Superman #709 – Review

By J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Robertson (writers), Eddy Barrows and Allan Goldman (pencils), J.P. Mayer and Julio Ferreira (inks), Rod Reis (colors), John J. Hill (letters)

The Story: Superman is still down in the doldrums (yes, still. Only a few more issues to go, folks!), and Lois isn’t returning his calls. Fortunately, Flash shows up and injects a little excitement–and Kryptonian history–into the mix.

What’s Good: I really liked the art in this issue. Barrows and Goldman make a great team that results in a vibrant setting and beautiful characters (especially Flash…Superman himself sometimes suffers from a lack of facial detail in longer distance shots). Besides, I’ve always been a fan of the Superman/Flash races, and this book has a couple wonderful homages. (Although, I’m firmly in the corner that Flash should ALWAYS win such contests; after all, Superman has powers to spare, and Flash deserves to be the best he is at what he does.)

Also: Wonder Woman undergoes no character destruction in this issue. That’s a plus.

What’s Not So Good: I said it last month, and it’ll probably be said next month, but…this storyline is still going nowhere. “Superman goes through a midlife crisis” is NOT a good story arc idea. Especially not a year-long arc. I do realize that the character has been through a lot (as Flash addresses in this issue), and that it should be addressed. But, although the conversation between Supes and Flash is well written and interesting enough, all I can think about is how long it is til this story finally ends, and he can go back to being HIMSELF. Introspective, brooding, Byronic heroes are great…but if I want that, I’ll go read about Morpheus, or Batman, or Moon Knight. When I pick up a Superman comic, I want to read about Superman– the bright, strong, self-confident hero that is their antithesis.

Giant-Size Atom – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (writer), Mahmud Asrar, Allan Goldman, Robson Rocha (pencillers), John Dell, Andy Owens, Eber Ferreira, JP Mayer (inkers), Pete Pantazis (colorist)

The Story: When it comes to big problems, the Atom thinks small—literally.

The Review: After reading through the work he’s done so far for DC, it’s pretty clear that Lemire has a very old-school style of storytelling.  His premises are often straightforward, even if touched with some sci-fi silliness.  He enjoys exploring relationships among family and friends.  The dialogue tends to be very direct, even broadly emotional at times.  All these things would feel antiquated, but he takes care to inject just enough awareness to keep them playful.

Giant-Size Atom, featuring a character that’s a direct product of the Silver Age, is a very good fit for Lemire.  The first half of this story took place in an Adventure Comics co-feature, but it’s easy enough to jump right in and figure out what’s happening.  But no matter how well you grasp the situation, since you’re coming in at the tail end of the arc, most of the tension the story has built up till now is lost on you.

The issue itself also doesn’t make time to create some suspense, as Lemire tries to pack in all the material he couldn’t cover once his co-feature got cancelled.  Usually, this is the classic plot he’d pull off really well: a secret science society goes after the Atom’s meteor rock (which he used to get his powers).  The way Lemire set up the antagonists, he clearly had bigger plans in mind for the series, but everything here feels abridged.

Again, the problem seems to lie with the structure of the issue than with any major flaws with the writing.  What you have are several co-feature length (ten pages, give or take) stories rolled together.  Each scene—Atom taking down Hawkman’s micro-assassins, or rescuing his dad and uncle from a nuclear-rigged ant farm—in itself has great ideas, but would have really profited from more space to grow and draw you in before moving on to the next thing.

I’m also inclined to blame the talky nature of this issue on the limitations of the format.  For example, the buddy-up between Hawkman and the Atom is a great pairing (especially with Ray rocking a sword next to Carter’s mace).  But there are way too many captioned monologues where Atom muses on how Hawkman is like his surrogate big brother, a relationship better served by good scene-work instead.

Superman #707 – Review

By J. Michael Straczynski (plot), Chris Roberson (script), Allan Goldman (pencils), Eber Ferreira (inks), Marcelo Maiolo (colors) and John J. Hill (letters)

The Story: Superman continues–still–his trek across the U.S. While keeping himself busy assisting with everyday emergencies in a small town, he discovers a factory that is in danger of exploding. When Lois shows up to write a story about how the factory heads have been dumping chemicals into the local ground water, Superman must weigh the cost of the truth against the jobs of thousands of innocent people.

What’s Good: Great news! For the first time in half a year, reading a Superman comic didn’t piss me off! I know, I was shocked too. But it’s true: while not stellar by any means, this issue is at least decent, competent, and refrains from being insulting or completely and utterly trite. Better yet–and I can’t stress this enough, for the first time since the storyline started–it actually delivers on the premise that the entire storyline is built around: Superman is actually in a town, talking to people and helping them solve actual, basic problems.

My favorite part of the whole book–of the entire storyline so far, really–is the scene with Superman putting out the factory fire. The self-narrating he does, explaining his actions, thought process and the powers he uses to save the day, has a wonderful Golden Age flavor to it that had me smiling the whole way through. Most fun I’ve had reading Supes in quite some time.

Wonder Woman #603 – Review

By J. Michael Straczynski(writer), Don Kramer, Eduardo Pansica and Allan Goldman (pencils), Jay Leisten and Scott Koblish (inks), Alex Sinclair (colors), Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: While trying to escort the Amazon refugees to safety, Diana is attacked by the Keres—evil spirits of death—and is dragged down to the Underworld. She escapes with the help of Charon, the one-time Ferryman who is ruling the Underworld in Hades’ absence. Upon returning to her refugees though, Diana finds that she’s gone straight from the frying pan and into the fire.

What’s Good: While I’m still not…really…sure…where they’re going with this story (it’s been three issues; we should have at least some idea by now, right?) I still really enjoyed this issue. The combination of Greek mythology and Wonder Woman mythology is pretty damned inspired. I find it strange that this storyline has added so much of the Greek mythology back into Wonder Woman–she was fighting space aliens before this arc–while simultaneously divesting her of so many of her personal mythological elements. It’s an odd dichotomy, but it works well. Watching a “normal” human working their way through the creatures of Greek mythology while attempting to realize their godly potential is compelling stuff. It’s what makes all of the original tales of demigods so timeless, and it’s a very effective device here as well.

Blackest Night: Superman #3 – Review

By James Robinson (writer), Eddy Barrows with Allan Goldman (pencils), Ruy José with Eber Ferreira (inks)

The Story: Superman is getting the stuffing beat out of him by Black Lantern Kal-L and Superboy. Ma Kent is being stalked by Black Lantern Lois Lane. Psycho-Pirate is turning Smallville into a warzone. Welcome to the final issue of this miniseries.

What’s Good: I mentioned in my last review that James Robinson had let the tension slip in issue #2. He brought it back. The last issue is wall-to-wall action with people we care about and villains we desperately want to see getting their just desserts. The dialogue is sharp now that we don’t have those clunky Norman Rockwell moments out of Smallville. On the plot, there are a lot of ways this could have gone wrong, considering the scope of the event and how it has been built up. Robinson pulled this off well, because (this isn’t really a spoiler) in this issue the heroes discover two weaknesses of the Black Lanterns. Also, I was wondering why Robinson included Supergirl and New Krypton in this miniseries. I now see why he did and it works. I expect that we’ll see the results of this issue brought back to the larger Blackest Night series, hopefully in issue #4 next week. It also makes me wonder if the other Blackest Night minis will be discovering similar vulnerabilities. All that being said, great story, satisfying conclusion.
On the minor players, Geoff Johns seems to have been conspiring to make Krypto cool. James Robinson helped out big time here. Krypto is awesome. All dog. All super. He’s like lassie…with a cape…and he’s indestructible…and he chews zombie arms right off…oh, and he’s got heat vision. The art team was critical in making Krypto work. A lot of books deliver solid heroes-in-tights moments, but Barrows and company brought dog expressions to the DC zombie apocalypse and that’s what made Krypto cool….along with heat vision. I’ve also got to give kudos to the art team for the color work on the different emotional states, some brilliant action sequences, a burning naked old zombie Lois Lane (trust me, she’s no Red Sonja), and some larger-than-life heroism.

What’s Not So Good: The first big splash page with Kal-El was so busy that I had a bit of trouble figuring out what was happening. Otherwise, nothing but nit-picking.

Conclusion: Robinson, Barrows and team brought this miniseries to a satisfying conclusion that will tie effectively into the larger Blackest Night book. A lot of fun. I’m looking forward to the other Blackest Night minis, especially Wonder Woman’s.

Grade: B

-DS Arsenault

Superman/Batman #50 – Review

Michael Green, Mike Johnson, (writers) Ed Benes, Matthew Clark, Allan Goldman, Ian Churchill, (pencils) Matt “Batt” Banning, Norm Rapmund, Marlo Alquiza, Rob Hunter,(inkers) John Rauch, (colors) Andrew Robinson, Greg DiGenti, (Krypton sequence), Rob Leigh, (letters) Ethan Van Sciver, Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines,  Dave McCaig (covers)

This issue has The League rebuilding Smallville and fighting it out with more rogue Kryptonian tech. As great as Superman is he just can’t seem to save us from his planet’s technology. After Brianiac, The Phantom Zone, and a Kryptonian probe, what’s next? But throw in a chance meeting between Thomas Wayne and Jor El and you’ve got a great start to this new arc.

Michael Green and Mike Johnson have done an excellent job with their run on this title. It’s unclear to me if the connection between Thomas and Jor El will carry through, or if it’s just a standalone scene – I’m thinking it’ll probably be the latter – in either case it’s very effective. Personally, I found it a little annoying that Batman and Superman are barely in the issue. Still, learning the details of their fathers meeting is great. It makes me wonder what things would’ve been like if Superman had crashed in Gotham.

A highlight of the book is definitely the pencils. The team is pretty massive, but everyone does a great job. The battle scenes are chaotic, but very detailed and easy to follow. My favorite of which is the fight between Batman, Superman and the crystal projections in The Fortress of Solitude. Not only does it feature their best villains, but awesome action as well. The backgrounds on Krypton during the flashback have a lot less detail, but it still fits really well. I’ve always thought Krypton would have a very streamlined architecture. I’m a big fan of the coloring during this sequence and the use of cool blues is a great choice, definitely better than your standard black and white.

Batman and Superman are like brothers in many ways, and this story reinforces that. Having Thomas Wayne reverse engineer much of Wayne Tech from his time on Krypton is a great touch. That said, I feel my biggest complaint is that it doesn’t seem like much happened; since most of the issue is a flashback it’s hard to really feel that progression. While it remains unclear if we’ll continue to see Thomas Wayne and Jor El in this book it’s still a good read with lots of good stuff for any fan. (Grade: B-)

-Ben Berger