One-paragraph reviews: Action, Detective and Teen Titans

Wow. Good books from DC this week.

Action Comics #899
"The Black Ring, Part Ten"
Written by Paul Cornell; art by Jesus Merino; DC.

Oh, man. I don't even want to say anything about this book, because it's just full of surprises and crazy twists. If you've been reading Paul Cornell's Lex Luthor story in the pages of Action Comics for the past ten months, then you kind of know what to expect - and yet, there are still some shockingly awesome reveals in this issue, as even seemingly random details from previous chapters click into place. And there are bits of dialogue like this: Brainiac: "Engage micro armor burrowers!" Luthor: "Engage micro armor burrower defenses!" This is why I love super-hero comics. It's a shame that Pete Woods is not the artist here, despite what it says in the solicitations and on DC's website. But as far as fill-in artists go, you could do a lot worse than Jesus Merino. And Woods is back next issue for the epic conclusion of "The Black Ring" and the return of Superman! This is...

AWESOME.

Detective Comics #875
"Lost Boys"
Written by Scott Snyder; art by Francesco Fancavilla; DC.

Holy shit! This book is so good! When this story about Jim Gordon's son started a while ago as a back-up feature, I wasn't that thrilled by it. I kind of dislike back-up stories and I tend to dismiss them and pay more attention to the main feature. I know that's unfair, but it happens almost subconsciously. I can't help it. So it's a good thing that the back-ups were cancelled and that this ended up as the main story of the second arc instead, where it gets the attention and focus that it deserves. James Jr. is a much more fascinating character that I initially gave him credit for. What's amazing is that at this point I have absolutely no idea whether he's going to turn out to be a psychopath or not! It could go either way, and I trust that no matter what happens, Snyder is going to handle it well and make it interesting. Last issue was great, but Francavilla just knocks this one right out of the park. And trust me, I don't normally use baseball metaphors, so that means it's really something.

AWESOME.

Teen Titans #93
"Step into the Light"
Written by J.T. Krul; art by Nicola Scott and Doug Hazlewood; DC.

It's amazing how much damage Fabian Nicieza has done to the character of Tim Drake during his short run on Red Robin. About a year ago, I was kind of obsessed with Tim Drake. He was my favourite character. And I loved what Chris Yost was doing with him in his last arc on Red Robin. Then came FabNic and less than a year later, I've now dropped the title and I can't stand the character anymore. So much so that when he unexpectedly shows up in this book (he's not on the cover), I can't help but groan a little. "What's he doing here?" Especially after the awful way that Damian was more-or-less booed off the team last issue. And now he's not just in the team but actually leading it also!? Ugh. I can only hope it's temporary. Aside from that, though, I thought this was a pretty good issue. I'm excited about this new character, Solstice. Krul seems to be getting better at finding the right voice for each character. And Nicola Scott's art remains gorgeous.

GOOD

Is It Wednesday Yet?

After a three-week hiatus involving an unfortunate move to a website I am now too embarrassed to mention, my weekly column about new comics is back. I've altered the format slightly. "Pick of the week" is the single most exciting new release of the week. "New stuff" includes #1 issues as well as new story arcs or creative teams on ongoings. "My pull list" includes all the titles I play to buy (unless they were previously mentioned). And finally "Books and trades" includes noteworthy graphic novels or collected editions.

Pick of the Week

• Butch Baker: The Righteous Maker #1 (Image)

A new series written by Joe Casey and drawn by Mike Huddleston is reason enough to celebrate. I don't think there's anything I can say about it that will be more convincing than Casey's own description of it: "This one ain't for the faint of heart," declares Casey. "BUTCHER BAKER is a sleazy, mature readers superhero book about a semi-retired 'patriotic' superhero who gets the call for one last adventure. It's everything you want a superhero comic book to be. It's simultaneously iconic and subversive and a whole lot of fun." Here's a NSFW preview.

New Stuff

• Captain America and Secret Avengers (one-shot) (Marvel)
• Captain America #616 (Marvel)
• Secret Avengers #11 (Marvel)

This week from Marvel you can either get Captain America, Secret Avengers, or both combined in a special one-shot! The one-shot is the last in the series of 70th anniversary one-shots featuring the character this month. It looks very skipable to me, although I have heard good things about writer Kelly Sue DeConnick. Captain America #616 promises a "bold new direction" and Secret Avengers #11 is starting a two-issue story set in the past that will explain the connection between Steve Rogers and the Shadow Council. I don't know how new-reader friendly that last one is going to be, as it sounds more like an epilogue to Brubaker's run on the title to tie up some loose ends before he hands over the reigns to newcomer Nick Spcencer with issues #12.1 and 13. All of which is expected to tie into Fear Itself this summer. (Personally, I've lost interest and dropped the title.)

• Cyclops (one-shot) (Marvel)

I can't tell you what this books is about, because Marvel didn't think it was necessary to say anything about it in the solicitations or on its website. I'm going to go on a wild limb here and suggest that it's probably going to be about Cyclops. I bet it's also going to be set in the era of "First Class" like that truly pointless Marvel Girl one-shot I read from a month or two ago. I'd suggest you pretend this doesn't exist.

• Jimmy Olsen (one-shot) (DC)

This $5.99 "80-page giant" collects the first few chapters of the Jimmy Olsen story written by Nick Spencer, which appeared in Action Comics, plus 30 pages of new material concluding the story. This is infuriating because I already paid an extra dollar on Action Comics for several months while this was the back-up feature, and now I have to pay six bucks to buy that material again, just so I can get the conclusion of the story. Yet another example of how there is ZERO cohesion or foresight to DC's editorial decisions these days. They make a big deal out of "Drawing the Line at $2.99" because they care about their readers, but meanwhile the mid-story cancellation of this back-up feature results in this. And I understand that it makes more sense now to collect the full story rather, so that new readers can buy this and not have to hunt down those back issues of Action to piece things together. But the losers are the ones who did buy this the first time around and paid that extra dollar for nothing. The worst part is I still have to recommend this, because it's actually pretty good.

• American Vampire #13 (Vertigo)

New story arc starts this issue. I bought issue #12, which was a quick done-in-one in between arcs, and I loved it. Raphael Alburquerque is now back on art duties and I'm psyched. Scott Snyder, whose been blowing my mind on Detective Comics lately, is of course the writer and creator of this title. Preview.

• Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1 (IDW)

The last time I got excited about a title from IDW, it was that awful Infestation crossover event and I lived to regret it. So much so that I said I might never buy another IDW title ever again. Well, I changed my mind. I'm probably going to get this one. Because it's Godzilla and it sounds awesome. Eric Powell and Tracy Marsh are writing, while Phil Hester provides the art. What could possibly go wrong?

• Caligula #1 (Avatar)

In the comments that followed my non-review of Neonomicon, I declared that Alan Moore's four-issue limited series was in poor taste, and Rich Johnston agrees with me, though he sees that as a good thing, comparing it to South Park and the Bible (!). Poor taste is what Avatar does best, and Caligula looks like another fine example of it, with David Lapham writing and German Nobile on art. Here's a NSFW preview.

• Dollhouse: Epitaph (one-shot) (Dark Horse)

This is a one-shot that follows the canceled TV series's last episode and sets things up for the upcoming ongoing comic book series. Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon are writing, and Cliff Richards does the art. If you're a fan, you probably know all about it already. Otherwise, like me, you probably don't care.

• Undying Love #1 (Image)

A new horror-action vampire comic set in Hong Kong, by Tomm Coker and Daniel Freedman. There's an interview here and a preview here.

My pull list

• Action Comics #899 (DC)
• Detective Comics #875 (DC)
• Teen Titans #93 (DC)
• 5 Ronin #5 (Marvel)
• Amazing Spider-Man #657 (Marvel)
• Thor #621 (Marvel)

Action Comics is inching closer to #900, which is going to be amazing. Detective Comics, by Scott Snyder and Jock, is possibly the best book DC publishes at the moment, so if it's not on your pull list, you're missing out big time. Speaking of Big Time, Amazing Spider-Man is pretty good these days. Thor concludes Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry's epic cosmic story. 5 Ronin, a five-issue limited series, also concludes.

Books and trades

• Superman: The Black Ring HC (DC)

There's something really stupid and dishonest about putting Superman's name in the title of this book, since he's not even in it. I guess DC marketing figures it's okay to lie to your audience as long as it helps sell a few more books. But this is just like when movie studios market a film as one genre when it is actually a completely different type of film. It might attract a few more people to the premiere, but they're all going to hate it because it's not what it was advertised as, whereas the actual audience that might have enjoyed it won't bother showing up. This hardcover collection includes the first five issues of Paul Cornell's excellent Action Comics run, which stars Lex Luthor. It should be titled Lex Luthor: The Black Ring, but I guess that wasn't marketable enough.

• Strange Tales II HC (Marvel)

If you didn't buy this in single issues, then you MUST get this collection. It's probably the best thing Marvel released last year. An anthology of short stories by some of the greatest indie comics creators currently working, given more or less free reign to do whatever they want with Marvel characters. Solid gold.

One-paragraph reviews: Wolverine and Jubilee #3 and Silver Surfer #2

Wolverine and Jubilee #3 (Marvel) 
"Cursed part 3 of 4"
Written by Kathryn Immonen; art by Phil Noto.

Wow. This book really got weird and trippy all of a sudden. Immonen's great dialogue and sense of humour is still there, and so is Noto's swoon-inducing beautiful art. But now the plot, in addition to being about Wolverine and Jubilee trying to deal with her being a vampire, has taken a left turn into... I'm not sure what exactly, but it involves people getting transported into some kind of twilight zone fifth dimension with floating dinosaurs and Egyptian pyramids and Fender Stratocasters. It comes as a bit of a surprise, but it's not altogether unwelcome. Hoping the next issue explains exactly what all that craziness is about, but until then, I still think this book is...

AWESOME

PS: I thought this a limited series, but the numbering on the cover doesn't include the "of 4" that was included on the first two issues. Could my dream have come true? Did Marvel convert this into an ongoing? Or is it just a printing error?

Silver Surfer #2 (Marvel)
"Rebirth"
Written by Greg Pak; art by Harvey Tolibao, Stephen Segovia, Mendoza, Florer, Olazaba and Paz.

The first issue of this limited series ended with Silver Surfer getting depowered by the High Evolutionary. In this issue, Norrin Radd is getting used to his new body, which is now very vulnerable. Greg Pak does an amazing job getting us into Norrin's head and showing us not just the sense of loss and panic that comes from losing his power but also the sense of wonder that comes from experiencing all the sensations he'd grown accustomed to living without, like pain, breathing, drinking water, or feeling a woman's touch on his skin. Unfortunately, the art, which was not without its problems in the first issue, has now degenerated into a big ugly mess, which might have something to do with the fact that there are two different pencillers and four different inkers on the book. It's a shame the art doesn't do justice to Pak's script, because this could otherwise be a great story. As it is, it's merely...

OKAY

Another follow-up on the Essex County/Canada Reads mini-controversy

You may remember my post about Jeff Lemire's Essex County getting voted off the Canada Reads competition on the first round a little over a month ago. Well, Nymeth at Things Mean a Lot used it as a "point of departure for an analysis of common attitudes towards reading", a great post which itself generated quite a lot of discussion in the comments.

Here's an excerpt from Nymeth's post:

The thing that made these judges who are supposedly trying to encourage literacy so uncomfortable was the fact that the book was quick and easy to read. To me, this is the most interesting thing about the whole situation: the fact that the judges’ arguments rely on the idea that reading should be hard, that it should take work, that it should be a somewhat arduous process. And if isn’t, it can’t have Meaning or Relevance. It doesn’t make you think of “things other than things”.

Of course, I also don’t buy the opposite argument, which is that anything that isn’t easy must be worthless or pretentious. Dense texts are fine; I love many of them. But what they have to say, what about them encourages people to “think about things other than things”, is not necessarily determined by the difficulty of prose in itself. If you take an author of moderate difficulty – someone like, say, Virginia Woolf – you can argue that their experimentation with form can’t be separated from their content, and it’s a crucial part of what makes them so extraordinary. This is a fair enough point, but at the same time, I have trouble seeing form as a thing to be revered in itself, quite separately from any sort of meaning. What bothers me about the assumptions behind the Canada Reads judges’ arguments is the idea that complex ideas are defined by a complex form of delivery: that you cannot possibly communicate anything worthwhile or convey nuanced emotions using accessible language (or even - horror of horrors - pictures).

 Read the rest of it here.

A couple of posts about sexism in comics

Some months ago, I wrote a post called "Sexism in The Walking Dead: An Ongoing Discussion" which to this day remains the most popular post on this blog, still getting hits every week and the occasional comment. Which makes me very happy, because that's exactly what I intended when I titled it "an ongoing discussion." I never felt that I'd come to any definite conclusion or verdict in terms of the sexism found in both the comic and the TV adaptation. I do feel pretty confident that there is sexism in the work(s), but dismissing all of it as sexist without further analysis doesn't really do it justice either.

A comment from earlier this week by Missus Goodveggie does a pretty good job of highlighting how complex the work is when it comes to gender issues. I'm going to quote her comment here, unedited:

Ok I know this is really late in the day but I was so excited to come across this post. I was given the walking dead comics (not seen the show yet) by my brother-in-law and have since had some very interesting debates with him over this sexism issue. I thought the two scenes you mentioned (the laundry and the voting) were appalling precisely for that reason that it's kind of the writer going "this isn't sexist...because it's totally true mwah ha ha ha". I also want to point out that Michonne can hardly be used as a 'strong' female character because about 3/4 of the way through we discover that her uncompromising violence has been under the influence (real or imaginary) of her dead boyfriend - if you then go back to the scenes where she's talking with him you can see that Michonne herself is arguing against violence. I'm not saying violence is right, but it's overwhelmingly portrayed as the 'strong male' role here and therefore the woman can only engage in it under the control of some ethereal, omnipresent male. That she's unable to resist his influence even after he's passed on is troubling. Even her revenge on the Governer for raping her is actually her 'boyfriend', so the rape of the woman is more his issue than hers? Andrea I'll give you, I could nitpick (would Dale have been shown happily shacking up with her if she were the elder, physically dependent partner) but that's all it would be.

However, if you examine the portrayal of masculinity in the book it's not actually much more positive. It could be argued that Rick is equally constrained by the hyper-masculine role he takes on. He's the white, straight alpha male, aggressive and decisive, perceived as the natural leader by all the 'lesser' (ethnic minority/old/young/disabled) men as well as the women. And he perceives himself that way. Rick's biggest tragedy is not just that he's actually s**t at leading, but that this role is so ingrained into his and everyone else's minds that nobody (including him) will accept the fact. They follow his inane, off the cuff, moral hypocrisy through death after needless death. They question his leadership, but they vote him onto the leadership council. He is tormented by self-doubt, but is convinced by his own and others' misconceptions. The only time Rick's effective as a leader and sympathetic as a character are the moments when he's engaged in the ostentatiously 'feminine' art of relationship building and nurturing. Given that one of the key themes of the series seems to be that the morally ambiguous, post apocalyptic dystopia they're living in is more the result of the survivors' own behaviour than that of the zombies, you could see the whole thing as a damming indictment of what a world regressed to traditional gender roles would look like.

I thought this was a really great comment and it has made me want to revisit the comic and continue thinking about how these issues operate within it. For more discussion on the topic, check the original post and the rest of the comments.

*

Meanwhile, over at The Beat, I got involved in a discussion about a different kind of sexism - the one that affects real people in the comics industry, including both creators and fans. The post was about the lack of visible female presence at Mark Millar's Kapow! comics convention, and his response to that criticism, although the discussion that followed got a bit derailed into a semantics-heavy argument about whether or not Millar can be called a sexist because of it (which, frankly, is besides the point).

Anyway, I won't quote anything from that one, but feel free to head over there and read the discussion. There are a few good points being made (and not just by me, haha), and it manages to remain fairly civil, so it's worth a read.

Neonomicon #4 - "I feel good about it."

Neonomicon #4 (Avatar)
"The Lurker Within"
Written by Alan Moore; art by Jacen Burrows.

[In which I attempt to review this comic and fail.]

Let's start with a quote from Alan Moore himself:

It is one of the blackest, most misanthropic pieces that I’ve ever done. I was in a very, very bad mood.

Well, that certainly explains a few things. Although in the end, I'm not sure being in a bad mood, even a "very, very bad mood," justifies this book. I mean, misanthropy is one thing. If you're pissed off at the world and feel like writing a story about how human beings are nothing but vermin that deserve to be wiped out by Cthulhu, I say go for it. What I find a little bit more difficult to swallow is that if you summarize the whole story, leaving out a few details, it goes like this: A woman (who is a former sex addict) gets raped - repeated, brutally, and graphically - by a monster. Miraculously, she survives, escapes, and then says: "I feel good about myself, about all this. (...) For the first time I got no problems with my self-esteem."

(Oh, spoilers, I guess.)

All right, I know people are going to say that was unfair, there's a lot more going on in this, it's Alan Moore, etc! But that doesn't negate the fact that this is pretty much what happens. This is a four-issue mini-series, two issues of which are almost entirely devoted to graphic and horrific depictions of this woman's rape. And in the last couple of pages, she says she feels good about it and that it helped her self-esteem.

Okay, fine, fine. What are some of the other things going on here? Well, she's pregnant with Cthulhu, and there's all this metafictional stuff going on, and there's a big dome over the city, and they talk in a weird language, and they see reality as it really is (basically looks like an acid trip, in case you were wondering), and...

Oh, you know what? I can't be bothered. She says she feels good about it. About being raped. Repeatedly. By a monster. With a giant cock! It helped her self-esteem!

What the fuck is wrong with you, Alan Moore?!!

The imminent return of my "Is It Wednesday Yet?" column to its rightful home - right here!

Earlier this month I announced that I was moving my weekly new release column, Is It Wednesday Yet?, to a brand new collaborative comics blog called Tastes Like Comics. Well, it was good while it lasted, but after some, uh, editorial differences, I've decided to move it back here. No hard feelings (I hope).

So starting next week, I'm going to be posting the column every Tuesday morning. I'm going to keep the slightly altered format I was using at the other site, though, which focuses more on new series or easy jumping-on points than my own pull list.

You can read this week's column here.