Spirit, Tempest, Tiny Titans, Injustice

Batman/Spirit 1

Spirit 1-12

So much Darwyn Cooke art to drink in!  The writing is generally nothing more than fine, but the art is enough to bump it up a couple of notches.  Of note are the title pages, worthy successors to Will Eisner’s classics.  What gives them that extra pop is the set up from the previous page; The reveal as you flip the page accentuates their effectiveness.

Eisner.

Imagine flipping from this to see...

...this!

(Issue seven not being Darwyn Cooke is totally bogus.)

Some other things that I love:

So many women, each evoking different tones.

So true.

Regret Buying: No

Would Buy Again: Yes

Would Read Again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Tempest 1-4

Ugh.  Phil Jimenez is a wonderful artist (with clear George Perez influences), but his writing here exemplifies the worst of 80s comics in something that came out in the nineties: Tons of tedious exposition about backstory and plot that saps any sense of fun from the experience.  The action and art would probably have been more than enough to accomplish what was necessary, but Jimenez weighs the whole thing down with way too many words.  

Regret Buying: No

Would Buy Again: No

Would Read Again: No

Rating: Boring (Cut)

Tiny Titans 1-6, 33-35

This was given to me as a present ages ago.  On the re-read, I got 3 issues in before tapping out.  I’m about 40 years beyond the target age group, and this really isn’t meant for me.  Tell you what though, I can’t wait to read it with my daughter when she’s old enough.

Regret Buying: No

Would Buy Again: No

Would Read Again: Yes (Eventually, with a very special someone.)

Rating: Huh.  (Really can’t give this any kind of legit grade.)

Injustice: Year 2 1-12

Injustice: Year 2 Annual 1

I know I said I wasn’t going to get more of this, but the trades were on sale at my LCS for half off.  It was totally worth it.  Tom Taylor is a master of the little moments in between the big action scenes.  (Of which he’s also a master.)  Some standouts:

Between Injustice and DCeased, Taylor's love of Ollie and Dinah is quite clear:

Heh:

Great body language by Bruno Redondo:

Chilling:

Chilling part two:

Nice of Taylor to give them a happy ending:

I’m most likely going to pick up the next volume, which finishes up Taylor’s run.

Regret Buying: No

Would Buy Again: Yes

Would Read Again: Yes

Rating: Good

New Comics, Injustice, JLA

New comics!

Fire Power: Prelude

Fire Power 1

Robert Kirkman and Chris Samnee headlining a martial arts comic is definitely enough to pique my interest, and they do not disappoint.  I’m all in on this gorgeously drawn tale populated by a cast of memorable characters.  Unorthodox but smart decision to start with a prequel TPB to set up the Free Comic Book Day first issue.  The hefty trade gives Kirkman and Samnee the space to draw out the time Owen spends training in the monastery, and it’s time well spent.  It develops the relationships between the characters and immerses the reader into the rich mythology that the creators have built.  Can’t wait to read more.

Immortal Hulk 1-5

I bought the first trade after seeing this on a number of best-of-the-year lists.  Meh.  I read a lot about how writer Al Ewing ramped up the horror aspect of the character, but all I get is another take on the duality of Banner and the Hulk, with some mystical Green Door retcon to link all of Banner’s deaths over the years.  Cutting before I even do a reread.

Injustice 3-12

Injustice Annual 1

Finally got the first collection after I reread the first two issues a couple of weeks ago.  The continuation doesn’t disappoint, as expected.  As he demonstrates later with DCeased, Tom Taylor really knows how to write an Elseworlds with stakes that pack an emotional punch.  

At the same time, this is enough to whet my appetite on this title; I’m not really feeling the motivation to read any more of this right now, at least at full price.  But if I ever see this on sale, I’ll most likely pick it up.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty Good

Prometheus 1

JLA 16-20, 22-41

I’ve finished reading the Grant Morrison JLA, and it really doesn’t hold up well.  A quick recap of the issues that he wrote:

1-4: The White Martian arc.  Still lots of fun, a solid story with a single focal point.  (Nice.  Keeping)

5: Filler story w/ Tomorrow Woman.  (Fine, keeping)

6-7: Intro of Zauriel.  (Fine, keeping)

8-9: Connor Hawke vs the Key.  Awesome Oscar Jimenez art.  (Nice, keeping)

10-15: Rock of Ages.  Horrible, no good, very bad.  (Hated, cutting)

16, 17, Prometheus 1: I really like the character of Prometheus, Morrison writes a nifty origin story about this dark mirror to Bruce Wayne.  And I dig the costume.  (Nice, keeping)

20: Loathsome part one about an insane Adam Strange.  Past me didn’t even get part two.  (Hated, cutting)

22-23: Starro and the Sandman.  I can’t believe Vertigo let DC have Daniel for this piece of trash.  (Stupid, cutting)

24-26: The Ultramarines.  Morrison’s last good arc.  It helps that Mark Pajarillo shows up for the last issue.  He’s so much better than Howard Porter, and pulls off some legit goosebumpy scenes.  (Pretty good, keeping)

Says so much about both Superman and how people see him.

28-31: Crisis Times Five.  Genie nonsense.  Morrison keeps trying to pull off these mystical/cosmic storylines and utterly fails.  He’s got Warren Ellis’ penchant for out-there ideas, but lacks his ability to weave them into coherent stories.  (Stupid, cutting)

34, 36-41: World War III.  A follow up to Rock of Ages, and just as bad.  Half of the League deals w/ Luthor and his Injustice Gang, while the rest are off on some bullshit cosmic misadventure.  It ends with a gag-worthy “the whole world gets powers and fights alongside the JLA” treacly climax.  (Stupid, cutting)

Recap of the guest-written issues:

18-19: Mark Waid plays fast and loose with the theories of quantum entanglement, but it makes for a fun story.  (Nice, keeping)

27: Mark Millar with a cute Amazo story that contains a nifty little twist that makes no sense but is fun and clever enough that I’ll allow it.  (Pretty good, keeping)

32: Devin Grayson tries to explain why the JLA’s unable to do more to help Gotham during No Man’s Land.  It’s a stretch that barely works, but I appreciate the effort.  A nice emotional moment at the end as well.  (Nice, keeping)

33: Waid returns for another issue, and Mark Pajarillo continues to make me wonder why he’s the fill in artist and not the main one.  It looks like he left comics to join the video game industry.  Fair enough, but I still wish he’d done more stuff. (Nice, keeping)

There's some Charest and Lee in there, but it's uniquely Pajarillo.

35: Not even Pajarillo can save this Day of Judgment (does anyone remember that event?  I’d completely forgotten it.) tie in, written by JM DeMatteis.  (Boring, cutting)

So to summarize:

Morrison issues: Keeping 15, cutting 20.

Guest written issues: Keeping 5, cutting 1.

Why did I remember Morrison’s run as a good one again?

By the way, my ranking scale of bad to worse, since I used it so much here:

Didn’t suck, Boring, Stupid, Disliked, Hated, Trainwreck Bad.

It’s not a strict scale.