Wasn't Robin Supposed To Be In This Book?

STAR TREK: SEASON FOUR #1
Thanks to the crazy success of Dark Horse’s BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Season Eight series, I think we’re going to see a lot more of this kind of thing. Hopefully, though, they’ll be more like BUFFY and less like this, which is set after the original series ended, but before the movies began—so, I guess, during the short-lived animated series from the Seventies (the crew of the Enterprise does feature some of the strange new alien cast members from that show). This is pretty by-the-numbers stuff; a red-shirted nobody gets killed, leading Bones to say “He’s dead, Jim”, etc., etc. I know I keep coming back to BUFFY here, but that comic uses the TV show’s defunct status as a springboard for moving ahead and making major changes to the characters and status quo, but since there was still a STAR TREK movie franchise ahead and the show never had much episode-to-episode continuity anyway, this just feels more like the same old, same old. IDW has a knack for securing the rights to fan-favourite properties, but they have yet to make a compelling comic series out of them.

BATMAN #666
Remember when Grant Morrison ended his terrific NEW X-MEN arc with a head-scratcher of a final story set 150 years in the future? This stand-alone issue of BATMAN is kinda like that, only set fifteen years in the future and appearing right in the middle of his run. Damien Wayne, Batman’s possible kid, is all grown up and has taken up the mantle of the Bat in a hellish future Gotham that is under siege by a false Batman who is offering up the city to Satan. I think that’s what this was about, anyway. It all ties in to the “Three Ghosts of Batman” that we heard about last issue—the three corrupt Gotham cops who became insane replacement Batmen. We already met the gun-toting psycho Batman in Morrison’s debut issue, and we met the Venom-enhanced steroid nightmare Batman in the previous two issues. The Satanic Batman we meet here is, I guess, the third Batman. I’m sure it all makes perfect sense to Morrison, but it’ll be a while before we see his plan for this story unfold—next issue begins a three-part arc drawn by J.H. Williams III (yes!) that, so far as I know, has nothing to do with this craziness. Still, very entertaining and, at times, hilarious (the future Gotham Rogues, like Max Roboto and Jackanapes, are awesome enough in their brief appearances to make me want lots more of them).

ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #6
And then there’s this. It’s getting a bit tiresome to continually gripe about this book, but I don’t know how else to react to it. The whole thing is so conceptually insane to me that I can’t even wrap my head around it. There’s a school of thought that says Miller is poking fun at the gritty Eighties and Nineties Batman, but a) Miller was largely responsible for that interpretation, so his mockery of that era is a bit hypocritical, and b) that kind of satire isn’t exactly timely—the so-called “Dark Age” of comics ended around 1996 with the release of stuff like ASTRO CITY and KINGDOM COME. So, what do we have this time around? Miller rips himself off with his updated Batgirl, who is essentially a retread of the Carrie Kelley Robin from THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. James Gordon provides a load of plot exposition by having a cheery long-distance chat with his extramarital fling, Sarah Essen, while his slovenly hag of a wife pours herself another drink in the background (there’s a quick reference to her text-messaging somebody, which may mean Miller’s laying the groundwork here for her to somehow be responsible for the Grayson family murders—which would make about as much sense as Dick Grayson being revealed as the villain of THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN). There’s a genuinely funny scene with Jimmy Olsen visiting Vicki Vale in her hospital room, but Miller’s propensity for perversity ruins it. The phrase “the Goddamned Batman” is used not once, not twice, but thrice. The Goddamned Batman finally tracks down the killer of Grayson’s parents, only to run off and join forces with the ever out-of-place Black Canary. The Goddamned Batman also makes reference to having gained a kid sidekick, but neither Dick nor Robin is anywhere to be seen in this issue—presumably, he’s still playing with the axe collection (?) in the Goddamned Batcave. God-damn.

DUST
This new Image series is set in some sort of alternate timeline where something or other blah blah blah you know what? When you start your new, self-contained miniseries off with a page of exposition and two pages of character bios, you’re already in big trouble. Just let the damn story tell itself, okay?



CHEMIST
On the other hand, this four-issue Image series starts out much more promisingly. A French-Canadian underground chemist gets mixed up in a drug deal gone wrong, and goes on the run with the requisite gorgeous fugitive. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff, but Jay Boose’s art is expressive and fun, and the characters are revealed through story and dialogue. Which is how it should be.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #14
I’d sort of lost track of this series about two issues in, but this SINESTRO CORPS WAR tie-in makes me think I should get back on board with it. Soranik Tu, the GL member from Sinestro’s planet Korugar, has a run-in with her diabolical predecessor while the GL planet Mogo (along with other Green Lanterns Stel and the Green Man) meets his scary-ass opposite number in the Sinestro Corps. The art, by Patrick Gleason and Angel Unzueta, is a bit shaky at times, but the story is pretty cool; Sinestro isn’t just content to destroy Soranik Tu, he wants her to follow in his fascistic footsteps. Man, that guy is bad news. That mustache of his was just made for evil twirling. As much as I’m loving this crossover, I’m hoping its quality isn’t diluted by the just-announced SINESTRO CORPS PRESENTS one-shots.

STAR-LORD #1
Speaking of space operas, this new mini is part of Marvel’s big ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST crossover, which seems to be being overshadowed by WORLD WAR HULK (just as the original ANNIHILATION event was eclipsed by CIVIL WAR). Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord, is asked to lead a suicide mission of “volunteers” against the cosmic menace of the Phalanx. His team is a who’s who of Marvel nostalgia, featuring Eighties obscurities like Rocket Raccoon and Bug from MICRONAUTS. Timothy Green’s elegant art recalls early Travis Charest, and the concept is a cool one (the similarities to THE DIRTY DOZEN are brought up by Quill himself, thank you very much). Unfortunately, this is a pretty talky first issue, where the Phalanx threat itself is off-panel for the duration. Not the most exciting first installment, but this has the potential to be an entertaining series.

DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #1/BLACK SUMMER #1/CRECY GN
Three, count ‘em, three, new Warren Ellis books in one week. I’ve never made much secret of the fact that Ellis just doesn’t do it for me—I think he’s got a terrific grasp of pacing and storytelling (the man almost never goes for the easy out of a caption or a sound effect), but I don’t find his ideas all that compelling or original (though I do love PLANETARY, lemme tell ya). The Ellis Formula seems to go something like this:
BlahblahblahblahtalktalktalkbastardyaddayaddayaddaVIOLENCEVIOLENCEVIOLENCEVIOLENCEyaddayaddabastard. There’s a lot of “Hey, you guys like historical epics like 300? Well, here’s more of that stuff with WAY MORE GORE AND CURSING!”. Or, “Hey, you guys love superheroes but you hate George Bush, right? Well, here’s a comic where a superhero kills the fucking President! With GORE AND CURSING!” Or, “Hey, remember when I did TRANSMETROPOLITAN? Well, I’ve got this new guy who’s like that only a mad scientist, who says things like ‘I am Science Jesus now’! Is that edgy or what? With GORE AND CURSING!” Sheesh. Can’t I just have the finale to PLANETARY instead?

Use a Microphone Like Shazam Used Tights

Sorry this is kinda late--I was a bit busy reading the new HARRY POTTER, and, well, you know how it goes. Those nasty old books without pictures take a lot longer to read. Anyways...

SHAZAM! MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #4



Jeff Smith’s long-awaited miniseries, named for a classic Golden Age Captain Marvel adventure, drew to a close this week, and the only bad thing I can say about it is that was only four issues long. Sure, I could complain about the liberties Smith took with Cap and his supporting cast (the talking tiger Mr. Talky Tawny is explained away as a helpful spirit called an “Ifrit”, the titular Society is composed of bugs and mysterious robot monsters rather than the Marvel Family’s Rogues Gallery), but that would miss the point of what Smith attempted to do with this book—that is, create an all-ages, stand-alone adventure that serves to introduce Captain Marvel to a new audience while creating a fun new epic for established fans. The final installment makes it plain that Dr. Sivana (recast here as “Director of Technology and Heartland Security”, and an unrepentant war profiteer) and his ilk are the real bad guys, both in Smith’s story and in the real world (although the political message is not at all preachy, buried as it is under layers of cartoon fantasy). Smith leaves the door wide open for a sequel, which would hopefully include other Marvel mainstays like Black Adam and Captain Marvel Jr.—let’s just hope we don’t have to wait another four or five years for it.

WORLD WAR HULK #2



Hmmm…I gotta say, there is a serious cathartic thrill to this book—it’s a little unsettling how refreshing it is to see the Marvel heroes rally together for a common cause after all of last year’s CIVIL WAR nonsense, only to find it doubly refreshing to see the Hulk and his alien pals whomp the living crap out of all of them. Unfortunately, all of the crossovers—some of which are not bad at all (I’m talking about WWH: X-MEN and WWH: FRONTLINE here) serve to dilute the narrative of the actual series a bit, which was a major problem with CW. That is to say, the actual WWH series is beginning to feel like a somewhat skeletal framework that needs the crossover books to fill in the blank spots. Also, I can’t possibly see how this can end well, since the heroes will either need to kill off the strangely absent Bruce Banner or just exile ol’ Jade Jaws all over again, but I guess that’s part of the fun. Still, this is probably among the top two or three Marvel Event Books ever…although, given their weak track record, that’s not saying much.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #11



Gene Ha (TOP TEN) steps up to fill in for series regular Ed Benes in a stand-alone story about Red Arrow and Vixen being trapped under a toppled building. This might have made a decent eight-page backup story, but it kinda stretched my patience as a full issue. It’s not bad, but I don’t think it’s really what I want from a JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA comic, I guess. Ha’s painted art is terrific as usual, what little of it there is—the story is told in narrow strips of comic panel set against black backgrounds. Good for claustrophobic effect, not so good for fans of the artist’s lushly detailed work. Scripter Brad Meltzer departs after next issue, and I’m sad to say that might be for the best; I’ve defended the writer’s controversial run up until this point, but now I think I just really want to see what Dwayne McDuffie will do with this series.

THE ORDER #1

Formerly known as THE CHAMPIONS (named after the 1970s Marvel series, whose title was subsequently usurped for an RPG system when the copyright lapsed—at least, I think that’s what was responsible for the last-minute title change), this new title by Matt Fraction and Barry Kitson spins out of CIVIL WAR by introducing L.A.’s signature superhero team. The Order is headed up by a has-been actor who was also an Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor of Tony Stark, so he’s understandably upset when his team very publicly boozes it up after their debut. Much like Milligan and Allred’s X-FORCE/X-STATIX from a few years back, this title promises to deal with the celebrity angle on superheroics while maintaining those titles’ signature rotating team lineup. Not a bad first issue, although I kind of hope it’s a mini and not an ongoing—I think the concept has more promise as a finite idea. I like Kitson’s art here more than I usually do (his stuff takes a George Perez-esque turn (although that could be just all the little tiny panels in Fraction’s script), but his character designs are all kind of boringly similar.

ALL FLASH #1




Well, it’s not a stretch to say that this a huge improvement over how the last FLASH series started out, but something about this feels a bit off. I’m glad Wally’s back, and some of the art here is really nice (why isn’t Karl Kerschl going to be the regular artist on the relaunch again? He’s clearly more than capable, as this book shows), but this whole switch-em-up just seems like a big backpedal on DC’s part. Maybe they should have tried to do something decent with a brand new Flash—not Bart, but somebody brand new—rather than consigning Wally to a frustratingly non-committal “death” where they could trot him back out if the new book tanked. It almost makes me wish they had just gone ahead and brought Barry Allen back—instead, we’re left with lots more questions and a lot of assurances that this is all part of some long-term plan that dovetails with FINAL CRISIS in May.

KIRBY SAYS, "DON'T ASK! JUST BUY IT!"

DEADPOOL/GREAT LAKES INITIATIVE SUMMER FUN SPECTACULAR

This made me very happy. For those who don’t know, the GLI were originally the Great Lakes Avengers, an unlicensed, Milwaukee-based ripoff of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes who first appeared during John Byrne’s run on WEST COAST AVENGERS.

Featuring loser characters like Big Bertha, Doorman, Flatman, and Mr. Immortal, the GLA went on to ride the coattails of the Thunderbolts when the Avengers were presumed dead, appearing in the pages of DEADPOOL as the Lighting Rods. Dan Slott resurrected the gang for a four-issue miniseries in the wake of the AVENGERS: DISASSEMBLED crossover, appropriately titled GLA: MISASSEMBLED. By that series’ end, most of the team’s surviving members realized they were mutants, and the GLX (or, Great Lakes X-Men) were born. A GLX HOLIDAY SPECIAL followed, and then an appearance in CABLE/DEADPOOL during CIVIL WAR which saw the group sign up for Tony Stark’s Fifty States Initiative. Which, I believe, brings us up to speed with this extra-sized, extra-awesome one-shot. In the first story, drawn by Nelson (that guy’s gotta get a first name, pronto), Deadpool teams up with the newly-retitled Great Lakes Initiative to get to the bottom of a mysterious Inebriation Wave that has left most of Earth’s heroes drunk. This story felt a bit on the routine side, but it sets up the rest of this super-fun issue, which sees Deadpool refusing to leave the GLI’s cool new HQ, while Squirrel Girl breaks into Thunderbolts Mountain to try and talk some sense into her ex-boyfriend, Speedball (now the gritty hero known as Penance). Slott hilariously deflates CIVIL WAR and its fallout here as SG pokes holes in all of Penance’s post-CW motivations, and we are also introduced to the former Speedball’s updated sidekick—Niels, the Bouncing Cat, is now P-Cat, the Penitent Puss. Also, Deadpool and Big Bertha go on a date. Throw in a fun parody of the SOPRANOS finale, some great art by Kieron Dwyer, and guest villains like AIM and Dr. Doom, and you’ve got the perfect antidote to Marvel’s summer of Endangered World War Initiative Annihilation.

MARTHA WASHINGTON DIES

Okay, so this is probably the best thing Frank Miller has written in over a decade, but it still pretty much sucks. Martha Washington—the heroine from Miller and artist Dave Gibbons’ excellent GIVE ME LIBERTY mini—is now one hundred years old, and serving as the spiritual leader for some generic group of freedom fighters. She talks about when she went into space, says some inspiring words, and then dies, turning into fireworks and rallying the next generation to run into battle one last time. There. I just save you five minutes of your life and a couple of bucks to boot. To add insult to injury, there is an ad at the back for THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MARTHA WASHINGTON, an omnibus edition featuring the original miniseries and its sequels…and, presumably, this flimsy excuse for a story as well. If this had appeared as an extra in that forthcoming volume—you know, a cool little epilogue or something—it might have read a lot better than it did as a one-shot. Dave Gibbons lends his usual professional polish to the artwork, but it’s not enough to save it. At least there’s no gratuitous T and A here, and when’s the last time you could say that about a Frank Miller comic?

NEW AVENGERS

Okay, so Elektra turned out to be a Skrull, so now everyone’s pointing fingers at each other and saying that they could all be Skrulls in disguise. Whatever is being built up to here—next summer’s big crossover event, most likely—I’m already not liking it. It’s suspiciously similar to DC’s MILLENNIUM event in 1988, where we learned that Manhunter agents were walking among the DCU for years, often as brainwashed sleeper agents like Lana Lang and Commissioner Gordon. Also, it offers Marvel countless other ripoff opportunites, from paranoid classics like John Carpenter’s remake of THE THING to more timely favourites like Sci-Fi’s BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. And there’s always the quick continuity fixes the shape-changing Skrull solution offers: Iron Man’s acting like an asshole these days? Well, that’s ‘cause he was replaced by a Skrull years ago. Elektra should have stayed dead when Frank Miller killed her? She did, but a Skrull has been posing as her for decades. Captain America has been shot? No way, man, it was a Skrull who took the bullet! Most importantly, though, this issue shows us that Doctor Strange can’t use his magical powers to stop a light plane from falling out of the air, much less use his Cloak of Levitation to save himself from the crashing of said plane because, as he says, “My cloak won’t work under these conditions!” “Sorceror Supreme”, indeed. The fact that this character’s usage in NEW AVENGERS prevented us from getting another Brian K. Vaughan/Marcos Martin DOCTOR STRANGE miniseries makes me really, really upset. I bet Bendis and Quesada are Skrulls. That’s the only possible explanation.

FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS, DEVIL DINOSAUR H/C

Man, is it ever a good time to be a Jack Kirby fan. Consigned to oblivion (or, at the very least, cheap looking black and white reprints) for far too long, the King of Comics has sent Marvel and DC into reprint overdrive lately. I’m not talking about his massive 1960s output at Marvel, of course—that stuff is always available in any number of formats—but his bizarre post-Marvel career which saw him defect to DC where he created his masterpiece, the Fourth World Saga, among other things…only to return to Marvel a few years later to take the reins of CAPTAIN AMERICA while launching few new books (and masterminding Marvel’s comic spin-off of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY—his tabloid-sized adaptation of Kubrick’s film is absolutely essential). Over at DC, the KAMANDI Archive editions are running along smoothly, with two volumes available and probably about two more in the works. JIMMY OLSEN has been available in two paperback editions for a few years now, and CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN is offered in two Archives or one big, fat Showcase paperback. And now, Kirby’s Magnum Opus—the Fourth World saga, which spanned JIMMY OLSEN as well as NEW GODS, MISTER MIRACLE, and FOREVER PEOPLE—is being released in four hardcover volumes collectively titled JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS.
The first of these books dropped a few weeks back, and a second one is due in August (Volume 3 hits later this year, and the final book will likely arrive in 2008). Not only is this a gorgeously designed prestige reprint for this important and influential work, but the stories have been arranged in the order they were released. This allows modern readers a chance to see Kirby’s epic unfold the way fans did when these much-misunderstood titles were first released. It even has a cool new intro by Grant Morrison! Let’s keep our fingers crossed for some form of OMAC or DEMON reprints next.

Meanwhile, Marvel’s got most of Kirby’s 1970s material back in stores. His CAPTAIN AMERICA run is available in three trade paperbacks (one of which includes his tabloid-sized CAPTAIN AMERICA’S BICENTENNIAL BATTLES special), and two books contain his BLACK PANTHER storyline. THE ETERNALS was released a year or two back in a massive hardcover to coincide with Neil Gaiman’s new miniseries, and last week gave us the complete DEVIL DINOSAUR hardcover.
Still no word on MACHINE MAN (seems like the time to do that would have been during the character’s usage in NEXTWAVE, but whatever—I’m sure it’s in the works), and Marvel no longer has the rights to 2001, so who knows if that stuff will ever resurface (I certainly hope so—Kirby’s pseudo-sequel/anthology ongoing series is totally baffling, but shows the passion he had for the film’s evolutionary theme). Kirby’s1980s work is being collected as well—this week, Image released a SILVER STAR hardcover, and a DESTROYER DUCK collection is coming at some point. The new issue of TOYFARE unveiled unpainted prototypes of DC Direct action figures based on NEW GODS, closely modeled after Kirby’s artwork (I nearly barfed with joy when I saw these—can’t wait to see the finished products in April of next year). It seems that Kirby’s legacy is being acknowledged and celebrated all over the place these days, as it should be.

So, why then, is DC killing off the New Gods? Hinted at in the pages of DC’s weekly COUNTDOWN series (the less-than-stellar follow-up to last year’s surprisingly decent 52), Jim Starlin is writing and drawing an eight-part series called THE DEATH OF THE NEW GODS whose plot should be fairly self-explanatory. Granted, these characters have been misused all over the place, and a lot of the themes and ideas Kirby introduced have been misunderstood and misrepresented many times over. But really, can’t you say that about pretty much every comics character who has been handled by more than one creator? Did John Broome and Gil Kane envision Green Lantern as a mass murderer? Did Stan Lee and Kirby see Iron Man becoming a tin-plated fascist? Probably not, but you don’t see anyone closing the doors on those character’s usage anytime soon.

Kirby intended the Fourth World Saga to be a complete story with a beginning, middle, and an end—a novel concept for comics in 1971, to be sure. Obviously, DC didn’t want the series to have a conclusion—even though they cancelled the titles early on, DC has made lots of use of the characters. Not only have they appeared in all kinds of later series (like the 1988 COSMIC ODYSSEY, and its subsequent Starlin-penned NEW GODS relaunch), but they’ve made their way into other media as well; Darkseid and his Elite formed a large portion of the 1980s SUPER POWERS toy line, and the Fourth World mythos played a major part in both the SUPERMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE animated series from Warner Brothers. Kirby himself even returned to try and finish his epic a few times—first, in a new story published at the end of a series of early Eighties reprints of NEW GODS, which saw Orion die at Darkseid’s hand (obviously, this didn’t take), and later, in the HUNGER DOGS graphic novel, where the “lowlies” of Apokolips finally overthrew their cruel master (even this was undone in record time, since Darkseid was set up on Earth’s moon and plotting to re-conquer his world in a Kirby SUPER POWERS miniseries a few months later). Of all these scenarios, my probable favourite appeared in a deleted scene from Mark Waid and Alex Ross’s KINGDOME COME miniseries, which was thankfully restored for all the various collected editions that followed; we are told that, as prophesied, Orion and Darkseid met for one final battle in the firepits of Apokolips, and Orion destroyed his evil father once and for all. Unfortunately, the soul-crushed masses of Apokolips were in no shape to rule their own world, so Orion took the place of his father, eventually becoming a despotic ruler not much better than the one he replaced.

Where was I going with this again? Oh yeah—the point was, even Kirby was unable to end his series to his own satisfaction, and he tried to do it twice! The possible best conclusion to the saga is in an Elseworlds alternate future story. And the characters and mythology Kirby created in 1971 still resonate with possibility, as seen in Grant Morrison’s recent MISTER MIRACLE miniseries and on the excellent JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED cartoon. So really, putting an end to the NEW GODS saga now just seems like a big waste of time and energy, since it will likely be undone by another creator in a few years. I mean no offense to Jim Starlin with this—I’m sure he’s going in with the best intentions and everything, but c’mon; you’re messing with The King here.

…AND THE REST

It’s looking more and more like the best summer crossover of 2007 snuck under the radar, as the “Sinestro Corps War” storyline continues in GREEN LANTERN #21. Not a lot happens here, but that’s okay since things started off big in the SINESTRO CORPS special. Suffice it to say that the Green Lantern Corps appears to be well and truly screwed, and the three-issue hiatus Ivan Reis took has made his already-stellar work even better. GL is possibly the most dependable mainstream monthly DC produces, and it somehow keeps improving …MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #3 continues with the trippy fun as Frank and his comic book idol, Mr. Excitement, wander through Frank’s subconscious in the styles of practically every famous comic artist under the sun. Maybe a bit self-indulgent on Allred’s part, but isn’t that the reason to do a creator-owned comic—to indulge your every favourite whim?…That whole “Superman is halting humanity’s progress, so Arion, Lord of Atlantis has to kill him” storyline is still going on in SUPERMAN #664. It doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere interesting, and it’s taking its sweet time getting there too, while Pacheco’s art continues to get weirder and uglier. What the hell happened to this guy?…NEXUS #99 might actually be a better introduction to the character and his universe than the Free Comic Book Day issue, which is weird, but there you go. Nexus’s lady Sundra is expecting their first child, and an army of crazy alien assassins wants to make sure the baby isn’t born. This is an exciting meld of SF and superheroics, with the amazing art of Steve Rude to make it go down even more smoothly…STEPHEN COLBERT’S TEK JANSEN #1 didn’t seem as funny to me as it should have been—I thought the novelty of his spacefaring, blowhard alter ego wore thin pretty early on, but my girlfriend Hillary loved it. Maybe it’s a better read for what my boss, Calum, calls “civilians”, and not us hardened comic book cynics. Still, though, why was this thing so damn late?

"Mayhem is the Man-Fish!"

SILVERFISH

David Lapham has been gone for way too long from the gritty crime drama comics he excelled at in his self-published STRAY BULLETS series, taking too many sidetrips into the mainstream with inconsistent results (his DAREDEVIL VS. PUNISHER mini was pretty decent, but his yearlong DETECTIVE COMICS run lost me pretty early on). Thankfully, Lapham made a glorious return to form with last week’s SILVERFISH, an original hardcover graphic novel published by Vertigo in that undersized black and white format that was used for Harvey Pekar and Dean Haspiel’s THE QUITTER, Gilbert Hernandez’s SLOTH, and Dave Gibbons’ THE ORIGINALS.

Teenaged Mia hates her Dad’s new wife, Suzanne, so she tries to dig up some dirt on her stepmom. When her folks go away on a ski trip, Mia and her friends uncover an address book that leads them to a mystery man from Suzanne’s past. A late-night prank phone call to the guy is a big mistake, since Daniel is a repressed psycho who thinks his brain his haunted by ghostly fish who can only be silenced when he commits murder. Before long, Daniel is on the trail of the woman from his past, ready to cut through anybody in his way with a butcher knife.

SILVERFISH is a superfast read, excellent for Lapham newbies as well as those of us still feeling the sting of STRAY BULLETS’ absence. Some of the book’s themes come straight out of SB, like the promise of criminal horror lurking beneath suburban family life, as well as the snake’s pit of resentment that usually represents adolescence in Lapham’s stories (most of the mayhem that occurs in SILVERFISH is brought on by when Mia’s best friend starts feeling jealous about her boyfriend’s interest in Mia). Lapham’s black-and-white art looks better here than it has in years as well, giving loads of personality to the lead characters while rendering those evil fish as a toothy, frenzied wave that provides a more unnerving image than most horror titles are capable of mustering. When he can still kick it like this, one wonders why Lapham feels the need to take on projects like his upcoming TERROR, INC. relaunch for Marvel. TERROR, INC.? Really? Well, I guess he’s gotta eat, too.

FALLEN SON, ETC.

Boy, Marvel sure is making a cottage industry out of the death of Captain America, huh? The infamous CAPTAIN AMERICA #25, where the Living Legend of World War II fell victim to an assassin’s bullet, has now been offered in three versions (four, if you count the two covers on the initial printing): the regular edition, the second printing, and the “Director’s Cut” expanded edition that dropped last week. Oh yeah, there was also that MARVEL SPOTLIGHT: CAPTAIN AMERICA REMEMBERED thing a few weeks back, and of course, the five-part mopefest FALLEN SON: THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA that wrapped up a week ago. It’s not all bad, mind you—the whole spectacle has turned lots of heads towards the excellent work being done by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, and Mike Perkins on the monthly CAPTAIN AMERICA series, and FALLEN SON did occasionally feature work by some pretty amazing artists. Even when this series was tepid and maudlin—which was most of the time, mind you—the gorgeous artwork by the likes of John Cassaday and Ed McGuinness eased the pain. Heck, the third issue, which had Hawkeye mulling over Iron Man’s offer to take up Cap’s shield, was a surprisingly decent Jeph Loeb book, and I really don’t say that very often. Still, though, I gotta say, I’m getting pretty tired of people coming into the store and saying things like “Is he back yet?” or “Is he REALLY dead?” while rolling their eyes and sighing loudly. To the first point, while I’d love to be privy to some secret information about Marvel’s plans for the character, I honestly have no idea where they’re going with this, and if I did, I probably wouldn’t be allowed to share it with you anyway. As to the second, I’d like to remind everyone that HE WAS NEVER REALLY ALIVE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Ahem. Sorry about that. Anyways, another good side effect of this is Marvel’s mad rush to put as much Cap material in print as possible, such as last week’s re-issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA: WAR AND REMEMBRANCE. This collection features the all-too-brief run by Roger Stern, John Byrne, and Joseph Rubinstein from the early Eighties, including famous tales like the two-part Baron Blood story that debuted the new Union Jack, and the issue where a Populist group tries to get Cap to run for President. Cap also dukes it out with the Machinesmith, Batroc, Mister Hyde, and artificial lifeform/big dopey monster Dragon Man, who actually tries to take a bite out of Cap’s indestructible shield. What an idiot! All the extras from the original printing of the trade are included, even the original volume’s cover artwork. This collection is a great snapshot of Jim Shooter-era Marvel at the top of its game, and it shows why Cap is a great character who, while a bit of a square, is a terrific action hero when written well.

SUPERMAN: LAST SON

It’s sometimes kind of hard to tell people why they should be checking out a particular title without spoiling the story for them. DC faced this particular challenge with “Last Son”, the much-hyped, much-delayed (more on that later) inaugural story arc by Geoff Johns, Richard Donner, and Adam Kubert on ACTION COMICS. When this story began in ACTION #844 late last summer, it looked like a limp attempt to cash in on the release of SUPERMAN RETURNS; not only did the series begin with a redesigned, crystalline Fortress of Solitude featuring a sentient hologram of Jor-El, it also utilized the newer film’s tweaked Superman outfit (y’know, with the S-shield on his belt buckle) and the plot point of a mysterious moppet with Kryptonian powers. However, as the story has progressed—albeit very slowly, thanks to inexcusable artistic delays—“Last Son” has proven to be one of the most entertaining and surprising in-continuity Superman arcs in…jeez, I couldn’t even begin to guess how long, mixing the mythology of the Donner and Bryan Singer films with classic Silver Age Superman hallmarks. But, for me to explain why, some spoilage might be required, so read on at your own peril.

“Last Son” begins with a mysterious spacecraft materializing over Metropolis and crashing to Earth, its path of destruction halted by the Man of Steel. Superman is shocked to find that the ship contains a small boy who speaks Kryptonese and displays yellow sun-powered abilities of his own. Over the course of the first two issues, Superman and the Department of Metahuman Affairs squabble over who should take care of the kid, and even Lex Luthor gets in the act by sending a brainwashed Bizarro to try and kidnap the tyke. By the end of the second issue, Superman decides that the child, who is, in all likelihood, the true last son of Krypton, is his responsibility, and Clark and Lois get the kid a pair of glasses and a name—Christopher Kent. Unfortunately, the sky opens up again over the arctic Fortress of Solitude, and three new ships from a breached Phantom Zone bring even more Kryptonian refugees to Earth…Ursa, Non, and General Zod, AKA the super-criminals from the first two SUPERMAN films in 1978 and 1980. Turns out the kid belongs to Zod and Ursa, who have used the boy and his ship as a kind of beacon to lead them out of the Zone and right to the doorstep of their jailer Jor-El’s only heir.

This plot point is significant for a couple of reasons. It’s the first time in nearly two decades that the Phantom Zone and its criminal denizens—a hugely important piece of the Superman mythos and a wellspring for countless story possibilites—have been used in an in-continuity Superman tale. Following the original CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS and the subsequent MAN OF STEEL reboot by John Byrne in 1986, DC had decided that Superman should be the one and only survivor of his world, so the only Phantom Zone criminals we got were the ones from a pocket universe that laid waste to the entire population of an alternate Earth (but we won’t get into that here). Of course, recent years have seen the return of Supergirl, Kandor, and even Krypto, so the door was wide open for the Zone to return. Also, despite the trio of Kryptonian super-criminals being among the most widely-known members of Superman’s Rogues Gallery thanks to their appearance in two major motion pictures, two of ‘em—Non and Ursa—aren’t even originally from the comics, and are therefore debuting in mainstream continuity for the very first time with this story. Usually, this kind of adherence to the Hollywood version of a comic book saga bugs me, but a) these characters have been around, in celluloid form, for nearly thirty years, so they’re clearly not just flash-in-the-pan black hats, and b) they’re totally cool and evil. So they get a pass, in my book anyway.

But back to “Last Son”. After the second part of this story hit, DC released ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #10, which laid the groundwork for some future Johns/Donner Superman tales while fleshing out these latest cast additions. In the comic book version of their origin, the hulking brute Non started out as a brilliant scientist who served as Jor-El’s mentor. Non spoke out about Krypton’s impending destruction so vocally and convincingly that the corrupt Science Council had him lobotomized, rendering him the mute monstrosity he is today. Zod and Ursa, originally part of Krypton’s military, tried to overthrow the Council in a bloody coup after Non was silenced, which got them all sentenced to imprisonment in the Phantom Zone. Back in the pages of ACTION #846, the trio loots the Fortress for information from the Jor-El hologram, as well as some other goodies, then heads to Metropolis to cause some major property damage. Zod and Non throw a beating on Superman while Ursa steals Christopher (whose real name is Lor-Zod, it turns out) back from Lois. To make matters worse, Zod cracks open the Phantom Zone, bringing down a rain of Kryptonian convicts with Superman-level powers onto Metropolis. For a finale, Zod then uses the Phantom Zone projector he pilfered from the Fortress to send Superman into oblivion.

Last week, DC released the latest chapter of “Last Son”, which sees Superman trapped in the Phantom Zone while Zod and his super-powered thugs essentially conquer the world. Superman finds help from an old friend in the Zone, and Lex Luthor (along with a couple of other familiar baddies) make their own plans to end the Kryptonian invasion—after all, Luthor’s been trying to rid the planet of alien interlopers for years already. This exciting penultimate chapter was made even cooler by being offered in a 3D variant edition for about a dollar extra, with effects by longtime 3D guru Ray Zone (you gotta wonder what this guy does with his time between the release of 3D comics). The 3D section of the book, which comprises about three quarters of the page count, is used during the Phantom Zone sequences to give those scenes an otherworldly feel. The extra buck is totally worth it—this is the coolest looking 3D I’ve ever seen in a comic book. Also nice is the fact that the glasses DC provides look like the ones Zod, Non, and Ursa are wearing when they make their escape from the Zone. The issue ends with a pretty great reveal of Luthor’s plan for taking back the planet, which readers will see in ACTION COMICS #11, coming…er, sometime.

Which brings us to the major problem with “Last Son”. Calling its publishing schedule “haphazard” is pretty charitable. The super-secret creative team of Geoff Johns, his old boss Richard Donner (before scripting comics full-time, Johns worked as an assistant on the director’s 1997 film CONSPIRACY THEORY), and new DC exclusive artist Adam Kubert was originally set to debut in late spring/early summer of 2006 along with the rest of DC’s high-profile “One Year Later” creative teams like Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert on BATMAN and Allan Heinberg and Terry Dodson on WONDER WOMAN. However, right before the solicitations for those issues hit, a three-issue fill-in arc by Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza, and Pete Woods was announced to give the new creative team a bigger lead time. Issues #844 and 845 came out pretty much on schedule in, I believe, September and October, then…nothing. The book dropped off the radar for several months, a new date was given, which was supposed to be followed up by one fill-in issue in #847, and then the storyline would resume its monthly schedule with the regular creative team. Then, right before #846 hit in, I think, January or February, solicitations were released for a slew of fill-ins—a two-parter by Fabian Nicieza for #848 and 849, and a special anniversary issue by Kurt Busiek for #850. “Last Son” would continue in #851, and then conclude…whenever. What a mess.

So, what happened? Online speculation has pointed to numerous possible factors. The obvious target was film director/first time comic writer Richard Donner, an unproven quantity in the comic book world (and of course, the tardiness of Hollywood types turned comic scribes like Kevin Smith and Damon Lindelhof have put fanboys everywhere on the defensive), or the always-busy Geoff Johns. This argument seems unlikely, as Donner’s involvement likely doesn’t amount to much more than overall plot kibitzing (not unlike the director’s collaboration with screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz on the first two SUPERMAN feature films), and Johns has successfully juggled more than one monthly title in the meantime (he also writes JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA and GREEN LANTERN, and spent most of last year co-writing the weekly series 52). Others blamed the current issue’s 3D effects, but that wouldn’t explain the delays on the third chapter of the storyline, or its currently in-limbo conclusion. It seems most likely that artist Adam Kubert is the hold-up; a few months back, DC announced that the second Johns/Donner storyline, “Escape From Bizarro World”, would be drawn by THE GOON creator Eric Powell (after—what else? THREE MORE fill-in issues by Busiek), and more recently, Gary Frank was named as the new regular series artist after Frank, beginning with an arc titled “Superman and The Legion of Super-Heroes”. Kubert is still handling the art chores on the finale of “Last Son” but, as of this writing, DC hasn’t put ACTION COMICS #11 on their schedule.

Sadly, this creative snafu is all too familiar lately, particularly at DC. The last couple of years have seen the company shell out big bucks to lure high-profile creative teams onto their biggest titles, only to have these creators dole out pages at a ridiculously slow rate (Allan Heinberg’s WONDER WOMAN, anyone? How about Frank Miller and Jim Lee’s ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER?). Of course, someday “Last Son” will conclude and be collected in a trade paperback, and its troubled publishing history will be a bad memory. Also, the upcoming arcs by Powell and Frank sound very cool, particularly the promise of a Powell-drawn Bizarro. Until then, the excellent work being done by Johns and Donner, who have managed to avoid the pitfalls of in-continuity Superman adventures by bringing back a sense of urgency and excitement while utilizing the best elements of the hero’s history, languishes in a proverbial Phantom Zone.

…AND THE REST

I feel like I’ve been yapping about ALL-STAR SUPERMAN and how awesome it is forever, so I won’t do it again. Suffice it to say that #8 has lots of crazy Bizarro World foolishness, including more about the weird Bizarro-Bizarro known as Zibarro, and that it’s still awesome…The new BLACK CANARY mini started off well, having been written by the dependable Tony Bedard and featuring art by Paulo Sequeira (whose stuff contains weird traces of wildly disparate styles like John Cassaday and Chris Bachalo—strange, I know, but it works)…FAKER, by Mike Carey and Jock, is an intriguing first issue that suffers by not being easy to sum up in a few words, but I’ll try; a bunch of college pals get drunk in a science lab and drink something they probably shouldn’t have, leading them to question their own identities while a mysterious nonentity seems to have infiltrated their clique. Does that make any sense? Anyway, it has potential… THOR #1? More like SNORE #1 ( I stole that from Ben Jeddrie)! Seriously, the art by Olivier Coipel is really cool, but would it kill J. Michael Straczynski to write a superhero comic where SOMETHING ACTUALLY HAPPENS FOR CHRISSAKES?…DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN is a real weird case—it kinda feels like one of those movie adaptations that you don’t really see anymore. You know, the ones that were a pale shade of what they were adapting? People sure are buying the shit out of it, but is anyone actually enjoying it?…NEW AVENGERS/TRANSFORMERS #1, huh? I can’t really decide if this was actually better or worse than Michael Bay’s movie, but I think it’s just bad in a different way—that is to say, it’s so conceptually retarded that I can’t believe it exists. Hold up, maybe they are bad in the same way after all…UNCANNY X-MEN #488 continues to prove that Brubaker is better doing Earthbound stuff as opposed to 12-part space opera sagas, as the Morlocks carry out a really gross terrorist attack on a subway train…RUNAWAYS #27 is a bit late, so I had forgotten that the gang got sent back in time in the last issue. Joss Whedon has a lot of fun with turn-of-the-previous-century Marvel New York here, with its “Wonders” like the old-timey Punisher knock-off the Adjudicator and the Yellow Kid, based on the super-creepy little guy who was the first comic character, historically speaking. Michael Ryan really stepped it up on the art this issue—he seems to be improving at a surprising rate.

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Hello Internet,

Comics reviews are on their way, once I pack up the old Livejournal, turn off the lights, and lock the doors. Hope I get my damage deposit back.

-d.