My Weekly Pull - July 27th

So this post is purely for my own interests, to give me on online record of what I picked up last week.  Hope that's cool with you guys.  Not that you have much choice in the matter.


Marvel
CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BUCKY #620

CRIMINAL LAST OF THE INNOCENT #2

FF #7

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #666

VENOM #5

DC Comics

AMERICAN VAMPIRE #17

DETECTIVE COMICS #880

FLASHPOINT PROJECT SUPERMAN #2

Other Companies

BUTCHER BAKER RIGHTEOUS MAKER #5

INTREPIDS #5

THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN - CENTURY #2 1969
SKULLKICKERS #9

You can see my thoughts on a few of these comics over at The Weekly Crisis (if you happen to be one of what I imagine to be the incredibly few people who read this blog but not my work over there).

For the comics not covered in that link, let me say that Detective Comics #880 and Criminal: Last of the Innocent #2 were both phenomenal.  Everyone working on those books are at their absolute best.  If you missed out on either title, you are missing out on quality comic books.

My Image books (Butcher Baker, Intrepids, and Skullkickers) continue to treat me well.  I'm a little on the fence for Butcher Baker and the Intrepids, but I'll stick with them for at least a little longer.  I have no such qualms for Skullkickers.  I love that book without reservations.  Every issue is good comics.  Not necessarily classic comics, but it's damn fun, which is just as good in my opinion.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is getting more and more introverted as it goes along.  What started out as a neat idea of "what if fictional characters from the Victorian era were real?" has slowly evolved into "what if all fictional characters ever were real?  And what if they replaced some historical figures entirely?".  That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the books are becoming so withdrawn into themselves that they are becoming a chore to read.

I've read a few comments calling Century "Family Guy for smart people", and I can't really contest the claim.  It used to be that these allusions served the plot, but that seems far less important than it used to be.  At this point, these references distract from the story just as often they add to it.  I'm still enjoying my time with the series, but it's not nearly as fun as it was all the way back in Volume 1.

Review - Alpha Flight #2

I've somehow managed to get myself yet another terribly busy week, so my thoughts on last week's comic books are rather delayed yet again.  Fortunately, I don't believe that this should be happening too often in the near future, but that's neither here nor there.  As it stands, hit the jump to go directly to my thoughts on Alpha Flight #2.

EXPRESSions - Week of July 6th

So after a busy weekend involving a bike accident (among other things), I finally found me some time to write out some thoughts about a few more of the comics that came across my reading chair this week.  Some real gems here, along with a few lesser books.  On the whole though, yet another solid week of comicdom on my end.  Let's hit those reviews.

CHEW #19
Written by John Layman
Art by Rob Guillory

For those not in the know, Chew is one of the best new series from last year and remains one of the best ongoing series today.  Published by Image Comics, Chew stars Tony Chew, a policeman who lives in a world where chicken has been banned after a deadly outbreak of bird flu killed in the United States killed over 23 million people.  Following this event, the FDA has gained an enormous amount of power, doing most of the legwork in enforcing the chicken ban and acting as an organization on par with the FBI.  The crazy part is that Tony Chew is a cibopath, which means he gets psychic impressions from what he eats.

If this all sounds a little strange, it's because it is.  However, Layman and Guillory have somehow managed to put all these separate pieces together (along with many others) to create a comic where it all works.  The world and the people that Tony meets throughout his off-the-wall adventures are all believable, in their own way.  Guillory's exaggerated art style goes a long way to selling the whole concept, as does Layman's excellent writing that melds both the humourous and the serious into one neat package.

This issue continues the "Flambé" storyline, presenting part 4 or 5.  Of late, things have gotten even crazier, with weird alien writing appearing in space and space research stations exploding, among other things.  This issue in particular focuses on Tony and his twin sister Toni (who works for NASA) going on a secret mission to Area 51.  The series is often fast-paced with a razor sharp whip, and this issue is no exception.

As many issues of Chew do, the issue opens with a prologue that relates in some way to the story that comes afterwards.  These moments are always fun and Chew #19 does things a little differently by spending the entire 3 page prologue explaining that the violent events the reader is witnessing never happened.  It's a nice little change of pace that still manages to set up what's to come, because the scenes that didn't occur are what Tony and Toni end up working to stop.

Throughout the rest of the issue, there are tons of great moments, with lots of time given to the seemingly continually expanding cast of characters.  Tony, his boss, his partner, his girlfriend, and his sister all have plenty of moments to shine throughout the pages of the book, and the pacing is spot on.  Every scene feels like it gets just enough time and has just enough explanation to let the reader know what's going on and why it matters.  Nothing feels like a waste of time or space, which is always a plus.

With the slight delays Chew has been facing of late, it's nice to finally have another copy in my hands.  Fortunately, it was well worth the wait, as Layman and Guillory offer up yet another great issue featuring everyone's favourite cibopath.

FLASHPOINT #3
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Andy Kubert

I still don't know how to feel about this series.  Things continue to happen, and they continue to be kind of interesting, but it's still not clear why any of this is going on.  I don't know why, but this book doesn't seem terribly concerned with explaining why its characters act the way they do.  It seems as if Flashpoint has been more concerned with showing all the different ways that the Flashpoint Universe is different than the regular DC Universe, and while Flashpoint #3 does offer some plot movement, it falls into this same habit as well.  There are a lot of scenes that feel like they were written for the "oh look who that is!" or "look how things are different!" instead of for actual storytelling reasons.  That is not the best feeling to have while reading a comic.

The last issue saw Barry Allen getting severely burned after being struck by lightning in an attempt to regain his powers.  Flashpoint #3 opens with Barry lying in the Batcave saying that his memories from the regular DC Universe are being overwritten by events from the Flashpoint Universe.  He insists that they have to try the experiment again, so that he can get his powers back so that he can not forget.  Of course, as the cover shows, the second try is a success and he quickly regains his powers.  That done, he and Batman do some research on the world of Flashpoint to try to from the Justice League to battle the Reverse Flash.  The whole process comes off as kind of forced.  Barry rebecomes the Flash because the story needs a Flash.  They want to reform the Justice League because the story needs a Justice League.  Throwaway lines are offered to rationalize these choices, but they aren't terribly convincing.

In the midst of this sequence, Cyborg is relieved of his duties as an agent of the US government and two pages are dedicated to showing that Lois Lane is an undercover agent in New Themyscria (the Amazonian-occupied United Kingdom) and that she has found the Resistance (led by Grifter, who gets a full splash page so that DC can show that a Wildstorm character has entered the story).  These moments also come off as disingenuous.  They clearly only exist to serve story purposes later on.  Admittedly, that's what most moments in a story will often do, but the scenes should be more than moving pieces around or revealing information so that the reader understands how a character got to a particular location or why a character made a particular choice.  These moments should be believable and interesting, and these scenes don't quite cut it.

The rest of the issue continues in mostly the same manner, with the recently fired Cyborg agreeing to infiltrate the government he so-recently worked for because that's the only way that Batman will help him fight the Atlantean-Amazonian war.  Again, not super convincing.  Regardless, this results in Superman's first appearance in the book (again, as the cover shows).  The different between Flashpoint Superman and regular Superman is that this one was found by the government and has never seen the sun and is consequently gaunt and emaciated instead of the strongest man around.  It's kind of an interesting interpretation, but the book doesn't do anything with it.  It's just of there, at this point seeming to exist simply so that readers can recognize the difference between the two versions of the character and leave it at that.

The book ends with government troops surrounding Cyborg, Flash, Batman, and Superman.  Because Superman has never been outside before, he flies off, leaving the heroes surrounded by armed troops, but this isn't really that effective of a cliffhanger.  There are numerous ways that the heroes could get out of the situation without any difficulty, including the Flash's superspeed, Cyborg's many powers, or Batman's genius.  The image might appear intimidating, but there's no real danger behind it.

With all the things that are happening, I'm still coming away from Flashpoint #3 wondering what the point is.  The series is past its halfway point and hasn't really spent any time explaining what's going on.  It's abundantly clear the the world of Flashpoint is different from that of the DC Universe (if this issue wasn't enough, the millions of tie-in comics should be), but no one has made any effort to explain why this has happened.  As it stands, it just comes off as a convenient excuse to explain the reboot / relaunch DC is doing in the Fall.  Flashpoint #4 might turn things around, but after three mediocre issues, I'm not holding my breath.

FLASHPOINT - BATMAN KNIGHT OF VENGEANCE #2
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso

While the main Flashpoint series isn't doing all that hot, Knight of Vengeance continues to impress.  This series manages to properly balance showing the differences in the world while using those differences to push forward the plot of the comic.  This issue sees Jim Gordon starting to doubt his place in Batman's empire after a line Thomas said last issue that was prompted by the main Flashpoint book.  This subtle nod to the main series is a driving force of this issue, causing Gordon to try to prove himself to tragic results.

In his quest to ensure his place in Thomas Wayne's "good books", Jim meets with this world's version of The Oracle, who is a quadriplegic Selina Kyle.  Risso's layouts and details really make this moment, giving just enough of a hint to the reader before the reveal on the following page.  The scene itself is also incredibly poignant, pointing to how damaging the Joker's actions continue to be in every iteration of Gotham.

From there, Gordon continues to keep Batman out of the loop, heading directly to where the Joker is holding the Dent twins hostage.  As he does so, Batman starts to catch on to the deception and his race to stop Jim is quite moving.  As Oswald Cobblepot states at the beginning of the issue, Jim is Thomas' best friend, and despite Jim's fears, Thomas acts out of worry for his friend's safety, moving as fast as he can to save him from the dangers of the Joker.  Azzarello's writing does a good job of implying this, but Risso's art once again does the heavy lifting, showing Batman's look of dread once he realizes what Gordon is doing.

Unfortunately, Batman can't get there fast enough and Gordon attacks the Joker on his own.  The entire sequence occurs almost without dialogue, and the execution is dead on.  Gordon's attack on the Joker is tense and the eventual outcome is unclear until the very last moment.  Although it's been discussed at length around the internet, I will remain a tad vague as to the particulars.  Let me just say that this Joker is as deranged and perverted as any other I've read, and it works perfectly.

The final reveal at the end of the issue that the Joker is actually Martha Wayne, driven insane by the murder of Bruce all those years ago is terribly appropriate.  In a world where Batman kills, this is the only way that the Joker could possibly continue to go on murderous rampages.  It adds yet another element of tragedy to the equation, because the Joker's actions are even more directly the fault of Batman in such a situation.  It is clear that Thomas takes personal responsibility for her actions, and it works incredibly well.

This series continues to be the best part of the entire Flashpoint event.  I can't wait to see what happens in the final issue next month.  If you aren't reading this series, I don't know what else to tell you.  This is one of the best Batman stories I've ever come across and deserves to be recognized as such.

After these lengthier reviews, let's do a couple of quick ones, shall we?

HEROES FOR HIRE #9
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Art by Kyle Hotz

I'm feeling like a broken record, but I really didn't like this Fear Itself tie-in.  It seems as if every single Marvel book impacted by this title suddenly becomes the least interesting comic I can imagine.  I'm not a huge follower of the Marvel Universe, only dabbling in a few books here and there, and this story about hammers unleashing super terrible evil powers in the wielders falls flat in my eyes.  I don't care about it at all.

So opening my issue of Heroes for Hire #9 and finding that it was concerned exclusively with that was a bit of a disappointment.  It definitely didn't help that a large portion of the comic involved the Raft from Thunderbolts, which is the other book I dropped due to unwanted event tie-ins.  I came into this series with high hopes, but Abnett and Lanning haven't captured my interest the way they did with Guardians of the Galaxy (as I said in my thoughts on their Flashpoint books) and with an underwhelming effort in issue 9, I'm done with this series for now.

REED GUNTHER #2
Written by Shane Houghton
Art Chris Houghton

I had heard a bit about this series a few months back.  All I really knew is that it was an All-Ages title being published by Image Comics that starred a cowboy that rides a bear.  And that's all I needed to know, because that obviously sounds amazing.  Unfortunately, the first issue somehow managed to come out without me realizing it, so when I saw the second issue was dropping this week, I made sure to get myself a copy.  And I was pleased with the finished product.

It was a done-in-one story, featuring some mystical cave dwelling monsters and some bad people trying to find gold in their cave.  I'm personally a big fan of kid's comics, and this is a really good one.  It's nothing super fancy, but it tells a good story, has some exciting moments, and is lots of fun.  I was also really glad that the reader didn't need any background information going in.  Everything you needed to enjoy the story was in the comic itself, which is great.  Best of all, this comic had no ads and was 32 pages long.  And it only cost $2.99.  Wouldn't it be great if every comic could give you so much bang for your buck, eh?  Regardless, I'll definitely come back for more bear-riding cowboy goodness.

That's all I have time for this week, so I'll bid you good night and will see you around next time.

Review - Secret Six #35

Secret Six #35
Written by: Gail Simone
Art by: J. Calafiore

I'm going to miss this book so much.  I've raved about how amazing Secret Six is for years, telling anyone who would give me even a moment of their time that this book is something special.  And every month Gail Simone and J. Calafiore prove the truth of that statement by putting out one of the best and most unique comics out there.  What's more impressive is that Simone and Calafiore continue to raise their game, month in and month out.  After reading every issue, I declare it to be the best thing they've done, only to go back on my word when it comes to the following issue.  Well, they've done it again.  Secret Six #35 is the best issue of Secret Six I have ever read.  Frankly, it's one of the best comics I have ever read.

To be honest, I don't even know where to begin in praising this book.  Everything that happens works.  The writing, the pacing, the art, the panel layout, everything.  It all serves the story and works together like a well-oiled machine.

The book opens with a conversation / confrontation between Bane and Catman, where Bane explains his thoughts on the fact that he, and the rest of the team, are destined to eternal damnation (as shown in Secret Six #33).  Simone's depiction of Bane as a man who lives by a code - albeit a strange, warped code - rings true here, for Bane reveals that he has determined the only sane response is to live a complete life before dying.  Of course, this being a Secret Six book, in Bane's mind, living a complete life means finishing the moment he's best known for and destroying Batman.  The conversation plays out beautifully, taking place over the course of skirmish between Catman and Bane whose earnestness is never clear.

Simone interrupts this talk, which lasts a total of seven pages, to dedicate two pages to character moments for other character in the book.  The first is a page featuring Deadshot and Jeannette after a particularly intense round of loving making in the kitchen.  It hits incredibly serious and incredibly lighthearted moments, providing further foreshadowing, with Jeannette continuing to talk about the death that surrounds everything, and featuring a hilarious King Shark moment where he walks in with his eyes covered, due to the couple's nakedness, hoping to get a bite to eat.  The second is a page featuring Scandal Savage and Knockout that shows how traumatizing and damaging Knockout's time in Hell truly was (read: incredibly).

From here, the book moves at a break neck pace, with the team agreeing to help Bane destroy Batman and his family, planning the mission, and going to get some intelligence to ensure the plan's success.  The search for intelligence takes them to an assault on the hideout of someone who can help them, and this entire sequence is fantastic.  Somehow, while infiltrating to all-out-attacking the minions of the building in question, Simone and Calafiore manage to provide numerous, incredibly strong character moments to almost every single character featured in this book.  King Shark perhaps gets the most face time, but Scandal Savage, Knockout, Jeannette, Deadshot, Catman, and Bane all have moments that are both super cool and are meaningful for the individual character.  Simone is at the top of her game in this issue, packing every moment of the issue with something important and relevant to the series without making it feel overwhelming.  Even the reveal towards the end of the issue of whose hideout the Secret Six are attacking follows this philosophy, as Simone picks a character that both has a history with the group and can help them with their attack against Gotham's protector.

It goes without saying, but Calafiore's through this entire issue is brilliant.  His panel layout is some of the most exciting I see in comics today, always managing to perfectly communicate the actions of every page.  Even if the word balloons and captions boxes were absent, it would be crystal clear what is happening throughout the story.  I was sad when Nicola Scott left Secret Six all those months ago, but J. Calafiore has stepped in and filled those shoes with ease.  At this point, I can't imagine this book without Calafiore's art, and the fact that he doesn't have any work in the September relaunch is criminal.

Final Thoughts - Gail Simone and J. Calafiore are doing some of the best work of their careers here and that makes for absolutely phenomenal comics.  There is nothing else like this on the stands and the world will be poorer for Secret Six's cancellation come September.  That being said, the book is going out on one hell of a high note.  Not only is this a fantastic issue, the premise of trying to kill the entire Batfamily come next issue is something I cannot wait to see.  Logic dictates that they can't succeed, but whatever does end up happening is going to be awesome (in both the classic and the modern sense of the word).

You need to be reading this book.

EXPRESSions - Week of June 29th

I'd like to welcome you to a very special and a very late edition of EXPRESSions.  Somehow the entire week has managed to fly by with me only taking the time to talk about the Flashpoint titles that I read, and while that's great and all, I would like to spend at least a little bit of time talking about all the other comics that I got my paws on this past week.  To do so in relatively timely fashion, I've decided to try to be as concise as possible for this post.  Therefore, I'm going to try to express some thoughts about most every comic I read, but I'm only going to spend one paragraph on each book.  It's not exactly a hard and fast rule and it might make for some lengthy paragraphs, but we'll see how it plays out.

Amazing Spider-Man #664
Written by: Dan Slott and Christos Gage
Art by: Giuseppe Camuncoli

After a few rough patches, including Gage's two fill-in issues and an exposition heavy issue by Slott last time around, Amazing Spider-Man feels like it is back on track.  The issue focuses on the Anti-Venom and Mr. Negative storyline that was introduced / brought back last issue, but with all the necessary explanations for newer readers (like myself) out of the way, things move at a quick pace.  The back and forth between Anti-Venom and Spider-Man in this issue is worth the cover price alone, but the creative team is also kind enough to provide some excellent action pieces, character development, and moments of levity to complete the whole package.  The three page "Infested" back-up story is also great, including a sparring match between Spider-Man and Shang-Chi that is beautifully rendered over a two-page splash.  Things are definitely right again for the Friendly Neighbourhood Wall Crawler.

American Vampire #16
Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Rafael Albuquerque

Wow.  This series seems to get better with every issue, and this one is no exception.  Continuing the "Ghost War" storyline, the book provides a bit more information on the new breed of vampire that has recently appeared and has a nice scene dedicated to Pearl, but really focuses its attention on Henry Preston and the remaining members of the team that infiltrated the island (including Skinner Sweet).  There's a lot of introspection on Henry's part that is handled beautifully by Snyder and plays directly into helping to rationalize his actions in a key moment later on in the issue.  Snyder is really knocking this book right out of the park.  Fortunately, he isn't alone, because Albuquerque also seems to be getting better with every single issue.  His style has been evolving and changing over the course of the series, adapting to fit the needs of each story arc, and his choice for "Ghost War" fits like a glove.  His mix of realism and horror is so perfect that I can't imagine the book looking any other way.  The more Snyder and Albuquerque work together, the better they get.  I can't wait to see what comes next.

Batman - Detective Comics #878
Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Jock

Speaking of getting better with time, Snyder's run on Detective Comics fits right into that.  He has gotten better every single issue, and the art, whether its Jock or Francesco Francavilla, is doing the very same.  This issue represents part 3 of "Hungry City", and it is a pretty good conclusion.  I must admit to being a little underwhelmed by Tiger Shark, the new villain that the reader meets for the first time in this issue.  It simply strikes me as kind of a stupid name, and Tiger Shark's habit of talking through his minions (at least for the first little bit) doesn't really work for me.  However, everything else in this issue works gloriously.  Snyder has long been the only writer (outside of Grant Morrison) who has been able to successfully write Dick Grayson as Batman, and this is perhaps the best issue of that.  He has a lot of similarities to Bruce, but they are also completely different people, something that Snyder manages to capture perfectly here in Detective Comics #878.  I was also really happy to see some more time spent with the James Gordon Jr. sub-plot.  Since his re-appearance in this book, it's been unclear what's going on with James, and even after Snyder's reveal in this issue, I still have no idea what his deal is.  A great issue that wraps up all the loose ends introduced over this three-issue arc, while also setting up some story moments for the remaining issues.  Love it.

Batman Inc. #7
Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: Chris Burnham

I was disappointed this week because my comic book shop did not have any copies of Scalped #50.  Fortunately, Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham had my back, because they wrote a great issue of Scalped with a special guest appearance by the Bat-family.  Okay, that might be pushing it a bit far, but I certainly saw a lot of similarities between Man-of-Bats and Raven trying to do the right thing on their Lakota reservation and Dashiell Bad Horse doing what he does on his.  And that's not a bad thing.  As it stands, this is a great done-in-one story that examines the challenges of trying to fix the many problems of reservation living through vigilantism   There are some successes (as shown on the wonderful opening page that tells an entire story in its own right) and some failures (as shown by Man-of-Bats having to defend his actions to his boss as the hospital or being arrested for his vigilante acts).  While doing all that, this issue also manages to move forward the wider Batman Inc. storyline, showing the evolution of Leviathan.  There are many reasons why this issue represents storytelling at its best.  The one I'll point out is that everything that happens in this issue is important to the story.  It isn't always clear at first why something occurs, but it is by issue's end.

FF #5
Written by: Jonathan Hickman
Art by: Barry Kitson

As I've said before, I'm new to the Fantastic Four universe of stories, initially picking up this series only because Spider-Man was part of the team.  While I wasn't around to witness all the work Hickman did to build towards the current storyline, I'm glad to be here to see the payoff.  This issue continues to explore the enormous problem of having four evil Reed Richards running around the world, with Sue encountering one of them for the first time.  This encounter is the main action sequence for the issue, and it's a doozy.  Kitson does a great job juggling lots of different characters performing many different actions without things ever getting confusing, so kudos for that.  It's also a great sequence, because it leads directly into a solid confrontation between Sue and Reed, because apparently he didn't bother to mention his four doppelgangers to his wife.  That confrontation would be the highlight of the issue if not for Benjamin Grimm and Alicia Masters' two pages of working through Ben's issues of Johnny's death and the strain that's been putting on their relationship.    It's only two pages, but it is expertly done.  This series continues to blow me away, whether or not is has 22 pages (FF has been cut down to 20 for the last few issues and will probably continue at that length, but it hasn't slowed the series down at all).

The Goon 34
Written by: Eric Powell
Drawn by: Eric Powell

This comic is slightly disingenuous, as it promised an entire issue of the Goon beating up sparkly vampires, but we only get five pages worth.  Fortunately, it's an excellent five pages, and as the Goon explains (while breaking the fourth wall) "pastin' these sissies in the chops is a waste of my frickin' time".  With this revelation out of the way, the issue can focus on the real problem, the fact that "evil like this wouldn't exist if it wasn't for one thing... Tween Girls".  That's right, the issue becomes a comic about the Goon beating up little girls!  Well, that's slightly disingenuous on my part.  The Goon only beats up one little girl.  And she is totally evil.  It also makes for an incredibly funny comic.  This issue wasn't what I was expecting, but it's what every The Goon issue should be: fighting, cussing, and slightly inappropriate joking.  I'm glad it's back.

The Incredible Hulks Annual #1
Written by: John Layman
Art by: Al Barrionuevo

This issue represents part three in John Layman's three annual spanning "Identity Wars" story, whereupon the Hulk, Spider-Man, and Deadpool were all transported to an alternate dimension that was similar to the regular Marvel Universe, but had small differences throughout (most of which were pretty funny).  I didn't really know what to expect coming into this series, only showing up because of Layman's continuing work on Chew, but I'm glad I came for the ride.  He demonstrates a solid handle of all three characters' unique voices, and all the insane craziness that went on throughout makes a certain amount of sense.  A lot goes on in this final issue, with some final challenges and solutions being introduced over the course of these pages, but it ultimately works.  Of course, once everything is said and done, things go right back to the status quo that we had at the beginning of the three issues, but that doesn't mean the ride to get there wasn't fun.  Because it was.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #8
Written by: Nick Spencer
Art by: Dan Panosian, Mike Grell, Nick Dragotta

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #7 was the first book I reviewed on this blog, so I would be remiss if I didn't spend a few words talking about the next book in the series.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, the book continues its past excellence throughout issue #8.  The present day, 80s, and 60s sequences from last issue are back for another go-around, and they are just as exciting and interesting as before.  Colleen is getting ever closer to her mother, and as she does, the reader gets more and more the Iron Maiden's backstory through those flashback sequences.  I really enjoy how they add to the story, but what they add is sometimes left to the reader to determine.  My main complaint is that, though Mike Greel and Nick Gragotta are back for their respective sequences, CAFU is noticeably absent this issue.  There's nothing wrong with Dan Panosian's art, but it is a radical departure from CAFU's style, and so I found myself really distracted when it came to the present day sequences (of which there were many in this issue).  I don't know if CAFU was busy working on his title for the relaunch come September or what, but I hope he isn't off the book for good.  His art added a lot to the title.  That aside, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents continues to be one of the best titles DC is publishing, and I am glad that it will be back in October after taking a month off for the September relaunch.  If things continue like this - and I don't see why they wouldn't - I'll be there to welcome the series back with open arms.

So there we have it.  Eight paragraphs (some longer than others) to talk a little bit about eight books that I read last week.  And even with this plethora of pontificating, I still had to skip over a few of the titles I picked up last week.  Short version: Venom #4 and Skullkickers #8 were great.  Go buy them.  I hope you've enjoyed reading through this edition of EXPRESSions, because I certainly enjoyed writing it.

Flashpoint EXPRESSions - Week of June 29th

So the last week has been a busy one for me, taken up mostly by Canada Day on July 1st and friends visiting from out of town.  Therefore, I've been a tad remiss in my writing duties, but I hope to get back into the swing of things with this another Flashpoint-themed edition of EXPRESSions.  Once again, I picked up all four Flashpoint tie-ins for the week, being Green Arrow Industries #1, Hal Jordan #1, Project Superman #1, and The Canterbury Cricket #1.  And once again, the quality varied from title to title.  Despite the number scheme, only two of the books are three-issue limited series, while the other two books are one-shots.  Check out my thoughts below to see if DC made the right choice as to which titles should get more issues.

Flashpoint - Green Arrow Industries #1
Written by: Pornsak Pichetshote
Art by: Marco Castiello and Ig Guara

This title really surprised me.  To be fair, I came into this book with virtually no expectations, but the creative team did a much better job taking advantage of the fun storytelling opportunities presented by looking at characters through the lens of an alternate reality.  This is perhaps most evident from the opening panel of the book.  The reader sees a panel focusing on the logo for Green Arrow Industries and a caption that reads, "We wanted Green Arrow to be different."  It's a subtle wink to the reader that flirts with the fourth wall, but it is also a strong statement of purpose.  This is Green Arrow is different from the one that the reader knows.  And unlike a number of other Flashpoint titles that have gone too far in the differences between the regular DC Universe and the Flashpoint Universe, or the many more that have not gone nearly far enough, I feel like Green Arrow Industries #1 manages to strike a balance between those two extremes in a way that many other Flashpoint books have failed to do.

Though never explicitly explained, it seems that the main difference for this world's Oliver Queen is that he never received that push to convince him to take up coloured tights to fight against the forces of evil and injustice.  Instead, he has remained a playboy billionaire who spends most of his time figuring out how his company can make more powerful weapons (so a mixture between Oliver Queen and Tony Stark, I suppose).  The comic does a really good job of setting up this status quo in a small amount of time and moving right into the action of the issue, which focuses on a group of unknown assailants attacking Green Arrow Industries' production facility with Oliver Queen in the middle of it.

The attack is handled pretty well and is used to really bring out Oliver Queen's character.  Throughout the issue, as he attempts to defend his company, Oliver insists that Green Arrow Industries does work that benefits the world - or at the very least, work that isn't necessarily a detriment to the world.  While his claims don't seem to have a lot of truth behind them, it does a great job of showing that this world's Oliver still wants to do good, even if he doesn't quite know how to do it.  Even the fact that his weapons company shares the same name as his superhero identity points towards his yearning to do right.  There is a surprising amount of thought that went into the writing of this issue - and that has sometimes seemed absent from other tie-ins - which I really appreciated.

I also really enjoyed the art on this issue.  There was a lot of action throughout and Guara (who drew most of the issue) does a great job on those pages.  The action is fast-paced and frenetic, and Guara really succeeds in getting that feeling across to the reader.  A lot of this comes from some excellent figure drawing and convincing depictions of fighting, but I was also really impressed with the panel layout.  It changes from page to page, keeping the reader on their toes, and there's also a lot of bleeding from one panel to the next.  Images can't stay contained to one panel because too much is going on.  It's a little difficult to describe, but these small details add a lot to the reading experience.

I didn't really know what I was getting into when I picked up this book, but I ended up with a pretty solid story about who Oliver Queen could have become had he never become the Green Arrow.  It wasn't the best comic book I've ever read, but it did make better use of the storytelling opportunities provided by Flashpoint than most other tie-ins have thus far.  Part of me is sad that this is only a one-shot, but another part is glad to have read a compelling and interesting story that managed to say everything it needed to over the course of a single issue, something that is increasingly rare these days.

Flashpoint - Hal Jordan #1
Written by: Adam Schlagman
Art by: Ben Oliver

This is the worst Flashpoint comic I've read thus far.  It has some pretty decent writing and some really nice art, but there are virtually no difference between the Hal Jordan seen in this comic and the one that appears in Green Lantern every month.  Hal is still impulsive, reckless, and an ace pilot.  His father still died in a plane accident when Hal was young.  He's still in love with Carol Ferris and works for her company.  The only difference is that Hal doesn't have a Green Lantern ring.  That's it.  If not for the fact that the book  mentions the Amazonian-Atlantean conflict that has been seen throughout all the Flashpoint titles, this could actually be an issue of Green Lantern that takes place before Hal joins the Corps.

It's really a shame, because apart from that glaring oversight, this is a good comic book.  The dialogue is crisp and knows when it is - and when it isn't - needed.  The actual plot of the comic is kind of interesting and rings true for the character.  Unfortunately, it rings way too true.  Indeed, the issue actually ends with Hal Jordan finding Abin Sur who asks Hal to help him save the universe.  While I imagine that the "big difference" will be revealed that Abin Sur isn't actually dead so Hal won't get a Green Lantern, the fact remains that Hal is doing everything that he normally does in comic books.  The title doesn't offer anything new or different or exciting.

The biggest victim of this lack of creativity on Schlagman's part is the artist, Ben Oliver.  Oliver has a wonderful, almost painterly style, that is completely overshadowed by the pedestrian script that Schlagman offers.  Every panel has a sense of movement to it and is beautifully rendered, but that isn't enough to make up for the fact that this comic fails to really participate in the Flashpoint experience.

On the plus side, I absolutely adore the work done by Ben Oliver here, so I will definitely pay close attention to what he does next.  Unfortunately, I don't care what might come after this issue, because Hal Jordan #1 is a rehashing of everything that's already been established in Hal Jordan's life.  I don't really understand the motivation behind this, because the people most likely to pick up this comic are readers who are already familiar with Hal.  Leaving him unchanged gives absolutely no reason for a reader to come back and see what happens next.  I know I won't be coming back.

Flashpoint - Project Superman #1
Plotted by: Scott Snyder and Lowell Francis
Written by: Lowell Francis
Art by: Gene Ha

I'm really warming to the habit DC has been getting into of having an established writer plot a comic along with one of their newer  writers and then having that new writer write the actual comic.  Thus far, it has meant that, at the very least, interesting things will happen in the comic books in question, regardless of whether or not they are well written.  Happily, in this case we get the best of both worlds.  The events depicted in this particular comic are really interesting and different, and the writing used to present them is also pretty solid.

The gist of the book is that, shortly after World War 2, the US is trying to create their own metahuman agents to be prepared to fight for them in future conflicts (thus the Superman Project).  Certainly a government created and owned superhero is something that has been done, but this version of that story brings some new elements to the equation.  The comic focuses on the development of Lieutenant Sinclair into the superman he is to become, showing how the process doesn't quite yield the results the government was hoping for and how some of the consequences of their actions are beyond their understanding.  It is a slow buildup, but the pace feels right, taking the time to establish the world and the characters who inhabit it.  The comic spends a lot of time developing Sinclair, letting the reader understand his motivations and the reasons behind his actions.  It's some wonderfully done character work.

A big help to this slow pace is the art by Gene Ha.  With so little action (for the most part of the book), a big part of the storytelling revolves around the characters' emotions and expression, and Ha does a fine job of demonstrating a range of facial and body language.  Of course, he also does a fine job on the action sequences, managing to easily express the power and violence behind Sinclair's actions.  Along with his ability to work in a variety of situations, he also does a great job of keeping the page layouts interesting without making them confusing.  Finally, there were a number of moments where Sinclair was looking onto other scenes with his x-ray vision, and Ha does a great job of creating convincing representations of this.

This is a strong comic.  The story it tells isn't necessarily the most original, but the creative team offers enough difference to make it feel new and exciting.  And that is something that is really important to making a book feel fresh and worth picking up.  After the slow build seen throughout the issue, there is a great reveal towards the end that has grabbed my attention without feeling cheap or cliché.  I will most certainly be coming back next month to see what comes next.

Flashpoint - The Canterbury Cricket #1
Written by: Mike Carlin
Art by: Rags Morales

This is the other one-shot that came out this week, and I must say that The Canterbury Cricket is a bad comic book.  There is no real sense of direction or focus to be found anywhere in the book.  Instead, there are simply a series of events that happen one after another with little offered in the way of reason or explanation.  This book doesn't know what it's trying to accomplish and it shows.

The comic opens with some of the members of the English resistance that were hinted at in Lois Lane and the Resistance #1 fighting some Amazons.  Just when it looks like the rebels will be quashed by the Amazonian attackers, the Canterbury Cricket appears from nowhere to save the day.  And then, for no reason, he joins the resistance fighters in their retreat.  They end up in the middle of a forest sitting around a fire and the Cricket awkwardly suggests they tell stories to pass the time.  It's awkward in that, like most everything in this book, it is poorly presented.  It's clear that the comic is trying to build on The Canterbury Tales, but the book doesn't take the time to explain why this is worth doing.  Instead there a few caption boxes that quote Chaucer and a character who is also named Canterbury.  It just doesn't add up.

However, regardless of the lack of logic, the issue then becomes what I imagine Canterbury Cricket: Year One would read like, as the Cricket tells the story of his origin and his early adventures to protect England.  Again, there's no effort used to explore the motivations behind the character.  Things just seem to happen, with the "why" of it ignored in favour of more things happening.  It makes for a rather disjointed issue.  Everything that happens makes a certain amount of sense, but the comic spends absolutely no time explaining what that sense might be.  Instead it leaves the reader to figure out what the relation is between different events.  It's pretty frustrating and there's no real reward for that kind of effort on the reader's part.

Even more frustrating is that the comic's belaboured Canterbury Tales metaphor is thrown out the window with the completion of the Cricket's story, because there is no time for anyone else to share a tale.  Instead, the comic ends abruptly with the group being attacked once again.  Nothing in the way of closure is offered.  In place of that, the comic tells the reader to follow the adventures of the resistance in Lois Lane & the Resistance.  Even though no character from this comic have appeared in that series as of yet.

This issue was a mess.  The story was all over the place, spending no time to explain why anything was happening or why any of it mattered.  I feel like the story would have been better served if the events of this issue had been combined with Lois Lane & the Resistance #1, with these characters actually appearing in that first issue.  It would have provided some action and another means of exposition in what was an exposition-heavy comic.  As it stands, The Canterbury Cricket #1 is a comic that has a lot of things going on without anything of meaning every happening.

So there you have it.  Another week, another batch of Flashpoint comics of wildly differing quality.  I'll definitely stick around for Project Superman, and if I could, I would buy more of Green Arrow Industries.  However, Hal Jordan didn't bring anything new to the table and The Canterbury Cricket didn't bring any clear sense of direction.  So although I spent my hard earned money on almost every Flashpoint book that came out this month, I'll be able to show at least a little restraint in the next two.

Flashpoint EXPRESSions - Week of June 22nd

Seeing as how I picked up three of the four Flashpoint tie-in books for the past week, I figured I might as well spend some time offering up my thoughts on the issues.  Although there's nothing quite so nearly as offensive as Grodd of War #1 from the week before, there also wasn't any particularly impressive books on tap either.  However, even though none of the books managed to blow me away, it doesn't mean they didn't necessarily have some moments of brilliance.  Well, maybe it does.

Let's see how it all shook out, shall we?

Flashpoint - Kid Flash Lost #1
Written by: Sterling Gates
Art by: Oliver Nome

I really enjoyed Sterling Gates' run on Supergirl, finding his work with the Girl of Steel to be well-written, honest, and original.  Unfortunately, those qualities seem to be mostly absent from Kid Flash Lost #1, making for a comic that offers a number of almost interesting plot threads that don't quite hold together and are, on the whole, surprisingly derivative.

The main thrust of the issue is that Kid Flash has somehow been sent into the 31st century (the century he's originally from), but everything is different and he is cut off from the Speed Force (presumably due to all the timeshifting going on in Flashpoint itself).  Not a terrible premise, but Gates doesn't really do anything with it. For some reason, in this altered future Brainiac has long since taken control of Earth and seems to be in the habit of imprisoning people in a virtual reality representation of the 21st century to use their life force as a source of energy.  If that sounds eerily like the plot of The Matrix, it's because that's exactly what this is.  Kid Flash actually comments "I think I saw this movie with Conner."

So for reasons unexplained, Kid Flash has found himself living The Matrix and his only ally is Hot Pursuit, the character introduced in Geoff Johns' recent run on The Flash.  However, for reasons that are barely touched on, Hot Pursuit is no longer an alternate-Earth version of the Flash.  In fact, Hot Pursuit is no longer even a man.  Apparently Penny Spivot, a minor character who showed up in The Flash #12 somehow got her hands on the suit and the time travelling device and is now also in the 31st century?  Again, for reasons that are barely touched on.

Eventually, Kid Flash realizes that the past has changed, and if he doesn't get back to the past soon, he will disappear from existence.  Yeah, the comic also lifts from Back to the Future ("I saw this movie with Cassie," Kid Flash mentions).  Additionally, Brainiac, in his short appearance, talks exactly like HK-47 from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.  For no reason.

At the end of the issue, I had no interest in reading anymore of this story.  I can understand how Kid Flash's current plight could be interesting and suspenseful, but the sheer amount of borrowing from other works from popular culture done in this issue kills any momentum it could have created.  I spent most of the issue wondering why it would lift things so blatantly for no discernible reason.  These references are made, explained, and then left.  I know that Sterling Gates can write better comics than this, which is perhaps the most disappointing part.

Flashpoint - Lois Lane and the Resistance #1
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Art by: Eddie Nunez

After reading Abnett and Lanning's take on the Amazon-Atlantis conflict in last week's Wonder Woman and the Furies #1, I was interested to see how the story would play out from the perspective of civilians trying to resist their Amazonian overlords.  While I enjoyed the comic, it wasn't quite what I was expecting.

For one thing, the advertised "Resistance" barely shows up at all.  Instead, we get a comic that focuses on how Lois Lane accidentally ends up in Amazonian internment camps in New Themyscira (England, which the Amazons have taken over in the Flashpoint universe).  During this stint, she secretly becomes an agent for Cyborg, tasked with discovering the local Resistance and opening a dialogue with them.  However, no one from said group appears in the comic until the second last page, and even then, their arrival is out of the blue and left unexplained for the moment.  It's kind of misleading, is what I'm trying to say.

For all that, it was a decent story.  I suppose it's interesting to see a Lois Lane who, without Clark Kent / Superman, lacks both a rival and a love interest, but I feel like more could have been done with that scenario.  As well, I think the comic could have moved a little faster and done with a little less exposition, but I suppose first issues are supposed to set up the status quo of the story.  It's just kind of a shame when the story is only going to last three issues.

My biggest complaint about Lois Lane and the Resistance #1 is the art.  It's not bad, per se, but it really doesn't appeal to me.  I found Nunez's work to be a little too cartoony and a little too influenced by comics of the 90s.  A lot of the characters were virtually identical, aside from their clothing and hair.  This problem was especially noticeable with a number of the women characters.  Not only that, but the comic seems to subscribe to the somewhat reigning theory that all women must be depicted with crazy-exaggerated physiques.  Almost every single lady had a near impossible hour glass figure, complete with large breasts and wide hips, that is pretty ridiculous.  Certainly this isn't the only comic guilty of providing a single representation of the female form, but just because the practice is common doesn't mean I have to accept it.

I might come back for issue 2 of this mini-series, but like Wonder Woman and the Furies #1, Abnett and Lanning have once again failed to really entice me.  I'd been waiting to see what they could do in the DCU for so long, and I haven't really enjoyed anything they've offered thus far.  Unfortunate, to be certain.

Flashpoint - The Outsider #1
Written by: James Robinson
Art by: Javi Fernandez

I'm starting to feel a bit like a broken record, but I didn't much care for The Outsider #1 either.  This series focuses on (as you may have guessed) the enigmatic Outsider character who has been showing up in various Flashpoint books with little to no explanation.  While Robinson and Fernandez offer a glimpse into a lot of neat ideas and concepts in this issue, it feels like they're only asking more questions, without offering any answers.  There is certainly a lot of potential within this issue, but I don't really come out of the comic caring about the Outsider or the world around him.

The issue opens with a pretty nifty flashback providing a bit of the "Secret Origin" of the Outsider, including the death of hundreds of thousands upon his birth.  This sequence is really well done and gives the reader an idea of the power the Outsider possesses (or could possess), but it doesn't really explain what that power is.  Instead, we get a scene of him in the present that takes place in his ultra-high tech lair.  Again, it all looks kind of cool, but I'm not quite sure what the point of it all is.  The comic is very insistent on the fact that the Outsider is powerful, incredibly intelligent, and has a lot of enemies, but it seems a bit less certain on the why or how of any of these questions.

It's strange, because a lot actually goes on in this issue (on top of the "Secret Origin", there's a scene of the Outsider planning some stuff, and an attack by a few of his enemies, among other things), but it doesn't feel like any of it matters.  I'm not referring to mattering to continuity when I say that.  I simply mean that because this comic offers so little concrete information about the Outsider or what he's doing, it's hard to consider any of the details or events within it as important.  They're just things that happened, but they lack any meaning associated with them.

Holding things back from the reader isn't necessarily a bad thing, but The Outsider #1 shows some possible negative consequences if it isn't handled correctly.  Due to its insistence on mystery and keeping the reader in the dark, the issue robs itself of any possible weight or poignancy.  Instead, we just get an issue where a bunch of stuff happens for seemingly no reason.  Certainly there is a lot of potential for future issues, but this issue doesn't offer any concrete reason to pick up those subsequent comics, and I probably won't.

So, as you can see, this past week's crop of Flashpoint books didn't make for the most exciting reading.  They weren't bad, but they also weren't really that good.  Kind of disappointing to go through three mediocre books, but on the plus side, it's good news for my wallet, because I won't have to pick up the rest of these series.

Review - Gates of Gotham #2

Gates of Gotham #2
Story by: Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins
Written by: Kyle Higgins
Art by: Trevor McCarthy

So I wasn't exactly blown away by issue one of the Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins plotted, Kyle Higgins written series, Gates of Gotham, but based on Scott Snyder's involvement in the story planning, I decided to come back to see what the creative team would do for the second issue.  I'm certainly glad I came back for more, because this is a solid issue.

One of the biggest success for Gates of Gotham #2 is that it takes all the setup from the first issue and really runs with it.  The comic opens with a flashback sequence focusing on the two brothers introduced in the first issue, and the time spent in the past not only expands on Gotham City's history, it builds towards an excellent pay off towards issue 2's end.  What's more, all the time spent in the present in between makes for a fast paced, action packed issue of Batman.

Snyder and Higgins involve a large cast of characters, including Batman (Dick Grayson, not Bruce Wayne), Red Robin, Robin, and Black Bat (Cassandra Cain's new superhero persona), and manages to give each character their moment in the limelight.  And that is without even mentioning the various antagonists and secondary characters appearing throughout the comic who also get their fair share of memorable moments.  It's all quite well done - and quite different - for each character, but I must highlight the great work done between Damian and Cassandra.  I don't know if I've ever really seen the two interact before, but the scenes Snyder and Higgins have built between the two are issue-stealingly good.

Some time must also be spent in praise of the great work being done by Trevor McCarthy on art duties.  I'm not terribly familiar with his work, but he is quickly winning me over with what he's doing in Gates of Gotham.  He has a wonderfully distinct style that melds the sensibilities of Batman: The Animated Series with modern day Batman comics.  It's perhaps a tad cartoony for some, but I'm really enjoying his work.  Perhaps the best compliment I can offer is that the character designs from one character to another are all unique: every character has a clear outline that belongs only to them.  To put it simply, the characters look different and are not simply interchangeable.  And in a medium where men are often all the same degree of burly and women the same degree of buxom, that is a breath of fresh air.

For all the love I have for this issue, there are some minor quibbles that I must mention.  It's not the fault of the creative team, but somehow during the flashback sequence a name got left out of one of the word balloons.

In case you can't make it out, the caption makes it clear that the mystery man in question is Alan Wayne (the Wayne relative active at this early time period), but that mistake shouldn't be happening at all.  Not a major problem, but it did take me out of the story momentarily, which is hardly ideal.  Editorial's job is to catch that, so it should have been caught.

My other complaint is a two page spread within the comic where the panel order is left a little unclear.  It's during Batman and Red Robin's short talk with Commissioner Gordon.  I realized after reading the issue a few times that the reader is supposed to go all the way from the left side of the first page to the right side of the second page, as the spread was done with three major rows in mind, but that isn't clear enough in my mind.  There could have been a bit more bleed over from one page to the other to emphasize the intended reading order, but I digress.  Again, it's not a major issue, but one I feel could have been avoided.

Final Thoughts - The above issues aside, Gates of Gotham #2 is a rather enjoyable read.  This series is shaping up to be a fantastic reimagining / redefinition of Gotham's past, while also telling a great Batman story in Gotham's present.  I was unsure about the series after issue 1, but issue 2 has assuaged my doubts and concerns.  I can't wait to see what comes next, which is always the best feeling to have when you finish a comic book.

The Problematic Representation of Africa in Grodd of War #1

I recognize that this entry is a little on the long side.  I felt it necessary to provide some background information for those who may not be familiar with the situation in question.  Please bear with me and please take the time to read through the entire post.


Grodd of War #1, by Sean Ryan and Ig Guara, is not a very good comic book.

It combines the ridiculous penchant among comic book readers to purchase any comic book that features monkeys along with some poor writing for mediocre results.

When writing up my feelings on this week's Flashpoint tie-ins, my draft said about as much, although it also featured a number of jokes and jabs, focused mostly on the monkey phenomenon and belittling the lack of clear motivations ascribed to Gorilla Grodd in the issue.  However, halfway through writing the review, I realized that there was a far bigger problem with Grodd of War #1 than the fact that it was a bad comic.

I found it's representation of Africa to be highly problematic and incredibly offensive.

Let me quickly summarize the comic's content to give you an idea of what I mean.  The issue's main character is Gorilla Grodd.  For the uninitiated, Gorilla Grodd is a "classic" Flash villain who is (as you may have guessed) a gorilla.  He is also super strong, hyper-intelligent, and possesses psionic powers (he can control people's minds and actions).  He is also not unique.  There is actually an entire civilization of super-intelligent gorillas that live in the aptly named Gorilla City, which is located somewhere in Africa.

This comic, set in the alternate Flashpoint universe, is about Gorilla Grodd taking over Africa through military force.  The book opens with one of Grodd's minions telling him that his forces, composed entirely of the aforementioned intelligent gorillas, have finally defeated the last remaining resistance in South Africa, making Gorilla Grodd the ruler of all of Africa.

From there, the issue focuses on how Grodd is unsatisfied with this accomplishment.  He spends the balance of the issue searching for a meaningful challenge, whether from within or without his forces.  The book goes on at length to emphasize that Grodd has a death wish, though it doesn't really spend any time explaining why this is the case.  Either way, the issue ends with Grodd deciding that his African forces will invade Europe, attacking the Amazons and Atlanteans, who are two other world powers in this universe.

It's a serviceable plot that isn't very well-executed.  And like many comics published nowadays, Grodd of War #1 takes elements from "real life" and places them within its narrative.  However, when I really considered the comic's plot and images, I realized that this comic is perhaps one of the most repugnant comics I have ever read.  It addresses some of the diverse and unique issues facing Africa with all the subtlety that you would expect from a comic starring a talking gorilla.  That is to say, quite poorly.

To begin, let me repeat that Gorilla Grodd takes over the entire continent of Africa.  He, an intelligent monkey, controls a continent of over a billion people.  And no one in the comic book (or any of the other Flashpoint books I've read) seems to care.  This isn't an enormous issue, but it does bear mentioning how nonchalantly the whole thing is treated.  Especially with the other things that happen in the story.

A major problem with this comic is that there are virtually no African characters within the entire story.  When in Cape Town, Grodd confronts the leader of the defeated African resistance, who is revealed to be Catman, a white, American supervillain who just happens to hang out in Africa sometimes.  The comic seems to posit that no Africa could have led a defence of the continent.  But that is not my major issue with the comic.

The main problem is that the only characters of African descent in the entire comic appear while Gorilla Grodd is travelling to Cape Town.  His convoy is attacked in transit, killing everyone except for Grodd.  He emerges to confront his attackers: five child soldiers.  The only African characters in this comic book are child soldiers.  Their appearance lasts for two pages, both of which I've included below.  I would invite you to take a look at them before you continue reading.  Please note, they are a tad graphic.

As you can see, Grodd uses his mind control powers to take control of the children, telling one child to "Kill your friends", forcing him to murder the other four.  This murder is depicted in four sequential panels that move closer and closer to the child's face, looking on in increasing horror as he guns down his four companions, bullets flying from his gun.

The next page shows the results of Grodd's coercion.  The child stands alone, tears streaming down his face, surrounded by the corpses of the four murdered children.  The boy is so distraught that he turns the gun on himself, intending to commit suicide.  Grodd stops him, telling the boy to leave and "spend every minute of your life planning and thinking about how you're going to kill me.  And when you're finally ready, I want you to find me, and I want you to get the job done."  Then the child runs off in fear.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel like any of that is appropriate.  Especially when child soldiers continue to be a real problem in Africa (and around the world)?  Especially when that is the only representation of Africans in the entire book?

It is reductive, short sighted, and in incredibly poor taste.

On top of this already deplorable issue, I don't even want to go into the many possible interpretations of the fact that, in this comic, Africans have been enslaved by monkeys.

I think that all of this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.  I'm don't believe that these were necessarily malicious choices by the creative team, editors, or DC Comics.  They seem more thoughtless than anything else.  But that doesn't excuse how offensive it is.  For all DC Comics talks about trying to diversify their line and feature more minority characters, this comic is an absolute mess.

I'm a firm believer that comics can successfully address serious issues.  I have seen many superhero comics do just that, but Grodd of War #1 fails on all counts.  Again, it's not that I feel the comic set out to represent everything so poorly.  I imagine no one gave a second thought to what they were doing.  And that is a serious problem.  You can't integrate things as serious as child soldiers and enslaving an entire continent (especially one that has been abused so often in the past) without considering what you are doing and why you are doing it.  Unfortunately, that seems to be exactly what DC Comics did.

In looking through a number of reviews of Grodd of War #1 from around the net, I found that few of them made any reference to the scene with the child soldiers.  Of those that did, only one took the time to reproach the comic for "demean[ing] the truly horrific realities of soldier children actually in combat in Africa at this very moment".

I am by no extent of the imagination an expert on Africa and the many issues facing the continent, but it is clear that this comic's representation of Africa is unacceptable.  I believe that we as readers must do our part to recognize this and express our displeasure.

Flashpoint EXPRESSions - Week of June 15th

So, as my weekly pull list will attest, I went into my local comic book shop with the aim of only buying two of the four Flashpoint tie-ins that came out this week.  I don't really know what to tell you, but somehow I ended up getting my hands on all four introductory issues -- Deadman and the Flying Graysons, Grodd of War, Legion of Doom, and Wonder Woman and the Furies.  Instead of dwelling on how that ended up happening, despite my best intentions, I thought I would use this "opportunity" to offer my thoughts on all this week's tie-ins.

Let's give 'em a gander, shall we?

Flashpoint - Deadman and the Flying Graysons #1
Written by: J.T. Krul
Art by: Mikel Janin

I had dismissed this comic based entirely on the fact that J.T. Krul was writing it.  This might seem a little closed minded, but I had not enjoyed a single comic of his that I had read.  I know it's a bit harsh, but I couldn't really understand why DC kept giving Krul so many writing assignments.  Especially since he is responsible for writing what many consider one of the worst comics ever produced.  All that said, I'm still not one hundred percent sold on Krul, but after reading Deadman and the Flying Graysons #1, I do have proof that he can write an enjoyable comic book, so there is that.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I was originally intending on skipping this book all-together, but I flipped through it and saw that Ragdoll and King Shark of Secret Six fame were putting in appearances in the comic's circus's freak show.  Intrigued, I looked a little closer and noticed that, in the comic, the poster advertising King Shark read "MAN + SHARK = INCREDIBLE".  The fact that Deadman is wearing a sweet skull mask didn't hurt, either.

I don't know about you, but that was enough to convince me to give the book a chance.  I'm glad that I did, because this is one of the most enjoyable Flashpoint tie-ins I've read thus far.

The beginning of the comic is used to establish that Dick Grayson's parents never died in a tragic circus accident in Gotham City, meaning that he and his parents (the Flying Graysons) continue to perform for Haley Circus.  Additionally, the circus has picked up the talented Boston Brand (Deadman) as its main attraction (thus explaining the title in one fell swoop).  This would be all well and good if it weren't for the fact that the circus is trapped in Europe in the middle of the Amazonian-Atlantean war that's been escalating throughout all the Flashpoint books.

Krul does a good job of emphasizing the difference between the cooperative and familial Graysons and the aloof and selfish Brand, which seems to be one of the main focuses of the book.  It nears being a little heavy-handed at times, but is well-done for the most part.  The comic seems content to focus on those dueling character studies for the majority of the issue, and it works pretty well.

Certainly, this effort is greatly helped by the wonderful art provided by Mikel Janin.  Though I have never encountered his work before, I was quite taken by what I saw in this issue.  He has an excellent grasp of panel layout and pacing, using it to great effect in the various sequences throughout the issue.  He also does some quality action sequences, which is a plus for a comic that focuses on trapeze artists.  I eagerly await seeing more of his work in the coming months.

For the balance of the issue, there is no clear conflict to drive the plot forward, but that's okay.  Again, the character-work is good enough to keep me turning the page, and there is a slow build-up to the dangers that are to come that become clear towards the end of the book.

I was pleasantly surprised by this issue.  I'm really glad I picked it up and will definitely be staying around to see how everything turns out.  I'd suggest you do the same.

Flashpoint - Legion of Doom #1
Written by: Adam Glass
Art by: Rodney Buchemi

To be honest, I picked this book up on a whim, partly because Heatwave is one of Flash's Rogues and I couldn't resist and partly to get an early idea of what Adam Glass's Suicide Squad title might be like when it releases in September.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed on both counts.  Heatwave, as he appears in this book, is the flattest of characters, and if Suicide Squad is anything like this, count me out.

The comic opens with an interesting premise, with Heatwave hoping to become a part of the Firestorm matrix as a way to satisfy his pyromanic tendencies.  To accomplish this goal, he kills Jason Rusch, one half of the duo who combine to become the superhero Firestorm.  An interesting idea, but the comic doesn't really do anything with it.  Ronald Raymond, the surviving half of the Firestorm team, tells Heatwave that it doesn't work that way and before Heatwave can retort, Cyborg shows up to save the day.  After a brief fight between the two, Heatwave is subdued and subsequently sent to supervillain prison to be executed through the electric chair.

There's a lot of potential in that paragraph, but Glass doesn't really take advantage of any of it.  Heatwave pretty much spends all his time talking about how much he loves fire and going on about how badass he is.  Unfortunately, there's no real effort beyond that to make Heatwave a sympathetic or interesting character.  The comic tells us - repeatedly - that he is a badass pyromaniac and pretty much leaves it at that.  It makes all his monologuing fall a little flat.

Once he arrives in said supervillain prison, Heatwave spends the rest of the comic asserting his place in the prison's hierarchy through unnecessarily violent and ultimately unconvincing prison fights.  All the while, he insists that he is going to break out, even though no one has ever broken out of the super secure prison.  Again, the ideas aren't necessarily bad, but the execution leaves something to be desired.  I also must admit to being underwhelmed by the prison idea when I've already seen it done in a more interesting way in DC's Elseworld book Kingdom Come (which is one of the best DC comics I've ever read).

Of course, Heatwave has a trick up his sleeve as to how he will manage to the prison break, which is saved for the cliffhanger reveal at the end of the issue.  That reveal is also kind of interesting, but everything that came before killed any interest I had in following this series.

On the art side of things, the comic does a lot better.  It certainly seems as if DC is trying to give some of their newer talents the chance to show their stuff on these books.  While Glass didn't manage to wow me, Rodney Buchemi did.  His style fits right into what's generally happening in sueprhero books.  It doesn't necessarily stand out, but Buchemi manages to give a relatively weak script a lot more life than I would have expected.

Not exactly a glowing recommendation, but this wasn't exactly the best comic I've ever read.

Flashpoint - Wonder Woman and the Furies #1
Written by: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Art by: Scott Clark

I've been a fan of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning since reading through their excellent run on Guardians of the Galaxy.  I'm not usually a big fan of cosmic books, but the team dynamics and the fantastic plots they whipped up for Guardians won me over hook, line, and sinker.  Consequently, I've been picking up a lot of their work since that time and was looking forward to their Wonder Woman Flashpoint tie-in.  It was a pretty good first issue, but a combination of a rushed plot and varying art quality took away from the reading experience.

The book opens on a flashback sequence, showing this world's Diana Prince and Arthur Curry meeting for the first time, which also represents the first meeting between the Amazon and Atlantean peoples.  I really enjoyed this portion of the book, as the time spent focusing on Arthur and Diana's interaction was well done and made for some quality character work.  It even made for some good hinting towards the arranged marriage between the two that was revealed as being a failed endeavour in issue 1 of Flashpoint.

From this flashback, the issue jumps to the near past, spending the rest of its pages looking at what exactly happened during the day of the marriage that resulted in the Amazonian - Atlantean war that has been tearing the world apart.  At this point, things start to move really fast.  The pages are covered with word balloons as characters provide some exposition of what's happened in the time in-between to get the reader up to speed. It comes off as kind of awkward and rushed.  I really get the feeling that the series would have benefited from having a few more pages (2 perhaps?) or possibly from an extra issue.  It just seems like Abnett and Lanning are jamming everything into the first issue in an attempt to have more breathing space in the issues to come.

There's some good things going on in those pages, to be certain.  Some interesting political maneuvering and some genuinely cool double and triple crossing that will surely be built upon in the issues to come, but there's so much going on that the exciting parts of the comic get a little overshadowed by everything else.  I feel like the issue managed to make the Amazonian - Atlantean war more interesting, which is a good thing, since it has simply been presented as the status quo up until this point by DC, but I still feel like the issue could have been a lot better.

The other major issue is that the art from Scott Clark is inconsistent.  Generally his character work is fine and serviceable, if a little generic from one character to the next.  My main concern is in regards to his backgrounds, which don't seem to match at all.  I can't tell if they are coloured over pictures or CG images shoved in in Photoshop, but they don't fit the rest of the book.  I figure it's supposed to make the background more imposing and more striking, but it simply comes off as distracting.  Not something I'd want to see regularly in a comic book.

I was a little underwhelmed, but I think I might have come into this with my expectations a little too high.  It wasn't a bad comic, per se, it simply wasn't Guardians of the Galaxy, which isn't a fair comparison.  If I want to read Guardians, I'll read it.  Not hope to find it in other comic books written by the same team.  I believe I'll be back for issue 2, though that might depend on what next week's Flashpoint titles are like.  We shall see.

Also, it's worth noting that, though I said I read all four Flashpoint books, I only offered my thoughts on three of them here.  That's because my thoughts on Grodd of War #1 didn't quite fit in with a post concerned mostly with reviewing comic books.  At least it didn't fit in my mind.  I'm going to spend a bit more time pondering that book and I'll have a full post on it tomorrow.  It will be partly a review, but it will also deal with issues a little more serious than what I've spoken of thus far.  I hope you'll come back to give it a look.