All right, I’ve been neglectful lately. So let’s quickly talk about some comics I bought last week (which are from about the last month).
Final Crisis #1
I’m used to being somewhat confused or off-balance when reading Grant Morrison comics, but this is confusing in all the wrong ways. A New God meeting a caveman? Sure, that’s cool. A missing-children investigation uncovering a dead New God? Sounds all right to me. And then a bunch of villains running around, fighting someone, doing… something?
Then some different villains arguing at a table, and then… hey, where did Martian Manhunter come from? Ooh, that was shocking. Then back to the missing children case, which leads a detective to the Dark Side Club – I definitely approve, since it’s about the only reference to Seven Soldiers in the last two years.
And here are some Monitors. I don’t know what they’re talking about. I don’t care. Then the caveman from the beginning meets Kamandi at the end of the world. Again, cool. And the last page is… some guy? Upset about something?
There’s “this is confusing because Grant has a plan”, and there’s “this is confusing because I haven’t read every comic published by DC in the last five years. I don’t know what happened in 52 or Countdown or whatever, and I don’t think I care much about this.
All-Star Superman #11
This, on the other hand, appears where the real Grant Morrison has gone. Lex Luthor escapes from prison by giving himself superpowers and allies himself with a sentient, killer sun? And he gives his niece the keys to the positronic cannon tank?
My god, yes.
Blue Beetle #27
I miss John Rogers. Will Pfeifer isn’t bad, but the story just doesn’t have the snap and crack Rogers’ work did. It’s the same problem I had with some earlier fill-in issues: Blue Beetle is, conceptually, such a generic book – teenager finds magic/science toy, becomes superhero, learns about powers, responsibility, and so on – that you need someone really good to make it work. Pfeifer gives us a nice story about Blue Beetle and Traci 13 investigating some mysterious demons, but it simply doesn’t rise above “nice story.” Traci isn’t nearly as awesome as she should be. Artist David Baldeon does some nice work, too, though he lacks Rafael Albuquerque’s edge. (Albuquerque’s cover: Pure Awesome.)
Madman #8
It hurts to say this, but I’m starting to lose my patience with this book. I love Mike Allred, and his art has never been better, but his writing isn’t strong enough to live up to his ambitions. Also, negative points for redundancy: The first half of the story is essentially a recap of Madman’s origin and history, which Allred just did in in #1. (Seriously: He’s developed maybe the best “previously!” page in the business. Where did his awesome sense of brevity go?) The second half is a story credited to “J.L. Allred”, a name I don’t recognize, with art by Nick Dragotta and Mike Allred. It’s… okay. It’s kind of silly, like the sort of story Madman used to be known for, but not as good. I presume there’s a new story arc starting up next issue, so maybe that will be a new leaf.
Northlanders #6
It’s hard to talk about this book, since it’s not fully digestible in single-issue format. Nevertheless, it gets better with every issue, and it’s shaping up to be a huge accomplishment for Brian Wood. I’ll try and say more about it when the first story arc is over.
Young Liars #3
The first two issue were good… and now I love it. David Lapham has gone kind of crazy, and it’s awesome. Let Sadie explain why:
“The Pinkertons aren’t private detectives. They’re Nazis injected with special powers by the Spiders from Mars… My Dad’s the richest man in the world, and he wants to impregnate me with Spider-Babies.”
I don’t know if it would be better if she’s telling the truth or she’s making it up.
Either way, this is some inspired lunacy. Also: Incredibly disturbing and creepy ending. Everyone read this book so it doesn’t get cancelled. (If you haven’t been reading it, this is a decent place to start.)