So here's the comics from the past few weeks, putting us back on schedule after the debacles of the holidays. No, those of you who are looking, there will not be a best of comics for the past year, as once again, nothing came out that was as good as Walt & Skeezix. There will be a music countdown, a couple of new regular features, and some more guest writers. And Nina Miller has re-upped to do a full year of the Virgin Read. Happy New Year!
Detective Comics # 840
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen & Derek Fridolfs
Published by DC Comics
It should be mentioned, since it hasn't before, that every time a certain member of the Factual's comic review team sees a DC comic with art by Dustin Nguyen, that individual becomes extremely angry and complains about how great Wildcats 3.0 was, and what a bunch of shits everybody at Wildstorm and DC Comics are for not A) finishing the storyline the book was in the middle of, and B) not publishing the remainder of the trade paperbacks. That being said, Nguyen is the new regular artist on Detective, and while everyone around the offices would much prefer to see the man drawing Grifter and Zealot, one hopes that the addition of Nguyen means no more Don Kramer for the foreseeable future. As stories go, Paul Dini's crafted a rather nasty one here--it's rare to see Batman behave so maliciously as this. While the comic is little more than a light reset of the status quo, it's a surprisingly dark reset, and it's done well enough. Ultimately, it's time to put this whole Ra's Al Ghul story to bed for awhile, and get back to some more interesting stories. Hopefully, this was the last of that nonsense for a while.
Lobster Johnson # 5
Written by Mike Mignola
Art by Jason Armstrong
Published by Dark Horse Comics
And so ends the Lobster Johnson mini-series. As opposed to the DC/Marvel standard when it comes to mini-series, the reader still knows as little about Lobster as they did before the story was published. No back story, no history--not even any extraneous dialog. It's an interesting experiment, to publish a story about a character that's never been established beyond a couple of quotes from an old Hellboy comic. It's even more interesting that Mignola and crew chose to maintain that lack of establishment throughout the entire series. Of course, by not developing anything about the character, the comic became a sort of purposeless slog through the motions of a pretty basic Mignola storyline, which could be recapped like this: Nazis are teamed up with demons and want something. Lobster Johnson doesn't want that to happen. Punching ensues.
Whereas this kind of stories work for Hellboy comics, that's in part because the reader has something invested in the Hellboy character. Here, you're supposed to root for a guy who's behavior and persona are a complete mystery. Like we said, it's an interesting experiment. It's just not very much fun to read.
Northlanders # 2
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Davide Gianfelice
Published by Vertigo/DC Comics
Northlanders is a lot like reading Hal Foster's Prince Valiant by way of the Soprano's. It's all windswept bloodshed, buxom lasses and repulsive locals. Whether that's enough of an original idea to maintain sales remains to be seen. It's not half bad though--Gianfelice is a talented artist, and his understanding of how to frame a panel is top notch. As is the norm with a Vertigo series, it's probably headed for an audience in trade paperback collections, but as a stand alone story, this issue was well done. Heads on spikes, a irritating archer getting her comeuppance and a whole lot of f-bombs. We'll see. It would do well for Brian Wood to remember that the Soprano's had a bit more going for it then just foul language and violence. That little piece of information seems to be escaping everyone else right now.
The End League # 1
Written by Rick Remender
Art by Mat Broome & Sean Parsons
Published by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse has so many aborted attempts at super-hero titles under it's belt, one would think that they would just stop trying, that they would just take the hint and quit giving the spandex game a go. It's not because any of their stuff is that much worse than anything in the super-hero genre, it's just that the super-hero buying market is already stretched about as far as possible--hell, no comics shop is ever gonna satisfy a new customer in love with Tobey Maguire if they give him a copy of "One More Day." The likelihood of some non-comics reader searching The End League out is even uglier. There's just no reliable new market to sell this to--sure, it may end up being successful by selling to people who are already at the stores, but can that honestly be Dark Horse's goal, to steal a tiny piece of an already tiny pie? It seems a bit absurd.
All that being said, there's a relatively intelligent idea behind this book, although upon a cursory glance, it might appear to be another by-the-numbers apocalyptic super-hero title. The idea being that, after a cataclysmic event that annihilated a healthy number of the worlds population, many of the survivors developed your standard array of "super-powers." That's a pretty average trope for the spandex books--Rick Remender's twist is this: instead of following the stock DC/Marvel logic, the majority of these powered individuals used their new powers wholly for selfish reasons, and few choosing to go the Superman/Green Lantern route. Whether the book has any other subversions in store isn't clear from this first issue, nor is it obvious whether the initial concept will end up with actually changing the basic story structure of good guy vs. bad guy--this first issue, while well told, still isn't that much of a revelation. (Even though most of the powered individuals do choose to be nasty pricks, everyone still has the old Hobbseian agreement that "having powers" equals "wearing spandex.")
Ultimate Human # 1
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Cary Nord
Published by Marvel Comics
Don't let the title fool you. This isn't a diversionary mini-series examining the life of a normal person in the world of Ultimate Spider-Men. Instead, this is another one of those stories devoid of consequence regarding the Hulk and Iron Man, where Warren Ellis throws out a lot of heady sounding technobabble, Bruce Banner gives the reader about 800 reasons why he was bullied when he was younger and Tony Stark drinks constantly. As bombastic as Mark Millar's work on Ultimates could be at time, one thing he seemed to grasp that it looks like every other Marvel writer misses is that Bruce Banner (the alter-ego of the Hulk) is without competition in the fight to be the most irritating comic character in the world. The guy just inspires fantasies of violence. Anytime he says anything, you just want to grit your teeth and kick his ribs into his throat. Cary Nord's art works fine--why he's having to draw such an unwieldy panel structure is probably due to Warren Ellis, but even then, he's able to capture the kind of beastly musculature that the Hulk needs. Still, the idea that the Ultimate universe needed an Ultimate Leader? That's a bit short-sighted.
Ultimate Spider-Man # 117
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Stuart Immonen & Wade von Grawbadger
Published by Marvel Comics
See, that's how you do it. That's how you effectively rise above some pretty sentimental dialog and present a story with actual emotional quality. You full on commit to doing a non-ironic, non-hip story about a nerd who says shit like "atomic wedgie." The nicest part of that dumb as nails movie Juno was when Michael Cera admits that he tries "really hard" to be cool--which is just about the most uncool thing somebody can admit to. And admitting it, and trying? That doesn't "ironically" make him cool. It just makes him honest. Ultimate Spider-Man is one of the few comics that fully embraces what it is: a corny, melodramatic story about a geeky kid trying really hard to be an adult. It's openly optimistic, and it never tries to giggle away the silliness of the whole thing. It doesn't wink at you--it just opens itself wide and goes for broke, every single time. It doesn't always work--but this time it did.
Badger Saves The World # 1
Written by Mike Baron
Art by Kevin Caron
Published by IDW Publishing
Oh sweet god, why is Mike Baron bringing this character back? There's no way in hell that there's an audience who was patiently waiting for the return of the Badger. And what's wrong with the art? These drawings don't follow any kind of logic--who's skeletal structure allows for movements like that? How many joints do these people have? The plot itself--a schizophrenic with multiple personalities trying to stop the terroristic attacks of a man who uses stray dogs as suicide bombers--well, there's really nothing else to say about that. This comic just sort of sits there, existing. It's only got two ideas: the dog thing and the multiple personality thing--and the comic consists of those two ideas, coupled with some really rough ass art, for multiple pages. It's a chore to even think about this comic.
Special Forces # 2
By Kyle Baker
Published by Image Comics
When Special Forces # 1 showed up, it was like manna from heaven. After all, it's new Kyle Baker, and how does one even begin to say anything but "hey, it's new Kyle Baker!" Now that were on the second issue, excitement can subside enough to acknowledge that Special Forces isn't as totally-break-your-balls-awesome as Plastic Man or King David. However, it is still Kyle Baker through and through--brilliant artwork on every page. Is it a bit hamfisted at times? Sure. Is Felony a bit too scantily clad? Yeah, probably.
But is it far more interesting to read this sort of thing then to it is to read the interminable dreariness that is the X-men, and is it far more exciting than the nerd-implosion that is Green Lantern?
Hell-fucking yeah it is. It's a war comic about a near-mute autistic soldier teamed up with a woman who would make Nikki Fritz blush. That's some rare shit.
T
he Mighty Avengers # 6
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Frank Cho
Published by Marvel Comics
Honestly, I don't even remember what happened in this issue. I remember thinking while I was reading it that there was no sensible explanation why it took so long to get art out of Frank Cho. The guy's stuff is the same thick thighed woman exposing tight ass cheeks, in the same positions, over and over again. Faces are either 1) a sex face, 2) an angry face, or 3) an unconcerned neutral face. Yet, for whatever reason, it takes the dude almost 18 months to produce 6 comic books? Other than that, the only notable irritation here is how much it sucks to read a great Bendis comic (like Ultimate Spider-Man # 117) and then turn around and read one that's totally idiotic, like Mighty Avengers.
What If? Civil War # 1
Written by Ed Brubaker, Kevin Grevioux & Christos Gage
Art by Marko Djurdjevic, Gustavo, Harvey Tolibao, Sandu Florea, Victor Olazaba & Scott Koblish
Published by Marvel Comics
Probably the first time in a while that a What If? comic proposed an alternate future that looks like it would have been not only preferable to experience, but probably would have been more economically successful for Marvel to publish. While the comic itself was an ugly book to look at, it was actually more intelligent than the way the real Civil War story ended. It's a pretty odd beast, publishing something like this, a showcase of a world of comic books that might just be preferable to the ones actually available.
Detective Comics # 839
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Ryan Benjamin, Don Kramer, Saleem Crawford & Wayne Faucher
Published by DC Comics
And so ends another Batbook crossover, and the only thing that was settled by it? That the only way to make Nightwing a readable comic is to have it cross-over with Batman. Unfortunately, that doesn't play both ways--while Morrison's run has had it's up and downs, there was no indication, until now, that crossing it over with Dini's Detective was going to make both such a total horrorshow. Still, this storyline did have the probably unwanted effect of making just about every Batman cross-over seem far better than they actually probably were.
Batman & The Outsiders # 3
Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Julian Lopez & Bit
Published by DC Comics
The only positive aspect of Wolverine showing up in 15-20 Marvel comic books a month is that the reader can rely on him behaving pretty much the same throughout his many appearances--and that's not something of any extraordinary difficulty, as Wolverine's personality extends to A) Killing shit, B) Threatening to Kill Shit and C) being a death sentence to any woman that dates him. Considering that Batman's personality isn't that far removed from Wolverine's, as long as you exchange "killing" with "beating the shit out of," one would seemingly experience the same reliability with the multitude of appearances made by the same character. Unfortunately, that's not even remotely true--the Batman read about in Gotham Underground, who passes out from blood loss from a non-fatal wound never shows up in Justice League, where he can go toe to toe with Superman-level villains, and he has even less in common with the bizarre behavior exhibited in The Outsiders. The easiest answer is to throw the blame on Chuck Dixon's doorstep, so that's what we'll go with, Occam's Razor style. Whatever the reason is, Batman & The Outsiders is another one of those hilariously foolish editorial decisions by DC: the recreation, with little advancement, of a comic book series from the 1980's. If you want another example of the incredibly short-sighted choices DC is making by catering to an aging fan-base, then here it is--and it includes a poorly written lesbian relationship, courtesy of an admitted homophobe.
Foolkiller # 3
Written by Gregg Hurwitz
Art by Lan Medina
Published by Marvel Comics
There was an excellent write up of Foolkiller over at the Savage Critic website a few weeks back that succeeded in convincing the Factual's comic team to continue reaading the book--not because the review convinced any of us that Foolkiller was a masterpiece of comics, but that Foolkiller was, if read with the proper attitude, a hilariously twisted black comedy. With apologies to the esteemed Savage team, the gist of what convinced us was this sentence:
"But I think the part where I really started grooving had Michael practicing his katana moves during a board meeting of the corporation he founded with his winnings, only pausing to ok the use of cheap alloys in their automobiles. Alas, those alloys go into a car driven by Michael's own dear mother, causing her to fatally crash... into a busload of innocent children!!"-Jog
Whereas Job\g may or may not be correct to assume that this whole Foolkiller series is a big sick joke, reading it as if it were has made it far more enjoyable then the previous method employed--where this reviewer was becoming concerned that Gregg Hurwitz was the sort of man who might rape his own brother to death for breaking the Nintendo 64.
Justice League of America # 16
Written by Dwayne McDuffie & Alan Burnett
Art by Allan Jefferson & Joe Benitez
Published by DC Comics
The most awesome thing about not being impressed with anything that's happened in the first 15 issues of the current reboot of the Justice League comic is that when something like this piece of shit shows up, one can just sit around and wait for the room to start filling up with all the people who wouldn't shut up about how this obnoxious retread of shitty 80's Super Friends comics was a masterpiece of American fiction. There's no feasible reason to enjoy anything about this comic--it's two stories, both that stretch the limits of how fucking much shit DC will try to get comics readers to swallow--and there's little in comics reading that's as totally rad as when fans of bad comics are forced to acknowledge that maybe they shouldn't have been so quick to assume that they were right, and that it's time to admit that the Justice League blows as hard as it's ever blown. The first story, which not only assumes that anybody in the universe remembers the Tangent universe, but also assumes that remember = liked, is sort of like reading a confusing Amazon review of Harry Potter fan fiction, while the second tale is the umpteenth version of what DC assumes is an entertaining holiday story: this time, instead of Superman reading letters from Santa or Batman using his financial empire to bring Christmas to the nonstop stream of orphans and mongoloids that live in the 7 million group homes in Gotham City, no, this story is about how the Red "I Still Have The Stupidest Name" Arrow reveals that when he's not jerking off on his sequined sweatshirt that says "I'm a single dad," he's spending his holidays volunteering at the local Soup Kitchen IN COSTUME. Because nothing says "i care about the little people" like showing up at a soup kitchen, LATE, wearing a fucking bow and arrow around your neck and a domino mask.
Checkmate # 21
Written by Greg Rucka & Eric Trautmann
Art by Chris Samnee & Travis Lanham
Published by DC Comics
The pedigree for Checkmate #21 couldn't be better--Rucka & Samnee on an espionage book? It's like Queen & Country never stopped, right?
Well, except Queen & Country never had to deal with the minutiae of DC's spandex continuity.
Luckily, Checkmate decided to ignore much of the nonsense involved with DC's current status quo, openly admitting near the beginning of the book that it's current story didn't have anything to do with "metahumans," one of those words comics companies invented so they don't have to say super-heroes (or shit-you-maybe-should-grow-out-of-sort-of-huh-maybe?) On top of that, Rucka takes an even easier route back to familiar territory by forcing the book to focus on the singular female character of Marie, which, since most of the time Chris Samnee sticks to the same drawing style for any women, means that at multiple points Checkmate could fit seamlessly into any of the pages of Rucka's Q & C series. It's still a half-baked imitation, and a lighter story than any he's been telling to this point, but at least he's not imitating the weird boringness of his Crime Bible series. As has become the case with Checkmate, the installments of story that the individual issues provide are preferable when read all at once, but it's a moot point now--Checkmate seems to be officially heading towards cancellation, if the rumors online are correct.
Wolverine Origins # 20
Written by Daniel Way
Art by Steve Dillon
Published by Marvel Comics
There's a fight scene in this comic where Wolverine gets his ass royally handed to him by Captain America, and in the non-stop thought bubbles that Daniel Way uses because he thinks they mean "subtext," Wolverine lets the reader know that this beat-down is one of the worst he's ever experienced. Considering that Wolverine is a character who's regularly lost limbs, had his entire skeleton ripped out of his body, been stabbed in every orifice, shot in the testicles, and been set on fire more often than apartments Dexter's ex-girlfriend lived in, it seems a bit false to claim a couple of punches and a smack in the face with Captain America's shield could even remotely be referred to as something monumentally bad. Of course, considering that it's taken Captain America something like thirty years to realize that Wolverine wasn't really on his side in this geriatric storyline, it's clear that whatever this comic is about, it's not something that has anything to do with logic or consistency. Except for Steve Dillon's art, which is still totally phenomenal. Whatever reason it is that Dillon isn't currently working with Garth Ennis (his old playmate from Preacher and Hellblazer,) it can't be worth holding onto. Wolverine Origins has become one of the most graphic example of a talented creator working on a book that's so far beneath him that it's best explained as if somebody resurrected Yasujiro Ozu and put him to work on another sequel to Daddy Day Care. (Hopefully, something will happen to change Dillon's status quo soon--this reader is running out of ways to say "Dillon good, Wolverine Origins bad.")
Captain America # 33
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Steve Epting & Butch Guice
Published by Marvel Comics
It's been clear for months that Ed Brubaker planned to bring Bucky on board as the new Captain America, so it's not as if this issue was much of a surprise--after all, Brubaker's long-range planning for the series renders certain aspects of the story devoid of the excitement that comes when lesser writers throw death and replacement around. For months now, each issue of Captain America has shown the Marvel world without the man, and it's shown what the world suffers for his lack--and unlike other mentions in Marvel comics, it hasn't been much. The world without a Cap has been pretty much the same as the one that had him--nasty, angst-y and difficult. Brubaker's choice of bringing him back, by making it clear that it's something that Bucky and Iron Man agree upon because it's the best way they can see to punish the man who set Cap's death into motion, is one that's organically risen from the story. The characters here aren't blisteringly ridiculous patriots full of misbegotten and ridiculous claims that the "world needs a Captain," no, Tony and Buck are men who want to do two things: honor their friend, and get revenge. It's that simple.
Hellblazer # 239
Written by Andy Diggle
Art by Leonardo Manco
Published by Vertigo/DC Comics
It's never that good of an idea to call back an old Hellblazer story, to treat the series as if it's a book with a long ranging continuity. That's the choice Andy Diggle makes here, bringing in an old African magician from the first issues of this series--still, he's so cursory with the mentions of that story that it's basically an in-joke to Hellblazer fans. Of course, making in-jokes to fans is his right, but if there's one thing that a low-selling niche book like Hellblazer certainly doesn't need, it's a sense of exclusion to a potential reader. Otherwise, it looks like Diggle is prepping himself to do a big Hellblazer story--this is your basic prologue, and doesn't consist of much beyond introducing the bad guy, showing how irredemably awful he is (not only is he a genoicidal member of the African janjaweed, he's also a cannibal who enjoys torture,) and a couple of pages of dialog revealing John Constantine's connection to this nasty little group.
Dan Dare # 2
Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Gary Erskine
Published by Virgin Comics
Garth Ennis has two modes he likes to write in: the nasty, nothing is sacred black comedy of Preacher Garth Ennis and the straighten-your-fucking-tie Gawd ain't the military great Garth Ennis. Dan Dare, Ennis' foray into dealing with a British sci-fi character of some historical value is currently getting the Garth Ennis who writes War Stories & Enemy Ace--so far there's no gigantic Russian strongmen in old school pirate attire or psychopathic rednecks with a taste for bestiality. Much like Enemy Ace, this comic is actually pretty decent work--it's not inspired or anything, but it's certainly nearer the top of the stack of recent comics. Still, it's relatively basic work, and it doesn't bode well for the Virgin Comics line that they are already, in less than a year of their beginnings, publishing work that's this indistinct from the rest of the comics on the stands. Unless something drastically changes in the American comics market, the only way for a line like Virgin to succeed is to do something that pulls away some of the DC/Marvel audience, and it's unlikely that publishing something that could fit in either of those companies publishing houses is the way to do it.
The Authority Prime # 3
Written by Christos Gage
Art by Darick Robertson
Published by Wildstorm/DC Comics
It's unimaginable that anyone is purchasing this comic for simple entertainment value--the thing reads in seconds, the art looks like it was done in half that, and every issue is the same. But picking up Authority Prime and treating it like a game--now that's conceivable. Before one starts, and immediately after one finishes, try to answer these questions:
1) Was the entire issue page after page of fighting?
2) Was there any explanation of what the term "Prime" means? As in, why this mini-series is called The Authority Prime?
3) Did the issue end with the threat of more fighting to come, and was there some kind of dialog implying that "now the gloves come off" or "now i'm really pissed?"
So far, the Authority Prime series ends with the same three answers, every time: 1) Yes. 2) Not yet. 3) Holy shit, yes, everytime. Somebody, usually the Midnighter character, says something just like that. And that's what makes this series worth the time--there's a ton of exaggeration in comics reviews, and often you'll hear someone at the shop say "nothing happens, just people fighting," but Authority Prime is the real thing. Nothing happens but fighting. Page after page, no breaks. It's the best idea ever.
Marvel Zombies # 3
Written by Robert Kirkman
Art by Sean Phillips
Published by Marvel Comics
Maybe Robert Kirkman is single handedly trying to derail zombie storylines in mainstream comics to destroy the potential for them to compete with his own zombie comics? That's an explanation that makes sense. Because whatever gross-out humor he had that helped propel the original Marvel Zombies mini-series is long-fucking gone, and this issue is one of the biggest left turns so far. There's nothing funny here, unless you count the odd choice Kirkman is making in assuming that people who enjoyed reading about genocidal slaughter are somehow also going to enjoy reading about the politics of survival among a bunch of side characters that survived the original story, and survived only because they weren't even interesting enough for them to be killed and eaten. That's what he's got though--a bunch of sixth-string characters, one-note zombies, and Captain America's brain. That's it, and yet this beast has two more issues to go.
Ultimate Power # 9
Written by Jeph Loeb
Art by Greg Land & Jay Leisten
Published by Marvel Comics
You might think that this reader is happy that the Ultimate Power mini-series is over. You might think that no one at the Factual offices could be anything less than overjoyed to no longer have to struggle through the terrible writing and intense stupidity that has been this piece of shit.
You'd be wrong. Why? Because this means that Greg Land, an artist who, to put it mildly, is really fucking god-awful, and only seems to get work because of the large collection of tired creeps who think that the best comics are the ones where everyone's face resembles the look of someone who's just achieved orgasm, is now free to take on other assignments. This means that, instead of Greg Land being in charge of a book that could easily be shelved next to broken egg shells and used coffee grounds, he might show up on a book of actual substance. Basically, it means he's free to suck again.
Batman # 672
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Tony Daniel & Jonathan Glapion
Published by DC Comics
See, that's how you show 'em you're still crazy. Have a character no one's ever heard of or seen show up threatening a non-existent "Commissioner Vane," have said character beat the hell out of people and end up with the regular Batman having some kind of heart attack. Then have Bat-mite show up. (Bat-mite, for those of you who don't know, is a character that is some kind of "imp" from another dimension. Actually, we don't know either, and the prospect of spending anytime on the wikipedia page for Bat-Mite is about as appetizing as watching that Make Me A Supermodel show with Tyrese.) Either way, it's clear from the gigantic shift in behavior that forcing the Batman titles into a cross-over hasn't kept the weirdest run of Batman stories in years off the rails. Although this issue is nowhere near as full as the nasty future-shock of last years #666, it's certainly got more going on then any of those terrible "Resurrection of Ras Al Ghul" issues did. Tony Daniel is still not enough of a talent to be on this book, but at least his work isn't as distractingly amateurish as it was the last time.
Legion of Super-Heroes # 37
Written by Jim Shooter
Art by Francis Manapul & Livesay
Published by DC Comics
Finally ditching the "Supergirl and" moniker, finally ending the run by the god-awful Tony Bedard, and finally finding an artist who draws the Legion as ridiculously and cartoonishly as they deserve, this was the week that almost made the last few months less painful. It's clear from his first issue that this reviewer was mistaken to believe there was any good reason to tough it out during the Bedard clusterfuck--oh well. Mr. Shooter has grabbed only what he felt he needed to get started, and coming months will hopefully make clear which of the last few months bad choices are actually sticking around. As it is, this was the best issue of this series since Mark Waid and Barry Kitson left the book, and although that's not necessarily big praise, a Legion title that's even kind of good is not something anybody has had any business expecting in 2007. Whether there's a future for this cast, and whether DC will ever capitalize on how completely insane the Legion could be, will, for now at least, be in the hands of Jim Shooter.
Gotham Underground # 3
Written by Frank Tieri
Art by J. Calafiore & Jack Purcell
Published by DC Comics
Hey, they're going to bring back that Spoiler character. Remember her? She was the girl who got pregnant and wore that ugly purple outfit. That was about the extent of her character development, excepting when she become Robin for a couple of minutes because Batman felt like hurting the regular Robin's feelings. In other words, she's a walking deus ex machina, a character solely used as plot device. (Which, considering what little connection there is between this Gotham Underground series and pretty much anything else that has Batman in it, is also an accurate term for everybody who's shown up so far in this Magnum Opus.) The final page of this issue stands as a great way to inagurate what looks to be another year in shit-gone-awful super-hero comic books: a multi-ethnic team of non-descript spandex clad characters spitting out vaguely threatening dialog. Once again, DC gives the aging fanboy what he seems to crave the most--a truckload of the same shit that they've published for the last twenty years. Here's another new flavor of the same thing we gave you last time--eat it up, you dumb fuck.
-Tucker Stone, 2008
The guys at my shop put a copy of End League in my bag because they were selling out. The guys at my shop are incredibly nice people, and have put me onto all sorts of great books. So of course I bought it, just on their word. But I can't see the appeal in the book at all. I'm sitting there waiting for the other shoe to drop, thinking that these guys know I loved Wanted, they handed me Planetary, Sleeper, etc. But it's just more of the same superhero crap. Sure it might be more fully realized and coming with a theme unlike most of them. But really, how is this any different than a new issue of JLA that I'm never gonna read?
Posted by: Sean Witzke | 2008.01.06 at 23:01
It's not that different. The only original idea in it is the reverse of the status quo by putting villains in the majority. Otherwise, the only thing it's missing is the tagline "This ain't yer DADDY's Avengers! These guys ARE TOTALLY EXTREME"
Posted by: Tucker Stone | 2008.01.06 at 23:09
Occam's Razor. Not Ochem's Razor. The latter looks like you're phlegming and about to .
Carry on.
Posted by: Mr. Sable | 2008.01.08 at 10:54
Fixed it, good catch.
Posted by: Tucker Stone | 2008.01.08 at 19:50
Why is Juno dumb all of a sudden? And how is one "dumb as nails"? Hard as nails maybe, but dumb? I was prepared to really let you have it for the Juno statement but after reading your gutting of Red Arrow in the Justice League #16 review, I felt love for you again. Don't push me again though Tucker. Don't.
Posted by: Amy | 2008.01.10 at 17:17