King of the Nerds!!!

The below picture, featured prominently over at the PW website from an blog entry claiming DC Editor-in-Chief Dan DiDio’s contract was renewed, looked oddly familiar.

A quick bit of research pinpointed the familiarity:

Hmmm….interesting.

While Final Crisis‘ first issue was a bit disappointing the appearance of DC’s new weekly series Trinity was a welcome surprise.  Out of the gate it is already better than both 52 and the abysmal Countdown to Final Crisis.  The title refers to DC’s big three: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.  It also plays with the religious like mythology that surrounds and ties together those three characters.  It isn’t a perfect series by any means but a solid creative team of Mark Bagely (Ultimate Spider-man) and Kurt Busiek(too many to name) keep the series from the sprawl and sporadic narrative that made 52 drag and ruined Countdown.  Like both of the previously weeklies it is tied strongly with the history and unified mythology of the DC Universe.  New DC fans might not like that but I imagine comic fans of all types will find something to like in the series.

To aid the newbie to DC, one not quite familiar with the lesser known faces of the DCU, one of the writers over at Newsarama is doing an annotation feature to exaplain/point out interesting facts about the characters and events in the story.  Check out the series for a fun read and stop by the annotation entries for the first three issues:

Annotations for Trinity issue #1

Annotations for Trinity issue #2

Annotations for Trinity issue #3

So as all true nerds know, 4th Edition for D&D is on the horizon.  I’m not precisely sure what all of the new features and changes will be.  (I do know that grappling is on the list though.  Presumably the changes will make is so that grappling is no longer the equivalent of a cleveland steamer in both enjoyment and usefulness.  This might be achieved by limiting the amount of dice rolls needed to less than the current number, which gets dangerously close to that of Amedeo Avogadro.)  Regardless, those changes are probably best covered by other, more knowledgeable, people on this site.  I’m just here to talk about the advertising.

Wizards of the Coast apparently approached the guys from PvP and Penny Arcade and asked them to do something cool to advertise the game.   Being webcomics, the fact that comic strips/panels were part of the end product isn’t particularly suprising.  But the comics are really just supplementing a pretty interesting advertising campaign.  They just played the game.  Wizards literally just provided a DM and everyone played 4th edition while a camera was recording the action.  The podcasts are being put up on the Wizards site each week and apparently it covers a lot of the new changes in the gameplay.  I haven’t gotten a chance to check it out yet so I don’t know if the result is something enjoyable or tediously boring.  But any attempt to sell a product by actually showing the audience the product in question rather than through the gaming industry’s normal smoke and mirrors routine is worthwhile endeavor.

I’ve been quiet of the comics front for a bit, don’t expect posts regularly but if something fantastic catches my eye I’ll throw it up here.  For now I may stick to #1’s, it’s hard to review an ongoing book without major spoilers.

Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (Marvel, Abnett/Landing):  Marvel needs to lock these two writers down ASAP.  My favorite title of the Annihilation: Conquest miniseries was the Starlord series; it kind of like the Dirty Dozen on LSD with aliens and robots.  You had some great 3rd String (or worse) characters given life and turned into something completely fun.  Needless to say I was a little disappointed when I learned Guardians of the Galaxy would replace a number of those characters with the cosmic "A-listers": Drax, Adam Warlock, Gamora and Quasar (plus the returning Rocket Racoon and Starlord himself).  I shouldn’t have been worried though, I should have just trusted in the Abnett/Landing magic.

The dialogue rocks here, especially in the action scenes, as characters banter and snipe at one another.  Groot makes an appearance, essentially as a twig in a pot, and despite having speech balloons too small to read, manages some great imagined lines (likely proclaiming himself Groot).  Mantis makes a return, which made me happy, as the quirky pyrokinetic celestial madonna was one of my favorites from Starlord and Conquest.  Here, as usual, she is equal parts cute and creepy.

Paul Pelletair’s art gives things a nice, dynamic flair and his subtle management of the background, in particular the exterior of the Universal Church of Truth ship (Battlefleet Gothic anyone?  Given Abnett’s ties to Games Workshop, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was deliberate), are worth taking note of.  The team doesn’t have a uniform per se but each costume notably employs the same shade of red as a highlight color (except for Quasar where it is dominant) that actual gives the team a nice bit of cohesion.  Pelletair’s action scenes are top notch, never muddled and never static.  His art complements the writing duo to a T.

Great action, great dialog, talking dogs, hot alien babes, and Lovecraftian horrors from Beyond!  It’s like they reached into my head and pulled out the perfect comic!  Recommended times 10.

—-Links
      Line of Fire Review w/ preview pages
      Weeklycomicbookreview.com Review

Captain Britain and MI: 13 #1 (Marvel, Cornell):  This is what a tie-in should be!  Focusing on Great Britain just after Secret Invasion #1 it focuses mainly on the titular character and some former members of Excalibur/Avengers Pete Wisdom and Black Knight.  Oh and a skull in the shape of John Lennon.  Called John most often he is, perhaps, a surprisingly interesting character defecting from the "fundamentalist" Skrull invaders to assist Wisdom and Captain Britain in protecting the Siege Perilous (apparently Marvel’s gateway to faerie and all things magic).  Wisdom and Black Knight get their chances to shine as well.  Black Knight is busy throwing quips like a leather clad Spidey which he explains are a means to stave off the murderous urges of his magic sword.  Wisdom, a character I don’t know too well, is brutal, quiet and badass as hell with his flaming knife things. That brings us to the titular Captain Britain.  I was never a big Excalibur fan so I don’t know too much about the hero, though I get the impression he has as convoluted a back story as anyone in the 616.  In the book he actually acknowledges his own second-string status, and his comment about wanting to be more like a certain other Captain was a nice touch.

The book is most interesting in terms of plot.  Rather than use the Secret Invasion as a means to push the book down our throats it seems Cornell decided to use it as a backdrop to tell a completely different story.  It’s too early to say for sure but given the branding of the invading Skrulls as fundamentalists (not to mention a skrull as John Lennon), the presence of magic, Captain Britain’s musing on being a better hero, and the usually smarmy Wisdom receiving some kind of vision I expect Cornell will be telling a tale that strays a little from the normal superhero fare.  While Cornell is weaving the deliberately mythical element into his story, one might think this would come off as a bit pretentious, but Cornell manages to balance the mythic with a restrained humor that never veer too much towards the silly. 

Kirk’s pencils really enhance the action scenes and he has a sense of action that is extremely reminiscent of Japanese manga and anime; in particular with his use of speed lines to depict motion.  Black Night’s introduction could have come off as static but Kirk’s deft use of speed lines plus the subtle blurring of the background creating a startling sense of dynamicism.  I’m not sure how Brian Reber’s colors will play out in the long run but their rather sombers tones here give the book a dark air that could drag as the series rolls on.  Regardless the book featured strong art all-around and the choice of Hitch as a cover artists isn’t a far stretch from Kirk’s own style.

All in all this was a great read that surpassed Secret Invasion #1 as a first issue.  I look forward to seeing where this book goes in the future and am happy to add it to my pull list.

–Links
      Line of Fire Review w/ preview pages.
      Comic Book Bulletin Review.
      Weeklycomicbookreview.com Review

Technorati Tags     Guardians of the Galaxy,Captain Britain and MI 13,Marvel Comics

Descriptions later:

Echo #1 (Terry Moore)

Having missed out on Strangers in Paradise I finally get to experience some Terry Moore. I knew nothing about this book going in and was pleasantly surprised to find it’s a sci-fi tale. Mostly set up, but off to an interesting start. Combined with last week’s RASL from Jeff Smith we have the two biggest “indie” writers starting new series; definatly a good thing.

BtVS Season 8 #12: Wolves at the Gate (Drew Goddard and Georges Jeanty)

My man crush on geek general Xander Harris wins out here. Spouting awesomely ridiculous one-liners (”My Beautiful Burning Eye!” “Merciful Zeus!”) good ‘ol Xander reminds me why he’s my favorite character in the Buffyverse. Also, Buffy mostly naked with other chick mostly naked. Situational comedy does work well in comics.

Logan #1 (of 3) (Brian K Vaughn and Eduardo Risso)

Another week, another Wolverine comic. I wanted to hate it but couldn’t. It seems we’re going to get a chance to see Wolvie vs. an atomic bomb. Pick up the black and white variant if you can.

This one goes out to Larry.

Ryan Ottley, best known for his work with Robert Kirkman on Image’s Invincible, will be publishing his 24 hour comic from last year.  About the comic Ottley had the following to say:

Well, 24 Hour Comics Day only comes once a year and I wanted to try my hand at doing my own little story. So I got together with a bunch of other artists at a local comic shop here in Salt Lake City and we all worked on our own book. The only thing I wanted to write about was a big giant grub that ate people. Thought it sounded cool.

And my ideas went from there. It was a good experience as I don’t write at all so this was new to me. Really enjoyable stuff but man, it really was draining to be forcing your mind to come up with something that quick and then drawing it all.

The full interview can be found over at Newsarama and the comic is slated for release, from Image, in May.

Nova Annual #1 Abnett and Alves

I bought this expecting a cheap filler story retelling the original of Nova. What I got instead was a cool story that opens the next act of Nova’s cosmic journey to find a solution to the Phalanx dilemma and rid himself of the technophage virus. Nova has been a consistently enjoyable title with top notch art and quality writing. Richard Rider and his evolution, from C level hero to badass intergalactic hero, over the course of Annihilation was not only fun, but believable as well. Pick up this issue to get a short glimpse of Nova’s origins and use it as a stepping stone to jump onto his monthly. Great stuff.

Captain Marvel #3 Reed and Weeks

What I initially thought was a cheap publicity stunt to bring back an old character has turned out to be an interesting story about a man’s quest for identity. While it lacks the header above the title this ties into Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” event and is perhaps the most interesting, and revealing, book so far. You really feel for the Captain as he struggles to find a place in this future, when he knows that to return to his own time means his death. This is title I original had no hope for that has turned into a deeper read than I could have ever imagined. Check it out.

X-Factor #28 David and Raimondi

Getting us caught up with the mutant (plus 1 human) miscreants of X-Factor after the events of Messiah Complex we get to spend some time with each of our characters. Siryn is pregnant with Jaimie’s babie. Rictor is feeling as lost and useless as ever. Guido is as affable as ever. Rahne is leaving for X-Force. M is as bitchy as ever (she even destroys an iPhone!). That brings us to Jaimie, and Jaimie is lost. Somehow, despite being a bit annoying, Miss Layla Miller became a rock centering X-Factor’s, and Jaimie’s, world. With her missing in a harsh future, Jaimie is hurt, angry, and uncertain of where to go and what to do. Peter David has a real handle on these characters and of the three “Divided We Stand” titles so far this one is, by far, the best. This is a “superhero” book, of sorts, but falls far from the typical mark. You should be reading this title. Pick up the old trades and start in on the monthly.

Last week’s top three (note: the newest Cap was sold out, though I’m sure it would have made this list, if you’re not reading Brubaker’s Cap then you, frankly, are a frickin’ idiot):

Avengers: The Initiative #9, Slott and Caselli

The rampage of the “perfect” human MVP clone (calling himself KIA) armed with a deadly alien weapon continues. Casualties occur left and right and some of the characters we have come to like bite the big one plus…a skrull! The appearance of Trauma counseling Cloud 9 makes me wonder if any of this is really happening, but next months confrontation between The Gauntlet (also bearing alien weapon) and KIA looks to be pretty badass. A great book taking a look at the new heroes of the Initiative being manipulated by the corrupt bureaucracy. Slott rocks, as usual, though his humor is toned down quite a bit here. Caselli does a fine job on the art; his inking (it’s NOT tracing) in particular lends a  gloomy air to the hardcore proceedings. A top shelf title that should be on everyone’s pull list.

Green Lantern #27, Johns and McKone

The Alpha Lanterns are revealed and it’s bad news.   A powered up internal police force to watch over the other police (Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?) they just seem like an all around bad idea on the Guardian’s part. It was great to see John Stewart acknowledged for being that badass that he is and I was proud to see that, being an earth native, he knows how to ask questions before jumping into something. The Sinestro Corps War was prelude to something much larger and I’m excited to see what that is. Things are changing in the cosmic world of DC and it’ll be a fun ride; especially with Johns at the helm.

Countdown to Adventure #6 of 8, Beechen/Gray and Goldman/Ferreira

One of the 2 countdown related titles I’ve been reading; mainly because of the interesting cast. I find the Adam Strange, Starfire, and Animal Man team an exciting trio and I’ve had fun viewing their interactions. The Starfire/Animal Man tension has been good and Adam Strange has been showing he can still kick ass; though it a little disappointing the that it has taken 6 issue to get all three back together again. This issue was interesting in that it focused attention on the significant others of both Animal Man and Adam Strange; both playing a large role in saving their husbands from certain doom. I don’t see any ties to Countdown, which is good, and this title would be a fun read without being tied to that cluster-f.  I do like the Forerunner backup, she is actually an interesting character and you can’t help but hope that her quest for revenge, against both the Monitors and Monarch, succeeds. Worth a look if you’re into the sci-fi space opera comics that both of the Big Two have been putting out.

Week’s Best, 2/6:

JSA #12, Johns/Ross and Eaglesham/Jose

This title is still getting its legs after that “Lightning Saga” garbage but things are looking better. More legacies show up (ncluding the return of Jakeem Thunder) one of which (in addition to the shadow of the villain) further ties into “Kingdom Come.” Things are looking bad for the DCU if that is the direction they’re heading. This title was a little late (last issue was in December) but we get two this month so things are improving. I’m really starting to like the new members and, despite the legacy throwback feel to many of them, all seem like they’re going to be a helluva lot of fun to read.

Annihilation: Conquest #4, Adnet/Lanning, Raney

If you can look past Adam Strange’s Madman/Captain Marvel knockoff costume you’ll find a good book, not as a good as Annihilation, but a good book. Things still look bleak for the captured, and now tortured, Starlord and his stranded crew as Mantis does her best to shelter Peter’s mind and learns of Ultron’s plans. Meanwhile Ronan, Wraith and others cook up a plan to attack the Phalanx on Hala, and it isn’t what you might think. Things are heating up but I still don’t see a way to beat the Phalanx (but I do see the potential of last minute, hail mary, save by Richard Ryder aka Nova down the line). Also can we get a Groot/Rocket Raccoon mini? Please?  That “I am Groot!” line was pitch perfect deadpan humor.

Uncanny X-Men #495, Brubaker and Choi

Have I mentioned that Brubaker rocks? This is a nice quiet issue that some fans might balk at (especially after the madcap pace of Messiah Complex) but that I found pretty enjoyable. It explores the Emma/Scott relationship in some detail, particularly from Emma’s perspective and, you know what, I buy it. It’s a bit romantic, a bit sappy, but it works within the context of the Marvel U and I like it. There is one attempted humorous line that falls a bit flat to my ear but other than that the writing is top shelf. The Iron Man/Cyclops confrontation in particular was worthwhile and Cyke raised some valid points and I’m glad to see him finally maturing (in Messiah Complex and here) into the leader he is supposed to be. I’m not too sure of the ending lead-in to the next big conflict but I’m willing to run with it as Brubaker and company continue to explore the concept of an X-Men without Xavier.

If this were a true and just world you would likely be seeing Amazing Spiderman #549 would be on my top three list of comics this week.   Now that my rage has somewhat abated I can understand the editorial need to steer Spiderman back towards his roots, I don’t have to agree with it, but I can understand it.  I can also see that choosing top shelf writers and artists was absolutely necessary if they wanted to maintain at least some sort of viable fan base.  Slott (Month 1) had the hardest job.  Introducing readers to a new continuity, reintroducing old characters, and basically doing his damnedest to set up some interesting plot twists.  Poor bastard.  From what I understand, isolated from the context which the whole “Brand New Day” concept emerges from, Slott did a pretty good job.  Which makes that little caveat all the harder to swallow because I find separating this run from what came before night impossible.

That being said I managed to breeze through Guggenheim’s first issue and found myself enjoying it.  Guggenheim has a real handle on Spidey’s voice; enough to the point where I could almost jump on this whole “Brand New Day” bandwagon.  Jackpot, the red-haired superheroine introduced in this issue, has a personality similar to Peter and is almost so obviously Mary Jane that I could almost believe it isn’t actually her.  The banter between the characters is reminiscent of some of the best issues of Ultimate Spiderman.

And therein lies another major contention with “Brand New Day.”   Sure the Ultimate titles lay outside the purview of the main Marvel U but the Spidey there and the Spidey currently running around in Amazing are far too similar.  Was Spidey a darker title than usual in the last couple of years?  Yes.  Was the adult Peter Parker further removed from the comics reading youth of today?  Yes.  Does that mean he wasn’t an interest or relatable (sorry Dr. Shannon) character?  No.   Does that make retconning the near-entirety of a writers (lengthy) run a justifiable action?  I certainly don’t thinks so.

For an industry filled to the brim with seemingly static characters who change only in small ways (costumes and powers mostly) Spiderman was one of the few who had evolved into something, or someone, (slightly) more mature than he started out as.  Not only did he evolve but he evolved in no small part thanks to his famous mantra: “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.”   A mantra that is, in my own humble opinion, directly contradictory to even the mere contemplation of a deal with the devil.  I can’t help but feeling betrayed by that.  As a result I find myself unable, or perhaps unwilling, to stop seeing Brand New Day through the lens of that betrayal.

So…kudos to you Mr. Guggenheim on what seems to be a solid grip on Spiderman, and on the crafting of what looks to be an interesting and exciting run.  I just hope Joe Q doesn’t suddenly decide to erase all your creative ideas from continuity because it doesn’t fit with his editorial vision.

Once I’m done going through this week’s stack I’ll have top picks chosen.  With a couple from last week for good measure.

Hopefully I’ll make this a regular feature. You’ll see this post is in three sections: the first is my complete pull list of comics I bought this week, after that you’ll see my top three picks this week, and last some brief commentary on everything else. Enjoy, and let me know what you think…

The Pull List

• Angel: After the Fall #3
• The Sword #4
• Birds of Prey #114
• JLA #7
• Robin #170
• Shadowpact #21
• Cable/Deadpool #49
• Incredible Hercules #113
• New Exiles #1
• New X-Men #46
• WWH Aftersmash Warbound #2

Best of the Best

Angel: After the Fall #3, IDW, Lynch/Urru

Angel and crew are in Hell. They’re not happy, there is much fighting…and a dragon.

Similar to Dark Horse’s ongoing Buffy Season 8 spin-off this comic takes place immediately after the series finale of Angel. I missed issue #1 but apparently we’re all in hell now and chaos reigns supreme. I’m not a big fan of the art here, Urru’s penciling appears a bit sloppy to me and the color palette feels a bit muddy. The story is top-notch though and Lynch manages to nail the tone of the series especially well maintaining the dark humor of the show quite well. If you liked the show you’ll like the book. Unfortunately finding issue #1, in reprint even, might be a bit of bitch.

The Sword #4, Image, Luna/Luna

Dara’s on the run from law and look for revenge. Meanwhile the people that killed her family let out a collective “D’oh!”

If you haven’t heard of the Luna brothers shame on you. A talented duo that previously brought you the Sex and the City meets Superheroes comic Ultra and the zombie meets cheescake series Girls comes this absolute gem of a comic about a girl and a magical sword. Despite the clean line work of Jonathon Luna he doesn’t shy away from visceral violence, though compared to last issue things are relatively tame, and conveys emotions via facial expressions with near perfection. While Jonathon’s command over the action is good I admit his style has a bit of a static feel to it (like seeing a cell of a cartoon) and the soft color palette, while pleasing to the eye doesn’t help in that regard (it does make the more vivid colors, say blood for example, all the more shocking). Joshua, handling the writing, does a phenomenal job at doling out tidbits of plot, hinting at a larger, mysterious back-story, while at the same time keeping fans sated via the action at hand. All in all a superb comic that anyone tired of spandex could, and certainly should, pick up and enjoy.

New X-Men #46, Marvel, Yost & Kyle/Ramos

The not-so-merry mutants continue their fight against all odds for the first mutant birth since M-day. Blood is spilled and tensions builds

The penultimate issue of the Messiah Complex crossover speeds things towards their, hopefully, epic conclusion and ramps the action up to an absolute frantic pace. A pace that is perfectly suited to the down and dirty style of artist Ramos. The uniformity of voice throughout the entire crossover is fairly impressive given that each of the X-books has its own creative team and the writing duo of Yost/Kyle once again do a deft job handling the sprawling ensemble of multigenerational X-men/villains. I do wish, at least a little, that the book focused a bit more on the title team (the younger X-Men) as they’re a crew I’ve come to quite like but I can’t complain as everything we do have here hearkens back to the glory days of the X-teams. If you’re not reading this crossover you’re an idiot. ‘Nuff said.

The Other Stuff

Birds of Prey #114:

This book has been struggling since Simone left, I’ll give it one or two more issue before it gets dropped. I do love Black Alice though.

JLA #7:

This book just can’t seem to hit its stride. I’ll keep plugging away at it but my prospects of really liking this book are fast dwindling. Black Lightning was pretty badass in the beginning though, and it had some fantastic cover art.

Robin #170

Is it sad that I like this better than the Batman books? I think Tim Drake is an interesting character and the father/son aspect of Batman/Robin books (now made legal in Wayne’s adoption of Drake) is
interesting if not played on enough. Solid book, not spectacular, but solid.

Shadowpact #21:

Come on, Detective Chimp! Looking at dating websites for furries! Seriously! No Blue Devil in this one though and I hope they’re going somewhere with the Nightshade/Ragman stuff, but again a solid comic about an weird team full of interesting characters.

Cable/Deadpool #49

Deadpool doesn’t just break the 4th wall he smashes it to pieces then grinds the rubble into fine dust. Still though it had me laughing out loud a few times and I really like his supporting cast, Bob the Hydra agent is perhaps the best comic foil in comic book history.

Incredible Hercules #113:

No that’s not a typo. This is good book but a strange amalgamation of leftover WWH plots details and the Marvel version of greek mythology. I like the violent sibling rivalry between Ares and Herc. Solid writing with some humorous quips.

New Exiles #1:

They restarted the series for this? Sorry, no #2 for me.

WWH Aftersmash Warbound #2

Another solid WWH spin-off. The loveable Warbound up to their crazy antics again being all monstery and badassy and whatnot. This is above all a redemption story about monsters trying to be heroes. If you liked Planet Hulk and World War Hulk you’ll like this title.