Two long-awaited mini-series come to an end! Can you stand the suspense from not knowing what
they are? If not, read on!
Air #4 by G. Willow Wilson (writer),
M. K. Perker (artist),
Chris Chuckry (colorist), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.
Air is still keeping me interested without really dazzling me, but it’s getting to
the point where I may have to drop it. Usually I give books six issues to grab hold, and although
I admire a lot about Air, there’s a lot that’s not working too.
Blythe’s conversation with the masked priest who she thinks is Zayn works well, because we
get some good insight into her character and what’s going on in the book. The transition to
Mexico City and the new players in the game is awkwardly handled, though, and as the conspiracy
grows quickly, it ironically becomes less interesting. I’m not sure if it’s a case of
too much, too soon, because we’ve come very far from the weird premise of the first issue,
but I also understand that doling out information in a work of serialized fiction is a delicate
balance - too little and people lose interest; too much and it become overload. Air is
veering toward overload, and it does seem like Wilson needs to slow down just a bit.
There’s hardly enough time to process what’s going on, when suddenly we’re
shifting continents and plot points and then, just as suddenly, there’s a weird flying
machine on the last page. As much as the premise is intriguing, it feels like Wilson is desperate
to cram too much plot into each issue.
Perker’s art has some problems, too. His figure drawing is fine, but too often he skimps on
the backgrounds, giving the book a strange “nowhere” look. The text says we’re
in Mexico City, but nothing about it feels like Mexico City (of course, I haven’t been to
Mexico City, but there’s no sense of any place about the pages in Mexico) Perker
certainly can do better - Cairo had a real sense of the city and the mysterious tunnels
and passages under it - but perhaps the rush of a monthly book is not a good fit for him. Part of
the weirdness of the book is that it takes place in “no place” - on bland airplanes -
but that sense of unreality that comes from being on a plane shouldn’t extend to actual
locations. It’s frustrating, because the first few pages, when Blythe is hallucinating
about the winged serpent, work well and feature outdoor scenes that have a strong sense of place.
This is one of those comics that I really want to like. Four issues in, there’s a lot to
enjoy about it. But I still have to think about dropping it, and we’ll see where the next
two issues go.
Sales figures for the last two issues (#2 and #3, September and October): 8,777
(#2; rank: 194) and 10,061 (#3; rank: 195). That’s weird. A fairly big jump in orders from
one issue to the next.
Ambush Bug: Year None #4 (of 6) by Keith Giffen (plotter/penciller), Robert Loren
Fleming (scripter), Al Milgrom (inker), Tom Smith (colorist), and Pat Brosseau (letterer). $2.99,
23 pgs, FC, DC.
As usual with this comic, there’s nothing really here except tons of gags that are really
funny if you know a little about DC comics (and your enjoyment of them increases the more you
know) and are perhaps mildly amusing if you don’t know anything about DC. In this issue,
Giffen rips Dan DiDio mercilessly, which is hilarious but sad when you realize how spot-on it is
and how DiDio apparently doesn’t care. And I find it the height of irony that facing the
page on which Ambush Bug says, “I guess I’m going to have to get used to a kindler,
gentler DC Universe,” we get this ad:
Giffen obviously sees the idiocy of DC - why doesn’t DiDio?
Again, this is very funny if you’ve read DC, but probably less so if you haven’t. I
like it, but it makes me sad, too.
Sales figures for the last two issues (#2 and #3, August and September): 14,627
(#2; rank: 135) and 13,477 (#3; rank: 150). As I’ve written before, this seems pretty good
for an obscure character with no big names on the book. The Giffen factor?
Atomic Robo: Dogs of War #4 (of 5) by Brian
Clevinger (writer), Scott Wegener (artist), Ronda
Pattison (colorist), and Jeff Powell (letterer). Back-up story by Joshua and Jonathan Ross
(story/artists), Brian Clevinger (scripter), and Jeff Powell (letterer). $2.95, 27 pgs (22 for
the main story, 5 for the back-up), FC, Red 5 Comics.
Atomic Robo sails merrily along, with the penultimate issue revealing some things (like
who’s behind the big Nazi scheme) and, of course, featuring plenty of fighting.
There’s not much I can say about it, because it’s just pure, unadulterated, comics
joy. Clevinger continues to write wise cracks that flow easily from the action, Wegener continues
to draw wonderfully, and it’s all hurtling toward a big-time conclusion. People who
complain about all comics being gloomy are obviously not reading Atomic Robo. Maybe they
should.
Sales figures for the last two issues (#2 and #3, September and October): 4,925
(#2; rank: 246) and 4,906 (#3; rank: 284). I guess that’s fine - it’s holding steady.
Bad Planet #6 (of 6) by Thomas Jane (writer),
Steve Niles (writer), James Daly III (penciller), Tim Bradstreet (inker), Grant Goleash (colorist), and
Jason
Hanley (letterer). $2.99, 24 pgs, FC, Image/Raw Studios.
Shockingly enough, the final issue of Bad Planet showed up in stores on Wednesday.
Bad Planet, you’ll recall, was supposed to be a 12-issue series, but it’s
been truncated to six, although the ending leaves the possibility of a sequel wide open.
It’s a shame this was so delayed, because it’s a fun, goofy comic full of
1950s-science fiction wackiness, from the deathspiders that have greatly reduced the
Earth’s population to the solution to humanity’s problem, which goes back to Nikola
Tesla (doesn’t it always?). Daly does a fine job with the art, and although the story makes
little sense on a macro level and I can forgive that, the fact that we cut away from important
events (like Veronica’s flight to Washington) is weird and halts the momentum of the book.
At his blog, Tim Bradstreet explains some of the reasons for the hiatus, and now that it’s
“done,” maybe people will discover this book in trade. I can’t really say
it’s a great comic, but the creators go hell-for-leather magnificently to bring us this
wild tale, and that’s something we should all respect.
Sales figures for the last two issues (#4 and #5, November 2007 and April):
4,575 (#4; rank: 252) and 4,467 (#5; rank: 259). The delay hasn’t hurt this comic, as it
has one below!
City of Dust #2 (of 5) by Steve Niles (writer), Zid (artist), Garrie Gastonny (artist), Brandon Chng (artist), Buddy Jiang (colorist), Leos Ng (colorist), Sixth Creation (colorist), and Chris Eliopoulos (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Radical Comics.
Radical was nice enough to send me this in the mail, so I get to read two Steve Niles books this
week! Whoo-hoo!
I mentioned that the first issue of this had a couple of problems: it was too derivative, and the
art was too murky. The art is a bit brighter in this issue, and just that small change makes this
a better issue to read. The art (split between a few different people, although the styles are
all similar) isn’t great, but the brighter tones of the book help the storytelling, at
least. So there’s that.
Niles continues to tell a story of a dystopian future where imagination is a crime, and with the
set-up out of the way, he can concentrate on what made the first issue interesting: the actual
murder of some guy and the book that Philip Khrome found under the body. Khrome is, of course,
under suspicion by the thought police (GBI, they’re called in the book) because he looked
at the book, and he’s interrogated by the head dude, Agent Morgan. Niles does two
interesting things with this comic: Khrome continues to be a “the system is right”
kind of guy, which is far more interesting than someone who rebels instantly because he’s
persecuted by said system. I still see a spiritual awakening for Khrome down the line, where he
realizes that he’s been wrong all these years and people just need to read, damn it! Maybe
that will happen, maybe it won’t. For now, it’s interesting to see Khrome trying to
solve the crime without worrying about bringing down the system. The other thing Niles does is
set up Morgan as Khrome’s nemesis and then subvert our expectations. It’s nicely
done, and lets us know that things are not what they seem. Plus, Niles reveals the bad guys, and
although they’re nothing special, it’s interesting how he ties them into the main
theme of the comic.
This issue fleshes out the character of Khrome a bit more, gets us into the crime a bit more, and
isn’t difficult to read because the art is too dark. Niles, who seems to have problems with
endings, doesn’t have any problems with beginnings, and he’s set up an interesting
murder mystery. There’s nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned murder mystery!
Sales figures for issue #1 (October): 8,981 (rank: 209). I have to think
that’s pretty good.
Dynamo 5 #18 by Jay Faerber (writer), Mahmud A. Asrar (artist), Marcio Takara (artist), Ron Riley (colorist), and Charles Pritchett (letterer). Back-up story by Jay Faerber
(writer), Joe Eisma (artist), Paul Little (colorist), and
Charles Pritchett (letterer). $3.50, 27 pgs (20 for the main story, 6 for the back-up), FC,
Image.
Over in Jay Faerber’s neck of the woods, Dynamo 5 gets a guest artist (Asrar draws
only three pages) and a back-up story, but keeps trucking along. Scrap’s replacement team
gets into a fight with a group of super-villains and doesn’t fare very well (as you can see
from the cover). As usual, it’s simple kick-ass superheroing and supervillaining, but
Faerber is able to do that so well that it feels fresh. Even the twist at the end, which comes
from Superhero 101 class, hits us like a punch in the gut. It’s very hard to describe how
good Faerber’s two ongoings for Image are (although Noble Causes is ending,
it’s still around for now), because not every issue stands out as truly superb. There are
stellar moments, but even those don’t show up all the time. If I wrote about the plot -
supervillains collects other supervillains who match up well against the new Dynamo 5, said
supervillains attack, said supervillains beat up Dynamo 5, something surprising happens at the
end - you might think, “That’s the scenario of every superhero comic I’ve ever
read!” Well, true, but as always, it’s in the execution. Faerber adds so many small
touches that make this fun to read, like Timothy Lipinski going all gooey when he gets his
people-killing armor back. Okay, that’s not really fun, but it’s something a slightly
psychotic super-villain would do.
I’m not sure what’s up with the back-up story. It’s the tale of a private
investigator who sets someone up, and it’s a clever little story, but I don’t know if
Faerber is going to start a new series with the P. I. (who, interestingly enough, isn’t
named, although the title of the story is “Dodge’s Bullets,” indicating that
Dodge is either his first or last name). Either way, it’s a fun short story.
As Brian noted, prices for regular Marvel books (”regular” meaning 22 pages of
story with no “extra” material) are going up to $3.99. Faerber himself stopped by to
explain why Dynamo 5 is $3.50. Considering it’s as good, if not better, than any
other superhero comic you can buy, isn’t it time you stopped hoping that Marvel will come
to its senses with regard to pricing and checked this out instead?
Sales figures for the last two issues (#16 and #17, September and October):
5,014 (#16; rank: 241) and 4,792 (#17; rank: 287). I guess that’s fine - the drop is odd,
but not huge.
Ex Machina #39 by Brian K. Vaughan
(writer), Tony Harris (penciller), Jim Clark (inker), JD Mettler (colorist), and Jared K.
Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/WildStorm.
The frustrating thing about Ex Machina is that Vaughan is ending it with issue #50, but
now we’re going to have to wait two years for that to arrive. I look forward to every
issue, even weaker ones like this one, and now that Vaughan has hinted about where the book is
going (he may have done this in interviews prior to this, but I don’t read interviews, so
this is the first time within the comic he’s hinted about the book’s direction),
I’m really looking forward to the end. But I have to wait so damned long!!!!!
As I wrote above, this is a weaker issue, mainly because Monica is such a dull
“villain” to the point where she’s not one at all, really. Vaughan’s
biggest weakness with this book is feeling that he has to put costumed weirdos in it, even if the
book doesn’t necessarily warrant it, and building story arcs around them. Monica’s
story could have been told in two issues, tops, but it was stretched out a bit, and that weakened
it. Still, Kremlin’s a-doings and the way Vaughan turns the book toward the future help
mitigate that a bit. I’m fascinated to see the rest of the series.
Sales figures for the last two issues (#37 and #38, June and September): 14,921
(#37; rank: 131) and 14,973 (#38; rank: 137). Holding virtually steady. Those who buy it are
invested, man!
Ghost Rider #29 by Jason Aaron (writer),
Tan Eng Huat (artist), José
Villarrubia (colorist), and Joe Caramagna
(letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.
I said I wasn’t going to buy this anymore because last issue was $3.99 with a lousy recap
of Danny Ketch’s career as Ghost Rider as the “extra” material. Well, I calmed
down and decided to buy this, because I have been enjoying Aaron’s run on the title.
Unfortunately, I might drop it anyway.
It’s not that this is bad. Aaron is writing a slam-bang action comic, and Huat’s art
continues to look better than it has in the past. But it’s not as flat-out insane as
Aaron’s first arc, when we had killer nurses and haunted highways and cannibals. It’s
a fairly standard superhero comic, and although Aaron does it well, it doesn’t give me any
reason to keep coming back. I suppose if I was more invested in the Ghost Rider mythos, it would
be more powerful, but I’m not, so the actual story and writing have to be dazzling, and for
the past few issues, they haven’t been. It’s certainly keen to see Danny and Johnny
throw down, but beyond that, I don’t get the same sense of danger that I get, for instance,
with Dynamo 5 and its big fight. It’s just two really powerful dudes smashing each
other, and that’s tough to make interesting.
The end of the issue promises “more Ghost Riders,” as we learned last issue that
there are several wandering the Earth. It will come out in December, which means the following
month I usually think about culling titles. I doubt if this will make the cut. I miss the
craziness of the first arc, which was truly and wildly awesome. Oh well.
Sales figures for the last two issues (#27 and 28, September and October):
23,402 (#27; rank: 105) and 26,993 (#28; rank: 102). A slight boost with the 4-dollar issue that
I ranted about. I guess I suck.
Moon Knight #24 by Mike Benson (writer), Mark
Texeira (artist), Javier Saltares (layouts),
Dan Brown (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.
I like how the past two issues have featured Bullseye on the cover, even though the first time
Bullseye shows up in this arc is on the last page of this issue. I guess he’s just
so freakin’ cool that Suydam had to put him on two consecutive covers!
This isn’t quite as excellent an issue as the last few, but it’s still very good.
When last we left our favorite crazy superhero, Venom was about to eat his brain. Of course, he
doesn’t, because that would be awkward, but there’s a big fight between MK and the
Thunderbolts, and what makes it interesting is that Moon Knight doesn’t really win.
It’s his book, after all, so the usual thing to do is make him superhuman and have him mop
the floor with his adversaries, which is what writers of, say, the Caped Crusader always do. He
does a fine job beating up on the Thunderbolts, but it’s not like he’s whipping them.
He’s even in a bit of trouble until S.H.I.E.L.D. shows up. Isn’t that always the way?
As this is the penultimate issue of the arc, we get some set-up for the final issue. Jean-Paul
still wants revenge, and Marc actually has to act human a little bit. Frenchie tells a story
about his mercenary days, which helps illuminate, once again, a major theme of this book - the
consequences of violence and how no one escapes. Marvel has spoiled the end of this arc in the
solicitations, which annoys the hell out of me, but it’s still a bittersweet issue, as Marc
knows he probably can’t get out of this. We’ll see exactly how this ends.
I guess Bullseye actually shows up next issue and does some ass-kicking. That’ll be nice.
Sales figures for the last two issues (#22 and #23, September and October):
26,380 (#22; rank: 94) and 25,216 (#23; rank: 111). Holding relatively steady, which makes me
happy.
Pax Romana #4 (of 4) by Jonathan Hickman
(writer/artist). $3.50, 28 pgs, FC, Image.
Pax Romana finally concludes, and it’s not quite as strong as Hickman’s
first series, The Nightly News. Despite that book’s inevitably lackluster ending,
it was ridiculously bold and a breath of fresh air both story-wise and art-wise. Pax
Romana looks great, with that odd Hickman style that is gorgeous to look at, and the story
is still compelling, but Hickman never quite pulls it off. It’s always been a 4-issue
mini-series, but perhaps it could have used an extra issue, because the characters never quite
gel and in order to get his philosophical ramblings into the book (don’t get me wrong - I
like the philosophical ramblings), Hickman seems to have sacrificed some characterization and
action. Like The Nightly News, Hickman has grand themes on his mind in this book, and
one of the characters vocalizes them late in the comic. Overall, the idea of the book - sending
people back in time to make sure the world doesn’t fall into barbarism - is fascinating,
and although Hickman gets his major point about the nature of people across, he doesn’t
manage it with the same flair that he brought to The Nightly News. Ironically, the end
of this book probably works better than that earlier one, but the journey isn’t as strong.
Still, Hickman continues to be an impressive voice in comics, both with his astonshing artwork
and in the themes he examines in his work. I hope he does more work, and I hope he speeds up a
bit. Waiting for his comics is frustrating, to say the least.
Sales figures for the last two issues (#2 and #3, March and September): 4,794
(#2; rank: 239) and 2,889 (#3; rank: 300). Who says delays in books don’t hurt sales?
Scalped #23 by Jason Aaron (writer), R. M.
Guéra (artist), Giulia
Brusco (colorist), and Steve Wands (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.
Aaron focuses on Dino Poor Bear in this issue, as he rides around the reservation doing his
“job,” which consists of giving drugs and guns to various people and collecting their
money. It’s a typical issue of Scalped, in that Aaron captures the essence of
dirt-poor living and things build slowly to two incidents of horrific violence that leave their
mark on Dino. As we’ve seen, Dino will never leave the rez, but he still clings to the
notion that he will, which makes his life, as sad as it is, a bit more pathetic. He’s not
working toward anything, and he has a (relatively) clear head on his shoulders - think of the
people who don’t have clear heads! Aaron has done a fine job showing the absolute despair
the people on the rez live with each day, and by now, he doesn’t even make much of an
effort - just by showing Dino go about his daily life is enough. Maybe, just maybe, Dino realizes
in this issue that he has to change. But I doubt it.
I have read on-line that Scalped is a lousy representation of Native Americans. I
don’t know if it is or not - I have not met many Indians, so I can’t speak to that. I
do know that the reservations in Phoenix aren’t much better than the fictional one in this
comic, so he’s onto something there. But that’s a topic for another day. I
won’t say much about that, but I will say that whether or not Aaron is accurately
portraying a Native American experience, he is accurately portraying a poor experience. The
people in this comic are desperate, and they act desperately. They often act stupidly, but Aaron
has done a nice job showing why they act this way. That’s part of why this book is
so gripping.
Sales figures for the last two issues (#21 and #22, September and October):
7,029 (#21; rank: 216) and 6,964 (#22; rank: 241). This is why I switched to the single issues.
Anything to do my part!
Uncanny X-Men #504 by Matt Fraction (writer),
Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Justin
Ponsor (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.
I appreciate Terry Dodson’s drawing style with regard to women, because he makes them a bit
more zaftig than your usual comic artist, but what’s up with Emma’s waist on that
cover? I know the fur is hiding some of it, but it looks hideously thin compared to her bust.
Weird.
Anyway, this is much more like what I was hoping for when Fraction came on board the X-Men
express. Brubaker isn’t even credited in this issue, so perhaps he’s completely off
the book? Either way, Fraction isn’t quite back to form totally, but this is much better
than the previous arc. Does Dodson make that much of a difference? Maybe.
Fraction almost completely ditches the annoying identifying(...)
)
and reject those that you are not interested in
(
)
Remember when Kanye West
threatened to make an album where he would bear his heartbroken soul, align with T-Pain, sing on
every song with the then inescapable Auto-Tune effect and, less problematically, lean on the
common element — the Roland TR-808 drum machine — of classics like “Make It
Last Forever,” “Posse on Broadway,” “808,” and “Bossy”?
It would have been a wreck, a case of an artist working through paralyzing heartache while loose
in a toy store. Except West wasn’t joking. Not only did he go through with it, but
Roc-A-Fella released the result in time for the 2008 Christmas shopping season. It was indeed a
wreck, if a kind of fascinating one, which helped make the material — voiced by someone who
could not really sing, whose substantial shortcomings were not made less obvious by a polarizing
studio device — seem a little less difficult on the ears.
