Metropolis

Sorry I’ve been offline for a little bit longer than I originally intended.  I had planned to resume my regular reviewing duties last week, but a massive seventeen book week curtailed my plans.  Faced with reviewing such a huge stack – I opted to blow it off.  Bad blogger!  Anywho, this week I had reasonable stack (still on the large side), but guilt over my neglect has caused me to step up and be a man….er, fanboy, that my Momma would be proud of.  I trust everyone is having a good Easter weekend.  If it isn’t too late, and you don’t have anything to do, might I suggest you rent a little flick called MY NAME IS BRUCE? 

MY NAME IS BRUCE stars legendary B-list celebrity Bruce Campbell (EVIL DEAD trilogy, BURN NOTICE, Sam Raimi’s go-to guy, etc.) in his first directorial effort.  It follows the pattern established by THREE AMIGOS and GALAXY QUEST of a character actor mistaken for the character he plays on screen played out to hilarious effect.  Campbell portrays himself as a washed-up drunken lout brought into the town of Gold Lick to fight the resurrected Chinese God of War and Protector of Bean Curd, Guan-Di.  It’s a very tongue-in-cheek satirical skewering worthy of the man who wrote the book on hammy scenery chewing.  You’ll love it! 
 
Now – on to the comics!

 
TERRY MOORE’S ECHO 11 – I’m starting to think this would read better as a series of graphic novels instead of the condensed story-telling Moore employs here.  I’m still committed to the story, as it is actually quite readable, but I have a lot of trouble summing up what happens from issue to issue without feeling like I’m treading water.  Which is to say that, plot-wise, not a whole lot has actually happened over the full course.  Having said that, this is still GOOD STUFF.
 
BOOSTER GOLD 19 – What a difference a writer makes.  Before Geoff Johns, and writing partner Jeff Katz, rejuvenated the character in 52 and then this series, Booster was pretty much on the D-list of comic book characters. He was a joke, if not a footnote in the publishing history of DC.  Johns and Katz were able to take him and make him a solid B-lister again make me surprised and excited for each issue. Exit those two and enter Booster’s creator and suddenly the character is looking pretty insignificant again.  The originality and fun have been sucked right out of the book and in its place is a pretty so-so book bordering on cancellation (by me, not DC).  In this issue Jurgens wraps up Booster “exciting” team-up with himself and…..EH.
 
BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 28 – Great way to end this goofy storyline!  With an even goofier twist that sets us up for more crappy characters in our Bat-Villains roster.  Yay!  EH! 
 
BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL 2 (of 3) – Hooo Boy!  Where do I begin?  I really wanted to like this one, too. Despite what I’ve said about Tony Daniel’s talent as a writer and/or artist, and despite what I’ve said prior about him being the wrong choice to allow solo credit on such an important book to the cornerstone of the Bat-Family titles for the months to come.  I really did want to like this.  Sigh. ***SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED***  Okay, first up is page two, Panel four: What the Hell did Penguin do there? Is he dropping a napkin made of feathers? Come on, Tony Daniel!  Your inability to draw shouldn’t be affected when you wrote the story yourself!  Page 7: Really, Nightwing? It took you more than one second to surmise that that was Jason Todd? Way to train them in detective skills, Batman!  Page 24: So even though Tim Drake is still a kid, he suddenly looks like he is about the same height, roughly, as Michael Phelps.  Despite what Catwoman says about his being short – he sure as heck don’t look it.  Way to draw, Daniel! Page 29: Very subtle the way Drake wails on Todd with a crowbar (Joker killed Todd with a crowbar before Superboy Prime punched a wall. Comics R Fun!) before he realizes that he has just been stabbed with a foot long Batarang.  Uh huh.  Yeah, I believe that.  ***SPOILER ALERT DEACTIVATED*** AWFUL!!!
 
WAR OF KINGS: ASCENSION 1 (of 4) – I never would have thought that a comic book starring Darkhawk could have been this enjoyable.  It wasn’t the greatest thing Abnett and Lanning have ever written, but it was surprisingly fun. After the forgettable events and laughably awful WAR OF KINGS: DARKHAWK two-issue lead-in to this series I was led to believe we were in for another recreation of a hero on par with what ANNIHILATION did for Nova.  How wrong I was!  ***SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED*** Darkhawk has been training with a second similarly armored subject who was trying to help him work through his anger and control the armor in ways he never could before. But as this issue reveals he is actually a villain who wants to destroy the human inside the armor and return control to his fellow compatriot in crime. It was a shocker, that I never saw coming, and it actually made me smile. Yeah – I hate Darkhawk. This was fun. ***SPOILER ALERT DEACTIVATED*** FANBOY FUN!
 
CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI13 12 – Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk are redefining what a cool Marvel comic book can be, with each and every page of this series.  Kirk is doing some of the best work of his career by humanizing characters and letting their emotions shine, whether they be sitting down for tea or whipping out Excalibur to throw down on the bad guys. Cornell, on the other hand, just fills this book to the brim with crazy ideas that leave me foaming at the mouth for more. And this has never been more true than the current storyline involving Dracula and Doctor Doom setting up shop on the moon (the Moon!) and preparing for vampiric war.  BUENO EXCELLENTE!
 
SECRET SIX 8 – Speaking of great books that no one else is reading…  Gail Simone is really having fun with this amoral group of super-villains. In this complete done-in-one issue, Deadshot and Scandal Savage go on a double date and promise not to kill anyone.  With a promise like that you just know there will be a body count at the end. FANBOY FUN!
 
GREEN LANTERN 39 – Hal meets his first Orange Lantern.  Some controllers die. Some Guardians make some prophetic statements and a new rule.  Yep – all the earmarks of a lead-in to a big Summer crossover.  OKAY.
 
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS 12 – Warren Ellis and Ivan Rodriguez take a moment to show us society as it crumbles in the city of Heavenside.  If this had been any other book, or by any other author, I would have felt slightly ripped-off with page after page of silent panels and just a few pages of very dense, very revealing and necessary dialogue.  Rodriguez deftly uses the silent panels to show just how bad things have gotten and how low they can still go.  I don’t recall if we’ve even seen the good Doktor in the last few issues, but I honestly haven’t noticed or cared, a feat all the more impressive when I think about it.  This is probably my favorite thing Warren Ellis has ever written. I can’t get enough.  BUENO EXCELLENTE!
 
ANNA MERCURY ARTBOOK -and- IGNITION CITY 1 – Where does Warren Ellis get those wonderful artists?  I threw these two into one because they both feature artists that I had never heard of prior to working with Ellis for Avatar, and yet they are so far ahead of the game that I’m ashamed for Marvel and DC for not hiring these guys.  At the same time – I pray that DC and Marvel never get their hands on them either.  Facundo Percio made Ellis’ ANNA MERCURY mini-series, a sort of analogue of Lara Croft or any other video game “vixen”, into a sheer delight to look at. Thi artbook is more or less a glorified pin-up book with tons of Percio and other artist’s interpretations of Anna. It was $3.99 well spent in my opinion.  As was the first issue of Ellis and artist Gianluca Pagliarani’s new book. IGNITION CITY has a great European feel while also evoking the old manga standard of having a more richly detailed and flowing background when juxtaposed against the human figures occupying the panel. It is a jarring and mind-blowingly beautiful piece of work.  As for the story, Ellis is in his old habit of world creating on this one with some echoes of his own MINISTRY OF SPACE and perhaps a little bit of the recent AETHERIC MECHANICS.  Thanks to the artwork of Pagliarani I’m already in love with the protagonist and desperate to know more.  BUENO EXCELLENTE -and- BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!