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[May. 1st, 2008|03:52 pm] |
I'm back on the job today. Much, MUCH better frame of mind. I'm getting things done and not feeling quite so weighed down by the prospect of taking on all of this network management nuts and bolts.
And at the moment, I've got a bit of a lull, so I'm a-gonna talk about a few funny books I've been reading and what I'm liking a lot and not so much. All opinions, as usual, are mine and mine alone.
Action Comics: I'll admit, I picked this up solely because Johns was doing a big multi-part crossover between Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes. But not just the LSH, specifically a version of the LSH that maps very closely to my most loved take on the future's brightest stars. The big-ass multiparter came off quite well, I'm happy to say. Johns didn't kill anyone on screen and those he did off were either dramatically appropriate or fairly irrelevant. Plus, he made the Subs cool and useful and funny at the same time. I thought the resolution was a little bit last-minute, but the newest issue (not set in the future, but still featuring LSH business) provided a bit more of a denoument. It's all a set-up for the big Superman and the Legion of Three Worlds mini-series coming up, which I have high hopes for.
Speaking of the Legion, over in the actual mainstream Legion of Super-Heroes title, Jim Shooter is absolutely schooling people on how to write a big team superhero comic. I doubt many of the whippersnappers are paying attention, but it's a joy to behold. He's keeping multiple plots in the air, juggling over a dozen characters, and keeping things on pace. I'm amazed by how much he's cramming into each issue without it feeling bloated. He's pretty much the polar opposite of Brad "In issue #4, they STAND UP" Meltzer in this regard. The other thing I really respect about him is that, to use a golfing term, he plays it where it lies. Rather than completely wipe out the continuity Mark Waid established on the book, he's running with it and taking it in his own direction gradually. Too many of the newer generation of writers lack the patience or the imagination to do this, and I salute the old boy.
Still on the Legion, The Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century, is a damned fine read, either for younger kids (the target audience, as it's based on the Saturday morning cartoon) or adults. The most recent issue was one of the better Superman stories I've read in years, and gave us the term "Lexoskeleton 3000." That alone was worth the price of admission.
Immortal Iron Fist has been a favorite of mine since it first hit the shelves. This week saw the wrap-up of the last big plot arc the original writers are doing on the book and it ends spectacularly. Basically, take every cool martial arts trope you can think of, whether from the movies or a vidyagame and smush 'em into a Marvel Comics shaped ball. Add in a dash of 70s Blaxploitation and spread evenly between the past and present. It rocks. I'm just hoping the new writers can do it justice.
Titans Together is the worst piece of crap I've bought in ages. Judd Winick is a terribly hit or miss writer, and this one is Epic Fail. How to sum it up? Well, how about the fact that issue #1 was actually the second part of the story, having been set up in another book that is NEVER MENTIONED BY TITLE, ISSUE NUMBER, OR ANYTHING ANYWHERE IN THE BOOK? OK, maybe that's editorial incompetence, but it just sums up the train wreck that is this book. And that's not even worst of it. Gaah...avoid. Just avoid.
Green Arrow/Black Canary actually illustrates the hit and miss nature of Winick. He's writing this one as well, and while it's got some problems, it's also got a fair bit of neat stuff. The most recent issue had me laughing out loud in a couple of places and not at how awful it was. I think the basic plotline started off contrived, but it's giving us GA and BC as hard-travelin' heroes, and that's when they're at their best.
The Order: This was a surprise book for me. It's a spinoff of Marvel's atrocious Civil War, and tied directly into the events that fell out of it. And yet, it was a pretty cool little book, thanks to Matt Fraction's writing and Barry Kitson's art. I mean, any comic book that includes the line, "Oh my god, y'alls, I'm totally fighting a bear!" wins major points from me just on general principle. However, the book didn't sell well and issue #10 was the last. Honestly, it went out on a really sour note, not at all what I would have expected, and not in a good way. It's setting up Fraction's next book, which I'll probably buy on the principle that he's pretty entertaining, but I wasn't entirely happy with it.
Uncanny X-Men: This is a very recent (as in yesterday) acquisition. In the past few years, I followed Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men religiously, and Morrison's New X-Men was glorious. I read Ultimate X-Men until it became "Ultimate Retread" (I mean seriously, Cable? CABLE? Why?), but I probably hadn't picked up an honest-to-god issue of the original Uncanny in over a decade. Maybe two. But I'd heard some decent buzz about it, so I picked up the three most recent issues. And you know what? It's pretty good stuff. Certainly as good as the good parts of Astonishing, though I gathered from reading these that something Bad has happened to Ms Katherine Pryde, much to my consternation if it's true. Given that she was last seen by me in an unresolved death trap in Astonishing, I'm now worried she's run up against the Curse of Whedon.
JSA: I think from here on out, I'm going to buy JSA each month, and set it aside until I have five or six issues accumulated, then read them all at once. Because I inevitably enjoy the book more when I do that.
Justice League of America: After a lengthy and needless Salvation Run crossover, Dwayne McDuffie is back to scripting the A plots. He's another anti-Meltzer in every possible good way. The most recent issue was really a Flash story, but it's a Flash story they probably couldn't do in the context of his regular book. Plus, it had Queen Bee in it.
Wonder Woman: Gotta get my dose of Gail Simone wherever I can find it. She's the best writer for the book I've seen in ages. She even managed to make a "Wonder Woman gets captured by aliens" story work.
As soon as I post this, I'll remember more, but that's enough for now. |
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