Judge Dredd Versus Aliens, Runaways, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Batman/Superman

Some of the new comics this week:

Batman/Superman 1

I’m so behind on the goings on of most of the DC Universe, and the concept of a Jokerized Batman doesn’t sound that interesting.  But I love the potential of a good Superman/Batman team up, and David Marquez on art means I’ll give it a shot.

The story turns out to be surprisingly good.  Joshua Williamson writes a good World’s Finest, writing Loeb-level inner monologues for the two heroes.  And the art. Woof.

Colors by Alejandro Sanchez

There's no way they haven't come up with a shorter name for this guy.

The cape physics don't make sense, but the visual is still funny.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man 11

Tom Taylor’s name is starting to show up more and more on my radar.  I hear the work he’s doing on DCeased (ugh, that title…) is excellent, and this is the second strong issue of Spider-Man that I’ve read by him.  This is a wonderful day in the life of MJ, and I’m enchanted by the humor, the heart, and the art.  (By Juann Cabal.) I’m not sure if I’m in on a regular basis (I’ve checked out these single-issue stories, not really in the mood for multi-issue arcs), but my ears are perked up for more Taylor.

Adorbs.

Runaways 24

Doombot continues to spout the best one-liners.  Rainbow Rowell should put out a book of Doombot quotes.  

Hee.

Judge Dredd Versus Aliens 1-4

This delivers on everything that the title promises, and it’s great every time I read it.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Irredeemable, Judas

Irredeemable 1-37

Irredeemable Special 1

What if Superman snapped and went nuts on the world?  Who would be able to stop him? That’s the story Mark Waid tackles here.  It starts off extremely strong, as the Justice League analog team desperately scrambles to stay alive and grasp at every available straw.  Waid keeps the characters and readers on their toes with a steady stream of plot twists, but goes a step too far once he introduces the aliens.  That when he starts to lose me, and the book degrades from Pretty Good to Nice to Fine by the end. 

The bit that stands out to me is the origin story of the Plutonian - It’s established early on that he bounced from foster family to family growing up, with each potential set of parents utterly terrified by the powers of the young outsider and his inability to control his emotions.  But it’s not until issue 32 that nature of his very first human relationship is revealed. The Plutonian was raised by a mentally unbalanced woman who had killed her first baby. And she never stopped trying to repeat that experience.

It’s a haunting twist on the classic Superman beginning, kudos to Waid for coming up with it.

Irredeemable averages out to an okay comic, and I definitely wish that the second half was as strong as the first.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good up to around issue 18, then drops to Fine by the end.

Judas 1-4

This was even better than I remember.  It’s such a powerful examination of the dichotomy between free will and God’s will, focused through the lens of the ultimate sinner.  Jeff Loveness blows my mind with this story, and Jakub Rebelka is right there beside him with art that’s perfectly suited to the story.

Questions we've asked since the beginning of belief.

The black halo around Judas' head is a beautiful touch.

A reversal of roles that I never expected.  There's a terrible poignancy to it.

This is something special.  The more I think about it, the better it gets.  Bravo.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good  

Infinite Loop, Insexts

Infinite Loop 1-6

I noticed this comic on the shelf when it was coming out monthly, and told myself that I’d buy it when it came out in trade.  I didn’t know anything about it, but Elsa Charretier’s art grabbed me in a Bruce Timm-gorgeous kind of way.

Major body sway.  Love the flow of that shadow.

I like how Charretier draws her feet, pointing straight up, one out of the covers.

The art’s still gorgeous, but the story by Pierrick Colinet is kind of a mess.  It’s all an allegory for fighting minority rights, with a focus on LGBT. I’m completely behind the sentiment, but it’s all wrapped up in a technobabble plot that way too much of a chore to slog through.  Teddy’s mission is far too complex for me to process, and I stopped trying to follow what she was doing about halfway through the story.

Is it still an allegory if you list out the steps?

On top of that, her romance with Ano is too perfect for me to buy.  Sure, they’re both super cute and say adorable things to each other, but there’s very little that makes me believe that there’s any depth to their relationship.  They meet cute, sparks fly, and I’m expected to believe that they fall into this amazing pairing just because. I’m rarely one to question an OTP, so it says something that this stretches even my love of all things romantic.

Keeping for the art.  And Google just told me that Charretier was one of the artists on Unstoppable Wasp!  I totally didn’t make that connection beforehand.  Yay her!

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

Insexts 1-2

A forbidden relationship between a lady of the house and her maid, with a generous serving of body horror as they regularly mutate into winged praying mantis-type creatures and kill off anyone who’d think of oppressing them.  Truly beautiful art by Ariela Kristantina, but it’s too weird and gross for me.  

Pretty.

Really not.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

Hi-Fi FIght Club, Infinite Kung Fu

Hi-Fi Fight Club 1,3

The randomness of a bunch of teenage girls running an underground fight club in the basement of the record shop they all work at was fun enough of a concept to try this out.  I probably would have kept buying this if I hadn’t missed the second issue when it came out. I just read a copy of the third issue online, and I don’t regret missing out.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Infinite Kung Fu 1-7

I really enjoyed this when it first came out, and I always wondered why it stopped mid-storyline with issue seven.  It wasn’t until years later that creator Kagan McLeod completed the story in a collected graphic novel with 200 new pages of story.  But by then, I’d lost interest in the title and didn’t think the trade was a worthwhile investment.  

Rereading this fifteen year later, I stand by my decision.  I’m actually a huge fan of what McLeod’s done with Infinite Kung Fu - He’s taken his love for low budget Hong Kong martial arts movies and created a lovely comic book homage to them.  His art’s perfectly suited for the task, and the story’s wonderfully evokes the cheesy nature of the source material.  Heck, he’s even inspired me to watch some really old Yuen Woo Ping movies right now as I right this.  

The problem is that the source material was never that good.  They could be fun and exciting, but the exception of a few classics, the ceiling of the movies from that era was only so high.  Similarly, the comic has that same limitation. It’s a blast to read at the beginning, but once the initial novelty wears off, there’s nothing left to sustain it.

Still, I’m really happy that McLeod undertook this clear labor of love.  While it wasn’t my perfect cup of tea, I’m glad that it exists in the world.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

Elephantmen, RASL, Excellence, Pearl, Superman: Year One

New comics!

Excellence 4

Spencer and Aaron share a special moment in the middle of beating the crap out of each other.  After that shared experience, they’re now united in a common cause. The details of the cause are unclear, but I’m sure it has something to do with revolution against the establishment.  

What’s worth the price of admission is the letter column at the end, where co-creators Brandon Thomas and Khary Randolph discuss their use of the n-word in both their everyday lives and Excellence.  I greatly appreciate how they’re willing to engage in an open conversation about the topic and share it with their readers.  

Pearl 12

The final issue of the series.  A fine effort from Bendis, but it’s not going to be anywhere near the top of my list when I think about his masterpieces.  I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t remember this two years from now.  

Superman: Year One 2

Somewhat-out-of-character Clark Kent behavior aside, I really enjoyed this.  And to be fair, if it weren’t for Frank Miller’s personality surgery on Clark, I’d never have seen how he’d do in the military.  And it’s a blast to read. Miller can still bring it with the narration when he wants to. Still on board.  

RASL 13-15

Borrowed from the library, and now I know how it ends.  Eh. I didn’t miss anything, and saved myself ten bucks in the process.  

Would buy? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Stupid

Going through a major collection reorganization to make room for other things.  So a lot of stuff’s getting shuffled around. I just moved a bunch of comics from the shelf into this box for alphabetical purposes, and things I’ve already read (from Red Star on) are getting pushed into the next box.  Moving on.

Elephantmen 0, 1-13

My wife bought these years ago at Wondercon from artist Moritat’s table.  (She liked his art and he was an effective salesman.) I don’t think either of us have ever read them.  Moritat’s certainly a good artist (and a super nice guy), but Ladronn was the only reason I kept the original Hip Flask comic around.  Richard Starkings’ story isn’t interesting enough for me to keep this in my collection, but there was one page that was so very effective:

Regret buying: Yes

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck (Cutting)

Serenity, Shaolin Cowboy, Sidekicks, Skybourne, Smoke and Mirrors

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind 1

This is the only Serenity comic that I’m keeping, which I didn’t expect - Georges Jeanty’s presence on art alone puts it in a pretty deep whole.  But Zack Whedon manages to capture a little bit extra. Maybe I like seeing what happens after Serenity rather than gap-filling stories where I know how it ultimately ends.    

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Shaolin Cowboy 1

Few people can get away with a first issue that’s nothing but an extended fight scene preceded by 10 straight pages of people standing in a line.  I guess Geoff Darrow’s one of those people. I don’t need to read more of this, but the detail and the artistry deserves to be kept around.

Ten.

Whole.

Pages.

Of.

A line.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Sidekicks 1-2

Hogwarts for teenage sidekicks, published by Fanboy Comics (???).  The creative team would go on to greater things - J. Torres would write for Marvel and DC (though I still like him best for his inaugural work Copybook Tales), Takeshi Miyazawa would draw for Runaways and Mary Jane, and C.B. Cebulski is now editor in chief of Marvel.  This comic is fine in concept, ho-hum in execution. (Man, there’s a bunch of “Fine” comics in this box that still aren’t good enough to keep.  Maybe I need to revisit my rating system.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine (Cutting)

Skybourne 1-3

I bought this for the Frank Cho art.  I stopped when I got bored by the uninspired story about Merlin, dragons, and a mopey guy who keeps getting his ass kicked.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine (I can’t in good conscience rate Cho’s art any lower than that, regardless of the writing.)

Smoke and Mirrors 1-5

I absolutely love the concept - A sleight-of-hand magician is somehow transported to a world where magic has replaced the laws of physics.  It’s a remarkably rich idea, full of amazing possibilities. And...Mike Costa wrote this??? The guy who did such a fabulous job on GI Joe?  I find it hard to believe that the same writer wasted this brilliant setup on an annoying brat of a kid and a power hungry Steve Jobs-type sorcerer.  So disappointed.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck (Cutting)

Serenity

Serenity 1-3

Serenity: Better Days 1-3

Much like the Buffy comic, I bought these while I (and the world) was living in that period of Whedon-mania, where everything he touched was can’t-miss, whether it was good or not.  In retrospect, most of his comics (with the notable exception of Astonishing X-Men) fall in the not-so-good camp.  So much of what makes his characters sing come from the superlative performances of the almost uniformly spectacular actors in his shows.  No matter how good the writing or art, there’s always going to be something missing on the page without Sarah Michelle Gellar or Nate Fillion to give it that ineffable punch.  As with Kingman, I will never choose to read these over watching the show.

The covers are gorgeous, though.

Jo Chen

Joe Quesada

Josh Middleton

Regret buying: No (Yes for Better Days.  I should have known better by then.)

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck (Cutting)

Serenity: Float Out

Patton Oswalt is legitimately one of my favorite wordsmiths. No one can better string together words into the perfect sentence.

It’s not that he fails entirely here.  The sentences are all there, but they don’t form an interesting story.  The three flashback stories don’t say anything new about Wash. Zoe’s pregnancy’s the only item of note, and Dark Horse didn’t need to get Oswalt to write that last page.  

Regret buying: Yes

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Boring (Cutting)

Scion, The Secret, Secret Service: Kingsman

Scion 1-7

Hey, two Ron Marz titles in a row.  This time, he’s writing a medieval fantasy adventure (with the occasional random smattering of future technology, which makes no sense) for Crossgen comics.  (I would love to read an oral history of that place, it sounds like it was bonkers.) The story’s decent, it feels a lot like the Bant shard from Magic: The Gathering (yes, it came first, I know) with its initial focus on tournament combat supplanting all-out war.

Sigiled Paladin by Greg Staples

Rafiq of the Many by Michael Komarck

This would have been an easy cut, but for the art by Jim Cheung.  Yet even that wouldn’t have been enough - Cheung’s done better work since, and on much more interesting properties.  It’s the bright, exciting colors by Caesar Rodriguez that saves this trade from the cut pile. There’s something greatly appealing about it that keeps me from giving this away.  Thanks, Caesar!

Oh, wait.  Rodriguez is just using the blue and orange trick...

...that just about every movie poster in world employs.

Eh, I don't care.  Everyone does it for a reason.  It looks sweet.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

The Secret 1-4

The rare horror comic in my collection.  I really like the set up - Stupid high school kids crank call random people and say, “I know your secret!”  Naturally, they call the wrong person. Disappearances, creepy houses, and deaths ensue. As with a lot of things I’ve been reading lately, it’s fine.  It’s different enough from what I normally read to keep around, as the execution by Mike Richardson and Jason Shawn Alexander is competent enough. It’s lightweight enough that I can see myself reading it again someday.   

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Secret Service: Kingsman 1-6

One of the rare instances where the movie is far, far better than the source material.  Kingsman is a kinetic, funny, exciting movie that holds a place in my movie collection.  Secret Service is one of Millar’s weaker efforts, and reads like a reheated plate of Wanted, which wasn't that good to begin with.  Easy cut, I’d rather rewatch the movie five times before reading this again.

Regret buying: Yes

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Ruse, Samurai: Heaven and Earth, Ironheart, Batman: Universe, Wonder Woman, Second Coming

New comics!

Second Coming 2

Sunstar is an idiot, God is a putz, and Jesus is a decent fellow.  It’s fascinating to see how Mark Russell characterizes each of them and has them interact with each other.  But it’s starting to get predictable now that the personalities have been set. If Russell doesn’t have any else to say, I don’t see myself going much further with this.

Wonder Woman 76

Purchased entirely for Lee Garbett’s art, which is significant in that I haven’t bought something solely for the penciller in quite some time, I think.  But with the completion of Skyward, I really want to keep following him.  Also, he’s perfectly suited for Princess Diana.  G. Willow Wilson’s story isn’t the most engrossing, but it doesn’t suck, and even has a few standout moments.  (Helped immensely by the art.) If Garbett stays, I’m in for at least a few more months.

Heh.  "You may commence."

Awww.

Ironheart 9

Riri engages in a clash of wills with Shuri when her adventures take her through Wakanda.  A standard (but fun) team-up quickly brings them together, and I’m looking to their adventure next issue.

Batman Universe 2

Bendis must have loved writing this, as he unleashes quip after quip at his readers.  That’s what it’s all about in this issue, and he has a ridiculously high hit rate.

Never change, Alfred.

Ruse 1-6

Mark Waid and Butch Guice’s take on Sherlock Holmes by way of the CrossGen universe.  It’s perfectly decent, but I’ll never want to read it again.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine (Cutting)

Samurai: Heaven and Earth 1-3

Ron Marz wanted to pit a samurai against soldiers around the world, and this is the result.  Marz was on to something, because even though the story’s just okay (with very nice art by Luke Ross), the clash of cultures is indeed something that I greatly enjoyed seeing.  That’s really the sole reason I’m keeping this in my collection.

I love it when comics show me things I've never seen before.

This totally qualifies.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine