Another Wednesday, another review. Firstly, without reviving any of last week's venom, I do want to note that I never encouraged "fans" of my reviews to compliment me by ignoring or even sometimes deriding the reviews of others. Admittedly, those who type long reviews raise the bar for those who just have the time to post a few sentences, but I NEVER consider anyone's reviews bad. In fact I usually read them all, long or short, every week. Or at least scim. That way I can address some bits that come up in my own reviews. I remember once a few months ago I told one poster who asked when I was posting a review to at least acknowledge the 2-3 posters who'd already done so. I try not to be a hog intentionally.
And in a show of goodwill, they say the first step is admitting a problem. Hi, my name is Dread and I am a Bendis-Basher.
Not a big week but all books I genuinely enjoy, so hopefully today's review can be upbeat, although the cynic in me always tries to find something to complain about. Oh, and the
DR. STRANGE: THE OATH trade came out today, and anyone who missed BKV's Dr. Strange mini needs to grab it. It's a solid read even for non-devotee's.
As always, full spoilers.
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 5/23/07:
DYNAMO 5 #3: Before
photojones2 once again helpfully reminds me to get a pull list at my LCS, I have finally realized that for whatever reason my LCS bungles first-print issues of this series. They have gotten every issue at least 1-2 weeks late every month. Amazingly, they are timlier with the reprints. But niggles aside, I looked at April's sales charts and was more than dismayed to see that DYNAMO 5 #2, an issue that Diamond & Image breathlessly said "sold out" like the first issue, didn't even sell within the Top 200! It sold at #205, basically outselling SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, UNCLE SCROOGE, and ARCHIE. For those wondering, INVINCIBLE outsells it at #140. Now, I am not saying that sales in any way predict quality. And I also acknowledge that any company outside the "Big Two" struggles mightily to get ANY comic within the Top 100-200 in sales, so for Image's projections it likely is selling on course. But I bring this up as a point of caution not to believe any breathless announcement that a comic has "sold out". That simply means all the copies that Diamond ordered from stores made it to stores themselves; most books print a little extra aside for damages, but rarely is this number tallies. A comic that had 1,000 copies ordered, and then sold all of them, "sold out" without exactly busting the bank. And it really is a shame, though, because I enjoy DYNAMO 5 and even hunting after most issues becomes worth it as soon as I finish the story. I wonder if the price has something to do with some of these low showings; the book has been under 22 pages for the last two issues and is $3.50. True, you are essentially paying for ZERO ads within the story itself (any ads for Image stuff come after the story is finished), but to the casual fan it may seem too pricey with $2.99 being almost universal. The first issue was justified as it was no ads and some 24-26 pages of story, so I guess we are making up for it now. Still, I geninuely like this quirky little book and naturally would love to see it do better, along with INVINCIBLE, or BLUE BEETLE, or ANT-MAN, or any number of solid books I enjoy that don't sell as well as they should. Naturally, it is another exciting superhero adventure of the 5 kids of deceased superhero adulterer Capt. Dynamo as they deal with Quake, a sometimes-partner to their late father who's gone off his meds and has become violently unstable since his mentor's death. His costume has a mid-90's design to it, and the chest emblem reminded me a little of Kardiac from
Superbuddies.net, which is a bit obscure. Scatterbrain and Myraid also get the team to comment in at Visionary's "V-Problem", much to the dismay of the lad. And to think, with all of them being step-siblings, you'd think there'd be no angst, ha-ha. Of course, as this is also written by the guy who does NOBLE CAUSES (about a family of superheroes), he's used to teams who can't inter-date, which at least breaks up some super-team monotamy. The story does have a final twist, however, as it calls into doubt whether Capt. Dyamo is really dead, or there is some other psychic/shapeshifter/impersonator at work. Quite frankly I find these sort of done-in-one, somewhat lighter-fare, superhero genre-pleasing (with some twists) stories much more exciting than some of the more predictable and cynical team comics that the Big Two put out (I never said ALL. Just SOME). The Letter page is named "Dynamo Jive" and in the Erik Larson article at the end, he goes on to explain the "origin" of Robert Kirkman, for those who care. Tidbits include being an Image fanboy as a youth (when the company was just formed), and originally pitching "Science Dog" as a comic in itself, explaining why it is a "comic within a comic" in INVINCIBLE. Very interesting. So, if you're one of many who can't find this book, it's not because it stinks, it's because your LCS doesn't order enough copies. Who'd have thunk that at one point, this die-hard Marvel Fanboy would find two of his Top 5-10 favorite titles at Image? Give the other companies a try, folks, that's all I can tell you.
THE SPIRIT #6: With Dini taking breaks on DETECTIVE and 52 over, I've not been buying as much DC as I was a month ago. There's this, Dini DETECTIVE and BLUE BEETLE, basically. But that's fine because, much like DYNAMO 5, this has quickly emerged as one of my favorite monthly titles. It doesn't well as well as it deserves either, but it's in the Top 90 and DC & Cooke are at least comitted for another 2-3 issues, and probably more. Even BLOODHOUND made it #10 a few years back and that sold much worse than this. So does BLUE BEETLE for that matter, and that book might actually make it to #18. Anyway, this is what one has come to expect from Cooke's THE SPIRIT, another noir tale that makes good work of his style and cinematic-style pacing, as well as has bits of Tim Burton-esque character development, usually on the "villian" of the piece. In this case, the story works backwards by starting with an explosion and Spirit asking for an explaination from a bald girl who has blue skin, who isn't from BLUE MAN GROUP. The story winds into the sordid tale of a rocker named Almost Blue, the step-brother to Spirit's enemy (who he has been chasing since issue #3, who basically created him), and blue meteors. Much like with his other work, Cooke makes it all work with this pacing and the fact that he embraces Golden Age fare with all the trappings, rather than trying to explain it away. It works as comic pulp, much like HELLBOY does. Highlights include Spirit basically overcoming being bum-rushed by dozens of goons off panel with a casual,
"Please. They're just punks" line. As the story is told from another's POV, the Spirit himself only shows up sparingly in the flashback, which actually works to give him an aura of mystery to him; he's Cary Grant in a domino mask. It's what the little icon says next to the title every month: Action-Mystery-Adventure. It always delivers. Chasing down the last 5 issues of this may be a chore, but I would definately recommend it. It's not as iconic as NEW FRONTIER was, but it's definately good, stress-free DC readin'. Which, considering all their crossovers and weekly series and universe upheavals, may be a blessing.
FANTASTIC FOUR #546: Two months of complaining about the "new" in the title is enough. I know some people are not entirely pleased about some of the space-jobbing that Silver Surfer took last issue, and if you are, prepare to get even more irked, because Black Panther pulls off such prep-time mojo that Batman crossed over and literally said, "You have too much prep-time." Yes, Batman, who had Turner-esque Darkseid-punching armor laying around. Although to be fair, Black Panther is a genius, it's nice to see someone other than Iron Man pull this stuff off, McDuffie could be said to merely be imitating Hudlin's now-current style of "Panther godmodes everyone", and it works better than "T'Challa grapples Surfer, somehow". Naturally, Pelletier's art is as pretty as ever, although Storm's sure got some poutin' lips (Beyonce', eat your heart out!). T'Challa had an "Anti-Galactus" plan back at Wakanda, but as he lacked a few things, including "a shapeshifter and the Hulk" (!), he improvises with a jury-rigged version of the machine that Dr. Doom used once or twice to strip Silver Surfer of his Power Cosmic. Barring how T'Challa figured out how to build one, too, it works better than the grappling bit, especially as he hands off the power to Johnny, because he had more experience using it during Waid's FF days (Dr. Doom's lack of experience often caused issues when he had it, plus, well, arrogance). It's full of McDuffie's fun, TV-tested dialogue and has lots of superhero moments in it. There is one major issue, however, and it is that at the end of this story, all of McDuffie's actions with Gravity seem slightly pointless. He has the hero sacrifice himself in BEYOND!, only to somehow "merge" with the element of gravity itself in doing so, leading Epoch to declare him a Champion of the Universe to replace Quasar. She embues him with all the powers he'd have in a kajillion years if he had time to develop in his cosmic coccoon thingie. He sacrifices that power to "feed" Galactus, apparently because waves of gravitronic energy can be stand in for whatever life-energy Galactus gets from planet-snacking, and everyone goes home happy. So Gravity winds up alive again, without new powers, and his identity exposed from his tombstone/funeral. About all I can say this accomplished is it kept Gravity relatively shielded from appearing in CIVIL WAR, although I suspect that may soon change as other writers have been interested in using him, and McKeever has fled to DC so he won't get another go. It just seemed like a bit of a waste to kill him, simply to resurrect him in quite literally his next arc somewhere without any sort of major shake-up. At least as Champion of the Universe he'd have been different, even if seeming like Nova Lite at the moment. And did stripping his secret identity from him really open up any story possibilities? And why does he want to see his parents back home in Wisconsin (home of the GLA, or is that GLC now?) over his probably-still-grieving-girlfriend? I could imagine this experience giving Gravity some more perspective on being a hero, but without that "gee, shucks" aspect of being a rookie, he may come off as too generic. Within less than 2 years worth of comics he has already died and been resurrected, and then insiders wonder why fans are so cynical about death in narratives. Aside for all that, though, it's McDuffie doing a fun New FF adventure and I can let some bits slide; maybe he has plans to use Gravity again in the title, maybe even to boost the roster to a Fantastic Five? If not, though, it still seems to be a waste. I still enjoy the title, though. And, yes, I know this is horribly hypocritical and biased considering last week, I lambasted a simular "fun hero book" that had issues in MIGHTY AVENGERS, pretty much because I am harder on Bendis than McDuffie. All I can say is, I am subjective, a hypocrite, and give some amount of preferential treatment at times. But doesn't everyone? McDuffie doesn't nearly have as many errors on his record in my eyes than Bendis has, and nowhere near as much company influence. Plus, perhaps the more recent CW angsting lowered the bar considerably (the Richards are still vacationing in space, and once again Reed may put a love of scientific adventure before wife-duties. I just hate having to see his CW actions get mentioned, because his actions were almost unjustifiable; it's like when Bendis keeps digging up the scars of HOM/Dissassembled. Dude, just change the subject.
IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN #8: If last month's MIGHTY AVENGERS tie in did anything, it perhaps kept this book steady around #121 for April, which is abysmal for a Big Two book. I fear a NEXTWAVE situation is at hand, only it won't get half as much credit; before issue #12, it will be announced that the book is canned, so it will spend the last few months as a dead book walking. And it is a real shame because this issue, more than some, really showed some aspect of a good status quo for Eric O'Grady forming, albeit before his past inevitably returns to haunt him from SHIELD. He falls in with DAMAGE CONTROL, Inc, whose staff now include Monstro (apparently), Kirkman's creation from AMAZING FANTASY #15 some years ago. In a way this book combines all of Kirkman's strengths; it allows him to be able to work with whatever bits of 40+ year continuity he wants, plus it allows him to "worldbuild" a bit and create new characters, as well as use past old ones of his. It reminds me a bit of Invincible, only, well, based in 616 and with a complete scheming "hero". After out-foxing Black Fox out of loot (heh, bad pun) and rescuing a girl from rubble, Eric falls in with DamConInc, who offer him a job. Kirkman does some playing around with the team, and makes headway from turning them back from their "more wicked" twists from the WOLVERINE CW story. In addition to doing clean-up, they also perform civilian rescues now, and employ people suited for that. Not mentioned, but Monstro has experience as a super-strong tanker and a fire-fighter, so he's ideal for that. Eric naturally locks onto the prettiest girl he saw, and that is Visioneer, a low-level telepath who uses her powers to find people in rescues; subtle and clever. He sold the stolen gems for 20k (and gets a funny fake ID), only to be visitted by Black Fox who demands his money back, especially as Eric sold the gems for at maybe 20% of what they were worth. Rather than be rattled, Eric genuinely works with the thief to repay his debt and even score a few extra grand in cash himself. Considering Black Fox usually spent his time as a Z-List annoyance for Spider-Man, it's cool of Kirkman to dust him off like this and make him workable without him, oh, becoming a cyborg, demon, or raping/killing anyone. Ant-Man's "grilling" of the pawn shop mug was cool. Equally amusing was his "fight" against Mr. Hyde to try to help She-Hulk, a battle that doesn't go so well and almost reminds someone of trying to hop onto a strange team with a low level in CITY OF HEROES or something. "**** this, I am outmatched, see ya!" And that is why Ant-Man is such a great character and title, because you rarely if ever see a "hero" like this. He's a hero in the sense that he rescues civilians and occasionally stops some creep, but that is about it. He's selfish and lazy with his powers, always looking out for number one. And much like folks like this in real life, he almost always has to have an eye over his shoulders for when his past returns to haunt him. Oh, and he dons a new monniker. Will the title next month be THE IRREDEEMABLE SLAYING MANTIS? Good stuff, and I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Naturally, Corey Walker's art meshes well with Kirkman's style, and I love the sideburns he's giving Eric.
NEWUNIVERSAL #6: I've liked this series somewhat, as someone who really didn't bother with NEW UNIVERSE as a kid, and the biggest issue I felt was the pacing; Ellis is decompressed. But this issue, for some reason, clicked. Maybe it was helped by Justice, who always is a vibrant, exciting character; he slaughters a whole block full of people after seemingly seeing their sins; is this all accurate, like Bruce Willis in UNBREAKABLE, or is he just crazy? Maybe both? Izzy gets Ken back to her place to try to explain things to him (and barely understanding them herself), but Ken is still in crying, whimpering, "omigod" mode, so it goes nowhere (this state is also known as "USM's natural state"). The military preps up their plans on how to deal with the metahumans with an expert from Spitfire's past, and in this reality, the President appears to be a younger Hillary Clinton. Yeah, comic writers don't use politics at all. Anyway, I don't know what did it, maybe the prospect of no more HEROES for a few months to outdo it, but I enjoyed the issue moreso than some of the sluggish past issues and hopefully this title is finally about to go somewhere. Oh, and I will take this moment to note how, while Joe Q seems to hate the term "616" to dennote Mainstream Marvel and feels it reminds him too much of Pre-Crisis DC, let me list all the alternate realities that his company makes comics for besides "Marvel Universe" and "Ultimate": There is this NEWUNIVERSAL, there is Marvel Zombies, there is EXILES, there is SUPREME POWER, there is (or was) shoddy `1602 sequals, and there even were some new New Universe stuff last year. So, yeah, Joe, the fans are right on this one. You pick a longer term that is innaurate and they pick a shorter term that is accurate, that even other writers, like Dan Slott, use. So,
Anyway, still onboard for this. It's not my favorite Marvel book but it allows Ellis to worldbuild so he doesn't offend anyone, and play by his own rules while being somewhat grounded.
To Be Continued...
. 
