Abe Sapien: The Drowning #4 (of 5). Ah, here it is—the issue in which all the weird goings-on from the series so far begin to make some kind of sense and even to connect to the larger Hellboy/BPRD mythos. More of these answers earlier would have suited me better, or maybe just a shorter overall series. The earlier issues seem to be treading water (ha! sorry), a trend that seems to afflict the Mignola-penned entries in the BPRD canon more frequently than it does his collaborative efforts (see also BPRD: Plague of Frogs). That feeling is probably compounded by the somewhat odd timing of this series’ release: A large part of the attraction of Abe as a character is his mysterious origin, the many questions about who he is and where he came from. Garden of Souls just answered a lot of those questions in a most spectacular manner and maybe raised a few more; so to return to an era before Abe knew anything about who he was—and to spend five whole issues there—feels like two steps back.
Buffy: Season Eight #14. It’s sort of impossible to adequately judge this issue until we find out next month if the last page is a fake-out (which it may be, given the powers displayed by one of the principal villains) or for real. If it’s for real, then this is an otherwise solid issue with a few fun surprises ultimately ruined by a pretty hacktastic ending. If it’s a fake-out, then nice job, Drew Goddard.
Cable #3. No Cable fan I, I’ve keeping up with this new series by Friend of Emerson LaSalle Duane Swierczynski partly from LaSalle fandom solidarity, partly because I’m curious to see what his take on Iron Fist might be like, and mostly because I was intrigued by the first issue. I’m still interested in the notion of Cable and Bishop as time-tossed adversaries, but it’s still not clear to me if they’re going to be sticking around in this (fairly generic) post-apocalyptic New Jersey or if this is just one of many settings for their conflict. I’m hoping for the latter, but if it’s the former, then Ariel Olivetti’s otherwise amazing artwork could helpfully improve the setting by developing the backgrounds in more detail—as depicted, Cable and Bishop’s new world seems less post-apocalyptic and more simply spare. My only other real gripe with the series continues to be about pacing—more should happen, and faster, and my hopes are that once the world of the series has been established in more detail, the events will come faster and more furiously. This, I freely admit, is a matter of taste, as I tend toward the pack-it-full-of-crazy school of comics writing, whilst others may enjoy the decompressed style.
Invincible Iron Man #1. Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca deliver an outstanding first issue of this new IM series, which, as I think most everyone has noted by now, really should have been out last week to capitalize on the FCBD/Iron Man movie synergy. I hope those non-regulars who wandered into their local comics shop last weekend and asked for Iron Man come back next week for this issue, because if they do, they’ll be hooked. Fraction has created an ideal villain in Ezekiel Stane (first seen in The Order! Now don’t you wish you’d been reading it?): like Tony, he’s a post-human super-genius with a raging libido and an even more powerful sense of entitlement, but, unlike Tony, he’s, you know, a sociopath. There’s something appropriately grotesque about Stane’s bodily enchancements; if Iron Man is a gleaming, inspirational exemplar of humanity redefining its limitations through technology, Stane seems to see his humanity as just another (bio)technological resource to be exploited.
Madman Atomic Comics #8. I think I’m going to have to save my thoughts on this issue, and the series in general, for a longer post somewhere down the road. Allred should of course be following his muse and telling the stories he is most interested in telling; I’m just not sure I’m interested in reading them anymore. I think the idea of a radical shake-up or three in the Madman status quo is fine—it would eventually be intolerably twee and precious if Frank stayed a naive man-child for the next hundred issues. But the plot mechanics and character developments of these shake-ups have been confusing at best, and the philosophical musings that made Frank such an interesting character have begun to seem pretentious and labored. When Frank used to ruminate on the nature of existence, the fact that he was posing the Big Questions in a way that recalled a million late-night dorm-room conversations was part of his charm as a character. (Then there’s also the fact that he used to engage in these ruminations when trapped in Superman’s body, or while fighting a skinless circus bodybuilder, which is really how I prefer to read my philosophy anyway.) But now there no longer seems to be much distance between Frank’s perspective and the book’s. This is not to say that the book, or the readers, shouldn’t take questions about the nature of existence seriously, of course; but it is to say that the book needs to handle them in a more sophisticated, coherent, and—above all—interesting way. Madman was a series that kept me in comics when I wasn’t interested in much else on the shelves and which was instrumental in turning my interests from strictly mainstream superhero fare to more independent, creator-driven works, so I have a lot of affection for it, but it may be that it’s just not a series for me anymore.
Punisher War Journal #19. More Fraction! In this issue: See the Punisher buy his groceries! Fraction has been experimenting with the idea of letting the Punisher become integrated into a community, with letting him form some sort of ad-hoc family that would be more than just a loose allegiance of partisans to his cause. Punisher foe Jigsaw has also been forming a family, this one far more traditional in structure but also much, much more deranged. It’s perhaps too early to say what Fraction is up to in pitting these families against one another, but I’m sticking around to see.
Secret Invasion #2. Yeah, maybe.
X-Factor: The Quick and the Dead. Remember that issue of Avengers from the Galactic Storm era, where one of his teammates asks Hank Pym how he can become Giant-Man again, when he’d been saying for years that if he ever grew to giant size the strain on his body would kill him? And Hank was all like, this is what I gotta do, these are the times, etc.? It didn’t really answer the question, but it was a nice character moment. So what we have with this comic instead is a full issue of Quicksilver getting his speed powers back in a manner which makes not a whit more logical sense but which also disappoints as a character moment! I feel like we can’t really hang this one around Peter David’s neck—his X-Factor series has been solid, consistent fun, and he’s dealt deftly with the multiple changes forced upon the title by the higher-ups at the X-office. This issue reads to me like someone in Marvel editorial said, “Quicksilver needs his powers back. The old powers.” And Peter David said, “Well, OK, here they are.” And went back to doing his thing. I can’t really blame him, but I can’t recommend you spend your three dollars on this either.
ALSO! Matt Fraction and Fabio Moon’s Casanova #14 comes out next week. Baton Rougeans: There are three copies of the oversized hardback collection of the first Casanova arc, Luxuria, on clearance for 30% off at School of Comics right now. If you don’t buy them before I go get my new comics next week, I will probably snatch them all up and fashion some sort of suit from their pages, which I will wear until it crumbles damply from my body. This is how excited I am about Casanova #14. Klock explains why. So! Go buy them. This is less a threat than a plea. Save me from myself, here, is what I’m saying.
I can’t believe I’m going to buy a brand-new Iron Man comic—I think my last one was sometime around No. 210, you know, in 1986—but after your gracious Fractionite encouragement, I can’t stop reading his stuff. I’m mildly horrified that I have a stack of Punisher War Journal and Iron Fist around the house, but it tastes SO GOOD.
I’m giving in on Casanova, too. You tricked me. ALSO: I will trade you one (leafed through, mostly unread) Acme Novelty Datebook Vol. II for one of those Luxuria! OH, please, mein freund!
You’ve got a deal, friend. I’ll snag one on Wednesday, assuming (I think safely) that my entreaty fails to persuade three or more Baton Rouge-area comics enthusiasts. I have to say that I think the soon-to-conclude second arc is even better than the first, but the first is definitely the place to start. As logic would dictate, I suppose.
Enchanted by the movie and the Iron Fists and all the Casanova wondrousness, I picked up the Iron Man—and I was not disappointed. I am greatly ashamed that my current reading list is exactly the same as it was in 1985 (minus, thank God, X-Men, the Avengers, and Star Wars).
I hate to say it, but I now avoid Mike Allred like the plague. Even when he draws now he gets on my nerves—his writing has just soured me that badly on his work.