Young Justice S02E04 – Review

By: Greg Weisman (story)

The Story: Roy, we’re your friends, but we feel like we’re losing you.  Come back to us, man!

The Review: Although the finale offered a pretty good wrap-up of the first season’s major storylines, it also left a couple open.  The biggie, of course, is the truth of what happened to the “16 hour” Leaguers while under the Light’s possession, which will undoubtedly form the basis of much of the coming season’s conflicts.  But we also have the issue of Red Arrow being a clone of the original Speedy (who remains MIA), which the show put on the back-burner.

Weisman uses this episode to follow up on that particularly volatile plotline, showing us that in the interim five years, clone-Roy has fallen on hard times, a sad twist for the ex-sidekick who first earned League membership.  Weisman clearly gets his inspiration from the infamous “Snowbirds Don’t Fly” storyline in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85-86, which depicted (the original) Roy as secretly addicted to heroin, a problem he overcame with Black Canary’s help.

Uncanny X-Force #10 – Review

by Rick Remender (script), Billy Tan & Rich Elson (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: Archangel races to cover things up as a reporter gets footage of his killing a guard, but his actions lead X-Force to believe that Warren is no longer in control.

The Review:  When you first open this issue, you’re in for a nasty surprise.  Dean White didn’t color this issue.  Now, that’s not to say that Tan or Elson’s art is bad, or that Paul Mounts’ colors are weak.  I generally enjoy Mounts’ work and the art here is solid, leaving very little to complain about in either that scenes or the action sequences.  It’s a solid looking book with a high-budget feel.  The problem, though, is that Dean White was doing the best work of his career on this book and his unique palette for Uncanny X-Force had become a signature, or staple of the book, never mind the fact that it made the art really, really awesome.  Not having White is a bit of a let-down, as the art becomes instantly less distinctive and closer to being just another Marvel comic, albeit a decent looking one.

Plot-wise, this is a definite improvement over last month.  While Deadpool gets all of one line this month, this issue generally shows the benefit of having a small team and Remender’s ability to highlight the emotions and relationships between them.  I liked, in particular, Logan’s complete lack of hesitation and instant resolve when it comes to heading out to kill Warren, only to freeze up at the last second.  It’s an intelligent move the shows the complexity of the situation and how Logan’s friendship with Warren impairs his natural instincts.  Fantomex’s not-so-secret crush on Psylocke is also awkward, but appropriately so.

Then there’s Warren himself, who comes across like a monster this month.  Even when out of Archangel form, he’s a scary, creepy dude.  That said, Remender also writes the “character fighting for control of his mind” in a way that doesn’t feel utterly tired, an accomplishment in itself.  I swear, no one says “just fight it!”

But really, the best thing about this issue is just how much ground Remender covers.  It’s never a laborious or exposition-heavy read, and flies by quite quickly, but despite that, so much happens, all of it interesting.  We have a brief journalistic thriller, a focusing on Warren’s relationship with his team, a new character is brought (temporarily?) onto the team, and there’s a prelude to the Dark Angel Saga.  In the latter’s case, I am absolutely giddy.   The concept put forward regarding Warren’s current state is guaranteed to make you go “ooooh.”

Superman 80-Page Giant 2011 – Review

By: Too many to list—you’re better off reading the review.

The Story: Jor-El does Mission Impossible; Perry White takes a shot with Wildcat; the many lives of Jimmy Olsen; the inconsistent grammar of Bizarro World; Supergirl’s ten-second boyfriend; Lois Lane’s good deed; and Superboy, the Werewolf Slayer!

The Review: Annuals may be a grab bag of mixed features, they’ve got nothing on these “giants” DC likes to put out now and then.  You can’t always take them too seriously, but they’re often a surprisingly good showcase of unknown or rising talent in DC’s ranks.

Jor-El’s adventure into Krypton’s core starts off strong and has some great thrills, but his stream-of-consciousness narration drags the pace down.  Had Bud Tidwell more page-time, all his Krypton continuity might have paid bigger dividends, but mostly they’re distracting.  Still, you can’t go wrong with Cafu on art duties; from Jor-El’s expression of relief on his successful escape to Krypton’s skyline at night, everything’s just beautiful to look at.  And let’s just agree Bit’s inks and Santiago Arcas’ colors should accompany Cafu’s lines at all times.

Most Daily Planet stories revolve around Lois and Jimmy, the paper’s point men.  But Neil Kleid shows that they’re continuing a journalistic spirit begun by their boss.  Perry White’s boyhood tale of a run-in with Wildcat and the Guardian not only pays tribute to DC’s Golden Age stories, but speaks sentimentally to the bonds between fathers and sons.  Dean Haspiel gives a great retro look to the script that’s appropriate and lively, but also respects the emotional scenes.

In a strange twist, Abhay Khosla and Andy MacDonald’s Jimmy Olsen feature ends up the moodiest story in the issue, sort of discussing the philosophical implications of Jimmy’s multitude of wacky adventures.  It’s narrated and drawn well, and even has some good moments of humor, but lacks grounding.  It feels very Twilight Zone—you sense there’s an important point being made, but the execution is so weird you just wonder how it’s intended to affect or say something about the character.

I have nothing to say about the Bizarro story except it makes little sense—which is fitting, I suppose.  Dan McDaid’s cartoony art is perfect for fun Bizarro hijinks (though the yellowish cast over everything gets nauseating after a while), but Steve Horton doesn’t really offer much in the way of a coherent script, much less one with appreciable humor.

Joe Caramagna gets the right voice for Supergirl—curious, a bit self-conflicted, but hopeful—but it can’t be said he gives her appealing characters to bounce off of.  They seem like they’re just thrown in to give her people to talk to and some easy conflicts.  Sure, there are some clueless guys out there, but these dudes take the cake (“‘Karalinda.’  Asian, huh?”  Seriously?  She’s totally white and blonde!).  Trevor McCarthy draws it fantastically though—his lines are kinetic and youthful, though colored a bit too darkly by Andre Szymanowicz.

Adventure Comics Special Featuring The Guardian #1 – Review

By James Robinson (story), Pere Perez (art), David Baron (colors)

The Story: Continued from the Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olson special, this issue wraps up Jimmy’s transformation from photographer to bonafide journalist. Most of the story focuses on The Guardian as Olson presses him for information. Through a series of flashbacks and conversations it’s discovered that the government has been working on genetic experiments — weaponizing people and creatures in hopes of creating a being that can kill Superman!

The Good? For $2.99 you get a dense, rich mystery that slowly unfolds. It’s not an action packed story by any means, but it’s steady throughout, giving the reader well-placed breadcrumbs to follow as it progresses. And while the ending of this book acts more of a herald of things to come, it produces a satisfying conclusion that’ll have the reader wanting more. I give James Robinson props for not rushing the story and making the choice of dividing it up into two parts (rather than rushing to an abrupt ending).

The Not So Good? The misleading cover completely misrepresents this book; everything you see on the cover does NOT happen in this issue. And what’s up with the long title? Yes, it’s nice seeing the return of the Adventure Comics title, but the over use of buzz words (“special”, “featuring”) is retarded.

Conclusion: The art isn’t brilliant and you’re not going to see many (if any) punches thrown, but this book does what it needs to do: set up Superman’s future and reveal more of the government’s assassination plot against him. Oh yeah, and it’s well written, too.

Grade: A-

-J. Montes