Very huge week for me - 11 books! Let's get on with the spoilers then!
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 6/20/12:
BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED #5: This reprint of "digital first" DC comics set in the Batman Beyond universe (or at least loosely inspired by it in some cases) continues to be one of my favorite titles out of the three that I am still getting from DC. Honestly, if even half of their digital material is this consistently decent, then that's a good thing for the quality of the format. As has become a rarity, the Batman Beyond strip kicks off the package with a tale of Jake, one of the seemingly nameless grunts working for Derrick Powers and Mr. Fix at the start of the BATMAN BEYOND TV show, as written by Adam Beechen with great art as usual by Breyfogle. The gist is this grunt was one of many who took orders for the corrupt tycoons and did dirty stuff for them, but his life changed when Mr. Fix ordered him to kill Terry McGinnis' father. He did and his life spiraled downhill since, but now he seeks to want to atone for it by becoming - what else in Gotham - a masked vigilante. The twist is he's a distant relative of Joe Chill, the man who in some continuities killed Bruce Wayne's parents. To a degree this is making the lives of McGinnis and Wayne intertwine to an even more absurd degree than the "JLU" revelation that Terry is Bruce's biological son via CADMUS trickery. That said, even that is less confusing than the Summers Family Tree in the X-Men universe. Next is the WARHAWK Origin strip by two Nguyens and Fridolfs which does feel like some "JLU" fan-fiction turned into a strip, but that isn't in itself a bad thing. It explains how John Stewart and Shayera got back together to sire Warhawk, and the gist of it was that they teamed up with Adam Strange to kill Shadow-Thief after he murderer Vixen, although that act got Stewart kicked out of the Green Lantern core entirely (and made the Guardians question having Earth under their sectors of protection; no word on how that effected Kyle Rayner). Thus, Stewart and Shayera had time to settle down and sire a kid in Africa. Fine for what it is. The last strip is the Superman Beyond strip by J.T. Krul and Porter, and while it isn't bad it has become the part of the anthology which I usually like the least. Lonely Superman helps some of the hi-tech cops stop some robots, stumbles onto the quest of Lex Luthor's long lost daughter, who has decided to form an alliance with Metropolis' new local ganglord - Soloman Grundy. It is amazing how a guy who was once an Alan Scott/Green Lantern villain has now become associated with Superman based on nothing but animated appearances since the 70's. By this logic I expect that it will long become forgotten that Grodd was once a Flash villain due to all the years in Batman or Justice League animated features. As usual, solid package that is always worth the cover price to me.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MICRO-SERIES #5: For the first four issues of this "micro series", a spin off series to IDW's main TMNT ongoing series, the intention was to pay homage to the first four one-shots released from Mirage Studios in the 1980's which spotlighted one Ninja Turtle each. Both the 80's version and this new "micro-series" had offered one shot tales by Brian Lynch which took place in between issues of the core series and offered not only engaging reads, but additional continuity. Due to critical and commercial success for this series (at least in IDW's relative terms), this series will continue and feature one shot focus issues on other TMNT characters. As the cover indicates, this issue will focus on the Ninja Turtle's master and father, Splinter. The issue is written by Erik Burnham with art by Charles Paul Wilson III and colors by Jay Fotos, and takes place between the panels of TMNT #10, as well as fleshes out the unique origins of this incarnation of the franchise.
The drastic alteration in the origin for the TMNT in IDW's relaunch is that Splinter and the four Turtles are the reincarnation of Foot ninja Hamato Yoshi and his four sons, who were murdered in Feudal Japan by Oroku Saki, then leader of the Foot Clan. This is how the series explains how a rat knew how to teach ninja skills to Turtles in a sewer; Splinter recalls his previous life while his sons know little to nothing about it (aside for Leonardo who sometimes sees brief images in dreams). Donatello, the science whiz, rejects this reincarnation "theory" although this issue and certainly the series overall treats it as fact; especially as Saki has somehow survived into the modern day as the Shredder. Wilson III's story fleshes out who Yoshi was back in those ancient times, and it spotlights why Splinter seems to have infinite patience with the hostile Raphael. In his youth, Yoshi often had unfocused aggression which his own master sought to purge from him via meditative training, but which was actually calmed by his lover, the compassionate Tang Shen. Yet even despite this Saki knew how to goad Yoshi into hostile actions, and in the end it was Yoshi's brash rejection of Saki's leadership of the Foot which ultimately led to his family's death. In the modern day, Yoshi has been reincarnated as Splinter and as he is forced to battle the modern day Foot for his life, he refuses to give into anger. But can Splinter ultimately practice what he preaches to his sons?
The artwork by Wilson III and Fotos is exceptional; both are comfortable with the settings and fashions of Feudal Japan as well as the modern day with sleeker ninja and mutant rats. In many adaptations of TMNT, Splinter is often a calm and stoic figure who at extremes can seem to endlessly recite fortune cookie style philosophy in between watching soap operas. This issue does a great deal to strip those clichés away from this version of Splinter and show that he had to go through a journey of self discovery much like his sons must - in fact, it is for his sons that he must. It helps keep Splinter from simply sliding into a "mentor" stereotype and be a more fleshed out character. Atop of this, the action sequences are quite engaging and Wilson III gets into Splinter's head with ease. One does wonder, however, that if Yoshi and his four sons were reincarnated, and Saki has survived into the modern day, could Tang Shen have been reborn anew in some other form?
With the upcoming cartoon on NICK aimed squarely at kids and the Michael Bay produced film delayed by a few months, the licensed TMNT comics by IDW have remained the one great result of the $50 million purchase of the property by Viacom two years ago from 4Kids Entertainment and co-creator Peter Laird. The new TMNT universe as crafted by Tom Waltz and the other co-creator, Kevin Eastman is a rich one which utilizes the old foundations of the Turtles while being willing to innovate in new ways. This micro-series allows other writers and artists to add to it and make that universe even richer and deeper. Spin off series are often derided as shameless cash-in's, but this one is the rare exception where fans who purchase get their money's worth in terms of extra content as well as top notch work by new talents. This franchise continues to be among the most profitable for IDW, and it is refreshing to report that it deserves to be.
SAGA #4: The hit Image Comics creator owned series by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples continues on with perhaps one of the most innovative and engaging space opera franchises in some time. The first issues have been reprinted several times and it is already selling better than some of Vaughan's previous series at DC Comics' Wildstorm did. In the previous issue, Alana had made a deal with the ghost Izabel to gain safe passage through a dangerous forest as well as save the life of her husband, Marko. Unfortunately, in the previous issue Marko was near death and muttered the name of his previous bride (or at least fiance), which means he has some explaining to do once all the blood returns to his body. Meanwhile, intergalactic mercenary The Will (and yes, it must be pronounced that way) travels to Sextillion, a planet geared towards providing customers with every sexual desire they wish, from the mild to the perverse. This issue provides more back story on Marko as well as fleshes out The Will more, or at least shows that even mercenaries have some scruples. Staples' artwork continues to amaze with bizarre alien landscapes and character designs as well as hitting emotional beats and facial expressions out of the park. The issue ends with Marko drawing a weapon he swore never to draw, and in all honesty it is surprising that bit of foreshadowing from the first issue has actually come to fruition far sooner than some might have expected. What SAGA does so well, besides execute itself beautifully, is that it creates a fill scale science fiction property with all the fantastic elements one would expect and not only makes unique twists on them but makes such a franchise easy to penetrate for any reader. It has quickly become a critical darling, but this is one series that lives up to every word.
AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #8: While the core story of "ENDS OF THE EARTH" has been told within the pages of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and one spare one shot, this epilogue issue has been punted to this spin-off team-up title, which currently struggles for a reason to exist. Launch writer Zeb Wells has been long gone and two of the last three issues have existed for crossover purposes. This issue is written by Dan Slott (ASM's head writer) and frequent collaborator Ty Templeton, with art by Matt Clark, inkers by Sean Parsons and colorist Wil Quintana. It is difficult to discuss an epilogue issue without some spoilers, especially as this issue takes a moment to reflect on the death of one of Spider-Man's allies in the previous issue of ASM, Silver Sable. Faced with an impossible choice - save Sable from a suicidal Rhino or save the world from Dr. Octopus - Spidey chose the latter and is now wracked with guilt and desperate to at least find her body beneath the ocean. He recalls a previous adventure alongside Dr. Strange in which they sought to foil a mystical plot involving Dr. Doom and Princess Lenka of Symkaria (the fictional country that Sable represents). The tale showcases the determination of Sable and in the end despite being a mercenary, in the end she was inspired by love. While Spider-Man himself interprets this as a love for "country, family, friends" and life itself, the irony is that with appearances in the last ten issues of ASM, Slott had very much revealed that Sable was very much in love with Spider-Man. Silver Sable originally debuted in ASM #265 (circa 1985) and has occasionally made doe eyes at Spider-Man ever since; the difference in recent times Sable had felt that Spider-Man had stepped up from years ago and became more competent and efficient as a superhero.
It actually is a shame that there seems to be an editorial decree to not allow the newly single Spidey to date costumed heroines, as it would be an entertaining distraction from romances that are doomed to go nowhere with civilian characters like Carlie Cooper. Slott has perhaps been wise to keep MJ as Spidey's emotional rock, although this in effect means they continue to act as a married couple without the benefits because editorial feels that "ages" Spidey. In fairness, the fact that there is no body is a clear code in comics that this death isn't for keeps, but this one shot does capture the tragedy of the climax to a major story arc well.
AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #6: Art for this installment is by Oliver Coipel, who has handled art for THOR as well as previous "event" stories such as FEAR ITSELF and HOUSE OF M. Of the five writers credited to the story, the bottle spins to Jonathan Hickman to pen the script, and as usual this issue offers a lot of big ideas and obligatory confrontations. At the end of the previous issue, Iron Man zapped the Phoenix before it could possess Hope as it was destined to do with a Weapon Ex Machina, and that caused it to splinter into five "forces" that possessed Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Magik, and Colossus. Now that all of them are "omega class mutants", they have been flying around the world fixing the world by providing free and replenished crops, water, plant life as well as renewable energy at a whim. Other tie-in's also state that they did things like blow up select dictators or melted Sentinels to slag. The Avengers and Xavier all feel this is a slippery slope and that they'll all be corrupted by the Phoenix or simply global power in general, but in the short term there is no sign of this. So, what do the Avengers decide to do? Provoke them by attempting to "claim" Hope once again, this time to use her to study the Phoenix. This is why the Marvel Universe can't have nice things, people. Scarlet Witch turns up since issue #0 after having nothing but obligatory cameos and takes Hope with her just cause. The Phoenix Force also has ties to K'un L'un, the mystical realm where Iron Fist was empowered, but details on this are to be had in NEW AVENGERS. The designs for the "Phoenix Five" are a bit bizarre, sporting odd thongs and shoulder-pads, with Cyclops wearing a visor stolen from the ROBOCOP collection. In the end, this is a build-up issue where the Phoenix Five attempt to save the world with their powers, the world asks the Avengers to find a way to kill them for it so now the fight will begin anew. The result is the same as before; this is overpriced and underwritten tedium.
DAREDEVIL #14: Mark Waid once again teams with Eisner award level artist Chris Samnee for a suspenseful issue of this seminal run of the franchise. In the previous issue, Daredevil had thought he had finally ended the crisis involving the "Omega Drive" data drive he stumbled upon obtaining as various criminal organizations were striking a financial deal with Latveria, Dr. Doom's home country. One of Doom's minor chancellors seeks to punish Daredevil for this crime against the country. While Daredevil naturally feels they seek to kill him, their punishment seems to be much more nefarious. He is exposed to a gas which seems to be slowly taking away his senses one by one, including his "radar sense", which he realizes only when he seeks to flee from an entire nation of Doom's countries and cross a border into Hungary on foot without tall buildings to swing a billy-club on. Samnee's artwork matched with Javier Rodiguez is wonderful, which is good since Samnee is soon set to replace Paolo Rivera as regular artist on this series. While the subplot of Foggy digging up more of Murdock's secrets is fine, the suspense of Daredevil attempting to flee not any evil country, but THE evil country with his senses failing him is classic suspense. While the previous issue with art by Khoi Pham seemed more mundane, this issue returns the series to form as one of the best that Marvel currently publishes.
