I Have Issues: Week of 4.28.2010

I Have Issues is a comic book review on the previous week’s new releases. SPOILER WARNING: if you haven’t read your books yet, read no further. These reviews will be posted a few days after comic book release day to give you time to read them so that you can throw your two cents in about what you thought of these books. The picks are currently limited, due to the small selection available in my local comic book shops, but hopefully that will change in a few months. Visit the Giggaheim.com Forums and start your non-censored, no-holds-barred thread on your favorite books. On with the reviews:

I had a fat stack of books this week, and figuring out what was on the top was no easy task.

Justice Society of America #38

Written by BILL WILLINGHAM
Art by JESUS MERINO and JESSE DELPERDANG
Cover by JESUS MERINO

This story continues to heat up, and I might be getting this in trade so I can give it out to friends. I’m a sucker for “Damned Future” storylines. Seeing our present day heroes aged, and how their lives turned out. In this case, they are captives in a Nazi-rules world, and are being used as examples in a camp. The past couple of issues have been good, but building up to this issue, and what surely will be a good issue next month.

This new Nazi Regime has acquired power over the world by depowering the superheroes as we know them, and then swiftly taking over. In the story we are in the timeline where this has happened for 20 years, and the heroes we know are staging one last desperate act to balance the scales, and fight this Nazi regime.

While Bill Willingham brings his ability to tell as intriguing story as he does in Fables, Jesus Merino steals my artwork pick of the week from Ryan Ottley. Every page is beautifully penciled, inked, and colored. The level of detail in the characters is fantastic, and he has to draw outside the cast boundaries of the JSA as we catch up to what happened to the heroes around the world. Some of the backgrounds are blank in panels, which drives me nuts, but the full page panel of Batman’s execution steals the show. This book has all the requirements of “Pick Of The Week”. A fantastic storyline that keeps your reading every month, fantastic illustration, a solid inking and coloring team, and panels/moments that make you keep opening the book.

Invincible #71

story ROBERT KIRKMAN
art & cover RYAN OTTLEY & FCO PLASCENCIA

I had been worried about “Invincible” for the past few months. The story seemed to mire itself after the “Invincible War”, and the “fun” seemed to die away from the book. Robert Kirkman’s work on Invincible from the first issue was amazing, but what made it stand out was the magical balance between dramatic subject matter, and fun caped-superhero adventure. Every issue from 1-50 was a master-class in writing a fun super hero book with good drama.

With the Invincible War, the fun seemed to fall off, and the book became a monthly exercise in super hero reading, and not the fun thrill-ride it once was. With #71, it feels like the fun may return soon. The drama is still a bit heavy, but the fun interactions between the characters building up and you can see how Kirkman is laying the groundwork for what may be the most explosive Invincible storyline yet. Naturally, all the artwork by Ottley continues to bring a consistently clean feel to the book. As I mentioned last week, this is one of those comics that goes unappreciated because it’s so good every issue. Naturally there is a cliffhanger of a last page that is fabulous, and just makes you want to throw the issue in frustration because you want to keep reading.

Green Lantern Corps #47

Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art and cover by Patrick Gleason and Rebecca Buchman
Variant cover by Rodolfo Migliari

Thomasi wraps up the last remnant of “Blackest Night” with what felt like a double-sized issue. I was really looking forward to the wrap-up issues of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps after Blackest Night #8. This past event of undead ring-wielders left more in its wake than collateral damage and dead heroes. It left behind questions about the Green Lanterns, and how they would continue. While last week’s issue was good, and dealt with Hal, I was looking forward to this issue a bit more since there were so many plot lines that revolved around the Green Lantern Corps. How would Guardians move forward after one of their won betrayed them? How would Oa rebuild? Would the new laws still be in affect? Who would still be a Green Lantern?

Thomasi delivers a quiet issue filled with answers, and bridges the past few months into an intriguing future. Killawog retires his drill instructor baton, the Law against fraternizing is repealed, and the Guardians have to accept the fact that they have fallen a few pegs in the eyes of their Corps.

The story moved effortlessly from on character to the next, and the artwork to framed the quiet pace, and brought out the more dramatic beats. I thought the book felt a little rushed art wise. The Tree memorial full page seemed to be an unfinished sketch with heavy inks, and the following 4 pages were very heavy and felt cartoony compared to previous work I have seen Gleason do. The back pages return to the lighter style, but the beginning of the book felt very muddy. Gleason does capture Guy’s expression well as he homage’s a scene from “Animal House”.

Overall, it was a great issue. The story wraps up the end of “Blackest Night” and Issues us into the “Brightest Day”. I’m looking forward to reading on since it appears there might be a future schism among the Corps soon.

Teen Titans #82

Written by FELICIA D. HENDERSON
Co-feature written by SEAN MCKEEVER
Art by JOE BENNETT and JACK JADSON
Co-feature art and cover by YILDIRAY CINAR and JÚLIO FERREIRA

It has been a long, long while since I read Teen Titans. When Geoff Johns first assembled the group from the remnant of “young Justice” I was hooked. The crops members were fantastic, and mixed with the older titans seamlessly to make a great dynamic that was fun to read. Then “Infinite Crisis” tore the group apart. Superboy died, Bart became the Flash briefly and died, and the splintered group left behind gathered more and more weepy teens that just turned me off the book.

In the past few months we have seen Connor come back to life, and Bart has raced back from the dead as well, which piqued interest in titans again. Would they reassemble the group again? Robin in now Red Robin and hunting down Bruce Wayne, Superboy is back and forth between the 30^th century with the Legion, and Bart has been in several cameos but nothing solid.

Issue 82 puts the band back together, and it was a joy ride to see the more veteran members go to work. While I’m not too fond of the newer members of the Titans, I think I’ll grow to love them as Felicia Henderson crafts a reunion story that will bring the titans back on top. Joe Bennet’s art  does well balancing the fight sequences, illustrating Bart’s speed effects, and even creating good quiet panels. The titans have returned.

Thor#609

WRITER: Kieron Gillen
PENCILS: Billy Tan
INKS: Mike Harris
COLORED BY: Scott Cohn
LETTERED BY: Jeromy Cox
COVER BY: Mico Suayan

Oh Marvel. I want to read your books so badly, but you keep doing this:

1)   Put a cover on the book that has NOTHING to do with the contents

2)   Publish a book WITHOUT the title character

3)   Publish a book dependent on continuity without any hint of continuity.

This issue takes acre of all the insular characters, but again the MIAN CHARACTER WHO THIS WHOLE EVENT IS CENTRAL TO is missing. Ugh. Just….ugh. The main benefit of reading through this is to see Loki banished from Asgard and Thor is pretty much exonerated, but I would like to have seen that play out AFTER “Siege”, and would rather see how Thor would do battle with The Void instead. Chalk up another wasted opportunity. Hopefully when the dust settles from “Siege” we will return to good Thor stories.

Detective Comics #864

Written by DAVID HINE
Co-feature written by GREG RUCKA
Art by JEREMY HAUN
Co-feature art by CULLY HAMNER
Cover by CLIFF CHIANG

It was no easy task to get this book at the local shop. The past runs of Detective comics have been celebrated issues, and I don’t have it on my pull list. I have never been a reader of Detective Comics, and my taste in Noir-styled comics is too flippant to justify having it on my pull list. Even if I were to stockpile the issues for awhile until I’m in the mood to read them, I might as well get the trades.

Finally, I’ve gotten an issue, and one that starts a new storyline. Here we are treated to Black Mask who is currently incarcerated as Jeremiah Arkham. The dark story that intertwines Batman with this crime boss gives the reader insight to the demented psychology of Arkham Asylum. While the artwork isn’t my favorite style, it certainly illustrates the dark madness surrounding the story, and the page layouts are easily digestible. The book was an intriguing read, and I certainly hope I’m in the mood to read more next month.