The Week In Ink: January 9, 2008

Man, it seems like a month since I’ve done one of these things. Heck, I’m not even sure how to get started!

Oh wait, that’s right:

 

 

Ahh, and it all comes rushing back.

So strap yourselves in for 2008’s first installment of the Internet’s Most Explosive comics reviews! Here’s what I got this week…

 

 

…now let’s see which ones kicked the year off right, and which ones I’ll be resolving to drop!

 


 

Comics

 

Amazing Spider-Man #546: Okay, let’s get this out of the way right up front: As you no doubt already know, “One More Day” was terrible. Just godawful, to the point where the two guys who actually made the thing have been publicly arguing about whose fault it was that it was so bad. It’s wrong-headed in just about every way, completely unnecessary, and incredibly poorly done, born out of the same irrational lust for nostalgia that causes comics to stagnate and die.

And to top it all off, the thing’s incredibly sloppy, doing a lot more harm in creating problems than the good it does by fixing the imaginary one it was meant to: If nobody knows who Spider-Man is anymore–including guys like Daredevil and the Human Torch, who finds out in Amazing Spider-Man writer Dan Slott’s own mini-series–then what about Mary Jane, who’s known he was Spider-Man since before her first appearance (Untold Tales of Spider-Man #16)? If the marriage was just a “stitch in time” that isn’t going to affect anything else, then why is Harry Osborn back from the dead? And again, if nobody knows, then why did the Green Goblin kill Gwen Stacy? I mean really: The first two might be on the nitpick side–and not nearly enough people have read Untold Tales anyway–but that last one’s a pretty huge element of the character’s backstory, and if that doesn’t make sense, then nothing does. It’s bad storytelling on every possible level.

That said, the new issue’s actually pretty awesome.

To be honest, I’ve been wanting to see more of Dan Slott on Spider-Man since the aforementioned and fantastic Spider-Man/Human Torch, and despite the fact that the I disagree with the direction, the issue itself is highly enjoyable. It’s full of the same great blend of action and humor that Slott’s brought to his other stuff, and with a character that’s built on that formula, it works beautifully, right down to the great punchline to Peter’s perfectly justified act of selfishness at the end. A lot of it, I think, has to do with the way Slott writes the supporting cast; he does a great Aunt May and a great Jonah Jameson, and as much as I’m gritting my teeth at the latest revision, it was nice to see Betty Brant again. There are problems, no doubt–like why the heck Peter’s wearing his costume under his street clothes when he hasn’t done anything as Spider-Man in a hundred days, or, for that matter, why Peter doesn’t realize that he already tried to give up being Spider-Man back in ASM #50–but I was surprised at how much I ended up liking it.

As to whether or not it’s going to hold up, I wouldn’t even venture to say. But this one’s good, and like Sterling says, we all know that there’s no way that Marvel’s going to be changing it back anytime soon, as that would be tantamount to admitting they made a mistake, so what the heck. Might as well enjoy it if you can.

 

Bat Lash #2: When the preview pages for this issue hit Newsarama last week and revealed that Dominique stabs the crap out of her would-be rapist with a giant iron nail, there were a couple of people that gave the impression that complaints about the first issue were therefore unfounded. This, I think, misses the point, and while I’ll agree that Dominique fighting off her attacker is definitely a better outcome for the story than the alternative–although why she hits him with the gun instead of just taking it and shooting him is well beyond me–the fact is that a rape (in this case, the threat of rape) was still used as a plot point in a medium, and thanks to Palmiotti and Gray’s Jonah Hex, a genre that’s seen it played out and thoroughly trivialized.

Beyond that pretty major gripe, though, the second issue was a perfectly fine comic, although I’ll confess to being curious as to why Aragones & Co. picked up on my most hated part of the aesthetic behind Jonah Hex and not the one that I like the most, the single-issue story format. Still, here’s hoping it all comes together a little better before the whole thing ends.

 

The Goon #20: So, just to clarify here, when Eisner Award-winner Eric Powell sat down to draw his return to the now-monthly Goon series after the thoroughly incredible Chinatown graphic novel, he thought it would be a good idea to have a real-live hot burlesque dancer to model for him, and was then able to convince one to do just that while he drew a comic about a guy who punches out no fewer than two animals per issue.

I hate you so much, Eric Powell.

But I love your product.

You’re like HeadOn that way.

 

Nova #10: Shock #1 – This issue finds the Human Rocket and his ex-girlfriend, the space-assassin Kirkbait known as Gamora, fighting their way out of what is literally a giant space vagina while discussing their relationship for twenty-two pages.

Shock #2 – Like every issue of the series thus far, it’s really good. The fact that Abnett and Lanning are able to do something so enjoyable with a premise like that speaks better of them than anything I could say here, but the real surprise (for me at least) was the art of Anita Blake: The First Death‘s Wellinton Alves, who does a pretty good job with the issue. Admittedly, the cheesecake factor is about as high as you’d expect from an Anita Blake alumnus, but considering that Gamora’s walking around in stiletto heels and what is essentially an extremely high-waisted thong to begin with, that’s probably pretty unavoidable.

 

The Spirit #12: This marks Darwyn Cooke’s last issue of The Spirit, and brother, does he go out strong with an issue adapting two of Eisner’s classic stories revolving around the Spirit’s typographical love interest, Sand Seref. As usual, it’s an absolutely beautiful comic, but what struck me about this issue specifically was the way Cooke’s able to go from stuff like the stark, two-page title spread to the twelve-panel flashback pages and back again with effortless skill that just makes it as much a joy to look at as it is to read.

It’s excellent stuff, and while I’m actually pretty optimistic for the upcoming issues by Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier and Mike Ploog–even with my feelings about Bat Lash–they’ve got a heck of an act to follow. Cooke’s run is just excellent, and really, if you haven’t already, give it a read. You won’t be sorry.

Except for the parts Jeph Loeb wrote, I mean. But you can just look at the pictures and be fine with that.

 

ISB BEST OF THE WEEK

 

 

Teen Titans: The Lost Annual: You know, it’s not every day that you get a new Bob Haney comic, and I’m not saying that this one hit shelves directly because I demanded it, but I am the guy who stood up at HeroesCon and asked Dan DiDio if he was ever going to get around to publishing the guy’s last work that he’s had completed and sitting in a drawer somewhere for the past three years. So yeah: You’re welcome.

I’m kidding, of course, but the fact remains that this is the kind of thing that doesn’t come along often, and as a pretty big fan of Haney’s work, I was absolutely thrilled to see this one finally come out, and believe me, it lives up to every expectation I had.

Which means, of course, that it is completely insane, but with a story that revolves around President Kennedy being kidnapped by aliens and replaced with a shape-shifting doppelganger so that he can help them win a war against sword-wielding, Kraven-esque Lotharios, it’d be a disappointment if it did make any sense. Throw in the bright, kinetic artwork by Jay Stephens and Mike and Laura Allred that manages to go from the flat, cartoonish fun of Dick Sprang to the more psychedelic action sequences that mark Allred’s own work, and this thing pretty much speaks for itself, although it’s speaking so fast and so strangely that you might not be able to catch a single word.

Make no mistake, pals: This is a weird one. It starts off strange and just gets stranger, and the last three pages might be the strangest I’ve ever read, but it’s the kind of oddness that you can’t help but read with a smile on your face if you have any sort of love whatsoever for fun.

In short, it’s everything you love about Bob Haney, thrown together and cranked up as high as it’ll go, and the only thing I don’t like about it is that it was Haney’s last work, and that means we won’t be getting any more.

 


 

Trades

Cover Girl: I don’t know if you guys have ever been hit with a baseball bat by boozehound and bon vivant Kevin Church, but the blinding flash of pain that’s immediately preceded by a statement like “Cthulhu Tales wasn’t Pick of the Week, Sims!” is not an experience that I’d like to repeat. So for those of you who haven’t picked it up already, Kevin, Andrew Cosby, and Mateus Santolouco’s darn fine tale of intrigue and action in Hollywood is out in trade, and since I value the fingers I use to type, here’s a handy Amazon link.

Seriously, though, I picked up the trade to support Kevin (and by extension, the idea that the people who create these fine comic book weblogs of ours should be given the chance to actually write the darn things) and because it features a rare appearance of my name in print, but I honestly meant every nice thing I said about it while the issues were coming out. It’s a fun, zippy read with some great character work, and while the art’s a little rough in a couple of places, Santolouco does a great job on bits that would fall flat without the right facial expression to carry them through. It’s well worth it, and if you get a chance, you really ought to give it a read.

And maybe then I can finally get the antidote.

 

Savage Sword of Conan v.1: I think I made my feelings on the content of this one–that being Conan with more wenches and less clothing–pretty clear last night, but given the one-star review on the ol’ Amazon page that decried the printing of the book, I thought some clarification might be in order.

I can’t speak for the reviewer, and it’s entirely possible that my standards for black and white reprint books are lower than the average reader’s, and I’ll freely admit that I haven’t sat down with it for more than twenty minutes or so, but I’ll roundly disagree with the statement that the book’s ruined by poor printing. Admittedly, there are sections where the art is definitely not up to the standards of a Showcase or an Essential, and there are places where fine linework and detail are completely lost; often on backgrounds but occasionally on something as important as, say, Red Sonja’s face.

There are, however, just as many sections, if not more, that come through beautifully. I had some time to kill at work today and ended up reading through Red Nails in Savage Sword side-by-side with the recolored version that was printed in Chronicles of Conan v.4 just to see how they stacked up against each other, and they both had their definite strengths.

Could it have been done better? Yes. But for my tastes, the printing job’s perfectly accurate, and depending on your feelings about having 544 pages of two-fisted barbarian action in an easily portable format–an idea of which I am very fond–there’s a good chance it might be just fine for you too.

 


 

And that’s it for a surprisingly light week! As always, if you have any questions or comments on something I read or skipped–and yes, I know that She-Hulk punched a bear in Hulk and it was very pretty, but short of ROM Spaceknight coming back and throwing a car battery at Batroc, there’s nothing that’ll make me pick up a comic by Jeph Loeb these days–feel free to leave a comment on the first Week in Ink of the new year. It’s good luck!

39 thoughts on “The Week In Ink: January 9, 2008

  1. Is it very good luck to be the first post on the first Week in Ink of the new year?

    Anyway, I just wanted to say that I haven’t read my issues of One More Day yet, so you’ve now ruined it for me… but from what I hear, maybe I should just skip it altogether and maybe just imagine a better version.

  2. Mephisto just mind-wiped everyone about Spidey’s identity. All the stories where his identity was revealed still happened, so Green Goblin killing Gwen to get at Peter still happend. It’s just that Daredevil, Torch, and everyone else has forgotten who he was. Also, all other evidence has been destroyed.

    Marvel has been somewhat less clear what happened with MJ though. Did the marriage happen and was forgotten about, or did Mephisto actually change the timeline?

    I still not sure why Harry is back though.

  3. I’ve been trying to decide whether I want to buy the last couple issues of Suicide Squad after the god-awful addition to Windfall’s backstory. Plus taking a one-appearance Titan’s villain like Twister and making her a mass-murdering nun named Sister Twister…

    And Salvation Run better be careful, they might run out of Z-listers barely anyone remembers to murder to show how hardcore the book is…

  4. Why did Norman kill Gwen you ask? Surely he wouldn’t have a reason if he doesn’t know who Spider-man is! Good point.

    The conclusion I’m forced to draw is, he killed her to cover up the fact that he boned her, hard, and has freaky goblin spawn now.

    Nothing to do with Peter in particular, just to cover up his batshit crazyness.

  5. i agree with lurkerwithout. but salvation run is a very good read. what did you think of the ‘inspirational poster’ in dc comics this week?

  6. I have been reading through Annihilation TPB’s that I got for Christmas and I almost picked up Nova #10.

    After reading your review, I’m very sad that I didn’t.

  7. I found the new Amazing Spider-Man issue underwhelming. Even putting aside the “One More Day” brouhaha, it just came off as very pedestrian. The only part that really worked for me was the introduction of Mr. Negative. I’ve read better from Dan Slott.

  8. I saw the same review on Amazon that you did, but it did not stop me from ordering the book. Simply because pound for pound, that’s a freaking lot of Conan for a very low price. My only wish is that Dark Horse would do something similar for ‘Groo the Wanderer’.

  9. Nobody picked up “The Twelve”? I thought it was an interesting set-up issue, although we probably could have gone without the scene of the Nazi scientist groping the unconscious Black Widow. They’re already Nazis, do they have to be even more evil?

  10. NOVA is one of the best and most consistent superhero comics out there right now, with the added bonus that it avoids most of the earthbound Marvel universe along the way.

    It should be on everyone’s reading list.

  11. If you want to draw some burlesque girls with Eric Powell, you might want to be in Nashville, TN on January 19th. They are having the Nashville edition of Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art Show at the 5 Spot. I hear he is supposed to be giving some Goon swag away there too.
    Now you don’t have an excuse to be jealous.

  12. The fact it was just a mindwipe causes even more problems, for example, apparently everyone still remembers that Spidey unmasked. Which means basically the entire world population REMEMBERS that they FORGOT and this isn’t bothering anyone.

  13. I enjoyed The Twelve too, Joel. Not sure I’ll buy all 12 though, as I’m almost certain to pick up the collection later.

  14. The SS of Conan book is a mighty fine thing indeed.

    Flicking through it, I have to say there’s only a few instances where the repro ain’t great.

    And it’s so testosterone-fuelled that just a cursory glance made me grow a THIRD BALL.

    You’ve all be warned.

  15. I would buy a comic that featured ROM Spaceknight throwing batteries at Batroc. on every page, he throws a different battery. We start with a watch battery, then build up to the money shot with the car battery.

  16. That said, the new issue’s actually pretty awesome.

    For a value of “pretty awesome” where “competent retread of 1970s Spider-Man with slightly creepy overtones at times” qualifies, I guess.

    Sorry, but this is only good when compared to the utter editorial-run dreck Marvel’s been pumping out for the last year-plus. It feels like a cover song.

  17. “And it’s so testosterone-fuelled that just a cursory glance made me grow a THIRD BALL.”

    I demand a recount!!!

  18. Is the new Conan book an Essentials-type version of the color reprints of old Marvel comics Dark Horse was releasing? I’m waaay behind on those, so a big, fat Essentials version sounds really appealling…

  19. The man above here picked up Savage Sword of Conan today and I flicked through it to check the much-maligned reproduction. Some of the finer linework is a bit fuzzy in a couple of places, but through most of it I was just dazzled by the care and attention that must have gone into the original pencils- most of which ends up on the page here. It’s only been available in the UK as reprints, so this is as good as it’s ever looked to some of us :)

  20. “Mephisto just mind-wiped everyone about Spidey’s identity.”

    :O Mehpisto’s stealing a page from Iron Man’s playbook!!!

  21. with the added bonus that it avoids most of the earthbound Marvel universe along the way.

    just about all of Marvel’s better books ignore what’s going on in Earth 616.

    the first Brand New Day issue didn’t suck as much as the general public thought it would but I felt it was just average at best. it still doesn’t make the least bit of sense, though.

  22. Do you think it’s a coincidence that in two issues of Bat Lash we’ve had characters named Brubaker and Haney?

  23. Memories are one thing, but for some reason I’m really stuck on how Mephisto worked around all those newspapers with ‘Spider-Man is Peter Parker!’ headlines.

    Did he erase all those articles, and if so did he get some damned copy editors to reshuffle the front pages so no one would notice the big blank spots?

    Or are the articles still there, but whenever anyone reads the name it just doesn’t stick in their heads? “Hey hon, last August the Post said Spider-Man was actually Mmmmnnah Mrrrnnah.” “Who?” “…what were we talking about?”

  24. Prediction regarding the OMD/BND Spidey-debacle: Mephisto didn’t rewrite history at all. He’s not that powerful, and it’s not really his style anyway. Brand New day will stagger along for a while, generating increasing amounts of continuity paradox as it does so, and then close with a “Big Reveal” that it’s all been an elaborate mental illusion spun by Mephisto to torment Peter, MJ, Aunt May, or maybe all three of them.

    Dream sequences are still rotten storytelling, but they’re better than trying to fit this retcon nonsense into canon.

  25. Failing that, it’ll turn out that due to Mephisto’s tampering with time, the Assistant Editors’ Month story where Aunt May becomes the Golden Oldie, Herald of Galactus is now in continuity, and she will proceed to savagely beat Mephisto like a red-headed stepchild until he puts everything back the way it was.

    Mess her nephew’s marriage, will you? Taste the Power Cosmic!!!

    I’d so buy that comic. Especially if it had a backup feature with ROM throwing car batteries at Batroc…

  26. the Assistant Editors’ Month story where Aunt May becomes the Golden Oldie, Herald of Galactus is now in continuity

    I thought it already was in continuity. I mean, sure, everyone woke up thinking it was a dream, but that was just a ruse. It all happened, and then they were all made to think it was a dream.

    At least, if I ever write Marvel comics, that’s how it will be treated.

  27. I can’t separate direction from execution, and while Amazing Spider-Man was pretty, it made me hate Peter Parker the character even more. He’s gone from the ultimate selfish buffoon to an unbelievably pathetic loser, which isn’t so much of an upgrade as a lateral move. If they wanted me to feel apathetic towards Peter Parker, they’ve succeeded.