Daniel Sherrier's Blog, page 39
June 26, 2016
Today’s Super Comic — All-Star Superman #3 (2006)
I have to admit that Grant Morrison’s writing sometimes gets a little too weird for my tastes, but with All-Star Superman, he picked precisely the correct amount of weirdness to bring to the table.
The series is set in its own continuity, already well into this Superman’s career…toward the end of it, actually. This Superman is dying from issue #1, and he makes sure his remaining time counts.
In #3, Superman allows his one true love to spend a day in his world. As a birthday present, Lois Lane receives all his powers for a full 24 hours. The events are deliberately ridiculous, complete with additional super-powered suitors determined to impress Lois, but an underlying melancholy balances out the goofiness due to Superman knowing he has little time left. Plus, Frank Quitely’s depictions of Superman and Lois flying together and sharing a kiss on the moon are nothing short of romantic.
It’s a charming episode within a great series. This is the “Death of Superman” arc we should have gotten in the early ‘90s. It may not be an in-continuity Superman, but this interpretation is definitely true to the spirit of the character.
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciler: Frank Quitely
Inker: Jamie Grant
Publisher: DC Comics
How to Read It: back issues; Comixology; All-Star Superman (TPB)
Appropriate For: 12 and up
June 25, 2016
Today’s Super Comic — Fray #1 (2001)
Catch-up post!
Adaptations are tricky. I’ve read some fun Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics, but no matter how talented an artist is, he or she will never be able to capture the full breadth of an actor’s mannerisms. Something always feels like it’s missing.
But with the miniseries Fray, Joss Whedon sidesteps the adaptation problem by creating something entirely new within the Buffy universe…just set many years in the future. It’s a spinoff where the only element that carries over is the concept of a vampire slayer, but everything else is different, fresh, and ideally suited for the comic book medium.
Melaka Fray is no Buffy clone. She’s got her own distinct personality and motivations in a distinct setting with a distinct supporting cast. Not a piece of source-material baggage to be found. But like Buffy, she comes across as an engaging, flawed heroine right from the start.
And, thanks to a solid script by Whedon and great layouts by Karl Moline, the result is a fantastic read—whether you’ve ever watched an episode of Buffy or not. The first issue succeeds in setting the stage for a compelling story, particularly because it does so without burdening the reader with an onslaught of exposition.
If you read one Buffy-related comic, this should be it.
Writer: Joss Whedon
Penciler: Karl Moline
Inker: Andy Owens
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
How to Read It: back issues; Comixology; Fray (TPB)
Appropriate For: 14 and up
Today’s Super Comic — Fantastic Four #25 (1964)
A classic slugfest, and the greatest Thing vs. Hulk battle ever put to four colors as the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby collaboration really begins to hit its stride.
The Hulk is rampaging. The Human Torch and the Invisible Girl don’t have the raw strength to hold their own against him. Mr. Fantastic is out of commission with a mysterious flu. The Avengers haven’t arrived on the scene yet. That leaves the Thing as the only person in the city with any prayer of taking down the Hulk. As strong as the Thing is, though, he’s seriously out of his weight class here.
But that doesn’t stop him from giving the Hulk everything he’s got.
It’s the superhero as the underdog, a tale of perseverance (something I’m always a sucker for). Back when superheroes seldom lost, this issue showed how there are multiple ways for the good guy to “win.”
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Publisher: Marvel Comics
How to Read It: back issues; Marvel Unlimited; Comixology; Essential Fantastic Four vol. 2 (TPB)
Appropriate For: 8 and up
June 24, 2016
Today’s Super Comic — Daredevil #13 (2015)
And we’re back! Sorry for the absence, but the internet has been restored and all is well! Now to catch up!
Interesting thing about Daredevil…the character works great in dark and gritty stories AND light and fun superheroic tales. That’s one versatile crimefighter there.
After a long period of dark—perhaps too long and too dark in the end—Mark Waid took over the writing reins and returned a sense of fun to the title (relaunched with a new #1…and then another #1 because I guess that sells better). Daredevil with Waid at the helm is the sort of book that just puts a smile on your face, and I’m finally getting around to catching up on the tail-end of his great run.
In #13 (the second #13), Matt Murdock grapples with an unusual predicament—he might actually be happy with his new girlfriend, Kirsten. But no amount of happiness will ever interfere with his ingrained sense of overprotectiveness, much to Kirsten’s annoyance.
This is a nice little issue that tells a complete story while serving the larger series arc, and I enjoyed how Waid plays around with expectations.
So yep, the fun continues. I’m totally fine with a happy Daredevil for a while.
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Chris Samnee
Publisher: Marvel Comics
How to Read It: back issues; Marvel Unlimited; Comixology; Daredevil vol. 3: The Daredevil You Know (TPB)
Appropriate For: 12 and up
June 20, 2016
Technical Difficulties
I just moved into a new home, and Comcast has been…let’s say…challenging.
This means I have no household internet access until Friday evening (or so I’m told), so I’ll have to suspend my daily positive comic book reviews until then. But I will post extra reviews to make up for these lost days so that at least my average remains one review a day for a full year.
Comcast…grrrrrr…
After all this, I will certainly need that daily dose of positivity.
In the meantime, if you’re just tuning in, please catch up on the previous month’s worth of reviews of great comics (or catch up on reading the books themselves!).
June 19, 2016
Today’s Super Comic — Uncanny X-Men #173 (1983)
Even though it came out the year I was born, this is the issue that got me hooked on X-Men comics, and I hadn’t even realized what a pivotal issue it was.
The 1990s cartoon had already reeled me in, but the first couple of early ‘90s X-Men comics I tried left me cold. Then I came across this issue reprinted in X-Men Classic, and it did the trick.
Most of the focus is on Wolverine and Rogue while the rest of the team is incapacitated. Though Rogue had officially joined the team a couple of issues earlier (while Wolverine was away in his own miniseries), the others didn’t readily accept her, on account of the fact that as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants she had drained the memories and powers out of their friend Carol Danvers (the original Ms. Marvel and current Captain Marvel). Understandable.
But here, Rogue has the opportunity to do something heroic for possibly the first time in her life, for the one person who was treating her with kindness. And the moment Wolverine shows he accepts her as an X-Man should look familiar to anyone who’s seen the first X-Men movie.
Chris Claremont has written many years’ worth of X-Men comics, but this storyline ranks among his best writing. And he’s aided by the clean, dynamic pencil work of Paul Smith.
An X-Men classic indeed.
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Paul Smith
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Publisher: Marvel Comics
How to Read It: back issues; Marvel Unlimited; Comixology; Essential X-Men vol. 4 (TPB)
Appropriate For: ages 10 and up
June 18, 2016
Today’s Super Comics — Alias #1-28 (2001-04)
Yeah, I’ll just go ahead and declare the entire Alias series as fantastic. And for non-comic readers, this has nothing to do with the Jennifer Garner television show, but it is the source material for the also-excellent Jessica Jones series on Netflix.
With Jessica Jones, writer Brian Michael Bendis has created one of the most fascinating Marvel characters of all time. Jessica gets more character development in 28 issues than many characters receive over the course of decades.
And while the series would be riveting as just a character study, the plots are great, too. The comic is actually more episodic than the Netflix series while still retaining a strong overall arc. It shows private investigator Jessica Jones working unconventional cases in the dark corners of the Marvel Universe as she tries to distance herself from her traumatic superhero past.
Michael Gaydos’s gritty art style creates the perfect atmosphere for the stories, and for the flashbacks to Jessica’s “Jewel” days, we get another perfect artistic fit—Mark Bagley, bringing a cleaner, brighter style that suits the more innocent days.
The first issue has the distinction of being the first Marvel comic book to employ the F-word, something the Netflix series didn’t even do. I point that out as a warning – THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR CHILDREN. I repeat, do not let your kids anywhere near this one. Dark stuff takes place in these issues.
Not one issue missteps, though. Bendis and Gaydos (and Bagley) demonstrate superb tonal agility throughout, and they deserve credit for an extraordinarily difficult achievement—they created something new and fresh within a decades-old fictional universe.
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artists: Michael Gaydos, with flashbacks by Mark Bagley
Publisher: Marvel Comics
How to Read It: back issues; Comixology; Alias and Jessica Jones: Alias trade paperbacks
Appropriate For: ADULTS ONLY!
June 17, 2016
Today’s Super Comics — The Avengers #19-22 (1999)
I enjoyed the Avengers: Age of Ultron film a great deal, but with all due respect, these four issues by Kurt Busiek and George Perez comprise the greatest Ultron story ever produced.
The Avengers are best when the stakes are huge and personal, and that’s what we get in the “Ultron Unlimited” arc. Ultron is taking another shot at his usual goal of replacing organic life with robotic life. But this time includes some twists. He actually does destroy an entire small country as his opening salvo, which gives tremendous gravity to the proceedings. And he kidnaps his “family” so that he can use their brainwaves to generate unique personalities to animate the robotic life he wants to take over the world.
So…that “family.” Stay with me here… Hank “Ant-Man/Giant Man” Pym created Ultron, so Ultron perceives Pym as his father and the Wasp as his mother. Ultron in turn created the Vision, a “son,” and he based his brain patterns on the then-late, since-resurrected Wonder Man, so Vision and Wonder Man are kind of like brothers. But Wonder Man also has a biological brother—the villainous Grim Reaper. And at some point along the way, the Vision married and later divorced the Scarlet Witch, adding her to this twisted family tree as well.
Only in comic books. Or soap operas. Maybe Game of Thrones.
But roughly 35 years of continuity build-up pays off with these four issues of epic, character-driven action. This story is well worth tracking down.
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Al Vey
Publisher: Marvel Comics
How to Read It: back issues; Marvel Unlimited; Comixology; Avengers: Ultron Unlimited (TPB); Avengers Assemble Vol. 2 (TPB, by Busiek)
Appropriate For: ages 12 and up
June 16, 2016
Today’s Super Comic — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #25 (1991)
To be honest, I haven’t read this one in at least twenty years, but I will forever be fond of this issue. This was the first comic book I ever read, and it succeeded in hooking me at the age of eight.
At that point, I think I still watched the classic Ninja Turtles cartoon, but my interest in that wouldn’t last much longer. My grandmother gave me this comic among several other treats, and thus I discovered a different and more exciting take on my favorite cartoon characters.
Saturday morning cartoons always had to revert to the status quo after half an hour, or at least by the end of a two-parter. But in this comic book series, the plots and characters could evolve issue by issue without a reset button in sight. Sure, nothing drastic could happen—they weren’t going to kill any of the Turtles or have Splinter turn evil—but April could begin ninja training, they could face foes other than Shredder, and…well, I’m drawing a blank on the specifics.
Twenty-plus years is plenty of time to forget the details, but I remember how it made me feel as a child. I had a whole new world to explore, and I could return to it month after month.
I can’t promise this holds up as a great read or would be worth an adult’s time, but it definitely worked its magic on this kid back in the day.
Writers: Ryan Brown and Dean Clarrain
Penciler: Chris Allan
Inker: Rod Ollerenshaw
Publisher: Archie Comics
How to Read It: back issues
Appropriate For: ages 7 and up
June 15, 2016
Today’s Super Comic — Flash #102 (1995)
Flash #102 may be just two super-powered dudes fighting each other for an issue, but once in a while, when done right, that kind of thing can provide plenty of good dumb fun. And this is absolutely done right.
The rationale for this extended fight scene is to showcase the Flash’s enhanced powers following the events of the previous storyline. So he’s pitted against Mongul, a powerful alien in Superman’s weight class. That’s an excellent choice on writer Mark Waid’s part, as it allows the Flash to play the underdog while showing just how far he’s come in his development as a superhero.
This kind of all-out action presents an opportunity for the artist to shine, and penciler Oscar Jimenez rises to the occasion with appropriately kinetic panels that keep the brisk story moving along at just the right speed.
It’s not deep stuff, but it sure is fun.
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Oscar Jimenez
Inker: Jose Marzan Jr.
Publisher: DC Comics
How to Read It: back issues; Comixology
Appropriate For: ages 10 and up
