Batman: Curse of the White Knight, Skyward, Runaways, GI Joe, The Hire, Islands in the Sky

New comics, some left over from last week:

Batman: Curse of the White Knight 1

I remember liking White Knight, but I can only remember snippets from in.  I really should have waited for the trade on this, but the cover was just too enticing.  

I have a weakness for a good Azrael cover.  I love his costume design.

Skyward 15

So ends a phenomenal comic.  Joe Henderson wraps up all the loose threads, and I’m completely satisfied.  Truth be told, though, it’s the art that pumped this up multiple levels. I’m so happy to have discovered Lee Garbett’s work.  I’ll be on the lookout for his art in the future.  

Runaways 23

Victor brings Doombot back from the brink, Chase and Gert have a serious conversation about their past relationship.  Molly shows she cares with stuffed animals. Good stuff.

GI Joe 67

I thought I was done with these, but I found this in a pile of unsorted comics.  More of the same.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Didn’t suck

The Hire 4

I also found this amongst the unsorteds, a day after getting rid of issues 1 and 3.  This one is also written by a top notch writer (Kurt Busiek), this one I’m also cutting.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine (Cutting)

Islands in the Sky 1

I bought this at a con because my friend did the art.  Genevieve Tsai is stupid talented.  She does facial expressions better than anyone I’ve read, and she brings an unparalleled sense of humor to everything that she does.  Check her out!

As for the comic, I wish that the content was worthy of her art.  Typical fanboy fantasy drivel with boobs and butts. Keeping it for her art, but Genevieve deserves much, much better material.  

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine

Hepcats, Hip Flask, The Hire, Incredibles

Hepcats 3-10

This comic was a big name in the black and white indie comic scene back when I first started collecting, and its reputation is completely justified.  Martin Wagner’s art is superb, an amazing extension of the admitted Gerhard influences. The story is engrossing too, focusing on a woman who’s forced to confront her repressed past after years of suppression.  I wonder how well the psychology of her depression/suicide attempt passes muster, but it certainly rang true during the reading. 

It’s a shame that Wagner wasn’t able to complete this story, due to a combination of economic and personal issues.  I would have kept reading it if given the opportunity.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Hip Flask: Unnatural Selection

Hip Flask: Elephantmen

This is all about the Ladronn art.  There’s a Katsuhiro Otomo Akira vibe mixed with Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, wrapped up in a European comic art style.

I love the Big Brother nature of the nonstop exhortations and commandments.  Richard Starkings’ writing is note-perfect there.  

I might have a stack of unread Elephantmen stashed away somewhere, now would be the time to dig it up.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good (Entirely for the art.)

The Hire 1, 3

There was a time when BMW commissioned a bunch of shorts made by famous directors and a miniseries of comics with top notch creators.  The two I have are written by Matt Wagner and Mark Waid. They’re basically The Transporter in comic form.  Not the worst, but not memorable in any way.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine (Cutting)

The Incredibles 1

I bought this because I love the movie so very much.  But even written by Mark Waid, this couldn’t live up to the awesomeness of the source material.  It feels phoned in.

Regret buying? Yes

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Didn’t suck (Cutting)

Out of the Blue, Superman: Year One

Out of the Blue 2

Average for a Garth Ennis war comic, which is still darn good.  I wasn’t sure if McKenzie was going to make it at the end - Ennis laid it on pretty thick with the “looking ahead to after the war with his wife,” which is usually the kiss of death in this kind of story.  On the minus side, I didn’t care too much either way, since McKenzie was kind of a dick to his wife almost the entire time.  

The oversize hardcover format’s really nice, but I wish the story was a little more worthy of the price.  

Superman: Year One 1

This is vintage Frank Miller.  Reading his narration is like slipping beneath some warm, cozy blankets.  There’s a comfort there that I can’t explain. After the mixed bag that was Xerxes, I wasn’t sure if Miller had anything left, but it’s clear now that he does.

Miller does more here with Clark and Lana’s high school chemistry than anything I’ve read before, including Loeb’s For All Seasons.  He manages to bring Lana closer to Gwen Stacy “past girlfriend who almost makes me forget present girlfriend” territory than anyone else.  

John Romita Jr is equally hit and miss, and he definitely hits here.  A lot of it has to do with the fine line inks by Danny Miki and the gorgeous colors from Alex Sinclair.  

I hope that Miller is able to finish this as strongly as he started.

Spencer and Locke, Star Trek: Q Conflict

Finished with Misc box number 3!  Pretty much all GI Joe. If I didn’t have a such a huge chunk of it, I’d probably have cut a ton of the Marvel issues.  

Box Summary:

Time spent reading: 23 hours, 46 minutes

Issues read: 214

Issues cut: 28

Highlights (Good or better): GI Joe: Cobra (The Mike Costa issues), Girls

Project Summary:

Time spent reading: 19 days, 21 hours, 15 minutes

Issues read: 3908

Issues cut: 515

Some new comics from the week:

Spencer and Locke 2 3

We get this world’s version of Watterson’s deranged killer monster snow goons and Stupendous Man.  Still interesting enough to keep reading.

Star Trek: Q Conflict 6

Things finish off in a fine enough fashion.  The series never fulfilled the promise shown in the early issues, but it’s entertaining enough.   

Hatter M, Golem's Mighty Swing, Hench, Grand Passion

Hatter M 1-4

I never read The Looking Glass Wars novels that this is spun off from, but I imagine the nifty concept is why I picked this up - The Mad Hatter is really a badass killer who’s the bodyguard of the Princess Alyss in Wonderland.  Pair it up with Ben Templesmith’s moody, scratchy art and you’ve got a neat little story.  

The Hatter is an uber-competent soldier in the vein of Snake Eyes, Jason Bourne, and John Wick.  It’s fun watching him deploy his arsenal of blades, and Templesmith’s stylistic art means that it doesn’t have to make any kind of logical sense.  

Haven't heard this maxim before, but I buy it.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine

Golem’s Mighty Swing

A wonderfully crafted, told, and illustrated story by James Sturm.  It’s a slice of life look into the lives of a Jewish barnstorming baseball team in the 1920s.  There’s something very high end literature about this book, I can easily imagine it as a short story in the New Yorker or a novel.  

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Hench

Not the first comic to tell things from the evil henchman’s point of view, but this is a pretty good take on it.  What I have yet to see, though, is an instance where the henchman isn’t a sad sack loser who’s down on his luck. Sure, IRL it’s hard to imagine anyone being really happy about getting beat up and sent to jail two out of three times (according to this book), but it’d be a nice twist.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Nice

Grand Passion 1-5

A nice little miniseries by James Robinson and Tom Feister.  A bank robber and the local deputy sheriff fall in love while on the opposite sides of a heist.  Complications ensue when her partner is killed and everyone else in his department turns out to be on the take.  It doesn’t try to be anything more than it is, and there are no real surprises. But Robinson convincingly sells the “love at first sight” angle, and that’s really 90% of the heavy lifting in making this work.  

Oh, major continuity gripe:

Issue 3.

Issue 4.  So...why are you asking again?

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Nice

Girls, Gregory, Gun Fu

Girls 1-24

What a finely executed horror comic by the Luna Brothers.  This reads like a lot like Walking Dead - the titular girls are basically zombies, and the comic is more about the interpersonal dynamics of how a group of people deals with a such an extreme crisis than the actual crisis itself.  I’m completely impressed by their ability to juggle a massive cast, generate distinct personalities for the majority of them, and come up with one unique situation after another.  

Which isn’t to say that the Lunas haven’t created a batshit crazy scenario with the girls, their cannibalistic taste for women, gay men, and eunuchs, and the giant sperm monster that they serve.  It’s absurd and terrifying at the same time, and I zipped through the whole thing in two days.

The ending’s a bit of a letdown, with the climactic action scene not really fitting with the eerie tone that persisted through the majority of the comic.  But it’s not enough to seriously detract from what is a very well done book.   

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Good

Gregory

I loved this in high school.  Not so much now. The art by Marc Hempel is still enormously appealing, I love his design of the adorable Gregory and the cute little noises he makes. 

Buh!

Gregory still generates equal parts hilarity and pathos. But this time around, I found the stories to be so much more depressing than I did twenty years ago.  It’s not nearly as fun, and even though I was touched in a lot of places, and still laughed at a lot of the same jokes, I could not wait to get through the trade and move on to something else.  I felt emotionally unclean after reading it, which really surprised me.  

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine

Gun Fu 1

Gun Fu: The Lost City 1-3

But at least I’m keeping Gregory in my collection, it’s got artistic strength that I appreciate.  Howard Shum’s Gun Fu just offended me.  Not so much the story, which was...fine, I suppose.  The art and story are solid enough, in an Atomic Robo kind of way.  But Shum’s articles at the end of each issue, where he enumerates his personal lists of hottest female celebrities, really rub me the wrong way.  Actual quote for Hottest Hip-Hop Singer: “As long as Beyonce can control her weight, she’ll rule this category. If she indulges, she could be the next Missy Elliot.  I know I’m not ready for that fat jelly.” For Hottest Pop Singer: “It’s a shame that Britney seems to go for effeminate guys. It’s time she tried out a real man like myself.”  

So gross.  I’m cutting this out of principle alone.

Regret buying? Yes

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Disliked

Cobra, GI Joe, Snake Eyes

Cobra 1-12

GI Joe Season 2 5-12

Snake Eyes 5-12

Cobra Annual 2012

Cobra Files 5-9

That’s it!  I’m done with GI Joe!  A full month of reading across 169 issues and 3 publishers.  The Marvel stuff was a slog, as was the beginning of the Devil’s Due run.  But the World War 3 arc, followed by IDW’s take on the IP, really did an entertaining job.  Mike Costa’s work on Cobra was particularly impressive; I actually picked up the Cobra Files this week when I saw it on sale at my comic shop.  I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for the rest of his run in the bargain bins.  

The Cobra Civil War finishes up, followed by the newly crowned Cobra Commander’s opening salvo.  Basically, anything that isn’t Costa’s work pales in comparison. It’s like mixing Jim Lee’s original WildCATs with Alan Moore’s.  I’d cut them if they weren’t part of a larger storyline....You know what?  Looking through these again, I can totally cut them. Doing it. (Keeping the Cobra Command collection because it’s got 3 issues of Cobra.)

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No (Yes for Cobra)

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Good for Cobra, Boring for the Annual, Fine for everything else.

Jimmy Olson, Excellence, Unstoppable Wasp, Ragnarok, Clue, Pearl

Between my new job, going to bed at a decent hour, and other life things, maintaining 30 minutes of writing every night is neither feasible or desirable anymore for me.  So new rule. I still want to write every night, but the thought of doing it for half an hour at a time has really been a mental strain. So rather than having that be a deterrent, I’m going to try doing away with it.  No time minimum on the amount I write, only that I do. I’m hoping that it’ll make for a more freeing experience. Here we go, I’ve got a ton to write single sentences about!

New comics from last week.  (I’m so far behind!)

Jimmy Olsen 1

Not sure why I tried this.  Matt Fraction on the writing credits?  The idea of Jimmy Olsen as the protagonist of a funny book appealed to me.  Ehhh. It's moderately amusing. It might be enough to warrant another month, but I’m not sure at this point.  The wink hold is pure genius, though.  

Excellence 3

Still gorgeous.  Khary Randolph continues to deliver a beautifully drawn comic.  It started off slowly as I struggled to remember who all of the characters were, but I was utterly touched to  see the lengths Spencer was willing to go through to steal just a few precious moments with his grandmother. That lovely scene, followed by the plot of a mystical bodyguard falling in love with his charge, pulled me fully back into the story.  

Unstoppable Wasp 10

Final issue :(  So very very sad about that, this has been one of my favorite books over the last year.  Pure joy is hard to come across. But I’m thrilled that we were even lucky enough to get a second volume.  I’m going to miss this comic so much, and I really hope that Jeremy Whitley brings the same magic to Future Foundation.     

Ragnarok: Breaking of Helheim 1

Walt Simonson is back with jawless Thor!  This is straight up classic fantasy, and I love both the illustration and writing of his alternate Ragnarok.  Epic stuff.

The vertical panels are so choice.

Clue: Candlestick 3

This turned out to be a fun little story.  Dunno if I’d buy it again, but I particularly loved the little Monopoly digs.  

Heh, got boring.

Pearl 11

Dude.  The conversation at the beginning of the book may be one of the best idle chatter scenes of Brian Michael Bendis’ career.  It’s classic him, and absolutely hilarious.

GI Joe: Cobra Civil War, Snake Eyes, Cobra

GI Joe: Cobra II 10-13

Mike Costa and Christos N Gage finish up the Chuckles arc, which leads directly into the Cobra Civil War.  Chuckles, after being exposed by Cobra and forced to shoot his lover/handler Jinx in the head, plays his man-with-nothing-to-lose plan to perfection.  He turns Tomax and Xamot against each other, shoots Cobra Commander in the head, and nukes Cobra Island, leaving the terrorist organization headless. It’s extremely well done - Chuckles’ despondent, weary inner monologue reveals just how much he’s going through the motions even as he enacts a brilliant scheme.  He’s emotionally dissociated from everything that he’s doing, but since it’s the only thing he’s got left, he keeps on going. (I feel like I just said the same thing three times to take up space.)

In any case, it’s a great story, better than the spy stuff that Brubaker did over at Image.  It complete works as a non-GI Joe story, which is (sadly) what makes it stand out over some of the comics to follow.  

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Good

GI Joe: Cobra Civil War 0-4

Snake Eyes 1-4

With the death of Cobra Commander, the faceless Cobra Council starts a contest to find his replacement - Whoever kills the most Joes and causes the most havoc wins.  Cue the deaths of a ton of new Joes created for cannon fodder purposes. It’s such a cop out, and the powers that be at Hasbro lose tons of points for not having the guts to let Chuck Dixon off some established Joes.  The only exceptions that I noticed were the murders of the non-essential members of Ninja Force - Everyone but Snake-Eyes, Scarlett, and Storm Shadow met an off-panel death. But since no one cared about them, it doesn’t count.  

Chuck Dixon does an okay job, but a couple of things sap the tension from his comics: The aforementioned plot armor protecting the popular Joes, the return of the garish costumes, and the over the top action.  All of those things can be awesome, but when compared to the Costa/Gage Cobra issues, they feel wildly out of place.  

Original action figure costumes and everything.

Doesn't help to have Snakes texting like a millennial.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine

Spencer & Locke, Second Coming

Last of the week’s new comics!

Spencer & Locke 2 2

My comic shop underordered this title (I’m not surprised that a tiny comic like this isn’t getting more readership), so the reorders are just getting to me now.  Having mined most of the Calvin & Hobbes reference materials in the first volume, David Pepose continues the crossover with Beetle Bailey.  It’s done well enough that I would very much enjoy seeing how he’d spin other newspaper comic strips in this dark, twister manner.

Second Coming 1

So my faith is a very personal thing.  It works for me, and as long as it doesn’t hurt other people, I like to think that I’m pretty open to what others choose to believe or not.  I also have no problem when those with genuine intellectual curiosity question established religious doctrines. Faith can’t be blind, and exploring interpretations is a healthy thing. 

Which leads to Mark Russell’s Second Coming.  He spends the first half of this issue with an irreverent but completely valid take on the “traditional” Jesus.  

Nice penis fruit by Richard Pace.

Legit reaction.

The second half introduces the readers to Sunstar, the Superman stand-in for this story.  He’s got some relationship issues with “Lois” that any person can empathize with, so he seems fine for now.

Once God teams Jesus up with Sunstar, we get an interpretation of Jesus’ brother Shimon that struck a resonant emotional chord with me. 

So Russell’s got things off to a good start. I have no idea where this is going, and I’m looking forward to it. (Hopefully it goes better than Wonder Twins.)  He talks in the afterward about being accused of blasphemy and being forced to switch publishers.  For my money, I’m grateful that he’s taking this brave plunge into examining Christianity’s place in the modern world.  

“All I know is, as weird as the answers may seem, the questions these comics attempt to answer are important.  Anda s professional thought-experimenters, that is our duty to the world. We blaspheme, not to belittle the faith of millions, but to offer the world something new.”

Good on you, Mr. Russell.