CAPSULE COMMENTS: New comics for the week of July 9, 2014

Wow, what a hit-and-miss week! There were a couple of comics in this week's stack from Zimmie's that really rang my fanboy bell, but also several I simply did not enjoy at all. Which was which? Here's the rundown:

Amazing Spider-Man #1.3

Marvel Comics, $3.99

I actually did not pre-order the "one-point" issues of this new Spidey series when they were first solicited. The comics curmudgeon in me figured ol' Marvel was just trying to milk me for extra money, while I presumed this would be another pointless "Year One" retcon. Instead, this has been a series that has added layers and depth to the original stories, while being a fun, tightly plotted tale in its own right. Sure, a lot of the beats are familiar, with the rejected super-fan turning toward villainy, but this story arc reminds me so much of the comics of my youth, I'm calling that a plus.  GRADE: A

Daredevil #5

Marvel Comics, $3.99

I had a few issues with this issue. For one, it's  not clear to me until ol' hornhead starts reminiscing about Leapfrog that the giant robot is actually a giant, mechanical leapfrog. But maybe that's me. Second, it's not at all clear to me why the leaping robot suddenly goes on self-destruct. Did Daredevil trigger something when he stuck his billy-club in it? Did the pilot set the mecha-amphibian to self-destruct? And, if so, was that the plan all along, or an accident? Regardless, all that is secondary to the main point of the story, which was allowing Foggy Nelson to go out in a blaze of glory. For him, I'm happy. GRADE: A

All-New Invaders #7

Marvel Comics, $3.99

An improvement over reent issues, although it's still unclear to me just why Radiance, having learned of the Invaders' "original sin" while in New York, traveled all the way back to Japan in order to demand they explain themselves to her. Overall, the story here is good, although this issue and the previous one could have been done just as well as a single-issue story. What I wonder, however, is why James Robinson doesn't petition his editor to change the title of this book to All-New Human Torch, since that seems to be the book he wants to write anyway, and given that he's de-powered Johnny Storm over in Fantastic Four. GRADE: B+

Fantastic Four #7

Marvel Comics, $3.99

And speaking of the FF, it's worth noting that not only does the scene on this cover not happen inside, Invisible Woman and the Hulk don't even appear anywhere in this issue. Poor editorial oversight? Possibly. If not, the disconnect between what happens with the Thing here — he participates in the battle with the Orb long enough to learn a secret, then comes back to berate Johnny — and what happens to him in Original Sin — where he's still walking around possessed by Midas — certainly is. This comic was the quickest read of the month. I blew through it in just over 6 1/2 minutes. At $4, this book cost about 62¢ per minute. Phone sex is a better deal!  GRADE:  C

Infinity Man and the Forever People #2 

DC Comics, $2.99

Well, it's a great cover, as spectacularly good as the debut issue was bad. But, beyond that, what you get here is buckets full of "meh." I'm a big Tom Grummet fan, but I wonder if he's out of practice from not having had a regular book on the stands in a while, or if this was a rush job. Either way, the art here is kind of static, especially on the first few pages, lacking Grummet's usual dynamism. The plot also is fairly uninspired and, for the life of me, I can not yet figure out why this book exists. Doesn't matter, I dropped it with by September pre-order. GRADE: C

Grayson #1

DC Comics, $2.99

This book is, I think, a good example of a writer having a world of ideas in his head but failing to translate the epic-ness of his tale to paper. There are way too many things wrong with this issue to list in a capsule comment. I'll cover them in the longer review. Let's just say this issue struck me as someone trying to be as uber-cool as Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, having only read the Rachel Pollack version. The tagline for this book is, "You don't know Dick." I don't know how anyone could know anything after having read this. GRADE: C-

Winter Solder: The Bitter March #5 (of 5)

Marvel Comics, $3.99

So, this was basically, a pointless waste of time. I should have suspected as much, knowing that this book was set in the past and would eventually have to restore the status quo to what it was before Bucky Barnes reappeared as the Winter Soldier. Sadly, this entire five-issue series is something that could have been done just as well, better actually, back in the day as a single 10-page story. And that with art that didn't look like something sketched out during the bus ride to work. GRADE: D+

The Royals: Masters of War #6 (of 6)

DC Comics (Vertigo imprint), $2.99

This is a series that utterly failed to live up to its promise, but maybe that's because I thought I was being promised some kind of World War II version of Arrowsmith. In the end, what we got was a poorly conceived family melodrama with characters straight out of central casting. I imagine that even the creators knew, when they dropped the bomb at the end, that the reading public would not be clamoring for a sequel. GRADE: D

Read more »

Capsule Comments, Daredevil, DC Comics, DC/Vertigo, Fantastic Four, Invaders, Marvel Comics, New Gods, Spider-Man,

{[['']]}

CAPSULE COMMENTS: All-New Invaders #6

All-New Invaders #6 

Marvel Comics, $3.99, 28 pages

Released: June 11, 2014

Story Grade: B

Issue Score: 74.25

STOICALLY RECOMMENDED

"Original Sin" 

(19 pages / 71 panels / 2,150 words / 13:15 read time)

Writer: James Robinson 

Artist: Marc Laming

Colorist: Guru-eFX

Letterer: VC's Cory Petit 

Editor: Mark Paniccia

This was supposed to be my last issue of All-New Invaders. Not being overly thrilled with the first couple of issues, I dropped the title form my pull-list at Zimmie's Comics. It's not on my pre-orders already placed though August, by which time it will be on Issue 9. However, this issue was good enough that I'll look for the next couple on the stands and, if they hold up, could add the title back onto the pull-list with #10. That's a big if, though, as $4 is a lot of money for 13 minutes of my time, especially considering that Marvel comics have recently slipped to just 19 pages of story per issue.

Still, this story is pretty decent, although I admit to being confused by the Human Torch's backstory. I left Marvel at about the same time Jim Shooter did, and for the next 15 years or so I was almost exclusively a DC man. Therefore, what I know is that the Torch's body was recycled to make the Vision. That's obviously no longer the case. Marvel is right not to address this Vision thing in the story, whether it's something that's been retconned, or simply updated. For all I know, the original Vision might have been the Torch, but then got a new body, allowing for the Torch to return, but I don't think so, based on what Robinson has the Torch relate of his history to Fury. A history told entirely for the benefit of the reader, given that the Torch should know that Fury knows everything he's being told. 

You know, given the amount of history this book plays with, a text page detailing the history of each character through the years, both in continuity and from a real-world perspective, would be appreciated. At the very least, Marvel ought to include a "Who's Who in the Invaders" page. I mean, really, who but me and four other fanboys my age are going to remember the Human Top?! Everyone else reading this book will probably wonder, "Who the hell is the black guy in the striped shirt in that flashback scene with Golden Girl?" Robinson doesn't tell us and, with Laming having drawn the boat they're on looking pretty beat up, the Top could just as well be a villain Golden Girl is fighting, not her teammate in the Kid Commandos, for all anyone today would know.

The opening sequence that introduces Supreme Radiant Friend is pretty good, having a very Astro City, what-if-super-heroes-were-real vibe. The art is even reminiscent of Brent Anderson's. I also like that Radiance, as she'll be known in American, is a Japanese pop star. With Agent Coulson appearing in this issue, can Skye be far away? Maybe Chloe Bennett and Radiance could compare notes (although Bennett's pop princess days were in China, I think).

Although the bit about adapting Radiance's name for American tastes is interesting, it also bugs me in a way. The literal name translation thing was one problem I had with DC's The Great Ten. I mean, why doesn't Radiance just go by however her name is pronounced in Japanese? After all, when you go to a Mitsubishi lot, the dealer doesn't try and sell you a "Three Water Chestnut," which is what Mitsubishi translates as — he sells you a goddamn Mitsubishi! I hope that if Radiance sticks around, she'll insist on using her real name, not an English semi-translation (and the seeds are already planted here for her not digging the Americanization). Of course, that will require that Robinson find someone who can tell him how "Supreme Radiant Friend" would be pronounced as a name in Japan.

Getting back to the story, it's a pretty good run-through on the Torche's psyche as he gets debriefed by a Dr. Malloy about his first outing as an Agent of S.H.I.E.LD., which pitted him against Radiance. For the sake of spoilers, I won't say what the Invaders' original sin was, but with a new Japanese character, an atomic explosion, and some complacent-looking heroes on the cover, you can probably make an educated guess. Anyway, being in S.H.I.E.L.D. at least gives the Torch something to do, even though I'm still not convinced Marvel really needs two Human Torches, three if you count Toro.

What problems there are in this issue have more to do with the art than the script — although it's unclear why Radiance traveled back to Japan to seek information from the Invaders when she discovered their "original sin" while in New York City. Also, a reader unfamiliar with decades of Marvel history might be forgiven for thinking Monica Rambeau is the Dazzler, based on references made by various characters.

Still, even on the art front, given that Laming's work is technically pretty good, I blame the editor. For one thing, Page 5 is completely useless. Every bit of dialogue on that page, as Fury and the Torch walk across the deck of a S.H.E.I.L.D helicarrier, could have fit on in the first panel of the very next page, which depicts Fury and the Torch walking across the deck of a helicarrier. Page 5 is actually one of the few in this issue that Lament really doesn't draw very well, and I wonder if he was instructed to show us some elaborate establishing shot of the helicarrier deck that he couldn't quite pull off. If so, that only serves to underscore how Page 5 does not serve the story at all. There either needed to be some meaningful, relevant dialogue on the deck that could take place nowhere else, to support the basis for giving the scene a big, three-quarter-page panel, or we cut the page and move on with the plot. 

Also, Coulson and Dr. Malloy look WAY too much alike, which makes the panels of Coulson (who, frankly, doesn't look much like Clark Gregg) peeking in on the debriefing a little hard to decifer. For a moment, I thought I might be looking at Malloy somehow watching himself, then wondered if the agent at the one-way mirror might be Coulson, or maybe a third person who happened to look like the other two. Paniccia should have insisted on a completely different look, or at least differently colored suits, for Malloy and Coulson, and the third agent, too, if that was in fact a third one at the mirror.

As splash panels go, the last panel of the book also is sort of weak, as a bird's-eye shot generally tends to detach the reader from the action and, let's face it, giant explosions are not nearly as dramatic in comics as they are on film anyway. This panel should have been drawn from ground level, with debris from the exploding building flying out into the army of S.H.E.I.L.D. agents, causing injury and mayhem. If people outside the building are getting hurt, readers might presume that surely the people inside are dead, and they'll want to come back next issue to find out what happened. As it is, my reaction was a mere, "Eh, look at that, building blew up. Must've been quite a show for all those little dots standing around it."

Super-heroes being complacent in the Hiroshima bombing (see, I committed a spoiler after all) is not new. DC's All-Star Squadron covered the same ground more than 30 years ago. Still, I am interested to see exactly how the Invaders were connected. So, I will be looking for the next issue when it comes out, even though it was my intention to drop this book.

Oh, one final aside, in reference to how the editor let down the artist. Aside from not insisting on the changes above, he also misspelled Laming's name. Marc is spelled with a 'K" in the book, but Laming spells it with a "C" on his twitter account.

[COVER: 7.25 — PLOT: 8.0 — SCRIPT: 8.75 — LAYOUT: 7.25 — ARTWORK: 8.25 — EDITING: 5.75 — COLORS/PRODUCTION: 8.25 — DOLLAR VALUE: 5.75 — COLLECTIBILITY: 7.25 —GOSH-WOW FACTOR: 7.75] 

Read more »

Capsule Comments, Human Torch, Invaders, James Robinson, Mark Laming, Marvel Comics,

{[['']]}