Dec. 29 Comic RoundUp

posted by JediSheltie @ 11:10 PM

Good lord, I got trampled last week. I thought I heard Marvel moved Civil War #5 in order to make sure it didn't hit last week. DC decided to drop damn near every title they publish in my box though. In any case, here are the usual suspects...

Justice League of America #5

Heh, remember when I said I kind of expected the action to pick up in this issue? Wow, I'm duly impressed that Meltzer again managed to play it out. I mean, there they were, mostly together, issue 4, heading off to kick some ass. Hasn't happened.

Now, I'm going to spoil you here. This issue ends with most of the team standing about five feet away from the Amazo/Red Tornado amalgam, virtually cracking their knuckles, vowing to bring him in.

Will there actually be a fight in issue 6?

Damned if I know. I can't say there will be. Without resorting to any kind of narrative escape clause like an extended flashback, I'm sure Meltzer could still pull it off. Standing face to face, five feet between the most powerful super beings on the planet and a schizophrenic super android that's endangering innocent lives. It seems much like a scenario that would end in a fight. Especially in a comic book. This isn't Masterpiece Theater, after all. If it was, my patience might not be running a bit thin. It's a comic book, I checked the cover a couple times to be sure.

Yet I can't be sure there'll be a fight.

Also covered this issue, Geo-Force shows up again, obviously ready to upset my “Flash is the unrevealed team member” apple-cart. I sure hope he is, at least, otherwise I'm quite unsure what the hell he's doing taking up an entire page. Also, Vixen is searching for the thing that “kind of” gives her her powers, by using her powers a lot. I'm pretty sure I don't care anymore about this subplot. The character simply hasn't caught my interest, and her spotlight is just tedious now.

All the kudos I've given to the story still apply, I can't complain about plot, overall. It's just the pacing is starting to catch up, or perhaps, lag behind is a more apt turn of phrase, the otherwise engaging story.

Superman/Batman #31

Were I the editor in charge in the Superman/Batman title, I would have only one rule. It's a simple rule, and it's designed to make sure lazy people don't take advantage of the biggest cliché the two characters have.

No "Superman goes bad" plots.

That's the rule, pure and simple. It's been done to death. Cough and your errant spittle will land on somebody's take on a Superman v. Batman story. Up and down through the ages, "Elseworlds" or not, it's simply been done. Stop. Take a break. Try to think up something that hasn't been reused at least 20 times before.

As you have probably surmised, the current arc leapt the rails for me at the end of the last issue. Oh, yeah, I saw it coming. I had my fingers crossed. I thought, surely... surely... they won't go there. They won't dig up the most tired convention the two characters have. Seemed like, just for a second, they were going to swerve at the last minute. But no, this issue seems pretty solid that the same “make me evil” pathogen that had infected most all of the DCU's aliens is also communicable to Kryptonians.

I'll float writer Mark Verheiden one tiny iota of credit, as there exists the tiniest possibility he's having Clark fake it. That was my hope for the swerve, but with the revelation that Kara Zor-El (and her costume) have been infected makes this hope quite, quite slim. Overall, I guess I should be happy it took them 30 issues to revisit this cliché. I only hope there will be at least 30 more before it's resurrected once again to parade, zombie-like, through my pullbox.

Art chores this issue fell to Matthew Clark, filling in for regular Van Sciver. Clark's style was a reasonable approximation of Van Sciver's work, so it doesn't pull you out of the continuity. The same inker helps, no doubt. With any luck this will all be put to bed soon enough and we can move onto the next arc, which, at least most likely, will not rehash Superman v. Batman again.

Justice #9

Alex Ross and Jim Kruger's epic remix of Modern Age, Silver Age, and Superfriends continues with an issue showcasing Captain Marvel. Having grown up with the Superfriends, I'm genetically predisposed to love this series, so don't expect ill words from me. Braithwaite and Ross's art is uniformly breathtaking, and it's obvious Ross is enjoying the opportunity to render damn near every character in the DC pantheon. With this issue, he even gets his chance to do some costume design.

This is the JLA writ large, featuring a wide pantheon of heroes fighting the Legion of Doom on a grand scale. The scope of the story would, in “regular continuity” would be perhaps a bit too big, but this remix of old, new, and Superfriends story style fits perfectly.

I have a personal affection for this issue because Superman puts Captain Marvel down after he's infected by the Legion's mind-controlling organo-nanites. For that reason alone I'd wish this was 'canon'. Sure, Marvel was about to come back, but Clark was obviously more than able to take him.

Why, no, I'm not a big Captain Marvel fan, why do you ask?

Ahem, anyway, this is just a really fun series. The art alone is worth the price of admission, but the story is great as well.