New Comics - April 19th - Part Three

Continued from yesterday...

• Justice 5 (DC) - This has nicer Alex Ross art than anything since Kingdom Come, mostly because he used Doug Braithwaite to pencil it, and their styles complement nicely. But overall, when reading it, I just think - meh, who cares.
• Spider-Woman: Origin 5 (Marvel) - Here's the final issue of a series, that just didn't get very far. I wanted more.
• Daughters of the Dragon 4 (Marvel) - This book is officially released next week, this is a preview copy. This title is quite encouraging for several reasons. One, Khari Evans (right) is exciting now, and if he grows like most series artists do, he will be a knockout eventually. I think that Palmiotti and Grey make a great writing team, but Palmiotti isn't able to do service to the pencils as an inker, they just don't mesh styles properly, and with the right inker, Mr Evans will be a superstar. Two, Marvel releasing a book like this is encouraging. Most new titles (Spider-Woman, Sentry, Nextwave, X-Factor, to name a few that I've bought) are linked to a popular series or creator. It's rare that titles like this are thrown into the fray based on what must have been a good story pitch. Or maybe, it's just handy having a good friend as Editor-In-Chief of the most popular publisher on the racks. Three, the title doesn't fit conveniently into the "superhero" genre. Yeah, they're superhero's, but the title feels more like a crime/mystery/detective/kung-fu title.
• Nextwave 4 (Marvel) - All right, here it goes, the blasphemy. This book doesn't have enough. It's not funny enough. The action isn't packed enough. The script isn't original enough. The story doesn't hook enough. The payoff isn't great enough. Stuart Immonen's near-perfect art isn't perfect enough to carry all the other shortcomings. I'm holding out hope that this title will live up to the hype, because it certainly has enough of that.
• Squadron Supreme 2 (Marvel) - Enough hook to the story to keep me reading, but I was hoping for a little subtext. I've never read the original, but it seems that Mr Straczynski is the type of writer who would be interested in adding a layer of metaphor to what is essentially a rewrite of hero archetypes. Oh well, at least the Gary Frank art is attractive and compelling.
• Wolverine Origins 1 (Marvel) - I have high hopes for this title. I'm a fan of the Danny Way/Steve Dillon team, as mentioned previously, and I think they can inject a bit of drama and suspense into a character that is always heavy on the action. And it seems that portraying badasses is the stock-in-trade of Way and Dillon, so here's hoping Wolverine is the beneficiary of this talent. I am still holding judgment after this first chapter though, as I need to see more. The one nitpick I have is that Dillon draws an oddly realistic Wolverine. This is his greatest skill as a storyteller. He avoids the unnecessary flourishes and portrays all his characters realistically, and maintains a tight rein on depicting their emotions accurately. This doesn't work with a character with such an extreme design as Wolverine has. He comes off looking a little odd in some panels because he's drawn so realistically. We'll see how this one plays out.
• Captain America 17 (Marvel) - Ed Brubaker knocks my socks off. This isn't even a particularly stellar issue, but he's got me so strapped in for the ride, that it becomes more than the sum of its parts. Mike Perkins always struck me as a journeyman. More talented than a hack, but not distinctive enough to be a star. This issue, however, shows some real spark and excitement, layout and rendering-wise. Again, more than the sum of its parts.
  
• Alter Ego 57 (TwoMorrows) - I know this isn't a comic, but I spend a great deal of time reading about comics every month, and this is an occasional title in my stack. I was slightly disappointed when I realized it consists mostly of a giant checklist of Timely/Marvel characters and titles, but it's so profusely illustrated and annotated that I'm going to enjoy it quite a bit.
• The Comics Journal 275 (Fantagraphics) - The best magazine about comics ever, and until Comic Art or Comic Book Artist can come out regularly enough to compete, it remains indispensable. This issue even got my wife interested thanks to the David B. interview.

Wow, that was a big week. And look at all the Marvel titles, what a nerd.
Well, actually, maybe the reason for the prevalence of Marvel is that when it comes to soap opera, no one does it better. And with DC I know I'll get a reasonably priced collection within a reasonable time frame. Let's face it, Y the Last Man is as good as any title I buy monthly, but I'm content to wait for the trades. With Marvel books, I seem to still get an adolescent joy in curling up the issues the day they come out.