Avengers #20 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan (Artists), David Curiel (Colorist)

The Story: Captain America may have found a new strategy in order to deal with the Builders as Ex Nihilo goes on to see just what is going on with his people.

The Review: From what we’ve seen so far, Hickman seems to have rejuvenated this title with Infinity, his big event that ironically enough was build up from pieces introduced in this very title. With a much more focused plot and very clear stakes at play, the strengths came to the forefront that much easier, but with the story moving forward with almost every week of the month, does the book continue to be relevant to the event while keeping its own plotline and a modicum of quality?

So far, so good from what can be seen, as many of the plotlines and characters introduced in this title continue. Many of the threads are played with here quite aptly, with some of them moving the story forward in ways that really do bring surprising twists. One of them would be the scenes featuring Ex Nihilo, a character created by Hickman especially for this series, who deals with the Builders. For quite a long time, the motivations of the Builders to destroy and kill around the whole cosmos was pretty vague, much to the event discredit. In this issue, though, we do get an evolution and some explanations as to the problems that plagues creators that are turning into destroyers and killers. It is a fascinating development that makes this conflict a bit more interesting and that promises to make it even more so in the upcoming issues.

What’s also handled with care and gravitas would be the Galactic Council and how they are trying to pursue this whole conflict. The decisions, the in-fighting and how Captain America is portrayed makes for a rather suspenseful read that put the readers right into an impossibly large conflict. There are twists and a good use of those featured in the main event book without letting it lessen the impact of this book. It’s a neat use of the event, which is central to the book, without destroying the importance and the ongoing subplots of the book. It maintains its identity while it adds up to the whole experience.

Nova #6 – Review

By: Zeb Wells (Writer), Paco Medina (Penciler), Juan Vlasco (Inker), David Curiel (Colorist), Comicraft’s Albert Deschesne

Review: This is Nova all grown up, in a way; Jeph Loeb’s inaugural story arc has finished, and this is the first issue where Sam Alexander has been handled by another writer. Loeb actually did a pretty great job introducing the character and Zeb Wells is an almost pitch-perfect replacement. He’s writes a liekable smartass well, and Sam’s definitely that, though he’s also got a fairly well developed personal life where he’s rendered a bit softer, more insecure. It’s the latter that Wells focuses on for his first time behind the wheel, and while the action gets knocked down a gear as a result it’s still well worth a read.

This issue begins with Sam returning home after helping the X-Men take down Dark Scott in Avengers Vs. X-Men #12. That happened (in the context of this book) a month after Nova #5, which means the events seen here are, what, 6-9 months old? No matter, as there’s not much that occurs here that alters wider continuity. It’s mainly a tour through the important parts of any fourteen year old’s life – the home, school, family, friends and (for all too many of us) bullies that make up the day-to-day.

Demon Knights #20 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (story), Chad Hardin (pencils), Wayne Faucher (inks), David Curiel (colors)

The Story: Another day, another sacred quest for the relic to end all relics.

The Review: If you’re a fan of this series—and let’s face it, if you’re even reading this review, you must be a real fan of the series—you’ve already heard the news about its cancellation in three months.  Considering that in March, it ranked at #160 on Comichron, the fall of the axe isn’t too surprising, but it does signal the end of all sword-and-sorcery titles out of DC, making it an even less diverse market than it started out as after the relaunch.

When these things happen, I always wonder how much the creators knew before we did.  Venditti probably didn’t agree to sign onto a doomed title, so when exactly did the higher-ups spring the news on him?  If I had to take a wild guess, it was probably just before he finished writing the first arc.  As eventful as the battle against Cain was, it did feel a little straightforward and truncated, a sign that maybe Venditti was forced to accelerate his plot faster than he planned.

Green Lantern New Guardians: Annual #1 – Review

By: Keith Giffen (Writer), Scott Kolins, Andrei Bressan (Artists), David Curiel (Colorist)

The Story: Arkillo, Carol and Saint Walker get into the Tenebrian Dominion thanks to the help of Jediah Caul, a green lantern. In there, they find the harsh reality of this space sector on the planet called Tolerance.

The Review: Annual issues are not exactly the easiest kind of issues to review. The reason why they usually are is because of one thing: their purpose. An annual can be written for many reasons: it can be a celebration of everything the series stand for in a standalone tale that is usually inconsequential to the actual storyline, or it can be setup for something much larger in the work for the series.

Unfortunately, this annual is neither of those options, as it tries to be two things at once and fails at both. It tries to be about the New Guardians, yet it also tries to set up some important characters and information about the new ongoing from Keith Giffen, Threshold. Why it fails is very simple: the focus is never really well divided, providing us with neither enough information about the cast of Threshold, like Jediah Caul, but it also gives us only half of the New Guardians cast in a story that has not much purpose in their actual storyline. I doubt very much that Lady Styx will pop up in New Guardians anytime soon.

Action Comics #8 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Rags Morales, Brad Walker, Rick Bryant, Bob McLeod (artists), Brad Anderson & David Curiel (colorists)

The Story: Watch out, Brainiac—Superman’s gonna blow your mind.

The Review: Back in 2006, NBC premiered two new shows, both premised on the backstage activities of a sketch-comedy show.  One was Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a powerhouse production created and written by the great Aaron Sorkin, with veterans of both big and small screen, Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, starring.  The other was 30 Rock, a frugal sitcom led by Alec Baldwin and SNL’s former Weekend Update co-anchor, Tina Fey.

I bring this up to illustrate the fact that you can never predict what creative projects will work out in the end.  Suffice to say, no one would’ve expected Studio 60 to get canned within a year, while 30 Rock years later (and still running—I won’t say “strong”) would bring on Sorkin as a guest to mock him for his costly failure.  It just goes to show that A-list producers and ideas don’t always translate to quality material.

Back in the comics world, we’ve seen this semi-paradoxical situation in Justice League, which, despite its tremendous sales numbers, will likely go down in history as a largely mediocre affair.  Lately, I’ve come to find a similar problem with this series.  You would think pairing Grant Morrision and Superman, with Rags Morales on art, would be a shoo-in for a sure win.  Yet somehow, for whatever reason, the talent hasn’t gelled with the story as much as anyone imagined, and the disappointment is all the greater since your expectations were so high.

Not to imply the story has been terrible, exactly—more like we’re getting just your garden-variety Superman origin story with some snazzy dialogue and a T-shirt thrown in.  Speaking of which, Morrison’s rapidfire style of speech has gotten a bit out of control.  Between Glenmorgan’s pill-laden breakdown (“It’s like one of those films where—those horrible films—they’re trapped in hell and the bartender is the devil…”) and Corben’s rage-induced malfunctions (“I read what she wrote about you.  About your eyes!  Search: ‘Faster than a speeding bullet!’  That’s Metropolis’ latest wonder of tomorrow…”), it gets a bit wearisome to read at times.

Action Comics #7 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Rags Morales (penciller), Rick Bryant (inker), Brad Anderson (colorist)

The Story: Ooh—I love your miniatures in a bottle collection.  Wait, is that my house in there?

The Review: I tend to feel Superman has the same problem as the Flash in terms of appeal.  The whole heart of the Man of Steel is he’s one of the finest and purest superheroes you can think of, a blank perfection which makes him respected and admired, yet also inaccessible.  To exacerbate matters, he’s just so darn powerful that he can afford to stick to his guns; if you have the ability to solve any problem without sacrifice, you never have the problem of making tough choices.

In All-Star Superman, Morrison overcame these obstacles by giving our hero big, Herculean challenges which allowed him to actually struggle.  Morrison’s attempting something like that here by taking away a sizable amount of Superman’s strength and knowledge, putting him on a lower footing than his problems.  It’s certainly raised the stakes for him across the board, but for us readers, seeing him wheeze as he jumps hurdles that wouldn’t have even made him blink some months ago has been a rather jarring gear-shift.

That’s why this coming showdown with Brainiac (I’m pretty sure we all saw him coming some time ago, so I won’t even bother calling this a spoiler) is a very welcome event.  Superman’s not only going to have to fight without the benefit of his peak abilities, he’s going up against one of his greatest foes of all time—don’t let that “1.0” designation fool you.  Brainiac, like Luthor, derives his menace from his mind, not his brawn.  Even though Superman spends only a very brief part of this issue physically fending off Brainiac’s various robo-guards, he’s under attack the entire time as Brainiac constantly strives to screw with his mind.  The climax of all this is Brainiac’s attempt to force Superman into one of those sticky choices that plagues so many of his heroic peers from time to time: save the people of his origin or those of his adoption?

Ultimately, while the question may be a nail-biter for the rest of us, it’s a moot point for our hero.  For one thing, Brainiac miscasts the decision as a “nature versus nurture” problem, as if Superman choosing to save either Kandor or Metropolis is a symbol of loyalty.  The issue is Clark knows nothing—or at least, very little—of his pre-Smallville life.  So the real question is whether his desire to learn more about his background is powerful enough for him to betray the life he lives now.  No matter how you slice it, the answer is probably not.  Besides, this is Superman; he would never allow anyone to force him into such a quandary: “I won’t choose between any one life and another!  All of these people are under my protection, you got that?”

Superman #683 – Review

By James Robinson, Renato Guedes, Jorge Correa Jr., Wilson Magalhaes, David Curiel

The Story: With Earth’s heroes hovering over the city of New Krypton, Superman finds himself torn between his allegiance to Earth and his own native people. Seeking out Alura, Superman tries to get the Kryptonians responsible for the murders of several humans. Unfortunately, Alura is unwilling to budge, seeing humans as the inferior race. This eventually sets off a huge battle between Kryptonians and Earth’s superhumans.

The Good? Solid pacing and story by James Robinson. We’ve been waiting for this conflict to boil over for a while and it’s nice to see it finally take place. Renato Guedes once again provides some incredible visuals that pack a lot of punch. The guy’s got a great sense of scope and knows how to make the world look huge and battles, epic.

The Not So Good? The back and forth banter between Superman and Alura is nothing but the same old semantics they’ve been doing for the past couple of chapters. Superman should know by now that it’s useless getting through to her and he should’ve used his resources (the JLA and JSA) to take action much sooner.

Jorge Correa Jr. shares the art chores with Renato Guedes this month and the result is very mixed. Compared to Guedes’ art, Correa looks like a pure amateur. In fact, I’d go as far to say that Correa’s art is some of the worst I’ve seen in a mainstream comic book in a long time. Really stiff characters and awkward storytelling really hurt this issue.

Conclusion: If you can get past the pages of horrible art, this issue’s another solid chapter in the story of New Krypton.

Grade: B-

– J. Montes

Superman #682 – Review

By James Robinson (writer), Renato Guedes (pencils), Wilson Magalhaes (inks), David Curiel (colors)

The Story: The newly arrived Kryptonians are becoming a major problem. Though they’ve been ordered to aid Superman by capturing villains from the American prison system, the altercations they get into by doing so leaves many humans dead (or murdered if you want to look at it that way). The sad part about all this is the arrogance and apathetic nature of the Kryptonians.

You’d think after being held in captivity for so long they’d grow to appreciate the lives of others. Here, it seems to not be the case. Despite their best intentions, Superman’s “people” are doing more harm than good.

The Good? The dilemma Superman faces with the Kryptonians is escalating a brisk pace. To be honest, I was expecting a slow simmer, but James Robinson is wasting no time putting forth the threat of these aliens. Also, I’m happy to see that while the Science Police are still fodder, their pressence continues to be a part of this book. The reappearance of Atlas and The Guardian also shed some light on where things may be headed in Metropolis. For $2.99 you’re getting more than your money’s worth with this densely packed, and entertaining story. The art is equally as good.

The Not So Good? Some may complain that too much is going on at once, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. This is a chaotic situation that’s quickly spiraling out of control.

Conclusion: Superman under the hands of James Robinson and Renato Guedes continues to be a stellar title. Get on board before you’re left behind!

Grade: A

Superman #681 (New Krypton) – Review

By James Robinson (writer), Renato Guedes (pencils), Wilson Magalhaes (inks), David Curiel (colors)

The Story: Superman brings an envoy of Kryptonians to meet the President of the United States. In a perfect world he’d take them to the United Nations, but in this case, Superman wants his people to meet the leader of his country. Fair enough.

The whole world is abuzz after nearly 100,000 Kryptonians take flight with no knowledge (or courtesy to international air space). No one’s sure how to react, but there’s a definite sense of cautiousness coming from the superhero community. With so many negative encounters with other Kryptonians in the past, will the citizens of New Kypton follow down the same path? Are Superman and Supergirl (to some extent) the only “good eggs” in the basket?

The Good: Everything. Renato Guedes’ art seems to get better and better with every issue. There’s one scene in particular with people pointing to the horizon with a throng of Kryptonians flying over the Metropolis skyline that comes across as cinematic and even epic. Every page is a gem, and all of this is perfectly orchestrated by James Robinson’s script.

Oh yeah. The last page will blow your mind. This may be the biggest “Oh )#*@” moment of the year.

Sorely Lacking: This book needs more Krypto!

Conclusion: I haven’t read all the books from my weekly stash yet, but it’s going to be awfully tough to beat this issue. With the Superman titles getting better and better, these creators have got to hit a ceiling sooner or later. Hopefully it’s later.

Grade: A+

– J. Montes