Ghost #3 – Review

By: Kelly Sue DeConnick & Chris Sebela (story), Geraldo Borges (pencils), Andy Owens (inks), Dan Jackson (colors)

The Story: Well, if a demon possession doesn’t ruin your childhood memories, nothing will.

The Review: While a new series that starts with a B- is not doomed by any means, it’s definitely not a good sign of things to come. Presumably, the first issue calls for the creative team to put their best feet forward, with the idea that they might have to take a few steps back later on. When the first issue fails to inspire, as Ghost #1 did, it places a burden on the creators to rev up their game the next time around instead of slowing down to a coast. Unfortunately, #2
didn’t do that, either.

That leaves this issue in a bad spot, having to meet the near-impossible task of making up for the deficiencies of its predecessors. To cut to the chase, it fails. Nearly every weakness that’s sprouted in the last two issues simply takes deeper root here, starting with our protagonist. In terms of likability or any kind of relatable quality, Elisa is simply untouchable, and not just because she’s literally untouchable, though this is a problem as well.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #26 – Review

By: Justin Jordan (writer); Brad Walker and Geraldo Borges (Pencilers); Drew Hennessy, Marian Benes, and J.P. Mayer (inkers); Wil Quintana and Hi-Fi (colors)

The Story: War has come to Paradise. Just remember, no hitting…

The Review: I don’t think that it’s controversial to say that I found last month’s issue of Green Lantern: New Guardians to be, by far, the best in the title’s run. Justin Jordan came out of Lights Out with purpose, defining who Kyle was in this brave new universe while crafting an excellent sci-fi adventure. In short, it was pretty impressive. So now that question is: can he live up to it? The answer is ‘kind of’.

If I had to describe this issue in a single word, I think I’d choose uneven. Despite the pathos that Nias-2 brings to the story, his unclear power set and refusal to press important issues limit his effectiveness as an antagonist. Often his dialogue feels fairly generic but his conviction is clear throughout and when Jordan give him a stronger line – “I would kill them a billion times over for one more moment with my wife, my children” comes to mind. Most of the characters suffer from this as well, but Kyle, Carol and Nias-2 being the standouts. Kyle proves a particular problem, as his attempts to empathize with both sides fail to provide any workable ideas of their own. He rarely gets beyond, ‘what happened to you was horrible’, opting instead to repeat it in many different ways when ‘I know right’ is not forthcoming.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #25 – Review

By: Justin Jordan (writer), Brad Walker & Geraldo Borges (pencilers), Drew Hennessy & Cam Smith (inkers), Wil Quintana (colors)

The Story: For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For the want of a shoe, the knight was lost. For the want of a knight, the battle was lost. For the want of a battle, the kingdom was lost.

So…how badly do you want a nail?

The Review: The modern ‘space cop’ Green Lantern started as another Earth-bound hero, but within a matter of issues the tug-of-war between Lantern 2814’s homeworld and the rest of his sector began. Through its history, Green Lantern has waffled back and forth between superhero and cosmic comic, but even that changed when the Sinestro Corps War erupted. Ever since, Green Lantern has dealt primarily with in-house threats, whether they be the prophesies in the Book of Oa, other Lantern Corps, or even their own Guardians. Perhaps that’s why this issue feels so fresh.

Justin Jordan’s Kyle has always been charming, but now that he isn’t dealing with universal domination, he’s able to show it. His friendly demeanor, realistic self-doubt, and subdued sense of humor make it easy to feel at ease with this version of the Torchbearer, even if he doesn’t exactly break the mold of a comic book lead.

It’s also lovely to see Carol Ferris continue to come into her own in this series. I don’t know that we ever got an explanation for her rapid change from woman who sees rings as her ruin to enthusiastic member of the Star Sapphire Corps, but if she continues to bring so much to the title, I’m not sure I care.

Though it may grate on some ears or feel like poor-man’s Yoda-speak, the aliens’ speech remains limited enough to be endearing and displays just enough consideration to make it feel solid.

But more than any one character, Exuras is Jordan’s greatest accomplishment in this issue. The central conceit channels a number of sci-fi thought experiments of days gone by, but it possesses enough crucial differences to make it feel original. Better still, the self-awareness that the story displays never goes so far as to become trite but finds the sweet spot where it just complicates the morality of the aliens, avoiding the standard ‘two opposite extremes’ approach that often hamstrings these kinds of stories.

Aquaman Annual #1 – Review

By: John Ostrander (story), Geraldo Borges & Netho Diaz (pencils), Ruy Jose, Allen Martinez, JP Mayer, Mariah Benes, Oclair Albert, Julio Ferreira, Jay Leisten (inks), Rod Reis & Hi-Fi (colors)

The Story: The Others must race to stop a witch from saving the world.

The Review: Here’s a fun fact: Ostrander nearly shares my mother’s birth year, month, and is just shy of the day.  That definitely funks up the way I think of his writing.  I mean, do I really want someone my mother’s age to be writing comics for ostensibly a new generation of readers?  Not that it can’t be done.  Jim Shooter did a bang-up job on the Three-boot volume of Legion of Super-Heroes, and he’s only a couple years younger than Ostrander—and my mother.

On the other hand, I haven’t been all that impressed with Ostrander’s recent DC work, which makes me all the gladder that it’s only occasional.  While the premises of his stories are usually solid, his heavy-handed execution definitely reveals his age, or so it seems to me.  Under his pen, Aquaman and the Others seem a little too prone to theatrics; they’re blunter, louder, more melodramatic than their introverted personalities would support.

Aquaman #23.2: Ocean Master – Review

By: Geoff Johns & Tony Bedard (story), Geraldo Borges (pencils), Ruy Jose (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

The Story: Unlike the Little Mermaid, Ocean Master isn’t enamored with the idea of walking.

The Review: This is hardly a novel observation, but people in positions of power, particularly government power, must have pretty hard lives.  Without knowing anything about it firsthand whatsoever, it seems to me that folks like that must have to constantly juggle their personal judgment with their judgment as a leader.  That must wreak havoc with your identity a little bit, when so much of what you do is based on what others think instead of your own instincts.

That kind of responsibility complicates our understanding of fictional characters as well.  How much of Orm is what he feels is necessary to be leader of his people, and how much is his own personal deal?  His attempted invasion of the surface world—how much of that can be attributed to what he thought would be a proportionate response to a perceived attack on his own kingdom, and how much came from his own ruthless nature?

Green Lantern Corps #3 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Geraldo Borges (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Gabe Eltaeb (colorist)

The Story: With the Green Lantern Corps, you’ll learn all about the importance of teamwork!

The Review: While diversity is something we all like to promote in theory, the fact is anytime you have a lot of people with diverse backgrounds all together in the same place, you’re going to have conflict.  The Green Lantern Corps serves as a perfect example.  In the last five or so years alone this intergalactic police force has had major upsets within their system and plenty of strife among members and factions in between.

At the end of the day, though, the Corps stands together, and this issue displays that pretty positively.  When Guy Gardner calls in an S.O.S., good ol’ Salaak, despite his crusty devotion to protocol, sends over thirty Lanterns to their aid.  As he wisely notes, “If Gardner’s requesting assistance, the situation is dire.”

While all the Lanterns risk life and limb on this rescue mission, a few go above and beyond the call of duty.  Teleporting has always been one of the “advanced” skills in the green power ring set, and Lantern Porter manages to whisk himself but a whole cavalry of corpsmen across light-years—twice.  He pays a terrific price for the effort, however, and you can’t help feeling for the guy when he whispers exhaustedly, “Please…tell me the truth…is everyone all right…?”

It’s a credit to Tomasi’s character writing that he can get you to empathize so quickly with a brand-new character such that you actually miss him by the end of the issue.  But he really needs to focus that skill into building up a core cast we can really get attached to.  While he’s done an admirable job giving the non-human Lanterns some strong moments, they’ve still mostly acted in reaction to Guy and John, who continue to drive nearly all the important points of the plot.

Adventure Comics #528 – Review

By: Paul Levitz (writer), Geraldo Borges & Ransom Getty (pencillers), Marlo Alquiza & Rob Hunter (inkers), Hi-Fi (colorist)

The Story: Now would be the time to sing the Legion Academy school song, but no one has kazoos on hand, do they?

The Review: Back when Jim Shooter took over the Legion “Three-boot,” the estimable comic book blogger Rokk Krin compared the move to getting a famed football coach out of retirement to rework the magic with a failing team.  I think that analogy works very well to summarize the situation we have with Levitz on the current Legion.  No one can deny his now legendary run with the team back in the day, but that’s where the brilliance has stayed: back in the day.

The formulaic writing which drove me away from Legion of Super-Heroes has undeniably reared its ugly head in the sibling title, as this entire issue reads much the same as almost every issue prior.  Developments, both in terms of plot or character, come minimally, if at all.  Mostly Levitz just recycles the same talking points that have long since failed to illicit anything approaching excitement, or even interest to see what will happen next.

Take the Legion Academy graduates.  Their final exam back in Adventure Comics #525 should’ve been the last we ever saw of these guys, especially since they offered virtually no worth or substance to this title to begin with.  But once again, we have to devote ourselves to far too many pages listening to them bemoan their fates about not getting into the Legion (because whining is such a cherished virtue among Legionnaires).

Adventure Comics #527 – Review

By: Paul Levitz (writer), Geraldo Borges (penciller), Marlo Alquiza (inker), Hi-Fi (colorist)

The Story: Calling the love of your life chubby may not be the best way to get on his good side.

The Review: Of the Legion Academy cast, Comet Queen is most likely to have any familiarity, first appearing to the Legion in the eighties (also under Levitz’s pen) then joining the first set of Academy recruits.  As such, she has the most developed personality and history among her classmates and she acts as a direct link between them and their mentors.

All this is grounds to question why Levitz would choose to devote an entire issue to retelling her origins.  Her motivations for wanting to join the Legion read like a stalker’s biopic: small-town girl, enamored with a Legionnaire (Bouncing Boy, of all people), follows any and every crazy impulse possible to get close to him.  She literally stands in the path of a passing comet, turning her into a super-powered energy creature instead of, well, space dust.

About halfway through her story, you’ll regret that comet didn’t just toast her off, as most of her astoundingly shallow behavior rings home just how annoying a character she is.  Her ridiculous speech patterns are just the tip of the iceberg, but they demonstrate very well Levitz’s often unwise storytelling decisions.  Such obviously artificial dialogue wears thin quickly if not written with some restraint, and he goes all-out, giving you lines like, “Settle your grav-drive in, and I’ll tell you, still-shaking-from-your-first-thrill-ride-girl…”

Levitz spends more time glossing over the major events of her life, and so fails to make her very sympathetic.  Getting pawned to the Legion of Substitute Heroes hardly merits her description of them as “burned-out stars that never shined” (look how many ended up in the Legion proper).  Her mind-wipe at the hands of Saturn Queen has more potential to give her character some depth, but Levitz avoids showing you any really harmful effects.  Her first reaction upon waking from the wipe is to love-tackle Bouncing Boy—which she probably would’ve done anyway.

Adventure Comics #526 – Review

By: Paul Levitz & Geraldo Borges (storytellers), Marlo Alquiza (inker), Hi-Fi (colorist), Jeffrey Moy (2^nd feature penciller), Philip Moy (2^nd feature inker)

The Story: Glorith performs the first genetic exorcism, and XS tries her hand at modern art.

The Review: Even though DC’s co-features largely didn’t work, the concept of them as bonus tales to your title’s usual offerings had a nice appeal.  Whether they were worth the tacked-on dollar was arguable, but they never harmed the main series story-wise.  Occasionally they even enhanced their partner feature, if the creators put a little effort into it.

Not so here.  Levitz’s follow-up features have done little for his ongoing storyline except take away space that could’ve been devoted to more action and plotting.  Chemical Kid’s family problems had the potential to be a strong opening arc for these kids’ misadventures, but four issues in, the pace reduced to a crawl, the story still hasn’t got the excitement or intrigue it needs.  The stolen gene-mods could’ve been the first step to a much larger adversary for the Legion wannabes, but Levitz seems intent on letting the plot end on an anticlimactic note.

At least he spends time giving some interesting new shades to our young heroes.  Dragonwing gives off a tough vibe, but she’s also sensitive to her teammates’ feelings, even smoothing tensions between Gravity Kid and Chem Kid.  Glorith may be naïve about the modern world, but she’s respectfully strict about her magical traditions.  And Chem Kid’s lack of scruples when it comes to money may be the thing that gets between him and being a true hero.

Adventure Comics #525 – Review

By: Paul Levitz & Phil Jimenez (storytellers), Andy Lanning & Sean Parsons (inkers), Hi-Fi (colorist), Geraldo Borges & Marlo Alquiza (2^nd feature artists)

The Story: It’s not easy having a dad who gives superpowers to the people trying to kill you.

The Review: Having a magic-user on your superhero team can be a great idea in practice, but very risky for a comics writer.  Magic can be a great catalyst for telling stories, but it can get out of hand very quickly.  Too often, magicians end up acting as deus ex machina by instantly getting their team out of otherwise inescapable scrapes—just look at Dr. Strange on the Avengers, or Zatanna on the Justice League.

There’s plenty of reason to fear Glorith will wind up doing the same thing for her Legion Academy mates.  With all her pals out of commission, she still manages to take down the rest of the gene-modified gangsters by herself using some vaguely portrayed powers (Illusions?  Mind control?  Telekinesis?).  Let’s hope Levitz doesn’t make this a habit—it can get old pretty fast.

On top of that, you have the dissatisfying non-conclusion to Chemical Kid’s storyline, where as it turns out, his dad’s been selling off his gene-mod tech to cover his gambling debts.  It’s a pretty cliché sort of explanation that doesn’t lead anywhere, although it’s kind of fun to see Chem Kid’s dad as a whimpering coward. The kids don’t really have a chance to do anything about it either, since Levitz chooses to abridge their plot with two other stories in the issue.

Senior Academy members Lamprey and Power Boy get their graduation final by taking down some exotic animal smugglers (which, amusingly enough, include elephants—nice to know we haven’t completely killed them off by the 31^st century).  It’s a low-stakes test, and since you don’t really know the Legion-hopefuls all that well, you have little interest in their success.  Let’s hope their getting shunted to prison duty on Takron-Galtos ends their part in this title for good.

Wonder Woman #608 – Review

By J. Michael Straczynski and Phil Hester (writers), Geraldo Borges (pencils), Marlo Alquiza (inks), Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: Diana is forced to take on Cheetah and the other fallen Amazonians in a brutal, bloody battle that the princess does not get the better end of. Fortunately, although the terrible trio manage to destroy most of the rest of the surviving Amazons, Diana has another, more unexpected benefactor come to her aid.

What’s Good: Wow, this issue was…unpleasant. I don’t mean that pejoratively; the violence is extremely effective and well-handled, but is not exactly what I’d call “fun” to read (especially not for someone who loves Diana as much as I do.) Pain of all sorts abounds in this issue for the Amazon Princess, in fact–20+ pages of physical and psychological asskicking.

Here’s the thing though: this NEEDS to happen, if she’s ever going to return to become the Wonder Woman we know she is. No successful heroic journey has ever been completed–in movies, literature, or in real life–without the hero going through either literal or metaphorical hell. This is clearly that moment for Diana–there’s not much father down she can go. But she has her talisman in her mother’s shield and–more importantly–she has hope. Does that sound completely saccharine and corny? Perhaps. But it’s necessary if we’re ever going to make our way (sanely) out of this cluster of a storyline. Diana was so warped and changed so suddenly that the writers (thank you, Phil Hester!) are being forced to take some time, and get back to the absolute essential core of the character, so she can take her rightful place back in the DCU pantheon with a minimum of fuss when this is over. And what is at the core of Wonder Woman? Hope, and compassion. I’m more than happy to sit through a little cliché to get this (more and more ill-fated) change in her character and her status quo out of my face.

Adventure Comics #521 – Review

Lead Story By: Paul Levitz (writer), Geraldo Borges and Marlo Alquiza (artists)
Back Up Story By: Jeff Lemire (writer), Mahmud Asrar (penciller), John Dell (inker), Pete Pantazis (colorist)

The Lead Story: Some sort of Oan intelligence is looking for someone strong enough and fearless enough to carry a green lantern ring. In the meantime, a bunch of legionnaires are off in Uganda, trying to fix up after an earthquake that, after a little bit of investigating, doesn’t look very earthquaky, especially when it wallops a couple of them at better than the speed of light.

Lead Story What’s Good: Borges and Alquiza have an attractive, arresting art style that works really well on expressive faces (check out Shadow Lass or her racist boyfriend on pages 2 and 3) and interesting aliens (the Oan on page 2 or the close up on Tellus on page 6). That’s half the battle right there.

Story-wise, I was intrigued by the vanished Green Lantern corps and its last representative trying to revive the venerable force. That was interesting, although the Legion’s reactions seemed a bit odd and unexpectedly submissive. “Everyone come here so I can pick a new Green Lantern.” “No problem. Here we are.” Huh? Oh, well. The dialogue and writing worked for me as well, especially Dawnstar and Shadow Lass.

Lead Story What’s Not So Good: While Borges and Alquiza have some strengths, I think they’re still working on a few weaknesses as well. On weird camera angles or even just people looking up (splash page with the Oan on page 13 or Lar Gand on page 15), the proportions go all funny. The women are attractive, but obviously every one has had a cheap boob job leaving their mommy parts sticking out at odd angles in defiance of gravity and good taste. As well, in terms of composition, panel-wise and page-wise, the approach is very middle of the road. (Instructions: Put camera in standard position A. Pan right to standard position B. Repeat.) This left the panels themselves rarely dynamic, and the panels on the page didn’t feel like they were flowing from one to another. Some artists have tried some interesting things with diagonal layouts and odd-sized panels, but nothing innovative was tried here.

Writing-wise, I was surprised (negatively) that Levitz had picked such classical background action. The old legion stories were filled with the Legionnaires leaping into natural disasters (as only do-gooders can) and saving humans and endangered wildlife. I think that worked in the sixties, but comics have matured a lot since then and I didn’t feel this mood was quite up to what comics are capable of doing. I wasn’t invested in the disaster, so the action didn’t really pull me in.

Back Up Story: The Atom is in one dilly of a pickle. Dad is in the clutches of bad guys. The Atom’s belt is fried.

Back Up Story What’s Good: I bought the story in this feature, the conflict between hero and uncle, the redemption arc that was going on and the stakes (Dad’s in trouble). The art on this story was rougher, but more dynamic than the lead story, while remaining emotive and expressive.

Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal #1

By: J.T. Krul (writer), Geraldo Borges (artist), Marlo Alquiza (inker)

What’s Good: J.T. Krul’s name on the cover and Greg Horn’s cover art! These immediately drew me in, but from the first page, Geraldo Borges’ pencils blew me away. I haven’t seen his work before, but it’s well-proportioned, supple, fluid, and textured. In other words, Borges is just a fine draftsman. The fight scenes are moving and powerful with a lot of dynamism. Check out Prometheus on the first splash page: he looks like he’s leaping out of the book itself! In the same scene, you’ve got Arsenal’s ruined face and the devastating attack that maimed him (not for the faint of heart). I liked pretty much everything about the art. I also have to say I liked the not-so-subtle beginning of the return of Arsenal’s drug problem. You don’t see enough honest human frailty and temptation in the lives of comic heroes.

Nova #18 (Secret Invasion) – Review

By Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (Writers), Wellington Alves & Geraldo Borges (Artists), Scott Hanna (Inker), and Guru FX (Colors)

What’s Going On: The big fight arrives as the Skrulls are trying to take Project PEGASUS. Nova, DarkHawk, and the newly resurrected Quasar are trying to stop them with no strategies employed, just a lot of punching and blasting, until the Xandarian WorldMind (also newly resurrected) introduces a new factor that may save them or just create a new level of danger.

What’s Good: It’s an exciting, good-looking issue, but honestly, the new Nova works best in cosmic situations. Back on Earth he’s just another superhero.

What’s Not So Good: Those who are nostalgic for the New Warriors should like this issue. Personally, I think blowing up the New Warriors and then frying Quasar were two of Marvel’s smartest moves. Hopefully Quasar’s resurrection will be as brief as the much better handled return of Captain Marvel.

What It All Boils Down To: This is really an obligatory Secret Invasion fill-in issue. I don’t think I’m the only one who’s had enough of the Skrulls now. The appearance of some semi-familiar aliens at the end of the book hints at a return to cosmic themes. Keep your fingers crossed.

Grade: C

– Andrew C. Murphy