A wallet-buster week to end July. Let's plow through it! Spoilers ahoy!
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 7/25/12:
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #12: While this issue isn't quite as good as this week's issue of the spin-off "micro series", it still is an action packed finale to the first year of IDW's exceptional relaunch of the Ninja Turtle comic book series. As usual, it is written by Tom Waltz and TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman as well as drawn by Dan Duncan and colored by Ronda Pattison. As the letter page claims, it will be Duncan's last issue as regular artist, which is a risky thing to do with a series which has quickly become one of IDW's best sellers. Hit artist Andy Kuhn will draw issue thirteen, but after that it is unknown who the next regular artist will be, and a predictable artist is key to establish a tone for a series. The cover alone is striking, as it pays homage to the original cover of TMNT #1 in 1984 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Duncan's artwork is strong and kinetic as usual, although this issue packs in a lot of action panels and some sign of rush is apparent. Picking up from the last issue, the 22 pages packed within are almost pure action as the Ninja Turtles, Casey Jones and even the Purple Dragon gang member Angel wage a desperate battle against the Foot Clan and the Shredder to save Splinter and dish out some payback. The battle itself against Shredder also pays homage to the original TMNT #1 as the Turtles have to utilize teamwork to even have a hope to prevail. Angel is a newer female character adapted from the 2003 era cartoon, who provides a potential love triangle between Casey and April. While this caps off the first year's worth of stories - which will make a handsome hardcover - it leaves many mysteries and subplots for the future among all heroes and villains, which is exactly as it should be. IDW has become a bastion for some excellent relaunches of 1980's franchises, and this TMNT is the emerald jewel atop that collection. While the new cartoon on NICK will be geared towards younger fans and the quality of the Michael Bay produced film is up in the air, this relaunched series is the best Ninja Turtles product to emerge from any medium since 2007-2008. It should be embraced accordingly.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MICRO-SERIES #6: Running alongside IDW's core TMNT ongoing series is this "micro-series", which is another name for "spin off" series. The first four issues were patterned after telling one-shot tales around each Ninja Turtle to pay homage to a series of one-shots published by Mirage Studios in the 1980's. However, this micro-series is selling well for IDW, so the series continued past issue four by focusing a tale on Splinter. This issue focuses on Raphael's best friend as well as the perennially loyal and violent ally of the Turtles who has a taste for justice and sports equipment, Casey Jones. The next issue will focus on April O'Neil, and one wonders what will become of the series once it runs out of regular characters to spotlight. Will the villains each get their own issues? A one-shot tale featuring the Shredder almost writes itself, doesn't it? At any rate, Bryan Lynch wrote the first four issues, but afterward each issue seems to spotlight a new creative team which seeks to tell tales in-between issues of the regular series. This issue features a script by Mike Costa and Ben Epstein and art by Mike Henderson, with color work by Ian Herring. While IDW's editors claim that this issue takes place after TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #12 (see below), it tells a simple story which could take place at almost any point in the series once Casey and the Turtles met up.
In both the original comic series as well as this one, Casey Jones seemed to be an odd duck; someone who sought to pummel criminals with sports gear with reckless abandon for mysterious reasons. This incarnation of Casey has a mother who died to illness and an abusive drunk of a father; thus, pummeling criminals is how Casey vents outside of college hockey games. This issue shows readers glimpses of Casey's mother on her death bed in flashback as well as the present troubles of his father. Arnold Jones is up to his neck in debt to a sleazy loan shark and his thugs, who seem to make a business of preying on hapless alcoholics who need money. The climax of the story is predictable to a degree; when one is a masked vigilante and they have a Ninja Turtle as a best friend, a loan shark is essentially a day in the life. The issue firmly cements why Casey endures the abuse he does from his father and in the end why he's as strong and understanding a person as he is. Considering the bizarre and grand scale battles the TMNT often engage in, it can be refreshing to have a smaller scale urban threat such as street gangs or loan sharks which can be just as terrible to common people. The original TMNT did simple urban noir stories all the time, so this follows in that proud tradition. As an extra detail, Casey's "full name" is also different here than in the Mirage series.
The artwork by Henderson and Herring is exceptional. Henderson has a clean illustrative style which fits the gritty tone of the story as well as the franchise itself. Herring's colors are in sync with this with muted colors and a lot of shadow work. The action scenes are simple but effective, but it is the atmosphere of the story which makes it effective.
I have to admit some personal bias here; Casey Jones has long been one of my favorite characters in the TMNT franchise as well as in comics in general. Thus, the sheer image of Casey on the cover alone made it noteworthy to me. That said, this is a short but well executed story which fleshes out this supporting character as well as tells a story in his world. It proves that this "micro-series" has life beyond simple one shot stories about the mutants themselves, and it builds anticipation for future "done-in-one" tales. In essence, this is TALES OF THE TMNT in all but name, and it's just as effective as it always was.
SUPER-DINOSAUR #12: This is a bit of a story-in-progress issue of Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard's second creator owned series at Image Comics/Skybound. Derek Dynamo has been kidnapped by the Exile and taken to Inner Earth, the hollow center of earth where dinosaurs still thrive and which is the source for all the dino-genetics research as well as the unique power source "Dynore". General Casey and the others can't seem to find him, and like many "made for kids" franchises, all the "kid" characters - such as Casey's son Eliot as well as Sarah & Erica and the titular Super-Dinosaur - have decided to sneak off to Inner Earth anyway. It was previously hinted that the Exile came from Inner Earth, but he may come from another planet entirely - this issue establishes that aliens DO exist in this universe. It is a perfectly solid issue with some adventure bits between Derek and Exile, in which Derek does seem to be so fascinated by his trip that the danger of being in the clutches of an enemy diminishes - kids for you. Reviewing this series sometimes gets repetitive. It's solid stuff if you like dinosaurs and/or franchises which would make perfectly serviceable Saturday morning cartoons. It isn't Kirkman's best work in comics or Image, or even with Jason Howard. However, it hasn't been around so long that it does ANYTHING for a shock which sometimes plagues INVINCIBLE lately. Sales on this have been poor, as many "all ages" books tend to be, but as this is creator owned at Kirkman's own imprint, sales expectations may be up to Kirkman - and to be fair, trades could be selling fine enough to cover some of the gap.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #690: "No Turning Back", the first arc of the title since the end of "ENDS OF THE EARTH" continues by long time writer Dan Slott and artist Giuseppe Camuncoli. The issue credits three inkers, which is often a sign of rush, although all do fine enough work that all the pages run seamlessly alongside the colors by Frank D'Armata. The gist of this arc is that Spider-Man, who is still on edge after losing Silver Sable to the Sinister Six's plot months ago, is in the middle of a plot to cure the Lizard hatched by his Horizon Labs boss Max Modell and his perennial "frenemy", Morbius the Living Vampire. This issue isn't as strong as some previous ones in this arc, if only because it employs Rachael Carpenter/Madam Web turning up drop more vague exposition, which is a predictably tedious bit. The highlight, however, is easily the sequence involving the new Curt Connors/Lizard dynamic. The twist here is that while Connors has been physically cured of being "the Lizard", he still has the personality of the Lizard as his dominant one; Curt is gone. So while "Lizard" is scheming to fix his genetics to transform himself back into a reptile - and exploiting the Horizon cast members in brutal fashion one by one - he is also experiencing what it is like to be a mammal and a human for the first time. Can Spider-Man stop pummeling Morbius in time to save his co-workers as well as his ex Carlie Cooper from a horde of lizard-people? Is Silver Sable really dead? And just what is the Kingpin plotting behind everyone's backs? It is par for the course for Slott's solo run on ASM, which means a lot of action, exceptional use of continuity and serialized storytelling, and even dashes of dark humor. Fans of quality Spidey stories shouldn't "turn back" from this one. A Lizard story may be a shameless attempt to leech some attention from the "AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" film, but when it is as well done as this, a film tie-in matters not.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #15: This is the beginning of the end of an era - Ed Brubaker's run on CAPTAIN AMERICA after some seven years is coming to an end. This will be his last arc, which is co-written by Cullen Bunn; Bunn will then take over as he is for a slew of other books such as VENOM lately. Marvel must have faith in him to have Bunn basically take over this franchise at the end of the year. After this arc, Brubaker will write a final issue solo alongside Steve Epting, who drew the cover. I never read Cap before Brubaker, and I am unsure if I will continue on after him, especially at $4 an issue. This issue begins Scott Eaton's run on art, and a downgrade in quality. The previous arc played to Brubaker's strengths with writing super-hero suspense thrillers; this issue begins standard fare as Cap and Falcon fight odd blue skinned terrorists called the Discordians. It follows various Brubaker tropes; random attack in a city, Falcon gets his ass kicked, Cap seems to be ineffective and criticized by the media, with it all being manipulated by a cackling villain. In this case, Bravo, Queen Hydra and Baron Zemo have all joined forces to replace a cable TV political shill with some sort of clone, which makes for the awkward detail of the only public critic of Captain America being an obvious evil mole, rendering his arguments moot. It reminds me of the one flaw of "SUPERMAN VS. THE ELITE" and the comic it was based on - it is hard to accept any of Manchester Black's fair criticisms once you realize he's an irredeemable monster. Eaton's work is fine, but now the story is back to more generic fare which is not Brubaker's strength, especially when up against WINTER SOLDIER which as usual is superior. If Brubaker's heart really isn't in non-Winter Soldier costumed comics anymore, it may be a good time for him to leave. Hopefully the end of his historic run ends with a bang and not a whimper.
DARK AVENGERS #178: Or, the comic formerly known as THUNDERBOLTS. Jeff Parker continues his extended run (over two years) on this title and not only has two team rosters in each issue battling for panel time, but has both of his regular artists (Kev Walker & Declan Shalvey) working on pages per issue. This keeps the page count low for each and probably ensures timely issues without guest art by anyone else, which T-Bolts occasionally had. The gist for those who are lost is that the last batch of T-Bolts (Moonstone, Satana, Mr. Hyde, Troll, Boomerang, Centurius, Man-Thing, and Ghost) are still lost somewhere in the time stream after escaping from the program for cons attempting to reform. After bumping into Dr. Doom from the end of Mark Millar's run on FANTASTIC FOUR, that escaped squad is stuck in the far future battling some version of Luke Cage who is a mixture of Judge Dredd, Punisher 2099 and Ghost Rider. In the present, meanwhile, a new team of Thunderbolts - er, "Dark Avengers" - have been assembled from Norman Osborn's latest attack and are being led into the ashes of a HULK storyline by Luke Cage and Skaar. The last time the roster for the book reached a backer's dozen, the quality suffered greatly; this time the division of setting for each does help, although I do hope to see the inevitable consolidation.
SECRET AVENGERS #29: Considering how underwhelming the AVX arc was, it is really due to faith in Rick Remender that I have remained on this $3.99 series at all. This issue, thankfully, sees a return to the Masters Of Evil/Adaptoid/Shadow Council storyline that Remender was going along with before he was derailed by the obligatory crossover obligation. In fact, those AVX issues could have been completely skipped and this issue would in no way be confusing, as it actually picks up not only before the crossover, but arguably where Ed Brubaker left off. John Steele has been freed of his Shadow Council brainwashing by Beast & Captain America, but he apparently went back to the Council to steal their dangerous Serpent Crowns. Unfortunately, he is discovered in the middle of this by Max Fury and his gang of super-villains, and now the Secret Avengers have to rescue him and recover the Maguffins. This issue features the characters not in space - Venom, Valkyrie, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady). This issue does seem to take place after this week's VENOM as it appears very clear that Thompson and Valkyrie are going to become a couple; considering some of the losers Valkyrie has dated in DEFENDERS, she certainly could do worse. O'Grady has been compromised by the Adaptoids and may or may not be Eric at all; at any rate, he is a long term mole for "Father". Remender has fun with a ton of villain appearances (especially in the first few pages) and the major conflict of the issue is between Hawkeye and Venom. Clint considers Flash reckless and needlessly violent, while Thompson served in more recent military duty and may see Clint as outdated and/or naive. The end of the issue promises a showdown between Venom and Taskmaster, with Thompson capitalizing on the idea that most of the underworld considers Venom a villain at best and a super powered psychopath at worst for espionage purposes. This is a return to form for Remender on this series and already I have forgotten awkwardly drawn issues with Kree and flaming birds in space. More like this, please!
VENOM #21: Double shipping this month in the "mighty Marvel manner", this issue sees the climax to the "Savage Six" storyline as well as marks the final issue written or co-written by Rick Remender. He launched the series over a year ago and has steered it to a small but steady audience, and now hands the book off to Cullen Bunn, who has co-written this arc. Lan Medina handles the art, Chris Sotomayor the colors with three inkers in tow for an action packed extravaganza. The identity of the new Crime-Master has been revealed, and it is Betty Brant's long deceased brother, Benny (axed off way back in ASM #11 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko themselves). Flash Thompson/Eddie Brock has narrowly managed to save the lives of his sister and mother from the mobster's team of maniacs, although he failed to save his brother-in-law's life. With his ex Betty in his enemies' clutches and with pounds of payback to deliver, Venom is out for one thing - blood. While the symbiote has been chemically sedated to not overwhelm a host, it is Flash who appears to be bordering on instability with his anger - a far more interesting angle. While there is a death which may be controversial for long term VENOM fans (if it sticks), this is the action sequence which this series has been leading up to for some time, and it doesn't disappoint. It also leads nicely into SECRET AVENGERS, the team book which Venom is also on and that Remender will continue to write. The artwork gets the job done here with good staging as well as no end of monstrous characters. Betty Brant remains one of the most tragic supporting characters in Marvel Comics, at least outside the X-MEN or PUNISHER; every man she knows either dies, lies to her, or goes evil. It is a shame to lose Remender on the title and character which he has steered into exceptional waters, but hopefully Bunn doesn't drop the ball he's been handed. At any rate, one couldn't ask for an issue with a bigger bang for Remender's finale than this.
WINTER SOLDIER #8: While Ed Brubaker is gearing up to end his run on CAPTAIN AMERICA after seven years, this will be the only mainstream Marvel book that Brubaker has vowed to remain on. It is just as well as his revival of James "Bucky" Barnes has very much been his career defining moment and this series is essentially his baby. It caters to his strength as being an espionage action thriller with occasional costumes and Marvel Comics sci-fi elements, and as thus has become far more consistent than its parent title. The gist of this latest plot is that Leo Novokov, who is one of three Soviet super-soldiers trained by Winter Soldier and kept as a sleeper agent in the U.S., has gone off the grid for years and is now planning his ultimate revenge against Winter Soldier. To this end he has kidnapped his lover, the former Commie agent Black Widow and threatens another brainwashing doctor to make her "bad" again. The premise is simple but the execution is effective enough that you almost forget how crude this is. In fact it works because it plays with the tragedy of both Natasha and Barnes as formerly brainwashed Soviet weapons who managed to free themselves through will, circumstance, and both. There is a moment of bonding between Barnes and Jasper Sitwell which is also good, even if this is a set-up issue. As usual, Barnes gets violent when he's frustrated, and the local riff-raff pay dearly for leads. While I agree with Brubaker that his time on CA may be over, I am thrilled to continue to read his stories on this.
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