New Comics, Lois Lane, Manhunter, Martian Manhunter, Multiversity, Naomi

New comics!

Die 12

Yeah, this reads so much better as a collection.  Still, I want to support this title, so singles it is.  Not much else to say about this except that it’s consistently grim and entertaining.  (Which suddenly reminds me of Deadly Class.  Except that Class is even bleaker, and less entertaining.)

Strange Adventures 3

Tom King doing the usual Tom King things w/ great writing.  Mitch Gerads and Evan Shaner killing it on art as well.

Wonder Woman 759

This is how you get me to try out a title: Get Mariko Tamaki of Supergirl: Being Super fame and Mikel Janin, so splendid on Tom King’s Batman, to team up on just about anything.

On the con side, the villain looks to be Maxwell Lord, and I’ve hated him in every incarnation I’ve read him in (whether it’s as JLA smarmy agent sleeze or Identity Crisis murderer).  Also, I don’t see Janin’s name on the preview cover two issues from now - does he need fill-in help that soon?

On the pro side: Frickin’ amazing scenes like this:

Wow.

Lois Lane 1-8

Some nice character work, but the main murder mystery does not merit twelve issues of investigation.  Past me ran out of patience, and present me doesn’t disagree.  Nice to see Renee Montoya again.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Manhunter: Special Edition

Collecting Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson’s Manhunter backup series from Detective Comics back in the 70s.  The writing style’s a little dated, but Simonson’s layouts are inventive and gorgeous in a way that just isn’t done anymore, and that’s a shame.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Manhunter 1-14

Marc Andreyko writes this series, which I picked up the first two trades for on sale at a used bookstore.  I’m certainly glad I didn’t pay full price for them; Kate Spencer is one of those heroes whose many flaws (including rudeness and super poor parenting skills) make her actively unlikable, and her adventures are completely forgettable.  (It’s like I was reading it for the first time.)  

Also, there’s horrible continuity in the last issue where her hand gets impaled by a knife, only for there to be no trace of the wound for the rest of the fight.  Pet peeve triggered.

So much wrong about this cover from Jae Lee.

So cuttable.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Martian Manhunter 24

Where John Ostrander and Doug Mahnke do their finest Giffen/Maguire JLA impression, and a most worthy one at that.  It turns out J’onn transforms into a raging amalgam of the Hulk and Cookie Monster when he’s denied his Choco (Oreo) cookies.  

The result is hilarious, as is the resolution with J’onn’s physically manifested cookie addiction as it jumps from JLAer to JLAer.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Multiversity: Pax Americana 1

Multiversity: Mastermen 1

Grant Morrison writing some Elseworlds stories.  Pax Americana is his take on the “Fearful Symmetry” issue of Alan Moore’s Watchmen.  It’s a byzantine needs-to-be-read-forwards-and-backwards-to-make-any-sense look-at-how-clever-I-am issue that really isn’t worth the effort at the end of the day.  There are far better examples of how to do a comic like this (“Fearful Symmetry,” for one.  Tom King’s Grayson: Future's End for another.  Also Warren Ellis’ Black Widow time travel story in Secret Avengers.)

Mastermen is a far more straightforward story, where Clark Kent lands in Nazi Germany instead of Kansas.  The Jim Lee art makes it more fun that it would otherwise be.

It's okay to homage yourself, right?

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Naomi 1-6

So refreshing to read this after Pax Americana; This is effortlessly fun and entertaining, the complete opposite of Morrison’s torturously laborious exercise in comic craft.  This reads a lot better in one sitting; Naomi’s frustration and constant questioning isn’t nearly as annoying or repetitive, and there are enough wrinkles in the standard origin story to keep it from getting stale.  Also, Jamal Campbell’s gorgeous art.  

I’m probably going to get volume two whenever that comes out.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good