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Astro City 52
This whole follow up to Astro City ½ has been a complete misfire. Kurt Busiek extends what was a magical, bittersweet tale into the story of a man who’s settled into a mundane routine. Michael Tenicek does his admirable best to contribute to his community, but ultimately can’t move on from his loss. It’s a more realistic outcome, but ruins the hopeful note the original story ended on.
In the final analysis, I loved the romance of Astro CIty ½, and there was none of that here.
Man of Steel 5
Rogal Zaar. Did I get it right? Nope. It’s Rogol Zaar. Brian Michael Bendis has one more week to make that name sink in. I’m expecting a generic fight scene, but give Adam Hughes for setting it up beautifully.
I don’t know that I’ll ever have much to say about Usagi Yojimbo. I know that it’s not easy to make it look this easy, and that Stan Sakai is a master of it. Usagi will never blow me away, but it will always entertain, and that’s all I want out of it.
100 Bullets 1-30
So I’m starting with Vertigo Box 1 before closing out Marvel Box 8. I have the last two Spider-Woman trades all ready to read, but I got started on 100 Bullets a couple of days ago, and I’m on a roll with it.
I was honestly a little leery of reading this thing all the way through. 100 issues of a Byzantine plot, massive cast of characters, and just as many motivations. The last time I read this, I had to make a spreadsheet to keep track of everything that was going on. Diving into 100 Bullets is a major commitment, is all I’m saying.
It starts out with such a simple, elegant concept: If you had proof that someone had horribly wronged you, 100 bullets and a gun to make things right, and a guarantee that there would be no legal repercussions, what would you do? That idea alone would be enough to sustain a series for a good long time; the stories that actually involve the eponymous ammunition are completely engaging and well written. But Azzarello ties it all in with the complex machinations of the Trust (the original American Illuminati) and their erstwhile enforcers, the Minutemen.
So what happens in the first 30 issues? Dizzy gets the briefcase, and Shepard subsequently recruits her. Graves sics someone on Megan Dietrich, revealing that he’s still alive. We’re introduced to Lono, one of Graves’ Minutemen. Graves actives Cole, the second of his Minutemen, with a post-hypnotic code word. We meet Mr. Branch, a reporter who dug too deeply into the background of the briefcases and now knows too much. Loop Hughes enters the picture, the son of a rejected Minuteman. The Trust meets to discuss the threat of the reemergence of Graves, and Graves makes his first move by assassination one of his former employers. Shepard unsuccessfully tries to activate Wylie.
The connection between Shepard and Graves is the most confusing to me. I know that Shepard used to be a Minuteman, before the Trust promoted him to some higher position. He was also the one tasked with eliminating his former team after Graves refused an order from the Trust.
His agenda right now is unclear. He seems to be interfering with Graves’ plans - recruiting Dizzy, trying to do the same with Wylie - but he’s not doing as much as he could if his main objective was to take Graves down. I’m also uncertain as to how much Graves knows about Shepard’s machinations. And this is after reading it for the third time. Still, I’m enjoying it immensely. I’ve gone through 4 trades in 4 days, and I ready for more. I haven’t even gone into detail about any of the stories, and there are some real stars.
Some incidental comments about Risso art:
His style is unique and amazing, but he really looks like John McCrea here:
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| McCrea here. It's the teeth and the extensive shadows on the face. |
His women possess a confident, effortless sexiness, as if they can’t help but flaunt such an uncontainable thing. Lilly, for example, is presumably the same age as her clearly not young husband, but she could easily pass for someone in her twenties in these panels.
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| Not a wrinkle on her body. |
But then Risso does some small things that show her age, which I liked.
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| Crinkled hands and elbows, arms hairs all add years to her appearance here. |
That issue, 11, is spectacular. Graves’ recounting of Lilly’s daughter’s fate left me as spellbound as Lilly herself. Azzarello’s facility with words here is simply astounding. Risso’s reaction shots, which would be over the top in most places, are perfectly suited here.
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| A crushing coda to a horrific story. |
Regret buying? No
Would buy again? Yes
Would read again? Yes
Rating: Nice and Pretty Good at various points. 11 was Really Good.
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