Injection

Starting with some pretty art that I came across:

Russell Dauterman’s variant cover for something called Love Romances 1, out this week.  It’s not like the upside-down Spider-Man kiss is new, but his MJ is simply adorable, as is the rose behind the back.  I’d still be buying Thor if Dauterman had stayed on (can’t stand Mike Del Mundo), and can’t wait to see what he’s been doing on the upcoming Wars of the Realms event book.

Preview to the cover for Action Comics 1012.  Don’t know who did it, but it’s gorgeous:

Just the top three quarters would be great with the puffy clouds and iconic shot of Superman streaking across the sky, but the addition of the menacing red mist clawing towards him adds another level to it.  Top it off with the creepy hand emerging from the bottom and it’s something I’d like to hang up on a wall somewhere. The virtual symmetry on the vertical axis down the middle appeals greatly to me as well.

Injection 1-15

I may have lasted two issues when this came out on the newsstands.  (Not that I’ve ever purchased anything from a newsstand. I don’t think they’ve carried comics in decades, either.)  Typical Warren Ellis over-weirdness. I don’t even have them to re-read, I got rid of them before I had the chance.

But the collection of the full run (it’s been on hiatus for over a year) was at the library in an attractive hardcover edition, so I picked it up.  After all, Supreme: Blue Rose worked better the second time around, as did Wild Storm (which I still need to catch up on), so maybe recent Ellis just needs to be read all at once.  

Mmm...kind of.  It definitely works better as a collection, but it’s still not one of his stronger works.  Injection gives off strong Global Frequency vibes, but without the the disciplined focus of its generally self-contained issues.  There’s less resolution to each investigation, since it’s all tied together to the larger picture of the Injection.

It took me a little while before I figured out that the Injection is Ellis’ device for enabling whatever batshit crazy thing he wants to have happen, up to and including “The Adventure of The Elderly Ghost Sexer.”  It’s all tied to the Injection.

Okay, flipping through it again, I realize that Ellis spends five issues on each main arc, focusing a couple of team members at a time.  I like Vivek Headland the best - As the Sherlock Holmes analog, he’s the character I find the most interesting. Plus, his story is the one most grounded in some semblance of reality, even if it involves “the first known detective to forensically gather vaginal ectoplasm.”

I do imagine working with him would justifiably elicit such noises.

Declan Shalvey’s art is pretty good, well suited for Ellis’ style.  Some panels that stood out for me:

Holmsian silhouette against a modern skyline.  Nice.

Cute use of his shaman powers.

I’m more than pleased with my decision to stop buying this at an early stage, but I also didn’t find this reading of the whole thing to be a waste of time.  Win win.

Would buy? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine

X-Factor

X-Factor 63-68

The Whilce Portacio X-Factors, before he moved over to Uncanny X-Men.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of his art on Wetworks, but I really loved his X-Universe stuff.  There’s such a flair and energy to his images, everything is in constant motion.  Take a look at his covers:

They’re absolutely streaking across the page.

Effective use of speed lines.

Love his Archangel wings.

Portacio may not have been the first, but he’s the one that I most associate with the “circles around the hands” energy signature motif (See Iceman above).  I really dig it.

I also love the headdress/tiara thing he gives Jean Grey, as well as the pointed shoulders.  It’s a look Jim Lee will use a year later in the new X-Men book.

But I can’t ignore this epic fail of a knockout punch:

Looks so so bad.

And Michael Heisler continually fails with his word balloon placement.  It’s absolutely atrocious:

The jump from section 1 to section 2 makes rational sense, going from the bottom of one panel to the top of the next.  But the proximity of section 3 to section 1 feel more natural from a flow standpoint - The jump from 2 to 3 is too large to feel natural, as is the far right to far left transition of balloons in the panel.

Then there’s this monstrosity:

From context, it’s clear that section 2 follows 1, Jean’s reaction to Psynapse’s attack.  But where the heck is section 3 supposed to fall in the sequence of balloons? It’s in the same panel as 1, but it doesn’t fit between 1 and 2.  It’s not the first thing to read on the page, since 1 is a clear continuation from the previous page. And it’s placed completely out of the way of anything else in the lower left, just a pointless footnote.  It’s baffling.

Also, Heisler and his editors don’t know how to spell ‘kidnapped.’  It shows up twice as ‘kidnaped’ in this run.

To the story itself.  It starts with an “Iceman rescues Iris from her yakuza past” two-parter, which is as old-fashioned as it sounds.  Louise Simonson does her best to give Iris some agency in the matter, but at the end of the day, she’s still a damsel in distress with two guys fighting over her fate at the climax of the story.  Ugh.

Then it gets to the classic...what was this arc called?  I’ve always mentally named it the “Cyclops sends his son to the future to become Cable Saga.”  I think it’s officially “Endgame.” The plot meanders all over the place - The Dark Riders attack X-Factor, infect Ship with a virus, and kidnap (kidnape) Christopher (Scott’s infant son).   Ship blows up in space, where the team’s picked up by the Inhumans. They team up to attack Apocalypse, because he’s built a base on the moon for reasons. X-Factor defeat Apocalypse, but not before he infects Christopher with a techno-organic virus, a phrase I hope you like, because you’ll hear it every time Cable shows up in a comic until the end of time.  Askani, who’s been mysteriously popping in and out of the last couple issues, offers to bring Christopher to the future, where a cure exists. Cyclops reluctantly agrees, and the pain he feels as a father is quite poignant.

I can’t say how much of this is nostalgia and how of it is actually a good story, but this run still holds up.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice    

Runaways, Magic Order, Wonder Twins

More new comics from the week!

Runaways 18

Gert saves the day just before Alex tries to ruin it.  (From a purely rational standpoint, Alex’s choice to sacrifice one for the many makes sense, but he’s still an obnoxious, smug prick, so screw him.)  It looks like Gib is about to become the Runaways’ newest member. Alex is about to gain an acolyte as an unseen Runaway offers to leave with him. Kris Anka also leaves the group, which saddens me.  He’s been such a huge part of this new volume, but Rainbow Rowell’s writing has been strong enough that I’m not going to bail for now. Let’s see how Andres Genolet does.

Magic Order 6

This miniseries has been a job from start to finish, definitely Mark Millar at the top of his game.  The good guys win in resounding fashion, and it’s completely satisfying to watch it unfold. The revelation upon which the tide of the battle turns makes me want to cheer, it’s so delightful.  This’ll be a great re-read.

Wonder Twins 1

As I continue to fall down the Wonder Comics hole, I’m starting to think that I may have found a replacement for the Bendis Superman comics that I’m dropping from my pull list.  (Superman didn’t make it home with me this week.)  I haven’t read much of Mark Russell (I think his first issue of Snagglepuss is the only other thing I’ve tried), but this is a genuinely funny book starring two of the most throwaway characters in DC history.

I don’t really buy Batman (or Superman) sharing high school embarrassment stories, but I commend the valiant attempt.  And Zan’s absolutely hilarious humiliation makes up for all of it.

Just the juxtaposition of those words is sheer genius.

Last thing I'd ever want is for Wonder Woman to know about my thunderlust.

I’m on the fence w/ Young Justice, but Wonder Twins and Naomi are looking like keepers out of the gate.  Bendis’ idea brain still has a couple good ones left in it.

Alita: Battle Angel

Alita: Battle Angel

Her eyes took me completely out of it in the trailer.  It was enough for me to consider not watching it.  But the glimpses of fight sequences looked good enough (especially this shot):

Power pose!

And a friend said Rosa Salazar does an amazing job, such that you forget about the eyes soon enough.

The fights are really cool, and Rosa Salazar does do an amazing job.  And while I never got over the eyes, they did fit well enough into the aesthetic of the movie that I stopped regarding them as a negative point.     

The problem is that I can’t reconcile the live action parts of this film with the CGI portions.  Their integration isn’t quite seamless enough for me to consider it a ‘live action’ film.  Sure, that distinction has been stomped on for over two decades now, but it’s usually pretty easy to make a call on whether a movie’s animated or not.  Even CGI-fests like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings are still live action movies.  Something like Mary Poppins is live action with animated elements.  But Alita feels like an unintentional Roger Rabbit, where manga characters live side by side with humans.  I wish I was better with my words to explain the oddness.  

Part of it may also have to do with the fact that a lot of the cyborg vfx aren’t of the highest quality.  They don’t look real enough. I was willing to accept Alita, but the rest of the cyborgs aren’t up to snuff.  And Keean Johnson (Hugo) kept reminding me of Mario Lopez for some reason. Hard to take the love story seriously when Alita’s kissing AC Slater.  

The movie is better than all of my moaning about the special effects.  Salazar brings a heart to the story that moved me, Christoph Waltz is an excellent father figure, and I would love to see a sequel.  (I’d also love to see the Wachowskis take a stab at an Alita movie.  I got tons of Speed Racer vibes from this, especially in the Motorball scenes.)

Regret watching: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Would watch again: Yes

Rating: Nice

X-Women wrapped up my first X-Men box.  How’d it look?

Box Summary:

Time spent reading: 20 hours, 47 minutes

Issues read: 184

Issues cut: 32

Highlights (Good or better): Saga, Blue is the Warmest Color, Phoenix: Endsong, Greg Rucka Wolverine, Old Man Logan

Project Summary:

Time spend reading: 15 days, 5 hours, 19 minutes

Issues read: 2990

Issues cut: 388

X-Women, Ironheart, Strangers in Paradise

New comics!

Ironheart 3

Not much to say about this issue, except that I continue to love what Eve Ewing is doing with Riri.  The superheroics continue to take a backseat to her out-of-armor activities, and that’s the way I like it.  Riri’s as likable as Nadia over on Unstoppable Wasp, and as equally intelligent and hard-working.  She’s got a fun support group, and her adventures have all had a personal element; They’re not just villain-of-the-weeks.  Fun stuff.

Strangers in Paradise XXV 10

That took a turn towards the completely bizarre.  The world’s going to end in five years in a horrible ball of fire.  Annnnnd end of series. WTF?

So things are going to continue in some form, but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be going along for the ride.  I imagine it’s going to be some new title without Katchoo and Francine, and I don’t know enough about Terry Moore’s other characters to care.  (I still have to read the Echo omnibus I picked up months ago.)  

I feel gypped now that this is over.  I expected a SiP story, not some prelude to an epic sci-fi/fantasy saga with tiny Katchoo/Francine moments thrown in.  The fact that those snippets are so good makes it even worse. So much wasted potential.

At least Katchoo gets to come home to Francine.  Nine issues too late.

I do love how Moore returns to this cover over the years.

It's like Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise movies.

X-Women 1

The Huh rating exists precisely for books like this - Milo Manara drawing the X-Women.  Manara is primarily known for drawing erotic comics in Europe. (He’s quite good at it.)  So how does his style translate to an an American superhero comic?

Well...Here's the cover.  What's Rogue doing to that vine?

Here's the team in captivity.

And then put to work in the camp.

Kitty clinging to Psylocke.  As teammates do.

Rachel in...pain?  Yes.  That's what it looks like.

Words escape me.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Huh.

Wolverine/Gambit, Uncanny X-Men/New Teen Titans

Wolverine/Gambit: Victims 3-4

No idea why I don’t have the first two issues of this miniseries.  I imagine I must have owned them at some point. It’s not a good sign for the story when it feels like I’m missing nothing by not reading them.  Arcade and Lady Mastermind trick Wolverine and Gambit into fighting each other because reasons. They figure things out and win. A meh story by Jeph Loeb, but it’s pretty cool seeing Tim Sale tackle these two X-Men.  

I like how Tim Sale draws different shapes of faces for his characters.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

Uncanny X-Men/New Teen Titans 1

This must have been a huge deal when it came out in 1982.  A crossover between the two hottest teams at Marvel and DC?  Written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Walt Simonson? Mind blowing.  

It’s a workman-like story by Claremont.  Lots of hoop jumping to get the two teams to meet, and a byzantine scheme by Darkseid to do the usual super-villainy thing.  I’m not sure why he felt the need to resurrect Dark Phoenix to accomplish his goals, but sure, whatever. It makes for an excellent first meeting between the two.

Unsurprisingly, Tom Orzechowski on letters.

Walt Simonson does pretty good work, but this comes a year before he started his epic run on Thor, and he hasn’t fully developed his signature style.  (Though that may be a result of Terry Austin’s inks more than anything else - he’d been inking John Byrne on Uncanny X-Men for so long.)

That Storm face looks especially Byrne-y.

Byrne's art, for reference.

The issue is fine by 80’s standards, but it doesn’t hold up too well today.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

Wolverine, Old Man Logan

Wolverine 32

A excellent single issue story by Mark Millar and Kaare Andrews.  Wolverine plays the boogie man to a German concentration camp commandant during World War II.  The Nazi’s grasp on reality slowly unravels as Logan silently returns from execution after execution to haunt his waking moments.  It’s told as a spooky ghost tale, a great example of using a traditional superhero to tell a very different kind of story.

For some reason, this issue came out with a black and white edition, and that’s the one I have.  I actually have a hard time imagining what this would look like in color. Fine work by Andrews.

Oh, that's what it would look like in color.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Wolverine 66-72, Giant Size Wolverine: Old Man Logan 1

Old Man Logan.  When this came out, I did not imagine that he would ever be brought into the 616 continuity, nor spawn a whole series of “Old Man” titles.  Shows how much I know.

When Mark Millar is on his game, he is on.  He knows how to seed his arcs with build ups that have me literally holding my breath, and then force the air out of my lungs with a memorable gut punch of a climactic splash page.  Mega bonus points when it’s Steve McNiven drawing those pages.

Comments as I flip through this again:

The blind archer trope is hardly new (Montolio from RA Salvatore’s Drizzt novels, Stick from Daredevil), but that doesn’t diminish the awesomeness of Old Man Hawkeye.  And while I didn’t expect it, I’m hardly surprised that Marvel gave him his own prequel title. (I’ll probably check out the trade at some point.)  Also, it’s so like Clint to go and hook up with Peter Parker’s daughter.

I love how much this page says about how bad things have gotten:

After teasing us with it for four issues, Millar’s reveal of the shredding of Logan’s soul doesn’t disappoint.  McNiven depicts a riveting, no-holds barred brawl, which is exciting enough. But the hints that something is amiss ratchet up the tension, and right when I piece together what’s happening, I turn the page and see that the truth is as horrible as I imagine.

And before I can fully process that, I turn the page again and the full nightmare smacks me across the face.

It’s truly phenomenal storytelling, and it’s only halfway through the arc.  Of course, after all that, everything that follows pales in comparison. The Venom T-Rex, Hawkeye’s death, and Logan regenerating in Hulk’s stomach (!!!) would normally rate an image here, but not in this instance.  Of all the events that follow, only two more really stood out to me:

Straight out of Unforgiven.

So many elements I would never have placed in the same panel.

Oh, I forgot the cow hurling.  That deserves to be shown.

I’d really forgotten how good this was.  It’s probably worth putting out on the shelf.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Wolverine 75-80

The story of Daken’s time on Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers.  I’m not sure what got me to buy these, but I’m not sorry that I did.  Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu give Daken a wily intelligence that I did not expect.  He’s playing everyone against each other, and it’s pretty fun to read. It’s practically a spy thriller, another nice change of pace.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice