Books from yesterday

Wolverine: Weapon X #1

With Wolverine: Origins out pretty much everywhere expect the movie theaters it is hard not to compare this book to Matt Fraction's Invincible Iron Man which launched right around the time of the release of the surprisingly popular Iron Man movie. Being a cynic, I was weary of Invincible Iron Man even though I was a fan of Fraction's work on Immortal Iron Fist. I figured Marvel was just trying to cash in some more off of the movie's release, but the book has come to be one of my favorite monthly Marvel titles. With this book I was less of a cynic because of how that title turned out and also because of my love for the work of Jason Aaron, in particular Scalped which is the BEST comic book on the stands month in and month out. 

Unlike most, I have yet to read this creative team's Wolverine mini Get Mystique so I have no exposure to their take on Wolverine. However, knowing that Aaron has a knack for stories like Scalped it came as no surprise that he absolutely nailed Wolverine. Dialogue with Wolverine can be trick because it always dances that line between really corny and really fucking bad-ass, thankfully Aaron stays on the side of really fucking bad-ass. None of the lines ever seem forced as they so often do when reading a Wolverine story. 

In terms of story not too much happens in this first issue. We get to meet or at least hear about the major players Wolverine will be going after for the next four issues. The rest of the issue is Wolverine doing some snooping around which allows Aaron to begin to flesh out his take on the character nicely. Aaron's plot line here doesn't seem to be anything ground breaking based on this issue, but that is perfectly fine as long as he continues to have such a perfect voice for the main character. 

Garney's art in this issue matches the high quality of Aaron's writing. The art is violent without being over the top and silly, and is rough and gritty without being overly sketchy. 

The only bad thing about this issue is the price. Another $3.99 on-going title, thanks Marvel. You know what though I didn't mind too much when I saw the book was going to have 8 pages of extras which I assumed would be a cool article by Aaron or some sketches. Instead I got some stupid bio pages on Maverick and the Weapon X program, and a 6 page preview for Ghost Rider. If you are going to charge me $3.99 when you are completely dominating market-share and making money hand over fist with your movies at least give me some fucking legit extra material.

Superman World of New Krypton #2 

They really need to stop letting Gary Frank do the covers for this series. Granted the cover is great, but after looking at it the interiors just seem like total shit. That sounds harsh when in reality Pete Woods' work on this book is totally fine, but with two top talents like Rucka and Robinson on the one book actually starring Superman DC should have assigned an artist a step up from just fine. On some pages Woods steps his game up, and I think it may be due to the fact that these pages aren't as crammed as some of the others. In particular the page in the very middle of the issue with Superman and his troops flying away from past visions to round up the herd. Throughout the book a lot of the other pages seem really crowded with lots of smaller panels which probably makes Woods work look less appealing than it should be. I don't know much about organizing a comic, but maybe the writers and artist can work together to make this a more visually stunning book.

The story continues to move in a direction that I am enjoying with Superman seemingly about to placed smack-dab in the middle of a bubbling class conflict on New Krypton that we saw the start of in Issue #1 when he flew around with a member of the Labor Guild. Since Superman is now working under Zod this situation is infinitely more interesting than it would have been on Earth. After all this is partly the point of this whole New Krypton thing, to tell great stories that wouldn't have worked using Superman's familiar set-up. Another plus is the handling of the relationship between Zod and Super...Commander El. It is great fun to watch two people who don't like or trust each other work alongside one another. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Aunt Alura. I'm beginning to agree with Supergirl when she had the thought "Why couldn't he have killed her." Man, this character makes me want to get a marker and scribble her out of any scene she pops up in. We get it your husband was killed and you're upset, LET'S MOVE ON NOW PLEASE. 

In all another solid issue, I think this book will continue to get better and better as the creative team finds their stride. They'll also have more issues to do it in since this book is now labeled as 2 of 15. Initially I think it was only supposed to be 12, but I could be wrong on that. 

Green Lantern #39

I am sure that being the artist on Green Lantern is no easy task, but thankfully Philip Tan is more than up to it. You really have to commend a guy who can make a book look so good while being responsible for penciling a wide variety of characters and locales. Unfortunately, the writing here does not keep pace.

The book starts off great by introducing us to Agent Orange or Larfleeze via some excellently done internal dialogue. From the start I am intrigued by and enjoying this Orange Lantern. Sadly the issue takes a plunge when we meet back up with Hal Jordan and the Blue Lanterns. Now, I love me some Blue Lanterns but their conversations with Hal here are a bit over the top. "--All will be well, Brother Jordan." "Only if someone does something to make it that way." The 1970's are over, this isn't Green Lantern/Green Arrow maybe something a bit more on the subtle side would have been nice. Things pick back up when Hal returns to Oa, and by the end of the issue I'm excited for #40. Hopefully we get some more info about the Guardians relationship with Larfleeze and the Vega System instead of just a big huge battle. 

Not a bad issue by any means, but still frustrating because I know Johns is capable of much better. I'm worried that this book is losing steam at exactly the wrong time.

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Last Weeks Book

Flash Rebirth #1

This is the first issue of a Flash comic I have ever bought or read. Considering I loved Green Lantern: Rebirth I was really excited for this book, and wanted to get in at the start assuming of course that Johns or some other top tier talent will be working on a Flash on-going once this finishes up.

Probably my biggest surprise upon first finishing the book was how little of Barry Allen there was in it. After starting up with a murder we see how other members of the Flash family are reacting to Barry's unexpected return. I knew about Jay and Wally a bit from reading other books, but I was not familiar with Bart at all. In just one page Johns does a pretty solid job of helping me get accustomed to the character. 

Luckily for me the main scenes featuring Barry also feature Green Lantern Hal Jordan who as mentioned had a Rebirth of his own. Their interaction here is awesome and has definitely made me want to seek out old stories involving the two of them. Unlike everyone else Barry isn't celebrating his return, but expresses to Hal his concern about why he has come back and how long his return will last. I don't know too much about Barry Allen, but to me this type of characterization made perfect sense. The only thing I am still kind of confused about is the Speed Force itself, so hopefully Johns delves into that a little bit more in the next issue.

The real mystery of this whole story arc doesn't kick in until the end of the issue, but I won't ruin that for you. 

Not much to say about Van Sciver's art, it is fucking amazing.

Scalped 27

Last month we got Diesel, this time around Aaron focuses in on Agent Nitz who is a pretty important character who for the most part rarely gets seen. Like in all these other one and done tales Aaron tells a bleak and haunting tale that nicely fills in the past of a character in 22 short pages. Scalped usually follows the same format of an arc of one-off stories followed by a more structured 6 part arc that moves the story along. I can tell we are getting close to the end of this round of one-shot stories because even though this was another strong issue I am ready for the story to get moving again especially after how the first issue of this arc ended.

In regards to the art, another fill-in artist whose work here is solid. Only complaint is that in a lot of panels it looks like everyones eyes are closed. 

Iron Man 12

After the way last issue ended and upon seeing the cover for this issue [Namor and Tony wrestling under water] who would have thought Tony's part of the story would end up not being my favorite part.

"Pepper Potts gets to work"

I am absolutely loving what Fraction has done with Potts' character, and her scenes in this issue are the best ones yet. Plus, these scenes give Fraction a chance to portray Osborn as the crazy mother fucker he really is. 

That is not to say the Iron Man part of the issue was bad in any way, it was really solid. However, I'm not as infatuated with Namor as plenty of others on the internet so while those scenes were really good they were not my favorite. 

Maria Hill's part in this issue was rather short, but still well done and pretty damn frightening. I know nothing about the history of the Controller nonetheless I am excited to see where this goes especially considering what happens here in Issue #12. 

As you can tell I am digging how Fraction has split the book up and I hope it continues after the whole Dark Reign thing fades away into oblivion and gets replaced by something else.

Since its inception this has been a nice book to look at when guys and girls are flying around in suits and shit is blowing up. In other areas though the art has often fallen flat. While not consistently I noticed in spots that it seems as if the art and coloring are starting to improve in some of these areas where they have been weak for the past year. Hopefully the trend continues.

SIDE NOTE - Probably finally going to record the March Podcast today or tomorrow.

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