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Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Last Weeks Comics
Still playing catch-up from the week with no computer...
Outsiders #13 by Judd Winick and Tom Raney, from DC:
I'm still not sold on the concept of ink-less pencils. Raney pulls it off better than most who have tried, and he's able to give the characters some weight and dimensionality that is missing in most of the other inker-less books. But the real appeal of this book for me has always been Winick's jokey, "I'm so clever" dialogue, which amuses me greatly.
Dr. Blink: Superhero Shrink #0 by John Kovalic and Christopher Jones, from Dork Storm:
It's a gag comic, and some of the jokes do tend to fall a little flat. Personally, I don't think it's as good as PS238, Dork Storm's title about the school-age children of super-heroes, but this is still a fun little take on the tropes of the genre and worth checking out.
Mary Jane #1 by Sean McKeever and Takeshi Miyazawa, from Marvel:
Marvel, like Archie, seems to be under the misaprehension that if something looks a little bit like a manga title, than people who buy manga titles will be interested in it. Well, this has been on the racks a week and the only people buying it at our store our adult men who already buy everything with Spider-Man in it. Granted, I'm sure Marvel is intending this to be sold in bookstores as a TPB, but my instincts are telling me that this probably has a little too much super-hero nonsense in it to appeal to the teenaged girl demographic that Marvel is pursuing. Which is a bit of a shame, all told, because this actually isn't too bad. But I still think Emma Frost is the book Marvel should be pushing on teen girls. Except, of course, they'd need to scrap those horrible Greg Horn covers...
Runaways #16 by Brian Vaughn and Adrian Alphona, from Marvel:
The identity of the traitor is revealed (a concept which strained credibility in the first place...not a single parent was capable of recognizing their own child's handwriting?) and it really should be no surprise to anyone who was paying attention. Now the question is, was this just another ruse to lure the adults into a false sense of security, or just what it appears to be?
Ultimate Spider-Man #61 by Brian Bendis and Mark Bagley, from Marvel:
Two issues in...and nothing has happened. And, honestly, naming a character Ben Reilly is the sort of in-jokey nonsense that I thought was supposed to be anathema to the Ulitmate line.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #7 by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, from Marvel:
Ellis returns to bill-paying work. Again, suffers slightly from Marvel's current habit of "all-prologue" comics, but Ellis manages to throw some new ideas into the FF concept, largely along the lines of the actual physical implications of the changes wrought on their bodies. Immonen's art is superb, as always. Still, I'm not entirely sure I'm going to be able to take this version of Dr. Doom seriously.
Plastic Man #7 by Scott Morse, from DC:
Pure anarchic comedic genius.
Ex Machina #1 by Brian Vaughn and Tony Harris, from Wildstorm/DC:
It's clever, it's original, and it has a point-of-view. It's not afraid to make the main character unlikeable and yet he's still engaging and compelling as a character. All-in-all it's an impressive first issue and is worth picking up.
Seaguy#2 by Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart, from DC:
Well, I think it's safe to say that, based on the first issue, I didn't see any of this coming...I'm picturing some sort of Orphic odysessy for the third issue, but I'm sure it'll be something else completely and brilliantly out of left-field instead.
Challengers of the Unknown #1 by Howard Chaykin, from DC:
More Chaykin is always a good thing. I loved this. Unashamedly, dispropotionatly loved this. I loved the introductions of the charactrs, I love the ultra-paranoid right-wing news channel as unreliable commentary on the action, and I love Chaykin just being Chaykin. Utterly brilliant and gorgeous comic. The highlight of last week, without a doubt.
Boy Trouble #5 by Various, from Boy Trouble Books:
The usual problem with anthology titles is their uneven distribution of talented and interesting creators. There were only a couple of pieces here that really didn't do much for me. What's most frustrating is how the gay comix scene seems to have dried up quite a bit over the last couple of years. It's getting harder and harder to find good work.
Also purchased, also good: Adventures of Superman #629, Monolith #5, Justice League: Another Nail #2, Gotham Central #20, She-Hulk #4.
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