Zut alors, y’all! C’est Batroc Ze Leapair!!!
Or at least, c’est pied de Batroc ze Leapair, but close enough, non?
Anyway, before we get started with another round of the Internet’s most Faux-Francophonic comics reviews, I just wanted to let everybody know that this Wednesday wasn’t just a New Comics day at your local shop, it was also New Comics Day… in the Action Age!
Click on over to read my latest collaboration with Matthew Allen Smith, whose art you might remember from Exterminape, and while it’s only a one-page strip, it’ll hopefully tide you guys over ’til Monster Plus drops. And rest assured, we’ve got more in the pipeline, so if you like what you’ve seen so far, let us know!
Now then, here’s what everybody else was putting out this week…
…and here’s what I thought of ’em!
Comics
Captain America #43: In this issue of Captain America, Bucky leaves a nude Black Widow in bed so that he can go fight Batroc the Leaper, and from this, we can learn two very important things: 1) That Cap continues to be a totally awesome comic, and 2) that Bucky has the exact same kind of priorities that I do.
I mean, don’t get me wrong here: Having a hot immortal Russian ballerina who’s good to go is nice, but a fight with Batroc? That’s the kind of opportunity that only comes around once in a while, and really. It’s the Black Widow. She’ll be there when you get back.
…And at this point, I’m really just digging this weird little hole deeper. Time to focus on an actual review, I think.
Brubaker, of course, is the guy who killed off Steve Rogers and replace him with a back-from-the-dead Bucky with a cybernetic arm and somehow managed to make it not only good, but one of the best comic books on the market, so it should be no surprise to anybody that he turns in another fine script for this one. As to the art, Luke Ross’s style makes him a natural to fill in for Steve Epting, but I do have to question the redesign for the Leaper’s costume. I mean, this might just be another sign of my rapid descent into becoming a cranky old man comics reader, but Batroc’s old suit is a classic, and the redesign makes him look like he’s running aorund in snow boots and a pink Members Only jacket. It’s not without a certain charm, but I don’t think it’s quite the effect they were going for.
Final Crisis #4: After almost three months since #3, the latest installment of Final Crisis hit stands this week, and coming off the issue that I didn’t much care for, this one’s got me hooked again. Admittedly, the standard caveat applies here: Grant Morrison’s essentially building an event around Jack Kirby’s DC work, and I like that stuff more than just about anything else in comics, period, so there’s a good chance that this thing is speaking to me more than it does to the average reader. I mean, I’m the kind of person who gets a little thrill from the way he’s managed to tie the Command D
But beyond that, there’s just a lot in here to like. Thematically, this issue represents a turning point for the series, and it does so by shifting everything up into Big Action mode, although Morrison gets us there by skipping over the Big Fight, which isn’t something you’d get from a lot of “event” books. Instead, we go straight from the start of the attack to a world that’s been thoroughly taken over by Darkseid’s Justifiers, who work here just like they did in the ’70s: the direct, literal example of people who give into fear and hatred and let the mob do their thinking for them. And unsurprisingly, I love that stuff. Add to that the fact that the rebirth of Darkseid is literally coming from inside humanity–or at least, from inside a human–that’s been faced with crushing, overwhelming despair, and there’s barely even a curtain over the metaphor anymore. We are our own worst enemy, and only we can stop us.
Sounds familiar, but I just can’t think of why
So yeah, it’s a great little read with the same sort of emotions that made Morrison’s World War III one of my favorite stories, and it moves along at a very brisk pace, unlike this week’s Final Crisis: Submit, which is bizarrely overwrriten, downright boring, and eminently skippable.
GI Joe: New Beginnings #1: I think it’s safe to say that I’m a pretty big fan of America’s Daring, Highly Trained Special Missions Team, but even I’m a little skeptical about the comic book market’s need for three ongoing monthly GI Joe titles. But then again, despite a bid that included a full run of US 1 AND a vintage Destro in very fine condition, I didn’t get the license to make the comics, so it’s not really up to me.
Regardless, there’s a taste of all three of ’em in this one, and while it’s not bad for the dollar it’ll set you back, it’s about what you’d expect on every front: Chuck Dixon’s has an explosion and reads like something that’d be equally well-handled by the military or Nightwing, Larry Hama’s features the maximum daily allowance of footnotes about military terminology and a special appearance by Crack Stuntman, and Christos Gage’s is, by the standards of five-page GI Joe stories, pretty cerebral.
The best bit of the whole thing, though, is the “memo” in the back of the issue to the creators from IDW, done up in the style of a mission briefing to the GI Joe team. I mention this only because it seems like kind of a neat, in-character gimmick, right up to the point where you suddenly realize holy crap they are referring to the readers as enemy combatants and ordering the writers to hunt us down and take us prisoner. Prisoner of good stories and dynamic art, yes, but still. That’s the most confrontational sales pitch I’ve ever gotten from a comic. And I’ve read Milk & Cheese
Marvel Adventures Super-Heroes #4: Over in one of his great One-Sentence Synopsis articles for the ISS, Dr. Puppykicker writes that the Marvel Adventures line “s about superheroes teaming up and fighting crime, the way they used to back before every single comic book had to have someone being dismembered, raped, or both,” and while that’s pretty accurate, it doesn’t quite get to the heart of the matter. This would be because it’s a joke and it’s got to fit in one sentence, but bear with me on this one.
Unlike the DC characters, the Marvel books never really had that goofy sort of Silver Age past to reflect back on, because when Superman was still fretting over Lois stumbling onto his identity and whether or not the new Swami in town was actually a con-man, Marvel had already moved into the then-revolutionary soap-operatic style that would set the tone for comics from that point forward. And that’s why it’s always struck me as a little odd that the best kids books from DC–Batman Adventures
And yet, they are heroes. In this issue, Paul Tobin provides the perfect setup for an ending where the good guys prove that an ex-super-criminal will always go back to their old tricks when they’re pushed, but that’s not the route he chooses to go with it. Instead, the heroes realize that they’re the ones who did the provoking and they own up to their mistakes and help out a guy that, in a lot of ways, they might be better off just throwing to the wolves to save themselves the trouble. It makes for a fantastic ending, and there’s a little bit of a not-preachy lesson in there mixed in with a story where Klaw forms a country and western band.
Thor: Truth of History: For those of you who need a Thor comic where things happen and the title character actually does stuff to tide you over until the next metal-inspired epic springs from the mind of Matt Fraction, you might want to consider grabbing this one, wherein an archaeological debate between Laurel & Hardy is interrupted to show the God of Thunder rolling around Egypt punching people in the face and hitting things with his hammer. And since Alan Davis does the script and the art, it’s gorgeous, too.
That said, there is a slight problem. While the Warriors Three do accompany Thor on his face-punching tour of Giza and the plot revolves largely (!) around Volstagg, he eventually gets tied up and almost sacrificed without putting up even a hint of a fight. Admittedly, this probably rankles me more than pretty much anyone else–what with me being the Internet’s #1 Volstagg Fan, which I can assure you is a very hotly contested title–and I realize that it ain’t his name on the cover and that between everyone in Thor’s supporting cast, he is the most likely to wander off and get kidnapped, but come on, man! He’s still the Lion of Asgard! Couldn’t he at least clobber somebody with a turkey leg?
… Yeah, I know. Best to be moving on.
Wolverine: Manifest Destiny: So out of everything I read this week, the single best comic was a Wolverine mini-series tying in to the latest strangely named X-Men crossover.
Yeah, I know. I was surprised too.
But, like I mentioned a couple of days ago, it was the solicit for the third issue, which had an Enter the Dragon-inspired cover and billed it as a story where everyone’s favorite X-Man has to “unite all the kung fu schools in the city.” That’s enough to pique my curiosity, especially with the involvement of Jason Aaron, a writer that I’ve been wanting to read more from ever since everybody and their brother started telling me how great he was. And the result is even better than I could’ve expected.
Why? Well, for one thing, it’s got the Sons of the Tiger in it, and I’ll tell you right now: If more Marvel crossovers starred characters from Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, there’s a pretty good chance that more Marvel Crossovers would be totally fucking awesome. And for another, Aaron seems like he’s having an absolute blast writing the book, taking the idea that Wolverine has all of his memories back and spinning into a whole new world of possibilities for past mistakes to rear their ugly head, which in this case takes the form of a riled-up archery club, a kung fu student with a chainsaw, and–I swear to God–what appears to be David Lo Pan’s three sidekicks from Big Trouble in Little China
If, at any time in the next three issues, Wolverine uses a Six-Demon Bag, I’m willing to declare this the comic of the year.
Trades
Aetheric Mechanics: Well, if you’ve ever wondered what Warren Ellis’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen fan-fiction looked like, here you go.
Ah, but I kid. Not that that thought wasn’t running through my head almost the entire time I was reading it–it was, although I imagine that’s purely by Ellis’s design–but because it undercuts the fact that this is the best thing Ellis has done for Avatar since Crecy
Even better, it’s one of the best looking books I’ve seen from Avatar. Instead of the usualFaux-Geoff Darrow, detailed-to-the-point-of-distraction style that a lot of their books come with, Gianluca Pagliarani gives the book a genuinely beautiful look: Strong, crisp lines, expressive faces, and backgrounds that are more textured than detailed.
I’m not sure if it’s a book I’ll read again and again, but even at the $7 price point, it’s got some meat to it, and while I’m normally more frustrated than anything else with a book that suddenly becomes a completely different story in the last five pages–and make no mistake, that’s pretty much exactly what happens here–the combination of skill and surprise from the creators hit me just right. Give it a shot.
Showcase Presents World’s Finest v.2: Whenever I get one of these big black and white reprint books, I always like to do a little thing I call the Random Page test, where I judge the quality of the entire volume by flipping it open to a random page somewhere in the middle and reading the first panel that catches my eye. With this one, here’s the result:
I think we can call that a pass.
And that’s the week. As always, comments, thoughts, etc., you know where to leave them.
Please note that I chose not to go with “you know where to stick them,” because hey: I’m just a heck of a guy.
I could have sworn that was going to be a purchase on World’s Finest.
I don’t know if you ever checked out Wood’s Northlanders, but I decided to wait for the trade on it, which turned out to be pretty bad-ass. Plus it was a pretty fat trade for only 10 bucks…
At first I thought I was seeing things when I realized that the two archaeologists in THOR- TRUTH OF HISTORY looked suspiciously like Laurel & Hardy. Glad to know others saw it too! Wonder why Alan Davis used them, instead of an Indiana Jones type or generic scientists in pith helmet and seersucker?
A very little thing “a propos de” Captain America. I am French, I read comics in english, sometimes writers like to use other languages, almost everytime there are big mistakes (Even Alan Moore… my heart cries), I like Batroc because it’s everytime false french, and a big lot of cliché about french people, I find it very funny in a perverse way, but every word, every sentence Batroc uses in this Captain America is exactly right, not a mistake. I start reading faster his sentences in order to find one error. There is no error and the words Brubacker used are very clever.
Damn Batroc is almost impressive.
Amazing work.
Batroc, the way of the Savate!
(Savate in french is also a word for slipper by the way)
N.
Chris, didn’t you read Amazing Spider-Man this week? If so, what did you think?
I think Mister Sims is saying it passed the test, not that he passed on the book. After all, he usually only reviews things he buys.
Yagor fills me with rage. Forpo is obviously one of those sensational character finds. But Shabo? Shabo just seems like he’s trying to hard.
I am so happy to learn that I am not the only one who’s got that Volstagg thing rankling him. Rest of Thor: The Truth of History: great. But I would have preferred Volstagg put up a fight that went seriously wrong when nigh-Thor-level Heliopolitan Hell-dog showed up.
If Batroc went a whole issue of Captain America without making one error in his villainous variation of the French language, then either Brubaker has lost the plot and does not understand the essential Batroc character, or this was not Batroc, but some imposter.
Having yet to read the comic, I can’t say myself, but, please, Batroc’s crapy French is one of the big appeals of the character!
But what was the “grim” purpose of those aliens who could turn themselves into such terrifying things as string instruments and darts?
:-S
If they tied up Volstagg with strawberry licorice, that I could understand. Hey, you can’t get it anywhere in Asgard, man!
How did Yagor, an alien, puff into a human ball?
Forpo is the one to watch. Shapechanging aliens are a dime a dozen; musical aliens are the way of the future.
Wait, the Black Widow’s an immortal? When did that happen?
VOLSTAGG UPDATE!
Lion of Asgard attacks Super Skrull to save Beta Ray Bill. Proof positive that The Great Alan Davis has but one Achilles heel, namely a momentary lapse of reason :)
http://comicsnewsi.net/g/index.php?mode=view&album=Marvel%2FSecret_Invasion%2FThor%2F03&pic=SECINVTHOR003_int7.jpg&dispsize=600&start=0
I’m also wondering if Chris enjoyed this issue of Amazing Spider Man. It was basically a Flash Thompson story but I enjoyed it.
Also, do you plan on reading Scalped? If you want some Jason Aaron, that’s the series to read
“I think it’s safe to say that I’m a pretty big fan of America’s Daring, Highly Trained Special Missions Team, but even I’m a little skeptical about the comic book market’s need for three ongoing monthly GI Joe titles.”
The Cobra one is a five-issue mini, I think. But I am kinda surprised they didn’t just launch with the Hama book for now and bring the others in later.
I heartily second the recommendation for “NORTHLANDERS.” There’s a lot of ass kicking in that book for only ten bucks.
When I saw the Volstagg panel, I thought of a foe with telekinesis or something using his shield to carry him out of whereever he is, smashing him into a wall or very hard on the ground outside.
VOLSTAGG: “Not what I meant.”
So I thought I was one of the only comic book readers in South Carolina, until I stumbled upon this blog.
Glad to know there are more of us Chris.
Not only that, but reading your reviews, I see you have good taste, and also enjoy G.I. Joe.
and the Legion.
It’s as if you were reading a series of reviews for me. Which is nice, because now I know which books to bother with.
Keep up the good work.
Re: Laurel and Hardy – I don’t want to cast any aspersions on the guy, but could he have mixed L&H up with Abbott & Costello? Of “Abbot & Costello Meet the Mummy” fame?
Re: Black Widow – You know what I love about her? The gal knows what she likes. Red Guardian, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Daredevil, Captain America, Bucky, whatever. It’s all good with Natasha! In a world where most characters seem really uncomfortable with anything more physically intimate than beating up a stranger, you can kind of tell who the grown-ups are by who she has on speed-dial.
“This trip would be fascinating with such friendly and strange companions if its purpose weren’t so grim!”
Where I work, that phrase gets a lot of use.
PS
Milk & Cheese:
“We cure the stupid! Who’s next?”
I could have sworn that was going to be a purchase on World’s Finest.
Oh, yeah, I meant–as Mike P. said–that it passed the test, not that I passed on buying it. I buy all the Showcases.
I don’t know if you ever checked out Wood’s Northlanders
http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.the-isb.com+northlanders&ie=UTF-8
Chris, didn’t you read Amazing Spider-Man this week? If so, what did you think?
I did read it. But you may have noticed that I did not buy it, which should probably tell you something.
Wait, the Black Widow’s an immortal? When did that happen?
She got the Infinity Formula back in the war, same as Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan.
That one panel of World’s Finest is a lot cooler than the entirety of Batman R.I.P., in my book.
She got the Infinity Formula back in the war, same as Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan.
How great is it that this is the correct, coherent answer?
Is there added value in the Y:TLM Deluxe Edition over the regular trades? Just a hard cover, or something else?
So I see Birds of Prey is still on the pull list and I’m wondering if it was just good enough to keep you buying it (since you’ve mentioned possibly dropping it), or if you feel it’s getting better, that perhaps Bedard’s hitting his stride, and so it’s not on your chopping block any longer.
Hmm, I like Jack Kirby’s DC work less than just about anything in comics. Okay, that’s overstating it, but I thought the Fourth World stuff was limp, unimaginative and poorly-drawn, and all-around a big sign that Kirby was well past his prime.
Consequently, I’m finding Final Crisis to be a big yawn-fest. “Plodding” is too kind a word for this series; it should have gotten to where issue #4 end no later than the middle of issue #2. This issue in particular is the big “Nothing happens! But we have lots of shadows!” issue.
I’m not even buying Secret Invasion – just thumbing through it in the store – and I’m enjoying it more than Final Crisis. What a train wreck.
Is there added value in the Y:TLM Deluxe Edition over the regular trades? Just a hard cover, or something else?
I have the issues after the first trade, so I’m just trading up to what looks like the nicest format. And it does look nice, but I haven’t actually popped it open yet, so…
Okay, just took the shrink wrap off, and it looks like the bonus material’s limited to a pretty neat sketch gallery from Pia Guerra, but it’s otherwise just your run-of-the-mill hardcover. Nice, but probably not worth it if you’ve got the trades.
So I see Birds of Prey is still on the pull list and I’m wondering if it was just good enough to keep you buying it (since you’ve mentioned possibly dropping it), or if you feel it’s getting better, that perhaps Bedard’s hitting his stride, and so it’s not on your chopping block any longer.
It’s still month-to-month, but I’ll confess that I’m havning a littel bit of “meta” fun with it by seeing how long it can go before I finally drop it. Bedard’s story is actually a lot of fun and had some interesting concepts, but the art in this issue was rough. So it sort of balances out “decent, but not great.”
Hmm, I like Jack Kirby’s DC work less than just about anything in comics. Okay, that’s overstating it, but I thought the Fourth World stuff was limp, unimaginative and poorly-drawn, and all-around a big sign that Kirby was well past his prime.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re wrong and you might be stupid.
I’m not even buying Secret Invasion – just thumbing through it in the store – and I’m enjoying it more than Final Crisis. What a train wreck.
So you think a comic that you’ve only looked at the pictures in is better than a comic you haven’t read at all? Gotcha.
“Wolverine has all of his memories back and spinning into a whole new world of possibilities for past mistakes to rear their ugly head”
Wouldn’t it be great if Wolverine fixed these past mistakes by making a list of ’em, then driving around in an old El Camino and… doing nice things for the people he wronged?
Or beating the living shit out of them. I’m good either way.
They could call it My Name is Logan… or James… or Whatever.
“me being the Internet’s #1 Volstagg Fan, which I can assure you is a very hotly contested title”
You have no idea, my friend. Among my current circle of friends there are at least three serious Volstagg fans. Counting me.
Re: your “Klaw Bad” alt text:
BAHLEETED!!!!
“A six-demon bag, egg? Terrific. What’s in it?”
“Wind, Fire, all that kind of thing!”
*Makes Chang Sing hand symbol*
*Disappears*
If Batroc went a whole issue of Captain America without making one error in his villainous variation of the French language, then either Brubaker…does not understand the essential Batroc character, or this was…some imposter…Batroc’s crappy French is one of the big appeals of the character! — Nick Yankovec
One of the many delights of Ostrander’s Suicide Squad was Captain Boomerang’s outlandish Austrailian accent. It was so overdone, even his fellow Aussies thought he was a fraud and a total embarrassment (see the Invasion issue).
Man, I miss that book.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re wrong and you might be stupid.”
Or a Bizarro. I’m thinking a Bizarro. Since he’s saying the opposite of sense there. So maybe we should cut him some slack.
Shbao has the best name, but Yagor has the best look.
Maybe it’s due to the big gap between issues but I feel like I barely know what’s going on in Final Crisis. Wasn’t there involvement from some Libra guy and some big villian organization?
Maybe it’s because I’ve only really gotten into DC comics in the last few years. I understand the basics of the New Gods but don’t know them in detail really, so maybe I’m just not catching the good stuff, but the story seems barely coherent. I’m forced to wonder if the problem is that I’m not buying every single tie-in and sub-series.
I’m forced to wonder if the problem is that I’m not buying every single tie-in and sub-series.
I’m only reading the Legion book (which has nothing to do with the rest of Final Crisis) and the ones written by Morrison (Superman Beyond, which explains why Superman’s not around, and Submit, which was more redundant than anything else) and I’m not having a problem.
[i]Okay, just took the shrink wrap off, and it looks like the bonus material’s limited to a pretty neat sketch gallery from Pia Guerra, but it’s otherwise just your run-of-the-mill hardcover. Nice, but probably not worth it if you’ve got the trades.[/i]
Is it any different from the sketchs published in the Unmanned TPB (Vol. 1)?
If so, DC just lost an extra 30 dollars.
“It’s the Black Widow. She’ll be there when you get back.”
That she will. Of course, the curtains will be waving in the breeze from an open window and there will be a purple arrow under the bed.
Baltroc me rend plus heureux.
Well, have to be getting that Showcase, all right.
Because, you know, Forpo. Best character since Gypo-Bax.
That World’s Finest panel makes me smile. It’s from a story in which Batman and Superman join a space circus that just happens to be visiting the four planets on which can be found the four ingredients needed to defeat a nigh-indestructible space starfish. (Who is NOT Starro, but rather *another* world-conquering starfish.)
It could be found in one of my all-time favorite comics: World’s Finest #206, a collection of reprints that included stories in which the duo become cavemen to stop an alien invasion, Batman fell into a magic mirror and Superman was exchanged for a destructive space monster. I must’ve read that issue hundreds of times.
All four of those stories are in this Showcase volume. Furthermore, it has the first appearance of the Composite Superman and not one, but TWO team-ups of Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk, making it THE BEST BOOK EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
I’ve forgotten how to do the Chang Sing hand sign. This makes me a bad person.
And also: Should Wolverine need to unite all the kung fu schools in the city to save an orphanage or youth centre, I will take back 50% of all the bad things I’ve ever said about him.