New Frontier

New Frontier 1-6

Darwyn Cooke’s magnum opus.  It weaves so many disparate threads into a beautiful tapestry that gets better with every read.  It’s like Band of Brothers, where every pass reveals something new, another connection.  Pieces that didn’t make sense to me before (mostly the human teams that I weren’t familiar with: The Losers, Challengers of the Unknown, Suicide Squad) start fitting into the big picture.

Cooke is unabashedly sentimental.  He’s the opposite of Garth Ennis.  He embraces superheroes and believes that they elevate humanity instead of look down upon it.  (That grammar feels wrong.)  The result here is something that inspires and brings me so much joy.  Its rating today was never in questions.  Time for his incomparable art.

I really didn't get the point of the Losers sequence when I first read it...

...but damn if this doesn't leave me breathless every time.

Glory.

LOVE the deco of that era.

So beautiful and sad.

Lovely.

Heartbreaking.  They aren't born like this.

Nothing funny about Aquaman here.

Brilliant execution of visualizing the jet.

So hokey...

...but it's perfect.

Love his knowing smile.

Cute.

Cooke had to have a Right Stuff moment.

Lovely narration.

I love everything about this page.

What a way to end it.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pure joy

New Frontier Special 1

The feature story showcases the hinted at battle between Superman and Batman.  It pays homage to Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns finale in every way, from the action beats to the narration.  

I love that Wonder Woman is the catalyst for Bruce and Clark’s friendship:

Trinity.

The other two stories are fine - Cooke written but not drawn :(  There’s a Kid Flash/Robin team up and one between Black Canary and Wonder Woman.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Strange Adventures

Strange Adventures 1-12

Third Tom King maxiseries in a row.  It’s interesting that while they all follow the same structure (well documented by this point), they don’t feel the same.  I guess it’s like how the piano concerto form doesn’t limit the infinite possibilities available to Mozart.

As with Rorschach yesterday, the mystery that Mister Terrific is trying to unravel is an enthralling one, right up until the reveal in issue ten.  While a bold move by King, it fundamentally betrays Adam Strange in a way that’s difficult for me to reconcile with my ultimate enjoyment of the story, even if I take it as an Elseworlds.  

Still, the execution is flawless, and the Mister Terrific bits are…well, the name says it all.  King should do a series with more of him.

Cruel.

Heh.

Day-um.

Lapping the field.  LOVE it.

Ouch.

As you can see above, Mitch Gerads is effing amazing. Evan Shaner is stunning as well:

*gasp*

That starfield...

The point where you knew things were going to go bad.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good (Really good for 2, 10)

Rorschach

Rorschach 1-12

The rare Tom King maxiseries where the individual issues are stronger than the overall story.  Usually, King’s mysteries don’t come together until the end, where everything suddenly ties together in a brilliant flash of revelation.  This time around, each issue works remarkably well as a standalone mini-puzzle.  It’s in the final two issues that things fall apart, when the convoluted trail of breadcrumbs somehow convinces the detective to murder presidential candidate Turley for reasons that I can’t quite figure out.  (And I went back to read it again to make sure.)  Maybe it’ll make more sense the more times I read it, and it certainly won’t be a hardship to do so.  Despite my criticisms, this is a really well done comic book.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Mister Miracle

Mister Miracle 1-12

Some thoughts on this excellent, wonderful series:

Standard Tom King “it’s been four issues and I still don’t know where he’s going with this” beginning.

Scott and Barda’s relationship is completely in the Hawkeye/Black Widow talking about remodeling the house in the middle of crazy action phase.

They do this for the entire issue.

King clearly gets the “once you have a kid, nothing else has a higher priority” thing.  Even a war of interplanetary proportions.  This whole series is the most insightful look into that mindset ever.  He gets what being a parent means.  I mean, most parents do, but he captures it on the page better than anyone.

I was just as paranoid about this.

Someone watched The Cosby Show.

Geez louise.  Gut punch.

*sniff*

Mitch Gerads’ art is sublime.  His mastery of body language is stunning.

So perfect.

One of the best pages of comic art ever:

King manages to interweave so many major themes here: suicide and its effect on families, parenthood, the very nature of what is real, and whether it should matter if you’re happy in the reality you’ve chosen.  Gerads portrays it on the page with a skill that I can’t imagine coming from many other artists.  This is a true masterwork.

A few final things:

A running gag that's in his Batman run as well.

Love this.  No idea if King made this up or not.

Heh.  Boom tubes as Lyft.

Why does Gerads have the steering wheel on the wrong side for the whole series?

So cute.

Cutest.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good (Pure joy for 8)