark. Also I almost wanted to hear Steve or Sam say something like, “Well, we got our back up now”, after signing off with Sharon.
I realize I might be alone in this, but I do wish the Falcon would wear his original Green and Gold colors again. I preferred that outfit. It made him look more like his own man. Now he just looks like the stripes, complementing Caps field of stars on Blue.
Infinite Crisis #3 IC #2 and #3 are all about temptation. Last issue it was Powergirl. This issue it’s Batman, in what has to be one of the most involving scenes I’ve read involving the Dark Knight in quite some time. At the same time I couldn’t quite give myself over to the moment. I kept thinking these scenes weren’t quite dramatic enough to justify the long slog Batman fans like myself have been put through over the past year and a half, starting with “Batman WarGames” the summer before last. We can see how Batman would be tempted, but the payoff, while reaffirming the man’s core values, just wasn’t presented in strong enough fashion. I think the problem is the art, or more precisely the crowded layouts. The penciler has way too much ground to cover, to give each dramatic moment it’s due. Still it would be funny, once all this is over, if Bats, recalling the alternate future that he was shown, went out and tried to tie the knot with Selena Kyle once and for all.
Justice #3 was far, far better than expected. Very dramatic issue, and one of the few times where the Martian Manhunter is threatened with death by fire that didn’t inspire me to yawn. You can actually sense John Jones’ horror, and earlier, Arthur Curry’s fear. It’s been quite a while since a League story actually generated much suspense for me. Kudos to Braithwaite’s layouts and Ross’ finishes.
I definitely need to re-read Seven Soldiers Bulleteer #2, there’s a lot of fun bits scattered throughout the issue. This is a fun, even breezy read, despite the considerable exposition Morrison worked into the script this issue. Like Seven Soldiers Zatanna before it, here Morrison manages to both resurrect the goofy fun of the Silver Age, while updating it with a much more adult approach to the humor, reflecting the fact comic book readers are often older these days, or if younger, simply more demanding. I hope this aspect of his writing style becomes more and more influential as we reach the end of the excessively programmed One Year Later.
While the mix of Jurgen’s pencils and Jansen’s inks doesn’t quite work for me, Supreme Power Hyperion #3, presents us with a lot of interesting, even horrific, possibilities for the future Squadron Supreme, something that’s really effectively underscored by this issues “cliffhanger close”.
I wonder if JMS intended this whole story arc to function as a kind of cautionary “X-men: Days of Future Past” type story, adding the suspense of a potential “bad end” to JMS’s retelling and updating of Mark Gruenwald’s original treatment. If so, while the technique is getting a bit overused these days (for instance, see Geoff John’s “Titans of Tommorrow” arc, which while good, reminded me too much of Claremont & Brynes’ seminal X-Men story), it definitely works here. I now expect Nighthawk to run for President in upcoming storylines, on the sole platform that someone has to reign in the Frankenstein monster the Government’s created.
I haven’t gotten to Daughters Of The Dragon Deadly Hands or Robin #145 yet. I also hoped to pick up a copy of Rushikoff and Liam Sharp’s Testament #1, but it had sold out. I guess that’s a good sign.
Happy Holidays to All!
