The Week In Ink: March 25, 2009

And now, a graphical representation of how my week went. I’ll be played by the girl in the mask, and the role of Car Trouble will be played by the always lovely Cammy White:

 

 

Yes, my Daewoo finally died this week–owing largely to the fact that it was a Daewoo–completing a journey that began with “Uh, that’s a funny noise” and ended with me on the side of the road in one of South Carolina’s many fine swamps. But, cut to a few days and my first journey into the world of financing later, and I’ve got a new (used) car and everything seems okay.

But hey, it’s Thursday, and that means it’s time for the Internet’s Most Cripplingly Indebted Comics Reviews! Here’s what I got this week…

 

 

…and here’s what I thought about ’em!

 


 

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #3: Some of you might recall that as much as I love the Brave and the Bold cartoon–and its promise of a forthcoming Batman/OMAC team-up, because I demanded it–the comic left me a little cold. As much as it attempted to capture the style of the show, right down to its animated-series-by-way-of-Dick-Sprang artwork, it was just missing something, and suffered by comparison to the old BATB team-ups that inspired the show. This one, however, had a cover where Batman was being sworn in as the President of the United States, and that’s not the kind of thing I’m capable of passing up.

And I’m glad I didn’t, because as clumsy as the first couple of issues were, this one’s a story right out of the Bob Haney/Jim Aparo playbook, with Batman standing in for the president and, because he’s Batman, doing a totally awesome job. Seriously, it’s got every goofy thing you could want, from hologram projectors to congressional fistfights. Heck, there’s even a scene set in Nova Scotia, and while I’d originally thought that was a fictional location like Gotham City or Thanagar, Rachelle informs that it’s actually quite real.

Who says you can’t learn anything from comics?

 

ISB BEST OF THE WEEK

 

 

Daredevil #117: Okay, so first things first: This issue’s awesome, Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark are doing a story about the Kingpin returning to New York (for what has got to be the third or fourth time) that spins out of the newly released Lady Bullseye arc, and like the rest of the run, the stories flow so organically from one to the next that it stands out as one of the few examples of genuine long-form storytelling in a market that’s increasingly built around pre-fab six-issue trades. That’s old news, and seriously, if you need me to tell you that Brubaker and Lark have been doing great things here, then hello and welcome to the wonderful world of comics. I’m Chris Sims, and I like Batman a lot.

The real story in this book comes on page three, where it’s revealed that Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn are actually low-level hoods in the Kingpin’s criminal empire. Sure, you might think it’s just Lark’s way of including a couple of famous fans, but those of us that are In The Knowâ„¢ recognize this as the first step of laying the groundwork for Marvel’s merger with the Comedians of Comedy. I mean really, now that we’ve seen Posehn and Oswalt as part of the 616 underground, can Zach Galifianakis as Micah Synn be far behind? Folks, it is the role he was born to play.

Of course, that’s just speculation at this point, but sources on the inside have tipped me off to one thing that we know for sure: Maria Bamford as Typhoid Mary.

Think about it, won’t you?

 

GI Joe: Origins #2: With as much as I loved the first issue of Origins–going so far as to declare it hands-down the best of the three ongoing GI Joe titles, which admittedly isn’t saying all that much–this one was kind of a letdown. It’s not a bad comic, especially the bit with Heavy Duty and the bank robbers, but the sharp storytelling of #1’s been replaced by awkward flashbacks and an exposition about “The Snake-Man” that could’ve gone a lot smoother. Even Mike Hawthorne’s art seems rushed in this one, but if the first one was the top-notch Larry Hama of the Snake-Eyes Trilogy, then this one’s a little closer to the guy who wrote Ninja Force and that run on Batman.

Okay, well, maybe not that bad–nowhere near it, actually–but still, not quite as good as I wanted it to be.

 

The Incredibles #1: This week, BOOM! Studios launched their kids’ imprint with a couple of licensed properties that, all in all, are some pretty good choices. This one, of course, is based on the incredibly enjoyable Pixar movie from a couple of years back, and while it does lose the voice of beloved author and NPR personality Sarah Vowell in its transition to the printed page, Mark Waid and Marcio Takara do their best to make up for it by throwing in a robot who rides a dinosaur on page one.

And that’s all you really need to know about it: There’s a robo that rides a dinosaur. I mean really, Waid’s been doing well-done super-hero comics for like twenty years, and he’s certainly on stranger to doing a book about a family of super-heroes that includes a strong guy, someone who stretches, and someone who can make invisible force-fields, so the characters are in pretty good hands here. Admittedly, Bob comes off as a little bit more of a blowhard than I recall from the film (though to be fair, it’s been a while since I’ve watched it) and I think he may have tipped his hand early on an upcoming reveal, but, well, there’s not a lot of pride in figuring out one of the twists in a kids’ comic, y’know? Takara’s also a nice surprise, managing to stay on-model without falling into a slavish attempt to recreate the CGI on the printed page. It’s fun stuff, and if you liked the movie–or especially, if you know any kids who did–pick it up and give it a read.

 

Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #55: So apparently, there is something called the “Project Fanboy Awards,” and Tarot won three of them, which I know because there’s a picture of Holly G.–the Mrs. of the Balent Household–on the inside front cover wearing nothing but said awards.

Yeah.

Anyway, let me repeat the relevant part here: Tarot won three awards, and not a single one of them was for Most Haunted Vagina. Instead, in addition to giving “Best Indy Villain” to a character who hasn’t been a villain in like eight years, the Internet voters behind Project Fanboy awarded Tarot both “Best Title” and “Best Indy Title.” Seriously. That actually happened. And one can only assume that it’s issues like this, wherein Tarot goes to the Witchity County Fair and divines the future by groping a naked woman with ouija board tattoos (with “Yes” and “No” on her breasts, naturally), that have convinced people that this is THE ABSOLUTE BEST THAT COMIC BOOKS HAVE TO OFFER.

Or if not the plot, then certainly the dialogue. Here’s a sample: ‘”I can sense the wisdom and grace from a mother witch as she caresses her secret lover disguised as a cat.” For the grammarians among you, it’s the secret lover that’s disguised as a cat, not the mother witch, although really, at this point does it matter? I think not, as Tarot has been recognized by you, the Internet users, as THE CURRENT PINNACLE OF THE COMIC BOOK ART FORM. SERIOUSLY. THERE WAS A VOTE. AND IT WON.

Me, I don’t make any judgments on the matter, but I will say that this issue’s got one definite mark in its favor, as it’s one of the issues where Jim Balent just draws a bunch of real-life people into the story to fill out the crowds. And that means that at last, he has shown us the coolest motherfucker on Planet Earth:

 

 

I swear, I am not even joking: That dude is radder than a BMX backflip. And that’s real.

 

Usagi Yojimbo #119: It’s been a while since I’ve talked about Usagi, mostly because I’d be saying the same stuff every time it came out. Stan Sakai is one of the true masters of his craft, and he brings a level of talent and dedication to the table that really leaves nothing else to be said. Still, every now and then it’s worth noting just how great that guy is, and in this issue’s a great example, not just for the way Sakai does action and drama, but how he’s able to effortlessly balance humor in there as well. It’s a difficult trick to pull off, but there’s a bit in this one where Usagi and Kiyoko are essentially playing Keep Away with a horde of zombie samurai, and despite the tension that Sakai’s been building over the past two issues, it’s hilarious. It’s a neat little trick that’s deceptively hard to pull off, but it’s one of his trademarks, and it’s one of many things about this book that makes it one of the best titles on the stands.

 


 

And that’s the week! As always, any questions or concerns can be left in the comments section below, but before I head out for the night, a special ISB Shout-Out to reader Tim Bishop. He knows why!

The Week In Ink: March 18, 2009

Oh, Jinx. Out of all the characters introduced in G.I. Joe: The Movie, you were my favorite.

 

 

Well, except for Big Lob, but really: Who doesn’t love that guy? I mean, besides Hasbro.

But enough about that! It’s Thursday night, and that means it’s time for the Internet’s Most Princely Comics Reviews to make their play! Here’s what I picked up this week…

 

 

…and here’s what I thought about ’em!

 


 

GI Joe: Cobra #1: So after three months and three new GI Joe books from IDW, the sinister forces of Cobra finally make their appearance. Although really: If they didn’t show up in the series that’s actually called “Cobra,” I think it’s safe to say that we’d be dealing with a problem. Still, Cobra Commander himself has yet to make an appearance, but one has to imagine that at this point, IDW’s just keeping everyone’s favorite masked military/cult leader off the stage so that they can reintroduce him with greater fanfare down the road and get people really excited about him, but they’ve overlooked one crucial element in this plan:

There are those of us, such as me, who will always be excited to see Cobra Commander. Heck, I haven’t not been excited about Cobra Commander at any point in the past twenty-five years, and I don’t imagine I’m going to start now just because IDW thinks a story about Destro’s henchmen using remote control robots to hack all of GI Joe’s internets! makes a better story.

But that’s what’s going on in the regular title. Cobra, by Christos Gage, Mike Costa and Antonio Fuso, is more of an espionage book, following Chuckles as he goes undercover to infiltrate the bad guys, and it’s actually pretty good. The beats of the plot involve the oldest tricks in the book–near the opening, Chuckles shoots Scarlett, but surprising no one, it turns out to be a setup to endear him to the Vipers–but it’s done with some very well-done writing and the details, like Chuckles’ sharp narration and the fact that he uses comedians as his aliases, that really make it sing.

It’s good stuff if you’re into GI Joe–which, as the record will show, I am–and while it doesn’t quite hit the heights of excitement that Larry Hama’s GI Joe: Origins did, it’s certainly another one of those side projects that’s blowing the main series away.

 

Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead #2: It’s the second issue of the new series starring ALICE HOTWIRE: DETECTIVE EXORCIST, and believe it or not, Warren Ellis and Steve Pugh have managed to throw in another high concept. This time, it’s THE GHOST BOMB–weaponized spirits that run off of unsuspecting corpses, thus combining ghosts, WMDs and zombies in what has to be some kind of trifecta—and much like the first issue, it’s a hoot. Although it does beg the question as to why they didn’t just go all-out and call this thing ALICE HOTWIRE: DETECTIVE EXORCIST VERSUS THE GHOST BOMB! It would be like printing money.

Or, more accurately, it’d be like printing a Warren Ellis-y spooky-science adventure book starring a sassy, pixieish heroine for which people would then give you money. But you know what I’m getting at here.

Either way, I’m pretty sure that’s one of the few ways this thing could be improved, as it already includes a scene where said heroine whacks a guy upside the head with a spooky-science two-by-four. I mentioned last month that as a publisher, Radical is doing a lot of things that I like, and especially in this issue, the higher production values of their comics really show off Steve Pugh’s gorgeous art. It’s a thoroughly beautiful book and a very fun read, and the only thing that’s not great about it is the lettering. It’s a minor complaint–especially since Pugh’s handling every aspect of the title writer, artist, and letterer–but a couple of typos were enough to make me notice. Still, if that’s all I’ve got to complain about, Pugh’s doing something right, and it’s definitely worth a read.

 

ISB BEST OF THE WEEK

 

 

Mysterius the Unfathomable #3: I’ve held off on reviewing Mysterius over the past few months, not just because I wanted to wait until I had a better handle on where the series was going before I started to talk about it, but mostly because I figured that anybody who would bother to listen to me about it would’ve already picked it up based on the fact that it’s a new comic by Jeff Parker and Tom Fowler. There’s not a lot I can add to something that we all already know is awesome.

And awesome it is. I’ll cop to being a little skeptical at first, as I always am when a new book about a conniving, magically oriented protagonist shows up. It’s not that there isn’t room for more than one, but when you’re talking about mystical bastards–especially ones that are coming from an imprint owned by DC–the 253-issue shadow of Hellblazer can be awfully hard to escape. But while Mysterius certainly is a mystical bastard, he’s a different breed than John Constantine. They’re similar in that they both appear in comics that have staples and occasionally do magic, but beyond that, there’s not much of a comparison.

The big difference here is that Mysterius is far more lighthearted than its competition, albeit in a gallows humor sort of way that squeezes laughs from an opening scene about the torture of the afterlife and rolls right into the most clever setup for a demonic invasion that I think I’ve ever read. Parker’s story has a great sardonic wit to it, with the kind of dialogue that I find myself repeating to friends later because I laughed so hard when I came across it the first time. It’s solid stuff.

And as for the art, Tom Fowler’s work has never looked better. His faces are theatrical and incredibly expressive, and his character designs fit the script perfectly. Mysterius himself is all pot-belly and a huge red onion of a nose, but Fowler manages to do an amazing job with his eyes, alternating between the washed-up mystic and the genuine sorcerer with the change of an expression. It all makes for a book that’s pure joy to read, and really, more of you out there ought to be doing just that. It’s excellent work.

 

Street Fighter Legends: Chun-Li #2: For a second there, I was going to write about how the events of this issue contradicted previously established Street Fighter continuity, but then I realized that:

a) I was wrong, they actually don’t, and far more importantly…

b) I was about to type the phrase “previously established Street Fighter continuity.

Thank goodness I stopped myself before it was too late.

 

Uncanny X-Men #507: All right, folks, I’m just gonna come right out and say it: The past few issues of Uncanny have been hands down the most exciting an X-Men book’s been since Grant Morrison left.

With a franchise like the X-Men, which has been pumping out roughly sixty-three titles a month since 1991, the difficulty for a writer has to be figuring out stories that we haven’t seen before. Admittedly, it’s not as hard as it could be, since they’ve basically been doing the same stuff over and over since the Dark Phoenix Saga, but still. There’s a lot out there you’ve got to break away from, and managing to pull that off while doing something that’s also incredibly enjoyable is no mean feat. But that’s exactly what Matt Fraction and the Dodsons have done here.

Because this is a comic book where the X-Men, recruiting various forgotten scientists from the shadier corners of the Marvel Universe, end up fighting a giant mutant atomic super-lizard. This is something I have never seen them do before.

And I’m not sure I ever want to see them do anything else.

 


 

And that’s the week. As always, questions about anything I read this week can be left in the comments section below, and although I haven’t had the chance to read it, all previous evidence points to the new Courtney Crumrin probably being pretty awesome.

The Week In Ink: March 11, 2009

It’s that time again!

 

 

Yes, it’s Thursday night, and while that usually means a celebration with the Internet’s Most Holly Jolly Comics Reviews, I come to you tonight with a heavy heart. For you see, tonight, it was finally determined that I did not meet notability guidelines, and the ISB’s Wikipedia entry was removed. Or maybe it was because it opened like this:

Chris Sims is an American writer and humorist who is awesome at video games and is probably the raddest thing since MegaForce.

Oh, [Citation Needed]! Why must you vex me so?

Ah well, I’ll just have to console myself over my re-relegation to z-list Comics Internet Fame with all the good stuff that’s out there. Like, say, Ed Brubaker’s awesome Angel of Death!

For those of you who aren’t aware of it, Angel of Death is a web series written by Brubaker and starring Zoe Bell, whom you may remember from Death Proof, and it’s very much along the same lines as Brubaker’s crime comics. And if you’ve ever read any of those, you probably already have the sneaking–and absolutely correct–suspicion that it’s going to be awesome.

It was done up as a web series with a new eight-minute chapter released every weekday over the past two weeks, with the last episode dropping today, so now’s the perfect time to sit back and watch it from the start, and you really ought to, as it’s loads of fun. Bell makes an extremely appealing character–especially in the funnier bits of the first and second episodes–and the fight scenes are well-done and brutal. Plus, there are cameos by Lucy Lawless and that hero to children everywhere, Ted Raimi, which makes it well worth the price of admission. Which is, you know, free. So get on that.

And in the meantime, I’ll get started on these reviews! Here’s what I got this week…

 

 

…and here’s what I thought about it!

 


 

Batman Confidential #27: I love this comic book.

Seriously, as much as I enjoyed the first issue of the King Tut arc, this one darn near blows it away, and it’s exactly the kind of Batman comic I’d like to see more of. It’s accessible, fairly straightforward without feeling like it’s been dumbed down, and more than anything else, it reminds me of the Puckett/Parobeck Batman Adventures from the mid-90s. And coming from me, that’s pretty high praise, but this is the sort of comic that I feel like I could give to a kid and really wow him with how fun Batman can be.

Of course, there is a scene where a murderer chases down a woman in Sexy Lingerieâ„¢ for seven pages, but c’mon, kids love that stuff. I mean, my first comic had a coke-addled South American smacking around his girlfriend and getting booted off a balcony by Jason Todd. I read that when I was six, and I turned out okay, if you’re willing to overlook the whole college-dropout-who-works-in-a-comic-book-store-thing.

Which brings me another thing about this book: It is absolutely gorgeous. This isn’t really news, as it’s still being drawn by the legendary Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez–whose work I will praise for as long as he wants to draw comic books–being inked like Kevin Nowlan, a combination that’s just incredible. It’s deceptively simple, too, but the more you look at it, the more you notice just how detailed it really is, especially the facial expressions. I’m partial to Batman’s raised eyebrow in the panel I used for this week’s shopping list above–the perfect compliment to a great piece of dialogue from DeFilippis and Weir–but check out Miss Carson’s face in this panel:

 

 

It’s perfect.

And it all adds up to something that’s just plain good comics. Well-written, beautifully drawn, and flat-out fun, it’s the sort of thing that needs to be on the stands, and DC oughtta keep this team around to do them.

 

ISB BEST OF THE WEEK

 

 

Captain Britain and MI13 #11: A friend of mine called me the other day and we got to talking about how if you went back in time to ten, even five years ago and told us that the best comics on the stands would be books like Hercules
, Nova, and Ghost Rider, let alone that we’d live long enough to see the X-Men fighting Godzilla an atomic mutant super-lizard, we would not have believed a word of it.

And yet, here we are, in a world where Captain Britain (which actually stars Pete Wisdom) is the single most exciting book coming out.

Crazy, I know, but this is a book where Dracula has returned–from the moon–to declare war on the UK, and while that started with Big D shooting vampires out of cannons at England from space, it actually keeps getting better. Paul Cornell’s writing is just incredibly sharp, from Pete Wisdom’s badass moment to Dracula’s seething, bitter hatred of Blade, to… well, to pretty much everything. Heck, the only thing it doesn’t have is Union Jack, and considering that that guy’s entire deal is that he fights vampires with a knife, I’m holding out some hope that he’ll make an appearance (NOTE: Actually, he does! I just didn’t realize it. See the comments section).

As for Leonard Kirk, well, if you’re a regular reader of my reviews, you might’ve noticed that I often have a harder time talking about artists than writers. But seriously, just grab a copy of Agents of Atlas–or even the first trade of CB&MI13–and try to tell me that dude can’t draw the hell out of a comic book.

Even if you haven’t read a single issue of the story, pick this one up and give it a look. Like the best writers, Cornell’s able to give you a part of a larger story that’s intriguing enough on its own to make you want to read the rest, and it is well worth it.

 

Ghost Rider #33: Earlier, I mentioned that Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider was one of Marvel’s best titles, but the sharp-eyed and/or obsessive among you might’ve noticed that I haven’t been picking it up weekly. See, the plan was to get the trades since I missed out on the first few issues, but when I heard that the last issue centered around two guys with flaming skulls for heads deciding the fate of the Earth by racing around the world on motorcycles that were also on fire, I decided that waiting was for suckers, I need to be reading this now.

And what an issue to jump on with. This one has everything. So much that I don’t even really want to talk about it because I don’t want to spoil anything, but it’s just so awesome that I have to. So for those of you who haven’t read this issue, go out and do so immediately, and in the meantime I’ll meet you down there where I’m writing poetry about GI Joe. Those of you who have read it (or who just don’t care about spoilers, fair warning), stick around.

 

 

 

Okay, everybody gone? Right: So this issue not only features nuns with nunchuks–NUNS WITH NUNCHUKS–but also shows a bunch of different Spirits of Vengeance through the ages, and while that involves a future Ghost Rider patterned after Megadeth’s mascot, Rattlehead, that is not the best part. No, that would have to be either the Ghost Rider based on Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed from Smokey and the Bandit or the one based on Lone Wolf McQuade–not Chuck Norris, but a Ghost Rider version of Lone Wolf McQuade specifically, complete with headband, wolf and truck and if you are anything like me, YOU ARE NOW FREAKING OUT. If you hadn’t read the issue, you would think I was making this stuff up, but no: It’s like Jason Aaron and Tony Moore looked into my head and said “We will give you something that you never knew you wanted, but will wonder how you ever lived without.” Hell-Driver and the Devil Rig. Goddamn that is awesome.

 

 

 

Okay, spoiler-filled gushing over, and for those of you who cheated, yes: that is what happens in this issue. Go forth and purchase immediately.

 

GI Joe #3: And now, a Joeku:

Finally! A fight!
Only took three damn issues.
But where’s Commander?


 

Special Forces #4: Special Forces is brilliant. Amazingly, mind-blowingly brilliant.

If you haven’t read it, the best thing I can compare it to is RoboCop, and while that might sound weird, bear with me for a second and I’ll try to explain: At its heart, RoboCop is a commentary on crass commercialism, corporate control and the dehumanizing effect of technology, but for all its layers and biting satire, it’s still a movie about a half-man, half-machine, all-cop who fights guys who say things like “You think you’re smart! Think you can outsmart a bullet?” and eventually kills enough people that everything works out okay in typical action movie fashion. In short, it’s the rare gem that’s equally good at being a satire and the exact thing it’s satirizing, and succeeds for that exact reason.

And Special Forces works the same way. At its heart, it’s a book about the horrors of war, and brother, it is scathing in its commentary. Kyle Baker is about as subtle as a sledgehammer with what he’s doing, but it’s absolutely masterful, from the way the book was solicited as the wacky misadventures of a team that, for the most part, all died horribly in the first issue to the literal list of perks the mercenaries of Greywater International get to the jaw-dropping balls-of-steel epigraph on the last page. It’s intense. And yet, it’s staged as an action story that builds on its own ridiculous with truly expert manipulation. Baker gives us the Michael Bay version of the war in Iraq for just long enough that we get swept up in it, and then reminds us that no, this shit is actually going on. There are scenes in this series that twist from laugh-out-loud funny to the outright tragedy you can only get from something that really happened, and it can be an uncomfortable read at times–which, given its nature, is not a bad thing. It’s just astonishing, and man, it’s a story that took some guts to pull off.

And I think that duality makes it difficult for people to get a handle on, a fact that Baker himself highlights by printing two letters in this issue, one of which accuses him of being anti-American propaganda and another, from comics creator Trina Robbins, that expresses her shock that the comic’s not anti-war.

It’s no secret that Baker is easily one of my all-time favorite creators, and while it might just be that I’m still basking in the afterglow of another finished series and as much as I shy away from using terms like “important,” I honestly think this one’s going to go down as one of the most important works of his career. There’s a paperback coming out this summer, so if you missed out, tell your shop you want one.

 


 

And that’s the week! As always, any questions on something I read this week, such as a discussion of Mark Andrew Smith’s Coville-esque New Brighton Archaeological Society, can be left in the comments section below.

And hey, don’t forget to click the banner in the sidebar to head over to Zuda and check out Scourge of Atlantis, by my good pals Jim and Pierre. And if you like it, give it a vote!

The Week In Ink: March 4, 2009

Hey Cat-Man! Do your impression of Andy Griffith greeting his barber, and please: Phrase your response in the form of a kick to the face.

 

 

Wow, what a completely accurate response to my oddly specific question! Thanks, Cat-Man!

Anyway, it’s Thursday night and that means it’s time for another round of the Internet’s Most Rollicking Comics Reviews! But before we get around to those, please direct your eyes to the left as we welcome our latest sponsor: Jim Shelley and Pierre Villeneuve’s Kharon: Scourge of Atlantis!

Jim and Pierre are, as you might remember, the guys who brought you the FlashBack Universe (as well as being two good friends of mine), and this time they’re back with a sword-and-sorcery story that Jim’s described as “Zorro as written by Ronnie James Dio.” And come on, that sounds awesome. They’re in this month’s Zuda competition, and they’re up against some pretty stiff rivals, like Screamland‘s Harold Sipe, so if you get a chance, head over there and check ’em out!

Now back to the more important subject here: Me. Here’s what I picked up this week…

 

 

…and here’s what I thought about ’em!

 


 

Age of the Sentry #6: Take note, designers: this is how you lay out a cover:

 

 

That’s right, folks, my infamous “Apex of the Artform” quote from my review of #2–where J. Jonah Jameson hired Truman Capote to cover the story of the Sentry fighting a giant bear, which actually is as awesome as it sounds–made it to the cover in what, for a pullquote, is a pretty prominent position, and I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t crazy excited to see it at the shop yesterday.

Not just because it’s always nice to be quoted on something (which it is), or even because it’s so prominent on the cover to an actual Marvel comic, but because, like almost everything I’ve been quoted on, I mean every word. With this book, Jeff Parker, Paul Tobin, Nick Dragotta, Ramon Rosanas and the rest of the crew have not only taken a character that I really didn’t care for and made me love him, they’ve done it in what might just be the most purely fun comic since Nextwave. And this issue’s no exception, as Parker interweaves his Silver Age pastiche with the Sentry that we all know and tolerate from the regular Marvel universe, tying in the subplot that’s been running through the series in a way that I honestly never expected.

It’s great stuff, and if you’ve been holding back for some reason, pick it up and give it a read. It’s the kind of comic that we really ought to have more of.

 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #23: Yeah, I’m as surprised as you are that I’m still reading this after the harsh words I’ve had for the last few issues, but to be honest, this is probably the best one we’ve gotten since Buffy & Co. were fighting giant robots in Japan. Admittedly, the cutesy pop-reference dialogue has officially reached critical mass by page four, but, well, that’s sort of the point of the scene (and there’s a reference to ISB favorite Helen Killer), and writer Drew Greenberg takes advantage of the single-issue story format to keep the globetrotting action moving at a really nice clip.

There’s only one problem: I don’t know who the villain is. I mean, I know it’s the girl with the weird pink topknot, and I get from the story that she’s a renegade slayer with a small army, but I have no idea if we’ve ever seen her before, and considering that the series thus far has had a grand total of like six stories, I’m not sure if that’s a reflection of forgettable stories or the fact that my memory seems to be going as I settle into my late twenties. I guess it might be something that slipped my mind after six months of being beaten about the head and shoulders with Fray, and I guess she could be from the show, since I never made it through the last season, but for right now, all I know about her is that she’s a villain who chose to get into a fight with Buffy while standing next to a bucket full of swords.

Which is actually kind of awesome.

 

The Goon #32: This issue marks the tenth anniversary of The Goon, and while it’s not really news anymore that the Goon is awesome, it makes for a nice opportunity to remind everyone that Eric Powell’s doing one of the funniest, saddest, most action-packed, genuinely creepy and best comics on the shelf today, mostly because it’s one of the best things he’s ever drawn. Seriously, Powell’s never been a slouch when it comes to art, but there are panels in this issue that stand up next to anything else he’s done, short of the breakdown scene from Chinatown.

If for some reason you’re not already reading the Goon–which would mean that you’ve been dodging a book with a gang of pre-teen sidekicks called the Little Unholy Bastards–then grab this one, as it’ll give you pretty much everything you can expect from the series: Miserable thugs, horrible monsters, miserable thugs beating the ever-lovin’ crap out of horrible monsters, and a man and his robot discussing fursuits and gorilla sex.

You know, all the good stuff.

 

Jersey Gods #2: I think the record will show that I enjoyed the first issue of Jersey Gods quite a bit, and while it did a great job of laying out the NewGods-as-Romantic-Comedy (RomCosmic?) hook of the story, the second issue darn near blows it out of the water. On the art side, you’ve got Friend of the ISB Dan McDaid, who manages to pull of these huge, Kirbyscope vistas of gods at war and a sycophantic New York fashion show with equal panache, but–for me anyway–it was Glen Brunswick’s scripting that really stole the show this time.

The way he’s set the story up, it would be incredibly easy for even the best intentions to go awry. He is, after all, alternating between super-powered space gods duking it out for control of the planet Neboron and an actual spunky fashion reporter trying to reach out to her local readers, but like McDaid, he’s able to do it without coming off as a disjointed mess. Instead, it just snaps right together as two people from different worlds trying to get together, just held apart by their careers and, you know, double-ended tridents made of space-fire. But isn’t that always the way?

 

ISB BEST OF THE WEEK

 

 

Secret Warriors #2: This is a comic book that opens with Baron von Strucker just totally fucking up a bunch of Skrulls with the Satan Claw after reminiscing about how much easier it was to be a Nazi back in the day. But here’s the thing:

That is not the best part of this comic book.

Shocking, I know, but it’s true: Brian Bendis and Jonathan Hickman have come up with an Everything You Know Is Wrongâ„¢ premise, and for two straight issues, Hickman has knocked it out of the park in the way he’s setting up a new Nick Fury vs. HYDRA dynamic, with the result being a new story that’s just a phenomenally entertaining read. It’s got everything you want from a spy comic: Intrigue, super-science, self-destructing bases, hot girls wearing domino masks for absolutely no reason, furniture that’s way more intricate than one would think it would need to be, and a shocking return from a story that, if I’m honest, is one of my favorites of the past few years.

Of course, I’m still holding out for the return of HYDRA Regional Manager Elsie Carson–last seen in the pages of Team America, Marvel’s greatest crime-fighting dirtbike comic–but in the meantime, I’m loving this thing to pieces. Give it a shot, it’s well worth it.

I mean… the Satan Claw. That alone is worth the cover price.

 


 

And that’s the week. As always, the comments section below is open for any questions on something I read this week, so if you’d like to talk about how fun and enjoyable Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade has gotten over the past couple of issues (yes, really) or marvel at the absolutely gorgeous art of Mario Alberti in the pages of X-Men and Spider-Man (which is seriously one of the prettiest books I’ve seen in years), then drop a line.

The Week In Ink: February 25, 2009

Hey Chun-Li! What was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1596?

 

 

Ah, Chun-Li. Pretty, smart, and almost entirely facekick-oriented. Is it any wonder that I was so smitten in my younger days?

Ah well, there’s no time for love on the ISB! It’s Thursday Night, and that means it’s time for another round of the Internet’s Most Ferociously Honest comics Reviews! Here’s what I picked up this week…

 

 

…and while it’s tempting, I promise I’ll get to something other than the Archie books this time.

 


 

Blue Beetle #36: Man, it sure seems like we’re getting a lot of end-of-an-era books these days, doesn’t it? Ah well, this time the Fickle Finger of Cancellation points to Blue Beetle, and the world of comics is a bit crappier for the loss.

I’m just going to come right out and say it: Despite something of a rough start, Blue Beetle was DC’s best teen super-hero book since Waid’s Impulse. It’s been consistently clever and exciting, and while Matt Sturges’s run never quite hit the heights of John Rogers’, it never really got the chance too, either, and that’s the real shame of it. A great, likable hero with a fun supporting cast that–as a couple episodes of the Brave and the Bold will attest–has an immediate hook for younger readers, but apparently the readers just aren’t there.

And yet, Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose has been published for nine years. What a world.

Anyway, as for this one, a friend of mine says that if you want to know what a comic is all about, just pick up the last issue, and if that holds true, then Blue Beetle is a book about crazy outer-space action with a hero who comes off as genuine, clever, and funny. And as it turns out, that’s a pretty accurate summary. So if you’ve been dodging it, well, there’s no time like the present to catch up what you’ve been missing. I just wish there was more of it to get caught up.

 

Conan the Cimmerian #8: At last, our long national nightmare is over: Finally, we have gotten an issue of Conan the Cimmerian that does not include a story about Conan’s grandfather tromping around the Hyborian Age. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I necessarily mind reading about Connacht–and the stories, by Tim Truman and Richard Corben, weren’t bad at all–but, well, the cover says Conan, and by Crom, that’s who I want to read about.

And that’s what we’ve got with this issue, as Truman and Tomas Giorello give us all what we paid to see, which is Conan eating an apple and straight up chopping off dudes heads. Plus, as an added bonus, there’s a beautiful pin-up by classic Conan artist and ISB favorite, wherein Conan and a wench are riding the World’s Fattest Horse. Do you dare miss it?

 

Golly! #4: One of the hazards of getting as many comics as I do and pulling my own subscription down at the shop on Wednesday morning is that I occasionally just skip right over grabbing stuff that I actually want to get. Such is the case with Golly!, which dropped last week and which I completely forgot about until Friend of the ISB Benito Cereno reminded me. And I’m glad he did, because I would’ve hated myself if I missed out on the series so far.

For those of you who haven’t been keeping up, Golly! is the story of a carny who gets picked by an angel to fight the forces of Hell on Earth. Yes, I know: That again? But under Phil Hester–who, in addition to being a great artist and a darn nice fellow, is a fine writer–and artist Brook Turner, it’s a heck of a fun read. And in this issue, when a sex vampire shows up at the fair with a pair of trailer park goths to do his bidding… well, that’s pretty much all you need to know to make an informed decision about whether you should be buying this thing.

(The answer is yes.)

 

ISB BEST OF THE WEEK

 

 

Incredible Hercules #126: This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, as I’ve been in the tank for Incredible Herc ever since it started up, and everything I’ve said about the series thus far goes for this issue too. Beautiful art, big action, emotional moments balanced out with lighthearted humor, and a blending of mythology with the Marvel Universe that really does make it the spiritual successor to Simonson Thor, all that jazz. But really, that’s old news.

What’s worth mentioning, however, is how Pak and Van Lente manage to work all of that into every issue of the run. It’s easily one of Marvel’s best titles, and when you’re standing shoulder-to-shoulder alongside books like Brubaker’s Brubaker’s Daredevil, Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider and Jeff Parker’s All-The-Stuff-That-Jeff-Parker-Writes, that’s saying something.

Even better, this issue’s a great jumping on point–especially now that everything leading up to it‘s been collected with this week’s release of Love & War in hardcover. Heck, the only thing I don’t like about it is that it’s got five pages of “Saga” nonsense, which, honestly, does anyone like that stuff? Really, considering that Marvel’s dropping it into most everything they publish these days, I’d like to know if there’s anyone who takes the time to read through it and thinks they’re coming away with something they couldn’t have gotten from, you know, an actual story that recapped those events.

I mean really: Scanned panels and commentary? Who the hell wants to read that?

…wait a second…

 

Savage Dragon #145: Yeah yeah, I know: I’m a sucker for hype. But, since I did get the endorsement issue last year, I figured I might as well pick this one up as the bookend.

Believe it or not, I’ve never been much of a Savage Dragon reader, despite the fact that it hits all the Big Guy Punching People buttons that I like in an action comic. It’s just something that I never got into, although I did pick up the first Essential–sorry, the first Archive during a slow day at work, and found it to be immensely entertaining. Unlike a lot of the other early Image books, wherein the plots were largely oriented around jumping out of a plane to attack an enemy base, Erik Larsen seemed to be working in the framework of a larger story, with recurring gags and plot threads–like the woman who thought Dragon was her long-lost green-mohawked son–that kept things moving.

Of course, those issues came out fifteen years ago, so it’s a pretty big jump to this week’s. What surprised me, though, was how easy Larsen makes it to get right into the story. It’s a smart move–thanks to the Obama cover, this one’s probably the most widely circulated issue in years, albeit that’s mostly among the non-comics reading public that’s just dropping in to pick up the latest SUPER-HOT R@RE COLLECTIBLE–but he manages to pull off a new reader-friendly issue almost effortlessly, and with a brutal finish that, while telegraphed, lets the reader know exactly what the stakes are.

So who knows? Maybe I’ll grab the next one to see where it goes from here.

 

Youngblood #8: And on the flipside of this week’s Image Comics Obamapalooza, we have this one, where the main story trundles on enjoyably, while the backup celebrates the historic election of President Barack Obama by having him drawn by Rob Liefeld.

It is exactly what you think it’s like.

And that of course means that it is hilarious. It’s four pages of stet panels that are traced from photographs, and then boom, the president smiles and yep, that’s Rob Liefeld all right. The only way it could be better is if he had a bandolier made of pouches and a gun three times bigger than his arm.

 


 

And that’s the week. As always, if you have any questions on something I read or skipped over this week, or if you just want to talk about the master craftsmanship of Stan Sakai, feel free to leave a comment below. Before I’m done, though, two things:

First, for those of you who are actually interested in catching up on Sabrina the Teenage Witch after last week’s review, it’s come to my attention that while there’s only one graphic novel, Archie’s Sabrina Store does offer the back issues in bundles by year, going back to the start of Tania Del Rio’s run. It’s a little expensive to pick them all up at once if you’re going for all 42 issues, but for the most part, they’re cheaper than cover price and there’s no back issue hunting necessary.

And second, I’ve been meaning for a few weeks now to direct your eyes to Registered Weapon, a new webcomic that tells the gripping story of a hard-boiled cop on the edge and his partner, a robot that used to be a cash register, and I kept forgetting. But really, that one sells itself.

The Week In Ink: February 18, 2009

Believe it or not, there are times when I’d like to just skip all the formalities and get straight to the reviews…

 

 

…but business comes before pleasure!

Yes, the grand Capcom tradition of having the most ridiculous hair this side of Final Fantasy lives on in both comic and video game form, but alas, there’s no time to throw hadoukens, as it’s time for another round of the Internet’s Most Magical Comics Reviews!

Here’s what I got this week…

 

 

…and in a moment, what I thought about them. But first, I’d just like to say that this is honestly one of the best weeks for new comics we’ve had in a while. There’s great stuff from guys like Paul Tobin, Jeff Parker and Phil Hester, Matt Fraction is in the middle of one of the most fun X-Men stories we’ve had in a long time, and even GI Joe Origins is Larry Hama at his fun, just-kooky-enough best. There’s even a couple of milestones for me personally, as the last issue of Birds of Prey ends its 108-month streak as the comic I’ve been reading the longest without stopping, and the arrival of Teenagers from the Future means that you can now buy something I wrote at your local comic book store! So yeah, a pretty good week.

But really, there’s only one comic that’s really important this time around.

 


 

ISB BEST OF THE WEEK

 

 

Sabrina the Teenage Witch #100: It’s a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in the world of comic books, but truly, this is the end of an era.

Specifically, it’s the end of writer/artist Tania Del Rio’s tenure on the book, which redefined Sabrina not only in terms of its manga-influenced art, but in the fact that it abandoned the traditional gag strip format in favor of a more cohesive adventure story, which is something the folks over at Archie comics have very rarely attempted. They’ve been dabbling in it more recently with the “new look” story arcs, but while I have sincere doubts that they would’ve even gone that far without Del Rio’s success, they’re really just putting a fresh coat of paint on the same old stories.

With Sabrina, however, it was different. There are people who felt like the manga-style art (not to mention the similarly shojo-meets-Harry Potter direction of the stories themselves) was something of a slap in the face to Sabrina creator Dan DeCarlo–and it wouldn’t be the first one–but in reality, Del Rio was exactly what the book needed to avoid the stagnation that permeates the rest of the line.

Sabrina’s always been one of the more marketable corners of the Archie universe, and it’s worth noting that after the popular success and eventual decline of the live-action show starring Melissa Joan Hart, it was retooled again as a Saturday morning cartoon, with the current series launched as a tie-in that featured what are without a doubt some of the worst comics Archie has ever published. Seriously, they’re still running those things in Betty & Veronica Digest, and even by the formulaic standards of the rest of the line, they are darn near unreadable. Just think of the regular Archie comics, and then imagine what would happen if they tried to dumb them down even more.

The series was eventually reverted to the more traditional version of Sabrina–you know, the one where she’s actually a teenage witch–but the very nature of Archie comics limited what could be done with the character. After all, a teenage witch is a great gimmick, but even Jughead’s Time Police had a little forward momentum to allow things to play out, and by sticking to the time-capsule storytelling, interest was bound to fade. Thus, Tania Del Rio was brought in to capitalize on the growing success of manga among young readers by completely revamping the title, and while Archie missed the boat in typical fashion by only ever collecting one volume in trade, the result is something truly epic.

Really: Del Rio’s run on Sabrina lasted an incredible forty-two issues. In today’s market of twelve-issue written-for-the-trade runs, that’s almost unheard of, but to give you some historical context, it’s only three issues less than Walt Simonson on Thor, Alan Moore on Swamp Thing, or Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol, all of which were, coincidentally, 45-issue runs. Although actually, now that I’m thinking of it, Thor had a few fill-ins, which means that Tania Del Rio did more on Sabrina than Walt Simonson did on Thor.

And she defined the character just as much. In her 42 issues, Sabrina not only juggled her dual lives and her romances with classic love interest Harvey and new, blue-haired Shinji, but also–and again, I am serious–joined a secret underground organization designed to overthrow the government of the magical realm. That’s right: Sabrina was an anarchist in a witchity secessionist militia, and that was before the unforgettable Duality Wands arc where she was briefly turned evil and started wiping people’s memories. Seriously, it was like Identity Crisis, only written by someone with talent.

And all of it has led up to this issue, the thundering climax of the story where the Four Blades unite with Queen Seles to stop Vosblanc from destroying the Mana Tree, and really, it’s got all the action you’d expect. Spells, explosions, Sabrina turning into a tiger and riding a flying carpet, hell, somebody dies in this story, and I’m pretty sure nobody’s gotten killed in an Archie Comic in like thirty years! It is nuts.

But it’s also pretty exciting, and it’s the kind of well-done climax that you can tell was neatly planned and years in the making. And while it does get a little maudlin at the end, well, it’s a shojo-style Sabrina the Teenage Witch; I think a little melodrama is to be expected. Either way, it’s a fitting end for Del Rio’s run, with a payoff that actually lives up to the stakes it raised along the way.

As for the future, well, the next arc on Sabrina is going to be a four-part story about Salem from not only before he was a cat–as Del Rio did a few months back in a story that proved to be the lynchpin of the whole Four Blades saga–but even before he was an evil wizard bent on world domination, which doesn’t really excite me, although there are lizardmen and swords involved, so who knows? And as for Del Rio herself, she’s apparently working on a new Katy Keene story, but for my money, I’d love to see her do an ongoing, movie-style Josie and the Pussycats. She did a few JATP backups in Archie & Friends a while back, and while I’m not sure how they went over with the fans, I think taking the characters as established rock stars and throwing them into adventures (in Persia, or maybe France) would be right up her alley.

Well, that or my long-awaited Crisis In Riverdale, but I’m still waiting to hear back on that one.

 


 

And that’s the week. As always, feel free to add to the discussion in the comments section below, but please: Sabrina-related questions only.

The Week In Ink: February 11, 2009

The past few days have been devoted to the subject of love, but tonight, it’s time to get back to what’s really important: People getting kicked in the face.

 

 

Bob Diamond style, son!

Yes, it’s Thursday night (for real this time), and that means that it’s time once again for another round of the Internet’s Most Heartbreaking Comics Reviews! Here’s what I picked up this week…

 

 

…and here’s what I thought about ’em!

 


 

Amazing Spider-Man #586: One of the most appealing things about the post-Brand New Day Spider-Man has been the introduction of new characters, as it at least gives a semblance of doing exciting new stuff instead of just having him fight Doc Ock and the Lizard again, even if they do tend to fall into that mold. With this issue, though, Marc Guggenheim takes all of the intrigue and mystery of one of the new characters to give us an origin that’s been building for a full year (at three issues a month, mind), and manages to make it one of the most boring stories I have ever read.

To be fair, it’s not nearly as bad as the last big reveal that we got, as unlike Jackpot, Menace’s identity actually does play fair: There are clues that are referenced and explanations for behavior, and there’s even a letter in this issue from one Matt Hoek that lays out exactly how he came to his conclusion. So on that front, it’s a pretty big improvement. The problem here is with the execution, as the secret comes out in an issue that’s virtually nothing but Lily and Harry Osborn standing around talking to each other.

At this point, it shouldn’t really surprise anyone that I tend to favor comics with a little more action than just a token attempt at Harry Osborn awkwardly slapping his total psycho girlfriend (and getting busked in the mush for his trouble), but really now: One of the classic tenets of storytelling of any kind is Show, Don’t Tell, and this issue’s just a whole mess of telling, through the time-honored technique of one character standing around in wide-eyed shock while another monologues about her Sinister Master Planâ„¢. Seriously, flip through it: Just panels and panels of a doe-eyed Harry Osborn being lectured, and it’s about as exciting as it sounds. It picks up a little at the end–in an epilogue that starts in the middle of the page–with the promise of action to come, but, well, that doesn’t do a lot for this issue, does it?

 

Batman #686: Here we are with the first issue of “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader,” and, well, that was certainly a Batman comic by Neil Gaiman, wasn’t it?

Huh. On reflection, that probably comes out a little more harsh than I mean it to, so to clarify, I don’t have anything against Neil Gaiman. Quite the opposite, in fact: I like Sandman enough to have the Absolute Editions, I’ve owned Neverwhere in three different formats, and I liked Coraline enough that I was pretty excited when I got one of the “Coraline Boxes” in the mail from the people who made the movie. It’s just his recent comics work–Starting with the ending of 1602 and rolling right through the snooze that was Eternals, which I’ve mentioned before–that’s been a letdown, and while I wouldn’t go so far as to say this issue’s bad, it pretty much just lays there.

Nobody with a lick of sense is going to dispute that Neil Gaiman’s a talented guy, but let’s be honest: The man’s got his tricks, and since this isn’t the story of someone finding a hidden magical world that the squares don’t know about, it’s the one about people in a story sitting around telling stories. And again, that’s not a surprise; metafiction like that’s been a touchstone throughout Gaiman’s career, from the Riddler story in Secret Origins to Worlds’ End to Batman, Superman and the Martian Manhunter talking about their crazy Silver Age dreams in The Wake. What is surprising, though, is how little reason he gives anyone to care.

Of course, one could argue that all the reason we need to care is intrinsic to the fact that it’s a Batman comic, and if you don’t care about Batman already, you wouldn’t be here to begin with. And that’s all well and good, except that in its attempts to parallel Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, they’ve hobbled themselves at the gate. That story was, for all intents and purposes, the end of Silver Age Superman; this is just a story that’s pumping up sales before a crossover written by the guy who did The Tenth and a rehash of Chuck Dixon’s Prodigal. Sure, it’s a harsh comparison, but it’s one that the book invites, and the ersatz Canterbury Tales starring Batman–while exactly the sort of lit major high concept that we were all expecting–doesn’t really do much to contradict that.

Which brings us to the story itself, and I’ve gotta say, it hits its high point on page one with a billboard (or Bill-board, ha-ha) reading “Don’t Just Type It–FINGER IT!” (which one assumes would mean typing it and then not getting any credit for it) and then goes downhill from there.

Actually, that’s a lie: I’ll confess that I thought this bit…

COMMISSIONER GORDON: That one day someone would say “Hey Jim, whatever happened to the Caped Crusader?” I’d tell them “Pretty much what you’d expect. He’s dead.”

…is a pretty fantastic bit of dialogue. The rest of it, though, just sort of sits there, starting with Catwoman’s stretched-out riff on Robin Hood’s Death and then moving into Alfred’s bit, which is far more enjoyable, but still lacking. Again, it’s not bad by any stretch, and it’s interesting, but that’s all it is, and the fact that it’s tied together with first-person narration from Batman and a Mysterious Figure that basically tells the reader “Don’t worry, we’ve got a point to this, you’ll see!” doesn’t really fill me with hope that the second part’s going to be a lot better. Admittedly, I’m judging half a work here, but it’s a half that doesn’t do a thing for me, so unless the next issue is all about late-80s Batman and his penchant for chucking auto parts at hired guns, I think I’m good.

 

Batman Confidential #26: And on the flipside of the Batman coin, we’ve got this one, wherein Nunzio DeFillipis and Christina Weir introduce King Tut to the DC Universe Proper. Given my feelings about Batman ’66, this would seem to be right up my alley, and despite the fact that it sounds like it could get ridiculously bad–King Tut totally stabs a dude in the eyes!–it’s actually pretty good, with some very nice moments with the Riddler.

The real star of the show, though, is the art team of Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez being inked by Kevin Nowlan, and man, it is hot like fire. I don’t think I’m breaking any news here when I say that JLGL is a legend whose work was ubiquitous when I was growing up–and it doesn’t hurt that he drew one of my favorite splash pages either–and Nowlan’s inks give his lines the heavy depth that the latter’s known for. The result’s just plain great comics art that’s pretty close to being what I’d consider archetypical, with the added bonus of some downright beautiful expressions. Very solid stuff.

 

ISB BEST OF THE WEEK

 

 

Captain Britain and MI-13 #10: Those of you who have muddled through the first two reviews in tonight’s post might have come away with the idea that I don’t like comics where people do things other than kick each other in the head, and while that’s not entirely inaccurate, it’s not exactly true either.

See, it’s not that I don’t like comics where people explain things or have conversations, or that I have a standard number of Punches That Must Be Thrown before I can enjoy something, it’s just that I think these things have to work in a balance. Talking is fine, but if that’s all you’re doing, that shit is boring, and while I love action, if there’s no soul to it, then you’re left with just a bunch of pointless stories of people jumping out of helicopters to invade enemy bases. I’ll admit that I tend to err on the side of explosions more often than I should, but I’m fully aware that emotions and characterization are the lynchpin to getting you to care about what’s exploding in the first place.

So take note, because this comic is how you do that.

Yes, it’s a comic where people talk about their feelings for each other, their reluctance to get into relationships and their regrets, and there’s a lot of actual, literal Standing Around, mostly from Blade and his ridiculous haircut. There’s a lot of conversation that provides very strong insights into the characters’ thoughts and feelings.

But this is also a comic book where racist Dracula shoots vampires at England from some kind of vampire-shooting cannon that he has at his castle on the fucking Moon.

BALANCE ACHIEVED.

 

GI Joe #2: And now, a Joeku:

Destro with no mask
Is hardly Destro at all
Stacy lookin’ fly

 

Wolverine: Manifest Destiny: Getting back to what I said about balance for a moment, I’m willing to concede that there are certainly exceptions to the rule. There are masterfully done issues of Sandman and Hellblazer, for instance, that are pretty much just the principal characters wandering around talking about things, and sometimes, those can be perfectly enjoyable.

And sometimes, you just need a comic where Wolverine has to learn kung fu so that he can fight a guy who can punch you in the soul. And this is that comic.

A while back, Rachelle said that Jason Aaron was the one guy who remembered that Ghost Rider was a guy who rode around on a motorcycle with his head on fire, and really, that’s the best way to describe him. He’s one of those dudes with a gift for boiling characters down to what makes them so appealing to begin with and then spinning them off into these incredibly fun stories with all the gloriously insane trappings that comics allow for. And here, he did it again, chucking Wolverine into a four-issue kung fu movie that guest starred the Sons of the Tiger and ends up with everyone’s favorite Mutant Super-Hero Avenger S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Honorary Power Packer as the head of the Chinatown mob.

And it is a hoot.

 


 

And that’s the week. As always, feel free to leave any questions in the comments section below, but before you ask about why I haven’t mentioned Incognito, I’d just like to remind everyone that it’s a super-hero crime thriller by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips with bonus articles by Jess Nevins, and once you say all that, the stuff about it being totally awesome sort of follows logically.