Comments Off | Posted: March 30th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
As some of you know (and a very few of you participate in), I go out each and every Wednesday with a select cadre of nerds and their better halves and completely forget that I really should read the comics before commenting on them the next day in my blog. This time, somehow, I managed to read a decent slice of yesterday’s offerings while still at the shop (and I paid for them, thank you very much,) so I’ll talk about those books and give you my impressions, no matter how vague, of the others.
The final issue of Battle Royale is still wrapped in its plastic. That’ll be a weekend kind of thing, out of the view of the delicate sensibilities that have become prevalent in our culture. When a grown man can’t read his manga about children fucking and blowing each other’s brains out in public, then our society really has fallen to that whole “political correctness” meme.
Blue Beetle #1 is pretty darn good, and a lot of it has to do with Cully Hamner’s fine, fine art. Cartoonish without being silly, his characters’ expressions and body language adds an additional layer to this seemingly-sparse debut. I’m pretty sure what Rogers and Giffen are going for is going to read great when the opening salvo has been fired completely, but this is an underwhelming first issue, despite some well-handled character moments and our hero’s fight with Guy Gardner
Marvel Romance Redux: Guys and Dolls has wacky remixes of old love stories from the days when such things stood proud on the racks. I only read a chunk of he first story before realizing I wasn’t really in the mood, but I did manage to laugh out loud at one bit that will make my panels of the week.
That is, if I ever do that feature again.
East Cast Rising #1 is the Becky Cloonan title I have been waiting for and cursory glances reveal that it is both beautiful and quite insane. This wins the Angelina Jolie Bitch Crazy award of the week.
Sterling said it best when he commented that we need more Star Wars humor books, and that’s why The Return Of Tag And Bink still gets my vote when I’m done with the extracurricular material related to the saga. Boba Fett had one line that made me quake with mirth: “I have this girl following me who’s convinced I’m the guy who dumped her. Price you pay for looking exactly like a million other guys in the galaxy…”
If you don’t get that, it’s fine.
The Surrogates wraps up in fine style, with a worthy, downbeat ending where nobody really wins outside of Humanity itself, which is certainly thought-provoking. When this hits trade paperback, you really, really should check it out.
The Captain America 65th Anniversary Special took care of most of my current needs when it comes to the Star-Spangled Avenger, with gorgeous art by Javier Pulido and Marcos Martin, Nick Fury and his Howling Commandoes, and Nazis getting their asses whooped. Apparently, the epilogue ties into a Current Captain America Storyline, but it’s not really a requirement.
G�DLAND proceeds apace, with pieces moving into place for the titanic anniversary issues, Adam Archer realizes he has to come to grips with what he is, cosmic-powered aliens roaming the desert southwest, Neela launching into space, and Basil Cronus…doing whatever he does.
I’ve not read the new Zombie Tales book, but it’s probably very good unless Ross Richie’s been hitting the absinthe really, really hard.
All-Star Superman #3 is worthy of deeper analysis, but I’m not the one to do it – I just think it’s as close to a perfect book featuring Krypton’s Last Son that was made in my lifetime. Yes, this includes the Alan Moore stories that I love very, very dearly. The love that Morrison has for the character doesn’t overwhelm the affair and turn it into fan fiction and Frank Quitely’s art has never been better.
This is a message to Gail Simone, writer of JLA Classified #19: the puppy lives. Also, is it just me or are you channeling Cary Bates a bit with this story? It’s very seventies in a good way, epic while making sure we know this is just another day for these people.
Also: Sean Phillips inking Jose Luis Garcia Lopez is gorgeous. Wow.
The third issue X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl is terribly fun, except for the unfortunate scene mocking our president. At this point, having his avatar holding a rubber duck that serves as his primary advisor just can’t match up to the real thing’s growing King George syndrome.
Queen And Country #30 serves as a bridge between the excellent novel A Gentleman’s Game and its followup Private Wars. As I’ve not read the latter yet, this means I get to catch up in “real time.” Tara’s a mess after the botched mission to Saudi Arabia and I suspect that even with Crocker’s questionable support, it’s going to manage to get worse before it gets better. Chris Sammie, who drew the underrated Capote In Kansas as well as one of the better-rendered stories in the Belle and Sebastian anthology Put The Book Back On The Shelf, may be the best artist to get picked up for the series, with a sensibility that harkens back to the Modesty Blaise newspaper strips.
Steven Perkins’s Pacify looks like it will need serious concentration, so I’m waiting until I have some quiet time to dive into it.
Now, I have to go do the “be productive for fiduciary recompense” thing, so talk amongst yourselves.
