Comic Books and Graphic Novels
Mar 27, 2017 19:10:51 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on Mar 27, 2017 19:10:51 GMT -8
I'll start this thread by reposting some of my reviews from the old forum. As usual with reposts, I apologize for formatting troubles.
Kingdom Come (1996): Produced in response to the ever-darkening tone of comic books, Kingdom Come puts the superhero under a microscope. Its most notable feature is the way it forms a clear heroic triangle between Superman (the old-fashioned idealist), Batman (the hardened pragmatist), and Wonder Woman (the forward-thinking warrior). Few comics I can think of have balanced the trio so well.
The story is intense and emotionally turbulent, thanks to Waid's evocative dialogue and Ross' realistically painted illustrations. Subtly told and rendered with impeccable detail, Kingdom Come remains an outstanding little series.
Superman For All Seasons (1998): There's a refreshingly minimalist quality to For All Seasons, which doesn't feature any larger-than-life action but finds poetry in the quietude of Smallville. That seems to be where the story best resides, actually - when the scene switches to Metropolis, the larger spectacle appears to outmatch the artwork. Said art is still pretty to look at, though - Tim Sale draws some strange faces, but he knows how to capture a mood.
Jeph Loeb's story is also charming, with four different POV perspectives to correspond to each of the four seasons. I have special affection for "Fall," which delves into a most twisted version of Lex Luthor. Each of the story's four chapters is well-rendered, and the last in particular may feature one of the most human Lana Langs in comicdom.
Kingdom Come: A
Superman For All Seasons: B+
[b:22jcirgx]The Trial of the Flash (1983-85)[/b:22jcirgx]
It's so rare to see a genuine "finale" in the decades-spanning continuity of comicdom, but during the mid-80s, right before the famous "Crisis on Infinite Earths" reboot, DC offered up a bunch. There was "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?", "The End of the Justice League," and - perhaps most unusually - "The Trial of the Flash."
As the final chapter in the original Barry Allen saga (which spans over 30 years of continuity), the storyline has a lot to live up to. Spanning over two dozen issues, the arc tries to bring back as many of the Flash's Rogues as it can. The story feels overstuffed at times, but it's still surprisingly effective.
Okay, so it isn't [i:22jcirgx]The People vs. OJ Simpson[/i:22jcirgx]. But Flash's murder trial, which grows bleaker and bleaker with each issue, builds steadily and carefully to its engaging climax. Numerous subplots are carefully weaved into the story, deepening the drama rather than interrupting it.
There are some bumps in the road, however. A late-game spotlight on Wally West rubs off as unnecessary filler, and an annoying villain named Big Sir (yeah) overstays his welcome. And don't get me started on Barry's girlfriend. Fiona Webb (Never heard of her? Now you know why) has got to be one of the worst-written love interests I've seen in a comic book in a [i:22jcirgx]long [/i:22jcirgx]time, lacking depth and dimension but featuring no shortage of shrill cries and sudden faints.
The conclusion to the story is going to divide plenty of fans. Although I found the final stretch of issues to be excellent, the final "twist" (which literally occurs on the very last page) is an unnecessary cop-out. It feels like Bates and Infantino decided, at the last minute, to give fans the ending they wanted, rather than the one Barry Allen needed.
Oh, well. This is, on the whole, an impressive story, and one that I'll probably be rereading not long in the future.
[b:2splijlh]Ms. Marvel - Vol. 1 (1977-79)[/b:2splijlh]
Like many people, I was excited to learn the recent news that Brie Larson will be portraying Captain Marvel in the upcoming MCU film. It's another step in the right direction for a character who, until a few years ago, went by "Ms." and was typically relegated to second- or third-level status in comicdom.
That's not to say the original 1970s series is [i:2splijlh]bad [/i:2splijlh]- but liike its title heroine, it has one heck of an identity crisis. Because said heroine doesn't have all that memorable a personality. She's tough and independent, and she's got a wry sense of humor, but there doesn't seem to be much beneath the surface. She's never given a good motive to fight crime, her backstory isn't well-explored, and the supporting cast feels pretty thin all around. (Jonah Jameson is the one exception - but that's 'cause he's Jonah Jameson.
Somewhere around the 15-issue mark, the series starts to develop a greater scope. We meet Mystique for the first time (literally, the very first time - this is her introduction to Marvel Comics), and the stories begin to grow darker. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled after 25 issues, [i:2splijlh]just as things get really interesting[/i:2splijlh]. Arrgh.
You know what? I'm okay with it. The series is no masterpiece, but it's likable and energetic. And it reminds us that Ms. Marvel was actually a promising feminist icon for a while, before that horrible, horrible Limbo dimension story.
Note: Under [b:2splijlh]no circumstances [/b:2splijlh]should you ever Google "Ms. Marvel Limbo dimension." Seriously, comic books don't get any more offensively sexist than that.
So I was trying to read the series that introduced the new Ms. Marvel, but I ended up picking up the 2015 [i:35td2fzx]Ms. Marvel[/i:35td2fzx], rather than the 2014 [i:35td2fzx]Ms. Marvel[/i:35td2fzx]. Why are there two different series about the same character, with the same title, released just one year apart? That's really bad marketing. (At least I didn't get confused enough to pick up the 2006 [i:35td2fzx]Ms. Marvel[/i:35td2fzx]. Or the 1977 [i:35td2fzx]Ms. Marvel[/i:35td2fzx].)
Anyway... When I heard the main character was going to be a Muslim, I wasn't sure how much of the series I would find relatable. As it turns out, it was actually very easy to get absorbed in the story - Kamala Khan is fun and likable, and her religion is used to create some interesting family tension between her modern outlook and that of her faith-based parents.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Kamala is one of the best representations of a teenage girl I've seen in Marvel Comics since... well, since the early days of Kitty Pryde! Like Kitty, Kamala is rebellious, eccentric, a little goofy, and kind of a geek. She's also not drawn with supermodel-like proportions. In other words, she feels like a [i:35td2fzx]real teenager[/i:35td2fzx]. Crazy, I know.
Nice work, Marvel. Now let's see you reintroduce She-Hulk as an Orthodox Jew...
I recently read the complete [i:1fyu7b1m]Death and Return of Superman[/i:1fyu7b1m] story (recently republished by DC in a five-volume format), which covers the 1992-93 run of Superman's battle with Doomsday and its subsequent fallout.
I know I'm supposed to judge these comics on certain set criteria (story, character, action, artwork, etc.) but all I could think about while reading was how everything and everyone in this comic screamed "NINETIES!"
From the dialogue to the fashion to the constant lazy cross-branding and licensing (following Superman's death, a character starts selling Superman armbands - just like DC Comics did for fans at the time), this is as blatantly a product of its time as anything else from the 20th century's last decade. And don't even get me started on Superman's stupid "resurrection" haircut. Yuck.
The story itself is mostly interesting, although it drags at times. The Superman/Doomsday is decently done (I like the idea of diminishing panels per page as the story goes), and the emotional fallout is well-handled. But the battle with the Cyborg-Superman goes on [i:1fyu7b1m]forever[/i:1fyu7b1m]. Stupid '90s comics with their stupid endless storylines.
The final volume of the series is disconnected from the first four, and just focuses on later Doomsday appearances. By the time it's over, you'll be glad that [i:1fyu7b1m]Batman v Superman[/i:1fyu7b1m] relegated the big oaf to about five minutes of screentime.
I recently read the first volume of [i:2mnku78s]Runaways[/i:2mnku78s] (which is set to have its own TV series on Hulu later this year).
Honestly, I really liked it. It starts out with a simple "Parents are evil!" conceit, but then develops it in some really interesting ways. The kids are fun, and the series (18 issues total) wrings plenty of humor from them - but at the same time, they [i:2mnku78s]feel [/i:2mnku78s]like real kids, at that crucial age when they're not sure if they're ready to grow up. The drama feels honest and genuine, since the characters (at the start of the series) are so ordinary.
The dialogue (from the reliable Brian Michael Bendis) is often quite funny - "Everybody, [i:2mnku78s]West Wing[/i:2mnku78s]!" cracked me up - and the art (by [i:2mnku78s]Ms. Marvel[/i:2mnku78s]'s Adrian Alphona) has a [i:2mnku78s]slight [/i:2mnku78s]cartoonish quality about it that offsets the darker themes.
So yeah, recommended.
No doubt inspired in part by her character's onscreen debut on [i:15q13vfi]Jessica Jones[/i:15q13vfi], Marvel has decided to give Trish Walker (AKA Patricia, AKA Patsy, AKA Hellcat) her own comic book. And it's about time, since her last series was cancelled in... 1967? Holy cow.
Nice to see that good things come to those who wait. And the new series [i:15q13vfi]is [/i:15q13vfi]good - it takes an overtly comedic approach to the character (evident in both the stories and [i:15q13vfi]very [/i:15q13vfi]cartoony artwork), cleverly melding her Baby Boomer-era, Archie Comics-inspired roots with her modern superhero rendition.
(Oh, and Jessica Jones pops up, for obvious reasons.)
---
The latest [i:15q13vfi]Guardians of the Galaxy[/i:15q13vfi] series is about as fun as you'd expect it to be. Though I haven't been keeping up with the previous series, so... why the heck is Kitty Pryde the new Star-Lord? And when did Flash Thompson become the new Venom? And why can't Groot ever expand his vocabulary?!
Yikes. The "All-New, All-Different" Marvel seems like it's going to be just as confusing as the old one.
I was going to include my thoughts on DC Comics' [i:3u0qzcd2]Prez [/i:3u0qzcd2]reboot in yesterday's post, but I felt I had too many thoughts to give it a simple aside.
So, [i:3u0qzcd2]Prez[/i:3u0qzcd2]. Just when you thought there weren't any pop-culture properties left to reboot and gender-swap, we have a reboot of the 1973 series in which a teenager gets elected President. Only this time, the teenager in question is a girl. And the series takes place in the future, because if [i:3u0qzcd2]Idiocracy [/i:3u0qzcd2]is any indication, the future is going to be a pretty funky place.
The original [i:3u0qzcd2]Prez [/i:3u0qzcd2]was cancelled after four issues, making it among the most obscure DC titles of all time. (It [i:3u0qzcd2]is [/i:3u0qzcd2]canonical, though - Prez appeared and was identified as our nation's leader in a really lame issue of [i:3u0qzcd2]Supergirl[/i:3u0qzcd2].) So needless to say, its revival is quite a surprise.
I'll be honest here: I thought I was going to love this series. It's a dumb idea, but there's no way the writers could have failed to [i:3u0qzcd2]realize [/i:3u0qzcd2]how dumb it was - they're plucking this title practically from the ether. The artwork looked refreshingly bright and goofy, and I prepared for some fun.
And... wow, was I disappointed. Much like the original series, the new Prez is steeped in political commentary. I want to call it "satire," but that word usually implies some level of subtlety. There is no subtlety in any of the political commentary in this series - the politicians are cartoon characters who would seem too broad for a Tex Avery short, and every last message is hammered home with brute force.
On top of this, the main character has no actual personality. She may well be the blandest teenage lead I've ever seen in a comic book. The manner in which she's elected President is clever, but the series doesn't dig into her to any substantial degree - she just exists to react to an endless parade of shrieking politicians and lobbyists. The resulting series is dull and quite often annoying.
Come on, DC. A modern [i:3u0qzcd2]Prez [/i:3u0qzcd2]reboot could have been [i:3u0qzcd2]so [/i:3u0qzcd2]much fun. I expected better.
Kingdom Come (1996): Produced in response to the ever-darkening tone of comic books, Kingdom Come puts the superhero under a microscope. Its most notable feature is the way it forms a clear heroic triangle between Superman (the old-fashioned idealist), Batman (the hardened pragmatist), and Wonder Woman (the forward-thinking warrior). Few comics I can think of have balanced the trio so well.
The story is intense and emotionally turbulent, thanks to Waid's evocative dialogue and Ross' realistically painted illustrations. Subtly told and rendered with impeccable detail, Kingdom Come remains an outstanding little series.
Superman For All Seasons (1998): There's a refreshingly minimalist quality to For All Seasons, which doesn't feature any larger-than-life action but finds poetry in the quietude of Smallville. That seems to be where the story best resides, actually - when the scene switches to Metropolis, the larger spectacle appears to outmatch the artwork. Said art is still pretty to look at, though - Tim Sale draws some strange faces, but he knows how to capture a mood.
Jeph Loeb's story is also charming, with four different POV perspectives to correspond to each of the four seasons. I have special affection for "Fall," which delves into a most twisted version of Lex Luthor. Each of the story's four chapters is well-rendered, and the last in particular may feature one of the most human Lana Langs in comicdom.
Kingdom Come: A
Superman For All Seasons: B+
[b:22jcirgx]The Trial of the Flash (1983-85)[/b:22jcirgx]
It's so rare to see a genuine "finale" in the decades-spanning continuity of comicdom, but during the mid-80s, right before the famous "Crisis on Infinite Earths" reboot, DC offered up a bunch. There was "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?", "The End of the Justice League," and - perhaps most unusually - "The Trial of the Flash."
As the final chapter in the original Barry Allen saga (which spans over 30 years of continuity), the storyline has a lot to live up to. Spanning over two dozen issues, the arc tries to bring back as many of the Flash's Rogues as it can. The story feels overstuffed at times, but it's still surprisingly effective.
Okay, so it isn't [i:22jcirgx]The People vs. OJ Simpson[/i:22jcirgx]. But Flash's murder trial, which grows bleaker and bleaker with each issue, builds steadily and carefully to its engaging climax. Numerous subplots are carefully weaved into the story, deepening the drama rather than interrupting it.
There are some bumps in the road, however. A late-game spotlight on Wally West rubs off as unnecessary filler, and an annoying villain named Big Sir (yeah) overstays his welcome. And don't get me started on Barry's girlfriend. Fiona Webb (Never heard of her? Now you know why) has got to be one of the worst-written love interests I've seen in a comic book in a [i:22jcirgx]long [/i:22jcirgx]time, lacking depth and dimension but featuring no shortage of shrill cries and sudden faints.
The conclusion to the story is going to divide plenty of fans. Although I found the final stretch of issues to be excellent, the final "twist" (which literally occurs on the very last page) is an unnecessary cop-out. It feels like Bates and Infantino decided, at the last minute, to give fans the ending they wanted, rather than the one Barry Allen needed.
Oh, well. This is, on the whole, an impressive story, and one that I'll probably be rereading not long in the future.
[b:2splijlh]Ms. Marvel - Vol. 1 (1977-79)[/b:2splijlh]
Like many people, I was excited to learn the recent news that Brie Larson will be portraying Captain Marvel in the upcoming MCU film. It's another step in the right direction for a character who, until a few years ago, went by "Ms." and was typically relegated to second- or third-level status in comicdom.
That's not to say the original 1970s series is [i:2splijlh]bad [/i:2splijlh]- but liike its title heroine, it has one heck of an identity crisis. Because said heroine doesn't have all that memorable a personality. She's tough and independent, and she's got a wry sense of humor, but there doesn't seem to be much beneath the surface. She's never given a good motive to fight crime, her backstory isn't well-explored, and the supporting cast feels pretty thin all around. (Jonah Jameson is the one exception - but that's 'cause he's Jonah Jameson.
Somewhere around the 15-issue mark, the series starts to develop a greater scope. We meet Mystique for the first time (literally, the very first time - this is her introduction to Marvel Comics), and the stories begin to grow darker. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled after 25 issues, [i:2splijlh]just as things get really interesting[/i:2splijlh]. Arrgh.
You know what? I'm okay with it. The series is no masterpiece, but it's likable and energetic. And it reminds us that Ms. Marvel was actually a promising feminist icon for a while, before that horrible, horrible Limbo dimension story.
Note: Under [b:2splijlh]no circumstances [/b:2splijlh]should you ever Google "Ms. Marvel Limbo dimension." Seriously, comic books don't get any more offensively sexist than that.
So I was trying to read the series that introduced the new Ms. Marvel, but I ended up picking up the 2015 [i:35td2fzx]Ms. Marvel[/i:35td2fzx], rather than the 2014 [i:35td2fzx]Ms. Marvel[/i:35td2fzx]. Why are there two different series about the same character, with the same title, released just one year apart? That's really bad marketing. (At least I didn't get confused enough to pick up the 2006 [i:35td2fzx]Ms. Marvel[/i:35td2fzx]. Or the 1977 [i:35td2fzx]Ms. Marvel[/i:35td2fzx].)
Anyway... When I heard the main character was going to be a Muslim, I wasn't sure how much of the series I would find relatable. As it turns out, it was actually very easy to get absorbed in the story - Kamala Khan is fun and likable, and her religion is used to create some interesting family tension between her modern outlook and that of her faith-based parents.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Kamala is one of the best representations of a teenage girl I've seen in Marvel Comics since... well, since the early days of Kitty Pryde! Like Kitty, Kamala is rebellious, eccentric, a little goofy, and kind of a geek. She's also not drawn with supermodel-like proportions. In other words, she feels like a [i:35td2fzx]real teenager[/i:35td2fzx]. Crazy, I know.
Nice work, Marvel. Now let's see you reintroduce She-Hulk as an Orthodox Jew...
I recently read the complete [i:1fyu7b1m]Death and Return of Superman[/i:1fyu7b1m] story (recently republished by DC in a five-volume format), which covers the 1992-93 run of Superman's battle with Doomsday and its subsequent fallout.
I know I'm supposed to judge these comics on certain set criteria (story, character, action, artwork, etc.) but all I could think about while reading was how everything and everyone in this comic screamed "NINETIES!"
From the dialogue to the fashion to the constant lazy cross-branding and licensing (following Superman's death, a character starts selling Superman armbands - just like DC Comics did for fans at the time), this is as blatantly a product of its time as anything else from the 20th century's last decade. And don't even get me started on Superman's stupid "resurrection" haircut. Yuck.
The story itself is mostly interesting, although it drags at times. The Superman/Doomsday is decently done (I like the idea of diminishing panels per page as the story goes), and the emotional fallout is well-handled. But the battle with the Cyborg-Superman goes on [i:1fyu7b1m]forever[/i:1fyu7b1m]. Stupid '90s comics with their stupid endless storylines.
The final volume of the series is disconnected from the first four, and just focuses on later Doomsday appearances. By the time it's over, you'll be glad that [i:1fyu7b1m]Batman v Superman[/i:1fyu7b1m] relegated the big oaf to about five minutes of screentime.
I recently read the first volume of [i:2mnku78s]Runaways[/i:2mnku78s] (which is set to have its own TV series on Hulu later this year).
Honestly, I really liked it. It starts out with a simple "Parents are evil!" conceit, but then develops it in some really interesting ways. The kids are fun, and the series (18 issues total) wrings plenty of humor from them - but at the same time, they [i:2mnku78s]feel [/i:2mnku78s]like real kids, at that crucial age when they're not sure if they're ready to grow up. The drama feels honest and genuine, since the characters (at the start of the series) are so ordinary.
The dialogue (from the reliable Brian Michael Bendis) is often quite funny - "Everybody, [i:2mnku78s]West Wing[/i:2mnku78s]!" cracked me up - and the art (by [i:2mnku78s]Ms. Marvel[/i:2mnku78s]'s Adrian Alphona) has a [i:2mnku78s]slight [/i:2mnku78s]cartoonish quality about it that offsets the darker themes.
So yeah, recommended.
No doubt inspired in part by her character's onscreen debut on [i:15q13vfi]Jessica Jones[/i:15q13vfi], Marvel has decided to give Trish Walker (AKA Patricia, AKA Patsy, AKA Hellcat) her own comic book. And it's about time, since her last series was cancelled in... 1967? Holy cow.
Nice to see that good things come to those who wait. And the new series [i:15q13vfi]is [/i:15q13vfi]good - it takes an overtly comedic approach to the character (evident in both the stories and [i:15q13vfi]very [/i:15q13vfi]cartoony artwork), cleverly melding her Baby Boomer-era, Archie Comics-inspired roots with her modern superhero rendition.
(Oh, and Jessica Jones pops up, for obvious reasons.)
---
The latest [i:15q13vfi]Guardians of the Galaxy[/i:15q13vfi] series is about as fun as you'd expect it to be. Though I haven't been keeping up with the previous series, so... why the heck is Kitty Pryde the new Star-Lord? And when did Flash Thompson become the new Venom? And why can't Groot ever expand his vocabulary?!
Yikes. The "All-New, All-Different" Marvel seems like it's going to be just as confusing as the old one.
I was going to include my thoughts on DC Comics' [i:3u0qzcd2]Prez [/i:3u0qzcd2]reboot in yesterday's post, but I felt I had too many thoughts to give it a simple aside.
So, [i:3u0qzcd2]Prez[/i:3u0qzcd2]. Just when you thought there weren't any pop-culture properties left to reboot and gender-swap, we have a reboot of the 1973 series in which a teenager gets elected President. Only this time, the teenager in question is a girl. And the series takes place in the future, because if [i:3u0qzcd2]Idiocracy [/i:3u0qzcd2]is any indication, the future is going to be a pretty funky place.
The original [i:3u0qzcd2]Prez [/i:3u0qzcd2]was cancelled after four issues, making it among the most obscure DC titles of all time. (It [i:3u0qzcd2]is [/i:3u0qzcd2]canonical, though - Prez appeared and was identified as our nation's leader in a really lame issue of [i:3u0qzcd2]Supergirl[/i:3u0qzcd2].) So needless to say, its revival is quite a surprise.
I'll be honest here: I thought I was going to love this series. It's a dumb idea, but there's no way the writers could have failed to [i:3u0qzcd2]realize [/i:3u0qzcd2]how dumb it was - they're plucking this title practically from the ether. The artwork looked refreshingly bright and goofy, and I prepared for some fun.
And... wow, was I disappointed. Much like the original series, the new Prez is steeped in political commentary. I want to call it "satire," but that word usually implies some level of subtlety. There is no subtlety in any of the political commentary in this series - the politicians are cartoon characters who would seem too broad for a Tex Avery short, and every last message is hammered home with brute force.
On top of this, the main character has no actual personality. She may well be the blandest teenage lead I've ever seen in a comic book. The manner in which she's elected President is clever, but the series doesn't dig into her to any substantial degree - she just exists to react to an endless parade of shrieking politicians and lobbyists. The resulting series is dull and quite often annoying.
Come on, DC. A modern [i:3u0qzcd2]Prez [/i:3u0qzcd2]reboot could have been [i:3u0qzcd2]so [/i:3u0qzcd2]much fun. I expected better.