Hey @$$holes, Village Idiot here.
There's only one word to describe this week's column: Jazz-hot!
- Ambush Bug really seems to get a charge out of DC's LIGHT BRIGADE. (Ooof!)
- Like a remorseful call from a drunk ex-boyfriend in the middle of the night, Cormorant tries to rekindle the flame of love for Gail Simone and the latest BIRDS OF PREY.
- Frank Bascome ain't the only book reviewer around AICN. This week, Buzz Maverik takes a look at the classic adventure novel SCARAMOUCHE. And our reviews have pictures of the covers of the books. Ha! In your face, Bascome!
- Plus looks at the new LOKI mini, the new INVADERS comic, ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, Cheap Shots and more!
This column is so good, I may have to read it again -- even though I've already committed it to memory!
(Click title to go directly to the review)
DC COMICS PRESENTS: BATMAN #1
EMILY & THE INTERGALACTIC LEMONADE STAND
THE LIGHT BRIGADE #1-4
THE NEW INVADERS #0
BIRDS OF PREY #69
Buzz Maverik's Book Club: SCARAMOUCHE
LOKI #1
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #62
Cheap Shots!
DC COMICS PRESENTS: BATMAN #1
Written by Geoff Johns, Len Wein
Art by Carmine Infantino, Andy Kuhn
Published by DC Comics
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
I believe it was Henry Rollins who said something to the effect that our taste in music peaks and freezes when we're thirteen years old. Essentially, we can appreciate new music after that age but it'll never be as great to us.
Comics are sort of the same way. I think the comics of our adolescence will always be the standard by which we judge the comics to come afterward and the comics that came before.
I'm a Bronze Age guy. That was the age just before comics became self-aware. Just before irony. I didn't know it was the Bronze Age at the time. I thought it was still the Silver Age. I knew what the Golden Age was but I hadn't really seen any of the comics. I've seen Golden Age comics since then and I have to say that while I like the crime, action and mystery stories, I don't like Golden Age superhero stories. I've tried but I just can't get into them.
I feel lucky that I can dig the Silver Age.
DC invented the Silver Age. DC superheroes of the Silver Age rock. Julius Schwartz was one of DC's greatest editors, a defining force of the Silver Age and certainly the best editor of Superman comics, as well as being great on many others.
DC is publishing a series of one shots over the next two months to honor Mr. Schwartz, who died earlier this year. They feature stories and art by contemporary pros as well as some Bronze and Silver Age favorites, done in the style of Schwartz comics.
Apparently, Julius Schwartz would come up with a high concept cover idea, have it drawn and present it to the creative teams when they needed story ideas. This issue uses an updating on a '60s era BATMAN cover, featuring Batman watching his own television program. Current fave writer Geoff Johns teams with Silver Age great Carmine Infantino for a cool story in which an actor playing Batman murders an actor playing Robin (or does he)? Bronze age writer/editor Len Wein who did some killer BATMAN stories of his own (as well as AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and INCREDIBLE HULK for Marvel) joins forces with artist Andy Kuhn for a skewered take on reality television Batman-style. Adam Hughes contributes a superb reinterpretation of the original Infantino cover, substituting a grim 'n' gritty Dark Knight for a kicked back Caped Crusader. Harlan Ellison's obituary of his great friend, Julius Schwartz, is included.
I'm getting all of these! There's the ADAM STRANGE with the Alex Ross cover, then a GREEN LANTERN with, get this, a Brian Azzarello story (that should be a trip!) and finally a Hawkman with stories written by Kurt Busiek and Cary Bates and art by a couple of guys named Walter Simonson and John Byrne.
EMILY & THE INTERGALACTIC LEMONADE STAND
Ian Smith: Writer
Tyson Smith: Artist
Amaze Ink/SLG: Publisher
Vroom Socko: Drinking it down
Where do the Smith Brothers come up with this stuff? The loons behind ODDJOB have created one of the strangest, funniest all ages comics I've seen in a good long time.
The premise is almost impossible to summarize. Ten-year-old Emily wants nothing more than to own a pony. So she starts selling lemonade to raise money, aided by Juicer, her indestructible combat robot. Her only real customer is Jace, who's only really interested in hanging out with Juicer, because robots are just so cool. This doesn't sit well with Daisy, the spoiled rich girl who's got a crush on Jace, so she has her daddy give her her own robot. That's when the alien invaders show up.
This book is too goofy for words. There's an almost innocent feel to the action that makes the story that much more hilarious. I especially enjoyed the section where the government attempts to abduct Juicer to use him as a weapon against the aliens. Juicer keeps escaping, so the army needs to keep dosing Emily's dad with knockout gas to steal him back. The real riot though, is what the aliens do to the President. I ain't spoiling that one.
The best character though is Pheef, Emily's pet alien. A different species than the invaders, Pheef is a mad cross between a Pokèmon and Worf, a ten-inch tall bloodthirsty warrior with a body shaped like Hello Kitty's head. His journal detailing his stay in Emily's room is especially hilarious.
As for the aliens… well, they're here to turn Earth into a planetary amusement park and turn all of humanity into ride operators. Now that's evil. Hell, even Disney doesn't enslave the populous of Orlando. At least, I don't think they do…
If there's any flaw in the book, it's with the pinup in the back by the great Eric Kilkenny. The thing's only three by five inches. That sucker needs its own page. I was also expecting the color to be a problem, since not only ODDJOB, but also the early art on this book I'd seen was black and white. Thankfully, the color work in the final product fits the artwork magnificently.
This book isn't going to change the industry. It's not making a statement. It doesn't challenge the reader. But it is a damn funny book that you can give to anyone to read, and I swear they'll enjoy it. Especially if you're a little girl who loves ponies, or a little boy who loves robots. Or even if you're a little alien who loves cutting things.
THE LIGHT BRIGADE #1-4
Writer: Peter Tomasi
Art: Peter Snejbjerg
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
THE LIGHT BRIGADE is the type of comic that you wish would be adapted into a major motion picture. Having just read all four issues of the prestige format limited series, I can see the people in the Hollywood boardrooms right now pitching this story to be translated onto celluloid. "It's BAND OF BROTHERS meets EXCALIBUR meets THE EVIL DEAD." And they'd be right. This story seamlessly combines bone-chilling horror, big budget war-time action, and intimate character moments highlighting the nobility and honor of the men who served our country during WWII.
In issue one; we are introduced to the band of soldiers who will soon become THE LIGHT BRIGADE. Tomasi introduces each character much like a filmmaker, highlighting quirks and intricacies that make them easily recognizable in the field of battle amongst soldiers wearing the same uniform. This often comes off as trite or hokey, but Tomasi writes each character with heart and dimension. One of the soldiers is an avid baseball fan. Another reads comics on the frontline. Another just found out that his wife was killed in an automobile accident, leaving his son an orphan if he should not come back from the war. This ominous pressure to "get out of this one alive" is one of the most powerful messages throughout the story, immediately investing the reader in the character and making one hope he makes it through all of this in one piece. Tomasi permeates his story with this type of attunement to human nature.
What starts out as a routine battle soon swirls into the world of the uncanny. The troops are attacked by a marching group of Nazis that won't die. As the handful of surviving troops escape, they see a meteor fall not too far away. When they go and investigate, they find the bodies of two creatures that look to be angels. It is at this point when you realize you are not reading your run-of-the-mill war story. What follows are lakes of frozen corpses, magical swords, angels, demons, zombies, monks, castles, the absolute best zombie vs. warplane dogfight you'll ever read, and quite a few other surprises. This band of misfit soldiers has been chosen to partake in a quest that makes their actions a deciding factor in an age-old war between heaven and hell. Now I know what you are thinking, and you're right. This "War Between Heaven and Hell" concept has been done to death in PREACHER, HELLBLAZER, and THE PROPHECY movies, but the thing that makes THE LIGHT BRIGADE stand out is the wonderful characterization and the setting of the events in a modern field of battle.
Most high concepts sound good, but the problems often arise in the execution. Combining a war story with horror is something that could be a recipe for disaster. The problem is that the writer often knows too much about one genre and very little about the other. This is not the case with Tomasi. He shows great skill at mastering both genres with this book. The little details (like pissing on their guns to unfreeze them before a battle) about military life are included and scattered throughout; not amateurishly but confidently, as if the writer had an extensive knowledge of the subject and added these little details only when it would help enrich the story. Tomasi is also not afraid to gore it up either (a quality I admire). The scenes of half decayed Nazi soldiers are truly frightening. There was a moment, when the Light Brigade has to cross a frozen river. Below them are the bodies of soldiers who have fallen before them. As the river gets deeper, we see soldiers, not just from WWII, but from WWI, the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, and even before that. It gives a creepy history to the relevance to this quest the Light Brigade has embarked upon and an ominous setup for the battle that lies ahead.
I believe artist Peter Snejbjerg has received a bad rap. I remember he caught a lot of flack when he took over the art chores after Tony Harris left James Robinson's STARMAN. Harris was such a superstar on that book that Jesus Cross-Eyed Christ (a master CROSS-hatcher) could've taken over the book after Harris left and fans would've still been in an uproar. I've always found Snejbjerg's art to be amazing. He goes for a more simplistic approach, reminiscent of Mike Mignola or Eric Powell of THE GOON. There is a minimalist feel to the strong lines in the faces of his characters. He captures the feeling or emotion in as few lines as possible. In this age, when scribbles and scratchings are supposed to be the "in" thing, Snejnjerg's art stands out as something to be admired. His renditions of zombie Nazi soldiers and the aforementioned lake of the dead are shiver inducing. Truly phenomenal work on every issue of this series.
So WARNER BROTHERS execs, before you rush out and sign the papers for CATWOMAN II, you might want to read THE LIGHT BRIGADE if you want to make a comic book movie that'll actually be good. It's got one of the strongest premises I've read in a long time. The characterization grips your heart and squeezes. The thrills are fresh and scary. And the ending doesn't peter out into convention like most high concept stories. From page one to the very last; THE LIGHT BRIGADE was like watching the very best war film and the very best horror film on side-by-side wide screens. Treat yourself and seek out THE LIGHT BRIGADE. You won't be disappointed.
THE NEW INVADERS # 0
Written by Allan Jacobsen & Chuck Austen
Art by C.P. Smith
Published by Marvel Comics
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
How can there be an issue #0? Does this mean the comic book sitting beside my computer doesn't exist? If I'm on mescaline again, wouldn't the trip be more interesting?
All in all, I have to say that THE NEW INVADERS #0 was a pretty decent issue of YOUNGBLOOD. With all the hate directed at him, Rob has had to change his art style. Kind of a shame. I always liked his artwork, even when he was clerking at an Orange County comic book shop and I had to say, "Dammit, Rob, I've got all my comics and I'm ready to pay so put the pad down!" I had no idea that the anti-Rob sentiments had gotten so bad that he'd have to adopt the pseudonyms Allan Jacobsen, Chuck Austen and C.P. Smith.
Rob pays a homage to his own first issue of YOUNGBLOOD, with the team overthrowing a Saddam Hussein look alike. This time he's dragged in the Avengers but I wish that the comic contained a letterbox feature so you actually see what was going on.
The good news is that, as a writer, Rob or whomever is ghosting for him, has taken some cues from one of the great motion picture screenwriters of our time, a certain Mr. George Walton Lucas Jr.! While most of Lucas' characters are more consistent than say the Invader called Thin Man - interesting and insightful one second, an incoherent dipshit the next - INVADERS #0 has mastered that thick, politicalese of the Prequel Trilogy. I kept waiting for them to talk about tariffs and trade agreements. Anybody see that episode of THE SIMPSONS where Homer takes the kids to see COSMIC WARS, and an Imperial Walker bursts into the Senate Chamber? Bart gets excited, but then the Walker sits down and starts talking about putting bills through the legislature. As we @$$holes are often told when we criticize this shit, I just didn't understand it. I'm glad because I don't wanna.
Let's see, the art...better yet, let's not see the art. Namor is kind of squatty here. Things must have been kind of quiet in Atlantis lately because Subby looks like he's grown some man-boobs in a few pictures. Then there's Giant Woman. Here's a rule for all zero girls reading this and all one billion six aspiring comic book artists reading this: women can only pull off short hair if they are so good looking that it wouldn't matter if they are bald. So why draw the Wasp or Giant Wasp ugly?
On a positive note, I like U.S. Agent looking like Ultimate Captain America. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect Marvel of a little sly, good natured self-spoofing.
I hope THE NEW INVADERS stays THE NEW YOUNGBLOOD. Maybe next we'll get a story where the team visits a government facility, finds a villain in suspended animation and one of the Invaders says, "I wonder what this button does?"
BIRDS OF PREY #69
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Ron Adrian
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewed by Cormorant
I take personal credit for Gail Simone's rise to stardom.
No, really!
Y'see, back before half of our reviewing crew were talking her up...before she was known to anyone but the hipsters who were reading "You'll All Be Sorry!" and her Bongo comics...I cooked up an exuberant little review of her now-famous "Rhino-on-a-keychain" issue of DEADPOOL. That's right, me! Read it in this classic @$$hole column. Note my goonish Stan Lee enthusiasm.
Note also how Gail skyrocketed to stardom shortly thereafter!
And YET...
Despite having irrefutably made her career with a review in our dumpy pre-graphics column, I can honestly say that the stuff I read from her afterward just didn't click for me nearly as well as Rhino-on-a-keychain. That's not the same thing as saying her work has been bad; it just hasn't grabbed me the way Rhino-on-a-keychain did (and brother, that issue set a high bar).
Well now it's time for me to once again get on the bus, to once again give Gail the backing only a scintillating Ain't-It-Cool-News review can provide – 'cause BIRDS OF PREY is kicking all kinds of ass. Her run has been strong since the beginning, but now...now it kicks all kinds of ass. And for reasons completely different from Rhino-on-a-keychain! While Gail's still got the wit and character repartee that defined her earliest successes, she definitely ventured into more serious realms with BIRDS OF PREY, and – dare I say it – it's the plotting that's winning me over.
Where Chuck Dixon previously defined this series as "superhero espionage", Gail's doing gangbusters with the "superhero mystery." This latest issue, for instance, opens with the truly bizarre sight of a young black women putting on the costume of the now-deceased Wonder Girl, walking into the ocean, and pulling the pin on a hand grenade to end her life. As the kids say online: "WTF?" And this unlucky girl is one of three similar murders, all involving teenagers dressed as deceased super-teens - one as Terra from the Teen Titans, the other as the Jason Todd incarnation of Robin. BANG! That's just a collar-grabber of an opening, and by page three our heroines – Oracle, Black Canary, and the soon-to-steal-the-spotlight Huntress – are already trying to put the pieces together. It's grim, but it sure does move. What's more, Oracle's taking this case particularly personally. She informs the team that all other cases are sidelined until these deaths are resolved.
"You got a plan?" asks Canary.
"Bet good money."
Is Oracle one of the coolest characters in the DCU or what? Hell, I think she's a cooler detective than Batman these days, and certainly a more likeable character. Sidebar: yes, it's been almost two decades of angst now, but Batman actually used to have some likeability beneath his drive.
The issue becomes a spotlight for Huntress, though, her "trial by fire" as Oracle puts it. Recall that this is the lady whose methods have been known to piss off Batman his own bad self – can she keep it under control enough for some serious undercover work? Of course not! She's too flamboyant, too...yeah, I'll say it...sassy. And Oracle turns that into an advantage by using her as bait for a burgeoning cult that appears to have some role in the murders. What I love about Huntress is that she brings some spice to the Oracle/Canary team that was always cool, but maybe just a little too...nice? Well look at that cover again. This girl ain't nice. She's the Han Solo of the group, the foil for the more classical heroes, and she's pretty easy on the eyes to boot. I'm even warming up to Jim Lee's redesign of the costume finally, though Huntress actually spends most of the issue posing as a reporter in a rain-soaked coat that somehow works just as well.
And speaking of the rain, kudos to Gail (and guest-artist Ron Adrian) for the suitably moody environmental effects it brings. Weather's a great tonal indicator and a subtle means of providing an instant (if subconscious) link to something every reader has experienced. And doesn't a thunderstorm just creep up a mystery ever so nicely?
Along the way, many a memorable scene...
Loved Huntress busting the fake cops by asking them to recite their badge numbers without looking. Got a warm fuzzy feeling when the nastiness of the case reminded Oracle she should take her dad, Commish Gordon, to dinner...and invited Black Canary to join them. And I always enjoy getting a sense of the DC Universe as backdrop, as when Canary visits the father of one of the victims and announces her JSA membership at the door - just like a cop or military officer citing their formal affiliation.
Did I mention the surprise guest-star who was one of my favorites from the '80s incarnation of the Suicide Squad? Or the giddily "Republic serial" cliffhanger? Or Huntresses great line, "I'm like Dick Tracy with breasts and good hair"?
The icing on the cake, baby.
With this story coming hot on the heels of the previous arc featuring the unlikely but brilliant alliance between Black Canary and the villainous Cheshire and Lady Shiva, I think BIRDS OF PREY has officially moved to the forefront of DC's A-list titles. It's definitely outstripping the big guns from the Superman and Batman families, and the unique experience it offers with its trio of heroines even has stalwart team books like TEEN TITANS, JSA, and THE OUTSIDERS looking a little quaint. Some of DC's more off-the-beaten-path books like GOTHAM CENTRAL and CATWOMAN might give it a run for its money, but then again...
They don't have Huntress, do they?
It seems I have no choice, then, but to elevate BIRDS OF PREY DC's best superhero book running, and invite both former readers and newbies to find out what they've been missing. Yes, even given the series' lack of Rhino-on-a-keychain!
SCARAMOUCHE
by Rafael Sabatini
Published by W.W. Norton & Company
A Buzz Maverik Book Club Swashbuckling Selection
Ah, that George Lucas. Never had an original idea in his life.
Normally, here at Buzz Maverik's Book Club, we explore the literary and semi-literary roots of some of our favorite comic book archetypes. Since comic books contain all kinds of stories and since all kinds of stories can be in comic books, we've got a pretty broad range to select from.
SCARAMOUCHE by Rafael Sabatini, the great writer of great swashbucklers, is of course an adventure story. It also contains the reluctant hero who must rise beyond himself to right a great wrong. Once, comic books contained many characters like this. Scaramouche is an identity of lawyer / actor / writer / fencing instructor Andre-Louis Moreau. To paraphrase Richard Pryor, I know the man is French but give him a break.
The dawn of the French Revolution finds Andre-Louis as lawyer for a kindly country nobleman, widely believed to be Andre-Louis' father. The fact is, Andre-Louis has no idea whom his parents might be. He has been cared for and educated by the Lord of Gavrillac and is a young man with a promising future. He considers Lord Gavrillac's beautiful young niece his cousin, and is aghast to learn that she is allowing the older, but dashing and cruel Marquis de la Tour d' Azyr to seek her hand in marriage. Especially since the Marquis has had a peasant murdered for poaching. Especially since Andre-Louis best friend, a young nobleman studying for the priesthood, is goaded into a duel with the Marquis for seeking justice. This is a duel that Andre-Louis friend has no hope of surviving. It turns out the Marquis' goal was to silence a powerful voice of the Revolution.
Andre-Louis becomes active in Revolutionary politics, quickly becoming a wanted man. He joins a wandering improvisational comedy troop and takes of the character of Scaramouche, an ancient stock character who is something of a schemer and a rogue. Discovering a talent for acting and writing, Scaramouche soon has the troop headed for the legitimate stage in Paris and a series of encounters with the evil Marquis. One of these encounters destroys Scaramouche's theatrical dreams and circumstances lead him into an apprenticeship with a fencing master. Soon, it is Scaramouche who is the master of the sword.
It turns out that a common tactic of the Upper Class is to bully the bourgeois and peasant revolutionaries into duels. The aristocrats have had fencing lessons since childhood while most of the working stiffs have been to busy earning a living to ever pick up a sword. Enter Scaramouche. He is appointed to the Senate and purposely pisses off the nobles. But when they meet Scaramouche for duels, it is only Scaramouche who returns alive.
All of this set me to wondering . . . first, is Andre-Louis Moreau an ancestor of H.G. Welles' weird genetic engineer Dr. Moreau? Secondly, did Scaramouche ever meet the Scarlet Pimpernel? And if so, who won?
LOKI #1 (of 4)
Writer: Robert Rodi
Artist: Esad Ribic
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewed by Cormorant
Remember in the movie CONAN when James Earl Jones, seductively evil as Thulsa Doom, orders Conan crucified on the Tree of Woe?
Well LOKI #1 is like a 32-page meditation on that sequence. As seen from Thulsa Doom's point of view.
And unexpectedly I enjoyed it.
Now I'm a Thor fan and a fan of swords 'n' sorcery in general, so I'm predisposed to the theatrical posturing and somewhat laborious faux-Shakespearian dialogue that typifies Thor's adventures. What I'm not big on is the idea of watching sleazy villains revel in their debauchery, as in Garth Ennis's crapulent THOR: VIKINGS, or in seeing yet another great villain castrated with the tacked-on addition of a sympathetic origin (see also Magneto, Doctor Octopus, Emma Frost, et al.).
To some extent, LOKI engages in both of these risks, yet here I am really looking forward to the next issue – what the deuce made it work? Credit to writer Robert Rodi, certainly, but the first thing that'll hook ya when you open this book has got to be the art. Painter Esad Ribic has turned in some truly stunning visuals here, paying fealty to the two great envisioners of Asgard – Kirby and Simonson – while draping the whole affair in the dust and grit of classic fantasy painter Frank Frazetta. Check out this stunning splash page, this rich environment, this lovely rendition of the temptress, Lorelei. Was this guy wasted doing WOLVERINE covers or what? I mean, who can guess where his artistic passions lie – maybe this is like pulling teeth for him – but if I ran Marvel or DC, I'd certainly be trying to line him up with an original fantasy series when LOKI wraps.
The story is a little more conventional, but still a pleasant surprise. It appears to take place at an indeterminate time in the future in which Loki has somehow triumphed over Thor and established total control over Asgard. The how's and why's seem unimportant – Rodi's more interested in "what comes next". For Loki, it turns out to be a classic villainous Catch-22: what's left of life when all your challenges have been met? Is there really satisfaction to be had in future of tormenting one's broken enemies? Were Garth Ennis writing, I'm sure the answer would be, "Yes!", followed by 32 pages of rape and torture, but Rodi, bless 'im, offers something a little more thoughtful, and he does it without making Loki look like a punk.
In the opening sequence, we get Loki doing exactly what we'd expect: gloating offer a hobbled Thor before the assembled masses of Asgard. But when he challenges a single Asgardian to rise up, he gets a boot to the ass from a rebellious kid plenty happy to defy him. Loki looks ready to bite this kid's head off when suddenly we get a jump-cut to his own youth, telling off papa Odin and defying him as his father. It's not so much that Rodi is sympathizing Loki in this scene as revealing why he would suddenly identify with a pissed-off kid. Not bad.
Loki goes on to try to talk the boy into looking on him as an inspiration, but all he gets is a loogie for his troubles. Maybe it's not so good to be the king after all. Indeed, throughout the issue, we see Loki's troubled rule: he's set upon by fellow villains wanting rewards for their support, approached by a concubine he has no interest in ("What may I do to please you, my lord?" "Run this tiresome kingdom for me."), and most tellingly, pressed by death-goddess Hela to execute Thor that she can claim his soul.
Granted, her appearance bears an almost litigious visual likeness to the first appearance of the Spectre in KINGDOM COME, but what follows is still pretty durn interesting. Not only does Rodi give Hela some great dialogue, reminding us that even the ruler of Asgard can be put in check by the goddess of the underworld, but he surprises by revealing that Loki hadn't even considered executing Thor. The look of shock on Loki's face when she suggests it...well, I don't know that it's quite indicative of a Grinch-like capacity for love, but it surely put me in mind of Loki's occasional streak of honor during Simonson's legendary run.
Loki: "But I do not desire his death, only his continued humiliation."
Hela: That was when you were the trickster god... Now you have played your final trick, and in so doing, become other than what you were."
That's a strong scene, one of many in the book, with memorable dialogue that actually avoids the pitfalls of "bad Thor-speak". Hard to believe this is the same Robert Rodi who wrote CODENAME KNOCKOUT for Vertigo and who's writing the forgettable IDENTITY DISK for Marvel. Seems creatively stifling to dwell on a creator's missteps when they're doing something good, though, so put 'em out of your mind. Who knows, maybe this is the project that Rodi's been waiting for? Maybe it's what puts him on the map as a serious player. Based on his passionate approach to the series, as seen in this Newsarama interview, I think it just might be.
Of course there's still the risk of wussifying Loki, but the flashbacks that flesh him out in this first issue don't read as trite. They speak to the cruelties and complexities of real mythology, where heroes really weren't always so nice, villains not necessarily without their sympathies. I should note that I'm the kind of person who thought Scar got shafted in the Lion King – treated as second class for the simple crime of being born weak in a world of pompous monarchs – so maybe I'm just given to like the ol' trickster god, but...
Credit where it's due:
This villain-centric book had to fight to win me over, and it damn well succeeded. I think the extended look at Thor and Loki's sibling rivalry and how it plays out in this grim vision might pack some real resonance when all is said and done. For that, it deserves a definite look from fans of Thor or even those simply drawn to the paradigm of Greek tragedy (or is that Norse tragedy?). You can even give LOKI a low-res read for free, courtesy of Mile High Comics' full online preview .
Put on some Wagner and giver 'er a go. You might be surprised.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #62
Brian Michael Bendis: Writer
Mark Bagley: Artist
Marvel Comics: Pubisher
Vroom Socko: Witness to Carnage
Man alive, even when I hate this title I love it.
You'd think that in an arc featuring the introduction of both Carnage and Ben Reilly, the story would suck by default. But no, this issue manages to be the most frightening book Bendis has written since TORSO. There's a scene at the halfway point that's the most harrowing work Bagley's ever done. All of this is due to the way these two handle Carnage.
I know. I can't believe it either. But it works, mainly due to the origin of Carnage; a blood sample from Spider-Man that's come alive. That's right, Carnage and the Spider-Clone in one package. And why not? He is scarlet after all. This simple idea is a damn stroke of genius on the part of Bendis, and as character translations go is second only to Apocalypse as a mannequin over in ULTIMATE X-MEN. As for Bagley, who was the first artist to draw Carnage back in the day, this is some of his best work to date. The moment with the fingernail was an especially nice touch.
But that's not what people are going to remember about this issue. Nope, all anybody's going to talk about is the ending. I'm not saying who, but somebody gets killed. At least, it looks like somebody gets killed. With Bendis, if they die in a cliffhanger they tend to not stay dead. Look at MJ in issue #25 of this book, or Ant-Man in Alias. Nope, if Bendis wants them dead, they tend to get it straight away, like Cap. Stacy, or Ant-Man in Avengers. The thing is though, that could just be what he wants us to think.
And that's what I hate about this issue. I mean, when Uncle Ben died, even though we knew it was coming, the moment felt like a slap to the face. But this ending, this is like a punch in between your legs. This is brutal, brutal stuff. And you know what makes it worse? The release schedule is back to monthly instead of biweekly, so we've got to wait until next month to find out whether or not this person is really dead or not. Bendis just loves to torture his fans like that, because he knows we hate it. I really hate it. In fact, I'm half tempted to stake out the comic shop on Wednesday with a needle full of truth serum, just waiting for him to show up. But where's the fun in that? Nah, I'm just going to wait for the next issue. Even if that one's going to have an even worse cliffhanger. Because as much as I hate it, I love these things too.
See, this is what you miss out on when you wait for the Trade.
Cheap Shots!
STAR WARS: CLONE WARS ADVENTURES Vol. 1 (TPB) - Great book to give to a kid here, or for those adults who got a kick out of the CLONE WARS animated shorts on Cartoon Network. Like the Cartoon Network pieces, the three stories in this attractively-drawn digest are short on plot, long on Jedi action, and after the politics and tariffs of the prequels, who can say it's not welcome? Anakin and Obi-Wan face-off against hordes of monsters on a planet swathed in darkness; hilariously-named aquatic Jedi, Kit Fisto, battles an underwater hive-mind; and coolest of all, Mace Windu and Some Jedi With Horns On His Head kick the hell out of an entire droid army. Best scene: droid's-eye-view as Mace and his pal simultaneously raise their hands PULP FICTION style and use the force to launch the droid miles away. There's just something gleefully destructive about the several panels of its point-of-view as it flies ever higher into the air, then plummets down onto a droid tank. – Cormorant
THOR #82 (584) - My theory about Thor is verified once again with this issue: While Bearded Thor rocks the hizzy, Beardless Thor sucks all forms of @$$. A mere month ago, Dan Jurgens wrapped up his storyline which promised to "shake the foundations of the Thor Universe" and ended up leaving a bad taste in the mouths of those brave souls who stuck with the book as the once fresh concept of the morality behind godly intervention was stretched to anorexic lengths and the "earth shattering events" were rendered null and void with the convenient pressing of a reset button. Now a new (Bendis-approved!) creative team of Michael Avon Oeming, Daniel Berman, and Andrea Divito has jumped onboard this title with a similar promise to "change the Thor we know and love for-EVERRRR!!!" Loki has forged powerful weapons from the same Uru metal that Thor's hammer is made of, he's taken over Asgard, and killed the Enchantress, Balder, Kurse, Hogun, Fandrall, and almost every other member of Thor's supporting cast of gods. Thor is pissed, BEARDLESS, and gathering survivors to reclaim the throne of Asgard from his wicked brother. Why is it that every writer who comes onboard this title feels the need to destroy Asgard and all of the gods? With the pressing of the reset button so fresh in Thor readers' heads from the last arc, does anyone think that this story will end in any other way? Can I see a show of hands? Who thinks the Enchantress (a character who has been around for forty years) is dead forever? Anyone? You in the back? You do? Well, you sir, are an idiot. Jurgens at least had a high concept to go on. Oeming doesn't even have that going for him. He's merely wantonly killing off long-standing characters, skipping over any chance of depth and character, and ignoring any relevance the deaths have on Thor and the rest of the survivors. Oeming is trying to make an event out of this story, but in the end it doesn't have the heart be worth while. This issue truly stinks in execution and it offends me that they think they are fooling anyone in believing any of the shit happening won't be re-set to status quo when the next ego-maniac decides he has a Thor story to tell. – Ambush Bug
THE UNCANNY DAVE COCKRUM – A TRIBUTE - If you follow comic book news, you might already know that Dave Cockrum, visual creator of Nightcrawler, Storm, Phoenix, Wolverine, Mystique, the Black Cat, Lilandra, the Starjammers, the Brood, and many a LEGION OF SUPERHEROES costume...has fallen ill lately, with hard-to-handle medical bills. This book's the fruit of the industry's collective effort to raise some money for Dave, featuring pin-ups and writer tributes from a shocking collection of talent: Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Alan Davis, Dave Sim, Jim Lee, Joe Quesada, Walt Simonson, John Cassaday, Darwyn Cooke, Stan Lee, Gene Colan, Will Eisner, and Harlan Ellison. To name a few. It still seems ridiculously overpriced at thirty bucks...right up until you realize how many of your favorite X-Men or Legion appearances sprang from Dave's fertile pen, or from artists who were inspired by him. For me, one of the very first comics that hooked me was a Cockrum-drawn UNCANNY X-MEN – issue #149, with the X-Men investigating underground catacombs, with Kitty in her rollergirl costume, with the return of the sun-god, Garokk, and sporting a final splash page of Magneto's return that probably sold me on comics forever. I bought that issue and I bought the tribute. Least I can do for Dave, and you should consider it too. Click here to order, here for a preview of some of the Cockrum-inspired pin-ups found within the tribute. - Cormorant
