Comic book reviews for the week of February 16th in six sentences (or less)

Brightest Day #20
Writer: Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller: Ivan Reis & Joe Prado

The Aquawar continues. Aquaman, Mera, Aquagirl and Aquaboy (Aqua, Aqua, Aqua!) fight off Black Manta and the rebellious soldiers from the kingdom of Xebel, who are intent on conquering the surface world. The Aqua Squad manages to reimprison the Xebelian soldiers back inside the Bermuda triangle before White Lantern Deadman shows up to kill Aquaman.

Only in comic books does that last sentence make sense.

I’m still not 100% sure where Johns and co are going with this thing. Clearly the White Lantern energy functions as a bit of a deus ex machina allowing the writers to kill, torture and maim characters with little or no lasting repercussions. A little wave of the magic wishing ring and the characters can be resurrected in any incarnation that DC wants to use. Its an interesting premise but it also cheapens the story since all of the major character changes (breaking the
Hawk curse, Aquaman losing his hand...again) can arbitrarily be undone at any time.

Still enjoying the series and I think its one of the stronger titles DC is putting out these days. Its a shame that it’s wrapping up so soon.

Green Lantern
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Doug Mahnke

Green Lantern and the original renegade Guardian, Krona, face off. Even with the help of the rest of the Rainbow Corps the Lanterns are easily overpowered and Krona makes his escape. Hal wakes up surrounded by the Justice League who try to convince him to accept their help in catching Krona. Only Hal ditches the Leaguers and decides to go after Krona with the rest of Team Lite Brite instead.

Looks like this is the last issue before the next John-sian Green Lantern event, War of the Green Lanterns. It seems like Johns is starting to tread on KNIGHTSFALL territory here. With each escalating conflict Hal is slowly being pushed to the limits of his endurance, mentally and physically. And of course we all know what happened the LAST time Hal went down this path.

All together now, “Parallaxxxxxxx”.

Also, I’d like to give an obligatory shout out to Doug Mahnke. The man knows how to draw. His wonderfully detailed and expressive work is always a treat to look at. Colourist Randy Mayor also deserves credit. With Green Lantern being a comic based primarily on bright and shiny colour based powers a skilled colourist is key to bringing the whole look of the book together. And with this issue Mayor does a great job of seamlessly blending the entire gamut of the rainbow during the larger fight scenes.

Green Lantern Corps #57
Writer: Tony Bedard
Penciller: Tyler Kirkham

The conclusion to the Weaponer storyline. The Sinestro Corps and the Qwardian Thunderers throw down in the anti-matter universe. Amongst the fighting a small band of Green Lanterns work to rescue the Lantern Soranik Natu from the hands of the vengeful Weaponer. Unfortunately, Natu just happens to be Sinestro’s daughter and he wants her back.

There were some good things in this issue. The art was solid, the story well written and there was an interesting character turn with the main villain that I didn’t see coming. One strange thing, all the Qwardian Thunderers are written like the chorus in an ancient Greek tragedy. It was a bit off. I kept expecting to see someone get ritually disembowelled or sleep with his mother (oh Oedipus Rex).

This also marks my last issue of GL:Corps. The series has fallen off a bit since Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason helmed the title. Tony Bedard and Tyler Kirkham are perfectly serviceable, but regrettably neither one of them has been able to hold my flagging interest in this series. I only have so many Green Lantern dollars to throw and this is the title that was sacrificed.

Wonder Woman #607
Writer: Phil Hester
Penciller: Don Kramer

Wonder Woman is harried by the forces of Morrigan, looking to recruit her as a third aspect of the God of War. The Morrigan sends mythological Grecian beings and brainwashed Amazons after Diana in order to wear down her defences in the hopes of corrupting her.

I have to say, I started reading this series only to sneak a peek at Wonder Woman’s new costume and narrative direction. Eight issues later I find myself enjoying this title a lot more than I thought I would. Shallow or not I was always a little put off by Wonder Woman’s crime fighting attire. Her propensity to slug it out in a star spangled bathing suit always struck me as being at odds with her character as a warrior and ambassador to man’s world. And Phil Hester as a writer? I’m diggin it. I’ve always counted the man among some of my favourite artists so its nice to see he’s got some writing chops as well.

Sadly, its fairly obvious that this new direction won’t last very long. Her Amazonian support crew is already being permanently dispatched with clockwork regularity and there’s a lot of narrative foreshadowing (or flashbacks, depending on how you look at it) to her previous incarnation. It seems a shame that DC is unwilling to try playing with this new status quo a little longer. If we can muck around with the fundamentals of Batman, a character who’s popularity seems to buoy the entire company, then why can’t we take a risk and see what can be done with this new look Wonder Woman?

Comic book reviews for the week of January 5th in six sentences (or less)

STEEL #1
When I first started hearing the rumblings that Steel was going to be killed in this one shot that kicks off the Reign of Doomsday crossover I was pissed. I started mentally preparing the diatribe that I was going to write, castrating DC for killing off one of its most criminally underused characters. Thankfully it seems the whole “Steel dies” rumour can be blown off as rampant Internet speculation as it doesn’t look like the company has decided to go that route after all.

Anyway, in this issue Steel and Doomsday square off against each other in downtown Metropolis, mirroring the epic battle that killed Superman years earlier. The story is intercut with snippets of backstory from Doomsday’s first rampage through Metropolis, describing how Steel temporarily stepped in for Superman after he died.

Essentially the whole story is one giant fight scene. Penciller Ed Benes does passable work on the art, but neglects to actually draw the background in a good 70% of his panels. And unfortunately, from a narrative perspective, the whole story is a bit of a hot mess. I’m not familiar with the work of writer Steve Lyons but it seems like he forgot the most important part of any story, an inciting incident. There’s no explanation about where Doomsday came from or how he ended up in Metropolis. In fact there’s no lead up or lead in to the story at all which is really disappointing. Rather Doomsday is just...there...and if you think about it for too long you’ll come to realize how poorly this thing is written.

Steel and Doomsday are both characters who’ve had a difficult time establishing a stable ongoing presence in the DCU. Steel managed to hold down an ongoing series of his own for a few years after Superman’s return. Since then he’s chaired a spot in Grant Morrison’s JLA and returned as a partner of sorts in the Super-books in the early Noughties. But he’s never really managed to make it past supporting character status. Which is unfortunate because the character has amazing untapped potential, he’s tangentially tied into the Superman legacy, he provides much needed diversity in a comic book universe that seems to be getting whiter all the time and he has a rich and varied backstory just waiting for a good writer to come along and do something with it. Instead Steel has been reduced to playing the part of the occasional superhero or brainy sidekick type.

Doomsday is even less relevant. With a character about as deep as a sheet of paper and the powerset of Superman on steroids his only real worth has been his shock value, occasionally popping up in the Super-books before summarily being dispatched into some kind of literary limbo. There has been the occasional attempt to revamp his character into something a little less powerful and a little more intelligent in order to allow him to take on the role of a recurring villain. But nothing ever sticks and time and again Doomsday always reveals himself to be the one note character he was created to be.

So. Right now, my first impression of the Reign of Doomsday storyline is that it reads like a lazy attempt to interject some badly needed adrenaline into the Superman franchise by taking out one of its B-listers. Sadly, the Super-books have fallen into a black hole as of late after the War of the Superman\New Krypton storyline ended. It didn’t help that Superman has been plucked out of the pages of JLA, banished from ACTION COMICS, his own flagship title, and sent on a mind numbingly dull ‘walk across America’ by uber-writer J. Michael Stracynski. (A story so boring that even the author couldn’t be bothered to finish it before abandoning the title in favour of something else) So don’t be surprised if Supes decides to give up heel-and-toeing it across the Mid West for awhile in order to come back to Metropolis and avenge his friend. Clearly the thinking around the editorial conference table seems to be the about the need to raise Superman’s presence in the DCU and what better way to do so than by bringing back (again) the bad guy who killed him the first time. Whether or not there’s more to this crossover than a cheap attempt to goose sales figures and jolt the Super-books out of their creative complacency I couldn’t say. But with Steel #1 they definitely haven’t gotten off on the right foot.

I also read some other stuff this week...

BRIGHTEST DAY #17
A glaring typo on the first page. Apparently I’m anal retentive enough that when I find a typo that early on in a book I’ll scour the rest of the pages for similar oversights. Also, it’d be a crying shame if they kill Boston Brand after this series wraps up and return him to his status quo. Don’t you think he’d be really interesting addition to one of DC’s team books? I do.

STARMAN\CONGORILLA #1
I appreciate James Robinson’s efforts to mine the darker corners of the DCU in a quixotic attempt to reclaim some its lesser known characters. However, I am frequently stymied from enjoying the fruits of his labours by getting hung up on his dialogue ticks. I’m all for making comic character’s speech sound more natural and realistic, but I don’t know anyone, real or imaginary, who talks like these people do. And there is a LOT of expositionary dialogue here.

ULTIMATE COMICS: CAPTAIN AMERICA
Steve Rogers is a stone cold dick. And that’s not a bad thing.

THE WALKING DEAD #80
Great as always. You did watch the television show right?

Comic book reviews for the week of December 15th in six sentences (or less)

Best of the Week

Green Lantern #60

In contrast to last issue’s talky-talky vibe writer Geoff Johns has come back with a heavy fighty-fighty one. The mysterious bandaged figure, who’s been kidnapping the various colour spectrum entities, turns out to be Krona. And, as near as I can remember, the last time we saw Krona was in the pages of TRINITY where he was forced back into the Cosmic Egg from JLA\Avengers. There’s no explanation offered for his return, or why he‘s interested in the spectrum entities. So expect a Johns-style continuity patch in the next issue or so.

GREEN LANTERN often straddles the line between ludicrous and awesomeness, but the more I read it the more I’m convinced I’m privy to an institutionally sanctioned fan-fic adventure. It always seems like Johns is trying to create fantasy versions of established characters. “What if Batman was in the Sinestro Corp?” or “What if the Flash was taken over by Parallax?” If I’m being pessimistic I’d say its a cheap way to create new action figures based on a couple panels of story.

With Johns and artist Doug Mahnke continuing to rock out this title every month, GREEN LANTERN is easily one of the most consistent titles put out by DC. With a GL movie hitting the screens in 2011, anyone with a casual interest in the franchise should be looking to pick up this title to get a feel for the character and his extended universe.

Batman and Robin #18

Featuring the origins of Batman’s (and Bruce Wayne’s) newest enemy, The Absence. This issue is mostly explanatory back story. The Absence is born when rich socialite Una Nemo is shot in the head and dumped into the Gotham River. Through a combination of river pollution (really, are we still using pollution as a viable method of creating villains?) and Dandy Walker Syndrome, which are fluid filled spaces in the human brain, Nemo survives her experience to become The Absence. Scarred and traumatized as a result of her near death experience Nemo develops an obsession with capturing the attention of Bruce Wayne with whom she had a brief romantic fling before she was shot.

Paul Cornell serves up a perfectly serviceable, if a bit slow, origin story. And if wasn’t for the fact that DC put two artists on this thing in order to push this issue out in time I think we’d be looking at a better than average Bat-issue. But, in reality, the whole thing feels a bit rushed and I’ve come to expect something more than ‘perfectly serviceable’ from the writer of ACTION COMICS and KNIGHT AND SQUIRE. Better luck next time.

Brightest Day #16

Hey, it’s the untold origin of Aqualad y’all. Turns out he’s the son of Black Manta and an Atlantean prisoner from the inaccessible undersea prison colony of Xebel. (Don’t you just love comics?) Ivan Reis draws pretty pictures and writers Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi do a good job in creating an intriguing backstory for Aqualad. Interspersed throughout are brief snippets of the Firestorm plot, which is a shame because the Firestorm story is the weakest ongoing in BRIGHTEST DAY. Barring that unfortunate misstep this series is a great example of what bi-weekly storytelling can do when you put top drawer talent behind the wheel.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #5

Guy Gardner and co. continue their exploration of the unknown sector when they’re waylaid by a squadron of rogue green lanterns who seem to think our heroes are Sinestro Corps soldiers. Of course that means we’re about to be treated to some lantern on lantern violence and writer Peter J. Tomasi succeeds in delivering the goods. Artist Fernando Pasarin continues to rock this title as well displaying an incredible range of action. From shoot em up battle segments to lower key emotional interactions Pasarin manages to capture the nuances of each scene perfectly.

A couple points to quibble with. Looks like there’s some broken telephone at play amongst the GL titles. First of all, over in GREEN LANTERN #60, we’re told that its been six weeks since the events of BLACKEST NIGHT, but EMERALD WARRIORS states that the events within its pages are taking place almost twice that amount of time later. Furthermore, in GL #60, Sinestro goes running when he’s told that his daughter’s life is in danger. This is a direct contradiction to what’s happening in GREEN LANTERN CORPS where Kyle Rayner pleaded unsuccessfully with Sinestro for help using the exact same argument.

When you try to run three separate titles in the same shared story space these kinds of things are going to happen. It’s minor irritant but it says something to the level of quality of the story telling when I’m reduced to complaining about these kind of minutiae.

Superman #706

So, with the departure of uber-writer it JMS it turns out that last month’s fill-in issue wasn’t really a fill in after all, but a declaration of the new status quo. Picking up the reins of the title are writer G.Willow Wilson and artist Amilcar Pinna. Sadly, the results are fairly uninspiring. This issue takes us away from the Grounded storyline to check in with Perry White and the staff of the Daily Planet. Apparently without Superman stories to print the planet has fallen on hard times and has come under attack from a local journo-blog. This issue grates on my nerves. A financially strapped Daily Planet is clichéd Superman plot line #42. I can’t begin to count the number of times this hackneyed story has been trotted out.

I’m convinced that Willow hasn’t actually checked in with a major print publication in the last ten years. He tries to portray the Planet like an out of touch dinosaur, unable to keep up with the changes in technology. Perry White doesn’t know what a blog is, he doesn’t know how it works and he sure as hell doesn’t want one near his newspaper. In reality, newspapers today have been forced to embrace new media a long time ago, employing bloggers and a vibrant web presence in order to retain readers. When a writer clearly doesn’t understand what it is he’s talking about it destroys any interest I have in the story, especially when he uses it as central plank of the whole story.

Oh, and one more thing. Perry White doesn’t smoke. He developed cancer a few years ago, almost died and he f@cking gave up cigars as a result. Do me a favour and stop trying to put a cigar back in his mouth, because when you do that what you’re telling me is that cancer scare was pointless.

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 3rd in six sentences (or less)

Presenting Greater Toronto’s most unbalanced comic reviews. Absurdly light haul today which means I should be done this review in time to catch MODERN FAMILY (fingers crossed).

BEST OF THE WEEK

Batman and Robin #16

Bruce is back baby. Even though he has yet to technically return, due to the delayed shipping of RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #6, this issue marks the official appearance of Bruce back in the 21st century. And, of course, the first thing he does is start putting his house in order again, mostly by driving his first through other people’s soft palettes. Look, if you’re coming late to the whole Grant Morrison meta-epic, do yourself a favour and catch up on annotations from previous issues. It is the only way that you’ll have even the foggiest idea of what is going on. Honestly, this is not the kind of series that you pick up halfway through. Yer either a reader right from the start, or you're not reading it at all.

This is a fun issue, which is suprising given some of the subject matter, and I’m happy to see Morrison working with some of his strongest creative partners, including Cameron Stewart and Frazer Irving. Although, seeing a Frank Quitely cover on the front of this title every month just makes me wish he was doing the interiors as well. Anyway, it looks like Morrison is stealing a page from his stint on NEW X-MEN and taking the Batman franchise public. I’m looking forward to the new direction.

Brightest Day #13

Featuring the adventures of Hawkman and Hawkwoman...in SPAAAAAAACE! You know, its kind of disappointing how quickly Carter was able to forget about Kendra after she was killed during BLACKEST NIGHT and replaced with the classic Hawkwoman, Shiera. I guess the lesson here is that Hawkman will always love his Hawk-partner as long as he doesn’t have to work very hard to win her affection. Or maybe the lesson is the Geoff Johns will continue to tinker with these characters and their origin story until he has it just right. Anyway, in this issue Hawkman fights the Manhawks of Hawkworld (say that ten times fast) in order to get save Hawkgirl. There’s also a little bit of pointless exposition thrown in to break up the fight scenes and some obligatory pontificating by the resident baddie.

BRIGHTEST DAY, still not COUNTDOWN and that’s all we care about.

Invincible #75

Invincible and the Coalition of Planets task force take the battle to the Viltrumite’s home planet in the final apocalyptic battle of the Viltrumite War. Once upon a time INVINCIBLE was a fun and cheerful four colour comic that occasionally strayed into gory depictions of how a real superhero battle might go down. As a reader, the rarity of the violence only helped to increase its effectiveness. Nowadays it feels like the title border on torture porn with the creative ways Ryan Ottley disembowels, dismembers and otherwise rends characters limb from limb. Speaking of Ottley, he is the number one reason why you should pick up the title this week. The man has been unleashed on the pages within, turning out breathtaking (and horrific) splash pages that are inspiring in their scope and detail. The cover price was unnecessarily steep and I could have easily done without someone of the backup material if it meant dropping the cost a little. But otherwise, a fitting milestone for a title that continues to entertain.

Comic book reviews for the week of October 20th in six sentences (or less)

Apparently its Love your artists week here at Iceberg Ink. Because, with one notable exception, I’ve been raving enthusiastically about every artist to put pencil to paper this week. They’re just that friggin’ good.

Best of the Week

Walking Dead #78

You know what makes this series so great? The fact that its an ongoing tale of the zombie apocalypse and the zombies are probably the least interesting thing about the story. Seriously, the characters, the pacing, the dialogue all mesh seamlessly with the art to create a near flawless experience. The story is fresh, interesting and month in and month out it’s always at the top of my pull list. In this issue a shootout at the compound draws the attention of a herd of nearby zombies, neatly setting up a story arc that writer Robert Kirkman has been building too since Rick and the gang escaped from the prison complex. If you haven’t seen it already, be sure to check out the premiere of the WALKING DEAD television series next Sunday. My only complaint is that I’ve read the comic so many times that there won’t be (m)any surprises for me. But I’m looking forward to seeing what Frank Darabont does with the source material.

Batman and Robin #15

Sniff. Grant Morrison’s ultimate Batman story is almost over. If you haven’t picked up a Morrison bat-title in the last few years, well, you’d better save yourself some time and skip to the next review; because there’s nothing for you here. Dick gets shot in the back of the head, Damien teams up with the Joker, an ancient Wayne ancestor is masquerading as Bruce Wayne’s deceased father and BW himself shows back up again after traveling thousands of years through time. Throw in some beautiful looking Frazer Irving art and you’ve got a damn good reason to read comic books.

Brightest Day #12

A Martian Manhunter-centric issue with just a dash of Firestorm thrown in for seasoning. J’onn J’onzz is one of those character who I don’t know all that well. I know his basic backstory and I’m familiar with his personality traits from his time on the JLA. But for a guy who’s managed to float his own ongoing series on a couple of occasions I know hardly anything about his past. Which is why an issue like this is a helpful info dump and provides some useful character context. Apparently D’Kay, our mystery Green Martian (yes, another one,) is an unscrupulous scientist who undertook immoral experiments on her own people and then tried to purge any who’s thoughts couldn’t be read by telepathy. It’s a good, solid issue with some gorgeous art by Patrick Gleason. Bonus points though to any reader with the eagle eyes who can spot the art slip up on page 7.

DC Universe: Legacies

It’s like reading a Wikipedia entry on comic book plots you already know. Years worth of stories condensed into 22 pages, only with really pretty pictures. Kudos to Len Wein for trying to keep it interesting by framing the whole thing through the eyes of an ordinary man. But that’s a trope that’s been overused in comics for years. Unfortunately the story doesn’t really add anything new to the DCU, then again, it was never meant to. The backup story, featuring the umpteenth retelling of Clark’s first visit by the Legion, is good for a chuckle though.

Green Lantern Corps #53

Chapter One of the new story arc, The Weaponer. One of Sinestro’s former Qwardian allies comes to Korugar, which looks suspiciously like Earth, in search of the former Green Lantern’s daughter. The Weaponer plans to take his revenge through Sora for some crime that never seems to be explained. Unable to find her, he decides to throw down with Kyle Raynerin an obligatory fight scene. This was a fair issue although it certainly had its low points. The artist, Tyler Kirkham, chose to portray the clothing and architecture of an alien world an awful lot like Earth, right down to the baseball caps and hoodies. Kyle spends a lot of time boasting about his credentials as a galactic warrior and then gets taken out in six pages. For a man who’s defeated every A-list baddie in the DCU he goes down quickly and quietly. If you’re a rabid fan of the Green Lantern world, this issue will hardly turn you off. For a fan just passing through it’s a bit like listening to the elevator music version of one of your favourite tunes.

Hellblazer #272

Britain’s favourite street magician is going through some hard times. John Constantine is one of the few character’s in comic books who actually ages with the years. Lately he’s gone mad, hacked off a thumb, nearly sliced off his arm, lost one girlfriend (dead), lost a second girlfriend (abandoned in the past) and now’s he the target of some very bad people who reside in a very tropical hot spot. It all sort of feels like it’s building to something doesn’t it? After 272 issues Constantine’s life has gone through some drastic changes, but in the end he’s still the same cynical (and lonely) mage he’s always been. Thank god Brian Buccellato is around make even a grizzled old fart like Constantine seem rugged and fabulous.

Justice League of America #50

I love Mark Bagley. Getting to watch him draw the hell out of the JLA-lite for 50 pages is a treat for me. This issue is all big dust up. The Crime Syndicate of Amerika is trying to take over the world and the JLA is naturally duty bound to stop them; with their fists. There’s a sub plot here with Dr. Impossible and some dark version of the New Gods that I know nothing about. Presumably it came during the time I temporarily abandoned the title.

Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates #4

For a line that was supposed to eschew restrictive continuity, line wide reboots and unnecessary character revisions the Ultimate Universe has proven its not immune to these overused plot devices after all. In this issue Jeph Loeb continues to tinker with the Ulti Uni by reimagining Ultimate Thor more along the lines of his 616 version. Gone is the peace loving hippie and in his place is the rage filled warrior. Perhaps there will be an interesting and compelling reason for the change. More likely, brawny Nordic warriors with squinity-yelly faces and a propensity to start brawls are considered to be more interesting than one who chooses to use his powers for unconventional means. I suggest reading this comic just because you like to watch Frank Cho draw the hell out of things. I mean, that’s a pretty good reason right there, isn’t it?

Comic book reviews for the week of October 6th in six sentences (or less)

Best of the week

Ultimate Thor #1
I have a confession to make. I used to be in love with Marvel’s Ultimate line. When it first hit I thought it was fun, fresh and free of stupefying continuity. Then the line grew stale, Jeph Loeb happened and it never really regained its luster. ULTIMATE THOR goes a long way towards recapturing what made the Ultimate line so great. It’s about four years too late to turn the tide, but its a great read nonetheless. This first issue covers his Thor’s early years in Asgard, the fall of Asgard at the hands of the Nazi’s and his first Ultimized appearances on earth. Except for the 3.99 price tag, I can’t think of a single thing to complain about. Read it after The Ultimates 2 and I think it should blend into Ultimate continuity quite seamlessly.

Batman: Odyssey #4
Good lord, I’ve heard of purple writing before, but the scripting in this book is so overdone its hard to read it without breaking into laughter. I found myself constantly rereading several sections in the book, trying to get a handle on what’s happening in the various scenes and a grasp some feel for the flow of the story. I’m not sure why this title doesn’t have the Elseworlds logo on it. It’s clear that nothing happening in the title is part of the DCU proper. Instead, it seems like Neal Adams got inspired by Miller’s All-Star Batmanand is trying to push the character of Batman in the most ludicrous direction possible.

Brightest Day #11
While BRIGHTEST DAY may not meet the requirements to technically be considered part of DC’s strategy to put out a weekly comic, it certainly embodies the spirit of the plan. And, after 11 issues I feel confident in saying that it easily surpasses Trinityand Countdown, while coming a hairsbreadth away from the high watermark that was 52. The art is strong and the story has powerful forward momentum that comes from its serialized nature. What’s not to like? Anyway, in this issue, Black Lantern Firestorm (aka Deathstorm) introduces shadow versions of the heroes and villains resurrected in the pages of THE BLACKEST NIGHT.

Neonomicon #2
Love him or hate him Alan Moore is a creator who continues to generate a fair amount of controversy in the insular comic book blogosphere. After reading the first issue of this title I found it helpful to spend some time knocking around online, perusing other reader’s analysis of the story. There were some interesting interpretations to be found that allowed me to look at the story on levels I hadn’t previously considered. But none of it prepared me for the visceral and disturbing imagery of the second issue. If, as Moore contends, there isn’t really anything interesting happening in comic books anymore then this is a nice little ‘up yours’ to comic readers. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, but make no mistake, people will be offended by this book.

Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #3
Speaking of Elseworld titles, and we were, this one is a nice little throwback to years gone by when DC was afraid to throw a couple crazy ideas at the wall and see if anything would stick. It’s always nice to see Carey Bates play in the DC sandbox. Renato Arlem’s art doesn’t do much for me unfortunately. I find it flat and somewhat static. It’s not bad by any means, It’s just not my cup of tea. My biggest complaint with LAST FAMILY is that it falls prey to the trap that kills so many ‘what if’ stories. While initially these imaginary tales start off with bold new ideas on inflexible established franchises, too often they end up mirroring the current state\world of the character. Lex must always be bad, Kal must always be Superman and Clark must always end up with Lois. I’d be more interested in a renewed Elseworlds line if they took more risks with their properties and allowed creators to really push their boundaries with the characters.