A bit of a heftier week than I expected, with one late book and all. Marvel still dominated my racks but a few DC books this week, too. Along with my first CW tie-in.
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 5/24/06:
52 WEEK #3: Three issues in and this book remains a pleasureable mix, but a mix nevertheless. The mix is that while I am aware that with 52 issues to tell a story, this was probably going to be a decompressed champion. The problem is that I hope that is not the case; that DC isn't taking only one story and bleeding it slowly for a whole year, because that would be a misfire. 52 is obviously supposed to be the comic version of "24", but in 52 episodes, "24" has over two seasons - two whole storyarcs. 52's storyline has barely started and all of the pieces haven't finished coming in yet, and I am not sure whether 52 will have several arcs or one...slow...ly...de...vel...opp...ing...one...y'know? In this issue, Lex Luthor rises to the top of the PR machine again by using the corpse of Alex Luthor (that he and Joker iced at the end of IC #7) with some touch-ups to explain how he "went evil" and exonerate himself, which is a downright clever idea. Steel, much to his chagrin, becomes a pawn in that game. Booster Gold learns once again that...Skeet's ability to accurately predict events from future headlines is on the fritz, something that has been obvious for the last 2 issues, and really needs to go somewhere fast. But the real star of the issue is "Namor-Lite", otherwise known as Black Adam. Despite the dig, in some ways Black Adam is working better than Namor at Marvel because he is more visible and because, well, he's evolving into a B-lister or better, rather than simply an old-time A-Lister that the company can't do a thing with (like Namor is to Marvel). He interupts Power Girl's fight with Terra-Man, refuses to take a deal from Intergang (one of their bribes was an abducted sex-slave; a real world twist that was chillingly realistic for that area of the world, and something that I haven't seen "real world" Marvel touch in ages), and then butchers Terra-Man in front of the media to call on remaining metahumans to do more than patrol the world...but change it. The last line reminds me a bit of the storyline going on in JUSTICE, but as this is canon DC (as well as not a bimonthly 12 part story), its acceptable. I'm still enjoying 52 and obviously there'll be many "pieces" coming into play, but I hope that all this talent isn't going to end up resulting in a grand experiment at decompression. They need to realize that despite it being 4 issues a month, an issue is still an issue, and after 3-4, your storyline needs to MOVE SOMEWHERE. Even Bendis stories start to have a clear focual point by 3 issues. Still a solid read, don't get me wrong, but the honeymoon's starting to end and now I'm getting skeptical. CIVIL WAR may not be perfect, but it's seeming much more taut.
BLUE BEETLE #3: The last few issues, I stated that this title, which wants to tell a straightfoward "teen hero with powers he barely understands" storyline in an efficient manner, would be far better once it manages to shake off the IC/OYL stuff and get into its own stuff. This issue marks that point, and it is much easier to follow. Beetle's now OYL and his continuity is settled, so his adventures are free to take off. This results in him shocking his family by reappearing, as his loss shattered them. Still learning about his powers (and finally learning not to be left naked after deactivating his armor), he looks for his old friends rather than stick with his family, a typical "teenager" move, and finds one bud is hanging with "The Posse", the metahuman gang he fought in #2. He fights some agents of "La Dama" and saves his buddy, only to find himself in the lair of La Dama himself...and not even knowing it. A solid, simple superhero story and an enjoyable read. Giffen & Rogers manage to keep the tone of the book light at times but not too goofy into "DEFENDERS" levels, and the art continues to remain strong. This title is also probably the most accessable to "low level" DC fans who only read a few issues here and there before IC started. Considering that DC has decided to no longer be focusing on courting "new fans" who never materialize, that is a noteworthy statement (one has to at least be glad that DC seems to have a realistic strategy for the comic market; Marvel seems content on trying to grab new readers while attempting to please the hardcores, and continuing to find mixed quality; sometimes you really DO need to crap or get off the pot).
SECRET SIX #1: VILLIANS UNITED was the most enjoyable IC mini that I got (considering I only got two; that and the overrated OMAC PROJECT), and Gail Simone is quickly becoming one of the writers I look foward to reading stuff from every month. The only downside to this, a decent kickoff issue to continue the team's adventures in the land of OYL DC, is the art. Walker's art is serviceable, but not as good as the last bunch for the characters. Everyone's still the same lovable anti-heroes, right down to the creepy Ragdoll and vicious Catman & Deadshot. The tale of vengence from North Korea also showcases some "real world" brutality; for a company that is constantly stated to avoid reality, DC seems to keep their eyes open (plus, Marvel fans who are being treated to their "everyman" hero Spidey being an Avenger in nanotech armor who is appearing in Congress beside Iron Man really need to gather some perspective and realize that Marvel can deliver just as much far-out jargon as DC). Knockout (Vandal Savage's Apokolips-based lesbian stronghouse) gets killed right quick as Catman prepares for a showdown with Dr. Psycho by recruiting...the Mad Hatter. SECRET SIX looks to play off like a DC anti-heroes version of OCEANS ELEVEN: THE SERIES, and that suits me just fine. Especially since Simone has a knack for taking D-level losers and making them into readable creeps. If only Marvel could apply some of that to their villians. If only Marvel wasn't so desperate to be "edgy" that they forgot how to do superheroics proper. But I digress.
FANTASTIC FOUR: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY: An issue that basically proves that even Joe Q can be right some of the time. My point? Whenever Joe Q and Co. get hit with a barrage of criticisms about their editorial policies, namely relying on events, spoilers, shock value and deaths to sell books, he usually goes, "fans whine a lot, but they buy, and it sells, and so long as it sells, we'll keep doing it". Fans hate the bluntness, but unfortunately it seems to have a point. Call this EXHIBIT A. This title's solicts outright claimed that Invisible Woman would die, and Johnny could be next. The hype machine cranked this out too, and some of us were griping online about the "end of the first family". I know I did a few times. I was dreading reading this. The result? A story that is very much like a F4 story that Lee & Kirby might have done, involving sacrifice, time-travel, and heart. The Fantastic Four are alive and well. The double-price is due to there being a reprint as well as a FRANKIE RICHARDS story in there. Those expecting a permanent death were gypped. I'm glad none of the Four died, though, and I can easily see why Joe Q is sticking to his guns. Had there not been any solicts or hype about the "death", I would never have bought this. Plenty of Golden and Silver Age covers sold themselves by "promising death" or other events to readers that didn't always happen, and nowadays that isn't good enough, one has to do Internet stuff. On the other hand, one wonders quite what the point was, other than to sell an extra issue of F4 this month. This is sort of like your typical "enjoyable but harmless Annual", and Marvel seemingly did away with those because they couldn't make them relevant. As enjoyable as this is, this doesn't answer their question. ULTIMATE ANNUALS seem to get it right much better than Marvel's usually done. That all said, this is a nice old school-esque F4 story where Johnny Storm is noted to be a real hero, instead of simply a man-child for once. That's nice.
NEW AVENGERS #19: Arriving a week late, NEW AVENGERS #19 trucks along with their "Collective" storyline, which seems about to run smack into their CIVIL WAR crossover. This is an issue that balences out Bendis' talking heads with a bit of action; Iron Man and Sentry battle Collective in space for a bit (while Cap, Cage, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Woman, and Wolverine look on about as helplessly as Yamcha, Tien, and Krillin watching Goku and Vegeta go at it with someone) while Spider-Man and Vision 2.0 have some trouble with Agent Hill at SHIELD. This is another issue of "Spider-Man gets punked", which would be very dramatic if Bendis didn't rely on it so frequently, so now it is merely formula (much like how "Superman gets punked" was rather typical of almost every episode of JUSTICE LEAGUE: SEASON ONE). Hill and her ESP unit overhear Spider-Man mention "HOM", so they take him and Vision out to brain their memories of whatever data they can on that to try to beat Collective (and to be, well, nosey and evil, like good government agents, even though SHIELD is technically international and not merely American). We also get a more full description of what the Collective is, and he's still pretty much nothing more than an unbeatable plot device like Doomsday over at DC was. Its such a shame that the most powerful foe the team has ever fought is really nothing more than a typical "invincible monster" type. The solution is seemingly to "stand back and let him do what he wants to do", which is said like it should have been obvious, although if they hadn't battled him that far he would have simply rampaged through the United States to get to Genosha. I'm seeing something anti-climatic coming, and I hope I am wrong. This issue also shows how useless some of the members are, though. Wolverine sat out the Ninja storyline because Bendy had a fetish for Echo, but now he's in a cosmic story where he barely talks? Lame, even for an overexposed mutant's standards. He's obviously only here to justify some covers, and that sucks.
WOLVERINE #42: The issue with Wolverine on the cover, either laying a fart or trying to reach Super Saiyen Level 1. The art is done by Ramos, who is in the "School of Clay" much like Bachelo is in. The story is fine enough, taking place between the panels of CIVIL WAR #1 and giving Wolverine an actual purpose; track down Nitro, because everyone else is doing what Liberals do best, which is debate endlessly and attack heroes, rather than actually hunting down someone who ACTUALLY COMITTED THE CRIME. What I mean is that it is a very Liberal reaction to see a criminal and blame society, to see a terrorist act and blame national security, to see a fire-related death and blame the firemen, rather than look at the criminal, the terrorist, the fire-starter, respectively. All three almost get a pass. "Oh, they're only the symptoms", which is baloney. Wolverine's opinions make sense for him, wanting to "avenge" something. It stumbles a bit with the scene at the bar, and Ramo's art really doesn't fit it. The hook is that naturally Wolverine won't be the only one looking for Nitro, which is fine. The story needs another artist, though. And the baby blue "CIVIL WAR" banner looked very lame, and ill-fitting for a darker story.
X-STATIX PRESENTS: DEAD-GIRL #5: Milligan and Allred's wild and wacky adventure starring Dr. Strange, Dead-Girl, some X-Statix and others too, comes to a close. Its just as bizarre and humorous as last issues, and just as obvious that Dr. Strange was pretty much the starring character alongside Dead-Girl, yet Marvel obviously felt that hyping up the X-angle would sell the series better, and I wonder how that worked out. I'm not sure I buy Ancient One's motivations here, but Milligan's always had problems with straightfoward canon. The art seemed a little better than usual here, and we can say this was the issue where Piano-Man came back from the dead (but not Ant-Man; sorry GAMBIT). Definately not for everyone's tastes, but a wonky little Dr. Strange story I enjoyed immensely. Dead-Girl's real name is also a classic.
) but I thought that the heartbreak MJ suffered could have used some more depth, it didn't seem quite right for her character.
