Crushing Krisis

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DC New 52 Review: Detective Comics #1

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DC has gone all-in on Batman in their line-wide relaunch, with a total of eleven Bat books. Add to that Batman in Justice League and Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad and you’ve got thirteen books of bat-adjacent characters.

That makes Batstuff fully a fourth of DC’s entire schedule of relaunch!

Of course, right now Batman is bigger business than ever before, coming off of a critical and box office smash movie and a high-selling and acclaimed comic run.

Can DC continue the magic? And, on a more personal note, can they bring me to care about a hero I’ve always been cold to?

Detective Comics #1

Script & pencils by Tony Daniel, inks by Ryan Winn

Rating: 4 of 5 – Excellent

In a line: “This is a violation of my civil rights. A man should be able to slaughter in peace.”

140char review: Detective Comics #1, a keen, brutal reintro to Batman/Joker dynamic w/several twists (not just of the knife). Easily tracks from Dark Knight

Plot & Script

If I had any fear that the opening issue of DC’s namesake book wasn’t going to live up to its “Detective” moniker, it was quickly quelled. Tony Daniels’ plot has each player running their own game while they play in others’ – the Commissioner in Batman’s, the police in Joker’s, and Joker in that of a mysterious attacker and benefactor.

The result is a book where nothing happening is something.

Yes, we get fight scenes and explosions, but they’re almost beside the point. The point is following each player as they manipulate the others to the last page, and then going back to the beginning to follow them again on re-read.

If there’s one dead part of the narrative it’s a page spent with Dr, Arkham, who is one-note in his “he’s sick” diagnosis of Joker. Maybe that’s the point? I’m admittedly not a Bat-comics fan, so I’m not sure.

What is surprisingly not one-note is the police’s pursuit of Batman. It was annoying in Justice League, but here it feels in context. I’m sure it’s not entirely a coincidence that this is where we left Batman in the last movie.

Artwork

Tony Daniel’s art makes my whole body tense.

You know how some artists over-exentuate all of a characters’ muscles? Daniel is all about skin. All the little wrinkles and crevices around a smile or a grimace.

Every shot of Joker is downright unsettling, from the first one of blood trickling out of his nose to the disturbing final panel. Daniel sketches the traditional tall, skinny-headed Joker with the lithe body of a dancer, the face of your drunken great-aunt, a vicious hook of a nose.

Batman is big, in a reinforced-armor version of his classic blue and grey. His bulk dominates panels, and makes his fight with Joker look alarmingly one-sided (it isn’t).

Panels take time to drag your eyes across. Gotham’s dilapidated buidlings inhabit the background of the story in intricate detail.

I’m typically put off by disembodied heads on comic covers as a lazy way to squeeze in another character, but … well, it works in the context of this issue in multiple ways. I’m not saying the Joker gets beheaded or anything. Just read it.

Note that the cover cynically inserts “Batman” above the Detective Comics title. Also, in my typical graphic design snobbery, I must note that Batman’s italic white on gray-with-bat-symbol narration boxes make my eyes glaze over. They take way too much effort to read.

CK Says: Buy it!

Detective Comics re-debut is a visceral thrill that forces you to linger on every panel.

For new fans, this issue tracks almost perfectly from the closing frames of Nolan’s The Dark Knight, wisely tucking away any dissonance in the Batman universe for other titles to handle. As with Dark Knight, the Joker is the star of this issue, and every panel of his pale white form is both rewarding and nauseating.

Batman himself is relatively flat here – but this isn’t a book about character revelations – it’s Detective Comics, and it lives up to that name entirely.

Given how quickly the ending will send you back to page one, I have high hopes that the remainder of the arc will include several more circuitous turns.

DC New 52 Review: Stormwatch #1

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I was a major Image Comics fan in the 90s, and not just for the hyper-kinetic art of departed Marvel artists like Jim Lee. I loved Image because it frequently broke free of typical save-the-world tropes to explore superheroes as a separate society running in parallel to every day life.

Wildstorm Productions was Jim Lee’s imprint at Image, and it was home to every one of my favorite titles and stories. In 1999 Lee allowed DC to acquire the rights to the company so he could focus less on administration and more on creating. Twelve years later, Lee is DC’s co-publisher and penciling their flagship book.

As for the Wildstorm universe, it’s very much alive in DC’s reboot with Stormwatch and solo titles for WildCATs mainstays Grifter and Voodoo –  and they’re all more integrated with DC’s continuity than ever before.

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DC Comics Stormwatch #1, released September 7, 2011.

Stormwatch #1

Written by Paul Cornell, art by Miguel Sepulveda

Rating: 3.5 of 5 – Great

In a line: “Do we look like ‘super-heroes’? They’re amateurs. We’re the professionals.”

140 char review: Stormwatch #1: Almost too many chars to keep track, but Cornell teases mysteries w/o sacrificing exposition. Love the psychedelic overlays!

Plot & Script

Paul Cornell successfully juggles a debut issue featuring a team of seven extra-powered beings, their super-powered quarry, a mysterious assailant, an extra-dimensional space station, a giant Himaylayan cornucopia, a claw in the moon, and one very giant eyeball with tentacles. Cornell manages to be amusing without resorting to all-out humor, and expository while only dropping a few utter bricks of dialog to explain the fast-paced plot.

Of three stories across four locations, it’s the team on the ground in Moscow that’s the 4-color thriller. A reticent would-be-hero does all that he can to evade a somewhat forcible recruitment by the Stormwatch away team of Jack Hawksmoor, Projectionist, and Martian Manhunter.

As for Martian Manhunter’s export to this title, his membership in JLA is mentioned offhandedly, but not explained – other than to say he’s a superhero there, but a “warrior” when he’s in Stormwatch. Does that mean he will show up in Justice League’s year one intro arc?

Artwork

I loved the unusual artwork in this issue. It’s not your typical ultra-gloss of a superhero comic.  I’m especially a fan at the unsubtle, realistic face work – particularly Projectionist mugging in false humulity while Martian Manhunter first shows his green face. Many images include psychedelic overlays – I’m not sure if they’re the work of Sepulveda or colorist Allen Passalaqua, but they’re fantastic.

There were only a few minor disappointments. I like the scope of the cover – showing the core cast, rather than a frame from the issue, but it’s unflattering. Not sure if that’s a penciling or a coloring issue, but I feel like it’s ugly compared to the interiors. A few faces look flat, possibly a coloring issue rather than art. Projectionist’s power showing us an on-panel page of YouTube was perhaps a bit too on-the nose. And, a minor quibble, but the bold blue-on-blue lettering of the presence in the moon was a turnoff. It felt more like a computer read-out than a mysterious evolutionary force.

CK Says: Buy it!

Stormwatch feels decidedly alien, and not just because of star Martian Manhunter and a station in hyperspace. The conceit of extra-dimensional heroes in suits who sneer at the the caped set feels more like Ellis’s superb Planetary than the DC I’m used to skimming.

Cornell is an oddball writer, and he didn’t have enough room to stretch out in Marvel’s great (but decidedly terrestrial) Captain Britain & MI:13. This fast-paced amalgamation of erstwhile-Wildstorm and reinvented-DC is a better fit.

Did he put too many balls in the air for a first issue? I say there’s no such thing. This is exactly what I was hoping for from Justice League – a brisk issue with more questions than answers, hints at multiple threats, and enough plot threads that I’m left pouting for a second issue right away.

DC New 52 Review: Action Comics #1

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With DC Comics re-launching its entire slate of books this month, the most-anticipated title after a vaguely-disappointing Jim Lee drawn Justice League is doubtlessly Action Comics, written by Grant Morrison.

Morrison is a hyper-praised comic author who has written everything from indie fare to X-Men. His multi-year shake-up of Batman comics has been to the comic line what Nolan has been to the movie franchise. He’s also an insufferably self-obsessed egoist and drug addict, both as confessed in Supergods, his recent autobiographical look at comic history.

Suffice to say, I run as hot and cold on Morrison as a Katy Perry song. How does his reboot of the longest-running comic title in the world go? Let’s see…

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DC Comics Action Comics #1, released September 7, 2011

Action Comics #1

Written by Grant Morrison, art by Rags Morales & Rick Bryant

Rating: 4.5 of 5 – Remarkable

In a line: “Non-native strains WILL destroy entire ecologies, given the opportunity.”

140char Review: Action Comics #1: Superman spends a vigilante night in Metropolis; Morrison/Morales show more than tell & maybe make Supes interesting again

Plot & Script

Grant Morrison is superb at debut issues, and this is no exception. He presents a constantly moving half hour in the life of Superman that unfurls in near real-time thanks to the engrossing plot of the issue forcing you to linger on each dialog balloon to absorb all of the implications therein.

The constantly intercutting narrative is effective in keeping the anticipation of spending panel time with Superman high. Even though we see him on the first page (a wise move), we then spend several pages away from him, viewing his wake of destruction and the police’s abject dread in dealing with him.

Morrison writes Superman as well-spoken but cocky (“That ain’t Superman”). His powers are kept deliberately ambiguous, though it’s made clear that he cannot fly. As he exerts himself more his dialog gets more clipped – at points becoming an animalistic collection of sniffs and grunts.

Luthor is snide and has little regard for others, but he’s somehow still likeable – as he should be – and as-drawn a dead-ringer for our author.

Superman is portrayed as growing in power as he self-polices everyone from domestic abusers to mob bosses. Is it the right thing to do to turn Superman into a vigilante when we already have Batman? Or, is the only way to start a new decade (or more!) of Superman stories to begin with him as more of an alien than Clark Kent?

We get a handful of supporting characters, sketched in well-enough for the moment. General Lane is a patriot in bed with a snake (Luther). Olsen is a trusting mop-haired kid equally beholden to his new friend Clark and ice-blooded over-achiever Lois.

There is little to nitpick. A sequence with a high-speed train perhaps intercuts too much, warranting a second read. That’s nearly the only gripe, and it’s swept away by the parallelism of Superman catching two bullets on either side of the story – with differing amounts of success.

There isn’t a right answer – just good comic books. And this was one.

Artwork

I’ve never read an issue with Morales art before, but I’m pleased with him here. He can switch from static talking heads to kinetic action in a single panel. His t-shirt wearing, work-booted Superman is delightfully fresh and surprisingly iconic.

Morales effectively toys with Superman’s age throughout the issue. In his first shadow-faced confrontation with police, the heavy lines around his chin make him look middle-aged. A page later his face is gleeful and childlike as he leaps from a balcony, and a smug teen when facing down his would-be jailers.

Meanwhile, as Clark he is half Christpher Reeves, half Harry Potter. All the while, we see the same square-jaw.

It’s the supporting characters who sag. Jimmy and Lois look a bit askew, and background characters can be a bit ragged. Also, a few panels of ambiguous art don’t aid the already-complex train sequence.

CK Says: Buy it!

Action Comics #1 is a thrilling anchor to the clearly all-new continuity of Superman. Anyone hoping for an issue of a big, blue boy scout pushing planets out of their trajectories will be disappointed by this smaller scale exploration of the ambiguities of justice and of being human.

If that sounds like a boring issue, keep in mind that it still involves being faster than a speeding bullet and leaping tall buildings in a single bound. Oh, and a wrecking ball.

No one in the issue makes the case for Superman being human – Morrison is deliberate in having every character refer to him as an animal, alien, or even a thing. However, in our brief time with the bespeckled Clark we’re left to wonder – if it thinks like a man and cares like a man, how can it be an animal? Not for nothing, but Morrison’s book was subtitled “What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human.”

Is this issue a modern classic? Hard to say, but Superman scholar Morrison doesn’t waste a single word while Morales keeps the issue full of impact – it never feels decompressed to drag out the story.

DC New 52 Review: Justice League #1

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A schedule of all 52 debut issues due from DC Comics this month. Click through for a full-size version.

This month DC Comics is relaunching their entire line of comics – 52 issues #1s in a single month!

Not only is every series starting fresh, but the relaunch also represents a “soft reboot” of the DC comics universe. That means characters could have a new set of history as they re-debut, including breaking up iconic relationships or being suddenly de-aged back to a more-relatable 20-something.

I am not a DC comics fan, and have never been a regular reader of any of their titles aside than Wonder Woman – so why not try to read and review as many of their new 52 as I can in one month?

Sounds like a plan! The month starts with DC’s biggest gun – Justice League #1, with DC co-publisher and debateably best-penciler in the industry Jim Lee on art, and DC superstar Geoff Johns scripting.

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DC Comics Justice League #1, released August 31, 2011.

Justice League #1

Rating: 2.5 of 5 – Okay.

In a line: “You’re not just some guy in a BAT COSTUME, are you?”

140char Review: Justice League #1 – Solid art and interactions between Bats & GL, but the quick-to-read debut kinda falls flat. Not the big gun you’d expect

Plot & Script

DC’s reimagined Justice League are … The X-Men? The issue starts five years in the past when Green Lantern shows up to save Batman from a superhero kill squad in hot pursuit, and you’re hoping against hope the explanation will be something more deft than “because they hate and fear us.”

Yet there we are.

Yes, I suppose hating and fearing people with super-powers makes a lot of sense, but that schtick has been cornered and bludgeoned to death by Marvel. Also, it’s annoyingly dissonant to see these classic characters in that position. Sure, Batman is a wacko vigilante and Aquaman might have a bestiality problem, but is the government really going to chase after The Flash?

The conceit is that five years ago in the new DC universe was effectively year zero, with heroes meeting each other for the first time. Apparently they weren’t too popular with law enforcement (or, at least, Batman wasn’t). We’re treated to Batman’s introduction to and subsequent chafing at Green Lantern, who is as brash as Bats is brooding. GL gets one funny line after another. It’s clear that John’s is used to writing him, and that they’re playing up the Ryan Reynolds aspect of him as much as possible.

Both Batman and Green Lantern art scripted well, and the trickle of exposition from them is just enough to capture the imagination of a new fan. Yet, there is just barely enough plot here to call it an issue. Jim Lee isn’t exactly the fastest penciler in the world, you’d think Johns would write a little more script.

Instead, we get a brief tussle and several episodes of exposition, followed by a blah four pages with kid Cyborg. Also, note that the cast of characters are cynically the two heroes with the most recent movie, plus Superman – because, well… you know.

Artwork

Lee’s action is bold but always easy to follow. What is unexpected (for me, at least), is the wild sketchiness of his shadows. Maybe it’s the doing of inker Scott Williams leaving more of Lee’s original pencil work intact, but the effect reminds me of 70s comics (a good thing).

Lee relentlessly knocks the opening Batman scramble out of the park from the first, deliberately un-iconic shot of Batman. Note all of the random insanity he has Green Lantern creating – a fire truck and giant bats!?

The single page of Superman is intriguing. He’s definitely boyish, but not as much as on the cover. And, though he is lacking his red underpants, the underpants are still sketched on – just colored the same as his legs.

The primary Jim Lee cover is expected, if not classic. Unsurprisingly, his Batman is outstanding (he’s penciled him before). I immediately am annoyed whenever GL wields a gun. Lee’s posing of Superman is strange, so that his eyes are obscured and he looks very boyish. (The Finch alternate is creepy – Superman looks like he should be wielding puppet strings, and Wonder Woman’s head is too big for her shoulders.)

CK Says: Consider it.

Justice League #1 is too quick a read with too little happening along the way.

I don’t mean to grade a comic merely on expectations, but when the words “Justice League” and “Jim Lee” are connected you can’t help but hope for something on the scale of 1991’s all-time best-seller X-Men #1.

Instead, we’re building up the origin of the Justice League from square one – and you could do a lot worse than that! I’d argue that the first issue of your flagship team should either introduce everyone, be a huge blowout, or do both. This sort of expository story belongs in the individual character books, or – at least – explored after you’ve got your hooks in new readers.

X-Men Hardcover & Trade Paperback Review, 8/17 Edition

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Here’s a recap of the X-Men hardcover and trade paperback collected editions out this month so far, penned by the (only?) blogger who owns almost every X-issue that’s ever been republished! Plus, a quick look at Marvel’s other collected releases.

Whether you’re a major X-Fan or a casual reader, I’ll share my opinion on what’s worth buying, and recap the rest of the field. If you have any questions, just let me know – I’m happy to help. This is a supplement to my Definitive Guide to Collection X-Men in Graphic Novels, which tells you how you can buy any X-issue ever printed. Ever.

If you’re new to X-Men in comics form, you should read my recent Intro to X-Men (on a budget) post.

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Collection of the Week:
X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda Oversized Hardcover
Collects Uncanny X-Men #235-238 & #270-272, New Mutant (1983) #95-97, and X-Factor (1986) #60-62.

CK Says: Buy it! This hardcover debut of the 1990 “X-Tinction Agenda” crossover is as close as any single storyline collection gets to being an X-Men greatest hits collection. I already have my copy, and it is a thing of beauty.

Paired with the included classic four-issue introductory arc, X-Tinction Agenda features nearly every possible member of the X-Cast through 1990 with few exceptions (notably Xavier, Polaris, Madrox, Magik, Magma, and Mirage/Moonstar). Also, the creative team is untoppable – script by 80s essential X-writers Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson, art by all-time greats Marc Silvestri and Jim Lee – oh, and some guy named Rob Liefeld.

As for the story, it brings together the various X-Teams after over a half-a-decade apart while introducing the island of Genosha, where mutants are abundant – as a persecuted slave-race! This collection lays the groundwork for future X-stories, including Grant Morrison’s New X-Men and the recent blockbuster Second Coming.

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What other books came out in the first half of August, including a side-story book that outclasses it’s main-story brethren? [Read more…] about X-Men Hardcover & Trade Paperback Review, 8/17 Edition