Sowing The Seeds Of More War

Justice League 17
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis and Paul Pelletier, artists

For anyone who hasn't already read the "Throne of Atlantis" story arc crossing over between Justice League and Aquaman the past couple issues, things wrap up here and the conflict among all three sides in this battle is mostly resolved.

I don't want to reveal the identity of the mastermind behind the battle for anyone who hasn't read the issues yet, but it wasn't Ocean Master as past incarnations led me to first believe. In fact, I honestly feel a little bit of sympathy for Aquaman's half-brother as he was duped just as much as the heroes were, and he was only trying to protect and defend his people. When Orm surrenders to Aquaman, you almost expect a degree of leniency for him despite the many deaths Orm has caused on the surface. The real culprit here is the individual who caused just as many Atlantean deaths as human ones.

But these stories don't exist in a vacuum, so while the attack on the surface by the Atlanteans is halted and the Trench are sent back to their underwater domain, this isn't exactly the end of the story. Aquaman is set up to be the new ruler of Atlantis, but they rejected his leadership in the past, so they likely don't really want him now. Also, Mera refuses to go with Aquaman to Atlantis because of her people's history with the undersea kingdom, so they are at least temporarily separated over this issue.

Orm has been imprisoned on the surface for his role in the attacks on Boston, Gotham and Metropolis. As I said, I was pleasantly surprised to see he wasn't the mastermind behind all this, and was kind of looking forward to a reality where Orm and Arthur could be on good terms with each other, but I'm not sure that sentiment will last after his imprisonment. Likely, he will come out of prison with the hatred for his brother readers are used to from before The New 52.

And to top it all off, the general public is unsure of exactly what Aquaman's role was in the Atlanteans' attacks. His attempts to prevent Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman from retaliating against the Atlanteans when he was still trying to get those two sides to talk rather than fight were televised by surface media outlets. Many people fear Aquaman was behind the Atlanteans' attacks. And this comes at a time when some of the general public are uncertain if they can trust any members of the Justice League. All that distrust and fear is furthering the moves by Steve Trevor and Amanda Waller to form their own alternate version of the League.

And lastly, we get more hints that someone is forming a third team, this one composed of villains. We saw the first hints of this in the Cheetah Justice League arc, and saw more evidence of it when Cheetah spoke of recruiting Black Manta. It looks like the next name on the villains wish list is going to be Scarecrow. Could this be the formation of this incarnation's Legion of Doom?

The war with Atlantis is over, at least for now, but tensions are continuing to build.

It's Interesting, But Not Quite Cream Of The Crop

The New 52! Wonder Woman tpb 1: Blood
DC Comics
Brian Azzarello, writer
Cliff Chiang and Tony Akins, artists

The New 52! debut hit about the time I was deciding to seriously cut back on some of my comic spending. I knew I wanted to keep getting/trying out the new versions of my favorites: Aquaman, Nightwing and Green Arrow. I also decided to try a handful of the other titles I was pretty sure I was going to like. I've stuck with some and was proven wrong on others. Then in August 2012, when those 52 new No. 1 issues came out, I weakened in my resolve a little and tried a few extra titles I hadn't preordered. Wonder Woman No. 1 was one of those last-minute buys.

I've never thought of Wonder Woman as a character just for girls; I grew up watching her on "Super Friends" cartoons and in the live-action Lynda Carter series. I enjoyed and still own some of her adventures in pre-Crisis comics. And I absolutely loved George Perez's 1986 relaunch of her title after the Crisis On Infinite Earths changed her history. In fact, comics-wise, that Perez relaunch is still one of my all-time favorite Wonder Woman eras. I think the top Wonder Woman spot for me, however, has to go to Greg Rucka's fantastic run on the book just prior to Infinite Crisis. I love how what he did updated several elements from previous runs while still respecting what had come before. That run (Wonder Woman vol. 2 Nos. 195-226) was the absolute pinnacle of the character for me.

And to be honest, that is at least a part of why I opted not to pick up Wonder Woman's New 52 debut initially. Other writers have had good runs, but none had surpassed Rucka and Perez; why not quit while I was ahead in collecting the best of the best of Wonder Woman comics? But because those two had handled her so well, I weakened, hoping for more greatness.

I find Azzarello's take on Diana and her mythos different enough to actually warrant a reboot, unlike some other New 52 titles that relaunched for no discernible story reason. And it actually is a very interesting approach to Diana, Paradise Island and the gods and goddesses that are so much a part of the Amazons' heritage. And Cliff Chiang's art is gorgeous, as always; he is one of the all-time great comic artists. If I was still buying as many comic titles each month as I did a few years ago before my daughter was born, I would likely continue to pick up this title and enjoy it a lot. But as interesting as Azzarello's take on Wonder Woman is, this isn't the "iconic" Wonder Woman for my tastes. This won't replace the Perez or Rucka runs for me.

Back By Popular Demand

The Adventures of Tintin: Tintin in the Congo
Egmont
Hergé (Georges Remi), writer and artist

This collected edition is the second serialized Tintin adventure by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. This is typically the hardest to find of the 24 Tintin adventures because of the controversy it caused in the 1940s. The story, originally published in 1930-31, reflects the attitudes of the time, mainly that the natives of the Congo were simple and child-like, needing the care and watchful eyes of their European betters. Many folks also objected to the depictions of violence against animals when the tale was first printed in English, so Hergé made some changes to the story beginning with a collection in 1946. Subsequently, this volume has been reprinted very rarely.

The tale begins with Tintin and Snowy setting out on a new adventure, this time to explore the Congo. There is no mention of this being a work-related voyage as Tintin's trip to Russia was in the first serialization. It seems to be more of a vacation of sorts. But it is clear both from the crowd at their departure and the reception when the pair arrive at their destination that Tintin and Snowy are known the world over for their reporting from the land of the Soviets.

Not all of the attention they draw is the good kind, however. Even as they depart from Belgium, Snowy and Tintin are shadowed by a dark, bearded man who stows away on the vessel. Snowy takes the brunt of the earliest dangers, first being attacked by a belligerent parrot and contracting psittacosis. No sooner is that malady treated by the ship's physician than Snowy discovers the bearded man and is thrown overboard and menaced by a shark!

Once Tintin and Snowy arrive in the Congo, their notoriety is proven once again as representatives of the "London Daily," the "Diadio de Lisboa" (Lisbon) and the "New York Evening Press" all try to bid for the exclusive story of their trip. The bidding reaches $10,000 in advance before Tintin shuts them all down by announcing his loyalty to "Le Petit Vingtieme."

While on his Congolese safari, Tintin takes his rifle to all manner of beasts. First, while hunting an antelope, Tintin inadvertently kills 15 of the creatures. Later, when Snowy is kidnapped by a curious chimpanzee, Tintin shoots a second chimp and uses its skin to disguise himself. Later victims of Tintin's hunting forays include a de-tailed lion, a tame leopard Tintin mistakes for a wild animal, several snakes, a bull elephant, a buffalo, some crocodiles, a rhinoceros and a giraffe.

Amid all of this animal slaughter, Tintin has several run-ins with the bearded gentleman, and it soon becomes clear that he has been hired by someone to kill Tintin. By the end of the story, Tintin manages to learn that the bearded man was hired by someone with the initials A.C. The quest to track down A.C. will lead Tintin to America in his next adventure.

This volume is reprinted in color like the later collections, but it remains obvious that this story is made up of a collection of serialized episodes. Both Tintin and Snowy are drawn closer to the later appearances I am more familiar with, although Tintin is drawn quite a bit smaller in stature here than in subsequent volumes. This adventure was not quite as entertaining to read; much of the animal slaughter is played for laughs and when viewed with modern sensibilities, they make Tintin much less of a heroic figure. But for the completist, it is worth searching for this hard-to-find book.

It Will Take Some Time To Tell

Green Arrow 17-18
DC Comics
Jeff Lemire, writer
Andrea Sorrentino, artist

After a great opening story arc, The New 52! version of Green Arrow started to falter. Apparently, DC got the message (eventually) and with this issue, a brand new creative team is debuting its brand new direction for the title and character. This is just the first two parts of a longer story arc so it is hard to tell much with any degree of certainty yet, but I'm willing to give these creators the benefit of the doubt, for now.

Some of the story beats in this issue are familiar territory for Oliver Queen from his pre-New 52 days. But that's not to say that Lemire is rehashing an old story, necessarily. It's more like a theme that is being repeated, one that worked well for the character in the past.

The tone of the book has also changed, but that can only be a good thing, as the previous tone seemed to be Oliver treating life and himself like a joke. How could the readers see him as anything different than the writer obviously saw him?

As for the art, I'm still on the fence. This artist's work seems similar in tone and look to Green Arrow: Year One from 2007 illustrated by Jock. It is a darker, grittier art style and that fits with the darker tone of this story. But there are a few panels that are a little too muddy to follow easily. That detracts from the story.

As today's header says, I'm going to have to give this new team some time to see what I truly think of the changes. But in the plus column for them, I'm willing, and even interested, to see where they are going. Time will tell.

************

Addendum: On a related note, I jus finished watching the season finale of the CW's Arrow, which aired last week.

Wow!

The television version of Green Arrow has been a bit uneven on the whole, but they have produced some really good episodes, and they have ended on a very good note. The finale was both gripping and moved the characters along. Well done for all those responsible.

Moving a character like Green Arrow from one medium to another, like television or film, often necessitates changes. This show is quite a bit different from the comic character, but it has often been better in its execution than the current comic title. The show gets my recommendation, for what that's worth.

Another Fine Pick

Before Watchmen: Minutemen 1-6
DC Comics
Darwyn Cooke, writer and artist

Much like the Before Watchmen: Nite Owl series, this one was an excellent read. We already know the ultimate fate of most of the Minutemen characters from reading the original Watchmen series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. But this series adds to what we already know with some interesting details.

The focus of this series is the memoir written by golden-age Nite Owl Hollis Mason. Understandably, the other members of the Minutemen react poorly to Mason revealing all of their failings in his soul-cleansing confession. We also see some things that maybe help to redeem some of these characters just a bit. Because his book is the focus of this story, naturally Mason gets a lot of "screen" time, but so do some of the others like Silhouette and Mothman, characters who are given much more depth than the initial series had time to give them and are shown to have the most heart of their peers.

Cooke is the perfect creator to handle the writing and art chores on this series, focused as it is on golden-age characters. His simple, clean line work and his layered writing style both complement the subject matter. Kudos, sir, on a fine piece of work!

And Baby Makes Four

Love and Capes: What to Expect 1-6
IDW Publishing
Thom Zahler, writer and artist

For those who don't know, Love and Capes is called "the heroically super situation comedy comic book!" The central characters of the series are Mark and Abby, a young couple in love. Abby owns and manages a small bookstore in the fictional Deco City, while Mark is an accountant and secretly the Crusader, Earth's mightiest superhero. In three previous limited series, each collected in trade paperback format, Zahler has detailed the couple's romance, their wedding and the beginnings of their life together as newlyweds. This fourth series, "What to Expect," is all about Abby's subsequent pregnancy and the birth of their first child.

The world of Love and Capes is not limited to Mark and Abby, however. Abby has her extended family -- both her parents, a younger brother, a younger sister and her employees at the bookstore. Mark is an only child, but both of his parents are still living and show up from time to time. And there are also all of the other heroes in the Liberty League alongside Mark; several of these heroes make cameo appearances from time to time, but Darkblade and Amazonia are regular cast members. Darkblade is billionaire Paul LaCroix, the non-powered dark-knight defender of Chronopolis and Mark's best friend. Amazonia has no secret identity and serves as ambassador from her other-dimensional home of Leandia.

Each of the Love and Capes collections is a fun read; that's what keeps me coming back each time Zahler debuts another miniseries. He expertly mixes the humor and drama, the superheroics with the mundane details of everyday life to very great effect. And his art style is on the cartoony side, which works perfectly for the fun tone of this title. Here's hoping more adventures will follow the birth of the baby.

In The Beginning

The Adventures of Tintin, Reporter for "Le Petit Vingtieme," In the Land of the Soviets
Little, Brown and Company
Hergé (Georges Remi), writer and artist

My first exposure to the Belgian comic The Adventures of Tintin was in elementary school. My family lived in a small farming community in Iowa at the time, and the school district was operated jointly by two nearby towns. The youngest children were bussed to a three-story building in one town that housed kindergarten through sixth-grade classes, and the older children went to a three-story building in the other town for seventh- through 12th-grade classes. I mention the size of the district only because looking back it amazes me that they had these books in the elementary library of such a small school district.

For those not in the know on Tintin, he is a young reporter for a newspaper in his native Belgium. Tintin and his ever-present dog, Snowy, get into a number of adventures, traveling all around the globe and beyond, and along the way, he meets a vast array of colorful characters to either assist or attempt to stymie his purposes. The first two of Tintin's adventures to catch my attention were Destination: Moon and Explorers On the Moon. In the first, Tintin and some of his friends are invited to be part of the first manned trip to the moon; in the second, the rocket blasts off and the adventurers land on the moon with a stowaway aboard. I enjoyed these two adventures so much that I checked them out and reread them several times. These two books prompted me to try a third, also from that same elementary-school library, The Crab With the Golden Claws, a tale that takes place mostly in Africa and the Orient. I'd always suspected that there were more published Adventures of Tintin from references in these three volumes, all three hardcover, oversized books, by the way. But it was much, much later that I learned there are 24 Adventures of Tintin volumes in all.

This one is the first, having been serialized between 1929 and 1930 and first collected into a single book in 1930. The illustration style is very crude compared to the later Tintin volumes, but both Tintin and Snowy are still recognizable. This first volume is in black and white, while all of the other volumes are in color. Also, to my knowledge, all of the other volumes, while almost always first having been serialized, read like one continuous story per volume, much like today's modern original graphic novels. That is definitely the case with the three I have already read. Land of the Soviets, however, is presented with six large panels per page, and each two-page spread reads like a single installment of a serialized narrative; each one ends with somewhat of a cliffhanger in that 12th panel, clearly meant to entice young readers to come back for the next installment.

Tintin is sent to Russia to report back to his readers about the real conditions in the socialist nation. The clear intent is to quash any disinformation and lies being spread by the Soviets.

In the very first installment, Tintin and Snowy climb aboard a train bound for Russia only to have a Bolshevik spy try to blow them up before they can arrive. Miraculously, our hero and his dog both survive the explosion, but are quickly arrested as the responsible parties in the bombing. They manage to escape custody, but with even more Bolsheviks in pursuit. All told, Tintin and Snowy end up traveling by train, automobile, hand cart and motorcycle, just trying to get to Russia. Then they have just as much trouble trying to get back out after witnessing the hardships and injustice the poor have to face in Russia at the hands of their fat-cat leaders.

Tintin stories often have elements of humor mixed in with the adventure and intrigue, but there are many more instances of slapstick-style humor in this volume. The story has more in common with an ongoing comic strip than an original graphic novel in this first volume. The situations Tintin finds in Russia are pretty one-sided depictions based on the politics of the time period, but that can be said for many things written to reflect a certain era or political setting. Tintin himself is portrayed as young, but not a child. He can handle himself in single, hand-to-hand combat, and in the instances where Tintin's opponent is physically stronger or he is outnumbered, the reporter is quick-witted enough to outsmart all comers with trickery.

One definite departure from reality with the series are the often sarcastic comments made by Snowy throughout the adventures; however, Herge never has the human characters react to what Snowy says as if they cannot hear him, only the reader can. Even Tintin does not appear to "hear" what Snowy says although he can often "read" his pet's feelings through body language.

Overall, this is a satisfying adventure for a modern reader interested in the complete world of Tintin adventures. But if one is curious to try a Tintin adventure, it might be better to start with one of the later volumes.

Dark Reflections

Star Trek 15-16
IDW Publishing
Mike Johnson, writer
Erfan Fajar, Hendri Prasetyo and Miralti Firmansyah, artists

After a couple completely original tales, we're back to exploring concepts from the original series as they now exist in the rebooted movie universe for this two-parter called "Mirrored." But Johnson takes a different twist this time out as the "events" in these two issues may not actually have occurred; they are presented as mere hypotheticals.

The first issue opens with McCoy and Scotty in the mess hall. Scotty is trying to explain the concept of alternate universes and timelines to the good doctor, who is just not getting it. I find it interesting that this entire discussion is prompted by McCoy's inability to understand how "old Spock" changed the timeline he was familiar with by his actions in the 2009 movie, resulting in this rebooted universe. I didn't realize that the timeline being altered and the existence of "old Spock" was common knowledge. Kirk knows because he met "old Spock" face to face. I guess Scotty knows because he was there when Kirk met "old Spock" in the film. And Spock met his older, alternate timeline self at the end of the 2009 film. I wouldn't expect anyone else to know about the changes in the timeline, and I wouldn't expect the three who do to talk openly about them. In fact, "old Spock" warns both Kirk and Spock against that very thing.

Setting that aside however, this entire storyline is Scotty and McCoy talking about anything that ever could happen has happened somewhere in the cosmos of infinite alternate realities. McCoy confesses that the idea of an infinite number of alternate realities doesn't bother him so much as the smaller concept of an infinite number of variations of himself out there in all of those possible alternate universes. Scotty acknowledges that McCoy has a fair point, mentioning the possibility of universes where each of them has followed different career paths, one in particular where Scotty might've been a poet.

McCoy jokingly responds with, "Now that's a terrifying concept."

And Scotty replies, "Oh, come on, Doctor, surely that's not the worst timeline you can imagine?"

And from that germ, we see a nightmare alternate universe scenario play out.

In the original series episode, "Mirror, Mirror," a freak transporter accident during an ion storm transports Kirk, Scotty, McCoy and Uhura to an alternate reality where their counterparts are members of an imperial fleet bent on conquering the known universe, as opposed to the United Federation of Planets' more benign purpose of exploration and outreach. The Enterprise crew members in this alternate universe are vicious, advancing in rank through assassination and betrayal. Almost all of the subsequent Trek franchises have returned to the Mirror Universe concept either in televised episodes or novelizations. So it was only natural that this incarnation of Star Trek would revisit the concept. But in almost all of those other instances, someone from one universe actually crosses over and interacts with the people of the other. Sometimes our folks go to the Mirror Universe; sometimes someone from there comes here.

What is different this time out is there is no direct interaction between universes. We are merely given a glimpse into a more aggressive, malicious, imperialistic version of the familiar characters we know. And things here progress in a drastically different way than they did in the original series episode.

As far as the art in these two issues, this new art team does a good job. Comics based on live-action properties often put an emphasis on making the characters in the book genuinely look like the actors who play the roles on screen; this title is no exception. The few references to "old Spock" Leonard Nimoy in this issue are joined by "appearances" by James Doohan and DeForest Kelley, the original actors to portray Scotty and McCoy, respectively. Oddly enough, the likenesses of the classic actors are more spot-on than the likenesses of the newer actors filling the Trek roles. But even the newer guys' likenesses aren't bad. What variations exist could be written off to the slightly different appearance of someone having lived a much rougher life.

All in all, two very well done issues of a series I am enjoying a great deal!

"Librarians Are The Secret Masters Of The World."

Book of Lilah one-shot
Kickstart Comics
Jack Monaco, writer
Javi Fernandez, artist
(Today's headline is a quote from author Spider Robinson.)

I have to be honest; I'd never heard of Kickstart Comics before. I was buying another book from a seller on eBay and the cover of this book caught my eye among the other items being sold. Many of us get into comics for the love of characters who have been around for decades and have new adventures added to their legends every month or so. But every now and again, it is nice to read a simple, done-in-one original graphic novel about something new. That is what Kickstart seems to specialize in -- mostly all-ages, digest sized OGNs about a variety of subjects and characters.

In this book, Lilah is a college student who really doesn't much care for libraries. She was forced to spend a great deal of her childhood in libraries, being ignored by her father as he pored over various research texts. But that was before Lilah bumps into Zeke and ends up with a book he was trying to steal for a man named Dr. Xerxes St. Martin. The book changes Lilah, expanding her mind and making her aware of secret passages connecting all of the libraries of the world. St. Martin explains that these secret passages are used by the Keepers, a group of ancient librarians who seeks to control all knowledge. St. Martin explains that the Keepers will even forcibly take knowledge away if they deem mankind not yet ready for it, and he asks Lilah and Zeke to help him recover the blueprints to an invention stolen from him by the Keepers.

This was a fun adventure tale mixing a lot of history and intrigue. The plot is similar to other tales of the same genre, but there are a few twists along the way. The author of this book, by the way, is one of the writers from the television show "Pushing Daisies," which both my wife and I really enjoyed during its too-short run. And the art is nice and easy to follow, complimenting the narrative as the best graphic storytelling should. I enjoyed this book, and plan to check out some of Kickstart's other offerings as a result.