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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