One-paragraph reviews: Superboy, Sweet Tooth, Astonishing Thor, Godzilla

Superboy #7
Written by Jeff Lemire; art by Marco Rudy and Daniel HDR; DC.

I saw someone on Twitter describe this as "absolutely perfect. I couldn't read it fast enough. Perfect art. Best single issue of 2011 so far." And I seriously have to ask myself whether they read the same comic book I read. Not that this was terrible, but with the exception of last issue (the pointless Doomsday crossover issue), this was probably the weakest in the series so far. So this is not even the best issue of Superboy in 2011, let alone of all comics. As for the art, "perfect" is the last word I would use to describe it, no matter how talented I think Marco Rudy is. The problem is we have two artists whose styles are constantly at war with one another, and even though the different looks are sometimes use to separate what's real and what's not, it still makes for a very inconsistent visual narrative. I'm just sick of having multiple art styles in a 20 page book, which these days is almost becoming the norm on DC books. In addition, I thought a lot of the layouts were ugly, and a few pages were so confusing that I wasn't even sure what order I was supposed to read the panels in. I know that Lemire likes to experiment with layouts, and when he draws his own books, the results are wonderful (see my review of Sweet Tooth, below), and with regular artist Pier Gallo, who seems particularly good at following his instructions, it can still work. But in this issue, I thought it ended up looking like a mess. Gallo is back next month, just in time for the four-story arc that's going to conclude the Hollow Men plot. I'm looking forward to it.

OKAY

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Sweet Tooth #21
Written and drawn by Jeff Lemire; Vertigo

As much fun as Lemire's superhero comics can get when they're on, for me they'll never compare to Sweet Tooth. When he's in full control of the writing, art and direction of the story, we see just how strong he is as a storyteller and artist. This issue reuses a technique that Lemire first experimented with in #12, where we had a narrated story in a continuous strip at the bottom of each page, while a separate world-less story was shown in the rest of the page. In that issue, the technique doubled as a kind of homage to Crisis on Infinite Earths #10, whereas in this one he seems to have developed it into a unique style all his own. I almost wonder if he took a cue from Frank Santoro's fascinating Layout Workbook column at TCJ.com, as he divides each page in such a way that the top narrative occupies a near-perfect square, which gives the book a particularly harmonious feel. I loved issue #12, but I think this one is even better. What's truly remarkable is that in spite of this fairly rigid grid being followed throughout the book, Lemire still finds additional ways to experiment and play with this form. There's something cool and different happening with the layout on literally every page, and it's always in the service of the story and never feels gratuitous or gimmicky. It's just brilliant. Plus there's a panel where Gus and Jepperd hug that is so sweet and moving that it almost made me cry.

EXCELLENT

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Astonishing Thor #4
Written by Rob Rodi; art by Mike Choi; Marvel

Thor is fighting against a living planet. It's pretty cool.

GOOD

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Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #2
Written by Eric Powell and Tracy Marsh; art by Phil Hester and Bruce McCorkindale; IDW

I thought this issue was better than the first one. I was so happy to see the fisherman who was looking for his kids in the first issue return, as one of my biggest concerns was whether the story would follow up on any of the characters who only appeared in a few panels last time. I still think some of Phil Hester's layouts are a little bit...messy?, but less so than in the first issue. I think it's mostly just a personal preference anyway. More and more I realize that I don't favour comic book art that constantly spills out of the panels. I like gutters. I like things neatly contained within grids. So that on the rare occasion that this neat order is broken it has a big impact on the narrative. On the other hand, I suppose you could argue that this is a comic book about giant dinosaur-like monsters fucking shit up all over the world, and subtlety is not exactly what it's going for. So perhaps it's fitting that the art refuses to be contained into those neat borders that I crave. Maybe the chaotic layouts are part of the chaos of the story.

GOOD

One-paragraph reviews: Axe Cop, Sweet Tooth, Astonishing Thor, Captain America and the Falcon

Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1
Written by Malachai Nicolle; art by Ethan Nicolle; Dark Horse

The story here is pretty much what you might expect from a comic written by a six-year-old: the plot is disjointed, occasionally surreal, every character is either a "bad guy" or a "good guy," and there are lots of dinosaurs involved. All of which is both part of this book's appeal, but also part of its limitation. The randomness of the ideas doesn't bother me at all, and it's always a pleasure to witness the unrestrained imagination that could only come from a child's mind. I do wish, however, that Ethan wouldn't feel the need to stick to his six-year-old brother's narration style. Often, it feels like the captions are basically telling the story, and the drawings merely illustrate the information that has already been conveyed in words. For example, the caption says: "Axe Cop then pushed the rocket button," and the panel shows a close-up of Axe Cop pushing a big butter with a rocket on it. This kind of redundancy between words and images is usually considered a sign of a bad comic book, but here I guess we're supposed to forgive it because it adds to the six-year-old narrative voice which is part of the book's gimmick. It doesn't quite work for me. Not only is it a little bit condescending to the reader ("I'm telling you what happens and I'm showing you at the same time, just to make sure you understand..."), but it also does the writer a disservice. It's not necessary to draw attention to the fact that it's a kid writing the book. We already know and accept this, because it's mentioned right at the top of the cover above the title. I think the book would benefit from having less narration and from letting the images tell the story. Nevertheless, this is a very enjoyable book. Some of the scenes are very funny, the art is always fantastic, and the colours (by Dirk Erik Schulz) are absolutely gorgeous.

GOOD

Sweet Tooth #19
Written and drawn by Jeff Lemire, Nate Powell, Emi Lenox and Matt Kindt; Vertigo

This is a special issue of Sweet Tooth (but then again, they're all special, aren't they?) featuring short stories from three guest writers/artists. Jeff Lemire handles the framing narrative and allows each guest to tell a flashback or mini-origin story for one of of the supporting characters. It's handled quite nicely, giving us a lot of new insight into the characters, while also setting up the stage for the next big story arc. The different styles used by all the artist work well together, since they all represent a different point of view. Of the three guest artists, I was only familiar with Matt Kindt's work, but all three of them are quite good. Emi Lenox was the one who surprised me the most, as based on what little I'd seen of her work online, I wasn't sure how well her more "cartoony" style would mesh with Lemire's bleak post-apocalyptic world. But it was perfect for her short story. Her layouts were great and Jose Villarubia's vibrant colours really helped to establish the tone of that section as well. Another excellent issue.

AWESOME

Astonishing Thor #3
Written by Robert Rodi; art by Mike Choi; Marvel

For whatever reason, I'm not really into this book as much as I was when it started. The art in the first couple of issues really impressed me, but now I'm growing weary of it. And the story... I don't know. It's just not doing much for me. I'm sorry, this is the lamest review I've ever written. I can't pinpoint anything wrong with this book. I'm just kind of indifferent toward it. In any case, there's only one issue left, so I'll stick with it. I am kind of curious to find out what happens when these two living planets finally meet each other.

OKAY

Captain America and the Falcon (one-shot)
Written by Rob Williams; art by Rebekah Isaacs; Marvel

This is one of those stories about a character returning to his roots (i.e., poor neighbourhood), which he'd previously turned his back on and lost touch with. The character then realizes that this is still an important part of who he is and that he should do everything he can to help the people he left behind. In this case, that character is Falcon. To be honest, that's not terribly original or even very interesting. Maybe it would be if this was the start of an ongoing series which would then explore that further. I would read a story about Falcon protecting and helping the people of his old neighbourhood, while also dealing with "bigger" or "more important" missions with the Avengers or Captain America. Especially if Rebekah Isaacs was the regular artist on it, because she's fantastic. But as a one-shot, I can't help but wonder what's the point? Not because this is a bad comic, but because I feel like it's not going to go anywhere. This whole idea of Falcon returning to his roots is just going to be abandoned, unless someone is working on an ongoing title for him in the near future. Which doesn't seem all that likely to happen. Then again... there's a "Fear Itself" logo on the cover of this book, so maybe this is setting up something that's going to tie into that event.

OKAY

Comic Book Carnage #003: Infestation and Astonishing Thor

It's time for another edition of Comic Book Carnage, in which Mike (from It's a Bit of a Shame) and I rant and rave about some recent comic books.

Yan: So I haven't had breakfast, but I found this lonely little piece of bread crust in the cupboard, which I'm now eating. That'll give me enough strength to get through this without fainting.

Mike: You're eating just crust?

Yan: I'll be fine. I'll get lunch when we're done. So, should we start with the good or the bad?

Mike: Hmm. I suppose it would be better to end on a high note.

Yan: Okay.

Infestation #1
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; art by David Messina; IDW

Yan: Then let me start by apologizing for making you buy this awful, awful book.

Mike: Why did we pick this again?

Yan: Well, it sounded like a crazy crossover event and it's totally outside of my usual reading material, so I thought it would be fun. I wasn't necessarily expecting a masterpiece, but I thought it would have Transformers and all those other franchises fighting against zombies, which at the very least could have been entertaining. Instead we got... whatever this was.

Mike: Yeah, I hear you. Robots shooting zombies should have been brilliant. I guess it wasn't exactly a great idea to start the series off with some random characters I've never heard of. CVO? What the hell are they from?

Yan: Exactly. That's what really pissed me off about this. I'm just looking at the solicitation from Previews again, just to see if it mentions anything about these characters, and it doesn't. It's billed as a crossover that affects the Transformers, GI Joe, Ghostbusters and Star Trek universes. Which is also what you'd expect from a comic book that has Spock, Optimus Prime, Bill Fucking Murray and what's-his-name from GI Joe on the cover. And none of these characters are in the book!

Mike: Instead we get the poor man's BPRD. It was naive of IDW to assume that the main draw of the crossover was the story.

Yan: Well, I don't think they did. I think they knew full well that the draw was those franchises, which is why they promoted it that way. And to be fair, I understand the need for there to be a kind of bookend story that sets up the context of this "infestation." I expected some of that from this first issue. But what I didn't expect was a story about a bunch of characters I've never heard about, but that obviously have some history I was supposed to be familiar with in order to give a shit about them. That was the biggest obstacle for me. Throughout the whole comic, I kept asking myself who these people were and why I should care about what happens to any of them. I cared so little that I actually had a hard time making it to the end of the comic. I kind of skimmed the last few pages, 'cause there was nothing compelling about it.

Mike: But I feel like even if the impossible happened and you grew to like these characters, it still wasn't a strong read.

Yan: It's basically an episode of Stargate SG1, isn't it?

Mike: Yeah, it felt like that.

Yan: Except they're all vampires, for some reason. I think it would've been better if Macgyver was in it.

Mike: I would read this.

Yan: We should probably also talk about the art.

Mike: The art by David Messina is an example of why I can't read any IDW books. It looks like something from a decade ago.

Yan: I think it's one of the ugliest books I've ever bought. If it weren't for the fact that we'd already agreed to review it, I would have put it back on the shelf at the store after flipping through the pages based on how ugly it looks.

Mike: Yeah, after I read it I said to myself, "Y'know, this is what the average person thinks comics are like". Vampires and women with giant boobs blowing up zombies.

Yan: But it's not just the content or the style. It looks like it was put together by an amateur. Some of it may be because of the colouring. But for some reason, everything looks out of focus, like either someone went crazy with the digital blur effects in Photoshop or they're printing it from some low-resolution jpeg. Whatever it is, it just looks terrible. It made me angry while I was reading it! And it's too bad, because at the end of the book, there's a preview for the Transformers issues in the crossover, and it looks a lot better. The art is nice and smooth by comparison, and it has characters I recognize doing what I expected them to be doing in this book - i.e., fighting zombies. I would totally buy that and probably enjoy it. But now, after this terrible introduction, there's no way I'm spending another penny on this event. In fact, I may never buy another book from IDW again.

Mike: Wow, harsh words.

Yan: Well, it's not like I was buying any of their books before.

Mike: It's books like this that make me wonder how IDW has done so well for so long.

Yan: I don't know. I probably shouldn't hate on the publisher so much. I think their success can simply be explained by the fact that they have all these very popular franchises at their disposal, which all come with their own fanbases. I don't really have any interest in reading Transformers or Star Trek comics when I barely even pay any attention to those franchises in other media. But if they're doing a good job with those and fans are enjoying them, then cheers to them. I think in this case I was swayed by some of the positive buzz I'd read online, and by the fact that they had big-name writers involved, so I expected some level of quality that just wasn't there.

Astonishing Thor #2 (of 4)
Written by Robert Rodi; art by Mike Choi; Marvel

Yan: Anyway, why don't you say some nice things about Astonishing Thor #2? I'll shut up and let you start on that one.

Mike: There's been a lot of Thor mini-series coming out lately, and I've actually done the impossible and have read most of them.

Yan: Impressive.

Mike: Out of all of them, I would say that Astonishing Thor is the only one anyone should be reading.

Yan: Really? I guess I lucked out on this one, since it's the only one I've picked up.

Mike: Well it's by Robert Rodi, who wrote that Loki mini-series some years ago, which easily one of the best Thor stories ever. So yeah, Rodi continues to show he has firm grasp on these characters.

Yan: Cool. I'm coming at this from a fairly noob perspective. Aside from a few random issues when I was a kid, the first trade collecting Simonson's run, and the recent Matt Fraction stuff, I haven't read any Thor. And as much as I'm enjoying Fraction's Thor, it's pretty weird and conceptual and doesn't really feel like a Thor story very much - or at least not what I expect a Thor story to be like. This is a lot more on the money.

Mike: It's very much inspired by the epic space odyssey Kirby-era Thor. Which seems to rarely get acknowledged.

Yan Faction's is, or this?

Mike: This. Now what did you think about #2's big revelation about Ego?

Yan: Well, I don't really know anything about Ego. So I'm not sure I really understand the impact of the revelation. Also, I'm assuming the revelation at the end of #1 was a bigger deal? The fact that the Stranger created Ego? This wasn't previously established, was it?

Mike: No, it was not.

Yan: And Alter Ego is new as well?

Mike: Yeah.

Yan: It's kind of surprising that it took this long for someone to come up with that obvious play on his name.

Mike: Which I think is kind of goofy.

Yan: Totally. But it's kind of cool. I'm looking forward to learning more about Alter Ego.

Mike: What did you think about Mike Choi's artwork? I'm on the fence.

Yan: I'm pretty sold on it. That's what convinced me to pick this up in the first place. This mini-series was totally off my radar until the guy at the store showed me the art in it.

Mike: What is it about his art that you enjoy?

Yan: I like the detail of the line work, I think, and just the style of it. And it's complemented nicely with the colouring. Except in those panels that use digital blur, the bane of my existence, but I'm saving that rant for another time. The only panel I didn't like in this was the full-page splash of Zephyr, which was really cheesecake-y in a way that doesn't appeal to me at all. It felt really out of place with the tone of the book, also. Why are you on the fence about it?

Mike: My problem is the same problem I have with most photo-realistic artists. I don't feel like there's any sense of movement or action. Like the part where Thor throws his hammer through The Collectors menagerie, I didn't feel any since of chaos.

Yan: Yeah, I can see that. I usually really dislike photo-referenced art in comics. I'm not sure what makes it tolerable for me in this instance. But this kind of ties into what I don't like about the digital blur aspect. Like in that panel you mentioned where he throws the hammer, it's like they're using the digital blur to create a sense of movement because it's lacking in the art. I really, really hate that. And it's becoming so widespread as a technique. I see it in almost every comic I buy from Marvel and DC these days. I wish someone would realize how ugly it is and put a stop to it. It never works for me.

At this point, Mike's internet connection was suddenly cut, so I wasn't able to get his concluding remarks. But there wasn't much more to add at that point anyway.

We're trying to do these every month, but it kind of depends on our schedules and whether there are any books that fall on both our pull lists.