Is It Wednesday Yet? // Huntress, Batgirl, the New 52

If you've been paying attention to the comics blogs and news sites (and since you are reading this, I'm going to assume that you have), then you probably know that DC has announced a second wave of "New 52" titles along with other changes to their line, including some cancellations. As you might expect, some of the announcements were rather baffling. It was no big surprise that Hawk & Dove was cancelled, since it was undoubtedly one of DC's worst books and the sales were very low, but how could this possibly lead to artist Rob Liefeld being given not one but THREE books in exchange? It's really hard to understand how DC arrives at those types of decisions. I'm not going to waste any time speculating about it. The good news here is that the books Liefeld will be drawing are not books I would ever in a million years be tempted to read, so it's not like this has any effect on me at all.

Another bit of news had to do with the character of Huntress, who is currently starring in an eponymous mini-series written by Paul Levitz, and who will soon co-star with Power Girl in a new title by the same writer called World's Finest. What we learned about her is that she's not Helena Bertinelli, the character most fans are familiar with since she's been appearing in DC comics for the past 20 years, but Helena Wayne, her somewhat more obscure pre-Crisis equivalent. (Just read this post from DC Women Kicking Ass if you're confused.)

Why does this matter? As some people have pointed out, in the reboot, all characters have been changed, so this was never going to be the pre-New 52 Huntress, regardless of her name. That may be true, but clearly some characters are changing more than others. Bruce Wayne may technically be a few years younger than he was, and a few details from his early years as Batman may have changed, but if you're reading Scott Snyder's Batman, you know that he's pretty much writing him exactly the same way he would have written him in pre-52 continuity.

The point is, while there are a few New 52 books that I think are really good, almost all of them would have worked just as well in pre-New 52 continuity: Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Batwoman, Batman, Batman and Robin. The books and characters that have been changed the most - Teen Titans, Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Superman, Justice League - are of no interest to me, because they all feel like inferior versions of their predecessors. (The only exception is Wonder Woman.)

So now we have Huntress in her own mini-series, wearing essentially the same costume as in her pre-New 52 appearances, drawn gorgeously by Marcus To, going on an international mission to Italy where we find out that she's fluent in Italian. I hope you'll forgive me for assuming that this was Helena Bertinelli. And I was reading it in spite of the fact that the story is a freaking bore and some of it is vaguely racist, simply because this is one of the only female characters I liked from pre-New 52 DCU who survived unchanged and got her own book, so damn right I'm going to support it.

But, hey! What an idiot! I can't believe I fell for it. Of course she's not who I thought she was. She's Helena Wayne. A character I've never read before and don't really care about.

Why the change? Is it because she's more interesting if she's linked to Bruce Wayne? Is it because DC is more concerned with appealing to old men who used to read comics and maybe might be interested in reading them again if they feature characters they recognize?

I don't know. But I lost interest. I'm not even going to finish the mini-series. I'm done with that one.

*

Incidentally, I'm also done with Batgirl. I read this interview with Gail Simone and it annoyed me for a few different reasons I don't even really want to get into. But the short version is that I have no desire to read this book anymore. I was very much against the idea of Barbara Gordon not being Oracle anymore and the only reason I decided to read the new series was to give Gail Simone a chance to prove me wrong. I think five issues is more than a fair chance, and at this point I have read absolutely nothing that in any way justifies what they've done to the character. The story they are telling is not terrible. But it's just not worth what was lost. Not even close. I miss Oracle. I miss Stephanie Brown. And I miss Bryan Q. Miller.

The worst part is that Gail Simone keeps mentioning that Batgirl is the top-selling female solo book on the market, which I suppose is one way to measure it's success, and I feel like a goddamn tool for having contributed to that success. I bought the first five issues was so that I could judge it for myself and nobody could tell me I was bashing a book I hadn’t even read. Well, I read it, and I hereby judge it to be bad. If I could go back in time and un-buy those five issues, I would.

*

Oh, well. Here are some comics I will buy this week:

• Batman #5
• Wonder Woman #5
• Amazing Spider-Man #678
• Daredevil #8
• Superior #7

On Barbara Gordon's recovery (preliminary thoughts)

(This was originally posted on Tumblr, but it seemed substantial enough to repost here as well.)

I was going to wait until issue #4 comes out tomorrow - or possibly even until issue #7 in March, as based on the solicitation text it sounds like it’s going to be a big one - before writing anything about Barbara Gordon’s recovery from her spine injury, but since a lot of people are already reacting to the feature and preview in USA Today (and Gail Simone has reacted to some of the reactions), I want to share a few thoughts.

First, let me just say that this is an ongoing discussion about an ongoing story. While I understand where the kneejerk reactions from fans are coming from, I think it’s important to acknowledge that we only have small pieces of the puzzle. Until the full story of Barbara’s recovery has been told, we need to be careful about jumping to conclusions based on the little bits and pieces we’re getting. Gail Simone has stated many times that Barbara’s recovery is going to be explored in depth over a long story arc. Let’s just all keep that in mind, because otherwise it really undermines some of the very valid points that people are trying to make when the discussion gets derailed into an argument about whether or not we know the full story.
So here’s what we do know:

• In the New 52, Barbara was shot by the Joker, spent three years in a wheelchair, then went to a clinic in South Africa to get some kind of procedure done to repair her spine, regained the use of her legs and is now adapting to being Batgirl again and dealing with a little bit of post-traumatic stress disorder in the process.
• “Miracles” have been mentioned a lot in Batgirl, hinting that there is more to it than “just” a clinic in South Africa. It remains to be seen how that factors in, though.

So it’s a scientific/medical explanation, but the door is still open for a little bit of comic book fantasy “miracle” to play a part in it.

I’ve noticed that a lot of the discussion and controversy around the issue of Barbara’s recovery has focused on HOW she recovers. This is what Gail Simone herself has often emphasized in interviews, stating that treating that story of recovery with respect and a certain amount of realism was important to her as well as to her readers. (I’m paraphrasing from memory, so please forgive me if those are not her exact words.)

Now I don’t doubt that this aspect of the story is important for some people, and I’m glad that Gail Simone takes it seriously. But personally I don’t understand how this has become the central issue in the discussion. Granted, if we were given some really lazy or awful explanation for how Barbara recovered, it would probably make things even worse. But I don’t see how having a realistic and respectful portrayal of her recovery really makes things “better” for anyone who was hurt and upset by this change. At best, we can be thankful that insult is not added to injury.

As I’ve said in a comment on Barbara’s Not Broken, what it comes down to for me is very simple: There used to be Oracle; now there isn’t.

The important question which has so far been left unanswered (and is not even being asked, for the most part) is this one: What was Barbara Gordon up to during the three years she spent in the wheelchair? So far, there has been absolutely no mention of there having ever been an Oracle in the New 52 continuity. There is not evidence that Barbara was involved in crime-fighting in any capacity during those three years. Now, I’m sure we’re going to eventually find out more about what happened during that time, but it’s looking increasingly likely that Oracle will not be part of that story.
And for me, that is what’s upsetting. That is the real loss that I feel when I think about the fact that Barbara Gordon is back in the Batgirl costume. There used to be a character in DC Comics who was both disabled and a hero. Simultaneously! Now we have a character who was once a hero, then was disabled, and now is a hero again.

When we first found out that Barbara would be Batgirl in the New 52, one of the fears people had was that her whole history of having been disabled would be wiped out of continuity. (And that the almighty Alan Moore’s Killing Joke would be wiped out of continuity in the process.) But this, DC assured us, would not be the case. We were told this would be a story of recovery and survival and that everybody felt it was important to keep the disability in continuity.

But what DC seems to have missed is that it wasn’t just the fact that Barbara was in a wheelchair that made her such an important and inspiring hero for a lot of people - it was the fact that she was also a hero. Keeping the disability but removing the heroic part of it seems even more problematic to me than simply wiping it out of continuity.

And that’s what I’m worried about and what I’m waiting to find out about as I continue to read Gail Simone’s Batgirl series. Sure, the story of how Barbara recovered is interesting. But there are other (in my opinion more important) questions that I hope will be answered in the story.

Reviews: DC New 52, week 1

(no spoilers)

Action Comics #1
Written by Grant Morrison; art by Rags Morales and Rick Bryant

I wonder if this title is going to outsell Justice League #1. We've all been told last week's crap-fest by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee was the big launch of the New 52, the one that would set everything up for the rest of the line, but I have a feeling the book most people were really excited about was this one. I showed up at my LCS at noon today and they had sold out, whereas last week they still had dozens of Justice League issues lining up the walls. (Though I didn't ask how many they had ordered.)

In any case, this a much better first issue than Justice League #1. It's fast-paced, full of action and information. You get a good sense of how this world and these characters are different from the old DCU, dropping in on important supporting characters like Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and General Lane. There are references to Clark Kent's work as a reporter and how Jimmy and Lois fit into that. It establishes that Superman has started helping people around Metropolis, that the citizens are starting to notice and to appreciate it, and while the authorities are treating him as a threat, you get a good sense of their motivations and understand why they'd be freaked out by this powerful alien among them who seems to be getting stronger every day.

The art is always way better. Rags Morales' art is clean and elegant, two terms I would never use to describe Jim Lee's scratchy mess of over-detailed and cluttered panels. Maybe some of it has to do with inker Rick Bryant or colourist Brad Anderson, but this looks just how you would expect DC's flagship title to look - professional, dynamic, clear, but also very "house-style-ish," meaning it doesn't really take any risks the way some of the other books reviewed below do. And certainly if you think about the amazing work that Frank Quitely did on All-Star Superman, this seems a bit bland in comparison.

I'm not really convinced that this is a book I'm all that excited to keep reading. I'm just happy that it's not awful, I guess. It's a good start and unless there's a significant drop in quality ahead, fans are probably going to get a good Superman story over the next few months. Oddly, in spite of some of the continuity changes, this feels more true to the spirit of the original Superman than some of the garbage we've gotten lately from JMS's "Grounded" debacle.

But will I, personally, keep reading? I haven't quite decided yet. It will probably depend on the quality of the other New 52 books I sample this month. If I end up adding a lot of them to my pull list, for budgetary reasons, I might drop this one. Especially considering the extra dollar on the price tag.

Verdict: Good, but somewhat underwhelming.

Animal Man #1
Written by Jeff Lemire; art by Travel Foreman and Dan Green

Prepare to have your mind blown.

Jeff Lemire's mainstream super-hero work at DC has been a little hit-and-miss for me. There were a lot of good ideas in his Superman run (and it looked like he was building up to something that could have really paid off with the subplot involving Psionic Lad, which was unfortunately cut short by the arrival of the New 52), but the execution never quite gelled. The pacing was awkward (in part because of the Doomsday crossover hijack, maybe) and I kind of got the impression that he was phoning it in.

With this first issue of Animal Man, I feel like I finally recognize the work of the man responsible for what is currently my favourite ongoing series, Vertigo's Sweet Tooth. The writing on this issue flows perfectly. There's not an awkward beat. The dialogue feels natural. The characters immediately come across as real people. It's obvious that Lemire not only has a good grasp of the characters but also is excited about the story he's going to tell.

And the art. Holy shit, where the hell did this Travel Foreman dude come from? I love his style and it's exactly the kind of visually stunning work that Jeff Lemire's storytelling requires. These two are a match made in heaven and I hope the book continues with this creative team for a while.

Verdict: The best New 52 book so far. Add it to your pull list right now!

Batgirl #1
Written by Gail Simone; art by Ardian Syaf and Vincente Cifuentes

If you read this blog on a semi-regular basis or follow my rants on Twitter, you know that I've been a very vocal critic of what DC decided to do with this book. As a fan of both Bryan Q. Miller's excellent take on Stephanie-Brown-as-Batgirl AND the well-established status quo of Barbara-Gordon-as-Oracle, this felt like getting stabbed in the heart... twice!

I've said what I had to say about all that. I've said it loud and I've repeated it a million times. And all those issues I've brought up before are still valid. To the point where I had made up my mind that no matter how great Gail Simone's new series turned out to be, I would not buy it and I would not read it. I felt bad about it, because I love Gail Simone's writing and I know how excited she is about this book. But I just didn't think I could do it. I didn't want to send the message to DC that I was supporting this move with my money.

As it turns out, I ended up throwing all those convictions out the window when someone asked me to participate in a podcast to review this book (among others) (and more on that later, by the way). I was happy to use that as an excuse to justify my purchase. And I'm glad that I did, because as it turns out, this is a fantastic first issue. Gail Simone's writing is pitch-perfect and I'm convinced that there is not another person alive on this planet that could have pulled this off and done the impossible: get me onboard with this move. I'm serious.

I don't want to say anything more because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. But this is a good book and I'm looking forward to the next issue. Ardian Syaf's art is very nice, too, and I have my fingers crossed that he will stay on the book at least for a full story arc. (I will not put up with unsolicited fill-in artists in DC books anymore. I've had enough.)

Verdict: Shed a tear for Oracle, then give this a try. You won't regret it.

Stormwatch #1
Written by Paul Cornell; art by Miguel Sepulveda

This was strangely disappointing. I read through the whole thing not really caring about any of it, up to the very last moment when Midnighter shows up and I got a bit of a chill at the thought of the lover story that was about to begin between him and Apollo.

In a way, I'm kind of annoyed, because that just might be enough to get me to continue buying this book, even if I'm not all that excited by any of the other characters or the premise. I can't say I'm a huge fan of Miguel Sepulveda's art either.

I don't know. Will this gay love story even pay off ultimately? I think it's worth sticking around for a few more issues to find out. Plus, Paul Cornell is usually a pretty funny writer and there were little hints of his trademark style in the dialogue. ("--and certainly the horniest!") That's an added plus.

Verdict: Meh. But I'll keep reading I want Midnighter and Apollo to have sex.

Swamp Thing #1
Written by Scott Snyder; art by Yanick Paquette

Yeah, this was pretty much everything I expected (and wanted) it to be: creepy, well written and beautifully drawn. I believe this is the best work I've ever seen by Yanick Paquette. (Although I noticed how ugly Superman's padded costume is when I saw his rendition of it. What an awful, awful design. Please do not let Jim Lee design any more costumes, ever again. Urgh!)

When I found out that Alec Holland was coming back to life at the end of Brightest Day (which I wasn't reading - I found out on the internet), I was extremely skeptical of this new direction. It just seemed like such a departure from some of the coolest aspects of Alan Moore's run (Swampy's struggle with whether or not he was once human, etc.). It wasn't until I heard Scott Snyder talk about this in an interview, about how it was his idea to begin with and how it was specifically a set-up for what he was planning to do in this series, that I got onboard with it.

With this first issue, I still don't know exactly where it's going to go, but I'm definitely intrigued and excited to find out.

Verdict: Excellent. Along with Animal Man, this is the other must-buy of the week.

In which I ramble on and on and mention some DC books I might buy

So today is the day that DCU implodes and the New DCU aka DCnUaka New 52 takes arrives on the shelves of comic book stores to take its place.

How do I feel about this?

As you may have noticed, I haven't been updating this blog much lately. I also haven't been keeping up with comics news as much as I usually do. (I keep falling behind on my RSS reader and having to mark hundreds of posts as read without so much as glancing at them when I get overwhelmed.) I've also fallen behind on my reading of actual comic books, although I keep buying them, which is a little worrisome a I watch my to-read pile climb higher and higher on my desk toward the ceiling.

Have I completely lost interest in comics?

No, of course not. Like all of you, I'm sure, I have other things in my life besides comics. And sometimes those things tend to take over and demand more attention, and comics become less important. I think that's what's happening now. Because I still love some of the stuff I've been reading.

But what about the DCnU?

To be honest, it's been kind of a crazy stupid emotional roller-coaster ride for me, to an extent that I find almost embarrassing. I know, it's just comics, right? I don't know why I get so worked up over some of this stuff. But I read interviews and reports from comic cons and opinion pieces and really bad PR from DC and I think it's just overwhelming. The whole thing sounds like such a terrible mess, and so many of the decisions just sound like such terrible ideas.

Meanwhile, I look at blogs like this one, where artists have been submitting their own alternate takes on DC characters and what they'd do with them given the opportunity, and it's a little hard not to bang your head against the desk. There's so much creativity, so much diversity of styles and ideas, such a willingness to explore what these characters could be. I would give at least half the books on that blog a try, whereas there's only a small handful of actual books from DC that appeal to me in any way. It just makes me wish that DC wasn't so uptight about maintaining a consistent look and feel across the line. I wish they were a little bit more willing to take risks. I wish they were actually seeking out a different audience, expanding beyond the current demographic and giving young, creative, talented people free reign to play with their characters and come up with new and exciting comic books.

I don't really see the DCnU as doing that. For the most part, it's the same people doing more or less the same thing they were doing before. I'm not saying there's no creativity in the New 52. Obviously some creators (maybe most? maybe all?) are very excited about their work and I'm sure there will be some good and some bad and some just kind of average comics to come out of it. But I don't see it as being focused on the future or a younger readership or a more diverse approach to superhero comics. There's a very 1990s retro feel to a lot of the art (and the 1990s are the worst possible decade for anyone to get nostalgic about) and for all the big superficial changes it just feels like more of the same.

BUT...

On the other hand, I can't help but get excited about some of the books. I listened to the amazing, amazing interview with Scott Snider on the Three Chicks podcast and, oh, my God, did he ever sell me on his books. All of them! I was already planning to buy the new Swamp Thing (1) but had decided to take a break from the whole Bat family for a variety of reasons. But when I heard Snyder talk about what he has in mind for the Batman (2) book, wow. Sold! 100% sold.

I've also been sold on the Brian Azzarello/Cliff Chiang Wonder Woman (3). I've always been a fan of Chiang's art, but when I started seeing some of the preview art from the first isues I just started drooling. Brian Azzarello calls this a "horror book," which, I don't know, is totally not what I would have expected from Wonder Woman. I still think it could go either way in terms of storytelling, but I'm curious enough to check it out.

I am also sold on Jeff Lemire's Animal Man (4) (though not so much on his Frankenstein) and very tempted by Paul Cornell's books, both Stormwatch (5) and Demon Knights (6).

And Batwoman (7) goes without saying.

There have also been some books announced beyond September that I think are very promising. Marcus To drawing a Huntress (8) mini-series? James Robinson writing a Shade (8) mini-series (with Jill Thompson doing one issue)? Nicola Scott drawing JSA (9)? Dustin Nguyen on a secret yet-to-be-announced Batman project? All of these sound very promising and I will definitely be considering them for my pull list.

So it's not all bleak. There are books I'm excited about, and in the end my DC pull list might not be as dramatically reduced as I had expected it to be. If you've been keeping track (or looking at the convenient numbers in brackets after each title) that's as much as 9 books I might end up buying each month. And there's at least a handful of others that I'll at least be tempted to browse through on the shelves.

And then there's Batgirl.

I can't decide what to do about Batgirl. I'm still devastated that Bryan Q. Miller's take on the Stephanie Brown version of the character is gone. That book had such a unique voice. It's really sad. And then, even worse than that, is the whole undoing of Babs as Oracle thing, which has already been talked about ad nauseam and which I won't get into again.

The Batgirl situation (combined with a few other concerns) were enough to at one point make me want to stop buying DC comics entirely. Now that I've learned more about the books that are coming out, Ive softened up a bit, but part of me still really wants to take a stand and refuse to buy Batgirl. I don't want to support that change with my money, and as much as I'm dying to know what Gail Simone's take on the whole thing will be, I feel like buying this book would be a compromise that I'm not willing to make.

Sometimes I pick the stupidest things to have convictions about. Some people are calling for a Marvel boycott because of the way they treated Jack Kirby and his family. Surely that's a more noble cause than what DC is doing to a fictional character. But I'm not really in this to be noble, I guess. I'm also not calling my refusal to buy Batgirl a "boycott." I just don't want to be part of it. Even though I think that Gail Simone will probably write a very, very good book and I wish I could support her.

Will I crack and buy it anyway? Will I read it in trade paperback? Digital comics? I don't know. I reserve the right to change my mind about it. But for now, this is where I stand.

And now, excuse me, I have to go back to reading Game of Thrones.

Is It Wednesday Yet?

Last week's awful Flashpoint issue, which I didn't even have the strength to review, combined with the sheer idiocy of the reveal at the end of issue #2 of Knight of Vengeance, convinced me to stop buying anything that had the word "Flashpoint" printed on the cover. Even though I was semi-enjoying at least a few of those mini-series and was vaguely curious about where the whole thing would lead and how it would flow into the New 52 in September, I finally realized that there's a reason so many people hate these comic book events. They suck!

And yet in spite of having dropped Booster Gold and that Frankenstein tie-in, I still end up with a gigantic list this week. (See below.) Going over-budget again.

Fill-in artists and unsolicited creative team changes on DC books

Yesterday I got into a bit of an argument with Gail Simone on Twitter after I made a cynical remark about not having faith in DC's ability to hold stable creative teams on the new books for more than a couple of issues. I understand why she was upset about it and how, from her perspective, it might seem like all I do is complain, but honestly I feel like my cynicism over this is 100% justified, given DC's recent track record with this issue and given that it's only going to get worse, based on DC's insistence that books will now ship on schedule and that artists will be replaced if they can't deliver the books on time. It's not like I'm making any of this up. It's coming straight from the horse's mouth. I think when a publisher who already has a rampant problem with art consistency on their books announced that they are going to have even more fill-in artists after a big line-wide relaunch, there's ample reason for me to say: "Fuck this. I'm not spending any money on these books until they come out in collections."

More than any other factor, it's the issue of inconsistent art that has convinced me to stop buying monthly books from DC in September. And let's be clear: I have no problem with occasional fill-in artists on a series. I understand that doing a monthly book must be incredibly demanding for a single artist, especially given the level of detail and craft that's expected of modern comic book artists. But there's a way to plan it so that the fill-in art feels organic to the story, rather than a last-minute patch-up job. A perfect example of this is Scott Snyder's current Detective Comics run, which has been alternating between art by Jock and Francesco Francavilla, both of whom are immensely talented artists who bring their own style and unique contribution to the story. This is the kind of model that I would like to see more books at DC adopt, but unfortunately there is no indication that the editors are learning anything from the critical success of this book.

Another book that I think manages to handle the art teams fairly well is Amazing Spider-Man. The art team is constantly shifting, but it doesn't bother me that much because I don't feel like I'm being lied to by the solicitations. The book ships twice a month, so it would pretty much be impossible for an artist to draw every issue for an extended period of time anyway, so the rotating artists are part of the plan. Some of them I like more than others, but the important thing is there are no nasty surprises when I pick up a book expecting Artist-so-and-so-who-was-listed-in-the-solicitation and instead find a name on the cover that I've never even seen before. If Marvel editors can get their shit together on a book that ships twice a month, why can't editors at DC get it right on a monthly book like Birds of Prey?

So that was the root of my pseudo-argument with Gail Simone yesterday, though I'm not sure I really managed to get any of my points across very clearly. I'm disappointed that she thinks I'm just being silly and cynical, but I guess part of that comes from our different perspective on the issue. When I brought up Jesus Saiz, who was announced as the new regular artist in BOP to much fanfare and who only worked on a single issue before a fill-in artist was brought it, she justified it by saying that editors wanted him to get a head start on the September books instead, as if that was supposed to make it better. In fact, it makes it worse! Because it proves that the inconsistent art teams on BOP weren't the result of unforeseen accidents or incompetence on the part of the artists, but poor planning by the editors. They decided to pull their brand new "regular" artist off the book after a single issue, even though he was listed in the solicitations as doing the next issue, even though the previous 12 issues of the series had already suffered tremendously from this revolving door approach to art. I rest my case.

Comics posi-vibes on Twitter!

On the other hand, I hate being a cynic. It's not like I want to be right about that stuff. I want the DC relaunch to be successful. I want DC to finally get it right. I want to be proven wrong about a lot of the concerns I have about what's going to happen to those books in September and beyond.

I think as a self-appointed comic book blogger, it's easy to slip into the habit of spending more time and energy pointing out the things that are wrong (or that we perceive as wrong) than talking about the things we feel good about.

And there are plenty of comics I'm very excited about. I wouldn't have 13 books on my pull list this week if I wasn't super-excited about the state of comics! So to tip the balance back in a positive direction, I've taken it upon myself to focus on the positive for the rest of the week. I'm going to be using the tag #comicsposivibes to stuff I read and enjoy and stuff I'm looking forward to.

I don't think I have enough followers to get that topic trending, but feel free to use the tag and spread the love.

New comics this week!

• Batgirl #23 (DC)
• Detective Comics #879 (DC)
• Teen Titans #97 (DC)
• American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #2 (of 5) (Vertigo)
• Northlanders #42 (Vertigo)
• Hellboy: The Fury #2 (of 3) (Dark Horse)
• Godzilla: Gangsters & Goliaths #2 (of 5) (IDW)
• Gladstone's School for World Conquerors #3 (Image)
• Red Wing #1 (of 6) (Image)
• Amazing Spider-Man #665 (Marvel)
• FF #6 (Marvel)
• Journey into Mystery #652 (Marvel)
• Loose Ends #1 (of 4) (12 Gauge)

I want to point out that there's a new epic story arc starting in Northlanders. It's going to be the final story, with the book concluding at issue #50. Like all stories in Northlanders, it's completely standalone, so you even if you've never picked up an issue before, you can jump right in. I highly recommend that you do, because it's one of the best titles at Vertigo - or any publisher, as far as I'm concerned.

Red Wing is a new mini-series by Jonathan Hickman.

Loose Ends is something that was completely off my radar until I heard Kelly Thompson's enthusiastic endorsement on this week's Three Chicks Review Comics podcast. I'm not sure they'll have it at my store, but if so I'll probably pick up a copy.

Birds of Prey #13 or, How DC is convincing me to stop buying their monthly books

Birds of Prey #13
Gail Simone (w); Diego Olmos (a); DC

I've bitched and bitched and bitched about the inconsistent art in this series. And when Jesus Saiz, who did the art on the last issue, was announced as the new regular artist, everyone was ecstatic, but I couldn't help but be skeptical about it. I felt like a jerk at the time for raining on everyone's parade, but I just had to ask: "How many issues before we get an unsolicited fill-in artist?" Turns out the answer was: one. One single lousy  issue of 20 pages and the new "regular" artist is already off the book. Couldn't even make it to the end of a two-issue story arc.

Since this is Gail Simone's last issue on the book (the last two issues before the DCU implodes in September will be by a fill-in creative team) we can pretty much consider this the conclusion of this volume. So let's take a look back at the issues that have come out over the past year or so. For each issue, I'm going to list the solicited art team, followed by the actual art team that ended up working on the book.

1. Ed Benes // same
2. Ed Benes, Adriana Melo, Mariah Benes // same
3. Ed Benes // Ed Benes, Adriana Melo, Mariah Benes
4. Ed Benes, Adriana Melo, Mariah Benes // Ed Benes, Adriana Benes, J.P. Mayer
5. Alvin Lee // Alvin Lee, Adriana melo, Jack Purcell, J.P. Mayer
6. Alvin Lee // Alvin Lee, Adriana melo, Jack Purcell, J.P. Mayer
7. Ardian Syaf, Vincente Cifuentes // same
8. Ardian Syaf, Vincente Cifuentes // Guillem March
9. Ardian Syaf, Vincente Cifuentes // Inaki Miranda
10. Inaki Miranda // same
11. Pere Perez // same
12. Jesus Saiz // same
13. Jesus Saiz // Diego Olmos

That's a total of 10 different art teams in only 13 issues. Seven out of 13 issues shipped with a creative team that was different from the solicited one. And five issues included multiple pencillers, meaning different art styles within a single issue.

This is a downright shameful track record. And for me, this completely destroyed any enjoyment I might have gotten out of Gail Simone's remarkable efforts to tell a fucking story.

What happened?! I know that Ed Benes had some health problems around the time that this series started and that's what prevented him from staying on the book. But that doesn't explain what followed. Obviously we can't blame anyone specifically for this because we don't know what happened and probably never will. But in my eyes, this is totally unacceptable.

When I see that Ardian Syaf and Vincente Cifuentes are the announced art team on Batgirl in September, I don't know how anybody can look at those solicits and take them seriously for one minute. Does anybody really believe that these artists are going to stay on the book long enough to complete the first story arc? You'd have to be incredibly naive to think so.

When I picked up this last issue, #13, of which this rant is supposed to be a review, I didn't notice the names on the cover, so when I sat down to read I immediately realized something was off with the art. When I got to the credit page and saw the name, I got so angry I almost threw the comic right in the garbage can. I had to wait another day before I was calm enough to finish reading it.

And what did I think of it? It's fucking mediocre is what I thought. Weak sauce. This is a terrible conclusion to a 13-issue run that couldn't have gone worse if it had been intentionally sabotaged by the editors. Gail Simone does her best and her writing is as sharp as always, but this is ultimately unsatisfying. I couldn't care less about the villain in this two-issue arc. As a middle of the series filler arc, this would have been great. Nice to see The Question guest starring and interacting with Huntress. It's fun. There's a good chance Simone was building to something bigger with this and intended to revisit this plot and tie up loose ends at a later date. But we'll never get that.

As a conclusion? Doesn't work for me. And the schizophrenic art changes between (and sometimes within) issues that have plagued this series have been so distracting that I kind of dropped out of it emotionally at least six issues ago.

These characters deserved a better conclusion. Gail Simone deserved better. And so did her readers.

One-paragraph reviews: Spider-Man, Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Journey into Mystery

Now in alphabetical order! Some of these may be a bit spoilery. Approach with caution.

Amazing Spider-Man #660
Written by Dan Slott and Fred Van Lente; art by Mike McKone and Stefano Caselli; Marvel

Still enjoying this book. Fun adventure with the FF and their awesome new costumes. Nice art. Good dialogue. But, man, that thing with Peter's girlfriend last issue was a low blow. Seriously, I was starting to warm up to the character and I would have sympathized with her when she found out Peter was lying to her if she hadn't reacted in such a stupid fucking way. Jumping to conclusions, getting drunk with her girlfriends and getting an ugly tattoo? Seriously? And the fact that last issue clearly misdirected readers by giving the impression that she was going to get a Green Goblin tattoo only to reveal in this issue that she didn't annoys me. That's not good writing. That's a cheap trick anybody can pull off. Besides, her character loses points just for having considered it, regardless of the fact that she didn't go through with it. And what's with Peter Parker finding a tattoo of Spider-Man sexy? Isn't that kind of narcissistic? I'm disappointed because I think Dan Slott's been doing an awesome job on this book since the Big Time story started, and I'm pretty excited about where he's going with this Spider Island thing. But in just a couple of issues, he's managed to completely turn me off of the only really prominent female supporting character in the book. Now he has a real uphill battle if he wants to make the character appealing to me again. (PS: I haven't read the back-up story yet.)

OKAY

---

Batgirl #21
Written by Bryan Q. Miller; art by... who knows?; DC

This was another solid script by Bryan Q. Miller. I’ll confess that I don’t feel too invested in this “Lesson” story arc, but it may be because I missed the first couple of issues. I tend to enjoy Stephanie Brown the most when she’s teaming up with unlikely partners like Damian or Klarion. Proxy is a character I wasn’t familiar with until I started reading this a few months ago, so it’s a bit hard for me to care about her story at this point. It does look like things are about to get interesting, though, with a trip to Nanda Parbat. The art is fine, whoever’s responsible for it. I don’t know who drew this issue, because the cover says it’s Pere Perez, but the inside says Dustin Nguyen. I could compare the art style to previous issues and make an educated guess, but why bother? This is the second time the info on the cover of Batgirl contradicts the credits inside. Get some proofreaders, DC!

GOOD

---

Birds of Prey #12
Written by Gail Simone; art by Jesus Saiz; DC

This was a very good issue, maybe the best one since the relaunch. And I think it’s due in equal parts to Jesus Saiz’s super-clean art and Gail Simone’s super-tight script. However, I have one beef with this series I want to address. Last month, I read Kelly Thompson’s review of Birds of Prey #11 in which she said she wished “Simone would slow down and enjoy these characters and let them breathe,” and I realized this was exactly what’s been bothering me with this series (aside from inconsistent - and sometimes plain awful - art). The pacing in the first ten issues was frenetic, with the characters constantly in action. Last issue slowed down a bit and this one also feels more relaxed, but it still starts in media res, and I find myself hoping for a bit of a pause in the action, a scene where the birds get to actually be in the same room together and just relax before they go on their next mission. Obviously, Gail Simone has a knack for inserting personal moments in the middle of the action, but when all those personal moments happen on the field, it kind of gives the impression that these characters have no life outside of the team. Even the way that Barbara is multi-tasking while she’s leading the team from headquarters, lifting weights while she’s giving out instructions, it makes me think she must be doing this 24 hours a day and it’s kind of exhausting. This is more a problem with the overall series than it is with this particular issue.

GOOD

---

Journey into Mystery #623
Written by Kieron Gillen; art by Doug Braithwaite; Marvel

I was disappointed at first when I found out that Matt Fraction's run on Thor would be cut short, but two issues into the re-titled book, I have absolutely no regrets. I'm completely sold on it. I thought the return of Loki as a child in Fraction's arc was handled extremely poorly. I wasn't at all convinced by Thor's motivations for bringing him back so soon and I didn't really understand how he had the power to do so anyway. But evidently this was all done to set things up for Kieron Gillen's story, in which Loki is now the protagonist, and no matter how awkward that transition was, I absolutely love what's going on with the character now. Art and script are both great and I can't wait to see where it's all headed. My only concern is that, as a Fear Itself tie-in, the story might might not be as self-contained as I would like it to be. So far that hasn't been a problem, but we'll see whether that continues to be the case.

AWESOME

Irrelevant Thoughts

I've been receiving some hate mail from someone who turned out to be a somewhat well known troll who goes around message boards and gets angry at people he disagrees with. The funny thing is that he doesn't join the boards or engage in discussion on them. Instead, he copies the comments that angered him and sends them to the poster by e-mail, adding a few petty and juvenile remarks at the bottom.
What triggered this reaction from him in my case were some comments I posted on Gail Simone's message board:

Fans keep asking why [Cassandra Cain] isn't part of the Bat family anymore, and what this brief appearance [in Red Robin] established was that she exists somewhere out there but for now isn't interested in coming back. In other words, an in-story excuse for justifying not putting her in the books. Before that, it just seemed like every editor and writer at DC had forgotten she existed, but now they can point to that scene and say, no, no, she's not here because she doesn't want to be here. But the end result is the same. She's not in the books.

To this, dude responded that I was mixing up the word "fans" with "trolls." When I didn't immediately respond to his e-mail, he sent a second one, again quoting the above comment and adding, this time, that I was mixing up the word "fans" with "whiny fan boys." And then a few hours later, he sent me the same message again.

I won't mention him by name here, but if you're curious, here are a couple of examples of him doing the same thing to other people. I blocked him. End of story, I hope.

+

I just read Wolverine and Jubilee #2 and Phil Noto's art makes me swoon. It's so beautiful. I just want to look at it forever and lose myself in his panels. I was always a fan of his covers, but this mini-series is the first I've seen of his interior art and I want more.

This isn't quite a review. More like a gushing moment of pure admiration.

+

I have a lot of books I want to review over the coming weeks in addition to my usual coverage of monthly super-hero floppies. So many, in fact, that I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now. And tonight I should be working on that Tim Drake post, but instead I'm just going to sit back read some comics. 'Cause I'm tired, and I spent all day subtitling some Family Guy episodes. (Which is more intellectually exhausting than you can imagine.)

+

Here's a drawing that I like:

It's Batman wearing legwarmers. Gail Simone said on Twitter than she wanted to see this and Mike Donohue obliged. These are the kinds of drawing I would make all the time if I could draw.

One-paragraph reviews: Batgirl, Batman and Robin, Birds of Prey

Batgirl #18
Written by Bryan Q. Miller; art by Dustin Nguyen with Derek Fridolfs; DC

Klarion the Witch-Boy is such an adorable character that even with average writing and art, this issue would've probably been worth reading. As it turns out, though, this is much better than average. Dustin Nguyen alternates between two different art styles - painted watercolours and more traditional pencils (inked by Derek Fridolfs). The two styles are very different and clash with each other, but this is actually used to great effect. Aside from the first and last page, which are painted and very stylized, the rule seems to be that the magical elements are in watercolour and the Gotham elements are in pencil and ink. So when Batgirl gets trapped in Klarion's magic globe, she's painted, but everything outside the globe is drawn. Later, in a sequence where they travel to Limbo town, the painted look takes over the entire page. The only thing that I thought didn't work with the painted style was the obviously digitized lettering that seems to float on top of the image, rather than blend in. The sound effects were particularly distracting. This is a minor point, though. On the writing side, Bryan Q. Miller as usual inserts a lot of humour and quirk into his script. It's like Stephanie Brown's personality is so overwhelming that it can't be contained within her and it infects the tone of the entire book. I like it.

GOOD

Batman and Robin #20
Written by Peter J. Tomasi; art by Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray; DC

I'm not 100% convinced that this new creative team will hold my interest for very long, but it's off to a strong start. The first half of the issue was especially good, opening with a light-hearted moment between Bruce, Alfred and the boys, and then moving on to Dick and Damian working together. Tomasi seems to have a pretty good grip on the characters, although I wasn't quite convinced by the scene where Gordon twists Robin's arm into submission. I appreciate the point Tomasi was trying to make - that Damian's bullshit isn't going to be tolerated - but I just think Damian being the trained assassin that he is would have been able to get out of that lock without any problem. The second half of the issue was mostly just a single chase/fight scene, which, in spite of Gleason's prowess and the splashiness of his art, was a little confusing and difficult to follow at times. I'm still not sure I fully understand what the hell happened in those last three pages, which may or may not have been intentional. Overall, I enjoyed it, and I'm going to finish the tree-issue arc before I decide whether to keep this on my pull list or not.

GOOD

(I should point out, though, that Cassandra fans are understandably pissed off at the way DC keeps ignoring her and rubbing it in. Bruce's line about being with "the whole family" certainly felt like adding salt to the wound.)

Birds of Prey #9
Written by Gail Simone; art by Inaki Miranda; DC

For all I know, this issue may have started with a good script, but, man, the art really doesn't do it justice. What I've come to realize since the unfortunate relaunch of Birds of Prey is that Gail Simone's writing is very kinetic. Things are always in motion. There is great dialogue and character development and deeply emotional scenes, but it all happens in the midst of near-constant chaos and action and people fighting. Which is great! It's perfect for the super-hero comic book genre and it's part of what makes Gail Simone's writing so unique. The downside, however, is that this type of writing requires an artist who can do the material justice. Otherwise, it just seems like a big mess. Since the second issue of this series, it's been just one fill-in artist after another, and this latest one is the most mediocre so far. I used to complain about Ed Benes' art, because I was never of fan of the endless crotch shots and camel toes, but in retrospect, I realize that at least was able to tell a story effectively. We're near the end of what should be a really important arc, and it really falls flat because it's just not getting the art it deserves.

I'm going to rate this one OKAY, although it would be a DROP if it weren't for the fact that I know there are better artists taking over in a couple of issues. If you're not currently reading this, I strongly suggest you wait until issue #11 or #12 before picking it up.

Gail Simone on the casting of Tom Hardy as Bane in the next Batman movie

By now, everyone should have heard the news that Tom Hardy has been cast to play Bane, the villain in Christopher Nolan's sequel to The Dark Knight. People who aren't currently reading comics probably know Bane mostly as the villain in the Knightfall story in Batman comics, where he famously broke Batman's back. But these days his most role is as one of the members of the Secret Six, under Gail Simone's pen. Understandably, therefore, a lot of people have been asking her for her opinion on the news. Here's what she had to say in a recent post on her message board:

First, I'm pretty much pop culture ignorant. I don't know much about the actor in question.

And second, I'm conflicted. Here's why.

I don't know Tom Hardy, I don't know much about him. I'm told he was in Inception and Star Trek, but I don't recognize him or remember him in those films. What I DID see him in, is Branson.

And he was FANTASTIC in that. He had many qualities that would fit Bane perfectly. The calm intelligence, the ferocious rage and calculated violence, and of course, his amazing body, all those would make him perfect for being cast as Bane. Honestly, I think for those reasons, he would likely do a spectacular job as the character, particularly in light of some upcoming developments coming up in the book. I think he may be an inspired choice for those reasons, and his bravery as an actor could be the fuel that makes it happen.

However, Bane is a Latino in the comics. More than that, his origin is VERY SPECIFICALLY about a very poor, very brutal South American prison, and being born into that rotten place. I never think of him as a white guy.

Bane isn't the kind of person to think much about his national heritage. It wouldn't mean anything to him. He doesn't talk about it. He doesn't have any interest in it. There's nothing particularly Latin about him, except his origin and the mask, perhaps.

But I think there IS a (probably unintentional) power to him being Latin, particularly coming from poverty. The fact that this man is so much the OPPOSITE of privileged, wealthy Bruce Wayne, son of successful, loving parents, and that he comes from a brutal dirt third-world prison, I think that is always in the back of the heads of the readers, and I think it's powerful. In a big way, Bane is the underdog, in a way unlike any of the other bat-villains. I think that message, that socio-economic revolution is out there, is part of what makes Bane different, and even a little bit threatening to the status quo.

I don't think you get that same friction if Bane is an educated English guy. Where's that class tension? It evaporates.

There are other issues, of course...as we've seen time and again, there's a tendency to whitewash characters of color when taking them from other media to film, and a real history of de-ethnicizing characters in comics themselves. I say again, I don't think being Latin means anything in particular to BANE, but it does mean something a little bit powerful to his CHARACTER.

So, I'm conflicted. I think Hardy is a tremendous actor, and may bring a grace and terror to the character that really makes him sing. In that way, he may be the best possible choice. But I do think Bane is South American, and should be portrayed that way.

I'm not much help on this one, I guess.

What follows is an 18-page discussion, with a lot of people missing the point and derailing the thread into annoying nitpicking and jumping to ridiculous conclusions. I don't particularly recommend reading through the whole thing, but feel free to do so.

As for my own take on the issue, I'm just going to repeat what I said on page 18 (which isn't so much a response to Gail Simone as a response to the discussion that followed):

To me, casting actors that have the same (or at least similar) ethnic background as the characters they play is simply a matter of respect and credibility. I don't buy the argument that there is a "best actor for the role" and if they happen to be of a different race, then they should get the role anyway. Who's the "best actor" is so subjective it becomes meaningless.

I think there are two separate issues that people in this thread are confusing, or trying to treat as a single issue, which hurts the discussion.

The first issue has to do with the link between the actor and the character, and whether they are (or should be) of the same race. This can be applied to every role in every movie ever made.

The second issue only concerns movies that are adapted from some other source material (whether a comic book, a novel, or a previous film). It concerns the link between the character in the source material and the character in the film adaptation, and whether they are (or should be) of the same race.

These are two completely separate issues.

If we take the case of Tom Hardy playing Bane, then, and we take for granted that (a) the character of Bane in the comics is Latino, and (b) Tom Hardy is not Latino, then there are two different ways this could play out:

1. The makers of the next Batman movie have decided to change the ethnicity of the character of Bane. The character is Latino in the comics, but the character in the film won't be. This is a case of whitewashing the character. It doesn't really have anything to do with the casting - it's a writing decision - but it's of course reflected in the casting choice.

2. The makers of the next Batman movie have decided to keep the character's ethnicity as Latino, but they decided to cast a white actor to play the role. This is a case of... mmm, I don't know exactly what to call it. But clearly, it's not the same thing as the above case.

For now, we don't know which of these two scenarios is the correct one. But if we're going to comment on the decision to cast Tom Hardy as Bane, we have to keep these two possibilities in mind and recognize that they are different. Otherwise, the discussion gets incredibly muddled and confusing.

Personally, I feel that both of these possibilities are rather unfortunate. I would have preferred for them to keep the character Latino and to cast a Latino actor to play him. But that didn't happen and it's disappointing. I'm not calling for a boycott. I'm not saying Nolan is a racist. I'm not saying the movie will suck. And I'm not even saying Tom Hardy won't play a great and compelling Bane. I'm just disappointed, that's all. I think people have a right to be disappointed.

I'm going to say that I will be more disappointed if it turns out to be #1 than if it turns out to be #2. Because I think the character loses something special if you take away his ethnic background. And because, as many people have pointed out, a lot of people from Latin American countries do have pale skin, blond hair and blue eyes, I think they can more or less get away with it as a realistic portrayal of the character. That doesn't make it the ideal casting choice, in my mind, (and it doesn't mean that this isn't part of a larger trend or "problem") but it's probably one that I can live with.

Reviews: Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Red Robin

She's smiling, because her book is awesome!

Batgirl #17
Written by Bryan Q. Miller; art by Pere Perez; DC

I'm so glad I picked this up. This was the most fun I've had reading a comic book in a while. I laughed out loud in several places, and my heart broke in at least one. The art is perfect. Perez draws one of my favourite Damians. Makes me wish he was the artist on Batman and Robin. This is the first issue of Batgirl I ever bought, but I think I'm adding it to my pull list.

Red Robin #19
Written by Fabian Nicieza; art by Marcus To and Ray McCarthy; DC

I don't know if I don't understand what's going on in this book because I don't care about it, or if I don't care about this book because I don't understand what's going on in it. This business with the ünternet and some mobster in Russia and what the hell any of this has to do with Tim Drake and his "hit list" and how Darkseid fits into all this? I'm not really following it. And for some reason Tim Drake, who up until very recently was my favourite character, just gets on my nerves now. I guess this means I should stop buying this book. Why can't I bring myself to do that?

Well, because (a) Marcus To's art is great, and (b) I keep hoping that the story is going to get back on track. But more and more I think that second reason is just wishful thinking, and I don't know how much longer that first reason can sustain my interest in this title. Although, man, there were a lot of awesome visual moments in this issue.

Marcus To's design for Tim Drake's alternate Red Robin costume in the ünternet is about a thousand times better than the ugly Alex Ross design he's stuck with in real life. I really wish they could just use that design all the time. I hate that bat cowl without the ears.

Birds of Prey #8
Written by Gail Simone; art by Guillem March; DC

What the hell is this?! The solicitation said Ardian Syaf was still drawing this. See, I was pissed off when I found out that the last issue of this arc would be by a different artist. But I thought, oh well, at least I get three issues with a good artist, so I might as well finish the arc. Had I known that Ardian Syaf was off the book this early, I might have been tempted to just give up on it right away.

Anyway. Gail Simone's script was all right, but the art in this issue is just awful. And now, awesome news, a new artist has been announced for BOP, starting with issue #12: Jesus Saiz! That's excellent news. It means there's a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. But there are three more issues between now and then. Three issues with art by random artists. (There's no point even looking at the solicitations, since they're not accurate.) And will Jesus Saiz actually stay on the book to complete even a single story arc? So far, no artist has.

It's just a shame. It's like this book has been sabotaged. Gail Simone says it was nobody's fault - just a string of bad luck. And she assures fans that Jesus Saiz signals the end of the revolving door artists. I hope it's true, but I'll believe it when I see it. (And the only reason I'm being cynical about this is because I believe Gail Simone and this book deserve a good, stable, reliable, consistent artist.)

Review: Birds of Prey #5

(This review was originally posted on September 20, at Population GO.)

BIRDS OF PREY #5 "Aftershock"
Written by Gail Simone; art by Alvin Lee, Adriana Melo, Jack Purcell and J.P. Mayer.

In a recent post at 4thletter!, David Brothers asked, “Why do people read Birds of Prey?” It’s a fair question. Since the book re-launched last spring, I’ve been reading it with a mixture of trepidation and frustration. 

For those not familiar with this title, the Birds of Prey team consists of core members Oracle, Huntress, Black Canary and Lady Blackhawk, now joined by the recently resurrected (in Brightest Day) Hawk and his partner, Dove. Immediately after regrouping as a team in the first issue, the Birds have been hit by a non-stop barrage of inter-related problems: a PR nightmare when Black Canary was publicly accused of murder, blackmail from former villains-turned-allies Savant and Creote, attacks from the Gotham police who now consider them outlaws, sneaky manipulation from the Penguin, and a deadly new villain known as White Canary. All these threats reached a climax at the end of the last arc. This issue picks up right where the last one left off, with some of the team members heading to Bangkok to deal with some unfinished business between the Black and White canaries. 

Gail Simone’s writing is sharp – she has a good handle on the characters and a great ear for dialogue. A lot of the plot threads in this story have been picked up from her run on the first volume of the title, and for those of us not familiar with all the back stories, the payoff sometimes feel a little slim, but it’s nothing a few quick Google searches can’t fix. 

The main source of frustration with this book has been the art. Opinions vary on whether Ed Benes is a talented artist or not. I’m inclined to side with those who defend his technical abilities. I think he’s quite capable of drawing a good-looking comic, but unfortunately he has the annoying habit of constantly drawing women in ridiculous poses that serve no purpose other than to emphasize their asses and crotches.

Don’t get me wrong – I understand that comics are all about good-looking people with idealized bodies in sexy outfits. I think sex appeal is part of why most people read comics, whether they are willing to admit it or not. But there’s a fine line between sex appeal and bad taste, and too often, unfortunately, Birds of Prey crosses that line.

Even apart from the excessive cheesecake, the art has suffered on this book since the re-launch. Due to some health problems, Ed Benes has been unable to complete any of the issues except the first one, which has led to some less-than-stellar art from fill-in artists rushing to complete the books. In a word, the art has been spotty at best, and this seems to be the consensus even among fans of the title; in the comments to David Brothers’ post mentioned earlier, most people agreed with his suggestion that fans enjoy Gail Simone’s script, while merely tolerating the art.

With issue #5, Ed Benes has been taken off the title completely and replaced by penciller Alvin Lee. Now I’m not familiar with this guy’s previous work, but I was disappointed to find that (a) he wasn’t able to complete the art on his first issue (Adriana Melo, who helped finish Benes issues, fills in here as well), and (b) the quality of the art has actually decreased significantly with this latest issue (most of the faces look worse than what you would expect from an average amateur fan artist on Deviant Art), and (c) the camel toes, low-angle crotch shots and asses pointing at the camera are as present as ever. Now I really have to question whether Ed Benes really was to blame for all that cheesecake. Are the new artists just continuing in the same tradition for the sake of consistency? Is this an editorial mandate? Or is Gail Simone including specific instructions for these kinds of shots in her scripts? Who knows? 

It’s a bit of a shame, because it gives the impression that DC doesn’t care about the art in this book. Maybe Gail Simone is a big enough name that doesn’t need a grade-A artist attached to sell the book. And in terms of the story, this really is good. I’m excited about where these various characters are headed, especially Creote and Savant, who it seems will now be working more closely with Oracle at the Birds’ headquarters. (Speaking of which, HQ has conveniently moved out of the Bat cave in anticipation for Bruce Wayne’s eminent return.) The first arc was a bit chaotic, but things are starting to fall into place. 

If the art improves over the next few issues, this title has the potential to become one of DC’s strongest. I have enough faith in Gail Simone to keep reading, knowing that on a story level it will probably pay off. For that reason, I recommend the book, in spite of the inconsistent art.

Review: Wonder Woman #600 (+ some closing thoughts on the other two anniversary isues)

WONDER WOMAN #600

So with all the media fanfare and blogosphere kerfuffle this past week about Wonder Woman's costume redesign and origins overhaul, I feel like there's nothing left for me to say about this anniversary issue that hasn't already been said a hundred times. But I'm going to try anyway.

"Valedictorian"
by Gail Simone and George Perez.

By far the highlight of the issue, the first story is a veritable tour-de-force. The sheer number of panels is enough to give you an idea of how jam-packed with awesome this story is: Excluding the opening splash page, I counted a total of 65 panels on 6 pages!

The story starts with an epic battle featuring about 20 female super-heroes against an army of cyber-sirens who have the power to turn men into slobbering idiots. The art is simply flabbergasting. Every page is bursting with detailed action. Amidst all this chaos, Simone manages to showcase several qualities that have made Wonder Woman an icon: she's a leader, a fierce warrior, and an inspiration to her peers, which is reflected in the different ways the other characters respond to her.

The story ends with a more intimate moment between Diana and Vanessa. Unfortunately, with my limited exposure to Wonder Woman stories up to now, I don't think that final scene resonated with me to the extent that it was supposed to, but for anyone familiar with the back story, I'm sure it packs a much stronger emotional punch.

"Fuzzy Logic"
by Amanda Conner.

The next story is a team-up with Power Girl and Batgirl. It's a lot lighter in tone, and features jokes about tentacle porn and several awesome shots of Power Girl's cat. I enjoyed it.

"Firepower"
by Louise Simonson and Eduardo Pansica.

Next is a team up with Superman against some guy called Nikos Aegeus, a "terrorist organization of one, driven by green, not ideology." I have no idea where this character came from, but he doesn't really make sense to me. I just don't get why someone powerful enough to steal lightning bolts from Zeus would then waste his power shooting airplanes out of the sky and asking the U.S. government for a hundred million dollars. Why does this guy need money?

I felt pretty indifferent about this story, but there's one thing about it that really surprised the hell out of me. Check it out:



A thought balloon! I spotted at least three of them! I thought those were extinct, at least from mainstream super-hero comics, as this somewhat recent piece by Joe McCulloch at Comic Comics pointed out.

I guess DC can make an exception for Louise Simonson, because she's old school.

The last two stories + extras
by Geoff Johns, Scott Kolins, JMS, Don Kramer, and a bunch of other people

The last two stories kind of bleed into one another, ushering in J. Michael Straczynski's re-imagining of the character and featuring Jim Lee's ugly-ass retro 1990s costume redesign. I don't really have anything to say except: thumbs down.

In addition to these five stories, there's a cool introduction by Linda Carter and a bunch of pin-ups by various artists, most of which are pretty cool and generally better than the collection of rejected covers thrown together for Batman #700. One pin-up stands out as a total head-scratcher. Apparently I'm the only person on the internet who has absolutely no clue what the hell is going on in this image by Guillem March:



Anyway...

A few closing words about the three big anniversary issues that DC released last month… In my opinion, all three were kind of underwhelming. I enjoyed each of them to various degrees, but they didn't seem all that special to me the way I would expect an anniversary issue to be.

Batman #700 was probably the most epic and "significant" as far as the story goes, in the sense that it not only stands on its own quite well, but also fits into Morrison's greater arc, which we are smack in the middle of right now. However, the thrown-together feel of the art was a disappointment, especially with Frank Quitely unable to finish his section and the jarring shift to another artist in the middle of it, ruining the whole one-artist-per-time-period thing they were going for. Could they not have given him more time to finish his part? It's not like they didn't see it coming.

In contrast, both Superman and Wonder Woman relied on shorter stories by different writers. Lots of cameos, some tying up of loose ends and some foreshadowing of new stories to come. On the surface, they seemed designed to appeal to anybody interested in the characters, from older fans to curious new readers. But the way they were used to launch new arcs by super-star writer JMS made them feel more like promotional material than celebrations of iconic characters.

I felt that the 5$ cover price wasn't really justified for either of them. Yeah, I get that there was a larger page count (either because of pinup galleries or actual story pages), but so what? Part of the celebration of such landmark issues should be to give a little something back to the fans who have supported the characters and their books for all these years. Would it have killed DC to throw us a bone without jacking up the price for it? I've already said this several times, but it bears repeating: You can't really call it "bonus" material if you're charging extra for it.

Review: Birds of Prey #2

BIRDS OF PREY #2
Written by Gail Simone; art by Ed Benes.

(Review contains spoilers.)

While I thought the first issue was a good start, I have very mixed feelings about this second issue. This is a very action-packed book, which, combined with Gail Simone's snappy dialogue, makes this a very exciting and fast-paced reading experience. I was totally sucked into it on my first read. I ate it all up, including the shocking scene where Creote shoots himself in the head live on video for Oracle.

It was only after I'd finished the issue and started thinking about what I had read that I had a few problems with it. As a lot of fans (on blogs and message boards) were quick to point out, the last thing DC needs at this point is for more minority characters to get killed. So what are we to make of gay character Creote's suicide? The only reason this didn't register immediately with me is that I have no attachment to this character. I didn't even know who he was until I read the first issue last month.

To be honest, I still don't know what to make of his death. I find it a bit distasteful, but I am inclined to give Gail Simone the benefit of the doubt and wait to see where she is going with this. I would like to think that the woman who first brought to light the women in refrigerators phenomenon wouldn't then turn around and "fridge" a gay character she created unless she had a damn good reason for doing so. Her immediate reaction to fan outrage online was that all is not as it seems and that fans should wait to see how this plays out. But unless this means that the character is not actually dead, I don't really know what kind of aftermath would justify this move.

(I don't have the stomach to read all the flame wars about this on message boards. Online discussions drive me crazy, especially when they deal with hot topics like race or sexual orientation. I tried contacting Gail Simone directly to see if she would be interested in answering a few questions by e-mail. I thought that we would have a better discussion away from all the trolls and "fanboys," but she hasn't returned any of my messages. She probably received a lot of mail about this, so I'm sure mine was just lost in the sea of insults/complaints.)

In any case, I've decided to try not to analyse this too much for the time being and wait until at least the next issue before forming an opinion. The bottom line is I enjoyed the story and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next, which means that Simone must be doing something right.

On the art side, however, I can't say I'm too impressed with this book. There are two problems with the art in this issue. First, due to some unexpected health problems, Ed Benes was unable to complete the art, so they had to get Adriana Melo as a fill-in artist. I don't know who did what exactly, but the overall result feels very rushed and unpolished. Second, there's a limit to how many camel toes and wedgies I can look at without starting to feel a bit grossed out. It's not even that I'm a prude or overly concerned with treating female characters like objects to be gawked at – it's just that those outfits look so damn uncomfortable, I don't know how these women can stand it. Maybe I'm being incredibly naive, but I find it hard to believe that people buy mainstream super-hero comic books to jerk off to, so I'm not sure exactly who this appeals to. It's distracting and completely unnecessary.

Bottom line is that I consider this book now on probation. I'm definitely going to stick with it until the conclusion of the first story arc, and if the writing stays strong and the art improves, there's a very good chance that I'll stick to it beyond that. We'll just have to wait and see.

Quick reviews and previews

I haven't been doing a very good job of posting regular reviews of the comics I've read the past few weeks, so here's a catch-all update with quick reviews of a few recent issues. I'm going to save Return of Bruce Wayne #2 for a longer reviews, to be posted later this week.

BIRDS OF PREY #1

A good start to the series, if not exactly the mind-blowing first issue I was hoping for. Gail Simone starts putting all the pieces in place for her first story arc and does so competently. The in-story excuse for reuniting the team is refreshingly straightforward. Throwing Hawk and Dove into the mix feels a bit forced to me, and I suspect it was editorially mandated so the book could tie in to all the Brightest Day nonsense. Be that as it may, they only appeared in a few pages in this issue, so it's too early to judge whether they are going to fit in nicely with the rest of the team. The issue ends with a mystery villain, which is always fun. Looking forward to #2.

THE FLASH #2

Still really enjoying Francis Manapul's art and the lighter tone of this book. Let's hope that tone doesn't take a turn for the dark too soon, but with Geoff Johns writing and the connection to the apparently ironically titled Brightest Day, I wouldn't be surprised if it did. I think I remember reading some rather baffling complaints from fans who thought "nothing happened" in this issue. I'll never understand how these people's minds work. I was pretty skeptical about this title when I added it to my pull list, but so far I'm enjoying it more than I expected and have no real complaints.

THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1

I've never read any Legion stories before, so being introduced to so many characters and a completely different setting (i.e., the 31st century) all at once is a bit overwhelming. But not to the extent that I was completely lose or unable to follow the story. Again, this is a #1 issue, so I don't have a whole lot to say about it other than it sets things up nicely and now I'm looking forward to seeing where it's going to go.

THE SPIRIT #2

Hated it even more than the first issue! Wow, that art is ugly. In the first issue, I thought it was awkward in a few places. Here, it's just unpleasant throughout. The writing is just as bad. I'm really sorry that I committed to buying the first three issues before the series started. But thankfully there's only one more to go. I read a lot of comments about how the short black-and-white back-up stories are worth the price of admission alone, but I beg to differ. While I agree the back-up is the best thing about this issue, it's still just a back-up, and it's not strong enough to justify spending 4$ on. Not by a long shot.

DC LEGACIES #1

I was very much on the fence about this mini-series, which is supposed to tell the history of the DC universe from the Golden Age to the present. I decided to give it a shot mostly because I thought the art was nice. It opens with a lame framing device where some old guy is sitting in a rocking chair, drinking a cup of joe and talking directly at the reader, before we flashback to his childhood and he recounts his encounters with the first super-heroes. I thought this was extremely cheesy and unnecessary. The rest of the book is okay, but since we're getting the story from the perspective of these kids, we don't really get much insight into the "mystery men," who are of course the characters everyone is reading the book to find out more about. The issue ends somewhere around the time of the formation of the Justice Society of America, and by the time I got to the backup story, I had already pretty much lost interest. I don't think I'm going to pick up #2.

WHAT I'M PICKING UP THIS WEEK...

Definitely getting Sweet Tooth #10 and Red Robin #13. I enjoyed the last arc of Chris Yost's run on Red Robin. Now Fabian Nicieza is taking over and I'm looking forward to what he's going to do with the title. Tim Drake is still possibly my favourite character in the DC universe. My only complaint is that the Red Robin costume covers up too much of his head and makes him look like a second-rate Batman without the pointy ears. Tim Drake has awesome hair, and they shouldn't cover it up with that ugly cowl.

I may or may not pick up the first issue of Red Hood: The Lost Days. I am interested, but I might just decide to wait for the trade on that one. Same thing with the series of Joker's Asylum one-shots.

Last but not least, there's an original graphic novel called A God Somewhere coming out on Wildstorm that looks really good. There's a short preview here.