The Mighty Reviews 1/28/10

wktf · January 28th, 2010, 10:17 AM

Sam Wilson’s Reviews

Detective Comics #860
DC Comics
Written by: Greg Rucka
Drawn by: Jock
Cover by: J. H Williams III,
Backup story art by: Cully Hamner

Honestly the last time I read Detective comics was waaaay back when Greg Rucka last wrote it, particularly during the “Bruce Wayne Murderer” storyline. It was the only Bat-title I hadn’t given up on, so I guess it’s not to big of a shock that I’m back on it now. I will admit, for the most part I am cool with most of the post-Batman RIP books so that doesn’t hurt either. Bottom line though, no one can deny Rucka doesn’t have a love for the Bat-verse that shines though on every page he writes, and for those of you who remember “Gotham Central” he has a special affinity for certain characters in that universe, one in particular being Renee Montoya aka the new Question. Being a big fan of the Denny O’neil/Denys Cowan series of course I’m going to scrutinize it a little, but damn if Rucka isn’t doing a great job on that too, paying homage to O’neil and Cowan’s work while making the character his own. Of course there is also the angle that has made a lot of press at one point, the whole lesbian thing, and of that, I just have to say this. Get over it. If you can’t handle alternative lifestyles than don’t read the book. Rucka isn’t making it a focal point, he’s just giving some human qualities to his characters and sexual preference is a human quality. So naysayers or critics, especially the bigoted ones, fu** off. Anyway, off of that soapbox…

Anyway, for those of you who haven’t been reading Detective, Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, is an army brat former West Point cadet who is a bad motherfu**er and the finest in tactical military combat training. Her colonel dad is her support team and her relationship with the the rest of the Bat-crew is tenuous at best, while her relationship with the GCPD may involve some romance (with Maggie Sawyer of the MCU). Anyway, issue 861 is the first in a three part arc, “Cutter”, drawn by Jock (superstar unconventional artist you may know from the highly underrated series “The Losers”, and the upcoming Hellblazer OGN “Pandemonium”, both by DC/Vertigo). “Cutter”, is the newest serial killer in Gotham and he likes dismembering young college girls with surgical precision. Not for long though, because both Batman and Batwoman are on his case and I have a feeling when they meet up things are going to be rough, for someone. Meanwhile, Renee Montoya is on a tear, taking apart a criminal organization that was involved in the kidnapping and selling of women into slavery. Eastern European mob types aren’t exactly known for being easy to handle, so Renee enlists the help of Helena Bertenelli, aka the Huntress and then they really start cutting a path, which of course is going to mean some kind of payback from the mob, which comes in the form of an assassin sent to kill them. Said assassin trailed our girls back to their hideout, but they make a deal with him to get info on the Russian mob (?). This of course doesn’t sit well with Tot (you hopefully remember him as the Vic Sage/Denys Cowan/Denny O’Neil Questions “obi wan”) and, well, the girls have some soul searching to do…

I’m down with this book. We still don’t know much about Kate Kane, but Rucka is developing her beautifully. We know a lot about Renee Montoya, and it is great to see her finally getting her props (Rucka is totally channeling O’Neil, fans of the ‘80’s series will pick up on it). Having Jock guest draw for three issues is brilliant. Personally, his style is unlike anything out there right now and I’m a huge fan (I do own the original art to one of his “Losers” covers) Cully Hamner is fantastic as well on the Question. I have no problem giving this book a top recommendation.

Dark Reign Hawkeye #5
Marvel Comics
Written by: Andy Diggle and Antony Johnston
Drawn by: Andres Guinaldo
Cover by: Clint Langley

Andy Diggle has been on the comics scene for a minute now, and has recently just became Marvel Exclusive with “Thunderbolts”, and was just announced as taking over “Daredevil” was Ed Brubaker leaves. Diggle wrote one of my favourite comic series of the last five years, “The Losers” (update of the old DC war book) and it currently in development as a major motion picture. He also retconned Green Arrow in the recent “Green Arrow” year one, making him that little bi** with the booties into a total bad a** (at least in my opinion). Before he gets rolling on “Daredevil”, Marvel has him wetting his feet with “Hawkeye”. No, not Cline Barton, in case you missed it as of “Dark Avengers” issue one Hawkeye is now Bullseye, the psychopathic assassin who we last saw with the Thunderbolts. Yeah, Norman Osborne is in charge of the Marvel U, and sh** is being fu**ed up to say the least, and Bullseye as one of the Marvel U’s most classic, beloved (and should I say noble) heroes? Yeah, only Andy Diggle could pull this off…

Hawkeye starts out with the Dark Avengers (the ex-Thunderbolts) taking out a rogue hulkbuster. Hawkeye kills the man wearing the suit, and Norman Osborne lectures him on how they’re heroes now and have to be better than that. The irony of that statement is not lost on Bullseye, and he ignores Osborne and goes on the hunt to satiate his need to kill. I mean seriously, the guys a sociopath. He ends up doing something sort of heroic, but then lets all that nobility go and, well sticks a pen in an innocent women’s eye. Things get worse in issue two when he takes out the entire news crew that caught it on film, most awesomely I should add. Norman Osborne realizes that maybe putting pearls on an assassin wasn’t the best idea, so he decides to utilize Bullseye in the best way possible. Yes, he sends him out to kills people which (a terrorist cell known as PTSF, Peace Through Superior Firepower) seems like a great idea until Bullseye finds himself having an existential crisis and is suddenly standing next to himself (seriously). The story picks up in issue three with Hawkeye (I mean Bullseye) thinking he’s going crazy. He’s seeing himself pop up all over the place, and Norman Osborne has some questions about a body of a US Senator who has a Bullseye carved in his forehead. Hawkeye (Bullseye) doesn’t remember killing this guy, and his paranoia increases. Meanwhile, someone is steering reporter Ben Urich towards Bullseye (Hawkeye), and we learn some conspiracy type stuff linking him to the murdered senator and PTSF. All of this of course brings us to our current issue. The man behind Bullseye’s woes finally reveals himself and it turns out he’s a giant di** (amongst other things). Urich also digs deeper into the PTSF and finds out things that could get him killed. Our story ends with Bullseye confronting his dad (?!)

So this book hasn’t come out since July, about a week after I got back from SDCC. It’s to bad they needed a co-writer and a different penciler to finish it, I loved what the original team had done with the character. So the finish? Meh. Nothing special, defiantly not the same bad a** flair the series started with. Am I disappointed? Yes. Kinda like World War Hulk, it started balls to the wall, but finishd kinda, well. Limp. Anyway…

Wktf’s Reviews

Thor #606
Marvel Comics
Written by: Kieron Gillen
Drawn by: Billy Tan
Cover by: Billy Tan
Special Thanks to: Don Ho (No, I don’t get it either…)

Unless the creators of this book are thinking of a different Don Ho than I am, I’m not sure I understand the Special Thanks tribute. Oh, well, on to the book.

This issue concludes the three part “Latverian Prometheus” storyline. For those of you who haven’t been reading Thor lately, the arc’s title should tip you off that Dr. Doom is the primary villain of this story (of course, where any Thor comic is concerned, there is another particular villain who’s always in the wings). Prometheus, of course, is the mortal who stole fire from the gods and gave it to the mortals, thereby sending them on the path to modernity. For his sins Prometheus was chained to a rock for eternity to have vultures pick forever at his innards. In this story it is Doom playing the part of Prometheus, having brutally vivisected various Asgardian gods (in no small thanks to Loki) to use their essence to power his own version of Odin’s Destroyer while utilizing their shells to create murderous cyborgs to defend his castle. As Baldar and his troops seek vengeance on Doom, the exiled Thor also arrived seeking retribution against Doom’s attack, at Loki’s request, on the unsuspecting Don Blake. Having donned the Asgardian-powered Destroyer armor Doom created based on Odin’s design, he’s prepared to mete out some massive hurt on those he feels dared to look down on him, Asgardians in general and Thor in particular.

So this issue is the big showdown between Thor and Doom and, while last issue and into the first part of this issue, Thor seems unprepared for Doom’s assault, the god of thunder’s rage over Doom’s blasphemous use of Odin’s designs helps him right himself and take the battle straight back to Doom. This issue most certainly does not disappoint where the anger and action quota is concerned. I wondered how a metallic shell created by a mortal man, even powered by Asgardian energy, would fare against Mjolnir swung with all of Thor’s strength and this issue certainly answers this question. But, as well, we also are given Baldar’s intense remorse over his own failings as King based on the fate of his people as well as powerful but sad dialogue between Thor and Baldar that, on the one hand, certainly makes sense but, on the other, feels far too painful. And, of course, while Doom may have learned a lesson about partnering with Loki he also shows us that Loki may well learn a similar lesson from Doom in the not too distant future. This three-part story had intrigue, pathos, pain and plenty of action. While I still miss JMS/Coipel/Djurdjevic on this book, this creative team absolutely has not missed a step since coming on board. My pick of the week.

Captain America: Reborn #8 (of 8)
Marvel Comics
Written by: Ed Brubaker
Drawn by: Bryan Hitch
Cover by: Bryan Hitch
Variant covers by: John Cassaday & Joe Quesada

Okay, well, anyone who’s been reading any Avengers or other Marvel titles these last few months knows that Steve Rogers is back but that Bucky Barnes continues to wear not only his version of Captain America’s costume but also is wielding the shield. So the best that could be hoped for with this issue was something spectacular in the telling rather than in the tale itself. The outcome simply wasn’t in doubt. And, I have to say, despite how strongly this series started out, the last few issues (and that includes this one) don’t feel much more like the sizzle at the end of a fire that’s been put out. Certainly, Hitch delivers some impressive money shots of Bucky, The Red Skull, and Cap in particular. But the art in most places feels hurried and even a bit sloppy. The image of Ronin when Steve asks, “Wait…Norman Osborn has Avengers?” makes him look like a scarecrow. The writing also doesn’t offer the tight Brubaker storytelling we’ve come to expect. Sure, Steve defeats the Skull but it’s kind of fuzzy how this happens. By going so strongly on the offensive in their psychic battle, Cap does manage to put The Skull into a panic but what happens and why it happens isn’t really all that clear. Also, we know from “Who Will Wield the Shield?” that Steve sees some future vision in which Bucky dies, and we certainly get that here. But we were told that this vision comes about as a result of Steve’s resuming his Captain America identity and there’s nothing here that helps explain that. Maybe intentionally, but it still feels confusing. Ultimately, as a wrap up this issue was pretty underwhelming. Maybe it’s because the rest of the Marvel Universe already has moved on. But I was looking for a strong and glorious finish to this years-long story in the making, and I just don’t feel like I got one.

Superman: Secret Origin #4 (of 6)
DC Comics
Written by: Geoff Johns
Drawn by: Gary Frank
Covers by: Gary Frank

Johns’ and Franks’ reimagining of Superman’s origin continues with this issue and, with the Man of Steel already having made his presence known (in classic a classic Christopher Reeve helicopter save), Metropolis still is undecided what to make of this strange red and blue flying man. Luthor, power mad narcissistic glory hound that he is, wants to know more as well. But in the mean time, he’s continuing to grant wishes to one person at a time, one day at a time. And this day’s big winner is a slovenly character known as Rudy Jones. Of course, long-time Superman fans know what’s likely to happen when Rudy comes into contact with the toxic stuff we also see transported around Luthor’s facility

But the advent of one of Superman’s most important villains isn’t even the high point of this issue. In fact, this encounter lasts only a handful of pages. The real highlights are the beginning of the hatred Luthor feels toward Superman, the beginning of Superman’s friendship with Jimmy Olsen and the absolutely uncanny way Gary Frank is channeling Christopher Reeve in his portrayal of the Man of Steel. I love the way Superman’s just figuring out how to carry himself in what now appears to be a mostly innocent naïveté, and how its Jimmy’s coaching for a photo that turns the posture and demeanor of this confused young Superman into that of the hero we all know him to be. The change, looking from one panel to the next, is really spectacular. As I’ve stated before, with this title Johns and Frank have shown how truly talented they are, as if anyone needed proof of this for either of them. A story that’s so well known to all of us, and feels as old as the Bible, has become fresh and new, something we can look forward with every installment. And that’s pretty damn impressive.

Wktf’s Trade Review

The Flash of Two Worlds HC
DC Comics Classic Library
Written by: Gardner Fox and John Broome
Drawn by: Carmine Infantino

According to Geoff Johns, who scribed the Introduction to this volume and is a self-professed Flash fan, in his younger years he’d been able to buy back issues of Flash comics to complete his collection with the exception of Flash #123. And no wonder, of course, this one issue of Flash was so hard to find. Not only was it the fabled “Flash of Two Worlds” story where the Silver Age Barry Allen Flash first met the Golden Age Jay Garrick Flash, but it’s also the issue that first introduced the concept of the “multiverse” both to DC Comics and its readers. Yes, the concept of Earth-1 and Earth-2, multiple Earths beyond these, and the various Crises which DC hooked into over the decades, first began with 1961’s Flash #123. Suddenly, the Justice Society of America was no longer simply a comic book fantasy to the denizens and heroes of Earth-1. As we see in Flash #170, also reprinted here, this super team is alive, well and active on Earth-2.

Collecting Flash #123, 129, 137, 151, 170 and 173, the HC contains the first six meetings of the Flashes of two worlds and truly does deliver on DC’s promise for this Library series, to feature key moments that transformed the DC Universe forever. The meeting of the two Flashes has to rank right up there as one of the most defining moments in the history of the DC Universe, interestingly the second such moment involving a character one could argue is, for the most part, one dimensional (he runs really fast). The first, of course, being that the introduction of the Barry Allen Flash heralded the beginning of the Silver Age of Comics. The first story in this book has to be the highlight, where the two Flashes meet for the very first time. How Barry Allen bridges the void between the two Earths is never fully explained, in typically quaint DC Silver Age fashion, but Barry and Jay’s first meeting and conversation together is pure gold. Written by Gardner Fox, Barry even describes to Jay how “…a writer named Gardner Fox wrote about your adventures – which he claimed came to him in dreams!” Fox was, indeed, the creator of the Golden Age Flash (along with Hawkman, Sandman, Dr. Fate and the JSA) and clearly seemed to be having a lot of fun not only bringing back his old characters but even ribbing on himself in the process.

This volume also features a number of great Silver Age villains the two speedsters team up to defeat, including The Shade in the first story, The Fiddler, Thinker, Captain Cold, the Trickster, Vandal Savage and a magical villain named Abra-Kadabra. The Savage and Kadabra stories also feature the involvement of Jay’s JSA friends, the first time the JSA appeared in Silver Age DC Comics. Each one of these stories is packed with Silver Age charm, but there’s plenty of action and fun to be had here, too. One of the most interesting parts of reading this volume for me was watching Carmine Infantino’s style progress and mature from what seemed the more drab DC house style of the time (see Dick Dillon or Mike Sekowsky’s art for what I mean) to the far more kinetic and fluid art for which he’s best known. This is best demonstrated in the last two stories that feature the flowing blur of motion and color Infantino brought to the Flash that others, including Ethan Van Scrivener ape today.

For Flash fans, DC Comics fans or just superhero comics fans in general, this volume contains some of the most original, high concept superhero storytelling of its day. Not to mention, these truly are some of the most historically significant and genuinely fun Silver Age superhero stories you’ll ever find between two covers. Highly, highly recommended.