Catwoman

Catwoman 0-1

Jim Balent’s Catwoman is my iconic version of the character.  That costume, drawn by that artist, is the one I grew up with as I first started collecting comics.  And yet, I only have a handful of his issues.  (The others are parts of Batman crossovers I’ll get to later.)

It’s because as fun as the art is, the stories aren’t all that standout.  That’s really all there is to it.  

Love the costume.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Catwoman 1-6

Judd Winick and Guillem March’s New 52 take on Selina.  This is a Selina who’s clearly spiralling towards disaster, barely hanging on by a thread.  (A lot like the Brubaker run, which is so good that it’s an on-the-bookshelf comic, not an in-the-box comic.)  The cherry on top is that she’s banging Batman in one of those dysfunctional, “purely about the sex because they can’t admit their feelings” kind of ways.  

I have no idea what to think about March’s art.  His Catwoman is hyper-sexualized, which isn’t really out of character, but there’s a salacious quality to it that makes me feel dirty when I look at it.  At the same time, I can’t deny that I like it.  Which doesn’t necessarily speak well of me, but I like what I like.  

More than you usually see in a DC comic.

The first arc was entertaining, but not enough for me to continue buying.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Catwoman 1-3

Catwoman has certainly gone through quite a lot of first issues.  This is the Joelle Jones one.  I was all excited to see her pencils, but like the subsequent Future State: Wonder Woman, her writing half lets her art half down.  She couldn’t convince me to care about the politician’s evil, disfigured wife, and no amount of awesome art could get me to stay.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine  

Future State: Catwoman 1-2
I got it for the Otto Schmidt art.  Otherwise, a pretty average Elseworlds tale.  This only came out a couple of months ago, my thoughts haven’t changed much in the meantime.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Batgirl, Batwing, Batman: Europa, Creature of the Night

Batgirl 35-38

First of all, the writer is apparently a piece of trash, so good riddance to him from the comic industry.

This is one of those “brand new start!” issues, essentially putting Barbara Gordon in a YA setting, a la DC Ink years before it got off the ground.  It’s not bad, reimagining Babs in a modern college setting.  The problem is that it still tries to place itself in the continuity where she was paralyzed by the Joker, and this Barbara is way too young for Killing Joke.  It makes for a weird disconnect that I can’t get past.

Babs Tarr’s art is perfect for the YA vibe.

That last image is chilling.

I would have kept reading if I had the issues, but I don’t care enough to keep buying.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Batgirl: Year One 1-9

I loved every second I spent reading this.  I never remember just how good this is.  Between the writing by Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon, and Marcos Martin’s top notch art, this is what Pure Joy comics are all about.  Nothing but pictures from here:

All these gorgeous covers!

Especially this one.

We've all sat like Dick before.

LOVE Martin's drawing here.

Look at that perspective!

Martin comes up with the best poses.

Love how the skies are always on fire, pushing the Firefly angle.

Spectacular colors by Javier Rodriguez throughout.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pure Joy

Batwing 1

Why did I get this?  Probably the Judd Winick writing.  Eh.  The Batman of Africa doesn’t do anything to impress me, and past me did well to drop it so quickly.  Keeping it in the collection because it’s just one issue.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Batman: Europa 1

Batman and Joker have been infected by the same deadly virus and have to team up to find a cure.  The Jim Lee art was the only thing that caused me to buy this, and I remember how pissed I was to buy the second issue and realize he wasn’t drawing any more of it.  

Great colors by Alex Sinclair

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Batman: Creature of the Night 1-4

Perhaps it was unfair of me to expect Superman: Secret Identity when this came out, but this was marketed as a story in the same vein.  And a story about a ghost-fetus-Batman-spirit isn’t what I was looking for.  

In defense of Kurt Busiek’s work, it’s a lot better than I remembered; I was sure I was going to cut this.  But the first three issues were far more engrossing than I expected.  Unfortunately, I only had fun when following Bruce Wainwright’s everyday life; I liked seeing how someone in circumstances similar to Bruce Wayne’s might actually try to do some good in the world.  All the stuff w/ Batman was just too strange.  

Then things completely fall apart in the last issue when Bruce goes all paranoid and nearly loses his mind.  I could have done without any of that.  Still, the first three issues are worth keeping this in my collection.  

Those backgrounds by Jean Paul Leon remind me of Will Eisner

The master.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Batgirl

That’s it for Superman Box 2!  There are two Superman stories in my I have yet to read for this project, but they’re too good to store away in the attic.  I’ll get to them later.

Box summary

Time spent reading: 18 hours 55 minutes

Issues read: 187

Issues cut: 29

Highlights (Good or better): Action Comics 761, 766, 775, 844-846, 851, 858-863, Action Comics Annual 11, Superman: Up in the Sky 1-6, Superman Smashes the Klan 1-3, Superman: Red Son 1-3, All-Star Superman 1-12

Project Summary:

Time spent reading: 36 days, 10 hours, 16 minutes

Issues read: 7592

Issues cut: 889

Batgirl 1-7

I’d been meaning to buy this after I found out that Lee Garbett did a Batgirl run earlier in my career.  Imagine my surprise today when I found out that I already owned the first trade.  How could I have forgotten?

Turns out it’s because Lee Garbett is a lot better today than he was ten years ago.  Not a knock on him, I’m thrilled that he’s now one of my favorite artists, but his work on Batgirl lacks both the unique style and stunning beauty of his more recent work.

Also, Bryan Q Miller’s writing is completely unmemorable.  All the points are by the book: struggling to fill the shoes left by her predecessors, love/hate relationship with her mentor, juggling school and vigilantism, facing fears surfaced by Scarecrow, relationship with a cop on the force, tons of speechifying... There’s so much to yawn over, with no real twists or quality writing to make it stand out.   

Well, there are a few moments:

Well written Damian can be funny.

Love this Phil Noto cover.

I may not love the title, but I love Stephanie's costume.

The purple highlights are so choice.

Not enough to keep it around, I have plenty of prettier Garbett art to look at.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck (Cutting)

Batgirl 1-3

With the New 52 (Still don’t know what that’s all about), Barbara Gordon can walk again, and is back as Batgirl.  No idea what happened to Stephanie Brown.  Like the previous series, Babs is wondering if she can do the job and struggling to keep up with the physical and emotional demands of being Batgirl.  Gail Simone’s writing isn’t that much better than Miller’s, hence my quitting after three issues, but Ardian Syaf’s art keeps it in the collection.

I love this costume too, with the armor bits.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

All-Star Superman

All-Star Superman 1-12

I took a look, this is far and away the best thing I’ve read from Grant Morrison.  A lot of it may have to do with Frank Quitely’s art, but regardless, this is worthy of the accolades heaped upon it.  Except for the Bizarro planet story.  As with all Bizarro stories, it’s trash.

Saw this and thought, "Isn't this idea straight from Golden Apples of the Sun" by Ray Bradbury? 

Grant Morrison replies, "Yes, yes, it is."

Quitely does the best bumbling Clark.

I hate his waif-thin Lois.  Creepy eyes, too.

This is sweet.

The seemingly throw-away Sun Eater runner ended up being surprisingly poignant.

Nice.

For some reason, I always forget what happens in the last couple of issues, so it always comes as a surprise to me.

This Superman is definitely a god amongst men.  That, plus the unavoidable, occasional “Morrison being weird for weird’s sake” moments keep this from the Pure Joy rating.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Wanted to call out this lovely cover by Bruno Redondo.

Superman: Red Son

Superman: Red Son 1-3

What if Superman landed in the Soviet Union instead of Kansas?  You get one of the best Superman stories ever told, written by Mark Millar.  This is an beautifully constructed tale, but as fun as the rise and fall of the Soviet Supes is, it’s the elegant finale that gets me every time. 

Millar’s portrayal of Lex Luthor is top notch.  His Lex is more driven than evil, and that’s the way I like him.  And while it ends up being more of a red herring than anything else, his version of Hal Jordan has always stuck with me.

I’m leaving out a lot of what makes this great, go read it and find out for yourself.  (Why not Pure Joy?  The art by Dave Johnson and Killian Plunkett is good, but not great.  Also, this Superman, like the one from Up in the Sky yesterday, is more god than human.  Minor dings, but just enough.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Documentaries

Some documentaries that I recently watched:

24 Hour War

The documentary version of Ford vs Ferrari, which I also want to watch.  A fun look at the Le Mans race, something I knew nothing about before this.  

First Monday in May

This gives an inside look at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2015 fashion exhibition, China: Through the Looking Glass, and the accompanying Vogue Met Gala.  It’s a captivating look at some amazing art and the stunning displays and parties you can throw when you have a terrifying amount of money.  

Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo

Apollo 13 (and the rest of the Apollo missions) from the viewpoint of the mission control specialists.  The interviews are riveting, and I’m watching Apollo 13 right now because it totally got me in the mood for it.  

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Good (for all three)

Superman Smashes the Klan

Superman Smashes the Klan 1-3

It’s so hard to read about racism.  It’s obviously even worse when it’s my race that’s the target in the story.  I’ve been ridiculously lucky to have not really been the target of it in my own life, and I recognize my privilege.  But with the swell of anti-Asian hate in the United States over the past year, I’ve never been more acutely aware and scared of it than I am now.  

There are lots of things you can do.  Here’s one of them: www.advancingjustice-aajc.org

Anyway, Gene Luen Yang does a good job of telling this story about a Chinese-American family, the hate they face, and how Superman’s experience is the immigrant experience.  The Gurihiru art is a perfect match for the story.  This is a wonderful, necessary comic book.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good 

Superman, New Comics

New comics!

Batman: The Detective 1

Tom Taylor and Andy Kubert, sounds great to me.  I could do without the Knight and Squire appearances, but the premise is solid - Someone is killing all the people Batman’s saved throughout his career.  I’m in.

Black Cat 5

The Black Fox reveals the endgame behind all of these heists, and there’s no doubt it’s not going to end with a win for him.  Writer Jed MacKay continues to entertain.

Rorschach 7

More conspiracy theories, and now Frank Miller (yes, that one) is the latest Rorschach.  It’s all heading somewhere, and unlike some of his other current titles (Strange Adventures, Batman/Catwoman), each individual issue strongly stands on its own as well.

Action Comics 1001-1007, 1015

It’s the same as his work over on Superman; Brian Michael Bendis nails the little character moments, but I could not care less about the main plot of low level criminals trying to outwit Superman.  I just don’t care at all.  Red Cloud?  Boring.  The gossip columnist at the Daily Planet?  Boring.  All the internal mafia drama?  Etc.

See my previous posts from when I first bought these issues to see the moments that worked for me.  Turns out they’re all just as good the second time around.

Still don’t regret my decision to stop buying.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Superman: Up in the Sky 1-6

I suspect my original posts from 2019 will show that my opinion of this title has not changed; Some really good stuff from Tom King and Andy Kubert.  Over half of the twelve segments in this series are among the best Superman stories I’ve read.  They can all be described in one word: Setup.  Boxing.  Healer.  Phone call (Okay, two.).  Euthanasia.  Temptation.  Questions.  

What keeps this from hitting Pure Joy?  Despite his obvious humanity, this Superman is too perfect.  He doesn’t screw up, he says all the right things.  He lacks a warmth, a relatable quality that marks the absolutely best Superman stories (For All Seasons, Secret Identity).  But it’s really darn close.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good