Hey @$$holes, Village Idiot here. Big column this week - No time for talk!
(Click title to go directly to the review)
Special Feature: IDENTITY CRIS@$$!
- Vroom Socko: I Loved It!
- Cormorant: I Loved It Too!
- WHO'S WHO IN THE DCU Profile of Dr. Light
- Ambush Bug: You Guys Are High - It Sucked!
BONE #55
AQUAMAN #19
WITCHES #1
FALLEN ANGEL #12
Buzz Maverik Book Club: THE SHADOW OF FU MANCHU
Cheap Shots!
I Loved It!
Vroom Socko on IDENTITY CRISIS #1
When I first heard about this series, I was less than enthused. All the promo pieces promised an important death that would rock the DCU to its foundation, and well, I've heard that before. It seems that DC puts out something every sixteen months or so that "will rock the universe to its foundation," and they always end up having as much impact as a Nerf football hitting a brick wall. So I went into this book with zero expectation of quality.
And I came out of it feeling like I'd been blasted in the face with a shotgun.
If DC has published a better opening issue in the past ten years than this one, I haven't seen it. You'd have to go back as far as Watchmen to find one better. Brad Meltzer has done something I thought impossible, made an event comic that's actually worth a damn.
To be fair, this book is probably going to be enjoyed the most by those of you who are already nuts for DC, but that doesn't mean a novice to this universe is going to be overwhelmed. This is a conspiracy/mystery story first and foremost, an event book second. That's why it works. It's not dependent on your knowing every nuance JLI history for you to understand the nature of the plot. Everything you need is right on the page.
Of course, that's not to say that those of you who DO know every nuance of JLI history aren't going to pick up on a few details. There's a whole host of small moments that will only pay off to those of you who live and breath DC. Hell, one of the best lines in the book manages to be a commentary on the Elongated Man, a statement about the human condition, and a reference to The Endless all at the same time! Now that's damn good writing.
As for the plot of the book, well, I'm leaving that to the other @$$holes. While knowing what character dies beforehand will in no way affect your enjoyment, I'd rather those of you that don't know go in cold. I will say that anyone who isn't upset and shocked over the death in this story can go home right now. Even if you've never seen the character before, the way Meltzer and Morales play it out is heartbreaking. Sure, the pregnancy angle threatens to push it over the top, and was unnecessary in the end. But that doesn't detract from the book in any way. Just read the funeral scene on it's own. That's some powerful work on the part of everyone involved.
This is the best title DC has put out all year. With this book, Meltzer proves he has the stones to be a major talent in comics. It's dark, mature, and complex without being morbid, offensive, or convoluted. It's probably going to be the number one selling book of the month, and god knows it deserves to be.
|
versus Sliced Bread A Comparison |
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| IDENTITY CRISIS #1 | Sliced Bread |
|---|---|
| The first issue of a comic book miniseries produced by DC. | Innovative form of bread marketing begun in 1928. |
| Burning sequence produces grisly results. | Burning sequence produces delicious results! |
| Written by Brad Meltzer. | Eaten by Brad Meltzer. |
| Atkins approved. | Come on. |
Advantage: IDENTITY CRISIS!
I Loved It Too!
Cormorant's look at IDENTITY CRISIS #1
What do you know of me, anyway? ...The Justice League? ...Or worse, the JLE? Not much chance for my talents to shine when the threat's...I dunno who...the Secret Society of Super-Villains...
All I could do then was stretch and crack wise. Give me a mystery anytime.
--Elongated Man, guest-starring in the penultimate arc of '90s cult comic, STARMAN
You asked for it, you got it, Elongated Man.
That quote's circa the year 2000 and marks the last time anyone (myself included) took The Elongated Man even remotely seriously. Before that? Relegated for years to a "Shemp" of a role in JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE. At least he had a reasonably respectful career as a second-stringer in the '60s and '70s, solving mysteries alongside his wife and serving in the real Justice League of America. He was also *ahem* once used as a noose around Batman's neck.
It's as bizarre a history as you're likely to see for any DC character this side of Animal Man. Makes it all the more amazing, doesn't it, that tens of thousands of superhero fans are about to find themselves caring about him a great deal as of the first issue of DC's IDENTITY CRISIS?
Sounds like bullshit, I know, but if you've read the first issue you know it ain't. Best-selling novelist and dyed-in-the-wool DC geek, Brad Meltzer, has Elongated Man at the heart of a DC mystery that has enough emotional impact that even Marvel zombies are flocking to this title. It makes sense. DC's not all square jaws and happy endings as some Marvel readers think, but this story is distinctly grounded in the realism and down-to-earth characterization that Marvel's renowned for.
It begins with a stakeout. Ralph Dibney, the Elongated Man, and second-tier heroine, Firehawk, are perched on a rooftop scoping out some shifty business on the streets below. There's a mysterious crate being guarded by two thugs, but nothing's happening immediately so the heroes pass the time talking. And what a conversation - Bendis, watch your ass! You made readers care about the second Ant-Man in the pages of ALIAS – no mean feat – but for Meltzer to do the same with the "poor man's Plastic Man" is maybe the most astonishing superhero achievement of the year. As Firehawk bugs Ralph Dibney for details of how he met his wife, Sue (the Nora Charles to his Nick), he's revealed as earnest, loving, smart, mature, and as befits a good stretchable hero, witty. In fact, his deadpan crack about Green Arrow is the funniest damn line I've read in a superhero book all year. Throw in his charmingly non-debonair Danny Kaye looks courtesy of artist Rags Morales and even hetero guys will understand what his girl sees in him.
And then his world turns to shit.
I'll save the terrifying specifics for you guys to discover on your own, but suffice to say, Meltzer has upped the emotional ante to 11 by the time the Really Bad Thing goes down. He even gives the reader a glimpse of what's to come by intercutting the stakeout with flash-forward glimpses of the tragic aftermath as seen through the eyes of DC's greatest heroes. The way it plays out is that you're reading along, fully aware of what's soon to happen, but you'll still feel your guts twisting as you hope in vain for anything, no matter how silly, to occur to prevent it.
And now I have to throw out my one big caveat for this seven-part mystery, and that's that a part of me absolutely HATES the trigger event for it. I've just praised the skill with which the event plays out, but I also have a strong belief that Marvel and DC already go overboard in heaping death and tragedy on their heroes. Don't bother reminding me that death is as core a plot motivator as exists. I know that, but I also know that I don't want the essence of superhero comics to be bleak and morose, and IDENTITY CRISIS raises that specter. Meltzer even throws in a particular knife twist to the tragedy (you'll know it when you see it) that I can only describe as melodrama of the cheapest variety.
And I'm still going to recommend this goddamn book! Hey, I don't think the unchecked nastiness of BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE has any place in the DC Universe either, but I can still acknowledge it's a great story. IDENTITY CRISIS still has six issues to play out, but it's got that same potential.
Among the book's best tricks is how well it brings the DC Universe to life, the wilder elements fully in place but grounded with the overwhelming tone of menace. Elongated Man and Firehawk worry about whether the mysterious crate might contain a black market Amazo, a robot designed to mimic the powers of the entire JLA. Now Amazo's as comic booky a name as you'll hear this side of...well...Elongated Man...but the realist treatment of the robot as a weapon with the potential of a suitcase nuke gives it what I can only describe as "Marvel credibility." Of course, in a Marvel comic it probably would be a suitcase nuke, but DC's more imaginative these days and I prefer that.
You'll also see formerly silly villain The Calculator turned into a canny information-broker, the Metal Men and Mr. Miracle using their powers like forensic scientists, and any number of other scenes guaranteed to make believers of superhero fans skeptical of DC's kookier concepts. Readers might even be excited about backtracking information on the more obscure characters, a feeling many of us haven't felt since we were kids. Why can't these characters always be written with this level of wit and intelligence? All this plus the best superhero art you'll see all year, period, dozens of great character moments, and an emotional finale that'll break even the hardest heart.
Bottom line: I can't dismiss my serious problem with the core tragedy of the story and I'm wary of the deepening mystery that hints at further tarnishing DC's heroes...but I'm still thinking about this story days after reading it, and more than anything I'm feeling exhilarated. No ignoring that, and there's no ignoring this book.
IDENTITY CRISIS is that rarest of rare superhero stories: a truly must-read event comic.
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|
versus The Holy Bible A Comparison |
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| IDENTITY CRISIS #1 | The Holy Bible |
|---|---|
| The first issue of a comic book miniseries produced by DC. | Sacred text of the Christian religion. |
| Requires $3.95 US, $6.00 Canadian. | Requires you to sacrifice your nicest bull to receive atonement for your sins. (Leviticus 4:35; 5:10) |
| Gruesome death of secondary character. | Gruesome death of main character (among many others). | Dicey continuity: Scenes with Robin and Captain Atom. | Dicey continuity: God's character TOTALLY changes in the second half. |
Advantage: IDENTITY CRISIS!
from WHO'S WHO IN THE DC UNIVERSE
Vol VI, August 1985
Doctor LightPersonal Data
Alter Ego: Dr. Arthur Light
Occupation: Former Professional Criminal
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: Fearsome Five
Base of Operations: New York City
First Appearance: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #12
Height: 5'1" Weight: 171
Eyes: Blue Hair: Black
History
Dr. Arthur Light, a physicist, long intended to use his talents for crime. He got his chance after he invented a device that he hoped would enable him to view the future. Instead, he discovered that it allowed him to see what was happening on other planets. Moreover, when he focussed on an optics laboratory on the planet Thanagar, he found that the screen had come to act as the focal point of a space warp. Light passed throught the screen, looted the Thanagarian laboratory, and returned the way he had come. He modified the stolen equipment to serve his purposes and, armed with his own discoveries, began his career as the costumed criminal Doctor Light. A Thanagarian Lawman came to Earth, fought Light, recovered the stolen equipment, but Light escaped.
Doctor Light next attempted to defeat the enitire Justice League of America at once by hurling them into otherdimensional worlds where he thought they would be trapped. The Leaguers, however, escaped and imprisoned Light. Over the following years Light primarily devoted himself to attempts to defeat individual Justice League members, failing each time. Finally, he formed his own group of supervillains, the Fearsome Five. Yet, not only was this team continually thwarted by the Teen Titans, but Light was also unable to resist challenges to his leadership from one of the team members, Psimon.
Weary of his many failures, Doctor Light has given up his life of crime. A new individual using his name has since appeared (Doctor Light II).
Powers & Weapons
Through his own discoveries and through his studies of Thanagarian scientific equipment, Doctor Light created a large number of highly developed weapons based on the various properties of light. For example, he could fire a beam of "solid light" that had the effect of a battering ram. He could use light to create space and dimension warps. He could create highly convincing optical illusions. Doctor Light even discovered a means of walking on light. Although Doctor Light originally used hand weaponry, he eventually incorporated his devices into his costume.
Doctor Light has no superhuman powers, but relies entirely on his weaponry.
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|
versus Tantric Sex A Comparison |
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| IDENTITY CRISIS #1 | Tantric Sex |
|---|---|
| The first issue of a comic book miniseries produced by DC. | Exotic Eastern lovemaking technique. |
| Championed by Brian Bendis. | Championed by Sting (and Brian Bendis). |
| Reads in about 15-20 minutes. | Lovemaking that lasts hours. | Rags Morales' art is pretty good | Soul orgasms. |
It's close, but Advantage: IDENTITY CRISIS!
You Guys Are High - It Sucked!
Ambush Bug's look at IDENTITY CRISIS #1
I seriously don't know what you toolboxes are talking about! I just finished reading IDENTITY CRISIS and man, was it a piece of crap. Hey folks, Ambush Bug here and I have to say that they rest of these @$$holes are whacked out of their gourds. This book was filled with tired clichés, bad dialog, and piss poor characterization. Elongated? The only thing elongated in this book was the pacing, but that's what we've come to expect from MARVEL these days, isn't it.
This book is a shameless rip off of THE USUAL SUSPECTS. Brian Singer and Christopher McQuarrie should sue. Some Goth chick blackmails a bunch of super villains into tracking down a disk containing the secret identities of all of the super heroes in the Marvel U. The guy pulling the strings? Well, it's an urban legend named Kaizer Soz—…um…I mean, Tristram Silver. He's a myth. A legend in the super villain community. And now he's gathered this group of villains to pull off the scam of a lifetime. There is the usual bickering among the crew. No one trusts anyone. Writer Bill Rodi has obviously done his homework. And by that, I mean he forked over the $3.99 to rent USUAL SUSPECTS from Blockbuster, copy the script word for word, and then plop in some super villains to take the place of Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, and Benicio Del Toro. People, this is Zimmerman-level hackitude.
And the art. My god. I've seen better art on the inside of a used Kleenex. Stiff posturings, no consistency from panel to panel, bizarre angles, and unreadable actions are littered throughout this book.
This book is bottom of the barrel, crap of the highest order. Please, for all that's good and holy, stay away from this book. The other @$$holes have gone mad! Avoid IDENTITY CRISIS if you know what's good for you.
Village Idiot: Um..Bug? I think you read IDENTITY DISK instead of IDENTITY CRISIS.
Bug: Ahh…whuh?VI: Similar titles. Completely different.
Bug: No wait…huh?VI: You see, MARVEL published a book with a similar title this week to try to cash in on all of the success of DC's big hit.
Bug: So you're telling me that DC put out a well crafted mystery with spot on characterization, respect to history, art to die for, and more emotion than you'd ever hope to find in a comic book and MARVEL responded by putting out a book with a similar title, a rip off storyline, and crap art and I've been ranting about the wrong book all this time?VI: Yep. And MARVEL's doing it again with WITCHES to counteract the upcoming THE WITCHING book from VERTIGO.
Bug: Oh…well…my bad then. Man, is MARVEL fucking pathetic or what?|
|
versus You A Comparison |
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| IDENTITY CRISIS #1 | You |
|---|---|
| The first issue of a comic book miniseries produced by DC. | Average AICN reader. |
| Kinda geeky for including just about every character in the DC Universe - even The Ray. | Kinda geeky for reading it. |
| Covers by hotshot artist, Michael Turner. | Covers a mean "Darling Nikki" at karaoke bars. | A comic book. | You are human being, a thing of beauty and wonder; as individual as a snowflake, a universe unto yourself. Your value is inestimable. And yet... |
Advantage: IDENTITY CRISIS!
BONE #55
by Jeff Smith
Published by Cartoon Books
Reviewed by Lizzybeth
Admittedly, I have been a bad BONE reader. I read the first issues faithfully, and I got back into the series here at the end, but my attention lapsed for a while there in the middle. This is no fault of the series, except maybe for the unavoidable fact of it being an adventure serial. I find it somewhat nerve racking to follow an epic month-to-month; for some reason I can do this with every other genre, but when it comes to fantasy/adventure I really want to have the whole thing sitting in front of me. Well, now I can do that – with this final issue, the long-running BONE story comes to a close.
I think most of you will be waiting for the trade edition to read the conclusion to the BONE saga, and it's true that this is one series that is at its best in trade form. So the only question you would have at this point, months before you'll be caught up with the last few issues, is whether this last chapter is a satisfying conclusion or, through some monumental fuck-up, a spoiler for the series. A "Revolutions" to Smith's Matrix. Well, I can reassure you that the conclusion is satisfying, if a little rote. Like a television series finale, it seems to go down the checklist of loose ends to tie up, while leaving a very few details floating unattended (what happened, for instance, to all the dragons after the battle? Did I miss that?). Each point addressed, though, is note-perfect, from Smiley's last scheme to the coronation ceremony to Lucius going home to the return of the "quiche" gag. Issue #54's climax, finishing off most of the action for the story, leaves most of #55 for just this sort of tying-together activity, finishing the series with a gentle resolution and reassertion of slapstick comedy, kind of a throw-back to the beginning of the series, all those years ago. As a summary statement, it doesn't quite reach the heights of earlier issues, but it does leave you with a true appreciation of what Jeff Smith has achieved.
BONE, after all, is a strange little creation in today's comics market: an all-ages anthromorphic fantasy/comedy/epic black and white independent comic that's lasted nearly a decade with nary a cape in sight. It's true that the series has evolved somewhat through the years, relying more on a dramatic edge than a comedic one. First hailed as an all-ages triumph, BONE went on to tackle more and more serious plot developments, all the while keeping the clean and accessible cartooning style and the innocent design of the Bone cousins (which came to be kind of disturbing at times, come to think of it). Jeff Smith has a masterful comedic instinct, as the first two BONE trades show. This particular skill has received short shrift as the series progressed, but I believe this was necessary for the simple reason that BONE is not a comic strip, it is an ongoing story - a fantasy epic at that. That's a genre that thrives on change, and change is almost never funny. Repetition is funny; change is dramatic. Neither do I believe that the darker turns of the plot makes BONE any less of an all-ages book – it is, after all, the same complaint made of the HARRY POTTER series past the first two books, not to mention LORD OF THE RINGS, or just about any other fantasy series you can name.
We may find down the line that BONE, at least parts of it, can be listed in this company. In the very least, BONE is an important comic in the history of independent releases, not only for its longevity but also for its wide appeal. All credit must go to Jeff Smith for maintaining an incredibly high level of artistry through the entire run. But perhaps BONE could only have been born of the collector-crazed 90's, when so many readers were looking to latch on to something different from the glut of glossy gimmick books and threw Smith the support he needed to keep this project going. Nothing remotely like it has caught on to that degree in the time since – maybe a few funny books like LIBERTY MEADOWS, but none with the ambition and quality of BONE. Because of its memorable characters, masterful cartooning and engrossing storytelling BONE is sure to be a classic in years to come. I don't know if we will see its like again.
AQUAMAN #19
Writer: Will Pfeifer
Artist: Patrick Gleason
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewed by Cormorant
I recently took in the first three issues of Will Pfeifer's renovated AQUAMAN and gave 'em a pretty nice write-up. I also made a point to hedge my bet by adopting a wait-and-see attitude before getting fully behind the book.
That might've been a smart thing.
It's not that AQUAMAN has been bad for the issues following the ones I reviewed, but it does seem like the story's high concept has peaked to reveal a follow-through that's treading water. We've seen the sinking of San Diego, the growing mystery of the gill-bearing survivors, and a burgeoning aquatic community arising in the undersea ruins of the city – very cool concepts that've kept me from being too critical of Pfeifer's sluggish pacing. With the big ideas now out of the way, though, it's hard to not notice the lightness of the story. We're talking very spare dialogue; pages with just two, three, or four panels; and a plot that's now moving forward in a very by-the-numbers manner with no interspersed sub-plots to spice things up. It's a small meal, too quickly consumed.
What really bites is that the book's flaws are rising to the surface right as the story gets around to the Big Reveal. Aquaman and Lorena, one of the survivors of the San Diego disaster, have finally tracked down the mastermind behind it. And when I say "mastermind," I mean "underwhelming, generic scientist guy named Geist." They're predictably pissed and scare this milquetoast of a villain with some "bad cop" tactics until he spills the beans. This happens almost immediately and most of the issue is taken up with his attempt to rationalize the sinking of San Diego with ecological concerns and explain how he set the stage for the mutation of the survivors into water-breathers. There are actually a few interesting twists behind the plan – notably Aquaman's inadvertent role in it - but Pfeifer seems to be trying to play Geist as a mad altruist in the tradition of WATCHMEN's Ozymandias, and there's just not enough "zing" to his screen time to make it work. He's an "eh" villain and neither Aquaman nor Lorena play very interestingly off of him. It's a let-down. After the huge mysteries developed over the last few months, Pfeifer needed a much stronger pay-off than this chump. Even the cliffhanger of the issue falls flat, being a now-repetitious threat against Geist from Aquaman.
Aquaman, I'm afraid, just isn't very intimidating.
Of course the story's not over, so just as I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend it based on a few good issues, I won't condemn it for a few mediocre ones. There are still a few mysteries as to how Geist carried out his plan and how it generated the creepy undersea monster-thingee from the previous issue, and the fate of the undersea San Diegans still intrigues. I'll certainly stay the course to see how it pans out, partially because Pfeifer has shown an ability to rise to the occasion on this book and partially because Patrick Gleason's art just gets better and better. Gleason's style features chiseled, heavily-shadowed characters reminiscent of Kevin Nowlan's art, but with more expressive poses. I even see a bit of CrissCross in his work, and his Aquaman is always commanding, his backgrounds always detailed and evocative.
Here's hoping these boys get this book back on track in time to redeem a promising storyline.
WITCHES #1
Writer: Brian Patrick Walsh
Artist: Mike Deodato Jr.
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Sleazy G.
Once upon a time, about three years ago, Marvel had Bronwyn Carlton write a comic book called WITCHES about three young witches and their dealings with Dr. Strange. Then they got Mike Deodato Jr. to draw the book.
Then, when it was all done, they shelved it.
Now, almost three years later, Marvel has finally published it—except they brought in a different writer, Brian Patrick Walsh, and had him come up with a whole new story. The plot was changed, the pages were reshuffled, and Deodato drew some new material. As somebody who always got a kick out of Dr. Strange as a little kid and has always enjoyed the supernatural characters in the Marvel and DC universes, I thought I'd give the issue a try despite knowing about its checkered past. I honestly wanted to like the thing. Instead I came out of it feeling pretty lukewarm about the whole thing.
Deodato's art is pretty solid. I've liked his work since the mid-90's, and he's always had a pretty solid line. But the coloring here, by a studio I'm not familiar with called "Cream Animation," isn't quite what it could be. There are places where I know that Deodato's original art had to be clearer and easier to follow. The coloring ends up making a lot of it look dark and muddled. I'm a big fan of atmosphere and shadow, but there has to be a synergy between the art and the coloring. Here it feels more like it's working at cross-purposes. It seems like a different colorist could have made a big difference in this book, and I wish they had found somebody whose work enhanced Deodato's instead of hiding it.
I don't envy Brian Patrick Walsh one bit. I'm not familiar with his name, so I'm assuming he's fairly new. For him to step up and take on a project like this had to be daunting. The book already existed. It had been fully scripted and drawn long before he ever showed up. He had to take a project somebody else started and completely rework the story to fit the existing art. Not only is it a tough job to take on, but he's pretty much set up to fail. The heat on this series died two years ago, so if he does well, nobody's gonna notice. If he doesn't do well, he's that guy with the failed series. It's a thankless job, to be sure.
So how does he do? Well, he doesn't exactly set the page on fire, but he holds up okay. The book does a decent job of establishing the situations and characters. To sum up, some luckless sap opens the wrong book and unleashes an unholy evil on the world. Dr. Strange and the other pros apparently don't have what it takes to stop ol' Hellphyr, so he has to round up three hot young chicks. He's already got Topaz working for him, representing the side of the angels, since she used to be a missionary in Calcutta. He also pulls in Jennifer Kale, of HOWARD THE DUCK and GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING, as the cocky voice of humanity. To round out the ménage he pulls none other than Satanna back from the dead. Now, I admit I'm a little behind on Marvel history, so I don't know exactly when or how she died. All you need to know is that her being back is trouble. And again, since I don't know my history as well as some, I don't actually know how Jennifer Kale has appeared in several ongoing series over the course of thirty years and still managed to stay a college co-ed, but I'll just assume that's okay.
The conflicts between good and bad as well as inside the little gang are established fairly well, and we have a fair idea where things are going by the end of issue one, so it succeeds on those counts—which is more than can be said of a lot of Marvel #1's these days. There's really only one major problem here, and it's not Walsh's fault. It's just that despite all his efforts there are times when it's obvious the dialogue (or lack thereof) is being shoehorned in to art that existed before the words. Things don't quite flow naturally—there are times where there's a definite disconnect between what you're reading and what you're seeing.
I also have a few minor quibbles. The first is that when Dr. Strange can't get even a miniseries, it seems a little insulting that he only ever shows up as a supporting character at best. He was mocked and insulted in DAREDEVIL, Jennifer Kane takes some cracks here…heck, even The Ancient One had an aborted mini in the Epic line before that blew up like a pack of Black Cats. Once again, he's playing support to a bunch of far less important characters. Also, why not have a story where the three women are brought together, not by a force that threatens all of creation, but with something on a slightly smaller scale? I mean, when you start out that big, where do you go next? The answer, sadly, is usually nowhere fast. Oh, and one last thing—the "Charlie's Angels" reference was a doubly bad idea. For one thing, the "Use Before" date on "Angels" jokes has looong since expired. Additionally, if you're gonna use pop-culture references, it's important to at least get them right: Dr. Strange isn't like Charlie at all. He's like Bosley. Nobody's ever seen Charlie. He was the guy behind the guy behind the Angels. Bosley was the one who had to give them orders and then shake his head thinking "oh, those nutty, hot chicks…how do they ever manage to pull it off?"
Overall, WITCHES isn't bad. It's got good art and a decent storyline. There's nothing to grab the reader, but nothing to scare them off, either. It's going to reach a small niche audience, but not really garner much additional attention. It's a shame, because with just a few tweaks (better inking and a little more thought to the story) it could have really stood out. I can't blame the artist or the writer, though. They've both clearly put in a lot of effort. It's just a shame things didn't quite gel for them this time. It's also a shame they didn't get more support from the editorial and promotional departments, which will result in it languishing on the shelves. I'm sure under the right circumstances they'll both be attached to more successful projects.
FALLEN ANGEL #12
Writer: Peter David
Artist: David Lopez
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewed by Cormorant
I cringed a little when I saw online fans getting hyped up for Peter David's pending X-Men spin-off, MADROX. I cringed not because I think the book is going to be bad – the previews looked promising to me, too – but because there's a certain fan mentality that sees a highly commercial outing like MADROX and says, "Yes, THIS is what Peter David should be doing!", a truly painful sentiment considering that even as they await the umpteenth X spin-off, the author's smartest, edgiest, most original title in years is struggling to find the readership it deserves. I'm talking about FALLEN ANGEL, of course, David's morally treacherous tale set in a supernatural city of sin and redemption. It certainly has its approachable genre elements, including action and quirky character interactions comparable to the best serial adventure TV – BUFFY, ANGEL, ALIAS, etc. Where there seems to be reader disconnect is in FALLEN ANGEL's other defining element - an ambiguity of setting and premise more suggestive of the legendary cult TV show, THE PRISONER.
I've got hope for the series, though. Struggling books almost never become overnight successes in the current comics market, but bolstered by trade paperback support, they can find steady enough audiences to continue their good work. Seems to've happened with winners like GOTHAM CENTRAL, SLEEPER, and RUNAWAYS, which makes me very happy, and the trade for FALLEN ANGEL hits this very week. If you've been curious about the series, recently given a strong overview at Newsarama, the trade is the best place to begin; features some of my favorite issues of the series, in fact.
But one of the many cool things about FALLEN ANGEL is that it's seen its share standalone stories, including this latest issue. For once it's set outside Bete Noire, the series' fictional and enticing city of magic and dark deeds, and it's a pretty strong sampler of the series. In fact it's a prologue of sorts, flashing back to the first ever meeting of Lee – the "Fallen Angel" of the title – and Doctor Juris. In simplest terms, Lee's the "good guy" of the series, Juris the "bad guy," but when a series defies convention as much as FALLEN ANGEL, things are never simple and their roles have often been reversed. The pair have also been on-again-off-again lovers, and FALLEN ANGEL #12 is a one-shot tale of their first meeting. It's got sex, violence, drugs, and even a touch of romance – what's not to like?
It's a year in the past and Lee is on the trail of an alleged rapist/murderer in New Orleans in the middle of Mardi Gras. So, okay, it's not too far from the usual debauchery of Bete Noire! Typical of Lee's pursuits of justice, she's got no concrete evidence against the alleged scumbag, and although he's obviously a crass asshole and a cokehead...I was never 100% sure of his guilt in the story either. This is an earmark of the series. Several issues back David wrote a grueling sequence in which Lee tortured one of the series' villainesses, a sequence that in retrospect seems prescient of debate over abuses in Abu Ghraib prison. David presses readers to ask themselves what they're willing to approve when it comes to payback against bad people who may or may not be guilty of the specific crimes they're accused of.
Lee's confident, though - confident enough to put her first through brick walls throwing punches at the handsome college-age kid she's after. Do we believe her just because she's the series' protagonist? Whatever the case, perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, Doctor Juris discovers Lee pursuing justice in a bar on his apparent one day off from working as the magistrate of Bete Noire. He's a great character - refined, casual, even a little debonair as he protects Lee by splashing his drink in the face of a bartender raising a shotgun. He goes on to swipe the shotgun, crack the bartender on the nose with it, and enjoy a pretzel as cops spill in and Lee's powers distinctly up the ante beyond a standard barroom brawl.
From there the issue's almost a bizarre "first date." Juris, described in past issues as a representative of law to Lee's chaos, has a strange compulsion to keep the always-rash Lee from debasing herself by murdering even the seeming dregs of society. It's touching in its bizarre, metaphorical way, and somehow the pair end up enjoying a jambalaya dinner amidst all the chaos. As always, while the plots are straightforward enough, there's symbolism a'plenty that the reader's invited to interpret as he will. What to make of the finale to the story taking place in the "St. Vincent Hotel," Saint Vincent being a patron of charity? What of the series' perpetual mixing of sex and violence? And was that pretzel that Juris ate a symbol of his twisted code of honor or just a delicious pretzel?
For some, maybe these questions are more than they want for their two or three bucks. For me, looking for the larger truths (and lies) behind the bare bones plotting of FALLEN ANGEL is precisely what makes it worth my money every month. It's rare to see allegory and metaphor so openly embraced in eminently approachable genre tales of crime and lust. That hook plus a cast of likeable scoundrels, David's exuberant wit, and the best fictional setting since STARMAN's Opal City continue to make this DC's best kept secret.
This column's received some kind words from readers for putting them onto sleeper books like RUNAWAYS and GOTHAM CENTRAL. Here's hoping they give the wholly worthy FALLEN ANGEL the same chance to impress 'em.
THE SHADOW OF FU MANCHU
by Sax Rohmer
Out of Print
A Buzz Maverik's Book Club Main Selection
This P.C. crap is getting out of hand. Fortunately for all of us, I took a stand against it recently. You'd have been proud of me.
I stopped in at that soulless, chain coffee house -- Fuckerfasters, I think it's called -- and figured I'd relax with a large cup of coffee and a good book. Except that you have to call a large coffee "A La Cordova Drip" and some aging hippie got his nervous system in an uproar because I was finishing up the 11th out of Sax Rohmer's 14 Fu Manchu novels, THE SHADOW OF FU MANCHU.
"That character is so offensive," this guy, who no doubt teaches Mass Communication at State U, had the balls to tell me.
After backing him into the manager's office at gunpoint, I screamed at him, "I am so sick of you tree-hugging yeast-eaters telling me what I can and cannot read! And all because you're worried about some stereotypical portrayal of supervillains!"
"Supervillains?" he gagged. "No, not supervillains--"
"Oh! I'm not supposed to say supervillain any more? Like I'm going to piss off the supervillains? Like the Supervillain Anti-Defamation League is going to sue me? Now, I have to say some mouthful like ethically challenged megalomaniac of scientific advancement? Well, not me, brother! You can forget that!"
"But--"
"You PC-police just expect us to rewrite, like . . . a whole bunch of years of history just so we can all be soooo fair! Was Blofeld fair when he subjected James Bond to the suicide gardens of Dr. Shatterhand? Was Captain Nemo fair when he kept those French guys prisoner on the Nautilus and made them look at fish for hundreds of pages? I suppose that Lord Voldemort guy was fair when he tried to carve his initials in li'l Harry Potter's forehead ? Hell no!"
"Are you going to shoo--"
"Fu Manchu was a great villain, man! Maybe the prototype for the modern super-villain! Originally, a riff on Sherlock Holmes' archrival, our own Professor Moriarty, the Doctor developed into a complex character. What made him so great is that he didn't see himself as a villain. He saw his Council of Seven as a great force for world peace. While you can argue that Rohmer was stretching it by making Fu Manchu a fervent anti-Communist in the Cold War, it was in-character.
"Take this volume, THE SHADOW OF FU MANCHU, please...ha,ha... A scientist pal of Sir Denis Nayland Smith, the British agent who is Fu Manchu's arch-enemy/best bud, has developed a Nikola Tesla-style beam weapon right in the heart of New York City. No way is Fu Manchu going to let the Soviets get ahold of this puppy!
"Of course, this far along in the series, Fu Manchu and Nayland Smith have become the Itchy & Scratchy of the pulp fiction world. I picture 'em grabbing a smoke together at the watercooler between chapters!"
The PC-guy had now crawled between a couple of huge bags of coffee beans for a little relief. "The people in the store... they're gonna call the cops on you."
I shook my head. "They will have no memory of my presence, and neither will you! When you awaken, you will get yourself another Mocha Soy Girlie Drink and find you have an overwhelming desire to read the Dr. Fu Manchu series by Sax Rohmer."
Cheap Shots!
STAR WARS: REPUBLIC #65 - Amidst the carnage of the Clone Wars, the Bounty Hunter's Guild begins taking contracts on the weakening Jedi. Mace Windu, redeemed by the comics and cartoons from what can only be deemed a pussified role in the movies, decides to teach them the error of their ways. To that end he assembles a crew of Jedi masters to draw a line in the sand. Despite the exciting premise, this is a somewhat meat-and-potatoes outing with a hokey villainess, but some memorable moments of Jedi infiltration and a spectacular last page promising big-time action next issue. Jan Duursema's art always impresses. – Cormorant
ACTION #816 - The best Austen issue yet - because Superman doesn't do that much talking. I vote for this to be a new creative direction for the title: Minimum characterization. Ivan Reis's art is awfully good, and the cover logo is very classy. If you're looking for a nicely drawn slugfest, this is your book. - VI 
THE WALKING DEAD #8 - Kick. Ass. Issue! On the character side of things, a looming pregnancy takes on tones of menace as we wonder if the group will be able to prepare for the birthing and, of course, if a world where the dead walk is ideally suited for the kiddies. On the suspense side, the issue's one of the best yet with its juxtaposition of scenes of comfort and scenes of white-knuckle danger. Outright chill-inducing, especially the scene with the zombie frozen in the snow. And the ending...Good Lord! One of the creepiest cliffhangers you'll read all year. Get the hell on board this book. There's a trade, ya know... - Cormorant
STRANGEHAVEN #16 – It's the annual issue of Strangehaven! Yes, this
book is sloooooow to come out, but when Gary Spencer Millidge continues
to put out work of this quality (along with side projects as fantastic
as his ALAN MOORE: TRIBUTE TO AN EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN book) it's
easy to forgive. This issue sports a lovely, lovely story about time
travel, or ghosts, or just the reality-impaired nature of this
normal-looking small English village – hard to tell which, really, but
it doesn't matter. A downed WWII fighter pilot wanders into the village
and doesn't seem to notice that fifty-some years have gone by. A murder
mystery is solved, perhaps, but another still remains. And a wife
unsuccessfully tries to murder her husband, who remains stubbornly
oblivious to her wishes to end their miserable marriage. Whatever the
publishing schedule, Millidge has the pacing of his story just right,
and his photo-realistic artwork is as incredible as ever. It may be
frustrating to join a book that comes out so infrequently, but the love
story in this issue is really something quite special - do take a look. - Lizzybeth
FABLES #26 - There really are no bad issues of FABLES, but I felt oddly distanced from the carnage of the Fabletown stand against the onslaught of the wooden soldiers. Many a clever scene and some fascinatingly weird battlefield tactics, but I wasn't feeling the stakes. Maybe needed a better sense of battlefield chaos and unchecked adrenaline, and action isn't where Bill Willingham's strengths lie. - Cormorant
LOVE AND ROCKETS #10 – The good news is, every 10th issue of Love and
Rockets will be double-sized, like this issue here. The bad news? Since
L&R is quarterly, this will only happen every third year. Yikes. This
is a special occassion then, and worth celebrating for a number of
reasons. Firstly, Jaime Hernandez concludes his latest Maggie story
arc, and it's a real tour de force – full of references to the past
(including a flashback to a crucial, and never before shown, scene
circa DEATH OF SPEEDY) and drastic developments as old Mrs. Galindo's
house, owned by our Isabelle since early on in the first series, burns
to the ground under mysterious and extremely creepy circumstances.
Meanwhile, Mario's mildly incomprehensible "Me For the Unknown" comes
to a close (perhaps a trade will help on that one), and a strong
chapter of "Julio's Day" rounds out the collection, along with an
extra-long letters column and several short pieces by Gilbert. This is
a good conclusion to the first batch of stories for the new L&R series,
and I particularly enjoyed the two-page "Our Favorite Comics" section
by all three Hernandez bros. Already I am eager to see what's next. - Lizzybeth
PUNISHER #7 - Well, I gave the series its shot. Had some ultra-violence fun with the first arc right up until Garth pushed the re-set button at the end to the effect that all the interesting character moments and potential twists he offered were thrown by the wayside. In this latest issue, Garth is back to his by-the-numbers violence fetishizing. Sure, he teases a moment of humanity from the Punisher, but the I.R.A. bombing, the prelude to extended torture sequences in issues to come, and the introduction of a brand new "mutilated face" freak in the tradition of Arseface and Fuckface tells me Garth is unlikely to go beyond his familiar bag of tricks. Laters, PUNISHER. - Cormorant
HAWKEYE #8 - Well, I hate to say I told you so, but...ahh, who am I kidding? I love to say I told you so. This was the last issue of HAWKEYE's latest series and it's too damn bad. Not because this was a particularly thrilling series, but because the character (a character who is arguably one of the most dynamic and personable characters in the Marvel U) was mishandled from the get-go. I mean, Hawkeye didn't even draw a bow until issue two and we didn't see Hawkeye in costume until issue four or five. Is it a surprise that by issue eight, most of Hawkeye's fans were gone? Instead of super heroics, we had Clint Barton moping around and doing his best Lorenzo Lamas impression; which was interesting the last time I read that concept in a comic, when writer Fabian Nicieza wrote it in NOMAD ten years ago. This series was blah from page one. And really, how could they screw it up? "The kids want cinematic stories that are paced for trade." "The kids hate spandex and want realism." "The kids have seen the bows n' arrows stuff, why put it in a Hawkeye series?" That's how. That's what they said at the beginning of this series and look how far it got 'em. A whopping eight issues and a reserved spot in the "Four for a buck" bin at the back of your local comic store. In this final issue, Hawkeye teams up with Black Widow to take down a Mad Russian with a bomb. The story is uninspired and forgettable, but at least we see some arrow-play and Hawkeye in costume. Maybe the series would've lasted longer if they would've tried this approach earlier on. – Ambush Bug
BATMAN: DEATH AND THE MAIDENS #9 - I like Greg Rucka. I enjoyed his novel FINDER, and I'm starting KEEPER tomorrow. I love GOTHAM CENTRAL. Unfortunately, DEATH AND THE MAIDENS just didn't cut it. I know none of you read it, so I'll tell you what you missed: You missed "The last Ra's Al Ghul story" having very few actual appearances by Ra's. You missed Batman tripping his balls off on hallucinogens, but finding inner peace as a result. You also missed Ra's al Ghul being killed off. Not just a little dead, either, or "put him in the Lazarus Pit and he'll be back" dead. Nope. "Burned on a funeral pyre by Batman"dead, which strikes me as a scoche out of character. You missed Ra's being killed by a brand-new character we don't care about. That's right, all this time he's had a second, immortal daughter named Nyssa running around hating him, and it took til now for her to do something about it. You missed this new daughter also winning the devotion from Talia Ra's never could. How? Oh, that's right—by killing Talia and bringing her back in a Lazarus Pit, over and over, for two or three issues. Now Talia's siding with this new chick, hates Batman, and didn't help her father as he lay dying. And finally, you missed this woman nobody cares about, who nobody's even heard of because she's only appeared in this one series, declaring she's taking over the role of Demon's Head. She's serious, though. She's gonna take revenge on the whole world because of what her dad did to her, and she's gonna do it by…uhhh…carrying on his work. Huh? Oh, and I forgot to mention that the art by Klaus Janson was pretty lousy, first panel to last. So now you know what you missed by saving yourself 27 bucks American: nothing much. The worst thing about all this is that Ra's is the villain in BATMAN BEGINS, so either DC just put a bullet in its cash cow's head, or he's gonna be back anyway. Meh. - Sleazy G.
STREET ANGEL #2 - The latest issue of this indie treat begins with an Incan priest struggling to haul a fat virgin to the top of a temple for sacrifice. Cut to an Incan god watching in the heavens. His secretary explains, "99 sacrifices. 17 actual virgins." The Incan god sighs, but magnanimously responds, "If he can carry this fat chick up the steps without dropping her, I'll cap their enemies for them." See, now that's how you open a story! Then there's time-travel, pirates, ninjas, an "Earthlike planet called...Earth," and of course, our heroine, the skateboarding homeless girl known only as Street Angel. Well-drawn, quirky, and funny-as-hell, STREET ANGEL is proving to be a TICK-like charmer. Fans of wonky humor should be on a serious look-out for its distinct salmon-pink covers. - Cormorant
