| #34 | 1/05/05 | #3 |
Welcome to the biggest AICN Comics Column since that last big AICN Comics Column that was really big. ‘Member that one? Ambush Bug here bringing you all a Buzz Maverik Bonanza. The rest of the @$$holes scrambled to keep up with the guy this week, but there was no stopping him. Let’s check out what we have in this week’s pull.
(Click title to go directly to the review)
NEW AVENGERS #2
DEADSHOT #2
FLAMING CARROT COMICS #1
CAPTAIN AMERICA #2
SUPERMAN: STRENGTH #1
THE JOURNAL OF MODOK STUDIES V.1 #2
FANTASTIC FOUR: FOES #1
THE QUESTION #3
THE BLACK ENCHANTRESS #1
INCREDIBLE HULK #77
BREACH #1
CHEAP SHOTS!
THE NEW AVENGERS # 2
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by David Finch
Published by Marvel
Reviewed by The New Buzz
Bob Barker, Barbara Bush, Bob Balaban, Bebe Buell, Brian Benben, Bill Bellamy, Barbara Bain, Bucky Barnes, Bobby Brown, Buckaroo Banzai, Benjamin Bratt, Billy Boyd, Buzz Baxter, Barbi Benton, Billy Barty, Brian Bosworth, Betsy Bobbin, Brandy Brandt, Barry Bostwick, Barbara Babcock, Brian Bendis is not afraid, Barry Bonds, Barbara Bach, Beau Brummels, Bryan Brown, Brahm Bones, Benjamin Braddock, Ben Bradlee, Bridget Bardot, Bettye Buckley, Bonnie Bedeilia, Bob Brown, Barbara Billingsley, Blue Bullet, Ben Browder, Black Bolt, Bruce Boxleitner, Bilbo Baggins, Bobbie Brown, Bruce Banner.
A certain comic book reviewer, who won't be named, kept saying to me, "Buzz, why don't you ever review any Bendis comics? I review them all the time and I have to take a lot of crap from Bendis' legion of rabid fans."
So I told this certain comic book reviewer, who won't be named, "Alright, Ambush Bug, I'll review all the Bendis comics this coming month."
The truth is, I've avoided Brian Michael Bendis' Marvel work, even though I liked POWERS, FIRE, TORSO, JINX, FORTUNE & GLORY, SAM & TWITCH and TOTAL SELL OUT. I've heard tons of good things about ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, but I figured that since I haven't even read all of the pre-1980 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, I didn't need to start anything ULTIMATE. I was going to pick up DAREDEVIL once, but I saw all these splash pages of DD sort of drifting across roof tops and talking to Foggy and we all know that's not DAREDEVIL. And I was going to pick up the first ALIAS trade because ALIAS sounded so cool, but I ran across a page with a conversation that went like this:
"Are you Jessica Jones?"
"Yes."
"Is that your office?"
"Yes."
"Because I saw your name on the door."
"Well, I, um..."
"So I figured it was your office."
"I was just checking my mail."
"With your name being on the door."
"Um."
"Your..."
"Uh..."
"Office."
"Er…"
I ended up having to buy the trade because I tore it in half standing there in the store.
But I promised Ambush Bug that I'd review Bendis' stuff. I think he asked me because he knows that I don't care if any of you hate me.
THE NEW AVENGERS # 2 is a fairly hard rocking comic! With masterful, evocative art by David Finch, BMB gives us a mass prison break of super villains! Good thing a handful of superheroes are on hand to do what they can. I'm glad Luke Cage was included and I really dug Bendis' depiction of Power Man. Cage was always best as a tough, intelligent guy instead of some blaxploitation reject or Mr. T. clone, and Bendis gives us one of the better versions that I've seen. I like Cage's new look, with the shaved head under a longshoreman's cap, etc. Still dig the yellow shirt and chains, though.
Highlights include run-ins with Carnage, Mr. Hyde, and Hydro Man. It is also great that Daredevil is on hand and I really hope that he's included in the Avengers. I think this Avengers line up has a lot of potential, although I am not too thrilled about Spidey and Wolverine (absent this issue) being on the roster. Frankly, it looks like Bendis could keep us riveted with Cage, Captain America, Spider Woman, Sentry and Daredevil.
Okay, if you're about to check and see if you're on the Bendis Board instead of AICN Comics, here's what I didn't like: Spidey and Daredevil unmasked. In a whiney, irritating voice, you'll tell me it's realistic. But it's not. Superheroes aren't real, so they get to be fun. I want a guy in a devil suit beating up Mr. Hyde and protecting Foggy Nelson. And if a villain rips off the spider-mask, they get an eyeful of webbing while Pete makes a porous web mask with his free shooter.
Also, the crush of super villains was initially exciting but soon grew boring. I know that super villains are out of style, but they could be so interesting, so intriguing, so frightening (as Carnage was when he loomed over Foggy; btw, Foggy's plea to Sentry for help was excellent). But the heroes stress and vulnerability were wonderfully communicated.
What have we learned? That David Finch is great. That Brian Bendis can write action! That this good comic is no more intelligent or well done than the intelligent and well done comics of the '60s, 70s, 80s or 90s despite what the Bendis Cult has been saying all these years. That comic books can still be fun!
Based on NEW AVENGERS # 2, I'm looking forward to my assignment this month. Although, I'd be even more eager if Finch were drawing all the comics.
DEADSHOT #2
Writer: Christos N. Gage
Art: Steven Cummings and Jimmy Palmiotti
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
DEADSHOT reminds me of sitting on your @$$ on a Saturday afternoon and watching an old TBS or USA action movie on cable TV. It’s not up to caliber as your DIE HARD’s or you’re THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY’s or your LETHAL WEAPON 2’s. It’s more like LAST MAN STANDING, OUT FOR JUSTICE, or THE WARRIORS. It’s B-grade, but good B-grade. The B-grade you wouldn’t mind wasting your time with. The kind of entertainment that doesn’t make you wish you hadn’t spent money on it.
The thing that makes this series the equivalent of a decent action movie matinee is the fact that it has your typical action movie premise: Anti-hero finds something to believe in and does everything in his power to save the only thing worth a lick in his life. Typical premise. Done a ga-billion times over. But interesting none the less because this is Deadshot we’re talking about here.
You see, this isn’t one of those VENOM or ELEKTRA or SABERTOOTH or even CATWOMAN stories where the writer tries to humanize a villainous character. I hate it when writers choose to redeem characters which are best suited to serve as obstacles for our heroes. Deadshot is still the cold, calculated, and relentless killer that he has been portrayed as in the pages of BATMAN and SUICIDE SQUAD. If, all of a sudden, we see Deadshot cry in this series, I may take all of that back. But so far, the most heart-warming scene in this book is when Deadshot kneecaps a landlord for trying to poison a puppy.
I dig this mini simply for the fact that writer Christos N. Gage isn’t afraid to make Deadshot a vicious fucker. Deadshot finds out that he has a child with a woman he slept with long ago. The neighborhood they live in is pretty shitty and Deadshot’s ex is equally stubborn and refuses to move. So Deadshot does the next best thing and eliminates the threats to the neighborhood. Of course, this gets the attention of some pretty powerful gangsters and they resort to dirty tactics to hit Deadshot where it hurts. In this issue’s most deviously fun scene, Deadshot tracks down the head gangster-guy in a strip club and makes an example of him by seeing how many times he can shoot him before he will die. Now that’s some devious shit.
Only two issues in and this series gets more fun as we go along. Next issue promises an appearance from a certain Emerald Archer. I can’t wait to see these two marksmen face off. Like I said, this issue won’t burn off the shelves or change the way you read comics, but it will entertain.
FLAMING CARROT COMICS # 1
Written and illustrated by Bob Burden
Published by Image / Desperado
Reviewed by Flaming Buzz...well, not flaming...willing to learn...do they have special schools for that?
You have to love a series as seriously nuts as FLAMING CARROT COMICS. Much like Bill Griffith's beloved ZIPPY THE PINHEAD, Bob Burden's FLAMING CARROT COMICS gives us a fractured view of...well, pretty much everything, through the eyes of a dim and demented protagonist. In the Flaming Carrot's case, he's a superhero to boot.
The Carrot, not to be confused with CAPTAIN CARROT & THE ZOO CREW, has been around a while. I've never dabbled with the carrot, assuming that there'd always be time to read a comic about a guy with a carrot for a head or in a carrot mask. You know, it's like I'd like to read the black and white superhero spoof, but there’s other things....
If you're like me, the most you've heard about the Carrot was that he joined the Mystery Men, a superhero group that inspired the Ben Stiller movie you never got around to seeing.
The story in this issue is "The Flaming Carrot Goes PC" and opens with a splash page in which the Carrot is being bitched out by his date: "This is your idea of a first date? You ask me out to dinner and we're eating at your other girlfriend's house?" See, it's cool stuff!
The Carrot has killed a super villain and the foxy babe news reporter covering the story has decided to cozy up to the Carrot because, next to Bill O' Reilly, he's the one public figure most despised by the politically correct media, and she wants to get the story. The Carrot apparently wants to get the poonanny, so he tries to be politically correct and has to restrain himself from killing some pygmies who are stealing French bread to make a giant ear or belly button.
This comic has a message to live by. Be politically incorrect and you'll score with babes even though they hate politically incorrect guys. I call this better living through comics.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #2
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Steve Epting (Michael Lark on WW II sequences)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewed by Dave Farabee
Everybody seems to like “Ultimate” Captain America over in THE ULTIMATES, and I can see the appeal. Millar’s amped his power level and the soldier hook to the character, but it’s still not my Cap. He’s too much an order-taker, too much the soldier, and too ham-fistedly written to be a badass. On the other hand, the original Cap hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire for the last decade or so, has he? I like to think the greats can be dusted off by talented writers, though, and sure enough…
Ed Brubaker steps to the plate. He’s gonna make you give a crap about this book and this character, and he’s gonna do it the old-fashioned way: great storytelling. Save for the fact that Marvel threw Brubaker a first issue to kick things off, his approach reminds me of the way Geoff Johns revamped THE FLASH: not with fanfare and wild claims of bold new directions, but with an organic change of focus that puts the character before the ego of the writer.
That new focus? An emphasis on techno-thriller realism that doesn’t come at the expense of the classic Marvel Universe setting. The suspense kicked off last issue with the seeming assassination of arch-foe, The Red Skull, at the hands of a rogue Russian General itching to get his hands on that classic Marvel McGuffin: The Cosmic Cube. The Cube’s one of those Marvel U staples that’d be so easy to mishandle in a more realistic setting, so easy to have someone like Nick Fury grousing about with post-modern irony (“Who woulda thought such a ridiculous-soundin’ thing could be such a pain in the keister?”), but Ed plays it as serious as a heart attack. The Cube’s really the superhero world analog to getting the keys to the missile silos – ALL the missile silos – and the no-nonsense treatment gives it the credibility it should have.
Big fan of Cap’s skepticism towards the Red Skull’s death, too. Cap’s called in by super spy agency, S.H.I.E.L.D., to ID the body, but even when he sees the corpse, he’s not buying it. And, again, Brubaker’s not playing the moment for irony. Cap’s skepticism isn’t a meta-contextual observation that writers are always bringing the Skull back – rather, you get a sense that the Skull’s so damn cunning that the sumbitch just can’t be brought down by anything as conventional as a gunshot. He’s just that dangerous.
And Brubaker uses potentially silly Marvel back story stuff to smart effect in scene after scene. For instance, we’re reminded that the Red Skull was last known to be walking around in a body cloned from Cap – there’s the potential silliness – but SHIELD needing Cap to come in for a DNA match to confirm they’re looking at the Skull’s corpse…well that’s pretty cool! There’s also a flashback sequence to World War II featuring Cap’s Invader pals, the original Human Torch and Toro. Again with potential silliness, but when Cap calls ‘em “the cavalry” and we see ‘em blast the hell out of a Nazi machine gun nest, two guys made of fire suddenly seem like exactly the support you’d want on a battlefield.
All together, the wartime flashbacks, the S.H.I.E.L.D. forensic stuff, and Cap’s military professionalism combine to create a potent mix from the Tom Clancy school of suspense. In the wrong hands, it’s a build-up that could be prosaic, in the right, it’s a classic. We have talented military professionals doing their thing while we, the readers, just know dire forces have a countdown clock running in the background. In fact we see ‘em, specifically a criminal cell being run by the old Cap villain…well, his identity will keep, but he’s a former henchman-class bad guy who’s written and drawn to be so scary in this issue that I’m instantly upgrading him to A-lister. And this without anything so obvious as scenes of him offing innocents or whatnot. He’s smart, he’s a pants-crapper of a terrifying visual…and it’s plenty enough.
Hell, this book even has a white-knuckle action sequence! It’s staged in a grimy sewer rendered with feel-the-texture realism by Steve Epting. He’s the series’ ace in the hole (as if it needed it), the kind of guy who can draw sewers and ultramodern assault rifles and even S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers with total conviction. His underground action sequence is claustrophobic and taut, so when guns start blazing, you might be pretty sure Cap is gonna make it ‘cause he’s Cap, but S.H.I.E.L.D. partner Sharon Carter? Who can say? I just know I’m warming to her, so I hope she keeps that bulletproof vest strapped on tight. I like the tentative reforging of her friendship with Cap and she seems pretty handy with an M-16, ta boot.
Y’know what? This might just be my ideal Cap. The tone is superheroes-meets-espionage or even military adventure, operating on the periphery of the Marvel Universe, but certainly not embarrassed of it. The feel is edgy and dangerous, minus the gloominess that approach risks. Think classic Bond flicks, say DR. NO or GOLDFINGER.
Somewhat to my surprise, the series inaugurates its letters page with praise from none other than the bastion of classic super-heroing, Kurt Busiek. I’d have thought Brubaker’s edginess might not be Kurt’s cuppa, but Kurt goes on longer than this very review with praise and expectations of a classic run in the making.
Don’t trust me? Trust Kurt and put this book in your hands.
SUPERMAN : STRENGTH # 1
Written by Scott McCloud
Art by Aluir Amancio, Terry Austin, Scott McCloud
Published by DC
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
A certain type of comic book fan is always trying to "save comics,” recruit new readers, and especially get kids to read comics. I'm not one of that type, but they're generally good, well meaning people.
Superman is the character who could save comics, if getting kids to read comics is the goal. By kids, I'm not talking about tweens or teenagers. I'm talking about little kids. Grade schoolers, even pre-schoolers. Don't laugh. This was a valid audience for comics for decades. This is the audience that would dig Superman. Superman looks more human than about 99% of the superheroes that DC or Marvel have to offer, and is therefore more relatable. He looks like a regular guy. A regular guy with muscles who can do amazingly cool things.
DC and fans should simply forget about making Superman cool and modern and realistic. Take it seriously, but do good, exciting stories with eye-controlling artwork. That's all you need. I'm looking forward to writer Gail Simone and artist John Byrne taking their run on ACTION COMICS.
Have you read Scott McCloud's UNDERSTANDING COMICS? It is an amazing work, illustrated like a comic. It is entertaining, uplifting and informative. And it is the rare work that actually makes the comic fan look good.
It turns out that McCloud is as adept at writing comics as he is writing about them. STRENGTH # 1 is an excellent Superman adventure with a very fine twist. On one hand, we've got Pa Kent visiting Lois and Clark, relating stories of Clark's boyhood. On the other, we have Fido, a super villian whom I hope becomes the new Lex Luthor.
Fido is the kind of super villian I love. He's a charismatic genius, an ironic kind of guy, mostly opertating on the power of his personality. Ruthless and sarcastic, Fido is a master planner. He's also the son of Pitbull Pollock, who was part of a supervillian crew called The Junkyard Dogs. Pitbull claims he broke Superman's arm in a fight. Claims. But Fido believes him.
Fido and his gang are fun. They have a chatter and banter going. More OCEAN'S 11 than RESERVOIR DOGS, thank God. A little pop culture nonsense goes on but fortunately it is restrained. They are knocking over Lexcorp, retrieving some wormhole-creating gloves that Fido developed when employed by Luthor. They have prepared for Superman's arrival but things still get out of hand. Fido, however, is able to improvise.
SUPERMAN: STRENGTH # 1 also touches on Superman's origin. All I can say is that I think the reason that the origins of the great icons such as Superman and Batman come up in almost every story is that they are so perfect.
hould probably pull out McCloud's UNDERSTANDING COMICS and see what he says about breakdowns. McCloud must have done some art that inspired penciller Aluir Amanico and inker Terry Austin. The best compliment I can pay their artwork here is that it is timeless.
THE JOURNAL OF MODOK STUDIES Vol. 1 No. 2
Written by: George Tarleton (?)
Art by Ethan, Ben T. Steckler, Tim Flanagan, Sam Henderson et al.
Publisher: Second Period Industries
Reviewer: Sleazy G
I’m not sure what it is about MODOK, exactly, but he’s always had a bizarre appeal to some people. It may just be the crazy-assed design for the guy, I dunno. There’s no question, though, that the guys who wrote and drew this thing have a sincere love for the big homicidal freak. I first heard about this little pamphlet in an online rumor column a couple months back and figured I’d go check out Last Gasp’s website and order a copy for myself. Based on the title, I was hoping for a snarky, pseudointellectual mockery of AIM, MODOK and S.H.I.E.L.D. I was especially looking forward to in-depth psychological analysis of the creature that is the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. I figured a head 10 or 15 times bigger than normal with a tiny little body that had a flying La-Z-Boy chair and lived for wholesale slaughter would make for an intriguing case. Is he a cold-blooded, remorseless sociopath? Does he ever question his actions? Does he ever wonder what drives him or try to overcome his compulsion to kill and kill again? I imagine there’s a lot more tongue-in-cheek material to work up here.
Sadly, that’s not really the tactic taken in this thing. It’s still kind of amusing, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that it’s a kind of sophomoric, dunderheaded funny. That’s not always a bad thing, though, and once I got past my letdown due to my misguided expectations I still got a few chuckles out of it—and I learned a couple of things, too. For example, I had no idea that in the 90’s the Marvel Entertainment Group Shareholders’ Report was published internally in the form of a comic book. Turns out back in 1994 the “story” involved MODOK, The Mandarin, and lots of pie charts and graphs. How cool is that? Plus back around ’94 the Ultraverse (a minor competitor at best) had been bought out by Marvel, so the heroes from the U.V. swept in and helped save the day. Then, within a year or two, Marvel proved what bastards they could be when, in a plan worthy of MODOK himself, they shuttered the Ultraverse completely…ALMOST AS IF THEY’D BEEN PLANNING IT EVER SINCE THEY BOUGHT OUGHT THE ULTRAS. Talk about evil. (Seriously, though…it always seemed to me there were some decent characters there, so why not use ‘em once in a while like DC does with the Charlton characters? What’s the problem?).
I also found it hilarious to read the retelling of and editorializing on an interview CHUD.com did with Joe Quesada back in 2003. In the interview it turns out the Editor In Chief doesn’t actually know who MODOK is and confuses him with that lameass Mojo from NEW MUTANTS. It’s hard to argue with the editorial viewpoint that a guy who doesn’t know MODOK from Mojo just shouldn’t be making decisions about what is and isn’t okay in the Marvel Universe.
As for the less impressive, well…there are lots of pictures that are cute little sketches, but really, they’re on the level of what that one buddy of yours did in high school. Cutesy shit, maybe worth a smirk, but not much else. I was also more than a little confused by the first page being page 21—I guess maybe they continued the page numbering from Volume One Number One, but that seems a bit odd. It’s less a review than a book report/running commentary. It has its funny moments, but honestly, it’s mining the same vein of humor as Seanbaby does in his scathingly funny commentaries on Hostess ads and Superfriends, only Sean does it to far greater affect.
Overall, THE JOURNAL OF MODOK STUDIES is an entertaining of somewhat slight publication. Unbeknownst to me, though, it’s also already well over a year old, and paying six bucks shipping on a two-dollar book feels kinda stupid in retrospect. If you have the kind of comic book store near you that can better be described as selling “commix,” somewhere you can pick up zines and pamphlets and indie publications, and you happen to come across it—check it out. The two bucks isn’t gonna kill ya, and you might get a laugh out of it. If you’re gonna have to order it online, though, you might wanna reconsider.
FANTASTIC FOUR: FOES # 1
Written by Robert Kirkman
Art by Cliff Rathburn
Published by Marvel
Reviewed by Fantastic Buzz
This could almost be an example of how not to do a FANTASTIC FOUR comic.
Let's see, we have three pages about an ordinary guy having breakfast and going to work. Sure, he works in the Baxter Building which houses the headquarters of the superhero group the Fantastic Four, but other than that, it's just a guy having breakfast and going to work. Okay, Rathburn draws him a little bit like Ted Danson but have you ever seen an episode of BECKER?
Next, we get an interaction between the RAIN MAN version of Reed Richards and his wife Sue. Somewhere along the line, the intrepid version of Reed was lost and we were left with this space case. I could go into how our society now views men, especially good men bent on achievement but I'm too hung-over. And in there, we get a static page with consecutive panels where Reed and Sue are in the same positions only Reed has raised an eyebrow. The book’s only good scene involves breakfast with Sue, Ben and Johnny with the Thing setting up a practical joke on the Torch.
On to the Puppet Master and the Mad Thinker, always a welcome duo from the Lee/Kirby days, with a scheme to steal DNA from all of the FF's foes. It is a good wrinkle that Puppet Master now controls his victims through DNA instead of radioactive clay, but three quarters of the villains at their big meeting were not the types to ever show up in the first place. Maybe it's supposed to look ironic or silly with all these costumed baddies sitting in folding chairs, but I've seen stuff like this too often and it only shows a lack of understanding of these characters, some of whom are as classic as the heroes.
We soon see an out of character Sue elbowing women aside at a department store sale. After a vague gag where a cop was guarding the Fantasticar for Sue (we don't actually see the car, can't tell if she's turned it invisible or if the punch line is the Fantasticar at a parking meter), the FF is off to help the Thing beat Dragon Man. This being 2005, the defeat of Dragon Man and the Puppet Master already took place off panel. We're not too smart for fights, folks, we're too listless.
The final denouncement is delivered by Reed. It may be modern, it may be realistic, but damned, I'd rather have the WW II vet Reed who would have had the stones to keep that kind of information to himself and work in secret to rectify it.
THE QUESTION #3 of 6
Writer: Rick Veitch
Artist: Tommy Lee Edwards
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Sleazy G
I used to read THE QUESTION in its run back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and appreciated it for its bleak, existential take on things. Vic Sage was an investigative TV reporter by day, crimefighter by night. He didn’t have any superpowers, just a putty mask that hid his features and a trenchcoat. Vic pondered the big questions and tried to apply his philosophy to the stories he reported and the crimes he fought. He’d often come across criminal activity while investigating a story in his civilian identity and then bust heads to stop the crimes at night. There were questions about the self and the affects of one man living two very different lives that also needed to be considered. It was always a more introspective approach to superheroing, and Hub City (I believe a stand-in for my hometown) was a bleak backdrop for the series. It wasn’t full of superpowered freaks, though; Vic usually went after the kinds of criminals who impact us all every day. It was a simple, straightforward formula—reporter uncovers blue- and white-collar crime and takes matters into his own hands—that provided a framework to introduce lots of gray-area conflicts for the characters involved.
Which is why I’m so confused by the current miniseries. Those of you who are keeping track will remember that Rick Veitch was not the first writer on this mini. That honor went to Micah Wright, who was bounced from the title after the debacle over his having completely invented his background, misrepresenting himself to everybody he knew in the publishing world, and consequently finding himself drummed out of the industry. I mention this because it’s not the first miniseries I’ve read where an artist was hired and drew all of the art based on a story that was proposed, completed his work, and then had the writer and story changed completely and shoehorned into the art (see the wretched Marvel miniseries WITCHES from last year for another example). I reviewed an issue of that book at the time and expressed sympathy for any writer forced into such a situation—it can’t be an easy gig, that’s for sure. I have to give credit to Veitch for attempting to do this, since it’s a thankless task.
I’m also facing conflicting feelings about Veitch as a writer. I liked him on SWAMP THING waaaay back in the day, and felt that DC did him wrong when they spiked one of his stories, leading to a dust-up and his quitting. I also have enjoyed some of the work he’s done on the ABC line of titles. Then again, this is the same Rick Veitch who really stunk up the first year of the current AQUAMAN series, damaging the title and character rather seriously in the process. He decided to cram silly mystical and elemental concepts into a character that wasn’t really suited to it, and it led to some horrible end product. Unfortunately, some of that seems to be what’s going on in this miniseries too.
There are some interesting ideas, so credit where it’s due: The Subterraneans are a group of criminals who operate in Metropolis. They do a lot of work underground, routing a subway train of their own through the city’s infrastructure as well as tunnels they’ve dug themselves. They’ve also deduced that since Superman is kind of an old-fashioned square, he’d never look in private bathrooms or bedrooms for criminal activity, so they should be safe to deal drugs, guns and sex from there. It’s an entertaining concept, at least until you realize that Superman can actually go underground and that his superhearing would clue him in to criminal activity, even in the mens’ room. There’s also a bit of fun with the old-school Silver Age concept of a giant magnifying glass hovering above Metropolis, focusing the sun’s light and catching part of the city on fire.
There are also a lot of really iffy ideas here too, though. The most egregious by far is an unnecessary and ridiculous revamping of the character. Now, instead of just being a guy who did a little martial arts training and zen meditation, what we’ve got is a cross between Jack Hawksmoor from THE AUTHORITY and Rorschach from THE WATCHMEN. Apparently, when Vic Sage is in a city he can “see” its chi energy and communicate with the city itself, listening to it and experiencing its “feelings”. This supposedly helps him sniff out clues and pick up leads, but it’s an unexplained and pointless amping up of a character that was better off as a regular guy. Vic also now has clichéd and overwritten internal monologues that make him come off as a schizo. Anybody who’s done their homework knows that The Question is the Charlton character that inspired Rorschach, since that’s who Moore wanted to use but he was denied by DC. Still, that doesn’t mean that writing the original character as if he were a bad knockoff of his own analogue is a good idea.
There are other problems as well. A silly plot about ley lines and chi energy focusing in Metropolis being the reason Lex Luthor—a calculating, logical man—has torn down an entire neighborhood to build a giant spire reeks of hubris, Babel, and more of the pseudospiritual claptrap that brought AQUAMAN to its knees early on. There’s also a scene kicking off issue 3 that features The Question beating up a junkie in an alley for no reason. No information was garnered, no crime prevented, and yet Vic beats the guy up. It just feels wrong for the character. There’s too much time spent showing The Question as a schizophrenic incapable of functioning in normal society because he’s wandering around, sniffing piles of garbage in alleys and asking “the city” to tell him its secrets. The real Vic Sage would be using his connections and resources as a reporter to find out as much as possible. This issue does present us with some good old-fashioned head-cracking by The Question that felt a little more up his alley, but so far it doesn’t really balance out all the time spent in a stylized yellow-and-black urban landscape waiting for the city to tell our protagonist all its secrets. Go find the secrets out yourself, man—you’re an investigative reporter, fer cryin’ out loud.
So far the miniseries has had some interesting moments, and since I’m already halfway there I’ll probably ride it out and see how the mini wraps up. All things considered, though, as somebody with a more-than-passing familiarity with the character I can’t help but feel it’d be much better to just forget this whole thing for a couple of years and then revert the character to his old self with no explanation given. I know revamping a character isn’t easy, but this take isn’t particularly new or fresh. It doesn’t add anything to the character, and actually diminishes some of its strengths. It was a good try, but not a good enough one for me to really feel comfortable recommending it to anybody unless they’re such a fan of Superman that they have to get their hands on everything and anything Metropolis-related.
THE BLACK ENCHANTRESS # 1
Written by Wilson Hill
Art by J. Adam Walters
Created by Dennis Mallonee
Published by Heroic
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
Wow!
It's always a blast to get a hold of a comic that takes you out of every day life. It's an even bigger blast to find a comic that takes you out of every day comics.
Reading THE BLACK ENCHANTRESS # 1, I'm reminded of EC comics and Marvel's '70s horror wave with a little Anne Rice and Poppy Z. Brite thrown in. Best of all, the book gives you a sense of otherness. Maybe it's the New Orleans and Bayou settings. Maybe it's the attitude. Maybe it's that I've lost count of the number of beers I've drank about an hour ago.
Andrea Avery-Crusoe is the child of an other-dimensional female being and Dr. Arcane, who is apparently a mystic superhero. Andrea tells us that she is a villain, bent on world domination, but she protects Earth from mystical menaces anyway.
The book is broken up into a trio of shorts. In the first, a ten year old Andrea is pursued through the swamps by a posse of men who blame her for all their misfortunes. In the next, Andrea drops the third wall and introduces a tale about a man who seeks her out to save his daughter from a villain/being called the Monocle. The Monocle is a cool name, reminding one of both the Penguin and the spoof Penguin, Supreme's enemy Jackadandy. We don't actually meet the Monocle this issue, who so the hell knows?
The Black Enchantress is also an addition to my list of female comic book characters who have silver hair that no real woman under the age of 1,000,000 has. The list includes Storm, Silver Sable, Silver St. Cloud, Abby Arcane, etc.
INCREDIBLE HULK #77
Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Lee Weeks
Inks: Tom Palmer
Publisher: Marvel
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
You have no idea how long I have waited to say this…THE INCREDIBLE HULK IS WORTHY OF THE TITLE INCREDIBLE AGAIN!!!
Okay, I admit, that may be a bit overzealous. I guess I am just excited that my monthly prescription of sleeping pills (AKA Bruce Jones’ writing on HULK) has finally expired. The news of a retarded lemur with no thumbs (do lemurs have thumbs?) who only speaks Swahili taking over as writer for my once favorite comic book would have been good news over the nightmare inducing thought that Jones would be continuing to torture us all with his ongoing snooze-fest which hatched such hair-brained ideas as a face-lifted, Black Widow-ed-out Betty Ross falling in love with an eye patch wearing, suddenly uber-spy-qualified Doc Samson, the most un-absorbing Absorbing Man arc I have ever laid my eyes upon, and no memorable appearance of the Hulk to speak of. Jones chose to layer one conspiracy falsehood over another until the entire thing toppled over in an especially unappealing heap of poopin’ crap. Anyone brave enough to take over this title after such a god-awful run would immediately be promoted to god-hood in my eyes.
Luckily, the guy taking over this series is the very guy that got me addicted to ol’ Greenskin in the first place. That’s right, folks. With this issue, Peter David returns to the title which made him the much-lauded writer he is today. After an extremely mediocre few years since his departure from HULK, David has come back in full force this year to comics Big Two with FALLEN ANGEL and MADROX. In these two titles, David shows us that his particular blend of humor, mood, psychology, and action still has a place in today’s self-aware and self-loathing comics industry. I did one of those jump-in-the-air-and-kick-your-heels-and-then-land-back-on-your-feet-again moves when I heard David would be returning to this title. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one and see what the Hulk I grew up knowing and loving was doing all of this time while Bruce Jones was mishandling the title.
So was the book everything I expected and more?
Well, it was better than Jones’ run. That’s for sure.
You see, I grouse a lot about slow pacing in my reviews. I’m the kind of guy who buys single issues because…well…Marvel sells single issues. When I pick up an issue, I want to feel as if I am getting my money’s worth. I’m all for multi-part storylines and tales that take more than an issue to tell, but I simply don’t want to buy something and feel as if I’ve been ripped off; that I spent money on something that promises me something and doesn’t deliver. And that’s kind of how I felt here.
Basically, in this issue, the Hulk is walking across the bottom of the sea and having a few flashbacks from Bruce Banner’s youth. Sure there’s a fight scene with a monster. A shark gets ripped in half. You find out that the Hulk has the ability to adapt his lungs so that he can breathe underwater. But basically, this issue is a preamble to what promises to be an interesting story. I hate to sound like an old fogey at the spry young age of 32, but boy, do I long for the time when the events in this single issue would have taken place in the first three pages of your usual comic book. I know David has it in him. I’ve read all of his Hulk stories in the past. I’ve seen him do it before.
I’m not going to say that nothing happened in this issue. Stuff happened. It really did. Monsters and characters were introduced. Tidbits of the past were hinted at. But none of the things that happened in this issue stand out as anything exactly spectacular or inspired and I finished it with the same feeling I felt at twelve when I realized that the big package under the Christmas tree that I was waiting to open housed a boring, but needed, bed and desk set and not the gigantic uber-toy I had hoped and dreamed it was.
Then again, given the pap disguised as THE INCREDIBLE HULK we’ve been subjected to over the last few years, this is a major improvement. So this series may not be the perfect story, but it’s a whole lot more interesting than what we’ve seen lately. The simple fact that the story will be taking place on Monster Island is worth sticking around for more issues. THE HULK may not be INCREDIBLE yet, but it’s headed in the right direction. I have faith in Peter David for that. I just wish more things would have happened in this issue to give me more confidence in that faith.
BREACH # 1
Written by Bob Harras
Art by Marcos Martin
Published by DC
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
Hell yeah!
It's about time somebody actually CREATED a character for one of the Big Dos again! More importantly though, BREACH by writer Bob Harras and artist Marcos Martin is an excellent, intelligent character. Excellent and intelligent are adjectives that fit the comic as well.
BREACH # 1 goes back and forth through time over the last 22 or so years of US history. We know Major Tim Zanetti, US Army, is doomed because he has a beautiful, kind, smart wife named Helen and a sweet 5 year old son named Tate. Zanetti is working on a military experiment to open the doorway to another dimension.
In comic books, military experiments never go terribly, terribly wrong. Do they? Let's all say, "Incredible Hulk and Dr. Manhattan" just to name a few. Goodbye Zanetti, hello Breach. Let's thank Mr. Martin for the simple, elegant, interesting visual creation of Breach while we're here.
Captain America-like, Breach comes out of his coma about 22 years after his transformation. He's a good man done wrong. Who did him wrong? Did you ever watch I DREAM OF JEANNIE? I never trusted that Major Roger Healey. I particularly like that the conspiracy theories here aren't too conspiracy-theory-ish. Again, you feel like Harras is actually creating something instead of just visiting websites.
A little Hamlet, a little Hulk, a little SPIES LIKE US. Some of the old, some of the new. That's how you make a good comic book!
FIRESTORM #9 - This is a fun little series. Sadly, it’s the type of series that often gets overshadowed by bigger projects and never makes it past issue twelve. This tale of a young African American guy who happens upon the powers of Firestorm the Nuclear Man is actually a nice little mystery revolving around the death of Ronnie Raymond, the original Firestorm. It’s one of those series that speaks to those die hard fans of DC who have been around for ages with references to the FIRESTORM series of old and other obscure corners of the DCU. Things have been slow with this series for the last few issues, but this issue marks a definite jump in intensity as the newly reborn Killer Frost wreaks havoc for our flame-headed hero. Frost is particularly nasty in this issue and the twist at the end is a doozy. I’m recommending this issue simply for its old school mentality of telling solid stories taking full advantage of a fantastic universe. - Bug
ULTIMATE X-MEN #54 - This is a perfectly solid issue from Brian Vaughan and Stuart Immonen. Introduces wonkier creations Longshot and Mojo to the Ultimate Universe. But it’s also one of those issues that makes a longtime X-Men fan like me wonder what he’s doing following the series. Is my love for the franchise so great I need to see the other-dimensional Mojo reinvented as a fat albino dude hosting RUNNING MAN style events with mutants on the web? It’s kind of interesting as a “how they could scale back the X-Men for movies” exercise, but it just feels a little desperate to be reading that kind of stuff when you’ve read the original work. And I don’t even like the original Mojo. - Dave
TOMB OF DRACULA #4 - I know I gave this book some shit when I reviewed its first issue, but I stuck with this miniseries and I’m kind of glad I did. Throughout, there were some interesting twists and turns and quite a few well-written action sequences. One memorable sequence occurs in issue three when Blade jumps out of a flying airplane without a parachute. When one of the other Nightstalkers asks him if he can fly, Blade responds, “Don’t know. Never tried.” That’s some cool shit. This final issue of the series ends on a somber note, but a fitting one for the tone of the Blade character. This is the best Blade comic book story to come along in years, which isn’t saying much because the other series attempting to feature the character were guano. This mini doesn’t hold a candelabra to the old Wolfman/Colan TOMB OF DRACULA series, but I have to admit that it was better than the third BLADE movie. - Bug
