This week's comics

This week I read Supergirl 24, Hawkeye 13, Batman/Superman 4, Animal Man 24, Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion 1, Wonder Woman 24.

I think the surprise winner this week was Forever Evil: Rogues Revenge.  I do like a good Rogues story.  Animal Man is leaving me a bit cold, even though Ellen has now made up with Buddy, which you'd think I'd enjoy.  Supergirl was OK, a fast resolution to the Zor-El/Kara sharing a body thing, which is fine, but the art in it was shockingly bad for the most part.

Hawkeye I enjoyed but it's been so long since the last issue I'd forgotten all the background.  Batman/Superman was pretty but I no longer have any idea what is going on.  Wonder Woman was fab - the ramifications to Di becoming God of War are starting.

Comic reviews - only 1 week old!

Reviews and spoilers for Wonder Woman 23, Supergirl 23. Animal Man 23, Justice League Dark 23, X-Men 3, Revival 13,Adventures of Superman 3.

Comics review - catch up

These will likely be three sentence reviews as I'm really behind and have to start cooking dinner in half an hour.. I will talk about:

Justice League America 7, Animal Man Annual, X-Men 3, Fearless Defenders 7, Princeless Tales of Girls Who Rock, Adventures of Superman 3, Resurrection Man 17, Supergirl Annual 2 (1997), Legion of Superheroes (5 years later), Demon Knights 23, Thor 11 and Fearless Defenders 8.

I'll never get these all written in half an hour...

Comic reviews for weeks 18/25th July

Spoilers ahead for Hawkeye annual, Supergirl 22, He-man 4, Wonder Woman 22,  Justice League Dark 21, Justice League Dark 22, Justice league America 6, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man 24 (I think), Wolverine 7 (I think), Thor (can't remember the number), Animal Man 22, Larfleeze 2, Revival 12, Batman/Superman 2.

Whew that's a lot. I'm behind again. Onwards.

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Hawkeye annual  - So we discussed this on Radio Bamf on Sunday, but technical problems meant that the recording didn’t go so well. Pox.  Anyway I wish I’d read this before the show because it turned out to be pretty good fun. It leads on from earlier issues – 4 and 5 I think, which I hadn’t read.  Which I think I’m happy about, otherwise the cover might have given the plot away, since it’s all about Madame Masque getting revenge on Kate Bishop.  As I didn’t know the context I found it delightfully slashy and i honestly thought they were going to jump into bed.  At least I did till it was revealed that Kate knew Masque wasn’t so sincere.  But hey, I have my dreams.

Supergirl 22 – Cyborg Superman shows up and has plans for Kara. Kara is not impressed.  Mahmud Asrar is no longer on interiors and his replacement is just not that great.  I didn’t particularly enjoy this.

He-man 4 – A friend who visited the shop with me bought me this.  She-ra is short haired, scarred in the face, and working for the bad guys.    She doesn’t know she is He-man’s sister.  He-man doens’t even know he has a sister.

It wasn’t bad, but I don’t quite understand why a property that was originally created for children, and is rather ridiculous in concept, has been revived and written for adults.*  Why not revive it as a children’s comic?  Why not come up with a brand new idea for adults?

 

*I do know why, it’s to cash in on the nostalgia market. Doesn’t mean I have to agree with it.

 

Wonder woman 22 – this has a wonderful soviet styled arty cover.  Inside it gets better. Wondy and her group are New Genesis, meeting the Highfather et al for the first time.  Highfather wants to take Zola’s child, Zeke, but Orion tricks him.  The best thing about this book is that Diana comes across as a leader.  It feels like she is the title character in the issue.  She makes the tough decisions, stands up to the Highfather and is generally reminiscent of the Wonder Woman from before the new 52.  This was a satisfying read.

 

Justice League Dark 21 – This was an impulse buy.  From what I recall, Xanadu is haunted by visions of the future, particularly a future romance with Deadman.  She tries to turn her back on all this.

 

Justice League Dark 22 and Justice League America 6 – I can't remember the details of these too well.  I know Green Arrow wasn't quite as Ollie-like as I'd wish, and Wonder Woman was far more Diana-like than I;d hoped for.  There was a lot of fighting and panic.  Hephaestus was in it and it made me think how talented the artist for Wonder Woman is, and how these new gods don't look right when someone else draws them.  Overall I enjoyed these two installments in the Trinity War story.

 

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man – Gwen complains about Miles not being Spider-Man to Aunt May. There’s more Cloak and Dagger stuff.  Spider-woman visits Miles and begs him to put the suit on again.  Spider-Woman reveals she is clone of Peter Parker.  This is stupid.

 

Wolverine – Logan no longer has a healing factor and now has to come to terms with the fact he’ll die.  Blimey :o  I did not see that coming.  Having just finished my epic X-Men run I feel that this is quite  a godo time for me to jump into a Wolvie title.. whether I will or not remains to be seen.  Anyway, good work Paul Cornell.

 

Thor – The three Thors and their granddaughters are still alive, hooray!  And they are fighting back, hooray!  Gorr kills his wife for calling him godlike, so Gorr’s son betrays him and sides with the Thors.  Cor.  This is still nice epic stuff, but I doubt it’s a long term keeper.  When the Gorr plotline is over (I assume it will finish soon) I’ll flog the issues on ebay.  They are well worth reading but not quite of high enough quality for me to keep them forever and ever.

 

Animal Man 22 – This was twee yet gross.  Maxine is in the Red and as she’s the new avatar (?) of the Red it responds to her consciousness and remolds itself around her thoughts.  So it’s all twee and full of baby and mother animals and it’s got rolling hills and it looks like a child’s story.  But the fundamental nature of the Red and it’s purpose can’t change so the organ fields are still there – these are literally fields where organs are grown. Brains and stomachs and lungs etc.  That’s the gross part. Maxine finds these and decides to grow her dead brother, Cliff.  The problem is, without a soul it’s just a simulacrum.  A fleshy, squishy, floppy, gross simulacrum.  Maxine realises this and gets rather upset.  She’s not given up on her plan to hunt for Cliff’s soul though.  She will get him back!

 

Larfleeze 2 – Fun. Larfleez eis always fun.  The voices of all the characters are fun.  The situation is fun. The fight scenes are fun.  This is just all fun. Fun fun fun fun fun fun.

 

Revival 12 – This wasn’t fun. It’s a great read and it’s entirely different to the other comics on my pull list, but it’s not fun.  It’s grim and thoughtful.  I liked it a lot.

 

Batman/Superman 2 - This is just fabulous.  The art is gorgeous.  It's all gothic sillouhettes and moody stuff.  It's a really mature read, not mature like for adults, for complex and thoughtful.  It feels like the creators are really into the story and really care about what they are doing.  I loved it.   One panel made me tear up.  You should all be buying this.  It's great.

Comic reviews from Free Comic Book Day, and probably before..

I am soooo behind.

Right, Free Comic Book Day.  I ended up going to 2 shops, one in Norwich, and Orbital in London as I was visiting the big smoke for the day to see a Deafinitely Theatre showcase.  The Theatre was amazing and all I can say is, you hearing folks are missing out.  I don't think think I have ever seen theatre this imaginative or this good.

Anyway comics.  I tend to pick up everything I can.  I got a hardcopy of Off Life which if you like indie street comics is well worth a look.  It's available online as well.
The Walking Dead completely failed to impress me.  I have no idea why this is so popular.
Superman: The Last Son of Krypton was a surprise, as it's a reprint of the first chapter from this trade, but the cover is of new 52 knickerless Supes.  What a bizarre marketing decision.
Action Labs' Molly Danger/Princeless was great fun but I am not convinced I want to buy Molly Danger.  Perhaps if I had a 10 yr old niece or nephew I'd get it for them, but it's not for me.
The Mouseguard sampler was wonderful and I am determined to put it on my pull list.  Every year I get the free copy and every year I enjoy it, yet never get round to ordering it.  For shame on me.

I also got Sesame Street/Strawberry Shortcake, Infinity and Uglydoll Comics.  I just can't work up the enthusiasm to read these.

In other non Free Comic Book Day purchases, I got:
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man 22 - AHHH MILES' MUM DIED!!  *sobs*  This comic is SO GOOD.
Animal Man 20 - this issue was a film plot that Buddy is starring in, about a superhero with family issues.  It echos Buddy's life.  It was unexpected.
Demon Knights 19 - Obviously I really enjoy this series so obviously it's not selling well and is being cancelled.  Damn it. I know DC are out to make money, but really, can't they also make sure they publish quality books too?  This issue has vampires and amazons.  What's not to love?
The Movement 1 - I thought I enjoyed this, then I finished it and thought about the indies I wanted to buy and realised I had no interest in this at all.  The art is nice though.
Princeless book 2; Get Over Yourself issue 2 - As ever this is great.  We get to see more of Adrienne's family and the other Knights, and there's a beard/moustache/dwarf joke.   Great.

Comic Reviews for week 3rd April 2013

Spoilers ahead for Animal Man 19, Batwing 19, Action Comics 19, FF 5, Princeless Vol 2 issue 1: get Over Yourself and the Superman vs Shazam trade.  The best ones are Princeless and Superman vs Shazam.
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Comic reviews for week of 13/03/2013

Spoilers ahead for Animal Man 18, Demon Knights 18, Fearless Defenders 2, Thor God of Thunder 6, Superman: Silver Banshee 2, Superman Confidential 7.
Really do not carry on reading if you haven't read Animal Man 18.
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Comic reviews for week commencing 6/2/2013

Today's comics are these beauties:

That's Fearless Defenders 1, Ultimate Spider-Man 20 and Animal Man 17.  I also got a Marvel Now sampler but I only had one reaction to that which is this.  Honestly Marvel, not good.

I couldn't pick up Supergirl 16 as they'd ran out, so I'll get that next week.  My pull list is all sorted out now so that's good.

As for the comics.... well...spoilers ahead!!
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Animal Man 17.
It's the Rotworld finale part 1.  I'm really glad this is coming to a close.  It's been so long winded and slow I have lost all interest in it.  It just doesn't have the hook that the previous issues had.  The horror is gone.  It's all guest stars and Armageddon, again.  Since DC rebooted their universe and introduced these new versions of the characters to us, it would make sense for us to get know them before they start saving the world, otherwise we just don't care about them.
I did like the Plant Green Lantern, so it's a shame he died.  It's Interesting that Frankenstein got the ring.  I'm mildly intrigued to see the 'batgirl' that was with Swamp Thing.  I'm guessing she's the daughter of Manbat.
When this arc has finished I reckon I'll sell the run on ebay.

Ultimate Spider-Man 20
Oh this was good!  Venom is huge!  A real honest-to-gods monster!  And now Miles' Dad is critically ill. :(  I felt for sure that Jefferson would recognise Miles under the mask and that was why he went back into the fight, but I guess we won't discover if I'm correct for a while yet.  Oh boy this is good.  I hope the sales figures for this series are good, because it's one of the better ones on sale at the moment.

Fearless Defenders 1
The comic shop suggested I get this as I asked for the first X-lady title to be put aside for me.  It has lesbians in it.  I will add it to my pull list and see how I get on with it,

DC Comic reviews!

After having so much fun with my Thought Bubble comics I am thoroughly thoroughly fed up with most of DC's products.  I don't feel interested and excited to read most of my weekly haul, I feel antipathy.  Maybe that's because when I buy ongoing series I know what is going to happen.  When I buy the odd off the shelf Dc book I have no idea of the backstory or anything and I am just thrown into a (for me) one off issue.

With that rather negative start, let's begin reviewing the last few weeks worth of books.  Spoilers ahead.
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Blue Beetle 13
This was an off the shelf impulse buy.  And was fun.  Jaime is in space and fighting other scarabs, and then meets someone who admires his control over the scarab armour, but looks creepy, and then is narrowly not met by someone who wants to steal his armour back.
I have no idea how we got to this set of events and I don't care.  I enjoyed this issue, but not so much that I want to buy issue 14.
The Superman 13 sneak preview remains as pointless as ever,


Animal Man 14
It's still in crossover hell.  It started as a really strong horror comic, without obvious links to the rest of the DCU, but now that he's joined up with Black Orchid, Constantine, Gorilla Grodd, a red skinned Beast Boy etc, it's lost some of the special feeling.  It's like it's brought back down to Earth (one) and it's lost the power of the horror, because Buddy Baker is forced to interact with other heroes.  I'll still keep it on my pull list though, because I think once the crossover is finished, it will go back to being a scary horror comic.

Birds of Prey 14
Better than I expected.  It took me ages to work out what was happening on the cover, and I'm still confused as to what part the dude is, and how Starling and Black Canary work.  This is a true Escher Girl image.  Having said that, inside the comic story was actually quite good, if not in any way memorable  An improvement on the previous couple of issues at least.  I do wish Batgirl wasn't in the team though.  She just doesn't seem to fit.

DC Universe Presents 14 - Black Lightning and Blue Devil
Hell yeah this was good.  I am definitely getting the next issue.  These were a couple of my favourite b-list characters pre the new 52, and this issues keeps the attraction and the style, even while changing the origins a bit.

Superboy 14
It's crossover hell again.  And Kon just keeps doing the same things he's done in all other issues. get pissed off and hits things.  Hopefully this will improve, but I'm not holding my breath.

Supergirl 14
And here I get sad.  One of my favourite iconic characters has been rebooted.  The artist, Mahmud Asrar, and the writer, Mike Johnson, are doing a fine story, but I'm not sure it's the story I want to read.  Or rather, I am still sad we lost the previous incarnation of Kara.   But perhaps I shouldn't compare the two at all?  Perhaps that is unfair.  I think it is.  This Kara is brave and bright, and far more independent than the previous Kara's.  She is definitely her own woman and not reliant on Kal at all.  She is more like Kara from Smallville actually (without the destiny nonsense and with more confusion).  I really like that she's got her own life, and that her friend is the Silver banshee (and I loved how Asrar drew the banshee).  In fact, Asrar is now one of my favourite artists.

This series has such a different feeling to the previous series.  Less superhero-ey, less comedic, and less young, actually.  Both in terms of the characters and the style of story.  It's sadder and more mature.  I will keep buying it, and I am enjoying it.  But every time I read it I struggle to work out my feelings for it.  It probably doesn't help that this is also stuck in crossover hell.

This could be a mural

Last of the Animal Man scans I promise.  But what a beautiful thing to end on!

I love everything about this.  The colours, the layout, the pencils, everything.

That's all for Animal Man for a while, coming up next: the JLA!

And now for something a little more surreal

Yes, it's still Animal Man, but by now he is literally an Animal Man.  To be honest, the series was getting very weird by this point and the last few issues I didn't really care for.  But the art is still great.

I really like it when artists play around with layouts, anything other than the standard options draw me in.

Animal Man artwork...

..from inside the covers this time.

I saved these scans from when I first read the run, back in November now.  I still find them striking, so again I am sharing them with you.

These are from issues 52 and 53 where Animal Man had died and had to fight his way back up the evolutionary chain to become human again.  These artists are *so* talented.

Animal Man covers

Animal Man gabe us some really great covers, and in leiu of a better blog post, I thought I'd share 3 of them them with you.

They've got more in common with real artwork than your regular comic art.  The middle one I particularly love, I find it very moving.

Does Grant Morrison like Superman?

I suspect not.  This is from Animal Man #2.

 

Rarely have I seen Supes used in such a dickish manner.  So, does anyone know if Grant has confirmed how he feels about Superman?

Ellen Baker

So anyone following me on twitter may have noticed that I read a lot of Animal Man recently.  Not sure if I've mentioned it here or not.  Anyway, upon reading the run I discovered that Ellen Baker is pretty damn cool.  Check some of these scans out:

Upon discovering Mirror Master in her house (issue #8):

Don't mess with her.  She's tough.

She gets annoyed with her husband (issue 51):

Those panels are drawn by the very talented Steve Pugh and coloured by the equally talented Tatjana Wood.  The body language is excellent.  The above scene takes place in the excellent Flesh and Blood storyline (issues 51 to 56) dealing largely with Cliff, Buddy and Ellen's son, being taken away by a crazy uncle.

Then later on in the run, Ellen left her family to join a radical feminist lesbian commune.  This sounds terrible.  It isn't.  It happened naturally and believably and the members of the commune were not caricatures.  Here's a few pages where Ellen's preferences get discussed (from issue 77):

She's an illustrator mostly doing bit part work or hack jobs for other people but she did once get a book deal:

Her son also draws and when she gets a job with a comic writer she notices some similarities between his and her son's work (can't remember the exact issue number, but it's after Flesh and Blood):

Ellen has been blessed with good artists throughout the Animal Run run.  Check out her facial expression in that last panel.

This is a woman who has had her husband die and turn into a humanoid animal thing several times.  Life with Buddy Baker is chaotic.  Yet she retains her sense of humour.  She's sardonic and sarcastic.  She's straightforward and clear.

Those pages are from issues 66 and 79, respectively.  The last one is where Ellen has lost Buddy again.  That's her mum and travelling friend of the Bakers with her, not anyone from the commune.

Ellen's brilliant.   One of the great things about the Animal Man run was the central role that family played, the interactions that were shown within the pages.  Rarely have I seen hoem life relationships depicted with such passion and accuracy.

Coming soon - Ellen's mother, equally kick ass.

Aquaman gets some respect

From Animal Man issue 2:

You don't see that happen very often.

I miss Aquaman-as-king.  I know we've got him back in Brightest Day (which I am very pleased about) but I miss his role as King and leader.  As King, he's got a very special niche among superheroes.  The other members of the JLA choose to be responsible for civilians.  They operate outside of the law and they can choose what rules to follow.  Aquaman is different - as leader of a nation he is responsible for his subjects regardless of how he feels about them.  He is bound by law and convention and he is accountable to them.  He cannot just do as he pleases, he has to sit in on councils, pass judgements, carry out redevelopments of broken bits of Atlantis and be the mediator between the surface world had his world.

He must feel pretty disdainful of the rest of the JLA - they choose to put on the tights and fight the good fight, but they don't have the same kind of responsibilities as him.  I guess Diana as a princess comes closest, but even so, she has a very different role to Arthur.  For a start, Princess and King sit differently on the scale of royal hierarchy.  Diana chose to leave Themyscira and go to mans world - Arthur cannot just up and leave his subjects. I know he's been booted out a few times, but that's different to voluntarily leaving.  Back on Paradise Island Diana is not responsible for matters of state. although of course she takes an interest.  Arthur's role is all matters of state.

Then I think that the culture of Atlantis and the Amazons is very different, which means that Arthur and Hippolyta reign differently.  Each country has different requirements and protocols and a different relationship with the rest of the world.

No wonder Arthur gets so pissed off with surface dwellers.  Surface dwellers poison the seas on a daily basis.  At least the Amazons don;t have to deal with that quite so regularly.

In which I understand a metaphor

Right, my twitter followers will have seen me gushing about Animal Man recently.  I finally read Grant Morrion's run, then devoured the other 60 odd issues in that run.  It's awesome.  Especially Morrison's run.

One question tho.  It's about the first few issues in the first trade.  Ellen gets attacked and nearly raped in the woods.  The bad guy kills a cat, but the cat's litter survive.  Ellen and her daughter take them back home and try to nurse them back to health.  Ellen gets very upset when one by one the kitten's die, but then she's then very relieved when one survives.

Now, I don't really pick up on metaphors that often.  I only got the Karolina Dean as a lesbian and a living rainbow thing earlier this year when James Ashelford pointed it out to me.  So, if you think about certain slang terms for lady bits, and a colloquial name for a cat, am I seeing a metaphor in Ellen's predicament where there is none?  Do y'all reckon it was a deliberate metaphor?

And isn't it just a bit crass??

Or is it just me?