Your Weekly Dose of Awesome
From Cassius Comics
Contents |
April 15th, 2009
Captain America #49
"The Daughter of Time"
Ed Brubaker (writer), Luke Ross (pencils). Cover by Steve Epting.
There’s very little I can say about this issue that hasn’t already been said many times before. Ed Brubaker’s Captain America run is consistently one of Marvel’s best books, seamlessly blending super-heroics with classic espionage, alternating between high-octane action scenes and quiet character-driven moments. This comic has transcended the trappings of a simple superhero book; in fact, Cap never even appears in this issue. Instead, Brubaker spends this month’s twenty-two looking at how the death of the original Captain America had on his lover and unwilling (brainwashed) assassin, Sharon Carter. A subplot also sees The Falcon trying to track down the insane “Bad Cap”, Steve Rogers’ unbalanced replacement from the 1950s. It’s a testament to Brubaker’s writing that he has taken characters like the usually uninteresting Carter and overly wooden Falcon and made them compelling enough to carry the book on their own. If you’re not reading Captain America right now, simply put, you’re missing out.
Ender's Shadow: Battle School #5
Mike Carey (writer), Sebastian Fiumara(pencils). Cover by Timothy Green II.
I read all of Orson Scott Card’s Ender books several years ago, under the recommendation of my mother of all people. Our tastes in entertainment rarely match (other than a mutual love of Neil Gaiman novels), and I actually shelved the copy of Ender’s Game she gave me for several months before deciding to give it a shot. Surprisingly, I loved it. Though the direct sequels eventually started to lose my attention, Ender’s Shadow- a retelling of the first book, from an alternate perspective- ended up being my favourite of all of Card’s books.
The Marvel Comics adaptation of Ender’s Game has been hit or miss for me- I don’t like the art, and the pacing seems to be poorly thought out. This series however, is pitch perfect. Mike Carey does a great job adapting the story of Bean, an undersized but incredibly intelligent urchin from the mean streets of Rotterdam. Carey’s script is perfectly matched by Sebastian Fiumara’s rough and gritty artwork, a refreshing change of pace from the gaudy and sterile pencils you see in most science fiction comics. Ender’s Shadow: Battle School isn’t for everyone, but if you’re familiar with Card’s books or your tastes lean towards sci-fi, give it a shot.
Punisher #4
"Living in Darkness" pt. 4
Rick Remender (writer), Jerome Opeña (pencils). Cover by Mike McKone.
Once again, I’m on the fence about Rick Remender’s Punisher. On the one hand, it features Frank Castle wisecracking as he kills a small army of criminals disguised as SWAT officers, a midget in devil pajamas and one of the most mind-blowingly awesome splash pages in recent memory, in which Frank shows off some of his new “toys”. On the other hand, the story just hasn’t clicked with me yet, and the last page reveal is a real turn-off. Basically, Remender’s Punisher is nowhere as good Garth Ennis’ Marvel Knight’s run (or his MAX run for that matter), but it’s better than most Punisher comics from a decade or so before Ennis came along.
Part of the problem may be that by inserting the Punisher into the middle of Marvel’s “Dark Reign” event, it adds a level of inevitability to the title. When the Punisher is going up against Ma Gnucci or Elite, there’s no guarantee about what’s going to happen. On the other hand- of course he’s not going to kill the Hood or Norman Osborn- putting aside the fact that both characters are simply too important to die in a random issue of a B-list monthly book, they’re also each appearing concurrently in at least a dozen other ongoing stories right now. The Punisher has less chance of taking out the Green Goblin than he had of killing off Archie Andrews back in 1994.
Uncanny X-Men #508
Matt Fraction (writer), Greg Land (pencils). Cover by Land.
In this issue, mutant mercenary and Pete the Pup lookalike Domino hangs out in Akihabara, Tokyo, because “it’s where the cosplay kids come to hand out and just be...I fit right in”. And that’s a good way to sum up why I love Matt Fraction’s run on Uncanny X-Men- he takes characters that on their own are more than a little ridiculous but finds a way to make them work in a realistic world.
Let’s face it- the X-Men have a lot of baggage. Despite being one of the Marvel Universe’s younger franchises, the merry mutants have a history of oversaturation, and any writer who tackles them has to deal with the albatross of crushing continuity. Grant Morrison found success with New X-Men by tossing out all but the bare essentials, and more or less recreating the franchise according to his own vision. Joss Whedon returned the characters to their roots in Astonishing X-Men, channeling all the best elements of the Byrne/Claremont run that defines the heroes. Now, Fraction is bringing the X-Men into the current day- they are teachers, soldiers, heroes and community leaders.
Plus, one of my all time favourite characters, Northstar, rejoins the team- and unlike most roster shakeups, this one happens for a plausible reason. As Wolverine puts it, the X-Men “got [their] asses handed to [them] by a twenty-year-old kid on a Ducati bike because [they] didn’t have any speed and power on the ground,” and Northstar was the most logical choice to fix a tactical weakness. It’s a small detail, but one of the kind that really makes the difference between a good comic and a great one.
September 10th, 2008
Deadpool vol. 4 #1
"One of Us" pt. 1
"Deadpool Saga"
Daniel Way and Ronald Byrd (writers), Paco Medina (pencils). Covers by Clayton Crain and Rob Liefeld.
Longtime readers...all two of you...no doubt know that Deadpool is one of my all-time favorite characters, and up until its cancellation a few months ago, the new issue of Cable & Deadpool was often the highlight of my Wednesday pull list. When Marvel announced a new Deadpool solo series, I had high hopes, even though the involvement of Daniel Way worried me somewhat- as much as I enjoyed Way's Bullseye: Greatest Hits miniseries and early issues of Wolverine: Origins, Way is also the creator of Wolverine's mohawked son Daken, and the less said of that, the better.
Unfortunately, despite one or two halfway decent gags, this issue was a huge disappointment. "One of Us" wasn't especially exciting, or funny, or clever, or biting. In fact, it wasn't much of anything. The story was utterly bland, and in a comic starring Marvel's most off-the-wall anti-hero, that's pretty much inexcusable. The real slap in the face though is that (in this issue at least), the new Deadpool series completely ignores Fabian Nicieza's work on Cable & Deadpool. In fact, the unnecessary back up (the usual text and recycled panels deal from Marvel's "Sagas") includes all the plot-holes and awful retcons that Nicieza worked so hard to fix.
As much as I love the 'Pool man, Way has left me with a bad taste in my mouth, and I seriously doubt I'll be back for issue #2. It's a shame that Nicieza and Gail Simone are both working on regular books at DC right now...maybe someone could call Joe Kelly.
September 3rd, 2008
Punisher War Journal vol. 2 #23
"Jigsaw" pt. 6
Matt Fraction and Rick Remender (writers), Howard Chaykin (artist). Cover by Alex Maleev.
Framed for murder by his arch-enemy Jigsaw, and with a hefty bounty placed on his head, the Punisher (Frank Castle) seems to have finally run out of luck. After finally being captured by SHIELD agent G.W. Bridge last issue, Castle finds himself handcuffed, unarmed, and staring down the combined might of the Wrecking Crew.
Now admittedly, that sounds like a pretty good story, and seeing as I’m a big fan of Matt Fraction and a bigger fan of the Punisher, you’d think I would have enjoyed this comic, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, Punisher War Journal has once again left a bad taste in my mouth, and the reason can be summed up in two words: Howard Chaykin. Despite his groundbreaking work in the 1980s, Chaykin’s art has been on a steady decline ever since. At this point, his pencils are so loose and his panel design so poor, Chaykin brings down the quality of every comic he’s associated with.
For example: Midway through this story, a character is hit in the back of the head by a wrecking ball. Common sense says that there are three important elements to that image: The weapon, the aggressor and the guy getting smacked upside the head, with the wrecking ball as the natural focus of the panel. Instead, Chaykin moves the ball to the far left of the page (away from path the reader’s eye takes across the page), and moves the attacker off-page completely. As a result, the panel makes very little sense. Another page has the Wrecker shatter GW Bridge’s knee with a crowbar. Not only is the Wrecker drawn in such a way that his swing physically could not have connected, but Bridge reacts to a broken kneecap by bringing a hand up to his forehead, and making a facial expression that could generously be described as mild annoyance.
If this sounds nit-picky, well, it is. Even still, the combined result is an amateurish, mediocre comic delivered by an artist who has either lost all of his once prodigious skill, or who simply doesn’t care enough to do a half-way decent job anymore.
August 27th, 2008
Thunderbolts #123
"Running the Asylum" pt. 2
Christos Gage (writer), Fernando Blanco (artists). Cover by Billy Tan.
Having single-handedly talked-down the Skrull sleeper-agent posing as Captain Marvel (in a scene that also appears in Secret War #5), Norman Osborn deploys the Thunderbolts against the invading aliens, with one simple set of orders- "don't hold back".
After a few spectacular months, this part two of "Running the Asylum" seems a bit uneventful, which is an odd thing to say about a story consisting of super-villains slaughtering aliens for twenty-two pages. It all comes across as fairly standard capes-and-tights fare though, with the notable exception of Venom eating people, and Bullseye killing pretty much indiscriminately. Though the opening scene is a beat-by-beat recreation of a scene from the main Secret Invasion mini-series, this version benefits from an extra page to work with.
The highlight of this issue, and indeed the highlight of every issue since the title was relaunched post-Civil War, is Norman Osborn. Under Warren Ellis' influence, Osborn quickly developed into a fully-rounded character for the first time, equally fascinating as a super-team administrator as he is wheeling around on his Goblin Glider. For the past few issues though, Gage has begun to just flat out write Osborn as Ellis' Dirk Anger, and the results are hilarious. Which, frankly, is a given, as anyone who's read Nextwave could tell you.
Month after month, "Thunderbolts" is clever, witty and wildly funny. It's also bitingly cynical, violent and often wildly inappropriate. In other words, it's a Warren Ellis book. Many thanks to Christos Gage for keeping it that way.
Ultimate Iron Man II #5
Orson Scott Card (writer), Pasquel Ferry and Leonardo Manco (artists). Cover by Ferry.
Well, that sucked.
This was the final part of the second volume of Card's re-envisioning of everyone's favorite besotted armored billionaire. When the first Ultimate Iron Man miniseries was announced in 2005, the hullabaloo surrounding the title made it sound like the biggest thing since Siegel met Shuster. Three years later, it feels as though this issue only saw print because of contractual obligations.
In Card's second outing, he builds on the ridiculous premise of the first series, that Tony Stark's entire body is made up pure brain cells, and he needs to wear painted-on armor just to move around...no, really. Ultimate Iron Man II featured the story of...you know what? I don't even care anymore. There were terrorists and nukes and all that Jack Bauer-influenced crap. Though the villain of the story was originally thought to be an effeminate midget guy named Dolores...no, really. In this issue, the real villain is revealed to be Iron Man's dad's ex-wife.
...no, really.
Though all of this might have worked had it been played for laughs, Card resolutely keeps a straight face the entire time, and by the time we get to the finale here, the series has long-since lost any goodwill afforded by early unintended laughs. Though the dialogue can be snappy at times, more often it's as cliched and labored as the plot. Pro Tip: Some villains lend themselves to meandering, megalomaniacal monologues. Howard Stark's evil cougar ex-wife is not one of them.
Another frustrating aspect to this comic is the art. Despite the fact that this issue shipped about four months late, Ferry seemed to give up about nine pages in, and the remainder of the story is drawn by Manco. Though the two shar an art credit, Manco's rougher style is a jarring departure from Ferry's non-traditional, almost cel-shaded style.
An unsatisfying and unpleasant end to an unsatisfying and unpleasant mini-series.
Ultimate Spider-Man #125
Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Stuart Immonen (pencils). Cover by Immonen.
Whoa...deja vu.
After being captured last issue by Silver Sable and her merry band of mercenaries, Eddie Brock is now a captive of Bolivar Trask, who plans to take control of the Venom suit for his own nefarious reasons. If you're a gamer, this may sound oddly familiar- the current story arc, unofficially called "War of the Symbiotes," closely adapts 2005's Ultimate Spider-Man video game. Lucky for me, the retread of what I know will be over soon...I gave up on the game when I couldn't beat the Electro fight in Times Square. That level's a bitch.
What can I say about Ultimate Spider-Man at this point? It's consistent, that's for sure. Rarely stellar, but always good. Inventive, if slow-paced story-lines, and quality artwork. Pick up pretty much any issue, and you're guaranteed to have a solid read, with some action, some characterization and enough New York Yiddish to make you plotz.
Plus, you know...this Spider-Man is a likable, wise-cracking teenager. The regular Marvel Universe's Spider-Man is a shiftless loser who sold his marriage to the devil so he could sponge off his elderly aunt's pension and spend his nights whoring it up with loose women. I know which one I'd rather read about.
...I meant, I'd rather read Ultimate Spider-Man. Jeez, what do you people take me for?
