Comics Candy: January 2011

Every now and then I forgo the no-brainer, premiere or key/spotlighted issues and just randomly plump for something ongoing from the racks I haven’t sampled recently (if ever), and every now and then I’m rewarded with something quite unexpectedly good.

Case in point, Power Girl #19 (DC). No particular reason to grab and read but I’m glad I did.

My potted impression of the character up till now was ‘super-strong JLA or JSA chick with unfeasibly large boobs’, but in the capable hands of writer Judd Winick you start to see a self-sustaining, layered and involving character emerging.

And the high concept here, of a bad guy who has re-written history and written himself out of it in the process, is a corker. The scene where Power Girl and the assembled JSA roster start to forget about the elusive Max Lord all over again is chilling and poignant.

So while maybe the issue doesn’t go anywhere particular, it’s disorientating and unsettling enough to make you (and me) want to know what happens next. A real revelation and a reminder that there are unsung gems out there every month! Oh, and fear not, Power Girl still has unfeasibly large boobs!

Wasn’t as impressed by Justice League of America #52 (DC), but again it reminded me that I’m sometimes too blinkered when it comes to my selection of titles for this column.

I admit, I’m a Marvel guy at heart, it’s what I grew up reading, but there’s a whole lot to enjoy over at the Distinguished Competition (and elsewhere) too. And while I wasn’t entirely convinced by this (new?) big bad in the shape of the Omega Man, the team of writer James Robinson and artist Mark Bagley turn in a really strong, cohesive story.

There’s lots of action, plenty of too-ing and fro-ing as characters choose/change sides, and a nice apocalyptic feel to the saga as a whole, but, as so often with team books, the character depth feels dangerously diluted. I felt, coming into this cold, I needed a handle on regular Supergirl before we got ‘dark’ Supergirl.

But overall this is one of the better books this month, and I’m sure I’d have got a lot more out of it if I’d just been more familiar with the (large) cast.

A couple of real oddities now, starting with Neonomicon #3 (Avatar).

Truthfully, I only picked this up because I noted Alan Moore had written it, and having read it, I’m torn. On the one hand, it’s an extremely well executed (as you’d expect) slice of queasy sub-Lovecraftian horror, one that really unsettles and intrigues in equal measure. On the other hand, there’s something unpleasantly exploitational about what is essentially however many pages of a monster raping a captive woman.

I enjoyed the read, then felt guilty about enjoying the read.

The next oddity is The Cape (IDW), a one-shot based on a short story by Joe Hill (whose Heart-Shaped Box is one my favourite horror books of recent memory).

For a start, this feels like and probably is a whole issue-long prologue to something (though it has nothing to do with the new NBC superhero drama). And it’s also asking a whole lot of the reader to care for the central protagonist, a three-time loser and general deadbeat with a magical cape.

It seemed to me to be all about the punchline and so while it’s eminently readable, there’s a retroactive sense of being short-changed.

Same really with Doc Macabre #1 (IDW), largely because of the pitiful page count (16 story pages is simply not enough content for a $3.99 book) but also because the titular character is and remains a complete cipher.

You learn next to nothing about him (bar a rather disconnected page of talking head reminiscences) other than that he’s some kind of child prodigy and wannabe Ghostbuster (and not a very good one at that!).

The issue limps out mid-scene on a banal bit of nonsensical dialogue, leaving you none-the-wiser and wondering what else you could have got for four bucks. Even Bernie Wrightson’s art doesn’t salvage things. And I had such high hopes.

Mighty Samson #1 (Dark Horse) is a Gold Key retread too far. For a start, I wasn’t even remotely aware of the character in his original incarnation. Of course, that wouldn’t or shouldn’t matter if the new version were either compelling or engaging in its own right. But it’s neither.

What we have is a bog-standard Conan-esque warring tribes scenario in a bog-standard post-apocalyptic-esque setting, with a muscle-bound Hercules-esque hero and a sultry, dressed-in-very-little, possibly sorcerous, warrior-esque queen as the lead villain.

In other words, a whole lot of –esques and nothing very new!

Also in the never-say-die vein, we have Heroes For Hire #1 (Marvel), the third or possibly fourth incarnation of the grab-bag mercenary team.

Nice set up, relentless pacing, and a full-on twist ending make for an enjoyable and satisfying read, but I was left wondering where it would/could go from here (and if Marvel would even let it!), and if the loose but connected one target or role per hero format was sustainable.

This first issue works like a treat, but the elements are so disparate it seemed to lack a discernable or cohesive core to build on for a sustained run. But maybe that’s to come.

Art’s good too, but throughout the characters’ lips look artificial, almost stuck on, especially Misty Knight’s. And after a while it just started to bug me.

Uncanny X-Men #531 (Marvel) was surprisingly accessible and enjoyable, given that it’s been a good while since I followed the X-books with any real concerted effort.

The parallel storylines are well handled and complementary, and the pacing is excellent throughout.

One duff note, though — the lead villain’s name. Lobe? Lobe?? How can you do anything but collapse in helpless laughter in the face of an arch-enemy called Lobe? Wait — maybe that’s his secret power!

I couldn’t help but feel that cover to Fantastic Four #586 (Marvel) should come with a disclaimer: this scene does not happen inside, kids!

I kind of see why they did it, though, because throughout the story itself Reed Richards is on the trepanned side of laid back, even when Galactus is about to consume six billion people.

For a saga so supposedly momentous, there was an awful lot of sitting or standing around not doing much and talking too much, and maybe a storyline too many (the Sub-Mariner/Sue Richards soggy digression being the obvious clunker) crammed into the available space. Overall, big, big concepts and ideas, but poorly assembled.

And finally Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #513 (Marvel). Quite enjoyed this after the over-reaching pretensions of Shadowland, and the core concept of T’Challa, the former Black Panther, assuming a secret identity and a no-ties life in Hell’s Kitchen as Daredevil’s successor is nicely handled.

But something was lacking. Hard to define what exactly. Maybe it’s that the issue had nothing very new to offer by way of an antagonist and anything more than the tired old ‘meet the new crime boss’ storyline. And the artist is clearly trying to be David Mazzucchelli and failing badly.

Still, a laudable attempt at a fresh start!