Comic book reviews for the week of December 1st in six sentences (or less)

A very light week here at Six Sentences or Less HQ. Even more so when you consider my LCS didn’t have SUPERGOD #5. So, with a mere two comics to review this week I promise you that the whole process will be relatively painless (and brief).

Best of the Week

Action Comics Annual #13 (aka the continuing Adventures of Lex Luthor when he was a young man)

Building on Paul Cornell’s fantastic run on the life and times of Lex Luthor, this issue deals with some of Lex’s earlier run-ins with some of the DCU’s shadier muckity mucks. (Psst, you can tell Lex is young because he’s got hair!) Divided into two separate stories, each tale is designed to inform and explore the circumstances that helped make Lex the kind of person that he is today. The front half of the book deals with Lex’s first run in with Darkseid, who tricks Lex into coming to Apokolips in order to create new weapons for him. The second half of the book shows Lex under the tutelage of Ra’s Al Ghul and how Lex threw away an opportunity to become his successor because he was unable to control his own curiosity. Together these two stories remind me a lot of the Batman mythos. Substituting Lex as a stand-in for Bruce, he travels the world learning his craft and developing the skills and mentality necessary to rise to the top of his chosen ‘profession’.

Frankly, I have to ask, what’s the point of even reviewing this title anymore? It’s become some bizarre version of mad libs where every week I look for a new way to say awesome. (Fun fact: if you’re looking for a better adjective than ‘awesome’, I suggest you give up now.) What I love about this comic is how it allows Lex Luthor to grow into a person in how own right, without continually trying to define him only by his opposition to Superman. He’s still ruthless and amoral but now readers get a deeper understanding about why that is instead of just chalking the whole thing up to ‘he’s evil ‘cause he’s got no hair’. Finally we get to see a little of the nurture argument instead of putting all the responsibility in the hands of nature.

Brightest Day #15

In this issue of BD J’onn J’onzz breaks free of the mental manipulation of his fellow Green Martian, D’kay D’razz. The story is nothing new, it’s a variation on the classic Alan Moore story, ‘For the Man Who has Everything.’ J’onzz mistakenly believes that his family and the Martian people have been brought back to life by the mysterious White Lantern energy. However, his subconscious starts to bleed through the fantasy revealing the painful and disturbing truth that lies beneath.

This title started off as an anthology of sorts, devoting a couple pages per issue to following half a dozen storylines involving characters brought back to life in the pages of BLACKEST NIGHT. Inspired by the success of some of DC’s weekly format series, like 52, the end results were a mixed bag of different artists backed by the same writing team. Thankfully the series seems to have found its own voice, focusing only on one character’s storyline per issue, drastically improving the flow and structure of the title and allowing great artists, like, oh say, Patrick Gleason to really shine. It’s a great opportunity to shine the spotlight on some of the DCU’s B-Listers, giving the characters a chance to succeed on their own merits, while tying the disparate storylines together under the BRIGHTEST DAY banner. This title has gone from a middle of the road read to one of the strongest, most consistent serial superhero ballads out there.

Comic book reviews for the week of November 24th in six sentences (or less)

Best of the Week

Walking Dead #79
Maybe this is the Best of the Week because I’m still riding the high I get from watching this series come to life on my television. Whatever the reason, it was the first thing I popped open when I got back from Ye Olde LCS and I don’t regret it for a second. In this issue the community is still putting trying to put their lives back together after a pathetically failed invasion attempt by another group of survivors. The gunplay from the run-in has attracted a herd of zombies who, unbeknownst to the group, are slowly converging on the neighbourhood. Robert Kirkman mixes up the normally mono-track story telling with a little split screen parallel plotting. It’s a nice change of pace and not normally something we see in this book. Charlie Adlard continues to kill when it comes to pencils. And that’s all she wrote.

Action Comics #895
The first of two entries for writer Paul Cornell this week. Vandal Savage has built an entire city overtop of two Black Lantern energy remnants from THE BLACKEST NIGHT in order to protect them from Lex Luthor. Of course, being Vandal Savage, he has the opportunity to do this hundreds of years before Lex is born and before he knows who he even is. This title continues to be an interesting character examination of one of DC’s premiere super-villains. The character is Lex hardly two dimensional, but after decades of stories on the man I thought there were very few takes on him that hadn’t been previously explored. I’m really enjoying Cornell’s exploration of Lex. He’s muted some of Lex’s cartoony, traditional Super-foil aspects and instead given depth and nuance to a character who is usually immune to both.

Batman and Robin #17
Say what you will about Scott McDaniel, but the guy manages to draw a dynamic, energetic story on a deadline and he makes it look good. I’m convinced that McDaniel doesn’t get the respect he deserves and too often he seems to be the go-to fill artist whenever DC needs to turn something around quickly. Paul Cornell takes the opportunity to do a little world building in the lives of Dick-bats and Robin, putting them on their first proper case unrelated to the events of RIP, FINAL CRISIS and THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE. In this story Dick and Damien are tasked with solving the murder of a casual ex-girlfriend of Bruce. While tracking the killer, why seems to suffer from a very Batman villain like compulsion to leave revealing clues, they stumble across a wedding gone horribly awry. It’s a fun, light read and a good counterpoint to the perpetual Bats-event comic we’ve all been reading for the past 5 years.

Batman: Odyssey #5
Another inscrutable Neal Adams Batman story. At the behest of Deadman Batman begins to investigate sinister goings on at Arkham Asylum. And that’s the best that I can do at crafting a one sentence summary for this title.

I’m still not convinced that there weren’t pages missing from this comic. Seriously, a reader shouldn’t have to work this hard to follow the basic narrative of this story. I had to reread several section of this issue and I’m not 100% sure I know what going on. The storytelling is sloppy and unfocused. And the art, while pretty, sometimes fails to illustrate crucial aspects of what’s happening in a scene. There was one section involving a conversation between Batman and a Deadman-possessed Joker that still has me scratching my head. When your artist and your writer are the same person there’s no excuse for crafting a tale this impenetrable.

Green Arrow #6
There’s something happening in this title that I can’t recall ever happening in a modern Green Arrow story, world building. I’m not just talking about creating new characters and fleshing out someone’s stable of villains. I’m talking about simple things, like creating easily defined visual geographic landmarks, like the unoriginally named Sherwood Forest or the iconic Queen Industries office tower (which is treated by the inhabitants of Star City like its been around YEARS, but I’ve sure as shit never seen it before). Even something simple like giving a GA a typical superhero symbol, a stylized ‘G’ belt buckle in the shape of an arrowhead. It’s all superhero world building 101 and some of DC’s most prominent characters have used it to great effect, sporting landscapes that are nearly as recognizable as they are. More importantly, GA has never, if ever, had these tools in his arsenal. Green is not a trademark, it’s a colour scheme and while it may help to inform his identity visually it lacks the simplistic touchstones we as audience need when identifying the good guys.

They only problem is that seminal characters like Superman and Batman have had years to build up these trademarks. Green Arrow titles seem to get re-booted on a semi-annual basis and each new direction is perpendicular to the one that preceded it.

Ultimate Spider-man #150
With this issue Spider-man goes back to his new/old title and numbering. It’s a fairly standard anniversary style issue, complete with the requisite new direction for the character that is often touted during these kinds of milestones. Various characters ruminate on their first meeting with Spider-man and reflect on his nature and character. Peter reflects on the true nature of what it means to be a hero. It’s all pretty standard stuff, but it’s well done so I’m not going to complain. It was nice to see a couple pages from Mark Bagley in this issue, especially considering I thought he was still exclusive to DC. For the longest time Bags take on Ultimate Spidey was so synonymous with the character it was hard to imagine anyone else drawing him and I thought it was really classy of DC to let him do these pages. (If in fact he’s still exclusive)

I’m also not going to get into the changes the Ultimate Universe has been through lately. I’ve seen that analysed in greater depth and with more intelligence then I can offer. Bottom line, in recent years the bloom has definitely come off the rose. The Ultimate line used to be synonymous with fresh takes on classic Marvel characters, unencumbered by the stifling shackles of continuity. Only after ten years it’s inevitable that the Ultimate Universe’s own continuity and publishing mis-steps have robbed the imprint of a lot of its vitality. Only Spider-man seems to have bucked this trend. Given the drop off in numbers for the Ultimate titles I have to wonder how long Marvel will choose to keep this imprint going. I think, if anything, the Ultimate Universe was a victim of its own success, with its greatest ideas and triumphs co-opted by the regular Marvel 616. Either way, whatever its fate, it was an interesting undertaking and one that I think helped revitalize the Marvel U.

Comic book reviews for the week of October 27th in six sentences (or less)

Best of the week

Hellblazer: City of Demons #2

If you’ve read one Hellblazer comic, you’ve read them all. The ‘blazer genre tropes are pretty well worn by this time; so writer Si Spencer just embraces what’s great about the character and rolls with it. As I mentioned when I reviewed the first issue I don’t get why this is being spun out into a mini but artist Sean Murphy’s work is so great that I couldn’t care less. Anyway, Constantine seems to have been possessed by a demon (or demons) and he can pass along this possession like an infection to anyone he meets. Of course normal people don’t deal with being infected by a demon very well and they tend to do lots of horrific and bloody things. I’m enjoying the hell out of the series so far, no pun intended, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me.

Actions Comics #894

In this issue Lex Luthor continues on his quest to seek the truth behind the black power rings from the Blackest Night event. Only Lex’s journey has been put briefly on hold while he comes to grips with the fact that he is, y’know, dead. Death, making a rare cameo outside of Neil Gaiman’s ever popular Sandman series, shows up to wheel, deal and help Lex accept his sudden change in status. This is a fantastic issue. In Paul Cornell’s hands Lex Luthor is still the same ruthless, irredeemable villain he’s always been, only now for some reason he’s a lot more interesting. Cornell manages to explore some of the seldom seen aspects of Luthor’s personality without invalidating who the character is at this core. And it’s always great to see that Gaiman’s Sandman characters continue to play a role in the DCU. If I thought there was any hope in hell Neil would come back to the characters I’d love to see this issue as a trial balloon to gauge reader interest in the franchise.

Avengers #6

Avengers vs. Ultron vs. Future Avengers vs. Kang. There can be only one. Bendis’s first story arc on the reincorporated AVENGERS comes to a close. And with all things time travel related it was a great opportunity for the writer to drop some hints about future story arcs. I don’t have too much to quibble with here. The art was pretty and the story and dialogue were engaging. That being said, I’m dropping the title. I’ve always been a DC guy at heart and on top of that my budget can’t really float another 3.99 ongoing. But it was fun while it lasted and I have no issue pointing prospective readers towards the book if they’re looking for a good read.

Gravel #21

Wait, is this series over? Because this issue reads suspiciously like a series finale. Being an Avatar release there are always about a hundred pictures in the back of the book, detailing the many variant covers of the company’s upcoming releases. And unfortunately I can’t see a solicitation for issue #22 anywhere. Given that series creator Warren Ellis is supposedly penning a live screen adaption of GRAVEL I find the timing of the title’s cancellation extremely unfortunate. Or perhaps it was always meant to wrap up in this way. Anyway, in this ish Gravel throws down with Bible Jack for control of London’s magic. There’s some magic, some gore, a little of the old ultra-violence and a bit of swearing. Happy Halloween!

Green Arrow #5

Green Arrow fights off an uprising of Blackest Night style super zombies while trying to save the life of an innocent bystander who was injured by the assassin Nix. Typing sentences like that reminds me why I can’t interest my wife in comics. Especially if I were to mention that GA beats the zombies by shooting them with slivers of wood from the God Tree. I enjoy how titles with the Brightest Day banner on them are still touching on Blackest Night plot points six issues later. Too often Big Two events are really just an excuse to mix up the status quo. Once the new status has been achieved the big events are quickly forgotten. I suppose that in the pursuit of new readers this reset button is a necessary evil. But I prefer to think of continuity as a boon and not a hindrance.

Superman #704

If there were a section for most irrelevant comic of the week, you’d be looking at it. DC apparently needed to plug some material into their Superman publishing schedule in order to cover for writer JMS’s ongoing illness. What the reader gets is an unnecessary fill-in issue with Lois reminiscing about the road untaken. Or at least, that was probably the intention. Instead it feels more like 22 pages of Lois whining and complaining about being stuck in Superman’s shadow, which is at completely at odds with her character. The art is flat, feels strangely unfinished and every so often the artist, Leandro Oliveira, throws in a canted angle that sticks out from the page like a chorus line of nuns doing the can-can. If you read just one Superman title this week, well, I hope it isn’t this one.

Ultimate Avengers 3 #3

Mark Millar. Blade. Ultimate Universe. Vampires. Mix liberally and apply to the infected area twice daily. Add a healthy dollop of Steve Dillon and enjoy.

Ultimate Comics Mystery #4

I forgot to pick up this issue. What can I say, it was a heavy week and it slipped through the cracks.

Ultimate Comics Spider-man #15

Only one more issue to go before this title goes back to it’s new, old number. Wait, did I say that right? Anyway, in this issue Peter Parker is attempting to regroup and pick up the pieces of his life after almost dying at the hands of the Chameleon Twins. His relationships with MJ and Gwen are falling apart. And even though he’s be lauded as a hero by the Daily Planet, somehow fighting crime seems to have lost its appeal. This is the first real pause for reflection this title has taken since it was rebooted fifteen issues ago. This is Bendis at his best, portraying complicated, nuanced character relationships with depth and feeling. Unlike so many other heroes in the spandex set, what makes Spider-man one of the greats is how he deals with his life when the mask comes off. Bendis has done a great job here reminding us of the timeless nature of the character.

As an aside, Marvel needs to pack in those absolutely terrible Spider-man\Mazda ads on the back over. I'm all for companies making a buck with cross promotions. I just don't think the serious car buyer is going to be won over by an ad on the back of his or her funny book.

Wonder Woman #604

This is how we do it! Unlike his work on SUPERMAN I’m enjoying JMS’s turn on WONDER WOMAN much more. I suspect a lot of that has to do with the fact that essentially Straczynski has been given a clean slate to play with the character. What you’re looking at when you pick up this book is the Ultimitized version of the character and, in my opinion, its really starting to come together. There are just enough familiar elements here to be comfortable to returning readers, but the take is fresh and new enough that new readers don’t feel hemmed in by decades of stifling continuity. In this issue, Wondie throws down with Ultimate Steve Trevor who, without Diana’s influence, has become a horrifically scarred mercenary for hire responsible for the deaths of all the Amazons.

Comic book reviews for the week of September 29th

A light week this time out, as I make good on my promise to keep my comic purchasing habits under control. So without further ado…

Best of the week

Action Comics #893

Like your Superman based comics to actually have Superman in them? Well then you’re in the minority chumly, because for the past two years the Man of Steel has been MIA in his own flagship title. These days ACTION COMICS is the stomping grounds for Lex Luthor and his quest to locate the power source of the Black Lantern Rings, after his own ring based adventures in Blackest Night. This month, Paul Cornell and Sean Chen continue Luthor’s adventures amongst the Who’s Who of the DCU’s A-List baddies by engineering a confrontation with Gorilla Grodd (kneel before Grodd!!!). And don’t forget the backup starring perennial afterthought Jimmy Olsen and newly discovered afterthought Chloe Sullivan.

Green Arrow #4
I think that the character of Green Arrow has all the strengths of Batman, with none of the weaknesses that come from being that same wildly popular character, with multiple ongoing titles and a 70 year publishing history. In the larger DCU pantheon of heroes Green Arrow is a relatively untapped resource that is all too often overlooked. Unfortunately, in DC’s attempt to give him relevance and meaning they had to set fire to his marriage, morals, back story and supporting cast. All so they could pigeonhole him into mirroring a modern day Robin Hood mythos. The whole concept is uninspired and a little too ‘on the nose’ for my taste, even if the story is adequately handled.

Wonder Woman #603

My plan was to pick up this title only for its first arc under J. Michael Straczynski. The writing is perfectly serviceable and the story line is interesting, but I’ve never been interested enough in the character to follow her adventures on an ongoing basis. Unfortunately, while turning out an enjoyable script, JMS hasn’t done anything this month to make me change my mind about that. Interesting and enjoyable just aren’t enough to counter the paralyzing lack of interest I’ve built up around this character. I appreciate what JMS is trying to do, by playing around with one of DC’s golden calfs and seeing if he can’t alter her frozen status quo, just a bit. Anyway, this month WW continues to learn about her new role as protector of the Amazonian remnants in man’s world.