Swamp Thing

Swamp Thing 21-27

Here we go, Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing!  I’ve always liked this, but I don’t think I’ve read it all the way through more than two, maybe three times.  I’ve spoken in the past about the massive gap between good Moore and bad Moore (really not looking forward to From Hell in the next couple of weeks…).  This is best Moore.  Pair it with Stephen Bissette and John Totleben (one of the best penciller/inker combos ever) and you’ve got one of the classic comic runs.

God, the level of detail in the faces.

They're incredibly haunting.

And effing terrifying.

The detail!!!

It took a second for me to realize the second panel was the fly's eye.  So good.

It all starts with a massive retcon, and an absolutely brilliant one at that, a complete paradigm shift:

So good.

Then Jason Woodrue goes insane when he tries to tap into the Green and goes Kid Miracleman on some towns in Louisiana.  (Moore does love wrecking his cities.) 

Love that last line.

The first trade finishes up with the creepy-ass Monkey King who feeds off of fear.  The ending w/ the kid overcoming his terror is a little trite, but at least we’ve got Anton Arcane coming up…

I'll come back to this when I get to Sandman.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pure Joy (21) to Really good (22-24) to Good (25-27)

V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta

I’ve read this at least five or six times, and even now, I can’t tell if I like it or not.  It’s certainly compelling enough that I read it in one sitting, and the craft and execution is definitely high.  But do I like the story?  Do the themes speak to me?  I really don’t know.  

The first half is better than the second; The machinations and scheming of both the officials and V aren’t as interesting as the world building and Evey’s ordeal.  

I think I need to be satisfied by the fact that I’ve read this at least five or six times, and that I actively chose this as the next thing I wanted to read.  I keep coming back to this, so there’s got to be something that makes me return.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Starman

Starman 74-75

The death of Brian Savage, followed by a chat between Jack and Superman where Jack reveals that he’s thinking about quitting the superhero gig.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Starman 76

The last “Talking with David,” this time predictably with Ted as well.  It’s a lot of navel gazing about the lineage of Starmen, and a completely unnecessary recap of the entire run given that I’d just read the whole thing.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Starman 77-79

Because James Robinson has a compulsion to retcon every Starman ever into this narrative (I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, it’s pretty impressive), Jack’s final adventure takes him to 1951 to learn the identity of the Starman from that year.  It turns out to be his brother David, somehow.  Coincidentally, since I just watched Spider-Man: No Way Home yesterday, David got pulled to another time and place in the moment before he dies.  The realization that he’s about to return is haunting, but the rest of the arc is so so.  Oh, it is interesting to see Ted Knight while he’s still struggling with his part in atomic bomb development.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Starman 80

Final issue.  James Robinson hits all the classic “last episode wrap up” beats, and quite effectively.  Jack says goodbye to everyone, bequeaths his staff to Stargirl, and drives off to live the rest of his life.  It’s enormously satisfying, and while the second half of the series wasn’t nearly as good as the first, I’m glad that Robinson had the chance to tell this epic story that he must’ve had planned from the very beginning.  

The bit with Mason, Charity, and Zatara is completely random, but for some reason, I absolutely love it.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Starman 81

I don’t know who was asking for this nine years later, but here we are with a Robinson-penned “Blackest Night” tie-in.  A resurrected David Knight fights Shade and the O’Dares.  Shade and Hope admit they’re in love with each other.  Works for me.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Shade 1-12

The Shade goes on a series of adventures before Robinson finally tells us how he originally got his shadow powers.  (It’s not nearly as interesting as whatever the reader had imagined in their head.)  Also, Shade’s personality jumps all over the place, it’s pretty disconcerting.  The stories are fine, it’s the art that makes this worth keeping - Darwyn Cooke, Javier Pulido, Frazer Irving, and Gene Ha all contribute to the fun.  

The ending also comes out of nowhere, with no kind of closure with Hope.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Starman

Starman 54-60

The rest of the “Stars My Destination” arc.  This is way better than the first half, since it’s focused on Jack’s rescue of Will Payton, who turns out to be Prince Gavyn reincarnated (or something like that, it’s complicated and very retconn-y).  A decently satisfying ending to a really, really long story.  (Issue 55, the one that made me quit the series the first time around, is equally bad this time.  It’s a stupid Roshamon about how Gavyn’s energy staff ended up where it did.)

Amazing use of sound effects by Craig Hamilton.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice (Disliked for 55)

Starman 61-73

The “Grand Guignol” arc - Culp, Shade heretofore unseen archnemesis, unveils his master plan to destroy Opal City.  Because he hates the Shade.  It’s all very convoluted and ties in all the plot threads James Robinson has been laying out since the very beginning of the comic.  It’s perhaps needlessly complicated, but it’s nice that he gets to show off his master plan, much like Culp himself.  

As with “Stars My Destination,” this gets better as it goes.  There’s a lot of set up and explanation that needs to happen.  (The two Culp history issues are particularly monologue-y and ponderous.  He isn’t nearly as interesting as Robinson seems to think, and I really didn’t need to see how he recruited every single one of his henchmen.)

Things get really fun once the heroes start fighting back.  There’s a real scrappiness to it, and Robinson pulls off the “each hero has their own subquest to accomplish, and if any one of them fails, it’ll all go to shit” trope very well.

Sigh.  Sue Dibny.  Identity Crisis ruined her.

What a cute moment.

Robinson saves his best for last, with Ted’s sacrifice/death and his memorial service.  Robinson treads well-walked ground here, but the execution is pitch perfect; Ted’s sacrifice is moving and suitably heroic.  He gets to hug his grandson, say goodbye to his son, save the city he loves, share a final moment with his archnemesis, and die in an explosion of glory.  Good stuff.  

Anticlimactic ending for Jack's archnemesis.

Jack’s grief, plus the added wrinkle of being a new single parent, is palpable, and the gamut of feelings that he’s experiencing comes across loud and clear.  Really nice writing by Robinson and ably supported by Peter Snejbjerg on art.

Right, his girlfriend leaves him as well.  Poor guy :(

Art fail.  How in the world is the cosmic rod strapped to his back?

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice to Pretty Good to Good by the last two issues.  66 and 68 Didn’t Suck.

Starman

Batman/Hellboy/Starman 1-2

A completely random crossover.  No idea why this exists.  It’s amusing, but nothing more.  Mike Mignola continues to not be the draw for me that he is for many others.  That said, I do appreciate little touches like a random iguana showing up apropos of nothing.

Seriously, what's it doing there?

Hellboy apparently only has one move...

Love the nonchalance.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Starman 41

The last above average issue of Starman for a while.  Matt O’Dare and the Shade ensure that the former’s criminal past will never come to light, through assassination and pointed conversations.  I’ve always like the O’Dare part of this comic, so this was a welcome issue.  The ending is particularly (and I'm sure intentionally) Casablanca.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Starman 42-53, 1000000

Jack heads off into space to search for the Starman Will Payton.  James Robinson kills any momentum he has going into the stupid long arc by peppering his departure with three “Times Past” issues in five months.  On the other hand, I’m not complaining about a Gene Ha appearance:

Tony Harris leaves the title with issue 45, and while his replacement, Peter Snejbjerg, is quite talented, the style of art just isn’t suited to the aesthetics of the comic.  I do appreciate the Man of Steel homage, though:

It's sad how proud I am of making the connection.

I originally quit buying this series in the middle of the “Stars My Destination” arc.  It lasts way too long (I’m still not done reading as of this writing…) and isn’t nearly interesting enough.  It misses all the energy and propulsive force of the early issues.  Jack and Mikaal are just bouncing from one adventure to the next, and while each of them sets up future stories in the title, it all feels mechanical and by the numbers at this point.  I do love the Alfred Bester book it takes its title from:

Gully Foyle is my name

And Terra is my nation.

Deep space is my dwelling place,

The stars my destination.

I think it gets better after they return to Earth, if I remember correctly; I came back after a few issues for the Grand Guignol (which also took forever).

If I wasn’t a completionist, I wouldn’t buy these again, but since the beginning is so good and the ending was decent…

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice to Fine

Starman

3/16/22

Starman 39-40

Power of Shazam 35-36

A completely one-sided crossover where the Starman issues are way better than the Shazam ones.  It’s one thing to evoke nostalgia the way James Robinson does.  It’s another to write and draw in a generic, listless style that’s out of the late seventies/early eighties.  What a disappointment from Jerry Ordway and Pete Krause.  (Though it’s not like I had any expectations to begin with.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes (No for Shazam)

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good (Didn’t suck for Shazam)

Starman

Starman Annual 1

Shade of the far far future tells stories about two Starmen.  Cools.  More world building.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Starman 80-Page Giant

James Robinson uses a tribal African knife to connect Starman characters through six time periods.  It’s pretty forced, and not that interesting on top of it.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Didn’t suck

Shade 1-4

This is such a good series, a great example of using conflict to illustrate character.  Every conflict between the Ludlows and Shade reveals another facet of his personality.  By the way, love the concept of a family hellbent on killing an immortal being across generations.

Also, what a great group of artists. Even Bret Blevins, who does acceptable work here.

Outstanding, beautiful work from Gene Ha.

He really is a big softie.

I don't buy Shade dressing like a hipster, but it is a sweet looking outfit.

Yeah, running sucks.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Starman Annual 2

Another opportunity for Robinson to tell multiple stories.  This time, he delves into the romantic lives of Scalphunter, Ted Knight, and David Knight.  It’s all framed by Sadie falling in love with Jack and her eventual reveal that she’s Will Payton, one of the Starmen of the past.  (Along with Marguerite Ludlow, there’s a lot of “falling in love with you was never part of the plan” going on.) It’s all very effective.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Starman 36

And on cue, we get a “Times Past” featuring Will Payton.  We’re also introduced to the Bodines  (A more murderous Bonnie and Clyde).  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Starman 37-38

The third “Talking with David.”  The brothers have dinner with the dead members of the JSA.  It’s followed by the Mist killing off a bunch of Justice League of Europe wannabes.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good