Grotesque Guest-Blogging: Last Month's Comics - Special All-Superhero Edition!!

Hello there.  My name is John Jakala.  You might remember me from my old blog Grotesque Anatomy, which I shut down a couple months ago.  (Eons ago in Internet time.)  Ed asked me to blog-sit while he's out of town, but I'm a little rusty when it comes to this whole blogging thing.  I'm not sure what the current hot topics in the blogosphere are, so to kill time I'll subject you to my scattered thoughts on outdated comics.  When Ed gets back, we can pretend like this never happened, OK?  (And hopefully Ed will forgive me for devoting so much space on his blog to superhero comics.)

JLA Classified #1:  An okay set-up but a bit disappointing as a debut issue from the man who gave us such dense JLA epics as "Rock of Ages" and "Earth 2."  Not much happens and it all seems to be over much too fast.  (McGuinness's art probably contributes to the sensation of a speedy pace, with its large, open panels.)   If Morrison's intent was to mimic the empty entertainment of comics such as Ultimates, he largely succeeded.  Then there's the issue of Batman's characterization.  Yes, the idea of Batman as the Tom Strong science-hero equivalent of the DCU is rather removed from the idea of Batman as a street-level urban detective, but did the discrepancy take me out of the story?  Not really.  If anything in the story struck me as jarring or incongruous, it was Morrison's all-too-knowing meta-wink at the reader via Batman's line, "I'm opening the sci-fi closet, Alfred.  Don't tell my friends in the G.C.P.D. about this."  Because, you know (wink-wink), Batman's depiction in Gotham Central is much less superhero-y.  In any event, the nod to the reader ultimately isn't too distracting, mainly because the line is actually funny, unlike similar efforts in other over-the-top superhero comics.

JLA #108:  The second issue for the new creative team of Kurt Busiek and Ron Garney and things are still in the "slow build-up" stage.  Which is fine, because things are actually happening along the way.  My only complaint with this issue is that the abrupt shift in focus to the political situation on planet Qward robbed the story of its momentum.  Going back, I was surprised to find that only six pages were spent on this subplot before the CSA showed up again, since the scene seemed interminably long when reading it.  I'm sure Busiek included this scene for a reason, as I imagine the characters and situations introduced will somehow play an important part in the overall storyline, but the pacing here still felt awkward.

Superman/Batman #14: I had low expectations for this comic, buying it sheerly for the Carlos Pacheco art, and I was still disappointed.  Part of it was the order in which I read my comics:  I read this right after finishing JLA #108, so yet another comic featuring evil versions of Superman and Batman felt much less fresh than it might have otherwise.  (Some elements were so strikingly similar that -- if these books had come out further apart -- I might have suspected one of directly copying the other.  Consider the respective scenes of the evil Superman analogue using his heat vision to incinerate an opponent right in front of the evil Batman analogue; or the fascistic slogans in each dystopian world: "Obey or pay the price" and "Obey or die.")  However, the book still would have faced a huge problem even without comparison to other comics:  the annoying first-person narration alternating between the two title characters.  From what I understand, Loeb has been using this device throughout the entire series (this is the first issue I've actually read).  Has it always been this bad?  The voices of the characters aren't even distinctive (only the convenient color-coding of the captions distinguishes them), and the narration doesn't provide anything that isn't otherwise evident, so I'm left wondering what the point of the voiceovers is.  Is Loeb getting paid by the word or something?

Identity Crisis #6:  This is the first issue of the "shocking" and "controversial" series that I've enjoyed at all, and only because I got a small kick out of a certain Dark Knight Detective being in the dark for once.  (Hey, why should Bats be the only one who can impose his will on his fellow heroes?)  I have a feeling any entertainment I find in this series will be fleeting, however, especially when next issue's reveal of the real killer may very well bring us right back to the shoddy treatment of female supporting characters that kicked off the series.

JSA #67:  That'll teach me to buy something just because Dave Gibbons is illustrating it.  Supposedly an Identity Crisis tie-in, but the issue doesn't really offer anything you didn't already get in the main series, unless you really wanted to see Dr. Midnight conducting the autopsy on Sue Dibny in costume rather than in the surgical garb shown in IC #6.

H-E-R-O #22:  And so it ends.  I'll miss this series, but at least writer Will Pfeifer was able to wrap up all the threads he'd started in this series.  Some might say that things were wrapped up a little too neatly (especially with the one character who suddenly discovers he has an amazing one-time power that can take out the unbeatable villain), but I'd prefer a series that resolves everything to one that simply stops abruptly with a ton of unanswered questions.  And the final scene -- in addition to being a nice nod back to an earlier story arc -- gives the overall series a satisfyingly self-contained (and self-reflexive) feel.

My latest monthly shipment of comics also included what is, for me, a large number of Marvel comics (I blame DCBS's too-good-to-pass-up specials):

Captain America #1:  Another new number one for ol' Flag-Head, but this one may actually be justified.  New series writer Ed Brubaker serves up a story that actually feels more appropriate in tone as a post-9/11 take on Cap than Rieber's abortive attempt.  The scene with Cap disarming the terrorists on the train felt plausible (others might object to a Cap that kills -- even indirectly -- but I found Cap's actions believable given the situation), and Steve Epting's detailed art delivers an action sequence that is energetic, exciting, and easy-to-follow.  I'm sure that same scene in many other artists' hands would have been a jumbled, unintelligible mess.  Kudos to Epting for actually taking the time to stage the scene so it's readable.

As for the ending, I actually thought it worked.  For one thing, it nicely deflates the whole "über-villain ranting about how he's puling all the strings" scene.  And for another, it sets up the new villain as a formidable threat -- one who's willing to look past all the traditional, stereotypical bad guy behavior and get straight to the point.  (Do The V have an equivalent "Captain Sensible" concept for villains?)  Besides, I don't think we have to worry that the pronouncement on the final page will be permanent.

So, my interest is piqued.  I'll definitely consider getting the inevitable TPB if word on this series continues to be strong.

Iron Man #1:  To my surprise, I actually enjoyed this issue.  I'm not a big fan of either the character or the creators, so I didn't expect much from this relaunch.  But the scene midway through the issue where Tony Stark is interviewed (or ambushed) by a documentary filmmaker was simply riveting:  Stark's history as an arms dealer / weapons manufacturer is addressed directly rather than simply shoved under the rug.  What's more, Ellis writes the scene so that Stark doesn't defensively wave away the many morally troubling concerns surrounding Stark's past with some trite comic-book speech.  By the same token, the scene never becomes some embarrassingly bleeding-heart condemnation of technology or its military applications.  It's a very well-done scene, and one that contains more dramatic tension than any superhero slugfest.  A subsequent scene showing a young Stark striking up a conversation with an attractive woman at a bar during a work conference is similarly gripping.  Together these scenes go a long way toward imbuing Stark with an interesting personality.  If Ellis can maintain this level of quality, I may find myself following Iron Man for the first time since Busiek's run, and I may find myself enjoying the character for the first time ever.

New Thunderbolts #1 & #2:  I enjoyed Kurt Busiek's run on the Thunderbolts' first volume, so I thought I'd try out his second shot at the series.  Only it turns out those original solicitations were wrong and Busiek isn't actually writing this new series; Fabian Nicieza is.  (Busiek is listed in the inside credits, but it's unclear what his involvement is.  According to this Newsarama article (which I wish I'd seen before placing my pre-order), Busiek was the "grand-poobah advisor and fountain of all good ideas" on the opening arc.)  Not to say that Nicieza's name on something is an automatic negative sign, but I don't have the same positive associations with Nicieza as I do with Busiek.  As for the actual first two issues, they weren't horrible, but they weren't particularly engaging either.  I didn't find myself caring about any of the characters, and the art wasn't anything especially exciting either.  Grummett's art is kind of hit-or-miss for me:  With the right inker (such as Wade Von Grawbadger on Power Company) Grummett's art can be pleasing enough; but here with Gary Erskine on inks, everyone appears somewhat lumpy and misshapen, especially in their faces.  So, not for me.
 
Marvel Team-Up #1 & #2:  I've always enjoyed team-up books, and the original MTU was one of my favorite comics as a kid.  This two-parter teams up Spider-Man and Wolverine as they deal with a teen whose mutant powers have just started developing.  There's the requisite misunderstanding and fight between the two heroes, but thankfully it's not dragged out or belabored upon.  In fact, Kirkman offers up a nice take on this superhero cliché.  Kirkman also does a good job writing Spidey's banter, which is fittingly light and corny.  I'm not sure I'm sold on the artwork, though, but that may be due mainly to the odd mix of bright and murky in the computer coloring.  It may not have been the best creative decision to complicate Scott Kolins' loose, open pencilling style with an overabundance of shading and highlighting effects.

She-Hulk Vol 1: Single Green Female:  The critics were all right about this one:  It's great fun.  Not much more I can add, so I'll just reiterate what others have said:  It's refreshing to read a comic that offers humorous, well-written, strongly characterized, self-contained stories as an alternative to all the overwrought, poorly plotted, badly characterized, padded-out comics out there today.  And Juan Bobillo's quirky, cartoony art (which reminds me of a more manga-esque version of Kyle Baker's early style) gives the series a distinctive look to match its charming tone.  (Paul Pelletier's fill-in art for the last two chapters in this collection is fine but the result is that the book suddenly feels more like a standard superhero comic.)  If you're looking for something a little more light-hearted in your superhero comics, I'd definitely recommend She-Hulk.

OK, that's enough for now.  Hopefully Ed will be back soon, normal service will resume, and we can put all this spandex behind us.  [Ed - next time I'll write about manga or something more respectable.  I promise!!]