Batwing #4 – Review

By: Judd Winick (writer), Chrisscross (artist), Ryan Winn (inker), Brian Reber (colorist)

The Story: I think we have another candidate for a Horrible Boss: man-slaughterer.

The Review: Back when I was still churning out comedy sketches on a regular basis, I had an idea to write one about those shady old Vietnamese dudes who don’t have jobs and spend all their time hanging out in seedy cafes in Little Saigon.  But I had a strangely hard time writing it.  I couldn’t quite figure out how to render the characters’ voices without being stereotypical, and I wasn’t sure how to make it funny without being one-note, narrow, or, frankly, racist.

That sketch taught me the difficulty of writing about cultures and people you don’t actually live with, so I always find it a little dicey when other writers do it.  That said, I always fall back on the only rule in writing: you can write whatever you want as long as you do it well.

In this case, Winick’s portrayal of David’s boyhood—one where his parents died of AIDS, leaving him and his orphaned twin brother to become child soldiers for a ruthless warlord—feels neither false nor all that complex.  At the very least, he doesn’t fall prey to ugly, oversimplified perceptions of Congolese society or history, though it might seem that way given the general flatness of the plot and characters themselves

Supergirl #66 – Review

By: Kelly Sue DeConnick (writer), Chrisscross (penciller), Marc Deering (inker), Blond (colorist)

The Story: And here I thought college was supposed to get you out of the sewers.

The Review: To capture the audience’s attention and to keep it, even long after the story finishes, you need characters who strike you with as much vitality as a flesh-and-blood person would.  Some writers try to do this by piling on the backstory, hoping their meticulously realistic attention to detail will somehow form the character and make him/her live.  But it’s so much more effective to let the character interact with the story, revealing their lives in the process.

Look at this issue’s redheaded girl, a member of Henry Flyte’s merry band.  Her boast, “We don’t need a map.  We’ve got a Henry,” and her assurance that “He’s just messing with us,” indicates an attachment to her leader beyond respect.  No one has to point out her possible crush; in fact, mentioning it outright would make it easier for us to dismiss her, a bad choice as she also demonstrates a take-charge attitude and intellect that implies she was probably Hanks’ right-hand woman.  That’s a lot of information for us to gather without any of it ever being told to us.

Just imagine what DeConnick does with her star characters.  Lois Lane’s craftiness has never had better display, using a mixture of disarming small talk and aggressive questioning to get the answers she wants.  After the direct approach fails (she’s caught sneaking and rummaging through the Stanhope College president’s office), she offhandedly mentions Kara’s (feigned) interest in the institution, then slyly segueways into the matter at hand by claiming concern over her “niece’s” safety, leading into the missing students case.  Well-played indeed, Lois.

Supergirl #65 – Review

By: Kelly Sue DeConnick (writer), ChrissCross (penciller), Marc Deering (inker), Blond (colorist)

The Story: Just remember, kids: college doesn’t protect you from sinister hostage plots.

The Review: A lot of fanfare greeted Kara Zor-El when she finally returned to the DCU proper, but after over five years, with currently the longest-running female-led title on the stands (except for the inflated numbers on Wonder Woman), we still have no grasp on her character.  Each writer’s had a different take: the distant outsider, the party girl, the eager-to-please sweetheart, the girl who’s at once trying to live up to her famous cousin’s name and get out of his shadow.

The most consistent version of Supergirl is both serious and sincere, given to insecurity about her place in the heroic pantheon.  DeConnick tosses aside the inferiority complex to focus on the girl beneath the “S”-shield.  She does this the smartest way possible: getting Kara to interact with the real world with her costume under wraps, allowing her personality to take center stage.

It’s been a while since Kara got to rub shoulders with her Earthling peers, and this arc sets up a plot, which places her squarely amidst a whole university of them.  Comics rarely get into this setting (odd, considering a lot/most of us are of that age), but DeConnick shows the potential for stories that can come of it, with its wide range of personalities.  Half the energy of this issue comes from introducing a bunch of collegiate archetypes and letting them butt heads.