Booster Gold: The Tomorrow Memory

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Additional Art: Mike Norton, Jerry Ordway
Finished Inks: Norm Rapmund
Colourist: Hi-Fi
Letterers: Sal Cipriano, Jared K Fletcher, Steve Wands, Travis Lanham

Collects: Booster Gold #26-31

When a trade has a credits list as unconventional as this I start to worry, thankfully in this instance I shouldn’t really have. Whilst this unusual way of splitting the art chores does lead to a bit of inconsistency in the art, it doesn’t having a significant detrimental effect on the reading experience. The events of this trade overlap with DC’s Blackest Night crossover event with one of Booster’s “dearly departed” returning to cause him significant strife. Fear ye not however as the crossover element of this book is fleeting and you don’t really need to have read Blackest Night to understand that this certain character has been resurrected but as an evil version. If you’ve read BN then it’s a nice addition but doesn’t fundamentally change the story.

As is his current nature Booster starts the trade having a bit of a mope. He returns to the scene of what he feels was his worst moment absenting himself from Rip Hunter and worrying Skeets enough that he goes door-to-door with other heroes trying to find him. This leads nicely into the Blackest Night issues (or really issue and a half) before we round out the trade with a story about Booster’s sister picking the worst possible place and time (literally) to settle down in.

I think the role Booster has been cast into within the DCU continues to work well and make the character far deeper than he was originally. The ongoing tension between Booster and his time-teacher Rip Hunter is a little overplayed with Booster tending to spend a bit too much time rebelling or moping and Rip being cryptic and then expositional once Booster leaves the room.

The title’s premise allows Booster to be put into any time period within DCU history and while that doesn’t guarantee a good story it certainly opens the door to some great opportunities as long as you’re not too allergic to retcons. Given this use of DC history I think the title favours those with a bit of DC reading under their belts in order to really understand the significance of events.

As I mentioned at the beginning the art isn’t entirely consistent, I think it’s the issues which Mike Norton pencilled that feel like the odd ones out, but you couldn’t critique them for being wrong or in any measurable way inferior…they’re just different.

Jurgens manages in the last issue or so to give a real “ooooo” moment as well as a wonderful hook to drag us forcibly into Rip’s adventures in the Time Masters mini-series.

Rating: 

Power Girl: Aliens and Apes

Writers: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Amanda Conner
Colourist: Paul Mounts
Letterer: John J. Hill

Collects: Power Girl #7-12

When you think that the first arc of the PG series contained a story about the Ultra-Humanite and another about shipwrecked alien starlets it’s a bit of a (mild) surprise that this is the volume called Aliens & Apes! Nonetheless it’s an appropriate name as the main protagonist of this arc is the alien Vartox, an obvious parody (but only just) of Sean Connery’s Zardoz character, who comes to Earth in search of a mate. I reckon you can all guess who he sets his sights on…and how she reacts!

The tone of the book continues to be light and played largely for laughs although with touches of darkness such as Satanna’s way of ensuring the assistance of Dr Sivana. You might say that a woman subjugating herself sexually to gain compliance from a unattractive bloke is pandering to the male readership but it didn’t strike me in that way at all. In fact her willingness to go that far with Sivana as well as her obvious physical relationship with Ultra-Humanite just makes her an incredibly creepy character, and that’s before Sivana gets his hands on her (pun intended for those who’ve read the book).

This second collection does a much better job of getting across the character of Karen Starr, PG’s philanthropic alter-ego than the first trade did for me. I think it’s because you get to see her in the light of Vartox’s absolute narcissistic hedonism. Karen’s sometimes portrayed as quite shallow, something of a party girl but here her central morale compass shines through as we see that fun-loving doesn’t mean silly or slutty. We also get to see the softer side of PG as she deals with a blackmailing plot and later reflected in her relationship with her pseudo-super-sister Terra.

Conner’s art is amazing as ever and I like Mounts’s colouring…but…he uses a digital texture for the pattern on a suit worn by Satanna and I really didn’t like it. I don’t think digital textures work in that context, they’re just too flat and don’t wrap around the character. A minor quibble. One other thing I noticed is that PG stays much more on-model, in the first volume there were a few panels where PG’s face just didn’t look like the character in the other panels, here it’s all smooth. Conner’s obviously got a real handle on what she’s drawing.

Rating: 

Superboy: The Boy of Steel

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Francis Manapol
Colourist: Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Steve Wands

Collects: Adventure Comics #0-4

After the shocking and cataclysmic events of Infinite Crisis—at least from my point of view—I was in a snit with Geoff Johns.  He had killed Conner / Kon-El / Superboy, and my heart was broken.  Not even the oft-mooted, “At least it wasn’t Nightwing” could appease me.  Sure, I knew why; that court case and also the symbolic need to kill off a member of the Superfamily in each Crisis, but still… Geoff Johns killed Superboy and made me cry.

And then came Legion of Three Worlds, wherein Geoff Johns made me cry again, but for a happier reason this time (reviewed in a sadly Ang-less episode of Waiting For The Trade),  And this brings me to the actual meat of this review, the return of Superboy to his proper time and his own title, the second volume of Adventure Comics and his adjustment from being well…. dead to being very much alive.  A lot can happen in a year and having missed Final Crisis and Batman R.I.P. Conner has a lot of reading catching-up to do.

Conner Kent is once again living in Smalville with Martha Kent and Krypto.  The death of Pa Kent has clearly affected him, and Conner seems rather humbled and grateful for every sunrise, which is a nice little touch.  He’s re-enrolled in Smallville High and has embarked on a mission (for want of a better word) to understand both of his heritages better.  Superman is easy… live with Ma, go to school at Smallville High, help people, but understanding Lex Luthor is much more complicated.  This does re-tread old ground as Conner went through similar in Teen Titans after discovering that Luthor was his other “father”, but I can forgive Johns as it’s got to be pretty traumatic to have Lex Luthor for a father.

We see Conner reconciling with Cassie (Wondergirl) with a moonlit floating picnic—why has no one ever taken me on a date like that?—and also catching up with Tim (now Red Robin) in Paris.  Both of these relationships are given a gratifying amount of page-space and provide a real ‘feel-good’ element to the book.

While all the schmaltzy stuff is going on, Lex Luthor and Brainiac have escaped their incarceration and have come to Smallville at Luthor’s behest to find Conner, as Luthor wants to retrieve his ‘property’.  This leads to some interesting character development and some discoveries about Luthor’s early life in Smallville which I won’t spoil you for.

I must talk about the art for a moment.  The pencils are glorious; light, fluid and dynamic.  Extra-special kudos to Brian Buccellato whose colouring has created a beautiful book—I love the wistful, nostalgic colouring used in flashbacks or memory sequences.  It’s just a beautiful book in terms of art.

All in all, this is a superb new beginning for Superboy in the current DCU and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of him.  And for the record… this time Geoff Johns made me smile lots.

Rating:

The Question: Peacemaker

Writer: Dennis O’Neil
Penciller: Deny Cowan
Inkers: Malcolm Jones III, Carlos Garzon
Colourist: Tatjana Wood
Letterer: Willie Schubert

Collects: The Question #31-36

I’ve not reviewed a trade of The Question on the blog before although we’ve talked about the character on the podcast a few times. This trade collects the end of the The Question series (not counting the Blackest Night #37 from this year) and what an end!

As Hub City continues to deteriorate Vic Sage struggles to maintain his sanity, he isn’t a campaigning superhero, he’s not even really out to see justice triumph, most of the time he’s just trying to survive. But there’s a real heart to this book but it’s hidden away under layer upon layer of darkness but those layers peel back as the series closes and we finally get to see a Question who is at peace with himself and those who he calls friend.

The darkness I mention above includes some really harrowing scenes, one in particular which features the corpse of a baby is something which struck me cold. Without the glossy veneer that current comics seem to have and with the grittiness that seems to be the hallmark of this book the impact of these events feels multiplied. What’s more it doesn’t feel to me like O’Neil was just playing this for shock value in the way that an Ennis, Millar or Ellis might.

I don’t know if Denys Cowan has any sort of martial arts training or what sort of personal experience he brings to the action scenes but his fights are amazing and kinetic. Here fighting isn’t glamourous it’s brutal, there’s consequences to each blow and the varied use of angles and points-of-view help heighten this to the point where you can almost feel the heel of a shoe connect with an unprotected jaw.

Another great artistic touch features in the last story as Vic morphs between his adult and child selves as he hallucinates about his upbringing, simple but amazingly effective.

I can sense I’m getting effusive in my praise so I will call things to a close with a hearty recommendation that if you haven’t read this series you owe it to yourself to do so.

Rating:

Wonder Woman: Warkiller

Writer: Gail Simone
Artists: Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan & Bernard Chang
Colourist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Travis Lanham

Collects: Wonder Woman #34-39

I’ve read most, but not all, of Gail Simone’s run on Wonder Woman in a somewhat piecemeal fashion due in some part to DC’s HC vs TPB policy and then also due to my waxing and waning in my like of the character. As such I’m never quite sure that I’m “getting it” 100%. I think it’s important to lay that groundwork as it’s not a straightforward “here’s a book I’m buying because I like it” type situation…I am consciously trying to get into Wonder Woman as the part of the Trinity which I know least about.

This book isn’t for the beginner, as it seems to be the culmination of storylines leading right back to Simone’s first issues and places a reasonable burden on the reader knowing the cast of characters. This is a cast which is particularly large covering, as it does, everything from illegal metahuman crime rings in Japan to all-out war on Paradise Island. When characters appear you don’t get a handy-dandy introduction, you might get a flashback but only when it’s need to drive the story on relentlessly. If you don’t know why Alkyone resents Diana then don’t expect to have it explained.

Now that might sound like a criticism but I don’t mean it as such. The fact of the matter is you’re 35 issues into a series and a couple of years into Simone’s run. The lack of exposition does lend the story a frenetic pace particularly in the Warkiller story arc. A lot of ground is covered, I could easily have seen this paced out over a year in some other books. Maybe with Gail Simone’s run coming to an end there was a need for alacrity?

The story balances pace, comedy and action well and if I have one criticism it’s that the ending wraps up a bit too neatly and quickly for my liking.

The art continues strong, Aaron Lopresti has the right balance of soft femininity and muscular power in his rendition of Wonder Woman.

In a previous review of this series I said I felt a marathon reading of Simone’s run was justified and I stand by that now and I’m happy to say I’m excited at the prospect.

Rating:

Power Girl – A New Beginning

Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Artist: Amanda Conner
Colourist: Paul Mounts
Letter: John J. Hill
Collects: Power Girl #1-6

How to tackle the subject of Power Girl. I’m a recent convert to the character and secure enough in my manhood to admit that it was largely due to the general “boobiness” that I first started paying attention to her. The first time I really remember being struck by the character (rather than by her attributes) was in Superman/Batman when she is asked to help persuade the new Toymaster, whilst it was effectively a boob-gag something about her attitude made her seem a lot more than traditional comicbook cheesecake.

Reading her appearances elsewhere I was struck by the fact that she was a self-assured and confident character, I don’t recall much introspection on her part about how terrible her life was and how it’s awful being judged, and some would say objectified, based on her looks…no, she was almost brazenly aware of the effect she had and seemed to have a “yep, them’s boobs” approach to the whole thing.

Being without a long-term history in reading DC I found Power Girl a tough character to get up to speed on. Her back-story is convoluted to say the least, however the idea of having a Superman level character without the whole “aww gee shucks” naivety appeals a great deal. This book acknowledges some of the convolution but doesn’t dwell on it, we’re left with a fairly straightforward “cousin of Superman from alternate universe” background and not one Atlantean sorcerer is mentioned (I think).

This book contains two story-arcs. One featured the simian master-criminal the Ultra-Humanite and a second one featuring a trio of female alien outlaws intent on having some fun on Earth.

If I remember correctly the Ultra-Humanite story was not unanimously popular, with the treatment of Kara at the gorilla’s hands being the cause of much comment. I didn’t struggle with it though. The Humanite does want Kara’s body, quite literally and I didn’t really see that their battle was sexualised to any great degree. In fact the misogynistic attitude of Ultra-Humanite really undercuts any suggestion of sexuality for me…yes he wants to dominate her but it’s in order to defeat her, not for any other purpose.

Of course there’s a death-trap or two involved and Power Girl does get taken down a peg or two, but this is an adult Kryptonian going up against a clever ape…if the plot didn’t use a twist or two to depower her then it would be a ridiculously one-sided affair, that’s always been the problem for me with the levels of power that DC characters have.

The second arc strikes a lighter tone and Power Girl’s ultimate solution isn’t something I think her cousin would’ve done, which made me like it more.

Now onto Amanda Conner’s art. She’s the perfect fit for Power Girl with a playful tone that matches the writing, particularly in the 2nd arc…in the first arc it’s a little more of a contrast between some truly dark happenings in the story and the cartoony element of the art. I don’t think it clashes but for me it took the edge off what was happening. I also have to mention that for someone whose art is so immediately recognisable I do think Conner can go a little off-model at times particularly in action scenes. There are shots of Kara I wouldn’t have recognised as Conner’s if not for the fact she’s in costume (Kara not Conner).

Overall though I thoroughly enjoyed this story.

Rating:

Retro review – JLA: Riddle of the Beast

Writer: Alan Grant
Penciller: Carl Critchlow, Simon Davis, Glenn Fabry, Jon Foster, Rafael Garres , Doug Alexander Gregory, Hermann Mejia, Jim Murray, Alex Horley, Andrew Robinson, Liam Roger Sharp, Greg Staples, Saverio Tenuta, John Watson, Martin T. Williams
Letterer: Ken Lopez

It’s not often that I review something where the list of artists is in serious jeopardy of being longer than the review. However unlike a lot of books that get passed about through creative teams due to creative or sales problems, in  this instance it’s entirely planned. This 2001 OGN is in the now-ignored DC Elseworlds line, where well-known DC characters are set in an alternate universe, often with a twist. In this instance our story introduces us to a young lad called Robin Drake, the soon of a Goodman and subject of the fantasy land of Haven.

When Robin visits the seer Riddler he hears a prophecy which sets him on a journey of the DCU through a Tolkien lens, from Amazonia to Gotham Crags and Kryptonia to the Falls of Apokalips. His mission is to unify the people of the world to fight the titular Beast. Along the way he encounters familiar DC characters all of whom are delivered in a variety of painted styles by the artists listed above.

This painted look adds to the books classic feel and largely the artists stay on model and while the transition isn’t seamless I don’t think you’d expect it to be.

It’s a slight shame that the story isn’t quite as strong as the art, there’s nothing bad about it as such but it doesn’t really manage to either capture the epic scope of fantasy literature or the twisted genius of some other Elseworlds. I think in part this is because in very little page count you’re asked to cover a massive number of DC characters so the only one that gets any depth is Robin, and as he’s our everyman he’s a little bit of a cipher.

Rating:

Wonder Woman: Ends of the Earth

Writer: Gail Simone
Artists: Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan, Bernard Chang
Colourist: Brad Anderson, Kanila Tripp
Letterer: Travis Lanham, Steve Wands
Collects: Wonder Woman 20-25

I realise I don’t review much DC stuff on here. It’s not that I have anything against them I just seem to be getting way more non-DC books at the moment. This book is the 4th in the current series and collects two story arcs, the first featuring a dimension spanning Diana battling a version of the devil and then a somewhat surreal exploration of the Hollywood movie machine.

This is the hardest sort of review to write, it’s far easier when you love or hate a book than the various shades of grey inbetween. On paper (well it would be, it’s a comic) the WW title has everything about it that I should love. The writing is snappy, it has a powerful female lead, it’s not hugely steeped in DC continuity and I really dig Lopresti’s artwork. But you know there’s a but coming. But…I continually find it impenetrable, or maybe if not that then insubstantial.

I buy and read the trades, I like them but each one doesn’t seem to build on the previous. Each time I pick up a trade it’s like the previous ones have left no lasting impression on me. Now I’ve not helped myself by trying to wait for the trade (not the HC) on some of the WW arcs as it means that I’m now reading Book 4 when I’ve already read Book 5. Mea culpa on that one, although I’d like to throw some culpa at DC for their trade policy. And then just to confuse matters when I went to buy the TPB Amazon had the HC cheaper than it so I ended up buying that…anyway I digress.

The cast of characters isn’t vast and the lack of continuity-driven storytelling should make this a good gateway into WW. Where I think I’m lacking is the relationships between the characters, somehow they just don’t sink in. I can’t fault Gail Simone’s writing, I’m a fan of hers in general, as it’s all there on the page. Maybe it’s the context, I’m not sure I like WW operating with a duel identity, to me it feels inappropriate for her.

As mentioned above I like Lopresti’s art and in particular the physique he uses for Diana, I cannot stand when she’s portrayed as a willowy waif of a woman. Lopresti’s broad-shouldered but feminine version manages to strike exactly the right balance for me. In these two story arcs he (and Bernard Chang) also get to showcase different interpretations of the classic WW look which is the sort of thing I always enjoy being a complete sucker for alternate universe and the like.

I make this vow though, with Simone leaving WW soon I will be doing  marathon back-to-back reading of all the trades and will see if this finally cracks open whatever keeps me from loving this.

Rating:

Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Volume 1

Writer: John Broome

Penciller: Gil Kane

Inkers: Joe Giella

Letterer: Not listed

Collects: Showcase #22-24 and Green Lantern #1-17 (1959-1962)

I’ve been getting into Green Lantern over the past few years with my level of interest probably peaking during Sinestro Corps war, but the big problem I have is that I don’t like Hal Jordan that much. He’s not my Green Lantern. As I was a late bloomer when it came to the wider DCU Kyle was in his crab-mask when I first really became aware of GL as anything other than a seemingly daft character who made boxing gloves, and is often the case with these things (be it “your” Doctor Who or “your” James Bond) the first character stuck.

I’ve read GL: Rebirth and liked it but not so much that I read anything more with Hal in it until Sinestro Corps War. Following that and in the lead up to Blackest Night (in trade-form anyway) I decided to immerse myself in some classic GL to see if it helped me build up a rapport with the character.  And what better way than a $9.99 (or due to UK rip-off currency conversion £7.99) 520 page Showcase volume as a taster.

When reading it I found myself surprised by both the familiar and the unfamiliar. The volume features multiple appearances by Sinestro (including his original Qwardian ring) and even has Star Sapphire appear, these are things I was expecting further down the line. And the general rules of GL such as Oa and the GL Corps (although I don’t believe they’re explicitly named that on any occasion) are all here, although you can tell a lot has changed. Back then Hal’s oath was one he made up himself and even gets its own origin story!

What surprised me was how unfamiliar Hal Jordan was. When I think of Hal he’s a scrappy test pilot wearing a bomber jacket. Men want to be him, ladies want to be with him…the whole clichéd 9 yards. But the Hal we meet here is very different, yes he’s a test pilot but he comes across to me as more of a gentleman than a jock. In a reflection of the times (I assume, I’m not that old) when not in GL costumer or flightsuit he is always wearing a suit and tie, I don’t think the bomber jacket ever makes an appearance. He’s also less of a ladies man and more a besotted love interest for his boss, Carol Ferris.

In fact the romance theme is really strong through this book and was another surprise. Carol is portrayed as a bit of a simpering sop, utterly smitten with Green Lantern but also willing to string along Hal Jordan. And given that for most of the volume she’s the Managing Director of a research aeronautics company her only train of thought whenever we meet her is her love for GL…how times have changed.

The other main supporting character is Thomas “Pieface” Kalmaku, who I had heard was very “of the times” and quite racially insensitive but to be honest other than his nickname being based on the fact he is an eskimo/inuit I thought he was well handled, surprisingly so. He’s Hal’s confidant and doesn’t come across to me as a caricature at all.

The very nature of a GL book is very dependent on colour, particularly at this point in his history when he had a vulnerability to the colour yellow, and the Showcase format with its black and white reproductions does suffer a little from this. Hal looks blond throughout and it’s only through the very exposition heavy dialogue that you know when he’s being faced by something yellow.

The art is strong throughout, very approachable even for someone like me who can struggle with silver age pencils and the plots are cheesy but really good fun through.

Rating:

Green Arrow & Black Canary: Enemies List

Writer: Andrew Kreisberg

Pencillers: Mike Norton

Inker: Josef Rubenstein

Colourists: David Baron

Letterer: Swands / Sal Cipriano / Pat Brosseau

Covers: Ladronn

Collects: GA/BC #15-20

This TPB collects the first arc of Andrew Kresberg’s run on GA/BC, or rather oddly it doesn’t. According to our good friends at http://www.comicbookdb.com the story arc “Enemies List” runs from #16-22 so what they’ve done is collected the standalone #16 and then the first 5 parts of a 7 part story. This is the sort of random stuff I’ve come to expect from DC when it comes to trades. I wouldn’t complain if it wasn’t really obvious from the book itself that you’re finishing up just before the third act of the story.

The story itself has multiple threads, which is quite nice as whilst they seem to connect occasionally it doesn’t feel shoe-horned. There’s a somewhat psychotic romantic interest for Ollie, a collateral damage character who becomes pivotal and a burgeoning friendship with a police officer.

My problem is that so much of it feels like it’s been done before. The hero trying to sort out his footing with the police reminds me of Robin and Nightwing. Ollie and Dinah struggling to keep their marriage off the rocks doesn’t feel new, if anything the constant edge between them feels a bit “done” by now. I’d be more surprised if they just got to be happy with each other for a while.

I don’t mire myself in the upcoming news and spoilers too much but I believe the book is being shaken up somewhat and it doesn’t surprise me. After an amazing start under Winick (the first trade of this series still brings a tear to my eye) it’s gone nowhere slowly.

Mike Norton’s working a new pencil style in the book, which is far less clean than his previous work. I’m not a huge fan but it seems to be the trend that artists with a lovely clean style progress to adding more and more “edge” to their work (the best example being Gary Frank) and in doing so move away from what I like. I still don’t think Mike is the finished article, there’s a few panels in the book where the anatomy or poses don’t work. It’s solid stuff but if an artistic luddite like me knows something is wrong then it must be glaring.

It’s not bad though, either the art or the story. In particular the first issue works as a really neat jump-on point and also does a good job of foreshadowing events later in the book and the cliff-hanger that you’re left on will certainly make me want to read the conclusion of the story…it just feels a little bit like I’ve been cheated into it though.

Rating: