Average week in terms of quantity (despite being a day later due to Labor Day) but actually a better week than I expected, including from one new mini series launch. As always, full spoilers and rants ahoy.
Dread's Bought/Thought for 9/10/09:
BOOSTER GOLD #24: The cover notes the "Rise of the Black Beetle" and while the villain is featured in both the lead Booster story and the Blue Beetle back-up strip (or "second feature" in 21st century Newspeak), in the lead in story it just continues the general tale without an extensive twist on Black Beetle. However, I do like that both stories inside this book will be linked at least within the next issue or so with the same villain.
In the lead in, Booster and Rip are still trying to fix the time line that Black Beetle screwed up, having helped kill Robin and the Teen Titans back in the 80's and thus allowing Trigon to rule the future of 2029. Despite there only being a few thousand humans left on the planet (including Lex Luthor), there is always a token "resistance" movement featuring Zatanna, a paranoid Kyle Rayner (without a GL ring) and as we see, Oliver Queen. Green Arrow seems to have a knack for surviving bleak futures in BG. Is the lesson that if you want to be a superhero that is able to survive anything, whether it is killer OMAC robots or four eyed demons, best to trade in super powers for green arrows and a goutee? Raven from the past Titans era, as the sole survivor of the mangled time line, is also along for the ride. Booster gets captured by Trigon and Black Beetle, who is merely working for Trigon until he can provide his own mysterious "master/partner" outside of time images of a dead JLA. Booster, meanwhile, manages to fall in with Luthor, who now sees the only chance to overthrow Trigon he'll have. Black Beetle ends up getting what he wanted, a red Beetle scarab, while Booster allows Kyle to get the Green Lantern ring before Zatanna sends them to their time-ship. They manage to undo the damage to the Titans time line and assure that Robin doesn't die and whatnot. The threat of Black Beetle, though, remains. If I have one criticism, is it seems as if Jurgens is repeating himself a little in the writing. It seems much as Rex Hunter did last arc, the villain is chasing Maguffins through time; last time it was a magical knife that had time travel energies that could exist in many times. This time it is Black Beetle collecting Beetle scarabs from various time lines. I don't expect it to work in a similar way; the time knives were to access a sort of "ultimate anti-time time travel base place", while the amulets will likely just make Black Beetle more powerful, but it is similar.
I like BOOSTER GOLD but if the series has any problem with the Jurgens run or co-writing influence it is that there is usually too much time spent on watching the scenery while the plot sort of drags. Not a lot of time per arc mind you, maybe only one issue here and there. But after a while it is noticed. EXILES after a while had this problem, with the chase after Proteus seemingly endless. In one way or another they have been chasing the same villain for over a year. As always, Jurgens' art alongside Rapmund's finishes is stellar and timeless. The book wouldn't be the same without it, and I enjoy Jurgens' stories overall. They're low stress and it's always good when a creator can return to their creation. It's not just for Steve Gerber, after all. I just think sometimes the stories need to be a little tighter.
The Beetle strip starts off at quite a break-neck pace, especially for what is to be a two part tale; as in a 20 page story (the last one was 30 pages). It starts off simply. There's a recap of Jaime's concerns with his scarab since the end of his ongoing and the last story, and then a hiking trip with his friends and family goes bonkers when Black Beetle shows up and starts a fight. The theory that he is Hector, one of Beetle's "network" allies who suffered a tragedy that he blamed Jaime for at the end of the ongoing series is debunked (unless Black Beetle is just lying) and when he threatens Jaime's little sister, Beetle succumbs to his alien instincts and starts to go hardcore. Sturges I think has gotten used to the 10 pages a month format well, usually providing the same amount of story in 10 pages as some writers get into 22. Mike Norton continues on pencils and he's solid for something like this. Unlike the main BOOSTER strip, these seems to be a sense that page space is at a minimum and thus the Beetle stories usually seem more compact and get to the point quicker. Jurgans and Rapmund sometimes take 2-3 issues to tell a story that could be done in 1-2 because they can or because they want to play with side details, and sometimes that works seamlessly and sometimes it doesn't. I am curious if this will lead to another Jaime/Booster team up in the lead story, but at any rate some cohesion between strips in the same book is a great idea.
Normally I complain about $4 books, but this one has two solid strips and has become a solid package, with one strip usually picking up when the other is not as good as it was a month prior, and so on. Even despite taking a few extra minutes on a scenic route than needed, BOOSTER GOLD is still a DC book worth my time and dollars every month.
INCREDIBLE HERCULES #134: It's not only a fact that since the "split" between titular hero and sidekick, that the Hercules story is better; the fact is that the quality is almost twice as good. If the Cho story is two stars, this is a four, easy. It has a faster pace, far more jokes, better art, more action...really, must I go on? At least with the biweekly format, both will come to a head at about the same time, and Pak and Van Lente have more time to settle their agenda before the title is eventually canceled from low sales.
What? This is a post-CAPTAIN BRITAIN, AGENTS OF ATLAS world. Good books always die. The fact that this one has survived beyond 18 issues is a feat unto itself. If it makes it past 24 that will almost be a record. I have no faith that this book will be around this time in 2010. Therefore I appreciate the moves to jam in more story as quickly as possible. Best to finish the run on a high, if it has to come to an end.
Reilly Brown continues his work on IH and it's incredible stuff. IH has had a rotating cast of artists but by and large has usually had many solid ones, and Brown is no exception. It's certainly a better use of his skills than the last few issues of NEW WARRIORS last year. He manages to draw monsters, superheroes, mythical beings and scenery, as well as make it action packed when it must and light and comical when he must, too. Not everyone can do that. The story chugs along with Hercules in Asgard pretending he is Thor, alongside his father Zeus, who has amnesia and is in the form of a child, providing stock thunderbolts for the ruse. The pair have been tricked into heading against the dark elf queen Alflyse by Herc's old enemy Malekith; while Zeus still seems to chew Herc out, Herc is just interested in Alflyse being a total babe. After learning that not all mass media troll lore on TV is accurate, Hercules defeats some trolls and gets into Alflyse's good graces, as well as into her bedroom. Unfortunately he has suddenly been married to her, and she still seems intent on conquest. Meanwhile, the Warriors Three figure that the only way to resolve this mess is to have Thor impersonate Hercules..."skirt" and all. The last page is worth your three bucks alone.
The recap page is also hilarious; this and AGENTS OF ATLAS make good use of that page as solid comedy. Pak and Van Lente continue to provide a tag team mythical delight with this title; it's selling better than some at the bottom of the Top 90 but still deserves to outsell Bendis drivel like THE LIST and whatnot but won't. Many books try to do "old" story lines or ideas and make them work in the modern era; this one is basically doing a Hercules/Thor rivalry story as was done in the 60's and whatnot and just playing it as action/comedy and nailing it every time. Most good books struggle to provide even one quotable quote per issue; this Herc story usually has about a dozen per issue. It's a must on every ideal comic fan's pull list.
MARVELS PROJECT #2: More of a build-up issue than the last, but c'mon, this is an eight issue story; even Brubaker will have a few build-up issues out of eight. Or even six. What distinguishes it from other decompressed works is even the build-up issues are still enjoyable and entertaining. To be honest, REBORN is getting all the sales and attention, but two issues in MARVELS PROJECT may end up being the more solid tale narrative wise. This is the indie film to REBORN's sloppy corporate blockbuster; even the best sloppy corporate blockbusters are hogwash compared to a quieter, more focused work.
The first issue started in 1938 and got the gears moving, this one picks up at the start of 1940, as the Axis powers make more movements and the rise of masked superheroes were on the rise in New York. Tom Halloway, "The Angel", among the first. Unfortunately, their quest against organized crime and corruption is often mocked by the police, who don't even show respect when one, Phantom Bullet, is found dead in an alley. The press, however, eats it up and even the ostracized android Human Torch stumbles into the game, burning some mobsters before trying out for the police force. It turns out that while working for the Nazi's, Dr. Eskine examined John Steele, a little known "soldier of fortune" hero from 1940 before being rescued and whisked out of the country by Nick Fury and Red Hargrove. Of course, the Axis powers have figured out that the Americans have liberated Eskine, and start up the sleeper operation that will eventually assassinate him.
Epting's art is as great as you would expect, with some truly excellent color work by Stewart on the Human Torch effects. The art for this book is much better than on THE TORCH. While many feared retcons from this title, what Brubaker is really doing is furthering the work that MARVELS and other stories started of trying to make the Golden Age a little more cohesive and inter-related. This isn't some Romulus/WOLVERINE ORIGINS style cluster****, but merely connecting some dots that were already there in a subtle way. John Steele was already established as being a super-strong, steel skinned "merc" back in 1940 comics, why not involve him with Eskine? All the heroes Angel mentioned were real figures (hell, Fiery Mask and Mister E would wind up back in the modern era of 2008 before JMS & Weston went on "haitus" in THE TWELVE) and characters, after all. Brubaker is just wiping off some of the dust and cheese and translating these characters and situations for a more modern style of storytelling and reader comprehension. Connecting Phantom Bullet to Angel was a nice twist, especially as many characters in the Golden Age maybe showed up in one or two comics and then were never seen again, so they're fresh for this sort of yarn. Epting definitely gave the Phantom Bullet a better outfit; in 1940 he was basically fighting in a speedo, a cape, boots, and little else. Brubaker seems to be taking heroes from specific years for each issue of MARVELS PROJECT. Last issue were characters who showed up in 1938-1939 such as Angel, Torch, and Namor. While they all were mentioned or shown in issue two, this issue featured characters from 1940 like Steele or Bullet, and so on. This is naturally alongside more WW2 stuff with Nick Fury and whatnot, before he turned out to be the biggest sucker in the universe in SECRET WARRIORS.
I have the feeling this will be another one of Brubaker's masterwork stories when this is said and done. It would seem natural to release this alongside REBORN and for Marvel's 70th anniversary, but hopefully it is not buried in all that dreck and sells decently. Sales on this, I could argue, might serve as a primer in case Brubaker wanted to give Barnes his own book once Steve is back. If MARVELS PROJECT tanks, I wouldn't expect a Barnes title would do any better without it being the CAPTAIN AMERICA title. But that's all conjecture for the future. In the present MP is a solid read.
NOMAD: GIRL WITHOUT A WORLD #1: Easily the pleasant surprise of the week. After being underwhelmed by THE TORCH #1 last week, I was still iffy on indulging curiosity on this launch; $4 a pop for mini's will do that to you, make you cautious (unless you're a six figure earner). It did help that it is by Sean McKeever, returning to Marvel after a two year "exclusive" with DC, since I did like his GRAVITY. Some online haven't been especially thrilled with it ("The Buy Pile" at Comic Book Resources called it "bad", but then again they're borderline indie snobs who consider many WOK titles "Meh" territory), but I didn't expect it to remake the wheel or be the most innovative thing in the universe. Unlike THE TORCH, it is only 4 issues total, not 7-8. I only have to invest another $12 in this, not $28. Some could argue the book turns Rikki Barnes into a "typical" teenage heroine, but how many of those do we really have headlining books these days? In Marvel?
Granted, I will concede my expectations for this were probably not especially high. That said, I still found myself enjoying this far more than I expected. I likely will finish the run.
The most unintentionally hilarious part of the book is the front page crediting Jeph Loeb and Rob Liefield as "Guiding Lights" for the series. It was intended as an homage to their "work", ONSLAUGHT REBORN, which is how Rikki got to 616 in the first place. If by "Guiding Lights" you mean "overrated, past-their-prime hacks whose work should be staked and buried, unfit for the eyes of reasonable human beings", then it's accurate. Or if it was meant for Bizarro World. A more accurate homage would have been, "Brubaker took your one decent idea out of a prior, but not last, POS story Loeb & Liefield have on their resumes, glimpsed at the potential of it, and McKeever will now play with it. Have fun with insulting intelligence with HULK or learning how to draw ankles, respectively, L&L". I digress.
McKeever manages to sum up Rikki Barnes, or "Baines" as her new name is now, within a few pages of narration so you aren't lost or overwhelmed, before getting on with the story. While ONSLAUGHT REBORN was the foundation of this, it is likely that it is springboarding from her story in CAPTAIN AMERICA #600, which sold gangbusters despite being a whole Lincoln in price (but had plenty of story pages to make up for it). She was Bucky on an alternate universe, who is suddenly stuck in ours, where Steve Rogers is still dead for the moment and the New Cap, James Barnes, seems to not want much to do with her. She tries to meet with him, but Black Widow continues her b**** streak from INVINCIBLE IRON MAN and basically tells her to do her home work and piss off, albeit for Rikki's own safety. In-between goggle fights, Rikki attends high school and washes dishes to afford a dingy apartment. The biggest draw of this world, however, is that here her elder brother John isn't a Nazi psychopath, and is worth hanging around. At least so far. Even odds on him becoming a menace, even if tragically?
Things are not as they seem at Rikki's high school, otherwise things would be boring. There's a shallow student election going on, only one guy seems to rally some of the students. He's gathered a few from various social backgrounds to "enforce" positive ethics, but by verbally bullying those doing things "inappropriate", like making out in the halls. Rikki decides to investigate and ends up fighting a werewolf. Quite a twist! She manages to escape, although injured and with her costume torn, to find that her apartment's had an intruder, leaving her a "Nomad" costume. Naturally, Steve Rogers became Nomad in the 70's to protest corrupt government (i.e. the Ford administration), and 1950's sidekick Jack Monroe was Nomad for quite some time. If New Cap won't take a sidekick who isn't Widow, it makes perfect sense for Rikki to take up the mantle. Of course, it would make Natasha and James a bit callous that they're not willing to meet with Rikki, but they're happy to give her costumes and mission orders, but we don't know it was them who provided the gear yet, do we?
David Baldeon does the interior art, and it's rather solid for a Marvel House style superhero comic. Kinetic when it has to be, quite for the school scenes, everyone looks young, the color work by Chris Sotomayor is good, it looks very cool for a Cap spin off mini. A different style than Cap, but that works too. This is more straight-up superhero than ops/espionage based stuff. It isn't the greatest story ever, but it's perfectly fine if you want meat-and-potatoes hero stuff or you liked Rikki from CA #600. Besides, the trade will be 4 cents more expensive than just buying it now anyway, at least. If you are going to bite, bite now.
(This series' biggest success was turning me into a Gladiator fan)
