CAPSULE COMMENTS: New comics for the week of July 2, 2014

The weekly pilgrimage to Zimmie's netted eight new comic books this week, including the much anticipated Rocket Raccoon #1. Did the mag live up to the hype? Let's hit the capsule comments to find out!

Rocket Raccoon #1
Marvel Comics, $3.99

Yes! Yes, Scottie Young's version of your favorite rascally ringtail is every bit as good as you'd imagine. Kudos to Marvel for releasing this fun comic (and isn't fun what comics are supposed to be?) just before release of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and without spoiling the plot of that flick in any way. I will say, however, it's a mystery to me why Marvel doesn't have kiosks set up at every multi-plex in America selling comics tied to its movie releases. The trick since the mid-'70s collapse of newsstand distribution is to get the comics where the kids are, and movie theaters seem like just the place to capture casual readers predisposed to sampling a comic based on the film they've just seen.  GRADE: A

Justice League 3000 #8
DC Comics, $2.99

I was afraid when the male half of the "wonder twins" turned out last issue to be a psychopathic murderer that this series had jumped a 31st century shark. Not so, and JL3K remains one of my favs currently being published, especially as the heroes grow into their roles and become more heroic. I was a little concerned with Lantern ex machina, however, as GL's solution seemed a little too easy; a little too pat. Also, it sort of spoils the big, last-panel reveal that Flash is now a chick when you've got her plastered all over the cover. GRADE: A-




Green Arrow #33
DC Comics, $2.99

It's a bit of a pain for this old codger of a comic book fan to keep my New 52 continuity straight from the CW television version of our battling bowman, especially now that Diggle has been shoehorned into the cast. Still, this is good stuff. Heck, even hateful little Emiko is growing on me. I was bummed to learn Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino will be leaving at the end of this arc, as they're the reason I came back to Green Arrow after dropping it early in the current run. Given that the new team will include creators from the TV show, I'm kind of hoping DC can somehow merge continuities, but that's doubtful. At the very least, here's hoping for Felicity! GRADE: B+

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #5
DC Comics, $2.99

A fun little story. Pretty straight-forward, nothing tricky. But then, this is a title for "kids." Still, these days I'm thankful for any comic that can tell a story in one, or even two issues, and there were a few decent gags. That art was WAY basic however, and I suspect it was drawn with a tablet, rather than on paper. It was interesting to me to note that Wonder Woman here sports her original "eagle tits" costume, rather than the more recent, trademark-able "double-W" version. I've been kind of a fan of this book and I've hoping for future team-ups with Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog, the Wonder Twins, the full Super Friends team, Rex the Wonder Dog, Detective Chimp, and, yes, the Legion of Super-Heroes . . . or, at least the Subs. GRADE: B+

Earth-2 #25
DC Comics, $3.99

So, we finally get the official debut of Val-Zod as the Superman of Earth-2. Of course, this is less and less like "my" Earth-2 all the time, even if it is intriguing enough. For some reason, as the heroes finally start coming together, I find myself FAR more interested in the Tom Taylor heroes — Aquawoman, Thomas Wayne Batman, Genius Jimmy, Lois Tornado and Val — than Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkgirl, and the other characters James Robinson created to launch this series. While I am fascinated by the newer characters, I fault the glacial movement of the over-arching plot, along with how little actually happens in any one issue. I read this entire comic in a little more than eight minutes, and that's a short read for my four bucks! GRADE:  B

Original Sin #5 (of 8)
Marvel Comics, $3.99

The mid-series retcon of Nick Fury's history sort of grinds this book to a halt for me, in part because it raises more questions than it answers. For one, was Fury still leader of the Howlin' Commandoes? It doesn't seem so, although he's once again age-appropriate to have been in World War II. And, really, how did Fury find time to rise up to become director of S.H.I.E.L.D., never mind running that organization while playing Punisher-in-Space? Also, I hate Life Model Decoys. They're total copouts for sloppy storytelling. Seriously, they're the friggin' Superman Robots of the Marvel Universe. GRADE: B

Aquaman and the Others #4
DC Comics, $2.99

I'm happy to see Vostok back, but I do have to wonder how his spirit self stuck in the ghost lands was able to give Ya'wara his actual, physical helmet? That's really the only fun part of this book, however. The A-plot with Legend and his evil grandkids is as basic as the artwork. Not much to write home about, for sure. Plots are going to have to be about more than some ancient big bad trying to steal the Atlantean artifacts if this book is to survive. Although, based on sales, we may not have to worry about the Others' long-term prospects. GRADE: C

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Aquaman, Capsule Comments, DC Comics, Earth-2, Green Arrow, JLA, Marvel Comics, Rocket Raccoon, Scooby-Doo,

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CAPSULE COMMENTS: Aquaman and the Others #3

Aquaman and The Others #3

DC Comics, $2.99, 32 pages

Released: June 4, 2014

Story Grade: C-

Issue Score: 59.75

NOT RECOMMENDED

"Legacy of Gold, Part III of V" 

(20 pages / 98 panels / 1,535 words / 11:50 read time)

Writer: Dan Jurgens 

Penciller: Lan Medina

Inker: Allen Martinez 

Colorist: Matt Milla 

Letterer: Rob Leigh 

Editor: Brian Cunningham

I want to like this book a lot more than I do. 

Aquaman didn't appear too often with the JLA when I was a kid and so, even though we're now in a different universe, I like to image he was off leading his own team during those Justice League adventures from which he was absent. Somehow, the idea of Aquaman as the big fish in a small pond appeals to me. It also helps that Geoff Johns crafted some very compelling characters with  an interesting bond when creating The Others (although not the best name for a super-hero team, ever) over in Aquaman's main title. However, it's hard for a team to remain compelling when two of its six members are quickly killed off. Of the replacements, I have little use for the Operative's grandson and even less for Sky Alchesay. I still don't know what her Atlantean artifact, the Seal of Clarity, actually does, as accessing the Ghost Lands appears to be her own native power.

I suppose it doesn't help that all recnt adventures of The Others have been penned by John Ostrander and Dan Jurgens. I'm probably the only fan in my age bracket who doesn't sport a nostalgic perma-chub for Ostrander's Suicide Squad, while Jurgens has always struck me as being very Kirbyesque — great artist, terrific story plotter, but maybe not the best scripter on the planet. The work of both men on The Others has been '80s old school (not necessarily a bad thing) but also very by-the-numbers. And speaking of old school, I'm not familiar with the name of inker Allen Martinez, but, from the looks of things, it's Latino for "Jerry Ordway." A lot of the panels look dead on like Ordway's line, to me. That'd ordinarily be a good thing in my book, but coupled with staid scripts, the art contributes to the feeling that The Others is less about making time for new characters in the DCU than making work for old talent.

That said, Lan Medina — another name with which I am unfamiliar — is presumably new to comics. There is a lot of promise here. Although I'm ragging on the old-timers, I am a traditionalist when if comes to my comics and I do like a nice, clean, art style. Too many comics artists these days fill their figures with unnecessary rendering, made all the worse for lack of a discernible light source, or proper spotting of solid blacks to lead the eye. Medina's work is, on the whole, solid, if, at this point in his career (I assume Lan is a boy's name), unspectacular. There are a few problems. Some of the poses are kind of static. Aquaman running across the castle courtyard, for example, looks like it was drawn directly from the stick-up-butt desktop mannequin most artists have hanging around the studio, while the shot of Aquman brandishing his trident during the Sayeh rescue screams, "Sorry, didn't have a photo reference for this one."

That scene, by the way, is beyond inexplicable. Aquaman and Aaron enter a dungeon cell to find Sayeh being threatened by a knife of some sort that appears to have shaken loose from the chandelier, which, I admit, I barely noticed it. In fact, it was only after turning back in at attempt to figure out what hey-hoo was going on that I noticed it at all. Then, the following page has a giant spider-robot centaur scissor-hands dude lording over Aquaman's body, but the way he's colored, he appears to be part of Sayeh's vision of Aquaman's death. Aquaman then does a proportionless lunge at the ceiling fan blades, which appear attached to bone, unlike the blades on Mr. Centaur-Spider, although it's unclear what the bone is attached to, if not the ceiling. Then, with a "TANG" the blades disappear and our heroes stand pretty as you please for a panel or two until Legend shows up in a shroud of smoke. Later, when Aquaman is impaled as Sayeh foresaw, it's by Legend, not the refuge from Superior Spider-Man.

So, was robot spider guy actually in the cell, or was he part of the vision? We never see him except in that one panel and never see what the boney blades were attached to. They really could have been swinging form the ceiling for all we know. I suspect there's an answer in Jurgen's script. Really, and especially when working with new artists, an editor should demand to see breakdowns before accepting the penciled art boards and forwarding them on to the inker, which is apparently what happened here.

There are a few other art problems the editor, be it group editor Cunningham or his assistant, Ameded Turturro, should have caught. Darya, who looks more Southern California than Eastern Europe, is clearly the one speaking on Page 4, although it's Sky Alchesay we're looking at. The Others see Anton Solokov in Darya's dimensional portal window thing where holding a knife to Sayeh's throat — in fact they even comment on him — but he then wanders into the castle a couple of pages later to a bit of introductory dialogue along the lines of, "Hi, my name is Anton and I'll be your villain this evening."

There are some scripting issues an editor should have worked out, as well. Darya and Anton, with their apparently unlimited powers, are straight out of central casting for comic book villains. "My 5,000-year-old grandfather hates you, so I hate you, too! Nyah! Nyah!!" They really could have used a rethink. Meanwhile, there was no apparent thinking behind Man-of-War's mention that one of his ghost soldiers used to be a detective. His whole thing is that he's haunted by his platoon, all presumably grunts like him. A person who joined the army after being a police detective intimates a level of education that would have made him an officer upon enlistment. I find it very unlikely that one of Man-of-War's soldiers was ever a detective. Worse, while any of the soldiers could have pointed out a stand of hair sans detective training, the offending follicle plays absolutely no significance in this story. It's just a wasted page, really, other than that fact that it leads to a beat-down by Darya's bug-eyed ninjas. Like centaur-spider, the "ninjas" appear nowhere else in the book but for these two panels, although they have turned up in previous issues. Still, to avoid reader confusion, they should have being depicted elsewhere, or otherwise explained, perhaps in a better establishing shot when The Others are transported to the Solotov's home base. 

Still, there are good bits here. The idea, slowly dawning on The Others, that Aquaman views their artifacts as his property sets up a dynamic that's far more interesting that any conflict with the villains in this issue. Also, Ya'wara's talk with Kahina about how she's uncomfortable with anything not grounded to earth is an interesting character bit. 

One last odd thing about the issue, however, is the way in which it just stops once Aquaman is gutted by his own trident. With no Next Issue blurb or anything else to indicate the issue was fini, I actually turned the page expecting more. Anyway, speaking of endings, it's time I stopped, this "capsule comment" having already rambled on far longer than intended.

Oh, except for one last thought: Ya'wara's jungle cats should be depicted wearing Star Trek red shirts — they survive away missions about as long. 

Still, running out of panthers is the least of this title's worries. If a dramatic turn of quality does not come about with the second story arc, scheduled, it seems, to start with Issue 6, I honestly can't see The Others lasting past #12.

[COVER: 7.75 — PLOT: 6.0 — SCRIPT: 5.25 — LAYOUT: 6.75 — ARTWORK: 7.50 — EDITING: 5.25 — COLORS/PRODUCTION: 7.25 — DOLLAR VALUE: 6.0 — COLLECTIBILITY: 3.75 —GOSH-WOW FACTOR: 4.25] 

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Aquaman, Capsule Comments, Dan Jurgens, DC Comics, Lan Medina,

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