EVill Comics, 6/21/06
With friends coming in for Pride, looks like I won't have much time to blog for the next few days... I will try to post pictures from the parade in a timely fashion.
In the meantime, a mini-verison of "EVill Comics." This was a massive, wicked awesome week, and I've only managed to get to a few so far.
I skimmed Flash #1... Bart Allen is now retconned into a typical 21 year old geek, focused on booze and broads, but unable to handle either. Eh... Underwhelmed. Isn't this just where Wally West was in the first issue of the last Flash series? (At least Bart didn't proceed to win the lotto.)
Seems like, with a lot of these relaunches, rather than hang the characters on new and exciting premises, DC is just looking to shove toothpaste back into the tube. They decided the whole Greek Mythology angle was played out for WW, so they've tweaked the Princess Diana into Diana Prince, Secret Agent.
Now, they've decided the Speed Force thing is played out (maybe they're right about that one), so they're trying to rein that in, as well. (It's not dead--It's getting better!)
(My quesiton is: what happened to *Barry Allen*?)
But these nips & tucks seem to me to be little more than gimmicks, like the whole "one year later" schtick. (I'm hoping I'm wrong about that, though.) The one revamp I think is working pretty well is Dave Gibbons' Green Lantern Corps. It's not remotely in the same league as Alan Moore's brilliant 80s GLC stuff (some of which was drawn by Gibbons), but it's heading in the right direction.
All-Star Superman #4--The very definition of retro-cool. Definitely one of the best current superhero titles. Last time, it was a Super-Lois story. This time, Superman's Pal Saves The Day (TM). So much fun. (I *do* hope Morrisson gets around to addressing the moral implications of all these genetically engineered slave-like people running around, though.)
Astonishing X-Men was, well, astonishing--as usual. So good on Joss & John, who have resurrected the look and feel of the classic Claremont mid-to-late 80s period and made it their own (aka, better). Of course, it all comes down to Kitty vs. Emma, as we knew it would from the very first issue. We heart Kitty.
Ultimates 2 #11--Also very much "of the good." Scratch that: very much "of the great." The invasion of America that began a couple of issues back (executed by the team's islamo-fascist Super-soldier counterparts, backed by Loki) had me scooping my jaw up off the floor. Ditto, the executions of Hawkeye's wife and children (& the manner of his subsequent escape). This issue, they killed off Laura Bush in an attack on Air Force One, and promised GWB "hours of torture" before his own execution-by-hanging. Meanwhile, the tide is turning with the (incredibly unexpected) return of The Hulk... and the impending arrival of Odin on the scene.
Never thought I'd be such an "Avengers" fan, but I'm diggin on both this title and (to a lesser extent, on) "New Avengers," as well.
Didn't get to do more than flip through the first few pages of Neil Gaiman's long-awaited return to comics, but the artwork for The Eternals looks fantastic. There's an appealing Jack Kirby vibe here. I was never much of a JRJR fan back in the day, but the more sophisticated computer coloring process really suits his style.
Haven't had a chance to get to the others yet, but Ex Machina, New Avengers, and some others remain on top of the pile on back of my toilet.
Regular posts resume Tuesday, 6/27. Happy Pride, peeps!
In the meantime, a mini-verison of "EVill Comics." This was a massive, wicked awesome week, and I've only managed to get to a few so far.
I skimmed Flash #1... Bart Allen is now retconned into a typical 21 year old geek, focused on booze and broads, but unable to handle either. Eh... Underwhelmed. Isn't this just where Wally West was in the first issue of the last Flash series? (At least Bart didn't proceed to win the lotto.)
Seems like, with a lot of these relaunches, rather than hang the characters on new and exciting premises, DC is just looking to shove toothpaste back into the tube. They decided the whole Greek Mythology angle was played out for WW, so they've tweaked the Princess Diana into Diana Prince, Secret Agent.
Now, they've decided the Speed Force thing is played out (maybe they're right about that one), so they're trying to rein that in, as well. (It's not dead--It's getting better!)
(My quesiton is: what happened to *Barry Allen*?)
But these nips & tucks seem to me to be little more than gimmicks, like the whole "one year later" schtick. (I'm hoping I'm wrong about that, though.) The one revamp I think is working pretty well is Dave Gibbons' Green Lantern Corps. It's not remotely in the same league as Alan Moore's brilliant 80s GLC stuff (some of which was drawn by Gibbons), but it's heading in the right direction.
All-Star Superman #4--The very definition of retro-cool. Definitely one of the best current superhero titles. Last time, it was a Super-Lois story. This time, Superman's Pal Saves The Day (TM). So much fun. (I *do* hope Morrisson gets around to addressing the moral implications of all these genetically engineered slave-like people running around, though.)
Astonishing X-Men was, well, astonishing--as usual. So good on Joss & John, who have resurrected the look and feel of the classic Claremont mid-to-late 80s period and made it their own (aka, better). Of course, it all comes down to Kitty vs. Emma, as we knew it would from the very first issue. We heart Kitty.
Ultimates 2 #11--Also very much "of the good." Scratch that: very much "of the great." The invasion of America that began a couple of issues back (executed by the team's islamo-fascist Super-soldier counterparts, backed by Loki) had me scooping my jaw up off the floor. Ditto, the executions of Hawkeye's wife and children (& the manner of his subsequent escape). This issue, they killed off Laura Bush in an attack on Air Force One, and promised GWB "hours of torture" before his own execution-by-hanging. Meanwhile, the tide is turning with the (incredibly unexpected) return of The Hulk... and the impending arrival of Odin on the scene.
Never thought I'd be such an "Avengers" fan, but I'm diggin on both this title and (to a lesser extent, on) "New Avengers," as well.
Didn't get to do more than flip through the first few pages of Neil Gaiman's long-awaited return to comics, but the artwork for The Eternals looks fantastic. There's an appealing Jack Kirby vibe here. I was never much of a JRJR fan back in the day, but the more sophisticated computer coloring process really suits his style.
Haven't had a chance to get to the others yet, but Ex Machina, New Avengers, and some others remain on top of the pile on back of my toilet.
Regular posts resume Tuesday, 6/27. Happy Pride, peeps!
posted by Scott at 9:21 AM
2 Comments:
Thanks, dude. I'm hoping it will be a nice, cool day for the first time, like, ever. (It always seems to be the hottest day of the year... a fact that, I'm sure, does not go unnoticed in certain quarters. In, y'know, a fire-n-brimstone kinda way.)
is it just me, or does Astonishing X-Men feel like a movie or tv show when you read it? (And I mean that as a huge compliment. It's like they could take the comic and transfer it directly to the screen.)
Jury is still out on Wonder Woman revamp, but the artwork is first class.
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