Ennis comics

Enemy Ace 1-2

It’s hard for me to pinpoint the difference in ratings for all of these Garth Ennis comics.  Everything runs between Pretty Good and Really Good, and while I can’t really articulate what sets them apart from each other, there’s definitely a variation in my enjoyment of these.  (Though let’s be honest, I’ve been having a blast with all of them.)

Anyway, this is a revival of a DC property.  WWII German ace pilot who fights for his country, not his leaders, yadda yadda.  This is great stuff.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Johnny Red 1-8

A revival of an old British character.  WWII British ace pilot who fights with the Soviets (who fight for their country, not their leaders, yadda yadda.)  

Not only is this a sweet story, it’s got a wonderful wrapper where Johnny’s Hurricane is getting restored by a dot com millionaire.  It adds a surprisingly sweet coda to the story.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Jimmy’s Bastards 1-6

I was completely planning to cut this before the re-read; I stopped buying this with three issues to go and remembered it as completely stupid.  Something about men and women switching genitalia and other nonsense.

Instead, I find this surprisingly entertaining and amusing.  

I've never heard anything so vulgar and hilarious.

Jimmy Regent’s partner, Nancy McEwan, brings a refreshing mix of competence and no-nonsense that balances out all the ridiculousness.  

I don’t care enough about how this ends to get the issues I’m missing, but I’m not going to dump these, either.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Red Team 1-7

An elite team of cops go vigilante and start killing the bad guys who really deserve it.  Then things go wrong because of course they do.  Ennis is so good at this kind of thing.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Daredevil: Fall of the Kingpin, Jimmy's Bastards, Judas, Superman

I’m going to start commenting on the new comics that I buy every week.  It’ll be interesting to see how they compare to when I eventually re-read them as part of this project.

Jimmy’s Bastards 6

I was dangerously close to dropping this title.  While I’m usually a fan of Ennis’ brand of humor, I find that I enjoy his comics more when there’s a more serious tone at their core.  Hitman, for all its silliness, is great because it’s still centered around its themes of brotherhood and the inability of Tommy and all his friends to escape who they’ve been for so much of their lives.

But paging through this in the store today, the central twist of the issue was enough to keep me going for at least another month.  I can’t tell if this is a limited series (I suspect it’s an 8-parter), but at this point, I’m pretty much pot committed to finishing it up.

Judas 2

I am really enjoying this title.  Lucifer greets Judas in Hell in the aftermath of his suicide, and makes a convincing argument as to why God is the bad guy in The Grandest of Stories.  It’s a Preacher-esque take on Our Heavenly Father, a God who forces some people to be the bad guys because the narrative demands it.  It’s not a new point of view, but it’s effectively presented.  

The cliffhanger of the issue is one that I did not see coming, but makes perfect sense in its simplicity.  I only got the first issue because I liked Jeff Loveness’ interpretation of the Judas story, but now I can’t wait to see where the next issue goes.

Superman 39

I bought this because the premise was too heartwarming to turn down: Superman and the Justice League take a bunch of cancer ward kids out for the day.  

This kind of story depends entirely on the execution.  It has to bring the feels, but can’t come across as trite.  As a reader, I’m expecting (and demand) cute moments, but don’t want them to be too obvious or easy.  It’s a difficult tightrope to walk.

I give Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason a passing grade on this.  It was mostly by-the-numbers, and the attempts to make Batman smile were just too on the nose.  

Still, the final scene on the surface on the moon really brought home just how special the moment was, and I completely bought the wonder and joy these kids were feeling, as well as the tragedy that a number of them probably wouldn’t survive their battles with cancer.  Feels achieved.

Daredevil 297-300

I find it amusing that this arc was originally called Last Rites, but the trade paperback takes the far more straightforward The Fall of the Kingpin as its title instead.

This is clearly meant to parallel Born Again, but DG Chichester is no Frank Miller.  Kingpin’s fall comes a little too easy - I don’t buy that a few well placed rumors were enough to turn Hydra and Kingpin against each other, or that Hydra would win that battle so easily.  This is the kind of story that I would have liked to see play out in the background over a longer period of time.  Still it’s entertaining enough for what it is.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine