Miscellaneous Comics

Brad Meltzer – 2004 – Identity Crisis 1-7
For some it’s a great mystery story, for others it’s an abomination. Since I don’t subscribe to the opinion that rape makes every story better, it’s probably obvious on which side of the divide I fall. At best it’s well written drek, at worst it’s a mystery that really doesn’t make much sense. It’s cheap schlock that either uses women as saintly victims or insane monsters. It’s far from being mature in any sense of the word, but hey, at least it’s more sophisticated grim’n gritty writing than Liefeld’s X-Force from the 90ties. But that doesn’t say much.

Geoff Johns – 2005 – JLA TPB: Crisis Of Conscience
This is Johns doing damage control over the stuff that happened in Identity Crisis. He creates a situation where the JLA has to consider doing a second mind-wipe, since Despero brought the memories of the villains back, which threatens the secret identities and especially the loved ones of the heroes. It’s not one of the better JLA stories, but considering that this is damage control, it’s succeeds most of the time (and it’s far better than Claremont/Byrne/O’Neill/Austen). It’s not a story that stands well on it’s own, though, since you need to read Identity Crisis to understand what’s going on here.

Geoff Johns – 1999 – Day of Judgement 1-5
One of the few DC crossovers that sadly never got collected. The threat is magic based, which allows many of the magical powers of the DC universe to take center stage. Like so often the Spectre becomes a threat, this time due to an evil angel taking over. I heard it hasn’t been collected because Geoff Johns doesn’t like it much, but IMHO it’s one of the best DC crossover I’ve read to date: self-contained with a great story, excellent art that reminded me of Mike Mignola’s style and some of the magical players of the DC universe taking center stage. Hopefully this one gets collected one day.

Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning – 2007-2010 – Nova 1-36
The first two TPBs were pretty good, but once Nova came back to Earth, the whole story stopped to a grinding halt. Nova is a character who works best in space. Whether this was an edict from editorial or it came from DA&AL themselves, it was a serious misstep. The recruitment arc itself and the inclusion of Ego was brilliant, but it could have easily been set in space and would have worked much better. That said, even at its best Nova still feels like Marvel’s Green Lantern Corps substitute and never like something uniquely its own.

Warren Ellis – 2004-2006 – Utimate Galactus Trilogy
This shows again that Ellis is one of the few writers who can write true science fiction in a superhero context, not just fake science fiction like Adam Strange/Green Lantern Corps/Nova/Guardians of the Galaxy. Of the three minis that make up the Galactus trilogy, the last two are the most interesting (the first one is a prologue that goes on far too long), with the second having the best art of all three. The Galactus trilogy also has the best version of Captain Marvel in the whole Marvel multiverse (Galactus arguably is also much better).

Mike Benson – 2009 – Deadpool: Suicide Kings 1-5 & Deadpool: Games of Death
Benson perfectly captures the irreverent nature of Deadpool. In Suicide Kings he is framed for an act of terrorism, in Games of Death he is on a rescue mission that goes slightly wrong. Suicide Kings is slightly derailed by too many guest stars, but still manages to be fun, even if the main story doesn’t make much sense. The Games of Death one-shot has a much leaner and due to the limited size more convincing story, but both comics are big fun. Sure, Deadpool is slightly overexposed these days, but at least the comics are fun to read.

Fabian Nicieza – 1993 – Deadpool: The Circle Chase 1-4
Mark Waid – 1994 – Deadpool: Sins Of The Past 1-4
The first ever Deadpool mini suffers from the same problems that many of the later Deadpool stories have: a sucky story (in this one it’s a gimmick hunt for a testament from some guy whose nature is never explained or why he died and how). But like so often when it comes to a Deadpool comic, even a stupid story can’t stop this from being enjoyable, since Nicieza writes Deadpool like he should be: insolent even when facing overwhelming forces. It’s not deep or sophisticated, but it’s a fun read. This second Deadpool mini is set up after the first one. Most of the cast from Nicieza’s mini is present, but the plot is similarly lame. But like Nicieza, Waid captures the irreverent nature of Deadpool perfectly. Fun all around.

Miscellaneous Comics

Ian Edginton – 2001-2003 – The Establishment 1-13
A forgotten gem of the Wildstorm universe, a British superhero team that references the rest of the Wildstorm universe like crazy and yet manages to be its own thing, excellent characterization and really strong stories, the ending is pretty bittersweet, sadly this was never collected in TPB

Matt Fraction & Ed Brubaker – 2007-2008 – The Immortal Iron Fist 1-16 / Duane Swierczynski – 2008-2009 – The Immortal Iron Fist 17-27
One of the strongest comics from Marvel in recent years, not just the initial run by Brubaker and Fraction, but also the conclusion of the whole story by Swierczynski, I reads seamless with no change in tone, it’s a perfect execution of retroactive continuity, it doesn’t clash with the things that came before and instead added substantially to it

Robert Kirkman – 2005-2008 – Marvel Zombies v1 & v2
Marvel zombies is such a weird concept, not the mix of superheroes and zombies, but that most of the story is told from the POV of the zombies itself, I didn’t liked it too much, maybe because I didn’t enjoy seeing all these characters as flesh-eating monstrosities, but I respect that Kirkman managed to keep such a generic concept fresh and readable for two short mini-series

Mark Millar – 2006-2007 – Civil War 1-7
This wasn’t as bad as I expected, even if I wasn’t blown away, solid storytelling and even the characterization did ring true most of the time (apart from Iron Man going all-out control-freak at times), I thought the pro-registration characters were painted too fast as the bad guys, as the whole registration concept is a pretty sensible idea, but since this is a superhero universe, sense is obviously not part of the equation

Garth Ennis – 2008-2010 – Crossed 0-9
Like always Ennis manages to create good characters, but the rest I find really hard to stomach, this isn’t entertainment, this is an emotional tour de force that leaves you drained and sick, probably effective if that’s what you want, but I can’t imagine picking this up ever again

Brian Michael Bendis – 2001-2002 – Ultimate Marvel Team-Up 1-16
An impressive showcase of the diversity of Bendis writing, reading this you really feel Bendis stretching his creative muscle, there’s noir, humor, straight action and countless other genres, my favorite: the complete continuity-hassle where Spider-Man meets the Fantastic Four, this one had me really laughing

Kurt Busiek – 2004 – JLA TPB: Syndicate Rules
Not as good as the Morrison/Waid/Kelly-run, but far better than awful JLA stories by Claremont/Byrne, O’Neil and Austen, the concept is great (taking some plot elements from JLA/Avengers and weaving it into an ingenious storyline), but the writing is merely solid, this feels like it should be more exiting, but is just an okay story

Final Crisis (2008-2009)

On my first read of Final Crisis I was probably as flummoxed as most readers where, despite the fact that I like most of Grant Morrison’s stuff and liked FC too, even if I wasn’t sure what the fuck went on. So, on a recent reread of an issue from it, something hit me, which made me reevaluate the series. In the second issue of Superman Beyond, where Merryman says “They forget us. They dump us on a cosmic dump. And that’s not enough? Now they even want to steal your trash.” And it hit me.

This was a forgotten (or cast aside) golden or silver age character from a more innocent time, where heroes could be fun and still taken seriously without resorting to wade through seas of blood to prove their manliness. And from there everything made sense. The monitors are stand-ins for modern writers who don’t bring anything new to table, who repurpose old characters to suit their own agendas instead of creating their own ones. Who don’t really care about old characters, but use them because their creative muscles are atrophied.

Or maybe the monitors are stand-ins for the mass of readers who don’t care for all the fun of the superhero genre of old (since it was all silly and silly is weak), yet who still cling to reading its modern incarnation. Those who follow enthralled each new big event where old characters are nothing more than cannon fodder for the oh-so serious storytelling of the recent years. There’s probably much more. Makes me want to reread the whole series to entangle all the subtext in it.

New Avengers (2005-2010)

Coming away from reading the whole run from the start to finish, what seemed to dominate over vast stretches were all the crossovers going on in the Marvel universe during that time. Starting with baggage from the Secret War, we soon had a storyline that dealt with the fallout from House of M, then Civil War took over and the book went from being a team book to a book dedicated to one character each issue. At least it felt like it was still the New Avengers, which completely stopped once the Secret Invasion started. These issues felt like a supplement to the crossover and not at all like part of the New Avengers. You can easily skip the two Secret Invasion TPBs without missing much. After that followed Dark Reign until the whole shebang concluded in Siege.

All that said, that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any good story arcs. I liked the opening arc (Breakout: 1-6), each time they went to Japan (Ronin: 11-13 and The Revolution: 27-31) and when they helped Doctor Strange find his successor (Search for the Sorcerer Supreme: 51-54). But too many of the plots were closely tied to ongoing crossovers, expecting you to know and care what went on with them. At least Bendis managed to built up the Hood as a good villain to take down during the Siege events, which made reading the book feel not as superfluous as during Civil War or Secret Invasion. SI nearly broke the whole series with five consecutive issues that were clearly not about the New Avengers at all.

This all sounds at bit more negative than I actually felt about it. While the team changed far more often than I cared for, at least Bendis managed to get Spider-Man and Luke Cage for the whole run. His Spider-Man was sublime, far different from the one he writes in Ultimate Spider-Man. With a zen-like attitude, he managed to be the moral center of the group. Even after seeing Osborn’s ascension, Spider-Man was never tempted to go down dark roads like Hawkeye. Mr. Incorruptible with a (questionable) sense of humor. He was the fool who manages to make all the grimdark heroes and villains look like idiots. And then there was Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and their baby. Against all the widescreen action, they provided the backdrop that showed what the heroes were actually fighting for. And he made for a great team leader (and was sadly replaced with Clint Barton later on). So, it wasn’t all bad, far from it.

But if everything, it shows that the days when big things happened in the major team books of their respective comic universes are long gone. These days the Avengers and the JLA are written around events and when they are lucky, these events aren’t too disruptive.

Another thing I just realized about Bendis run: it seems like he hasn’t come up with any new characters or villains at all. Everything is just recycled old stuff or spillover from the crossovers. That’s not a good development.

I Kill Giants (2008-2009)

The art needs some time to get used to, but once you’re there it’s not that bad. There is a pretty realistic conflict at the core of the series, but it’s wrapped into a fantasy surface and your common teenage school life to make it more accessible for readers. A young girl deals with some personal problems by imagining herself as a killer of giants. While I doubt that anyone really deals with emotional traumas with such plastic delusions, it works in the comic. And the series never makes it entirely clear whether it’s all just delusion or not, which adds a little spice to it. Joe Kelly also avoids the pitfall of being overly sentimental. The contrast between what’s really going on and how the main character deals with it makes this a genuinely touching.

Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury 2 (2009)

This collects most of the Nick Fury issues drawn and written by Steranko. I often have problems reading older comics (everything published before the 80ies). The writing style grates on my nerves and I need time to get into the right mindset to appreciate them. This hardcover was no exception, but at least the art was everything I hoped it would be.

At his weakest Steranko could pass off as a refined Kirby, at his best he used panel layout, photographs and the rest to create his unique artistic vision. Story and plot were secondary to creating strange sights, settings full of crazy high tech gadgets and expressive and dynamic action. What differentiates Steranko from Kirby is the surreal quality of some of his art and his more realistic drawn characters. Like most old comics, these also work much better if you don’t read everything in one sitting, but with longer pauses between the issues.

JLA/Avengers (2004)

This was the second big intercompany crossover between Marvel and DC after the 1996 crossover DC vs. Marvel. A big cosmic creature (who looks more like a child molester than a scary cosmic powerhouse) tries to find the source of creation. His search method inevitably destroys each universe he reaches. When Krona enters the Marvel universe, the Grandmaster (another cosmic dude who likes to play games) offers him a way to acquire the knowledge he seeks, if Krona enters into one of his games. Which is essentially a fetch quest for the JLA and the Avengers, where each team has to gather six powerful gimmicks from each universe.

As crossovers go, this one is pretty conventional. Superheroes meet and distrust each other first. Then they fight, but later they manage to work together to get the big bad villain. It feels like a DC silver age comic, where the good guys are entirely good and the bad guys entirely bad. After a time the good guys even start to complement each other for their skills and how good they are. It’s not really an absorbing read, but if you want a little more old-school superhero-fare, it’s probably okay. At times it seems like all of Busiek’s energy went into the comparison of the two universe through the eyes of the characters. Sadly he hadn’t enough energy left to write a convincing villain or characters who were more than just different descriptions of goodness.

Also, if you like George Perez art, this is probably a must read for you, but I find his style pretty generic and not much distinct from others of his period. Maybe a little more refined, but that’s it.

Duck Tales (1989)

This is an excellent port of the NES-game with the same name. It’s not a pixel-perfect 1-on-1 port, they adapted the level design for the small screen. Instead of the wide open levels of the original the GB-game feels more compact and claustrophobic, but the level structure is pretty much the same.

Duck Tales is a pretty conventional platformer. You play Uncle Scrooge trying to find diamonds and other treasures in five levels. It’s not a game that wins a prize for being original in any way, but it’s extremely good at being just a plain old fun platformer. The controls work perfectly (they even improved how you control the pogo-jumping over the NES original), the size of the levels is just perfect (not too small and not too big) and there are enough secrets too entertain you for a while. Perfect little gem of a game.

Miscellaneous Deadpool

Baby’s First Deadpool Book (1998)
Mildly amusing fake children’s comic book that mixes jolly good fun and Deadpool with the expected violent results. There’s no real story, just an assortment of various things that you expect in a children’s comic, like a paint by numbers picture and similar stuff. Like so often with things that depend entirely on a gimmick, the attraction fades once you’ve seen it all.

Deadpool Team-up: Deadpool & Widdle Wade (1998)
In this special issue Deadpool has to stop an assassin who is a midget-clone of himself, called Widdle Wade. While billed as a team-up, there’s actually not much teaming-up, Deadpool and his midget-self are at odds against each other until the bloody end. The issue (written by one James Felder) isn’t actually bad. The beginning is a bit slow moving, but once Deadpool enters the pacing gets much better. And we learn something about Deadpool’s past and see a bit more of his real self under all those snarky remarks.

Lady Deadpool (2010)
Tells Lady Deadpool’s story before she appeared for the first time in Merc with a Mouth. A female Deadpool sounds like a fun idea, but Mary H.K. Choi manages only to bore. It follows the typical Deadpool template, but doesn’t capture any of the glee and black humor you associate with Deadpool. All the elements are there, but somehow the whole thing just doesn’t work and Lady Deadpool comes over as pathetic instead of being funny.

X-Men Origins: Deadpool (2010)
Deadpool wants to get a movie made about himself, but somehow the Hollywood mindsets proves to be stronger than any villain he has encountered so far. From the get-go you’ll know what the punchline will be, but even knowing it, it’s pretty funny when it arrives. Like many other Deadpool comics, expect black humor, violence and a few genuine, serious character moments. Well done. Written by Duane Swierczynski.

Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth (2009–2010)

Bottom line: Deadpool gets shot into the Savage Land to retrieve the head of the Deadpool zombie (AIM wants to use the head to make a bio-weapon). While previous incarnations of Deadpool managed the difficult balance between humor and some seriousness, Merc with a Mouth goes completely for a lightweight style and atmosphere. So if you’re up for a comic with a coherent if simple story and a big dose of (cheap and often black) humor along the way, it’s perfect. If you want something more substantial though, this probably won’t do. For me it worked perfectly. The art was excellent and the humor hit all the right notes. While the story was mostly gimmick driven (get zombie head, bring him back to home universe), it manages to be loads of fun. The only weakness was the ending, that while complete unto itself, was a bit abrupt.