365 Comics...90: Spontaneous #5 (2011)

Is it funny that I can accept the metaphysics of spontaneous human combustion in this book, but I have far more trouble accepting telekenisis (funny peculiar, rather than funny ha ha).  Joe Harris constructed a largely natural world in which some strange fire-related things happened, so the conceit that there was something supernatural surrounding the fire was a given.  The introduction of the "enhanced powers of the mind" however seemed a bit of a late-in-the-game introduction, then again, I had a lengthy gap between reading issues 1-3 and 4-5 (like, a year and a half) so I don't recall if it was set up even slightly at all before.  Either way I didn't think it was a natural fit with Harris' story.  It seemed largely unnecessary, save to provide some minor threat during the climax.  It's a minor gripe though, as I liked the story more and more as it progressed to its conclusion.  It was a fine mystery with an intricate and logical conspiracy behind it.  Harris doesn't spoon feed the reader the entire through line either, giving them with all the pieces but letting them finish the puzzle.

365 Comics... 89: Insufferable (2012)

Just finished reading Mark Waid & Peter Krouse's inaugural title for <a href ="thrillbent.com">Thrillbent</a>, his experimental digital comics site (in partnership with writer John Rogers).  I found the characters engaging eventually, though I was initially put off by yet another series whose premise revolves around analogues of more famous heroes (here it's Batman and Robin) and deviating from there.

Waid writes this more as a superhero comedy/drama revolving around family, something he has had plenty of experience with Fantastic Four and The Incredibles, and it genuinely made me laugh out loud more than a few times.  The character of Galahad (the Robin of the scenario) started to read like Sterling Archer by the latter third (which I think is the perfect tone for the character which wasn't coming through quite self-involved enough initially).

The tagline of the series is " What happens when you’re a crimefighter and your sidekick grows up to be an arrogant, ungrateful douchebag?"  In taking the Robin/ Batman tact, though, Galahad never meets the level of asshat-edness and insufferability of Damian Wayne.

I don't have a lot to say about the format.  It's probably scaled for iPhone and iPad, so my Galaxy Note II led to a lot of scrolling. As well the "weekly" structure makes it a little annoying to read after the fact (as it's not continuous reading on the in-page app).

For free it's definitely a fun read.

And look, a guy wearing a coat of babies.

365 Comics...88: Batman #455 (1990)

A few thoughts about Batman #455:
- I kind of forgot that Tim Drake was around already in 1990, but then again I forgot I'm old now.
- Tim was a very angry boy back then, quite unrecognizable compared to how he turned out under Chuck Dixon's guidance
-This was the start of the story arc that introduced Tim in costume (#457)
- Both Batman and Nightwing's inner monologues... florid and kind of poetic (but I wonder if readers who grew up with the comics of the late '90's or '00's look at this over-dramatic writing as challenging to read and enjoy as much as I do Silver Age writing... I grew up with it so while I recognize that its a little ham-fisted, I have no problem with it)
- Tim Drake's outward monologue is like an excerpt from a latin soap opera and Norm Breyfogle's art totally sells it
- Breyfogle is still one of my all-time favourite Batman illustrators
- This was 1990 so they were still trying to make Vicky Vale a viable character because of the movie
- Haha, Vale has to develop her pictures (topless apparently)
-an ad for The Flash TV show (Justice has never been faster... or more furious)... man I remember being so excited for that show (and loving it. I still quite like it)
- an ad for the four-part Superman title X-over Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite.  I remember reading this arc and I think more than anything I had read before, this was what Superman should be.  I may have to dig those out.

365 Comics...87: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. #1 (1987)

I was completely unfamiliar with T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents when DC started publishing a new title featuring the Silver Age heroes back in 2010.  I gave the series a shot and became an instant fan.  I learned from interviews with series writer Nick Spencer that the series was carrying on in continuity with the previously published storylines rather than wiping the slate clean. Then I discovered that there were only really about three dozen comics featuring T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in total that came prior to DC getting the rights, so I've been on a quest to get them all (but on the cheap).  I know of the Tower comics, the JC and Archie comics (as discussed in 365 Comics #35), the Deluxe comics, but I had no idea about the extremely short lived Solson Publications series (titled just T.H.U.N.D.E.R.).  It lasted one issue.

Solson was a short-lived publishing house founded by Gary Brodsky, the son of noted Marvel executive Sol Brodsky.  Legendary illustrator Rich Buckler acted as publisher.  They're primarily known for... well, they're not really known for anything.  Solson was yet another in a long line of came-and-gone black-and-white indie press that appeared in the 1980.  They published such wonders as "Codename: Ninja" ("So real, you'd swear it was a movie") and "Reagan's Raiders" (President Reagan and his cabinet do Rambo and Commando one better!"  Here's the back cover ad for some of their publications (many of which I doubt actually made it to press).

There's a good bit of background about T.H.U.N.D.E.R. in the TwoMorrows T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Companion and it's evident from the comments of the creative team (Michael Sawyer and James E. Lyle) that the project came together in any form at all was fortunate, but those fortunes ran out very quickly.  The creators were disappointed with the cheapness of the publication and the fact that notes on the printing of the book were ignored.  The series, intended as a four-issue mini with a plotted out follow-up, wasn't entirely dead in the water, as Rich Buckler had negotiated with rights holder John Carbonaro a 5-year licensing deal, but deals with alternate publishers ultimately didn't wind up with a published book.

The book itself is actually quite decent.  Set in the wake of the exaggerated fallout of an excessively conservative, xenophobic, Reagan-era landscape, America has sealed off its borders, removed themselves from the United Nations (as well as booted the U.N. from New York) and is cancelling all visas, deporting any non-citizens, rooting out illegal aliens.  But the government-sponsored "White Guard", street-level foot soldiers, are stirring up even more trouble, seeding violence among the small groups of illegals, letting them "take care" of each other.  A resistance group of Americans and Francophones clash, people die, and in the chase, four of the clashing resisters discover an abandoned gateway to T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Mountain and an off-kilter NoMan.

It's an alternate take on the Agents but it still adheres to continuity, utilizing the characters and situations from the past with a dedicated eye towards making it modern (1980's modern that is).  Michael Sawyer's script is good, obviously taking influence thematically from The Dark Knight and Watchmen, but told in a more conventional comic book story structure.  The art from James E. Lyle and Ron Wilber is very much '80's feeling, in the same mode as Tim Hamilton (Trouble With Girls), Bill Willingham (Elementals) or Ben Edlund's early Tick work.  It's a little sparse in the background department and the faces and poses can be awkward at times, but it's the work of young artists with some genuine talent.  In the aforementioned Companion, Lyle notes he did not like the inking, expecting more of a Klaus Janson-style, but Ron Wilber's inks are more akin to Jerry Ordway... it's good overall, but I can see how that would be disappointing.

In all a happy find in the 50 cent bin and a curious addition to the T-Agents collection.

365 Comics... 86: I, Vampire #18 (2013)

Oh, I thought this was the final issue.  Hrm.  I've not been enjoying this storyline tremendously especially in knowing it's the last of the series.  Taking the main characters and doing to them all manner of injustices was a fun twist for a few issues but in hindsight probably not the best thing for the series.  We had just gotten to know Andrew and Tig before they got nasty and detatching the reader from them without making them even all that appealing as villains (I mean they were appropriately evil but not enjoyably so) has made it harder to maintain interest in the long run.

This issue feels like it's rushing to its finish but somehow it just doesn't feel like it's appropriately escalating, while the dialogue here, as in the last few issues, feels more than a little sloppy (the characters are starting to all sound alike, everyone is quippy in a way that doesn't work well with the looming end of the world before them).  Also the series has kind of lost it's handle on how it's characters are supposed to act and how being a vampire affects their personality.

This was an amazing series to start but the last half dozen issues have tapered off in quality. Fialkov has some cool ideas and he can develop charaters well but he seems to be having trouble negotiating the two these last few issues.  Perhaps it's an increasingly busy schedule or a declining interest knowing the series was facing cancellation... or it could be that it's just not working for me.

I kind of wish Fialkov had another arc, if only to see how Andrew deals with what happened to him and all his friends and associates in this one.  Either way, hoping for a much stronger final issue.

365 Comics... 85: Deathmatch #4 (2013)

I'm really fond of this series... I appreciate Paul Jenkin's myth-building and his use of archetypes as short-hand.  What I don't care for is the extended tease and dancing around a reveal for the sole purpose of keeping the reader in suspence.

The conceit of the series is that 32 heroes and villains will fight to the death, March Madness style, until one victor remains. There is a purpose to all this beyond simple entertainment, and that reason is revealed to the contestants upon entering the fighting arena, and it's so huge a reason that it makes men and women kill.  Of ccourse one the match is over the winner's memory is wiped.  The other contestants can't know, for some reason.

The start of this issue has two characters dancing around the reveal at frustrating and unnecessary length. Jenkins is teasing this reveal for too hard that he's hitting the breaking point where the actual reveal might not support the build up.

That complaint aside, I like how he furthers the characters investigation into the hows and whys and what fors and WTFs of their predicament.  I'm wondering at this stage how long the series is given that 4issues in the first round is almost complete.  I'm guessing 12-issue maxi-series.  I'm in for the whole ride.

365 Comics... 84: Hawkeye Vol 1: My Life As A Weapon (2013)

After reading this trade, I'm certain I could only read Hawkeye and not need to read any other comic book ever, at all, period.  Just Hawkeye from now on, that's it.   It's that good.  As good as I had heard.  Better even.  Considering I haven't heard a bad thing about it, I was kind of expecting it to let me down a little.  It did not.

I'm not going to stop reading other comics (but I could, really), because I have a problem, but seriously Hawkeye is kind of everything Iook for in a comic book.  Writer Matt Fraction has tapped into all the superhero tropes I love: the flawed hero, a sense of history as well as legacy, and capturing both the hero's perspective as well as the everyman's, giving the reader a very well-rounded look at a world with super heroes in it.  We see the fantastic as well as the mundane and both of it is great.  Fraction uses humour to great effect, situation and character-specific.  I was reading early Palmiotti/Gray Heroes For Hire yesterday and there's a book that tries too hard to be funny but Fraction's comedy is wry, original, and seemingly effortless (his use of the old translated word balloon is inspired).

I was also pondering recently whether all the many female heroes I adore (Sne-Hulk, Spider-Woman, Batwoman etc.) are somewhat marginalized by being, at least in conception (and in name) derivatives of male counterparts and somewhat oppressed by having no perceived identityof their own  (I think Red She-Hulk is the absolute worst example of this, doubly qualified).  But here, in Hawkeye, Clint Barton has adopted Kate Bishop (who took his identity while he was deceased) as a nearly equal junior partner, allowing her to remain Hawkeye even as he has reclaimed the moniker (because lies in movies y' know).  I also enjoy tremendously how much Clint and Kate enjoy calling one another Hawkeye.

Clint has a penchant for falling out/ getting thrown out/jumping out of windows as well as getting knocked on the head.  I'd be thrilled if Fraction started dealing with Clint's concussion-like symptoms as an ongoing thread.

I liked David Aja with Fraction on Iron Fist but I love him here.  Dynamic, creative and deceptively simple, his use of silhouettes is masterful and his comedic timing is on par with the greats like Kevin Maguire, Keith Giffen and Kyle Baker.  Soo damn delightful.  Javier Pulido does a good job as fill-in but just doesn't have the same pizzaz as Aja.  But these two are so good they make Alan Davis, a legend by no small means, look kind of average and mundane in comparison (in the reprinted Young Avengers Presents #6).

I may have to add this to my monthly pickups since I don't know if I can wait for the next trade.  And you know, two days ago I couldn't have cared less about Hawkeye.  Sheesh.