Another week, another pile of comics. Let's get to it. Spoilers as always.
Dread's Bought/Thought for 10/22/08:
BLUE BEETLE #32: Still one of only two DC books right now worth my time; I was never a big DC fan, but right now I read more Image books, which is wacky. They took a killing on dollar and unit share for Sept. 2008. Marvel is close to reaching their dominance of the mid 90's on the shelves. Of course, I see DC success in a Marvel Zombie tinted way; the better DC competes, the more it forces Marvel to up their game. The longer DC fails to offer any challenge, the more lax Marvel will get, like any overconfident, untested champion.
Back to the issue itself. As the cover suggests, Dr. Polaris is about to become a big figure in the Blue Beetle world after revealing himself last issue (although not to the titular hero). Sturges and Coelho continue to move onward from the past creative team on the book and while some people have not cared for their direction, I think it fits in with what Giffen & Jones produced for years. The storyline puts the notion of illegal immigration to the forefront which is a sensitive issue for the hero and his family not only due to their ethnic origins, but of the proximity of El Paso to the Mexican border. Some might say that the overall moral does lean a little left, and that's true. A comic book moral leaning left is sort of like gravity; it is a rule of the universe. That said, there's nothing offensive or controversial about the point that Jaimie's dad makes to him. Most immigrants, "illegal" or not, are just hard working people who are looking for opportunities their homeland can't provide. They all certainly don't deserve the overzealous commando style policing of the group that Peacemaker is working for, and that Beetle has now stumbled into working for. The issue is a concern because Blue Beetle has become a local hero and a loss of P.R. and trust will effect his ability to protect people. Maybe I am too Marvelese, but sometimes it still staggers me to see so much family and friend support that Jaimie/Blue Beetle receive. Even alongside a book like INVINCIBLE, BLUE BEETLE offers a unique young superhero experience, which is why it is still on my pull list.
Most of the issue, however, focuses on the origin of Dr. Polaris. Considering he is a little known Green Lantern enemy (I believe) and apparently a legacy villain, a recap wasn't a bad idea for readers not familiar with him, especially with DC's ever changing continuity. Of course, the whole origin could be bunk and a DC Junkie could point out all the holes, but to a casual reader like me, it came off very well and interesting. The idea of someone "learning" how to control magnetism through special classes is frankly pretty cheesy, but we all could find a good dozen origins for heroes and villains that are just as unlikely or unbelievable if examined closely. What makes Dr. Polaris dangerous and in a way timely is that he combines being a super-villain with being a corporate shark, and envisions himself as the Kingpin of El Paso, probably seeking to usurp La Dama, El Paso's local crime lord (and relative of Jamie's pal Brenda) who has a truce with the Beetle.
Beetle, his father Alberto and amazingly (and pretty randomly) his mage girlfriend Traci 13 get into a fight with some goons and despite his father's limp and Traci's temporary magic ailment (she apparently could only summon vegetables, specifically carrots, that day), the two of them are able to hold their own in the fight alongside Beetle. Paco and Brenda also track down the new lady in their lives, who wrongly believes that Paco is the Beetle, which is an interesting subplot.
Coelho's art is great; it is full of detail and energy for their young characters; the teenagers and even the lines in Polaris' armor look good.
BLUE BEETLE isn't my favorite title, but it's solid, fundamental superhero goodness, and has been for years, despite even the occasional "guest" writer and now a new team. That's the sign of a solid franchise foundation. Dr. Polaris seems to be an interesting villain for Beetle, and I hope he is built up properly.
INVINCIBLE #54: While the two new time-traveling characters from the Multi-Paul issue are on the cover, for me the real meat of it comes in the beginning and the end, with Mark and Eve finally starting to enjoy a date, and their budding relationship, which pretty much starts to satisfy over 4 years of romantic tension, inconvenient lovers, and mixed feelings due to the complications of superhero lives (and yes, time travel). It's the kind of thing that Marvel, with Peter & MJ, have decided that readers no longer want out of superhero comics in favor of endless death, misery, and status quo slugfests. This issue sort of proves how wrong that mentality is. Payoff can be everything. Development is also very close to everything, that thing that defines what books you take seriously and what ones are just average popcorn fluff, symbolizing nothing.
But, there is that time-travel adventure, which provides a conflict for Mark that involves more than fists, but doubts about his character and what the future holds. Fightmaster and his sidekick hail from a future where everything is ruled under the iron-fist of an unkillable ruler, who turns out to be an older version of The Immortal. Allowing themselves to be captured, Immortal beacons Mark to finally end his life, rambling things about Mark, in the future, taking his family off-world and even ending up ruling it, which seems to imply that he took more of his Viltrumite duties seriously. The past few issues have done a bit to test Mark's moral mettle. He found that that Cecil was hardly the model of virtue that he thought, employing villains and covering up their crimes to the media. His kid brother Oliver sees his compassion for all human life as illogical and inefficient. And now a mission in the future that seems to hint that Invincible's heroism reaches a breaking point to world domination, or at least apathy.
Plus, there are some fun time travel hyjinks, like Mark returning to Eve at the exact moment he left, and on reclaiming his clothes. Time paradoxes are usually confusing and annoying, but keeping them light in that BACK TO THE FUTURE way can also be pretty interesting and entertaining.
Series penciler Ryan Ottley is naturally an artist of considerable talent, whose style has come to define this franchise moreso than even co-creator Cory Walker at this point. He's proven capable of drawing some efficient montage type pages for scenes of brutal violence (see the issues where Mark & Nolan battled the Viltrimutes on Mantis World for the best example). Here he gets to showcase the other end of the showcase with a 4-page spread that not only chronicles their date across the world, but all the moments of near misses in the past. In full animation with one of those charming romantic songs, in the alternate universe where Invincible is a hit animated series, it would be one of those fan fave moments everyone begs to be put on YouTube. Even barring that, I thought it was a touching spread. The challenge before Kirkman of course will be to try to disprove the idea that romances are only fun during the chase and then are boring afterwards; which is horribly cynical even for me. Why bother to date anyone if that is true? This issue shows that he's off to a good start.
Plus, next issue kick starts the Viltrumite War, so non-softies will get their blood and guts soon. I personally can't wait for that storyline, either. Given how Oliver is reacting, a return of Nolan could be most interesting.
Definately a step up from last month for the best superhero book in the universe, now all new and all awesome.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #43: An arc that doesn't revolve around the Red Skull? Believe it as Brubaker and Ross kick off a 3 part story, "Time's Arrow", which will get us into issue #45. In what has become a series staple, and downright style staple, Brubaker interlaces a flashback sequence with his modern story to help bridge the entire tale along. Bucky is haunted by dreams from the wartime past, specifically an undercover mission he, Steve, and Human Torch (the original android version) performed in China during the 40's, liberating a boy genius type.
In present day, Bucky is celebrating his victory over the Skull and, according to flashbacks, the Secret Invasion against the Skrulls, (firmly placing this arc after SECRET INVASION) in bed with Natasha Romanov (better known as the "Daredevil Special"), but the old soldier can't remain at rest for long, and continues to be mixed up over his new role as Captain America, and the responsibilities that it holds. Out on a ride on his bike, he stumbles upon a computer data robbery at the U.N. being committed by a group of mercs, specifically Steve Rogers' old adversary, Batroc the Leaper. Ross redesigns Batroc a bit, keeping the mask and the color scheme, but altering the spandex to more combat type clothes.He fights Buck to a draw before his men zap him, and he realizes that Bucky is the new Captain America by exposing the shield on his back. He delivers this information to his employer, who is probably that kid from China in the 40's.
A simple issue, but good stories rarely have to be complicated. I am glad that Bucky and Natasha are exploring their relationship seriously; it has been a while since Widow was in a serious one since Daredevil, which by now has been run into the ground. They have a lot of close ties together and they make a good espionage couple. Makes me wonder why they aren't team-mates in Slott's possible MIGHTY AVENGERS roster?
Ross takes over for Epting and does a solid job; I barely noticed too many differences; the inks and colors were solid.
By now, of course, there are two kinds of fans; those who read and enjoy Brubaker's CA, and those who don't only because they haven't tried it. I was one of that unlucky group for years, and let me tell you, hopping aboard is one of those rare decisions a comic book fan makes that offer no regrets or second thoughts. It's worth every penny per month. It's among the best Marvel books out there that stars a hero who isn't in space. It has build-up but isn't nearly as sluggish as JMS' THOR. It even took Batroc seriously and makes him work in a few pages, without feeling the need to "apologize" for him like many modern comic writers do for potentially corny stuff. Is there anything about CA that needs to be said? That has to be said, at this point?
The issue continues the growth of Bucky's character and the whole idea of a New Cap. It makes one of Cap's hammiest enemies seem professional without changing who he is. The art is great and the story has a lot of potential. Just read it and enjoy it.
SECRET INVASION #7: I usually do these in alphabetical order, but I may as well get this out of the way. No, it isn't as bad as HOUSE OF M; based on those horribly low expectations, SI is a success. It also is dominating the sales charts, especially since it has run mostly on schedule, especially compared to FINAL CRISIS. Yu's artwork, with inks and pencils, is actually not too rushed and thus good here, reminding me why he impressed so many people back when he was on WOLVERINE and UNCANNY X-MEN during the late 90's. There are a few character moments that work.
I think I got the positive out of the way.
The biggest dilemma is that once again, Bendis is repeating himself and thus nearly everyone who predicted how this story would end is starting to be proven right. 2-3 issues of cluster ****, orgy group combat? Done in DISASSEMBLED, SECRET WAR, HOUSE OF M, and heck, that Hood NA story from a few months back. Character arriving out of nowhere to effortlessly solve the conflict? Done in DISASSEMBLED and SECRET WAR. Turning someone into a massive bomb with bright colors and having everyone freeze and scream at once as they hover in the air helplessly? SECRET WAR. I mean, Chris Claremont gets a lot of due flack for his recent tales, but at least he was able to write for 10-15 years before he started shamelessly ripping himself off. Bendis barely has been going for 5 in the major A-League without imitating and repeating any idea he ever had, and almost none of them are good.
There is a big, defining moment when Clint reclaims his bow from Hawkeye (which he gave to her in YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #6 to get technical) after she is injured, and he goes and takes out a good dozen Skrulls, including, seemingly, Queen Verenke herself. Without getting into the dilemma of killing off your entire event villain you have built up for 3/4ths of a year in ONE PAGE, there is another hassle with this scene. It should feel good, and iconic, and Yu does his best with it. But we had Clint do this in the Savage Land a few issues back, so that miffled the shock. But more importantly, the only reason Clint has gone without his bow for years is because BENDIS was the one who STUPIDLY slapped him in ECHO'S UNDERWEAR and had him abandon it for NO GOOD REASON. None. That's like Steve Rogers trading in his shield for a bo-staff and a pirate costume; it doesn't work. It's like when normal Coke was traded for New Coke, which was so bad that it made you grateful for the original when it came back. But it was a satisfying return build on a bungle, as Clint was with Ronin. You can't purposefully and deliberately make a character a million times crappier than they EVER were, and then pull a 180 in one scene and expect it to feel genuine. That's manufactured. It's fake and phony, and while writers always plan stuff like this, the trick is to not make it seem so artificial, so formula, so connect-the-dots, throw the feebs a bone-worthy. Of COURSE it will be awesome to see Clint kick ass with a bow again. The only reason we hadn't had that for a while was BENDIS. No ****.
And really, it has been obvious that Wasp would die for 2-3 months now. So the best way to do something that has been predicted is in a predictable way, ripping off the Von Bardas final move in SECRET WAR. And maybe I would care about Noh-Var if anything Bendis has tried doing with him wasn't stale, boring, and predictable, and it is. There is an art in doing something that seems "natural" and making it feel natural, or botching it and it feels like the formula of watching paint dry. Bendis doesn't have it, never had it, and never will have it, so long as his yes-man editors continue to shove him into work he isn't best in, and approve of scripts before they are proofread.
Then there is the gauling idea of Norman Osborn heading SHIELD and the world thanking villains for saving the world. As if the citzens and government of the Marvel Universe could possibly be more corrupt, more cynical, and more inhumanely ungrateful. If that happens, I want all the superheroes to line up. And one of them, maybe Darkhawk, going, "Seriously? You're SERIOUSLY rewarding THIEVES and MURDERERS and MEGALOMANIACS more than you EVER have ANY legitimate superhero? **** that and **** you, all of you. We're all going to space, where we can be appreciated. See if we give a **** the next time Doom tries to take over. ****." And then we have a Nova Corps series running alongside NOVA. There have been a lot of dark, cyncial, soul-crushing ideas to come out of Bendis and Marvel, but that would be among the worst. I don't know about others, but part of what I like about superheroes as a genre is that idea that at least sometimes, for some of them, they get some reward eventually. They have allies. Maybe a date or something. Not all of them are hated. That sort of thing. I already was mildly irritated with the Marvel populace continuing to be more paranoid than Fidel Castro. Of their government handing a badge to any villain who agreed to become a grunt for hire to lose a sentence, no matter how evil or vicious they were. But taking that further....it's like Squirrel Girl said. A world I want to escape from, and not to.
Even when Mark Millar is making pines for "uniting" heroes again or doing something that is almost positive, Bendis just ups the misery, ups the angst, ups the dreariness. It's almost as absurd as Marvel Apes by now.
Oh, and once again, Iron Fist is worthless in a fight. Seriously, why have him even there?
Apparently despite all the plans and powers of the Skrulls, a strategy of "bum rush them and punch until someone drops, and never stick with one opponent for more than one panel unless you are Wolverine" apparently is best.
It isn't all the way horrible, but it's more rinse and repeat regurgitation from Bendis. And it still has another chapter.
NEW AVENGERS #46: Bendis and Tan unite to tell a story of the Hood and his gang. It isn't al all-the-way bad story, and compared to the utter wastes of the last 1-3 issues of NA or MA, it was a step up. But Hood still suffers from some of the same issues as before, and the story fails due to one hassle.
The crux of the issue was that in the midst of being interned at SHIELD, Madame Masque is taken in by Skrulls posing as SHIELD agents. Thus surprises Hood when he appears to rescue her (the two are lovers; what a way to up Hood's ante by having him **** someone who used to obsess with Tony Stark), and they interrogate one Skrull who they capture alive. Much ado is made about Hood's crew being the only major assemblance of power where the Skrulls had no sleeper agent.
Only, they did. The Slug. Who Hood exposes with Magic Vision and kills. So what was the big to-do about infiltrating them when they already had? Idiot Skrulls.
There also is the dilemma of the Skrulls being immune to all Dr. Strange magic, but apparently Dormammu can empower Hood to see through them. Magic can't be hacked with a DNA code. Strange is able to summon it from other realms, acts as a conduit. It just seems too convenient that Dormammu could empower Hood with magic like that. At least it wasn't Mephisto; he's been played out.
Out of all the assembled villains there, who is it that questions serving the Hood blindly? Is it a leader type like Wizard, Corrupter, Crossfire? No. One of the Wrecking Crew, who work for anyone with two nickels to rub together (or the promise of same). Ugh. Does Bendis even spend 5 minutes on Wikipedia before writing a character?
The idea of the Hood becoming a new crime lord is potentially interesting, but Bendis' execution ruined it. He moved too fast and just picked supervillains out of a hat without any regard to loyalties or specifics. The Slug was a crime boss. Why would ANYONE believe he would just stand there as muscle? Corrupter works on mind control, so why is he rushing into slugfests like he's Razorfist? It is yet another example of Bendis having an idea that is potentially interesting, but completely botching the execution. Why bother with a decent idea if you're just going to **** it up? Then it is just a tease.
Still, the power of lowered expectations works in Bendis' favor, as this issue was better than the last one. And Tan's art is fine.
