Quick reviews: Children's Crusade, Detective Comics, Xombi

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6 (of 9)
Written by Allan Heinberg; pencils by Jim Cheung; Inks by Mark Morales, John Livesay, Dave Meikis; colours by Justin Ponsor; Marvel.

So for several issues now the Avengers have been in pursuit of the Young Avengers, who disobeyed their orders and set off on a quest to find and rescue Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch. Halfway through this issue, there's a scene where all the big guns, including Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine and a bunch of other very important and powerful and angry characters, are shown rushing toward the scene where Wanda and the Young Avengers are. Tony tells Hawkeye, who's there with the Witch and the kids, to "Make sure they stay there, you hear me? No one leaves the compound. Do whatever you have to do." You'd think this was all leading to some big confrontation, right? But no. Two pages later, we're in a completely different location, an unspecified amount of time has passed, and we have no idea how any of the characters got there, why Hawkey let them leave, or what happened when the Avengers showed up and realized they'd rushed there for no reason. Absolutely zero pay off for all that build-up.

Why am I reading this book? It's an incredibly convoluted story that relies heavily on the reader's knowledge of Marvel continuity over the past decade or so, referencing stories like Avengers Disassembled, House of M, and God knows what else, none of which I've read. I seem to have picked the worst possible series for a total Marvel noob to pick up. As a result, this barely makes any sense to me and it's very difficult for me to care about what happens. The art is very pretty, so that helps a little, but I'm having a very hard time justifying why I've stuck with it for six issues (over 12 months). It almost seems silly for me to drop it after having gotten that far, but whatever. This is obviously not written for me.

DROP

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Detective Comics #878
Written by Scott Snyder; art by Jock; Colours by David Baron; DC.

I couldn't help but think of the old Adam West TV series as I was reading the opening scene of this comic. Batman is hanging upside down over a very angry killer whale, while the villains soliloquy about why they do what they do and what's going to happen to Batman now that he's tried to interfere with their plans. Classic (and a little ridiculous) superhero tropes, but thanks to Synder and Jock's perfect pacing and tone, it feels fresh and exciting. After the action-packed opener, which occupies the first 11 pages of the comic, we get a brief and quiet scene with James Gordon, then a visit to Sonia Branch (aka Zucco), and finally a two-page shocker that will send chills down your spine. I have to give a shout-out to colourist David Baron, who really captures the changing light as the day progresses - from the bright white backgrounds of the opening scene, to the warm sunset tones during Dick's meeting with James, to the purple night skies for the rooftop scene with Sonia - it really helps to show the passage of time, as well as to give each scene a distinct look and feel.

VERY GOOD

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Xombi #4
Written by John Rozum; art by Frazer Irving; DC.

This whole issue, up until the last few pages, is one big exposition dump. Maybe this is the comic Dan DiDio and company had in mind when they said that starting in September DC Comics would not feature any talking heads going on for page after page. (And John Irving literally draws them as floating disembodied talking heads!) I certainly hope not, because this is still a damn good comic. We've just had three issues of pretty crazy action, and this slower paced issue where the characters actually all sit together and have bagels and talk about what just happened and what they're going to do next feels exactly right. Rozum keeps the dialogue interesting with his weird sense of humour and throwaway high concepts that make you stop and think about all the stories that could be written about them ("pearls of wisdom collected from oysters grown in the Sea of Tears"), while Irving  pretty much blows your mind on every page with his expressive faces and unconventional use of colours. This is the best comic book that DC is publishing right now and I'm incredibly sad that it's apparently getting cancelled after only six issues to make way for DC's relaunch. Xombi hasn't been solicited as one of the 52 books coming out in September. When I asked Frazer Irving if there was a chance of the book coming back at a later date, he said he couldn't comment, which I took as a hopeful maybe. Fingers crossed.

AWESOME

One-paragraph reviews: American Vampire, Detective Comics, Xombi

American Vampire #15
Written by Scott Snyder; art by Rafael Albuquerque; Vertigo

I find that I don't really have anything to say about this issue that I haven't already said about previous issues. Good story, good dialogue, good art. And great colours by Dave McCaig. No complaints whatsoever. We're now three issues into this arc (I think there's going to be six in total) and things just got a lot more complicated than they seemed to be at first. No idea what's going to happen in the next issue, but the last page hints at something really horrific. It's going to be amazing. Also, as a side note, there's a preview for the American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest mini-series. I didn't read it, because I never read previews for stuff I already plan to get, but the art by Sean Murphy looks phenomenal.

GOOD

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Detective Comics #877
Written by Scott Snyder; art by Jock; DC

I'm still digging this book, but this might have been the weakest issue since the beginning of Snyder's run. The long conversation between Batman and the Roadrunner didn't seem to go anywhere. Jock's art seemed more minimalist than usual, with a lot of empty space filled by weird airbrushed backgrounds that kind of clash with the style of his line work. I'm not sure if those backgrounds are by the colourist or by Jock himself. I find myself actually looking forward to Francavilla being back on art, although I think both are really great artists and I'm not really complaining. Bottom line is that even as possibly the weakest issue in the arc, this is still really good and it remains probably the best Batman title at the moment. I loved the scene at the end where Dick cuts off the communication channel to shut Tim up. Also, that's a really awesome looking sci-fi boat on the last page.

GOOD

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Xombi #3
Written by John Rozum; art by Frazer Irving; DC

Still a great story full of crazy concepts and original ideas. Still great art by Frazer Irving in his unique style. (Absolutely brilliant use of colour!) This is probably the weirdest book DC publishes right now and if there's anything I love in narrative art forms, it's weird shit. My only complaint with this issue is that it was really heavy on the narration, and that slowed it down a bit too much. But it's a relatively minor nitpick. Also, by the way, we need more characters with awesome mustaches in comics.

GOOD

Comic Book Carnage 006: Xombi #2 and Flash #11

Xombi #2
Written by John Rozum; art by Frazer Irving; DC.

Mike: The nuns with guns issue.

Yan: Yeah! Before we start, I want to mention that I read an interview with Rozum on CBR where he says they'd discussed doing this series on Vertigo, but one of the reasons it ended up in the DCU was to avoid confusion with iZombie. Which strikes me as a missed opportunity, because I feel like this book would have a much better chance of finding an audience on Vertigo. I think he said the editors also wanted to have it set in the DCU for other reasons, something about needing a book to deal with the the supernatural or magic side of the DCU.

Mike: That's ridiculous. Can you imagine The Flash rolling up to help David Kim fight, I don't know, some demonically possessed Taco Bell or whatever?

Yan: It's gonna be awful when that happens.

Mike: If they wanted a magic/supernatural book it would have made more sense to use a much more accessible character like Dr. Fate, or perhaps do that in Zatanna since it's already around. Xombi's premise is just too out there for the average DC fan, so yeah, the decision not to go on Vertigo was terrible all around. NOT that we're saying we think this book will be canceled or anything.

Yan: We're definitely not saying that. I just think the book does a fine job of creating its own universe. I don't really understand why there's any need to have it be set in the DCU. I don't really care if it's on DC or Vertigo, but the moment Batman or Superman shows up in this story, something special will be lost. Not that it has to be Batman or Superman. Maybe a guest appearance by Zatanna or Etrigan would be cool. I don't know. We'll see, I guess. I just don't want this to get hijacked into some stupid crossover.

Mike: So let's talk about the issue itself. This picks up right after things got crazy at the prison and just gets even crazier. I'm glad to see John Rozum is able to match the bizarre ideas of the last issue, my favorite being the introduction of this issue's villain/monster/concept?

Yan: Yeah, it's a cool villain. (If we can call it that.) And we really only get a glimpse of him and some foreshadowing of how dangerous he is. Definitely piqued my interest. I really liked the scene at the beginning where David Kim's arm is regenerating and he has to tell everyone to stay away from him to avoid them being used as raw material to patch up his wounds. It illustrates how weird and problematic his "powers" are.

Mike: That leads me to my one concern with this book, just how well do you think John Rozum's doing in giving David Kim a personality?

Yan: Why, you find it lacking? I think he's doing fine.

Mike: I guess I find his and most of the cast's personalities to be a bit vague. Like, other than their strange powers, there doesn't seem to be a lot done to differentiate them. I need a little more than scribbled out profanity.

Yan: I think there's a lot more. Besides, we're only two issues in and there's been lots of action, so I guess there's not a ton of time for character development, but I feel like the dialogue has enough attitude that it gives me a good idea of the characters' personalities. Plus, Frazer Irving's art helps a lot. His character designs and facial expressions and poses are excellent. You get a real sense of the characters' mannerisms and body language. Like David's face when the coins fall out of his pocket, or the flamboyant way he points down when he says, "Change back into your other half. Now." It's hard to separate who is responsible for it between Rozum and Irving, but the combined effect for me is pretty satisfying.

Mike: Well, I'll agree with you that Frazer Irving gives personality to the cast, and I would argue that it's probably his artwork that makes this book so enjoyable. The guy puts so much effort into every square inch of this book and for me that's why Xombi feels so engrossing.

Yan: The art is amazing, but I don't want to sell Rozum short. I think his dialogue goes a long way too. The only thing in this issue I thought was a little bit awkward was the third-person narration about the homunculi. I can't remember if there was a lot of third-person narration in the first issue. But in that scene, I would have preferred to get an interior monologue instead. Not only would it have been more effective for the scene, but it bothers me that the narration switched from first-person at the beginning of the issue to third-person for no real reason. Other than that, I thought this issue was great. Great marriage of writing and art. I can't imagine the book with a different creative team, so I hope they keep it going for a long run. I'll rate this one EXCELLENT.

Mike: Despite my nitpicking I will also give this book a firm EXCELLENT.

Flash #11
Written by Geoff Johns; art by Scott Kolins; DC.

Mike: I remember when this current Flash series started, I was just starting up my blog and I had nothing but nice things to say. Now we're, what, 2 years later, and I don't even know why I liked this book to begin with.

Yan: It's only been a year, but yeah.

Mike: Oh, well, good, because 11 issues in 2 years would be shameful, but anyway. Geoff Johns is not doing his best work on this book. When I was reading this issue, I felt like I was reading a first draft, like there's good ideas in here but it's all delivered in so unfocused a manner that it loses all impact. Like this new character shows up - Patty Spivot - who is an old flame of Barry Allen's. The idea of Barry having to deal with lingering feelings for Patty would have been an interesting plot development that would help to define his personality, but instead it's handled in this aggressively vague manner. Like, I wasn't even completely sure there were supposed to be lingering feelings until Patty explicitly acknowledges them.

Yan: The Patty Spivot subplot seems unnecessary. If you're not going to have time to explore it properly, then just don't bother. I mean, this title is now officially cancelled, right? This was the last issue. If she's not playing an important role in Flashpoint, then introducing her here was a total waste of time. I guess that remains to be seen. But what bothered me more was the scene with Bart acting like a little baby because Barry didn't show up at the family picnic. WTF? That "intervention" scene was ridiculous! I mean, how much time has even passed since Barry came back. I feel like these 11 issues only span a few days. A week at the most. So Barry Allen came back to life, went back to his old job. First couple of issues showed that he had a great relationship with his wife. None of the other speedsters are even mentioned for the entire run until the stupid picnic comes up, and now all of a sudden they're having an intervention because... what exactly? I'm not even sure. This drama comes out of nowhere.

Mike: Yes, the intervention was pretty bizarre. Like there was just no way I could wrap my mind around the idea that a group of guys with very similar backgrounds couldn't accept that someone from the same background would be incapable of showing up for their picnic. Also I really hate that a picnic is the catalyst for all of this. Picnic is a goofy word, so any drama Johns was attempting was negated by the constant utterance of "picnic."

Yan: It feels like these ideas were just tossed around carelessly. Maybe Geoff Johns has too much on his hands these days with his Chief Creative Officer duties, wrapping up Brightest Day, and orchestrating the whole Flashpoint event. But this just reads as sloppy. And it comes back to what I said in my review of the previous issue, which was that this book should have been given at least a couple of years before leading to this cross-company event. There wasn't really enough space to explore everything, so it feels very rushed. Now the question is: Are you going to read any of Flashpoint?

Mike: I really hate myself for saying this, but I may pick up the first issue. I think the reason is I like The Flash, and much like seeing a close friend struggle with alcoholism, despite how bad things get I love this character too much to walk away.

Yan: I feel pretty indifferent about the character. I gave this title a shot because it launched right around the time that I started buying comics, so it seemed really convenient. And I fell in love with Francis Manapul's art, so that's what kept me onboard this long. (Speaking of whom, I wonder what he's working on now. I don't remember seeing his name on any of the solicitations for DC in the next three months.) But I think I'm going to pick up the first issue also, mostly out of morbid curiosity. There's a good chance that by the end of the summer, I'll drastically reduce the number of books I read from both DC and Marvel.

Mike: Even though I'll probably buy Flashpoint #1, I'm giving this book a SKIP/DROP

Yan: Honestly, I don't know how to rate this. Other than the ridiculous intervention scene, it's not really that much worse than all the issues that preceded it. As a lead-in story setting things up for Flashpoint, it's adequate, I suppose. But as a conclusion to an 11-issue aborted run of a new series that showed so much promise in its first couple of issues, it's just a shame. Totally unsatisfying. So I'll rate it WHATEVER.

UPDATE: It has come to my attention that this is in fact not the last issue. #12 comes out on May 11, according to DC's website, and will provide the conclusion. This doesn't really change my opinion of this issue, except for the criticism about it being a poor conclusion. We'll see whether #12 does any better at that.

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Mike appears courtesy of It's a Bit of a Shame.

Comic Book Carnage 005: Xombi and Venom!

It's time for another edition of Comic Book Carnage, in which Mike (from It's a Bit of a Shame) and I geek out over a couple of books for your entertainment and enlightenment. 

Yan: What are we reviewing?

Mike: Xombi and Venom.

Yan: Okay, good. 'Cause the less said about Batman Inc., the better, probably.

Mike: Such a shame about that book.

XOMBI #1 (DC)
Written by John Rozum; art by Frazer Irving.

Yan: I thought this was fantastic! It's an instant hit for me. I guess I should mention that I did not read the original series, since I wasn't reading comics in the 1990s. But jumping in with this #1 issue was not a problem. I'd read a few things about the character before reading the issue, so I knew what his deal was, and it was mentioned briefly in the book, just to confirm his back story but without dwelling on it. I also got a real sense of the character's personality and was immediately drawn to him. Credit for that goes to John Rozum's script and Frazer Irving's art, both of which are great. Being familiar with Irving's art, I expected as much, so the real revelation for me was how clever and funny Rozum's writing was.

Mike: I agree. Xombi was a surprise for me. I only picked up the book for Irving's artwork, but yeah, Rozum's writing was equally enjoyable. If I had to describe the feel of Xombi, I would say it reminded me significantly of Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol. There's all these bizarre, vaguely disturbing details getting tossed around, but it's never in danger of being too weird, due to its strong cast.

Yan: Yeah, I haven't read Morrison's Doom Patrol, but that sounds like a fair comparison. Although I think this is better than Morrison's more recent output. I like that Rozum doesn't dwell on explanations or overexposition, but at the same time the story never feels confusing. There are a lot of ideas introduced in 20 pages, and most of them are not fully unexplained, but reading it, I wasn't lost or frustrated.

And some of it is very cleverly handled, like the thing with the coins. When Julian grabs the change from his pocket at the beginning and the faces on the coins are talking to him, you assume it's just another crazy unexplained phenomenon, but then several pages later, when David Kim asks "What's with all the coins" and one of the sisters says they were Julian's idea, that's all it takes. You make the connection and fill in the blanks.

Also, I think one of the biggest surprises for me was just how funny this was. Because of the art and subject matter, I was expecting a really dark and serious tone. But there were several welcome laugh-out-loud moments, from the tuna sandwich in the opening sequence to the explanation of how "Nun the Less" got her powers, which would've been hilarious by itself, but was made even better by David Kim's subtle wordless reaction.

Mike: Despite how little I knew of the series going in, by the time I was finished with this first issue I felt like I really needed to track down the original series.

Now, I do have one complaint that really isn't the fault of the book at all. It's just that as I was reading this I kept thinking, "This is really good, but it's totally going to get canceled."

Yan: Aw, don't say that, man! I mean, you're probably right, and it's depressing as hell. But I really hope that Frazer Irving's still riding the wave of popularity from those Batman and Robin issues and that this is going to encourage people to pick this up. I've seen it discussed on a few message boards and the responses are overwhelmingly positive. But... it doesn't star any Bat character, so nobody's really going to be paying attention. In a way, I kind of wish this was on Vertigo. Maybe it would have a better chance of finding an audience there.

Mike: It says a lot about today's market that a book can't survive based solely on being good.

Yan: Yeah, it's really sad. I'd like to think that as long as Irving stays on the book, it has a good chance of finding an audience. But maybe I'm overestimating his popularity. Besides, the question is how much of a commitment has he made to it, and would the book be as good if he left after a few issues. But, whatever, for now, this is about as great as comics can get for me, so I'm supporting it and I hope others do as well. We'll see what happens.

Mike: Yeah, I agree. Irving may be the only reason people will read this book, but considering how often his projects get delayed I'm assuming he's not the fastest artist in the world, so there's a chance he's only doing the first few of issues. Again, real shame this book doesn't stand a chance, as this is probably the best first issue I've read all year.

Yan: I'd like to think it does stand a chance. Let's not be too defeatist. At the very least, we can enjoy it while it lasts. I mean, I don't want the main thing people take away from this review to be: "Great book doomed to failure." So let's end on a positive note. In case it wasn't already clear, I'm rating this one AWESOME. So everyone reading this: Go buy this now.

Mike: I will also give this the coveted rating of AWESOME, because it is the only book you will read this year to feature a shrinking nun.

Yan: Called Nun the Less!!!

Mike: Ha, yes, so brilliant!

VENOM #1 (Marvel)
Written by Rick Remender; art by Tony Moore, Danny Miki and others.

Mike: I tell everyone that I picked up Venom because of the creative team of Rick Remender and Tony Moore, but I actually picked it up because I'm secretly a huge fan of Venom, the character.

Yan: I like Venom, although Spider-Man 3 almost ruined the character forever.

Mike: Thankfully this book is free of any jazz club scenes.

But anyway, this really isn't a Venom book. He's there and all, but this is definitely Flash Thompson's book. At the beginning of the story, Flash really isn't the most intriguing of main characters. Like, there's that scene where he's talking about how much he loves his country and it's just the most cliché representation of a soldier. However, Remender sold me on the character as soon as he's out of the costume. The scene with him in his wheelchair debating whether or not he should go to a bar or an AA meeting at church, only to discover that the bar has a wheelchair ramp and not the church, is genius. It makes all the heroic posturing from earlier in the story seem pathetic when compared to how the rest of his life is.

Yan: Yeah, I had a pretty similar reaction while reading it. The patriotic internal monologue at the beginning was a bit of a turn-off for me, although I'm used to a lot of that in comics, so I can tune it out fairly easily. The character became interesting at the end of the book, but even earlier than the scene you mention. The discussion with his boss (or whatever) near the end really causes you to reinterpret everything that's happened up to that point. You realize that what seemed like a messed-up but not disastrous mission was actually more complicated than that.

I wasn't too thrilled when his girlfriend accuses him of secretly drinking, because it seems a bit weird that he wouldn't have a better excuse for his absences. I mean, I realize he's part of a top-secret military project, but she knows he's in the military so it shouldn't be too hard to just say: "I was on a top-secret mission." I don't understand why he has to make up some lame excuse. But then the last scene was pretty moving, yes.

Mike: I guess the mission was so top-secret he couldn't even acknowledge it existed. Or something.

Yan: I just think people who have military in their family should be used to that sort of thing. Then again I don't really know their history that well.

Mike: Yeah, she just sort of shows up to play the role of irrational, bitchy girlfriend, and that's about it.

Yan: And that's part of why I have a problem with it. She's not much of a character at all. She's just there to create additional problems for the (male) main character. And considering there are barely any other females in the book, I find that kind of irritating. I mean, there's Katherine, but so far there's not much to go on with her character either, though at least there's a bit of potential for her to get more interesting.

Mike: Okay, so the writing had some rough spots, but I think we can agree that Tony Moore does an amazing job on this book.

Yan: Well... Yes and no. I mean, yes, he draws the shit out of this book. But I don't know if it's the inking or what, but I feel like something doesn't do his pencils justice. It may just be a personal preference. I like really clean lines, and this all looks a bit muddy. But it's not just a stylistic thing. Some of it almost looks blurry.

Mike: I suppose having three different inkers on this issue didn't help matters.

Yan: Yeah. I feel like I don't have the expertise to really say what exactly is wrong, but I don't like the look of this book at all, even though I think Tony Moore is an amazing artist. His faces are expressive, the action is dynamic, the backgrounds are detailed - all of that is great. But the end result is so cluttered and drab. Some of it is the colouring, too. That combination of deep yellow-oranges and mouldy grey-greens doesn't do anything for me.

Mike: I just flipped through my copy to see what you were talking about, and yeah, there's this weird blurring effect throughout the issue that really muddies the details.

Yan: It almost looks like a bad printing job to me. Like the whole thing is printed from a low-resolution jpeg. I see a lot of that in otherwise very professional-looking comics and I really hate it.

Mike: Yeah, not the kind of thing that should be said about a $3.99 book.

Yan: So, this is a bit of a tough sell for me. I think the creative team of Remender/Moore is a strong one, but I didn't love this. The military setting, while an interesting take on the Venom concept, doesn't appeal to me that much, and there were enough things wrong with the look of the book that I have to think twice before adding this to my already massive pull list. I think I'm going to drop this. But I still think it's GOOD. Just not right for me. If I had an unlimited budget, I would probably keep reading.

Mike: I'm going to keep reading this, just because I'm not reading enough Marvel. But I also like this book for being a unique take on typically one-dimensional character (Venom, not Flash Thompson). But I agree with the complaints about the writing, and now that I've taken note of them, the problems with the art too. So I'd rate this book as GOOD.