Library books

Here I am on vacation, determined to clear the massive backlog of random media I’ve consumed but not written about.  Let’s see how I do.

You Must Take Part in Revolution

Borrowed from the library, this is a graphic novel by Melissa Chan and Badiucao is about a dark near future where China and the United States are on the brink of nuclear war.  Not hard to imagine.  It follows a small group of friends figuring out how to best fight and survive against the Chinese regime.  The concept is solid (which is what led me to borrow it in the first place), but the execution is lacking.  Not something that leaves a lasting impression.

Regret reading: No

Would read again: No

Would buy: No

Rating: Boring/Stupid

Phantom Scientist

Borrowed from the library.  I keep trying graphic novels by the non-major publishers, hoping for something good.  I’m so rarely impressed, but I can’t keep myself from persevering.  Phantom Scientist, by Robin Cousin, is another unfortunate miss.  Like You Must Take Part, the elevator pitch hooked me.  A collection of top-level scientists is called together at a remote facility to conduct whatever research they want.  But something about the scenario has been engineered to inevitably fail with catastrophic results, a la the multiple iterations of Zion in The Matrix.  

It’s a great setup, but the mystery ultimately dissolves into a nonsensical ending with no satisfying explanation.  I felt like my time was wasted.

Regret reading: No

Would read again: No

Would buy: No

Rating: Disliked

Beast Boy

Beast Boy Loves Raven

Robin

Starfire

I’d heard so many good things about this YA series by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo, it was an easy borrow when I saw Beast Boy on the shelf at the library.  The subsequent volumes were easy borrows (though I didn’t care enough about Raven as a character to go back and start from the first book).  

This is a well-told reboot of the Teen Titans.  By spreading out the story across multiple books, Garcia and Picolo have time to give everyone their time in the spotlight, making them sympathetic and likable (even Damian).  That’s said, it’s very light fare, and I’m unlikely to revisit these unless I think my daughter will want to check them out in a few years.  At which point I’ll happily pick them up.

Regret reading: No

Would read again: Yes

Would buy: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

I’m Not Starfire

Is the Supergirl mini-series the only thing from Mariko Tamaki that I love?  Have I been hopelessly searching for the next thing from her that resonates as deeply with me?  Or have I completely outgrown stories about kids in high school?  I hope it’s not either one.  

With I’m Not Starfire, I’m not a fan of the moping, emo daughter of Starfire.  Don’t like Yoshi Yoshitani’s art either.  I hope this isn’t in continuity w/ Garcia’s work.

Regret reading: No

Would read again: No

Would buy: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Bruce Wayne: Murderer, Brubaker and Rucka Batman

Batman 591-598

Ed Brubaker/Scott McDaniel.  It’s not a good sign that I remember very little of these issues only two days after reading them.  New baddie Zeiss isn’t as interesting as Brubaker thinks he is, and my primary memory is of Batman in the same diving pose issue after issue:

Why even have this scene if you're not going to show the present?

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Detective Comics 755-765

Superman 168

Greg Rucka’s side of the Batman titles are a lot better than Brubaker’s.  A lot has to do with Sasha Bordeaux, Bruce Wayne’s new bodyguard.  Telling things from her POV adds a nice dimension to these stories.  That and the GCPD stuff.  Such a smart idea to spin them off into their own title.  

A shout out to mostly-regular artist Shawn Martinbrough.  I would definitely not have picked him as a suitable artist for Batman, but he somehow pulls it off wonderfully. 

Love that spoon-hanging image.  So perfect.

Nice little crossover with Superman, too.  Jeph Loeb writes a great relationship between the World’s Finest.

Great, great image by Ed McGuinness.

After the disappointment of The Jacobian, the next couple of backup features have been spectacular: Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke team up for the setup to the new Catwoman series, followed by Judd Winick and Cliff Chiang on the horribly underrated Josie Mac.  Why hasn’t there been more of her???

Check out the motion in the last two panels.

Oh.  My.  God.

No one does femme fatale like Cooke.  Not even Frank Miller.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Batman: 10 Cent Adventure 1

Detective Comics 766-767

Batgirl 24

Nightwing 65-66

Batman: Gotham Knights 25-26

Birds of Prey 39-40

Robin 98-99

Batman 599

Bruce Wayne: Murderer.  A fine concept, but I hate that multiple parts of this are useless filler.  (The Robin issues in particular.)  It’s all part of DC’s ploy to get people to buy lesser-selling issues.  And I fell for it like a sucker.  Wasn’t the first or last time, but hopefully present me is a lot wiser now.  

Nice backup story from Mike Barr and Alan Davis.

Love that Babs is a lawyer.

I never thought about how unrealistic it is that anyone can stroll up to the front door with no security checks.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Batman: Officer Down, New comics

New comics!

Old Guard: Tales Through Time 1-2

Anthology series telling tales of our heroes’ pasts.  Good, solid, fun stuff.

Beta Ray Bill 1-3

I’ve always loved Beta Ray Bill.  He exudes an innate nobility and combines it w/ a badass character design and awesome hammer.  In this new series from Daniel Warren Johnson, he proves to be just as badass, even without the hammer.

It is so beautiful.

I originally passed on this series, but I came back after some iFanboy recommendations and I discovered just how funny it was, especially with the introduction of Skurge.  He’s excellent here.  

Batman 587

Robin 86

Birds of Prey 27

Catwoman 90

Nightwing 53

Detective Comics 754

Batman: Gotham Knights 13

Officer Down.  Jim Gordon gets shot by a corrupt cop.  Gordan retires.  Bullock kills the bad guy in cold blood.  It’s not bad, but I don’t know if it merits a seven-part crossover.

No way Alfred quits working for Bruce over this, it feels so contrived.  I can’t believe the Pander brothers are still getting comic gigs.  The Harlan Ellison/Gene Ha Black and White backup has a hilarious ending.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Batman: No Man's Land, Sins of Youth, Robin

Batman: No Man’s Land 1

Batman 563

Batman: Shadow of the Bat 83

Detective Comics 730

The start of No Man’s Land.  Apparently past me didn’t want to buy anything between Cataclysm and now.  This is a great start.  Once you get past the unbelievable stretch that the US government’s not only cut off, but completely sealed Gotham away from the rest of the world, Bob Gale’s gripping story of a city’s descent into feudalistic survival feels entirely possible and realistic.  Alex Maleev’s art is perfect for this grim, depressing situation.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Batman: Shadow of the Bat 86

Past me only bought sporadic issues of No Man’s Land until the last few arcs.  This one’s basically the ultimate old guy “You kids get off of my lawn!” story.  It’s a little ray of sunshine in the darkness, it’s also hard to believe that anyone could last as long as this guy.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Detective Comics 733

It’s hard to believe that the Bob Gale who wrote the excellent opening arc also wrote this piece of dreck.  Batman literally plays Solomon, and it’s as lame as it sounds.  

Regret buying: Yes

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Disliked (Cutting)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 125

Batman and Jim Gordon reconcile after being at odds for most of the year.  A nice conversation issue, with an amazing gesture by Bruce:

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Batman: Shadow of the Bat 93

Batman 573

Detective Comics 740

The end is in sight as Lex Luthor shows up to rebuild Gotham (and fraudulently buy it on the cheap at the same time).  

I'd forgotten Azrael had this ass ugly costume for a while.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 126

Batman 574

Detective Comics 741

Batman: Shadow of the Bat 94

It always comes down to the Joker, doesn’t it?  Greg Rucka writes some amazing stuff here.  Pettit’s fall is as predictable as it is horrifying.  Huntress’s “you shall not pass” moment is thrilling and brutal, the end reminiscent of Murphy’s death in Robocop or Boromir’s demise in Fellowship.  

Great Alex Maleev cover.  Can feel the determination.

A gut wrenching sequence.

So hard to watch.

The Joker stuff is great, but a lot of the impact is ruined by Damion Scott’s cartoony art.  Completely ill suited to the story.  If only Dale Eaglesham could have drawn the whole thing.

This could be so much more effective.

I can't take this scene seriously.

At the end of it all, things return to the status quo except for Sarah Gordon (nee Essen).  It’d be sadder if I’d read more stories with her; outside of NML, I think Year One is the only story I own with her in it.  Still, Jim Gordon’s sadness hits all the right chords, as does Batman’s continued resolve as his city returns to ‘normal.’

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Sins of Youth: Batboy and Robin 1

A random issue where Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne swap bodies.  It’s decently amusing.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Robin 85

No idea why I have this random issue where Joker rants about how he hates Robin.  Easy cut.

Regret buying: Yes

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Stupid

Batman: Cataclysm, New comics

New comics!

Alice in Leatherland.1

Got this on the recommendation of the amazing Stjepan Sejic, as something that’s similar to his stellar Sunstone.  Alas, even accounting for the high bar Sejic sets, it’s not quite good enough for me to try the second issue.  Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli have created a decent first issue about a young lady who’s moved to San Francisco and finds herself far out of her comfort zone in just about every aspect of her life.  In a story like this, everything relies on the characters and how much I want to keep reading about them.  It’s close, but I couldn’t get myself to care enough for this fish out of water.  

Sunstone: Mercy vol 7

Speaking of Sejic, here he is with the continuation of Sunstone.  My god, he is a phenomenal writer/artist.  Talk about caring for the characters.  He writes flawed but sympathetic men and women in this series, and I care immensely about their well-being and happiness.  I can’t wait to find out what happens next, even though as a flashback, I already know the broad strokes of the outcome.  There’s no doubt this is going to Pure Joy on the re-read.

Nightwing 80

Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo.  What an amazing team.  

I love their relationship, whatever it is.

Great troll.

Nightwing 19-20

Catwoman 56

Batman 553-554

Detective Comics 719-721

Batman: Shadow of the Bat 73-74

Robin 53

Batman Chronicles 12

Blackgate: Isle of Men 1

Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma 1

The Cataclysm arc, which will lead to the very long, very epic No Man’s Land.  The writers do a better job here than they did in Contagion in terms of portraying how a conceivable natural disaster would affect Gotham.  It feels more realistic, once you get past the people in costumes, because even they’re pretty useless in a situation like this, outside of search and rescue.  There’s a bit with the Quakemaster at the end, and it’s predictably the weakest part.  

But there’s some really strong stuff at the beginning, as we see how Nightwing, Oracle, and Catwoman react to the crisis.  Their instant responses, “How can I help,” feel like true heroism, not comic book superheroism.  It’s neat to read.

I like the inner monologue and very human reactions from Selina.

A very 'basic' bystander rescue...

...but Dixon and McDaniel really sell the tension and heroism.

Bruce and Jim have a great bromance.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes (No for Blackgate and Blunt Trauma)

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good for Nightwing and Catwoman.  Fine for Blackgate and Blunt Trauma.  Nice for the rest.