| #31 | 12/21/05 | #4 |
(Click title to go directly to the review)
ESSENTIAL GHOST RIDER VOL 1
TESTAMENT #1
SPIDER-WOMAN: ORIGIN #1
Big Eyes for the Cape Guy presents BECK: MONGOLIAN CHOP SHOP Vols. 1-2
Big Eyes for the Cape Guy presents UNEARTHLY: BOOK ONE
Indie Jones presents…
CHEAP SHOTS!
ESSENTIAL GHOST RIDER VOL. 1
Written by Gary Friedrich, Tony Isabella, Marv Wolfman, Steve Gerber, Bill Mantlo, Doug Moench, Roy Thomas
Art by Mike Ploog, Frank Robbins, Tom Sutton, Jim Mooney, Herb Trimpe, George Tuska, Sal Buscema, John Byrne
Published by Marvel
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
Dear Buzz,
I'm a 15 year old comic book geek and my life is fucked up. How can I straighten myself up?
Yer fan,
Plenty Fucked Up
I'm glad to help, F.U. The most troubling thing I've noticed about young people today is that they don't take enough interest in Satan. Perhaps you could start by playing that stupid slumber party game "Bloody Mary". I've heard that she's Satan's wife, which I don't personally believe. I mean, why the hell would Satan get married? I see him as more of a swinging bachelor type, with the condemned soul of a different chick every hour on the hour. No way is he gonna settle down. Unless it's a tax thing or a way to get out of paying child support. Actually, forget the "Bloody Mary" game. You invoke this hag with blood coming out of her eyeballs and a bloody knife. Who the hell wants to do that? It'd be different if you were conjuring up a hot chick, which proves she's not Satan's wife because no way would he hook up with a dog.
Does this straighten things out for you?
Buzz
Ghost Rider. The only way Ghost Rider, a motorcycle daredevil with Satanic powers, could be more 1970s is if he knew kung fu and had an afro when he reverted to human form. Hell, he even battles some great white sharks here in ESSENTIAL GHOST RIDER VOL. 1.
You may remember the character of the Ghost Rider from his late '80s, early '90s revival. Ghost Rider was a pretty big hit, along with Punisher and Wolverine. The idea of GR as the Spirit O' Vengeance was introduced during this time, which was an interesting concept and an improvement to the character. Up until then, most Marvel characters didn't have any sort of mission. No matter who they were or what their powers were, they sort of wandered around the streets of New York waiting for some super villain to try to kill them.
Of course, I blame '90s Ghost Rider for every comic now having to have a direction. Directions aren't so bad in and of themselves. But when a comic book direction sucks, you can't change it because it's the damned direction and you can't alter the direction or...uh, about 80 billion geeks who want to write comics will take your job.
But we're talking That 70's Ghost Rider here. Powerful art by offbeat pencilers like Mike Ploog and Tom Sutton. Some of the biggest lettering you're going to see. Tales of suspense and horror by writers like Gary Friedrich and Tony Isabella. Here's hoping that Friedrich and Ploog get the big check from the upcoming GHOST RIDER movie that they probably won't. (GHOST RIDER movie? Isn't Nicolas Cage about 20 years too old to play Johnny Blaze? He's my exact age, for Chrissake! And I think it's nice that they're giving the director, John Mark Stevenson, another chance after his DAREDEVIL movie sucked).
Okay, Johnny Blaze is a gearhead who is into the occult. Why do those two elements not jive? Wouldn't it have made more sense for him to be a heavy metal guitarist? Of course, GHOST THRASHER would have been a pretty boring comic, but I'll bet he would have sold a lot of albums, the kind with fantasy style artwork when you open the sleeves, perfect for joint rolling.
For me, one of the standout stories here is Ghost Rider's battle with the uncanny Orb, a cyclist with hypnotic power who wears a helmet that looks like a single huge eyeball. This happened during Johnny's stint as a stunt man in Hollywood, where he worked on a Karen Page pre-porn picture (Karen doing the reverse Traci Lords thing). Another great story from that era, written by Tony Isabella with art by Frank Robbins, involves Johnny's stunt gal pal, Katy, who becomes possessed by demons. The Son of Satan is called in to perform the exorcism. Earlier, we're treated to the Son of Satan's origin by Mr. Friedrich with standout art by Herb Trimpe.
I love the trendiness of comic books. These stories came out following the big box office success of THE EXORCIST and THE OMEN. Stan Lee, sensing that Satan would do well in the funny book industry, told Roy Thomas to give him his own comic. Roy persuaded Stan to go with such characters as Satan's Son and The Ghost Rider. Ever ahead of his time, I guess Stan was predicting Vertigo's LUCIFER.
Recommended soundtrack for reading ESSENTIAL GHOST RIDER VOL. 1: Ozzy Osbourne's BLIZZARD O' OZ if you're not a purist and could give a crap (since BLIZ came out in 1980). But if you're a tightass and prefer music of the comic's era and just preceding it, both SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL and PAINT IT BLACK by the Rolling Stones, as well as the entirety of their GOAT'S HEAD SOUP album.
TESTAMENT #1
Writer: Douglas Rushkoff
Artist: Liam Sharp
Publisher: Vertigo/DC Comics
Reviewer: Sleazy G
Douglas Rushkoff isn’t necessarily known for his fiction writing. He’s only written one or two novels as well as a graphic novel, CLUB ZERO-G, which began as a serialization in the magazine BPM. What he’s best known for, though, is his work as a media theorist, as seen in the pages of around 10 novels and essay collections as well as columns in the New York Times and commentaries on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” In the words of his own bio, his field of interest “focuses on the ways people, cultures, and institutions create, share, and influence each other's values.” He’s best known for his commentary on media--especially newer forms of media and their rapid mutation--but that’s not the only topic he’s explored, as he’s also done a lot of writing on marketing and religion.
So why do I bother bringing all this stuff up? It’s not to try and impress anybody with the guy’s pedigree—no matter how smart or well-educated somebody is, it doesn’t mean they’re cut out for pop culture. It’s because this kind of information is crucial to the understanding of his new Vertigo series TESTAMENT. This is a series where you’re bound to encounter a lot of that sub/meta/hyper-textual stuff taking place right along with the, y’know, uhh…textual stuff. Yeah. What I’m getting at is that the story being told in the book is only a part of the overall work. It’s meant to be a commentary on society, politics and religion, but it’s also meant to serve as a catalyst, spurring the readers to think about their surroundings enough that they may alter their behavior, thereby effecting change on society, politics and blahblahblahblah…
Whatever. Is it any good?
Yep.
The issue begins with a retelling of the start of the story of Abraham and Isaac. You know the one—the old “god tells Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac to him, and genius that Abraham is, he’s about to do it until god calls it off” story. We then jump well into the future, where we’re introduced to Alan, a scientist and father in the relatively near future (say within 20 years of now, not some neo-futuristic metropolis) who is faced with a similar choice: whether to have his son Jake implanted with an RFID chip he helped design for the government. You know, like the ones we already use to track missing pets? The ones that some people have already suggested should be implanted in our kids? Well, Alan and Jake are both smart enough to know it’s bad news when the U.S. government has the ability to track all of its citizens domestically by satellite. Jake is stuck trying to decide whether to rip out his implant behind their backs after it’s inserted or not, and Alan has to decide whether to go against his instincts and implant his son because his job requires it of him.
The rest of the issue pops back and forth so we can see the parallels between Abraham and Isaac’s story and Alan and Jake’s. It’s not a direct retelling, though. In fact, the Abraham and Isaac story we see isn’t even an exact duplicate of the one in the bible. Scholars have been confused for centuries as to why Yahweh would tell Abraham to do such a thing to begin with, a question Rushkoff sidesteps by throwing in a new wrinkle: he suggests that Abraham was actually instructed by Moloch (known to be a right bastard of a god, huge fan of war, death, slaughter--the biggies) working in collusion with Astarte (goddess of both fertility/love and war—pretty sure I dated her at one point). He then has Yahweh step in at the last minute, saving Abraham and cheesing off Moloch sumthin’ fierce. Meanwhile, in Alan and Jake’s time…well, there’s no direct analog for these gods. Alan and Jake seem to make the decision to blow off the RFID chip on their own, without the intervention of anyone else. There are some possibilities I can see, but it’s not laid out for us yet. All part of the bigger story that will gradually unfold, I’m sure.
We’re also introduced to a small band of teenagers and young adults who’ve decided they need to start fighting against an increasingly oppressive society. Naturally, they do it the way only naïve young kids would: through the use of secret hideouts, graffiti, hallucinogenic drugs and hacking. They’re your usual “Fight The System!” kinda kids, a multicultural posse ready to stick it to The Man. They’re not sure what they’re fighting against yet, much less what they’re fighting for, and they don’t know what weapons they’re going to use yet, either. I mean, unless a Jacuzzi with a metal lid that allows you to go all “Altered States” with a girl just shy of being legal counts (which it sure as hell does in my book). Jake is already keyed in to what these guys are up to, and if traditional storytelling holds up, he’ll initially serve as our proxy, allowing us to learn more as he does, and eventually become the lynchpin to whatever plan the nascent rebellion develops.
If there’s any one aspect of the book I’m worried about, it’s this last one. It’s very familiar ground, but it’s also very treacherous. Portray the whole “young activists against an oppressive society” thing too idealistically and you come off looking like a burned-out hippie who’s totally removed from reality. Portray it too realistically and you end up looking like a conservative lackey grinding the hopes of a new generation under your jackbooted heel. Rushkoff’s intimate knowledge of marketing to the youth culture adds an interesting wrinkle here: whichever route he takes, his background leaves you wondering not just whether you’re taking away what he intended, but what his intentions were, and how much he intends to manipulate reader’s perspective. Of course, that’ll all be pretty much irrelevant if it’s not done well, and only time will tell on that front.
Clearly, the first issue managed to accomplish at least some what Rushkoff intended—it got me thinking about what he was doing, which certainly affected my opinions on the book. Don’t get the wrong idea, though, from some of what I’ve said: this is by no means a dull, dry read. We’re introduced to an engaging cast of characters, we get to see some trippy-assed visions of the past/future/now, and we get some old-school warring gods for good measure. It cruises along just like any comic book should, juggling multiple storylines. Whether they run in parallel or if Rushkoff means to suggest they’re happening simultaneously is not yet clear, but that’s okay, and it also points towards the only real points of comparison in comics today. If there’s anyone’s work this feels similar to, it would be Alan Moore in PROMETHEA mode or Grant Morrison doing his INVISIBLES thing. Rushkoff clearly wants to play with some of the same tools as Moore and Morrison before him, but he’s doing it from his own distinct perspective. Much like those two works, though, there’s no question there’s an element here of the author testing his theories and beliefs by working them into a continually involving document. It’s going to be intriguing to watch this series unfold and see how well Rushkoff manages to marry the traditional themes of comic book storytelling with the concepts he’s presenting. He’s definitely off to a solid start. If you’re somebody who digs the whacked-out Morrison stuff, or angry gods with bull heads, or ayahuasca-fueled vision quests, or teen rebellion, or any of the other stuff I talked about here, this one is well worth taking the time to check out.
SPIDER-WOMAN: ORIGIN #1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis & Brian Reed
Artists: Jonathan and Joshua Luna
Publisher: Marvel
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
I guess this isn’t a case of false advertising, since…well…this book has a lot of spiders and a few women and Jessica Drew eventually shows up. But I wouldn’t necessarily call this a Spider-Woman comic. The problem with these types of origin stories is that because the origin often ends with the hero putting on the costume for the first time, you don’t really get to see what makes the character popular until it’s all over. That’s not to say that the costume is the only thing that makes things interesting, but when you have a character with so much dynamism and mystery as Spider-Woman, you’d think the modern day version of the character would show up somewhere other than the cover.
But origins are tricky things. For the most part, they’re all the same. Some event or series of events occur which makes the character the person he or she is today. Some freak accident or startling coincidence happens and forever changes the hero’s life. Usually it’s tragic. Usually it’s cinematic. Usually a hero rises above adversity. I’m sure there are still some good origin stories out there just waiting to be pulled from the creative ether and put into print, but SPIDER-WOMAN: ORIGIN isn’t really one of them. I’m not familiar with the origin of Jessica Drew AKA Spider-Woman, so I don’t know if Brian Michael Bendis and Brian Reed are reimagining the story or if they are sticking to Marvel tome. One fan website says that Spider-Woman received her powers after drinking a special serum made from spider blood along with being exposed to radiation at Wundagore. This is what happens here in this issue too, but I’m sure, being the trailblazers that modern writers are today, details have been changed to make this their own unique Spider-Woman origin. Instead of coming up with an original way for Spider-Woman to receive her powers, she is the victim of a freak science experiment gone wrong. The writers try to make this interesting by peppering in modern day threats such as Hydra and Dr. Miles Warren (AKA the Jackal) to add future conflict potential and depth, but these added details left me with a feeling of utter contrivance.
Accuracy to previous origins aside, this story chugged along and was surprisingly dense. By the end of this issue, a blonde pre-teen Jessica Drew is orphaned and facing a squadron of Hydra. This isn’t one of those Marvel “nothin’ really happened” issues. Stuff happened. There was definitely some drama going on. The tension between Jessica’s parents was pretty well developed. But after reading this entire issue, it all felt so…bland.
You see, I think it all leads back to my original statement. Jessica Drew is there. She’s developing freaky powers. There are spiders all over the place, but no Spider-Woman to speak of. I don’t want to get too far into the realm of saying what I wanted from this book compared to what I got, but a framing device featuring a fully matured and fully empowered Spider-Woman which somehow tied into this origin story would have been the hook that would have made me actually give a crap. Spider-Woman has been out of the spotlight for quite a long time. There are a lot of new readers out there who have no idea who she is. And you certainly aren’t getting much Spider-Woman action in Bendis’ DOWNTIME WITH THE NON-AVENGERS monthly. This could have been a book that not only educated us as to who Spider-Woman was and how she came to be, but it could have showed us why the present day Spider-Woman is someone worthy of such a miniseries. In that sense, this issue comes up lacking. Jessica is very much a non-character in this issue due to the fact that half the story takes place before she is even born, and the other half is told from the perspective of her obsessed father. When the star of the origin story isn’t even given a voice in the first issue, there’s definitely a problem.
The art provided by the Luna Brothers didn’t help things. The art is particularly flat and lacks detail where detail is needed. I can appreciate minimalist art, but most of the characters lacked definition and just looked like lumps of color. There were a few well paced sequences involving the development of Jessica’s powers (especially the one where she sticks to the window and faints). But for the most part, the art added nothing to this uneventful story.
I understand that this is the first issue of this series and that Bendis has probably gone into his standard, slow build, decompressed storytelling mode here, but this book doesn’t have the things going for it that other Bendis books have. Spider-Woman isn’t a hugely recognizable character with a set fanbase like the Avengers and Daredevil. If you don’t nab the reader with the first issue, many won’t be back for subsequent issues. And this issue didn’t nab me. There are those who will buy this book simply because it has the name Bendis on the cover and Joey Q and Wizard told them it was cool, but more and more, I see readers not buying into this mentality. It seems a smarter, more finicky reader has emerged recently and the comics which rely on the reader to drudge through three issues before even the hint of payoff have become more of an industry joke. After reading this issue in which Spider-Woman doesn’t even have a voice in the first issue of her own origin, it’s apparent that Marvel hasn’t got the joke yet.
BECK: MONGOLIAN CHOP SHOP Vols. 1-2
Creator: Harold Sakuishi
Publisher: Tokyopop
Reviewer: Dan G.
I liked this manga. I liked it a lot. The End.
Fine, I'll actually review it. But I'm doing so under duress.
The story goes like this: Fourteen-year-old Yukio Tanaka is kind of boring, with a taste for crappy pop music and a pervert for a friend. He meets up with and hangs around a guy with a dog stitched up like Frankenstein's monster, reunites with a girl he used to know who has developed into a hottie, starts dealing with interesting people and growing a personality, learns to play the guitar and swim from a porn-loving forty-year-old ex-Olympic swimmer disciplinarian, plans to join a band that plays decent music, and the story has obviously just started. This manga is fun as hell.
The art isn't super-realistic, though it does well enough, and it lacks backgrounds in a lot of places, but that certainly doesn't make it bad - just typical of manga art. Sakuishi's character design is spectacular, though. The dog Beck is a visual treat, and Saito-san is awesome in his ridiculousness. An appearance by either of those two characters never failed to put a smile on my face. (Picture a super-muscular Japanese man with a round head and goggles wearing a speedo screaming “Peckerwood!” at people, and you have Saito-san. Incredible.)
The translation on this book was great, too. Colloquialisms came across perfectly, discussion felt right even when speakers switched between English and Japanese, and not once did I feel left behind culturally on some joke or other - a good job on a book that's trying to make hip and rockin' feel natural.
Okay, maybe I had more to say than I thought. So sue me.
UNEARTHLY: BOOK ONE
Written by: Ted Naifeh
Illustrated by: Elmer Damaso
Published by: Seven Seas Manga
Reviewer: superhero
So at what point did I become a teenaged girl?
I mean first there’s the Marvel comics MARY JANE digests that I absolutely LOVED and now there’s this book.
What the hell is wrong with me?
As a serious fan of manga I’ve never been one for Shoujo manga. Meaning manga that’s specifically targeted towards females, particularly teenage girls. It’s not that I don’t think they’re any good it’s just that I’m obviously not the target audience for those types of books. I’m sure they’re interesting to some (heck, the aisles of the local Borders are testament to that) but it’s obviously not made for me and it’s been evident from my first exposure to it. Everything from the types of stories told to the actual artwork leaves me cold. It’s not that the art isn’t absolutely gorgeous (it usually is) it’s that Shoujo manga tends to employ a style that’s a bit too “flowery” to keep me interested. But, as I said, it’s not a style that’s aimed toward me so maybe I just don’t get it. Either way, Shoujo isn’t my cup of tea.
The other type of comic that I’ve definitely never warmed up to is Amerimanga. To tell the truth I actually hate it. Almost every attempt at Americans trying to ape the techniques of Japanese comic artists drives me crazy. Everything from the MARVEL MANGAVERSE to the stuff that ANTARTIC PRESS tries to hash out as actual manga just drives me up a wall. Oftentimes the line work isn’t as subtle or elegant as the actual Japanese artists manage to produce so in comparison a lot of the Amerimanga art tends to look stiff and slightly clumsy. Not only that but Amerimanga’s writers never seem to get past cheap action or just out and out crude humor. Why would I, as a fan of manga, want to buy the cheap knockoff product that Amerimanga tends to be?
Well, UNEARTHLY provided me an answer to that question.
As far as I’m concerned UNEARTHLY is a minor miracle in the American comic book field.
To tell the truth I don’t know what it was that made me actually pick up this book. Well, actually I do know. It was the art. Truth to tell, I didn’t even know this book was an Amerimanga until I took a closer look at the cover and saw that the writer was the creator of COURTNEY CRUMRIN. The art in UNEARTHLY is absolutely terrific as far as a manga type style is concerned. The linework is delicate and energetic and the storytelling is fantastic (which is something even authentic manga can sometimes lack). While it’d be easy to say that artist Elmer Damaso is just imitating a style that’s so prevalent in actual manga that just wouldn’t be the honest truth. There’s something to Damaso’s style that, while emulating another culture’s technique, is uniquely his own. He’s got something that even some seasoned manga artists don’t have. I can’t quite put my finger on it but his artistry seems to be unique and yet familiar at the same time. Everything from the character design to the pacing seems like it’s been done before but hasn’t at the same time. It’s the same but different and I actually think it’s the best art I’ve ever seen in an Amerimanga book. Mr. Damaso’s style goes a long way to bringing UNEARTHLY its charm and heart and SEVEN SEAS MANGA may have just found a major talent in him.
As far as the actual story goes…well, Ted Naifeh seem to have brought the same quality to the writing that Damaso brings to the artwork. The story isn’t totally original but there are enough differences in the characters that keep it from being a stereotypical “Girl has a crush on a boy” story. Obviously the extraterrestrial element in the book makes it different but it’s the actual human characters in the book that take it further than most writers would have.
Basically, the story starts off rather simply. Shy, nerdlike girl falls for cute boy after he seems to exhibit a bit more depth than one would attribute to him. Of course, as in most popular romantic drama, there’s another, more popular, girl that has her eye on the object of nerd girl’s affections. It seems pretty typical on the surface but as the characters develop we get to see that they’re not the cardboard cutout teenagers you see in a lot of popular fiction these days. For instance, the nerdy female protagonist isn’t exactly the wallflower that many writers would make her out to be. Not only that but the most popular girl in school isn’t exactly your typical “Heathers” high school vixen, either. She’s captain of the volleyball team and comes across as a hardcore jock. Heck, even the bully at the school is slightly different than presented in other books. He’s more of an actual wimp than anything else. That’s what’s so great about Naifeh’s characters. They’re multi-faceted and that’s what takes UNEARTHLY into a place that’s actually different than a lot of the books out there. Sure, there’s the plotline where the boy that both of them are smitten with is kidnapped and replaced by an alien king trying to escape his destiny but it’s the actual characters that make this book something special, make no mistake about it.
In the end UNEARTHLY is such a good book that it actually surpasses the type of comics that it’s trying to be like. Hell, it’s one of the better lighthearted stories out there and it just brought a continual smile to my face. As a matter of fact I can’t wait for the second book to come out so I can pick it up. I enjoyed this book that much.
Before I sign off I’d actually like to say something about SEVEN SEAS MANGA. As far as I’m concerned bravo to SEVEN SEAS for bringing us original comic work in digest format that was wholly produced in the good ol’ U.S. of A. That’s right. UNEARTHLY is all new material. Not only was that but the book, according to the credits page, “Manufactured in the United States of America”. Yep, it wasn’t originally brought over from Japan or Korea and printed in Canada. It’s all new content made and printed in the United States. Thanks to SEVEN SEAS for bringing us a book that’s made in America even if it’s inspired by another culture. It’d be great to see more companies follow this business model but I’m sure that’s just a pipe dream.
Hell, if original content in digest sized books printed in the U.S. could be the future of American comics then I’d be a happy camper. As it is, kudos to SEVEN SEAS for showing us that someone can do it and do it well.
10 One Shot
BOOM! Studios
Much like the 2001 film SERIES 7: THE CONTENDERS, in which real life people are randomly selected and given a mission to hunt and kill other contestants in a reality TV series, the BOOM! one shot 10 packs a barrel-full of intensity. This one shot centers on one of 10 contestants given a gun with 10 bullets and told to hunt 9 other contestants by an anonymous caller. The caller is never revealed in this issue which only adds to the mystery. The characters have to first deal with the fact that they are part of a twisted game, then adapt to this reality in order to survive. Writer Keith Giffen reels back the usual giggles and goes for the jugular in this well-paced read. As the contestants fall, all civility is stripped away and they are forced to make threats, compromise morals, and kill those they know and don’t know in order to live. This is an extremely powerful and thought-provoking tale of the frailty of humanity in the face of danger. The art by Andy Kuhn is reminiscent of Frank Miller and Phil Hester and compliments the fast paced book nicely. Highly recommended. - Ambush Bug
TED NOODLEMAN - BICYCLE DELIVERY BOY: THE COMPLETE RIDE
Alias Enterprises
If you’ve ever been to a comic book convention, you’ve probably met someone like Ted Noodleman. Someone who isn’t really socially capable. Someone with an imagination that may be a little out of control. Someone who has read one too many comic books and thinks that in some weird way, he too is a comic book character and lives his life accordingly. This full length trade paperback collects the weekly online adventures of Ted Noodleman – Bicycle Delivery Boy. In many ways, weekly serialized comics are much more limited than most books. Each segment is self contained and a storyteller has just a few panels to tell his story. Writer Jim Keplinger doesn’t seem to have a problem with this. He very capably makes each segment of Ted’s misadventures interesting and fun, riffing on the same theme (that of Ted’s delusions that his dull day job is actually one super heroic adventure after the next) without it becoming boring or stale. More like PEANUTS than SPIDER-MAN, TED NOODLEMAN caused me to laugh out loud numerous times while reading. Artist Ryan Ottley is a true up and comer. His art is reminiscent of Mike Wieringo, but with more detail. The final segment of this book is especially impressive. Entitled the THE 24-HOUR COMIC, Ottley drew this story in (you guessed it) 24 hours and although it isn’t inked or colored, the talent behind Ottley’s lines shines through. Keplinger and Ottley are two creators to watch and TED NOODLEMAN is well worth seeking out. - Ambush Bug
Remember, if you have an Indie book you’d like one of the @$$holes to take a look at, click on your favorite reviewer’s link and drop us an email.
Remember, if you have an Indie book you’d like one of the @$$holes to take a look at, click on your favorite reviewer’s link and drop us an email.
GREEN ARROW #57
Writer Judd Winick is best when he gets off of his soapbox and just tells an all out action tale. And that’s what this recent GA arc is. Black Lightning and Green Arrow are in search of Dr. Light. Dr. Light is in search of revenge against Green Arrow. Connor Hawke and GA’s new sidekick Speedy are caught in the middle. And a mystery villain is waiting in the shadows to strike. Although the long winded discourse from the mystery villain recanting Green Arrow’s origin is unnecessary, this issue moves along as a pretty good pace. Arrows a plenty are flying all over the place and there may be one less quiver to fill in the GA Family once this story is over. Next issue proves to be especially fun as the mystery villain and Green Arrow go bow to bow. Nothing too life changing here, but it’s still a good action yarn. - Bug
MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN #21
Like a train wreck stretched out over four months and three titles, I keep buying this “The Other: Evolve or Die” storyline. In this episode, Spider-Man is dead and MJ and Aunt May must deal with his passing. Writer J. M. Straczynski shows that he still has what it takes to write poignant scenes, but the plot he’s hooking them to is the kind of “Clone Saga” shit that made Spider-books unreadable throughout the nineties. The only person surprised to see the body of Spider-Man miraculously disappear from the morgue is the clueless Marvel editorial team who decided that this type of storyline would be anything but forgettable in this time of too many crossovers like HOUSE OF M and INFINITE CRISIS. But I’ll keep buying this book till the end of this storyline because I want to see just how bad it’s going to get. - Bug
INFINITE CRISIS #3
The plot gets rolling after a lull in issue two. Some big revelations happen in this issue. Ones that explain a lot and tie all of these plotlines together in unexpected ways. I don’t want to sound cryptic, but speaking from someone who has followed the developments of this storyline in DC for the last two years, I have to say that this series has yet to disappoint me. Johns knows how to shock and keep you on your toes and juggles this gigantic cast with ease. - Bug
