Comic Book Reviews: Week of 10.27.2010

I Have Issues: Week of 10.27.2010

I have had one hell of a week, as you can tell from the sparse posts, but I wanted to make the effort to at least write my thoughts on a few of these books. Enjoy.

Teen Titans #88

Written by J.T. KRUL
Art and cover by NICOLA SCOTT and DOUG HAZLEWOOD
Variant cover by ADAM HUGHES

I like the Teen Titans when a certain team is present. I have to have Superboy, I have to have Kid Flash, I have to have Wonder Girl, Raven, Beast Boy, and Robin. When Geoff Johns took the remnants of Young Justice and molded them into a teen team, I was happy. Some of the storylines weren’t my cup f tea, but a majority of the book was great. After Infinite Crisis, this book just lost its way for me. No Kid Flash, Superboy was dead, and eventually even Robin left the group. It just had the wayward feel like the book lost its identity, and didn’t know what it was. And now the old gang is back together. Kid Flash and Superboy are live again, and the old team, with the exception of Robin is back on board. Even though the zombie kids story isn’t too enthralling, it’s the old chemistry of the group that I like. Hell, even Grayson bringing Damien seems like a slice of fun.

So while Krul is reassembling the better parts of the Teen Titans, Nicola Scott is kicking ass and taking names again. The splintered two-page layout is all you really need to look at to demonstrate what a fantastic artist she is. With the colorists help, she even gives us a good feel of Frank Quietly when Dick is trying to figure out how to humanize Damien. For what it’s worth both a draw, and a draw-back for this book for me is Damien. DC Comics seems bent on shoving this jerky 10-year-old down our throats, but he is an interesting character. What’s more, is I think Krul will be able to use him effectively to help solidify the Titans. This was one rare instance this week, where I will continue reading this title, and I’m really glad Teen Titans is back.

Justice Society of America #44

Written by MARC GUGGENHEIM
Art by SCOTT KOLINS
Cover by SHANE DAVIS and SANDRA HOPE

Keeping with our theme of team books this week, JSA came in with a low score for me. In fact, #44 will be my last issue since #1’s relaunch. I’m not sure where exactly to lay blame, but this had been coming for a while. The past cross over was disastrously uninteresting, and combine with Scott Kolins’ new watery, muted color art style, the book looks like a great retro-throwback, but doesn’t fit a more modern story to me. I love the work he is doing, but doesn’t match what Guggenheim is trying to pull of in the story. With Jay Garrick becoming a mayor, and Alan Scott becoming paralyzed, the city-wide carnage was just too much for me to suspend. I have enough wacky team books to work with, and since JSA has been effectively off the rails for a while, it’s time to put this baby to bed. Goodnight.

Avengers #6

WRITER: BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
PENCILS: JOHN ROMITA JR.
COLORED BY: DEAN WHITE
LETTERED BY: NEUROTIC CARTOONIST, INC
COVER BY: JOHN ROMITA JR.

Avengers #6 seals another fate for a team book. No more of this. I tried like hell to hang tough, and see where it was going, and ultimately, it went nowhere. Like most time-related stories do. But like JSA, this book had too many factors that I couldn’t ignore. JR JR’s artwork just doesn’t fit this book for me, the plotline was just a rambling horse trail of crazy, and the goddamn covers never match the books. This story had some fun to it. The first issue was great. The characters are all great. But this wasn’t a comic I want to keep buying. There just isn’t enough in it to compel me to keep reading, and with Marvel’s insistence on Red Hulk joining every book, I’ll just have to watch this from the sidelines, and flip through the trades.

JLA The 99 #1

WRITTEN BY STUART MOORE AND FABIAN NICIEZA
ART BY TOM DERENICK AND DREW GERACI
COVER BY FELIPE MASSAFERA

Another team-up book matched up two teams in the highly-anticipated JLA the 99 #1. I haven’t read The 99, and here in the sunny south, I haven’t been able to find a copy at all, which might be due to the “controversial” nature of the Muslim beliefs that it is written on. I’m not jumping into this political cauldron, I’m just saying I can’t find the damn things. Luckily DC Comic’s distribution allows for me to get my first taste in this cross over.

Like many others before it, it spends the first issue establishing characters to new readers. Luckily for me the portions based on the 99 are entertaining due to my ignorance. The funny part is that this is a classic JLA roster, so there shouldn’t be too much time spend establishing who Superman is, and the other funny part is that they aren’t using the JLA roster from today’s book. (Testify!).

Anyways, the art by Moore and Nicieza is standard capes artwork with heroic stances and layouts, the inking and coloring are all standard fare that service the book, but don’t break any new ground. Despite my curiosity for The 99, I think I’ll wait this book out and read the trade.

Justice League Generation Lost #12

Written by JUDD WINICK
Art by FERNANDO DAGNINO
Covers by CLIFF CHIANG
Variant covers by KEVIN MAGUIRE

For a Bi-weekly book, this is still kicking ass. It feels short and too decompressed for what is established every issue, but it is still tops. This issue established the origin and new power levels of Ice. She went Iceman ala X3 on us in the previous issue, and now Fire has to talk her down before she kills everyone in the room. Normally origin issues like this are a chore, and sometimes feel like a waste of an issue, but this comic hit me in the right spots this week, and I really enjoyed this. Coupled with the clean panels and fantastic inks, this book looked gorgeous on my iPad. This book is still one of the few team reads I have left that hasn’t fallen prey to wild changes, boring storylines, or mis-matched creative teams. Love it.