Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST. Beware some potential spoilers.
HOO, that was one INTENSE labor day weekend! Also, we've been moving into a new Geekanerd HQ, and you know, these things take quite a bit out of you. And by you I mean us.
Amazing Spider-Man #570 gets an A from Albo
Good old fashioned comic-booking from Dan Slott and John Romita, Jr. Nothing's being reinvented here, no concepts of what a comic can be challenged... Just a great lookin' story about Spider dealing with two Venoms. Seeing Eddie Brock getting into action again sure is exciting, and hints about Menace's real "deal" and an imminent showdown with Bullseye guarantee I'll be hanging on until this story is up and Slott/JRJR get swapped out for a lesser team (no offense to the next team, I haven't actually looked up who it's going to be.)
Detective Comics #848 gets an A from AHR
I can't believe I'm so excited about a Hush "event" story, but Dini's made him such an engaging character. More pieces of his slightly Norman Batesy past come to light, and we finally get a chance to see him put that medical degree to some truly horrific use. Throw in a surprising link to one of Dini's rising star villians, and this is a serious page-turner with great art to boot.
Secret Six #1 gets a A- from AHR
I loved the last series of this title with a passion, and this issue promises to continue the fun. Great setup for a wacky roadtrip plotline, a new gross and awesome villian, and a Batman tie-in! All the pieces are here for a kickass run, though I personally was hoping for a few more hillarious scenes with between the six (or four, as the case may be.). Simone also nobly
tries to give some resolution to Knockout's clumsily handled death scene, though I wish more time could have been devoted to settling what was my favorite relationship in DC comics. Maybe more of that is coming. A girl can dream.
Buffy Season Eight #18 gets a B+ from AHR
Lesbian sex! Lesbian sex! All of these comics have lesbian sex! Not that I'm complaining. This is a really fun issue, and the future plotline gets more engaging as Buffy meets some sort of alternate version of herself. And of course we get a little more Dark Willow, and who doesn't love Dark Willow? Honestly. Next month's cover appears to be suitable for framing.
Sub-Mariner: The Depths #1 gets a B from Albo
Recasting Namor as mythological sea terror in an submarine horror story is a stroke of genius. The art from Esad Ribic is really something unique as well, giving a soft pastel cast to a dark tale. Could become a great series, we'll see about that second issue.
Fringe #1 gets a D from Albo
Bargh. What a schmuck I am. I see the word "Whedon" on the cover and I jump, thinking I'm snagging some underpublicized Joss Whedon-does-JJ Abrams brilliance. Instead it's not Joss but Zack that greets me with half of this dull rag. There are two stories here, both about mind-swapping. And... Well, yeah. It's a prequel for the show.
Marvel Apes #1 gets a D from Albo
Zombies these are not.
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Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.
There are probably some minor SPOILERS herein.
King-Size Spider-Man Summer Special gets an A from Albo
I used to LOVE these 80-page Summer specials when I was a kid. Turns out I still do! Kinda. What we have here is a really great Spidey-less story about a bunch of Marvel Girls facing the Enchantress, a really awful Spidey/Falcon team up story where the the latter gives the former a bunch of unwarranted race relation scoldings, and a sub par story of mini-Spidey and mini-Venom competing for a paper route. Still worth it for that first one by Paul Tobin with really cute, clean art by Colleen Coover.
Reviews for Detective Comics #847, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #17, Special Forces #3, NYX: No Way Home #1, and Army @ Love: The Art of War #1 after the jump!
Detective Comics #847 gets an A- from AHR
I get it now! "Hush" fits into the cannon of Batman villains because his evil pathology is a Norman Batesesque mama's boy gone homicidal trip. And "Hush" is probably a hush-little-baby thing. I wonder if any of this was planned ahead of time or if Paul Dini in his wisdom just filled in the backstory to give this silly "event" character some substance. Either way, it's fun to see the pieces come together, and Dustin Nyguin's art shows no signs of becoming any less fun and surprising.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #17 gets a B from AHR
Did you enjoy the way the future punks spoke in The Dark Knight Returns? I didn't. Joss's future-speak in this arc of Buffy sounds even more tinny and labored than Miller's, but it does at least give rise to one really good gag in which Buffy bemoans how this perversion of the English language may be partly due to her own Whedonesque speaking patterns. I'm still not quite sold on the Fray arc, but the heavily foreshadowed cliffhanger of this issue guarantees my continued readership.
Special Forces #3 gets a B from Albo
This book is astonishingly amateur. It's really quite sloppy, but in a way that feels more like uncapped creativity than poor storytelling. Kyle Baker is constantly ALMOST going too far, and while the series hasn't quite lived up to the amazing first issue, it's still chock full of absurd, thought-provoking stuff. Bonus "reality" section in the back brings real world context to the issues Baker is dealing with in the book--including photos of real mutant babies with ironic word balloons. Like I said, this guy really pushes the boundaries of good taste.
NYX: No Way Home #1 gets a C from Albo
This first issue looks nice, but doesn't do much to get me interested in the characters. 'Nuff said?
Army @ Love: The Art of War gets a D from Albo
Very unfriendly to the new reader (me). If you want to see lots of cartoon boobs, this book is for you. If you want a clear story or a funny joke or some good drama leave this one on the shelf.
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Every week we at Geekanerd rip panels from our comics and put them on display here, recognizing the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the week. Beware some major SPOILERS.
Click the pics for high res goodness!
Skrull "Humanity" - Secret Invasion #3
Two separate scenes in this issue of
Secret Invasion featured Skrulls who really didn't seem to be all that into the mission at hand. The first, above, appears to be some sort of priest or something, and he looks pretty distressed about old whatsherface getting a gun pointed at her.
The second is the Skrull S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the lest of the above frame backing up Skrull Jarvis. He looks positively distraught about pointing a gun at Maria Hill. I like to think that during his time posing as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent he grew a certain fondness for Ms. Hill. These two frames alone really make me want to see a "
Frontlines" style story about the Invasion from the Skrull POV. I want to know what's going through these non-agressive Skrulls' heads. So c'mon--where's my
Secret Invasion: Behind Enemy Lines?
Worst Dialogue - Green Arrow Black Canary #10
When in need of a snappy banter, steal from 300.
Clearest Example of Batman's Insanity - Final Crisis: Requiem #1
I think these panels speak for themselves, so I'll just comment on the great use of "Hnnn".
Best Custom Contract Job - Secret Invasion #3
I love that some team of lowly Skrull contractors were hired to design and construct this giant room that serves only one purpose: stretch Mr. Fantastic out so much he can't wiggle out.
Banana Randomizer Award for Achievement in WTF - Detective Comics #846
So, we knew that as a child, Hush cut the brakes on his parents car, killing his dad and almost killing his mom. What we did NOT know is that he based his whole bandaged-face supervillian costume on the memory of his hospitalized mother, who of course was hospitalized because of his unsuccessful murder attempt. That...that's messed up.
Most Horrific Villain - Young Liars #5
Just looking at this section of the book again to post it makes me a little squemish. This crazy little man ambushes these poor bastards during sexy time, removes our protagonist's "Mr. Johnson" (Lapham's phrase, not mine) and proceeds to do some really bad things to his companion. Thankfully they "cut to black" right after that unsightly unzipping panel, but the absence of illustration might actually just make it worse. There's a taste of satisfaction when the little bastard gets a toothbrush to the eye courtesy of his female victim, but he jumps out the window and gets away. Which just means he'll show up later, even more grotesque than before with an eyepatch and a taste for revenge. Shivers.
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Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.
There are probably some minor SPOILERS herein.
Dead, She Said #2 gets an A from Albo
I'm so happy that the second issue of this series kept up everything I enjoyed about the first. Many detective stories will put their protagonist through a lot of pain before the story wraps up, systematically degrading the private dick's body and thus emphasizing their eventual triumph as a result of superior intellect and sheer force of will rather than brute strength. Steve Niles has decided to cut to the chase in this tale, where our lonely detective's body is actually decomposing rapidly due to a little condition called death. Everyone's complaints about the smell aren't keeping him from investigating his own murder, though. It's a really handsome book with fun storytelling, and I really can't recommend it enough to fans of detective stories or horror. Or giant ants (here's looking at you, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull lovers!).
Detective Comics #846 gets a B+ from AHR
Hush is back! *crickets* Oh well, some more details on his origin remind readers why they should care, and all in all this is as clever and satisfying an issue of 'Tec as I've come to expect from Dini.
Reviews for Detective Comics #846, Secret Invasion #3, Final Crisis Requiem, I Hate Giants #1, and Ultimate Origins #2 after the jump!
Young Liars #5 gets a B from Albo
It seems that Young Liars' "Curse of the Sucky Odd Numbered Issues" is finally over! After a miserable #1 and #3 (and a great #2 and #4), this issue came as a huge relief. I can't say it was perfect, since the story as a whole still has me pretty befuddled as to the whys and wherefores, but the scenes within this book were strong enough to make me overlook such vital silly points. It's pretty awesome that we're only in issue five and already there are some major consequences hitting this group of unlikeable protagonists. Oh yeah, that's a problem isn't it? I HATE these people. Even when I like this book I hate it. What's a fanboy to do?
Final Crisis: Requiem gets a C+ from AHR
Funny and sad character moments in the first half, but the second half is a dry, dry history lesson on Martian Manhunter. Big fans of the character might enjoy, I wouldn't know. I do know that DC should have bought the rights to use the brand "Oreo" for this final send off.
I Hate Giants #1 gets a C+ from AHR
High school nerd angst. And not very deep angst at that. Fun art saves it from the discard pile.
Secret Invasion #3 gets a C from Albo
Beautiful to look at, but nothing nothing nothing happens happens happens. Last issue ended with Nick Fury showing up to the fistfight with a big glock, and this issue shows him firing it. This issue ends with SPOILER Captain America and Thor showing up to the fistfight, and I bet next issue will show them punching things. Snorlax. But like I said, Leinil Francis Yu's art is, as always, something to behold.
Ultimate Origins #2 gets an F from Albo
F for who the F cares. F for why waste an Fing issue of your big Fing Ultimate event on a story (Captain America's origin) that we've all read a million Fing times. F for I have so many more bad things to say about this book but I've already wasted too much Fing time on it.
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Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 #15 gets an A from AHR
Oh noes! Here endeth the Buffy/Satsu storyline, aka the ship that launched a thousand fics. I'll certainly miss the lesbian jokes, but this issue wraps up with excellent action sequences, heartwarming and heartwrenching drama, and a satisfying resolution that still opens up a few doors. Also lots of lesbian jokes.
Detective Comics #845 gets an A from AHR
Too much fun. Batman and Detective Chimp sitting at their computers IMing each other may top out some people's tolerance for silliness, but i found it delightful.
Reviews for H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horrors #1, Omega: The Unknown #9, Secret Invasion #3, Trinity #1, Ultimate Origins #1 and House of Mystery #2 after the jump...
H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horrors #1 gets an A from Albo
Kind of a weird idea. Celebrated underground artist Richard Corben does graphic adaptations (and expansions) of H.P. Lovecraft short stories and poems, and includes the original source text after each story. This works really well when the source is a vague poem that he has built an interesting narrative around, but when the source is a short story with more evocative imagery than the adaptation, things become a little less satisfying. He did the same thing with Poe, but I haven't gotten the chance to read those. All told, a cool experiment and a welcome serving of Corben's unique art.
Omega: The Unknown #9 gets a B from Albo
This book is so consistently good that for some reason it hardly excites me anymore. That sounds cynical, right? But I'm sitting here flipping through it and thinking "that's great, that's great, that's good too" but I know that when I was reading it I was a little bored. What's the deal? Well, in my heart I know this is a classic story that I'll be re-reading for years to come. The end is near!
Secret Invasion #3 gets a B from Albo
Ho hum. Very skeletal storytelling. Feels like an outline for tie-in issues to elaborate on, a very Marvel storytelling method I strongly disapprove of. Yu's art is still amazing, though, and the confrontation between Skrullica Drew and Tony Stark is pretty exciting though I'm pretty sure it's just some Skrullian mind games.
Trinity #1 gets an A+F=C+ from AHR
Wow. The first half of this book, in which Bruce, Diana, and Clark meet up for lunch and talk about a spooky dream they had, is awesome. I love any time attention is drawn to how insane Batman's "Bruce Wayne" persona is, and here Wondy actually calls him on it. But the second part of this book is a droning mish-mash of expository detritus featuring characters and situations that I have zero interest in, and after spending a fun lunch with my oldest DC pals I have no desire to jump into a red and green space land full of proselytizing god/alien creatures. Perhaps the writers are trying to set up two bands of alien/god creatures, since that description extends to the titular trinity, with the intention of showing us how much more interesting the group who act like humans are. These two very segmented stories are perfect examples of what I love and hate about DC.
Ultimate Origins #1 gets a C from Albo
There's nothing outright bad about the first issue of this major Ultimate event, but it just doesn't make enough of a statement right off the bat to justify its existence. You can hardly blame Bendis, though. I mean, how many universes can he be expected to turn upside down at once?
House of Mystery #2 gets a C- from AHR
Bleh. Reads like second rate Neil Gaiman, with really self-conscious and over-stated fantastical dialogue. It's brightened up by some fun touches (lady pirate bouncer) and a few pages of Jill Thompson's moody cartoon art, but what a let down after such a gripping and disturbing first issue.
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Every week we at Geekanerd rip panels from our comics and put them on display here, recognizing the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the week. Beware some HUGE SPOILERS, including character-death related panels for a few of these issues!
Click the pics for high res goodness!
Emotion Without a Face - Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas #1
It's always been a problem showing emotion with fully masked characters. Spider-Man bends reality by having his eye shapes change around, Dr. Doom often has metal eyebrows that furrow with anger. But artist Adi Granov goes old school with good ole SURPRISE LINES!!! - Albo
Death scenes, a return to mid-90s fanboy hell, X-Factor jailbait and more, after the jump...
Making Light of a Bad Situation - Secret Invasion #2
Amid all the double hero scuffling going on in this issue, these two Spider-Men find some common ground. -Albo
Best Death - The Ventriloquist II, Batman #844
No sooner do we discover the second Ventriloquist's tragic origin story then do we see her meet an untimely end, mourned only by Scarface himself...
Chilling. No one can make fractured personalities seem quite as poignant as Paul Dini. Of course no villain has really ever died from a falling/drowning death, so here's hoping we see Sugar/Peyton again. -AHR
Worst Skrull Invader Design - Secret Invasion #2
Oh man, Wolvercyclopollus here is swimming in a sea of 90s cheese. I used to design guys that looked just like this all the time... When I was nine. -Albo
Visual Foreshadowing Alert - Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season Eight #14
Oh these two lovebirds are so adorable, but my goodness Xander is certainly doing a lot of gesticulating with those knives. I mean I know they're getting ready for battle here, but it's like knives a-go-go up in this joint, and specifically pointed at Renee. Could this be...visual foreshadowing?
...that's a yep. But Is She Dead? As mentioned earlier, it's premature to characterize a comic character as dead unless you see them with their head cut off or have a panel in which someone cradles the victim in their arms and says "....she's dead....". But there is a lot of precedent in the Buffy cannon for killing off characters, particularly love interests, in abrupt and shocking ways. Renee is (THEORETICAL SPOILER ALERT) on the next issue's variant cover, though Tara had her first appearance in the show's opening credits in the episode she died in (HAHA, Joss, hilarious), so that doesn't necessarily prove anything. I'd give it about 3 to 1 odds she's actually dead. Anyone think otherwise? -AHR
Jailbait! - Mighty Avengers #13
Isn't Layla Miller supposed to be like... 12? At most 16? This is some risque attire for a young lady to run around X-Factor HQ in. I don't trust that Strong Guy guy. -Albo
I saw that panel and I thought, "Who's the hottie in boyshorts? Layla Miller...why does that sound familiar...AHH! Unclean!" I don't think her age has been stated in the books, but I feel like it was always implied that she was like, EARLY teens. Pretty sketchy, Marvel. -AHR
Greatest Supporting Character - Omega: The Unknown #8
Nowhere Man really steals the show in this issue of Omega. He's only there for a couple pages, but the surreal awesomeness of his scenes is so so so great. -Albo
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Every week Geekanerd brings you the best, worst and weirdest panels from our week in comics. If you didn't read your books, there will be giant SPOILERS. Click the images for high res action!
Best Moves - Detective Comics #843
AHR: Zatanna kicks ass in this issue. So she's hanging out with Bruce at a party, and someone asks if they're an item, and he's all, "NO WAI!" And she's like, "O RLY?"
Man, how are you going to be that cavalier about asking out Batman? Do the words severe dissociative disorder mean anything to her? But seriously, Dini's run on Detective has featured a lot of great work on recovering relationship between these two, so I buy it. And there's a nice visual touch in the first panel - instead of asking Bruce to hand her a glass of water, she levitates it over to herself. Pretty cool customer.
More Zatanna, plus a racist vampire, an awesome comic cover and more after the jump!
Best Comeback - Zatanna, Detective Comics #843
AHR: This is just a good line any time someone tries to stick you with a label. I'm gonna remember it. Although it probably doesn't pack as much of a punch if one of the other things you are isn't a magician who can zap people's brains if she feels like it.
Coolest Development - Secret Invasion #1
Albo: The only interesting thing that really happened in the first issue of Marvel's newest big event was this panel--a Skrull ship crash lands on Earth, and when Luke Cage pries it open a bunch of throwback heroes flow out saying things like "At last we're back!" Are they Skrulls? Are they the real deal and their counterparts the Skrulls? Or are they time-displaced heroes destined to team up with their current time counterparts against a massive Skrullian menace? Who the heck knows, but I can't wait to find out. (Ooh, I hope they're the real deal)
Best Acting - Xander and Renee, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8: #10
AHR: When Xander and his slayer GF Renee go to visit Dracula, it quickly devolves into a melange of awkwardness. Dracula calls Renee a "moor", which is what they're reacting to in this first panel. Wonderful facial expressions here, also great nervous hand gesture from Xander.
Before long Xander is back under Dracula's ledgendary thrall, as Renee facepalms...
This next panel is the height of comedy as far as I'm concerned...
Xander's blithe expression and Renee's goggle-eyed take are absolutely perfect.
And much later, as Dracula learns of some Japanese vamps stealing his powers...
Facepalm again! I love when artists use dot-eyes for really silly gags. Let's hear it for Georges Jeanty!
Worst Dialogue - Countdown #4
AHR: "Like, totally ohmygosh you guys! I'm so sweet and innocent I can't even take the Lord's name in vain when the world is ending! Even though I get my powers from a number of Greek gods!" Where are the editors on this book? Honestly, who's minding the store?
Albo: Could it also be some writer self-commentary on the reviled series?
Sweetest Cover - Omega: The Unknown #7
Albo: Gary Panter really comes through in his artist guest spot, not only contributing a sweet ass comic within a comic but also the best cover of the series... Or any series in recent memory, for that matter.
Most Horrific Plot Development - The Walking Dead #48
AHR: For all the hemming and hawing over at Marvel about how Secret Invasion "CHANGES EVERYTHING", the developments of Walking Dead #48 make all the stuff at Marvel seem like small potatoes. For the last several years, The Walking Dead has been a story about a band of families, lovers and strangers, forced together by the need to survive. After this issue, in which about half of the cast dies including the hero's wife and new baby, I have to believe much of the rest of this book is going to be about grief.
Most Effective Small Talk Killer - American Splendor #1
Albo: Can't say the guy's off base. If anyone needs a little perspective it's Harvey Pekar.
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Every week we at Geekanerd rip panels from our comics and put them on display here, recognizing the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the week. Click the pics for high res goodness, and beware some major SPOILERS.
Definitive Proof that Jackpot is Not M.J. - Amazing Spider-Man #549
Because Mary Jane is a supermodel, and this girl looks like the thing on the Elmer's Glue bottle.
Scans from The Twelve #2 and Detective Comics #841 after the jump...
(Mis)Adventures in Computer Coloring - Amazing Spider-Man #549
I don't mind a little integration of real world textures into my comic book experience. But for Christ's sake you've gotta make that shit work. Observe:
Good.
The reflection of the city is attractive, the warping effect is nice, and apart from the fact that no skyscraper in the world would have window panels that tiny, it's believable.
Bad.
The reflection on the left is a grainy, pixellated jpeg. In other words, ugmo. The panel on the right totally ignores all common sense you would expect an artist to have about the way reflections work. If you're looking straight down the side of a building, the reflection will be of the street, not the skyline. (He uses the exact same photo for another panel in the book, btw). Who does this joker think he's kidding?
Classic Gags - Detective Comics #841
The setup is this girl is the last member of the new Alice in Wonderland gang to try Bats after he whomped all of the others. This is such a characteristic Paul Dini joke, and that's why I love him. Hats off to artist Dustin Nguyen for communicating a perfectly condescending, skeptical, and kind of sad look through a cowl.
Attack of the Chin - The Twelve #2
Oh my God that is one monstrous chin. It's like Jay Leno mated with a T-Rex and this beast of a man is the offspring.
Saddest Moment Ever II - The Twelve #2
AHR here: While Albo was concerned with the shape of Captain Wonder's head, I was being brought to tears by his absolutely gut wrenchingly sad flashback sequence. Of course, scenes like this are pretty standard for time-travel stories, the scene in The Ultimates when Cap tries to hook up with his old GF come to mind. But this sequence from The Twelve pulls no emotional punches - I was already starting to lose it by the last panels of the first page, thanks to Chris Weston's excellent job with Wonder's tormented facial expressions and the knife-twisting emphasis on the tombstone's grimly ironic epitaph. I never stood a chance against that splash page. Good Lord.
Sweetest Reunion - Nightwing #141
Here's a sentimental chaser after the emotional gutpunch of those last panels. Anyone who's ever put off calling a friend way longer than you realized can relate to this.
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Every week we at Geekanerd rip panels from our comics and put them on display here, recognizing the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the week. Click the pics for high res goodness, and beware SPOILERS.
Superheroes Are Dicks - Omega: The Unknown #4
Yeah, that's a bald eagle. To be fair, he looks a little ashamed in panel three.
Indiana Batman, Wrestling Buddies and Gorgeous Art after the jump...
Movie Moment - Detective Comics #840
"So do you, Detective!"
Fun With Archetypes - Countdown to Mystery #4
In this well drawn but supremely depressing story, the new Doctor Fate meets the kind of beautiful, charming, available comic book artist girl who are always showing up in comics. She has a lifesize standup of her most famous character, who is such an apt amalgamation of scary-tough-guy-in-overcoat characters, I had to pause to figure out if he was a real character.
Wrestling Buddy Alert - Ultimate Human #1
Some of you born at such a time that you missed the brief window of time when little boys and tomboys could buy dolls to wrestle with may have been puzzled by the few panels in Ultimate Human where an unexplained mini Iron Man is passed between Banner and Stark. Those of you who once had such a Wrestling Buddy, however, totally knew what was going on and no doubt shed a tear as the memories came flooding back. On a side note, never do a Google image search for "wrestling buddy" with SafeSearch turned off.
Prettiest Panel - Teen Titans: Year One #1
Aquaman makes poor Aqualad feel pretty bad for spazzing out upon seeing this glorious beast. I think silent awe is more appropriate.
Everything You Wanted to Know About the Incredible Hulk But Were Afraid to Ask - Ultimate Human #1
You heard the man. During transformation, the Hulk grows new internal organs. God bless the Ultimate Universe. Except Ultimates 3 which is some awful awful crap.
Beatdown of the Week - Gravel #0
Despite looking like some shit I drew in fifth grade, the knife through the face is a brutal move you just don't see too often.
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As a former film student, I've seen many a decent script (well, a few at least) ruined by bad acting. This happens in the world of comics too; thought the characters might be just ink on a page, they certainly do act out the script, and when they act badly you can tell somethings wrong. Some prime examples of bad comic book acting can be found in Detective #838. Writer Paul Dini has turned out another engaging Detective story with several strong emotional beats, but artist Ryan Benjamin really drops the ball in illustrating the facial expressions and body language that should make these moments come alive. See what I mean after the jump...
In the following scene, the recently resurrected Ra's Al Ghul tries to temp Robin to the dark side. Notice the lack of backgrounds in the following exchange, although I must say the colorists at least gave a nice sort of sponge-paint texture with what could have been a solid color background. The acting here is mediocre; you might expect a little more sting in Robin's face upon hearing Ra's offer to bring his parents back to life, but underacting isn't as distracting as what's coming up in a few panels....
Here comes the big acting moment...
What is that expression in the last panel? From Ra's dialogue, we can surmise Robin is supposed to be feeling...anger? Hurt? Self-Doubt? Schadenfreude about what a loser Jason is? It's impossible to tell what Dini had intended Robin's reaction to be, because nothing in this drawing, not the expression, the angle, or the lighting, is going to tell us. It's unfocused acting.
Shortly thereafter, it seems Robin might actually be convinced....
Here we have the opposite problem; in the first panel, Robin is seriously over-acting his line. We learn shortly after this sequence that Robin is just stalling for time, so perhaps the artist felt Robin should be over-acting, to convey to the audience the fact that he's just playing along. But did we really need both the arched eyebrow and a hand-to-chin pondering pose straight out of the silent film era? This is the kind of acting you could get away with if you were drawing a henchman, or some other kind of dim-witted character. But with a character like Robin, it comes off as overselling a simple point. The second panel is a little better, as you do see a bit of urgency in his face, although for someone who learned from Batman, that certainly isn't much of a poker face.
Here we see an subtle example of out-of-character acting. Some might dispute this point, but this struck me as too smug of a pose for the Dark Knight. I'm not saying that Batman has never been written as a smug jerk, but in Dini's run of Detective he's tended to be more on the stoic side. Whether you like this pose or not (and I'll admit it's a cool expression), this is a good example of how an expression can color a characters "line-reading". Combined with the smirk, this line comes off like undignified bragging.
Speaking of smirks, here we have a Arkham doctor conferring with a colleague after seeing a trio of villains bouncing off the walls in a padded cell, due to events seen in Nightwing #138.
Now, I realize Arkham has a history of hiring some pretty screwed up people. But that smirk is out of control. Combined with the arched eyebrow and a literal gleam in her eye, and you have the most evil woman in the world. It's hard to call this an out of character moment, since we don't know who this character is, but it's clear that this moment is about the contrast between what the doctor is feeling and saying, and it would have been more believable, and therefore more chilling, if the smile felt like something between the reader and the character, as opposed to a huge grin everyone in the room can see.
Meanwhile, Talia and Batman wander around in the snow....
Besides the "clothing/anatomy doesn't work that way" alert in panel four, that last panel has Batman looking kind of like Santa Claus in his level of jolliness. It's kind of hilarious though, so maybe I'll just stop complaining here. Here's hoping next month's issue of Tec is more balanced.
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Geekanerd's Snap Judgments gives you Triple-S comic reviews: short, sweet, and spoiler-free.
Omega: The Unknown #1 (of 10)
Gets a A- from Albo
This ten issue miniseries is a retelling of a 70s series which was cut short due to slow sales. From the beginning of the plot synopsis I read on Wikipedia it appears writer Jonathan Lethem (novelist, MacArthur Fellowship recipient, first time comics writer) is sticking pretty tight to that original story. What we have is Omega, a traveler from another world who apparently has crash landed on earth and Alexander, a precocious young boy who learns something very shocking about his parents before lapsing into a coma. The two characters are clearly linked (though to go into how might violate our spoiler rule), but it isn't exactly explained how. Is Omega a dream of Alexander's? Is Alexander a dream of Omega's? The storytelling is deep and sometimes dips into Allred-esque absurdity, but the emotional core of the story is quite grounded. So far. Farel Dalrymple (Pop Gun War) produces art that's a little crude but fits the mood of the story so well it can't be considered a detriment. Anyway, it's a very fresh and original (it's a remake, I know I know) book and I'll definitely be sticking around to see where this goes.
Metal Men, two takes on Howard the Duck, and Detective after the jump...
Metal Men #3
Gets an A+ From AHR
Wow, this was great. The last two issues of this series certainly looked amazing, but the tech talk and ancient alchemy plot-lines seemed needlessly inaccessible, and very separate from the fun and engaging sequences featuring the present-day Metal Men and the flashback storyline concerning Dr. Magnus' early career. But it all comes together here, with a dynamite opening scene in which we find Dr. T.O Morrow having gone from his most recent incarnation in 52, as a cocktail sipping eccentric, back to a full blown mad scientist supervillian, complete with a Snidely Whiplash Mustache and army of "Death Metal Men". All of the elemental explanation about how these radioactive doppelgangers came into existence is easily understood and hugely satisfying; this is a rare book where instead of patiently waiting for the exposition to be over with, I couldn't wait to see what new piece of the puzzle the next page would reveal. Throw in some more sweet 'n' sad relationship drama, a great cliffhanger, and Metal Men has become my new most anticipated book of next month.
Howard the Duck #1 (of 4)
Gets a
Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST. Beware some potential spoilers.
