While the eyes of geekdom fall upon San Diego, let’s not forget the slew of new comics that have been released. The
Done-In-One Reviews crew hasn’t! It’s time once again to roll up your sleeves and dive into the reviews provided by our dauntless team. Cars, monsters, superheroes, and even an Eisner award winner or two pop in this week!
Archie #599 (Archie Comics)
By Hal Lifson, Stan Goldberg, George Gladir & John Rose
When I picked up this issue of Archie, I noticed the lead story wasn't written by one of the regular stable of creators, and boy, did it show. A woman stuck in the 60s hires the Archies to play the new "Riverstock" music festival, and along the way, they begin sharing "green" messages. That's it. There's absolutely no plot here, no tension, no conflict. Stories -- even Archie stories -- need a conflict. Or at least a punchline, but we don't even get that. The story is utterly bereft of comedy, it's just page after page of preaching about how great the 60s were and how everyone should get involved with environmental issues. If you want to teach a lesson, fine, but at least wrap it in a real story. I've read Archie comics for decades, and this may be the worst lead story I've ever read. Fortunately, the two back-ups are much more traditional fare. In "Beach Brouhaha," Archie's new job as a lifeguard doesn't turn out as he expected, leading to a nice last-page punchline. "Mower Madness" is even better -- Reggie tampers with the lawn mower Archie is hoping will help him earn the money for a Go-Kart, but the result puts him on the racetrack sooner than expected. Next issue is the big 600, and I'm looking forward to another experimental story there, but this issue just bombed out.
Rating: 2/5 --Blake M. Petit
Atomic Robo: Shadow From Beyond Time #3 (Red 5 Comics)
By Brian Clevinger & Scott Wegener
Last issue, we watched as Robo and company did battle with the bizarre monster that took possession of H.P. Lovecraft back in the 1920s. The story jumps ahead in time to 1957 this issue. Robo is now working on new technology for the defense department, but a reports of a meteor that fell in the backwoods of Oregon sends him out in the field to investigate. The monster is back, but it learned from its previous defeat. This time he's faced with a legion of creatures that he can't fight back against, so he's got to find the big bad and take him on directly. This book has everything I've come to expect from Atomic Robo: great action and a lot of comedy. The scene where he tries to argue that he shouldn't be the one to investigate the strange noise in the attic, for example, is absolutely priceless. The exact nature of the monster is still kind of over my head, but that really doesn't matter when it comes to understanding the story. All you need to realize is that it's back, and it's mad. If you're looking for comics that still know how to have fun, you can't do much better than Atomic Robo.
Rating: 4.5/5 --Blake M. Petit
Cars: The Rookie #4 (Boom! Kids)
By Alan J. Porter, Albert Carreres & Allen Gladfelter
Lightning McQueen returns to the spotlight for the final issue in this miniseries, telling the tale of his milestone race at Bowling Lake. He's on the Piston Cup circuit, he's got a sponsorship, now Lightning has to prove himself on a road course. As fast as he is in the ovals, it soon becomes apparent that Lightning isn't prepared for the unique challenges of a road course, but the still-egotistical race car ignores the advice of his road crew. Porter does a wonderful job with this issue, which is almost entirely taken up with the race. The story really manages to turn the visceral speed-driven story -- never an easy thing to do in a comic book -- into something that works wonderfully on the printed page. Carreres manages to evoke the real energy of a car race, while still keeping the look of the book true to the animated characters. It feels very smart, very authentic, and works very well as a lead-in to the film. I'll be happy to see whatever Cars series we get next.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
Doctor Who: Room with a Deja View (IDW Publishing)
By Rich Johnston, Eric J & Tom Mandrake
In this one-shot, a Doctor intent on being along finds himself homing in on a ship that's sending out a distress beacon. He arrives to find a murder investigation waiting for him, a murder committed by the same being that sent out the distress signal. What he finds is a murder suspect that lives backwards in time. This isn't an easy comic book to read. In fact, I had to go over it three times before I really understood it, but Johnston has done a good job of presenting a story in a thoroughly non-linear fashion. The first time you read the story, straight through, it doesn't make much sense at all (except to the Doctor, and let's face it, we're not the Doctor). When you start reading the panels in the order that Tx experiences them, though, things become much clearer. It's a pretty clever storytelling experiment, and one that couldn't be done with too many characters. What's more, this isn't a story that would work well on television. You need to be able to flip around and piece things together yourself to get the full impact. It's a unique comic book story that works very, very well.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
Fall of Cthulhu: Nemesis #4 (Boom! Studios)
By Michael Alan Nelson, Todd Herman, & Digikore Studios
The quiet battle between Hadron and Levin for the leadership of Atlantis comes to a bloody conclusion as this miniseries wraps up, and while Hadron is momentarily victorious, he quickly discovers he has been used by a force much greater than him and his ego, which is hard for him to understand at first. But it's easy for us to believe, as he gets exactly what he deserves, and maybe even not quite enough. (Hadron could really use a good kicking.) But Atlantis falls to the Elder Gods – as if there was any doubt – and while the ending is hardly unexpected, this has been one of the better FoC spin offs and one I highly recommend. Sometimes the art lets down the side, but I loved the scenes of the Elder Gods emerging and the scenes of destruction. Okay, so call me dark. But this one was a really good one.
Rating: 3.5/5 --Andrea Speed
Farscape: Gone and Back #1 (Boom! Studios)
By Rockne S. O''Bannon, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Tommy Patterson, Nick Schley, Michael Babinski, & Zac Atkinson
While investigating Deke's anatomical oddity on the Hynerian homeworld, Crichton finds himself in a parallel universe – again! (Which they do acknowledge in the issue) – where Aeryn never joined them and remained a Peacekeeper, and D'Argo and Zhaan are still alive. Crichton also has a different wife and child (the Princess, remember her?) , and it seems that D'Argo and Chiana decided to get more serious. Also, Crichton got himself a ponytail, which seems to be the most unfortunate thing of all. He decides he needs to “save” Aeryn from her life in this universe, but it really doesn't look like Aeryn wants to be saved. The art here is really uneven – some pages and panels are vastly better than other pages and panels, perhaps because of the different inkers at work – and together with a story that, while kind of entertaining and definitely aware of Farscape past, it all just seems okay at best. Maybe next issue will really wow me.
Rating: 3/5 --Andrea Speed
Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors #2 (DC Comics/Wildstorm/Dynamite Entertainment)
By Jeff Katz, James Kuhoric, Jason Craig & Shane Davis
The series takes a surprising turn, and a great one, although Ash may disagree. As Jason continues his latest killing spree, Ash finds himself a suspect in his girlfriend's murder. He jets off, only to run across a unique band of survivors of Freddy and Jason's attacks, determined to destroy them both once and for all. Meanwhile, the men trying to unlock the secrets of the Necronomicon turn to the expert: Freddy himself. I was really surprised at this issue. Katz and Kuhoric have basically made this an all-star book, bringing back characters that have survived the two monsters in the movies for one last go, and they prove right off the bat they aren't shy about killing off the survivors. That's normally something that irritates me, but something abou thow the book is structured really makes this work for me. I'm also intrigued by what's happened to Freddy in this issue. They've taken him somewhere we've never seen him before. All of it ends on a last-panel cliffhanger that's (pardon the pun) pleasing as Hell. Nobody picking up this comic is expecting Shakespeare, that's not what these characters are about. But for pure fun, this book delivered on every level.
Rating: 4.5/5 --Blake M. Petit
G.I. Joe #7 (IDW Publishing)
By Chuck Dixon, SL Galant & Howard Chaykin
Okay, okay, you got me. After picking up the paperback of the first six issues of this series, I couldn't wait another six months for the next one. Scarlett is on trial, accused of aiding the renegade Joe called Snake Eyes, and her only hope to come out alive is to prove that her actions were justified. It may well be that the only way to prove that is to track the man down himself. Duke, meanwhile, pleads with her to save herself, shedding a little more light on the hidden past the two share in this continuity. This is one of the most tense, dramatic G.I. Joe stories I've ever read, and we barely even see the bad guys. Dixon has proven he has a flawless grasp on who these characters should be and how to play them. The only real complaint I can even have about this book is that the build may be a little too slow. We know we're leading up to the confrontation to Cobra, but c'mon, let's see the bad guys. Of course, I suppose people reading the G.I. Joe: Cobra series already are. Once the paperback edition of that series hits, I may have a totally different perspective.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
Gemini #4 (Image Comics)
By Jay Faerber & Jon Sommariva
It's been quite some time since the last issue, but Jay Faerber and Jon sommariva's Gemini is finally back. Still on the run from the Constellation, Regan is bringing Dan to Tower City, unaware that their former bosses have contacted Tower's trademark superhero team, Dynamo 5, to help bring in their rogue agent. This issue is a nice crossover between the two franchises, and doesn't feel superfluous -- the confrontation does have consequences for our main character. Granted, it's the old "hero versus hero" cliche, but Faerber executes it well and keeps all the characters true to themselves. Gemini himself, of course, is still hard to pin down as a character, but that's kind of necessary, given the nature of the book. I like Sommariva's artwork here. It's a wild, distinctive style that works well for Gemini. I'm not sure how well it would work on a more established character, though. Gemini looks fine, because he was originated in this style, but I'm not as comfortable with his depiction of Dynamo 5. It was fun to finally see this story continue, and I can only hope we won't have to wait as long for the grand finale.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
The Spirit #31 (DC Comics)
By Mike Ploog & Nick Cardy
After meandering for far too long, The Spirit has hit a streak of two really good issues in a row. Mike Ploog steps in to write and draw a whimsical little fantasy tale. Dolan's nephew returns from a one-day, round-trip trip to Ireland with his memories completely gone, and a bizarre little man dressed all in green accompanying him. As the Spirit searches for Danny Dolan, Danny and his new friends wind up caught up in the people who sent him to Ireland in the first place. The great thing about the original Spirit series is how effortlessly Will Eisner managed to drift between genres. One week the Spirit could be in a crime noir, the next week a sci-fi story, the next a romantic comedy. Few writers since then have really been successful and bringing the Spirit out of the crime background. Ploog has given us a story where the fantasy elements and the comedy both feel very smooth and very natural. This is no doubt helped by his artwork, which itself combines those elements wonderfully. The book looks very good and it reads very good, which is something you should always be able to say about The Spirit, and too often lately, you haven't.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
Tiny Titans #18 (DC Comics/Johnny DC)
By Art Baltazar & Franco
Ah, Tiny Titans how do I love thee? When Robin runs afoul of Maintenance Engineer Darkseid, he winds up in detention with the kids more likely to cause trouble than his friends in the Titans. Instead of hanging with his teammates, robin instead has to deal with a jealous kid from an alternate dimension, a flirtatious villain girl, and a Monitor who will brook no disturbance in detention. This is a pretty unique issue. Most issues of Tiny Titans are kind of all over the place, and while this one is divided into short comic strips, the comics all take place in a sequence and tell a whole story across the entire issue. We also manage to work in some Blackest Night jokes, which I imagine the younger readers may not get, but are nice for the older fan. The end of the story is particularly good -- one of the funniest gags yet in this series. Once again, this is a really strong, well-done, really funny comic book that's as good for older readers as it is for the kids.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
July 25th 2009, 12:40 PM
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