Backed Up Comics

I finally had a chance to read some books today. I trimmed a few books from my pull list, so each week is maybe 2 or 3 now. I didn't pick up last week's books so it's been a good 2 week gap in reading. Add to that company overtaking my house for the last week......I've had to change my routine.

I was happy to get a little quiet time though and check out a few that I had picked up. This week was:

Batman #7

Wonder Woman #7

Aquaman #7

Daredevil #10

I dropped All-Star Western for the time being because they were not making the Gotham/Batman connection I was hoping for.

As you can see from above, this week's Daredevil cover is probably one of the coolest covers ever. Seriously. It looks like an old engraving; monotone except for the dulled red of Daredevil's suit. If you look close you can see how the linework was done with a marker. EXTREMELY time consuming. I would love a huge print of it. DD#10 was another good issue. This series has been really good. The story is solid and the art has been retro good. Sometimes it comes off a little weak, for example in this issue, Matt's suit is more neon magenta than red. I love the Mole Man. He has to be one of my favorite villains in comics. Disgruntled, bullied, geek gone evil, followed by his underground minions the Moloids. This issue was good, but there were some quirks. The bright,

neon colors really didn't fit the gritty underground setting. Also, DD brings back a sack full of diamonds to compensate for the theft of a graveyard of bodies. The stones are set in each headstone as a tribute. Ummmm does anyone see a problem with that?

I was pretty sure Batman would be my pick this week. The Court of Owl story arc has been great, adding another dimension to Gotham that never existed before. This issue was a quick cool down though compared to the action filled story to this point. Bruce unveils some nifty detective work and sets some heads spinning by revealing that Dick Grayson, Nightwing, formerly Robin, was intended to become the Owls' next Talon. Best scene is when Dick throws a little tantrum and Bruce pimp slaps him, knocking his tooth out and revealing a hidden electrum implant. Good story, really a link to the new Night of the Owls event coming up.

Wonder Wom

an I've liked and disliked up to now. I love Cliff Chang's art. Its chunky, the colors are a little muted, and it's been a big attraction. The story though, has been a little hard to follow. The flow is sort of broken. Things happen that are hard to keep track of. In this issue, they visit Hephaeston, the weapon maker of the Amazons. He is telling a story about the fate of male Amazon babies, they cut to another scene, and then POOF, all of the sudden Hephaeston is tied up with Wonder Woman's lasso, no struggle. What happened? If this doesn't smooth out pretty soon, WW will be on the chopping block.

Finally, book of my week. Another return of a classic villain, great art, and a good start to a new story arc. The opening pages follow a chase through the jungle, a mysterious beautiful woman, and her dark pursuer. After a dramatic explosion, we learn that the bad guy is actually BLACK MANTA!!!! Back lit by roaring flames. Excellent. He steals an artifact from Atlantis and the stage is set for Aquaman and his shady new group of pals "The Others" to get it back. High paced action and the quality art. Aquaman has been good. It's slowly built up to this story about Atlantis and waited to introduce its supervillain. I'm excited for more.

So thats it. The Merman wins. If I get more quiet time this weekend, I'm gonna eat some tofu, drink a lot of water, sleep in a bed, watch a Kurosawa movie and maybe go to the pool.

Comic Pick of the Week

I'm a little slow on this, but better late than never, right? One reason that I'm late posting this is because it's taken me this long to actually pick my favorite. I don't buy TONS of books, but the ones I have on my list seem to all be really good.

So, this last week was:

1. Aquaman #5

2. American Vampire #23

3. All Star Western #5

4. * Batman & Robin #1

The rundown. All good books and great art. I love Scott Snyder and the new 50's story arc. I couldn't stand the Beast Cave story, only because of the art. I wasn't a fan of Jordi Benet's cartoony style. I know, probably sacrilege, but it just took away from the story. Now that Rafael Albuquerque is back, it's good again. I really like this book because it uses the idea that vampires are immortal. The story arcs jump from the old west, to WW2, to the 50's James Dean style. Lots of potential.

All Star Western is a book that I am really rooting for. Great art, kind of wood-blocky. Fits perfect with the old west theme. The setting of Gotham is what sold me on it, hoping for some ties to the Batman world. This story arc is called "Inside the Bat Cave". All right!! Finally some bat connections. Maybe this issue was just a tease though. Jonah and Amadeus Arkham are on the trail of the child kidnappers. They bumble the take-down though, and get tossed into the cavern whirlpool under Gotham. Down here they run into treacherous falls, cowardly partners, a lost Indian tribe, and finally BATS. I just hope there ends up being some kind of lead in to the future of Batman.

*Batman & Robin #1 are on here because I finally decided to pick it up. I've been hesitant because I've never been a fan of Robin, and the books seemed to be less serious than the stand alone batman books. BUT, this series has gotten great reviews, it looks great, and the story has tons of tension in it. I'm going to pick up the back issues and add it to my monthly list.

The winner? AQUAMAN #5. Why? I guess the deciding factor was on the way home Friday I picked up my daughter Molly. During our conversation I showed her the books and joked around with her about them. The book that created the most stir was Aquaman because, what is Aquaman going to do in a DESERT!? I was that interested myself to bring it up with her, and she actually had to think about it and showed a little interest. The art is beautiful and well thought out. The first four panels make you wonder. If you don't cheat, the first two look like Aquaman is swimming. Then by panel 3, you realize he is bracing for an impact because that blue surrounding him is not water, it's SKY! Classic THOOOM! as he hits the deck. The spread page above has kind of a "Stargate" feel to it too. There are a couple of other nods to sci-fi movies in the book too, particularly Star Wars. This book has been awesome so far. Just the right combination of superhero heroics and comedy. Every book still contains a little dig at the watery prince, which keeps the balance. So far, the story has moved fluidly (haha). Plenty of action and enough cliffhanger-ness every week to keep you excited for the next one.

Batwoman Cinco

Batwoman is not a book that I would normally pick up. First, it's a female superhero book. I've never been a fan. Usually, female superheroes have been created to widen the audience and attract some female readers (is this true?). Second, these superheroes, Batwoman, Batgirl, Supergirl, etc, end up being second rate when compared to their more established characters. (Marvel seems a little different. Their female characters are often part of a "team", so they seem to have equal footing with the rest of the universe) So, when DC launced the New 52, Batwoman wasn't on my list, wasn't gonna be on my list, wasn't gonna waste my time. What a mistake.

Around the second month of the new launch, I had kept reading about how great this book was. The art was amazing, the story was incredible. Being an art teacher, I am easily swayed by a beautiful book. I really appreciate the artwork and talent that these guys have. So, one week, with a little extra cash, I picked up my regular books, and grabbed issue #3, just to check it out. I'm so glad I did. After I read it, I went back the next week and picked up #1 and #2, then put it on my subscription list. Now, that being said, I WAS shocked a little by one or two things.

Now, before all of the hardcore comic geeks blast me for not knowing every minute detail of every character of every book, let me just say that I am a casual reader/collector. My interest in comics goes way back to my childhood when my older cousin dumped a bunch of old books on me. I only have one of those books left, Conan #1, but I remember reading those things over and over. I even used them for silly putty reprinting purposes. My point is, I have a WIDE variety of interests, I always have. I don't get into one thing deeply. I like a lot of different things, comics being one of them. My collection is helter skelter. A little of this, a little of that. Because of that, I don't have the mental capacity to store every detail, stat, or trivial bit of info that some people do. Thats ok with me. I enjoy enjoying a lot of things.

Anyway, Kate Kane, Batwoman, is a lesbian. WHAT!! As I read the first issue and the scenes built, my gay-dar started going off. Pretty cool that Williams and Blackman can do that with their writing and visuals. I found myself engrossed in the story, the crime, the mystery, but bothered and distracted by these hints that something was up between Kate and Maggie Sawyer. I even remember asking my friend Dave if that was the case. I thought to myself, "why do they have to do this?". I didn't want to feel like it was a gimmick. I kept reading though, and realized that it's not. I decided to put my homophobia and male centrist views away for a little while as I read through the series.

I just read issue #5, the end of the first story arc, Hydrology. Batwoman defeats the child-stealing Weeping Woman, but fails to locate the missing kids. She also has her cover blown by the DEO, who recruit her to work for the government. The most amazing part of this issue is that their are 7, count them SEVEN double page spreads in this book. Williams art commands this book. His layouts flow easily across pages with no chance of getting lost. Any of his spreads would make amazing posters. It's easy just to thumb through the book without even reading it. The story is just as good. There were no "dead spots" in this story arc. All of the parts were integral to the story. Some people have complained that her identity was blown too easily, but I think it was obvious that was happening by the second book or so. I don't think she was meant to stay anonymous. This just opens the door to new storylines.

One bad thing about this book; 32 pages, only 20 of those story. The other 12 were filler, mostly covers of other DC books. The second half of this book felt like one giant promotion. I could do without that.

BONUS! Batman makes another appearance and is quietly pissed that Kate chose to join the DEO. I'm hoping that leads to tension later on.

DC is on the right track. They have some very solid, great books. A few duds of course, but the good ones are REALLY good. This book, has to be top 2 or 3. Read it.