But I've also been reading some non-comic book fiction.
Two books have been finished or started this week.
First was one of my favorites, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, By Michael Chabon. It tells the story of two young cousins who helps launch the comic book era, their lives and how their work changes not only who they are, but how comics are percieved. It's a Pulitzer Prize winner, folks, and one of those books I read every few years. Chabon develops his characters well, and you actally learn quite a lot about how the very first publishers screwed their creators, which actually ended up leading to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. It's an intriguing blend of non-genre fiction that somehow manages to also show how a genre works.
Next, I'm about a third of the way into the decidedly geektastic Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It's about the hunt for a treasure, buried by an eccentric billionaire...within the world of a video game he created. The author is very much enamored of the 1980's, and sure does love referencing them at the drop of a hat. That's not normally something I'm a fan of, but here, given the plot, it works really well. I can't wait to find out if some of the hunches I have about plots and characters are going to prove true or false. It's a decidedly quickly placed novel, and one I have a hard time putting down. I can't wait to finish it!
Right, now on to the comics!
Batman #2 – Ah, In Media Res, how I
love you! It’s one of my absolute favorite conventions when a show, book,
movie, and media starts with a nice action scene, with the hero in imminent
danger, and then backtracks to how we got there. Bruce Wayne plummeting to an
almost certain doom certainly qualifies. Not a bad book, just one I don’t think
I’ll be keeping up with for much longer, due to the fact that…well, it’s just
not grabbing me. Oh, hey, look, the guy running for office has a background
similar to Bruce’s. What’s that? A mysterious organization that everyone
thought defunct is still active, and has metahuman assassins? Okay, that’s
actually a good plot, but I’m not a fan of how it’s handled here. It’s somewhat
lifeless and lackluster for me. The highlight of this book, for me, is the
artwork. It’s reminiscent of Frank Miller’s Dark
Knight Returns, while still being its own thing. So, kudos to Greg Capullo
for that. I may need to seek out some of his other stuff.
Recommendation:
Trade, since I think the story will make more sense collected than it does
individually.
Birds of Prey #2 – I’m liking the
Charlie’s Angels vibe to this book. The mystery’s not too bad either, with the ladies
coming together to find out who’s trying to kill them. One of the traps that a
lot of comics fall into is not giving its women distinct personalities, and we
certainly have them here. Also, continuing the changes from the Old DCverse,
Katana is…somewhat mentally unstable. Unless there’s a story I never saw where
she thought her husband’s spirit was bound to her sword. But, hey, big
universe, you never know. I’d also like to point out that this book basically
counteracts all of the criticisms leveled at DC for having slutorama Starfire
and cheesecake Catwoman. The women are all strong, non-hypersexualized heroes.
They aren’t drawn to ridiculous proportions, and you could actually believe
that, somewhere, someone looks JUST like this.
Recommendation:
Pull box, especially if you’re a fan of shows like Charlie’s Angels, Alias, Nikita…or any other female oriented action
show.
Blue Beetle #2 – Poor Jaime Reyes, can’t
seem to catch a break. He gets grafted to an alien superweapon, rendering him
unrecognizable to even his closest friends, super-villain thieves after him,
and he can’t get to the party of the girl he wants to impress! This book
reminds me of the movie Guyver. Same
basic concept, but fewer Latinos. Anyway, back on point…after a relatively weak
first issue, I really dug this, from just about every angle, and it sets up
some nice future conflicts, including an alien invasion and the crush’s aunt
being a criminal mastermind. Blue Beetle’s never been a character I really
invested much time in when he WASN’T with Booster Gold, so I never knew this
iteration, but I am glad I found him this time round.
Recommendation:
Pull box, since I like strong action titles with befuddled and confused leads.
Captain Atom #2 – I’ll be honest, there
wasn’t much that drew me in for this title. The individual elements are all
ones that I like: A hero whose power is both mysterious and slowly going out of
control, mistrust when that hero helps stop a natural disaster, the hero using
his newfound powers to help someone and finally the consequences of using not
fully understood powers. All good elements, in any combination, but something,
for me, isn’t clicking in this book. It’s artwork is a style I’m not fond of,
either, with proportions changing all the time, in several characters. I could
actually buy it if it were just Captain Atom who was shifting, since that would
sit well with his powers, but it’s everyone.
Recommendation:
Trade.
Catwoman #2 – So…the aftermath. Yeah. So
while I understand the reasoning behind her wanting to release a little tension
with Batman, it ends up seeming mostly unnecessary. The story we finally get
into, however, is a nice heist story, with lots of revenge thrown in. Let’s
face it, it takes a special kind of hurting to steal from one Russian mob, set
up another Russian mob for it, and take out a lot of high level members of
both, including the one who hurt your friend. Also, we see once more why Bruce
Wayne is who Batman pretends to be, since he’s never not working. My favorite
bit was seeing Alfred muttering to himself when Bruce walks off. It perfectly
captured my mental image of him, and how I’d write Alfred, if I were to do so.
All in all, though, it’s not my favorite book ever, but it’s not horrible,
either. I hope that the next issue builds on the rather horrifying conclusion
of this one.
Recommendation:
Trade, but pull it if you like the character.
DC Universe Presents #2 – Continuing the
Deadman chronicles, I liked this issue. Boston Brand confronts Rama about his
destiny and job, and, as he should, realizes that she’s lying, or at the least,
leaving something out of the equation. There’s obviously a reason he still
remembers the bodies he’s inhabited, and I’ve got my theories, but I won’t
elucidate for now. Either way, I like the character, and this treatment’s
enormous fun to read. The best bit comes when he’s trying to break into a
nightclub that fronts for a metaphysical library, jumping bodies, confusing
every one and their brother. And when his original plan breaks down, it just
gets crazier and more awesome. I liked it a lot.
Recommendation:
Pull, but it’s tricky with anthology comics.
Green Lantern Corps #2 – Man, they had
the potential for a decent horror story, but it’s become a decent action comic
instead. I’m not upset too much, but it’s like when you’re expecting pizza and
get a hamburger instead. I liked this issue a lot, but I would, wouldn’t I? It’s
setting up a nice, rogue GL storyline, or at least I hope that’s where it’s
going. The artwork’s gorgeous, the plotting tight and well-paced…about the only
thing I can criticize this book for, aside from the genre shift, is that I have
to wait a whole month until the next issue!
Recommendation:
Pull box.
Justice League #2 – Seemed like it took
forever for this book to come out, didn’t it? Anyway, after a brief interlude
when we find out that Central City PD wants the Flash’s identity, and Wally
needs to hide it, we get back to our fight, already in progress. It ends up
being a pretty standard, if well done, fight among heroes. You know…misunderstanding,
attacking before talking, etc. Even though one of the heroes is wanting to talk, it just keeps going
until Batman, of all people, stops things. On a detail level, the panel where
Superman “fliks” Flash is hilarious to me, on a basic, fundamental level. It is
nice to see the heroes coming to trust each other, but still wary. The artwork
is, once again, very nice. All told, I like this issue.
Recommendation:
Pull box. Let’s face it, it’s going to be the flagship title of the New
DCverse, so it’s probably going to be important.
Legion of Super Heroes #2 – Now this
one I just plain didn’t like. And I do like the LoSH in certain continuities. There’s
just too much going on here, with no focus at all. The artwork is nice, but
without a good story to back it up, they’re just pictures with no context.
Overall, not my favorite experience. If you want a nicely written LoSH story,
go back to Volume 5, which came out in 2004, 2005. Well written, gives you a
sense of depth to the team, lets you see how they all interact. AND good
artwork, to boot!
Recommendation:
Drop, unless you’re an absolute, hardcore, LoSH fan.
Nightwing #2 – How many fortunes does Dick
Grayson stand to inherit? I mean,
seriously. He’s probably going to get Bruce Wayne’s, and now a circus magnate’s?
Aside from that, and someone hunting down Dick Grayson, there’s more action
than plot in this one, but I’m okay with that, in this case. Mainly because the
action sequences are well done, with just the right amount of exposition and
advancement. One minor thing, and this is about Nightwing in general, is that I
like this particular iteration of his costume. Something about the red symbol
against the black suit just works for me. All around a good book.
Recommendation:
Trade, because while it is a strong book, it’s not pulling me in quite enough
to keep up with it on a monthly basis, but I can see where I’d get a great deal
of enjoyment out of it collected.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #2 – Well, at
least we know how Jason Todd came back to life in this continuity…Talia and a
Lazarus Pit. Aside from that, a lot of plot threads are coming together really
quickly in this one. Honestly, the team forming is the one I like the best, but
I’ve always been a fan of that, when done well. One thing I don’t understand
about this book is why the team is called the outlaws. I mean, I know that
Arsenal broke out of jail, but that seemed to have been a set up, so it’s not
like he’s an ACTUAL outlaw. And, as far as I know, Starfire’s not committed any
crimes to speak of, nor Red Hood. So, unless it’s about just using a cool
sounding name (Which I could totally see any of these characters doing.) it
just doesn’t make any sense. All the same, Lobdell has kinda sorta made up for
the Starfire fiasco, and let’s face it, it was, from last month by almost completely
ignoring it. Really, that’s the best way to handle it.
Recommendation:
Trade for now, but it’s got some good potential to be a pull box book.
Supergirl #2 – The last time I saw this
particular characterization of Supergirl was on Smallville. I have to say, though, that everything about this book
works. Her anger and confusion come across in both the art and writing, and when
she finally accepts that Kal-El is who he says, the shift in her personality
seems as natural as you can get when you’re an alien who just crash landed on a
strange and distant planet. Frankly, it’s a plot I’ve seen a few times, and it
works more often than it doesn’t. It’s one that allows for heroes to fight
heroes without becoming too formulaic. The art in this book is nice, too. Once
that all settles down, the real story seems to be kicking in, and I like where
it’s implicating.
Recommendation:
Pull box, one of the stronger Super-titles amd well worth the money.
Wonder Woman #2 – This seems to be
origin month at DC. There are several titles this week, and this month, come to
think, that give either thumbnail versions of their origins, or a more or less
full retelling, like here. It helps that Princess Diana has a pretty easy beginning
to recount. That aside, it also seems to be worked into the plot, which helps
things quite a bit. It’s a fairly standard mythological story, with Zeus having
impregnated yet another mortal. Reading this book made me a little sad to know
that people seem to be focusing on the two characterizations that really
detract from this whole New 52 thing. WW, Supergirl, Birds of Prey, Batwoman…all
good, strong female leads. While Starfire and Catwoman are pretty
cheesecake-ish, fantasy fulfillment characters, the rest all have nicely
involved, deep back stories that make them worth reading…and showing to your
daughters.
Recommendation:
Pull box. I like where it’s going, with its twist on Greek mythology.
Keep reading, and see ya next time!
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