Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

DC New 52

DC New 52 Review: Justice League International #1

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On Saturday I realized I had been actively avoiding Justice League International.

As a fair representation as a lifelong DC skimmer, I look at this cover and see Batman, a lame alternate version of Green Lantern, and a bunch of unidentifiable nobodies. Not exactly the most-inspiring reason to read a comic book.

That’s always been one of my major problems with DC – past the heavy-hitters from Justice League of America and a handful of other heroes we all played with in the 80s as super-friends toys, I’ve never heard of these people. Unlike Marvel, they don’t sprout from one of just a handful of classic lines of 60s and 70s titles. I suppose you could say the same thing for the extended supporting cast of the Avengers or the X-Men, but they’re part of a larger interconnected family of stories. Even when they’re off panel their lives are being affected by what’s happening.

Can you say the same for Godiva or Vixen?

I seriously don’t know! Maybe I’m just projecting my DC distaste – but this weekend I finally sat down to find out by reading this issue.

Justice League International #1

Written by Dan Jurgens, art by Aaron Lopresti & Matt Ryan

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 – Okay.

In a line: “A different Justice League?”

140char Review: Justice League Int’l #1 is a standard “let’s start a team” take on a redebut, cribbing Giant Size X-Men. Plot set motion, but not thrilling.

Plot & Script

 

Dan Jurgens is a comics veteran – he knows how to structure a first issue and introduce a new team.

He starts with an effective and not-unappreciated device of performing a roll-call of potential members that reveals their countries of origin, though a quick primer on powers may have also been warranted. A UN security guy informs his committee “No masks or hidden identities” … and then tries to pick Batman? The committee members were wise to decline, yet Bats is still on flying the jet when the mission takes off. Doesn’t that make him a hijacker? I think it’s the League’s duty to restrain him.

Everyone gets at least three on-panel moments – their roll call intro, lines within the Hall of Justice, and on the battle field. We also get to see each member in action at least once. As a result, a newer reader has some way of identifying (and identifying with) a team of relative strangers.

The whole scene outside of the Hall of Justice doesn’t especially make sense. We’ve been lead to believe this is a world that hates and fears heroes – or, at least, it did five years ago when Justice League and Action Comics are set. Why, then, are there protesters outside of a Hall of Justice? Who would there be to assemble inside said hall? And, why had they vacated to allow the UN inside? Furthermore, we see that all these heroes seem to know each other and their work, which is also confusing in the context of this week’s books.

Weirdly, the only person who gets any character depth is Guy Gardner, who promptly disappears (I assume he is an act one gun that will come back in the third to save the day.) I was especially confused by the bullish Guy Gardner as a Green Lantern, since we see a different Green Lantern in Justice League. I thought there was only one per sector?

I suppose all will be answered, but the issue felt weirdly out of place against all of the other books this week. Also, this seriously plagiarizes Giant Size X-Men in a number of different ways, right down to the geological horror of the villain.

Artwork

 

Lopresti ads to the slightly retro feel of the book with a charming, ultra-heroic take on the characters. It’s not super-exciting, but it’s solid pencil work that nicely complements Jurgens’ story. I especially love his faces, which are distinct and expressive throughout, helping to sell a mostly “talking heads” issue.

In the past I’ve found Lopresti to be a bit rigid and stodgy, but that’s not the case here – maybe due to inker Ryan, or maybe from the beautifully understated set of colors. Characters feel as though they have weight, but also momentum. Godiva is especially lovely, Booster is a definitive over-muscled hero, and Batman has a lurking quality with his tendril-like cape. The action is limited to just a few pages at the end, but what we see is effective.

(In the final fight Vixen gets a Phoenix-esque flame effect around her body as she flies off the ground. I was confused as to whether Fire was using harmless flames to lift Vixen into the air or if this was a power beyond the seemingly Black Panther set of agility and claws.)

CK Says: Consider it.

Justice League International has a slight by-the-numbers feel thanks to its hastily assembled multicultural team of heroes (plus hanger-on Batman) responding to orders from a bald guy to face an unspecified geological terror. It’s Comics 101 – and, effectively the first half of Giant-Size X-Men #1.

Jurgens works to quickly establish the personalities and conflicts of all the members within the somewhat rote, old-school story. No Morrison-style existential dilemmas here. We’re given at least a hint of the attitudes of each and their powers were all obvious enough to be telegraphed by the art in a few panels of battle (except for Booster’s, which are unclear).

The bottom line is that this cookie-cutter approach aims the book more towards the DC insider than the newbie. A long-time DC fan will likely be excited to read the B-list characters they’ve grown to love (as I would be on an X-Men b-team). It’s a good intro for a new reader, but I’m not sure it’s worth revisiting in another month.

DC New 52 Review: Swamp Thing #1

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In the 80s DC was the edgy comic book company. Even before the launch of Vertigo, they were the publisher letting a new generation of writers use their heroes in non-traditional ways.

While Grant Morrison may be the last oddball left standing from the period, it was ushered into existence by Alan Moore. It was Moore’s hand that guided the landmark Watchman and deconstructions like Killing Joke. He made it possible for the Morrisons and Gaimans of the world to be mainstream comic authors.

While the modern day might treat Watchmen as Moore’s opus, he was already writing bizarre 70s eco-hero Swamp thing for nearly three years by then.

Both Moore’s verdant hero and Morrison’s Animal Man are seeing reinvention in the reboot. Will either hint at the success of their 80s glory years?

Swamp Thing

Written by Scott Snyder, art by Yanick Paquette

Rating: 1.5 of 5 – Weak

In a Line: “I had this Botany professor, Dr. Riis … he would always talk about how the plant world is the most misunderstood area of biology.”

140char Review: Swamp Thing #1 is utterly gorgeous in the hands of Paquette, but it’s all Swamp Talk (+ a dull lecture from Superman) & no Swamp Thing. Lame

CK Says: Skip it.

I’ll come right out and say that I completely hated this script for this issue. It’s the only one so far from the reboot that felt deliberately decompressed, aside from the wreck of Justice League.

Swamp Thing being a dark hero with roots in Alan Moore stories is meaningless when it comes to a fresh start. While Scott Snyder does plenty of explaining via pages upon pages of dialog, it never stops being expository to start being compelling. As a reader who has no idea about the character the talking didn’t really help – it was like listening to a conversation on a bus about someone I’ve never met.

Snyder inserts plenty of heavy-handed one-liners, like “buried alive” and “raised from the dead” in an attempt to make a dull B-story seem like a portent. The chatty issue was made more jarring by a weirdly out-of-context Superman acting like a camp counselor, completely at odds with both other versions we’ve seen so far in the reboot.

The saving grace is a beautiful rendering of an inert script by Yanick Paquette. If he can make dead birds and talking heads look this good, imagine what he’ll do with an issue that’s actually about Swamp Thing?

Despite a gripping into and a final panel giving a hint of what’s to come, this issue is skippable due to the interminable bore of its doughy middle.

DC New 52 Review: Batwing #1

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While most of the Bat-books in DC’s linewide relaunch are giving established characters their own ongoing, Batwing cooks up a new hero practically from scratch.

This African continent entry into Batman’s new Incorporated franchise appeared in just two issues prior to Flashpoint, which makes him a relative stranger to readers. Can DC-U veteran and original Real World cast member Winick make Batwing worthy of his own title?

Batwing #1

Written by Judd Winick, art by Ben Oliver

Rating: 2.5 of 5 – Okay

In a line: “He told me, ‘You just have to sell it.'”

#140char Review: Batwing #1 is gripping & bloody w/stunner painterly interior art, but the tale of African national intrigue only fun when Bruce is on-panel.

CK Says: Consider it.

Batwing #1 boasts some of the most remarkable art of the first week of relaunch, and for that reason alone it is worth a browse.

Ben Oliver’s figures and environments are at once ultra-realistic and slightly hazy. The effect is likely the result of an ink-wash, but it evokes the sun-baked Congo landscape where the story takes place. It is criminal that the average cover doesn’t reflect the interior artwork.

The story is something more subtle. Winick pens rookie Bat-franchisee Batwing as stoic and dedicated, but emotionally removed. What might be a faithful representation of the Democratic Republic of Congo is a unfamiliar and vicious setting. There isn’t the comfort of spandexed sidekicks and green-haired Jokers here – regular men (and even police officers) prove to be as chaotic and murderous.

While Winick’s pacing is a bit decompressed, you won’t mind thanks to the stunner visuals and a relatively layered plot.

The real question about this book is – do you want to read this story? It has the potential to be a powerful drama, but the grim reality of the real-world setting might be a turn-off. I say, hang in for the artwork and the twist on the murdered former hero that sets Batwing’s investigation into motion.

DC New 52 Review: Men of War #1

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When I was a kid, I was obsessed with G.I. Joes. A lot of kids were. They were three dollars each with a seemingly infinite amount of new line-ups to collect.

Except, my obsession was slightly different – my G.I. Joes were superheroes. Each one of them had a special power, and they formed teams and went on missions just like comic book superheroes. In fact, I even kept a binder outlining all of their story exploits, including issue summaries, origins, and deaths.

(Yes, I was an intense kid.)

Since my playtime was more about building narrative than mashing pieces of plastic against each other, I wasn’t shy about playing with G.I. Joe’s straight into high school. The toys allowed me to be a sort of writer/director, visualizing plots that found their way out of my imagination and later into short stories.

All that is to say, though I loved G.I. Joes, I never particularly cared for G.I. Joe as a concept. I don’t love war stories and gun violence. That put DC’s new war anthology on shaky ground with me, unless they managed to power it up, a la my erstwhile 3 3/4″ friends.

Men of War #1

“Joseph Rock,” written by Ivan Brandon, art by Tom Derenick
“Navy Seals, Human Shields,” written by Jonathan Vankin, art by Phil Winslade

Rating: 3 of 5 – Good

In a Line: “Anyway, I got out of the Peace Corps ‘cuz it made me realize – if you want to do good, it helps to have an assault rifle.”

140char Review Men of War #1, hard-bitten war anthology w/slightest twist of super. Not my kind of comic but I can’t deny it was well-done, esp terminology

Plot & Script

The scripts of both stories are beautiful things, in their way. Word balloons are stuffed with armed forces acronyms and special ops lingo, and they help to transport you into the world these characters inhabit without much prior knowledge.

The plot of first story about Sgt. Rock is solid but strangely unfilling. We’re treated to the grimly stubborn infantryman Rock, promoted to a special ops squad thanks to countless acts of unspecified badassness. Then he heads into an unnamed region filled with unseen insurgents, witnesses an unidentifiable super-being
wreak havoc, and watches his team die an ignominious death (not really a spoiler, since we see it in the first panel)

While all the dialog is ace, I feel as though the vaguely-detailed story depends on some foreknowledge or affection for Sgt. Rock. Without that, it’s a one-and-done tale about a brave soldier being decimated by a superior force. I don’t see much point in a second issue.

I liked the Navy Seals tale much better. We get the personalities of a core cast of characters in short order as they deal with a high pressure situation. Vankin does a great job differentiating the team in limited panel time, giving each man a smattering of personality to go with his call name.

Despite not caring for army comics too much, I found myself investing in the outcome of their story. I cared if the wounded guy died, was frustrated by the impulsive actions of Tracker, and was genuinely shocked and sickened by the story’s climax.

Artwork

The problem with army books is that everyone starts looking the same.

In the Sgt. Rock story this is a major problem for me – not so much because of the pencils, but the colors. It was like military-grade sepia tone. In a series of lowly-lit situations all of the shadowed faces begins to blend together.

While I liked the line art and colors in the second story much better, the lack of differentiation was actually worse. For white army dudes in the same uniform, and you only give one of them facial hair to help us tell them apart? The dialog does a decent job, but I wouldn’t have minded a minor visual differentiation, even if it slightly shattered the perfect adherence to real-life army code.

I love the fuzzy cover with its subtle phoenix image in the blood and gunfire – I missed that detail on the small preview image.

CK Says: Consider it.

Men of War is an anthology collection that delivers 100% on the promise of its title, with an ever-so-slight superhero skew of existing in the DC Universe.

Fans of old Sgt. Fury comics and The Hurt Locker alike will probably enjoy the on-the-ground glimpse of infantry and Navy SEALS.

For superhero junkies, the outcome is more hazy. While this is well-written and full of action, it’s less Captain America and more G.I. Joe.

DC New 52 Review: Batgirl #1

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I mentioned in my DC preview for the week that Batgirl was my most-anticipated book. I’m sure it was for a lot of fans familiar with Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke, which is a book that brought many readers into comics in the first place.

To give away a long-since known spoiler, Joke culminates partially in Joker shooting Batgirl Barbara Gordon, paralyzing her from the waist down. Rather than becoming a disabled background character, she rose to even greater prominence as Oracle – a master of information, frequently a team leader, and truly beloved by fans.

Batgirl #1 reverses all of that, with Barbara back in the bat costume – presumably for good. How would consistently strong scripter Gail Ann Simone explain this continuity-shattering change? Could the book sustain the weight of expectations to be DC’s premiere new female superhero, especially with the sumptuously illustrated Batwoman on the schedule just a week later?

I saved the issue until I was through reading half this week’s haul, nervous it would be bad – or, even worse, just okay.

Was that the case? And, is there anything to this rumor that Batgirl #1 is selling-out around the country, and might wind up as one of the top-selling comic books of the year?

Batgirl #1

Written by Gail Ann Simone, art by Ardian Syaf & Vincente Cifuentes

Rating: 5 of 5 – Outstanding

In a Line: “…I’ve got upper arm strength like a mother at this point.”

140char Review: Batgirl #1 was okay on 1st read but on reread I realized there is nary a misstep or snag. An excellent, affecting, genuinely funny comic. A+

Plot & Script

Simone does a knockout job on this debut, juggling the re-introduction of a hero with a glimpse into her personal life as she contends with two villains. We even get a prologue! The structure of the plot tells an engaging single story that is clearly part of a larger arc.

The home invasion villains are distinctly unsettling, with their press clippings and dire threats to the captive couple, but also human with their objection to their press-provided moniker. I found myself surprised at how far Simone pushed the envelope with them given what I assumed would be a relatively cheery vibe in Batgirl.

The book may not be all cheery, but Batgirl is. Clearly still new to being a hero again, her interactions while in costume are priceless (“Sorry! Batgirl emergency!”). Her glib narration of the issue is why I think it’s still cool to use thought bubbles and narration boxes – because it lets us inside the head of a character in a way no other medium can do. She doubts her actions as she takes them, needs to go to the bathroom mid-adventure, and freezes in a moment of post-traumatic stress. These are elements of a character we cannot learn purely from art. It means something to hear it in their own words, and Simone is beautifully effective with the device.

She’s also beautifully effective with dialog from just about anyone, including Commissioner Gordon as a doting dad and a new roommate’s Hitchhiker’s joke. The only line that was a little sour was the final one, but I can forgive histrionics if it’s meant to drum up a bit of a cliffhanger.

Simone introduces an intriguing villain in The Mirror – but if all he does is deliver warranted retribution, is he much of a villain? Clearly, if Barbara is on his list there’s something more to it than that. Why does she deserve to die? Or, is it merely her escape from death that has earned her a spot?

I want to find out.

Barbara flashes back to the new continuity version of her shooting at the hands of Joker from The Killing Joke.

Artwork

The artwork here is fantastic – beautiful characters, finely detailed backgrounds, and easy-to-follow action. The art could have come off more grim, but a vivid color palette helps strike a comic book balance throughout. In fact, the coloring job is absolutely exemplary throughout the book, from the metallic gold of Batgirl’s boots to the warm pinks and reds of the Gordon home to Gotham’s oil slick of evening rain.

Syaf uses a few awesome irregular page layouts, in on instance treating panels like shards of broken glass, in another silhouetting Batgirl out of the open side of a panel. Aside from one strange perspective error on a mid-leap thigh, only once or twice does Barbara pull a slightly gawky pose. Given her self-doubt it doesn’t seem all that outlandish to think Syaf did it on purpose. Also? Her hair is utterly transfixing.

I was honestly concerned that the interiors wouldn’t stand up to close examination, as there’s no way they could have the same pulp-pinup quality as the immediately classic cover from the incomparable Adam Hughes.

As with many Bat books, the narration boxes are horrid Bright italic yellow on black with purple borders? All of that is lowering the reading comprehension of those words – and this is not just your reviewer talking, this is valid, scientific study of communications theory. There’s no reason it couldn’t be something more legible.

CK Says: Buy it!

When I first read this issue, I thought it was just “okay.”

Why? Because it is total smooth sailing. Unlike similarly outstanding Action Comics #1, this is not rife with panels you need to read and re-read, squinting for new details or oblique hints in the dialog. It’s easy-going – almost simple – with a dynamic, flawed, and sympathetic hero who is all too human.

Sometimes “easy” and “simple” are hard to identify as “amazing.” It was only on second, third, and fourth read that I realized this is the real deal. It is a pitch-perfect debut that doesn’t rely on any big shocks or gimmicks. Simone, Syaf, and Cifuentes deliver a strong issue that stands well on its own and makes owning the next one a necessity. The plot, script, and artwork are perfection.

Particularly, the narration and dialog are outstanding. When it comes to putting words in heroes mouths, few writers today do it better than Gail Ann Simone.

For readers wondering how the previously wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon is retconned back to her feet, Simone handles it efficiently without completely sacrificing longtime fans’ attachment to Barbara as Oracle. If anything, she leverages the twenty years we’ve spent reading Barbara as disabled to make her more compellingly human.

This issue went far beyond fulfilling my hopes for the most-anticipated comic of the week. If you like the idea of a Batgirl – or, really, any young hero – who is still very much a rookie, a young woman, and a human being then buy this comic. (In fact, buy it as soon as you can – because it’s already going into a second printing, and the word of mouth will only get stronger as more people read and review it.)