RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Shut the Fuck Up, Fanboy!: Disco Steve's Comic Review #3

(Just ignore the "IMAGE" bits for now... I can't get the FTP dealie to work for images, so I'm leaving it alone for now.)


I was a lot more pleased with the comics I got this week than recently. My faith in comics not sucking has been affirmed. I'm guessing it's because JLA/Avengers is finally over. I thought it would never end...

THIS WEEK

X-STATIX #22
by Peter Milligan (writer), Michael Allred (pencils) and Nick Craine (inks)

The Cover: Captain America fighting a pickaxe-wielding Anarchist with random Asian things in the background.

You may or may not have heard the news: X-STATIX is being cancelled, with this current story arc, featuring a battle between X-Statix and The Avengers being the last, or as Michael Allred referred to it, a "swan song." This is quite unfortunate, since I don't believe this arc, "The Good and the Famous," is capable of giving us the closure we want. To those that rejoyce at the cancellation of the comic that replaced their favorite Rob Liefeld abomination, I say this: Fuck off. You have no taste and shouldn't be allowed the gift of sight.

The focus of this issue is The Anarchist fighting Captain America (good choice, I thought) for a piece of Doop's brain, the other pieces having been scattered around the world during the course of last issue's events. But this is no fan service story arc, here. The conflict between the two teams feels completely natural, both teams standing for different things, and Milligan does not skip on his sense of humor, with Captain America apologizing to locals for destroying a giant statue in Thailand, or The Anarchist's misfortune among the money-hungry natives. What makes this fight even better is that it's not only physical but verbal, too, since the two characters have the opposite beliefs, political or otherwise.

That battle is followed by one between Dead Girl and the Scarlet Witch in a haunted ship, where another piece of Doop's brain is residing. What really makes this section for me is Mike Allred's art. Scarlet Witch emerges from the battle in not exactly perfect shape, with thos damn pointy things on her head all bent up and soaked, with mascara running down her face:

INSERT IMAGE HERE

That's the great thing about Allred's art: it's not exactly realistic in principal, but the details are very reality-oriented.

Disco's Grade: B+



SWAMP THING #1
by Andy Diggle (writer) and Enrique Breccia (art)

The Cover: Swamp thing looking pissed off. He looks more like The Creature from the Black Lagoon, though.

I was a fan of Swamp Thing when I was little. I remember the action figures, the toy tie-in animated series (Swamp Thing... you make my heart siiing...), the USA TV series, and the two (insert adjective here) movies. When I began reading the comics (which was about a year ago, to tell the truth...), I was amazed by Alan Moore's brilliant writing, especially the issue that consists of mostly untranslated alien dialogue on the planet Rann, and later, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar's iconoclastic, four-color "fuck off" to all the fans of Moore's run. It's a wonder that I didn't pick up this book sooner, considering that it's already three issues into the damn thing.

This series, unlike some of the later installments in the last non-Tefe (Swampy's daughter) related series, is a bit more down to earth, closer to early Alan Moore stories. This issue serves mostly to explain the origin of Swamp Thing and set up the current conflict, which is that Swamp Thing's body is all set to run amok while Alec Holland's spirit is stuck in his old human body, accompanied by HELLBLAZER's John Constantine. Meanwhile, we have Alec's wife Abby searching for Swamp Thing and his daughter Tefe recieving a warning from...something... about her father. The intrigue begins...

What bothers me about this comic is the art. Enrique Breccia seems to have studied at the Richard Corben school of art, where things don't exactly look right, and don't exactly look right in a different way in each panel. For example, there's a panel where Tefe's turning around toward us and her eyes just don't look lined up correctly... almost reminds me of my art. And he can't get John Constantine to look even remotely the same in any panel, the worst of which is:

INSERT IMAGE HERE

Good gravy, he looks like Roberto Benini... Aside from those sorts of lapses, the art is just fine. I especially like his rendition of Alec Holland's corpse. Can't wait to read the rest of this.

Disco's Grade: B+



PHANTOM JACK #2
by Mike San Giacomo (writer), Mitchell Breitweiser (art), and Jaime Jones (colorist)

The Cover: A plane flying over Jack, who is squinting like Keanu.

I am positive it's Marvel's fault the first issue of PHANTOM JACK is so sub-par, because the second issue is a vast improvement, since Epic's editors didn't work their cruel voodoo magic on it. This is the issue where Jack Baxter, the invisible reporter, is finally given reason to go back to Iraq and do something interesting. Also, there's some terrorism and he's being followed by secret agents of some sort. Intrigue ensues.

IMAGE
My favorite panel.

The writing has improvement, which is a direct effect of a lack of Marvel (a.k.a., retarded) editing. There's actually wit! And I actually remember what characters are saying after reading a panel! It was an amazing phenomenon, indeed. My only complaint about the writing is that San Giacomo uses thought bubbles where it would have been perfectly fine (and more appropriate) to just show his facial expression. That way it has more of an impact, since San Giacomo is clearly going for realism by not having any sound effects, which I love.

IMAGE
My least favorite panel.

While the writing has improved, the art has somehow gotten worse, which I blame on the angles Mitchell Breitweister uses in his panels. When he's doing normal forward shots he's perfectly fine; in fact, he's pretty good. When he decides to draw a character looking upward or a worm's eye view shot (for no reason, it seem, other than for a little variety) , everything goes to hell. I assume he's relatively new to comics or that it's the colorist's fault, but I imagine such a problem will be overcome eventually.

Disco's Grade:B


RUNAWAYS #14
by Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Adrian Alphona (pencils), and Craig Yeung (inks)

The Cover: Arsenic and her Dinosaur. Same as every other cover. This one serves as proof that nobody in comics can draw a chubby person unless they want to make them gratuitously fat.

RUNAWAYS is an intriguing comic because it is something new coming from Marvel Comics. While we may be able to predict what will happen in next month's issue of IRON FIST, RUNAWAYS features characters we are unfamiliar with in a situation that doesn't feel like we could just exclaim "Oh, the hero's gonna figure out the villain's weakness and beat him." If you did read RUNAWAYS book and shout a similar exclamation, you're a jaded prick.

Our heroes, a team of kids with superpowers, are on the run from their parents, who all happen to be supervillains in a group called The Pride. The Pride runs everything in Los Angeles, so the kids are having a hard time getting away. They can't trust the Police or the local government. They can't even trust each other, now that it's been revealed that there's a traitor in their midst. It just gets worse and worse for these kids, and I love reading it.

Vaughan writes kids not like they're post-Dawson's Creek smartass kids, but like they're actual kids. You don't get the sense that they're unbelievable erudites or retarded teenagers, which is new for youth-oriented anything. That's right, this is a youth-oriented comic book. Unlike Archie comics, for example, I can freely pick up this book and not think "I'm a pathetic man-child."

Before you think "Well, this is a manga-esque affair, isn't it?" I have two things for you to do: 1) Fuck off. 2) Realize that the art is indeed manga influenced, but not to the point where it's hideously overdone, like fellow Marvel Tsunami titles SENTINEL or HUMAN TORCH. It's really a healthy mix of Western and Japanese comic art... just enough to fool both camps, but probably nto those fucktards who use the term "anime rip-off," which makes them the stupidest human beings alive.

IMAGE
(Sigmund Freud just peed himself.)

Disco's Grade:B

JLA #97
by John Byrne (pencils), Chris Claremont (writer), and Jerry Ordway (inks)

The Cover: The definition of homo-erotic.

The opposite-of-hilarious gag of Crucifer saying "Delectable" at the thought of tasting human blood has been used again in this issue. It's obvious that Claremont has memory lapses. No normal person would make Crucifer say the same thing twice. Hell, no normal person would name a character "Crucifer."

Thing is, I don't have memory lapses, so read my previous JLA reviews if you want to know what I think of this issue. It's not terrible, but it's nothing ground breaking. Really just a throwaway JLA story with its only selling points being that it's a reuniting of Chris Claremont and John Byrne, and that it reintroduces The Doom Patrol into the DC Universe. I'm waiting for JLA to get good again. Someone, anyone, please don't disappoint me.

Disco's Grade:C

SUPERMAN #204
by Brian Azzarello (writer), Jim Lee (pencils), and Scott Williams (inks)

The Cover: Superman in an iconic pose.Yeah I know, but, c'mon, let Jim Lee have his fun. It's not everyday that you get to write Superman... wait... Jim Lee. He could have done Superman whenever he wanted to.

Yeah, I know everyone hates Azzarello's take on Batman, because it didn't suck. His Superman is a little less liberal than Batman. For example, Superman makes no mention of God pissing on his face... at least, he doesn't explicitly state it. But boy, does he imply it.

Anyway, Superman isn't a happy person nowadays. This issue is mostly Superman talking to a priest that looks vaguely like Willem Dafoe in a church about a large scale tragedy that has happened and how he couldn't stop it. When we find out what this tragedy is, I was disappointed, as I was expecting a Superman that was questioning his post 9-11 necessity, but instead, it was something different. Regardless, the same idea is there: Superman couldn't save a buncha people from something, so he's devastated.

IMAGE

I like the way Azzarello writes Superman. When he is talking to the priest, he seems somewhat alien and human at the same time. The priest and Superman are in a similar unhappy situation, since they both have similar jobs and tragedy seems to have struck both of them.

Jim Lee's art has always been good. His art in SUPERMAN is no exception. He likes to do that scratchy shading thing that every Image artist used to do way back when, but he manages to have a solid art style that is all his own.

Disco's Grade:A

Azzarello and Superman. I don't think I could possibly think of a worse combination. Stylistically completely opposite, and I question how much range Azz has.

I admit I'm a little curious about Diggle's Swamp Thing, but he'll have very large shoes to fill with Alan Moore, Mark Millar and Brian K. Vaughan all former ST vets.

I got the feeling that Azzarello had this story lieing around for years, and only recently decided to paint Superman into the picture. He's definitely writing for the trade, so I'm done with the single issues on this run.

But the art is so tempting...

... maybe one more...

stupid addictive comics...


Speaking of the art, I hate it when Jim Lee changes the length of Superman's cape. As someone else said in a review: wortks for Batman, not for Superman.

No crap comic this week?

well, what did Austen come out with?

10 to 1 says he had an X-book out!

Does Jim Lee draw Superman the way he does Batman, with ridiculously out of proportion hands?

The more I see of those old Image artists on classic DC characters(Turner's Flash, Lee's Batman), the more disgusted with them I become. That stuff was cool for me when I was 12. Now it's just silly.

I'll read Azzarello's Superman when it's a TPB. Or when my Superman loving friend buys the comics. I'm very curious to see what Azz can do. The main exposure I've had to him was his work on Hellblazer and 100 Bullets.

I thought I would Hate Superman by Azz and Lee, but it was pretty good. Readable unlike most of the tripe Superman has been in recent years.

I like Turner and I like Lee. I prefer other artists honestly though....so many I can't name them all.

It looks too inconsistent. But I guess my main problem is the way Lee is putting it on Superman's shoulders in some parts. His cape CAN'T do that.

That's understandable. And kinda funny, since most things in comics are unrealistic... seems fabric is included, too.

Quote:

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Disco sed: To those that rejoyce at the cancellation of the comic that replaced their favorite Rob Liefeld abomination,

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What's really sad is that said Liefeld abomination is coming back. . .with Liefeld on art.

Fuck. You're not serious?

Annie - no, I am a fan of Turner, Lee and Silvestri. I bought Witchblade and Fathom, after all.

I thought you had expressed displeasure with Lee's art on Batman.

Prepare for gritted teeth.

Dave Gibbons is the cross-hatching king, and pre-dates Lee.

I'm sure he was a big influence to Scott Williams. But when the entire comic industry started cross-hatching everything in the 90's it was because of Williams.