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| 3/5 Quick Batman Refs |
Writers - Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist - Moritat (& Phil Winslade - back-up)
I don't actually buy All-Star, but instead pick it up for my brother while he's at school and read it off of him. Jonah Hex is always fun, and I'm a huge fan of Westerns, so there's a lot I want to like in the book, but the last two issues have dragged a bit. The over-arching mystery is a little underwhelming and the emergence of a giant bat at the end of last issue was pushing the supernatural a little too much for me. Luckily, it looks like the next arc, introducing Nighthawk and Cinnamon is looking to be a lot of fun. The appeal of Hex in Old Gotham has also begun to wane as well, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to see Hex take on the Court of Owls soon. Were it not Kyle's purchase, I don't think I'd pick up the book myself - mostly due to the $4 price tag. As a $3 book most of my complaints are minor, but that extra dollar is to justify hit-or-miss back-ups. The last one, featuring El Diablo, I thought was a lot of fun, but this issue concludes the story of the Barbary Ghost, and it doesn't fare as well. Overall, it's a fun book and I'm certainly getting what I want out of it, but were Kyle to drop it, I'm not so sure I'd pick it up myself.
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| 4/5 Road-Ragin' Vamps |
Writer - Scott Snyder
Artist - Rafael Albuquerque
American Vampire is a book I pick up issue-by-issue, telling myself I can quit it whenever I want, but each chapter brings me back for the next. This most recent arc, "Death Race", has probably been my favorite. And seeing as the original arc featured vampire cowboys, that's saying something. The arc's main character, Travis, is fun and engaging, with a backstory that, while a bit cliché, is interesting. Rafael Albuquerque really shines here. While certain details like faces aren't always his best, the man really gets to strut his stuff drawing action. With both a car chase and a car explosion, Albuquerque doesn't disappoint. Also great? Not as anectdote-heavy as every other thing Snyder has written.
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| 3/5 Bad Food Puns -> |
Writer - John Layman
Artist - Rob Guillory
Chew is a book I continue to pick up more out of habit than dedication. It's not that it's a bad book, but it's been going on a bit too long and has begun to lose its luster. I'm not really sure where it's going anymore and it seems to be rehashing a lot of the same jokes, and those jokes have become increasingly juvenile. It's a book I kind of just want to end so I can be done with it, but only halfway through, I'm barely at the main course. I wish I hadn't managed to grab a first issue so I'd be stuck grabbing the much cheaper trades instead, where I think it would hit much better. Even Guillory's art, which was always the highlight of the book, has begun to bore me. He still throws in some funny background gags, but it's all beginning to feel stale. It also doesn't help that this arc has been really unfocused and kind of all over the place. This entire issue was a sidetrack from the Chu's plot, which is even more obnoxious knowing that the conclusion was put off a month for it.
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| 3/5 Buzzes Killed With No Mignola Interiors |
Writers - Various
Artists - Various
The most recent two issues of DHP haven't hit as well as the rest of the series. Part of it may be the absence of "Finder" and "Resident Alien", my favorite recurring stories in the anthology. In their place, many of the new stories have been pretty weak, averaging out to mediocre to bad. While this month's installment features less "bad" stories than last month, it hits worst due to a lack of a real gem like #8's "Beasts of Burden" short. The "Lobster Johnson" story is probably the best, but it's really only a decent Mike Mignola short, and is hurt by Mignola not doing the interior art, but teasing me with a nice cover. I was looking forward to Paul Pope's short "1969", but it was probably my least favorite, being mostly uninteresting and having often illegible lettering. Richard Corben adapted Poe's "The City in the Sea", which was good, but nothing special. "Concrete Park" continues to be absolutely terrible and impossible to follow. "The Once and Future Tarzan" became more interesting by the end of the second chapter, but that's more due to premise than the actual story. "Skulltar" actually surprised me by getting a few laughs. I still don't think the premise can last, but it managed to win me over for at least another chapter. "Alabaster: Wolves" was decent, but was basically an eight-page preview of an upcoming miniseries, and it didn't do anything special enough to motivate me to buy that book. Everything else was about average or forgettable. There wasn't even any of Neil Adam's "Blood" to make fun of. Hopefully next month is better.
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| 3/5 Wishes that I Could Rock Those Sunglasses |
Writers - Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Artist - Francis Manapul
Despite that 3 rating up there, I actally enjoyed The Flash this month. Thing is, Manapul set the bar pretty high for himself with his first arc (hell, his first issue), and I was a bit underwhelmed this time, both in story and art. Aside from the title pages, there aren't really any fun layouts this time around. Everything is played pretty standard and safe. The story itself is also nothing new and is played pretty straightforward...to the point that I'm ninety-percent sure I know how it's going to end. I also don't really see the reasoning, from a story perspective, behind Cold's new powers. We don't get any explanation, and Flash even acknowledges it, so it's not just an arbitrary DCnU change - which I would be fine with. I'm not fanboy-pissed that they changed Captain Cold - I have no investment in the character. But the book's self-aware noting of this change makes me question its point. Overall, though, the book continues to be fun and I look forward to the next issue.
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| 3/5 Disappearing Boobs |
Writer - Peter Milligan
Artist - Mikel Janin
JLD is probably my guilty pleasure book. It's not really bad or anything, but I don't love it and I could name several reasons I should drop it. However, it has its moments and it's a book I really want to like. It's got Constantine, Deadman, and Zatanna! How can I not read that? This issue gives us more or less an epilogue to the first arc after last issue's lackluster "we hate each other so bye" conclusion. It gives a reason for the "team" to get back together and I really do enjoy seeing everyone butting heads with Constantine. It still drives me crazy, though, that everyone can see and hear Deadman. It would be ignorable if there weren't already two books in the DCnU that contradict this: Hawk and Dove and the Deadman arc in DCU Presents. The book doesn't try to explain why everyone can see him, it just flat-out ignores it. Plus, I really like the idea that Deadman has to forcibly take over someone's body to have a conversation with the living. Janin's art works well for the book, though some of the pages get a little too dark (hur hur hur). Also, why was Zatanna's cleavage erased on the cover? It's not that I really need to see her chest or anything (the cheesecake-heavy artwork in her last ongoing became uncomfortable despite being a fun series), but it looks so goofy. I mean, if you don't want to show her cleavage, why dress her like that? You drew a damn zipper. Pull it up a couple inches or something.
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| 4/5 Unique Identities Disappearing While You Wear Some Other Dude's Fake Face |
Writer - Brian Michael Bendis
Artist - Chris Samnee
Before we start, I just want to say: I hate masturbation jokes like the one that begins the issue. I don't find them funny and think they're overused. Especially with how young Miles is. Anyway...
I love Miles Morales. He's right up there with Damien Wayne as one of the greatest characters created in my lifetime. I love reading his story and find him a fun fresh take on the Spider-Man mythos. Despite having already gone through it with Peter at the beginning of the series, I still found watching Miles learn his new powers to be enjoyable and intriguing. That said, this issue is hurt a bit by the usual Bendis decompression, where he takes a lot of pages to cover a small amount of time. Though this is great for development, it does make me notice the $4 price tag when the book ends just as things get interesting. I also notice that, while in the mask, Miles feels a little too much like Peter. There are bits where his uniqueness shines through, but it worried me that there were many times he was indistinguishable from Peter. I hope to see more from Spider-Miles outside of familiar one-liners. His internal monologue was certainly helping, so I may just be nitpicking. Samnee's artwork is fun, but a little shadow-heavy, and unfortunately still can't hold a candle to Sara Pichelli's amazing work. Overall, though, still one of the best books I'm picking up.
Alright, that's all I've got this week.
Go away now.
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| Seriously, go away. |
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