Tpull's Weekly DC Comics Review – Part 1

February 14, 2010 1:17 AM | Comments:

Adventure Comics 7

by Tony Bedard and Travis Moore

I have to admit, if I was a girl in the DC universe, and Superboy treated me like he treats Wonder Girl, I probably wouldn’t be trusting to go on many dates. Of course, he is possessed by a Black Lantern ring, but still. We get a slightly different take on things, because here we get to peek inside a Black Lantern. The twist is that Conner is actually still in there somewhere, trying to fight. This may not be the rule for many of the others. Remember, Superman and the others were alive when the black rings took them over. So do Aquaman and company have the same internal struggle, or just the heroes who had already been resurrected?

Bedard shows the same love for Krypto that a couple of other DC writers have shown recently, and the art looks pretty cool, showing exactly what is needed to complement the story. Conner is able to drop a hint that sends Cassie running to the Fortress of Solitude, and Krypto figures out to dig up the old Kryptonian healing chamber. The recap at the beginning reminds us that when Superboy Prime killed Conner, he was placed in a healing chamber for a thousand years, and revived by the Legion. So the currently-possessed Conner was sent from the future, and his original “corpse” is buried under the Fortress. Once the corpse is in play, the ring feels pulled towards an easier target than the current host, since Conner can put up a resistance. As much as the rings feed off of emotion, it appears they are lazy enough to want a host that doesn’t put up much of a fight.

Conner himself saves the day by at last using his freeze breath, the one power that his half-Kryptonian clone body had not displayed, but one which his Black Lantern-possessed body could perform with seeming ease. That traps the ring, and Cassie sends it flying out of range. Just when you thought you might be tired of the little side-stories with the Blackest Night, they come up with another angle. It is a much more nuanced story-telling than the old days. For example, in the Millenium series, DC made an editorial edict that every title had to reveal a hidden Manhunter. The various writers incorporated this direction to different degrees of success. Most of the Blackest Night writers appear to have more enthusiasm for the event, and have used their heads to craft tales just slightly different enough from each other to keep your interest up. It’s part of the reason I am enjoying it more than Marvel’s Civil War or Secret Invasion, where the tie-ins seemed all of one note, hitting the same topic over and over. Within the framework of Blackest Night, the writers have managed to create a little variety each time.

Batman and Robin 8

by Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart

Morrison tends to keep his explanations minimal, but all you need to know is that Darkseid planted a replica of Batman’s body, and that was the one Nightwing threw in the Lazarus Pit. No wringing his hands about the morality of it, shortly after we had Tim Drake tempted to do the same thing and Nightwing talked him out of it. Don’t count on Morrison to pay attention to anything that came before him if he wasn’t involved with it, and don’t ask him to have the heroes stop and consider the morality of their situation. He’s too busy crafting what he thinks is an exciting tale.

This issue is mostly the resurrected Bat-copy fighting everyone, and yet another cave explosion takes out the whole place, leaving Batwoman near death. Cool deal for a relatively new heroine, yes? Have her die already. Her plan is to die, so next issue I’m guessing she gets to use the Pit as well. Of course, they won’t have any problem using it, despite the fact that the whole place just blew up. Trying to make sense of out it is like asking Grayson to think twice about throwing a corpse into a Lazarus Pit. Logic and contemplation seem to have gone out the window.

Cameron Stewart’s art works, but just barely. His attempted rendition of the Bat costume is simplistic and lacks the crispness of most modern artists that do a take on it. I don’t know if this is a purposeful throwback to an earlier style, but I didn’t see that called for in the story. This particular plot has felt somewhat random, and I don’t feel any suspense. I’m not the slightest concerned for Batwoman’s condition, and I suspect that’s partly due to the art not being better, and partly due to Morrison’s plotting style, which leads you too quickly to where he is going next. Do I really need to buy the next issue if I’m 96% certain what he’s going to do? Ah well, at least we get a cool Frank Quitely cover.

Booster Gold 29

by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund

We’re in the past, and Hank Henshaw has no clue he keeps running into time-travelers who know his real agenda. He keeps trying to politely insist he is the real Superman. Sondra Crain is the agent trying to save Coast City from destruction, and we learn she is from the U.S. government! That is perfectly plausible in the DC universe, and equally as frightening, as Booster mentions. Given the current state of the country, the idea that our government could muck things up further by messing around in the time stream is horrendous and funny at the same time.

Booster almost seems convinced that it’s worth a try to change history, not even mentioning the lesson he learned with trying to stop the tragedy that happened to Barbara Gordon. He also doesn’t know yet that this is the era his sister Michelle went to, and she didn’t have any better luck trying to warn people of the danger. The art follows the story great, allowing us to see all the players, have enough words to explain each element, and still stick enough action sequences in. Well done.

The last Blue Beetle second feature is written by Matthew Sturges, with Mike Norton on pencils. The Peacemaker basically nukes the pyramid where the Reach has their base, which releases Jaime from its hold. A little magic helps shield Beetle. They toss in a great in-joke at the end, with Paco saying they cancelled his favorite comic, and him being in a team book is “not the same.” I’m not sure if he’ll get more appearances other than with the Teen Titans for the immediate future, but the next question is this: does Booster Gold go back to $2.99, or does he get a different second feature? I like the idea of DC rotating out 8-pagers to experiment with different characters.

R.E.B.E.L.S. 13

by Tony Bedard and Claude St. Aubin

The Omega Men find a poison remnant that Doc thinks he can replicate, and they rush back to the proper galaxy. Brainiac 2 uses the Psions to help regrow Despero’s body, and don’t try to figure out how he can speak without lungs… or a neck… or a body. Brainiac 3 wants to betray Starro, but dear old dad doesn’t initially believe him. After some struggle, the kid gets the upper hand, cuts a deal with Smite, who had been waiting in the wings to try to take over at some point anyway, and Lyrl teleports Starro into a trap.

I am growing fond of St. Aubin’s artwork, as it is obvious he tries to give us something worthwhile to look at on every page, sometimes focusing on the people, other times on the environment. The story moves fast, and we already see Brainiac set up the weapon that he thinks will take out Starro. Next issue is the conclusion. I’ll be there.

Secret Six 18

by Gail Simone, John Ostrander and J. Calafiore

It’s weird. Calafiore can do some great Black Lantern zombies, but he still has his same old method for drawing stock faces on the regular humans. His Amanda Waller is pudgy and without distinction, still not successful to visually portray any of the menace we loved to see reflected in her in the Suicide Squad under different artists. Simone overplays her hand, punching in too many not-funny-enough jokes, although she still channels Rag Doll perfectly. With the others, less would have been more.

Black Alice has lost her original personality. She is somehow creeped out too much, even though this is a person who has been to Hell already, and back. Literally. She’s scared, and she doesn’t want to give up Nightshade’s power because she “might” need it to survive. We haven’t seen this cowardice side of Alice anywhere before, and it feels like it is there just to have something to do with the character. Under a more gifted writer, it might become good grist for a future storyline, but I tend to think it will be dropped immediately and not mentioned again, because I doubt there will be a need for her to be scared again any time soon.

A combination of green energy stored in an old Manhunter robot and Doctor Light’s white flash grenades is enough to disintegrate all the bodies, but it feels a little too easy here, like the writers are finally run out of good alternative ways to defeat these monsters. I would have found a solution via Black Alice and/or Nightshade more believable.

We learn that Amanda Waller is also Mockingbird, their secret benefactor. Faraday points out that she also tried to dismantle the Secret Six recently. This is not explained at all, and given the insanity that is Simone’s plotting, I am beginning to have doubts it ever will. Just like she doesn’t explain any motivation sof her characters, she doesn’t stop to explain any motivation for Waller, either. I’m also sick of the cheating she is doing by insisting Scandal is not part of the team, but having her in every issue, so we’re dealing with seven characters instead of six. Simone insisted there was a reason why there should be six members, but she hasn’t been sticking to that number.

Finally, the constant number of people getting shot and not killed is ridiculous. From the very second I saw Deadshot shoot Waller, I KNEW that nothing would come of it. Which is a shame, because think of what Ostrander could do with a Suicide Squad being haunted by a Black Lantern Amanda Waller…

Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

Adventure Comics 7 \n\n by Tony Bedard and Travis Moore \n\nI have to admit, if I was a girl in the DC universe, and Superboy treated me like he treats Wonder Girl, I probably wouldn’t be trusting to go on many dates. Of course, he is possessed by a Black Lantern ring, but still. We get a slightly different take on things, because here we get to peek inside a Black Lantern. The twist is that Conner is actually still in there somewhere, trying to fight. This may not be the rule for many of the others. Remember, Superman and the others were alive when the black rings took them over. So do Aquaman and company have the same internal struggle, or just the heroes who had already been resurrected?\n\nBedard shows the same love for Krypto that a couple of other DC writers have shown recently, and the art looks pretty cool, showing exactly what is needed to complement the story. Conner is able to drop a hint that sends Cassie running to the Fortress of Solitude, and Krypto figures out to dig up the old Kryptonian healing chamber. The recap at the beginning reminds us that when Superboy Prime killed Conner, he was placed in a healing chamber for a thousand years, and revived by the Legion. So the currently-possessed Conner was sent from the future, and his original “corpse” is buried under the Fortress. Once the corpse is in play, the ring feels pulled towards an easier target than the current host, since Conner can put up a resistance. As much as the rings feed off of emotion, it appears they are lazy enough to want a host that doesn’t put up much of a fight.\n\nConner himself saves the day by at last using his freeze breath, the one power that his half-Kryptonian clone body had not displayed, but one which his Black Lantern-possessed body could perform with seeming ease. That traps the ring, and Cassie sends it flying out of range. Just when you thought you might be tired of the little side-stories with the Blackest Night, they come up with another angle. It is a much more nuanced story-telling than the old days. For example, in the Millenium series, DC made an editorial edict that every title had to reveal a hidden Manhunter. The various writers incorporated this direction to different degrees of success. Most of the Blackest Night writers appear to have more enthusiasm for the event, and have used their heads to craft tales just slightly different enough from each other to keep your interest up. It’s part of the reason I am enjoying it more than Marvel’s Civil War or Secret Invasion, where the tie-ins seemed all of one note, hitting the same topic over and over. Within the framework of Blackest Night, the writers have managed to create a little variety each time.\n\n\n Batman and Robin 8 \n\n by Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart \n\nMorrison tends to keep his explanations minimal, but all you need to know is that Darkseid planted a replica of Batman’s body, and that was the one Nightwing threw in the Lazarus Pit. No wringing his hands about the morality of it, shortly after we had Tim Drake tempted to do the same thing and Nightwing talked him out of it. Don’t count on Morrison to pay attention to anything that came before him if he wasn’t involved with it, and don’t ask him to have the heroes stop and consider the morality of their situation. He’s too busy crafting what he thinks is an exciting tale.\n\nThis issue is mostly the resurrected Bat-copy fighting everyone, and yet another cave explosion takes out the whole place, leaving Batwoman near death. Cool deal for a relatively new heroine, yes? Have her die already. Her plan is to die, so next issue I’m guessing she gets to use the Pit as well. Of course, they won’t have any problem using it, despite the fact that the whole place just blew up. Trying to make sense of out it is like asking Grayson to think twice about throwing a corpse into a Lazarus Pit. Logic and contemplation seem to have gone out the window.\n\nCameron Stewart’s art works, but just barely. His attempted rendition of the Bat costume is simplistic and lacks the crispness of most modern artists that do a take on it. I don’t know if this is a purposeful throwback to an earlier style, but I didn’t see that called for in the story. This particular plot has felt somewhat random, and I don’t feel any suspense. I’m not the slightest concerned for Batwoman’s condition, and I suspect that’s partly due to the art not being better, and partly due to Morrison’s plotting style, which leads you too quickly to where he is going next. Do I really need to buy the next issue if I’m 96% certain what he’s going to do? Ah well, at least we get a cool Frank Quitely cover.\n\n\n Booster Gold 29 \n\n by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund \n\nWe’re in the past, and Hank Henshaw has no clue he keeps running into time-travelers who know his real agenda. He keeps trying to politely insist he is the real Superman. Sondra Crain is the agent trying to save Coast City from destruction, and we learn she is from the U.S. government! That is perfectly plausible in the DC universe, and equally as frightening, as Booster mentions. Given the current state of the country, the idea that our government could muck things up further by messing around in the time stream is horrendous and funny at the same time.\n\nBooster almost seems convinced that it’s worth a try to change history, not even mentioning the lesson he learned with trying to stop the tragedy that happened to Barbara Gordon. He also doesn’t know yet that this is the era his sister Michelle went to, and she didn’t have any better luck trying to warn people of the danger. The art follows the story great, allowing us to see all the players, have enough words to explain each element, and still stick enough action sequences in. Well done.\n\nThe last Blue Beetle second feature is written by Matthew Sturges, with Mike Norton on pencils. The Peacemaker basically nukes the pyramid where the Reach has their base, which releases Jaime from its hold. A little magic helps shield Beetle. They toss in a great in-joke at the end, with Paco saying they cancelled his favorite comic, and him being in a team book is “not the same.” I’m not sure if he’ll get more appearances other than with the Teen Titans for the immediate future, but the next question is this: does Booster Gold go back to \$2.99, or does he get a different second feature? I like the idea of DC rotating out 8-pagers to experiment with different characters.\n\n\n R.E.B.E.L.S. 13 \n\n by Tony Bedard and Claude St. Aubin \n\nThe Omega Men find a poison remnant that Doc thinks he can replicate, and they rush back to the proper galaxy. Brainiac 2 uses the Psions to help regrow Despero’s body, and don’t try to figure out how he can speak without lungs… or a neck… or a body. Brainiac 3 wants to betray Starro, but dear old dad doesn’t initially believe him. After some struggle, the kid gets the upper hand, cuts a deal with Smite, who had been waiting in the wings to try to take over at some point anyway, and Lyrl teleports Starro into a trap.\n\nI am growing fond of St. Aubin’s artwork, as it is obvious he tries to give us something worthwhile to look at on every page, sometimes focusing on the people, other times on the environment. The story moves fast, and we already see Brainiac set up the weapon that he thinks will take out Starro. Next issue is the conclusion. I’ll be there.\n\n\n Secret Six 18 \n\n by Gail Simone, John Ostrander and J. Calafiore \n\nIt’s weird. Calafiore can do some great Black Lantern zombies, but he still has his same old method for drawing stock faces on the regular humans. His Amanda Waller is pudgy and without distinction, still not successful to visually portray any of the menace we loved to see reflected in her in the Suicide Squad under different artists. Simone overplays her hand, punching in too many not-funny-enough jokes, although she still channels Rag Doll perfectly. With the others, less would have been more.\n\nBlack Alice has lost her original personality. She is somehow creeped out too much, even though this is a person who has been to Hell already, and back. Literally. She’s scared, and she doesn’t want to give up Nightshade’s power because she “might” need it to survive. We haven’t seen this cowardice side of Alice anywhere before, and it feels like it is there just to have something to do with the character. Under a more gifted writer, it might become good grist for a future storyline, but I tend to think it will be dropped immediately and not mentioned again, because I doubt there will be a need for her to be scared again any time soon.\n\nA combination of green energy stored in an old Manhunter robot and Doctor Light’s white flash grenades is enough to disintegrate all the bodies, but it feels a little too easy here, like the writers are finally run out of good alternative ways to defeat these monsters. I would have found a solution via Black Alice and/or Nightshade more believable.\n\nWe learn that Amanda Waller is also Mockingbird, their secret benefactor. Faraday points out that she also tried to dismantle the Secret Six recently. This is not explained at all, and given the insanity that is Simone’s plotting, I am beginning to have doubts it ever will. Just like she doesn’t explain any motivation sof her characters, she doesn’t stop to explain any motivation for Waller, either. I’m also sick of the cheating she is doing by insisting Scandal is not part of the team, but having her in every issue, so we’re dealing with seven characters instead of six. Simone insisted there was a reason why there should be six members, but she hasn’t been sticking to that number.\n\nFinally, the constant number of people getting shot and not killed is ridiculous. From the very second I saw Deadshot shoot Waller, I KNEW that nothing would come of it. Which is a shame, because think of what Ostrander could do with a Suicide Squad being haunted by a Black Lantern Amanda Waller…\n\n\n Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

Tpull's Weekly DC Comics Review – Part 1

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