Friday, December 29, 2006

New Comic Day: 12-28-06

It's been a few weeks since my last New Comic Day review. I blame it on graduating college, moving towns, and dealing with a computer crash. But enough excuses - onto the reviews!

Justice League of America #5
by Brad Meltzer and Ed Benes
The team finally comes together (except Vixen, who's off doing her own thing) to confront Solomon Grundy, then the rebuilt Amazo. What makes this issue particularly noteworthy (besides Red Tornado spending most of it on the ground dealing with the punch he took last issue) is Meltzer's explanation of Grundy's different personality traits over the years. Rather than ignoring the shift in characterization between appearances, Meltzer offers a solid explanation that works better than other attempts to do the same (Magneto, anyone?). The book has its cute moments, but builds quite a bit of drama up for next issue's fight against Amazo. The solid art of Ed Benes does not hurt the cause, either. Definitely good stuff.
Jacob's Grade: A

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #25
by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson
As the Wanderers set up forcefields to capture the Legion and kidnap Light Lass, Karate Kid, Ultra Boy and Star Boy, Braniac 5 releases Mon-El from the Phantom Zone and suggests he attack Supergirl, who apparently imprisoned him there to begin with. Their fight shatters the forcefields, before Braniac ends the fight and cures Mon-El of his lead poisoning. As the team rallies, Mon-El too is kidnapped. Another quality issue from Waid and Kitson.
Jacob's Grade: B+

Astonishing X-Men #19
by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday
The X-Men and Hisako (an Institute student who may be carrying some excess mental baggage) are pulled onto a SWORD ship heading for Breakworld. Ord and Danger are immediately taken out of the picture as the X-Men and SWORD try to figure out what they're going to do about the apparent prophecy involving Colossus. Whedon's storytelling remains top-notch, but the continuation of Cyclops' depowering and the separation of Kitty and Colossus have me scratching my head. It's a setup issue, and as the action picks up on the last pages, it looks like this one's going to be a good one...if it can come out on time.
Jacob's Grade: B+

X-Men #184
by Mike Carey and Humberto Ramos
As Rogue's team prepares to leave the mansion on their own new transport, half of the squad goes looking for clues about the hospital where two of them had been held while the others investigate the man who dropped dead outside of the mansion's walls. This issue is showing that writer Mike Carey has a big picture planned for this squad, and the moving away from the mansion is a good touch for a group mainly made up of misfits and outlaws. I'm not a big fan of Karima's code-name (Omega Sentinel), but that's nitpicking. Humberto Ramos' rather cartoony style is quite a change of pace from regular artist Chris Bachalo, and if the two are indeed going to be trading storylines, it's going to be a strange change for this book. I never thought I'd say this...but I prefer Bachalo.
Jacob's Grade: B

Final Thoughts
If only I could have books this good every week. JLA remains in top form and I'm even warming to some of the weaker names on the roster (Hawkgirl, Black Lightning). Legion puts a new spin on the story of Valor without making him the false deity that his legend had made him in the last run of Legion. Astonishing is just starting its final story, so not a lot to report, but it looks to be good, again, if they can keep it on schedule. X-Men is the underdog of the X-Men titles, but it's still holding strong in what it's trying to be. I have my own wish list of things I'd like to see happen in X-Men, but that's a story for another day.


Well, that was fun. Next week we'll be seeing Civil War #6 continue Marvel's horribly paced, but undeniably exciting blockbuster, Civil War: Front Line #10 deal with the fallout of the war throughout the Marvel U, and Uncanny X-Men #482 continue Ed Brubaker's Shi'ar epic.

Monday, December 25, 2006

From the Box - Uncanny X-Men Annual #10

From the Box - a look at issues that have been sitting in the comic boxes unattended for quite some time. Today's edition:

UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #10
by Chris Claremont and Art Adams

Much like today's annuals, those of the 80s were giant sized issues that had little effect on the overall run of the title. Occasionally you'd get one major change out of the book, but other than that, the story would be largely forgettable. This issue's main point is bringing in Longshot, fresh from his introductory mini-series. It also establishes Mojo as an X-Men villain, fresh off his appearance in the same year's New Mutants annual.

As with most Mojo stories, it gives the writer (in this case, Chris Claremont) the opportunity to do pretty much whatever he can imagine to the characters. In this case, Mojo steadily regresses the X-Men (along with Magneto, Psylocke and Longshot) to infancy, then regrows them to adulthood, but in his image. The New Mutants, now decked out in strangely designed costumes (with Cypher wearing a Cyclops mask and Cannonball wearing pretty much what would become his original X-Force uniform) go after them and end up saving the day. It's once again pounded into our skulls that Psylocke has bionic eyes granted by Mojo, but this is a storyline that ends up going absolutely nowhere.

The biggest problem here is establishing where in continuity this issue fits. The X-Men have a straight shot of issues leading into the Mutant Massacre, which heavily shifts the roster of the team. Psylocke does not appear in the regular issues of Uncanny X-Men until after Nightcrawler, Colossus and Shadowcat (all appearing in this book) have been taken out, and Longshot stays missing until afterwards. I guess that would place this in the downtime right before the attack on the Morlocks begins, especially since Colossus is wearing his original costume, rather than his sleeveless red one. It's a mystery then, after having proven himself in battle here, that Longshot is not used in the fight against the Marauders. Or not even mentioned for that matter.

For the second year straight, art is provided by the amazing talents of Art Adams. I had a poster on my wall of his work for years and have a shirt featuring his amazing team shot featured in Classic X-Men #1, but his proportions are a little odd this time around. More than once, Cannonball's legs make up 3/4 of his entire height, which makes him look like his pants are pulled up to his armpits. Costume designs for Wolfsbane and Sunspot are particularly bad, but I think that may well be the point. How did the kids find time to make costumes when they had to save the X-Men anyway?

This is an issue that does not try to take itself seriously with such a ridiculous concept. Claremont repeated the story in 2005, but it didn't work out nearly as well, as it became a story of morales, rather than simply a fun issue. This one is nothing but ridiculous fun, and even though it's not a particularly strong story, it's definitely a fun read.

Jacob's Retro Grade: B-

Monday, November 27, 2006

New Comic Day 11/27/06

I missed New Comic Day last week due to being home for Thanksgiving...as well as being tired, sick, and owning a hatred of city-style traffic. Long story short, I picked up my books today and here we go!

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #24
by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson
The Legion comes back and defeats the imposters with the help of Supergirl's ability to read Kryptonese. The Legion decides to help the figure they saw in the Phantom Zone, a being named Mon-El, but in the process also decide not to leave Supergirl on Rokyn, as had been the original plan. As Phantom Girl and Saturn Girl attempt to help Mon-El, they discover the villains they had been fighting are holed up in the Phantom Zone as well.
Jacob's Grade: B+

The Walking Dead #32
by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard
A guard moves forward with the plan to help Rick escape, and he finds that Glenn has stuck around to help out. They free Michone, but she has revenge on her mind and goes to find the Governor. The others, including the town's doctor and nurse, move forward with their escape plan.
Jacob's Grade: A

Ultimate Spider-Man #102
The girl in the spider suit frees Peter from Nick Fury's custody and takes him to where she believes Mary Jane to be held, all while explaining the whole clone situation as she is aware of it. They arrive at the destroyed Oscorp Labs to find a transformed MJ rampaging, only changing back when Peter begins talking to her. As little is explained, a unexpected face shows up to add further mystery to the plot.
Jacob's Grade: B

X-Factor #13
At Jamie's request, X-Factor sits down for one-on-one visits with Doc Sampson to get a handle on recent occurances. Strong Guy talks about being forced to kill in cold blood, Siryn holds onto her denial of Banshee's death, Layla talks about the burden of her abilities, Monet shares her fear of what her brother had done to her, Rictor laments over the loss of his powers, and Wolfsbane reflects on the vision she had in the fight against Singularity. And at Sampson's request, Jamie tells Monet the truth about the "nighttime encounter" they had and subsequently gets thrown through a window.
Jacob's Grade: A

Final Thoughts
A strong week for my books. Had I known they were going to be this good, I wouldn't have waited to buy them. Legion did a good job of welcoming Supergirl into the ranks of the team, instead of just throwing her in and having everyone peachy keen on the idea. That, and the introduction of Mon-El is definitely exciting news. Walking Dead continues its excellent storytelling, with the build-up to the climactic encounter between Michone and the Governor leaving me going "Awwwww!" when the story ended. Ultimate Spidey turned it up a notch this month as they actually cleared up the zaniness that had been going on over the past few weeks. No menti0n of Ben Parker or Aunt May's condition, but enough little bits to keep the book good for a change (as of late, that is). X-Factor's rehash of the popular story from the early 90s run of the team was an excellent way to better characterize the team. It makes them much more likable, and much more human. Though none of them being exactly "A-list" characters (as one letter in the letters page bluntly puts it), they are old favorites and work together quite well in this setting.


Well, that's it for today. In two short days we'll be seeing Teen Titans #41 and X-Men #193. The jury's still out on whether I will be buying Onslaught: Reborn #1, but with Rob Liefeld doing art, I'm leaning quite heavily towards no.

Civil War Progress Report

Marvel pushes along at a snail's pace with it's epic crossover storyline "Civil War". Choosing a bi-monthly schedule, the seven-part story going in the main Civil War mini-series has taken almost half the year to get to its fifth issue. Many of the tie-in storylines in regular books, as well as several of the mini-series launched to coincide have since ended their runs, yet the main storyline still has two issues to go. That aside...

The story starts as the teenage team of the New Warriors attacks a house occupied by four villains in Stamford, Connecticut. One of the villains, Nitro, tires of the beating and triggers an explosion that kills all but one of the heroes, most of the villains as well as a sizable chunk of the town - most notably children attending an elementary school across the street from the explosion. To make matters worse, the New Warriors were shooting a reality show based on their heroics, so the entire incident - along with Speedball saying the attack was for ratings - was seen by millions of viewers. The public cries out for action against thoughtless heroics, so backed by the likes of Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic, Congress passes a Super-hero Registration Act. Any and all costumed heroes must register with SHIELD, including their true identities. Any who refuse must either retire their hero identity or risk arrest by the national government. All registered heroes become paid officers as SHIELD and work arm-and-arm with the government.

The ranks immediately split. Captain America sees this as the opposite of the very freedom he fights for, so when he immediately goes underground, forming a team of Secret Avengers including Hercules, Goliath, Luke Cage, Cloak, Dagger, Falcon and a number of the Young Avengers. Iron Man, the Act's figurehead, heads up a team of registered heroes, including the Fantastic Four, Yellowjacket, Wasp, She-Hulk, Sentry and Spider-Man, who actually unmasked to the public in a press conference to show his support.

This is an example of the classic Hero vs. Hero storyline, as two sides split over a controversial issue. Each side has its arguments, and neither is really wrong. It reflects the morales and beliefs of each individual who takes a side. While an intriguing idea, in most examples the story ends when one side is revealed to be definitely in the wrong, and the heroes rally together to defeat it. A classic example would be in X-Men/Alpha Flight when the two teams find a "Fire Fountain" that grants humans wondrous and beneficial abilities, but cause magical creatures to wither and die. While Alphans Shaman and Snowbird wither and near death, the teams divide between the needs of the many or the lives of the few. Soon after, though, it's revealed that the fountain was a "gift" from Loki which gives its gift at the price of a human's creativity and ability to come up with new ideas. They reject the gift, defeat Loki, end of story.

Civil War quickly fell into this formula as well. Teamed with the universally unlikable SHIELD (since Nick Fury's departure after Secret War), Iron Man's team not only hunts heroes who come out without registration, but even heroes who choose to stay at home (as seen with Luke Cage in the pages of New Avengers). Arrested heroes are taken to 42, a prison system devised by Reed Richards and built in the Negative Zone, where they are horribly mistreated and many held without trial or even having been charged (as seen in Civil War: Frontline). The main hit came when Iron Man produced a clone of Thor, which ended up savagely killing Goliath in combat. To combat the negativity of the incident, he reveals that he'll be using villains (don't think they're reformed) with chips in their heads to help combat Captain America's forces. Yeah, that always works well.

And thus, the "Whose Side Are You On?" catchphrase fails and we have our choice clearly made for us. Cap's the good one, Iron Man's the bad one, and we get to sit and watch it all work out. At the end of the day, it will no doubt turn into a "Our actions were wrong, but our ideals were right" argument on the side of the Pro-Registration as the system slowly shifts back to normal after about a six month span of post-War ramifications. Actually, this will likely only have an impact on one of my books (New Avengers), since the X-Men have been kept out of this storyline, safely shielded behind the walls of the Institute. Cable & Deadpool had a tie-in, but the end results achieved little that recent events in the book had not already achieved.

So in the end, we have Marvel's major event to tie together nicely in a number of trade paperback collections and fit onto the comic shelves until the next big storyline comes around. Hopefully they wait a little while so the majority of Marvel books don't remain tied in crossovers from a third of the year for a third straight year.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Welcome

Where once my comic rantings and reviews were taking up space in The Falling Tree, now there is a place of their very own. Soon, this will contain comicdom wisdom as only I (and about 17,000 others on the Internet) can provide.

Snoogins.