The Good and the Bad: 11/24/2010

Batman and Robin 17

I've never been a fan of stories that start in the middle.  So guess what this one does?  Yeah, right.  This book marks the beginning of a new storyline along with a new writer.  I guess this supposed to be the "witty" or "fun" Batman book, but I don't want fun and witty.  You know there is going to be a problem in the future when the two main characters comment on their witty and fun dialog.  I want Bruce Wayne kicking ass.  If DC wanted to keep Dick Grayson as Batman, then why bring back Bruce?  Why do readers have to go through a mountain of Bat-books just to get a whiff of Bruce Wayne?

Grade:  Pretty good even if I don't like the method by which the story is written.

Captain America 612

Guess what?  They're using Nazis in the Captain America book.  Yawn.  Master Man is back and he has freed the daughter of the Red Skull, who is now the new Red Skull.  Yawn.  I probably would have tolerated all of this had the writer not written one of the worst scenes I've ever read.  Steve Rogers is talking to Bucky's lawyer and he says America needs Bucky free and back in the Captain America uniform.  

Huh?!?!?!

No they don't!  They want you back in the costume.What the fuck is he thinking?  Why make a big deal about the big 3 returning to the Avengers when Captain America is a replacement.  Bucky Barnes is not even worthy of fighting alongside Thor and Iron Man.  Also, I'm still trying to figure out what Black Widow and the Falcon are doing.  This book was once of the best books Marvel has put out every month, but now it seems like it's coasting on previous momentum.  This book has the same problem as the Batman titles:  readers want the original back.  We spent out hard-earned money on those insipid miniseries and we want Steve Rodgers slinging that damn shield.

Grade:  Bad.  It's a damn shame Steve Rogers is nothing more than a guest star in his own book.

Fantastic Four 585

Reed's with Galactus, Susan's with Namor, and Johnny and Ben watch the kids.  This isn't so much a coherent story than it is a series a vignettes starring the Fantastic Four.  For a group of four, the writer has the team spread all over the place and unless you've been reading the book for the past couple of years, you wouldn't understand half the stuff going on.  Galactus wants to go to Nu-Earth and gets some payback for being killed in the future.  Namor has lost his damn mind and starts killing underwater diplomats.  If there were better transitions between the story lines, a new writer MIGHT be able to follow along.

Grade:  Good.  It's the Fantastic Four doing fantastic stuff and that's all a true fan can ask for.

Green Arrow 6

Action!  And more action!  This is what Green Arrow should be like.  Swashbuckling, people getting shot with arrows.  Unlike Batman who about the mystery, Ollie is a hunter and the story does an excellent of letting us know just what is going on in his mind during a fight.Thanks to Brightest Day, Ollie is taking a bigger role in the DCU and rising above the "Batman with arrows" comparisons that have plagues the character since his beginning.

Grade:  Really good.  Goes a long way to show us we don't need Black Canary to make this character relevant.

Green Hornet 10

Wow.  Ten issues of comic goodness.  No detailed plot, just a straight forward superhero book.  The Green Hornet beats the Black Hornet.  And it was a "witty and fun" ride.  Can't wait for the next issue to come out.

Grade:  Extremely Good.  I complain about a lot of books I read, but I've never had any for this title.  And even though there are a ton of miniseries with side and back stories, you don't need to read them to enjoy this book.

Incorruptible 12

Sometimes you pick up a book on a whim and it proves itself to be one of the best decisions you ever made.  Point in case, Incorruptible.  A side story for the book Irredeemable, in which a Superman analog snaps and starts destroying the world, this title is the reverse.  A bad guy realizes how much that Superman analog is messing up the world and he decides to change his ways and become a hero while the rest of the world still thinks you'e a villain.  That's all you need to know. No time travel, or parallel Earths or zombies.

Grade.  Very Good.  Sometimes Mark Waid can write his ass off.

Justice Society of America 45

DC Comics hates the world.  I mean, why would they destroy so many cities?  Coast City, Bludhaven, Gotham City and Star City have all been turned to rubble in the past.  The victim this time is Monument Point in Florida and even Superman is feeling bad about it.  HOWEVER, their are a few quibbles I have with this book.  First, Superman is not a visitor from another planet.  He's been on Earth a long time.  Yeah, he's from Krypton, but he grew up on this planet.  Second, isn't Green Lantern's body composed of the StarheartOther than that, this story does a good job of retconning certain plot elements from JSA history and reintroduces them and shows that even a Golden Age hero like the Flash can carry a grudge after he and rest of the team were labeled as traitors back in the 1950s.  I really liked the scenes that reveals how Jay and Alan ran black ops missions in WWII and due to Alan deciding not to complete the mission, it's coming back to haunt them.  As much as Jay is portrayed as the moral conscience of the DCU, it's shocking to see he was willing to take a life, even if that life belonged to a baby. energy?  Because why is he beaten so badly that he's now paralyzed? 

It's hard to believe I almost stopped getting this book, but I gave it another chance and I wasn't disappointed. 

Grade:  Extremely good.  Now this is how you tell a multi-layered story.

Secret Avengers 7

Why in the hell is Marvel keeping the Thunderbolts going when THIS book is everything it should be.  Avengers doing black ops and wet work?  This is how you tell an original story.  Just like the JSA, certain retcons are introduced and the story ties it all together.  This is what Captain America should be doing.  Too bad, he's no longer in the right uniform.

Grade:  Really Good.  This book just keeps gaining momentum.

Secret Warriors 22

Marvel's other black ops group is still going strong.  If you've ever read this title, go get the back issues and get caught up.  This nothing but Nick Fury being the ultimate badass.  There were enough twists in this book to keep the reader on the edge and it keeps going right up to the very end.  I love this title and apparently, it will be ending soon.  I'm glad I've got the Secret Avengers to take its place. 

Grade:  Good.  Once again, Nick Fury is straight fire.

Teen Titans 89

This book was straight garbage.  I couldn't even finish it.  Oh well.

Grade:  Really really Bad.

The Good and the Bad: 11/17/2010, Part 2

DC Universe Legacies #7 - With every good book, there must be an equal and worse book on the rack next to it.  This series is nothing more than a rip off of the competition’s Marvels mini-series and a poor one at that.  This has to be one of the worst ideas DC has ever had (along with the decision to increase the number of Batman books to 100,000 each month).  It serves no purpose and I can’t come up with a reason to even read it.

Grade:  F. Buy at your own risk.

Green Lantern Corps #54 - The best thing about the flagship Green Lantern title, is it focuses on Hal Jordan.  He is the star and even when there are 50 other characters in the book, it is clear he is the main character.  Green Lantern Corps on the other hand, wants to be everything to everybody.  I’m not much of a Kyle Rayner fan, but I do like John Stewart.  So I guess that means I gotta take the good with the bad.  The main problem with this book is the fact that there is no one character you can follow without the story jumping to another character.

Grade:   B.  As much as I don’t like it, I still recognize a decent story with god art.

Hellblazer #273 - What do you so when you’re a dick to your girlfriend and she gets sent back in time and meets you when you’re an even bigger dick?  Vertigo’s flagship book is still chugging alone and I’m still reading it.

Grade:  A.  I’ve been reading this book since it started so what did you think I was going to give it?

Irredeemable #19 - This series is nothing but pure super hero goodness.  There’s no need for multiple layers requiring multiple reading to understand it.  A Superman-type character has snapped and his former teammates are trying to stop him.  See, nothing else.

Grade:  A.  I thought this book would have ended months ago, but it is still coming out.  I am pleased.

Justice League of America #51 - Any good will I had towards this book with issue 50, it’s quickly gone back to sucking again.

Grade:  F.  Really, DC?  This is how you treat your flagship title?

The Good and the Bad: Thor #617

Oh how I love a Matt Fraction story.  Somehow in some arcane manner, Marvel is swinging for the fences when it comes to Thor and Iron Man (now if only the REAL Captain America could get the same treatment).  Both who were in the book.  Iron Man talks to Balder who already knows about the trouble rapidly creeping up on them from another dimension.  Also, Thor finds Loki and returns him to Godhood.  How that will work out is anybody’s guess, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy the ride.

Grade:  A-. 

The Good and the Bad: Birds of Prey #6

This is part two of “2 Nights In Bangkok” and the final issue of the current story arc.   First thing first:  When it comes to Birds of Prey, Gail Simone can write her ass off.  Ever since this volume of the book started, it has been non-stop action and she is continuing to delve into the psyches of the heroes and moves them past the two dimensional portrayals they get when they appear in other books.

In this issue, Black Canary has gone to Bangkok with White Canary and the Huntress and Lady Blackhawk follow her there to bring her home.  The reason for Dinah going there is because Sin and her foster parents were kidnapped and if Dinah does not participate in a fight to the death, they will die.

And the person she will be fighting is none other than the best martial artist in the DC Universe:  Lady Shiva.

First, the good.  

While it seems Black Canary will be the main protagonist, Gail pulls a twist and the focus changes to the Huntress.  She selflessly takes Dinah’s place because Canary has people who love her while she did not.  Now we all know the Huntress doesn’t stand a chance.  In fact, we’d see a snowball fight in Hell before we saw her win this fight.  She knows she’s nowhere near the fighter Shiva is, so just when you think the Huntress is about to get killed, she does the unexpected and pulls a Batman, i.e. she cheats and fights dirty.  In the end, Sin is rescued and the Huntress had earned the respect of Shiva, who now calls her “Iron Owl”.

Also worth mentioning, is the cover art by Alina Urusov.  Yes, it looks good, but for once Shiva looks like she’s Oriental instead of the “whitening” other artists give her.

Now the bad.  

The cover art is great, but what’s inside is damn near atrocious.  Two artists are listed as doing the interior art but there is no indication as to who did what pages.  For starters, the facial expressions and the hairdos of the various characters are just bad.  Very bad.  I almost wanted to stop reading the book because it was hard on the eyes.  My next bone of contention is with Hawk.  Yes, he gains a few inches to his height when Hank transforms into Hawk, but he is usually of average height when he’s in his civilian form.  Somehow, the artist thinks Hank is a 7 foot tall giant all the time and it just looks silly when he stands next to Dove.

Grade:  A-. Simply because the story is so good that it overcomes the bad art.

The Good and the Bad: R.E.B.E.L.S. #22

This is part 2 of the “To Be a R.E.B.E.L.” story arc.  

That is all you’ll get because this will be the last issue I’ll be reading.

The good.

Not a damn thing.

The bad.

This is the kind of book DC puts out so they can retain the trademark on their various characters.  Characters that are together just because.  Vril Dox is just an outright dick and his personality is just too abrasive for the reader to actually want to read the book.  Now, add to the equation the presence of Lobo, Lyrl, and other characters I have no interest in.  And this is the main reason I dislike this book:  Starfire.  As with Japanese manga where some female characters are over-sexualized or do things that titillate the reader.  In other words, she’s American fan service.  There is no real reason for her to even be in the book except for the fact that she’s comes from an alien world.  Ever since she first appeared in The New Teen Titans, there has been just a bare minimum of development other than she likes to go around half naked.

Grade:  F.   I’m done and I’m out.

The Good and the Bad: Freedom Fighters #3

This is part 3 of “American Nightmare” storyline.  The elementals have beaten the FF and now the Black Condor is trying to bump his powers up a level and instead gets hint as to how the elementals can be defeated.  I have to admit I’ve always been a sucker for Uncle Sam and his band of adventurers.  The image of the current Black Condor just looks good.  And if I had to pick a reason as to why I like this team it would be the fact that they know they’re not good enough or experienced enough to take down the bad guys.  Unlike some groups, they admit they don’t come up with a solution until it is too late and because of that, innocent people die.  Taking down the elementals takes place over a couple of pages and the main thrust of the story is finding the artifacts they were tasked to find.

Uncle Sam is down and Miss America (thank goodness they got rid of that Miss Cosmo crap) assumes leadership of the team.  Now instead of just finding the artifacts, they discover the Vice President has been kidnapped.  And now they have more issues to focus on which pretty much depletes their limited ability to strategize.

The good.

The art fits perfectly with the story being told.  Miss America is back.  The character design for the Black Python is great.  Just like the Justice Society, Freedom Fighters are a good re-imagining of golden age heroes.  And we get a new legacy character with the unveiling of the Jester, who is the grandson of the original and is apparently the force that moving things behind the scenes.

The bad.

While the story and art are good, the pacing of the story just seems to drag because when the big moments come up, they push the story forward.  But what goes on between those moments are drawn out over several pages when they could have been done in 1 to 2 pages.

Grade:  B+. Fix the pacing and this will be an outstanding book.

The Good and the Bad: Titans #29

Riddle me this:  What happens when you remove the main characters form a book and replace them with B and C list villains?  You get the Titans.  This book is just horrible and there is absolutely no reason for it to continue other than to keep a place for the real Titans open.  I hate this with a passion and I’m pissed off because I’ve been a Titans fan since the FIRST series and it pains me to see that legacy mangled in this way.  The only good moment was the fight between Batman and Deathstroke which ended too soon.

Grade:  F. I’m done with this book until the real Titans come back.