Review: Superman/Wonder Woman #1

This post was adapted and expanded from some tweets I tweeted earlier. It is also getting cross-posted to Tumblr.

There was a guy at the comic book shop this evening when I went to pick up my comics. He's often there. He's kinda cool. I like him. We talked. He convinced me to buy a comic book that I would never in a million years have picked up otherwise. Superman/Wonder Woman #1. 

Disclaimer #1: This is the first DC book I've bought in forever. I can't even remember the last time I bought a DC book. 

Disclaimer #2: I have zero interest in Superman and Wonder Woman as a couple. The idea does nothing for me. In fact, when it was first announced, I found it kind of revolting and it left a bad taste in my mouth. 

Disclaimer #3: I hate Tony Daniel's art. 

Disclaimer #4: I expected to hate this in every way imaginable. But the dude was so enthusiastic about it. He said it was his favourite single issue of the year and he's a huge Wonder Woman fan and he was skeptical about the whole super-couple thing, too, and as far as I can tell, he's a discerning comic reader with a fine taste. So I thought, sure, why not?

Anyway, I read it. And it was... kinda meh? The art is exactly as bad as I expected it to be, but I kind of enjoyed the characters voices. Both of them. I think Charles Soule is a good writer and he has a pretty good grasp of these characters. As much as I can tell from a first issue anyway. He makes the super-couple idea work better than thought possible. I could almost buy the idea if I tried to forget that it's so completely unnecessary.

But where it fell apart for me was the panels where Superman and Wonder Woman kinda almost but not really have sex in silhouette with the red background, superimposed on the fight with Doomsday. There are at least three things wrong with just those two pages:

1. The silhouette thing is just cheesy and awful, not to mention that Tony Daniel apparently doesn't understand how silhouettes work. Like, he doesn't get the concept of characters being lit from behind? It would have been easy enough to set the scene in front of a window or by candle light or something, but no, they're actually lying on the bed and they're wearing clothes and the clothes are lit normally but their skin is pitch black for some reason? I don't even know if I'm explaining this properly but it makes NO SENSE.

2. It's just unnecessary. Like, yeah, we get it. They're a couple. They're dating. That implies that they're probably being intimate with each other in one way or another. If they had given us some gratuitous money shot, that would've been something. It would have been an awful thing, but still at thing. But this tacky softcore mildly suggestive interrupted coitus scene just adds nothing.

3. The whole cutting back and forth between violence and a (non-)sex scene... I've seen it before and I'm tired of it.

Aside from that, it was an okay issue with some decent writing and some mediocre-to-bad art. Also, Dooomsday, who is the most boring villain ever. 

Something I had forgotten about DC Comics that I really dislike: Those colour-coded captions for the interior monologues with the character logos. Like, yeah, I get it, it's Superman's thoughts. You didn't have to make it that obvious, I could've figured it out on my own. 

Also, I guess people still hate the Justice League in the New 52. Like civilians, I mean. Normal people inside the fictional universe. They hate super-heroes. Probably because super-heroes in the New 52 are jerks. That was something I really hated about the reboot but I figured it would have changed by now. Apparently not.

The more I think about this, the more I regret buying this comic. I also realize now that some part of me was genuinely (and almost secretly) hoping that this comic would surprise me and win me over. I really miss these characters. I haven't touched DC's books for ages but I wanted to read this and find out that I'd been missing something. I wanted DC to prove me wrong. But no, not reading DC comics was absolutely the right decision to make.

In a way, the fact that this comic book didn't turn out that bad in spite of everything is almost worst. If it had been a truly horrible comic with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, I'd just be like, whatever, DC sucks. But this was almost halfway decent. I could at least see that there was some potential there, but that just ends up being a total bummer because it's dragged down by the sheer DC-ness of it, by which I mean everything that I've come to associate with DC Comics since the New 52, like what a grim and depressing world it is and how awful and unhappy all the characters seem to be and the shitty Jim Lee clone art that's so dreary it makes you want to never look at a comic book again.

Ugh. Don't read the New 52, kids. It's depressing.

Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, The Ray, Punisher

The Amazing Spider-Man #678
Written by Dan Slott; pencils by Humberto Ramos; inks by Victor Olazaba; colours by Edgar Delgado; Marvel

Instead of writing a review I think I'll just show you this image:

Is this Spider-Man or Mr. Freaking Fantastic? Because that does not look like a human body to me. I think Ramos' art is a little too cartoony (in the sense that he distorts figures, proportions, faces, etc. for effect) for my tastes.

Otherwise, I'm still sort of enjoying this book, but it's hard to forget that it's $4 and twice a month. That's a lot of money for something that I'm only kind of enjoying. Consider it on probation.

Scarlet Spider #1
Written by Christopher Yost; pencils by Ryan Stegman; inks by Michael Babinski; colours by Marte Gracia; Marvel

I bought this out of curiosity (I like to try #1s to see if new series show any promise) and because I have fond memories of Chris Yost's Red Robin (before Fabian Nicieza took over and fucked it all up).

Scarlet Spider (aka Kaine) is apparently a clone of Spider-Man who turned evil, then died to save Peter, then was resurrected in the recent Spider Island event, and is now trying to decide whether he just wants to enjoy his new life or be a hero. That's a lot of backstory, which can be a bit of a turn off for me when I'm not super-invested in the characters, but Yost seems to deal with it swiftly in the first issue so he can tell a good story going forward.

I think I'm going to stick with this one for a few more issues. The art is nice and I like the character. The plot revolves around a case of human trafficking, which, is it just me or are super-hero comics obsessed with human trafficking? I feel like it shows up in Batman comics a lot, and lately it was in that awful Huntress mini-series. Anyway. I'm not too thrilled about that aspect of it, but it's not a major turn off or anything.

I have a feeling this series is going to be short-lived, which seems to be the fate of most solo books for non A-list characters at Marvel these days, but I'll take the risk.

The Ray #2 (of 6)
Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; pencils by Jamal Igle; inks by Rich Perrotta; colours by Guy Major; DC

I like the narration in this comic. The way the protagonist is talking directly to the reader. It's a little bit meta, but not in a high-concept kind of way. It reminds me of TV shows, like Malcolm in the Middle or something. (Was that a bad comparison? Sorry.) The point is, it's a good way to give the character a voice and a personality. Which, I'm assuming, most readers need at this point, since they're not familiar with this guy.

It's not really clear to me how the Ray's light-based powers work. I think he absorbs light and then can use that energy to fly around and do other things, but then it eventually runs out. He can also manipulate how the light reflects off his body, which allows him to change his appearance.

The plot revolves around his troubles with his girlfriend and her parents, and by the end of the issue the situation has turned into a classic save the girl scenario, after these weird insect-like creatures who talk like Daleks randomly fall from the sky.

There's nothing really mind-blowing about this, but the writing is pretty sharp. Jamal Igle's art is unremarkable, but not a turn off. I'll give it another issue at least and see where it goes.

The Punisher #7
Written by Greg Rucka; pencils by Michael Lark; inks by Stefano Gaudiano; colours by Matt Hollingworth; Marvel

I just love the fact that Marvel editors have enough faith in what Greg Rucka is doing with this series that they're willing to let him write an entire issue of The Punisher in which The Punisher doesn't appear. It's great pacing for the series as a whole, giving us a little interlude after the carnage in the previous action-packed issue, and it also works perfectly as a stand-alone issue. It even functions as a pretty good jumping-on point for new readers, as the cops investigating the case kind of sum up everything that's happened so far.

The art team is also fantastic, giving the book a great pulp noir look that matches Rucka's writing style. I really don't care much about The Punisher as a character. I gave this series a try purely because of Rucka. It doesn't disappoint.

I'm reading comics again! // Reviews: Daredevil, Batman, Wonder Woman

Operation Catch-up on Comics has officially begun, since I FINALLY finished reading A Clash of Kings yesterday. This morning on the way to work, I read three comics.

Daredevil #8
Written by Mark Waid; art by Kano; colours by Javier Rodriguez; Marvel

This is part 2 of a two-part crossover with Amazing Spider-Man. Waid wrote the ASM issues as well, so the two really flow together as one two-part story, despite the different art team on the books. I've been enjoying Daredevil since this volume began, due as much to Waid's dialogue as to the great art by his collaborators. Here, the art by Kano is nowhere near the level of either Paolo Rivera or Marcus Martin, but Javier Rodriguez's colours help give it a similar feel.

I was pretty turned off by a few awful examples of stupid-looking sexualized poses for Black Cat, though. That's the kind of shit that takes me right out of a story, unfortunately. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the way the character is written either. (SPOILERS:) She's being very flirty with Daredevil throughout this issue, and at the end you find out that she was paid to seduce him in order to steal something from him. Hmm. A female character in a comic book having to resort to her sexuality in order to achieve something. Where have I seen that before? (Um, maybe in a million other sexist comics out there?)

It's kind of sad, really, because up to this point there wasn't really anything I didn't like about this series. Even the fact that this was a crossover didn't bother me, in part because I happen to be reading both series, but also because it's a crossover that makes sense. I love the way the two characters interact and Mark Waid's Spider-Man is even funnier than Dan Slott's. (Not to knock Dan Slott's writing. I'm enjoying ASM a lot, in spite of the mostly terrible art.)

So, yeah, that was kind of a bummer, but I enjoyed the story otherwise.

Batman #5
Written by Scott Snyder; pencils by Greg Capullo; inks by Jonathan Glapion; colours by FCO; DC

I loved Scott Snyder's run on Detective Comics just before the relaunch, but so far his run on Batman hasn't grabbed me to the same level. Is it because of the art? Maybe. Greg Capullo is a fine artist, but he's no Francesco Fancavilla. But mostly I think it's the story. And maybe also the fact that I'm kind of over Bruce Wayne as a character.

This issue's doing the whole Batman being drugged up and people screwing with his mind thing. It's not the first time we've seen something like this. It ends with a moment that might have been kinda shocking if it weren't on the freaking cover. There's also a neat trick with the layouts changing direction halfway through the book, forcing you to physically turn the book upside down as Batman spirals deeper into the labyrinth. It's kinda neat.

I'm not hating this. It's a solid Batman comic. I just think I'm at a point where "solid Batman comic" doesn't really cut it anymore. Or maybe it's just a phase. Or maybe the story's about to get really good and blow my mind. We'll see.

Wonder Woman #5
Written by Brian Azzarello; art by Tony Akins; colours by Matthew Wilson; DC

This was definitely the most underwhelming issue of Wonder Woman since the relaunch. And I don't think it's just because Cliff Chiang didn't draw it, though that certainly has a huge impact. Tony Akins' art is actually quite nice, but Cliff Chiang's been absolutely killing it for the past four issues, so it's a tough sell. I'm also getting really tired of Brian Azzarello's dialogue, I think. I don't know, it just sounds too scripted or something, like it's simultaneously trying too hard and not hard enough. It's hard to put my finger on it, but it's bugging me.

On the other hand, I kinda like the way this book is turning into a soap opera involving Greek gods. I have no idea why they described this as a horror book. It's totally a soap.

Books I read: Action Comics, Animal Man, Huntress, Swamp Thing

Yes, I do plan on spending some time this month reviewing some of the non-DC/Marvel comics on my pull list. But that doesn't mean I stop covering the New 52. Here are some quick thoughts on the new issues I read this week.

Action Comics #2
Written by Grant Morrison; pencils by Rags Morales and Brent Anderson; inks by Rick Bryant and Brent Anderson; colours by Brad Anderson; DC 

One of my biggest concerns with DC's relaunch is that their commitment to shipping all the books on time will lead to more unsolicited fill-in artists. I hate unsolicited fill-in artists with the passion of a thousand suns. I understand that artists need a break from time to time. But I think how much work an artist can handle should be planned into the schedule. Either alternate between two art teams, or plan for guest artists between story arcs. It's simply not acceptable to announce a book with one creative team and then ship it with a different (and most of the time inferior) creative team.

Consistency of art is really important to me. I have a feeling that I'm in the minority, but whatever. As a consumer, I'm just not willing to keep supporting books that constantly disappoint me in that department. I've learned my lesson from DC in recent months, and one of the conditions I set for myself when I decided to try out some of these New 52 issues was that the moment an unsolicited fill-in artist would appear in a book, that book would get dropped from my pull list.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, Action Comics made it through one-and-a-half issue before Rags Morales needed some help. The art in the second issue is wildly inconsistent. I'm assuming that the pages not drawn by Morales are the ones that feature Lois Lane. That would certainly explain why she looks like a completely different character in every panel she appears in.

The patch-up art job is already enough for me to stop buying this book. But there's another reason. This book costs $3.99. If I remember correctly, the justification for the extra dollar on some of the New 52 books (despite DC's much publicized "holding the line" campaign pre-September and their promises to stick to $2.99 till the end of the year) was that it's a longer than the standard 20 pages we get in other books. Well, I counted the story pages in this issue and there are 20. The rest are bonus material, ads and a preview for some Batman graphic novel. So where's my extra dollar going? Hint: It's not "bonus" material if I have to pay extra for it.

All this ranting and I haven't even talked about the content yet. Is this a terrible comic? No. It's an average comic book that I already wasn't that stoked on after the first issue, but I figured I would give it a chance. I did. And now it's over. I will not be buying issue #3.

Animal Man #2
Written by Jeff Lemire; art by Travel Foreman; colours by Lovern Kindzierski; DC

I didn't enjoy this issue quite as much as I enjoyed the first one. I think it's because of the way Maxine feels more like a plot device than a character. I find it a little bit of a cop out that Buddy doesn't really have to do any work to figure out what is going on. All he has to do is listen to his daughter explain everything to him and guide him to this magical world nobody knew existed just 24 hours earlier. It's just awfully convenient that Maxine has all the answers.

In spite of that, I did enjoy the issue. I still think the art is visually striking and original. I think those who weren't sold on the art in the first issue will probably have even more problems with it in this one, but I actually find it refreshing to have a comic that is so stylistically different from anything else that DC puts out each month. It's about as far away from a conventional "house style" as you can get.

Still a strong title and in no real danger of getting bumped off my pull list for the foreseeable future.

Huntress #1
Written by Paul Levitz; pencils by Marcus To; inks by John Dell; colours by Andrew Dalhouse; DC

This is the first of a six-issue mini-series. The first thing that struck me about it is how unfortunate it is that DC hired Guillem March to do the covers instead of letting Marcus To handle them. The difference between the tacky mess of a cover and the gorgeous, classy art inside is almost shocking as you open the book. Marcus To was fantastic on Red Robin and here he continues to impress me with his clean lines and layouts. The only criticism I have of the art is that there isn't much to differentiate the women's faces from one another, but that's a very common problem in comics. In any case, it's not really a big enough deal to take anything away from my enjoyment of this first issue.

Paul Levitz has a good handle on the character. This was a good, introduction to what seems like it's going to be a pretty straightforward (but potentially very satisfying) story. Helena's character doesn't seem to be affected by the relaunch at all (from what I can tell), so if you're a fan of the character you won't be disappointed.

Solid first issue. I'm onboard.

Swamp Thing #2
Written by Scott Snyder; art by Yanick Paquette; colours by Nathan Fairbairn; DC

The first issue was good, but this second issue is even better. Paquette's art (helped by Fairbairn's detailed colours) is blowing my mind.

A large part of this issue is mostly just an info dump, as (one version of) Swamp Thing explains to Alec Holland what the deal is with the Green, the Parliament of Trees, and his connection to Swamp Thing. I was a little bit worried when I found out a few months ago that Swamp Thing was coming back to the DCU and that Alec Holland would be resurrected. I don't worship Alan Moore's work, but I think some of the concepts he established in in run on Swamp Thing are really rich and fascinating, and I didn't want to see that get wiped out of continuity.

What's amazing is that Scott Snyder somehow manages to honour Moore's run while establishing a new status quo for the character. Instead of just retconning Moore's run, he adds new elements that force us to reinterpret it. I don't know how interesting it is to new readers, but I thought all the back story in this issue was great. And now I'm really excited to see where it's all going to lead.

Scott Snyder is simply amazing. There's no doubt in my mind now that he's the best writer working for DC. I am so completely sold on what he's doing here and in Batman (and in his creator-owned work) that I'm basically just going to buy anything and everything he writes from now on. You want good comics? I suggest you do the same.

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.

Review: Justice League #1

Justice League #1
Written by Geoff Johns; pencils by Jim Lee; inks by Scott Williams; DC.

(Spoilers here.)

When you've been told repeatedly for several months that the issue you hold in your hand is "historic," that it sets the tone for the relaunch of an entire line of comic books, and the creative team behind it includes two of the three people who conceived of and orchestrated the whole relaunch, yeah, it sets up a certain set of expectations.

Add to that the normal expectations that you have for any first issue of a new series. And the expectations you have for a comic book that features Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Batman, Flash and Cyborg on its cover.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I expected it to be awesome. In fact, I wasn't even sure I was going to buy it. The guy at my local comic shop was like, "Come on, you're not even gonna try it?" So I picked it up just to show that I had an open mind about this whole relaunch business. I'm also not a huge fan of either Geoff Johns or Jim Lee, though I think both have done some good work in the past. So, no, I didn't think it was going to blow my mind.

What I did expect, though, was... I don't know, some kind of hook? Something, anything, that would make me want to read the next issue? A hint of how awesome it is to have the "big seven" (well, big six, really, since Martian Manhunter has been replaced by Cyborg) reunited as the core members of the Justice League?

There is none of that in this book. What we get are Batman and Green Lantern being arrogant macho assholes full of themselves. And then on the last page, Superman shows up and hints that he's as much of an arrogant macho asshole full of himself as they are.

Basically, the theme of this book is MY COCK IS BIGGER THAN YOURS.

And that's pretty much it. There's no story. Batman meets Green Lantern. Cops in Gotham are shooting at them and the two superheroes are boasting that they can handle it and don't need help. Then they find a box and Green Lantern's ring is unable to identify it, which he says is impossible, but just by looking at it Batman is able to deduce that it's some kind of alien computer. From this, they deduce that this guy in Metropolis they've heard about might know something about it, so Green Lantern flies them there, and then Superman comes out and is like, "So, what can you do?" Then he pulls out his cock and Batman and Green Lantern's jaws drop.

Okay, I lied about that last part. What you actually get is a teaser that says, "Next: Batman vs. Superman." Because apparently this is what new readers are going to be interested in, a bunch of testosterone-filled frat boys fighting amongst themselves for the alpha dog title.

Yeah, it sucks. It's worse than anything I could have imagined. It's a steaming pile of burning caca. And if this is meant to set the tone for the New 52, things are about as grim and hopeless as I feared they might be when I started seeing some of those awful costumes redesigns several months ago.

The good news, for me anyway, is that I don't think that's true. I don't think the tone or quality of this book really has anything to do with what we can expect from the books that I am looking forward to. So I'm not going to give up on the New 52 because the flagship title sucks. Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Batwoman and the few other titles I'm looking forward to will succeed or fail on their own merit.

But what's depressing is that DC had so much riding on this book. I don't know whether non-regular readers of comics came into the shops last Wednesday to check it out like DC was hoping they would. But if so, are they really going to get sucked in by this? Are they going to come back to buy Action Comics #1 next week, or Justice League #2 next month? I find that incredibly hard to believe.

What would have made a better first issue? Start with a bang! Start with the Justice League already assembled and show us how awesome it is to have all these classic, iconic heroes kicking ass together. Show us how much FUN a comic like that can be. There's no fun in this comic. Just a bunch of angry dudes banging on their chests and asserting their dominance.

It's garbage.

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

---

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

---

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: All Nighter, Flashpoint tie-ins, Gatest of Gotham, Silver Surfer

All Nighter #1 (of 5)
Created, written and drawn by David Hahn; Image.

This is the first thing I've ever read by David Hahn. It was completely off my radar until I saw a link to the free PDF download of the first issue of this mini-series on Hahn's website. I downloaded it and only read a few pages before I knew this was something I wanted to get. The best comparison I can think of is Love and Rockets, or at least what I imagine Love and Rockets to be, since I've never actually read it. Instead of reading this review, you should probably just go download it and check it out yourself.

GOOD

--

Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #1 (of 3)
Written by Sterling Gates; pencils by Oliver Nome; inks by Trevor Scott; colours by Brian Buccellato; DC.

Kid Flash wakes up in a Matrix-style virtual reality prison in a nightmare futuristic version of Metropolis. He's lost his access to the speed force and needs to figure out what's going on and how to get back to the right timeline. There's not a whole lot to this, but it's enjoyable because Bart Allen is a character that I like and Sterling Gates writes him really well. Oliver Nome's style is functional more than it is impressive, but I really like the way he draws Bart's face (and especially his cute little button nose). I'm going to keep reading this, even if I'm not all that interested in Flashpoint anymore.

OKAY

--

Flashpoint: The Outsider #1 (of 3)
Written by James Robinson; art by Javi Fernandez; colours by The Hories; DC.

As far as I can tell, The Outsider is one of the few totally new characters in Flashpoint. His name suggests a connection to the team formerly known as the Outsiders, but I really don't know enough about them to see any connection beyond that. Like with the Kid Flash issue, there's not a lot to go on in this issue. It mostly just establishes the character and his origin within the Flashpoint universe, then there's a fight that goes on for several pages. But it works because I like the character and want to find out more about him. James Robinson seems to have found the right voice for him and I can see how, outside the confines of a major comic book event tie-in, he could take him to some really interesting places. I hope this character will survive Flashpoint and that there's an ongoing by Robinson that has yet to be announced post-relaunch, as some have been speculating, because it's something that I would definitely read (in trades, probably).

OKAY

--

Batman: Gates of Gotham #2 (of 5)
Story by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins; written by Kyle Higgins; art by Trevor McCarthy; colours by Guy Major; DC.

I liked this more than the first issue. Either the art has improved or I'm starting to warm up to McCarthy's style. But what really won me over was the way Kyle Higgins writes the scenes between the different bat kids. He nailed the interaction between Cassandra Cain and Damian Wayne. Damian tries to prove his superiority while pretending not to be impressed by Cass, but really it's clear that he's a little bit in awe of her or he wouldn't be so desperate for her approval. It's basically the same dynamic he had with Dick before they became BFFs, except that Cass is even more unfazed by him than Dick was. But while these two were my favourite, I just love the way Higgins has them all working together as a team. He writes these characters so well that it makes me wish he was working on a Bat Family title instead of Nightwing solo book in September. Although, based on this interview, it sounds like there'll be lots of guest appearances by the other kids in that book, so I'm hopeful. It's a shame that everyone's going to have super-ugly 90s retro costumes, though. Blargh.

GOOD

--

Silver Surfer #5 (of 5)
Written by Greg Pak; pencils by Harvey Tolibao; inks by Sandu Florea; colours by Wil Quintana; Marvel.

This was a good, satisfying conclusion to a story that I've enjoyed tremendously, in spite of what I consider to be very ugly art. It's not technically incompetent art. It's just a style that I personally really dislike - way too busy for my tastes - and part of that might come from the colouring as well. Still worth reading for the story, though.

AWESOME (script) / POOR (art)

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: Flashpoint, Flashpoint tie-in, Superboy and Sweet Tooth

(Reviews are spoilery.)

Flashpoint #2
Written by Geoff Johns; art by Andy Kubert and Sandra Hope; DC

Four things happen in this issue: 1. Deathstroke sails into Atlantean territory and meets a very pissed off Aquaman. 2. A very pissed off Batman beats up Barry Allen until Barry manages to convince him that he's telling the truth. 3. Steve Trevor, who's a member of the resistance, gets ambushed by a group of Amazons led by a very pissed off Wonder Woman. And 4. Barry Allen tries to recreate the accident that initially gave him his powers and apparently gets fried in the process. None of this is very exciting or interesting or pleasant to read, though some of the art's nice. I'm getting really sick of seeing characters with clenched teeth, though. I kind of wish all these people would just lighten the fuck up. The variant cover for this issue shows Wonder Woman holding the decapitated head of Mera. Since this doesn't happen in this issue and, in fact, Mera does not even appear in it, I can only assume that the cover was produced for the specific purpose of pissing people off. Basically, that's the theme here. All the characters are angry and clenching their teeth, and DC seems to expect fans to do the same. Pissed off fans vent on the internet and apparently that gets people to buy more comics. I don't understand how any of this works.

WEAK SAUCE

--


Flashpoint: Batman: Knight of Vengeance #1
Written by Brian Azzarello; art by Eduardo Risso; DC

There's Batman with his clenched teeth on the cover. But otherwise, I have to say this was a lot better than the main series. Maybe these mini-series are where all the good stuff is going to happen in this crossover event after all. Still, this feels a bit empty. Solid script and nice art, but I'm not sure yet where it's going.

OKAY

--

Superboy #8
Written by Jeff Lemire; art by Pier Gallo; DC

It really pains me to admit this, but I don't think Jeff Lemire writes very good super-hero comics. I've been very lenient on this title since it started, because I like Lemire's work so much that I managed to convince myself that this would get good. But I think I have to finally accept that it's not good and it's probably not going to get any better before it ends in a couple of months. Every story beat feels artificial and calculated. The exposition is incredibly clumsy and all of the dialogue sounds awkward. I don't get it. There's no sign of the grace and seemingly effortless storytelling and quiet, reflective beauty found in Lemire's work outside of the super-hero genre. There are two possibilities: either he's not feeling comfortable in this format or he's phoning it in. There are only two issues left, and I'm not even sure I'm going to bother picking them up.

DISAPPOINTING

--

Sweet Tooth #22
Written and drawn by Jeff Lemire; Vertigo

See? This is what I'm talking about.

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

---

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

---

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

One-paragraph reviews: Spider-Man, Fear Itself, Last Mortal, Supergirl

Amazing Spider-Man #661
Written by Christos Gage, art by Reilly Brown; Marvel

I probably wouldn't have bought this issue if I had noticed that it was written by Christos Gage before leaving the store. I read the first few issues of Avengers Academy, and while I like the characters, the weak scripts and occasionally even worse art prevented me from enjoying it. I've always been a bit puzzled by the generally positive reviews of it I see online. Here, we get the same level of quality I've come to expect from Gage: an all right story, mostly bad dialogue, and scenes that somehow ring false. No complaints about the art, though.

OKAY

---

Fear Itself #2 (of 7)
Written by Matt Fraction; art by Stuart Immonen and Wade Von Grawbadger; Marvel

I had mixed feelings about the first issue. The story was better than I had expected, but I was really turned off by the pretentious attempt at "relevance" that steered clear of any actual political commentary. In the end, although I was curious to see what would happen next, I decided not to bother with the rest of the series or crossover event. Then I started reading Journey into Mystery and was surprised by how awesome it was. Since it seems like an important tie-in, I figured I would give the main series another try. Aside from the annoying and utterly pointless soundbites from the news that occasionally intrude on the narrative, Matt Fraction seems to have abandoned any effort to connect this story to what's going on in the real world. In fact, there isn't much of a story here at all. We see various characters pick up the hammers that fell from the sky and get transformed into different beings, which is repetitive and boring. Meanwhile, the Avengers are in full crisis mode, but it's not clear exactly what they're reacting to. In one of the most unconvincing pep speeches ever delivered, Steve Rogers talks about "incident zones" and tells his troops that people will be hurt, scared and panicking. I guess these "incidents" occurred in other books. I'm not going to start buying more titles to figure out what's going on. In fact, I regret buying this one. I'm just going to stick to Journey into Mystery from now on and hope that the story remains self-contained enough for me to be able to make sense of it without paying any attention to this.

AWFUL

---

Last Mortal #1
Written by John Mahoney and Filip Sablik; art by Thomas Nachlik; Image

Nice black and white art, but I couldn't really bring myself to care about the characters or what happens to them in this issue. The hook of this series is that the main character apparently can't die, so it was a bad idea to not explore that in the first issue. As an idea, it's not really strong enough on its own to just throw it at the reader on the last page. It might work once this is collected in a trade, but for now if the goal is to keep me buying the issues, I need a little more to go on. Especially considering this wasn't much of a twist, since I already knew what the series would be about based on the promotional material. I may or may not pick up the next issue. It'll probably mostly depend on how heavy my pull list happens to be next month. I know how unfair it is to judge a book on a single issue, but unfortunately that's the economic reality I have to deal with.

OKAY

---

Supergirl #64
Written by James Peaty; art by Bernard Chang; DC

This concludes the "Good Looking Corpse" story that Nick Spencer started four issues ago. Looking back at the full story, I have to say it was pretty disappointing. We'll probably never know what Spencer intended to do with it, but we know that he left after only one issue because his editors apparently didn't like what he was giving them. So Peaty was almost certainly following an editorial mandate here, which makes it hard to hold him responsible for the story's failure. Does it really come as a surprise to anyone that when you take one writer's idea, have an editor twist and bend it out of shape, and then hire someone else to hack out the scripts, the results are not very good? What you get is a flat, somewhat pointless story that feels like nobody's heart was really in it. Bernard Change's art is pretty good, although this last issue feels a bit sketchier than the others, and there's a lot of ugly digital blur effects (the bane of my existence) added by the colourist.

NOT VERY GOOD

One-paragraph reviews: Gates of Gotham, Teen Titans, Booster Gold, Silver Surfer

(No spoilers unless otherwise indicated.)

Batman: Gates of Gotham #1 (of 5)
Written by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins; art by Trevor McCarthy; DC

My expectations for this mini-series were insanely high. Partly because Scott Snyder's recent work on Detective Comics resulted in one of the best Batman stories I've ever read and I was looking forward to more of the same. And partly because Cassandra Cain, former Batgirl, is set to play an important role in it. Cass has a very passionate fanbase and she's a character I've read a lot about but haven't had much first-hand exposure to. While this first issue doesn't quite live up to the hype I built up for it, it's still pretty good. I'm not the biggest fan of the art style. It has a cartoony feel that doesn't appeal to me and I really dislike the character designs for all the bat characters when they're out of costume. But these are mostly due to aesthetic preferences, not a lack of skill on the artist's part. The important thing is it's good storytelling. Kyle Higgins' dialogues don't pack the same kind punch that Synder delivers with surgical precision in Detective, but it does the job. Cass only makes a brief appearance in the end, but it looks like she's going to play an integral part in the story going forward. We only get hints of what is really going on in this first issue, but it sets up an interesting mystery. Looking forward to the next issue.

GOOD

---

Booster Gold #44
Written by Dan Jurgens; art by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund; DC

(SPOILERS)

This is the first issue of Booster Gold that I've ever read, although I've previously enjoyed him as one of the main characters in 52. I was thankful for the in-story recap, which make this a very easy jump-on point for readers like me who are mostly picking this up because it ties into Flashpoint. This issue is mostly set-up, as Booster finds himself stranded in the Flashpoint timeline and realizes that something is very wrong. Booster and Barry Allen (who's not in this) seem to be the only two people so far who remember the old timeline. Jurgens' dialogues have a very old-school feel, which I don't mind at all. Considering how exasperating the ongoing Doomsday crossover in the Super titles has been, I wasn't too thrilled to find that he's going to be an antagonist in this series as well, albeit as a transformed, Flashpointified version of the character. I guess Jurgens did create him, so it shouldn't be too surprising. In any case, I'll keep reading, as I want to know how Booster pulls through this mess and what part he's going to play in restoring the timeline.

OKAY

---

Silver Surfer #4 (of 5)
Written  by Greg Pak; art by Harvey Talibao, Iban Coello and Sandu Florea; Marvel

I don't have a lot to say about this issue. I think the art continues to be pretty weak, while the story continues to be pretty good. This concludes next month. Maybe I'll have more to say then.

OKAY

---

Teen Titans #95
Written by JT Krul; art by Nicola Scott and Doug Hazlewood; DC

Nicola Scott is one hell of an artist. I suspect this title is going to end with #100 in August, but you can be sure that I'll follow Nicola to whatever book she'll be drawing next. In the meantime, she and inker Doug Hazlewood are drawing the shit out these characters and the story could be the most inane, boring crap and you would hardly notice. Thankfully, though, this story is actually pretty good. The combination of decent story and stellar art makes this one of the best books DC currently puts out, which is remarkable when you consider that before this creative team took over it had long been considered awful by fans. (I wasn't reading it, so I can't confirm that.) The one thing that has me feeling a little uncomfortable is the way this story turns Hindu mythology into supervillany. Obviously, a lot of comic book stories and characters are inspired by myth or religion, but int he case of Greek or Norse mythology, these are religions that are largely "extinct" (although some people still believe in them) and in the case of Christianity, it's usually the writer's own culture that is being mined for inspiration. Here, JT Krul steps dangerously close to cultural appropriation and exoticism. Solstice, the Indian girl who will apparently join the Teen Titans, brings some much needed diversity to the team, but did her first adventure have to be one against comic book versions of her culture's religion? From what I understand, Rankor, the god/demon/villain in this story, is a made-up character not based on any actual Hindu deity, so I don't want to overplay this. It's not that I disapprove of this story or anything. All I'm saying is that these questions remain in the back of my head while I'm reading (and enjoying) this.

GOOD

Review: Flashpoint #1

Flashpoint #1 (of 5)
Written by Geoff Johns; art by Andy Kubert and Sandra Hope; DC

(Spoiler-free review.)

Let's start by talking about the art. I've seen both positive and negative responses to it online. I think it's good. Some of Andy Kubert's faces are a bit weird and occasionally the proportions seems to go a bit wonky, but it doesn't really bother me. I'd much rather have some quirks from an artist who has his own style than bland uniformity or lifeless photorealism. Alex Sinclair's colours are also worth mentioning. They give the book a crisp, saturated look, with sharp contrast between warm and cold hues. It works.

Now, about the story... If you've read my review of the final issue of Flash, which leads directly into Flashpoint, you know that I've been pretty hard on Geoff Johns' lazy scripts. This issue further cements my feeling that his strength is in the ideas, stories and concepts he comes up with, more than in the scene-by-scene scripting or dialogue.

The opening scenes where Barry realizes he's lost his powers and that his mother is still alive are fine, up until the point where they start talking. This is something that always bothers me in alternate reality stories where one character is the only person aware that the world has changed. As soon as they start saying things like "Where's Dad?" when their father died three years ago or "Do I own a car?" people would freak out. They would immediately become extremely concerned about their mental health and want to take them to a doctor. I've had friends who started showing signs of schizophrenia and let me tell you it's a very disturbing and frightening thing to see someone you love lose their grip on reality. It's not something you just shrug off and ask "Are you sure you're okay?"

Like the scenes in Flash #12 that were seemingly lifted right out of a bad TV drama, this tells me that Geoff Johns is not the kind of writer who draws a lot from his own experience  in terms of how human beings interact with each other, but instead takes his cues from television, movies and other comic books. This scene immediately calls to mind dozens of similar scenes from alternate reality stories we're all familiar with and it makes no effort to rise above the clichés.

Fortunately, the rest of the book is a lot better. There's still a lot of exposition through dialogue, but honestly I'm not sure how else you could convey so much information about a completely new world in a single issue without those types of info dumps, so I'm more willing to forgive it. The only thing that bothers me slightly is that all this time is spent introducing characters that will apparently not feature prominently in the main series but whose stories will instead be told in the four gazillion spin-off mini-series. So for those of us who don't plan on reading the spin-offs, this is just a lot of extra information that isn't going to pay off in any way. But, again, I understand that this is an "event" comic and this issue essentially functions as a big advertisement for all the other books DC is hoping you will buy. Anybody who buys the first issue of Flashpoint is a willing participant in that game, so to bitch about it too much would be kind of disingenuous.

The book ends on a very effective revelation about one of the major players, one that most readers will have probably seen coming by the time they get to the last page but that packs a good punch anyway just because of its implications and how it sets the tone for the next four issues.

Flashpoint #1 doesn't really rise above the problems you'd expect from the first issue of a big summer event comic book, but it gets the job done. It was a good choice to keep the two main antagonists (Aquaman and Wonder Woman) out of the book. Their threat is felt throughout the book, but Johns wisely delays the impact of their first appearance for a later issue. The business about the Amazons castrating all males who enter their territory definitely makes me groan - a lot! - but I'm willing to bite my tongue for now and wait to see exactly where they go with it before I critique that story decision. I plan on picking up the next issue. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to bother with any of the minis.

OKAY

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

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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

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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

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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

Review: Flash #12

The Flash #12
Written by Geoff Johns; art by Scott Kolins and Francis Manapul; DC.

Splitting art duties between Francis Manapul and Scott Kolins wasn't so bad when Kolins would do the occasional fill-in issue to give Manapul a chance to catch up. They're both competent artists and their styles have enough similarities that it didn't seem like a complete break. But when you put them side by side in the same issue, as happens here, it's a bit harder to swallow because it becomes clear that Manapul's art is vastly superior. The few pages that he illustrates really stand out, and it doesn't do Kolins any justice to have to compete with that. Once again, it's a case of poor scheduling choices from DC editors where it became necessary to have multiple artists on a single issue in order to meet deadlines. I wish DC would make more effort to avoid this sort of thing. (And no, I don't blame the artists.)

Script-wise, this issue may only have a single scribe, but there are still lots of problems with it. I'm not a Geoff Johns hater. I think he's very good at coming up with epic ideas and stories that evidently appeal to the fans. But when it comes to the actual scene-by-scene scripting of his books, sometimes I find it a bit weak.

In this case, the action scenes in the first half of the book are okay, but the emotional stuff in the second half is handled so poorly that some of it actually made me angry. 

First, there's a totally unconvincing reconciliation between Barry and Bart. It's unconvincing because the conflict didn't really make any sense to begin with. It came out of the blue last issue when the entire speedster family decided to have an "intervention" and confront Barry about how emotionally distant he's been (despite the fact that nothing in the previous 10 issues really hinted at him being emotionally distant, aside from the fact that he was too busy to attend a fucking family picnic, 'cause he was, you know, catching bad guys) during which Bart stormed off like a little crybaby for apparently no reason. And now, after a big fight during which Bart was almost killed, they're pals again. They haven't really dealt with whatever it was that was bothered Bart. It just magically resolved itself while they were fighting side by side against the Reverse Flash. I guess that's male bonding.

That's only a one-page scene. What follows is much worst. It's a goodbye scene with Patty Spivot which, again, feels pretty hollow because we never really got a good sense of what their relationship was all about in previous issues. But what's so terrible about this scene is that it sets up one of the most infuriating clichés of bad drama. Patty confesses she'd been hoping they'd be more than co-workers or even friends, but she respects that he has someone else in his life. Barry politely lets her know the feelings are not mutual, while tenderly stroking her face (seriously, who does that?) and they they hug. It's the most harmless, passionless, sexless, lifeless scene ever. Both characters are being very respectable and chaste and mature about it, and aside from that ridiculous face stroke, there's nothing reproachable about their behaviour. It's clear that they have no intention to commit adultery, because they're such good people. And of course, you can see it coming from a mile away: Barry's wife, Iris, walks in on them at exactly the wrong moment.

It's just such bad writing. The set-up is obvious and predictable, and yet it feels completely contrived and removed from anything anyone's ever experienced in reality. What follows is so by-the-numbers I don't even have to describe it, because you've seen it a hundred times in bad movies and bad TV. The dialogue is lifted right out of the book of clichés: "Iris! You remember Patty Spivot?" "Of course."

The only thing that goes against what you would expect here is that Iris is such a good wife that she doesn't even get the wrong impression from what she's witnessed, despite Barry's awkward fumbling which make him seem guilty. She tells him he doesn't have to explain anything, because she trusts him. At first I was like, "Oh, well, at least Geoff Johns didn't go there." But then I realized this was even more infuriating, because it doesn't to any kind of conflict or drama and it just serves to highlight how flawless and incredibly bland these characters are. The whole Patty Spivot subplot in these last few issues was stillborn, because they never flirted, Barry never got an erection and he was never tempted. There was never any sexual tension. And now Iris, being the inhuman cardboard template of a perfect wife that she is, doesn't feel any jealousy. She's just full of compassion and understanding and concern for Barry's wellbeing. And they discuss this over coffee while holding hands and looking into each other's eyes and being very mature about it. It just makes me vomit.

This is the final issue of The Flash. It started out strong with some really brilliant issues with gorgeous art by Francis Manapul. But about halfway through, it became clear that Geoff Johns wasn't really interested in telling stories in this book and that it functioned merely as an elaborate set-up for this summer's big "event," Flashpoint, the first issue of which also came out this week. If you've been following The Flash all along, then you'll probably want to pick this one up for whatever closure it offers. (Hint: not much.) Otherwise, don't bother. If you're interested in Flashpoint, you can just go straight to #1 and you won't be missing any crucial information.

AWFUL

Review: Action Comics #900

Adam Hughes variant cover

Action Comics #900
By (take a deep breath) Paul Cornell, Pete Woods, Jesus Merino, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, Rags Morales, Ardian Syaf, Jamal Igle, Jon Sibal, Gary Frank, Damon Lindelof, Ryan Sook, Paul Dini, RB Silva, Rob Lean, Geoff Johns, David S. Goyer, Miguel Sepulveda, Richard Donner, Derek Hoffman, Matt Camp, Brian Steltfreeze; DC.

(spoilers)

Everyone's talking about the back-up story by David S. Goyer and Miguel Sepulveda in which Superman says he's going to renounce his American citizenship. (I'm not even going to bother linking to any of the blog posts about it, because if you pay any attention to comics, you've definitely already seen them.) When I read the story, I thought two things: 1. DC planted this on purpose because they knew it would get them media attention, and 2. it's going to be retconned within a year. As it turns out, I seem to have been wrong about the first one, judging by how unprepared DC seemed to be when the media shitstorm hit them. As for the second, it remains to be seen, but I still think someone's going to find a way to make sure Superman remains a US citizen. Of course, we all know that IT DOESN'T MATTER and this was all blown way out of proportion.

So let's talk about the main story, which was, for me, the main attraction.

It's difficult to tell to what extent Paul Cornell is responsible for the "Reign of Doomsday(s)" nonsense. Is this a story that he pitched to his editors as a follow-up to "The Black Ring" and that then spiraled out of control into a crossover event? Or was the whole thing planned by editorial and Cornell just ended up having to squeeze it into his story? In any case, he does a better job of integrating it into his narrative than any of the other super-books that have been affected so far (at least from what I can tell, as I've only read two of them). But even though he comes up with a relatively plausible link between the two, it still feels in this issue like we're moving back and forth between two separate stories (which is emphasized by the different art team on each story), and I don't know about anybody else, but I just happen to only care about one of them.

The conclusion of Lex Luthor's story is suitably epic, and the return of Superman is satisfying and handled without fanfare. Pete Woods' art is clean and elegant, as it has been throughout the story line. I loved the way Cornell managed to reference all the issues that came before and give us a little extra payoff with those characters when Luthor's wave of pure bliss spread through the universe. And I'm extremely happy that Robot Lois Lane is not dead after all, though it sounds like she's going to be getting a new face and, if/when she returns, may no longer identify as Lois Lane. I hope Paul Cornell gets to write her again, no matter what form she takes, because her character remains the highlight of the story for me.

Meanwhile, the Doomsday shenanigans continue. The various characters wearing S shields are stuck with him in a spaceship that appears to contain a black hole. As they fight him individually, they notice that he appears to have different powers (mimicking their own) depending on who's fighting him. Finally, Superman makes his way there to save him, and they find out that they're not only dealing with Doomsday but with a bunch of his clones.

I don't know about you, but the only thing I find more boring than Doomsday in a Superman comic is four Doomsdays in a Superman comic. So much so, that I am seriously wondering whether I should bother to pick up the next issue, because I have zero interest in this story. On the other hand, I've enjoyed Paul Cornell's writing on the title since the beginning of his run, and the new artist coming in (Kenneth Rocafort) looks pretty good (judging by his covers anyway - I don't really know anything about him). So I guess I will give it a shot and hope that the story resolves quickly and we move on to something more interesting.

About some of the other back-up material:

"Life Support," by Damon Lindelof and Ryan Sook, is a story set in the last days of Krypton. It was very similar in tone to the story about Jor-El in this year's 80-Page Giant. The story's not bad, but it's Ryan Sook's art that really shines.

"Autobiography," by Paul Dini and RB Silva, is probably the weirdest story in the book. It's only three pages and involves a conversation between Superman and a weird purple hippo alien. Nice art.

"Friday Night in the 21st Century" is a four-page story by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Light-hearted and fun, with a guest appearance by the Legion.

I haven't read the last story yet. It's in a screenplay format, written by Richard Donner and Derek Hoffman, with storyboards by Matt Camp.

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.