Adam Strange, Ame-Comi Girls, Aquaman, Arsenal Special, Aztek, Birds of Prey

Starting off DC Box number one!

Adam Strange 1-6

Pasqual Ferry does nice art, but Andy Diggle doesn’t succeed in making Adam Strange interesting to me.  I stopped getting this with two issues left in the mini. Upon reread, I don’t care at all about how it ended.  I’m really hoping Tom King does a better job with his upcoming series next month…

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine (Cutting)

Ame-Comi Girls 1

Amanda Conner is an amazing artist.  That is all.  

Her expressions are perfection.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Aquaman 1-12

Geoff Johns’ attempt to make Aquaman cool.  He only partially succeeds on that front, but he more than makes up for it with his depiction of Mera.  I stopped buying this title because The Others (a superhero team from Arthur’s past) bored me silly, but I’d happily buy a Johns’ series starring the Queen of the Seas.

She takes no shit from anyone, has a strong sense of justice, and thinks quickly on her feet.  (Realizing that the cops will take her to the scene of the crime, allowing her to save the day.)  More of her, please.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Aztek 1-7, 9, 10

I remember this being a lot better than it was upon reread.  The art by N.Steven Harris is passable at best, and the story by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar should be way better, given their talents.  And yet, I’m keeping it around for reasons that I honestly can’t explain. Maybe it’ll come back around in another 20 years.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Arsenal Special 1

I love this comic every time I read it.  It doesn’t make any sense on the surface, this is basically a throwaway one-shot where Roy Harper goes on a mission, things go south, and he fights his way out of it.  It should be as forgettable as hundreds of other comics. But writer CJ Henderson puts in little touches that make it stand out - Forcing Arsenal to relapse by injecting him with heroin against his will; Writing the story like a Hong Kong action flick.  Artist Will Rosado isn’t the strongest of artists, but he gets the job done here, drawing the heck out of some great fight scenes. This is the ‘88 LA Dodgers of comics, a bunch of scrappy, not-the-best players coming together to accomplish something special.  (Ignoring Orel Hershiser. That guy was a beast.)

59 consecutive scoreless innings!

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Birds of Prey: Manhunt 1-4

Birds of Prey 1-24

Such a great concept for a book: Barbara Gordon, still in her early days as Oracle, teams up with Black Canary to fight the good fight.  Chuck Dixon is perfectly suited to write this kind of rollicking, fast-paced adventure book. Greg Land (before his phototracing got out of control) and Butch Guice do fine on the art.  The result is something that starts out fun, but is slowing down as the missions turn out to be ultimately forgettable. The dynamic between the co-stars is always a ton of fun, and I love that Dixon doesn’t let Oracle’s disability get in the way of her kicking ass.  But like many TV procedurals, the character moments aren’t enough to hide the thinness of the missions of the month.  

Somehow this issue goes for 50-90 bucks right now...

Love the homage by Yale Stewart.  Check out his JL8 online!

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice to Fine as the series progresses

New Comics

That’s the end of a shortened Misc Box 7!

Box Summary:

Time spent reading: 5 hours, 47 minutes

Issues read: 61

Issues cut: 0

Highlights (Good or better): Wizard’s Tale

Project Summary:

Time spent reading: 23 days, 21 hours, 7 minutes

Issues read: 4700

Issues cut: 598

New comics from the past two weeks!

Punisher: Soviet 3

More Garth Ennis war stories.  Punisher shows up for 11 mostly wordless panels.  He’s always been a good listener.

Hawkeye: Freefall 1

I like Matt Rosenberg from his Hawkeye/Winter Soldier miniseries.  Otto Schmidt I like from the art he posts on Twitter. Their combined effort is a ton of fun, and I’m in for more.

Lois Lane 7

Another clunker, the second in the past four issues.  Pair that with a so-so issue 6, and I’m seriously doubting the likelihood that I pick this up anymore.  

Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity 2

Still enjoying Harley as a criminal profiler.  Not seeing how she falls in love with this version of the Joker (as opposed to the superb Harleen, where her fall was preordained from the start), and I’d be pleased if Garcia doesn’t go down that predictable route and tries something different.

Black Cat 1-5

I picked up the trade after reading some strong reviews.  J. Scott Campbell’s lovely covers don’t hurt either. (Though let’s be clear, I don’t buy comics based on the covers.)  Jed MacKay writes a thoroughly entertaining and fun title, and Travel Foreman mixes in a strong dose of humor with some excellent storytelling.  Definitely getting the next collection.

Heh.  MacKay would write a fun Dr Strange.

Really like the way Foreman draws Felicia leaning on her hand.

Heh.

Batman 70-74

Batman Secret Files 2

Eh, not feeling this trade as much.  I’m already pot committed, so I’ll be finishing out Tom King’s run regardless.  But alternate universe Thomas Wayne doesn’t interest me, and I’ve never liked stories where no one believes the hero.  So, meh. That said, Mikel Janin still draws a gorgeous page.

Perfect staging and sizing of the characters in the scene.

Same thing here.

Love a good Batgirl.

Ultra, McCloud Comics, Usagi Yojimbo, Way of the Rat, Whiteout, Wizard's Tale, Zoom's Academy, Zorro

It’s getting harder and harder to find time to write…

Ultra 1-8

Another Luna Brothers collaboration.  This is a relatively light, fluffy piece about female superheroes as capitalist commodities.  It’s a slightly less cynical take on the concept before Garth Ennis’ scorched earth approach with The Boys a few years later.  (Yes, a few other examples come to mind, primarily JM Straczynski’s Squadron Supreme and Rising Stars.)  Still a fan of Jonathan Luna’s clean art style.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes 

Rating: Pretty good

Understanding Comics

Reinventing Comics

I thought about re-reading these and said, “Nope.”  These are textbooks more than comics, and as amazing as these are, and for all the craft Scott McCloud brings to these works, I don’t have the time or inclination to read these.  Still keeping them, but more for reference than entertainment.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes (No for Reinventing)

Would read again: Yes  (No for Reinventing)

Rating: Huh (Doesn’t fit into the normal rating system)

Usagi Yojimbo Color Special 5

TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo 1

Usagi is one of the most consistent things I’ve ever read.  I’m never surprised by it one way or another. And while I always enjoy the reading experience, the details don’t really matter.  It’s like the comics version of Bones or Castle.  I don’t think I’ll ever buy any Usagi again.  32+ volumes and these random issues are plenty.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes 

Rating: Nice

Way of the Rat 1-24

I read this entire run in one day, which speaks to the wonderful entertainment value that Chuck Dixon and Jeff Johnson packed into this title.  It’s a shame that Crossgen (and the planned movie adaptation) went under, I would have enjoyed reading and watching more of this.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes 

Rating: Pretty good

Whiteout 1-4

Whiteout: Melt 1-4

I liked the sequel more than the original, it had more tidbits about Antarctica’s history that I enjoyed reading, as well as some action and survival sequences that really popped.  Not as good as Rucka’s Queen and Country, but decent in its own right.  (Not that they two are really connected, but there’s a government enforcer vibe tying them together.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes 

Rating: Nice, Pretty good for Melt

Wizard’s Tale

As delightful now as when I first read it in college.  Kurt Busiek’s story is adorably subversive, with the titular evil wizard wishing that he was anything but.  But it’s Dave Wenzel’s art that dominates this work, with the ubiquitous Wrecklings stealing the scene on every page.  Can’t wait to read this with my daughter.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes 

Rating: Pure joy

Zoom’s Academy for the Super Gifted 1

I picked this up at a con because it was published by Mike Kunkel’s Astonish Comics, back when I was in love with anything he was involved with.  This comic by Jason Lethcoe is your standard “outsider kid turns out to be special and in introduced to a school where she can realize her true potential.”  Apparently it became a movie and children’s book series, good for Lethcoe! I’ll keep this only because he signed the copy I bought. 

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

Zorro 1-15

Matt Wagner writes and does the cover art for this Dynamite Comics series, and I wish he did the interiors as well.  Francesco Francavilla and Cezar Rezik do fine (Francavilla has a nice Cliff Chiang vibe going on), but Wagner’s on a whole different level.  

The stories are fine, but what they really did was inspire me to watch the Antonio Banderas/Catherine Zeta Jones movie, which I still love after all these years.  (The Tyrone Power one is damn good too.)

One of my favorite action/romance scenes ever.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Ottaviani Science

Happy new year!  2019 will probably go down as my craziest year ever: Laid off in January, found out my wife was pregnant in February, one of my best friends died of cancer in June, started a new job in July, and became a father in October.  All the highs and lows of life. Here we go with 2020.  

Dignifying Science

Suspended in Language

Hawking

More Jim Ottaviani science comics, this time an anthology about female scientists, Niels Bohr, and Stephen Hawking.  I like Suspended the best, Ottaviani is most successful there at mixing interesting anecdotes and a consistent, coherent narrative.  I admit that I sometimes lose patience when he gets too deep into the science, but I by no means wish that he tone it back.  It’s my fault, not his, that I don’t want to spend the time to understand it all. He shouldn’t dumb it down for the reader more than he already has.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes 

Rating: Nice, Fine for Hawking

And that’s it for Miscellaneous Box 6!  Mostly Transformers and science comics.

Box Summary:

Time spent reading: 20 hours, 44 minutes

Issues read: 134

Issues cut: 20

Highlights (Good or better): Major feels for a good chunk of my Transformers collection, but nothing otherwise stood out.

Project Summary:

Time spent reading: 23 days, 15 hours, 20 minutes

Issues read: 4369

Issues cut: 598