Batman/Superman #3 – Review

By: Greg Pak (story), Jae Lee & Yildiray Cinar (art), June Chung, Matt Yackey, John Kalisz (colors)

The Story: Clark and Bruce, best buds forever—until they try to kill each other, that is.

The Review: Never let it be said that Pak doesn’t know how to make lemons into lemonade.  Getting handed a title starring DC’s two biggest icons is hardly comparable to lemons, of course, but the point is Pak knows how to make the best use of what he has.  Your average writer might have chosen a more down-key story for his first arc, but right out the gate, Pak has written Batman/Superman like the boy who decides to play with the most expensive toys all at once.

As if having the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel at his beck and call isn’t enough, Pak has added on their superior counterparts from Earth-2, Wonder Woman, and now the biggest baddie of the DCU.  Needless to say, this arc is turning out to have far greater reach than anyone expected, though much of its grandstanding is constrained by one fact: the fate of Earth-2, in particular its trinity of Wonders, is a foregone conclusion.  That knowledge steals a lot of the tension away from the plot, though it retains most of its interest.

Katana #4 – Review

By: Ann Nocenti (story), Alex Sanchez (art), Art Thibert (inks), Matt Yackey (colors)

The Story: No use crying over broken swords, Katana.  Don’t try huddling in a heap, either.

The Review: Have you ever read a comic and halfway through thought to yourself, I can write a better issue than this?  Yeah, me too.  It’s an inherently arrogant sort of thought, we can all agree; after all, we are basically throwing down with writers who are actually getting paid to have their work published—not to mention the fact that we just put down our own good money to purchase this product we’re now disparaging.

I don’t want to overstate my own writing abilities here, but I’m pretty sure if I had Katana on my plate, I could at least deliver a coherent, focused plot.  Nocenti, on the other hand, is all over the place.  There’s really very little excuse for that kind of distraction in this case; it’s not as if she’s obliged to tie in the title to any event or story arc going on elsewhere.  Yet these four issues have given us four rather different conflicts which have only the most tangential connection to each other and which Nocenti barely manages to develop before moving on to the next one.

Katana #2 – Review

By: Ann Nocenti (story), Alex Sanchez (art), Claude St. Aubin (inks), Matt Yackey (colors)

The Story: Katana gets her Alias wig on.

The Review: For better or worse, minority characters always have a challenge developing a following on their own.  This is especially true in the world of comics, which is still mostly a pastime for white people, both on the creative and consumptive sides.  It’s not racism; it’s the simple fact that everyone tends to resonate more with characters that look and feel familiar to them, and in a market largely driven by one demographic, others will just struggle a bit.

Katana will have an even harder time of it because she’s not American by origin, meaning there’s that additional cultural barrier readers may have to deal with.  I had a discussion with commenter M0rg0th about the various remarks on Katana’s womanhood in the first issue.  M0rg0th saw it as misogyny, but I argued that it was misogyny with purpose.  As a Japanese woman, Tatsu does have these cultural expectations of what her place should be; it’s natural that when she goes against those expectations, she’ll suffer rebuke from others and doubt within.

Katana #1 – Review

By: Ann Nocenti (story), Alex Sanchez (art), Matt Yackey (colors)

The Story: A lady doesn’t need to sharpen her nails if she’s got a sword.

The Review: We all choose to jump aboard a series for various reasons.  Sometimes it’s creator loyalty; you love some writer or artist, so the moment you see their name attached to a project, your money’s already halfway out your pocket/purse.  Sometimes it’s character loyalty; you will buy pretty much anything with Bat, X, or Avengers in the title.  Sometimes it’s concept; the idea of a supervillain playing hero or a superhero in T-shirt and jeans.

And sometimes it’s something else altogether.  For me and Katana, I admit it was mostly a matter of principle.  I like to support female creators and characters and I like to support characters with minority backgrounds.  So having Ann Nocenti writing Katana, a female character who also happens to be Asian, in an ongoing solo sounds like a pretty cool deal.  If nothing else, that just piques my curiosity.

DC Universe Presents #0 – Review

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

The Story: The Return of the Canned.

The Review: For a showcase title, a #0 issue presents an interesting question, doesn’t it?  How does one choose an origin story for a series open to all origin stories?  I suppose not choosing is one answer.  As annuals and the ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful Weird Worlds prove, comics don’t handle multiple features well, at least not if you want to get some substantial, serious reading out of them.  DC’s definitely pushing it with five pieces stuffed in one issue.

Suicide Squad #10 – Review

By: Adam Glass (story), Fernando Dagnino (art), Matt Yackey (colors)

The Story: Harley shows off the psycho in psychologist.

The Review: I don’t wish this on anybody, but in my experience, there are three ways for the magic to run out in a relationship.  Sometimes, you’re chugging along fine and then, like a bolt out of the blue, it happens and you’re left dazed afterwards.  Sometimes, it’s a gradual sapping away, with you helplessly but lethargically watching as it proceeds to its eventual doom.  And sometimes, you don’t realize it’s happened until it already has and it’s too late.

I feel that third situation pretty much sums up my feelings toward this title.  Maybe an issue or so ago I sensed not all was right, but only during this issue did I suddenly realize how tired and disinterested I was in reading it.  It all comes down to the fundamental truth about stories: you either have to love the tale being told, or you have to care about its characters.  In this case, I can’t honestly say either one of those things is working out for me.

Suicide Squad #9 – Review

By: Adam Glass (story), Fernando Dagnino (art), Matt Yackey (colors)

The Story: It’ll take more than loose teamwork to kill the man who can’t be killed.

The Review: Gosh, this week sure has been one for mini crossovers, hasn’t it?  By now, you’ll have grasped the qualities of a strong tie-in: a story which can stand on its own, without having to pick out plot points from a completely different series; the issue doesn’t feel like a jarring departure from the kind of reading you’ve come to expect from the title; and most importantly, it doesn’t feel like a waste of the series’ monthly dosage.

In nearly every respect, this issue offers the opposite of all that.  Last time, the Squad had only just received their marching orders to take down the irritatingly unkillable Resurrection Man.  This issue opens on the man who won’t die, lying on the dirt, done in by a headshot (accidental, as it turns out—Deadshot’s aim isn’t quite what it once was just yet).  Next to Mitch Shelley is a hysterical woman named Kim, apologizing to his cadaver for something.  Unless you read Resurrection Man #8 (which I did not, having given it up three issues before), you will have no idea what went down between the Squad’s last issue and this one.

Suicide Squad #8 – Review

By: Adam Glass (writer), Federico Dallocchio (artist), Matt Yackey (colorist)

The Story: And Amanda Waller wonders why she never gets called a people person.

The Review: Perhaps the reason why team books are so popular is because they have a built-in potential for variety.  Since each character presumably brings something different to the table, you don’t have to stick to any one kind of story or tone for too long.  Of course, this requires the writer to make sure each team member actually does have a unique voice and background.  If everyone acts and talks the same, what’s the point?

Suicide Squad runs pretty close to this kind of problem.  This issue sports a couple scenes where Waller interacts with Savant and Deadshot, and aside from slight variations in their choice of words, they tend to have the same acidic sarcasm (“I’m sick of being head cheerleader.”  “Do I look like your mamma, Lawton?”).  Unlike the colorful tapestry of characters you had in Gail Simone’s Secret Six, this series has a general sameness to its proceedings which it rarely varies.

To focus the lens a little closer, let’s look at Waller.  Throughout the issue, she spouts pretty much the same threatening demeanor she does all the time.  This would be easier to handle in brief doses, but Glass seems content to let her ramble on even when no one’s listening, like in her rant to the comatose Harley: “Thank God we had a warehouse full of patsies to pin the riot and your escape on!  For all anyone knows, you never left Belle Reve and went on a crazy killing spree looking for that psychotic excuse of a boyfriend of yours.”  Besides the pointless anger, it just seems like an excuse to cover some exposition without much effort.

Deadpool Corps #2 – Review

By Victor Gischler (writer), Rob Liefeld (pencils), Adelso Corona (inks) Matt Yackey (colors) and VC’s Clayton Cowles (letters & production)

The Story: Following the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join em’” school of thought, Deadpool decides to stop fighting Champion, and to enlist his help as a member of the Corps instead. Because what this title really needed, after all, was another Faux-Pool character.

What’s Good: Despite the snarky comment in the story summary section, Champion’s induction into the Deadpool Corps is actually one of the best things about this issue (due much more to the character himself than how clever the idea of making him dress up in a Deadpool costume is, but with this title I’ll take entertainment where I can get it.) Champion is an extremely fun character, and is an excellent straight man for Deadpool’s brand of insanity to play off of. The way ‘Pool tricks him into joining the Corps and becoming their “leader” is very clever and genuinely funny. Champ’s hilariously rigid sense of honor and duty—and the comparatively small amount of common sense that goes along with it—reminds me a lot of the (actual mythological) Hercules: extreme power and will to use that power for good, but easily manipulated because he lacks the brains to back up his brawn.

What’s Not So Good: Pretty much everything else, unfortunately.

Deadpool Corps #1 – Review

By Victor Gischler & Frank Tieri (writers), Rob Liefield, Adelso Corona, Matteo Scalera (artists), Matt Yackey, Matt Wilson (colors)

The Story: Pool-Pocalypse Now, Part 1: Respect Your Elders. Deadpool, Headpool, Lady Deadpool and Kidpool are called upon to spearhead a cosmos-spanning battle against a Galactus-like creature that feeds on the consciousness of sentient beings. After ducking a fight with Tryco Slatterus, another would-be champion, the gang lands their ship to refuel… just in time for Tryco to catch up with them again. (Also note, although this book is technically labeled #1, the story really starts out in medias res. You’ll still be able to follow it if you haven’t read the Prelude to the Deadpool Corps miniseries, but you will be at a bit of a disadvantage.) In a second feature, Dead Man Talking, ‘Pool tries to talk through some of his problems on a psychiatrist’s couch…

What’s Good: Gischler’s writing is solid for the most part, and is quite well paced— even when the humor is missing its mark, the plot itself moves along at a good speed. Despite a (rather disappointing) lack of Deadpool speaking to himself, Gischler does capture the character’s voice well. (Almost too well; of the Corps members, only Headpool really has his own voice; the others just sound like a parrot of Deadpool himself.) The book also provides a couple genuinely funny moments—the way the Deadpools deal with Slatterus made me laugh out loud, as did the christening of the team’s new ship.

What’s Bad: The unnecessary nature of this comic itself, in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, Deadpool is very near and dear to my heart, but someone needs to send Marvel the definition of the word “over-saturation.” Really, Marvel? Not only a fourth Deadpool book, but one that involves four spin-offs of the title character? Really?

Publisher issues aside, the book also suffers from simple misuse of the character. Although Gischler writes him well enough, Deadpool is just not well-served by this overabundance of sidekicks. He is at his best when playing off of straight (that is, serious) characters, whose reactions feed off his rather demented sense of humor. Playing off characters so similar to himself does Deadpool no favors. When all you hear is attempted punchline after attempted punchline, the humor becomes forced. It’s no longer funny, and the whole scene loses its impact.

The art, while competent, does nothing to help elevate the proceedings either. Many of the characters, especially Deadpool himself, are oddly proportioned, with very small heads and massive limbs. The action is neither kinetic nor exciting, which is a big problem in a Deadpool story. Matt Yackey’s colors, on the other hand, are excellent—bold, bright, and extremely effective use of contrast.