Apr 25th Comic RoundUp

posted by JediSheltie @ 9:05 PM

DC's summer event kicked off this week. Slightly less ambitious than your average Crisis, but still promising a planet-spanning cast, tall women in iron breastplates and really impractical skirts are running amok in Washington DC. No, it's not as fun as it sounds. But first...

Action Comics 848

Fill-in issue number 2 comes down, and, unlike the previous one, has nothing to do with the now “abortive” Zod storyline. Since they've probably got the next six or eight issues in the can, the decision to scrap efforts to immediately complete the Zod story are probably for the best. Sure, I'd like to know how it turns out, and we will, in some annual, at some point in the future.

Hey, maybe DC can put Alan Heinberg and Adam Kubert on a comic together. Is there a term for something that comes out once every decade?

What is probably most surprising of all is this and the last fill-in on Action have been very good. Fill-ins are certainly not something known for fostering a great deal of artistic merit, but I enjoyed the rather personal story from 847, and Fabian Niciezia turns in an amazing effort dealing with one of the 2 things one doesn't discuss around the dinner table.

The DCU is not without its connections to Christian mythology, best known amongst them is The Spectre, who has figured significantly in many DC events. Enter Redemption, a missionary hero whose power appears to be fueled by the beliefs of those to whom he ministers in the name of the First Church of Redemption. Problem is, he has a little trouble controlling those powers, and in an attempt to defend his fellow missionaries from local militias, everyone ends up dead.

Investigative reporter Clark Kent first heard of Redemption on year previously, when investigative reporter Clark Kent wasn't anything more than that. One month prior to the current Zod storyline, even though he's feeling like his old self, he heads out to investigate the incident as a reporter. This book is a classic example that, however well known it may be, the “bumbling” Kent from the films is not the “real” Clark Kent.

Niciezia's story is anything but black and white. Clark finds the man otherwise known as Redemption broken down, weeping about what he'd done. He also finds the congregation's leader is a driven man whose beliefs could be pushing the boy beyond his limits. Unsure of how to resolve the issue, he leaves. Unresolved, history repeats itself, and the confrontation Clark hoped to avoid by visiting as a reporter finishes the book out.

The reader is left to read into the story however much they wish. Is Redemption an allegory for Christianity as a whole? Should metas promote religious agendas in the first place? Unspoken, at least for now, are any allusions to the messianic attributions heaped on Clark himself, though I sense they won't be unspoken by the close of next issue.

Art is fine, nothing spectacular, nothing bad. All in an all, an excellent issue for something forever destined to be labeled “fill-in.”

Wonder Woman 8

I haven't been doing Picoult's run on ye ole Amazon, and was probably planning on doing a wrap-up when it finished. Then “events” reminded me it was a tie-in with the big DCU summer event, Amazons Attack. Events like this issue leading right into it, even “spoiling” the “big secret” of who is leading the aforementioned Amazon attack. It's not that it was bad, it was just the plan to do 2 issues monthly meant that Wonder Woman might have turned into a bit of a monopoly in terms of column space.

Our story thus far... Picoult's run pretty much started from the same place Heinberg's did. Diana Prince is Wonder Woman's new secret identity, and she's trying to fit into human society. Whereas Heinberg pretty much kicked things into full-on superhero action from the first few pages, Picoult actually took some time to explore how Diana attempts to acclimate to “the man's world.” Amazon princesses aren't sculpted from clay knowing how to pump gas, for instance.

She's partnered with Nemesis, in a kind of boy-girl buddy flick relationship where Diana plays the uptight, by-the-book one and Tom Tresser is the plays-by-his-own-rules, charmingly sexist one. After rescuing Nemesis from Circe, who's been getting around lately, Wonder Woman turns herself in to the very department for which Diana Prince works, and is promptly tossed in to what, one assumes, is a pretty secure holding cell. The pretense of arresting her for Max Lord's death suddenly took a backseat to Sarge Steel's newfound desire to learn about... oh dear lord... this again?

You know, if there was one thing I thought I'd never hear about again from Infinite Crisis, it was the Purple Death Ray...

Ahem... Yes, thankfully even that thread doesn't last, as other doings are afoot. Namely Circe, who has been using her powers to do some resurrecting, and not so Diana can enjoy a very special episode of “This is Your Life.”

Nemesis, going by those “plays-by-his-own-rules” instincts, decides he doesn't really agree with the whole incarcerate Wonder Woman agenda after all, and effects a daring rescue. He breaks her out just in time to crawl out a hole in the DC sewers and into a full scale Amazon invasion.

Picoult's shifting gears with this issue, going from explorations of how Diana is fairing with integrating into bigger issues of whether she should or not in the first place. A conversation with Circe before her recuse illuminates Diana's personal identity crisis, one that will become intensely more personal very shortly. There are sides to be chosen. Though it's hardly in doubt which one she'll come down on, it's all about the journey.

The Dodsons prove they weren't the hold up during Heinberg's run, turning in more excellent artwork here. All in all this has been an enjoyable run. Gail Simone might actually be able to pick up the character on a strong note when she assumes the reigns. That's something I really wouldn't have been expecting a few months ago.

Amazons Attack 1

As stated before Wonder Woman 8 leads directly into this, but it's not an essential prerequisite if you're not a regular Wonder Woman reader. The only major disjunction is the characterization of Circe, who appears to have a slightly more playful, sarcastic spin under Picoult than on Amazons Attack scribe Will Pfeifer, where she becomes a slightly flatter, stock villain.

Why is there an Amazon attack? Well, much like the “slavery” explanation of the Civil War that got you through those early grades before some haggard teacher sighs and starts explaining about “states rights” and, well other stuff I forget at the moment, there is more than just a single reason for this attack. The Amazons were regularly ill-at-ease with the rest of the world, and the recent capture of Diana was a tipping point. Circe's voice in the ear of the Amazon leader didn't hurt much either.

The opening issue sets the attack in motion with all due haste, and bloodshed. This is an all out war being waged on the streets of Washington DC, which are soon in flames. Art by Pete Woods, who did most of the OYL “Up, Up, and Away” arc in the Superman titles, illustrates spectacularly the Amazon war “machine”, which is less machine and more flesh. With large beasts hauling siege weapons and healthy amounts of chainmail, the Amazons bring to mind the armies of Mordor... if the armies of Mordor were total hotties.

The response is orchestrated by the Department of Metahuman Affairs and leader Sarge Steel who gets in touch with a tactician of some renown to lead the heroic response. Like I said in the Justice League of America 7 review, Black Canary may be JLA chairwoman, but you don't ignore Batman's advice when it comes to planning a winning strategy. Sarge seems quite keen on getting the heroes in there to solve the problem, referring to the “really big guns.”

For an opening event issue, it hits all the right notes. Action, guest stars, and the first few twists combine to make for a strong debut. Pfeifer's script is fairly average, which is fine. He's not got quite the same gift for dialog that a Gail Simone would bring, but the story is compelling enough to stand on its own merits without too much flashy crosstalk. Wood's art is great, illustrating everything from “curvy” breastplates to F-16s with aplmob. Pfeifer could brush up on his fighter pilot lingo, but that's really, really nitpicky.

I wasn't really keen on seeing the Amazon's come back when I first heard about this. From picking up trades from the last Wonder Woman run with Rucka, I found the elements that mixed in the Greek gods and the Amazons in general to be tedious. Too many characters with a whole set of pointless politics among deities that no one even worshiped. This has been handled well so far, and no sign of the annoying deity parade so far. Besides, after the events of the opening issue, I doubt the Amazon's will be hanging around long after this is over.