New Comic Day July 26 + Fireworks!

Thus ends the explosive posting in the effort to get caught up with "New Comic Days". Speaking of explosions, this week was the beginning of Vancouver's Celebration of light, where over the course of 4 nights, 4 countries compete in 30 minute fireworks shows. As a special treat, some photos I took of the event are included with your irregular dose of comic reviews. As another extra-special treat, this week's post will feature "Best line in the comic".

Let's start it up shall we?





Jack of Fables #1

This is a spin-off series of Fables, as you might have guessed from the title, staring Jack. Once again I remind the un-edjumicated that Fables concerns itself with storybook characters that exist in the real world. Jack (of "and the beanstalk" and "jumped over the candlestick" fame) was expelled from Fabletown and left to make his way in the world. He was great in the main series so I was looking forward to this new off-shoot.

That being said, the Jack from the main series was more of a prankster who always seemed to come up short with his schemes, whereas this Jack is a bit of a prick. He's still interesting, but his attitude is distinctly different from when he was in the main series (likely has something to do with his being expelled - natch).

The short of this isssue is that Jack gets kidnapped and relocated to basically Fables jail, though they call it a retirement home. The story is well done and told in first person through Jack. The art seems a bit sloppy at times, but hopefully will improve as the series progresses. It was also nice of Willingham, the writer, to give background information so a reader unfamiliar with the regular Fables series wouldn't feel lost.

Best line in the comic: "Well, guess what, boys and girls? We really exist, we're immortal and we've been secretly living among you for centuries. And yes, we're all better than you." See, what did I tell you? Prick.






Casanova #2

Like many people, Casanova #1 confused the hell out of me. I read it again before reading this issue and it made a wack more sense, so that's good. Another good thing is #2. We get to see Cass in a futuristic/old-fashioned spy story where he's playing the double agent. The story moves along at a brisk pace though there is alot of material here (does that make sense) and it feels longer than it's 16 pages. I don't think Fraction's statement about the issue being all about Fathers and Sons comes through but maybe a re-read will prove otherwise. I continue to believe this book has great potential. We'll see if it gets there though.

Best line in the comic: "All this potential and you flipped your shit."






Batman #655

I was really, really, really looking forward for this to come out but I was mildly disappointed even though it was still a good issue. I think it was because of the action packed Detective #821 a few weeks ago that spoiled me. This comic should have come out first. Whereas Detective had tons-o-ass-kicking, this is a more character driven story featuring Batman trying to regain the Bruce Wayne persona after being "grim-and-gritty" for the last (real-time) ten years or so. Morrison does a good job of showing the familiarity of the Bruce-Alfred friendship as well as the relationship Tim (Robin) has with his mentor. The acting Bruce does in his playboy-mode is pretty cheesey but that is how it should be. Bruce should act somewhat aloof without a care in the world. I know I would if had more money than God. Anyways, a good if not great first issue from Morrison and Kubert. Maybe I'll wait for the trade for this one...

Best line in the comic: "Look, how about I make this easy and take all of your numbers? Then everybody gets to be happy. Especially me." That Bruce. Such a player. No wonder he has a bastard kid running around.






The Next #1

This was a funky comic and bought it somewhat on a whim. It's very science-fictiony with phrases like "singularity harpoon", "hold onto a key concept", and "past the nexus point with this cluster." Not to mention that the main characters are nth dimensional beings that can manipulate matter in three dimentions at will.

Said characters (the Next) are pretty interesting though they are made up of tweaked cliches: there's the level headed leader taking the name Cindy Cindy Cindy, the smart guy Ben (short for Benjamin Jefferson State-Sponsored Thomas Alva Global Franklin Warming Baseball Cake), the destructive one Poetry Slam, the artsy guy Tweet, and a dumb guy who is essentially a dog (though he's actually "a rehearsed concept--an algorithm with some free will" - see? science fictiony!). Anyways, of course they meet up with a regular earthling and befriend her. That's really the only point of the book that takes away from the story. The girl (Monikka Wong) doesn't freak out nearly enough and takes the crazy antics the Next perform a bit too easily. However, she is portrayed to be "punk" so maybe that stereotype is more willing to accept strange transpirin' do-ins. Oh yeah Superman is in it too to investigate the rift the Next made in TTTTIIIMMMEEEE and SSSSSPPPPAAAACCCCEEEE!

Best line in the comic: "At least the africanized killer bees never showed up, and aren't they glad."



So what have we learned today? That new comics are good. But reading new comics by the light of fireworks? Difficult! Both in one day however: AWESOME.

New Comic Day July 19

Almost caught up to the present-day with this installment.

Ultimate X_men #72
I'm on the fence (Eamon Graeme reference!) about this issue. On the one hand we see the Magician kick a LOT of ass, but on the other, not much else goes on. The battle seems to be just filler to get to the twist at the end which is a bit disappointing. However, it might just be my way of looking at it and Kirkman might just be setting up lots of sub-plots like in Invincible which I really like. I think I can make a better judgement nest issue.

The back up story with the Masked Marvel was kind of cute as it features the theme of a comic about comics which is a good idea in principle. In this case, though it's kind of interesting, it's Marvel trying to milk the fans for opinions on new characters (there's a plug for the marvel site and a feedback e-mail) which would be better served as an online endeavour only.


Eternals #2
Neil Gaiman might be falling flat with this series. While issue #1 had some cool moments, this one seems to only serve the purpose of introducing two of the Eternals to each other while not much else happens. Icarus is tortured in creative ways so I guess that's something, but we all know how that's going to turn out thanks to goddamn Previews. I'm thinking of dropping this title, but unfortunately, since I order stuff two months in advance, I'm already obligated to get up to issue #4, so another two won't hurt. I still have some faith in Gaiman though to turn it up a notch soon.


Justice League of America #0
I liked this issue despite the odd structure it had. To show the importance of the JLA and the link between the big three (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman), the writer, Brad Meltzer, shows various points of the JLA history as well as possible futures. In other words he switches from scenes taking place "yesterday" to those which happen "tomorrow". It took a few pages before realizing what was going on, but I think it works despite the fact that introducing future continuity is likely a BAD idea. Ultimately the issue ends with a scene taking place "today" where the big 3 get together after the one year later business to discuss who will be on the new team. I think Meltzer captures the spirit of the JLA with this one and each different era is distinct from the others, both in look and the character's personality. There is an ensemble cast of artists on this issue and all of them do a good job, though Ed Benes pulls regular artist duty next issue. I think I'll be getting this either monthly or in trade form as there is just something so appealing about the JLA - these larger than life heroes battling larger than life threats. I'm sorry that I let go of my Grant Morrison run...

Franklin Richards: Son of a Super Genius Super Summer Spectacular
Not too much to say about this one except that it is a very cute and humourous comic similar in style to Calvin and Hobbes. This issue consists of short strips where Franklin gets into trouble and H.E.R.B.I.E. has to bail him out and try to teach him the error of his ways. Marc Sumerak does a great job at facial expressions of both Franklin and H.E.R.B.I.E. (despite his being a robot - H.E.R.B.I.E. not Sumerak), ranging fromterror, inquisitiveness, boredom, and excitement. Good stuff all around and I think I will get these comics whenever they come out.


Elephantmen #1
Another something that is outside the norm for me. In the world of Hip Flask, SCIENCE! has created animal-human hybrids (kind of) for the purposes of running around in battlefields and killing lots of other animal-human hybrids. However, the wars are over, and the surviving animals are left to eek out a living in any way that they can. The main story is told via a little girl named Savannah and her meeting with Ebony the elephant as he sits alone and forelorn on a city bench. The dichotomy between Savannah's innocence and the flashbacks to Ebony's gruesome past is well done and makes for an interesting read. The artwork is pretty as it features big animals carrying guns and making scary faces. Showing expression on weird shaped animal heads must be tough, but Moritat does a great job. I may have to start getting this on a monthly basis.

New Comic Day July 12

This is the first of my posts to attempt to get caught back up. Since blogger has a nifty feature where you can change what day you posted, it'll look like it was posted when it was supposed to. I'm sneaky that way. Read and enjoy!

Onto two weeks ago's comics! It was a good week!

Ultimate Fantastic Four #31
So the FF zombies finally escape from their cell this issue (after waiting like a year) using the most lame-ass trick possible. As soon as I saw them "de-materialize" from their room, I was like "god-damn it, this will be stupid." I turn the page and sure enough, I was right. Here's the dilly-o: Zombie Reed and zombie Sue (henceforth ZR and ZS) start talking to the guards about how ZR customized a ballpoint pen using distilled ink, food chemicals, and a strand of hair to build a teleportation device. The zombies form a huddle and promptly disappear. This is the point where the guards freak the hell out and rush into the cell to see where they might have gotten to. What they should have done was say "Oh yeah, the FF has a member called the Invisible Woman and realized that of course, the zombies were still in the cell. LAME!

Apart from that though, it's not a badly written issue (still crappy poser-riffic Greg Land art though) and the ending with Dr. Doom forcing Reed to switch bodies with him (it's the Fantastic Four, that's why) is pretty neat. I hope this problem isn't resolved next issue though (it's a three parter - hopefully just about getting rid of the zombies) as I think it could be explored quite well. This isn't likely a high possibility though as issue #33 gives a new creative team on the book.


Fables #51
Ah, Fables. This is a tasty installment from Willingham and guest artist Shawn McManus. It features super-spy extrordinare Cinderella trying to negotiate a treaty with the folk that live above the clouds that beanstalks grow through. Over the course of the issue Cindy turns into a mouse, skydives off a beanstalk, tells off some giant quacks, makes a shady deal with Frau Totenkinder, and helps in a delicate operation to cure the reigning king of the high ground in the sky. Whew! All this and the subplots are managed to be moved forwards too!

McManus does a very good job with the art chores and you can tell he was having fun when he did this issue. He's also very adept at conveying character's emotions through facial expressions, a feat that many artists fall short on. A very enjoyable issue.


The Escapists #1 (of 6)
This was a fun little book that is outside of my normal comic book buying box. It cost a dollar so I was willing to try something very different as I had no idea about the Escapist. Anyhoo, this issue has a theme which is always sort of neat when done well. It's basically a comic book about comic books. The main character is a comic book geek that wants to reintroduce the comic book character he loved as a kid, The Escapist, to the modern day world. We see the kid grow up and how much he loves the medium. He meets up with a sultry artist who agrees to draw the comic and his longtime friend dresses up as the Escapist to promote the book. Despite the rotating artists for this comic, I think it has potential to be a very interesting series.


Ultimate Spider-man #97
Part one of the Ultimate Clone Saga is here! You may go now.







Still here? Actually this issue was good as it had a little bit of everything which I will now enumerate: (1) There's a good dynamic between Kitty and Peter after she finds out he went to Mary Jane (MJ) about the Morbius stuff from the last two issues. (2) We finally get some explantaion as to why MJ is being more friendly towards Peter after her freaking out at him a while back. (3) MJ listens and gets the hell out of dodge when a fight starts instead of hanging out on the sidelines like a damn fool. (4) A pretty decent fight scene between Spidey and the Scorpion (though it had a predictable ending and why are cops so stupid?). (5) We get left with an exciting cliffhanger. So five awesome things about this issue. I know I've said in the past that this comic series is, well basically shitty, but that was only for a an arc or two and it's been pretty above average otherwise. Thumbs up for Bendis and Bagley.

Bang for your Bbbb-ucK!

For those that don't know, I'm moving next month from sunny, cool Vancouver back to boring ole' P.E.I. This poses a problem for my comic buying habit as there are only two shops back home and one of them I don't buy stuff from due to friendship loyalties and the other, while run by a cool guy and friend, isn't the most organized. Fortunately, Elfsar does mail orders. Thus I will receive my comics by mail once a month and "New Comic Day" will change to "New Comic Month" beginning in September.

As well, I've been thinking about the cost of comics lately and realized they're bloody expensive. I could change my habits extensively and instead of getting single issues, I could switch to trade paperbacks (collections of ~ 6 of those single issues). This is usually the cheaper option. I've decided that I'll meet somewhere in the middle because there's a measure of pride in knowing you have 100 straight issues of Ultimate Spider-man or 50 issues of Invincible. So I'm going to continue getting singles from Elfsar for most titles, but any graphic novel that tickles my fancy will likely be ordered from Amazon because it is even cheaper than the 20% discount I get from Elfsar.

That's my mentality right now, but who knows, maybe next year I'll sell off all my singles and rebuy the stuff in trade form.

New Comic Day July 5

In addition to picking up my second copy of Casanova #1 reviewed two weeks ago, I picked up the follwing gems. This week's theme will be: "Reason to buy this book."

Teen Titans #37

So it looks like this is the last issue with the Doom Patrol in it (thank god). I actually feel like I was buying a Teen Titans instead of "Doom Patrol featuring the Teen Titans because Geoff Johns has a man-crush on them." I didn't mind this issue as much as the others because Dr. Niles Caulder (aka The Chief) gets his comeupins for manipulating the Doom Patrol team members and we get to see just how important Cyborg is to the Titans through the eyes of temporary members during the missing one year. That aspect of the issue is nicely done by Johns, though it's just a way to introduce more characters. Robin's efforts to bring Superboy back from the dead by cloning him is also well done as it shows how much he cared about his friend. Though again there is some problems here as I can't recall a particular instance when he was alive that they were showed to be really close.

Tony Daniel's art is hit and miss with me. Some panels look really great and others not so much. Sometimes his characters are flat and static while at other times very dynamic. It's somewhat jarring. As a bonus, this is the first time I noticed the inking! The last 4 or so pages were obviously done by a different inker than the rest of the book. When I noticed this, I checked the credits and sure enough, two inkers: Kevin Conrad and Norm Rapmund. It would have been nice to have consistancy within the issue, but maybe they were trying for a different mood. I dunno, I'm not that deep.

Reason to buy this book: A disembodied brain in a newly cloned body declares his love to his intelligent servant ape. As Chris Sims is wont to say: You are now freaking out.


Y: The Last Man #47

We finally get the backstroy og Dr. Mann with this issue. I thought it was entertaining and showed her development from child to adult rather well. There are also hints as to who/what is really behind the event that killed all the men. Good thing too as this series is coming to a close with issue #60 and there's alot of loose ends to tie up.

The issue opened a bit weird though as Dr. Mann is bleeding profusely yet she seemed fine after last issue despite being stabbed in the shoulder. She kind of explains it at the end saying after she miscarried she expected some long term effects, so I guess that's the reason. Still, an odd opening.

Reason to buy this book: Titties!


Detective Comics #821

Here's the first offering from new creative team Paul Dini (of Batman: the Animated Series fame) and J.H. Williams III and damn is it good. I can't recall the last time I picked up a monthly in-continuity Bat-title but I'm glad I'll be getting this one regularly.

Dini gives us a "done-in-one" story where it is told from Batman's perspective. It empasizes the detective part of Batman where there is a new villain in town stealing from Gotham's elite and Bats has to figure out how he's doing it and who he is. The opening action sequence hooks us in and we then get to see some good character interaction between Batman and Comissioner Gordon. However, their dialogue is a bit to expositiony to seem natural and the same information could have been gained through a narrative from Batman while perusing case files in the Batcave. But I think Dini wanted to get Gordon in there so it's a bit of a trade off. We also get the sense of how much Batman cares about Robin when he won't let him help with the case because they are dealing with an unknown player. Alfred's dialogue is brilliant. Dry, sarcastic wit that you would expect from a Brit.

We are right there with Batman as he puts the pieces together and the journey is highly enjoyable. Excellent first issue from Dini.

The art from J.H. Williams III is great and some of his page layouts are very nice. The choice to highlight exactly where Batman is hitting his opponent in the opening sequence is a neat idea. Batman is always shown to be somewhat in the shadows just as he should be. Good stuff all around.

Reason to buy this book: Batman is a total player and thinks the word "corn" in his narrative.

Graphic Novel Reviews

It has been suggested that in addition to the weekly reviews of stuff I buy, I occasionally write about longer comics, known as Trade Paperbacks (TPBs) or Graphic Novels (GN). As I thought about this, I wondered what definition I could use to consider something a Graphic Novel. At first, I decided that it would only be original works that were not just collections of monthly issues (TPBs), but self-contained stories that were only found in this longer format.

Then I realized that would be silly as many comics these days are quite obviously meant to be read as collected works, where each monthly issue is a chapter in a larger work. Thus any work longer than the regular 23 pages that tells a self-consistant story, is eligible. Here are some definitions I found on google by the way:

#1: Generally, any self-contained story in a single binding that uses a comic book-like page layout. In the comic book industry, the term is sometimes used to refer only to self-contained stories of 48 or more pages that has not been previously published serially. (The minimum page count varies; 64, 72, and 96 pages are other popular cut-off points.)

#2: Term created by Will Eisner; comic book with high quality storyline and artwork.

My favourite as it is quite silly
#3: A comic that cannot be read in one sitting.

#4 "Graphic novel" (sometimes abbreviated GN) is a term for a kind of book, usually telling an extended story with sequential art (i.e. comics). It is not strictly defined, and is often used to imply subjective distinctions between a given book and other kinds of comics.

I'll try to do one or so a month so keep checking back!

Superman Returns Review

Spoilers be ahead so ye be warned.

Rating: 7.5 Superman Shields out of 10

I saw this yesterday and I liked it quite a bit. I almost gave it an 8/10, but we'll get to why it lost that extra 0.5 in a moment.

So a short plot outline to get you up to speed: Astronomers think they've observed remnants of Superman's home planet of Krypton and Superman leaves Earth for 5 years to investigate. He returns to find that the love of his life, Lois Lane, has moved on (not really) with a fiance and a child. Lex Luthor gets out of prison and steals some of the crystals from Superman's fortress of solitude in Anarctica with the plan to use the crystals to create new landmasses and sell the property (the crystals react with water and minerals around them to grow exponentially). Superman finds out about it and needs to stop him. I think that's all you need. Let's begin!

I hadn't seen the original in theatres but I think I can imagine what it must have been like after seeing this film. The opening credits scene was wonderful and I'm very happy that they chose to do it in a style similar to the original movies. My chest swelled when the John Williams score turned up. Excellent choice of using the same music.

Then we get into the movie proper. I'll get one thing out of the way first: the suit. I went on a bit of a rant about it when the initial photos were released because it was such a departure from what I was used to and I might have posted in shock/horror. I am officially changing my stance on the movie suit. It looks really good in the film and I think the darker palette grounds the movie a bit more than bright primary colours would.

Most people going to this movie likely expected Superman to be doing Superman-type things throughout the movie, with lots of punching and general super-heroics. There was some of that, but I knew going in that they wanted to focus more on character development rather than big slugfests. So depending on what you were expecting, this movie might fall flat for you. I think Bryan Singer, the director, took the right road for the "first" movie in this franchise. This has been stated before, but with Superman you need to show his human qualities so that the audience can relate to him a bit. If you don't he's just an alien strong guy who can fly around and do cool shit. This is very different from Batman who is just a regular guy who trains his body to near-perfection. That concept is easier for people to "get" than a baby put in a ship and sent into space before his planet blows up. The best example in the movie is that when Superman finds out that Lois has moved on, he wants to get his mind off it and just throws himself into his "work", saving people from harm.

Thus, while occasionally lagging, the character moments were quite good. The half point from an 8/10 is lost becuase Brandon Routh (who is playing Superman) gives a bit of flat dialogue at times. Not much, but enough to distract and knock a half point off. Despite this, I think he did a very good job of portraying that Clark Kent is very different from Superman. He's not as bungling as in the originals, but still gives the sense of awkwardness. The other 2 points are deducted for the movie being just a tad on the slow side. It could have used one more action sequence to better balance the character moments (which were good). Included in this deduction is the reveal of the S-shield when Clark tears open his shirt when responding to an emergency. This is a classic Superman moment and it wasn't as impressive as it should have been.

As Superman, Routh is really channelling Christopher Reeve and even sounds like him at times. There was much debate from fans wheter Routh was the right choice to play Superman because he's not the most muscular of lads. I think the tall, lean Superman works though and Routh delivers lines and expressions that suits the Man of Steel rather well.

Kate Bosworth does a much better job as Lois Lane than Katie Holmes did as Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins. Her interaction with Clark was as it should be - vague disinterest with a bit of professional friendship. She gives some bland lines too, but they aren't too noticable.

I was hesitant to see Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, but he does a marvelous job of portraying the brilliant yet crazy villain. You could hear a pin drop in the theatre when he berates Lois after she says "Superman will stop you". He exuded evil. Leaving him on a deserted island at the end of the movie was a bit goofy though.

Main actors done, how about scenes, special effects and sound? Glad you asked. The airplane/space shuttle save sequence was amazing as was the "bullet-proof eyeball" one. The scene when Superman gets the shit kicked out of him was hard to watch as it was pretty visceral. The special effects guys did a great job with the flying sequences though there were a couple that could have used a bit more polish. As for sound, you can NOT beat a John Williams soundtrack. Excellent stuff.

So that's my mishmash of thoughts on Superman Returns. Good movie with a few picky things. Definately worth seeing though.