New Comic Day August 3 because comics were a day late...@$$holes
Wow, there certainly is a buttload of comics this week, which makes up for the fact I had to wait a whole extra day to get them. Without further ado...
I liked the idea behind this issue. Some girl is killed and her father hires the Riddler to figure out the mystery behind her death. Batman gets involved too, propting an unlikely teamup between the dark knight and the riddling rapscallion. I also liked the fun way Batman shows up the Riddler in the end by figuring out who the real killer was. Dini provides good dialouge throughout and seems to really "get" the Riddler.
That being said, it seemed a little too easy and the finale was kind of just thrown at the reader from left field. Maybe that's the drawback with a done-in-one issue - there's just not enough space to provide a bit of (IMO needed) filler. It was still an enjoyable issue despite that reservation.
Yay! A non-colourform cover! The creepy cover aside, this was a good second installment for this latest arc. We get to see some backstory with the Great Machine, some interesting politiking, a guy getting a hummer from a fireman respirator, and a guy get blown in half from a shotgun. This issue also sees a style change from Tony Harris. Here he does an ink wash over his inked pencils. I'm not sure what it means, but it's different. Not sure if it's good, but it's definately different. The only thing I didn't care for was Mitchell referring to homosexuals as "your kind". Seems out of character, but he was agitated at the time, so it might have been a slip of the tongue.
This is another one of those issues where it is dedicated to telling the backstory of one of the major players in the series. This time around it's about the Israli commando chick. While interesting, I don't really care too much about her character and it seemed to be a weak issue this late in the series (it's ending at #60). Art by Goran Sudzuka is great though and he captures emotion really well.
I'm glad I am getting this series because it centres on an idea that I think is pretty interesting: what would it be like if people with powers existed in real life? A notable example is the Authority. And this is another. I think the writer, Jason Rand, nails how lots of people would react: with fear, hostility, violence, etc. Though, from last issue, I thought we'd be seeing more of the reactions from the supporting cast members than we do in this issue and its much more about the city's response. I hope Rand doesn't lose the focus of the book and make the characters cardboard cutouts.
As well the Emissary shows a new power which is damn cool. He can apparently teleport things, without seeing them, to wherever he is. The example in the comic is that to overcome the apparent language barrier between himself and the FBI agents, he teleports a case file out of an unseen officer's hands to his own. He does it again for several books. Very cool.
Ah, the white wine spritzer of the comic book month. Exceptionally refreshing and leaves you wanting more. Here we see that Mark is very shaken up about killing Angstrom Levy last issue and is very morally torn about whether or not he did the right thing. You don't often see that in comics. Usually it's just a shoot-em-up adventure where killing is the norm. It's nice to see something different.
Before I tell you what bugged me about this issue I need to recap a bit. When Mark (Invincible) was fighting Angstrom, they travelled through different dimensions and once Angstrom was killed, it left Mark stranded. This issue sees the Guardians of the Globe rescue Invincible. However, they are from the future as it took many years to figure out which dimension Mark was trapped in. My problem is thus: it seems like the GotG are from the future of Mark's home reality which is fine, but for some reason Invincible asks what happened to the Invincible that was present in the current dimension that he's trapped in. (1) why would he care and (2) if the GotG are from his home dimension, then how would they even know about an Invincible in that dimension? Maybe it will be clear with a re-read, but with alternate realities and time travel, it seems unlikely.
This is a neat idea for a comic though it's been done before I'm sure. A group of heroes who fought decades ago against EEEEVVVIIILLLLL, disbands and then is brought back together under unusal circumstances. In this case, said unusual circumstances being ex-group leader Jimmy Woo leading a band of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on an off-the-books mission that results in death and destruction. Life hanging by a thread, Woo is taken from the S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital by his former comrades. It was a good issue and the dichotomy in the artwork between the past events and current ones proved effective. And hey, who can say no to a comic with an uzi-toting gorilla?
Part two of the clone saga! This wasn't as great an issue as the last one becuase it basically consists of Peter FREAKING OUT and getting his ass kicked by (obviously) a female version of himself. The cameo by the fantastic four was cool though as well as the revelation that the cloning business has something to do with Oscorp (suprise!) and that Mary Jane has been relocated to the abandoned Oscorp facility. Bagley continues to be great with the art chores as we near the penultimate #100 issue. I can't believe I didn't like his art when he was on Amazing Spider-man in the mid 90s.
Mice fighting! Cute! This is an excellent series and I can't wait for more. Bravo Mr. Peterson. This issue sees Lieam being found out by members of the Axe who take him to their mysterious leader (foreshadowing!) who isn't revealed, but is referred to as a male and whose voice Lieam seems to recognize. Saxon and Kenzie are found by a legendary member of the guard, Celanawe who agrees to help them stop the Axe, but not until after he and Saxon lay into each other in a pretty brutal fight. Good stuff. Go buy it. Now...right now. Why are you still reading this? Buy Mouse Guard god damn it!
posted by JG @ 2:00 a.m.
2 Comments:
Is "Mouse Guard" coming out as a collection? If that's the case, I am sooooo there.
/a interested in talking to a Trevor Burgees
Issue #4 of Mouse Guard just came out and since it's on a bi-monthly schedule (once every two months, not twice a month) the series isn't finished until December. There is no set release date for the trade paperback though, but I assume it will come out within 3 months of the series finishing. I can keep you posted if you'd like.
/peanut!
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