A small week to finish out April, and a rare one where my DC books outnumber Marvel (3 to 2). Only a fluke, though, as the bimonthy JUSTICE graces us. But these small weeks tend to be the better ones, and this one is no exception. Everything I got I enjoyed in some way, although the book I liked the least was probably the first I'll review.
Spoilers ahead.
"The Protector of the Universe has, y'know, spoken."
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 4/25/07:
52 WEEK #51: After wrapping up the Black Adam storyline in an action packed, power level busting romp, the writers of 52 apparently remembered that other characters existed, too. They also remembered they have 2 issues to wrap up the dangling plot-threads that are left. Sure, the last issue is double sized so one could count it as 2-issues-in-one to be fair, but who the hell does that? It has been about a year since Conner sacrificed his life to stop Emoball Prime, a character whose emoness took the combined power of Speedball, Marvel's editors and Jenkins on rufies to outdo, and as the world is recovering from Black Adam's rampage, now was a good time to do another one of those "a billion heroes stand around and mourn" shots, like what started the series off. Yes, yes, I get it. The final cover makes it even more apparent, they want to draw parallels to the beginning of 52, and that is cool, it works. They also lay in hints to stuff from other OYL books that apparently is already apparent; a new WW, Wayne making an identity for Diana Price, Clark's fetish for eyeglasses, and Kid Devil, who kind of looks silly. BLUE DEVIL suddenly had a sidekick now!? My god, has DC milked the teen hero thing to death, everyone has a kid copy of themselves. I'm waiting for Bane Jr., for my money. Robin at least reveals a good reason for why he changed his costume's colors (aside to ape the color schemes of Robin from the BATMAN: THE NEW GOTHAM ADVENTURES cartoon, circa 1998, with a cape ripped off from one of the Gatchamen, like done on TEEN TITANS the cartoon for one episode). I kid, Robin's new costume looks good, an improvement over many of the past designs, and the reason was solid, a nice quiet moment. Speaking of which, Buddy gets to have another when rejoining his wife, and his kids' reaction to Starfire was CLASSIC. Another classic was revealing just why Lobo was so "nice", and showing he's not so nice after all, backstabbing his fish god. The issue ends with Booster Gold alluding to some 52 thing as "52 realities" or timelines or whatever, and Skeets revealing that 52 meant 52 weeks for what infested him to gestate and evolve, and it's...a really ugly and evolved Mr. Mind. As in that cute little worm guy from Capt. Marvel's rogues gallery. He's now all disgusting and threatening to take over the planet, and for the life of me I cannot take him seriously. And I can't help but think that Booster looked a lot cooler as Supernova, and should stick to that identity, especially since his current one kinda has a bad rap. Of course, this ties into the first 10 or so issues of 52 last year, which revealed Mr. Mind had returned and hatched into a new form somewhere, but I only recalled this from WIKIPEDIA and I doubt I am the only one. Anyway, I just can't take this little guy seriously, not even if he took a shat on Superman.
The origin is for the JLA, and I didn't know they originally formed to battle generic alien elementals, although I am sure they look cooler now than back then. And Black Canary's status as a core founder over the beginning years is mentioned. A solid issue that didn't rely on other characters, and I am about ready to say g'bye to this series, which, complaining aside, has been solid overall. I mean with over 50 issues, you will get an average of good and average to sloppy issues, so it balences out. Hope the finale is a slam-bang next week, and doesn't just try to lead me on.
JUSTICE #11: Speaking of Mr. Mind, this series started almost 2 years ago, so readers can be forgiven for forgetting details from earlier issues. Of course, it is worth mentioning that the bimonthly format for the 12 issue series was noted from the beginning, and we've at least seen 11 issues of this title in under 2 years, which is more than I can say for ULTIMATES 2. Fortunately, you only need to remember that the JLA is fighting the LOD, the Metal Men are their skins, and stuff from the last issue basically. Ross & Co. really manage to pull off some twists with the whole Metal Men thing, such as last issue when it turned out Green Arrow & Black Canary were merely being impersonated to sneak in below, and this issue it's revealed that the "man of steel" is actually Capt. Marvel, not Superman. Parasite and Scarecrow are the villians who stole the show for me, despite Joker's explosions (I honestly could have done without Joker, he's one of the most overused DC villians ever and needs a rest sometimes). Parasite just went monkey-nuts in desperation and started absorbing powers from his own allies to try to beat some heroes, and it all backfired on him. And Scarecrow sets up the finale, with the lives of hundreds of their "saved people" in the balence. There is a school of thought that says that Hal Jordon is boring and a rather generic hero at heart, and I don't deny that. But his battle with Sinestro here is pretty cool. His narration was a little predictable at times, because we've heard these sort of "superhero narrates and says noble things" boxes in almost every issue, but that doesn't mean it didn't kick arse. The cover promised a throw-down and we got one. Aquaman's fury at chasing Brainiac with his infant son prove once and for all that he can be a compelling, rootable character despite his "talks to fish" stigma. The story is a little conveluted but it looks like the last villians standing for the finale will be Scarecrow and Brainiac, with Joker off in the hills. In a way, the plot became a little too simple; the idea of the Legion of Doom actually curing people with their powers and outshining the JLA, which always adopted a "we can't act like gods and solve all of man's problems" stance, was compelling in theory, and part of me is almost sad to see it become a generic, if not still enjoyable, typical supervillian mind-control/world takeover plot. But at least Ross & Co. have made a story where that old horse still can run fast. It'll be June before the last issue ships, and much like with 52, it's been a good read but I am about ready to see it end. And I think that despite the fact that JUSTICE, unless the ending sucks is a given for "instant classic" status, Ross has now officially mined Silver Age DC bare, and I hope to see something else from him in the future. Still, at least in his last dig he's pulled up a decent gem. Although...lavender titles are not manly at all.
BLUE BEETLE #14: It is apparently a rule that when an artist does a book's interiors for a while, but leaves, they have to still do a few covers to sort of tease you about what once was. Fortuntely, Alberquerque (try saying that name twice) is a worthy successor to Cully after some shakey fill-in's from others, and this issue is more of the same; nothing earth-shattering or Internet-cracking, but a solid little tale with fun characters and dialogue. But even on that standard, this issue was more fun than most, if only because of Guy and Blue Beetle teaming up again, after fighting in issues 1-2. Beetle tries to warn other heroes about the Reach, but no one answers but Guy, who is his usual pompus self. And we wouldn't want him any other way. In a way it felt a little like Beetle's buddy-chemisty with Peacemaker, but Guy has more history, and shows it in the end. This is also the first book to have an actual DC villian in Ultra-Humanite, and it is good for BB to tackle some "real" villians, even if he has a little back-up. It is a shame that Alberquerque didn't take a nod from U-H's redesign from the JUSTICE LEAGUE cartoon, because this standard design makes him appeal bald, not that he has a big brain. Of course, to be fair, a lot of U-H's animated redesign from Timm & Tucker owes a bit from Marvel characters Beast and Leader. But hey, whatever worked, right? Aside for that, it was a solid effort with some good action and amusing lines. Jamie's dialogue reminds me of USM's, only actually funny (and in 14 issues, he's a more competant and useful hero than 100+ of USM's). It is a little bit of a drag for Jamie to lament about being single when Brenda and Paco seemed to share an awkward moment without him, but heroics will rarely help the sex life. This title's still straightforward superheroic's, and while that's not enough to make a dent in today's market, it's enough to keep me bemused and buying. I'm amazed despite it's slow sales, that it's lasted 14 issues, but DC has usually been less trigger-happy with canning low sellers than Marvel. Still, I doubt it'll see issue #24 without some sort of boost, crossover or revamp, so take it while it lasts. Another initial interest, I think DC let the new Blue Beetle lapse too long on his own without guest shots elsewhere (like the new BRAVE & THE BOLD) to amp his rep and it may be too late to save his solo. But at least Ted Kord got a good sendoff from Guy and some of the legacy behind the name returns. Frankly I think Marvel did better with trying to plaster X-23, Gravity, & Arana around a few books to make sure they stuck.
THE NEW FANTASTIC FOUR #545: Ugh, yet another title with NEW on the cover. Sheesh. Joe Q goes on and on about being innovative, but he sure loves doing anything possible to bring back status quo's from the mid-Silver Age. A hostile hero community, hardly any mutants, Peter being miserable and single (the last part hasn't happened yet, not for lack of trying). But, despite all that, and despite a lot of the negative rantings about this new FF, including from your's truly (although I recall saying it merely seemed odd), they're working out rather well, and I like this run so far better than the CW stuff where Reed was acting all fascist. McDuffie's years on TV have helped him dramatically and he has a flare for character and action. In a way, Reed's Nazi-doctoring almost seems trivialized by Sue; you'd almost think she was angry about her forgetting their anniversary, and not about cloning Thor, building a N-Zone Gulag, dividing their family and hypocritically siding with jack-booted laws to save his precious rep. But, best to let it go, otherwise the wound'll never heal. While they vacation on Titan, the "new" FF still have their fight trying to figure out why Epoch, who is feelin' lonely now that her protector Quasar is dead, yanked Gravity's corpse from the Earth. The Silver Surfer returns and vows Galactus is about to get his "eating tubes" on, and a fight ensues. Now, at a glance I'd say Storm & Panther were a little overpowered; I am not as comfortable with Storm manipulating space-weather, and T'Challa able to grapple with Radd like he was a mere wrestler. To be fair, I guess, it is a new way to conform Storm's power levels, and while Surfer did seem to get pwned quite a lot, he didn't want to actually fight his allies and probably was holding back. Stardust certainly wasn't and was jolly-spanking them. Pelletier's art is as solid as ever and McDuffie's TV writing have enabled him to master dialogue as never before. The issue, however, is stolen by Gravity, who is literally resurrected by Epoch to fulfill Quasar's role as Protector of the Universe. True, Phyla has his bands, but apparently is still off mulling her destiny with Moondragon having lesbo space sex, and Epoch didn't feel like waiting. Greg's reactions were classic, and while the explaination is a tad hokey (in saving everyone in BEYOND!, Gravity literally become "one" with the element of gravity that flows through space), it works in comic book terms and it is good to see a C-List character powered UP and made better and more complicated, rather than left to the wind or mauled in the name of chasing a fad, like Speedball. Thankfully, Greg is outside of Earth for now, so he can be a hero without Iron Man up his arse about signing papers. So far I have no real quibbles with this new incarnation of the Four. The roots are maintained, it's shown as anything but permanent and it's enjoyable in the meantime. I will say, though, that considering how many times Thing has ragged on Reed for "usin' ten dollar words", he lays down a rather big one with "facetious" himself. But I liked it, showed more depth beyond the "pug" cliche.
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #8: Another fun, Silver Age based team-up between the original X-Men and another hero, the 3rd out of 8. This is technically the last issue, but an ongoing is coming and a special is next month, so it really is only ending in volume only. It is curious that out of all mini's, Marvel grants this one ongoing status. It is a fun little book that captures the heart of superheroes and classic X-Men, with some modern styles to detail and dialogue, but it doesn't sell very well (around the same level as RUNAWAYS) and the appearence of Gorilla-Man here only reminds me that I'd have rather seen AGENTS OF ATLAS become an ongoing. Normally, Gorilla-Man seems a bit wonky and cliche, but Parker writes him so well that he manages to work on every level, forever cementing the notion of there being "no bad characters, just writers who cannot handle them". Hale's dialogue always cracks me up and has a style all it's own, simular to the Thing but not as well. The plot is a little generic, as usual; Xavier goes missing and is sucked up into some mystical cave, and the X-Men go into the jungle to rescue him, and need Gorilla-Man as a guide. Parker goes over the origin and alludes to AGENTS OF ATLAS, which hopefully will help trade sales. Cruz's art is fine and energetic as usual. In the letter's page, Parker lays out his wishes for the series and glee he is getting an ongoing, which he claims will allow him to do more substantial stories, which is good. It was rare to see a mini that told one-shot adventures that were barely connected, but I wouldn't mind some depth to the formula. He wants to keep things fun, though, and as the X-Men haven't been allowed to have any "fun" in, oh, about 20 years, I don't mind. I do question his idea that he "gave Jean a personality" as despite Parker's skill, she still comes off as "the girl" of the team; flirty without being trampy, smart while not being a genuis, empathic, and sensitive. Not much different than early Invisible Girl (who flirted with Spider-Man on occasion), who guest stars in the next volume. The actual Silver Age X-Men stories have aged a bit badly, though, so I can understand wanting a more contemporary addition to it. Making Coffe-@-Go-Go a Villiage Cafe beats the old, dated Beatnik thing, for intance. And it shows the chemistry of the original team again, after many of them have been killed, twisted, or warped and forgotten behind the Wolverine's and Storm's. True, there seems to be a "series about the core 5 X-Men in past adventures" about every 4-7 years from Marvel, but this one gets it right without being preachy, or heavy, or trying too hard to fill in Handbook gaps.
