Happy freaking Thanksgiving!
Angel: After the Fall #1
G...Gunn...?
No...
Why...did you have to turn into...
A
WHITE MAN???
How to review a comic like this? Angel, in the scheme of the Holy Trinity, will always feel like the bastard child to me; not the original masterpiece of Buffy, and not the innovative reinvention of Firefly. I have always vehemently disapproved of the writers' decision to move the series away from its
detective noir roots; the moment the gang foot in Pylea, the show was well on its way into a place I didn't care to follow. It also doesn't help that AtS, in a lot of ways, was always the polar opposite of BtVS. It flourished in places where BtVS couldn't. It took the risks that BtVS didn't...and sometimes paid the price for it (SEASON. THREE.). Things that gave me massive happies on BtVS would have felt like pandering, and often did, over on AtS. Ultimately, in spite of its dark moments, BtVS was inspirational. In spite of its bright moments, AtS was depressing. The only things that kept me on this train was the cast of incredible and genuinely likeable characters and the writing which -- even at its worst -- was still vividly stronger than
any other TV show on the air short of BtVS Itself.
And it seems, in a display of dubious appropriateness, that the comics themselves will continue reinforcing this thematic lineage, pretty much verbatim. The Buffy comic series open on a literally uplifting note; the cast is more or less stable and adjusted, most anything that could have gone right has gone right. The Angel comic series literally opens in hell; the cast is either barely clinging or already fallen, most anything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong and brought along friends.
In a sense, I suppose I wouldn't have it any other way. This is where Whedon has very
naturally and very organically placed this narrative by the end of the show. This is where the story has lead us...and the story comes first. Always. And the story here is
good...it's practically awesome. The writing is almost effortlessly strong. I haven't read much from Brian Lynch -- just some other non-canon Angel comics, ironically -- and already he has proven himself up for the task. The twists and turns here are devilishly gritty and perversely fitting; you'll cheer at some revelations and you'll stagger from others...just like old times, really. The demons here even speak in that cleverly sardonic manner that Whedonverse demons have perfected.
And, hell, it's got a dragon. It's got Angel on a
dragon. The fanart is
already sketching itself out in my head.
Speaking of which...the art here is quite good for any other sort of comic, but it feels a bit lacking in a series where most of the characters are going to be based on real life actors. Jeanty has the same problem over in Buffy at times, but it's way worse here 'cause Urru's shading technique is, like,
whoa there sailor. Which, of course, heavy shading is appropriate artistically for the setting of a comic like this, but wreaks all manner of havoc on facial features. Hell, the first time we see someone's face clearly (Gunn when he gets the glowy yellow orb), it almost feels out of
place. What's more, Urru's depiction of Nina tells me that not only has he never seen the episodes of Angel where Nina appeared, but also that he's never even seen her
actress Jenny Mollen before. Some of us had assumed that she was
Harmony before the dialogue in the issue told us otherwise.
Reading this comic is almost like getting reacquainted with an old friend. You've lost touch for a while, and you may not have ever
needed to catch up again, and the meeting brings back good memories along with the bad. Just as it should be.
(9 out of 10)
All-Star Superman #9
It's practically a good thing this book comes out so rarely, 'cause otherwise I'd probably run out of ways to say that it's
still utterly fun and charming and poignant and skillfully-written.
I don't know if Morrison wrote these Kryptonians as a direct satire of Mark Millar's infamous Superman proposal -- looking down on humans as if they're apes, thinking themselves superior gods, etc -- but that's the way I read it, and I
vastly approve. The solution to the problem that they pose is kind of a random deus ex machina -- Kryptonite radiation from
what now? -- but the following scenes were just so
good, it hardly matters.
Quitely continues to improve in subtle ways and continues to draw the best Clark Kent anyone has ever drawn. And not just that; some of the
expressions here are some of the best, well, expressions that any artist could portray. Quitely gets praised and lambasted often in equal measures, but after years of seeing his work I've pretty definitely moved to the side of "praise."
(9.4 out of 10)
New X-Men #44: Messiah Complex Chapter Four
I read a couple pages of this at the store and decided to buy it without reading more, though now I seriously question my decision to do so.
The writing is good. The characters are strong. And, dangit, I like these kids. They're good kids.
But so much here makes me want to bang my head against the wall and never stop. Kyle and Yost have easily,
easily become parodies of themselves by this point, if they hadn't already. The issue ends with...another shocking possible death of one of the New X-Men. I just stared at the page in complete disbelief. Are you fcking kidding me? Kyle/Yost, you are
mocking yourselves.
Easily the most ridiculous and worst part of this issue, though? Apparently, the shocking revelation that Layla and the Madrox dupe learned about mutants in the future is that...mutants in the future are kept in concentration camps.
...
...
Wow, guys. Wow. That's...shocking. If by "shocking" what I actually meant was
completely identical to every single alternate future we've ever seen, ever, in every single X-Men comic ever.
Christ. Welcome to the nineties, indeed.
(5.5 out of 10)
The Flash #234
If you like the kids, you'll love this. If you didn't like the kids before, you're not likely to start anytime soon so you'll probably not like this. That's the deal in the nutshell, really, and likely to be the case with this book at least for a good long while. Iris and Jai are obviously going to be playing significant roles in this series, maybe even more than Wally himself, and I'm not necessarily seeing that as a bad thing.
Meanwhile, "The Fast Life" shorts at the end of the issues continue to be fun and
beautifully-drawn, practically eclipsing the main title in terms of enjoyability. I look at stories like this, and then I look at creators/editors who sht bricks at the very notion of superheroes being married, and I just want to smack them across the face with this issue over and over again.
(8.3 out of 10)
The Brave and the Bold #8
I can't quite decide if Waid is trying to be cute here or not. There's cuteness and then there's
DRAMA. And I don't know if it meshes well together, 'cause I can't tell if Waid is trying to mesh them or not.
Beyond that, it's a pretty good issue, kind of like a...Flash #234.5 or something. And Waid does bring the West family and the Doom Patrol together in this story in a
very natural and uncontrived manner, which is more than
most comic crossovers can say, which goes to reinforce the interconnected shared universe of the DCU, which I approve of.
And, hell, Waid
is witty. Wally's dialogue, the kids' misadventures, Rita's perpetual cheeriness...the man knows what he's doing.
(7.3 out of 10)
Checkmate #20
Brilliant.
The ending does seem a bit rushed, and the plethora of information/revelation we get in the last three pages alone was a bit hard to keep up with; I think this arc could have gone on for at least an issue more. But that's fine 'cause everything else -- the schemes, the characterizations, the action, the drama, the execution -- is pure Rucka excellence. With everything subplot he resolves, he brings up three more to be tackled down the line.
One of the best books in existence, which is a sure bet that of course no one is buying it. Sad.
(9.5 out of 10)
Countdown to Mystery #3
I expected to
like the Dr. Fate story here, but I didn't actually expect it to impress me as much as it did. Ths is, easily, the single best "magic hero" storyline I've read in recent memory, much less "magic superhero." There are
Vertigo books who don't have nearly this much depth and trippiness and wonder.
And the Eclipso story surprised me, too. It's much better than the last issue; not because it actually rectified any of the last issues' numerous flaws and egregious character assassinations, but because said numerous flaws and egregious character assassinations actually seem to have a point and are going somewhere. And it does seem like not
too much lasting character damage is going to be done to Plastic Man which, really, is all that I ask for at this point.
And Cris Allen plays a
big role here, and it looks like he'll be playing even bigger roles before all is said and done. And I approve, 'cause I like Allen a lot.
Segovia draws a
very effective Batman, in a very Jim Lee sort of way. And Sturges writes him pretty well, too. Not too dickish, but just appropriately driven and practical.
(5 out of 5 for the Dr. Fate story)
(3.4 out of 5 for the Eclipso story)
(8.4 out of 10)
Birds of Prey #112
Another solid and enjoyable one-shot from Bedard, this time focusing on Zinda aka Lady Blackhawk. What else to say? It's solid, and it's enjoyable. With every issue Bedard makes me lament that he's not the official ongoing writer for this book.
The art is kinda iffy at places, with anatomy doing things that anatomy would really rather not be doing, but not too distracting.
(8.4 out of 10)
