The Bridge, Doomsday Clock, Prodigy

Only two new comics this week.

Prodigy 1

Mark Millar gets started on another Netflix proposal.  It’s remarkable how he’s able to write something that’s completely predictable and utterly entertaining at the same time.  Ah. Millarworld stories are the Fast and Furious movies of the comic world.  A catchy hook, some entertaining action scenes, and you’ve got yourself a hit.

In this case, the hook is the self-satisfied genius with complete confidence in his abilities, the kind of character that Millar writes in his sleep, the one who’s always a step ahead of everyone else.  He spends this issue establishing Edison Crane’s bonafides and setting up the rest of the story (an invasion from a parallel world). It’s not groundbreaking in any way, but that’s not a reason for me to not be thoroughly hooked and looking forward to the next issue.  I used ‘not’ three times in the same sentence. I’m tired.

Doomsday Clock 8

I can’t say for sure without looking at the past issues, but I think this is the first one that focuses entirely on the DC side of the story.  Two-thirds of the way through the series and things finally get moving. Geoff Johns crafts a flashpoint that’s absolutely breathtaking. Things spiral out of control at a breakneck pace, and it’s horrifying to read.  A writing tour de force, bravo to Johns.

(Part of the horror also comes from the fact that the situation could have been avoided in any number of ways.  The easiest one: Superman and Firestorm could have changed everyone back when there wasn’t a huge crowd. Mission accomplished.)

In the words of Dr Strange, we’re in the endgame now.  Four issues to go, and as entertaining as it is, Johns doesn’t have a lot of time remaining to find his point.

The Bridge

Borrowed from the library.  I loved this. Peter Tomasi and Sara Duvall tell the story of the Roebling family and how they built the Brooklyn Bridge.  It’s a piece of history that I knew nothing about, and I was riveted by both the details of the actual construction of the bridge and the people who sacrificed so much to make it happen.  It inspired me to immediately add David McCullough’s The Great Bridge to my to-read list.  This could be worth a buy in the future.