Wolverine and the X-Men #1
Writer: Jason Aaron
Art: Chris Bachalo & Tim Townsend
The dust from the climactic showdown between Wolverine and Cyclops during Schism has settled. Feeling that the young mutants among the X-Men needed a chance to be children and not warriors, Logan has returned to Westchester with Beast, Iceman, Kittie Pryde, Gambit, Rogue and Rachel Grey to start a new school in the place of the destroyed Xavier School.
Of course, he named it the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Who else would he name it after?
The first issue of the all-new, all-exciting Wolverine and the X-Men opens with Professor Xavier touring the newly rebuilt school, giving Logan his advice on being a headmaster and offering warnings on the ups and downs of being in charge of a school for teenage mutants. Is that Doop in the background at the school’s front desk? I know a few people who will be overjoyed that writer Jason Aaron found a way to bring him back.
The rest of the issue revolves around Logan and headmistress Kitty Pryde giving inspectors from the New York State Department of Education a tour of the facility, essentially serving as a primer on the book’s cast. Various panels show Idie Okonkwo, Rockslide, and Anole in a psychic self-defense class with Rachel Grey, and Husk teaching “Introduction to Mutant Literature.”
Toad is shown as the school’s janitor, trying to tell Logan of some, ahem, structural issues with the school that Beast built. Of course, it’s not a good time to point these things out considering the inspectors are there.
The inspection continues to spiral down until Iceman finally tells Logan that there’s a kid at the gate who wants to see him. That kid turns out to be Kade Kilgore, the 12-year-old Black King of the new Hellfire Club who masterminded the events leading to the falling out between Scott and Logan. Aaron establishes Kilgore and the Hellfire Club as this book’s first major villains in the following panels, as the pint-sized profligate promises to destroy all that Logan has built.
I’ve had an on-again, off-again relationship with Bachalo’s work over the years, primarily about proportion and being able to discern what’s going on in some panels. Why is the 12-year-old Kilgore the same height as Logan? I know Logan’s supposed to be somewhat on the short side, but the same height as a 12-year-old? Aside from that and not being quite sure what was going on in the last page of the issue, however, I really enjoyed the art. It was up there with his “Shed” story arc from Amazing Spider-Man last year.
As a first issue, this issue covers all the bases a series début needs to. Aaron plants a lot of seeds for future plotlines and introduces readers to the book’s major players in the least confusing manner possible (which is especially important in the character heavy X-books). The diagram in the back-breaking down the Jean Grey School’s faculty and students is a nice touch, as well as the mock-up of a class list brochure. Choir with Professor Doop? Sign me up.
Story: 9/10
Art: 7/10
[amazon_link id=”B005YF92TQ” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]BUY Wolverine and the X-Men #1 at Amazon[/amazon_link]
After a solid first issue from Geoff Johns , this issue of Aquaman moves by at a very slow pace . In fact not a lot happens story wise this issue. We see the carnage that is left after the Piranha looking creatures introduced last issue have had their fill of “food”. This prompts a local detective to track down Aquaman so that he can lend his unique skills to the investigation. The quieter scenes inside of Aquamans lighthouse apartment with Mera are good. You can tell she is completely enamored with him and you believe that they truly belong together.
This leads Aquaman and Mera to go and investigate the crime scene and all hell breaks loose. Again Reis and Prado knock the art out of the park with this book. The action scenes are all framed perfectly and there is a great sense of weight with each movement and attack . The creatures themselves are full of great detail including several tears in their skin and a very cool slimline yet grotesque body.
My biggest complaint is that these Piranha creatures continue to have only one motivation , which is to eat . The ending however does show that they may have found their purpose for coming ashore now, and that is Aquaman himself. It ends with us being teased a future in which we will learn more about our antagonists and that’s just enough to make me hooked for the next issue. There is solid work continuing to be done here and I’m hoping for some answers come next issue .
The Walking Dead #90
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Charlie Adlard
“We Are The Walking Dead!”- Rick Grimes, Issue #24
They must be, cause there sure aren’t any zombies to be found in this issue. Usually, I wouldn’t be okay with such madness, if it had been in any other zombie medium. But with Kirkman at the helm, you’re sure to get a great character pieces.
This issue, like always, follows directly after the cliffhanger of the previous book. Which in comparison to dozens of other past issues, this one is fairly light. The community, that Rick and company resides in, are beginning to fear them as they’ve shown a heavy dose of violence (competence) to recent life-or-death situations. As our gang is well oiled in almost every post-apocalyptic scenario imaginable (note to self *Not Possible.) this sheltered community fears they’re abrasive-ness and their will to survive in any given situation. They’re the alpha dogs and of course Rick nails the point in. The whole time Rick spouts a speech, stating that he doesn’t want to kill anyone that came before him, but he wants to protect everyone, while holding a gun dead to the face of the communities instigator. Don’t get me wrong, I believed every word that Rick said, just someone should have pulled him aside and said: “This is kinda why they fear us”.
As I’ve said before, there is not one zombie to be found in this entire issue; so kudos to Robert Kirkman for scene after scene of progressive character development. Like I’ve said in past reviews, I can’t help but get excited when I know the writer of a comic has passion and is excited as well to work on a project. This goes doubly for Kirkman as he is the creator and writer since the beginning of this series. So every character feels completely genuine to me. I never doubt if Rick is acting out of character, or if Carl is jumping in front of the wrong bullet. Some issues can get redundant, with minimal characterization. But then you get issues like this one and you can’t help but fall in love all over again. I can only hope that when Kirkman is finished, that Image Comics allows him to put the series to a close… and we’ll always have the television show which has endless material to play in and if you’re not watching AMC’s The Walking Dead, shame on you.
Charlie Adlards art is what we’ve seen issue in and issue out. He hits all the emotional beats, as he’s greatly improved drawing proportionate faces, which adds to weight of the drama. Though I’d say his backgrounds have taken a slight hit from the latter; but with great dialogue, the focus on the close-ups proved effective throughout the book.
This issue ends with yet another cliffhanger; not of terrifying proportions, but on the note of love. A love I’ve been dying to see come to pass! Cause again, with Kirkman at the helm, it just feels right.
Story: 9.5 Art: 8.5
And to send you all off, check out what my boyfriend bought me this weekend:
Amazing Spider-Man #672
Writer: Dan Slott
Art: Humberto Ramos, Edgar Delgado, Victor Olazaba & Karl Kesel
Venom #8
Writer: Rick Remender
Art: Tom Fowler & John Rauch
When we last saw Flash Thompson in Venom #8, he was at the bedside of his just-deceased father with his blogger-journalist-girlfriend Betty Brant. The drama of his father’s ailment played out over the past several issues, with Flash wondering why he should care. After all, his dad was an abusive drunk who, if you think about it, is the cause of Flash being such a douche earlier in life when he was the constant high school tormentor of now-friend Peter Parker.
Anyhow, as Betty hands Flash a letter his father wrote to him in his last lucid moments, he receives a call from good ol’ Uncle Sam letting him know that Venom is needed to kill the Queen (who was revealed several issues of Amazing Spider-Man ago to be the true villain behind Spider-Island). Flash gives Betty — who of course doesn’t know that her boyfriend is secretly moonlighting for the government as Venom because, hey, he got his legs blown off in the war — the excuse that he needs to run off to find a safe evac point for her.
As Flash goes off to fight the Queen, the contents of the letter are displayed in captions throughout most of the rest of the issue, revealing that the elder Thompson actually regretted his actions as a father and was, indeed, proud of his son. Unfortunately, the letter will never be read because it falls out of the Venom suit mid-battle and lands in a fire. Sorry, Flash…Looks like you’ll have to go through life still believing your dad was an alcoholic asshole who never cared about you. Although it feels like this gets played out often in storytelling, it’s a nice plot device that Remender is wise to use in this situation.
The fight between Venom and Queen shuffles through a lot of dominance double-entendres until eventually, the now-cured Captain America (remember, he was the Spider-King for a bit) shows up to aid Venom and remind the Queen that there are laws against public fornication in the city of New York.
This leads us right into the beginning of Amazing Spider-Man #672. Part of the brilliance of how this event has been set up is that you don’t have to read every tie-in to get it. If you aren’t following Venom, the opening pages of ASM essentially recap the last moments of Venom and Cap’s fight with the Queen before she mutates into a giant spider beast (complete with weird, random boobs!).
Fade to Peter Parker and his clone, Kaine — who he cured in the last issue — still in Horizon Labs as they hear people approaching, namely Mr. Fantastic and Pete’s Horizon Labs coworkers. Pete takes off the Spidey suit and gives it to Kaine because the scruffier clone of Peter Parker is just going to be confusing to everyone. There’s some great back-and-forth between Pete, Kaine and the rest of the supporting cast as they round the corner to find Pete standing next to Spider-Man, as Mr. Fantastic, the Avengers and Mary Jane are the only ones who know he’s Spider-Man.
After this issue, and pending any random surprises, I think it’s safe to say everyone has a good idea of who the new Scarlet Spider is going to be. Of course, putting Kaine in a Spidey outfit and having him run off to save the day with Pete would also be a good way to confuse readers.
As Peter, Kaine and several Marvel heroes try to stop the now-giant-spider-creature-with-weird-boobs Queen, Mary Jane says something to Peter that leads to him realizing how to save everyone. Essentially, being in mental control of all the spider monsters she’s created from the entire population of Manhattan Island has made the Queen a god, so if Spider-Man somehow cures them all, she becomes much less powerful.
I won’t spoil anything any further, but it’s really quite ingenious of Dan Slott to keep pulling up random plot points from past issues. It really gives the book a feeling of consistency. He deserves even more praise for continuing to throw fuel the “Restore the Peter/MJ Romance” fires. (Seriously…Pete forgot entirely about current girlfriend Carlie Cooper after she turned into a spider monster, and instead of going off to find her after he cures everyone, he has a moment with Mary Jane on top of the Empire State Building.) He’s building up some good potential conflicts and drama here.
If anything, the only thing that really jumbled this story up was the overall amount of characters. With so much going on at one time, it sometimes makes things a bit jumbled and harder to follow. Venom flowed a bit better this issue because its felt more focused, but this is not unexpected in an event storyline, where you have a macro-focused main book and micro-focused tie-ins.
Ramos’ work continues to pop, as well, and that’s equally due to the fantastic coloring of Edgar Delgado. The same can be said for the Fowler/Rauch team over in Venom.
All that considered, I’ll be surprised if there isn’t some sort of heated debate on message boards about the sex references by Slott and Remender in both books, as well as the boobs on the giant spider-creature version of the Queen. While the spider-creature boobs did weird me out a bit, the sex references advanced the story and added character depth. Both of these books carry at least a “T” rating, and there is the entire Marvel Adventures line if you can’t handle that.
In which I present the last week in review (aside from bad Marvel “event” stuff) but dispense with the device of numbering the discrete elements of this piece.
This cover is by the team that did the interior art. How delightfully novel!
Words: Brian Clevinger Art: Scott Wegener Colors: Ronda Pattison Letters: Jeff Powell Editing: Lee Black
Here’s what a fan can find in Atomic Robo: Excellent art, snappy patter, good gags in the minutiae of background details, fidelity – and even fondness – for the world of science (caveat in next paragraph), near-unparalleled action set-pieces, stylistic bravery, and a self-contained universe that builds upon itself exponentially with each volume. I sincerely believe that the world of Atomic Robo is beginning to deserve comparison to Mike Mignola’s universe of [amazon_link id=”1593079109″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Hellboy[/amazon_link] and the [amazon_link id=”1595826726″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]B.P.R.D.[/amazon_link] in its scope and ambition. In fact, the most apt way to describe the Roboverse might be something like, “The Mignolaverse, but with physics and adventure replacing demonology and horror.” And that is HUGE praise.
The premise itself does need a comics-sized suspension of disbelief. It is: Nikola Tesla created a sentient nuclear-powered robot in secret a hundred years ago. Tesla has become THE go-to guy for steampunk sci-fi unlikelihoods. Off the top of my head, he is a deus ex-machina in [amazon_link id=”B000L212HC” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Prestige[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”1582406057″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Five Fists of Science[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”1888963204″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]RASL[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”0785144226″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]S.H.I.E.L.D.[/amazon_link], and this. I think that [amazon_link id=”1888963204″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]RASL[/amazon_link] is the only one that gives him credit for both the [amazon_link id=”B000096IAC” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Philadelphia Experiment[/amazon_link] AND the Tunguska Event. What the hell, go with it, Tesla invented sentience a hundred years ago, why not? You’d be a fool to miss this fantastic world but for that. You don’t want to be a fool, so that’s settled.
As this issue opens, our hero – Robo – is falling. Credit the cover with truth in advertising on top of its other virtues. Robo had launched into the stratosphere on a mere seven hours notice in a desperate attempt to save some astronauts… but his craft got creamed by a NASA satellite. So, this:
We've all been there, am I right?
Man. Look at that. The struggle and desperation to live explodes off the page pounds ya right in the viscera until what you have left is a totally pounded-to-hell viscera. Ouch! Do I even need to continue? Last week was a pretty flippin’ good week for comics, and this one was the best. You know what to do.
Best re-issue of the week: [amazon_link id=”B000WOVVC0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]DC Comics Presents Superman: Secret Identity[/amazon_link]
Now, that is just lovely.
Writer: Kurt Busiek Artist (pencils, inks, colors): Stuart Immonen Letters: Todd Klein
On his Twitter feed, Kurt Busiek opines that this is among his very best work. He ain’t wrong, and considering that he has also written [amazon_link id=”1401229840″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Astro City[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”078514286X” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Marvels[/amazon_link], and the Avengers’ [amazon_link id=”0785107746″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Ultron Unlimited[/amazon_link] storyline, that’s saying something. It’s NOT a tale of Kal-El, the last son of Krypton. It is, instead, the tale of a young man who constantly gets teased with “Superman” references because his parents – name of Kent – misguidedly named him “Clark.” Oh, and when he’s seventeen or so, he becomes an actual superhuman. As J. Jonah Jameson might say, “What are the odds?”
But Busiek rocks the premise from honeymoon to Brigadoon, and Immonen does perhaps the best work of HIS excellent career – yeah, better than [amazon_link id=”0785144617″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.[/amazon_link] or [amazon_link id=”1603090495″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Moving Pictures[/amazon_link]. The guys inspire each other to heights in this story that is NOT about becoming Superman, but about becoming a man. Except nowhere close to as cheesy as that sentence I just wrote. It’s about friendship and love and trust. And it’s about being a young man and getting captured by the government for the first time, and resenting it.
Kind of a 'flames' theme to the images so far, eh? Hey, where's his weiner?
Honestly, I’m an ENORMOUS fan of what DC is doing in their reissues of their most fantastic work of the last two decades in this format, which splits the difference (price-point-wise) between monthly floppies and trade paperbacks. This $7.99 magazine does NOT, as it happens, have the entire series, just the first two issues. You’d never be able to tell. This is a must-own.
Also very good: [amazon_link id=”B005WD4VLO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth: Russia#2 (of 5)[/amazon_link]
Cover by Dave Johnson - hot damn tamale, last week was a great week for COVERS too, hanh?
Story: Mike Mignola and John Arcudi Art: Tyler Crook Colors: Dave Stewart Letters: Clem Robins
“Every few years, [Mignola and cohorts do some totally awesome Abe Sapien stuff.] Then, five years later, they drop some huge callback on you letting you know WHY it all happened. ” – Me, 10/5/11.
Nailed it! (Okay, okay, The Abyssal Plain came out June & July of 2010. Still...)
Awesome series, awesome world-building, awesome excuse to toot my horn.
Scarface up there is the boss of Russia’s BPRD analogue. He got the job, so he says, because his having been dead for 40 years makes him a natural for paranormal type stuff. This issue demonstrates that he did NOT get the job because of his people skills. Beyond that, I don’t know what to say – what have you been doing with your life if you aren’t reading BPRD by now? You can’t see it, but now I’m slowly shaking my head in disappointment.
I’m digging this series too: [amazon_link id=”B005VSHFQI” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Vengeance #4 (of 6)[/amazon_link]
Well, Loki there!
The credits are right there on the cover, cut me some slack.
Another lovely cover, this one by Gabrielle Dell’otto, and one that proves that a picture of nothing but a single character – not even so much as a background – can still be quite un-boring. The angle of the shot, facial expression, color choices, the medium itself (looks painted, I’d say) all add up to Something New on this cover. Actually, I dropped the ball this week and don’t have a Boring Cover of the Week, which is too bad, because I’m sure there must have been another cover of SOME comic last week with just a lone figure that just sucked. Wait, I’m being boring. Sorry about that!
This series is interesting – I still don’t know where it’s going, but I sure as hell want to find out. The forces of neutral continue to take on the forces of evil and, this issue, an uncharacteristically malicious Kid Loki – it doesn’t look to me like Joe Casey and Kieron Gillen are on the same wavelength with future Legionnaire Loki-Lad, but that’s no big whoop – he IS the god of chaos and mischief, after all. He’s earned the right to be mercurial.
Hey, I just heard a suspicious noise from downstairs, I’ll be right back.
Part 1 – Everything that was right about Fear Itself #7 and the event in general (Kinda spoiler free, maybe?)
1. It totally made sense and was pretty cool when Captain America picked up [that one thing.] Right?
2. I dug how Hawkeye looked kinda pissed because he WANTED missing a shot to be a possibility.
Sucks if he's trying to do that thing where you shoot a chandelier so it falls on somebody. Oh, all FI#7 art is Stuart Immonen, and/or Wade Von Grawbadger (who drew with vines?), and/or Laura Martin "with Ponsor & Milla" - Jesus, even the CREDITS are stupid and fucked up.
3. [amazon_link id=”B005CWOQ1K” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Fear Itself: Deadpool[/amazon_link] ruled the roost. BIG UPS to Christopher Hastings (W), Bong [!] Dazo (Pcls), Joe Pimentel (Inks), Matt Milla (Clrs), and Simon Bowland (Ltrs).
It happens, you know.
4. [amazon_link id=”078514840X” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Journey Into Mystery[/amazon_link] was the big winner among the non-limited series (in theory) tying into FI. I’ll be talking about last week’s issue at length NEXT week, since the next issue drops Wednesday, but Kieron Gillen womped like a MUTHA in Loki’s adventures. My quick take: This series killed the ass off Superman Beyond 3D, Grant Morrison’s shorter but similarly-themed adjunct to [amazon_link id=”140122282X” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Final Crisis[/amazon_link]. Really.
5. [amazon_link id=”0785163891″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Fear Itself: The Home Front[/amazon_link] had a lot of good stuff. I’m a fan of Mike Mayhew’s particular brand of painted photo-realism, so I’m glad to have seen a bunch of that. BUT, his stuff really pops for me when he has garish colors to work with, so it was a li’l bit sucky that Christos Gage had him (and colorista Rain Beredo) draw so many normal schmucks and baddies whose costumes were just black. Anyhow, the series still had plenty of good stuff, with the standout pieces being most of Howard Chaykin’s pages, the awesome American Eagle piece in #5 by Si Spurrier & Jason Latour, and the always-welcome Great Lakes Avengers/Defenders/X-Men/JLI, by Elliott Kalan, Ty Templeton, and David Curiel.
6. [amazon_link id=”0785157018″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Fear Itself: Youth In Revolt[/amazon_link] (W,A,C,L: McKeever, Norton, Gandini, and Cowles) was a worthwhile read, and it has this:
You say Meta, I say LaMotta.
7. [amazon_link id=”B005PHT6G2″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Fear Itself: The Monkey King[/amazon_link] (a Fialkov-Doe-Quintana-Lanphear joint) was more fun than watching Joyce Carol Oates foolin’ around with a monkey. Which I have imagined many times.
That’s the good stuff. Any parts of the Marvel [Publishing] Universe that tied into Fear Itself and were good – the best F.I. moments from Invincible Iron Man or Thunderbolts or New Avengers or whatever – do NOT get especial credit, because they would have been just fine WITHOUT the big event. Well, maybe the MODOK thing from Hulk needed a suitably big world threat to help Ole’ Big-Head learn to love. Hard to say.
Part 2 – The BAD things about Fear Itself #7 and the event in general
1. Odin’s plan was absolutely moronic, unrealistic, cowardly, contemptible, poor strategy, and generally asinine. Nobody anywhere doesn’t think this.
2. Captain America using shotguns to easily blow Nazi red-shirts robots out of the sky. Look at all the piled-up wiped-out robot-VolksWagen things:
That grumpy old dude sure wants them to come on!
Golly, if only they had this amazing “shotgun” technology available in Washington, D.C., which those things supposedly totally destroyed. Instead, all they had available in Washington were tanks, fighter jets, bazookas, grenades, and EVERY PIECE OF WEAPON TECHNOLOGY THAT COULD BE BOUGHT WITH 50% OF EVERY FUCKING AMERICAN TAX DOLLAR FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS.
3. Humanity all simultaneously Not Being Afraid was predictable from roughly one second after we found out that the big bad, The Sears Pants, is powered by human fear.
4. The “death” of Thor while he has a current ongoing series has about as much dramatic heft as the death of Kenny in episode #29 of [amazon_link id=”B00023P49M” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]South Park[/amazon_link]. Also, what did he die of, exactly? Anvilitis? The only question on anybody’s mind is how long Marvel will pay lip service to the idea of Thor being dead. But Thor is immortal – not because he’s a “god,” but because he is a corporate property. A corporate property will not and cannot be made to stay in the grave as long as it can be monetized.
5. Just, in general: Fuck prophecy. Don’t like it. Crap story device, except when Loki wields it.
6. BTW also, Heimdal can suck it. What a tool. He just basically does nothing ever except watch Odin act like the king of all assholes, followed by blindly obeying whatever whack shit Odin demands of him.
7. The dialogue in the main series was bad. All of it.
8. If I gave a shit about continuity, I would point out sloppy errors like Captain America’s un-scarred shield in his new series (or the OBVIOUS problems with aerodynamics this would create), or Cap’s WAY continuity-sloppy appearance in Daredevil. Suffice to say, there’s no clear idea what happened when ANYWHERE. (Can you order Fear Itself, Spider Island, Schism, FF’s War of Four Cities, etc? I sure as shit can’t.)
9. I regard Fear Itself (Main Series), Book of the Skull, Hulk vs Dracula, The Deep, FF, and The Fearless (Issue #1 only, not buying the rest) as a fucking waste of sixty bucks. I spent money on all of this, I don’t get review copies (and probably never will with an attitude like this!)
10. So, here is Sin at the end of the big Fear Itself battle.
WAKE UP, SIN, I HAVE TO BE SURE YOU HEAR ME READ YOU YOUR RIGHTS!
Let’s ignore the fact that her face is a red skull because of horrible burn scars that are suddenly smooth. Instead, I want to know if she was jailed in any of the prisons that held Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, or Mohamar Ghaddaffi. Oh, wait a sec, it slipped my mind, those guys – who ADDED TOGETHER killed about 5% of Sin’s headcount as the cause of Fear Itself – got killed the fuck dead as soon as ANYBODY laid eyes on them. Seriously, did Captain America fistfight the entire population of Asgard to keep them from chopping off her head? In what silly-assed world is she alive, other than as an act of a god who has a product to move?
11. This:
As dental models.
"On my face."I hate this fucking word.
Are event comics ALWAYS money-grabs by desperate companies who hope the jump in sales makes up for the rotten aftertaste that never, ever goes away? Hey Marvel, keep searching for the new Jim Shooter, okay?
Part 3 – And now, a word from the medium of comics
And from me. Me and comics, both at once somehow.
"So... wanna go to my place?" "... All right." Art: Larroca Color: D'Armata Plot: Fraction
The above is my favorite scene from Invincible Iron Man #509, which I have profaned by replacing Matt Fraction’s words with MY OWN treatise on What Is Good, which differs shamefully from that of Conan the Barbarian. End of column, thanks!
Wow..Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo up the ante in every way possible this issue. We start with a beautifully drawn Gotham Skyline as the sunsets. Scott Snyder continues to explain to us in great detail the inner workings of Gotham City and Wayne Tower in particular. We learn what the twelve Gargoyles around the tower represent and their importance to the city.
Bruce Wayne is then thrown through the glass at the very top of Wayne Tower, Fade to black and cut to 24 hours earlier. Last issue ended with the reveal that Dick Grayson may have been behind the grisly murder of an innocent man . Batman is now on patrol in pursuit of a train robbery and we are once again reminded that Batman is an overconfident sadist with a twisted sense of humor . Greg Cappullo draws this scene with such a sense of Kinetic energy that you cant help but feel like your watching a movie. He draws one scene at the end of the chase that starts with a smirk from Batman and ends with him launching his Motorcycle off of a train and into a helicopter . The henchmen cry out “He Wouldn’t” oh yes he would .
What follows is a couple of scenes of dialogue between Nightwing and Batman in the Bat cave . I’m glad that Snyder chooses to eliminate Dick as a suspect in the murder, but more importantly it seems in the New 52 Dick and Bruce are equals . I love this approach seeing that Snyder wrote Dick as such a strong Batman in his own right. It’s nice to see a writer who doesn’t fall back on the tired approach of Batman not trusting anyone which ultimately pisses off everyone around him.
Every page is filled with moments that pay off in the last few moments of the issue. Bruce is attacked and caught off guard while trying to catch up with his new philanthropist friend Lincoln , who shares more than a few odd things in common with the Dark Knight . Bringing us to Bruce crashing through the window with a very Owl Like villain in pursuit. The court of Owls makes their presence felt but Batman ultimately survives the fall. Lets just say there is another gargoyle that we find out about that prevents Bruce from becoming a pancake, our villain isn’t as lucky.
Batman doesn’t believe that The Court of Owls exist. He believes Gotham city is his playground and his alone. Scott Snyder is weaving an amazing story thus far that shows Batman’s overconfidence and solace as Gotham City’s protector may lead to his undoing. Which poses the question , What will Bruce do when he realizes he isn’t the only Legend in Gotham City? Two issues in and its looking like Snyder has another classic Batman Story on his hands.
Kieron Gillen has had quite a run thus far with Marvel . Doing amazing work on Uncanny X-Men seeing the series to its conclusion with #544 ( which was reviewed by our own Ryan Duelfer and can be read HERE), and ultimately its rebirth next month at #1 . He also writes Journey Into Mystery starring Young Loki. Which just so happens to be the superior Thor Book ,an amazing feat considering the fact there is little mention of Thor anywhere in it. After a couple of issues of decent work at Marvel , Kieron got his Big Break writing a Loki One Shot during the events of Siege that would ultimately prove to show how strong he is at balancing multiple character arcs , creating crazy out of this world concepts and leaning heavily on Mysticism to tell an original tale.
Issue #1 of Phonogram "Rue Brittania"
However this Article is going to focus on one of his first series. One that I thoroughly enjoyed and have a soft spot for in the same vain that I do for Scott Pilgrim. Gillen’s creator owned Image title Phonogram was where I first discovered his amazing storytelling at work. The mantra of Phonogram’s first limited series run was “Music is Magic”. You see Musicians have the ability to effect normal folks like you and I in deep and impactful ways. They tap into something other worldly to create songs that we play on Repeat , listen to after a break up , and lose our shit when we hear our favorite song in a bar.What if the musicians we speak of are tapping into something supernatural to create the music we know and love?
This is the basic story to Phonogram . Kieron introduces us to our Jaded Protagonists David Khol who is a Phonomancer who hasn’t been interested with any music scene that has existed after the early Brit Rok Invasion of the 90’s. What unfolds for six issues is a love letter to Brit Rock , New Wave and Pop Music . Also one hell of a fun , witty and well written comic book. Everything you would want in a comic is here Huge concepts , great characters , creepy moments , action , well written relationships . You buy into this world immediately due to Gillen’s passionate writing. You can tell this series is a labor of Love and it shows. His Artist for this series is Jamie Mckelvie and he knocks this book out of the park . The issues are all Black and White and each cover is in color representing a unique twist of a famous album cover . He makes references to bands you may or may not have heard but takes the time to give you information on every single song and Artist at the end of the book. If you enjoy Music and Comics as much as I do , you must seek out this first series .
Issue#3 from Phonogram's second Series "The Singles Club"
Gillen’s second run in the world of Phonogram is a series of single issues that stars separate characters all converging at the same Night Club. Each issue allows us as readers to view the night through their eyes . It’s a cool plot for the series and Gillen’s grasp of both Male and Female characters is very strong . While this series isn’t as cohesive , the story is still enjoyable and beautiful to look at. The art in this book is again handled by Jamie McKelvie , this time with full color pages. Once again his character designs are simple yet capture every facial expression and emotion perfectly which is important for a book with so many characters.
So if you love Gillen’s work on Uncanny X-Men and Journey Into Mystery give this series a try. You will be pleasantly surprised at how well crafted it is and you will find yourself seeking out the music Gillen constantly references page after page. Kieron Gillen’s original work set the building blocks for a very successful career in comics. You owe it to yourself to jump into this unique and colorful world and experience something different. After All isn’t that why we enjoy reading comic books in the first place?
Uncanny X-Men #544
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Greg Land
This issue of Uncanny X-Men is one of many issues depicting the emotional anguish from the fallout of Schism. It also marks the ending of volume one for this series, which is always sad and rarely justified; especially with the fact that volume two is right around the corner: coming in November. Mr. Sinister takes a role in this issue as narrator, walking us through the events that caused the break between Cyclops and Wolverine. As this event is still very fresh in our minds, his part in this issue was a complete waste of space in a comic that should have fired on all cylinders as a tribute that was the past 48 years of X-Men history. Granted, there was a scene within showing Sinister being, “birthed”?, from a mechanical sphincter and yes, it’s hilarious looking! Sorry for that spoiler, but from here you can run wild imagining the context around such event!
But, when you judge only half an issue on its content, it seemed mildly worth it. This series’ just coming out of an epic event with Colossus becoming the Juggernaut as a sister story of Fear Itself, which I think may be the best concept coming out of said story. So congratulations there! I was ready to wind down from these “larger than life” events marvel continues to weave, so the content between Scott Summers and the few X-men they could fit in, was touching. Beast had to fly himself to Utopia to make one last personal jab at Cyclops, cause we hadn’t heard it enough from him. Beasts’ character has certainly taken a hit; since they turned him into a whiner, thank goodness for Iceman in this issue!
Writer, Kieron Gillen, really attempts to set the stage for volume two of Uncanny X-Men, cue Mr. Sinister. I think everybody’s “Hype-O-Meter” is soaring surrounding X-Men titles, that the necessity to plant seeds in this issue truly wasn’t necessary and really hurt the underlying emotional turmoil that this “family” is breaking. Never the less, I’m extremely excited for volume two, because ever since Gillen has come on board with X-Men titles, he’s been producing great work. Generation Hope took a while to find its wings, but it’s certainly starting to pick-up.
Uncanny X-Men Sketch, By: Greg Land
Artist, Greg Land, does a good job this issue. I am a fan of Land, though I agree his anatomy of a woman is tweaked to appeal to the perv in all of us. But he conveys emotion very well and holds weight in this issue with scenes of Cyclops packing away old photos with not a word spoken. Also, i commend the way he pencils Cyclops overall. Over recent years, Scott Summers has been built up to be a commander of a truly powerful army and you have to almost have a Steve Rogers confidence and appeal to pull such a feat off and Greg Land really paints that image of him well.
This issue is an unfortunate send off to such an influential run. Though this sure doesn’t dampen the excitement for upcoming volume two! I mean, have you seen the roster, this team is going to rule the world within Cyclops and Magnetos iron grip! X-fan’s it’s an exciting time, so save your pennies!
Wolverine #17
Writer: Jason Aaron
Art: Ron Garney & Jason Keith
Jason Aaron’s run thus far on the relaunched Wolverine has been nothing short of what fans of the Marvel Universe’s favorite clawed berserker want. It gives them all the claw popping ultra-violence the character’s solo series have become known for without sacrificing a more fleshed-out approach to Logan’s personality. After all, Wolverine is not a cold-blooded killer so much as a failed samurai, or a man with a noble idea of who he wants to be and yet doesn’t realize he is already that person.
From the stories that began in Aaron’s earlier book, Wolverine: Weapon X, to today’s Wolverine #17, everything has felt streamlined and there has been a great balance between fast-paced, energetic storytelling and deeper exposition.
Having just returned from his isolation following what happened at the hands of the Red Right Hand over the course of the first dozen or so issues, Wolverine finds himself at a crossroad at the beginning of this story. If you’ve kept up with the events in the wider X-Men universe, there was a falling out between Wolverine and Cyclops during the Schism event. Logan, feeling it wasn’t right that Scott expected the children on the X-roster to become warriors, ultimately decided to return to Westchester, New York to restart Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters (which, if you haven’t been keeping up, was destroyed during the “Messiah CompleX” crossover a few years ago).
Before he can leave San Francisco, however, Logan has a few loose ends to tie up — like letting his reporter girlfriend know that he’s leaving and ending his masquerade as Chinatown’s kingpin the Black Dragon. Upon visiting Kung Fu Master Po’s dojo, however, he discovers the money he had stashed in a safe there has been stolen by a gang involved in a Chinatown drug war. This is the money Logan planned to rebuild the school with. (Yes, he has that kind of money. He’s been around for like 200 years, you know?)
Needless to say, he’s pissed.
The pace of the issue is rather fast, feeling much shorter than it actually is. It sets up a team-up with Gorilla Man, including some fun back-and-forth banter (not just with Gorilla Man, but with Po, as well), and introduces some elements of Chinese mysticism. Ron Garney and Jason Keith’s art continues to fit the tone of the book well, whether Logan is slicing and dicing his way through a hail of gunfire or having a heart-to-heart with Melita.
That said, I’m not really sure how I feel about mythical elements and Wolverine being together. I’ll be honest and admit it took me a few issues to wrap my head around “Wolverine Goes to Hell” last year. This is only part one of the story arc, and a fun read regardless, so I’m willing to further suspend my disbelief to include those elements for the time being.
The dust from the climactic showdown between Wolverine and Cyclops during Schism has settled. Feeling that the young mutants among the X-Men needed a chance to be children and not warriors, Logan has returned to Westchester with Beast, Iceman, Kittie Pryde, Gambit, Rogue and Rachel Grey to start a new school in the place of the destroyed Xavier School.
