TWiP: Atomic Robo Vol 4 #4, Green Lantern #55, Wonder Woman #600
Whew! This week has been a VERY important one for pictures, but first I'd like to indulge in some sillier stuff, if you all don't mind.
FIRST UP, The ghost of Thomas Edison may be evil but at he makes a great dumb face thanks to Scott Wegener.
There is a light bulb going off over his head.
Alright, that was preeeeetty good. Next up, we've been seeing the murderous Red Lantern cat Dex-Starr for a while now, but have you ever wondered what he was like before he became a Red Lantern.
Me neither! But Shawn Davis did! Here ya go!
Aw, you'll never grow up full of hate and want to spit hot red acid on my face will ya? Will ya boy? Such a sweet boy!
Last but not least the be kahuna: Wonder Woman's new costume, which was designed by Jim Lee and drawn here by Don Kramer.
Wonder Woman's costume has finally be updated to the early 90's.
I'm not going to go on a rant about this costume change (true is, I'm more upset about the recon and power reduction) but I will say I don't like it. SO THERE.
Runner Up!: Abe Sapien – The Abyssal Plain
Nobody, not even a super hero like Abe, can resists the glowing dangly thing of an angler fish.
Runner Up! highlights my second favorite issue of the week while discussing it in a less formal tone. Please contribute your thoughts as well!
Why it didn't win:
Abe Sapien was actually the least interesting part of this issue.
Abe Sapien – The Abyssal Plain #1 starts with a gut punch.
Set in 1948, a Russian submarine has sunk to the bottom of the Norwegian sea. The last surviving sailor of this ship is writing a letter to his girlfriend back home while waiting to die. It's a really powerful way to start an issue. Writing like this is proof Mike Mignola can write about more than just monster and alien stories. He just happens to choose to write those monster and alien stories 99 percent of the time.
This is one of those times, as the prologue with the sailor eventually ends and we meet Abe Sapien (in 1984) and his crew preparing to do a scavenge mission from that same submarine. Naturally zombies are going to show up. This shouldn't surprise you and it shouldn't be considered a spoiler.
So, yeah, no spoiler warnings for that one.
To be fair Mignola shares writing duties with John Arcudi in Abe Sapien – The Abyssal Plain #1. So, this could be the reason for this issue's increased number of “human” moments. I personally don't know, it cold be possible Mignola was all like “YO. JOHN. I'm gonna write the letter a dying sailor writes to his girlfriend knowing she'll never have the chance to read it. You handle the water zombies this time.”
Artist Pete Snejbjerg (not a spelling error) gives this tale of fishing boats and sunken war subs a real Treasure Island appearance. Faces and expressions just seem to scream pirates and salt water. He also handles the underwater sequences very convincingly. The way things float around while still having mass while Abe is exploring the submarine is great. This is why the dude's a professional.
It is during that submarine sequence we get to see the body of the sailor from the issue's beginning. It's another unexpected sentimental moment from Abe Sapien – The Abyssal Plain #1 (The first of these moments being that other time we saw the dude.).
One of my favorite things about this issue is that it ends with an argument. Abe and the Captain of the ship have a heated argument about the rules of the ship. That's right, amidst all the nuclear subs, bloated corpses, and magical helmets, and fish people, there's a whiny debate about doing what the boss said. Also, both arguments are valid so it's all around a fun moment in this issue. “Fun” in the sense that I didn't expect it, at least.
Plus seeing Abe be such a stick in the mud makes me chuckle.
The expanded B.P.R.D. Universe continues to excite me. Even it's throw away stories like this one are some of the best comics on the shelves these days. Abe Sapien – the Abyssal Plain #1 alone has great moments dealing with death and life and fish people. Really, what more could anybody want from a story?
Nothing. Except for maybe more action but that looks like it'll be coming next issue. ...And maybe more fish people, but hey I'm not going to be too choosy here.
Best Comic I Read This Week: Action Comics #890
This man used to be the President!
Lex Luthor, when done a certain way, is one of my favorite super-villains. I love the idea that the dude, though aware of his evil tenancies, honestly believes he's going to make the world better. So naturally I'm really excited about the possibilities of Action Comics now. The series where Lex Luthor himself now stars.
Luthor's personality comes out not just through Paul Cornell's writing but through Pete Woods lines. Woods captures a side of Luthor we don't get to see very much. A very smiley side. Basically, he always has a grin on his face. I suppose most people who think they are future rulers of mankind and have the smarts to back it up would be cheerful for most of the day. The expressions of Luthor by Woods aren't exclusive to those of the happy variety. He is a bad guy after all, but it's really cool to see Luthor surprise himself with the answer to a problem and see the look “This is so much fun” on his face.
That fun is through out the book. Cornell writes this series with a gleeful weirdness. Lady robots, people who talk by starting each sentence with the type of sentence it is (“Example: Just Like this.”), and maps of extra dimensions are all in this issue alone. Luthor skips about these items while chuckling to himself, never for once doubting his ability to overcome and surpass.
Oh crap! Lex Luthor is the evil Doctor Who!
The presence of Superman is at one point mentioned in Action Comics #890, during a fantasy of Luthor's, but for the most part he isn't in this issue. This is Luthor's show. I definitely hope it stays this way, since Superman will inevitably be a kill joy.
A robot named “Lois” also accompanies Luthor through what looks to be his entire journey during this story. Lois, who looks exactly like her namesake, was built by Luthor to challenge his ideas and force him to look from another perspective. The dude's got so many yes-men he has to construct someone to say “Why you gonna kill all those people, Lex?” Kind of a bad office atmosphere if you ask me.
Though the Lex Luthor of Action Comics #890 is the protagonist he is most definitely not the hero. His ultimate goal is to regain the power he experienced during Blackest Night and take over the planet. Granted, he thinks he'll make things a utopia for everyone and it's debatable on whether this is true, but he wants to conqure the gosh darn planet. That's pretty high on the list of “Things to do which are evil” (It's right above making a car that runs on babies). Also, he ordered a dude to be shot dead pretty flippantly in this issue. So let's cheer him on but hope he doesn't hurt to many people.
I love all the pieces of this comic, and I'm really excited to see where it goes. I'm pretty sure we all know Luthor isn't going to be starring in this title forever, but until then I'm totally on board with DC's number on villain having his monthly time in the spotlight.
TWiP: Detective Comics #866, The Incredibles #10
This Week in Pictures I got something I'd like to try out and a sure fire win right after that. First, from Detective Comics #866, we have a scene from Dustin Nguyen where Batman goes to his bad place if just for a second.
Batman sometimes has dark thoughts about Robin.
Eeeeh? Eeeeeeeeeh? Ah, well I thought it was funny.
Welp, here's something of a palette cleanser from Marcio Takara. When in doubt, show the people what they want.
Who doesn't want THAT?
Runner Up!: X-Factor #206
Nothing brings families together like a tank with a buzz saw.
Why it didn't win:
I had biased reasons for choosing it in the first place.
Features a pretty simple solution to a complex problem which has been going on for a while.
Full disclosure, there are many reasons to like this issue but my main one is simply because it features the entire “gang” back together. I'm a pretty big fan of this series, and have stuck with it even during... sigh... the dark times. X-Factor has been split up into different groups with different goals for a while now, and when they all assemble together at the end of this issue I couldn't help but be happy in the nerdiest of ways.
But let's get to those other reasons this issue is good!
HUMOR – Handled! Totally handled! Peter David writes some good humor in his comics. In fact, one of my favorite parts of X-Factor #206 was a car chase featuring Layla Miller, Shatterstar, and Banshee (formally Siryn). David injects action with humor and a genuine rapscallion feel to his characters. Which brings us to the next thing...
ACTION – You want explosions? Done. You want car chases? Done (check previous paragraph). You want nuclear bombs? Done. You want super powers and dudes punching things they shouldn't be able to punch? Done. You want tanks? There's a tank on the cover so that's done before anything else.
CHARACTERS – The different personalities of X-Factor are all larger than life and unique. This creates different tones and reactions to situations with different combinations of characters. For instance, the part of the issue featuring Guido and Monet is pretty direct to the point. If Madrox or Darwin were there, the events and exchanges would most definitely been more haphazard, and probably with a lot of self deprecation.
OTHER STUFF – X-Factor is a series which works so well for me. It's a character based action drama, in the same vein as some of Joss Whedon's best television work. The canon of the series is never too difficult to follow but its got plenty of twists and turns to keep everything interesting. I love, love, love Valentine De Landro's art for the series. X-Factor just seems to be made for his artwork.
Ok, now some of my complaints. This issue features a big battle, which has been coming for a long time since it is the battle which bonds the team back to each other. For all that build up, the battle could have been longer or at least bigger in a sense of action rather than emotional release. Plus I felt pretty frustrated with how nicely everyone got along right after the battle. For instance, Banshee has ever reason and right to hate Madrox for the rest of his life, but they hold hands at the end of the issue. Layla is still mysterious and has potentially been doing morally ambiguous things in her time away from the team, but she is welcomes back with open arms.
But, I'm just a sucker for this series. And I'm a sucker for all my favorite characters finally being back together. Oh well, ignorance is bliss.
Best Comic I Read This Week: The Amazing Spider-Man #635
This is about the quality of my family portraits as well.
Alright, alright! I'm kind of eating my words here. I've been poo-pooing the Grim Hunt storyline and all its “We're hunting spiders” nonsense since it was first hinted at in the issues of The Amazing Spider-Man. I thought it all felt like a little bit of a desperate attempt to find someone threatening enough to be a Spider-Man “big bad”. I still sorta do, because the wife and daughter of Kraven aren't scary. (Why focus on them when you have all the potential of Mr. Negative?)
But yeah, dang. Grim Hunt has been delivering the goods so far. Spider-Man is really threatened by the forces at work against him and they are legitimately messing up his business.
The plot around Grim Hunt is about Kraven's brood trying to resurrect him using the blood of Spider-powered superheroes. They already offed Mattie Franklin, one of the many Spider-Woman's, and now are gunning for Petey Parker himself.
So the Kraven's are into Voodoo now. That's cool. A lot of people like to try out new religions in college. Maybe next time we see them they'll be big into Rasta? That'd be cool too.
What I really love about this story so far is the tension. Everything is going wrong for Spider-Man at once. Madame Web is being forced to help the bad guys, Spidey has to run around trying to protect all the other Spider-powered heroes (Arana and Arachne show up briefly in this issue), Kaine is all present and angry, and now the zombie of Spidey's old mentor Ezekiel has shown up with bossy ideas on how things should go down.
It's problematic.
Writer Joe Kelly is really writing some great comics here. He bounces around all the multiple plot lines, keeping things interesting and coherent. Not only that, he also ended both issues so far with a major stabbin'. So who knows how many people are going to have a knife in their chest by the end of this Grim Hunt. (On a side note, Major Stabbin' is my experimental hip-hop/marching band fusion MC name.)
Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano's art works during the quite moments and adds the gloom and doom of the scariest game of Ghost in the Graveyard to Spider-Man being hunted for his blood. On the other hand, their art is way too restrained during the action sequences. When you got a dude in blue and white spandex fighting giant lion monsters, something on the page should POP. But pop's are absent.
Speaking of Giant Lion Monsters, what's that all about?
Any ways, The Amazing Spider-Man #635's back story, about a previous encounter between Kaine and Kraven (back when he was still alive), is alright but won't be winning any Eisners. It seems the only purpose of it is to really drive home how much of jerk Kaine is. But I already know that! I just saw him being a jerk in the regular part of the issue. He was expertly communicating how unlikable he is. This makes the back story unnecessary.
That's enough griping though, because this issue is GOOD. And this storyline is GOOD. Words have been swallowed. I'm still waiting on the verdict to see if Grim Hunt going to be worth the more boring parts of The Gauntlet, but until then I'll just enjoy the ride.
TWiP: Amazing Spider-Man #633, Hellblazer #268
OK, let's get this out of the way first. Here it is, courtesy of Chris Bachalo: lizards and underwear.
If you break off a lizard's pink bra it will grow back in time.
Now we should move past this debacle and see how John Constantine's day is going in this week's issue of Hellblazer!
Whoops!
Uhmm...
Whoops again!
Oh my!
Oh butterfingers!
I'm... I'm sure that is not as bad as it looks...
Well, looks like everyone had a fun week, lizards and appendages included!
Categories
Nickmongo Sites
Recent Comments
- Nicholas on Best Comic I Read This Week: Ultimate X #3
- Derrick Fish on Best Comic I Read This Week: Ultimate X #3
- Indie Comic Fun Times – Everything Dies #2 | Four Panel Folly on Indie Comic Fun Times – Everything Dies #1
- Thor and the Warriors Four #2 Reviews! | Alex Zalben on Runner Up!: Thor and the Warriors Four #2
- Runner Up!: Demo #3 | Four Panel Folly on Best Comic I Read This Week: Doom Patrol #9