No. More. BJs! - Hibbs on 8/1/12

Foggy, gray Sunday here at the store (yes, working this weekend as well), but comics bring light and happiness! ACTION COMICS #12: One of my quintessential problems with the New52 is here were are at month #12, and I still really don't have a strong idea of whom this Superman is. This one is certainly not the same one appearing in the rest of the DCU, but, even here in the Grant Morrison penned series, Superman's character seems allll over the map.  So I have this weird relationship with this comic -- on the one hand: all over the map, so I am sad; but on the other hand, this issue features Adam Blake, Captain Comet, who, in few senses, can be considered the first Silver Age hero, and it also features a Silver Agey plotline of a super learning feat, and Batman is in it, and oooh, the first bits of a new Mr. Mxyzptlk... so awesome!  No backup story either, which made this a lot denser read. I'm sad Grant is leaving at #16, but mostly because I can't see how they replace him, especially without a clear frickin' direction for Superman, buuuuut I don't necessarily enjoy each issue fully..... *sigh* I suppose this one was GOOD.

AVENGERS VS X-MEN #9: You know what's nice to see? A genuine moment of heroism in the Marvel universe. So, yay for that.  Too bad it is in service of general nonsense -- the idea that puny Parker could stand up to a punch from Colossus is kind of ridiculous, let alone one that is Phoenixed-up. Then there's the whole off-camera "...and then the two Rasputins defeated each other...somehow." silliness. I'd go "Very Good" for Heroism, and "Awful" for story logic, and then we're something like an OK for a final grade?

FUCK ALAN MOORE BEFORE WATCHMEN NITE OWL #2: I really didn't think it was possible that this could get worse, but it's clear that I suffer from a severe lack of imagination. I remain convinced that this is somehow intended to be a parody, because no one could fundamentally misunderstand WATCHMAN like this on purpose. CRAP.

BLACK KISS II #1: Wow, that's really dirty. And not a BJ in sight! There's no real "protagonist" on display here, so how much you'll like this is going to come down (heh) to how much you like seeing Chaykin do "dirty".  EH.

DEADPOOL KILLS MARVEL UNIVERSE #1: Deadpool, for me, is one of those characters I don't really "get. I understand some people find him funny ("Yeah, funny like a crutch!" he said, in his best Lisa Loopner), but there's none of that in THIS comic, where they ECT the funny out of the concept, and go straight for the gory. Have fun with that, I guess? AWFUL.

FIRST X-MEN #1: Once, a long long time ago, Neal Adams was the hottest thing in comics; then "ToyBoy" happened, I guess? As a retailer, it is pretty dispiriting to order what you think a modern Neal Adams X-MEN comic might sell like, then to find that you've overshot your (extremely, extremely low) guess by 100% or more. AWFUL

HAWKEYE #1:  So this is what tears me up inside: there's no real market for a "Hawkeye" comic, as something like the last 30 years of the Marvel universe has taught us over and over again. What's the over/under on sales for this, nationally? Maybe 45k, if they're lucky? Down to 30k by issue #6?  Now, what's the same for "Matt Fraction, and David Aja on anything whatsoever"? See, I think it's something like 30k, maybe down to 21-22k by #6 (I mean, not in THIS store, I would have ordered the SAME 25 copies of "Purple Marksman #1" as I did of this, but I concede we're a little different)... but my point is, since this CAN'T be a "hit" for Marvel, why on earth do it FOR Marvel? There's no advantage in the medium run, and, in the long run, what odds do you want to give that Fraction/Aja will be earning significant royalties for this in 2020? Meh.

What's interesting here is: no costume, no villains, no antagonist (at least anywhere on Hawkeye's "level"), no hook to come back for #2 (except "well, that was PRETTY!") -- I mean, I liked it, and quite a bit, but almost as a novelty... I have a harder time imagining liking this the same after I've read six of them, because "Done in one" really shouldn't mean "Kinda dull, objectively". Overall, I think I'll call this GOOD.

LOVE AND CAPES WHAT TO EXPECT #1: Thom Zhaler's cartooning chops are really terrific, and I love his light hearted and loving DC universe romance comic here, but I want to murder him for those stupid translucent word baloons which make the dialogue incredibly difficult to read. *sigh* GOOD, and not two grades higher for those balloons.

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #13 DWF:  Spidey is happening in a universe that's not even close to the same one that the other two "Ultimate" comics are set. Doing a "crossover" here that only highlights how Spidey is wildly out of tone and time with the rest of the universe is so odd. I like this comic for what it is (it is GOOD), but, man, once you commit to destroying Washington DC, and having Texas secede, and so on, fucking commit to it, will you?

That's it for me, me thinketh. What did YOU think?

-B

Better than never: Hibbs on 6/27

As far as I am concerned, this isn't "last week's comics" until I open the front door of the store on Wednesday!

BATMAN INCORPORATED #2:  This one is kind of a master class in communication using comics, as Morrison and Burnham basically tell you Everything You Ever Needed To Know About Talia Al'Ghul (But Forgot To Ask) in an incredibly economical, yet massively packed, 20 pages. Some pages have as many as five different scenes on the page! An absolutely EXCELLENT tour-de-force on this one.

  FUCK ALAN MOORE BEFORE WATCHMEN NITE OWL #1: Uh, wow. You know, I expected some of these would be bad, but I really never expected them to be almost a parody of the very idea of prequelling WATCHMEN.

This is just staggeringly bad: from the bizarre rapey childhood home, to the changing the original text (the worst sin of all in a project like this), to the scenes of Rorschach using-'hurm'-as-a-catchphrase ("DY-NO-MITE!"), to the cringeworthy "destiny of love" bullshit, I almost get the feeling that Staczynski thinks he is trying to make WATCHMEN "better". This comic, sadly, just reeks of hubris and shame.

I'd hoped to at least appreciate the art, but I found Joe Kubert's inks to be kind of overpowering on son Andy.

Either way, the writing just kills it here: this is everything you possibly feared a "Before WATCHMEN" comic might be.  Full-on CRAP.

 

FATIMA THE BLOOD SPINNERS #1: Beto is just insanely prolific, isn't he? Terrifically gory, this is a kind of perfect 70s-ish exploitation B-movie, but totally of the moment as well somehow. Gore! Horror! Large Breasts! I'm glad I live in a world where I'm going to sell more copies of this than of THOR and HULK combined, y'know? GOOD HYPERNATURALS #1 : I think this is kind of a perfect comic for you if you have a sympathy for the basic concept of Legion of Super-Heroes (Future, many heroes from many worlds), but not necessarily liked any specific execution of that concept. Or if you like the Marvel Cosmic stuff that DnA did, it's similar tonally. Extremely sturdy construction of ideas here, if not exactly brimming with truly compelling characters. I thought it was solidly GOOD. LOEG III CENTURY #3 2009:  It may be because I simply "got" more of the references and cameos, but this was vastly my favorite of the three parts of Century, and it brings everything together in a deeply satisfying way. I also find the idea of the universe being saved by **** ******* to also being oddly perfect and correct. Kevin O'Neill's art, as always, veers between the grotesque and perfectly captured. I thought this issue was pretty damn EXCELLENT.

(You can also get v1 & v2 on the Digital Store, if you wanted) PROPHET #26: With all of the people telling me they can't buy this book in their LCS, I'm more and more convinced that Image erred in renumbering from the 90s series. Without a doubt, this is the best science-fiction series being published today. And a great series got better with Brandon Graham himself drawing this issue, and kicking the concept a door open further. I admire (and get frustrated, I admit) by how this book doesn't try and spoon feed you its concepts. Really VERY GOOD stuff. OK, that's really all I have time for today, time to open to the teeming hordes (ha!) I am, seriously, going to try to get to THIS week's books before Friday and be "caught up" again. Wish me luck!

 

What did YOU think?

 

-B