Fables #123 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (story), Gene Ha (art), Art Lyon (colors)

The Story: The first and last time a lord of monsters took advice from a dainty turtle.

The Review: As I’ve mentioned, I try not to let my fictional preferences show around these parts, but I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m something of a fantasy nut.  Maybe not so much in the dragons ‘n’ sorcerers sort of way, but I do love tales of the hidden and unknown, the idea that there’s a whole world in our world that we don’t know about, that sometimes superstitions and stories are hinting vaguely at something much bigger and real.

So between the Japanese folklore in Fairest and the intersection of myth and fairy tales here, you can safely conclude that the Fables series have been rocking my boat this month.  These kinds of stories really get at the heart of why we started telling stories in the first place: to pin down the unknowable, to try to make sense of a world where good people die young and crooks get away scot-free and folks who take more than one sample at Costco don’t get severely beaten.

Fables #122 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (story), Gene Ha (art), Art Lyon (colors)

The Story: The only thing that can make a giant wolf lose his appetite is his own ennui.

The Review: I’d never have predicted that of all the many comic book titles I’ve ever reviewed, Fables would end up being the one I covered the longest.  Granted, the DC relaunch messed with the numbers a little bit, but facts are facts.  At eighteen issues, it still rests solidly on my pull list and I imagine it will remain so for a long time to come.  The world Willingham’s chosen to explore has few real limits and enduring appeal; it’s as eternal as it makes itself out to be.

And when you have different parts of folklore meet, especially with the spin that Willingham puts on them, the possibilities are endless.  Some meetings, however, have more inherent story potential than others.  I’d say a chance encounter between the Big Bad Wolf in his primal glory and a woman “from the deep realms” with the power to assign fates falls into that category.  Is it even possible to write something unoriginal, given such a premise?

The Shade #12 – Review

By: James Robinson (story), Gene Ha (art), Art Lyon (colors)

The Story: This is what you get for dealing in the black market of wild predator cats.

The Review: If there’s reason to be convinced of Shade’s lack of humanity, it’s not so much in his shadowy nature and godlike powers as his emotional distance.  He simply doesn’t seem to feel things the way us ordinary people would.  When his feelings hit extremes, you can be sure they’re at least some degrees below what any other character would feel in the same situation.  This sets him apart from the rest of the DCU, but it also makes it harder to get a handle on him.

This whole mini doesn’t exactly give us a defining image of the Shade, but that seems fair; even after twelve issues’ worth of globe-trotting experiences, he himself doesn’t know what to make of it.  We can’t expect to untangle all the complexities in Richard Swift’s development all at once.  We must all be content with gaining some slight understanding, a mere impression of how he came to be in his present state.  That’s life, you know.

Action Comics #9 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (story), Gene Ha (art), Art Lyon (colors)

The Story: This is a president who can honestly say “Yes, I can” to just about any situation.

The Review: It’s a fact that a lot of people had high hopes and expectations for this series, not the least because Morrison had writing duties.  This was the same man who did wondrous stuff with our hero in the now semi-required reading, All-Star Superman.  When you think of the truly awe-inspiring ideas that story contains—arm-wrestling with Atlas, solving a Sphinx’s riddle, the intelligent black sheep of Bizarro World—you have ample reason to expect the same here.

Thus far, however, much of what Morrison has written has been functional, but lacking the inspiration he demonstrated before.  The stories have been either weirdly straightforward or just straight-up weird, failing to hit that perfect balance of imagination and accessibility we enjoyed in All-Star, not to mention the sheer energy you felt (and still feel) in the former work.  Mostly, it feels like Morrison’s been scraping his brain for enough leftover ideas to cobble together a story.

So it is with pleasure and relief to find this issue bucks that trend.  In what is quickly becoming a great week for parallel universe stuff, we get to revisit the Earth of black Superman, AKA President Calvin Ellis, whom we first (?) met in the last issue of Final Crisis.  At the time, he seemed almost like a gag personified, a way to poke fun at real-life President Obama’s heroic image and perhaps make an indirect bit of commentary about race in comics.

The New 52 #1 – Free Comic Book Day Review

By: Too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: Everyone needs a lawyer—especially when your judges are master mages.

The Review: I like free stuff as much as the next person.  I’m an old hand at waiting for five minutes to get a sample of some Costco microwaveable piece of whatever that you can inhale in three seconds.  So of course, Free Comic Book Day has all kinds of appeal for me.  But—and I don’t think I’m alone in saying this—I’ve always found the gratuitous offerings less than stellar, either being forgettable fluff pieces or thin teases for upcoming events.

DC’s contribution to comic lovers’ favorite holiday isn’t just a prelude to their next company-wide Big Event; it’s an Event that doesn’t even show up until next year.  This kind of move has always struck me as overly confident.  Whoever’s in charge must believe that whatever story they have up their sleeve must be big and important enough to keep you intrigued for twelve or more months, and they must be pretty certain they can build up the tension properly until then.

Justice League #7 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (writer), Gene Ha (artist), Art Lyon (colorist), Gary Frank (feature artist), Brad Anderson (feature colorist)

The Story: Working with the League isn’t unlike babysitting surly teens, as Steve Trevor learns.

The Review: Something I learned the hard, painful way back in college was that you could bring your most creative ideas in the world to the table, write them using the choicest words you know, put all your thought into crafting a unified plot, and still end up with a lifeless dud of a story.  What’s missing from the equation here?  The character.  If you don’t have a character readers would be willing to follow along for whatever length of work you produce, you’re toast.

Sad to say, but Justice League is browning in the oven quick—and yes, that’s a terrible metaphor, but there’s a reason why I’m reviewing fiction now, rather than writing it for a living.  Johns didn’t do the greatest job developing the team in his first arc, as they came across as little more than straw men (and woman), spouting short blurbs that merely echo personality.  Six issues of work, and you didn’t really connect with them at all.

If the League manages to win you over, I suspect it’s by virtue of their sheer star power; you like them because you’ve always liked them.  For me, it’s Wonder Woman and Aquaman—which is somewhat unfortunate as both get the least to do in this series.  The problems Johns had writing them before remain painfully present.  It’s truly remarkable he can create several whole, running storylines around Aquaman in his own ongoing, yet here the king of Atlantis gets only two lines, one of which is, “I don’t need an umbrella, Lantern.”  Still, that’s less irritating than the broken-record quality of Diana’s dialogue: “Then I’m ready to hit him.  How’s our opponent fight?”

The rest of the League don’t fare better; they speak little beyond the substance of the plot, and even when they do, they tend to be grating than ingratiating.  If you thought the obnoxious Hal of previous issues was due to his five-year decrease in age, think again; he’s easily just as annoying and bratty here, perhaps even more so.  To liaison Steve Trevor, he demands, rather mindlessly, “…we need more rations.  Food and drinks and stuff.  Have them leave ‘em at the drop-off and I’ll swing by later.”  To Batman’s reasonable belief that the League could operate more effectively, with less risk to person and property, Hal boasts, “I like risk.”

Action Comics #3 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Rags Morales (penciller), Rick Bryant (inker), Gene Ha (guest artist), Brad Anderson & Art Lyon (colorists)

The Story: Corrupt people rabidly spouting nonsense on TV—what will fiction think of next?

The Review: Anybody who’s read much of Superman has wondered this question at some point: which is the real alter-ego, Superman or Clark Kent?  For most superheroes, their secret identity serves as a mere cover for their vigilantism; their true selves emerge when they spring into action.  For a while now, interpretations of Superman have gone the opposite route.  When Clark slips on those tights and spit-curls his hair, he’s still Clark at heart, only more so.

In this issue, we spend most of our time with him out of costume, getting to know him beyond the proletariat grandstanding he does when he’s got his cape on.  If anything, Clark the man is even more stridently principled than Clark the Superman.  As a citizen, his powers can’t come into play, so his indignation becomes more hot and vocal: “You need to be the cop you wanted to be when you were a kid…  Back to cop school, guys!”

It makes perfect sense that at this younger segment of his life, Clark would be rasher, bolder, and more competitive, all of which makes him a more compelling figure now than the endearing but slightly straight-laced reporter of DC past.  You just relate to him more, like when he says in exasperation, “Aliens on the news!  This is what I’m saying…”  If you’re a reader who finds the media at large a mind-boggling place to be these days, you know what Clark means.

Actually, that line builds upon a mystery from last issue, namely how much Superman knows about his origins.  Judging from his scoffs at the sensational reportage of “space monsters,” he really seems to have no clue.  This, of course, explains why he demonstrates such a singularly human lack of self-restraint in his temperament, and why he has such passionate, folksy ideals.  Once he learns the truth, he’ll have to re-evaluate both these qualities, and it may be rough, especially since the public negativity has him already doubting this whole Superman thing.

Flashpoint: Project Superman #3 – Review

By: Scott Snyder & Lowell Francis (writers), Gene Ha (artist), Art Lyon (colorist)

The Story: It’s a bird, it’s a plane—it’s a flying muscleman with Super-Seiyan hair!

The Review: If you’re going to write one of these Elseworlds-type stories, my unsolicited suggestion would be to really take the plunge into the alternate universe aspect of things.  Play into the unexpected and steer clear from the predictable and the familiar.  No sense in putting in a halfhearted effort and ending up with a world that’s only a hop, skip, and a jump away from we already know anyway (see Flashpoint: Hal Jordan #1).

Much of the success from this series comes from Francis keeping Superman a distant figure, even within his own title.  We’re so used to seeing him take charge, the star of the only comic with action in its name, that to see him a passive, even tangential character to others has a quietly unsettling effect on your psyche.  His hesitation to act or speak, even in a narrative sense, feels so unnatural that you know without a doubt you’re in a strange, new territory here.

Superman’s wariness allows other characters to step up and assert themselves, not the least of which is Subject Zero.  As a villain, he exists in an interesting state between cliché (the well-intentioned person mad with power) and sympathetic (a deeply-rooted loneliness).  He’s veered back and forth throughout the series, but in the end, he falls closer to the cliché, raving like a lunatic, throwing around his abilities for the sheer pleasure of showing off his omnipotence, before proving the focus he needs to keep in control is more tenuous than he believes.

Flashpoint: Project Superman #2 – Review

By: Scott Snyder & Lowell Francis (writers), Gene Ha (artist), Art Lyon (colorist)

The Story: “I’m only hurting you because I love you so much,” takes on all new meaning.

The Review: Traditionally, we tend to see Superman’s values and virtues as something bred in him by the good, wholesome, Midwestern upbringing of Ma and Pa Kent.  It’s what allows us to believe that such an all-powerful alien would have such adamant devotion to a world full of bickering, selfish, violent earthlings.  In this title, we remove the Kents from the picture entirely, and discover that perhaps Superman’s goodness is more innate than we give him credit for.

After all, in the Flashpoint world, he has extremely little reason to care for anybody on Earth, given the circumstances with which he arrived and has been treated since.  We’re spared nothing regarding his suffering; we see him in crawl spaces, a bowl of food on the floor and a hamster-like water drip against the wall; he’s forced to endure dozens of humiliating and painful scientific inspections; his captors coldly put him through frightening “drills.”

During this early period of his life, he forms attachments only with Subject Two (in our world known as Krypto) and General Sam Lane, the former proving to be sadly short-lived, the latter tenuous at best.  Lane’s affection for Kal (as he insists on calling what everyone refers to as “Subject One”) is touchingly ironic, but naturally portrayed.  It makes sense Lane’s military work drove his family away, leading him to turn his fatherly eye on a child, even an alien one.

Flashpoint: Project Superman #1 – Review

By: Scott Snyder & Lowell Francis (writers), Gene Ha (artist), Art Lyon (colorist)

The Story: What, you think you’re better than us?  Oh, you actually are?  Never mind.

The Review: In the world of Flashpoint, a lot of things have gone wacky, and one of the most significant ones is there is no man in red cape and undies flying around in sight.  That leaves you very sincerely asking, whatever happened to the Man of Tomorrow?  But you also have to wonder, in the vacuum of Superman, what kind of people will try to take his place, and how will the world change for it?

To answer those questions, Snyder and Francis begin their story well in the past, just as in Snyder’s other Flashpoint tie-in, Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown.  One vaguely familiar figure from that series, General Adam, cameos in this issue, stressing the connections between these two minis.  But before you agonize over if you have to drive back to your comic book store to pick up Frankenstein, just know this series stands completely fine on its own.

The story stars one Lieutenant Sinclair, a man who’s had a lot of run-ins with post-WWII metahuman threats, who winds up the recipient of a Super Soldier program that stress the patriot in “Soldier.”  The whole thing soon spirals into a kind of Flowers for Algernon breakdown for Sinclair, who becomes more unbalanced as his ever-growing powers increasingly separate him from his fellow man.

Ultimately this dehumanization of Sinclair comes from his own misuse of one of Buddhism’s four noble truths, “Attachment leads to suffering.”  He enters the program by severing all ties to his former life, and so reduces his world to constant tests in an underground lab.  Humans are social animals, and without society, they strip away an essential part of their humanity.  It’s a subtle commentary on what makes Superman, for all his powers, so grounded

Sinclair’s sole link to the man he was is General Lane, about the only character with any ties to the DCU.  Lane retains his traditional distrust of metahumans, but here comes across as a little too idealistically ambitious, someone trying to have his cake and eat it too as he’s determined to create a superhuman who at heart is still human.  But his isolation of Sinclair clearly results in the opposite effect, and he exacerbates the situation with his hypocrisy; it’s no coincidence that just as Sinclair feels most alone, Lane runs off to join his growing family.

Batman: Widening Gyre #2 – Review

By Kevin Smith (Writer), Walter Flanagan (Art), Art Thibert (Inks), and Art Lyon (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I found the first issue of Widening Gyre to be decent enough to give the Kevin Smith series at least one more look. I’ve got my expectations set a bit lower than they were when I went into reviewing Cacophony, so I wouldn’t be totally shocked if I wind up being pleasantly surprised by Smith’s latest.

The Story: Batman gets another assist from the goat-faced vigilante during the rescue of a child. Afterwards, Bruce gets an unexpected visit from a beautiful lady that he has a history with. Unfortunately, he may not be able to make it to their second date…

What’s Good And What’s Not So Good: Two issues in and the best thing that Widening Gyre has going for it is the goat-faced guy. He’s designed well (artistically) and the way he’s used throughout the second issue of the series is effective enough to keep me interested in reading. Unfortunately though, the goat guy (I believe Kevin Smith’s planning on calling him Baphomet) is the only thing about the story that’s hooking me in so far. A trend seems to be developing where bad guys pop into the story in a random way, with no lead in and for no purpose other than to have an action beat/appearance by the goat person. Maybe the appearance by Silver St. Cloud is supposed to be big, but I wouldn’t know since, admittedly, I’m reading Gyre as a casual Batman fan.

Lackluster plot aside, Smith’s writing is quite sharp. His use of dry humor and pop culture references add a lot of personality to his story and the characters part of it. The downside to Smith’s style is that it feels as though Bruce Wayne’s tone swings wildly back and forth. I realize he’s a moody guy, but the shift from funny and casual to serious and remorseful is pretty jarring.

After reading two issues of Gyre, I can safely say that Walter Flanagan’s artwork for Gyre is quite a bit better than it was for Cacophony. The set pieces feel bigger (the opening scene of Widening Gyre #2 is particularly stylish and well executed), the character work is far more consistent, and the action flows in a more natural way. A few panels in Gyre #2 are a bit rough though. Robin’s pose early on is a bit disturbing, Silver St. Cloud’s face has a weird shape at times, and Bruce Wayne’s “surprised” facial expression looks almost creepy. Also, I have to mention that Flanagan’s got a bit of a problem keeping bodies looking consistent. That said, I have to give Flanagan credit for the way he tries to construct scenes as cinematically as possible. That could very easily be the reason why things occasionally look a bit off.

Conclusion: Batman: Widening Gyre #2 is solid enough, but the story definitely needs to pick up a bit before I can fully commit to the entire series.

Grade: C

-Kyle Posluszny

Batman: Widening Gyre #1

By Kevin Smith (writer), Walt Flanagan (penciller), Art Thibert (inker), Art Lyon (colorist)

The Story: Some years ago, Batman and Robin (Dick Grayson) captured Baron Blitzkrieg and Atomic Skull. Flash to the present, where Dick Grayson, now Nightwing, has brought Batman to help him out in a bout, since one of the criminals he has been tracking has now gotten the Baron Blitzkrieg armor. There is more on Dick’s mind than nostalgia, when he shows Batman a body in the morgue that could only have been killed by Poison Ivy, who is still in Arkham Asylum. The Dark Knight goes off to find Arkham completely overgrown, as he penetrates it to puzzle out this mystery.

What’s Good: The cover by Bill Sienkiewicz was great, as it really drove me to buy this book.

What’s Not So Good: I had a bit of a hard time with this review, because I love Kevin Smith’s movies so much. His movies are original, manic, unexpected, irreverent and hypnotic. Unfortunately, this book was none of those things.

Right out of the gate, the art put me off. Some artists are so realistic that you can feel the texture and mood of what they draw. Other artists abandon realism for style, and weave compelling images that fascinate. The art in The Widening Gyre achieves neither realism nor style. It tells the story competently, but there is little to leave the reader breathless and swept up in the pictures. The figures, expressions, textures, and even light and shadows, have a plastic feel. The art made me much less receptive to Smith’s story.

As for the story itself, it never took off. I had major problems from the get-go with Smith’s long set-up scenes. We open on some adventure in the past when Dick Grayson was twelve years old. In the present, Nightwing gets Batman’s detective curiosity going, but then disappears. Batman didn’t need Nightwing to show him a body. Anyone could have done that and Batman would have been off to Arkham. Therefore, what was the use of that set-up?

The set-up is tied factually and mechanically to the story in the present, but thematically, there’s no apparent linkage for all the nostalgia. My hope is that Smith added the set-up scene with Nightwing not to fill the third of the book, but for a thematic purpose that will reward the patient reader later in this mini-series.

Nor did the set-up sequence crank up the tension for the reader. Quite the opposite. Both Bruce and Dick spent the flashback and the present fight ridiculing and belittling the villains. There was little sense of anything being at stake, or that this was more than a routine workout for the once and future dynamic duo. The old rule for comics is that the stature of the hero is proportional to the danger and menace of the villain. These foes are not people who raise the stature of Batman and Nightwing.

And the tension did not really pick up once Batman got in Arkham. Every villain he found was tied up, except for Killer Croc and a surprise villain. Ivy herself wasn’t really threatening, unless she has some death by coitus thing going on. The battles at the end don’t manage to pull the tension into positive digits.

Long story short, Smith and Flanagan never made me care about Batman. Not only that, I found it hard to get invested in a Bruce Wayne Batman story when I know he is “dead.” I’m actually quite happy and intrigued by his replacement.

Conclusion: A sub-standard bat-offering. Take your bat-money elsewhere. I will be back for Smith’s next movie. I won’t be back for Widening Gyre #2.

Rating: C-

DS Arsenault

Spike: After The Fall #2 – Review

By: Brian Lynch (writer), Franco Urru (art), Art Lyon, Tom Smith (colors), Robbie Robbins (letters)

While Spike remains the highlight of the book (rightfully so), this series isn’t without its problems. The book in many ways requires you to both watch Angel and have read the post-television comics. So while this is probably great for people who have, it’s going to be a tough sell for the “have nots”.

In true Angel form, the dialogue and character relationships remain consistent with the show, so that’s definitely on Brian Lynch’s side. And while Spike is a very engaging character as is the post-television world of Angel, the trouble is how much you need to know about both to get what’s going on. We learn in Angel: After The Fall that Illyria is losing control over her body and is now switching back and forth between herself and Fred. I’m not saying there needs to be a huge recap but making the assumption that the readers of this comic will have read the others and watched the show is a mistake.

My complaints remain the same for Franco Urru’s artwork. The backgrounds still lack detail as do the characters. Even though his close-ups look nice, he rarely uses them because there’s so much action. The extreme close-up of Spike in vampire-mode is probably the best example of this. There aren’t many more details here than any other panel, but Urru really makes them count. The last panel is my favorite, I can’t imagine a worse situation for a protector than being chained up in a room with the zombified bodies of their flock.

Though prior experience with Spike and his world are a plus, issue two is better than issue one. Lynch does a good job of keeping things interesting with great little moments, even though it can be confusing at times. I just wish we could get a flashback or something to bridge the gap between the show and the comic for those of us who haven’t been following it. (Grade: B-)

– Ben Berger

Spike: After The Fall #1 – Review

By Brian Lynch (writer), Franco Urru (art), Art Lyon, Tom Smith (colors), Robbie Robbins (letters)

The problem with Joss Whedon’s properties being continued in comics is that he can’t write all of them. The result is like Coke Zero… almost, but not quite. Spike was one of the most popular characters on Angel and Buffy so it’s no surprise that his story has been continued. I just wish we could get a better setup of his world.

Brian Lynch’s writing of Spike is on point with Whedon’s. Most of the dialogue comes from Spike, and he feels just as cynical as always. Unfortunately, the people he’s protecting are so annoying it’s unclear if they’re just around to annoy him. If you were living in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles would you venture out into the wasteland without a champion to protect you? Me either. My biggest criticism, however, is the lack of setup. If I hadn’t seen the finale of Angel I would’ve been totally lost. Even still, there’s a lot of unanswered questions: Why is LA still in ruins? Is it a global epidemic? I don’t need a lot, but a flashback or two would go a long way in making this book more accessible.

Franco Urru’s artwork is inconsistent and the “effects” are heightened by Art Lyon’s coloring. With the exception of Spike, every character blends into the buildings, which blend into the sky. It all looks very muddy. This gives a good, albeit standard post-apocalyptic feel, so I understand the heavy use of reds and earth tones. I know part of it is because Spike needs to move around at dusk or later to avoid direct sunlight, but there’s gotta be a better way. That being said, there are a few good panels of the devastation, which give a great sense of loneliness; Spike’s group may be the last human survivors in LA.

Spike: After The Fall may turn out to be very good. Maybe Lynch is a slow starter, and we’ve yet to really see where this is going. I’m finding it tough though, and I watched the show! So I can only imagine how it would be for a newcomer. One thing’s for sure: without some clarity as to what’s going on this series is in danger of losing readership. (Grade C+)

– Ben Berger