Believe it or not, that fear tagline above was printed at the top of each issue of Spider-Woman, not some Marvel monster book from the 1970s. But reading the character's beginnings in Essential Spider-Woman Vol. 1, I learned that the character owes just as much to those great old Marvel monster books as she does to the spandex set.
Much has been made of the convoluted origin and back story of Jessica Drew, alias Spider-Woman. In recent years, writers such as Brian Michael Bendis have tried to streamline Jessica's back story and bring the character back to prominence in the Marvel Universe. So I knew, or thought I did, a little of how she was first introduced as a villain, an agent of the international terrorist organization Hydra, who later became a hero and was ret-conned as being always a hero, working for Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. as a double-agent planted in Hydra. That's an oversimplification, but essentially my understanding before reading this great Essential volume. Now, I see that it was waaay more convoluted than that.
Jessica does start life as a pawn of Hydra in Marvel Spotlight No. 32 (February 1977) dispatched by that organization to slay Nick Fury. In a tale written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney, Spider-Woman is revealed to be a secret weapon held prisoner by Hydra and brainwashed into being loyal to the organization. She fails her mission to slay Fury, being overcome by doubts about what she is ordered to do, and is betrayed by her fellow Hydra agents. Spider-Woman is left believing that she was one of the New Men created by a villain known as the High Evolutionary, who mutated various animals to make them more human-like. Spider-Woman believes she only appears human, but began life as a real spider. Also, her costume is slightly different in these early appearances, completely covering her head — except for the area around her mouth and chin — and sporting a black back.
Just a few months later, in July 1977, Marv Wolfman and Ron Wilson take up Spider-Woman's tale in the pages of Marvel Two-In-One Nos. 29-33. This book matched Ben Grimm, the Thing from the Fantastic Four, with other Marvel heroes. Initially, Thing and Shag-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, are battling Hydra, and Spider-Woman comes on the scene. At first, she is again a pawn of Hydra, but her encounters with the Thing again make Spider-Woman question her loyalty to Hydra, and eventually she breaks from the group and sides with the Thing and a modern-day incarnation of Modred the Mystic. With the Hydra cell finally defeated, along with some other criminals along the way, Modred agrees to unlock Spider-Woman's hidden memories to reveal her true origin, which he does off-panel.
Readers had to wait a few more months, until April 1978 and the debut of Spider-Woman No. 1, to find out what Modred revealed. It seems that Spider-Woman was born human and named Jessica Drew. Her father created a serum to help protect mankind from radiation by using the blood of a spider, since spiders are immune to radiation. Jessica's family, along with another scientist named Herbert Wyndham, moved to a place called Wundagore Mountain to complete their researches. The site was chosen for its rich uranium deposits, needed for the men's work, but which, over time, caused Jessica to become deathly ill. The only way to save the girl is to inject her with Dr. Drew's spider serum, but it works too slowly to save Jessica in time. Wyndham suggests also placing Jessica in his genetic accelerator to speed up the healing properties of the serum. After much time in the accelerator, Jessica is revived by the High Evolutionary (previously known as Herbert Wyndham), and her powers are put to use by him in his organization, Hydra.
Jessica has the spider-like ability to cling to walls and other surfaces. She is immune to most radiations, and becomes immune to any poison or toxin after a single exposure. She also is able to generate a bio-electric "sting" of varying intensity. Finally, her costume is made with light-weight filament glider webs which allow her to glide on air currents, simulating flight.
All of those powers sound like a typical superhero, but as I mentioned above, Spider-Woman's solo title tried to play up the horror aspects of the character at first. Jessica's natural pheromones were changed by her transformation, so that many people reacted to her presence with a strong sense of unease. Werewolf By Night, Jack Russell, made guest appearances in Spider-Woman twice in her first 25 issues. And the villains Spider-Woman tended to run into were of the creepy variety, too. She had more run-ins with Hydra, of course, but there was also a Kali-worshipping death cult, a serial killer made up like a circus clown, a flesh-devouring muck-monster and a pair of possessed "dolls" among her most troublesome opponents. She also had a confrontation with Morgan Le Fay and a recurring alliance with a Merlin-like sorcerer.
Aside from her earlier alliance with the Thing and her attack on Nick Fury, the only other superhero she crossed paths with early on was, of course, Spider-Man. But even that somewhat obvious match-up didn't occur until issue No. 20 of Spider-Woman's own title, more than two years after her debut. And she and Webhead didn't really even get along when they DID finally meet.
All-in-all, Essential Spider-Woman Vol. 1 was a great read and an interesting Marvel history lesson. Most definitely not what I expected when I bought it, but in a good way!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover (Or It's First Issue)
Whenever possible, I like to try new books by reading the first trade or several issues, enough to get a good feel for the story. That doesn't apply to everything, of course; if they launched a new Aquaman book or Nightwing book or Titans book, odds are I'm there from the first issue, and sold on each subsequent issue unless they are just awful, and maybe even then. But any new concept for which I have no prior knowledge, I try to be fair and give the book a solid chance to grab me.
I wasn't always so generous with my time and money.
I've mentioned in passing before that I've always liked the old Turok, Son of Stone series by Dell/Gold Key. At my youngest, it was likely mostly the dinosaurs which drew my attention. As I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate many things from different American Indian cultures, so there's the appeal of two competent Native American leads, as well. While I haven't gotten around to reading them yet, I was excited by the prospect and quickly snatched up the first three Turok Archives published by Dark Horse Comics in the last few years. The only reason I haven't yet bought Archive editions 4, 5 and 6, also available, is the cost. But I'll likely get them eventually.
Turok's adventures did not end with the publication of Turok, Son of Stone No. 130, the final issue of the series, however. In the 1990s, Jim Shooter's Valiant Comics bought the licenses to several of the original Dell/Gold Key characters and began publishing new adventures for them, including Turok, Dinosaur Hunter. This series debuted in 1993, well after I discovered my first comics specialty shop, and so I knew of its pending debut ahead of time, and had my copy of the first issue reserved. And when it arrived and I sat down to enjoy it, I was quite underwhelmed. In fact, I was VERY confused.
Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, No. 1 was obviously NOT the next comic to feature the character following Turok, Son of Stone, No. 130. Much of the first issue of this new series was Turok recalling, in flashback, a series of events that made little sense to me at the time. To make matters worse, the end result was Turok being dropped into modern times for this new series, along with a bunch of mechanically enhanced bionic-dinosaurs. That most definitely was not what I had signed on for, and I didn't pick up another issue of the series.
Until recently, of course.
Otherwise, what's the point of this post, right?
Well, thanks once again to the comics-themed podcasts I've been listening to, my interest in the Valiant series was rekindled, and I decided to give them a try when the opportunity presented itself. Since Valiant went out of business after just a few short years, I don't think any of the Turok issues were ever collected into trade format. But I came across a small lot of early Valiant Turok issues on eBay recently. The lot wasn't a consecutive run, but the price was right, so that I opted to overlook the missing parts and look at these issues as a sampling. Included in the deal were issue Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7.
I re-read the first issue and was quickly reminded of what must surely have turned me off the first time around. David Michelinie was the writer for the book, and he usually does a fair job. Bob Layton was the book's editor, and he, too, has done many books I've liked. But I still wasn't a fan of the bionic dinosaurs, and the page after page of recap was still a little hard to follow. To make matters worse, none of the recap events have editor's boxes or reference of any kind to let someone new know where to find more on the information provided. If you are a regular follower of a book or character, references to what issues or titles contained past events can be a drag sometimes. But not everyone IS a devoted follower of every character they pick up.
One advantage the subsequent years have brought me in dealing with this first issue of Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, is that I now recognize some of the other characters in Turok's flashback sequences when I didn't back in 1993. They are other Valiant characters, so I deduced that maybe this was some big company-wide crossover, likely a title I knew nothing about beyond the fact that it WAS a Valiant company-wide crossover title. That book was called Unity. So, I'm guessing that reading that book MIGHT give me more insight into how Turok went from the Lost Valley of the Dell/Gold Key books to modern times. If any of you kiddie cops reading this can help me track down what came between, I'm definitely interested in your input.
But continuing on with the rest of my purchase, it began to seem that many of the elements I despised most about this new book quickly went away. I didn't have No. 2, but No. 3 seemed to wrap up that first story arc, and indicate that maybe the bionic dinosaurs would go away with the end of that arc. And sure enough, issue No. 4 brought a new writer, Tim Truman, and nary a trace of bionics anywhere. There were dinosaurs, yes, but normal ones. The government assigns a scientist "handler" to follow Turok, and he goes on missions to investigate possible dinosaur sightings, some of the huge lizards having made the journey from the Lost Valley the same way Turok did. Turok even finds Andar, although his former youthful companion is now much older, having arrived back in the real world much earlier than Turok did. Turok agrees to teach "the old ways" to Andar's grandson, also named Andar, and the character almost seems to have come full circle.
After this new try-out buy, I am ready to dip my feet into more of Valiant's run of Turok, so I'll be looking for additional back issues of this series. I'll let you know, if I find any, what I think in future posts. And again, if anyone out there has info on other Turok appearances, please let me know. Until next time, Happy Collecting!!
I wasn't always so generous with my time and money.
I've mentioned in passing before that I've always liked the old Turok, Son of Stone series by Dell/Gold Key. At my youngest, it was likely mostly the dinosaurs which drew my attention. As I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate many things from different American Indian cultures, so there's the appeal of two competent Native American leads, as well. While I haven't gotten around to reading them yet, I was excited by the prospect and quickly snatched up the first three Turok Archives published by Dark Horse Comics in the last few years. The only reason I haven't yet bought Archive editions 4, 5 and 6, also available, is the cost. But I'll likely get them eventually.
Turok's adventures did not end with the publication of Turok, Son of Stone No. 130, the final issue of the series, however. In the 1990s, Jim Shooter's Valiant Comics bought the licenses to several of the original Dell/Gold Key characters and began publishing new adventures for them, including Turok, Dinosaur Hunter. This series debuted in 1993, well after I discovered my first comics specialty shop, and so I knew of its pending debut ahead of time, and had my copy of the first issue reserved. And when it arrived and I sat down to enjoy it, I was quite underwhelmed. In fact, I was VERY confused.
Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, No. 1 was obviously NOT the next comic to feature the character following Turok, Son of Stone, No. 130. Much of the first issue of this new series was Turok recalling, in flashback, a series of events that made little sense to me at the time. To make matters worse, the end result was Turok being dropped into modern times for this new series, along with a bunch of mechanically enhanced bionic-dinosaurs. That most definitely was not what I had signed on for, and I didn't pick up another issue of the series.
Until recently, of course.
Otherwise, what's the point of this post, right?
Well, thanks once again to the comics-themed podcasts I've been listening to, my interest in the Valiant series was rekindled, and I decided to give them a try when the opportunity presented itself. Since Valiant went out of business after just a few short years, I don't think any of the Turok issues were ever collected into trade format. But I came across a small lot of early Valiant Turok issues on eBay recently. The lot wasn't a consecutive run, but the price was right, so that I opted to overlook the missing parts and look at these issues as a sampling. Included in the deal were issue Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7.
I re-read the first issue and was quickly reminded of what must surely have turned me off the first time around. David Michelinie was the writer for the book, and he usually does a fair job. Bob Layton was the book's editor, and he, too, has done many books I've liked. But I still wasn't a fan of the bionic dinosaurs, and the page after page of recap was still a little hard to follow. To make matters worse, none of the recap events have editor's boxes or reference of any kind to let someone new know where to find more on the information provided. If you are a regular follower of a book or character, references to what issues or titles contained past events can be a drag sometimes. But not everyone IS a devoted follower of every character they pick up.
One advantage the subsequent years have brought me in dealing with this first issue of Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, is that I now recognize some of the other characters in Turok's flashback sequences when I didn't back in 1993. They are other Valiant characters, so I deduced that maybe this was some big company-wide crossover, likely a title I knew nothing about beyond the fact that it WAS a Valiant company-wide crossover title. That book was called Unity. So, I'm guessing that reading that book MIGHT give me more insight into how Turok went from the Lost Valley of the Dell/Gold Key books to modern times. If any of you kiddie cops reading this can help me track down what came between, I'm definitely interested in your input.
But continuing on with the rest of my purchase, it began to seem that many of the elements I despised most about this new book quickly went away. I didn't have No. 2, but No. 3 seemed to wrap up that first story arc, and indicate that maybe the bionic dinosaurs would go away with the end of that arc. And sure enough, issue No. 4 brought a new writer, Tim Truman, and nary a trace of bionics anywhere. There were dinosaurs, yes, but normal ones. The government assigns a scientist "handler" to follow Turok, and he goes on missions to investigate possible dinosaur sightings, some of the huge lizards having made the journey from the Lost Valley the same way Turok did. Turok even finds Andar, although his former youthful companion is now much older, having arrived back in the real world much earlier than Turok did. Turok agrees to teach "the old ways" to Andar's grandson, also named Andar, and the character almost seems to have come full circle.
After this new try-out buy, I am ready to dip my feet into more of Valiant's run of Turok, so I'll be looking for additional back issues of this series. I'll let you know, if I find any, what I think in future posts. And again, if anyone out there has info on other Turok appearances, please let me know. Until next time, Happy Collecting!!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Peeling Onions Makes Me Cry; But They're Tears Of Joy
Last time in the bullet reviews, I briefly talked about a book called Wolfskin. While not a bad tale, really, there just wasn't enough in the main protagonist of the story to make me care enough to come back for more. Today, we're going to discuss a similarly sparse book that doesn't reveal too much about its main characters too quickly, but which got the opposite reaction from me. There wasn't much back story here at all, but what I did get only made me hungry for more.
But before we get into the book itself, let's first discuss how I came to try the book. I'm not exactly a podcast newbie, but I also had very limited experience with them before about 18 months ago. I follow comic-related news on Newsarama, among other sites, and had seen and heard Word Balloon by John Siuntres, but had only listened to current episodes on my computer. Then my lovely wife, Cathy, bought me my first iPod just over a year ago. I started listening to previous Word Balloon episodes, but iTunes also introduced me to a number of other great comic-themed podcasts. They make great listening while I'm out walking the dog around the neighborhood trying to lose a few pounds.
One of these podcasts, I apologize but I forget which one specifically, included a lengthy interview with Richard Starkings of Comicraft and, of course, dealt with his then new book Elephantmen. I'd heard of Elephantmen before and was curious about the concept. Most reviews I'd heard or read were quite favorable. But hearing Starkings himself talk about the book made me really want to try and like it.
So I bought the first trade collecting the first seven issues of Elephantmen.
The story takes place a few hundred years in the future. There are genetically engineered animals who walk upright, wear clothing and speak living among humans. They are not an unusual sight for the time period, but neither are they universally accepted as equals by all men. They were originally created to be soldiers, and were for some time considered to be the property of the company which created them. That ended suddenly when the government decided that the elephantmen were being mistreated by their corporate masters (which was true) and decided to set them free ("OK, you're free; have a nice life; don't call us for help.") Oh, and despite the name "elephantmen," they aren't all anthropomorphized elephants; there's an elephant, a rhino, a hippo, a warthog, a crocodile and a camel that I've seen prominently, and there's a zebra on the cover.
That's kind of the nuts and bolts of what I know so far. Like I said earlier, not a lot of info. And all of that was gathered in the initial premise and in dribs and drabs of back story as it become relevant to the current storyline. Starkings does an excellent job of filling you in just what you need to know when you need to know it, but making the back story stuff fit seemlessly into the story arc. You learn about these characters' pasts like you would a real person's -- a bit at a time. But what he has revealed makes me want to know more.
For instance, I've learned that the hippo, Agent Hip Flask who works for some government sponsored organization, has had one or two story arcs that precede the Elephantmen title. He seems like a very interesting character, so I definitely want to go back and check out the Hip Flask trades. The main focus character in this trade is the elephant, Ebony, who works with Hip Flask. But we also follow the croc, Elijah, a less than likable hired-muscle kind of guy, and the rhino, Obadiah, who appears to be a captain of industry, but in the modern Lex Luthor vein.
Theirs is a layered tale. On the surface, not much has happened in these first seven issues. Ebony meets a little human girl, who later comes to see him in the hospital after he has been hurt on a mission and she has run away from home. Hip, on another mission, is waylaid by Elijah, and winds up in the hospital through the timely assistance of a young cabbie, who later comes to check up on him. These two humans serve as the reader's point-of-view characters as we learn more about Ebony and Hip, both through what they share with their new-found friends, and what they keep secret. Along the way, we're also given glimpses of the near past for these elephantmen, as well as more insights into the personalities of Elijah and Obadiah. Starkings packs a lot into each of these issues, and the art by Moritat and others is just incredible.
This trade is well worth checking out, and as I said previously, has prompted me to seek out more. I have the second Elephantmen trade on order; the third will be solicited soon, I believe; and I also plan to seek out Hip Flask: Unnatural Selection and Hip Flask: Concrete Jungle.
Good comics, Kiddie Cops!
But before we get into the book itself, let's first discuss how I came to try the book. I'm not exactly a podcast newbie, but I also had very limited experience with them before about 18 months ago. I follow comic-related news on Newsarama, among other sites, and had seen and heard Word Balloon by John Siuntres, but had only listened to current episodes on my computer. Then my lovely wife, Cathy, bought me my first iPod just over a year ago. I started listening to previous Word Balloon episodes, but iTunes also introduced me to a number of other great comic-themed podcasts. They make great listening while I'm out walking the dog around the neighborhood trying to lose a few pounds.
One of these podcasts, I apologize but I forget which one specifically, included a lengthy interview with Richard Starkings of Comicraft and, of course, dealt with his then new book Elephantmen. I'd heard of Elephantmen before and was curious about the concept. Most reviews I'd heard or read were quite favorable. But hearing Starkings himself talk about the book made me really want to try and like it.
So I bought the first trade collecting the first seven issues of Elephantmen.
The story takes place a few hundred years in the future. There are genetically engineered animals who walk upright, wear clothing and speak living among humans. They are not an unusual sight for the time period, but neither are they universally accepted as equals by all men. They were originally created to be soldiers, and were for some time considered to be the property of the company which created them. That ended suddenly when the government decided that the elephantmen were being mistreated by their corporate masters (which was true) and decided to set them free ("OK, you're free; have a nice life; don't call us for help.") Oh, and despite the name "elephantmen," they aren't all anthropomorphized elephants; there's an elephant, a rhino, a hippo, a warthog, a crocodile and a camel that I've seen prominently, and there's a zebra on the cover.
That's kind of the nuts and bolts of what I know so far. Like I said earlier, not a lot of info. And all of that was gathered in the initial premise and in dribs and drabs of back story as it become relevant to the current storyline. Starkings does an excellent job of filling you in just what you need to know when you need to know it, but making the back story stuff fit seemlessly into the story arc. You learn about these characters' pasts like you would a real person's -- a bit at a time. But what he has revealed makes me want to know more.
For instance, I've learned that the hippo, Agent Hip Flask who works for some government sponsored organization, has had one or two story arcs that precede the Elephantmen title. He seems like a very interesting character, so I definitely want to go back and check out the Hip Flask trades. The main focus character in this trade is the elephant, Ebony, who works with Hip Flask. But we also follow the croc, Elijah, a less than likable hired-muscle kind of guy, and the rhino, Obadiah, who appears to be a captain of industry, but in the modern Lex Luthor vein.
Theirs is a layered tale. On the surface, not much has happened in these first seven issues. Ebony meets a little human girl, who later comes to see him in the hospital after he has been hurt on a mission and she has run away from home. Hip, on another mission, is waylaid by Elijah, and winds up in the hospital through the timely assistance of a young cabbie, who later comes to check up on him. These two humans serve as the reader's point-of-view characters as we learn more about Ebony and Hip, both through what they share with their new-found friends, and what they keep secret. Along the way, we're also given glimpses of the near past for these elephantmen, as well as more insights into the personalities of Elijah and Obadiah. Starkings packs a lot into each of these issues, and the art by Moritat and others is just incredible.
This trade is well worth checking out, and as I said previously, has prompted me to seek out more. I have the second Elephantmen trade on order; the third will be solicited soon, I believe; and I also plan to seek out Hip Flask: Unnatural Selection and Hip Flask: Concrete Jungle.
Good comics, Kiddie Cops!
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Reviewing 'Em Old School
One of the duties I have at the newspaper for which I work out in the real world is to generate the opinion pages, a portion of which is devoted to various columnists. In my capacity as a page designer/copy editor, I absolutely hate columns that have no central theme, but are instead just a collection of random thoughts and musings on a variety of topics. For one thing, such columns make it very hard to write a concise, all-inclusive headline. But as a writer, I have to concede that not only do they serve an occasional purpose, such columns can be downright useful sometimes.
As I've stated previously, I don't intend to discuss absolutely every comic I've read in this forum — let's face it, with the amount of comics I buy, just one comic each week would be way too slow a reading pace; I'd be buried under unread books in no time — waitaminnit! I already AM buried under unread books!!
Anyway, I have no intention of discussing every single comic I read. There are also some books I might wish to comment on, but for which I really don't have enough to say to fill up an entire post. So today, we have a collection of short thoughts on several recent reads, kind of like some of the older posts where I just did a collection of bullet-style reviews.
But enough intro, let's get to the comics; after all, that's why we're all here, right?
The Brave and the Bold No. 28 (DC Comics) — I really liked the relaunch of this book by Mark Waid and George Perez. After their initial run, the book became a bit more hit-and-miss, as anthologies often are. But J. Michael Straczynski has breathed new life into this book once again. This issue uses a Flash-Facts-type science experiment to drop Barry Allen with a broken leg into the past, specifically, a battle between Nazi soldiers and the Blackhawks. The World War II fighter pilots and contemporary speedster are far from an obvious pairing, but Straczynski manages to make the tale both done-in-one and great fun. The book combines all of the fun of a shared universe and a shared continuity, but without getting bogged down in all of the minutia that can often entail. I hope his run is long and prosperous on this book.
Warren Ellis: Wolfskin (Avatar) — This hardcover collection is not actually numbered, but it is the first collection of the first three/four issues of this gritty lone warrior tale. I believe there are very few actual bad comics; just because I don't care for a story or character doesn't mean that no one does. Some of what I like might not be your exact cup of tea, and just because I didn't care for this collection doesn't mean it will have no audience. It's not so much that this warrior's tale is so gritty or that the art is so graphic and bloody. That also describes Kick-Ass, which I did like. Rather, I just didn't care much for the central character or the dilemma he is faced with after wandering upon a village and slaying several armed attackers. Seems they attacked because they are at war with their neighbors and mistook the wanderer for one of their enemy's agents. By slaying so many warriors, our hero has now left this village at a severe disadvantage in their war, so he must decide if he will ignore their pleas or fight for them. Ellis is a good enough writer, I'm sure there is much more character development to come, but there's just not enough early on to make me care for this guy or wonder about him much. Without that initial interest, I don't care to continue buying to read more.
Gotham City Sirens No. 5 (DC Comics) — No surprises here. This title is just good comics, as I expected it would be. Paul Dini first proved his Batman chops on Batman: The Animated Series in the mid-90s. He not only GOT the Dark Knight Detective, but he seemed to have an affinity for some of the related-female characters. (He's much of the reason I'm looking forward to DC's upcoming Zatanna series.) This book features Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Dini's creation from BTAS, Harley Quinn, as the three femme fatales get an apartment together and enjoy Gotham City living. The book, like many of Dini's works, mixes drama, action and humor in just the right quantities to make a truly fun read.
Wonder Woman (third series) No. 37 (DC Comics) — I was really looking forward to Gail Simone taking over this book, but I've been kinda underwhelmed since I got that wish fulfilled. I like Simone as a writer. She was just as excellent as series creator Chuck Dixon on Birds of Prey when she took over writing that book. Her work on the Secret Six ongoing series is disturbingly brilliant, surpassing the excellent first mini and the somewhat lackluster second mini. Something just seems to be off with her portrayal of Princess Diana for me, though, and I can't put my finger on what it is. I haven't hated any of the story arcs, but I haven't been anxious for each new issue, either. Here's hoping Diana is returned to prominence in my collection when J. Michael Straczynski takes over with issue No. 600.
Heroes tpbs 1 and 2 (DC Comics) — These collections suffered in spite of themselves for me. I bought the first trade when it came out, sometime around the middle of Season 2 of the television show which inspired these web comics, but it went on the stack of trades that needed to be read sometime. A few months ago, the second collection was released, and I decided to go ahead and read both even though the third season of the TV show has lost me completely. There are some truly solid stories here, some featuring characters from the show, but many of the best tales in these collections have little to do with the actual characters seen on-screen each week. They exist in the same shared universe, but operate independently from the show, having little or nothing to do with actual episodes. But overall, these collections fell a little flat for me as the TV show has done.
That's it for this week, kiddie cops; more next time.
As I've stated previously, I don't intend to discuss absolutely every comic I've read in this forum — let's face it, with the amount of comics I buy, just one comic each week would be way too slow a reading pace; I'd be buried under unread books in no time — waitaminnit! I already AM buried under unread books!!
Anyway, I have no intention of discussing every single comic I read. There are also some books I might wish to comment on, but for which I really don't have enough to say to fill up an entire post. So today, we have a collection of short thoughts on several recent reads, kind of like some of the older posts where I just did a collection of bullet-style reviews.
But enough intro, let's get to the comics; after all, that's why we're all here, right?
The Brave and the Bold No. 28 (DC Comics) — I really liked the relaunch of this book by Mark Waid and George Perez. After their initial run, the book became a bit more hit-and-miss, as anthologies often are. But J. Michael Straczynski has breathed new life into this book once again. This issue uses a Flash-Facts-type science experiment to drop Barry Allen with a broken leg into the past, specifically, a battle between Nazi soldiers and the Blackhawks. The World War II fighter pilots and contemporary speedster are far from an obvious pairing, but Straczynski manages to make the tale both done-in-one and great fun. The book combines all of the fun of a shared universe and a shared continuity, but without getting bogged down in all of the minutia that can often entail. I hope his run is long and prosperous on this book.
Warren Ellis: Wolfskin (Avatar) — This hardcover collection is not actually numbered, but it is the first collection of the first three/four issues of this gritty lone warrior tale. I believe there are very few actual bad comics; just because I don't care for a story or character doesn't mean that no one does. Some of what I like might not be your exact cup of tea, and just because I didn't care for this collection doesn't mean it will have no audience. It's not so much that this warrior's tale is so gritty or that the art is so graphic and bloody. That also describes Kick-Ass, which I did like. Rather, I just didn't care much for the central character or the dilemma he is faced with after wandering upon a village and slaying several armed attackers. Seems they attacked because they are at war with their neighbors and mistook the wanderer for one of their enemy's agents. By slaying so many warriors, our hero has now left this village at a severe disadvantage in their war, so he must decide if he will ignore their pleas or fight for them. Ellis is a good enough writer, I'm sure there is much more character development to come, but there's just not enough early on to make me care for this guy or wonder about him much. Without that initial interest, I don't care to continue buying to read more.
Gotham City Sirens No. 5 (DC Comics) — No surprises here. This title is just good comics, as I expected it would be. Paul Dini first proved his Batman chops on Batman: The Animated Series in the mid-90s. He not only GOT the Dark Knight Detective, but he seemed to have an affinity for some of the related-female characters. (He's much of the reason I'm looking forward to DC's upcoming Zatanna series.) This book features Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Dini's creation from BTAS, Harley Quinn, as the three femme fatales get an apartment together and enjoy Gotham City living. The book, like many of Dini's works, mixes drama, action and humor in just the right quantities to make a truly fun read.
Wonder Woman (third series) No. 37 (DC Comics) — I was really looking forward to Gail Simone taking over this book, but I've been kinda underwhelmed since I got that wish fulfilled. I like Simone as a writer. She was just as excellent as series creator Chuck Dixon on Birds of Prey when she took over writing that book. Her work on the Secret Six ongoing series is disturbingly brilliant, surpassing the excellent first mini and the somewhat lackluster second mini. Something just seems to be off with her portrayal of Princess Diana for me, though, and I can't put my finger on what it is. I haven't hated any of the story arcs, but I haven't been anxious for each new issue, either. Here's hoping Diana is returned to prominence in my collection when J. Michael Straczynski takes over with issue No. 600.
Heroes tpbs 1 and 2 (DC Comics) — These collections suffered in spite of themselves for me. I bought the first trade when it came out, sometime around the middle of Season 2 of the television show which inspired these web comics, but it went on the stack of trades that needed to be read sometime. A few months ago, the second collection was released, and I decided to go ahead and read both even though the third season of the TV show has lost me completely. There are some truly solid stories here, some featuring characters from the show, but many of the best tales in these collections have little to do with the actual characters seen on-screen each week. They exist in the same shared universe, but operate independently from the show, having little or nothing to do with actual episodes. But overall, these collections fell a little flat for me as the TV show has done.
That's it for this week, kiddie cops; more next time.
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