COMICS: Wed. 10/13/04

After I complained yesterday about buying so many comics, I was very pleased that so many of them were so good.

The Hard Time TPB is excellent, as Dorian, Ken, and others have been saying all along. And it's such a great value -- ten bucks for six issues. It's a unique take on the superpower genre: a 15-year-old's powers manifest just before he's locked in prison, likely for the rest of his life. I had some quibbles -- why was he convicted in the first place, if even the cops (as his lawyer says) admit he never fired his gun, or at least why was he not convicted of a lesser charge, rather than the full murder counts; and, however much I appreciate his sarcastic humor, it's in no way believable that a kid could be so flip to the other convicts and not get killed 87 times before sundown on his first day, powers or not. But the rough situation, which I don't think has ever been portrayed so extensively, or so well, in mainstream comics before, and the sharply defined and interesting characters make this a fantastic read.

The Authority: More Kev: Good, funny stuff, especially the Midnighter's confrontations with idiot Kev. I'd be upset if someone threw a nuclear bomb in my face, too.

Demo: Eh. There was an interesting twist toward the end, but I wasn't invested enough in the characters to be shocked or say, "Whoa!" Instead, I think I said, "Huh." Let me go back: yeah, that was the extent of my reaction. "Huh." I doubt I'll get the next issue; might get the final issue the month after.

Fables: Very funny issue. The expression of Snow's face as she says, "A litter? I'm having a litter?" is just priceless. I'm glad Buckingham is back and the story is moving forward again.

Captain America: Limp ending to a lame arc. So it was a SHIELD-designed robot replica of Diamondback? Dude, whatever. One order of machina, extra deus on top. And what's with that ending: "Maybe we should just get a room." When did Steve Rogers turn into the Mack? Kirkman really disappointed me on this book.

She-Hulk: This continues to be one of my favorites. I love the non-traditional, but clean and appealing art. I love the humor. I love the characters. I love that after Jen finds Drax the Destroyer, the Silver Surfer, et al. have all been defeated already, she says, "We're gonna need a bigger boat." I love that the Silver Surfer's board has a splint on it. A splint! You know you've been in a fight when your surfboard needs a splint. This book is a big bundle of fun. Pick it up; don't let it get cancelled.

Challengers of the Unknown: Maybe I should've waited for the TPB. Chaykin's stories are packed with so much plot and characters, they just read better when you can go through them all at once. I think this was the best issue since the first, with plans and motivations revealed; I'm curious to see if Chaykin can wrap it all up satisfactorily in the one remaining issue. And what was with the Ann Coulter surrogate, Jan Boulton, quitting her job at the Fox News-type network? Was that explained in this issue, or was it set-up for the next?

Secret War: Three issues in and we still don't know what the hell is going on. I guess Bendis is planning on keeping the war a secret from the readers as well. The art is gorgeous; it's a shame it doesn't have a story worthy of it. What little story there is: I couldn't believe that four pages after the staples, the middle of the book, the story abruptly ended. The staples mean you've got half the book left, not four goddam pages. What a rip-off. And I really wasn't pleased that a phone transcript between Captain America and SHIELD, a conversation which was wisely left out of the main story because it was boring and pointless, took up seven goddam pages of the book. You're working my last fucking nerve, Bendis.

Powers: And yet I still enjoyed this book. Walker follows one sick and twisted false lead, and Pilgrim -- wow. That was one surprise ending. Well, it surprised the hell out of me, anyway. I think I need to cut my monthly Bendis intake back to this and... well, just this. (I already only get the TPBs of Ultimate Spider-Man.)

Ex Machina: Like She-Hulk, another book everyone should get. Smart, surprising, funny, cool, controversial. It's great stuff. The snowplow-driver serial killer storyline came to an unexpectedly sudden, and not entirely satisfactory end, but the bits with Kremlin, and the flashbacks, continue to fascinate me, as do the political maneuverings. This Brian Vaughan kid, he might have a career in comics.

COMICS: Thurs. 7/8/04

I was going to do my comics post a day late this week, since they were released a day late due to the Monday holiday, but looks like I can squeeze this post in tonight. Four new comics this week; may contain spoilers for readers slower than I am.

Supreme Power: I've been borderline on this series for a while. The concept itself is, of course, a revision of an old rip-off of the JLA, and I've seen plenty enough of those as it is. And the story has been moving verrrry slowly. Almost Bendis slow. But things happened in this one that I liked: Mark Milton learns his secret origin! Several different versions, in fact, from the very unreliable and possibly insane Zarda (the Wonder Woman rip-off). Mark appears to doubt her assertion that she's from the same place he is -- but she's hot, naked (this comic has more boobs than Cinemax After Dark), and he's probably still a virgin, so looks like he's gonna let that slide for now. The dog. Also, the Batman and Flash rip-offs team up to find that there's yet another superpowered being out there -- a serial killing one. It was a good issue, so guess I'll be sticking around a while longer.

Powers: Speaking of Bendis... First issue of the reboot, now at new Marvel imprint Icon, rather than Image. Only thing that's changed is the little box on the cover; inside is still the same old badass Powers. Starts off with quite a shocker: Kutter, who could probably be described as the #3 character, gets killed in the traditional sudden and graphic Powers style. Walker and Deena are back together as partners, which is nice to see. Bendis' dialogue is as long-winded but hilarious as ever ("How'd he die?" "Dunno." "Don't be so technical."), but, unlike certain Bendis projects, stuff happens here. He basically reinvents the entire world within the comic in this one issue, plus has time for a nifty action scene, plenty of great dialogue and character moments, and a great reveal on the final page. Bendis' best series (out of, like, 87), and one of my top ten, if not top five.

Fantastic Four: Another of my favorites. I had never been much of an FF fan, outside of the Stan Lee originals, so I'm not really familiar with the "Frightful Four." But I get the feeling Mark Waid portrays them about as well as they can be -- after all, the Wizard, the Trapster, Salamandra, and Hydro are C-list villains at best. The way in which they defeat the FF is believable, and the reason why the Wizard doesn't kill them outright, which is always a stupid, Bond villain thing to do -- the reason he doesn't is kind of plausible, the way the character is portrayed. Waid's writing is funny and sharp, and I love the art. The only Marvels I buy are for the writers -- Marvel has great characters, but the writers have to know how to use them -- and Waid is now up there in that category with Peter David, Garth Ennis, J. Michael Straczynski, Brian Bendis, and a select few others.

Y: The Last Man: Another of my faves. Only bought four comics this week, and three of them are in my personal top ten. This one is in my top three, actually. Best thing about this issue: the slam against those dopey, non-"born again" bashing, crappily written, inexplicably popular religious screeds disguised as fantasy, the Left Behind series. Yorick is a great character, and he goes through a great deal of development this issue, dealing with his remorse over the woman he had to kill the previous issue, and allowing himself to finally let go of -- or at least, forget for a little while -- his girlfriend half a world away, whom he may never see again. It's just a great book.

I also picked up a Hopeless Savages collection (a funny book about a punk rock family), and the Three Strikes TPB (gritty crime drama), because of good Free Comic Book Day issues. The Three Strikes book I got because it's by the same team behind the Skinwalkers series, one issue of which I picked up as a leftover from last year's FCBD (come to think of it, the Hopeless Savages was a leftover, too), as well as on recommendation from Dorian, who's a fan of the creators. And I got the newest Ultimate Spider-Man trade, too -- for some reason, that's the one ongoing series that I only buy in trades. Bendis' habit of padding storylines in US-M is less annoying when you get the whole story at once, I guess.