OK, so a couple of unkind reviews from me of late. Does that mean I hate the whole New 52? No, not at all. Does it mean that I only enjoy the new characters? Definitely not. Case in point: Wonder Woman is one of my favorite books of the relaunch. I think it's very good, with strong writing, an excellent ambience and fantastic art.
Read on for why this reboot is the first time I've ever subscribed to Wonder Woman!
I haven't gotten around to reviewing Kevin Keller #1 or any of the Keller mini-series from last year and that's an oversight on my part but I've read them all and enjoyed them a great deal. There was one honest-to-gods laugh-out-loud moment in the issue about Kevin having to compete against a computer in a quiz bowl and the idea of turning Veronica into a larval-stage starry eyed fag hag is just freaking genius. I have all things Keller on my pull list at my local shop and I am always genuinely excited to see them show up. Kevin is portrayed like any other kid in Riverdale: bright, upstanding, wise beyond his years and gifted with moxie but very human and just as good at enduring foibles and self-doubt as any other member of the cast. I could have seriously benefited from access to this comic when I was a kid; heck, I'm benefiting from access to it in my thirties. Stop in at a local shop or hit their digital store or the Archie Comics app for iOS and throw a couple bucks at Kevin Keller (and the very kind Dan Parent, who is just a hell of a nice guy) to show a little appreciation if you can.
I just love this quote from the Bleeding Cool article, attributed to Archie Comics co-CEO Jon Goldwater:
We stand by Life with Archie #16. As I've said before, Riverdale is a safe, welcoming place that does not judge anyone. It's an idealized version of America that will hopefully become reality someday. We're sorry the American Family Association/OneMillionMoms.com feels so negatively about our product, but they have every right to their opinion, just like we have the right to stand by ours. Kevin Keller will forever be a part of Riverdale, and he will live a happy, long life free of prejudice, hate and narrow-minded people.
I loved Paul Cornell's work on Knight & Squire and I was very, very excited to see that he was writing Demon Knights and that it featured two of my absolute favorite characters: Etrigan and the Shining Knight. I am thrilled to say that it has lived up to my high hopes. Cornell is a master of writing snappy, acrobatic dialogue that jumps between characters and scenes effortlessly. What I didn't expect was that he could wring six really solid issues out of the comics equivalent of a bottle episode.
Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli have given us a gift and there is no way for us to repay them with sufficient thanks. It really is that simple.
No, it's even simpler than that: DC could reboot the whole damned universe every year like clockwork and it would be worth it if it gave us something as good as Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. every time. This book is almost everything I want comics to be and there is no other medium in which this story would work as well.
Stormwatch #1, the first of DC's new 52 to feature LGBT characters (before the reboot, at least) is out to add a new cosmic dimension to the post-Flashpoint universe. There isn't much to be said for our beloved broship yet (though the last page shows a handshake between Apollo and Midnighter and promises a "Big Bang"), but the issue is a great gauge for whether or not you'll want to stick with the series to see the romance purportedly unfold.
Peter David is absolutely one of my favorite writers in comics at the moment and X-Factor has been a consistently entertaining book for years now. It's one of the books I'm most excited to see show up in my bag: like, bounce up and down and make squeeeee noises levels of excited.
Issue #217 was well outside of what one might expect of an action-y comic such as this but it was absolutely classic Peter David: that mix of retro soliloquy and modern sensibility that leads iconic characters to remind us that when the present was still the future it was supposed to be a lot more interesting and advanced than it is. Throw in that great scene of Monet taking on the protesters to remind them that plenty of Muslims are on their side, too, and it became about as fun as a soapbox comic can get.
It was pretty into that soapbox, though, and that made the surprise ending all the more shocking. Peter David didn't just use it to present another great progressive perspective on recent events; he let the delivery of that perspective lull us into reading for ideas instead of actions and then, blam (literally), he pulled a fast one and hit us with a cliffhanger.
So what about #218? I only care about two things in that whole issue - just two! - and one of them is as spoilery as it gets but it's all I've got room in my brain to think about.
I can hear you now, and I know what you're saying: Surely, you say, Klarion cannot be reviewing a comic that just came out yesterday. He's supposed to be reviewing something that came out, like, seven weeks ago. Well, cats and kittens, the simple truth is that I am all over some Young Avengers - The Children's Crusade and the moment I saw that in my bag on Wednesday evening I carted it home and read it immediately.
So what do I think? The short, non-spoilery version is that I think shit is about to get exceptionally real and I am thrilled. Allan Heinberg delivers some great stuff in this book. It changes things - or at least seems to change them - for the whole Marvel universe, not just this one team of youngsters. This is the kind of crossover event I like, where the putative stars are the ones driving the action in a way that impacts the overall narrative rather than just unleashing some big names to stomp around for a while, sell some tie-ins and leave without much of anything happening. It's a solid read and it builds to an inevitable ending that still makes an impression.
For the spoilers-heavy review, click the shiny blue candy-like button.
On Wednesday a PK reader emailed me to recommend the first issue of the new run of Xombi. Thank you, Rick! Jesus H. Christ in a homemade tuxedo but I loved this comic. I cannot possibly thank you enough for the tip. Written by the original creator of this property and lavishly illustrated by one of my favorite artists - whom I first remember seeing during the Klarion the Witch-Boy run during Seven Soldiers - this book is a fantastically weird and creative property that made me laugh aloud, freaked me out a little and gave me reason to interrupt my boyfriend's separate reading twice to gush about this comic book.
To be honest, my reaction to this was so strongly positive that I was reminded of the experience of reading the first issue of American Vampirelast year. I am not kidding. This book was that good and it had that same bolt-from-the-blue quality of seeming to have come out of nowhere. It was a pleasant surprise, after the fact, to learn of this property's strong connection to one of comics' most beloved recently deceased creators and editors, Dwayne McDuffie. If that isn't enough to make you pick up a copy, well, I don't know what is. Oh, wait, that's the rest of the review.
Read on for more unabashed praise - and one nagging criticism - of Xombi #1!
I remember the original Assassin's Creed game only as a simulator for jumping into haystacks between moments of immersive storytelling. While the gameplay was underwhelmingly formulaic, I was constantly digging through all the auxiliary plot points; Things like the needless emails and the branched dialogue composed this theme of genetic memory and a centuries-long power struggle between two ancient organizations, and it had me hooked. I wasn't quite interested enough to plop down the cash for the game's sequels, but I knew I'd be buying the comic spin-off the second I heard of it. What I found was that Assassin's Creed: The Fall was more than just a cheap spin-off money grab. Not only is the story a powerful entry in the AC series, but the careful design of the comic was capable of playing with the bilateral symmetry of comics rather uniquely, without resorting to knockoff Watchmen tactics.
I am going to be the first to say that I was scared of this book. Greg Rucka's writing really defined the revamped Batwoman and while J.H. Williams III's art was clearly the other integral half of the spectacular reaction that bubbled out of every issue of her all-too-brief run in Detective Comics I was not quite ready to trust that the artist could also write her.
This introductory and very short issue - thin, and transparently an advertisement for the whole retouched Bat-clan as much as it's a re-debut of Batwoman herself - doesn't tell us much that's new, doesn't do anything other than refresh our memories about some of the basic details of Kate Kane's past, but good grief is it good to see her back on the printed page. I had no idea I missed this character so much. It's always thrilling to open a book and see Batman peering over a modern-day parapet at the top of the page but I got straight-up goose flesh when my eyes hit the bottom of the same page and I saw Kate Kane's signature borderline-psycho smirk. I'll say it: I got misty. I very nearly shed a tear. J.H. Williams III may still be a better artist than writer but that doesn't mean he's a bad writer; it means that he is a freaking amazing artist.
When the first series of Incognito dropped last year it was instantly the book everyone at my comics shop was buzzing about. I was excited by it, the staff were excited by it, even the owner was breathless with his enthusiasm. It was all extremely well-deserved, too, as that book allowed Ed Brubaker to blend his prodigious gift for pulp with the superhero genre and generate a world of his own making that mirrors the structure of any heroes-and-villains cosmology already familiar to us but completely free of the baggage those worlds necessarily contain. Instead of having to play by anyone else's rules or with anyone else's characters, Brubaker trusts us to know already the rough structure of the world his characters inhabit. It's an exhilarating read in its own right - an excellent mix of action, film noir, Office Space and gallows humor - but it's made all the more amazing for the opportunity the reader has to make assumptions about how the world works and have them confirmed. Reading Incognito felt like creating a world with Brubaker.
So how can he possibly top that? By looking back to Incognito's pulp roots for inspiration.
Read on for thoughts on a really excellent debut of this highly-anticipated sequel!
I literally clapped my hands together and said OhMyGodYesssss when the friendly staff member at my regular shop held this book out to hand it to me. Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung finally - finally - return to this title with a nine issue limited series. I will spare you paragraphs of pontification and cut to the chase: it's not just good, it's the best thing Marvel has going, period.
Review: Wonder Woman #1 - #5
OK, so a couple of unkind reviews from me of late. Does that mean I hate the whole New 52? No, not at all. Does it mean that I only enjoy the new characters? Definitely not. Case in point: Wonder Woman is one of my favorite books of the relaunch. I think it's very good, with strong writing, an excellent ambience and fantastic art. Read on for why this reboot is the first time I've ever subscribed to Wonder Woman!...
