I thought it might be nice to have a running thread where we talk about new comics. Each new issue might not deserve its own thread, and each title might not be popular enough (or have enough going on in a given month) to keep a discussion going, but a thread like this might give us a place to gather and talk about the new stuff.
So what'd ya get?
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Fables 92: A good start to a fun 2-parter (I loved the Casey at the Bat parody), and even the "murder in Haven" plot was far more lighhearted than I'd expected. A nice breather.
Joe the Barbarian 1: A gorgeous comic, and it looks like an exciting premise -- Joe seemingly entering a fantasy world of his toys as he starts going into diabetic shock. I'll be waiting for the trade for this -- but this $1 issue ensured I'll be eagerly awaiting it.
Blackest Night: Flash #2. This seemed like a standard Blackest Night crossover issue to me; thankfully, I'm not reading too many of them. I *did* like seeing the Golden Glider and the original Mirror Master again -- and the Top's revelation of his and the Weather Wizard's old plans is a great seed for future stories.
Starman 81: This is probably the best thing James Robinson has written since he returned. I'm glad he brought his A game back to Opal.
Power Girl 8: Man, I'm glad I added this book to my pull list -- and boy, do I regret missing the Cappie deadline to nominate Palmiotti & Gray for "Most Underrated Writer." This Vartox story is a real gem, full of silly, sexy fun, and never taking a wrong turn into Ickyville. Plus: The return of Power Girl's awesome evening gown from that Adam Hughes poster! And a mad scientist badger! My favorite book of the week.
Nation X - There have been two issues of this four issue anthology mini so far and it's had more hits than misses for me. In fact, there haven't been any outright "ugh" stories so far. The highlight for me has been the Logan/Kurt roadtrip with art by Mike Allred. A panel of just the two of them listening to Ira Glass on NPR brought a smile to my face. I'm enjoying Utopia as a concept, especially now that Namor and the Atlanteans are involved. I've now lived long enough to see Northstar's sexual preference go from being only very, very subtly referenced to having whole stories centered on his boyfriend. It gives a feeling of real world progress to a comic series about not fitting into society. Early X-Men stories read by many, many people my age and younger...maybe they did make a bit of difference. :)
Uncanny X-Men - Poor ol' Magneto...he's gone from bad to good to bad to good so often even he can't blame Scott and the others for not trusting him. But it looks like he's gonna put down roots in Marin County and that'll be interesting.
That's even nicer, in a way. While I'd be interested to hear an episode of TAL on Growing Up Mutant, it's also great to see moments where heroes are just people -- and the stuff that they enjoy that has nothing to do with their own superpowered status.
Power Girl's cat is similar. It makes her more personable, that she has a pet she cares about & buys litter for.
Picked up four comics today. I'll get to Astro City & Detective Comics later, but here are my impressions of the first two I've read:
Green Lantern 50: In once sense, it's Blackest Night 5.5. It fleshes out the "New Guardians" a little during a big fight with the Black Lantern Spectre in Coast City. Lotta Kablam, lotta Kablooey. In another sense, though it wasn't as satisfying as a Blackest Night issue -- there was a lot of fighting and some nice character moments (Mera's dialogue to Arthur was the best, in my opinion), but the whole story seems to exist so Blackest Night 6 can do a 3-page recap and move forward. The fact of the matter is, no matter how much good work is done with them, I don't really have any emotional investment in the Green Lantern mythos anymore -- ironic, since the book has become all *about* emotion.
Wonder Woman 40. On the other hand, creepy little children magically inciting unrest -- even among godlike creatures? I'm there. Plus, an exploration of the changes Etta Candy went through, and the setup for a hell of a fight next issue. I know this book has its detractors, but it honestly might be my favorite run of Wonder Woman ever. Really nice cover, too:
Arrgh.. I shoulda figured it'd been tried before. But yeah -- I really want to keep the ball rolling on this one, and have lots of mini conversations that don't need their own thread.
For one thing, surely there have been other "children of the damned" groups in comics before The Crows in Wonder Woman. But for some reason I'm coming up blank. In a sense, these guys are functioning like Hate-Monger from Fantastic Four, but their design as a group of kids makes them so much creepier (and more effective) to me.
Well, last week (or the week before, I forget which), I got The Brave and the Bold #31, featuring The Joker and The Atom. On first read it was interesting, although it was mostly because I didn't just suspend my disbelief; I locked it in a vault once I read the first page.
The premise: The Joker is in Arkham Asylum and he's dying because all the synapses in his brain are going haywire, and doctors call in The Atom to save him by crawling around inside his noggin to directly apply a dose of industrial-strength McGuffin Serum. When the Atom is told of the dilemma -- The Joker is dying -- he says, "I don't see a problem," but reconsiders when he's told the procedure was as likely to kill The Joker as cure him. (Wha -- ?) The Atom is warned, however, that being inside The Joker's brain may overwhelm him with The Joker's memories, and temporarily with his personality traits.
Anyway, there wouldn't have been a story if The Atom had just gone back to Ivy Town, so he commences with the mission -- and c'mon, stories with The Atom crawling around inside someone's brain are fun! Who can forget the classic Brave and the Bold story ("The Corpse That Wouldn't Die!", issue #115, 1974) in which Tthe Atom is jumping around inside Batman's head?
In this story, however, things are more grim. Here, The Joker is presented as a bad seed. His memories are of him as a "weird" kid beset by bullies who bashes one tormentor upside the head and is expelled from school -- and not for the first time that year -- as a consequence. As a teen, he responds to his parents' bickering ("Do you know what your rotten kid did today?" "Oh, he's my rotten kid now? He's your rotten kid as much as mine!") by trapping them in the home and blithely setting it ablaze. As a young adult, he puts together a crew and engages in stickups, but takes more pleasure in killing than in getting the money. Somehow, we don't get a falling-in-the-vat-of-chemicals scene, but we later see him in his classic dandified purple suit, standing on a teeter-totter with some unfortunate slob on the other end -- dangling over the edge of a skyscraper's roof -- as he explains his philosophy of madness.
On first read, it was an interesting look at The Joker's past (not "origin"), if one chooses to accept it, which, in the end, I don't. I prefer the mystery of not knowing what his past was.
Plus, it isn't really plausible that The Atom would agree to this at all: It's The Joker! Even if there are doctors who feel an ethical obligation to save his life (although not every physician has to take the Hippocratic Oath, which isn't even taught in every medical school), Ray Palmer is not a physician, and doesn't have that to guide him. And to agree to try because the medicine might not work makes no sense at all.
Detective Comics 861. For the first time, my favorite part of the issue was the Rucka/Hamner Question feature. They did a real nice job on the confrontation with Mister Zeiss, and Tot's disapproval of it. (Zeiss is a villain from when Brubaker was writing the Batbooks, right?) As for the main feature? Creepy. Though as good as Jock is, I miss JHW3.
Astro City: The Dark Age Book Four 1. Great idea after great idea... I love the secret of the Green Man, I love the swarm of redheaded omac-guys, and I love that we're going to be seeing Vegas next issue. I'm very curious what Royal keeps noticing in his reflection, also.
Replies
Fables 92: A good start to a fun 2-parter (I loved the Casey at the Bat parody), and even the "murder in Haven" plot was far more lighhearted than I'd expected. A nice breather.
Joe the Barbarian 1: A gorgeous comic, and it looks like an exciting premise -- Joe seemingly entering a fantasy world of his toys as he starts going into diabetic shock. I'll be waiting for the trade for this -- but this $1 issue ensured I'll be eagerly awaiting it.
Blackest Night: Flash #2. This seemed like a standard Blackest Night crossover issue to me; thankfully, I'm not reading too many of them. I *did* like seeing the Golden Glider and the original Mirror Master again -- and the Top's revelation of his and the Weather Wizard's old plans is a great seed for future stories.
Starman 81: This is probably the best thing James Robinson has written since he returned. I'm glad he brought his A game back to Opal.
Power Girl 8: Man, I'm glad I added this book to my pull list -- and boy, do I regret missing the Cappie deadline to nominate Palmiotti & Gray for "Most Underrated Writer." This Vartox story is a real gem, full of silly, sexy fun, and never taking a wrong turn into Ickyville. Plus: The return of Power Girl's awesome evening gown from that Adam Hughes poster! And a mad scientist badger! My favorite book of the week.
Uncanny X-Men - Poor ol' Magneto...he's gone from bad to good to bad to good so often even he can't blame Scott and the others for not trusting him. But it looks like he's gonna put down roots in Marin County and that'll be interesting.
Power Girl's cat is similar. It makes her more personable, that she has a pet she cares about & buys litter for.
Green Lantern 50: In once sense, it's Blackest Night 5.5. It fleshes out the "New Guardians" a little during a big fight with the Black Lantern Spectre in Coast City. Lotta Kablam, lotta Kablooey. In another sense, though it wasn't as satisfying as a Blackest Night issue -- there was a lot of fighting and some nice character moments (Mera's dialogue to Arthur was the best, in my opinion), but the whole story seems to exist so Blackest Night 6 can do a 3-page recap and move forward. The fact of the matter is, no matter how much good work is done with them, I don't really have any emotional investment in the Green Lantern mythos anymore -- ironic, since the book has become all *about* emotion.
Wonder Woman 40. On the other hand, creepy little children magically inciting unrest -- even among godlike creatures? I'm there. Plus, an exploration of the changes Etta Candy went through, and the setup for a hell of a fight next issue. I know this book has its detractors, but it honestly might be my favorite run of Wonder Woman ever. Really nice cover, too:
You've given it a more dynamic title, so hopefully it'll keep going! :)
For one thing, surely there have been other "children of the damned" groups in comics before The Crows in Wonder Woman. But for some reason I'm coming up blank. In a sense, these guys are functioning like Hate-Monger from Fantastic Four, but their design as a group of kids makes them so much creepier (and more effective) to me.
The premise: The Joker is in Arkham Asylum and he's dying because all the synapses in his brain are going haywire, and doctors call in The Atom to save him by crawling around inside his noggin to directly apply a dose of industrial-strength McGuffin Serum. When the Atom is told of the dilemma -- The Joker is dying -- he says, "I don't see a problem," but reconsiders when he's told the procedure was as likely to kill The Joker as cure him. (Wha -- ?) The Atom is warned, however, that being inside The Joker's brain may overwhelm him with The Joker's memories, and temporarily with his personality traits.
Anyway, there wouldn't have been a story if The Atom had just gone back to Ivy Town, so he commences with the mission -- and c'mon, stories with The Atom crawling around inside someone's brain are fun! Who can forget the classic Brave and the Bold story ("The Corpse That Wouldn't Die!", issue #115, 1974) in which Tthe Atom is jumping around inside Batman's head?
In this story, however, things are more grim. Here, The Joker is presented as a bad seed. His memories are of him as a "weird" kid beset by bullies who bashes one tormentor upside the head and is expelled from school -- and not for the first time that year -- as a consequence. As a teen, he responds to his parents' bickering ("Do you know what your rotten kid did today?" "Oh, he's my rotten kid now? He's your rotten kid as much as mine!") by trapping them in the home and blithely setting it ablaze. As a young adult, he puts together a crew and engages in stickups, but takes more pleasure in killing than in getting the money. Somehow, we don't get a falling-in-the-vat-of-chemicals scene, but we later see him in his classic dandified purple suit, standing on a teeter-totter with some unfortunate slob on the other end -- dangling over the edge of a skyscraper's roof -- as he explains his philosophy of madness.
On first read, it was an interesting look at The Joker's past (not "origin"), if one chooses to accept it, which, in the end, I don't. I prefer the mystery of not knowing what his past was.
Plus, it isn't really plausible that The Atom would agree to this at all: It's The Joker! Even if there are doctors who feel an ethical obligation to save his life (although not every physician has to take the Hippocratic Oath, which isn't even taught in every medical school), Ray Palmer is not a physician, and doesn't have that to guide him. And to agree to try because the medicine might not work makes no sense at all.
Detective Comics 861. For the first time, my favorite part of the issue was the Rucka/Hamner Question feature. They did a real nice job on the confrontation with Mister Zeiss, and Tot's disapproval of it. (Zeiss is a villain from when Brubaker was writing the Batbooks, right?) As for the main feature? Creepy. Though as good as Jock is, I miss JHW3.
Astro City: The Dark Age Book Four 1. Great idea after great idea... I love the secret of the Green Man, I love the swarm of redheaded omac-guys, and I love that we're going to be seeing Vegas next issue. I'm very curious what Royal keeps noticing in his reflection, also.
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